Poll 2010 Belgian Grand Prix Driver of the Weekend

[FB]

Had to go for Hamilton. He dominated the race in changing conditions, had to cope with the dreaded SC restart, the 2nd in very damp & challenging conditions and the off he had he recovered from brilliantly.

 

[P1]

There were several phenomenal drives but I'm going against the grain. My vote is for Jensen Button's excellent drive and for his grace under pressure with his race destroyed and his season damaged.

I think this is a good point. Also I believe he would have finished second even with a nose change. And he handled himself very well after the race. You could imagine Vettel or Alonso throwing their toys from the pram if the situation were reversed.

I also think he just had bad luck in qualifying with the changing weather and set his time on a damp track.

But Hamilton is still the man of the race. He won it from second and his performance was dominant.

 

[snowy]

Lewis shone all weekend, during the practice sessions when he was on the track he was the quickest car on it. He was half a second quicker than his teammate Jenson all weekend and was also quickest car during qualifying apart from the first run of quali 3. A totally dominant weekend marred only by an incredibly well handled excursion into the gravel.

Robert Kubica put on a great performance, unfortunately undoing all his hard work with a rather poor pit entry procedure. And Mark Webber again showed Sebastian that there is no substitute for experience and hard graft.

 

[TK421W]

was going to be Kubica before his brainfade in the pit lane, so has to be Hamilton, very close run between the two though. Hamilton has constantly outperformed the car imo this year, and has beaten his teammate consistently since Buttons last win (i may be wrong, but i dont think Jenson has finished ahead of him in a single race that they have both finished since then).

 

[Brogan]

(i may be wrong, but i dont think Jenson has finished ahead of him in a single race that they have both finished since then).

You can compare their race finishes here in the F1 2010 Head To Head thread.
Spain was the last time Jenson finished ahead when both of them finished the race.

 

[teabagyokel]

Spain was the last time Jenson finished ahead when both of them finished the race.

I seem to remember a McLaren in the wall 2 laps from the end. A classified result ? a finish!

 

[Brogan]

Spain was the last time Jenson finished ahead when both of them finished the race.

I seem to remember a McLaren in the wall 2 laps from the end. A classified result ? a finish!

A fair point.
In that case it was China, the race before.

 

[Enja]

And Mark Webber again showed Sebastian that there is no substitute for ... and hard graft.

Well let's make it simple - hard graft is an indefinable and it's impossible to quantify how much graft any driver puts in, simply that Webber falls into the Australian cliches of what a sportsman might be is not enough.

I'd also argue there is a substitute for hard graft. It's called talent. It's why Vettel will win more than 1 WDC compared to Mark.



Aaaaannnyway..

For me the driver of the weekend was Lewis Hamilton. Good pace all weekend, delivered a belter of a qualifying lap and controlled the race all the way until he slid into Rivage, a mistake many a good driver has and will make.

There should be honourable mentions to Massa, Petrov, Kobayashi, Schumacher etc but ultimately they were all a victim of their misfortunate and or mistakes.

 

[MajorDanby]

I am on the only one to give a mention to Sutill. Does no one else think he drove a good race?

 

[tooncheese]

The thing is we only see what the beeb decide to show us. Sutil was only metioned a couple of times as he had an annonymous race. Also th reason why Hulkenburg and Di Grassi havn't been voted for all season

 

[Enja]

The thing is we only see what the beeb decide to show us. Sutil was only metioned a couple of times as he had an annonymous race. Also th reason why Hulkenburg and Di Grassi havn't been voted for all season

If you're referring to the race then the BBC don't get any choice over it, FOM serves up the footage and the replays. Frustratingly, there is an awful lot they don't show. Some of it gets shown on the online edits and other bits are exclusives on the end of season review. Even then there are different camera angles we never see.

But if you're referring to the analysis and the forum afterwards, then yes, unfortunately Force India, Sauber and Toro Rosso are the 3 teams that never get a mention on the BBC. It's a shame, particularly when they have almost 1 hour 30 minutes of post race analysis and end up devoting it all to the front runners and maybe a sympathy shout out for one of the new teams.

I am on the only one to give a mention to Sutill. Does no one else think he drove a good race?

Indeed he did. He's a real talent.

 

[PurpleSector]

Close between Hamilton and Schumacher for me, I went for Schumacher as I have been very critical of him this year but he shut me up with a strong performance all weekend and gaining 14 places in the race.

 

[Boyle]

Hamilton's drive has been mentioned numerous times as has Schumacher's. Sutil had a fantastic weekend, again totally outshining his teammate. Webber's damage limitation drive was very good (yes he gained the places back with Vettel/Button collision and Kubi overshooting the pit, but his pass on Sutil early on was very important and had he not made it he could have been looking at the back of a Force India for a substantial amount of time) and also deserves a mention. Rosberg and Massa were both steady if unspectacular.

However, if you're going to vote for Schumi for a great drive from the back then surely young Vitaly needs recognition. He did ruin his weekend by 'checking' if the kerb was wet and started 24th but managed to gain 15th places to grab a couple points by finishing ninth.

Yet I'm going for Kubica. He may have overshot the pit box but he was very fast all weekend and only made that one mistake. But Hamilton also made a mistake which almost put him out of the race! He was able to use his race craft to keep it out of the barriers but Robert was unfortunate enough to slip up in the pits. His engine was also on its fourth race which further emphasises what a great weekend he had. Great drives by a lot of racers but Robert just pips it for me.

 

[Galahad]

Although I've voted for Massa, having watched the race again and done the overtaking stats I'd like to put a word in for Alguersuari, who was quick and committed and rather outshone his team mate - not for the first time this season. I think the young Spaniard is finally getting to grips with things and looking much more like an F1 driver than this time last year.

 

[Eraserhead]

Lewis Hamilton, for sure...