The Best F1 Races of the 2010s

If that race had been in the poll I would've picked it!

Always interesting to see what people rate, but for me it's a pretty depressing list, if this is the best of an entire decade. And, the first half seems very Button-biased. Reading this without any prior knowledge, you'd think Button was the greatest racer of those years, when arguably his wins only appear because they were always unexpected. I'd nominate Vettel's drive in Bahrain in '18, and Leclerc's win in Monza this year, but I'm only interested in Ferrari.

I think you've almost answered your own question there. When people rate a race as good it's usually because it was unpredictable, exciting and with an unexpected result. A lot of Jenson's McLaren victories were in those kind of races. It doesn't suggest that he was the best driver of the era, when the era was usually dominated by yet another Vettel leading all the way victory.

But then, you're only interested in Ferrari...

2 teams and 3 drivers won titles. Probably the lowest ever?

F1 has changed a lot over the years. Maybe it's just because I've been watching for so long, but while I can still tell you everything that happened in nearly every race from 2003 to 2013, I can barely remember a damn race from 2014 onwards. Something about the V6T change just made it less... memorable for me. Weirdly enough the ugly-ass cars they had from 2009-2013 produced some of the most memorable races since I've been watching. Never ever would've thought then that I'd say this, but even though the mid-90's to late-00's are my favorite era of F1 it would be nice to have more races from that 2009-2013 formula.

It's been an interesting mix. Let's hope that the next ten years are more consistently good, at least. Hopefully I'll be around to see them all.

[/randompersonalselfindulgentracingmemoir]

So true.

I remember like 5 of all of those races at most.

I ticked the races I remembered.

There are just too many races, it becomes a blur in the end.

It's probably personal bias that's reflected in me selecting more from the first group than the second. I make no apologies for preferring the V8 era to the V6T one, particularly when we had seasons like 2010 and 2012. 2012 was the last damn-near-perfect season for me, just in terms of a combination of exciting and unpredictable racing, plus a championship battle that swung back and forth right till the death. Races like Valencia, Abu Dhabi and Brazil from that year stand out in particular.

That said, I think 2014 was the best year I've seen just in terms of the quality of the racing. Yes, the cars were hideously ugly and slightly underwhelming to begin with. Yes, one team had such an advantage it was almost beyond a joke. But it was the best year for cars being able to follow closely/race that I can remember. Bahrain, Canada and Hungary were all AYFKM/10.

Oops, just remembered Hungary 2015 too. It's funny when you look back and see how many great races have taken place at supposedly "bad" tracks. It's almost as if the tracks aren't the problem...

Spicy hot take: I always thought Canada '11 was overhyped. Yes, it had *that* finish - but it was too damn long. My most abiding memory of that race is sitting through that however-long-it-was rain delay (which, whilst you can fast-forward through/edit out in replays, at the time it's no fun) and the near constant safety car interruptions which prevented the race having any flow to it. Plus, Schumacher was robbed of a podium finish by accursed DRS, so there was that too.

I remember Canada 2011 mostly for the amount of terrible driving. The race winner himself crashed with 3 cars during the race, and the pass for the win was a spin too   

Brazil 2012, Korea 2010 & Australia 2010 (although that one was more mixed) were better rain races IMO.

Edited by Marklar, 25 November 2019 - 18:27.

I wonder why races where favourite wins cannot be great. At the time of dominance some variation feels indeed nice, but after 10 years maybe some favourite won performances might be great races as well.

They can be great and some of the races in the poll were won by the favourite. But races where "stuff happens" tend to be more chaotic so reduce the chances of the favourite winning.

Spicy hot take: I always thought Canada '11 was overhyped. Yes, it had *that* finish - but it was too damn long. My most abiding memory of that race is sitting through that however-long-it-was rain delay (which, whilst you can fast-forward through/edit out in replays, at the time it's no fun) and the near constant safety car interruptions which prevented the race having any flow to it. Plus, Schumacher was robbed of a podium finish by accursed DRS, so there was that too.

I mostly agree. It certainly is memorable - I think most of those who watched it will remember that race for many years to come. But as was mentioned in the thread before, "memorable" doesn't necessarily have to equal "best". 

Edited by Anja, 26 November 2019 - 16:40.

I did not really like Canada 2011 actually. 

I think it was the race where (in my humble view) Button ran Hamilton completely into the wall on the s/f straight and still Button could just keep on going where Hamilton was out. When he then entered behind Vettel, Vettel made a massive and unnecessary f'-up, which gave Button another easy pass. 

It all felt a bit too easy for him to me... Maybe because I was fanatically supporting Hamilton back then

I remember Canada 2011 mostly for the amount of terrible driving. The race winner himself crashed with 3 cars during the race, and the pass for the win was a spin too   

Brazil 2012, Korea 2010 & Australia 2010 (although that one was more mixed) were better rain races IMO.

I felt that Korea 2010 was one of those that constantly threatened to turn into something really exciting but never quite made it. Obviously well up there for sheer drama though.