What Teams or Drivers Impressed You In 2013?
#1
Posted 25 November 2013 - 18:32
I would say Vettel, but for some reason I am not blown away. We've seen him do this before.
I will say that romain grow john impressed me as a driver. He really improved his form and made fewer mistakes.
I also have to include nico Hulkenburg, who showed why he needs to be moving into better equipment.
In nascar I have to give the nod to dale jr. The final races in the chase showed that he can be a legit contender next year, provided he can find a way to secure wins.
Darrell Wallace jr also impressed. He had a weak stretch mid season, but rebounded strongly to get a huge win and likely secured his seat for next year.
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#2
Posted 25 November 2013 - 18:47
Williams impressed me the most. After 2011 many people were saying it couldn't get any worse but they were able to prove them otherwise!
#3
Posted 25 November 2013 - 18:58
To be honest, Alonso impressed me the most (didn't think he could). Took 2nd in the wdc despite everything and he didn't even look motivated at times. Says a lot
Then there is Massa, who showed that he's a great person in the interviews he gave for Brazilian TV. He's the only driver who can take a nap mid-race and still hold on to an F1 drive
Last but not least, Redbull. Didn't think they could dominate for so long. The do the right things every time.
In MotoGP, Marquez (although I do think HRC&Dorna saw this coming and played it out perfectly) A new legend is born.
Edited by Smile17, 25 November 2013 - 19:02.
#4
Posted 25 November 2013 - 19:04
Red Bull were flawless in their lobbying for tyres to suit their car better.
Hulkenberg didn't crumble under the sudden attention of other teams and continued to put in great performances.
Renault, despite producing the worst engine of the V8 era (if you were to ask Horner), scored more wins and championships than any other manufacturer.
Alonso managed to hold his lead in the "Trash talk your own team" challenge despite late flurries from Maldonado and Kimi.
Pirelli impressed me by calling the result of both championships by Silverstone.
#5
Posted 25 November 2013 - 19:17
RG and NH caught my attention most.
#6
Posted 25 November 2013 - 19:54
Grosjean and Hulkenberg were pretty impressive. From teams, it has to be Mercedes, big jump.
Negative surprises were Pirelli and Williams, with both outdoing their worst performances.
#7
Posted 25 November 2013 - 21:09
thierry neuville. second in the wrc with the third best car.
#8
Posted 26 November 2013 - 00:06
Lewis, proved he can do it in a car other than the McLaren, showed that he is at least as fast as Vettel over one lap when both have quick cars.
Jenson, reminded me how good he is at getting good points consistently through a season with a very average car.
Hulkenberg, showed great defensive driving ability at times, how much of his best finishes is down to tyres sometimes though makes me wonder.
Grosjean: recovered from a mixed 2012 and a poor start to 2013 to show some genuine consistency and pace without the crashes that marred his career before.
Bianchi: easily the best of the rookies and of the slow car drivers.
Chilton: has had some good qualifying pace at times despite inexperience and the fact he didn't seem ready for F1 at first, finished every race which he deserves at least some credit for, I think with another year or two in him he can be an alright driver.
#9
Posted 26 November 2013 - 00:24
In no order, these drivers went up in my estimation
Seb
Rosberg
Hulk
Romain
Bianchi
Teams that impressed me with their improvement
Mercedes
Force India
#10
Posted 26 November 2013 - 00:36
Mercedes impressed me a lot this season. After 2012, I thought that Merc would be another Honda, Toyota or BMW, but no, they are serious about F1, and are on the verge of becoming a immense force in the sport.
As for drivers, you can't look past Rosberg and Grosjean, Hulkenberg too.
Edited by Kingshark, 26 November 2013 - 00:36.
#11
Posted 26 November 2013 - 00:38
for me Vettel, this season, earned himself the right to be counted as one of the all time greats. No, not for winning 9 in a row. For his performances in the first part of the season, when there was no overall stronger car.
Beyond that, Romain I think was the most improved driver, to the point, yes sacrilege, it felt natural for him to lead the team post Raikkonen. Imagine saying that in Spa a year ago.
Of the rookies probably Bottas had those two flashes (Canada and Austin) but to be honest I found many of his other races completely anonymous. So there's potential there, but not really a finished article. Gutierrez also gets a mention, in the last 6-7 races he's looked more composed and like he actually belongs in F1.
In terms of teams, Lotus I think probably stretched their buck furthest. Red Bull was such a well oiled machine at times it was scary, you really couldn't see a weakness not just in terms of car performance but operations, strategy, pitstops, everything seemed to be one knotch better than the rest. Honorable mention to Sauber from the midfield.
