81 replies to this topic

[gerry nassar]

At the end of each season the editors and contributors of Atlas F1 select their Top 10 Drivers and Top 10 Races of the year. I thought it would be interesting to see how their verdict on the best of 2001 compares to ours - the Atlas F1 readers!

All you have to do is:

1. Select who you think were the Top 5 DRIVERS of 2002.
(Dont just list your favourites or Championship position but rather the quality of their racing/qualifying while considering their machinery, luck and experience etc)

2. Select what you think were Top 3 best RACES of 2002.
(Best or most exciting races)

I will then allocate points to your selections as follows:

Drivers: 1st = 5 points, 2nd = 4 points, 3rd = 3 points, 4th = 2 points, 5th = 1 point.

Races: 1st = 3 points, 2nd = 2 points, 3rd = 1 point

Using this points system I will calculate the Atlas F1 Readers Top 10 Drivers and Top 10 Races so that they can be compared to the official Atlas Contributors selections which will appear in a few weeks! I will also compare the results to Makarias' Voting Championship results which readers select their best drivers and grad race quality as the season progresses.

I will publish the results (with statistics and tables) within 2 weeks.

To view last years results look here -

http://www.atlasf1.c...&threadid=30471


Feel free to make comments regarding the drivers and the races.
---------------------------------------------------------------

Here are my picks:

Top 5 Drivers

1. Michael Schumacher

Yes he didnt have to do all that much in such a great car - but breaking record after record after record certainly gives this guy the top spot. Its not his fault that the other teams couldnt produce cars good enough. He loses points on the team orders fiascos in Austria and Indy and the lack of racing within the team - but he still keeps the top spot.

2. Kimi Raikonen

Kimi is a future champ I have no doubt. He outqualified Coulthard and would have out scored him too had it not been for his cars poor reliability all season. Came close to winning in France but made a small error slipping on oil, often made great starts and had great battles with JPM. For next year he only has to try minimise small errors like Melbourne and France. Kimi just scrapes in ahead of JPM.

3. Juan Pablo Montoya

What can I say - Im a big JPM fan but being objective, I intended to put him 2nd (ahead of Kimi) but changed my mind at the last moment. Firstly, I think he takes the award for best qualifier of 2002 hands down. 8 poles in the second best car - fantastic! He should have won Brazil and Malaysia and most likely would have won Canada. Unfortunately, that didnt happen. He outqualified and outraced Ralf and really looked like the only driver who could trouble M Schumacher earlier in the year. He also poled in Monaco and Montreal - two circuits he had trouble with in 01. He dueled with MS memorably in Melbourne. However, I had to drop JPM below Kimi (and only just) due to the fact he couldnt win a race (namely Brazil) where he made a judgement error against MS - unlike Malaysia where i tend to blame MS. Also there were some races where he appeared to be nowhere (Imola, Germany, Japan) and totally outclassed by Ralf. He also needs to improve his set up skills particularily for the race. In 2003 im expecting him to be on the top of my list.

4. Heinz Harald Frentzen

Being in two teams in one season after being at two teams last season - HHF drove beautifully to bring arrows two valuable points. He also drove brilliantly in the wet in Britain and held up strongly in qualifying against Heidfeld at Indy - despite being cramped in the car. Great stuff!

5. Jenson Button

This was a tough one. In the second half of the season - Trulli has asserted his authority within the team - but there is no denying Button was fantastic early in the season and should have had a odium in Malaysia.

Honourable mentions: DC (for Monaco and solid season), Ralf (for his consistency over JPM in races), Webber (solid drives and Melbourne points), Villenueve (some inspired drives) and Irvine (manage a respecatble points tally from a mediocre car), Rubens (didnt overly impress in the best car but Austria and Monza were his).

Top 3 Races

1. Melbourne

I give it top spot for the first 20 laps and the last 10. Action packed - huge pile up - then a fantastic duel between JPM and MS - overtaking each other. Ends with Webber getting two points and holding off Salo. Brilliant.

2. Monaco

DC's win and JPM's pole says it all. Racing was extremely close. DC-JPM-MS and Ralf battled almost the whole race. Fisi and Trulli had an epic struggle and HHF was gallant in holding off RB.

