Your top 5 F1 drivers of the 2008 season?

Your top 5 F1 drivers of the 2008 season?


  • Total voters
    34

Brogan

Legend
Staff Member
With just under a month left of the 2008 season, now is the time to start thinking about how the drivers have performed.

Who has done well taking into account the relative performance of the cars?
Which rookie has stood out?

Who has consistently out-qualified and out-performed their team-mate?
Who has disappointed and who has surprised?

I'll leave the poll open-ended and change of votes is permitted so you can always vote now and amend it later if you wish.
 
It seems a long way since the first race of the season when Ferrari dominated and everyone was talking about back-to-back WDC's for Kimi.
Not a single vote so far which just about sums up his season.

It looks like someone has only voted 4 times too so you might want to check all 5 of your selections have been recorded.
 
Strongly tempted, as a race in isolation my vote would change, but for the 2008 series.... not sure. I think as a race in isolation we should recognise the achievements for position of those racers who never went on the track
 
My 5 best drivers of the 2008 season are:

  1. Robert Kubica
  2. Sebastien Vettel
  3. Lewis Hamilton
  4. Felipe Massa
  5. Jarno Trulli

Kubica because he's simply been the most consistent driver, he's still in the championship race in a car that hasn't been developed since June!

Vettel has improved so much from the start of the season, he's put in some brilliant qualifying laps towards the second half and he's looked brilliant in a non-brilliant car!

Hamilton has come at least very close to winning the Championship with the governing body against him and the rest of the drivers queueing up to criticise him for "agressive driving"*. He's made mistakes, but he's not exactly alone in that!

Massa has made as many mistakes as in previous seasons, but since the vast majority of them were at Silverstone, he seems to have got away with it! He has been critisised as not being "top-rate" but he's turned a World Champion into a shadow of himself by the simple expedient of continually beating him! He's had a great year, and if Ferrari's stratigests were as good as their bribe handlers then he would be World Champion already!

Jarno Trulli is there because he's been brilliantly consistent for Toyota, continually dragging them into the points and beating Timo Glock, who is probably 6th in my list. The Toyota boys challenged, and beat, many of the big boys on pace in Magny-Cours and Budapest and are unfortuanate that Renault are taking the glory at the end of the season.

ALSO RAN: Heidfeld - bad season? He's only a couple of points behind Raikkonen. Alonso - he'd be up there if it weren't for the and the fact that its his fault he's in an uncompetitive car. Raikkonen - great until Silverstone, crap since. Webber - consistent first half of the season!
FELL AT THE FIRST FENCE: Coulthard - my review mirrors life. Kovalainen - not great for a bloke in a McLaren. Piquet - just the stooge Nando needed!
NO JUDGEMENT: Button, Barrichello, Fisi, Sutil - cars too bad!

Not all drivers mentioned.

*"Agressive driving" is a literal translation in Jackass speak for "overtaking"!
 
Vettel, Hamilton and Kubica all on 18% how interesting, also interesting that there isn't an overall favourite.

Alonso has raced very intelligently this season and whenever there has been rain has made the most of it in the timing of his pit stops and the handling of the conditions, that's ignoring the way he has outpaced superior cars in that Renault. So for me he's been the best.

"Schnell Vettel" close behind him though, what and awesome season he's had, all I could think of when seeing him race, was what he'd be capable in a top 3 team, in an STR getting his first pole and being the youngest ever race winner all on merit. :thumbsup:

:1st: Hamilton has clinched the title by the skin of his teeth, at times he has been extremely exciting and on the edge, at other times he has made me gasp and cringe, but congratulations to him! Overall he's is improving and showing real talent, although consistency will be the key to any chance of greatness. You can't help but wonder whether there has been an agenda against him in the form of various penalties, although I think all were fair, apart from one gifting Massa an extra point at the expense of Bourdais.

Massa has become the great apprentice, he's learnt so much in just one year, you just have to respect him. The hard work and dedication needed to do that against a reigning world champion, when you are seen as an also ran, is very high. He has managed to be far more consistent than either his team-mate or his team, and has been thwarted by unreliability of no fault to himself. I can't help but feel sorry for him when his season ended the way it did, thinking he'd won and then finding out he hadn't.

Raikkonen, oh dear, where do we start, a dismal start to the season, where he seemed to have forgotten how hard it is to race competitively, quickly being overshadowed by his far more consistent team mate. He's struggled to change his driving style to suit the Ferrari, as such not getting enough heat into the tyre to be competitive, yet when the car is at it's peak can blitz the field with incredible fastest laps. Only when the pressure was really on did we see what we know he is capable of, I doubt he'll make the same mistake again. Ferrari are going to be in another McLaren-esque situation next year with 2 very competitive drivers.

Kovalainen has been a big disappointment for me, only occasionally showing flashes of his raw pace, not all of this can be due to any internal politics and as such I wonder whether any of it may psychological, or is he just being out-shone by his team mate?

Kubica, the man many think could have wrapped up the season a few races ago if he'd been given a Ferrari/McLaren. After a horrid crash last year in which I thought he would have died, he's come back with his unique driving style to drag the car around a circuit in consistency and pace.

Heidfeld, the forgotten man, despite this he has on many occasions out performed his team mate, and has been mister consistency, rarely shining in qualifying, but on race pace, can deliver plenty of points and many podium finishes.

I could go into more detail about other drivers and may do another time, but should really just end it with a tribute to DC having ended his illustrious career in an unfortunate low. :thankyou:
 
Back
Top Bottom