Poll 2010 Australian Grand Prix Driver of the Weekend

[cider_and_toast]

Well what a difference two weeks makes. I wonder how many hacks are currently sharpening their pencils to write editorials denying that they lost the plot after Bahrain and proclaiming F1 still is the greatest show on Earth?

Anyway it's time for us Clippers to vote for our driver of the weekend. I've put it up as driver of the weekend to include the race, qually and practice. So who has impressed the most over the course of the whole race weekend?

Vote for your driver of the weekend then stick your comments in the thread as to why you've made that selection.

 

[Sakari]

Kubica: Fantastic drive.. was able to keep clearly faster Lewis behind him and overall position is well beyond the car's expected.

 

[genji]

Button. The tyre call was the moment of the weekend. Tyre management was exactly what I hoped the refuelling ban would give us, with him still able to post 1'29s at the end of the race on old tyres.

 

[McZiderRed]

I did think about voting for Lewis, as he drove superbly and was let down by what was, in hindsight, a bad call by the team to pit.

I also thought about voting for Kubica, after his excellent second place.

But I've voted for Jenson Button. He made the call to change to slick tyres at the right time and, apart from a slight aberration at turn 9 (I think) when he slipped off the road, he drove a brilliant race from there on in. Well done Jenson!

 

[slickskid]

Interesting weekend and there were many outstanding performances.

1) Button looked good all weekend and obviously won the race with what looked like a genius tyre stop that transpired as it happened to be more out of neccesity with the rear inter's having gone off.

2) Vettel was blinding quick in quali and looked to have the race sewn up but reliability problems hit again.

3) Alonso had an astonishingly rapid climb from the back during the race to 4th however, the fact he was at the back was his own doing to start with.

4) Schumacher had a typical drive but with 3 pitstops one thanks to the Alonso spin and a broken front wing, finishing 10th was no mean feat although he struggled a bit behind Alguersuari, but by his own admission "these kids are quick!

5) Alguesuari starting 17th & finishing 11th in the process holding up schui for a while

6) Luizzi another good drive from 13th finishing 7th and solidly in the points again for the second sucessive race.

7) Hamilton, poor qualifying but come the race looked on fire with the desire and temperment of a winner, unfortunate about the pit call but i think even with hindsight it was the quicker way to go (subject to seperate discussion)

8) Kubica, fantistic and steady drive finishing 2nd keeping the meanacing hamiton and then the Ferrari's behind him.

But i've gone for none of those and to a very unlikey area of the field.
Considering this is the second race of the season which means so far 6 quali sessions 6 free practice sessions and winter testing. Prior to this weekend he'd manged just 1 quali session and 1 race lap before nerfing it. This weekend he managed 2 practice's (and a bit with the short trip to the end of the pit lane + a few hundred Meters) & another quali.
Given the conditions on race day, for actually finishing the race albeit 14th and last of the runners and being mindful of passing traffic being lapped 5 times in th process by the leaders, i'm giving my driver of the week to Karun Chandhok and top marks to the entire HRT team for that result.

 

[Brogan]

Tricky this one.

If Lewis hadn't been held up in the first round of pit stops he would have been in P2/P3, wouldn't then have been hit by "chump of the weekend" and could arguably have challenged for the win.

Button had nothing to lose by coming in early for slicks; if he'd left it until the next lap he would have finished well down the order as Lewis had already passed him on the circuit.

Alonso did well to recover to 4th but he shouldn't have put himself last to begin with by hitting Button at the first corner.

Great drive by Massa off the line to put himself in contention but he was responsible for holding up Alonso and subsequently Hamilton for a good number of laps.

Excellent result by Kubica but I can't help thinking it was more a case of right place, right time than anything he engineered himself.

Vettel was walking away with it until his failure. He seems to get a few of those...

Hmmm, who to choose

 

[snowy]

Sebastian Vettel was outstanding in qualifying and the start of the race. Jenson qualified well and drove an outstanding race. Fernando fought his way from dead last to get stuck onto the rear of his struggling team mate Felipe in 4th. Robert far exceeded the limits of his car and punch a great hole in the "above his own weight catagory!"

Lewis had a laclustre qualifying and looked totally out of sorts on Saturday but was a man on fire today. He drove round the outside of so many accumplished opponents today and was the focus of so many of the thrilling events in this race. Love him or loathe him you have to admit he seldom just makes up the numbers. I firmly believe had he not been called for the pitstop he'd have found a way past Robert. And I also believe his harrasment of Fernando was paying off with Fernando having already gone off piste prior to the lock up and Mark running into the back of Lewis. All in all it was an outstanding race made glorious by the determination shown by Lewis. He gets my vote simply on his entertainment value, oh... and the fact that he wants the guy who calls his strategy shot! Which he should have been already after China 07, Brasil 07 & 08.

