The 2014 season was supposed to be a brave new era for Formula 1. The introduction of hybrid turbo engines saw the teams break new ground in innovation. Young, exciting new drivers like Kevin Magnussen and Daniil Kvyat joined five former world champions on the starting grid. Even after it became clear that Mercedes had the fastest car by some distance, the battle between their two drivers seemed set to give us a Prost/Senna-esque battle for the title, with wheel-to-wheel racing dominating the early contests. Yet the season would become embroiled in controversy both on and off the track, with complaints about the safety and responsible financial running of the sport coming to the fore, while the much-touted new track in Sochi failed to impress even leaving aside political complaints about F1's involvement. The last two months of the season have swallowed up much of the goodwill that had been earned early on, leaving what may go down in history as F1's darkest season for some years - and raising serious questions about its future. Perhaps we should have taken the warning from the first race. Indeed in retrospect Nico Rosberg's victory - after his team-mate retired on the first lap with engine failure - seems like an appropriate mirror to the season's end. Yet it is easy to forget that before the season had begun we had already had a preview of the off-track nonsense that would dog the season, with fan outrage over plans to award the last race double points in a bid to keep things competitive, while Daniel Ricciardo's disqualification from the Grand Prix raised questions about the new regulations. These were dwarfed by arguments about the noise of the new engines, a talking point for some weeks even afterwards, with the sport's ostensible leader Bernie Ecclestone among those who felt the new cars were 'too quiet for F1', while others like Christian Horner pointed out that the major priority, that of racing, was being lost amid the waffle about engine noises. This point was proven in the coming races, as the grid combined to create some exciting racing on track. While Hamilton dominated in Malaysia, the rest of the grid managed to keep their sponsors happy, with the Hulkenberg and Alonso's battle for fifth dominating TV coverage with Massa's defence against his team-mate Bottas not far off; in Bahrain, meanwhile, Hamilton and Rosberg fought a long battle for the lead which managed to distract from the now annual controversy surrounding the authoritarian government of the country. Daniel Ricciardo bounced back from his disqualification to beat his team-mate on multiple occasions, surprising punters who had expected him to be Vettel's #2; while Kvyat and Magnussen made their presence known with a series of strong finishes. After Hamilton and Rosberg fought another battle in Spain, with Mercedes pledging to keep their drivers fighting for the excitement of viewers, things were looking optimistic. Unfortunately, it was becoming increasingly clear that teams other than Mercedes, including F1's former elite were struggling. While Magnussen had secured a podium for Mclaren in the opening race, their form had suffered since; Ferrari, meanwhile, were scrapping for points despite the best efforts of team leader Fernando Alonso, with Raikkonen in particular struggling. Lotus, who had competed for the World Championship in the previous season, were firmly rooted at the back along with 20-year veterans of the grid Sauber, who would ultimately end up with no points after a season of struggle. This led to a series of swift appointments: Stefano Domenicali was sacked at the Italian giants, while Mclaren poached Peter Prodromou from Red Bull, but there was no upturn in form for many of the teams; by the season's end, only Mclaren had shown much sign of improvement, and their improvement had come in inverse proportion to the form of their protege, who was beaten with increasing frequency by his more experienced team-mate. Monaco was the race that sparked the powder keg. Rosberg, ahead going into his second Q3 run, locked up into Mirabeau, triggering a yellow flag that invalidated his team-mate's lap. He would go on to win the race, to growls of frustration from Hamilton, who felt he had done so deliberately (a charge I refute, but one that Rosberg took full advantage of regardless). Meanwhile, incredibly, Jules Bianchi of Marussia managed to haul his car, which up until that point had been a second and a half off even the Saubers, into ninth place, propelling the tiny Marussia team to their first points in Formula One. It was a great moment. As the sport headed to Canada, there was even a renewed sense of optimism: it looked like the championship battle had been blown wide open, while at the back, things were starting to look up for the backmarkers. Canada, sadly, was a damp squib, but worse than that, it added fuel to the fire. Hamilton and Rosberg both hit technical difficulties, but Rosberg nursed his to the end while Hamilton retired. Hamilton would then toil in qualifying over the next few races with braking issues taking him out of Q3 in Germany and a fire relegating him to the back row in Hungary, and while he was able to fight back to beat Rosberg in the latter, it felt like fans were being deprived of potentially good racing, a factor that would repeat itself in later races, such as Singapore, where Rosberg would retire with gremlins of his own. In contrast to the overtaking exploits of drivers like Ricciardo, the battle at the front was