The 2014 Formula Acceleration 1 season was a formula racing series that started over 25–27 April in Portimao, Portugal and ended over 17–19 October at the TT Circuit Assen, Netherlands.[1] The series featured 12 teams that represented the nations in which they were founded. Their drivers did not have that nationality per sé, but the car represented the flag. This concept was similar to the one used in the former A1 Grand Prix series, whose vehicles were used in FA1. To attract young, yet serious, racing drivers, the 2014 winning driver/team was promised the full budget for the 2015 FA1 season and a test day in a GP2 Series car in Abu Dhabi.[2]
The championship was dominated by Nigel Melker and Mirko Bortolotti, taking eight of the ten race victories between them. Melker clinched the championship title after Bortolotti skipped the final round at Assen. Third place in the championship went to Richard Gonda, who achieved a trio of podium finishes but without victory. Indeed, the only other driver to take a race victory besides Melker and Bortolotti was Felix Rosenqvist, who completed a double at Monza; he finished the season in fifth place, three points behind Sebastian Balthasar. Netherlands won the nations' championship by 10.5 points ahead of Italy.
On 22 December 2014, it was announced that the series would be merged with Auto GP in 2015, to ensure that at least 18 cars will participate in each race. It was also announced that the 2015 champion will be granted a Formula One test.[5][6]
Calendar
The 2014 calendar consisted of five race weekends. Originally, nine were planned. However, Acceleration in Zolder, Acceleration at Paul Ricard, and Acceleration at Grobnik were cancelled on 27 June 2014[7] and Acceleration at Hungaroring was cancelled on 20 August 2014.[8]
All cars were mechanically identical and were built with reducing costs in mind, which led to an approximate price for the whole season of €450,000. FA1 used the Lola B05/52, used in A1 Grand Prix between 2005 and 2008.[2]
Points were awarded to the top 10 drivers in both races, regardless of whether the driver finished or not. The pole-sitter for each race received one point, and one point was also given to the driver who set the fastest lap in each race. At the end of the season, the FA1 Drivers' title was awarded to the driver with the highest number of points. There was also a Nations' championship, which grouped the represented nations by totalling the average of the points scored by the drivers of the same nationality (e.g.: with 5 Dutch drivers competing in a race, the Netherlands scored in that race the addition of the points scored by each driver divided by 5).[2][16]
^"Acceleration Events Europe Motor Race Auto GP MW V6 Trophy 600 and 1000 family event Resources and Information". Archived from the original on 9 April 2014. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
^ a b c"FA1 Driver Information" (PDF). Acceleration14.com.
^"Acceleration Events Europe Motor Race Auto GP MW V6 Trophy 600 and 1000 family event Resources and Information". acceleration14.com. Archived from the original on 17 May 2014. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
^"Acceleration Events Europe Motor Race Auto GP MW V6 Trophy 600 and 1000 family event Resources and Information". acceleration14.com. Archived from the original on 8 April 2014. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
^Kaligis, Bas (22 December 2014). "Auto GP en FA1 bundelen krachten in nieuw kampioenschap" [Auto GP and FA1 join forces in new championship] (in Dutch). RaceXpress. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
^"Auto GP set for Formula Acceleration merger in bid to boost grids". Autosport. 22 December 2014. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
^"Seven events for Acceleration 2014". Acceleration14.com. 27 June 2014. Retrieved 28 June 2014.
^"Race programmed cancelled for Acceleration Hungary". Acceleration14.com. 21 August 2014. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
^"Entry List Portugal". Acceleration14.com.
^"Entry List Spain". Acceleration14.com.
^"Entry List Germany". Acceleration14.com.
^"Entry List Italy". Acceleration14.com.
^"Results Acceleration 2014". Raceresults.nu.
^"Entry List Netherlands" (PDF). Acceleration14.com.
^"Instagram post by Picho Toledano". Picho Toledano. 26 April 2014. Archived from the original on 25 December 2021.