2012 AUTOSPORT Awards

[Viscount]

So Button wins British Competition Driver of the Year at the Autosport Awards, beating other nominees Paul di Resta, Dario Franchitti, WTCC champion Rob Huff and McLaren teammates Gary Paffett (DTM runner-up) and Lewis Hamilton.

 

[Mephistopheles]

Can you provide a link Viscount

 

[Josh]

Here Mephistopheles

 

[Viscount]

Mephistopheles Unfortunately they're not streaming it this year, just live commentary:

http://live.autosport.com/commentary.php/id/548

 

[Mephistopheles]

Thanks guys that has cheered me up no end.....

 

[sushifiesta]

I don't want to create a massive argument, but what exactly is this award meant to be for and why does Jenson deserve it when a certain other British driver is widely considered to have comprehensively outperformed him this year?

 

[Slyboogy]

I can think of two drivers who deserved it more than Button.

Lewis Hamilton and Dario Franchetti.

Not sure how Button won it.

 

[Mephistopheles]

It don't matter how he won it he just did..... good on him well deserved and well done....

 

[sushifiesta]

Jordan announces that AUTOSPORT readers have voted Jenson Button as British Competition Driver of the Year.

I guess it's "just" a popularity award then.

 

[Mephistopheles]

Isn't everything a popularity award when it comes to this sort of thing?

Sports personality of the year proves that, you just vote for who you like not who is best just like the driver of the weekend threads on this forum.....

 

[sushifiesta]

Yes of course, I just don't know much about the autosport awards and have always thought that they were decided by a panel of some sort of experts.

 

[Road of Bones]

Given that it was a "people's choice" award, I'm pleasantly surprised that Jenson won it- from forum traffic on threads like this, you'd be forgiven for thinking that JB fans are pretty few and far between!

 

[Josh]

Seeing how it's voted on by readers and it's "just" a popularity award then how did Vettel ever win the International Racing Driver of the Year Award beating Alonso, Button, Hamilton(!!), Hunter-Reay and Raikkonen

 

[Brogan]

just like the driver of the weekend threads on this forum.....

Which is precisely why we stopped doing them - they're meaningless

 

[ExtremeNinja]

In other news: Autosprt have just won the Mickey Mouse Awards Award from the Mickey Mouse institution of Mickey Mouse Awards. Mickey Mouse was unable to comment as he had travelled back to 1950 to dance with some minstrels.

 

[The Artist.....]

I can think of two drivers who deserved it more than Button.

Lewis Hamilton and Dario Franchetti.

Not sure how Button won it.

When I heard this, I was surprised (and that's probably an understatement)...

However, how does this sound as an explanation; There may have been four types of voters here;
1. People who voted for Button as they were either Button fans, or genuinely thought he'd been the best performer.
2. People who voted for Lewis Hamilton in international driver of the year, but wanted to vote for a different driver for international driver of the year
3. People who voted for Lewis Hamilton in international driver, and also voted for him as British driver
4. People who voted for Vettel (or Alonso) in international, but then voted for Hamilton in British driver

1+2>3+4.....

 

[The Artist.....]

ExtremeNinja

This is just one of those quirks you get when you have viewer/reader votes.... Sometimes the public don't give the "right" answer...

I mean, look at Ryan Giggs winning SPOTY.....

 

[ExtremeNinja]

Ah. I didn't realise it was public vote (popularity contest). That kind of makes it pretty worthless.

 

[The Pits]

More of a misnomer than worthless per se, but I would rather see the category selected by a panel of experts, to allow it some meaning.

 

[Road of Bones]

I rest my case...