disappearing. The sport then took a descent into farce when Scuderia Toro Rosso announced their first appointment for the 2015 season: Max Verstappen, then only sixteen years old, and an F3 rookie at that, would be jumping into an F1 car. While I err on the side that his talent, not his age, should be the only mitigating factor, the fact that a teenager who is not legally able to drive in certain countries would be loosed in the pinnacle of motorsport did not do the public image of the sport any good, with various team principals weighing in on the issue and keeping the story - and the negative image of F1 - firmly in the press. This was increased when rumours began to swell about other drivers on the grid, such as Button, who looked set to be replaced by Alonso at Mclaren, with the loss of experienced drivers like Button placed in stark contrast to the unproven upstart joining the grid in his place. Even after F1 returned from its summer break, with tempers simmering and uncertainty hovering over several teams, there was no end to the off-track posturing. A fairly innocuous racing incident spiralled into a mass controversy after Hamilton and Rosberg collided on the second lap of the Belgian Grand Prix, leaving a furious Hamilton 29 points behind his team-mate. The next two weeks were spent debating who was in the right, as Mercedes desperately tried damage control on the situation that was threatening to get out of hand. Hamilton would win in Italy after a mistake by Rosberg, but such had been the level of farce F1 had descended into that fans started to debate if Rosberg had been asked to throw the race for his team-mate. Long-time Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo resigned shortly afterwards, with speculation mounting that Alonso was leaving and amid a political battle at Fiat - not aiding a team that was increasingly languishing in the middle of the grid. This was made even worse when limits on radio use and bans of certain phrases were announced. While it is true that FOM had identified a key problem with F1 racing - the over-involvement of race engineers to the detriment of the spectacle - the scale of the sweeping changes initially announced led to their being scaled back almost instantly. Fans responded with near-universal derision at the poor wording of the rules, not helped when, in the next race at Singapore, it was almost impossible to actually tell the difference between what had occurred previously, proving that the rules were little more than waffle that had only increased the image that the sport was in crisis. This was not helped by another potentially good race being lost, after Rosberg retired with a faulty wiring loom having qualified just seven thousandths off Hamilton's time. All that, though, was nothing compared to what was to come. In Japan, Hamilton would win again, coping best with the poor conditions to close the gap on Rosberg, but the race was marred by Jules Bianchi's life-threatening crash as he hit the crane out to recover Adrian Sutil's stricken Sauber. The outpouring of grief from the F1 community was vast, as fans waited anxiously for news from Bianchi's family and the hospital in Japan where he was being treated. While Marussia rallied to make the next race in Sochi, a pallor hung over the whole paddock, not helped when Max Chilton - the only driver racing for Marussia - retired early on. With moods already downcast, the Russian Grand Prix was a shockingly tedious affair, enlivened mainly by shots of Bernie Ecclestone enjoying the race with Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin. That Marussia subsequently went into administration was saddening. No! we all thought as one. This isn't how the story was supposed to end! That their fellow back-markers Caterham ended up joining them, on the other hand, is nothing short of disgusting. We witnessed two races with only 18 cars on the grid, the stewards scrambling to find a way to make qualifying work in the absence of the expected number of cars, while the sport's hierarchy did nothing to help, consigning Marussia to the scrapheap and leaving Caterham seeking crowd-funding just to get to Abu Dhabi. It was telling that, as we went into Abu Dhabi, the double points had been reduced to a comparatively minor concern, especially since Hamilton would have wrapped the championship up were it not for an unfortunate spin in Brazil. And, in the end, he did win, finally making up for the six lean years since his first - but we were deprived of the contest it should have been when Rosberg began to struggle with his energy recovery system halfway through the race. While Abu Dhabi does have a tendency to produce some dull racing, this was worse than that - it was anticlimactic. It seems almost disingenuous to discuss the positives of the season, but there are a few. The younger drivers, for one - Kvyat, graduating to Red Bull next year, appears a very real if unrefined talent, while future team-mate Ricciardo rocked the boat by surprising Vettel. Bottas at Williams, too, which bodes well for future WDCs. The new regulations have worked well too, allowing the racing to be closer together, and we appear to be moving towards a more consistent method of stewarding which will hopefully leave racing incidents unpunished where possible, allowing the teams to go racing. It is, however, difficult to ignore the cost of most of this - most notably, that Bianchi will not be among the young drivers graduating to top cars, as while his