[Official] Driver of the race - Suzuka

[Mekola]

Webber did a superb fightback to end in the points.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Massa; it was a long time coming.

[Wims]

Gotta give it to Massa this time, even tho it was exciting to watch Kobayashi and Button in the last stint.

[Neil22]

Massa. I think he saved his seat with the points he got for the constructors championship, besides, it was good to see him up on the podium again.

[Dixie Flatline]

Kobayashi for mine. Button was hounding him very strongly.

[JamesH]

Originally Posted by QnickFTW

20 second clear of 2nd place is quite scary in this year's F1. but thats what he does around these tracks, he takes no prisoners just murders it. stay tuned for more in Korea and India.

Clear air for the entire race, faster car than the rest. Why is 20s so scary? You could have predicted it from the qualilfying!

[jonboy1066]

Originally Posted by alfettafan

Felipe for me...a tad uncharitable, he hardly lucked in to that one going from 10th to 2nd....

Don't get me wrong...I like the little fella and hope he retains his seat for next year.

But with Kimi, Fernando, Romain and Mark jumping out of his way at the start, with Jenson and Kamui being baulked by the Toro Rosso in a poor strategy call, Sergio throwing himself off and Lewis not going far behind his teammate, it's not like he needed to overtake anyone or faced any challenges during the race other than to keep his nose clean and not fall off.

For someone like me..that would be a mountain to climb, but for someone who has fought for a championship in the not so distant past...it should have been fairly easy, after all...it's his job to do that.

I'm pleased for Fillipe...but 2nd was a gift, a very welcome gift, but nontheless a gift.

[Hesketh]

Koba, go Koba!

[QnickFTW]

Originally Posted by JamesH

Clear air for the entire race, faster car than the rest. Why is 20s so scary? You could have predicted it from the qualilfying!

I was talking in terms of this year's F1. Mind you it was the largest winning margin the whole season, and only the 3rd time we had a winning margin in the 2 digits.

[Mr V]

Originally Posted by QnickFTW

I was talking in terms of this year's F1. Mind you it was the largest winning margin the whole season, and only the 3rd time we had a winning margin in the 2 digits.

It does seem that Seb is the only driver who can do this on a consistant basis. He was on for it at Valencia as well, untill the safety car and alternator failure.

Out of intrest, when/who were the other 2 occasions of the 3 you mention?

[Mr V]

Originally Posted by Mr V

Out of intrest, when/who were the other 2 occasions of the 3 you mention?

Answered my own question .... Nico in China and Jenson in Spa.

[jedrinck]

That must have brought back some old memories for Massa. Standing there on the 2nd place podium listening to the German national anthem. I wonder where RB found that 2011 pace again!

[Mr V]

Originally Posted by jedrinck

I wonder where RB found that 2011 pace again!

I have no doubt that the other teams will be calling the car illegal!

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by Mr V

I have no doubt that the other teams will be calling the car illegal!

Well, it's obvious, isn't it.......?

[Spritle]

Originally Posted by Mr V

Answered my own question .... Nico in China and Jenson in Spa.

Yea, Spa...I remember, that race where Button dominated in a similar fashion to Vettel at this race.

And China too..

Yea, I also seem to remember...Button garnering 52% of the DOTR votes for his domination pole to flag, in clean air victory and Nico took 90% of the DOTR votes for his walk in the park yet Seb, the ONLY back to back winner in 2012 so far can only muster 8% for Suzuka and 7% for Singapore (same as Hamilton who didn't even finish) because...

...ah...um...the circumstances were different, yea, that's it...!

...yup, no bias here, carry on...

[Aysedasi]

There is no bias. I'm sure I've voted for Vettel some time in the past. Once is enough, and digitally, that's clearly all he expects.....

[Marbot]

Kobayashi. Special mentions for Massa, Vettel, Webber, Hulkenburg, Button and Raikkonen.

[Mr V]

Originally Posted by Spritle

Yea, I also seem to remember...Button garnering 52% of the DOTR votes for his domination pole to flag, in clean air victory and Nico took 90% of the DOTR votes for his walk in the park yet Seb, the ONLY back to back winner in 2012 so far can only muster 8% for Suzuka and 7% for Singapore (same as Hamilton who didn't even finish) because...

...ah...um...the circumstances were different, yea, that's it...!

...yup, no bias here, carry on...

Yep, its a bit of a joke really. More to do with how people view a certain driver over what he actually achieved in the race imo.

Maybe it should become "Personality of the race"?

[TF110]

Kobayashi easily gets my vote, held up for part of the race, under pressure from Button (like his drive in Abu Dhabi 09 with his first outing in the Toyota) but still held his position. He deserves his seat, just needs to qualify consistently up in Q3 and you'll see his merit.

Massa was gifted his position, Vettel ran away because everyone fell off behind him. This happens with the front of the field if you have a turn 1 incident involving them.

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by Spritle

Yea, Spa...I remember, that race where Button dominated in a similar fashion to Vettel at this race.

And China too..

Yea, I can't get over it also seem to remember...Button garnering 52% of the DOTR votes for his domination pole to flag, in clean air victory and Nico took 90% of the DOTR votes for his walk in the park this have bothered me for weeks yet Seb, the ONLY back to back biggest injustice ever winner in 2012 so far can only muster 8% for Suzuka and 7% for Singapore (same as Hamilton who didn't even finish) because...

...ah...um...the circumstances were different, yea, that's it...!

...yup, no bias here, carry on...

I couldn't vote for Vettel because he isn't British, so I went for Kobayashi instead. What is really bad is that I voted for Vettel loads of times before I realised. Sorry about that. Sometimes I would vote for someone who dominated from lights to flag and other times I wouldn't because of something another driver did in the race. I now realise the error of my ways. Sorry again. I just thought it was a good drive by Kobayashi, don't hate me.

[Aysedasi]

I'll vote for Vettel when he does something remarkable, and winning the GP by a reasonable margin totally unchallenged simply isn't remarkable for a reigning 2-times world champion. Stall at the start (if you could these days) and lose 10-12 places but still win it from there in style - then I'll not only give him my vote, I'll re-register at Tenths under a different name and give him another.... It has absolutely naff all to do with him not being British or the fact that I don't actually like him that much. When you aspire to the heights that he should now aspire to, the achievement simply has to be all the greater.

[JohnSSC]

Massa for me. Massive drive from a man considered to be on the hot seat. He may/may not have saved his drive but for sure he did everything one would expect and more to keep it.

Koby drove a determined race and hung on at the end with a very determined JB in his mirrors, so hats off to him as well.

Seb drove a flawless race. We can debate the wisdom of naming him driver of the race but it was a champion's drive in that he needed to win to maximize his chances to win the WDC - and he did. Convincingly.

[Marbot]

Originally Posted by JohnSSC

Convincingly.

Almost too convincingly. We didn't see that much of him during the race.

[JohnSSC]

I do have to wonder though, Marbot, is what "might-have-been" had Kimi not taken out FA? Would Alonso have been a "closer" second or could he have possibly taken the fight to Seb. Massa showed that the Ferrari had pace and FA has been consistently faster than Massa all season.

Of course, Kimi took FA out, so we will never know. It is always fun to speculate though...

[Neil22]

Originally Posted by jedrinck

That must have brought back some old memories for Massa. Standing there on the 2nd place podium listening to the German national anthem. I wonder where RB found that 2011 pace again!

Got a little of that deja vu too.