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Your 2012 top 10 F1-drivers


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#1 Disgrace

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Posted 25 November 2012 - 20:37

Who is your unofficial top 10 for F1 2012?

1. Alonso - in a class of one IMO.
2= Vettel - thoroughly deserving WDC, won despite losing a clear victory.
2= Hamilton - lost two clear victories through reliability, got taken out three times, one puncture and lost endless points due to pitstops. Deserved to be in the title race.
4= Hulkenberg - crushed his team-mate and could have won a race.
4= Raikkonen - no comeback rust, 100% finishing record, could have won more if not for qualifying weakness.
6. Schumacher - cut his errors down to just two, got pole around Monaco aged 43, lost two podiums + endless points through reliability and deserved so much better.
7. Rosberg - great victory in China, could also have won at Monaco, didn't make endless high-profile mistakes like many potential top 10 candidates.
8. Petrov - outperformed Kovalainen despite less testing and receiving updates later than him.
9. Button - three dominant victories but spent a quarter of the season in a developmental dead-end.
10. Massa - hopeless start but massive improvement and even looked to have the qualifying edge over Alonso when it was too late.

Big omissions: Perez/Maldonado/Grosjean had top 10 pace, but lost far too many points.

Edited by Disgrace, 25 November 2012 - 20:37.


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#2 MortenF1

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Posted 25 November 2012 - 20:43

This thread is usually started by Taxi, but I'm impatient!

Sebastian Vettel has just been crowned world drivers champion, getting a hard-fought third title, but how did the drivers stack up this year, in your opinion.
Which drivers performed best?

Here's my list:

1. Lewis Hamilton
This season has been his best ever, and he's been the best driver this year, no doubt there for me. The way he came through the field in Spain, having lost that fantastic pole, was really, really impressive. Also how he made his two-stopper work in Canada; that was an amazing, white-knuckle drive.
A shame that he was so often robbed of great results, but with the way he's performed this year, he's the moral winner.

2. Fernando Alonso
Staying in the title fight till the last race; Alonso has been tremendous this year! I can only remember one costly mistake and that was spinning in Melbourne qualifying. He's always been there to maximise the cars potential, and could never be ruled out, we learned that quickly this year.
Who would have thought he'd be contending so convincingly for the title this year, after what pre-season testing and the first few races suggested?

3. Kimi Räikkönen
What a comeback! Personally, I never doubted he'd be on the pace straight away, but that he could race so superbly from the off, was perhaps a little surprise. He took a while to get comfortable in qualifying, and there's probably more potential there still, but he's always had very, very impressive races.

4. Sebastian Vettel
He gets fourth mainly because he's made a couple more mistakes than Hamilton and Alonso, but apart from that he's been extremely good once again. Winning four races on the trot required some luck, but you got to be there to take over too, when someone drops out.


5. Mark Webber
A very good season from Webber, so it's such a huge shame he lost momentum after the summer-break, with gearbox woes and of course continuing KERS-dramas. Won Monaco of course, and also took a very fine win on Silverstone! Should have been more points on the board this year, but Webber did his part.

6. Nico Hülkenberg
I put him here thanks to his very impressive second half of the season. In the beginning of the year there wasn't much between the two Force India drivers, but in the second half it's been pretty one-sided there. An amazing drive today (Interlagos) in difficult conditions, mixing it with the McLaren's. An embarassing mistake ruined what could have been a win. Only his second season though, so that has to be taken into consideration.

7. Nico Rosberg
With the team falling back so badly in the last third or fourth of the season, it wasn't so easy to pay attention to Rosberg, but before the summer-break atleast, Rosberg was great. His win was dominant!

8. Jenson Button
Three wins this year, and a lot of points, but in the middle of the season Button was nowhere.

9. Sergio Perez
Many of his races has shown that he's still got a lot to learn, of course, but he's also had a a couple of handfuls of very impressive races, often coming from way back to net a lot of points.

10. Michael Schumacher/Vitaly Petrov
Schumacher has had his best season by far after his comeback. He's usually been on the pace, but sometimes even noticeably quicker. Fastest in Monaco qualifying was absolutely fantastic! What's been riding all his Mercedes-seasons though, is the slightly too many mistakes. Horrible luck, so the points table doesn't give a true picture of the intra team battle at Mercedes.