condition has improved enough for him to move to France, he remains (as of this writing) in a coma from which he may never wake up, a saddening reminder of the sport's dangers. Worse still are the unanswered questions. Leaving aside the unconfirmed speculation about seats for next year, which suggest that Jenson Button and Jean-Eric Vergne may not be with us despite excellent performances, there is the issue of Caterham. Their return for Abu Dhabi was pleasing, but that was a one-off - their appearance in Melbourne next year is entirely dependent on finding a buyer who, given their track record, may not be forthcoming. Sauber and Lotus are struggling, too, with fears they may be next on the scrapheap - and it is not only at the back of the grid that there are fundamental issues, either. With some talking about the possibility of running third cars, Ferrari once again descending into bickering and infighting, while Red Bull are under investigation over their front wing. Only Mercedes, it seems, has survived the season unscathed, but they spent hundreds of millions on their engine. The fundamental truth that cannot be avoided is that F1 as we know it is limping, and not just the teams. Long-time F1 ambassador Bernie Ecclestone - a figure who has courted controversy - recently came out and said that he didn't see the point in appealing to young fans through social media - just weeks after #ForzaJules trended worldwide. It was an unwise comment from a figure who has made a living out of making them, and with double points set to be dropped after just one year, Ecclestone's place in the sport is unclear. The damage is done, however, for when he makes comments such as those he further alienates not only the troubled teams who make up the competition, but the potential audience whose advertising revenue keeps the sport afloat at all. But why should spectators watch a sport that fails to protect its competitors, when even the one good draw - the racing - is being lost amid a sea of controversy and misunderstandings? As Lewis Hamilton crossed the line in Abu Dhabi to win his second World Championship, I couldn't help but feel that the race he had just won perfectly encapsulated the season that had come before. A race dogged by ultimately pointless off-track controversy, in which we had had the greatly-hyped prospect of a battle for the world championship taken from us by the mechanical issues which had struck one Mercedes car; a race where four-fifths of the grid were unable to compete anywhere near the front due to the sheer dominance of the Mercedes car - if they were able to compete at all; a race where the fireworks at the finish line masked the fact that a season which started with such potential, and started with a potentially fascinating battle for the title, had ultimately gone across the line with a pathetic whimper. As the teams turn their attentions immediately to next year with the Abu Dhabi test, with question marks still remaining over whether some of them will still be there next year, the question has to be asked - has F1 learned its lessons? Because if it has not, we may not be spectators next year, but witnesses to the sport's death. I know we've got a thread but I've wanted to post this since the race in full, in order to fully express my thoughts, rather than being restricted to just 'awards', though I'll fill in my thoughts on those too. Thoughts appreciated. EDIT: I think it's pretty indicative of how much **** has gone on this season that I completely forgot to include Ecclestone's bribery charges...
And the award for biggest post ever on any forum on the internet goes to:... I think the season started poorly. Red bull cheating, the cars sounding crap and unreliable. A one sided championship again just different team. The race promoter in a bribery court case. It was a bit of switch off. It then got interesting in the middle. Rosberg might have a chance. Rise sir ricciardo. Williams are back. Hamilton wins in Silverstone. Then the end was like a dagger to the heart. Rosberg and Hamilton clash and fall out. Putin and Bernie. Bianchi in suzuka. Marussia and Caterham go bust. Rosberg s car goes boom. I hope 2015 is a multi team season or this is going to get painful
All of the above will be forgotten if 2015 starts off well. Very few seasons are without controversy, on-track and off-track. Teams come and go, drivers retire and new ones come in. Unfortunately every so often a reminder is given of what a dangerous sport it can be. Without the inter team battle of the Mercs, it would have been dull. Mercedes should be praised for allowing their drivers to have a good crack at each other. RBR or Ferrari would have called the fight off early in the season. Roll on 2015.
The season started and ended as a mirror image. A merc storming away as the other breaks down. Red Bull breaking the rules and getting DSQ'd. Could have been such a season, but everyone who has any power as done all they can to ruin F1. Team principles, FIA, FOM, Bernie, all putting F1 in a bad light for no reason at all other than selfish greed.
A depressing read, but I have to agree with most of it. For me, the negatives were summed up by the BBC's brief and casual reporting of the news of Bianchi's return to France, (compared with their coverage of trivial non-news), and the fact that the championship was ultimately decided by which Mercedes failed in the last race. It's becoming a habit to hope for a more interesting season next year. Roll on 2015...
