As Formula One says goodbye to Europe can anyone stop the Silver Arrows?

(© Ben Johnston 2014)

Formula One said goodbye to the European leg of the 2014 season at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza on Sunday after 5 months zig-zagging from Spain, Britain, Germany and a brief stop over in Canada along with some other stops along the way. The Formula One circus now prepares to rack up the air miles for the final six long haul Grand Prix that will decide who will win this years world championship.

The European season started off in style with the Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit Du Catalunya Barcelona which saw Lewis Hamilton take the victory finishing the race just 0.6s ahead of Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg while Infiniti Red Bull Racing's Daniel Ricciardo took his first ever Formula One podium with third place.

This was an absolutely fantastic race, the atmosphere throughout the entire weekend was absolutely incredible and it was a great platform to launch the European season from. 

From Spain, the F1 circus headed to the Principality of Monte Carlo for the most glamorous Grand Prix destination of the season. This race would prove to be a bump in the road for the Mercedes duo as Nico Rosberg brought out the yellow flag in the closing stages of qualifying for the race which meant that team mate Lewis Hamilton who had been on a faster lap had to back off and as a result the 2008 world champion finished the race in second place giving the Brackley based outfit's fifth 1-2 finish of the season.

It also proved to be a fantastic race for the Marussia F1 Team who secured their first ever Formula One points at the race with Jules Bianchi finishing the race in 9th place to take two valuable points for the Banbury based outfit which put them into 9th place in the Constructors championship a position which they have held on to since that race.

The next stop on the F1 calendar was the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal which saw a break in the Mercedes dominance as Infiniti Red Bull Racing's Daniel Ricciardo secured his first ever Formula One victory with a fantastic win to take the reigning Constructors champions first win of the season.

The Canadian Grand Prix also saw Lewis Hamilton suffer his second retirement of the season following a brake failure while Nico Rosberg went on to finish the race in second place.

Following the Canadian Grand Prix, Formula One returned to Europe for the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring (the first time since 2003 that the circuit hosted the race). This race would prove to be a breakthrough weekend for the Williams Martini Racing Team as the Grove based outfit took their first front row lock-out since the 2003 German Grand Prix.

The Grove based outfit also took their first podium finish since the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix when Valtteri Bottas finished the race in third place with team mate Felipe Massa finishing in fourth place. 

Lewis Hamilton went to the British Grand Prix at Silverstone having no won a race since the Spanish Grand Prix and did a fantastic job to take his first British Grand Prix victory since 2008. The Williams team also had a fantastic race as Valtteri Bottas took a fantastic second place at the team's home race. 

Silverstone also proved to be a very special weekend for Williams Martini Racing's development driver Susie Wolff as the Scottish driver became the first female racer in 22 years to take part in an official Formula One weekend. She followed this up with another outing at the German Grand Prix.

At the German Grand Prix Nico Rosberg made the most of home advantage just as Lewis Hamilton did in Silverstone as he took victory finishing the race 20.7s ahead of Williams Martini Racing's Valtteri Bottas who claimed his third podium finish in a row. At the Hungarian Grand Prix just before the Summer break Daniel Ricciardo and Infiniti Red Bull Racing took their second victory of the season with Ferrari's Fernando Alonso taking his second podium finish of the season.

Ricciardo followed his victory up with yet another win at the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa Francorchamps where there was controversy as there was a racing incident between the Mercedes duo of Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton which resulted in the German receiving a fine from his team. 

The race also saw Valtteri Bottas take his four podium finish of the season for the Williams Martini Racing Team.

In yesterday's Italian Grand Prix at the Monza circuit Mercedes took their seventh 12 finish of the season as Lewis Hamilton took his 6th victory of the season while Williams Martini Racing's Felipe Massa took his first podium finish the Grove based outfit while team mate Valtteri Bottas finished the race in 4th place which moved the team above Ferrari into third place in the Constructors championship with just six Grand Prix of the season remaining.

The biggest surprise of the season has been the resurgence of the Williams Martini Racing Team. They have scored points in every race so far this season and this has helped them to be in their curent third place in the Constructors championship.

The biggest shocks of the season have been how Ferrari have struggled this season while reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel has struggled so much in comparison to his Infiniti Red Bull Racing team mate Daniel Ricciardo.

© Ben Johnston 2014