4) Pierre Gasly
The fact Pierre Gasly was winless in 2014 prevented him from being higher up the list, but the second Red Bull-backed driver in the series and the 2013 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Series champion more than held his own in his rookie Formula Renault 3.5 Series season.
Racing for Arden Motorsport, the young Frenchman scored a debut podium in Monza, and only twice during the season failed to finish in the points – the first races in Moscow and the Nurburgring.
He scored six runners-up spots during the year, but was unable to turn any of those into a victory – even his maiden series pole position came to nothing when Carlos Sainz Jr passed him into the first corner.
He was one of the stars of the season however, and the Frenchman was able to claim second place in the championship standings due to his consistently strong points scores.
His form in the Formula Renault 3.5 series saw Red Bull also place him in the Caterham Racing team in the GP2 Series for the final three race weekends of 2014, and the likelihood will be the Frenchman will race in that series in 2015, having had three days of testing in Abu Dhabi with Teams’ Champions DAMS.