Wow! TomTom: this is a superb synopsis of the 2014 season. You've chronologically nut-shelled it whilst including some good, 'reference-worthy' detail – very useful to anyone taking a casual interest in F1. Please see note below. In my opinion, this sort of contribution should extend beyond the ordinary membership of the forum. I came with coffee and half an hour to spare to catch up with things here. Landed on this thread first, so will have to check out other threads later. Just as well I had half an hour, eh? … Many thanks.- - -o0o- - -Note to moderators Does this forum still send up 'articles' to some higher place? I'm pretty sure this occurred in the early days of not606. I find it difficult to imagine a more thoroughly deserving example than Tom's opening post. [Edit: once again, I find myself unable to use the 'rep' system. Please; could someone else substitute for my seemingly permanent incapacity?! Thanks in advance. ]
If the OP was in a nutshell then tomtom must have some big nuts... erm... I dont know. I think there was some people with the special power of doing this. And back in the day All moderators did have the power but im not sure what the procedure is now. I seem to think BLS may have had the power?? (I believe the function was to send it to NewsNow.co.uk) The rep thing is frustrating isnt it? Kudos should be sent when kudos is deserved Edit: I have sent rep on your behalf
Yeah, TomTom's post is so comprehensive it could form the basis of a book. When I typed 'nutshell', I must have been thinking of coconuts rather than pistachios! And thanks for the rep thing, Bando: never mind the fact that it is well-written; he deserves it for such a mammoth effort alone!
Your kind words are appreciated, cosi (and all). Though it is quite funny that there is *still* stuff that slipped my mind. Most notably, I think a correction might be in order about the team radio rules now that those are scrapped (again)! The main thing that brought this on, I will freely admit, is Ecclestone's comments about not needing young fans. It might seem petty, but as someone who was reasonably excited for the finale it killed my enthusiasm, primarily because it added to a lot of feelings I'd already had - especially regarding Marussia and the raw emotion of Bianchi's crash. Kind of the straw that broke the camel's back, so to speak. Ecclestone's complete disregard for his audience (and make no mistake, that is *exactly* what he expressed, backtracking be damned) just made me further despise the man, and the problem is that, for better or for worse, he has essentially become the public representation of Formula 1 over the past decade. Thus, it's quite hard to disentangle one's love of Formula 1 from the politics that it has increasingly become entangled in this season; not helped by the continuing struggles one faces to watch it due to the debacle that is pay-TV. I think the winter might rejuvenate my enjoyment in the sport, especially once we have a clearer idea of what is going on next year. The announcement that the standing restarts and double points have been repealed is good (though again - why were they proposed in the first place? Why did it take a backlash to cancel something that is clearly monumentally stupid?), and the prospect of having two former WDCs attempting to rebuild their careers will either provide a masterclass in F1 or glorious, glorious schadenfreude, at least. I tend to write these sorts of long posts very occasionally. I wanted to do one last year on Webber's retirement but I was always too tired or too busy to actually accomplish it. dear Autosport journalists who obviously lurk here secretly: I take payment by cash, cheque, or chocolate
Your original post deserves all the praise it's getting TomTom and, as you probably know, I share your frustration with the state of the sport. Funnily enough though, I felt more disgusted with things after last season, even though the political side of things has deteriorated further this year. I actually feel more optimistic now though because there seems to be a more widespread anger towards Ecclestone and a clearer sense of his decadence, in every sense of the word. It's strange to view this from the outside, from where Bernie's pronouncements appear increasingly detached from any reality most plebs would recognise but then to hear Lewis giving Ecclestone's continuing leadership a most fulsome endorsement in a BBC video interview. My first reaction was, WTF? but then I read about the reasons for Matiacci's replacement at Ferrari with the more Bernie-friendly Tobacco-man and Lewis's comments made more sense: however unhinged Bernie may appear to us, no one dare go against him; his power remains almighty. But for how long? I expect the political/financial situation will only get worse next year. As global audience figures continue to fall, how can that possibly bring more sponsorship to those teams who need it most? Moving more and more into pay-TV was always going to shrink the audience and a refusal to engage with or exploit the possibilities of social media is a huge opportunity lost. I can't help wondering if there are not ways to attract more young people through the possibilities of gaming, but not being a gamer myself this is just vague conjecture on my part. It's hard for me to see how he can sustain, let alone nurture, such an money-guzzling sport on a global scale through dodgy deals for rights and new races or the promotion of luxury goods and services that only a tiny fraction of people can afford. As ASC said, controversies come and go and every year we have them but it seems to me that there's a general trend here, not just one new controversy after another but a real, ongoing decadence.
Is part of the problem that the setup of the sport is now so flawed, that Bernie thinks the only way to keep the outside world interested is to deliberately create controversies? Is all of this just an organized campaign to keep F1 in the papers in between races?
Yeah, he loves that trick of saying something shocking when there's no racing on but his actions speak louder: who cares who wins the WDC as long as the title goes to the final race for TV purposes? As you say, the whole set-up is so flawed, the formula is ever more contorted to compensate for previous contortions, and so on... Something will have to give sooner or later. Maybe it's unfair to single out Bernie and F1, you only have to look at FIFA and Blatter in football or the Olympics to see the level of corruption that exists at the top level of sport in general, but in most sports there's only so much you can tinker with the rules so the action of the games themselves remains more or less intact.
