And it's finally done with! Lewis Hamilton won his second Formula 1 drivers' championship at the 2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix over the weekend. The Briton narrowly – but deservedly - edged out his teammate Nico Rosberg to the title, as the Mercedes AMG Petronas team dominated the entire season in fine fashion.
Lewis' comfortable win at the Yas Marina Circuit was his 11th of the year and 33rd of his career, with the latter giving him one more than fellow double world champion Fernando Alonso. It's worth noting, however, that Alonso had won his two titles before Hamilton even entered F1 in 2007, and only managed 17 victories since.
The German-owned, Malaysian-backed and British-based team ended the season with 16 race wins out of 19 Grands Prix – a new record. Previously, McLaren - with Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost on board - famously won 15 out of 16 races in the 1988 season, while Ferrari had also won 15 races in 2002 (out of 17 GPs) and 2004 (out of 18).
Hamilton's 11 wins, meanwhile, put him a joint third in the record books, with only Micheal Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel having won 13 races in 2004 and 2013 respectively. Nico Rosberg ended the season with five GP wins, giving him eight in total, which is three more than his father, 1982 champion Keke, managed.
Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo took the first three wins of his career – being the only non-Mercedes winner in 2014 – in his first season with the team. The popular Australian thoroughly beat his highly decorated and four-time champ teammate Sebastian Vettel, who suffered through his first win-less season in Formula 1.
That may have had a factor in Vettel moving to Ferrari next year to replace Fernando Alonso, who is more than likely to join McLaren for the 2015 season. Sadly though, the latter move may spell the end of 2009 champion Jenson Button's F1 career, who has yet to confirm his seat for 2015.
In happier news, rookie Daniil Kvyat – who showed impressive form in his first F1 season - will move up to the big league next year, joining new team-leader Ricciardo in Red Bull Racing. Taking up his Toro Rosso seat in 2015 will be 17-year-old Max Verstappen, who has yet to receive his driving licence back home in the Netherlands.
The rejuvenated Williams team finished the season in third place in the manufacturers' championship standings – a huge leap from ninth overall in 2013. Drivers Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas both had hugely successful tours, racking up nine podium finishes between them.
In the end, hats off to the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula Team for a season well done, and more importantly, for allowing its two drivers race each other to keep things interesting. Congratulations Lewis, we enjoyed it all. With so many changes to come in 2015, we can't wait to see what's in store for us racing fans.
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