Rate the race: 2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

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What did you think of today’s race? Share your verdict on the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

F1 Fanatic holds polls on each race to find out which fans thought of every race during the season.

Please vote based on how entertaining and exciting you thought the race was, not on how your preferred driver or team performed.

Rate the race out of ten and leave a comment below:

Rate the 2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix out of ten

  • 10 (6%)
  • 9 (5%)
  • 8 (18%)
  • 7 (27%)
  • 6 (21%)
  • 5 (11%)
  • 4 (3%)
  • 3 (4%)
  • 2 (1%)
  • 1 (4%)

Total Voters: 694

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1 = ‘Terrible’, 10 = ‘Perfect’

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2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

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Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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182 comments on “Rate the race: 2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix”

  1. I wouldn’t be surprised if Rosberg ‘accidentally’ kicked the ERS bloke.

  2. I really hope no one gives a crappy score just because Rosberg couldn’t fight with his issues. I think a 7 overall is the best I can give.

    1. 19 percent for 1 out of 10 already :(
      Come on guys, ther was 20 cars, not 2

  3. Worst title decider since I’ve been watching F1.

    1. Ever watched 2006?

      1. Started in 2007, so no:p

        1. What were you watching last year, then? Re-runs of 2012?

        2. Oh no, and that explains a lot.

      2. What’s with 2006?!? It was a better finale, for sure. Massa won, Schumacher’s tyre was cut by Trulli’s car and then MS dropped to last places, but his recovery was pretty awesome, especially he pass on Raikonnen! Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to win the champ.

        1. Not Trulli but by Fisichella. And it was pretty good race considering this year’s finale.

    2. What? Ah well I guess if you remove 2011 & 2013 because they were won before the last race….

    3. You can’t have watched many

    4. Well it’s not Wrestlemania. Title deciders can’t all be decided on the last corner of the last lap of the last race. It was a decent race, not spectacular but a fitting end to an exciting season. Markedly better than 2013 in my opinion.

      1. Well said. Despite the typical hype and fairytale set-up, final race showdowns are just races. Cars spread apart. Teams choose strategies. They are more likely to be straightforward than dramatic. :(

    5. I wouldn’t call it the worst. Even with Rosberg out of the title race, there were battles up and down the field, and Massa closing on Hamilton was exciting to watch.

      It was mid-pack for this season, I thought, and gave a 7. It would have been great to see Rosberg fighting for the win, and I felt gutted for him. It was really nice to hear him tell the team he wanted to cross the line, though.

  4. Prince Harry wanted the attention that Putin stole a while ago?

    1. Don’t be silly. He doesn’t tell the media to focus on him does he?

      1. @baron It’s different because it’s British. Are the Americans brainwashing us too? What do we win when the Americans bomb the ISIS’ oil? I’m sure Cameron does but the people, they don’t win anything. Would Prince Harry come if Lewis was to lose? I think they spoiled the decider, because they feared Lewis would have a problem or a crash.

        1. I think you need to go for a lie down in a cool dark room mate….

        2. What… the….

        3. Does Google Translate have an option for “incoherent rant” -> “English”?

      2. @baron Don’t worry, I was just being silly indeed.
        (although coming onto the radio was a bit much)

    2. Argh, that was so cringey, why did they let him do that? I feel it gives the impression that the royal family are loved by the British public, in truth its just a tourism machine.

      1. I don’t think you can speak on behalf of the British public and their opinion of the monarchy

      2. It was a good bit of fun, why turn it into something political?
        And this particular ‘tourist machine’ served his country in Helmand and pays his taxes and N.I., just the same as you and I.

  5. Its been a great year, and this was a fitting end of season affair, despite double points. At least they didn’t decide it… 9/10

    Congrats to all pilots – those who are staying and those who are going (?) and still thinking of Jules…

  6. Pretty boring race. Ric-Vergne and Alo-But were good fights. Otherwise, everything was extremely boring. 3 points.
    Hulk again was incredible. Too bad, Alonso wasn’t able to fight. Ferrari is a terrible car, and SF is a terrible team. I don’t now what to expect from them next year. They definitely will be worse than Mercedes, McLaren, Red Bull and Williams.

    1. now* to know

    2. I guess it was a decent enough race for Abu Dhabi. Some action, but nothing great. Being the season final helped it a bit too

    3. It had the perfect ingredients, but the resulting concoction was bland. Rosberg being very early on ruled out of reasonable contention was rather anticlimactic, and the Red Bull charge which I had so eagerly anticipated fell rather flat – in part due to poor directing.

      It just didn’t seem like anything was happening, despite having quite a high count I imagine on overtakes. Massa injected some life into proceedings towards the end, though it was inevitable that the Mercedes would have pace in hand.

      By Abu Dhabi standards, it was fairly decent. By 2014 standards, it fell short of expectations. This season lost something intangiable after Japan I feel.

      1. A race like this would have been pretty high last year, I think all the great races have spoiled us. Or have the bad races led us to lower our standards?

  7. Fake weekend, fake championship. There’s too much in stake to get fair sport in business. F1 is professional and that’s in term just business. Mercedes failed Nico on the start failed on the car like Singapore again with strange eletrical glitches, Mercedes couldn’t have made more clear who they wanted to win. What happened this weekend with the RBR thing plus all the mechanicals woes of Nico taint the championship. Lewis didn’t need all the extra help, but people wanted one winner only and marketing just multiplies that effect. As a decider 1 as a race 6.5. As a show 10 as a sport 1.

