The 2014 UIM F1 H2O World Championship was the 31st season of Formula 1 Powerboat racing. Alex Carella, driving for the Qatar Team, entered the season as defending triple world champion having successfully defended his world championship for the second year in a row in 2013.
Carella's streak as champion was ended by France's Philippe Chiappe for the CTIC China Team. Chiappe won the final two races of the season in Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, overhauling a ten-point deficit to Carella and eventually won the championship – the first for a French competitor – by eight points. Carella had won the season's first two races in Doha and Liuzhou, before he was disqualified in the third race of the season, which was held in Doha. Third place in the championship went to Carella's teammate Shaun Torrente, who was the only other winner of the 2014 season, in the second Doha event. The results for Carella and Torrente were more than enough for the Qatar Team to win the teams' championship, 40 points clear of the CTIC China Team. The pole position and fastest lap trophies were also taken by Carella, beating Chiappe in both categories.
Teams and drivers Team Hull Engine Race drivers Rounds Qatar Team DAC Mercury 2.5 V6 1 Alex Carella All 2 Shaun Torrente All Team Abu Dhabi BaBa Mercury 2.5 V6 5 Thani Al Qamzi 2, 4–5 6 Ahmed Al Hameli 2, 4–5 CTIC China Team Moore Mercury 2.5 V6 7 Philippe Chiappe All DAC 8 Xiong Ziwei All F1 Atlantic Team/Interpass/GC DAC Mercury 2.5 V6 9 Youssef Al Rubayan All BaBa 10 Duarte Benavente All Mad Croc BaBa Racing Team BaBa Mercury 2.5 V6 11 Sami Seliö All 12 Filip Roms All Team Sweden Molgaard Mercury 2.5 V6 14 Jonas Andersson All 15 Jesper Forss 2–5 Motorglass F1 Team BaBa Mercury 2.5 V6 18 Bartek Marszalek 1 18 Bartek Marszalek 2–6 DAC 23 Marco Gambi 1 Blaze 24 Francesco Cantando All Caudwell Racing Caudwell Caudwell 3.5 V6 33 Ivan Brigada 2–4 34 Tomas Cermak 2–4 Team Nautica BaBa Mercury 2.5 V6 50 Marit Strømøy All Molgaard 51 Erik Stark AllKey Regular boat/driver Boat ineligible for team points
Team and driver changes As in 2013, there were no major changes to the teams present in the 2014 championship. All nine were once again represented, albeit with some sporting new identities. The most significant of these was the new title sponsorship of Francesco Cantando's team. Known as Singha for many years, thanks to sponsorship from the Thai Singha brand of alcohol, Cantando signed a new deal ensuring his team would be known as the Motorglass F1 Team from 2014. Joining Cantando would once again be Bartek Marszalek who competed in five of the six races in 2013, and fellow Italian Marco Gambi. Whereas Bartek competed for the full year, Gambi was only present at the opening round in Doha. Jonas Andersson's team was the other to undergo a change of identity over the winter as he once again reverted to the Team Sweden name, having been sponsored by Azerbaijan the previous year. For the first race in Qatar, Andersson's team ran with just his own boat, but was joined by 2012 F-4S champion and fellow Swede Jesper Forss from the second race onwards.
At reigning champions the Qatar Team, everything remained the same with Alex Carella and Shaun Torrente again reprising their roles. Similarly, Team Abu Dhabi also retained Thani Al Qamzi and Ahmed Al Hameli for 2014, however they missed both races in Qatar, the first and third races of the season, reportedly due to matters relating to the politics in the region between Qatar and the UAE. CTIC China Team kept 2013 runner-up Philippe Chiappe and their young Chinese driver Xiong Ziwei whilst F1 Atlantic Team also stayed with their line-up of Youssef Al Rubayan and Duarte Benavente.
Sami Seliö and Filip Roms continued the all-Finnish line-up at the Mad Croc team for 2014 whilst Marit Strømøy led the campaign for Team Nautica again, and for 2014 was partnered with fellow Scandinavian, young Swedish driver Erik Stark, replacing the retired Rinaldo Osculati. Caudwell Racing were also back in the championship, campaigning their unique four-stroke engine package, but the team missed the first race in Qatar. An announcement during the summer however revealed their intentions for the rest of the season, with Ivan Brigada again leading the South African team alongside Slovak Tomáš Čermák who was returning to the sport for the first time since 2010. Despite a very popular double points finish for the team at the Grand Prix of the Middle East, with Brigada an excellent seventh, the challenges faced with running heavier four-stroke engines against the well-established and lighter Mercury two-strokes finally took its toll. Caudwell were forced to bow out of the championship prior to the fifth and final race of the season in Sharjah, with 2014 proving to be their most successful year.
