The 2014 driver-by-driver review: Sky Sports

Championship position – 6th, 161 points; Best result – 2nd

So, the partnership that was meant to dominate F1 has crumbled, two years early and without a single World Championship title to its name. That Alonso leaves Ferrari with the same status as when he arrived – a ‘mere’ two-time world champion – certainly reflects a case of Ferrari having failed Fernando, rather than Fernando failing Ferrari. Such a reality was never more the case than in 2014, with the team’s hope that a move away from an aerodynamic-dominant formula would present the springboard from which to return to winning ways proving to be as flawed as the F14 T they created to suit the new engine regulations. As a result Fernando graced the podium just twice all season – and not once the top step.

Not that such an unusually low-key run of results harmed Alonso’s standing in the sport – in fact the two podiums he did achieve, particularly his gallant tyre preservation run to second place in Hungary, only served to increase his widespread reputation as the best all-round driver in F1. The fact the Spaniard also turned what had been an eagerly-anticipated intra-team battle with Raikkonen into an effective no-contest in his favour only added further fuel to the feeling that he was still operating at his peak, even if Ferrari quite definitely weren’t. That he’s heading back to McLaren of all places shows how exasperating his time at Maranello became. JG

2014 rating: 8/10

(fonte: SkySports.com)

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