Driver of the Race - Japan

[ralf fan]

Originally Posted by chunterer

I know he's seen as a future star, but there's got to be some Bernie at work there?

Are you hoping to start another 10000 post thread?

[lookleft]

Originally Posted by davyboy

Will the 33 people [to date] who voted for Webber please stand up and tell me that your vote was not driven by patriotism ! Webber is now one of the most experienced drivers in F1 and I would have expected nothing less from him. His drive was not heroic.

On the other hand, Vettel put that STR where it should never have been. His performance on Saturday was scintillating and on Sunday afternoon, mind blowing... but he made an error and as anyone who's raced in the wet will know, errors are punished heavily. He gets third position from me.

Heikki's performance on Sunday was amazing. I've followed his career through the lower formulae and watched him at close hand for some time now, but that drive was probably his best ever. Having somebody like Kimi in a faster Ferrari breathing down your neck while driving like you're stepping on eggshells and hanging on for dear life was truely amazing. And you know what, he's a novice ! The only thing he didn't do was win.

Which is what Hamilton did do. Under phenomenal pressure througout the weekend with a slender 2 point championship lead he drove faster than anyone else and didn't make one mistake. This was the kind of performance you'd have expected from Michael Schumacher after several years at his peak. That its only Hamilton's second time racing an F1 car in the wet is mesmeric. He was peerless the entire weekend and completely deserving of DoTR for me.

Suggest you ask the same question from the 35 who voted Lewis then. Started in the best car, team took care of his only challenger with some "interesting" pit strategy, next closest team left brains in Italy. So, Lewis manages to keep the best car on the grid out front, out of the spray and somehow THAT is DoTR?

[Hesketh]

Hamilton was just perfect: focused, fast, lucky, merciless, exactly the one on his way to a bundle of world titles.

My vote goes to Kova though, a great solid driver.

My simpathy goes to Seb Vettel who I reckon one of the stars of the near future and who was having a fantastic w.e. Just made a mistake in extreme conditions. No big deal, c'mon, even proved champions exeperienced that before.

1 good point for Sutil, on a steep improving curve

[Ralf's Girl]

Originally Posted by lookleft

Suggest you ask the same question from the 35 who voted Lewis then. Started in the best car, team took care of his only challenger with some "interesting" pit strategy, next closest team left brains in Italy. So, Lewis manages to keep the best car on the grid out front, out of the spray and somehow THAT is DoTR?

He's still a rookie driving in difficult conditions, with very little experience of the circuit or wet weather racing, who controlled the race and won it convincingly when others - including his double world champion team-mate and the multiple title-winning Ferrari team - were making a hash of it.

[Peter Mallett]

I've got a feeling that Mark should have (as of now) 7 extra votes, because other is at the score.

Off topic comment alert I have to type this or my brain will explode! Mark owns a pub near where I live in the UK. So he's not that bad. Thanks for reading, you've been a wonderful audience. Don't forget to try the veal and tip your waitress. We now return you to the topic

[spider]

Vettel and Hamilton were sensational. Seb goofed, but it happens, if I was Gerhard I'd be frustrated with the mistake(!), but excited at the potential of the guy. He's only a few races into his F1 career and he was running a great race.

Lewis may have been in the best car, but again outpaced the World Champion in conditions that were new to him too...impressive stuff.

[OZ_HCR32]

I voted Heikki. Pulled a result from nowhere and was in the pack and all the hustle. And refused to be pushed aside by the fast and more experienced Kimi....big brownie points

No doubt Hamilton did a good job, but not having to contend with traffic and spray, and by his own statements was able to back off and control the pace...where as those behind were driving their hearts out for a position.

If not for the accident it would have been Vettel.

[davyboy]

Originally Posted by chunterer

Oh hang on, Massa and Kubica for that last lap demo. Great fun, Surprised they weren't thrown out of the results though, because drivers aren't allowed to get stuck in and race properly anymore are they? That was son 1970's

Wasn't that fantastic... and wouldn't it be great to see more of it. Allow the F1 cars an indy-style front and rear wing, no other aero-aids and put them on the kind of rubber they use for 747 aircraft tyres and we could be having races like that every weekend !