Petrov has been impressive this year! It's my impression that he established himself as quicker than Kovalainen, atleast on Sundays, but he's had a string of eyebrow-raising Saturdays too.


-Honourable mention; Felipe Massa, and how he picked himself up and improved to basically be a match for Alonso at seasons end.

Edited by race addicted, 25 November 2012 - 21:30.


#3 ryan86

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Posted 25 November 2012 - 20:46

1. Lewis Hamilton
2. Fernando Alonso
3. Kimi Raikkonen
4. Sebastian Vettel
5. Nico Hulkenberg
6. Jenson Button
7. Pastor Maldonado
8. Mark Webber
9. Felipe Massa
10. Sergio Perez

#4 Longtimefan

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Posted 25 November 2012 - 20:53

1 Michael Schumacher - Hey, what can I say, I'm biased. Just his presence makes F1 better!
2 Fernando Alonso - Good season in a car that started out as a total dog
3 Sebastian Vettel - Good season, not my personal fave but hey.
4 Kimi Raikkonen - Solid year, good racing and lots of laughs
5 Lewis Hamilton - good year, deserved more than he got
6 Jenson Button - good but a bit lacklustre at times
7 Kamui Kobayashi - Great guy, old fashioned 'racer'. hate to see him go
8 Felipe Massa - Ended well, despite a mostly horrible season
9 Pastor Maldonado - Crash magnet but does have talent we he lets it show
10 Nico Hulkenburg - Obvious future talent, more than his teammate


#5 darkkis

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Posted 25 November 2012 - 20:54

1. Sebastian Vettel - From nearly no hope to championship

2. Kimi Räikkönen - Almost perfect comeback year. The was just wasn't behaving that consistent in colder conditions and team made some bad errors...

3. Lewis Hamilton - Drove very well, it was just McLarens reliability and some errors that cost him dearly.

4. Jenson Button - Doesn't bring up any emotions. Drove quite consistently

5. Nico Hülkenberg - Nice driving, today especially.

6. Mark Webber - He's there, just getting his ass kicked by Vettel.

7. Felipe Massa - Last half of the season was very well driven from him. Even beaten Alonso.

8. Sergio Perez - Near win on a few occasions, but dumb mistakes lower his stocks..

9. Nico Rosberg - Beat Schuey... Car was bad so there wasn't much to be done.

10. Fernando Alonso - Boats sail with luck... He kept always downplaying the car to make himself look better than he really was. Last half of the season he got beaten by massa on several occasions.

Edited by darkkis, 25 November 2012 - 20:59.


#6 MortenF1

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Posted 25 November 2012 - 20:55

1 Michael Schumacher - Hey, what can I say, I'm biased. Just his presence makes F1 better!
2 Fernando Alonso - Good season in a car that started out as a total dog
3 Sebastian Vettel - Good season, not my personal fave but hey.
4 Kimi Raikkonen - Solid year, good racing and lots of laughs
5 Lewis Hamilton - good year, deserved more than he got
6 Jenson Button - good but a bit lacklustre at times
7 Kamui Kobayashi - Great guy, old fashioned 'racer'. hate to see him go
8 Felipe Massa - Ended well, despite a mostly horrible season
9 Pastor Maldonado - Crash magnet but does have talent we he lets it show
10 Nico Hulkenburg - Obvious future talent, more than his teammate


So where do you really rate Schumacher? Hamilton fifth?!

#7 MortenF1

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Posted 25 November 2012 - 21:00

Who is your unofficial top 10 for F1 2012?

1. Alonso - in a class of one IMO.
2= Vettel - thoroughly deserving WDC, won despite losing a clear victory.
2= Hamilton - lost two clear victories through reliability, got taken out three times, one puncture and lost endless points due to pitstops. Deserved to be in the title race.
4= Hulkenberg - crushed his team-mate and could have won a race.
4= Raikkonen - no comeback rust, 100% finishing record, could have won more if not for qualifying weakness.
6. Schumacher - cut his errors down to just two, got pole around Monaco aged 43, lost two podiums + endless points through reliability and deserved so much better.
7. Rosberg - great victory in China, could also have won at Monaco, didn't make endless high-profile mistakes like many potential top 10 candidates.
8. Petrov - outperformed Kovalainen despite less testing and receiving updates later than him.
9. Button - three dominant victories but spent a quarter of the season in a developmental dead-end.
10. Massa - hopeless start but massive improvement and even looked to have the qualifying edge over Alonso when it was too late.

