2010 Driver of the Season

[FB]

Although Brogan will be totting up the various Driver of Weekend polls through the season here's a chance for you to vote on who you felt was the driver who impressed you most in 2010. You can use the Autocourse criteria "based on results and the equipment at their disposal", you can vote with your heart or you can click randomly with the mouse until a name is highlighted.

Interested to know the reasons for your vote.

Poll up for 14 days so get in quick. And no, there won't be a results show on Sunday.

 

[F1Yorkshire]

I'm going for Massa.

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't he the only driver to have completed every lap of the season?

Excellent performance in a car with known engine problems and a team not quite on his side.

 

[FB]

Well that's an interesting start

 

[F1Yorkshire]

Well that's an interesting start

Its hard to pick a driver who has had a faultless season. All the main contenders for the title have made mistakes which have cost them.

 

[PurpleSector]

I'm going for Massa.

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't he the only driver to have completed every lap of the season?

Excellent performance in a car with known engine problems and a team not quite on his side.

He crashed out on lap 1 at Suzuka and was lapped a few times.

 

[FB]

I was torn between Kubica and Rosberg eventually going for Rosberg. Based on the equipment provided Nico outperformed the machinery and (his much over hyped) 7 times World Champion team-mate throughout the season. I hope Brawn can provide a better car next season as we have seen many drivers impress in a bad car only to be pretty hopeless in a good one.

 

[Brogan]

I've added the missing drivers from the poll (Chandhok, Yamamoto & de la Rosa) so you will have to vote again if you have already done so.

 

[Sakari]

Kubica for me.. actually wanted to vote for Kobayashi, but he was struggling earlier this year and he will get his vote forthcoming years

 

[F1Yorkshire]

I've added the missing drivers from the poll (Chandhok, Yamamoto & de la Rosa) so you will have to vote again if you have already done so.

I'll use this opportunity to think of someone else as I was wrong about Massa doing every lap of the season.

 

[Jru]

I've gone for Lewis which, given his end of season was put at risk of going to Kubica or Alonso. Early on he consistently seemed to split the red bulls despite their excessive pace as well as several battling drives in the season. I think his being able to be leading with a reasonable (for this season) margin (other than Webber) after Spa was a sign of forcing his car to be well ahead of where it should have been. A torrid few races thereafter unfortunately put paid to his challenge, a certain extent his fault.

Vettel and Webber both had off days too often. I think Alonso was unlucky to an extent early on and actually managed a fair few storming drives up the field himself and was often there to gain from others misfortune - and that kept him in it until ferrari finally made their car work.

I agree that Kubica and Rosberg also had good seasons too.

 

[RickD]

Can't go for Lewis as he has made too many mistakes in the races this year. Couldn't vote for a Ferrari driver as they are cheats who break the rules and the spirit of the rules, can't vote for either Red Bull driver as both have made far too many mistakes and Vettel only won it in the end due to the support of the team to the detriment of his team mate.

Nearly went for Rosberg as he has had a fairly good season against a team mate who is a 7 time WDC, but then his team mate has been out of the sport for 3 years, so will reserve judgement until next year on that.

No-one further down the grid really springs to mind, can't see the fascination with Kubica personally and won't be able to until he gets a decent team mate (and knowing what Renault used to do to their second Chassis when under control of the one who shall not be named, it wouldn't surpise me if they carried on that 'tradition').

Can't vote for Kobi as he just hasn't been that good this year. He is interestingto watch, but he was dire earlier in the year and got beaten by Heidfeld at Abu-Dhabi (who showed one again why he got his nickname, but Kobi should have been faster as he is much more used to the car).

So, I have gone for my default of Button. Ok, so his qualifying let him down, Other than that though, the only bad call he made was in Korea when he decided to keep the new brake system on the McLaren and kept locking the front. The only DNFs he had were one mechanic having brain fade at Monaco and Vettel doing his usual 'lets take another driver out while attempting an overtake', neither of which were his fault. He has also lived up to expectation (for me and other JB fans) of staying with his more illustrious team mate and even beating him in the early part of the season. On race pace, he has always been there or there abouts.

So, although i'll get moaned at by FB, Muddy and Bro (to name a few), Button is my choice for driver of the season.