#12
Posted 26 November 2013 - 00:38
Yeah. I need to give Merc a nod as well. They really showed some strength this season. Rosberg was a bright spot as well. I thought he was so-so at first but he showed some real talent.
#13
Posted 26 November 2013 - 00:47
Yes, Mercedes and Rosberg were definitely impressive, Merecedes improved a lot, and Rosberg was quite good with Hamilton as a teammate...
I have to say Bianchi and the Marrussia during the first few races were a good surprise, the great form of Hulkenberg and Grosjean later on the season also...
Vettel was also impressive, with a dominant car he was simply perfect, and during the first half of the season without the best car (mainly bad tyres for that car I think) he always managed to get good results.
#14
Posted 26 November 2013 - 02:09
I found myself shaking my head more than nodding in appreciation.
Force India managed to completely butcher the pace advantage they had in the first half of the year via a mixture of insanse strategy calls and mindless errors.
Mercedes seemed to **** up every second race
STR were abominable, particularly with Dan's strategy
Lotus managed to mess up Grosjean more often than not when he was in a strong position.
Only RBR and Ferrari got it right most of the time IMHO.
#15
Posted 26 November 2013 - 02:13
I found myself shaking my head more than nodding in appreciation.
Force India managed to completely butcher the pace advantage they had in the first half of the year via a mixture of insanse strategy calls and mindless errors.
Mercedes seemed to **** up every second race
STR were abominable, particularly with Dan's strategy
Lotus managed to mess up Grosjean more often than not when he was in a strong position.
Only RBR and Ferrari got it right most of the time IMHO.
And yet they get 2nd in the WCC.
Edited by PAGATRON, 26 November 2013 - 02:13.
#16
Posted 26 November 2013 - 02:20
Bottas to a lesser extent than those 3.
All the teams were pretty poor except RBR and Mercedes.
Lotus and FI were impressive but definitely had the car to deliver more than they did. One win for Lotus is not great.
#17
Posted 26 November 2013 - 03:31
Max Chilton and Marussia.
Finishing in all GP and beat Caterham for 10th place in WCC.
#18
Posted 26 November 2013 - 04:41
Grosjean always had the speed. I'm glad he got it sorted out and proved a lot of people wrong. If you couldn't see his potential you have no idea.
#19
Posted 26 November 2013 - 04:43
Vettel, Marquez, Roczen, (Jimmie) Johnson, Kvyat, Villopoto
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#20
Posted 26 November 2013 - 04:47
Grosjean, hulk, rosberg, and vettel impressed. Hamilton, button, massa, kimi disappointed me.
#21
Posted 26 November 2013 - 06:59
But I was pleasantly surprised by Mercedes and Rosberg.
Also, well done to my satellite tv provider, for deciding that F1 is not important anymore, and I consequently couldn't watch a race after Monza. Apparently ****ing darts is way more exciting.
Edited by KiloWatt, 26 November 2013 - 06:59.
#22
Posted 26 November 2013 - 10:32
#23
Posted 26 November 2013 - 10:51
And yet they get 2nd in the WCC.
With courtesy to Felipe Massa, Romain Grosjean, and, to some extent, Heikki Kovalainen.
#24
Posted 26 November 2013 - 11:08
Am I the only one who noticed NR was beaten by his team mate ... so how was he impressive? .... esp as folks are not also rating his team mate as also being impressive.
For me these were
SV at the front.
NH in midfield
JB at the back
Only one team was impressive... and it obvious who that was..... Roll on next year
Edited by jjcale, 26 November 2013 - 11:10.
#25
Posted 26 November 2013 - 11:33
You're only as good as your last race. While grosjean end of the year was impressive he was nowhere at the start of the season.
#26
Posted 26 November 2013 - 13:12
Am I the only one who noticed NR was beaten by his team mate ... so how was he impressive? .... esp as folks are not also rating his team mate as also being impressive.
For me these were
SV at the front.
NH in midfield
JB at the back
Only one team was impressive... and it obvious who that was..... Roll on next year
He won two races. That's pretty impressive, IMO.
#27
Posted 27 November 2013 - 09:26
This is an easy call - RBR and Vettel.
RBR for being the best team for 4 years running. Every thing about the team's operation spells excellence from the design office, pit crew, team strategy, driver, etc. They may have occasional brain farts, but it is far in between. They will definitely be the team to watch during the V6 turbo era. An honorable mention would be Lotus Renault GP which persevered despite financial constraints.
Vettel has matured into the best driver in F1 now, and he will only get better in the next few years. Other than a small mistake in Hungary, he was nearly flawless in 2013. No other drivers came close to matching Vettel's performance this year. An honorable mention would be Hulkenberg.
#28
Posted 27 November 2013 - 10:27
The only participant that just keeps impressing me is Red Bull.