[Last2LiftOff]

And no TC next year, that would've spiced that sequence up considerable.

Edit: Not that it needed it. I'm just sayin...

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by davyboy

Wasn't that fantastic... and wouldn't it be great to see more of it. Allow the F1 cars an indy-style front and rear wing, no other aero-aids and put them on the kind of rubber they use for 747 aircraft tyres and we could be having races like that every weekend !

Too right, it was massive value! I reckon we'd get close to it, just by getting rid of the silly winglets, let alone changing tyre specs!

I suppose the two of them might not have giggled so much if they'd ended up shunting each other up the pitlane entrance but hey so what, top marks to them for having a bit of fun and providing a little cameo for us humble tv viewers!

[strider]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

I've got a feeling that Mark should have (as of now) 7 extra votes, because other is at the score.

Presumably Other includes Vettel, who did drive incredibly well until his very unfortunate error.

[F1Pete]

Hamilton was good, but doesn't get my vote. He drove in front most of the way which made things a 100 times easier IMHO. His visibility was far greater than the rest of them so I am not overly impressed.

Did you see the on board cameras from the cars in the spray? Truly brave to drive wide open in that.

So, Kimi gets my vote because he couldn't see from starting at the back. That's impressive. Heikki did a good job too.

[Fiorentina 1]

Originally Posted by Chatters

Without a doubt Webber. His first GP win was only a handful of laps away...

Really, I missed the part where he actually passed Hamilton.

[rcarr]

I voted for Hamilton, he was the only driver out there that didn't look ragged. Kimi kept on going off, left, right and centre.

Hamilton showed control and looked confident, Alonso just looked scrappy, sliding about everywhere, he didn't match Lewis at all!

Webber was good but he was doing some silly moves behind the safety car, I am sure he passed Lewis at least once. I don't know what he was trying to do, scare Lewis maybe, show him he was a bit racy? That mentality was compounded by Vettel crashing into him, he wasn't concentrating on the people around him, accelerating and sharply braking just made him look stupid and inexperienced which is far from the truth.

[Felipe Rulz]

As always, my vote goes for Felipe. To come from dead last with 3 pit stops and a drive through penalty up to 3rd and end the race 6th (not due to your own fault) is really amazing. I hope Ferrari can see how they could never replace Felipe with Alonso.

[koper]

Vettel for me

[MissFerrari]

There was a couple of guy's who deserve the DoTR but my vote goes to Kovi. To keep his fellow Finn at bay was a job well done.

[Marbot]

I don't understand why drivers drive so closely together in the wet anyway.You don't need to read the "Highway Code" to understand what may happen if you do!

You should be able to accelerate,brake and weave without fear of the guy behind running into the back of you.

[duke_toaster]

Originally Posted by Last2LiftOff

And no TC next year, that would've spiced that sequence up considerable.

It would be utterly silly to race F1 cars with no TC in that kind of weather.

[maximus]

They managed it with the 1500bhp turbos.......

[Peter Mallett]

Originally Posted by duke_toaster

It would be utterly silly to race F1 cars with no TC in that kind of weather.

Banal.

[Inigo Montoya]

I will use my 5000'th post to say Kimi, who, despite the FIA's communication shenanigans, managed to salvage a 3rd place.

[Peter Mallett]

Or Ferrari's convenient misinterpretation.

But despite the fact McLaren stole his e mail, he still did very well.

[Marbot]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

But despite the fact McLaren stole his e mail, he still did very well.

I feel another scandal coming on.

[btcckid]

although not a ham fan- he was just brilliant in the wet-no mistakes and lead to the end-that was a proffesional job for a f1 rookie-alonso made a silly mistake which cost him good points and hes 2 times champion-what hamillton did was 10/10!