3. Malaysia

Great battle seeing JPM and MS make their way through the field. Unfair penalty on JPM. Bernoldi overtakes MS after being overtaken. Ralf wins ahead of JPM and MS who luckily gains podium position from Button.

[tinman]

1. MS
2. KR.
3. JPM
4. RB
5. RS


1. Australian GP
2. Brazilian GP
3. Belgian GP

[Enkei]

1. Räikkönen
2. M Schumacher
3. Coulthard
4. Montoya
5. Fisichella

1. Monaco GP
2. French GP
3. Canadian GP

[Riker!]

1. MS
2. RB
3. MW
4. JB
5. KR

1. Australia (Awesome Race last 10 laps were the best of all the rest of the races this year)
2. Monaco (Excellent race)
3. France (Another Good Race, pity about the last couple of laps )

[Ghostrider]

1. M Schumacher
2. G Fisichella
3. Juan Montoya
4. R Schumacher
5. Raikkonen

1. Silverstone GP
2. Monaco GP
3. Magny Cours GP

[Wouter]

Drivers:
1.M.Schumacher
2.Coulthard
3.Raikkonen
4.Montoya
5.Frentzen

Races:
1.France
2.GB
3.Monaco

[BMW FW22]

1. MS
2. JPM
3. GF
4. RS
5. JB

1. England
2. Australia
3. Canada

[Electric Sheep]

Drivers:

1. MS (he's the champ, you have to, even if it hurts...).
2. JPM (always entertaining).
3. Kimi (a real star of the future).
4. Sato (for really pulling his season round)
5. RS (fine victory in Malaysia)

Races:

1. Malaysia
2. Australia
3. Monaco

Most of the races were crap, so that was quite hard...

[CZM]

Drivers

MS A season of breaking records, WDC, 11 wins...
DC Solid race performances over the season. Good win at Monaco, improved performance at Suzka
JB Showed promise, hope he does well at BAR
KR Goodfirst year at McLaren
RB Some good race performances


Races:

Australia, one of the few races where I was excited before the race

France, all those drive through penalities for drivers crossing the white line

Monaco, Good win for DC, I was impressed that McLaren could fix DC's car via telemetary

[TimC]

Best Drivers

1 - Michael Schumacher
2 - David Coulthard
3 - Ralf Schumacher
4 - Juan Pablo Montoya
5 - Kimi Raikkonen

Best Races

1 - Brasil
2 - Australia
3 - Canada

TimC

[GT Racing Online Magazine]

1. Kimi Raikkonen
2. Michael Schumacher
3. JPM
4. Ralf Schumacher
5. Fisichella

1. France
2. GB
3. Australia

[logic]

1 - Kimi Raikkonen
2 - David Coulthard
3 - Juan Pablo Montoya
4 - Rubens Barrichello
5 - Ralf Schumacher

Best Races

1 - Magny Cours
2 - Monaco
3 - Hungaroring

[Clone]

1.1 MS
1.2 RB
1.3 KR
1.4= RS
1.4= JPM

2.1 French GP
2.2 Australian GP
2.3 British GP

Lastly, IMHO Gerry's rating of Button as fifth best driver is ridiculous. Trulli was ahead at Brazil and Imola and suffered one accident, three mechanical failures and at times a dodgy chassis in the first four races. Needless to say, Button was outqualified by Trulli 12-5 by season's end. You'd be better off picking Massa before Button. Though I'd rather you went for Giancarlo.

[Mrv]

1. Michael Schumacher

2. Rubens Barrichello


Best Race all of them

[bear]

1 MS
2 RB (Schumacher's teamate,enough said)
3 Raikkonen (so young and so fast)
4 Montoya (faded a bit at the end)
5 JV (obviously next to the Minardi the BAR is the biggest piece of junk out there and JV has worked his butt off to look half decent)

Best races

1 Spa
2 Monza
3 Silverstone

Mark

[Ali_G]

1. M Schumacher
2. R Barrichello
3. K Raikkonen
4. M Webber
5. G Fisichella

1. Australian GP
2. British GP
3. Malaysian GP

[StickShift]

1. Michael Schumacher
2. Rubens Barrichello
3. Juan Pablo Montoya
4. David Coulthard
5. Kimi Raikkonen


1. Great Britain
2. France
3. Austria

[SeanValen]

Originally posted by gerry nassar


What can I say - Im a big JPM fan but being objective, I intended to put him 2nd (ahead of Kimi) but changed my mind at the last moment. Firstly, I think he takes the award for best qualifier of 2002 hands down. 8 poles in the second best car - fantastic! position from Button.

