Poll 2011 Australian Grand Prix Driver of the Weekend

[FB]

The usual opportunity to vote for who you thought was the best driver across the weekend. Vettel put in a blinding pole lap and won dominantly in what is fairly clearly the best car. Hamilton surprised us all by bringing the McLaren home 2nd and with a broken undertray. Vitaly Petrov picked up Kubica's mantle and brought the Renault home in a fine 3rd place.

Or will you plump for one of the new boys? Perez picking up points in his first race with a one stop strategy, beating the much praised Kobayashi in the process. Paul di Resta was a fine 12th, just behind his more experienced team mate and, if Ted Kravits is to be believed, would have beaten him if Force India hadn't changed his strategy.

Over to you.

 

[Boyle]

This is a hard one as there were quite a few very good performances.

However, I'm going to go with Petrov for his first podium and who had a great weekend overall. He carried on from where he left off at the end of last year and looks like he is settling into F1 now. He also trounced his much more experienced teammate in every department. I think some were a tad harsh on him in last year but when there's no in-season testing and up against Kubica in your rookie season your bound not to look too good...

 

[Brogan]

Hmm, tricky one this as there are a few contenders.

Petrov as already mentioned.
Hamilton for once again splitting the Red Bulls and managing to drive a broken car, well.
Perez, although he has been DSQed for bodywork so how much extra performance was he getting compared to the others?
di Resta for a fine performance on his debut.

 

[snowy]

I want to vote for Lewis but his performance was put in the shade by the winner and by Vitaly Petrov. So I voted for Vitaly.

I hope I don't have to do that again!


What's with the gap between Seb and Mark? Are they really giving their guys equal equipment at Red Bull? Or is Seb on performance enhancing drugs?

 

[cider_and_toast]

Has to be Petrov for me. A driver who before this weekend wasn't given a snowballs chance in hell of beating his more experienced team mate.

 

[Brogan]

A driver who before this weekend wasn't given a snowballs chance in hell of beating his more experienced team mate.

*cough*
http://cliptheapex.com/threads/2011-team-mate-prediction.2201/

I had them as equal for the season

 

[sportsman]

Tricky one this race.Three outstanding drivers in my eyes.Vettel dominant win.Fantastic debut from Perez.Petrov on the podium.
My vote went to Petrov.

 

[ATL11]

Petrov, easy he maintained his snowball well in Hell.

 

[siffert_fan]

I'll go along with majority here and vote for Petrov.

 

[johnnoble1990]

I was going to vote for Perez till i heard about their DQ. Still was an impressive performance, even if they were breaking rules. Has to be Petrov for me.

 

[ATL11]

Perez been excluded?

 

[Brogan]

Both Saubers DSQed for illegal rear wing.

 

[ATL11]

Just seen rear wing too big, they are appealing, so no one have a tape measure @ sauber then, thought what with them being German.......Swiss

 

[Brogan]

It's to do with curvature.
The curve must be no less than a 100mm diameter; so imagine a ball 100mm and all areas of the wing must be in contact with it.

Their wing had too tight a curve so the ball wouldn't fit into it.

 

[McZiderRed]

Petrov, easy he maintained his snowball well in Hell.

That made me chuckle, ATL.

Petrov gets my vote. He out qualified his more experienced team-mate, had an excellent start and pretty much a faultless race, finishing third.

 

[teabagyokel]

Petrov for me, don't know about Perez' legality, so I'll leave that can of worms unopened.

But Petrov embarrassed Heidfeld and 3rd on merit!

 

[Chad Stewarthill]

It's to do with curvature.
The curve must be no less than a 100mm diameter; so imagine a ball 100mm and all areas of the wing must be in contact with it.
Their wing had too tight a curve so the ball wouldn't fit into it.

At the risk of sounding pedantic I thought it was too flat a curve, which gave too much gain from drag reduction.

Anyway, can I vote for a three-way tie between Vettel, Hamilton & Petrov?
No? Petrov then.

 

[Jen]

A toss-up between Lewis and Vitaly - voted for the Russian in the end, if only because he is less experienced than Lewis.

One can only wonder what would have happened if Vitaly had had a badly-damaged "bottom" though

 

[KekeTheKing]

Petrov for sure.

He made Heidfeld look pedestrian all weekend and brought home the podium with very little trouble.

 

[Pyrope]

Vitaly, drove like a seasoned pro and comfortably outpaced "Slightly faster than a Virgin" Nick throughout the weekend.