The 2014 Formula 1 political season ended precisely as it started: With much squabbling over costs and engine regulations at Formula 1 Commission level. Both issues remain unresolved despite F1's three player groups (governing body FIA, commercial rights holder FOM and the team collective) vowing to engineer solutions that should be the work of a moment - but for F1's intransigent governance procedure.
The scene was set during pre-season testing when F1 tsar Bernie Ecclestone vehemently criticised the (lack of) sound of 2014's power units and their (initial) unreliability despite not having heard the complex hybrid technology run on track.
Indeed, the closest he had come to hearing engines run was on dynamometers at the various suppliers, and there the units are totally sealed off due to health and safety requirements.