Big omissions: Perez/Maldonado/Grosjean had top 10 pace, but lost far too many points.



Sorry, Disgrace, didn't see your thread.

Mods, please merge! http://forums.autosp...howtopic=178149

Edited by race addicted, 25 November 2012 - 21:04.


#8 TFLB

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Posted 25 November 2012 - 21:00

1. Alonso
2. Hamilton
3. Raikkonen
4. Vettel
5. Maldonado
6. Hulkenberg
7. Kobayashi
8. Perez
9. Petrov
10. Massa

Button and Webber don't make it due to massive underperformance compared to their teammates.

#9 Zoetrope

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Posted 25 November 2012 - 21:04

1. Lewis Hamilton
2. Fernando Alonso
3. Sebastian Vettel
4. Kimi Räikkönen
5. Mark Webber
6. Nico Hulkenberg
7. Pastor Maldonado
8. Jenson Button
9. Kamui Kobayashi
10. Michael Schumacher

#10 Stuko

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Posted 25 November 2012 - 21:05

1- Fernando Alonso
2- Lewis Hamilton
3- Kimi Raikkonen
4- Sebastian Vettel
5- Jenson Button
6- Pedro de la Rosa
7- Romain Grosjean
8- Pastor Maldonado
9- Nico Hulkenberg
10- Timo Glock

#11 FenderJaguar

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Posted 25 November 2012 - 21:05

Vettel - it's not just the car, he is collecting points and results even when the car or the circumstances isn't the best
Alonso - great season and fighting spirit from Alonso, I didn't want him to win the title today, but I almost felt sorry for him when the race was over. Great race today.
Raikkonen - very consistent and some very special overtakes, makes me wonder how good the Lotus Renault was because I think he could have been higher in one of the top teams
Hamilton - sometimes the fastest of them all over a lap. maybe. but he is lacking the consistency of the ones mentioned above. McLaren has had a very good car this year.

not sure about the rest but if I was a teamowner I would never hire Kobayashi.



#12 Lelouch

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Posted 25 November 2012 - 21:07

1 - Fernando Alonso: Almost perfect season in what was not the best car.
2 - Lewis Hamilton: Again almost perfect season maybe even closer to it than Alonso but he had a car up for the job when it was working.
3 - Sebastian Vettel: Start was not so great but he crushed everyone when it mattered.
4 - Kimi Raikkonen: Really consistent and produced some great moments all season long. Amazin comeback

From here on it gets hard for me:
5 - Michael Schumacher/Nico Rosberg: There is not much between these two this year they really did a great job considering how inconsistent, bad, unreliable that car and team looked.
6 - Jenson Button: Competing with the best on his day but he spent quite a few races being nowhere.
7 - Nico Hulkeberg: Most promising of the young ones?
8 - Pastor Maldonado: In year with plenty of crash kids he was probably the most talented one among them so I can't ignore him.
10 - Vitaly Petrov: He developed from a truck driver to a proper driver and he is so cheery so I really like him

Sorry if I am too biased towards Michael and Nico..

#13 Vesuvius

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Posted 25 November 2012 - 21:16

1- Fernando Alonso: Great driving without errors, consistent all season, got maximum out of the car almost every time.
2- Kimi Räikkönen: Great comeback season, consistent point scorer, fantastic overtake skills.
3- Sebastian Vettel : deserved title, youngest triplde worldchampion, did fly on the second part of the season.
4- Lewis Hamilton : would have deserved better, his best season after 2007, was let down by the car.
5- Nico Hulkenberg: did raise his level big time on the latter half of the season.
6- Kamui Kobayashi: Better than his team mate most of the time, sadly very unlucky.
7- Jenson Button: dark part of the season took title chances but rest of the season good driving and few nice wins.
8- Mark Webber: great start to the season and fantastic wins at monaco and Silverstone, sadly his performances dropped badly since then.
9- Michael Schumacher: the car was not good enough but the old dog did raise his level big time from past two seasons.
10- Nico Rosberg: first win of the career, great drive at monaco....sadly car was not up to his level.