Not to judge your post, but just remind you of a correction of statistic, JPM had 7 poles this year, the same as Michael Schumacher.

[BuonoBruttoCattivo]

1. Michael Schumacher (What can you say, best car or not...)
2. Rubens Barrichello (Excellent performances Austria, GB...)
3. Ralf Schumacher (He won a race. That's what counts in F1)
4. David Coulthard (He won a race. That's what counts in F1)
5. Kimi Raikkonen (A future star, MH's successor)


1. Australia
2. Brazil
3. Great Britain

[SeanValen]

1. Michael Schumacher (1st or 2nd this year, a 3rd being his worst day, while some may rave about JPM's 7 poles and I liked them(Hungry being just too bad for my tastes for a grid position), he's still 2nd to MS, Michael also done 7 poles, and has been the most consistent qualifer, and winning alot of the races, the best in both departments this year all around.

2. G Fisichella (huge talent in not a great car, but fine performances, this year and over many seasons, which as much as I like Rubens, f1-2002 has helped him too much in my opinion, but he's still a major threat, take the f1-2002 to a good limit, you'll be close to MS, car has already found limts RB didn't know how to find in 2001/2000 etc and then when it comes to driver tracks like Spa, Suzuka, time to show he's a driver, naturally not looking as great.)

3. Juan Pablo Montoya(a disappointing race trim car after some poles is not his fault, yet major area to improve in set ups on some tracks, and Hungry is his real weakness.

4. Kimi Raikkonen (bad reliability made his year look less impressive, but when he had the chances, did make a great go of it, but far to go to be a top 3, more race like hunter then Ralf

5. Ralf Schumacher (not as consistent as I would like, but I think if people are willing to forget Rubens career pre-2002, 2002 being in the best Ferrari ever built, then I think Ralf is a great talent and will look better when Williams build a better car, but he still has to prove he can be a winner and fight for races in a way JPM does, he will need to overtake sometime.

Honourable mentions: DC (for Monaco and solid season), Webber (solid drives and Melbourne points), Villenueve (some inspired drives) and Irvine (manage a respecatble points tally from a mediocre car), Rubens (only Austria was his in my view, but I give him benefit of the doubt, as bad reliability earlier, but next year he should not need the team to help to 2nd place near the end of the year again.

1. British GP (only rain race, delivered)
2. Australia (JPM and MS clash to kick off the year)
3. Canada (potential enjoy it while u last MS/JPM duel.

[control]

1. M Schumacher - He has in a class of his own this year.
2. Raikkonen - A future world champion!
3. Coulthard - In a better car, he would have gave MS a run for his money. Qualifying let him down.
4. Barrichello - Looked the part this year.
5. Montoya - Great qualifying, brilliant to watch, but dissapointing in race trim.



1. Melbourne - This had it all! First corner pile up, DC spinning out of the lead from behind the safty car, JMP out-dragging MS down the main strait for the lead, MS taking the lead back like candy from a baby, and the Webber-Salo battle for 5th in the closing stages. UNBELIVABLE!!

2. Magny Cours - A good race with Rakkonen looking like a great first win, then disaster! The drive through penaltys for MS & DC ment that there was always action somewere on the track. And Schumacher winning the title.

3. Monaco - DC's finest hour! I'm not sure how good this race actually was, but as a Scotsman, I was on the edge of my seat until the flag.

[fisichella_2001]

1. Michael Schumacher - a record-breaking season.
2. Giancarlo Fisichella - unlucky not to have scored more points.
3. Rubens Barrichello - massively improved this season.
4. Kimi Raikkonen - showed he can hack it in a top car.
5. Mark Webber - consistently brilliant.

(Juan-Pablo Montoya and Jenson Button just miss out).

1. Britain - only wet race, plus I was there!
2. Australia - exciting start to season.
3. Japan - fighting stuff from Sato.

(Austria and Canada just miss out).

