[Official] Driver of the race : Abu Dhabi GP

[garcon]

Originally Posted by Born Racer

Alonso the disgrace of the race- utterly classless and a deserved loser.

What, just for shaking his fist at Petrov at the end? I think poor Fernando was just taking his frustration out on the person nearest to him...

Hopefully, as mentioned, he'll have saved some anger for the shower of incompetents that really ruined his race.

[F1Pete]

Vettel all weekend long. Hon men to Petrov.

[AUSRSR]

Webber gets a sympathy vote.

Ha.

[blaffer]

Best driver: Vettel
Luckiest driver: Schumacher

[Mr V]

Vettel, closlely followed by Petrov then Kubica!

[HughGJohnson]

Originally Posted by blaffer

Best driver: Vettel
Luckiest driver: Schumacher

Yes, they both kept their heads.

Again, for me, it was Vettel almost by default from pole. Nobody really did anything special other than some late stoppers slowing other drivers. Vettel did a great job building a gap. Hamilton had to ask why Vettel was so far out after the stop.

[Chiefy]

You can't really fault a title-winning drive like that, so I give it to Vettel.

Honourable mentions to Kubica and, in particular, Petrov.

[MagnetON]

Originally Posted by MrTTraces

Petrov for stopping Alonso winning the title

+1

[Spritle]

Everybody who scored points preventing Hamilton from winning anything but 4th place.

[Mekola]

Petrov stopped Alonso to grab the champ while Vettel won - and it was his merit today.

[TrapezeArtist]

Originally Posted by garcon

Oh yes. Objects will be flying. I'd love to be a fly on the wall (as long as nothing hit me...)

[andy666]

Petrov not for holding Alonso back but for not making any mistakes with the Ferrari breathing down his neck .

[TrapezeArtist]

Alonso: for realising that it would leave a bad taste in everyone's mouth if he became WDC with a sub-8 point margin. So being the honourable man he is, he fell on his sword.

[Teretonga]

Originally Posted by Bononi

Like I said, Ferrari sucked in... as for Petrov he did what he had to do and Teflonso did put some pressure on him and wasn't capable to surpass him and this was a good job for Petrov.
I wouldn't be surprised if some Ferrari guy went to Renault's garage trying to make a deal...

A deal like "If Petrov lets Alonso past and holds up Webber we will give you free engines next year....."

Fact is: Petrov is the only person other than Vettel, Alonso, Hamilton, Webber, Button and Kubica to have scored a fastest lap this year. His first half of the season wasn't too bad for a rookie and some of his qualifying efforts put him into Q3 a few times.

He withstood pressure from a multiple WDC driving a faster car for half a race without a major mistake. If he had done this at any other time of the season for any of the drivers ahead of him he would have been a hero. Alonso had his year, but didn't have his perfect race.

Webber had his chances and made a few errors, basically Valencia and Korea, that cost him the title plus a qualifying effort in Abu Dhabi that locked him into a mid pack hold up. But he could have had a go at Alonso and never really did. He had nothing to lose.

Vettel was flawless at Yas Marina.
Petrov? I'd take him any day over Buemi, Algy, di Grassi,Senna, etc. Only Hulkenberg and Kobyashi race better or as well outside the long term F1 regulars.

[E.B]

I thought about petrov, and he was a valid choice. He drove with skill and consistency was there. It was without doubt his best performance of the year, one that might even keep him gainfully employed in F1.

But at the end of the day I have to give it to Vettel. He was under intense pressure from not only those suggesting he should focus on helping his teamate. At the end of the day Vettel did what he needed to with clinical efficiency, from getting a pole lap with only one run in Q3. He managed to get pole position, anf he buillt on that with a great start and controlled the day with a performance that could not be faulted. His in and outlap were superb and guaranteed he kept the race lead after the pit stop cycle.

It was a worthy drive to clinch your first WDC with. He did everything he needed to and made no mistakes something his more experienced fellow title challengers were not able to do.

Well done Seb. A great performance.

[mattt]

Petrov, Vettel or Kubica

Flawless drive from Petrov and especially good given his previous performances and for beating Kubica in quali. Plus he prevented Alonso from winning the championship which is karma for Germany.

Vettel for a perfect weekend and winning his first championship

Kubica also for a good drive

But Petrov gets it

[jonboy1066]

Petrov, for keeping his head under intense pressure.

And for righting the wrong that would have been a highly undeserved title for Mr Alonso.

And a special mention for Martin Brundell's "Get a grip son" Comment aimed at Teflonso.

[Jamesy-18]

Get real.

Vettel.

No brainer.

[david5]

Originally Posted by Jamesy-18

Get real.

Vettel.

No brainer.

Just remove the full stops. Yeah he won. He was fastest. (Chokes, me, not him.)

Petrov, good job.

[White flag man]

I'm quite surprised at the voting.
I voted for Petrov expecting to get flack for being so anti-Ferrari/Teflonso, but I see the vast majority feel the same as me.
Yes, Vettel was the best driver, both today and yersterday and fully deserves his reward. Kubica drove a great race fending off a desperate Hamilton for the majority of the race but, someone had to stop Teflonso and up stepped Mr Petrov. Sir, I thank you and salute you. you are the man.

[gert]

Button for me.
I was amazed at how long he could stay out on those softer tires.

Can't give that much credit to Petrov or Kubica for keeping the next car behind.
Almost the whole did that, except for Kobayashi, who actually had someone pass him.

[Oldtony]

der Seb. Now that lad could make a great champion.
He's nearly as good as le Seb who also won this weekend!

[Peter Mallett]

Before going to my choice of DotR I'd like to mention Mickey-the-Shoe who showed great composure and equanimity in the face of a somewhat scary moment. He not only admitted that the spin was his fault but also made sure Liuzi was ok too. Good piece of sportsmanship IMO.

Now, driver of the race. There were three drives worthy of merit, Button, Petrov and of course Vettel.

Button showed what he is capable of and was unlucky not to win. The tryes eventually stopped him. Had he put the hammer down earlier or for longer when he was in the lead he'd probably have used the tyres up long before he did.

Vettel drove a storming race, covered Hamilton at the first turn and never looked back.

Petrov. Under severe pressure to perform, he not only held Alonso up, he didn't put a wheel wrong all through the race, from what I saw anyway.

Soo it comes down to what was important, being in the best car (or one of them) and getting the job done, or taking advantage of a situation and making a very good fist of it? Well done Vitaly, you get my vote.

[Grandpa_Rob]

Vettel was on for the entire race has to be him , l give a Big Balls award to Petrov for the job on Alonso.

[Ralf's Girl]

Vettel for me - did everything he had to do to take the title, and did it convincingly.

Petrov has to have an honourable mention though, because I have to admit that I fully expected him to just throw it off the road with Alonso behind him, so full credit it to him for keeping him behind (not that he really appeared to be under much pressure, which was strange).