Special feature - McLaren lead the way in laps completed over the course of the 2014 Formula One season

(McLaren-Honda)

McLaren-Honda’s Jenson Button completed the most number of laps of any Formula One driver in 2014. The 2009 world champion managed to complete 1120 laps.

There were a total of 1,134 laps completed over the course of the season, so what Button achieved in 2014 was phenomenal when you take into consideration the new era of Formula One that began this year with the new 1.6 litre V6 turbo charged power units.

Button failed to finish just two Grand Prix when he retired from the Singapore night race with a power box failure on lap 52 of the 60 lap race and the Bahrain night race when he retired from the race with clutch problem with just three laps remaining in the race.

Button, the most experienced driver on the Formula One grid scored points in 13 of the 19 Grand Prix this season. Button failed to score a victory for McLaren in 2014 and score just one podium finish which came at the season opening race in Melbourne, Australia where he finished the race in third place behind team mate Kevin Magnussen.

Button’s 2014 McLaren team mate Kevin Magnussen completed the second highest number of laps, the Dane managed 1,111 laps for the Woking based outfit during his debut season in Formula One. Magnussen’s best result also came at the season opening Australian Grand Prix where he finished the race in second place behind race winner Nico Rosberg after being promoted following Daniel Ricciardo’s disqualification.

Magnussen suffered just one retirement in 2014 when he retired from the Bahrain Grand Prix after suffering an identical clutch issue as Button.

The following is a list of the combined laps completed per team over the course of the 2014 Formula One season.

McLaren Mercedes 2,231

Scuderia Ferrari 2,149

Mercedes AMG PETRONAS F1 Team 2,111

Infiniti Red Bull Racing 2,065

Williams Martini Racing Team 2,064

Sahara Force India Formula One Team 1,927

Scuderia Toro Rosso 1,895

Lotus F1 Team 1,800

Sauber F1 Team 1,791

Marussia F1 Team 1,523

Caterham F1 Team 1,432

NOTE – The Marussia F1 Team missed the final three Grand Prix of the season, while the Caterham F1 Team missed two of the final three Grand Prix after both team’s entered administration. The Caterham F1 Team were able to raise the money necessary through their crowd funding project which allowed them to race.

© Ben Johnston 2014