The F1 2014 season is - so far - shaping up to be the best I have ever witnessed, and I have been following the sport since the early 2000s.
We have seen crashes, domination, controversy, drama and - best of all - some epic battles that will be remembered for quite some time. With the end of the summer break edging closer, here are my top 10 moments from the season so far.
10. Susie Wolff's FP1 outings
In FP1 for the British Grand Prix, Susie Wolff became the first female driver in 22 years to take part in a race weekend. All eyes were on the Scot as she took to the Silverstone circuit, but she only managed four laps thanks to a reliability problem.
Fortunately she had a second chance and was at the wheel of the Williams FW36 at the Hockenheimring two weeks later. In my view she did very well, finishing in 15th place and just two tenths behind Felipe Massa. Wolff certainly proved the doubters wrong in Germany.
9. Hulkenberg's surprise overtake
It was really difficult to pick the final few moments to add to my top 10, but this overtake - in my opinion - is probably one of the best of the season so far. It had me leaping from my seat in amazement. We very rarely see overtakes at Portier but Nico Hulkenberg's move on Kevin Magnussen during the Monaco Grand Prix was brave and inspired. Well done, Nico. Well done.
8. Hamilton's home win
I
was at the British Grand Prix and watched the race from Woodcote. Lewis
Hamilton charged from sixth on the grid to take his second home
victory, helped of course by his team-mate's retirement. The atmosphere
in the crowd was electric, it is difficult to really describe it, and it was great result for the 2008 champion in front of his home crowd.
7. Upside down
I decided to combine these two incidents into one point, to give me extra room later on. We have seen two scary rollover crashes in 2014, with Esteban Gutierrez's flip in Bahrain being very spectacular indeed. Fortunately the Mexican was okay after the smash, which was caused by - you guessed it - Pastor Maldonado.
Massa placed the blame for his German Grand Prix crash on Magnussen, after the two made contact at turn one. It resulted in the Brazilian's car being flipped over, before coming to rest the right way up on the run-off area.
6. Marussia's breakthrough result
The Monaco Grand Prix was the breakthrough race Marussia had been pushing for since the team joined F1 back in 2010. Jules Bianchi finished in ninth place to score both his and the Banbury-based outfit's first points. It was a fantastic drive by the Frenchman to secure a hugely important result.
The Banbury-based outfit remains ninth in the constructors' standings ahead of round 12 in Belgium. Marussia's debut top 10 finish and the change in fortunes for Williams have been two of the most popular stories of the year so far.
5. Monaco qualifying
Nico Rosberg held provisional pole after the first runs in Q3 at the Circuit de Monaco. However, he seemed to lock up and went down the escape road at Mirabeau on his second attempt, which caused everyone behind him - including his own team-mate - to back off and fail to improve.
Was it on purpose? We won't know any time soon, but Hamilton seemed to think so after qualifying. I personally think it was a mistake and nothing more, but I am sure some of you will disagree. It certainly has been one of the biggest talking points of 2014 so far, and with both drivers battling for the title, the tension will only increase within Mercedes as the year progresses.
4. Ricciardo's late charge
I
was at the Hungarian Grand Prix for Richland F1 and was delighted to
see Daniel Ricciardo take his second Formula 1 victory. It was a hugely popular result and he did it in
style too, with a late third stop dropping him back to fourth place.
The Aussie charged back to the front and put in some stunning overtakes to move up to first place with just a few laps to go. I never expected Ricciardo to do so well but it is great to see him racing at the front and establishing himself as one of the best talents on the grid.
3. Vettel vs. Alonso
I attended the British Grand Prix and, as I said earlier, was sat at Woodcote for the race. It proved to be the perfect place to see one of the best battles of the season, with Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso fighting it out for fifth place. It was a thrilling fight and was amazing to see such close but fair racing between the two most successful drivers on the grid.
2. Mayhem on the final lap
Following the team's dominant start to F1's new era, I feared we would only see a Mercedes driver on the top step of the podium all year. However, that changed at the Canadian Grand Prix with Ricciardo moving up the field and taking his maiden F1 win after both Hamilton and Rosberg hit problems.
With Hamilton retiring and Rosberg dropping back, Ricciardo snatched first place in the closing stages. However, the drama didn't end there with the battling Massa and Sergio Perez colliding on the run to turn one on the final lap. Both drivers were okay after the spectacular crash, which caused both to hit the wall heavily.
1. Battles in Bahrain
I still think the Bahrain Grand Prix has been the best race of the 2014 season so far. There was always something going on and we saw some fantastically close battles, with the edgiest and exciting being between the two Mercedes drivers.
The duo battled throughout the race, with Hamilton doing a fantastic job to defend from his team-mate Rosberg, who was on the softer compound tyre, in the closing stages to take his second win in a row. It was great to watch and will be something I remember for quite some time.
F1 2014 in stats: http://bit.ly/1jSYBbz
Mid-season review, part 1: http://bit.ly/1y9L5lb
Mid-season review, part 2: http://bit.ly/XaUaPJ
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| © Octane Photographic |
10. Susie Wolff's FP1 outings
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| © Octane Photographic |
Fortunately she had a second chance and was at the wheel of the Williams FW36 at the Hockenheimring two weeks later. In my view she did very well, finishing in 15th place and just two tenths behind Felipe Massa. Wolff certainly proved the doubters wrong in Germany.
9. Hulkenberg's surprise overtake
8. Hamilton's home win
7. Upside down
6. Marussia's breakthrough result
 |
| © Marussia F1 Team |
The Banbury-based outfit remains ninth in the constructors' standings ahead of round 12 in Belgium. Marussia's debut top 10 finish and the change in fortunes for Williams have been two of the most popular stories of the year so far.
5. Monaco qualifying
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| © Octane Photographic |
Was it on purpose? We won't know any time soon, but Hamilton seemed to think so after qualifying. I personally think it was a mistake and nothing more, but I am sure some of you will disagree. It certainly has been one of the biggest talking points of 2014 so far, and with both drivers battling for the title, the tension will only increase within Mercedes as the year progresses.
4. Ricciardo's late charge
 |
| © Octane Photographic |
The Aussie charged back to the front and put in some stunning overtakes to move up to first place with just a few laps to go. I never expected Ricciardo to do so well but it is great to see him racing at the front and establishing himself as one of the best talents on the grid.
3. Vettel vs. Alonso
2. Mayhem on the final lap
With Hamilton retiring and Rosberg dropping back, Ricciardo snatched first place in the closing stages. However, the drama didn't end there with the battling Massa and Sergio Perez colliding on the run to turn one on the final lap. Both drivers were okay after the spectacular crash, which caused both to hit the wall heavily.
1. Battles in Bahrain
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| © Mercedes AMG Petronas |
The duo battled throughout the race, with Hamilton doing a fantastic job to defend from his team-mate Rosberg, who was on the softer compound tyre, in the closing stages to take his second win in a row. It was great to watch and will be something I remember for quite some time.
F1 2014 in stats: http://bit.ly/1jSYBbz
Mid-season review, part 1: http://bit.ly/1y9L5lb
Mid-season review, part 2: http://bit.ly/XaUaPJ
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