Which F1 drivers do you like? (Poll)
14 July 2008 by Keith Collantine
Two weeks ago I asked you to select which F1 teams you like to find out which were the most popular.
BMW came out on top, just ahead of Williams, with Toyota in last. You can see the full results of the poll here.
Now let’s find out which are the most popular drivers. Cast your votes below.
As before you can vote for more than one driver, so select the drivers you like:
Which F1 drivers do you like? (Select one or more)
- Heikki Kovalainen (2%, 398 Votes)
- Lewis Hamilton (1%, 303 Votes)
- Giancarlo Fisichella (1%, 195 Votes)
- Adrian Sutil (1%, 226 Votes)
- Rubens Barrichello (2%, 403 Votes)
- Jenson Button (1%, 298 Votes)
- Sebastian Vettel (1%, 285 Votes)
- Sebastien Bourdais (1%, 135 Votes)
- Timo Glock (0%, 65 Votes)
- Jarno Trulli (1%, 217 Votes)
- Mark Webber (2%, 411 Votes)
- David Coulthard (2%, 365 Votes)
- Kazuki Nakajima (1%, 151 Votes)
- Nico Rosberg (1%, 298 Votes)
- Nelson Piquet Jnr (0%, 95 Votes)
- Fernando Alonso (8%, 1,669 Votes)
- Robert Kubica (67%, 14,409 Votes)
- Nick Heidfeld (1%, 271 Votes)
- Felipe Massa (2%, 489 Votes)
- Kimi Raikkonen (4%, 884 Votes)
Total Voters: 21,567
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Keith, it only allows us to select 1 driver at any given time. Fix the bug? Thanks!
Done - sorry about that.
Everyone apart from Mark Webber lol
I remember watching the 1997 Austrian Grand Prix, thinking that Jarno Trulli was a rookie drifter who had simply got lucky in qualifying by lining up third on the grid. I figured that he would lose a few positions at the start, a few more on the first lap, and would finish the race somewhere out of the points.
To my surprise he overtook Jacques Villeneuve at the first corner, and took the lead when Mika Hakkinen’s engine let him down on the first lap. Just to prove he was deserving of his position, Trulli pulled away from the field and set a string of fastest laps in the process.
In my eyes a legend was born, and I have been a Jarno Trulli fan ever since. I just wish he could race like that more often!
Keith, this should be something like an open poll all through the season. Basically, the point I am trying to make is that since are allowing people to select more than one driver, some of the drivers whom you may not like/support otherwise, but based on the performance of the last few races, you might be inclined to vote for him. For example, Felipe would take a huge beating in this poll, simply for his pathetic performance in Silverstone, but had this poll been taken after Monaco then maybe Kimi and Adrian might have got biased ratings. Anyways, just a thought, but maybe, next season on, you can include another two polls alongside the race poll, asking people which are the teams/drivers they liked the best.
Like the teams, I’m not going to be sure of what to make of the results - I voted for most drivers, but I certainly like some drivers more than the others by quite a margin, and would rather see my favourites fayre better :p
Plus I kinda felt sorry for the ones I’m indifferent to…so I think I put in a sympathy vote in somewhere (why, I don’t know - at the end of the day they get to drive an F1 and I don’t!).
Keith, is it possible to make the poll show the results in ascending or descending order? Right now it’s hard to figure out the data in a quick glance.
I have 19 favorites — everyone except Massa.
Nothing wrong with Massa, he’s a happy little fella.
Why don’t you like Massa then Kevin?
Harkirat - I don’t know, do people really change which drivers they like that often?
I voted for Quick Nick at the time when we could only vote for one driver.
for his outstanding overtaking ability.
Voted for quite a few. Sutil, Kimi, Heidfeld, Alonso, Barrichello and both the Red Bull drivers. If the poll was about drivers you absolutely adore, it would be Kimi and Alonso
voted for Heidfeld, Button, Webber, Bourdais, Nakajima and Fisichella xP…
strange they ALL count just 4 wins… but i like them…
i like many of the drivers… it would have been easier for me a “which F1 driver do you dislike” poll… jeje
everyone appart from Massa, Hamilton and Piquet Jnr. is fine for me
Does Massa still deserve the hate? He’s won 3 races in the post-TC era.
Maybe I’ve just gone soft.
Fer no 65 - what does ‘jeje’ mean?
Funny that despite a lot of people liking Williams in the last pole, none of their drivers are really big hitters in the favourite drivers stakes (at the moment). The team’s brand image and heritage must offer some other kind of appeal to racing fans.
means: “LOL” or “ah ah” in spanish…
I don’t know, there is always one driver that just irritates me to no end. In most seasons, that driver is the one who makes the most excuses.