Edited by Vesuvius, 25 November 2012 - 21:22.


#14 Kingshark

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Posted 25 November 2012 - 21:21

1.) Fernando Alonso
2.) Lewis Hamilton
3.) Sebastian Vettel
4.) Kimi Raikkonen
5.) Michael Schumacher / Nico Rosberg
7.) Jenson Button
8.) Mark Webber
9.) Romain Grosjean
10.) Nico Hulkenburg / Sergio Perez

#15 emburmak

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Posted 25 November 2012 - 21:23


1. SV - simply the best & only current 3-time WDC. Had a very hard season but proved his worth by some epic drives. Completely buried the 'he can only win from the front myth'.

2= LH -at last he looks like claiming the mantle of fastest in F1. A few personal mistakes paired with several team mistakes robbed him of a 2nd title.

3= FA -did the best he could with the machinery he had. Coming from the greatest team in F1, the car was frankly a diappointment. FA looked better than reality, cause of Ferrari's dedication to their No1 driver. Perhaps if Mclaren had done the same, the case would have been different. Seemed to have been eclipsed by FM in the last 2 races inspite of team-orders.

4= Button - never looked like being able to handle his teammate or challenge for the WDC. Stolid driver though.

5= Raikkonen - great comeback, but displayed alot of rustiness & qualifying weakness.
6. Schumacher - cut his errors down, was on the pace but was afflicted with the worst realiability of his entire career. A pole, a fastest lap & a podium was small recompence for his efforts & never say die attitude. At 43, no longer his old self, but still good enough to compete. Deserved so much better.
7. Rosberg - great victory in China, but had an anonimous season. Kind of a boring driver, but got the results though.
8. MW - his worst season vis SV. Never looked like contender this season.

9. The Hulk -a truly great talent & more deserving of the Mcleran seat. Hopefully will get a drive fully desrving of his talents. Crushed his team-mate and could have won a race.

10. Massa - hopeless start but improved when it mattered & and even seemed to have theedge over FA in both quali & race-pace when it was too late.

:cool:




#16 shonguiz

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Posted 25 November 2012 - 21:26

Vettel, Fernando, Hulk, Kimi and Lewis are the stand out. Pic also drove well.

#17 Les

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Posted 25 November 2012 - 21:26

Alonso
Hamilton
Raikonnen
Vettel
Button
Webber
Massa
Hulkenburg
Perez
Maldonado

I wrote this list out yesterday for someone on Facebook except Perez was in front of Hulkenburg and Webber and Button have also swapped places after today. My placing of Vettel may seem harsh but the first three have had fantastic seasons. Alonso was the best driver and nearly took the championship in a poor car. Barring his collision with Maldonado at Valencia I can't remember Hamilton putting a foot wrong. Raikonnen had quite a strange race today but has always been up has been consistent and pulled out a great third place. Vettel had the best car but did drive some cracking races and did enough to claim the main prize obviously.

#18 sniper80

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Posted 25 November 2012 - 21:26

1. Fernando Alonso
2. Kimi Raikkonen
3. Lewis Hamilton
4. Sebastian Vettel
5. Nico Hulkenberg
6. Jenson Button
7. Pastor Maldonado
8. Nico Rosberg
9. Sergio Perez
10. Vitaly Petrov

#19 SennaJordan

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Posted 25 November 2012 - 21:30

The top 4 is easy. Then... well, no one really stood out, imo.

1. Hamilton
2. Alonso
3. Raikkonen
4. Vettel

5. Hulkenberg
6. Rosberg
7. Kobayashi
8. Perez
9. Button
10. Maldonado

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#20 Crazy Canuck

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Posted 25 November 2012 - 21:30

1. Alonso
2. Vettle
3. Hamilton
4. Raikkonnen
5. Button
6. Hulkenburg
7. Webber
8. Perez
9. Rosberg
10. di Resta

CC

#21 LH08WDC

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Posted 25 November 2012 - 21:32

1. Hamilton
= Alonso
= Vettel
4. Raikkonen
5. Hulkenburg
6. Webber
7. Button
8. Rosberg
9. Perez
10. Kobayashi

#22 bub

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Posted 25 November 2012 - 21:34

1. Vettel
2. Hamilton
3. Alonso
4. Raikkonen
5. Hulkenberg
6. Schumacher
7. Ricciardo
8. Perez
9. Rosberg
10. Pic

#23 SteF1an

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Posted 25 November 2012 - 21:36

1. Vettel
2. Alonso
3. Hamilton
4. Raikkonen
5. Hulkenberg


6. Button
7. Webber
8. Schumacher
9. Perez
10. Maldonado

#24 ric

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Posted 25 November 2012 - 21:36

The top 4 is easy. Then... well, no one really stood out, imo.

