7) Sebastian Vettel
It was a shock to the system for Sebastian Vettel in 2014, when his run of four consecutive World Drivers Championships came to a shuddering halt, and the German failed to win a race in a season for the first time as a Red Bull Racing driver.
Signs were not good for Vettel during pre-season, and it was almost like the writing was on the wall that his dominance was over. He struggled for laps due to an unreliable power unit, and managed only a handful of laps in the first race in Australia before more issues consigned him to the pits.
For a driver who has made habit of leading laps and dominating races, the fact that Vettel only led one lap all season – in Singapore before Lewis Hamilton passed him after a pit stop – says it all. He was completely out-performed all year by his team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, and could only finish on the podium four times, finishing second in Singapore and third in Malaysia, Canada and Japan.
He retired on three occasions in Australia, Monaco and Austria, all with car problems, but when he finished, Vettel was classified inside the top eight. He had one of the best comebacks through the field of anyone in 2014 in Austin, when he started from the pit lane and finished seventh.
His lacklustre season saw him finish down in fifth place in the championship, and will be consigned to racing with his chosen number FIVE in 2015 when he moves away from his long time home of Red Bull to switch to the team he has had ambitions to race for many a year, Ferrari.
