The battle that saved Formula 1
It may not have decided the championship, but the thrilling 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix saved Formula 1 from plunging into a much deeper crisis, says JONATHAN NOBLE
There's little doubt that in terms of the dynamics of the Formula 1 title battle, it was the clash between Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton at the Belgian Grand Prix that proved to be the key moment of the campaign.
The way that Mercedes management came down hard on both drivers - and in particular how Rosberg was widely perceived as being the less-innocent party - took the bad blood out of their rivalry, which seemed to help Hamilton step up a gear. The Briton was dominant after that, winning six of the remaining seven races.
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Jonathan Noble is Motorsport.com’s Formula 1 editor. Having graduated from University of Sussex Jonathan worked for sports news agency Collings Sports reporting on F1, F3, touring cars and other sports, with articles appearing in The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, Reuters, Autosport and other publications. In 1999 he moved to Haymarket Publishing to become a senior editor at Autosport Special Projects, and one year later he became Autosport’s grand prix editor. In 2015 he moved to Motorsport Network, becoming the F1 editor for Motorsport.com. He is also a member of the Guild of Motoring Writers, and sits on the FIA Media Council.
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