Season reviews are in vogue at the moment, and here at Sidepodcast, we handed the judging duties over to readers, asking you to rate the season as a whole. With five stars the best the season could score, we received over 100 votes before the polls closed. After totting up all the votes, the 2014 season scored a very respectable average of 3.91 out of 5 stars. You can divide that fourth star up however you like.

That seems like a reasonable summary of the year to me - not quite perfection, but pretty close to it. Mercedes' domination could have set up a boring year, like those that have gone before under Red Bull's watch, but thankfully there was a lot going on both within that team, and elsewhere, to keep things fascinating from the moment testing got underway to when the final chequered flag dropped.

Not only did we request ratings at the end of the season, we also asked readers to score after each individual event. Taking an average of those year-long votes, we come to slightly lower average of 3.55 out of five. It is understandable, given the exciting end to the year, and that warm fuzzy post-season glow that envelops most fans, for the year end rating to be slightly elevated.

• End of season rating: 3.91 out of 5
• Overall season average: 3.55 out of 5

Those scores are close though. The rose-tinted spectacles aren't too strong at this point of the year. We think the season as a whole was essentially 4 stars out of 5, and that almost tallies with the average of the race by race scores.

As the season unfolded

Looking at the individual scores allows us to see just what a rollercoaster of a season it was. Australia under-delivered perhaps only because expectations were so high, whereas the two potentially dullest races of Bahrain and Hungary were the highest rated of the year.

Russia was a significant low point, and it actually seems like the trend was dipping towards the end of the year, before excitement and anticipation ratcheted up another notch.

Overall, 2014 was a really solid year in Formula One. There were highs and lows, of which no doubt there will be plenty of repercussions still to come, I think, but it was the kind of season the sport needed to spice things up after years of Vettel and Red Bull domination.

Thanks to everyone who voted, and to everyone involved in making it a year to remember, let's hope 2015 can live up to its predecessor!