    1. So… what did you end up rating it?

      1. @pezlo2013 A surprising 6.5, or 10… Or 1. Not sure. I’m just surprised that he thinks Rosberg had more issues that Lewis.

        1. @philereid I think he didn’t watch the same championship. He didn’t watch the first race… and several others. Someone reminds him this championship has 20 races, 11 of them were won by the world champion.

          1. 19 actually :p

    2. You aren’t being serious, are you? You are surely being sarcastic.

    3. You need to go find something else to do for entertainment. Of course you’ll just slag that off as well. Silly statements.

    4. Fake poster.

    5. You do realise that Mercedes would have preferred Rosberg to win right? The stock holders are all German, so the marketing in Germany could’ve been a big opportunity. Also, the workers within the team preferred Rosberg, and according to rumours there was around a 2:8 split in favour of Rosberg to win.

    6. Mercedes failed Nico on the start failed on the car like Singapore again with strange eletrical glitches, Mercedes couldn’t have made more clear who they wanted to win.

      Mercedes have “failed” both drivers throughout the season, by that standard. I think it’s fairly obvious that you are either a Rosberg fan or a Hamilton hater. To suggest that Merc have favoured Lewis is laughable!

      In the end, the only way Rosberg was likely to take this WDC is by Hamilton having a problem. The most likely result with no issues was a 1-2, which would have handed the championship to Hamilton either way.

      In the end, I feel bad for Rosberg. It was not a nice way to end the season. But it was certainly not favouritism.

  8. Sad Rosberg couldn’t fight, but Massa and Ricciardo made it worthwhile. Good overtakes outside of DRS, very good for Abu Dhabi. 9/10

  9. 5/10 – disappointing race – a few good battles but all in all it was meh.

    1. I gave it a 6/10 for the same reasons but my favorite team (FI) did quiet well. and i saw enough batles after positions 1-4

  10. Worst thing about this season: Alonso & Vettel fighting over 10th.

    1. i can see them both doing the same next year. I don’t see neither ferrari or mclaren taking a great leap in performance for the next year…

      1. I can see McLaren taking a leap more than Ferrari right now, even though it’s difficult to make any predictions. But if we were to go on the end of this season, McLaren have a better car. Ferrari have gone backwards. And aren’t they having another new Team Principal? Looking at it right now, I think it may take a year or two at least for them to be fighting for wins.

    2. Best part of the season: Alonso and Vettel fighting…
      Along with any other of the high-profile drivers battling each other… ignore the place and enjoy the battle.

  11. Hopefully next year is better entertainment.

  12. apart from being the last race it was NOT very good, the championship was clear very soon. BUT it is the last gp so it is interesting. congrats Hamilton.

  13. 6 out of 7 (Abu Dhabi only goes up to 7) More interesting race than expected, great drive from Dan

    1. Ha, only goes up to 7! I like that!

    2. Agree @Bullfrog, more interested than expected.

      I gave it a 7/10 as Button, Ricciardo and Bottas, for example, showed some great racing, we had Maldonado’s car summarise his and Lotus season, Massa do the same for Williams – great effort but not enough (yet?) to win, and Red Bull showing their worth too; FI having a good end of year effort and Ferrari showing that they really need to seriously change things if they are to win again. All in all some interest there, even an exciting start (though that stopped all excitement for the win/WDC, effectively).

    3. You are so right, this track needs to be judged on a different scale. Easily the worst on the calendar. All the off camber and slow corners are painful to watch in my opinion. I’d give the race a 6.

    4. Take one look at a satellite picture of Yas Island before they started building it up, say 2006 (I am using Google Earth)

      You have a blank, flat canvas…and you design THAT? Do the staff at Tilke just sit around drinking schnapps out of the bottle playing around with T-square, triangle, and pencil, then when they wake up hung over, vomit on the notes, and make their best-guess copying the sketch into a CAD program?

      So, by that reference, I wonder what the other tracks should be set at.

  14. Very disappointed. Was ready for a grand showdown between Hamilton and Rosberg but instead Rosberg’s mechanical issues ruined our fun. Boring race otherwise with ONLY DRS overtakes without any proper battles or fights. Voted it a 3/10 due to dullness and the anti-climax of the championship.

    1. I seriously doubted the possibility of a ‘battle’ with Rosberg. Hamilton was too good and even if not – the pair have not fought wheel-to-wheel very often this year, considering their car and pace…

    2. @superjosh58 It never looked like it was going to happen though, did it? Hamilton got ahead and Rosberg wasn’t getting closer to him in the 23 laps before he hit trouble.

    3. We have only had showdowns when Hamilton starts behind Rosberg and usually overtakes him. It happened on the first corner. The race was over from turn 1 whatever happened to Rosberg.

      I think people are overestimating Rosberg’s ability to hang with Hamilton in a race. We saw much better fights between Hamilton and Button, because Button is a much better racer.

      1. You’re forgetting about Bahrain and Spain, where the roles were reversed and Nico spent a large portion of the race attacking Hamilton (although without success).

  15. Originally 7/10, certainly one of the better Abu Dhabi grands prix, but -1 for a lack of battle between Rosberg and Hamilton, and half score for double points gave an overall total of 3/10.

    1. @strontium Half score – hehe.