 

[Grizzly]

This is a tough call... Ill have to come back after some consideration.

and knowing what Renault used to do to their second Chassis when under control of the one who shall not be named, it wouldn't surprise me if they carried on that 'tradition'.

I sincerely hope not! Not that i actually know for sure, but i believe Renault were extremely embarrassed over the crash affair, i think they are doing their utmost to share nothing but a name with the old regime that tarnished them so badly.

 

[RickD]

Thats the hope I have too Grizzly, but untilt here are two drivers of about the same skill and experience int hat team, there is no way to tell..

 

[siffert_fan]

I have to go with Button.
He had the guts to move into Hamilton's team and take the fight right to him.It seemed to me that the improvements made to the car during the season favoured Lewis over Button (perhaps unintended, as the team is more familiar with what Hamilton needs out of his car than what Jenson requires), yet he remained in shouting distance to the end.
Good job, Button.

 

[teabagyokel]

I can only say Kubica, because he was brilliant. I don't believe that Petrov was being held back, but I do believe that that car should not have been on the podium in Melbourne, Spa and Monaco (and nearly Suzuka). He's been faster than almost everyone who's been in a faster car at some point this season.

RickD, I would not vote for someone who's been beaten 14-5 in qualifying by his team-mate, one of which he binned it before getting into Q2 in the wet in Malaysia and another in Germany where he lost it off the line.

 

[TK421W]

Kubica for me. made very few mistakes (in fact, i cant remember him making a single one), constantly outperformed his car and i hope he gets a decent car soon.

Wouldve liked to go for one of the MM boys, but Button was just too average and Lewis made too many mistakes (as did the 2 redbull guys and Alonso).

 

[tooncheese]

Similar to my chump reasoning, most the drivers have made a fool of themselves at some point this year. So i am left with Kubica and Glock, who havn't to my knowledge made many errors. In the end i went for Glock for challengin the lotuses with a slower car, and comprehensively trouncing di Grassi.

 

[Boyle]

A few contenders for this aren't there? But 3 drivers really stood out by dragging cars to positions they had no right to be in - Hamilton, Rosberg and Kubica.

Hamilton beat a world champion teammate, stayed in the title hunt until the very end and made very few mistakes throughout the season. His mistake at Monza was a first lap incident which was severely punished, Singapore wasn't his fault IMO and running wide at Korea are the only errors I can think of at the moment.

Rosberg trounced his hyped up, 7 time champion partner and took that Mercedes to three podium places. He was narrowly beaten by Massa in a better car, is maturing very well and was consistently in the thick of the points. I can't think of any glaring errors he has made throughout the season and I hope Mercedes can provide him with a more competitive car next year.

My vote is going to go to the Pole, though. Almost identical to Rosberg's season but his performances at Australia and Belgium really clinched it. He also grabbed three podiums and was robbed of one more by a loose wheel at Suzuka. Funnily enough, his only real mistake came during his best performance at Belgium - over shooting the pit box and gifting Webber second place. Like Rosberg, I hope he can get a race winning car soon to see if he can turn his potential into race wins.

Sorry for the long post...

 

[Galahad]

I can understand why Hamilton and Kubica are the frontrunners at the moment. I thought both had outstanding seasons.

I've voted for Lewis. I know he made important mistakes at Monza and Korea, but I think since Kubica wasn't under the pressure of a championship battle that it evens out somewhat. The Monza situation was exacerbated by the team making things far too complicated - there was huge pressure on them to get a win, but having the drivers try out two totally opposed setups in practice and then split strategies when it mattered made things unnecessarily difficult - particularly when it turned out that Hamilton had got the wrong rear wing on his car. From sixth on the grid, needing a win, he was always going to have to have a go, and I can't criticise him for it.

His commitment and decisiveness seemed to step up a gear this season, his overtaking moves more sharply executed, and he can only grow through having Button as a team mate, who challenges him in a less conventional way.

His championship rivals made mistakes and/or took risks that were inexplicable and inexcusable.

 

[Chad Stewarthill]

I wanted to vote for Hamilton but was a tad reluctant, what with being such a big fan of his already. Was I just being biased? I asked myself; then Galahad's excellent (as always) comments helped persuade me go with my gut reaction.
If you discount Singapore, which I still maintain was Webber's fault, and if you consider that Monza ended with a very bad result from a very minor error, then I can't think of anyone who has driven better or more consistently.