Motors The Bit-Tech Formula 1 2014 Thread - Season Complete

I actually enjoyed that.
Sure, once Nico hit trouble, the WDC was decided, but there were good moments there (not least of all an emotional Lewis before the podium):
Button clearly suspected that it's his last race. Him doing doughnuts and the pre-race interviews indicated that.
The STRs had some great moments of fighting back there.
Nico Rosberg being allowed to finish was also nice (though I had to think "Why box him now? there's 2 laps to go, and he clearly wants to finish").
Nico taking the high road was also nice.

All in all, I am happy that the double points CRAP didn't alter the results.
Also: Ferrari really need a better car next yer:
http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2014/11/23/caterham-close-ferraris-pace-abu-dhabi/

 

Season been fun at least to watch.

Mercedes if it not for reliability would of won all 19 races, not just there engine that is good though they easily have the best chasis and they may even have the best aero. Lewis will be happy with the drivers title, Nico will likely have another chance next year.

Williams a great return to form for one of the older teams on the grid, Bottas looks like a future world champ, Massa will be pleased with his form this year and has looked a much improved driver after leaving Ferrari.

Ferrari another shocking season, poor engine, poor chasis, poor aero. Kimi has never been at it all year and with Alonso going i really do wonder where the points will come from if there car is poor again.

McLaren the year started good and they seemed competitive at some tracks. They badly in need of a aero / chasis person. I'd say it's goodbye Jenson would not be surprised if neither driver is kept on though.

Red bull have had a strange season they seem to have spent most of it blaming someone else or moaning about someone else. Not sure that's how you run a race winning team. Riccardo has had a great year with him been around to clean up the Mercedes breakdowns. Vettel has looked out of sorts all year still not 100% he gets the car.

Fun season would of been very boring if Mercedes did not let there drivers race so thankfully they did. Hopefully the competition closes the gap. Think my big worry is that they remove the engine regs and then Mercedes go even further clear.

 

I reckon Merc told Nico to box because Lewis was moments away from lapping him - I think they were trying to spare him that. Credit to him though, he wanted to see it through.

 

That was my feeling as well...
That said - they could just have asked him.

 

Think they wanted him to box so Lewis would turn his car back up to full to counter Massa. As it basically took them to say Nico is no longer a concern for him to start pushing once he did the gap never went down again.

Any normal race and I think they would of boxed the car on safety grounds. They will also be lucky to escape a penalty for all the instructions he was getting. Sky sports was discussing that during the race.

 

Once They told Lewis that Nico was no longer a concern, he turned his car DOWN from what I understood. Telling his pit crew "Don't turn my car up please, just tell me when I need to push" - preserving the car and ensuring he gets home rather than trying to cover Massa (which was a moderate threat at most - Lewis was lapping substantially slower than he could. Also, as a mate of mine always says: catching up is only the first bit.)

 

Would have been inconsequential to give a penalty, even if Lewis would have been dropped to third or lower from it Williams would not have been able to score enough points to catch Red Bull in the Constructors and Nico was out of the points anyway so Lewis would have won the Drivers title regardless.

 

The revised radio ban meant messages regarding the reliability of the car are allowed.
Considering the issues he was having at the time I would imagine the FIA would have considered all messages directly related to the technical problem and therefore allowed.