Massa only shows real pace on Tilke tracks on a sunny day. That to me says that there are more deserving all-around drivers who would perform much better (or more consistently at least) in his car. He’s certainly proven me wrong a couple of times this year, but I think that if he wins the Championship, or indeed, any Formula 1 World Championship, it will be through the other drivers’ mistakes and misfortunes rather than his own pace and racecraft. (One could argue that that’s how many if not all championships are won and lost, but I’m an idealist, and I still believe the idea of a ‘championship’ is to reward the driver with the greatest skill and speed over the course of the season.) He is happy-go-lucky, I’ll give him that.
Keith: your recent article for F1 Pitlane went over huge with me!
“Does Massa still deserve the hate? He’s won 3 races in the post-TC era.”
I’m guessing that not everyone bases their likening to a driver on performance alone. (Otherwise most of the drivers won’t be doing as well as the top lineups).
Although I’m quite surprised at people pointing out Massa so early in the poll, that wasn’t really expected! I don’t really rate him that highly as a driver, but he seems like a joyful and genuine little character that makes him somewhat likeable.
I would have voted for many of them, so I chose to vote only for the two I like best: Kubica and Vettel. Interesting to see that Kubica is now leading, is it because he’s doing so well now?
`Like’. I don’t mean to be `picky’, but is that as a person or driver? Since I’ve not met any of them, I’m not really qualified to decide if they’re nice persons or not; and since I rarely get to view them driving—and only via video, I’m not really in a position to judge their driving skills except via race results.
Since different teams’ cars have different capabilities, results are hardly a fair measure. Take Massa’s terrible showing at Silverstone in the rain. I seem to remember one wet race that he did very well. Was Silverstone him, the car, the strategy, or just a bad day for him?
It seems Massa is disliked purely because he is making Kimi look mediocre on certain races and not the “fastest man” in F1 like everyone used to claim.
True internet. I dont think people like drivers because of how good they are. I dislike Mark Webber after his remarks about Vettel (one of my faves) after Fuji
@Internet
No, stuff like Silverstone is why he’s disliked.
Internet,
get on w/ the game, bud. Massa is a mediocre driver in a top car and can only challenge Kimi on 2-3 circuits and only on the dry. That’s the extent of his ability.
Kimi is untouchable in terms of raw speed … anywhere.
It would be useful to hear more of why certain peolpe like the drivers they do - is it because of personality or performance?
I like drivers because…
This is the reason I like certain drivers Keith,
Hamilton - He’s a bit of a boring chap, in his interviews he has to be all clean cut and perfect but thats just McLaren. When he gets into a race car though his driving is great to watch, especially last year throwing the car around Monaco was a highlight. Also he’s not afraid to have a lunge up the inside of someone (Kimi at Monza and Barrichello at Brazil come to mind)
Alonso - Extremely fast, I started supporting him in 2003 when he signed to Renault. He moans a lot about things but a lot of it I think is the press exadurating. Also the Hamilton Alonso spat made F1 great even when there was no racing.
You could say I like them for different reasons
I sterted liking Kubica and Vettel at around the same time, when Kubica got promoted to the race seat at BMW at 2006 and Vettel started to shine on Fridays. Apart from the speed they both obviously have, they strike me as unpretentious folks (I could be horribly wrong on this).
Purely on performance I would have chosen Kimi, Kubica and Hamilton - but I think the person outside the car is important too, after all you asked who we liked rather than who we thought the best drivers are!
Therefore, I chose DC, Heikki and Kimi - DC just because he says whatever needs to be said, seems funny and generally a nice bloke. Heikki again seems to have a decent sense of humour and is pretty genuine when it comes to mistakes (something I think is important).
Kimi is slightly harder to explain - he is the opposite of what we should like in a driver to a certain extent. I can’t see him being as willing with interviews to Finnish TV as Lewis Hamilton is with ITV for example! He is perhaps likeable for the other side of things, maybe a more old-fashioned driver who simply turns up, does the very minimum he has to outside of the car but then blows you away with what happens on-track.
I like DC because he’s somewhat of a throwback to earlier, more fun F1 days. I like Lewis because he’s the new (among several others) young gun. And unlike a number of previous commenters, I like Massa. He’s just seems to be a fun, happy-go-lucky guy. Plus, he’s a proven driver of merit.
