![Philippe Chiappe (2009, crop 1)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Philippe_Chiappe_%282009%2C_crop_1%29.jpg)
The 2014
UIM
uim (short for "universal input method") is a multilingual input method framework. Applications can use it through so-called ''bridges''.
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F1 H
2O 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
Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area.
...
and
Sharjah
Sharjah (; ar, ٱلشَّارقَة ', Gulf Arabic: ''aš-Šārja'') is the third-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi, forming part of the Dubai-Sharjah-Ajman metropolitan area.
Sharjah is the capital o ...
, 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
Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...
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 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
Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...
. 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
Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...
the previous year. For the first race in
Qatar
Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...
, 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
Sami Seliö (born 5 May 1975 in Lohja, Finland) is a Finland, Finnish inshore powerboat racing, powerboat racer and two-time Formula 1 Powerboat World Championship, Formula 1 Powerboat World Champion. Seliö races for the Mad Croc BaBa Racing team ...
and Filip Roms continued the all-Finnish line-up at the Mad Croc team for 2014
whilst
Marit Strømøy Marit is a Scandinavian female given name equivalent to Margaret. It may refer to:
*Mette-Marit, Crown Princess of Norway (née Tjessem Høiby; (born 1973), wife of Crown Prince Haakon, heir apparent to the throne of Norway
* Marit Aarum (1903&ndas ...
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
A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directio ...
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 Slovakian Tomas Cermak who was returning to the sport for the first time since
2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
.
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
Mercury commonly refers to:
* Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun
* Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg
* Mercury (mythology), a Roman god
Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to:
Companies
* Merc ...
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
Sharjah (; ar, ٱلشَّارقَة ', Gulf Arabic: ''aš-Šārja'') is the third-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi, forming part of the Dubai-Sharjah-Ajman metropolitan area.
Sharjah is the capital o ...
, with 2014 proving to be their most successful year.
Season calendar
![Countries with F1 Powerboat races in 2014](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/Countries_with_F1_Powerboat_races_in_2014.png)
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
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
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
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
, 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.
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.
Drivers standings
Teams standings
Only boats with results eligible for points counting towards the teams' championship are shown here.
References
External links
The official website of the UIM F1 H2O World Championship
{{World championships in 2014
F1 Powerboat World Championship
The Formula 1 Powerboat World Championship (also F1) is an international motorboat racing competition for powerboats organised by the Union Internationale Motonautique
The Union Internationale Motonautique (UIM) is the international governing ...
Formula 1 Powerboat seasons
F1 Powerboat World Championship
The Formula 1 Powerboat World Championship (also F1) is an international motorboat racing competition for powerboats organised by the Union Internationale Motonautique
The Union Internationale Motonautique (UIM) is the international governing ...