  16. Alonso will now be thinking back on his career and reminiscing. Hamilton has now got more wins and just as many titles as Alonso in 80 less races.

    1. unbelivable! Hamilton wins the championship and his fans fell the need to compare him with ALO? come on! enjoy!

      1. I’m an Alonso fan and the thought crossed my mind too. Guess you can scrap me off the list of Paul2013-approved Alonso fans.

    2. @mashiat Yet for me it is quite clear Alonso is still a bigger asset than Hamilton. If Alonso had had a little bit more luck he could’ve been a five time champion, don’t forget that. Hamilton still needed this insanely fast Mercedes to put him in the hunt.

      1. @xtw I don’t really see your point, you can say the same for Hamilton. A bit more luck and reliability and this could have been Lewis’s 5th title as well (07, 08, 10, 12 and 14.)

        1. @debaser91 & @ju88sy You could give the ’07 title to either of them if they had more luck. But I don’t see how Hamilton needed a bit more luck for ’10, that would effectively be a full race win worth of luck. In ’12 it was all down to reliability but even then he didn’t always perform where Alonso did. Just imagine if Grosjean wasn’t there to hit Alonso off in Spa.

          In the end we can’t really decide where we want to give out some luck like it’s a thing you can actually give but over the time I’ve been watching F1 Alonso has time on time impressed me every season where as Hamilton has not. Hamilton had never scored more than 5 wins in a season except for ’14. Alonso never had such a dominant car in his entire career.

          There is no doubt, for me, Alonso is still the top dog in F1. Then comes a second place shared by Vettel and Hamilton. On that third spot there are several people who all have shown their worth and speed in a F1 car.

          1. Alonso top dog? Not any more! There’s a new dog in town….

          2. “Hamilton had never scored more than 5 wins in a season except for ’14.”

            And Alonso only managed it when he had one of the fastest cars and a subservient/far less talented team mate. Hamilton has generally had to contend with very strong competition which made the chance of scoring more than 6 very remote. The one year where he arguably should have done better in that regard was 2008- where he won 5 races but also had one of the most controversial (still in the eyes of many entirely ridiculous) penalties.

          3. @matt90 completely agreed. There has always been some kind of negative bias towards Hamilton in many fans. And there is some kind of bias toward Alonso (see @xtwl comment) so no matter what he does, he HAS to be the best driver on the grid. No one of them seems to remember that Hamilton has equaled (beaten, on paper) a far more experienced Alonso on his rookie year, on the same car.

            Anyway, Hamilton has something that the other world champions on the grid lack: he is fun. He is emotional, he doesn’t make calculations, he tries it at every corner. He is an old style driver, not a perfectionist, just raw talent. This might have costed him something in the past maybe, yet no wonder he is the driver with most fans in the world at the moment. People love him for how he is. What makes history is not only how much you win, but HOW you do it.

            There is only one driver today, in my opinion, that is capable of being insanely fast and great fun, and that driver is Daniel Ricciardo. I really hope he will get a competitive car soon, would be great to see him and Hamilton fight for the championship (maybe on the same car!)

      2. And Lewis could be a 4 time WDC applying the same, nonsensical argument.

  17. Does anyone know the 0-60 time of Lewis’ start?? That was insane!

    1. Ha! Just a guess but I’d say the length of his car!!

    2. Yea mate start was out of this world!

      Only suiting for a final race where he crowned CHAMPION.

    3. I think that was a 0-60 time of “yes”.

      I was laughing at the NBC coverage, as they misheard Hamilton’s clutch feedback. What I heard was “RPM dropped a bit, but grip was very good”– what they (apparently) heard was “RPM dropped, but grip wasn’t very good”, since they started coming up with all sorts of theories as to what Hamilton must have changed between formation and start-of-race.

      I suspect Hamilton’s “change” was a about 0.5″ more travel on the gas pedal. ;)

  18. 5/10

    A very bad race for a tittle deicder along with a season finale. Actualy gave a +1 for lewis winning the championship because he deserved this.

    Feeling sad for button though. Gonna miss him. And considering this was last race for Alonso and Vettel for Ferrari and RedBull respectively, it was pretty bad.

    Great drive from Ricciardo, Hulkenburg, Massa, Button and obviously Hamilton.

    1. Also voted it a 5. I kind of like McLaren for their heritage and great history of drivers, but this is really disgusting from them. Jenson drove a well-rounded season, beat K-Mag in points and quali and deserves to retire from F1 on his own terms, not swept under the rug when McLaren can get a new toy. I don’t really buy the “K-Mag is a great asset” story, I’m not really that impressed with him after a season and, while a bit unfair, dropping him would be the right decision. McLaren already have a better protege within their own court in Vandoorne. Keep Jenson one more year along with Fernando and see where that leads, then put the youngsters back in gradually when the old hands retire.

      1. Exactly, K-Mag didnt set the world on fire apart from his podium in Australian Gp. Button has been the better driver among the two.

        I wish Jenson just announces tomorrow that he is racing in WEC. Enough of this hanging around. He doesnt need to be treated like this.

        1. Has it been confirmed, yet, that Button will not be in McLaren next year?

  19. 3/10. No exciting on track action really.

    Boring end to a boring season.

    Bring on 2015.

    1. Boring season?

      1. Don’t bite. Let @rcorporon drown in a sea of negativity.

      2. Yeah @brianfrank302 it was boring. Seeing a single team being able to win basically without fail makes for a boring season. Hopefully next season we’ll see a bit more diversity on the podium.

