Well, the "title showdown" turned out to be a damp squib in terms of Rosberg and Hamilton going at it to the death.
The race itself was pretty dull, as most in Abu Dhabi are. The title was decided at the start when Lewis made an amazing start and Rosberg bogged down.
Rosberg was very gracious in defeat and wounds seemed to have healed for now between the two men.
Nico himself said that he didn't want people to talk about his ERS failure, as it wouldn't have made a difference anyway as Lewis was leading and going well at the time.
Spa - The turning point
The drivers championship was won and lost in Spa, rather after Spa. However much Lewis said he came out ready for war after this, one could easily say that Nico lost his mental edge in the fallout.His team completely blamed him for what in my mind was a mere racing incident. They fined him and told him off rather publicly. Add to that the fans opening and happily booing him. It clearly affected him. His races were littered with errors after Spa.
By the time he'd pulled himself together again with an absolutely sterling race weekend in Brazil, it was all probably to little too late to stop the Hamilton Juggernaut.
Both guys will come back stronger next year, but I expect Nico to run Lewis even closer than 2014. You heard it hear first. Nico Rosberg - 2015 World Champion!
Driver of the year
I've already mentioned Bottas and Ricciardo as clear contenders. Obviously Hamilton is clear choice for the award, but maybe that's too easy given he won the title?Lewis has shown a certain level of maturity in his driving and attitude outside the car this year.
Motorsport magazine actually had Alonso as their driver of the year, and that is hard to argue with. Ok, there were no headline grabbing wins and just one podium. The Ferrari he is driving this year is the worst car he has had in his 5 years there and yet he still drags performances out of it that his team-mate gets nowhere near to. It was the 4th, possibly even 5th fastest car at times this year. Ok, Kimi struggled with balancing the car all year, but Alonso absolutely destroyed Kimi 16-3 in terms of races done better in (the best out of all the teams). You'd say Massa kept Alonso on his toes more than Kimi.
1. Daniel Ricciardo
2. Bottas/ Hamilton
3. Alonso
4. Rosberg
5. Button
Damp Squib of the year
One word. Vettel.Possibly one of the naffest title defences in history. Ok, you don't have the best car to win the title, but at least get a race win or two. No? Get trashed by your team-mate and run away? Ok then.
The true greats always adapt. Vettel has to go to Ferrari and blow Kimi away, that should be the first thing on his to do list.
Squabble of the year
Erm, any overtakes involving Ricciardo. That dude can race!!Also, the Alonso vs Vettel duel at Silverstone. Epic! Even more epic were the verbals over the radio.
To 2015 we go. We hope to see JB still at McLaren alongside Alonso next season - that could be fun. Alonso...doing a deal with the devil that is Dennis again.....hmmmmmm.
I need to purchase some Alonso/ McLaren merchandise, whenever they get around to announcing it.
Enjoy the next 3 months with no F1 :-(. Time for an F1 book and the review of the year dvd.
A picture, as Fernando Alonso leaves Ferrari after 5 years, of one of the many memorable moments he had there.... a win in the wet in Malaysia in 2012 (pic from bbc I think).
If he reads this, I invite my esteemed co-blogger to reply.
