As the 2014 Formula One season heads into its summer break, Sport360 takes a look at the best and worst of season so far…

BEST DRIVER
Lewis Hamilton

Hamilton might be in arrears in the championship race but, were it not for some mechanical problems with his Mercedes, he might well be streets ahead.

Race after race he has been superb. In Hungary, for example, it didn’t even matter that he had to start from the pit lane. Even there he had the belief and speed to at least aspire for a podium place.

BEST ROOKIE
Kevin Magnussen

It’s a toss-up between Kevin Magnussen at McLaren and Daniil Kvyat at Toro Rosso. Magnussen’s drive to second place at the Australian Grand Prix was arguably the most stand-out performance for a rookie – the first one to podium on his debut since Jacques Villeneuve in 1996.

That said, Magnussen has had some poor drives. As for Kvyat, he does not lack for talent but he has been let down by reliability issues in recent weeks.

BEST RACE
Canadian Grand Prix

There have been some good races to choose from. Lewis Hamilton’s ding-dong battle with Nico Rosberg in Bahrain was a case in point but that in turn was eclipsed by events in Montreal, one of the most engaging grands prix for years.

That Daniel Ricciardo came out on top was unexpected on a day when Hamilton retired, Rosberg lost power and Felipe Massa and Sergio Perez had an almighty coming together.

BIGGEST FLOP
Kimi Raikkonen

There was excitement up and down the pitlane on the eve of the season when Raikkonen,so impressive on his return to F1 with Lotus, was paired with Fernando Alonso at Ferrari.

It was like mixing ice with fire. Raikkonen has been alarmingly off the pace of his Ferrari teammate. Whereas Alonso lies fourth in the standings with 115 points, Raikkonen is a lowly 12th with a mere haul of 27 leaving Ferrari questioning whether they were right to re-sign him.

BIGGEST CRASH
Esteban Gutierrez

The Mexican was minding his own business coming into turn one when Pastor Maldonado, emerging from the pits, braked late and hit the side of Gutierrez’s Sauber, which flipped dangerously, performing a barrel roll and damaging the top of his car.

Gutierrez was unhurt thankfully and had the wherewithal moments later to say over the race radio, “wow, what was that?”

SURPRISE STAR
Daniel Ricciardo

There is not a single sane human being – not even the most passionate member of his fan club – that expected Ricciardo to come out on top over four-time world champion teammate Sebastian Vettel but he has done just that in 2014.

The Australian boasts two wins in the past five races and has sent the nerves jangling at the previously unrattled Mercedes team. He is now edging towards being nearly 50 points clear of Vettel – unthinkable really at the season start.

BEST TEAM
Mercedes

No prizes for guessing the winner of this particular midseason gong. The German team has been streets ahead of everyone else after they got to grips with the new regulations quicker than their rivals, helped in particular by having the best engine on the grid.

Mercedes, on the whole, have generally allowed their drivers to race one another with only one ‘team orders’ row to worry about which is a boost for the fans.

DRIVER STANDINGS

1. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) – 202 points
2. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) – 191
3. Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) – 131
4. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) – 115
5. Valtteri Bottas (Williams) – 95
6. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) – 88
7. Nico Hulkenberg (Force India) – 69
8. Jenson Button (McLaren) – 60
9. Felipe Massa (Williams) – 40
10. Kevin Magnussen (McLaren) – 37
11. Sergio Perez (Force India) – 29
12. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) – 27
13. Jean-Eric Vergne (ST R-Renault) – 11
14. Romain Grosjean (Lotus) – 8
15. Daniil Kvyat (ST R-Renault) – 6
16. Jules Bianchi (Marussia) – 2