Season calendar
A five race calendar made up the 2014 F1 Powerboat season, the smallest in the history of the championship. It began in Doha, Qatar on 15 March and ended in Sharjah, UAE on 19 December. Having pulled out in 2013, Russia did not return to the calendar for 2014, and in addition a Brazilian race was not held, despite its debut in 2013 amidst much fanfare. The round in Ukraine, scheduled for 24 August, was subsequently cancelled in the wake of the country's unrest, and an additional race in Qatar titled the Grand Prix of the Middle East was added to the calendar in Ukraine's place. A second round in China was expected initially, but was later removed from the schedule leaving Liuzhou as China's sole representation in 2014, marking 20 years since the championship first visited the country.
Round Race title Date Circuit location Race winner Hull/Engine 1 11th Grand Prix of Qatar 15 March Doha Alex Carella DAC/Mercury 2 18th Grand Prix of China 6 October Liuzhou Alex Carella DAC/Mercury 3 1st Grand Prix of the Middle East 15 November Doha Shaun Torrente DAC/Mercury 4 22nd Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 21 November Abu Dhabi Philippe Chiappe Moore/Mercury 5 15th Grand Prix of Sharjah 19 December Sharjah Philippe Chiappe Moore/Mercury
Results and standings Points were awarded to the top 10 classified finishers. A maximum of two boats per team were eligible for points in the teams' championship.
Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th Points 20 15 12 9 7 5 4 3 2 1
Drivers standings Pos Driver QAT CHN MID ABU SHA Points 1 Philippe Chiappe 2 Ret 2 1 1 70 2 Alex Carella 1 1 DSQ 5 2 62 3 Shaun Torrente Ret 4 1 2 3 56 4 Sami Seliö Ret 8 3 4 4 33 5 Francesco Cantando 4 Ret 5 6 5 28 6 Erik Stark Ret 2 6 8 Ret 23 7 Duarte Benavente 3 DNS DNS Ret 7 16 8 Bartek Marszalek 8 5 8 10 9 16 9 Thani Al Qamzi 3 9 Ret 14 10 Ahmed Al Hameli 9 3 Ret 14 11 Filip Roms 5 7 9 11 Ret 13 12 Jonas Andersson Ret Ret 4 Ret Ret 9 13 Marit Strømøy 6 Ret 11 7 DNS 9 14 Xiong Ziwei 7 10 Ret 13 8 8 15 Jesper Forss Ret Ret 12 6 5 16 Youssef Al Rubayan Ret 6 Ret Ret Ret 5 17 Ivan Brigada Ret 7 Ret 4 18 Tomas Cermak Ret 10 Ret 1 Marco Gambi DNS
Teams standings Only boats with results eligible for points counting towards the teams' championship are shown here. Pos Team BoatNo. QAT CHN MID ABU SHA Points 1 Qatar Team 1 1 1 DSQ 5 2 118 2 Ret 4 1 2 3 2 CTIC China Team 7 2 Ret 2 1 1 78 8 7 10 Ret 13 8 3 Mad Croc BaBa Racing Team 11 Ret 8 3 4 4 46 12 5 7 9 11 Ret 4 Motorglass F1 Team 18 5 8 10 9 41 23 DNS 24 4 Ret 5 6 5 5 Team Nautica 50 6 Ret 11 7 DNS 32 51 Ret 2 6 8 Ret 6 Team Abu Dhabi 5 3 9 Ret 28 6 9 3 Ret 7 F1 Atlantic Team/Interpass/GC 9 Ret 6 Ret Ret Ret 21 10 3 DNS DNS Ret 7 8 Team Sweden 14 Ret Ret 4 Ret Ret 14 15 Ret Ret 12 6 9 Caudwell Racing 33 Ret 7 Ret 5 34 Ret 10 Ret
References
External links The official website of the UIM F1 H2O World Championship The official website of the Union Internationale Motonautique