[Tomecek]

Originally posted by BuonoBruttoCattivo
3. Ralf Schumacher (He won a race. That's what counts in F1)

Hehe, very lucky win, his older brother helped him

[Tomecek]

1. Michael Schumacher (very hard for me to say this as I'm Montoya's fan, but... his driving is really smooth!)
2. Juan Pablo Montoya (o.k., I like Kimi as well but I think Montoya shows more meanwhile, he get the best from **** car - all cars except ferraris are ****)
3. Kimi Räikkönen (really hard to decide between him and Juan, time will show, I would put them equally)
4. Jacques Villeneuve
5. Rubens Barrichello

1. Australia
2. Austria
3. Brasil

[Menace]

Best Drivers

1. Michael Schumacher
2. Kimi Raikkonen
3. Juan Pablo Montoya
4. David Coulthard
5. Ralf Schumacher


Best Races

1. Monaco
2. France
3. Silverstone

[aditya-now]

MS
JPM
JV
KR
DC



Monaco
Indy
Canada

[Hellenic tifosi]

Drivers

1) Michael Schumacher
2)Juan Pablo Montoya
3)Kimi Raikkonen
4)Rubens Barrichello
5)Giancarlo Fisichella

Races

1)Silverstone
2)Melbourne
3)Brazil

[Estwald]

Best Drivers
1. Michael Schumacher-17 races, 17 podiums: there isn't much more that needs to be said
2. Kimi Raikonnen-let down by McLaren reliability(oxymoron) big time this year
3. Juan Pablo Montoya-for great qualifying efforts:not a lot to seperate him from RS though
4. Giancarlo Fisichella-3 straight 5th place finishes, blessed by Honda reliability(oxymoron)
5. Heinz-Harald Frenzten-had Arrows much higher than could be realistically expected

Best Races
1. Silverstone-nothing like rain to make an entertaining race
2. Monaco-best race at Monaco in years, good job by DC in holding off vastly superior Ferrari of MS
3. Australia-MS-JPM battle, RB weavin-RS flying, Minardi in the points

[JForce]

MS
JPM
KR
MW
RB

Melbourne
Spa
Suzuka

[Witt]

Drivers

1. M Schumacher
2. JP Montoya
3. R Barrichello
4. K Raikonnen
5. D Coulthard

Races

1. Australia
2. Monaco
3. Britain

[schna]

1. Michael Schumacher
2. Kimi Räikkönen
3. Jenson Button
4. Rubens Barichello
5. Ralf Schumacher

1. Australia
2. Brazil
3. France

[frogbeef]

Drivers:

1. Kimi Raikonnen

Some brave overtaking moves, good qualifying with substandard machinery. Considering his lack of experience he showed real mettle in his second Formula One season. There are ragged edges, but he did far more than expected.

2. Giancarlo Fisichella

Got the most out of the car when the engine didn't blow and made no mistakes all year. Outqualified his team-mate and showed his class on the track despite the inadequacies of the machinery.

3. David Coulthard

Brought the points home for Mclaren and stunned fans at Monaco. For racecraft, tenacity and balls, Monaco showed DC at his very best.

4. Eddie Irvine

For helping bring a team that was languishing with the Minardis in Melbourne to the podium at Monza. For determination considering the fluctuating quality of the car.

5. Enrique Bernoldi

For genuinely overtaking Michael Schumacher for race position, Arrows against Ferrari - now that's not easy. Plus his move on Massa at Monaco and numerous moves at Imola before that. Considering the vagaries of Arrows reliabilty and their well known financial problems, Bernoldi did much to impress but for the most part went unnoticed by the press.

NB. I can't include the Ferraris as according to your poll criteria we must base our judgements on "quality of their racing/qualifying while considering their machinery, luck and experience." As they had the best machinery, a lot of experience and only one driver experienced reliability woes and yet they still didn't race each other. Therefore they aren't eligible for the poll.

Races:

1. Monaco

Coulthard's performance was stunning and made what is normally quite a dull race the best of the year.

2. Australia

It had everything. Huge first corner smash, Trulli holding off Schumacher (for a while), DC on the grass, Salo vs Webber, Villeneuve's wing failure etc. This race had more excitement than 15 of the other races put together.

3. Great Britain

Because it rained. In a bone crunchingly dull season it's pretty sad that the only other highlight is a race where it rained...