        1. Pat Ruadh (@fullcoursecaution)
          24th November 2014, 10:21

          +1

  20. That was a very boring race… 4/10

  21. – Mercedes and the title: well didn’t expect anything from Rosberg so this wasn’t a let down at all though I do know he couldn’t do anything about his torubles. The title was lost at the start, not because of his troubles.
    – Williams: YES! Been a long time fan of the team and this is what I wanted going into ’15. Maybe next year a race win is on the cards!
    – Guttierez: Good riddance. He doesn’t know what blue flags mean or….?
    – Ricciardo: Man of the season
    – McLaren: Button deserves to stay but I stil feel Magnussen does too.
    – Ferrari: They are only going downhill, maybe Vettel can help them, maybe not…
    – Red Bull: Team of the season for me, just think back about pre-season and where they finished not only today but this year.

    1. Red Bull: Team of the Season??
      I think you forgot Mercedes F1:
      – Built a monster of a car: 18/19 Pole positions and 16 races victories
      – Managed to let their drivers race until the very last race, even after the spa-incident
      – Managed an intense rivalry not to get to much out of hand

      1. @gdewilde BUt that was all expected after pre-season testing. Every sensible person saw they were going to win this with ease, take a lot of wins/poles and fastest laps. They built the best car and then just did what was expected. Red Bull on the other hand had enormous troubles but managed to turn it around in a second place at the end. You could even argue Mercedes failed, I mean they let a car that is a second a lap slower win three races.

        1. Only in some kind of warped alternate reality. Mercedes executed far better then any other team, followed by Williams. Ricciardo pounced on opportunities and out drove an ‘ok’ Red Bull showing a clean pair of heels to Vettel.

        2. “They built the best car and then just did what was expected.”

          Which is why they were the best team…

          “Red Bull on the other hand had enormous troubles but managed to turn it around in a second place at the end.”

          Which is why they were the second best team…

          1. @matt90 Completely agree. Mercedes did the best job of any team, unless you choose to ignore pre-season development. If they hadn’t done the best job, why were they so dominant?

            Red bull probably improved more than most, but didn’t get the job done before the season started.

      2. He dislikes Hamilton and Mercedes. So how could he “vote” for them? Simple.

        I’m a fan of Ricciardo and Bottas too, but you have to admit that Hamilton performed the maximum every race. He realistically could not have done any better. Ricciardo on the other hand had several poor races. Same with Bottas really.

        Then consider the immense pressure of the WDC title fight on Hamilton’s shoulders. Ricciardo and Bottas had none of that.

        It’s nice that Ricciardo had good battles for position, but the truth is that he really should not have been fighting for position that often either.

        1. @patrickl I don’t like the character Hamilton one bit but admire his racing in the same way I do my own favourites. I have nothing against Mercedes so both those make no sense. I’m not saying Mercedes did a bad job or Hamilton didn’t deserve the title. I don’t agree he was flawless and couldn’t have done better but that is another story.

          Just taking into account how pre-season went I think Red Bull did a better job as a team to come back and clinch second.

  22. Just a frustrating race for me vettel couldn’t really get past people the car is clearly not suited to him you can’t really have that much of a difference between drivers hope 2015 is better for him though it does really look like it with ferrari anyways congratulations to lewis for the win i think he deserved it i give the race a 6/10

  23. Didn’t really enjoy that one, boring track. Vergne defending from Ricciardo was the only good battle outside of the DRS zones I saw, 5 for me.

  24. 7/10 pretty decent race

  25. Will there be a Rate the Season?

    1. I hope so, very curious about it’s result!

  26. YES!! Lewis is Worl Champion, 2014!!! I rated the race 7. Could have been better if Rosberg’s car had held up and he had challenged Lewis for the victory. Not enough happened in the midfield and it was weird to see Vettel and Alonso fighting for 10th. But today was Ricciardo’s day. Awesome drive today from him and Massa after the last stop.

  27. Not good enough for an 8, but a solid 7. Some good action on track, and luckily not double jeopardy.

  28. It’s been an exciting season – shows footage from Bahrein (for the millionth time) and Hamilton crashing in Austria. That’s it.

  29. As usual, Abu Dhabi just doesn’t produce great racing – 5/10

  30. I gave it a 5. Delighted with the outcome, but the race was pretty lacking in action.

  31. 7/10. Many thanks to Massa and Ricciardo for providing excitement, but nothing really happened. Of course, as I always am, I was enthrilled to see the outcome, but there was little racing. I was with bated breath since Rosberg’s problem, then cheered Felipe as he recovered his eleven-second deficit to Lewis, but each of the drivers was driving on his own against the clock, not against the opponents. With the possible exception of Alonso and Magnussen, startegy deprived us of on-track battles and paradoxically Rosberg’s problem meant we saw more of the Mercedes than we could’ve seen in a two-way battle. I also get everyone at FOM loves Felipe but the whole final twelve laps focused on him were probably excessive, and it comes from me!

  32. 5/10. Nothing special as the much-hyped title fight never really materialized and the race itself was rather boring. The positive thing is that the double points did not really change anything.

  33. I’d say 6/10 because there were some emotional moments. But overall it was not a great race, the battle for the lead and for the championship ended prematurely. It was fun to see Massa trying to catch Hamilton, but it was obvious that Hamilton had everything under control. Not a lot of racing, which was disappointing, but to be expected from Yas Marina circuit.

