Driver of the day?
A lot to choose from, I know we've stopped doing this thread. But due to the number of excellent drives we saw from drivers today, I thought it was worthy of a thread.
Contenders are:
Hamilton
Vettel
Massa
Button
Grosjean
Hulkenberg
Hamilton:
Lost a position at the start due to being on the dirty side, pressurised Webber, went in too deep the first time, second time round perfected it. After that, started hounding down Vettel throughout the race, and it was looking inevitable at one point that he would pass the double world champion, slipped away due to traffic and Vettel putting in fastest laps, but kept at it, and finally it was Vettel who was hindered by traffic and passed his nemesis with ease with a last minute dash, after that, it was never easy as Vettel kept coming at him through a string of fastest laps. After several setbacks the last few races, he finally gets the victory.
Vettel:
Some may wonder why I put Vettel on here. But with the championship at stake, and Hamilton so close and looking ever so likely to pass him, he never gave up, despite what was at stake. Managed to build a gap, but from the start, it didn't look as if the race was going to be easy, as he wasn't pulling away like he usually does. Came under immense pressure from one of the sports best, but kept it cool, and finally lost the position after getting hindered by Khartikeyan, giving Hamilton his best chance of the race. Instead of letting Hamilton cruise away and settle for points, he pushed Hamilton until it was the end.
Massa:
Out-qualified his team-mate on merit, had the pace over him all weekend. Because of that, he gets demoted back 5 places by the team, and his hard work in qualifying becomes undone, didn't get to start in the tyres he wanted too either. Instead of brooding on that, he kept positive, and came back through the field with some good battles and overtakes, to finish behind his team-mate, if the championship wasn't at stake, a podium would have came his way.
Button:
From 12th to 5th was a great performance. Strategy may have helped, but it did hinder him for the first several laps as he was down in 16th at one pont. Pulled off a great first stint, overtaking cars here and there, first having a duel with Senna, then the "angry Kimster", amazing pace all round, too late to catch Massa. Question is, where would have he ended up if he didn't have the reliability issue in qualifying.
Grosjean:
Many may question why I put him here as his mistake is what cost him a higher finish.
Looked racy all through the race, lost several places and was down the field after a strange spin. But somehow managed to haul himself up into 7th a few seconds behind his team-mate despite having to come through the field, and some good battles and overtakes, didn't collide with anyone. A great performance.
Hulkenberg:
Punching above his weight? I certainly think so. Out-qualifying his team-mate once again comfortably, had a good start despite being on the dirty side of the grid, but eventually fell down the field due to his car being slower than those that finished ahead. Was running well until the first round of stops, had a great battle with Schumacher and both Lotus drivers, kept his head down. Near the end was hunted by both Williams drivers, and we know both of them like rubbing the other cars the wrong way (
), and brought home some crucial points for the team.
I'll put in the "Other" option aswell, just incase someone spotted a performance that I didn't.
I've gave the driver of the day to Massa due to having a great weekend until the setback, and then coming back strong from it.
A lot to choose from, I know we've stopped doing this thread. But due to the number of excellent drives we saw from drivers today, I thought it was worthy of a thread.
Contenders are:
Hamilton
Vettel
Massa
Button
Grosjean
Hulkenberg
Hamilton:
Lost a position at the start due to being on the dirty side, pressurised Webber, went in too deep the first time, second time round perfected it. After that, started hounding down Vettel throughout the race, and it was looking inevitable at one point that he would pass the double world champion, slipped away due to traffic and Vettel putting in fastest laps, but kept at it, and finally it was Vettel who was hindered by traffic and passed his nemesis with ease with a last minute dash, after that, it was never easy as Vettel kept coming at him through a string of fastest laps. After several setbacks the last few races, he finally gets the victory.
Vettel:
Some may wonder why I put Vettel on here. But with the championship at stake, and Hamilton so close and looking ever so likely to pass him, he never gave up, despite what was at stake. Managed to build a gap, but from the start, it didn't look as if the race was going to be easy, as he wasn't pulling away like he usually does. Came under immense pressure from one of the sports best, but kept it cool, and finally lost the position after getting hindered by Khartikeyan, giving Hamilton his best chance of the race. Instead of letting Hamilton cruise away and settle for points, he pushed Hamilton until it was the end.
Massa:
Out-qualified his team-mate on merit, had the pace over him all weekend. Because of that, he gets demoted back 5 places by the team, and his hard work in qualifying becomes undone, didn't get to start in the tyres he wanted too either. Instead of brooding on that, he kept positive, and came back through the field with some good battles and overtakes, to finish behind his team-mate, if the championship wasn't at stake, a podium would have came his way.
Button:
From 12th to 5th was a great performance. Strategy may have helped, but it did hinder him for the first several laps as he was down in 16th at one pont. Pulled off a great first stint, overtaking cars here and there, first having a duel with Senna, then the "angry Kimster", amazing pace all round, too late to catch Massa. Question is, where would have he ended up if he didn't have the reliability issue in qualifying.
Grosjean:
Many may question why I put him here as his mistake is what cost him a higher finish.
Looked racy all through the race, lost several places and was down the field after a strange spin. But somehow managed to haul himself up into 7th a few seconds behind his team-mate despite having to come through the field, and some good battles and overtakes, didn't collide with anyone. A great performance.
Hulkenberg:
Punching above his weight? I certainly think so. Out-qualifying his team-mate once again comfortably, had a good start despite being on the dirty side of the grid, but eventually fell down the field due to his car being slower than those that finished ahead. Was running well until the first round of stops, had a great battle with Schumacher and both Lotus drivers, kept his head down. Near the end was hunted by both Williams drivers, and we know both of them like rubbing the other cars the wrong way (
), and brought home some crucial points for the team.I'll put in the "Other" option aswell, just incase someone spotted a performance that I didn't.
I've gave the driver of the day to Massa due to having a great weekend until the setback, and then coming back strong from it.