[dutra]

DRIVERS:

1. Kimi Raikkonen
2. Michael Schumacher
3. Giancarlo Fisichella
4. Enrique Bernoldi
5. Juan Pablo Montoya

GPs:

1. Brazil
2. Monaco
3. Australia

[TT6]

DRIVERS:

1. Michael Schumacher
2. Kimi Räikkonen
3. David Coulthard
4. Rubens Barichello
5. Juan Pablo Montoya

GPs:

1. Monaco
2. Magny Cours
3. Silverstone

[Raemius]

Drivers:

1st Montoya - Often found the spark in qualifying and in the early part of the season when the errari was not so dominant he looked the only one capable of taking the fight to Schumacher

2nd Barrichello - Closest team mate yet to Schumacher and actually out-performed the German on a few occasions

3rd Fisichella - got points from a recalcitrant and underpowered car. Again outperformed a highly rated team mate.

4th Heidfeld - Quietly consistent and got points from the Sauber early on when it was up to the job. Again outpaced a highly rated team mate

5th MSchumacher - Set lots of records, but failed to do it in style. Car was more dominant than he showed and only occasionally showed his normal brilliance. Cannot be left out though.

Who have I left out that I thought would be in? Raikkonnen promised so much, but was ultimately over-hyped and disappointing in races. Villeneuve occasionally showed brilliance, particularly later in the season, but also often went to sleep. Webber bathed in early glory but has not yet been tested against a known driver. Button started well, but has been overtaken by Trulli.

Races:

1st Melbourne - Had it all
2nd Monaco - Gave suspense and now that overtaking is so rare on any track, its barriers and qualifying importance gives it more thrills than most others.
3rd Austria - Not for the controversy, but because it should have shown Barrichello had finally come of age and trounced Schumacher fair and square all weekend. Also, plenty of other on-track action and some rare overtaking

[Beamer]

1) MS
2) JPM
3) KR
4) RS
5) RB

1) France
2) Australia
3) Monaco

[sensible]

1. MS - you can only beat what's there and he destroyed everyone
2. JPM - Actually I was disappointed with JPM this year, I think he went backwards, and I think his poles are somewhat flawed in that they left him no-where in the races, but they were awesome and he certainly goes for it in the race
3. RB - Really upped his game this year and took the fight to MS
4. KR - Dont like him (so that probably affected my judgement) but he had a very good year. a lot of promise. Learning how to race too
5 = DC - SHowed some real gutsy performances, and as ever strong racer, but qualies cntinue to be his weakness
5 = RS - As good as JPM wher eit counts but less exciting

Races:
1. GB
2. Aus
3. Brazil

[Math Soucy]

1. Michael Schumacher - peerless
2. Juan Pablo Montoya
3. Kimi Raikkonen
4. David Coulthard
5. Giancarlo Fisichella

Races

1. Australia
2. Monaco
3. Brazil

[Clone]

Originally posted by sensible
1. MS - you can only beat what's there and he destroyed everyone

Good point, even a large proportion of the sport's followers, in more ways that one.

cue the man in need of Ferrarozac

[Slyder]

1. JPM, he had what it took to beat MS, he just didn't have the car.

2. MS, for developing a dominant car, but that's as far as I'll go, Austria and US shows how pathetic a sportsman he is.

3. KR, this guy has WDC written all over him

4. RB, the moaner had some good shining moments

5. MW, This guy has a future ahead of him

Best races?

mmmmm, non, though here are the ones that stand out the most

1. Australia, talk about attrition.

2. Monaco, best race in Monaco for a while

3. England, rain finally gave a good race


But sereiously, these races are only standouts, but IMO, every single race this year sucked, including these 3.

This whole year sucked. I just hope I can erase it from memory as soon as possible.

[Gemini]

Drivers:

1. MSchu
2. JPM
3. KR
4. RB
5. RS


Races:

1. Silverstone
2. Sepang
3. Melbourne

[miniman]

1- MS, no explanation needed
2- Rubens, finally delivered on his potential
3 and 4 - Ralf and DC for their single wins
5- JPM for his poles

Best Races:

Australia - Start of the season
GB - Rain
Japan - Michael's Show, Sato brings in the dough for Jordan

[LB]

Hmm drivers...

