2013 Formula 1 season: Half-term report and statistics

Nico Hulkenberg

Points – 7; Championship position – 15th; Best Result – 8th

How Nico Hulkenberg must be regretting his move to Sauber with the C32 proving to be a a pale shadow of its predecessor. Despite constant rumours about unpaid wages and his future with the team, the German has simply kept his head down and dragged the car as high up the grid as possible – even finishing in the points on four occasions. His team-mate may be a rookie, but Hulkenberg has comprehensively outperformed him, proving what a good job he is doing.

Pastor Maldonado

Pastor Maldonado

Points – 1; Championship position – 16th; Best result – 10th

Fifteen months on from his so-called ‘breakthrough’ victory in Barcelona, it has proved quite the sobering 2013 for Pastor Maldonado. Not only did the Venezulan’s initially bold pre-season optimism soon fade once Williams took an early wrong development turn with the FW35, but being regularly outperformed by rookie stable-mate Valtteri Bottas in qualifying – an area in which Maldonado’s has often excelled – was certainly not in the script either.

His recent admission that the ill-handling car had “been driving me” explained his struggle to marry his aggressive style to the challenger. However the reintroduction of more durable Pirellis, along with a belated step forward with the FW35, appears to have put both team and driver on the right path and the hope will be that Maldonado’s first point of the season in Hungary paves the way to a far more competitive second half to the year.

Valtteri Bottas

Points – 0; Championship position – 17th; Best result – 11th

That Valtteri Bottas’ rookie season has so far been a baptism of fire is, if anything, an understatement. Rewind back to Melbourne and all it took was two Friday practice sessions for Williams’ pre-season hopes to turn to mush; it almost felt cruel to contrast the countenances of Bottas and team-mate Pastor Maldonado with the optimistic faces seen just 24 hours earlier.

Yet in spite of the hand he’s been dealt, the young Finn has knuckled down and performed very well – frequently better than Maldonado, in fact, even though the Venezuelan picked up their first point of the season in Hungary. Valtteri has been forced to adjust to the harsh realities of F1 life, but it looks as though he’ll only become stronger for the experience.

Esteban Gutierrez

Points – 0; Championship position – 18th; Best Result – 11th

A former GP3 Champion and third in GP2 in his debut season, Esteban Gutierrez’s junior record suggests he should be delivering more than he is at present. He has lagged behind team-mate Nico Hulkenberg in qualifying in particular – the German’s average grid slot being 11.8, the Mexican’s 17.2 – and this is something he must work on if he does not want to be regarded as a ‘pay-driver.’ An eleventh-place finish in Barcelona, when he finished right on the tail of Daniel Ricciardo but was unable to make a move stick, is his best Sunday result so far.

Jules Bianchi

Points – 0; Championship position – 19th; Best result – 13th

There’s a very strong case to make that Jules Bianchi is already the overwhelming candidate for rookie of the year honours given the results he has achieved with the equipment at his disposal. Unlike fellow new boys Gutierrez and Bottas for instance, the prospect of a first F1 point remains a very distant dream for Bianchi at Marussia but he has quickly established himself as the de-facto rookie team leader at the Banbury outfit and clearly a talented prospect for the future.

Two car failures aside, he has made the chequered flag at every race and his strong 13th-place finish from Malaysia keeps Marussia on course for that all-important tenth place in the Constructors’ standings, despite the team’s subsequent slide back behind Caterham on the track.

Charles Pic

Points – 0; Championship position – 20th; Best result – 14th

With a year’s F1 experience under his belt, it’s no surprise that Charles Pic is outperforming team-mate Giedo van der Garde. But at the same time, one wonders whether leading Caterham’s line is too burdensome a task for the 23-year-old. They pulled ahead of rivals Marussia fairly early in the season thanks to upgrades introduced around the time the European season started, but both the Bahrain and Spanish GPs also featured practice appearances by Heikki Kovalainen.

The main reason why the Finn is not racing this season can easily be guessed at and, if he were, it’s entirely reasonable to assume Pic would be playing second fiddle. Yet it’s also reasonable to assume that Kovalainen’s regular presence would also rub off on the youngster, giving him a better chance of building his career in the long term.

Giedo van der Garde

Points – 0; Championship position – 21st; Best Result – 14th

Five years after winning the Formula Renault 3.5 Championship, Giedo van der Garde finally got his F1 opportunity at the ‘tender’ age of 27. As the season has progressed and his experience increases, the Dutchman’s performances have improved and there is rarely little to separate him and team-mate Charles Pic. Indeed, last time out in Hungary, van der Garde equalled the Frenchman’s season-high finish with 14th.

Max Chilton

Points – 0; Championship position – 22nd; Best result – 14th

Having had to continue to contend with barbs about the backing his career has received on his route to the top level, Max Chilton has made a competent start to F1 life. While Bianchi has undoubtedly produced the more eye-catching drives, the Frenchman does have more experience and first tested an F1 car – and a Ferrari at that – as long ago as 2009, making the intra-team pecking order not that surprising. Saying that, Chilton will certainly be keen to run closer to the sister car more regularly from here on in.

The plus points for the 22-year-old from Reigate are undoubtedly his 100% race finishing-record and useful ability to generally keep his nose clean, meaning that unlike some of his fellow drivers towards the back of the grid, Chilton – Maldonado in Monaco aside – hasn’t regularly felt the wrath of some of the bigger beasts in the F1 jungle.