Kubica: A sheer talent
Raikonnen: Ingenuity
Alonso: Trust me he IS a great driver
Massa: Sheer pace (I also get dissaponted on him often)
Hamilton: i dont like him, i dont know why… but i admit this guy is fast and really can push to the limit.
I can’t speak for the others Keith but I’m taking this poll rather literally, I ticked drivers that I like due to their personality (what very little I know of them). Though it must be said that if I rate their driving skill it naturally spills over to their ‘likeability’.
A couple of examples.
Voted for Raikkonen: Many people say that he is boring but I suspect that’s due to his less than enthusiastic press statements e.t.c. but from what I read of him about what he gets up to in his spare time he seems anything but boring. In fact I could imagine that none of his friends would call him boring but rather ‘wild’ in nature. Plus, he’s a fantastic F1 driver.
Voted for Coulthard: Out of respect for his veteranship and the fact that he’s not afraid to say what he thinks without sounding conceited in anyway. However whilst I think he is a very competent driver, I don’t think he ever had the ‘X’ factor that true champions have.
Didn’t vote for Hamilton: But I think Hamilton is one of the best drivers on the grid today. In the top 4 definitely. However I haven’t been able to warm to his personality. I don’t think he’s a bad person who beats up the elderly or shoots kittens or anything like that but there is a certain ’smugness’ about him that I just cannot seem to shake. I want to like him……it just isn’t happening. That’s just me.
So Keith, for me it was more about ‘likeability’ rather than ‘ability’ on the whole but sometimes to two are inter-related…
Hope my one opinion helps…..
@F1Fan: I never understood all the fuss about Kimi and his “raw pace”. If he was so fast, where was he in 2006? I know you will try to excuse him by saying the car was a dog, but who’s to say that his apparent “raw pace” was only due to him having a better car under him than everyone else?
This why I don’t like Kimi. Everyone treats him like god and fails to acknowledge his shortcomings. I like Hamilton but I will never defend him against his bad races and mistakes.
Internet i agree with your point. I don’t dislike Kimi like you but people dislike Massa because he’s in a good car and has made a few mistakes but no one says the same about Kimi. Massas up there with kimi in the points standings for goodness sake
I picked Kubica for consistency, Heidfeld for two double overtaking manouvres in Silverstone recently and Raikkonen for his comments on how he hates F1 atmosphere. Cheers.
Internet, two words for you: Suzuka 2005. I’m a fan of both Kimi and Felipe, but that race will make up for a lot of the mistakes he’s made and will ever make. That 2007 title also helped a lot too.
True Journeyer, that was an epic performance. Shame anti-Hamilton fans don’t see Fuji07/Monaco 08/Silverstone 08 as making up for the mistakes hes made
I like nearly all drivers, but I picked 4 specific ones.
Raikkonen - He’s been my favourite since 2003.
Sutil - His race in Monaco was stunning before he got taken out.
Barrichello - In my eyes, he may be the most experienced driver in F1, but he’s still got it.
Nakajima - Cos he’s Japanese
I´m with TommyB,
I did pick Nick, Lewis, Rubens, Heikky and Fernando all of them for different reasons.
For years I liked NICK because he was a guy who delivered in middle field cars taking all chances to show that if he was in top car he could show his class. It is a pitty now that he has this car his driving style doesn’t suit it. But I´m trust he can fight back as he shows in Uk GP and this will cost some mistakes to Kubitza in the another half of the season…
RUBENS: just because he is the real nice guy in Formula 1 today. Everything in F1 is about been fast and win and sometimes at any cost, but Rubens could show that you can win doing your job and still be honest and nice with the others guys. I know some peoples from Rubens´s family and I can ensure that this guy is a real nice man: a good father, a good husband, a good friend. If you can pick any driver for his personality, Rubens would be the right one.
I don’t know, but in the post interview after Uk GP he almost begs to still stay in F1. I hope he stays, we, fans, deserve to see guys like Rubens racing.
FERNANDO: It´s easy likes such talented driver as Fernando. He can deliver races as Nurburgring in 2007. Watch races like that could be enough to like him. But, been an absolutely biased anti-Ferrarist, Fernando was one of my heroes since Monza 2006. In that GP he shows the same Senna´s determination to be an anti-system driver, fighting against anything, including the FIA to keep his title. For that I think Fernando gained a worthy sympathy of the fans, including me.
Even when he seems to be immerging under Lewis´s pace and raw talent, Fernando could fight back again. Despite 2007 when he showed another face of his personality in McLaren, what makes me be very critique at his statements, I still like Fernando and I hope he stays at Renault, his true place.