1 JP Montoya - 7 poles in a slow car - says a lot

2 Coulthard - Wonderful win in Monaco ONLY driver to beat a F2002 slower in qualifying than teammate but invarably quicker in race

3 Raikonnen - should have won France , had he I would have put him ahead of DC- great first Season in a top car

4 Michael Schumacher - Developed the best car is probably the best driver - but there isn't an ounce of sportsman in him

5 Irvine - Much as I hate him dragged that car to places it shouldn't have been on occasion


Races
1 Monaco
2 umm GB cause I was there.
3 suppose Australia but really the whole season sucked badly.

[MortenF1]

1) David Coulthard. Fantastic Monaco win! Solid performances all year. Great overtaking manouvers!
2) Kimi Raikkonen. Raw speed! Ballsy drives all year, with many great overtaking manouvers.
3) Juan Pablo Montoya. White-knuckle drives whenever there's a slim chanche of pole.
4) Micheal Schumacher. Cool fights early in the season.
5) Jacques Villeneuve. He's coming back. Slowly. There were only a few races in which he really stood out, but those races- oh my god!

1) Monaco
2) France
3) Canada

[raceday]

Top 5 Drivers

1. Michael Schumacher

Fantastic consistency both in qualifying and in the races. He’s turning more and more into a thinking driver ala Prost and it’s relentlessly effective, but perhaps not always entertaining. I think he has lost a slight tiny little bit of his speed though. One might argue that F2002 suits RB better than MS but I don’t bye that as the whole explanation why RB has been so much closer to him this year.

2. Kimi Raikonen

Kimi has had rutten luck with his car this year. Ten mechanical failures are beyond pathetic. I suppose McLaren saw this year as a building year and figured that they could afford to take the slightly to young but incredibly promising driver on board to get him to know the team and develop experience and his talents while they build for a serious charge for the title 2003- 2004. I think he has, if you look at the whole season, shown that he has the talent to reach the top with the team, in perhaps two-three years time? I think McLaren rather than Williams will be the next successful team after Ferrari (may take a while though)

3. Juan Pablo Montoya

Flashes of brilliance but not enough consistency yet. May have to work a lot harder to develop his set up skills? Very charismatic and as a character very much what F1 needs. To reach the final top I think he needs to work on the above and his race smarts.

4. Rubens Barrichello

Rubens has been able to challenge MS more often than before. It may be the car, it may be that MS has turned ever so slightly slower, it may be that Rubens is more confident or it may be all of the above. Fact is, it’s Rubens best season and he has been surprisingly good imo.

5. Ralf Schumacher.

He may not have a winning personality or a very flamboyant style on the track but he has matched Montoya over the whole season. Not very many thought he would, but he has and he deserves some credit for it.

Honourable mentions to DC and Fisi

Top 3 Races

1. Silverstone

Liked the fight between MS and JPM in the beginning, the fight between RB and JPM later on, RB’s charge from the back, Kimis speed while in the race and I was also quite entertained by McLarens impressive pit work and heaps of spins.

2. Magny Course

Hard fought battle all the way. One of the few races where the F2002 went more or less flat out all the way. Liked the celebration with the zig zag thing and MS standing on the car like rockstar afterwards too

3. Interlagos

Loved the start and the first corners. It had me, and the whole pub, on my feet screaming. Tough battle all the way through after that. Funny thing with Pele as the flag man.


Hopefully next year the other teams can lift themselves up to Ferrari. It would be sickening if they forced Ferrari down to there level with artificial means.

[Scudetto]

1. MS
2. RB
3. KR
4. JPM
5. MW

1. England
2. Australia
3. Canada

[Paste]

1. MS - couldn't be anyone else
2. RB - closer to MS than ever before
3. DC - scored almost as many points as the Williams' guys in an inferior car
4. JPM - outscored Ralf, but not nearly as impressive as in his rookie season
5. JB - Drove extremely well this year, scored more points than Trulli, all after being written off last season.


I didn't watch all of the races (had to work most Sundays) so I will abstain from voting. The Ferrari whitewash made the race for third the most exciting on the track at most races.

[zooropa21]

1. Michael Schumacher
2. Juan Pablo Montoya
3. Kimi Raikkonen
4. Rubens Barrichello
5. Ralf Schumacher


1. Australia
2. Malaysia
3. Monaco



Zooropa21

[gerry nassar]

*bump*

keep posting!!! Last year we had over 100 Posts!!! have that many people been turned off F1!!!??

[Flying Panda]

I'll post later.
Too tired to give an un-biased opinion atm.