    Overall it was a very good season for F1, considering that it was one of the most dominant season in F1 history. Can’t wait for 2015 and hopefully other teams will catch up.

  34. I gave this a 7, would have been a 4 had the last 30 laps been like the first 25.
    As a Brit I’m glad Hamilton won and overall he was the better Sunday driver. Regardless of Rosbergs problems Ham would have finished 1st or 2nd so I’m glad double points had no say in it. A great season overall except for Japans nastiness. Courage Jules x

  35. 5/10.

    Few nice battles but ultimately not a lot happened.

  36. I rated the race a 6. I was hoping for an epic Hamilton – Rosberg last lap showdown, but we got an electrical issue instead.

    There also weren’t that many gripping battles throughout the field as with previous races.

  37. Anyone else think it is actually good for Jenson to stop now on a high? I do think he would be thrashed by Alonso next year…

    1. btw did not enjoy the race. nothing really great about it. congrats to lewis though, totally deserved it. and classy nico after the race, too.

    2. Button thrashed by Alonso? I don’t think so given JB’s past performances with higher rated team mates. Of course, he would require at least an equal car, and if he ends up partnering FA, he may not get it.

      1. I don’t think JB would be trashed by FA, but the “equal car” thing is a fake condition. What will McLaren do, extract 2 cylinders from JB’s engine, send him on-track without a wheel etc?!?

        1. Haven’t they done that a couple of times?

        2. @corrado-dub Without enough fuel? Like, what were they thinking during qually?

  38. James (@jamesjames123abc)
    23rd November 2014, 15:43

    I hope people remember this is ‘rate the race’, not ‘rate the championship’ ;)

    Not a bad race. but not the best either, especially once Rosberg hit trouble. Probably your typical Abu Dhabi race really, with some DRS passing and very few non-DRS passing. It’s a 6/10 from me

  39. Gave it a 12/20. The battle for the championship was over after turn 1, so sadly all the anticipation I had build up was gone in an instant. The battles behind were kind of interesting, with some nice strategies playing out, so at least that managed to keep me interested.

    The Abu Dhabi circuit is the worst race track in the world and I don’t find it interesting to watch cars tackle this circuit, so that dimmed my mood as well. It’s two straights with too powerful DRS, connected by a handful of interchangeable corners with a hotel somewhere. Too bad it will host the final race of 2015 as well.

    A different point, I thought the on-screen graphics were a bit too much. The ads are already quite bad (they are just so fake, it bugs me in the way one fingerprint on a fingerprint-free mirror bugs me), but the extra graphics were just so silly. I mean, what is FOM aiming for here? It’s safe to assume the commentators have pointed out that Hamilton is on course to claim the championship, why bother with a graphic? Because you can? Ugh.

    So yeah, it’s been a tiring season. A lot of people are saying it’s been a fantastic season, but I disagree to be honest. Teams are dropping out, the man in charge doesn’t appear to have a clue what he’s doing, the cars are around 10% slower during the races, DRS is awful, the tyres are awful, the drivers don’t seem to enjoy it either. Last season didn’t do my relationship with F1 any favours, and this years has really made me question it.

    1. I’ve enjoyed this season purely based on the racing on track. I don’t like DRS, but I don’t hate it either. I guess I just accept it. It has definitely helped make some races better and some races worse.
      I love these tyres but I think the rules accompanying them are stupid and not needed for them, and it has been like that for 4 years.
      The cars being 10% slower for me doesn’t bother me because I think they are much more interesting and exciting to me, with new technology (huge tech geek) and for me a better sound (would like it a little louder though).

      But you are right, as a season for the sport, it has been a difficult one, with Bernie completely losing the plot, the teams dropping out and double points (although it made no difference in the end). Though rather than it being a compounding of a bad season, I think those issues are instead blights on what was a great season, for me, on track. But yeah, whilst I’ve been happy, I feel anxious for the future, I really do.

      1. Though rather than it being a compounding of a bad season, I think those issues are instead blights on what was a great season, for me, on track.

        I completely agree. The good outweighs the bad (apart from Bianchi, nothing can outweigh that, just like nothing could outweigh Senna’s death).

    2. @andae23 At least some people still are able to talk sensible about this season. Reroll Bahrein.

    3. Those CGI P Zero signs at turn 8 didn’t even sit still when the camera moved and fell ‘over’ some fans flags in a really clumsy way. It’s beginning to feel like it is just because they can, especially with the ‘informative’ graphics; why not just show them like the championship standings usually appear? I really dislike this direction, especially because it doesn’t add anything apart from a driver picture. If you need a picture of a driver’s face during the race, do you really care if they’re going to come out 4th in the championship?

      As per usual, the FIA, FOM and teams are creating solutions for problems that aren’t there, while blissfully ignoring the larger problems.

      To me, it kinda feels like 2005. My favourite driver/team isn’t doing well (as objective as I try to rate the race on here, it still hurts as a fan), there are tracks on the calendar that just don’t seem to appeal to anyone, there is a lot of talk about regulations, money, etc. At least Minardi and Jordan lived on, I’m not so sure about Marussia and Caterham.

      I loved watching races this season. But ultimately, I’ve missed tons of sessions (even qualifying a few times), I stopped participating in F1 Fanatic Live because I find myself doing laundry or other things during races.. It’s been a weird season.