 

[FB]

Button was impressive today and I (as mentioned in chat) thought he had made the wrong call with the tyres, turned out to be the perfect decision. Vettel was, once again, running away with it until his car let him down. Kubica made the most of the conditions which helped compensate for the average car he has been provided with.

Hamilton made a mess of qualie (I think his head was in the wrong place) which contribute to a difficult race, c#cked up by another bizzare tactical decision by Mclaren and a rather errant Mark Webber. Massa was steady, Alonso a bit lack lustre & Rosberg was similarly steady.

However, my vote for driver of the day goes to Karun Chandhok. No pre season testing, missed most sessions at the first GP and then retired in the first few laps. To then drag the thing round most of the race (5 laps down?), not get in anyone's way when being lapped was quite some achievement. Gladdies and gentle moles, I think we have then new Minardi. Well done Chandhok and HRT.

 

[Brogan]

not get in anyone's way when being lapped was quite some achievement

Pfft, a normal day for Karun, have you ever driven in Delhi?

 

[rufus_mcdufus]

Hamilton was driver of the race for me, but not the weekend - I voted Button.

 

[teabagyokel]

Honourable mentions for Button and Alonso for some really good drives to positions they weren't looking likely to get.

But my award goes to the flawless Robert Kubica, the only non-top 4 driver in the top 6, and deservedly second; holding off the faster Ferraris or Lewis Hamilton for the last half of the race. That only Button bested him shows his supreme quality, a fully deserved winner in my eyes.

 

[Boyle]

Driver of the weekend goes to Kubi for me. A sterling qualy performance to get into the top 10 and then goes and scores a podium while looking quick all the time, keeping a rampant Lewis and two Ferraris behind him for most of the race.

 

[Brogan]

Yep, I've opted for Robert too when you consider his performance over the whole weekend.

 

[genji]

Kubica's a good choice but I'm a bit surprised Alonso hasn't picked up a vote or two. Drove from the back to fourth. He said his tyres were shot by the time he hit Massa and he didn't see why Massa should have moved over for him. He resisted a much faster Hamilton just as you would expect him to, never flustered, never giving an inch.

If we had proportional representation on these polls (it can do multiple choices, right?) I'd have gone for those three - Button, Kubica, Alonso. Then FB would've made the case for Chandhok and I'd've wanted four votes.

 

[cider_and_toast]

I have to say everyone has made an excellent case for most of the drivers but I have gone for Button. Showing a clean pair of heels to his team mate in Qually which made up for his baffling lack of pace in Bahrain and then calling it just right for slicks and making the most of the situation presented to him.

Great race by all concerned though.

 

[teabagyokel]

Kubica's a good choice but I'm a bit surprised Alonso hasn't picked up a vote or two. Drove from the back to fourth. He said his tyres were shot by the time he hit Massa and he didn't see why Massa should have moved over for him. He resisted a much faster Hamilton just as you would expect him to, never flustered, never giving an inch.

If we had proportional representation on these polls (it can do multiple choices, right?) I'd have gone for those three - Button, Kubica, Alonso. Then FB would've made the case for Chandhok and I'd've wanted four votes.

Without wishing to down Alonso's achievement today, the reason he didn't get my vote is because he was only at the back due to a really poor start putting him in the vicinity of Schumacher. I don't think Kubica made a single mistake at any point, hence he edges it.

Having 3 votes is a little pointless because then we'd probably have a 3 way tie. Well done also to HRT for finishing a race, and to Lotus who are seemingly the best of the newbies!

 

[genji]

You can just as easily have a tie in a one member-one vote system, and what's wrong with a tie anyway?

 

[teabagyokel]

The tie's not the problem, the problem is if everyone votes one driver as a 1st choice and one driver as a 3rd choice, the two are equal! We're getting a tie anyway, but at least a tie of favourites!

 

[siffert_fan]

Well, I am going to surprise even myself and go with Liuzzi. He started 4 places behind Kubica and, in a lesser car, still managed (although with luck) to gain some points. A splendid effort IMHO.

 

[genji]

The tie's not the problem, the problem is if everyone votes one driver as a 1st choice and one driver as a 3rd choice, the two are equal! We're getting a tie anyway, but at least a tie of favourites!

If everyone votes Hamilton as first choice and Alonso as third choice then Hamilton will be first and Alonso will be third (assuming second place balances out), surely?

If half the voters vote Hamilton first and Alonso third and the other half vote Alonso first and Hamilton third then it will be a tie, which is fine, I think.