1. Hamilton
2. Alonso
3. Raikkonen
4. Vettel

5. Hulkenberg
6. Rosberg
7. Kobayashi
8. Perez
9. Button
10. Maldonado


Would put Fernando to 1 and Sebastian to 2, but I agree to the rest of your list ...

#25 LoudHoward

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Posted 25 November 2012 - 21:36

8. MW - his worst season vis SV. Never looked like contender this season.


2011 called, it wants it's driver review back.

#26 bub

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Posted 25 November 2012 - 21:38

1. Vettel
2. Hamilton
3. Alonso
4. Raikkonen
5. Hulkenberg
6. Schumacher
7. Ricciardo
8. Perez
9. Rosberg
10. Pic

#27 MortenF1

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Posted 25 November 2012 - 21:41

2011 called, it wants it's driver review back.


:up:

#28 keeppari

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Posted 25 November 2012 - 21:41

1. Sebastian Vettel
WDC. Period.

2. Lewis Hamilton
Impressive performance whenever McLaren decided to deliver a competitive package and not to **** everything up. I have much higher opinion of Lewis after this season. It's a tragedy if Merc can't get their act together.

3. Fernando Alonso
Great job early on struggling with somewhat underperforming car. However, as Ferrari seemed to improve he somewhat faded. Nearing the end even Massa was comfortably outperforming him. The car wasn't that bad, they scooped up 400 points and only 60 less than the RBR "rocketship". Most of that margin built up because Massa was busy roaming the twilight zone for the first half of the season.

4. Kimi Räikkönen
One of the better comebacks. Great job in the poor man's Red Bull. His wheel-to-wheel battles were just amazing to watch throughout the season! It would've been constant fireworks every race had the Lotus been even half-decent on the straights. I'm really tempted to put him higher on this list.

5. Nico Hülkenberg
I'm going to put Nico here just because of the latter half of his season. He may have not been as impressive early on but now it's still just stunning that McLaren picked Perez over him.

6. Jenson Button
For some reason Jenson's season felt thoroughly underwhelming. In the end, though, there is only 2 points separating him and Lewis so it hasn't been all that bad. He's still the master of changing weather conditions.

7. Kamui Kobayashi
As a whole, a very mature season and I rate him higher of the Sauber duo. It's just sad to see Perez going to McLaren and Kamui probably leaving F1.

8. Nico Rosberg
Merc sucked this year.

9. Sergio Perez
Had his moments.

10. Mark Webber
Flipping a coin here betweeen Mark and Romain Grosjean. If Grosjean had kept his head cool in Austin and Interlagos his name would definitely be here. As for Mark's performance this season: Please just retire soon and give the car to someone more interesting.

#29 mich

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Posted 25 November 2012 - 21:42

1. Alonso
2. Vettel
3. Raikkonen
4. Hamilton
5. Rosberg
6. Maldonado
7. Hulkenberg
8. Kobayashi
9. Perez
10. Petrov

#30 PedroR

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Posted 25 November 2012 - 21:46

1- Alonso
2- Lewis
3- Kimi
4- Sebastian
5- Pérez
6- Pedro
7- Niko H.
8- Kobalainen
9- Pastor
10- Mark

#31 xman

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Posted 25 November 2012 - 21:49

