Three degrees of rookie success

There are three rookies in this season’s Formula 1 and each of them have so far had varying degrees of success. It’s a tough world at the top of motor sport. You can be a hero one race and a nobody the next race.

You can pull off a fantastic move which delights the fans, a few laps later you can outrage the fans as you push that little too far and take out a title contender. Ask Romain Grosjean about that.

Of the three that we’ve got this year I’m quite sad to say that Caterham’s Marcus Ericsson just doesn’t seem to have got a handle on the sport at all this year. He didn’t win the GP2 title but he was a race winner and it seems a shame that his first year in the sport could also be his last.

The Caterham is a no hoper, he was never going to set the world alight but he’s not shone against his team mate Kamui Kobayashi all year and couldn’t even beat Andre Lotterer who stepped into the car in Belgium and was almost immediately quicker. A man who hadn’t stepped into an F1 car since 2002.

He has the backing so maybe he’ll get another chance but although he hasn’t disgraced himself he hasn’t impressed anybody either. Of course with a hard luck story there is also someone else who has set the world alight.

Maybe it’s just me but I was expecting an awful lot from Kevin Magnussen. I wrote earlier in the year, admittedly a bit facetiously that he could well be the next Lewis Hamilton. Well there was a certain amount of truth in that, he was part of the McLaren young driver program, impressed in the junior formulae, was brought into the race team alongside a world champion and scored a podium on his debut in Australia.

It looked like he was about to set the world alight. But the McLaren is nowhere near as good as the one Lewis had. He also hasn’t had even half the testing miles Lewis prepared with. So the comparison was basically completely unfair, Kevin had a lot of learning to do.

It’s been a bit of an up and down season for Magnussen. Over the following races from his debut he was sometimes barely worthy of a mention. He was out-qualified and out raced a lot by Jenson Button, a driver who everyone knows on his day is unbeatable, but also that those days are few and far between at the moment.

The star which shone with such promise in March looked to be gradually fading, so much so that it has been rumoured that McLaren could replace him for 2015 along with Jenson Button. In truth it’s unlikely either of them will go as the driver market is fairly locked off this year, well so it seems.

But it would have been extremely unfair on Magnussen who has been more than competent and done well on a number of occasions through the year. He also had been used to winning in the junior formulae and was certainly not used to having to race mid pack. It was obviously a steep learning curve. But it’s in the most recent races he’s really reminded people of his presence out on the track, and in my opinion for all good reasons.

Ok, it was rude when he ran Fernando Alonso onto the grass in Belgium at 200mph but his defensive driving was hugely impressive during that Grand Prix. He out drove his team mate fairly comprehensively, only to suffer a penalty which dropped him out the points.

He suffered a similar fate when an incident which definitely shouldn’t have been penalised against Valtteri Bottas at the first chicane in Italy dropped him from seventh to tenth. It was a case of the stewards having an over reaction to a driver who might be being too aggressive, maybe it was to teach him a lesson. He does move the car a lot when defending which can be dangerous, but it’s also exciting.

Formula 1 needs drivers who excite and Magnussen is definitely one. After a fast start but then a slow middle he’s beginning to show the potential he looked like he had and that’s going to be great for the sport.

However the man who just seemed to be on it straight away and hasn’t been off it since is Russia's Daniil Kvyat driving for Toro Rosso. There were many who wondered why Red Bull had promoted him in front of some other juniors on their young driver program such as Antonio Felix da Costa or Carlos Sainz Jnr but lets remember he is the 2013 GP3 champion and has a lot of car racing experience behind him as well as having been a successful karter.

As soon as he came into Formula 1 he has been by far the most impressive. Just look at the Italian Grand prix as the perfect example. The team had to give him a 6th engine, breaking the maximum of five rule over a season at Monza thereby incurring a 10 place grid penalty. This season if you don't take all your penalty, for instance if you qualify 15th you're only dropping back seven places, then you are obliged to complete the penalty at the next race. God help the Caterham's and Marussia's!

Kvyat knew this and despite the circuit not exactly being a Toro Rosso friendly track as the Renault unit is significantly down on power compared to Mercedes he still managed to only just miss out on getting into the top 10. From 11th therefore he dropped to 21st. What followed is probably one of the drives of his season so far, he fought hard, unfortunately barely witnessed by the TV camera's to challenge Kimi Raikkonen for a point by the end.

In a Toro Rosso on a power track that is highly impressive. Unfortunately his brakes failed just as it looked he might sneak a point a few laps from home, but he still dragged it home in 11th and the save he made when his brakes did go was amazing. If only Formula 1 allowed you to stick a few videos up without hunting you down I'd show you.

Kvyat has also seen off Jean-Eric Vergne, the man who mostly matched the out standing driver of the year so far during their time at Toro Rosso, Daniel Ricciardo. It's not just perception though, it's borne out by results too. Even though Vergne leads Kvyat in qualifying 7-6 and in points by 11 - 8, it's not quite a true reflection. 

One thing that should be noted is that Kvyat is a rookie so these current results would be pretty impressive anyway, Vergne is still well rated. But actually if you disregard his Monza engine penalty then Kvyat would be leading Vergne 7-6, couple that with often getting into the top 10 and his qualifying speed shouldn't be too much in doubt. Vergne also may have got the better results with two eighth place finishes, but he has scored in just four races compared to Kvyat's five including his first two races. When both cars have finished it is Kvyat who has more often than not been ahead.

If Vergne could match Ricciardo, and Ricciardo can beat Vettel, then Kvyat must be awesome. Of course it is far too early to make judgements like that and circumstances change but Red Bull have to be commended for finding some truly exceptional talent. Kvyat made his debut at just 19 years old. Now only 20 he looks like he's being set up as team leader for next year for the precocious talent of Max Verstappen. Red Bull's newest kid is being promoted to Toro Rosso at just 17 years old after only one years worth of car experience since he left karting.

Compared to Verstappen, Kvyat is positively a veteran with several years of car racing experience behind him as well as his current year in Formula 1, not to mention he's actually allowed to drive on public roads. Have no doubt Verstappen will be a formidable rookie if he's prepared enough, but Kvyat has impressed greatly this year with only one minor misdemeanour when he tried to go round the outside of Sergio Perez but then spun rather clumsily in Germany.

That doesn't take anything away though, he has been impressive and continues to cement a growing reputation of someone who's going to be around the grid for quite some time. With this years inaugural Russian Grand Prix it couldn't come at a better time. It'll be interesting to see how his progress has been received in Russia and how much of a crowd they get at the Sochi circuit, built around the winter Olympics venue. One thing is sure though, he's been by far the most consistently impressive rookie of 2014 so far.

all photos taken from autosport.com