      I rated this race a 6, but only because of the different strategies and some moments I found my heart rate going up (Vettel nearly going into Rosberg under breaking, for example). But I fully agree about this track; it’s boring. The long straights don’t do anything for me, the corners aren’t that challenging (most non-DRS overtakes came from drivers missing their breaking points or going too deep into a corner otherwise) and frankly watching a Mercedes powered car with DRS overtaking a Ferrari without felt like LMP1-HY vs. GTe Am or something. I have no problem with different horsepower levels in different engines, but the advantage DRS brings is just so stupid. Either have DRS as a boost whenever they please (pre-2013 FP/Qualy DRS style) or not at all.

      To be frank, I think I’m one poor Bernie comment or one FOM/FIA call away from spending my time on other hobbies again.

      1. I should note that I referenced 2005 because that season kind of set my course away from F1 and I didn’t really feel all that positive about F1 in 2007 and 2008 and missed about 2/3rds of the races those seasons.

      2. To be frank, I think I’m one poor Bernie comment or one FOM/FIA call away from spending my time on other hobbies again.

        @npf1 Yes, same here to be honest, especially now there are some good alternatives (WEC, Formula E). My main concern is that there is not much sign of improvement in the short term, and even less in the long term.

        1. @andae23 Agreed, things stand to go worse instead of better. The annoying thing is, most negative developments are sort of to be foreseen (increase in graphics, races in places without fans), but they keep pulling tricks out of nowhere (double points, standing SC restarts) which I find truly unacceptable.

          Imagine an employer pulling such stunts, the unions would have a field day with the media, but F1 tends to lay down and just take the beating..

    4. Do you guys (and you andae123) think the Yas Marina is worse compared to Sochi??

      1. @il-ferrarista Yes; It’s close, but I think Sochi long left-hander and the kink in the braking zone ahead of the chicane just made the difference.

        What really annoys me about Yas Marina is that there is so much space to change the lay-out easily, but they just don’t do it. Here’s something I wrote a while ago.

  40. A well deserved WDC for Lewis.
    Great drive by Ricciardo , Massa, Hulkenberg.
    7/10

  41. Daniel (@collettdumbletonhall)
    23rd November 2014, 15:50

    Was I watching the same race? Complete snoozefest with the occasional event.
    5/10

  42. While it would be a shame if that was Button’s last race, I also think it would be a shame if Magnussen is shown the door after 1 year in which he did show that he’s got potential for the future.

    If Alonso’s is going to McLaren as seems probable its a tough call on which driver to put in the 2nd car, Especially since on Sky yesterday Ron suggested that there are 4 drivers in the mix which I guess includes Vandoorne.

  43. BTW, judging from his actions, this is Jenson’s last F1 race.

  44. Delighted with the result, but must admit a little disappointed with this race as a finale. Everyone is saying that they’re happy double points didn’t affect the outcome, but for me it still spoiled this season a little. As was pointed out by another commenter last week, double points meant there was nothing at stake in Interlagos. Ultimately, we didn’t get much of a battle in Abu Dhabi. At least if there were no double points, the Brazilian Grand Prix would’ve been much more enjoyable, particularly in those final laps. Formula 1 doesn’t need a down-to-the-wire battle to make a championship fight thrilling. Just look at those Japanese GPs from the late 80s/early 90s.

  45. 5/10. Great season but unfortunately it went out with a wimper. I fell asleep twice, once dreaming of a better race were Rosberg hit Hamilton (at which point a woke up only to be met with the reality of what was a very boring race) I went back to sleep after that, only waking up to see the right man win. Double points fiasco avoided (phew) See you in 2015!

  46. Very little tension, very little excitement apart from the little Vergne/Ricciardo duel, nearly every overtake was a DRS drive-by with zero effort.

    But, I enjoyed it, which is the main thing, and double points didn’t decide anything. So a 7.

  47. 7/10. There was a lot of action in the middle for Abu Dhabi, even though FI couldn’t manage to trump McLaren for fifth.

    Anyway, I’ve said it plenty of times and I haven’t changed my mind: This has been my favourite F1 season ever since I started watching in 2001. Mainly due to the cars, even if the racing wasn’t as good as it has been some other years (2012 was a beast in that aspect). I’m very, very excited for what 2015 has to offer now, and I hope the internal and financial issues the sport has can be eventually fixed.

    To me, F1 is bigger than the sum of its parts. It’s bigger than the racing, the on and off-track drama, the technology and engineering involved, the winners, the points scorers, or the title decider. This new era might go on to be my favourite years ever, and I’m looking forward to what the future has to offer.

    1. Trenthamfolk (@)
      23rd November 2014, 17:37

      Great comment…

  48. The perfect race to describe the whole season. A few good parts but overall just really dull.

    3/10

    1. +1 What an anticlimax. No fight up front. The only reason Massa made it up to #2 is Nico’s problems. He -never- would have passed for the lead- Lewis would just have turned the wick up. No real action behind either. Would have given it a 2 except for Maldonado’s bonfire. Can’t wait for the conspiracy theorists to rant about Nico’s gremlin. Ughh.

