[Driver] Top 10 drivers of the year

[Marbot]

I've also been looking at that poll. Given the way in which the poll was carried out (marks out of 10 for each driver, rather than just voting for who you thought was the top driver) it comes as no surprise that the result may possibly be biased in some way.

[Jacques Rabbit]

I'll admit to missing a lot of the season, but to the best of my very flawed ability:

1. Sebastian Vettel (he won some races, that's usually a good thing)
2. Jenson Button (he did what I think a lot of us forgot he could do)
3. Fernando Alonso (I have a feeling the Ferrari wasn't a 257-point vehicle)

And then....no one else really differentiated themselves. Lewis won races but he himself lost many more. Webber was a number two, but he wasn't exactly getting the best results a number two can possibly get (which would, of course, be to finish P2 in the standings behind Vettel). Paul di Resta had a good rookie season, but that doesn't mean he his season should be rated higher just because of his inexperience; still got beaten by his teammate, who wasn't very impressive. I guess my point is a lot of guys did well but I feel odd separating them as the best because, quite honestly, everyone fourth on back to about twentieth or so all blend together for me.

Honorable mention, of course, goes to Nick Heidfeld for so nobly sacrificing his own performance to assist Vitaly Petrov, who scored 34 points alongside Nick, and just 3 without him. I guess Heidfeld brings out the best in everybody but himself...

[sparkione]

Originally Posted by Marbot

Or even physically fit.

Only a 'race official' could nominate a driver who wasn't even there. In my none-too meagre experience, that's pretty much par for the course...

[Marbot]

Originally Posted by Jacques Rabbit

Honorable mention, of course, goes to Nick Heidfeld for so nobly sacrificing his own performance to assist Vitaly Petrov, who scored 34 points alongside Nick, and just 3 without him. I guess Heidfeld brings out the best in everybody but himself...

I think that it's probably fair to say that Heidfeld is better than at least ten of the drivers that will make it to the grid this season.

[Jimmy Magnusson]

Originally Posted by Marbot

I think that it's probably fair to say that Heidfeld is better than at least ten of the drivers that will make it to the grid this season.

Bah, Heidfeld is perhaps a little better than Trulli, and the quality of the grid has gone up for next year. Nick used to be high quality but has proven twice now that he's past it. The form ain't moving up from here.

[chunterer]

I'm struggling to come up with 10......

[strider]

Originally Posted by strider

I've jumped the gun slightly because they have not announced the #1 yet, but it has to be Jenson doesn't it? Surely not Hamilton? But then you'd think Lewis has to be in the top ten somewhere. His fall from grace was not that bad.

Jenson was voted #1, but they've now published the list for all 27 drivers. Lewis was #11, which really does surprise me. Link.

[Mr V]

What a surprise. A British based website, with a British fanbase, voting a British driver as driver of the year, dispite finishing a distant second

[Jimmy Magnusson]

Originally Posted by Mr V

What a surprise. A British based website, with a British fanbase, voting a British driver as driver of the year, dispite finishing a distant second

By that logic the other brit shouldn't be outside the top ten, though.

[Paradise City]

Heidfeld's half season almost matched Petrov's full season. I don't know where he stands in the top ten, I wouldn't suggest him as anything more than solid but his reputation nosedive isn't deserved. If I was Williams I'd choose Nick over Rubens if the choice was experience/performance over budget.

Personally, I pit Vettel 2nd because he's a slight enigma to me. Where the car starts and Vettel ends is a bit unclear from where I was watching for me to be confident in giving him top spot in my rankings whereas Button, fought, was shrewd with his car and outfinished Hamilton throughout most of the season. He's not my nominee for numero uno because of English jingoism that's for sure.

[Jacques Rabbit]

Originally Posted by Marbot

I think that it's probably fair to say that Heidfeld is better than at least ten of the drivers that will make it to the grid this season.

It may be fair, but if I run a team that's at the Heidfeld level of performance (such that you couldn't attract a real star), I'm still looking for at least one of these two attributes, if not both:

1) Someone who has the potential to raise their value in the future (i.e. a young driver)
2) Someone who has the potential to get someone else to write the checks (or cheques) for me.

Heidfeld does neither. He is what he is, and his backers, well, they just aren't.

[Marbot]

Originally Posted by Jacques Rabbit

1) Someone who has the potential to raise their value in the future (i.e. a young driver)

If you're struggling for cash, that would certainly be a priority.

Originally Posted by Jacques Rabbit

2) Someone who has the potential to get someone else to write the checks (or cheques) for me.

As would that.

It's a frighteningly bad situation that F1 has gotten itself into, isn't it.

[Teretonga]

Honorable mention, of course, goes to Nick Heidfeld for so nobly sacrificing his own performance to assist Vitaly Petrov, who scored 34 points alongside Nick, and just 3 without him. I guess Heidfeld brings out the best in everybody but himself...[/QUOTE]

Thats a really interesting point.
The team scored points when Nick was there but when they felt Nick wasn't up to it (relationship soured?) they blamed him and got rid of him but were never able to replicate the earlier success and then simply acknowledged at the end of the season they weren't on to it and had lost their way, while Nick has been publicly castigated as being 'no good'.

Maybe he is actually a very good development driver and should be employed as just that....

[Marbot]

An interesting article. I tend to agree with it.

http://www.pitpass.com/45460-Who-Are-We-To-Judge

[John Turner]

Yes, it's a good piece and valid although written on the back of the topic which forms our discussion, so just another view of it. I suppose it depends on how seriously we take the Top Ten, and since our ignorance of what the teams/engineers know about their respective drivers is a constant, then you could argue that our compilation is from a level playing field based simply on what we observe during the races.

Oh, and noting his comment about spectacular (if you get that far), I think Jenson's drive in Canada was pretty much so, as was Rubens back at Silverstone (in 2003?), and I'm sure there are others you can think of; the more so when you realise that the performance gaps between current F1 cars is so much closer than in the Moss/Fangio era, so it is harder to be spectacular in such circumstances.