Posted 03 December 2012 - 18:42
5th could be a number of drivers- Webber, Button, Hulk, Perez..... after the top four nobody was particularly outstanding all season long. They all had their dips in form.
My top five would be:
1. Alonso - stunning form all year
2. Hamilton - minor blip in Valencia v Maldonado/ wrong way on setup in Spa but otherwise a return to his 2010 form; an impressive turnaround after 2011 and especially after Buttons's victory in Melbourne.
3. Vettel- shaded by Webber early season, but flew later on when updates more suited to his driving style arrived- great races at Spa and Brazil showing his class
4. Raikkonen - should be even better next season, couple of victories missed out on in Bahrain and Hungary due to compromised quali sessions
5. Hulk? maybe his performances are fresher in the memory, but slow start to the season. Perez? Some stunning drives, but fell away after being announced as a McLaren driver. Webber? Two victories, good quali pace v SV, but seemed to have a scrappy end to the season. Button? Great start and some great drives, but his season fell apart for a few races, only unreliability suffered by his teammate saved him from finishing far behind in the points. Rosberg? Great drive in China, but was a bit anonymous for most of the season. The Merc effect? Schumacher? Started very strongly, but too many incidents. Also awful luck- Merc effect again. di Resta- impressive start to season shading highly rated HUlk, but like Perez fell away quite badly as the season progressed. I don't know how you seperate that lot..... I'll give it to JB, based on a greater number of impressive drives.