The 2014 Racing Clothesline awards article is an exclusive list of the drivers, teams and races that deserve to have a special recognition based upon their performance this season. None of the award winners will get any actual prize and the winners are chosen be me and it is purely my opinion.
This award goes to the driver who performed the best in the 2014 season. It was a neck and neck battle between Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton all season. Unfortunately, Hamilton seemed to suffer from reliability issues and slow pit stops. Despite this, he managed to win the most races of the season with a baffling 11 wins and was able to show his true skill in races like Hungary where he had to fight he way through the field because of a poor qualifying and start. There is no doubt that Hamilton is the driver that deserves this award.
This award goes to the constructor who performed the best in the 2014 season. The Mercedes works team undoubtedly take home this award, winning their first ever World Constructors’ Championship title. The Mercedes team worked hard all season to give Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton the best cars and make the championship battle so excitingly close. The team was extremely dominant all season long, despite some mechanical bugs, and deserves this award.
This award goes to the best engine of the 2014 season. The Mercedes engine receives the award for this season. It became evident after the first few races of the season that the Mercedes engine gave more power than the Ferrari and Renault engines. Cars with the Mercedes power unit proved to be nearly unstoppable.
This award goes to the driver who had the least amount of luck in the 2014 season. Right at the first race of the season in Australia, it became clear that Felipe Massa would be the eventual winner of this award. He was part of multiple first lap accidents, most of which, he was just an innocent victim.
This award goes to the driver that has improved from most since the 2013 season. Daniel Ricciardo is my pick for this award. He has never disappointed all season long. Despite a disqualification in Australia early in the season, he managed to bounce back and pick up his first career win, along with two more. He put up a fight with the top Mercedes drivers and just missed out of being eligible to win the title in Abu Dhabi. He out-performed his four-time World Champion teammate and clearly deserves this award, as I think that we will see him on the top of the championship in the seasons to come.
This award goes to the constructor that has improved from most since the 2013 season. In 2013, Williams was only able to finish in ninth position in the World Constructors’ Championship; scoring a minuscule five championship points. The team made a shocking performance in the 2014 season, with a completely redesigned livery. We saw them in a great battle against Ferrari for the World Constructors’ Championship and we often saw them battling against some of the best teams for valuable points positions. They have earned this award.
This award goes to the driver who has made history in the 2014 season. Jules Bianchi is the winner of this award for his spectacular performance in Monaco to not only earn himself the first points of his Formula One career, but also earn Marussia their first points. And with the absence of Marussia on the 2015 grid, it appears as though those may be the only points that Marussia will ever score. Quite an event that will surely be remembered in the history books.
This award goes to the “must watch” race of the 2014 season. This award goes to the 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix. In no other race this season did we see so many tight battles in a single race. Not only were the race leaders swapping places multiple times, but there were a variety of other pairs racing hard all the way down the grid. This was the first year that the Bahrain Grand Prix was held under the lights and it proved to be a wonderful success. I hope that we will see the same level of entertainment next season.
This award goes to the best rookie of the 2014 season. Kevin Magnussen is the clear winner of this award, having out-performed all of the rest of the rookies. He showed everyone what he was made of when he finished third on his debut, later being promoted to second after the disqualification of Daniel Ricciardo. He was then successful in putting on a very consistent show for the rest of the season, scoring points in the majority of the races and avoiding retirement in all but one of the events. I have no doubt that he has a great potential and that he may have what it takes to be successful in the world of Formula One.