1. Sebastian Vettel - deserving champion, superb pace and fighting spirit throughout the season, didnt put much foot wrong, and reliability issues almost cost him the title.
2. Kimi Raikkonen - Excellent comeback, maximised his car's potential and put some great drives and overtakings during the season. Really consistent stuff, I got the feeling he would have been a WDC if he was driving a Ferrari or a RedBull.
3. Lewis Hamilton - Just like Kimi in 2005, some superb drives but the reliability woes cost him many wins and points. Not sure Mercedes will be much better, but I wish him the best of luck.
4. Fernando Alonso - Great pace in races and good drives, often made many good positions from bad qualifying results. His driving error in Suzuka was very costly for him, and the pressure really got to him.
5. Jenson Button - After a difficult first part of the season, made good drives in the latter part. I think he finally found balance ;)
6. Mark Webber - Having so fast car you would have expected him to get better results. Good wins in Monaco and Silverstone, but he was overshadowed by his quicker team mate. Too many blunders in the midfield, looks like he will never be a champion.
7. Nico Rosberg - Beating your team mate who's name is Michael Schumacher is never a bad thing, and picked up a race win. Not the best season but not that bad either.
8. Nico Hulkenberg - Pretty consistent driving throughout the season and I think he can still improve.
9. Kamui Kobayashi - It's a shame if this guy can't get a F1 drive next season. He was exciting to watch, especially in Suzuka.
10. Felipe Massa - Really bad first half of a season, but he got his act together in the second half. Beating Alonso fair and square in qualifying in the last races. Hope he can keep this up in 2013.

#32 KavB

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Posted 25 November 2012 - 21:50

1. Alonso
2. Vettel
3. Raikkonen
4. Hamilton
5. Hulkenberg
6. Schumacher
7. Webber
8. Perez
9. Button
10. Massa

#33 Amin

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Posted 25 November 2012 - 21:51

1. Alonso
2. Hamilton
3. Vettel
4. Raikkonen
5. Hulkenberg
6. Button
7. Webber
8. Maldonado
9. Rosberg
10. Pic


Raikkonen fans... :o


:)

Edited by Amin, 25 November 2012 - 21:52.


#34 Sakae

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Posted 25 November 2012 - 21:54

Best driver won on points.
Honorary compliment goes to Michael with tolerating F1 in its current form.

I really don't care about the rest of them. (Just I am really sorry about Kamui. He could have been up there, because he is a talented person).

#35 Brandz07

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Posted 25 November 2012 - 21:55

1. Lewis Hamilton - Should have had 3 more victories than he did (Singapore, Abu Dhabi & possibly Brazil), consistent, a lot more calm and easily the best qualifier this year.
2. Fernando Alonso - Very impressive at the start of the year, didn't do quite as well towards the end unfortunately. Probably made the car sound worse than it was, but it was clear to see it wasn't McLaren/Red Bull class for many races.
3. Seb Vettel - Did very well throughout the year, was class in the second half of the season especially, the car was clearly a lot better though.
4. Kimi Raikkonen - Didn't expect him to be so consistent, very nearly finished every lap! Next year will be great for him I feel.

Big Gap

5. Mark Webber - Great at times, really should of been closer to Seb than he was though.
6. Nico Hulkenberg - Really impressive at times, especially today. Great end to the season.
7. Jenson Button - Impressive race pace at times, extremely poor at other times. Points gap to Lewis not reflective.
8. Pastor Maldonado - Great win in Spain, really impressive qualifying, stupid errors at the start of the year.
9. Nico Rosberg - Finally won a race, and did well in a poor car.
10. Daniel Ricciardo - Awesome qualifying in Bahrain, out qualified team mate easily throughout season, needs to improve race pace relative to Vergne next year though.

#36 ConsiderAndGo

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Posted 25 November 2012 - 21:56

1. Alonso
2. Hamilton
3. Vettel
4. Raikkonen
5. Hulkenberg
6. Button
7. Webber
8. Perez
9. Rosberg
10. Massa


#37 Brandz07

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Posted 25 November 2012 - 21:57

This should probably be merged with the other thread.

Edited by Brandz07, 25 November 2012 - 21:57.