LEWIS: well, I like Lewis not just because of his driving talents and performance, this could be enough, but in his case is mainly because of his haters. Any time that a read a nonsense about him, any time a see someone doubting about his capabilities (and he delivering after that!) more I move to his field. Anyway, Lewis bring some thrill to the F1 after Michael´s retirement, and none made more exciting races than Lewis in this 1 and a half year of F1. For all that, I hope he win the championship this year.
TommyB:
I would include Turkey/08 on that list. An entire race pushing until the limit and an overtake on a Ferrari, that tiny detail in race that “Mr I´m Bored” even try against his team mate…
I think the French F1 Race magazine has made a research and discovered that the two drivers whom has made more overtakes in the last 27 races was: Lewis and… yes, Felipe. That guy who did spin 5 times a week ago!
Kimi in 2006? He had a couple pole positions, couple runs from the back of the grid to the podium, and challenged for wins at Hockenheim, Canada and Monaco, but the car failed him (blown engine, clutchs).
I don’t like Massa because when he doesn’t win he blames everything else, teh car etc…for his spin in sepang? lol, and when Kimi was outpacing him horribly in France it was because Kimi had a better balanced car? wtf? The guy is a douche, had one good wet race at Monaco(although he started on pole, finished 3rd) and everyone other one has been terrible or mediocre.
Keith: that’s the way we (latins) laught via internet xD
jeje it’s spanish for hehe, jaja=haha, and so on xP…
Firstly, I didn’t vote for all the drivers I liked, or else I’d have voted for every driver in the list (and that’s been the case ever since Montoya left F1). There didn’t seem to be much point in doing that, so I put down the five I actively cheer for each race: Coulthard, Button, Fisichella, Hamilton and Sutil (in order of when I started supporting them).
Coulthard, Button and Hamilton initially received my support because they were British. However each of them has since given me additional reasons to support them. The more I noticed Coulthard’s smoothness and team-co-operation skills, the more I liked him. Same with Button’s smoothness and ability to surprise. Hamilton’s on-track vivacity is enjoyable. I started supporting Coulthard from Melbourne 1996 and began supporting Button and Hamilton from the start of their respective careers.
I started supporting Fisichella during the Monaco 2001 weekend. That was down to a combination of things; the determination he had to get the extremely slow Benetton looking like a respectable F1 machine, his good, gentle personality and his smooth driving.
Sutil I started supporting because he was at Spyker. His wet-weather and street-circuit performances leave me smiling too.
I would probably say it’s a personality thing for me, although race performances can be inspiring to change that.
It took a long time for me to warm up to Kimi - but out of everybody on the grid, I have the biggest respect for him. Mainly because he doesn’t care, and does what he wants to do - unconstrained (well, more so than the other drivers at least) by the politics and commercialness of F1.
He values his private life a lot, doesn’t want to give much away, and I feel sorry for him in the press conferences because he obviously doesn’t want to be there….yes, they’re amazingly dull and boring, but on the opposite side you have Hamilton who I have to mute because he sounds clinical…or like a prat when he momentarily slips into non-PR mode (ok, he’s young and enjoying it). But that’s just me…maybe if I didn’t hear Hamilton-Hamilton all the time and just watched the race without any build ups/post-race discussions it could change. I didn’t like Button to begin with, but that completely changed and he’s one of my favourite drivers these days.
Heidfeld’s a quiet character as well, and just when you think he’s settling into number 2 status at BMW without an answer to Kubica he’d surprise you - that overtaking move at Silverstone is an instant classic. At Sauber I was indifferent to him, now I would say I was indifferent to him, but I do like him.
Massa is a rubbish race driver, he’s only good to drive from pole to wins in the dry - I don’t remember any good jostling for positions, recently anyway, where he came out on top. Critics say he’s the ideal number two driver at Ferrari, which unfortunately is true…or they can find someone better, but he has got blitzing speed.
Last year’s Sepang mistake on Hamilton was unforgiving, as was his performance at Silverstone. Yes, he moans about performances and gives excuses, but he’s a nice jolly fellow otherwise, and he is a great celebrator of his wins. So those things make him likeable for me.
The same goes for Sato (not included), you wonder why he’s even on the grid sometimes, but when he’s talking he’s always got a smile on his face, trying his best to speak English - can’t really fault a person for that no matter if his driving is temperamental.
Seasoned veterans, Mark Webber,Rubens Barichello, Giancarlo Fisichella and DC, have just been in the sport long enough that I will miss them when they retire, you have early memories of these drivers. When they’ve stepped into a cockpit throwing up, driven with broken thumbs, and are still in the game after all these years that does demand a bit of respect (fair enough, some of them barely!) - and they are still opportunistic drivers in the end doing what they love.
