Was 2014 Rosberg's only F1 title shot?

Nico Rosberg's capacity to surprise is seemingly infinite. Time and again he has looked down and out, but he's always picked himself up, dusted himself down and come back stronger.

In the final reckoning, he came up short in his epic world championship battle with Lewis Hamilton. As Rosberg was at pains to highlight, Hamilton was the better driver and deserved his victory.

Straight after the race, Rosberg was quick to pick out the area where he needs to improve - the racing - and highlight the foundation that his strong qualifying performances give him heading into next year.

While Hamilton did look a cut above on race day in much of the second half of the season, history suggests that Rosberg should be taken very seriously.

The expectation through the year was that this might be his one and only shot. A combination of the dominant car and a challenging new rules set that seemed to play to his strengths led many to tip him to upset Hamilton.

Rosberg showed class in defeat last weekend at Yas Marina © LAT

With the requirements of fuel saving, tyre saving and energy management with the new power unit packages putting huge demands on the driver, the suspicion was that it would be a battle of Hamilton's sheer speed versus Rosberg's less spectacular, but holistic, approach.

Instead, Rosberg's tale was one of a prizefighter who every time he was on the ropes, every time he seemed down and out, hit back stronger than before.

As early as the Spanish Grand Prix, there was a fear that Rosberg was going to be on the wrong end of a walkover as Hamilton completed a run of four consecutive victories. Yes, two of those were very tightly contested, but Rosberg couldn't afford to keep finishing second. So he hit back.

In Monaco, Rosberg ended up in the Mirabeau escape road at the end of Q3. Conveniently, he was on provisional pole at this point and, even more conveniently, Hamilton was behind him on the road.

Was it deliberate? It's impossible to say with any certainty, which is why the stewards rightly cleared him, but it certainly contributed to Rosberg ending Hamilton's winning streak and destabilising his team-mate.

From Rosberg's perspective, it's a win-win either way. If it was an honest mistake, then he benefited from it and went on to win the race, stemming the Hamilton tide.

And if it was deliberate, then it shows the kind of ruthlessness that many champions share. You might not like it, but some of the most successful sportspeople often have a mean streak.

After all, there was a time when Rosberg was seen as a soft touch by many, including some of his fellow grand prix drivers. Not anymore.

Perhaps the most remarkable drive of Rosberg's season - possibly his whole career - was Canada. His second place there was surely the best race performance of 2014 by any driver.

Shorn of ERS power, he had not only to deal with overworked rear brakes, but learn how to extract good pace from a car lacking 160bhp and with limited power unit functionality.

Yet his lap times, after initially dropping off, climbed back to a good level. He damned-near won, eventually finishing second.

That was a second place that stands alongside Michael Schumacher's while stuck in fifth gear in Spain 1994.

Rosberg's drive of the season came amid car problems in Canada © XPB

During the mid-season stretch from Monaco to Hungary, Rosberg looked every bit the title favourite. He lost the British GP to a gearbox failure (although there's a good chance Hamilton would have caught and passed him anyway), but other than that he regularly took points off Hamilton.

Without the safety car triggered by Marcus Ericsson's shunt in Hungary, Rosberg would have won there too rather than ending up stuck behind Hamilton who, justifiably and successfully, challenged a team order to let him past.

Where things really went wrong was at Spa, where Rosberg made a costly miscalculation. He has never been the most incisive driver in battle, although he's better than he once was, and his second-lap contact with Hamilton at Les Combes was cack-handed.

The comments Hamilton made after the race have been widely misunderstood. I was there when he spoke to a small group of journalists, and there is no doubt whatsoever that when Hamilton said Rosberg had deliberately let the collision happen, he didn't mean it was premeditated.

Only an idiot would voluntarily shove their front-wing end-plate into an opponent's tyre. Yes, the Pirellis tend to puncture even with light contact, but it was just as likely to spell the end of Rosberg's race.

If anything, Rosberg was trying to back out of the move. But it is credible that in a moment of madness rooted in annoyance at Hamilton's previous driving in battle (in Bahrain) when he felt he had avoided an accident by backing out, Rosberg was not ready to jump out the way as emphatically as would have been wise.

Whatever the reason, it was a terrible mistake and one that turned the tide in the title fight. Rosberg did seem a little chastened and was almost trying too hard to get on terms with his team-mate. The short-term 18-point gain after finishing second was worth little in the final reckoning.

At Monza, Sochi and Austin, all races Rosberg was in a position to win, he made costly errors. The Singapore retirement wasn't anything to do with him, but at Suzuka, having bested Hamilton in the wet a couple of times in 2013, he was as much as a second per lap slower.

Hamilton's pain was shortlived as Spa clash turned the title fight around © XPB

This added up to five consecutive defeats. Rosberg seemed a busted flush. But then he defied expectations yet again.

In Brazil, he had the legs of Hamilton through practice and qualifying. Yes, he was slower in the race, but his resolute driving under intense pressure was stunning. It ensured he went to Abu Dhabi well in the hunt, even though Hamilton ensured there was no chance to turn things round.

It's a cliche, but Rosberg really will come back stronger next year. His greatest asset is the ability to learn, analyse and understand what has gone wrong, and improve his approach.

There were times when the pressure of the championship fight perhaps undermined that process in 2014. But with that experience under his belt, there's no question he will respond to it better next year.

Rosberg was not as fast as Hamilton when it really counted. But to have run his team-mate so close, and put together a campaign that almost netted the title, is a remarkable achievement. And in Abu Dhabi he was magnanimous in defeat.

You'd put your money on Hamilton for 2015. But as this year has proved, counting out a determined, skilful operator like Rosberg would be a mistake.

He will work, digest, analyse, understand and apply, particularly when it comes to his regular Sunday deficit. That's his strength, and why he is worthy of respect.

But if he's to beat Hamilton to the 2015 title, he will surely need to achieve something he didn't this year: execute a genuine overtaking move on his team-mate on the track.