  49. I disagree with the low ratings. Sure, the title was decided early, but there were some great battles throughout the field. But most importantly, this race brought up emotions. I was cheering for Hamilton to win, but I felt very sorry for Rosberg when his car gave in – the camera-angle showing his face and his determination to go down with dignity was great. I really liked his reply to the fact Mercedes wanted to retire him just before the end, he wanted to finish the race. Even when his chance was far less than 1 percent, he wanted to finish what he started. I loved that attitude! Massa was great too, Williams ending their season with a double podium and third place in the constructors championship was another personal highlight. Could they be championship contenders in a few years time or were they just lucky to get it right this season? And what about Vergne battling Ricciardo, his old teammate that got promoted instead of him, trying to prove to the world he is a match and belongs in Formula 1? The drama of Hamilton winning the race and the title compared to Rosberg’s terrible luck and great disappointment, fighting until the end but finishing at the bottom made this a very, very memorable race for me. 8/10.

  50. I think Rosberg’s issue made the race more exciting. Hamilton had it in control, but Rosberg’s issue brought back memories of Canada. Then Mercedes got too confident, and Massa almost caught Hamilton.

  51. A 6 for the race from me. A bit anticlimax and a moderately good racing, but nontheless exciting. Congrats Lewis, and great job from ROsberg and the Mercedes team. Lewis utterly deserves to be a double WDC !

  52. Definitely an anti climax but that’s what happens when they are so built up. And it’s not Hollywood. Its been a great season but this race was a 4 at best. Having said that I’d not have wanted it to be like 2008 and that was ‘exciting’. He did the job reeling off those wins post Spa

  53. A dull race really 6/10 but very very happy with the HAM championship :)

  54. 6/10

    The first half of the race was absolutely boring (everything was finished after the first lap, or even the first corner of the firs lap). Then, nothing was really happening. The only thing interesting was Rcciardo’s race, as he was going brillinatly through the field (contrasting with Vettel’s race).

    But the end made the race a bit more interesting, with Rosberg’s troubles, and Massa’s gamble to challenge Lewis for the lead of the race.
    But it ‘s a real shame that we have this awful circuit for the last race of the year, for a championship decider. Bring back Interlagos to the end of the calendar!

  55. 7/10. Lewis, Massa and Bottas were brilliant, but Rosberg’s unreliability spoilt it for me (though Lewis would have beaten him anyway, no doubt).

    Rosberg was incredibly gracious in defeat and I enjoyed his “won’t give up” attitude.

  56. 5/10. Some good battles, but overall to much dull waiting for something to happen. No real championship fight either really. Actually enjoyed qualifying much more.

  57. I gave a 6/10. I did feel sorry for Nico, but feel that at least the bad luck gremlins were evened up by his troubles. It kept me on the edge of my seat for the rest of the race as I was convinced Lewis would also have car troubles, would finish out of the points or dnf, and Nico’s car would reset allowing him to snatch the championship on the last lap. Ricciardo and Massa did really well.

  58. Rate the season: 3/10

    1. Bull. 2014 wasn’t 3 out of 10 at all, or at any time. But you have your own opinion.

  59. Gave it a 7 not so much for the race itself which I would rate lower along with the track, but the anticipation ahead of it, the suspense of whether NR would catch LH or not, and the fact that the right guy won this year and double points didn’t factor into it, and finally how classy NR has been in defeat, not that I expected anything less from him. Already can’t wait for ths rivalry to pick up where it has left off.

  60. better than the last two races, but still not very enjoyable. i voted 7/10, but i added one extra point for hamilton and button doing donuts (something which i was dying to see all season).

    2015 will hopefully bring us a more balanced field. especially the mercedes dominance has really made my interest fade away (and it doesn’t help i don’t really like either of their drivers), so i hope that will be gone OR at least reduced to an amount that will see other teams gunning for pole positions and race wins once in a while.

    so now my focus goes to alpine skiing during the winter, but i’ll be happy as ever when formula one returns.

    1. Lol, yeah indeed. Hamilton picking up that Union Jack was cool too. Thought they were not allowed to do such things anymore, but perhaps “they” realized that people love seeing those kinds of things even if they might not fit with TV protocol or strict security regulations.

      Or perhaps Hamilton and Button just didn’t care since the season is over anyway :)

  61. I thought that although not a classic it was rated 8 out of 10….Lewis drove a near perfect race….even Massa was good, and Magnusson demonstrated why he should be dropped instead of Button…even new guy Stevens put in a solid drive in his first race..and Red Bull re inventing(again) the rule book…bring on 2015

  62. Not much of a great race, but the excitement of the championship finale did add something. Gave it a 7/10

  63. I thought it was a bit of a time trial to be honest: quite boring. 4/10

    All of the passing was either not shown by the FOM or highway passes. I still really enjoyed the race, but just because Hamilton won the title. The post-race ceremonies were quite emotional.

  64. 8 out of 10 in my eyes. Certainly not a nail-biting title decider, but lots of action and interesting happenings:

    Lewis passing Nico so strongly at the beginning, he tension of wondering if Nick would be able to get close and make a pass for once, the heartbreak when Nico’s car went lame, the heart-skipping panic when Hamilton’s side seemed concerned they needed to be prepared for the same problem, watching Ricciardo cut his through the field, the spectacular failure of Maldonado’s engine, Alonso’s battle with Kimi, the slow-burning tension as Massa was taking a second a lap out of Hamilton, Rosberg’s determination to finish instead of give up when he had every reason to just park it. This race had everything BUT a wheel to wheel battle for the lead.

  65. 6/10 voting as a rational voter (10/10 as a Lewis fan, though).