#38 Wander

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Posted 25 November 2012 - 21:57

I find it very difficult to put these guys in an order. I think most drivers did a good job this season. I'll give it a shot though. Here we go:

1. Alonso - He was mostly consistent, made few mistakes
2. Hamilton - Unlucky, drove much, much better than last year
3. Räikkönen - Fantastic season in the end, but there are a few places where he could have done even better
4. Vettel - He did well, but the season was not without errors, a great car helped him on his way to the title and he did just enough to secure it, Btw. I think that these 4 were almost equal, as I am writing this, I am actually still unsure about the order of Hamilton, Räikkönen and Vettel.
5. Hulkenberg - He showed his class, but can still improve, best of the rest for me, though
6. Kobayashi - He fights like a champ
7. Button - Inconsistent season, but he did a decent job in the end, but it could have been so much better, and he didn't have even near the amount of misfortune Hamilton had
8. Nico Rosberg - He did well in the early season when the Merc was still capable of producing decent results, kinda lost to Schumi once the pace was gone, but he was still slightly better of the two overall, I feel
9. Perez - Inconsistent, but maybe the few good drives prove that he has potential?
10. Webber - Webber was meh to be honest, I was about to put one of the backmarker drivers here, but it's honestly really hard to say who did the best job out of the Kovalainen, Glock, Pic, Petrov, De La Rosa group... And Webber did win a couple of races so... Whatever.

Also, I think Massa was better than Webber in the 2nd half of the season, but not quite enough to steal the 10th spot overall. If Ricciardo had raced like Vergne, he would have been top 10 easily.

Edited by Wander, 25 November 2012 - 21:58.


#39 Kvothe

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Posted 25 November 2012 - 21:57

1.Hamilton
2.Alonso
3.Vettel
4.Hulkenberg
5.Raikkonen
6.Ricciardo
7.Kobayashi
8.Schumacher
9.Di resta
10.Perez

Edited by Kvothe, 25 November 2012 - 21:58.


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#40 THE "driverider"

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Posted 25 November 2012 - 21:58

This is hard...

1. Alonso - no mistakes, drove forth best car to title decider
= Hamilton - should have been a title contender, let down by car
= Raikkonen - very consistant, fast, great return
= Vettel - fantatsic second half of season, great drives in Abu Dhabi and Brazil
5. Button - some great drives, some poor such as Canada
= Webber - again some good drives, but sometimes was nowhere
7. Rosberg - great first half of the season, let down by car
8. Massa - second half of the season was faster than Alonso at times, should win races next year
19. Hulkenberg - second half of the season showed championship potential
10. Perez - had some great drives, needs consistency
11. Grosjean - great first half, poor second half with awful mistakes
12. Maldonado - looks very fast, needs to cut out mistakes
13. Kobayashi - another good year, deserves a seat next year
14. di Resta - dissapointing, beaten truly by Hulkenberg
15. Schumacher - at times was fast, too many mistakes or poor pace
16. Ricciardo - some good drives, needs improving with da Costa on the scene
17. Vergne - (same as above), plus needs better qualifying
18. Senna - such promise, but third season now and never shined

Always find these drivers hard to judge

19. Petrov - matched and beat Kovalainen at times, deserves a seat next year
20. Glock - improved this season
22. Pic - great debut year, shame he was rarely seen
22. Kovalainen - expected him to lead Caterham, showed maybe midfield driver at best
23. de la Rosa - held his own this year
24. Karthikeyan - had fairly good second half of the season, gets unfair criticism

Edited by THE "driverider", 25 November 2012 - 22:02.


#41 MortenF1

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Posted 25 November 2012 - 21:58

1. Lewis Hamilton - Should have had 3 more victories than he did (Singapore, Abu Dhabi & possibly Brazil), consistent, a lot more calm and easily the best qualifier this year.
2. Fernando Alonso - Very impressive at the start of the year, didn't do quite as well towards the end unfortunately. Probably made the car sound worse than it was, but it was clear to see it wasn't McLaren/Red Bull class for many races.
3. Seb Vettel - Did very well throughout the year, was class in the second half of the season especially, the car was clearly a lot better though.
4. Kimi Raikkonen - Didn't expect him to be so consistent, very nearly finished every lap! Next year will be great for him I feel.

Big Gap

5. Mark Webber - Great at times, really should of been closer to Seb than he was though.
6. Nico Hulkenberg - Really impressive at times, especially today. Great end to the season.
7. Jenson Button - Impressive race pace at times, extremely poor at other times. Points gap to Lewis not reflective.
8. Pastor Maldonado - Great win in Spain, really impressive qualifying, stupid errors at the start of the year.
9. Nico Rosberg - Finally won a race, and did well in a poor car.
10. Daniel Ricciardo - Awesome qualifying in Bahrain, out qualified team mate easily throughout season, needs to improve race pace relative to Vergne next year though.


