5) Sergey Sirotkin
2014 was meant to be the year Sergey Sirotkin made his play for an Formula 1 drive, but a relatively lacklustre season, especially compared to his Fortec Motorsports team-mate Oliver Rowland put paid to those dreams, with the Sauber F1 Team ultimately calling an end to their partnership.
His season was not all bad; an emotional maiden win in front of his home crowd in Moscow was the highlight, but five retirements – four in a row between race two at Motorland Aragon and race two at Spa-Francorchamps – cost him valuable points. His weekend at the Hungaroring was also disappointing, with the Russian never really able to be on the pace.
He was still able to take fifth place in the championship after taking three other podium finishes in 2014, with Sirotkin taking third place in race two at Monza, race one at the Nurburgring and race one at Jerez, but it was too little to match Rowland, who scored almost fifty more points during the year.
With his departure from Sauber, his F1 dream might have to be put on the backburner for the time being, but if the Russian can recapture the form that got him noticed in the first place, the dream might still be realised in the years to come. However, a return to the Formula Renault 3.5 Series might be more damaging than beneficial to his career, and this week’s testing in the GP2 Series could be a sign that he feels the same. A change might just be what is needed to reinvigorate Sirotkin’s career.
