The five moments you voted the best of a riveting season
Monday 29 December 2014 15:16, UK
The 2014 F1 season produced many memorable moments with twists and turns throughout the 19 races. We gave you the chance to vote for your moment of the year as part of the recent #AskCrofty Show and here are your top five.
Bahrain GP
The showpiece battle in the grand prix subsequently dubbed ‘Race of the Century’ which saw Mercedes’ title-duelling drivers go wheel-to-wheel for the first time in what would prove to be a season-long scrap for the world title. Traditionally, Bahrain’s Sakhir circuit had rarely been the scene of particularly entertaining racing, but that all changed this year as the desert venue went under the floodlights for the first time to mark its first decade on the calendar.
Nico Rosberg had beaten team-mate Lewis Hamilton to pole for the first time in 2014 in qualifying, but it was the Briton who immediately seized the lead before the first corner of the race. However, unlike at the previous two rounds when Hamilton had raced clear at the front to comfortable wins, Rosberg stuck with him this time and over the course of the riveting 57-lap race mounted a series of bids for the lead. It was Hamilton, however, who prevailed but only after the lead changed hands several times between the duelling Mercedes pair.
Monaco GP
The podium may have been frosty in Monte Carlo, but in the pitlane there were scenes of unparalleled joy as Marussia and Jules Bianchi celebrated their first F1 points. It had taken 83 races, but a bold drive from the young Frenchman saw him finish ninth after starting 19th.
A particularly robust move on Kamui Kobayashi at Rascasse showed how nothing was going to stop Bianchi that Sunday afternoon. The points saw Marussia finish ninth in the Constructors’ Championship and could be the team’s only ever points as their financial struggles continue.
Abu Dhabi GP
He may have needed only a second-place finish in the double points decider to become a two-time world champion, but Hamilton clinched the 2014 crown in fitting style by winning the race in Abu Dhabi, his 11th of a fabulous season.
Although Rosberg had upstaged his team-mate to claim pole position, the all-Mercedes title fight was effectively settled when Hamilton vaulted past the sister W05 within seconds of the red lights going out at the start of the race. From there the Briton enjoyed a steady, comfortable lead before the battle for the crown was officially ended when electrical problems on Rosberg’s car sent the German plummeting down the order from second place. Britain had its first double F1 world champion in four decades.
British GP
A first win at Silverstone for six years had seemed an unlikely prospect for Lewis Hamilton on race-day morning after a miscalculation on his final qualifying run had left him sixth on the grid, five places behind his pole-sitting team-mate Nico Rosberg.
However, the race, to the delight of the packed grandstands, produced a stark reversal of fortunes at Mercedes as Hamilton surged through to win the race while leader Rosberg retired with a gearbox failure.
5. Canadian GP
Just when you thought that his smile couldn’t get any bigger, Daniel Ricciardo beamed like a Cheshire cat as he leapt onto the top step in Montreal to celebrate his maiden F1 win.
As the Mercedes cars hit strife, the Australian was on hand to capitalise with some fantastic overtaking moves and cement his position as a potential future world champion.