    There was some excitement at the end with Massa chasing Lewis, but otherwise all the other stuff seemed to be foregone conclusions – can RIC and VET make their way up the field, will BOT and MAS come out 2-3 after the pitstops. All felt like no matter how they tried to spin in the commentary to make it more interesting, it was pretty obvious how that would play out.

    Was nice watching Jenson hold off the Force India cars , so a few extra marks for that.

  66. Before the race there was still hope for a controversial ending of the championship, possibly leading to entertaining discussions through winter… but that ended in probably the most anti-climactic way. Also, it was a race in Abu-Dhabi, without a safety-car, without other big surprises… so considering all that, it was stll pretty ok. Some fights for positions, some differing strategies… so I graciously gave it 7/10. Might have been a 6…

    1. Still hope for a controversial end? I hoped that the best driver throughout the year would win, not for a “controversy” to detract from the championship.

      1. I think there would have been a “good side” to a controversial decider: The fans would be up in arms about it. It would have brought all the negative publicity which would ensure it didn’t happen again.

        As things stand, the Abu Double MegaSuperBonanza is probably going to just be ignored. It didn’t affect the final result too much, and will be dropped next year. However, an attempt to do something similar in future will not be met with the same hostility as if it had affected who was champion.

  67. 5 from me. Nothing spectacular.

    Kinda sad to see a talent like Alonso and a Ferrari fighting around 10th place. I really hope the next season will be better for both parties.

  68. Oeiiiiiiiiiiii! (another davidnotcoulthard account) (@)
    23rd November 2014, 22:38

    10 points for double points not deciding the title, -1 for Massa losing.

    And absolutely annoyed Ve3ttel lost 4th in the WDC due to double points.

    1. Oeiiiiiiiiiiii! (another davidnotcoulthard account) (@)
      23rd November 2014, 22:38

      9/10.

  69. I think it’s 8, it was not too bad.

  70. Not an “exciting” race– but a very interesting one. 2008 it wasn’t, or even 2010… But certainly an improvement over 2011 or 2013.

  71. The tension was enjoyable for the first half of the race, there was plenty of drama in the second half, and fate gave us a tasty lick of irony with Nico falling by the wayside after spending so much time openly wishing bad luck on Lewis. And I’m extremely happy that double points did not decide the outcome.

    Strip all of that away, and the race wasn’t remotely as thrilling as the two before it. Even as a Lewis fan, I wanted to see a bit more blood and sweat on the way, and the midfield battles couldn’t make up for the fact there were huge gaps at the front half of the field.

    I gave it 7 of 10: very good for Abu Dhabi, but the venue was never going to be able to provide a top notch finale.

  72. 7 at max. Quite surprised at the overtaking moves by Ricciardo and Alonso away from the DRS zones. At least it was entertaining.

    But don’t you feel sorry for Rosberg, he was wounded badly with the sword stucked into his back, but he still completed the race one lap down. Was an easy race for Hamilton and he would’ve let Massa pass if necessary.

    Congrats to Hamilton for his 2nd WDC. He earned it.

    Bumper year for the Brits, GP3, GP2, F1 and WEC all championships won by them. A smile from ear to ear.

  73. Surely Abu Dhabi should be rated out of 20?

    1. Best post!

  74. 8/10 – Very exciting as a HAM – FAN, some good overtakes too and better than many of the previous races at Yas Marina.

  75. Only two guys in the hunt the entire year. Is this really a successful sport?

  76. Worst circuit of the calender.

    Nothing exciting happened except of Rosberg’s problems.
    Don’t want to know if Hamilton would have had the ERS issue and then Rosberg winning the championship.

    As a German and one who doesn’ t like Hamilton. I’m happy that it ended this way. Most victories, best racing driver of the year and that’s it.
    But Rosberg was a tough opponent all season long.

  77. It may have been a title decider but I thought the race was pretty dull to be honest.

    In my opinion the tension all weekend was would Hamilton have a problem, because if Mercedes had a trouble free weekend Hamilton would come first or second and would win the title.

    As I wanted Hamilton to win the title I was nervous during the race until Rosberg’s car trouble completely dropped him out of the points as a Hamilton retirement could still have seen Rosberg win the title if he finished in the top five.

    Apart from what was happening with the Mercedes drivers there didn’t seem to be a great deal of action, yes we had the Red Bulls making their way through the field, Bottas recovering from a poor start an the chance of Massa challenging for the victory due to Hamilton easing up to look after the car, but in comparison to some other races this year it didn’t seem that much.

    I rated the race a 6. I almost gave it a 5 but I thought it was probably more a 5.5 and I round up half marks when deciding my rating.

  78. ‘t was a mere 6 for me.
    The track is rubbish, and I can’t quite come up with a good reason to make this the most important race of the season, or the season finale, or even a part of the F1 calendar. It’s all about the money and bling-bling, and that makes it suck even more.

    The race was a bit of an anti-climax, though not as badly as in 2010. The race was pretty much over after the start, and the tension dropped dramatically after Rosberg’s car started to give up on him. After that, nothing too exciting happened, except for Ricciardo’s steady rise and Massa’s ultimately futile attempt at reeling Hamilton in.

    It wasn’t bad, but definitely less enjoyable than most other races of the 2014 season.

  79. Only a 6 from me as it was not the drama it was shaped up to be. The only main event was Maldonado’s car catching fire, pretty hyped and did not live up to expectations

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