Good list IMO. (we can probably count Spain as another lost win for Hamilton. Pole with half a second margin suggests he would've controlled it.)


#42 Jackmancer

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Posted 25 November 2012 - 21:59

Hamilton
Alonso
Vettel
Raikkonen
Hulkenberg
Schumacher
Perez
Rosberg
Maldonado
Petrov

#43 oligc94

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Posted 25 November 2012 - 22:04

1) Hamilton

2) Alonso

3) Vettel

4) Raikonnen

5) Hulkenberg

6) Schumacher

7) Rosberg

8) Petrov

9) Perez

10) Massa


Edited by oligc94, 25 November 2012 - 22:04.


#44 ensign14

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Posted 25 November 2012 - 22:08

1. Hamilton - barely put a wheel wrong all season. With a better-run McLaren would have had the title wrapped up in September.

2. Alonso - monstered his team-mate, which is all anyone can demand. Curiously tentative at the end of the season, though, as if Massa woke up at being asked to do a job.

3. Vettel - well, he got the job done, but I can't help thinking that DRS and kers have done him more good than anyone else; the actual racing bit has been taken out of the equation as instead of having to plan out a move in advance, which is one of Hamilton's (and Kobayashi's) skills, and which Vettel never satisfactorily learned, all he needs do is press a magic button.

4. Hulk
5. Di Resta

Can't really split them, they seemed to be on perma-different strategies, despite having what didn't seem to be a very good car they were always there or thereabouts.

6. Kimi - if only for his regularity. Had he been more on it he'd've had more wins. We are victims of the points system, Raikkonen holding on to a safe 2nd rather than going for a risky win, and we all lose out.

7. Button - seemed a bit like Piquet, only really on it when he had a chance of winning.

8. Kova - never let his head drop despite the impossible odds.

9. Perez - would have been higher up had he not chillaxed after he got his new job.

10. Ricciardo - very promising, just that his best races didn't coincide with the top drop-outs.

And despite winning races I'd consider Rosberg, Maldonado and Webber as underachievers:

-Webber had a world title winning car and did eff all with it, yet again, surely 2013 will be his last year unless he does something worthwhile, any of the above would be a better choice in the 2nd RB;

-Rosberg fell off alarmingly towards the end of the season, has he got the development druthers or did Mercedes concentrate entirely on next year?;

-Maldonado took his chance, but threw away about 15 others.

#45 KRfan01

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Posted 25 November 2012 - 22:08

1. Vettel
2. Alonso
3. Raikkonen
4. Hamilton
5. Hulkenberg
6. Button
7. Webber
8. Perez
9. Massa
10. Schumacher

Edited by KRfan01, 25 November 2012 - 22:08.


#46 hello86

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Posted 25 November 2012 - 22:09

Ham
Seb
Alo
Kimi
Hulk
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Button
Perez
Kobayashi
Webber
Maldonado


the last five are really hard to pick! :well:

gosh this forum doesnt even work that late!

#47 keeppari

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Posted 25 November 2012 - 22:10

1. Alonso - no mistakes, drove forth best car to title decider


Yeah right, 400 points in the WCC with the 4th best car, get real. :drunk:

#48 rijole1

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Posted 25 November 2012 - 22:17

1. Raikkonen
2. Vettel
3. Hamilton
4. Alonso
5. Button
6. Webber
7. Rosberg
9. Hulkenberg
10. Schumacher

#49 tommi34

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Posted 25 November 2012 - 22:21

Hard to say. Top 4 is easy but in which order? No idea. Agree with someone saying Alonso all the time downplaying his car, I think he's ridiculous with trying to make himself look even better. Massa showed on the latter part of the season that it has been more about him underperforming than Alonso being some super human.

#50 mastermind

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Posted 25 November 2012 - 22:29

1. Alonso - 13 podiums in what has arguably been the 3rd fastest car after McLaren and Red Bull
= Hamilton - This has probably been his best season driving wise but has been let down by his team
3. Vettel - Great drives in the 2nd part of the year to take the championship but could have done a bit better in the first half
4. Raikkonen - Needed a few races to get back into it but since then has been consistently fast

5. Hulkenberg
6. Button
= Webber
8. Maldonado
9. Perez
10. Massa