Could go on with pro and con perception of every driver, but it is more personality for me.
I think you would have been better asking for disliked drivers….less boxes to tick…..and reasons a plentiful!
Two of the drivers I picked won me over after my initial misgivings. I had Heidfeld down as a competent but unexciting driver until about two years ago. Then I started watching him more closely and realised that he is much better than anyone thinks - apart from anything else, he seems to be the only one who remembers how to overtake!
Kubica I reacted against at first - yeah, he was quick as a test driver but what matters is the race. He has gradually beaten down my objections, however, and I now think he is one of the quickest drivers out there. It’s almost a pity that these two are team mates and compete so directly against each other - someone has to lose!
Finally, I picked Nakajima, purely because I spotted him first.
Massa more votes than Lewis!!!
I voted for eight people, Interestingly enough they were from four teams, Both Mclaren, Both Honda, both Williams and both Red Bulls!
How odd!
KB - I don’t think so because at the moment people are choosing an average of 5.7 drivers.
Clive - I do think Heidfeld is underrated and after his Silverstone performance I think the second half of the season should be better for him. It’s his beard I don’t like.
Actually on that note here’s a quick run down of why I voted for who I like. Warning: some of the reasons are much better than the others, some seem contradictory, but that’s personal perference for you!
Heikki Kovalainen - Seems a nice guy, underrated.
Lewis Hamilton - Proper racer’s racer. Good to his fans.
Adrian Sutil - One to watch in the wet.
Sebastian Vettel - Ditto.
Sebastien Bourdais - Enjoyed watching him in Champ Car.
Timo Glock - Got back into F1 the hard way. Respect.
Jarno Trulli - From Pescara, knows the old Grand Prix track, makes wine.
Mark Webber - Speaks his mind. A rare treat these days.
David Coulthard - I always used to like him because he wasn’t Eddie Irvine.
Kazuki Nakajima - I like the idea of a good Japanese driver in F1.
Nico Rosberg - I somehow find him likeable despite his offensive good looks.
Nelson Piquet Jnr - He did an autograph for a kid Ben Evans knows when we were at Silverstone last year.
Robert Kubica - Likes street circuits and drives better without traction control. Doesn’t look like an F1 driver.
So why didn’t I vote for the others?
Giancarlo Fisichella - Hugely disappointing at Renault after so much promise.
Fernando Alonso - I respected him enormously after his ‘06 title and I still have an Alonso T-shirt somewhere. But his attitude last year was a total turn-off.
Felipe Massa - Can’t help but think half the F1 grid would do better than he has with his equipment.
Kimi Raikkonen - At Silverstone I saw him sneaking out of the side of a tent to avoid a small group of maybe a dozen or so fans.
Nick Heidfeld - Beard
Jenson Button - Ditto
Rubens Barrichello - Schmacher’s lackey.
First of all Keith, love your blog.
For me it is a poll, on who I like, so it’s personal, however in some parts it is also based on performance. So for me, there are 4 drivers who are my favourite:
1) Kubica - absolutly love him as F1 driver. He has eveything a good driver should have: talent, determination, will, aggressivnes on a track, modesty everywhere else. And he is a Pole, and Poles belong on pole :))))
2) Raikkonen - frankly lately and finally his motivation or lack of it gets on my nerves, but I still like him, I have been his huge fan since almost the beginning of his career. Plus I am a women so this choice is partially based on my viewing pleasures :)))))
3) Massa - Felipe is just Felipe, for me he can spin 10 times every race (however I would definetly not prefered him to do so, I would definetly prefere him to win every race from now on). I just genuinly like him, he gives us joy, he gives us pain, but he is always my choice number one.
4)Alonso, and that is a suprice even for me. 2 years ago he was my enemy #1. Last year I started by liking Hamilton and disliking, a lot, Alonso, but during a course of season I converted. By it’s end I was quite indifferent to Hamilton and I was aplauding Alonso. This year it wenteven further I realized I like him a lot, for his amazing fighting spirit. He is just such a good example for people, he keeps on fighting till the end, even when he knows it’s pointless. He has a lion heart.
I also need to mention who I will definetly not vote for and it is Hamilton. I can exactly pinpoint the moment when I started to dislike him and it was Canada GP 2008. Not when he crashed but at the interview, when he was asked about ruining Raikkonen’s race. The answer and the smirk he gave that is the moment. Then I realized, he can be the best driver in the world ( and for me he is not) and I would still dislike him, for his arrogance and lack of respect to everybody.