Vote for the best driver of the Abu Dhabi GP weekend

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Start, Abu Dhabi, 2010

Which driver did the best job during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend?

See below for my pick of the best drivers in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Review each driver’s race weekend in detail below and vote for who you thought was the most impressive driver.

For your consideration

Here are some of the drivers who impressed me during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend:

Sebastian Vettel – While his team mate looked vulnerable in the other RB6, Vettel stuck it on pole and drove off to win as if it was any ordinary race weekend.

Lewis Hamilton – Back at his best after a breakthrough with the MP4-25 – albeit one that came too late for his championship hopes.

Nico Rosberg – Ran a 54-lap stint on the medium tyres to capture fourth place.

Robert Kubica – Never looked happy at the wheel of the car and was beaten by his team mate in qualifying. But he pulled off two excellent passes on race day and, more impressively, withstood pressure from Hamilton without losing too much time to the cars behind him.

Vitaly Petrov – I didn’t expect him to hold Alonso up for four laps, never mind the best part of 40. Having out-qualified his team mate on Saturday, this was surely his best weekend of the year. But I would advise him against holidaying in Italy for the foreseeable future.

Compare all the drivers

You can review what happened to each driver over the race weekend and compare their performances with their team mates using the links below:

McLaren: Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes: Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher
Red Bull: Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber
Ferrari: Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa
Williams: Rubens Barrichello and Nico Hulkenberg
Renault: Robert Kubica and Vitaly Petrov
Force India: Adrian Sutil and Vitantonio Liuzzi
Toro Rosso: Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari
Lotus: Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen
HRT: Sakon Yamamoto and Bruno Senna
Sauber: Kamui Kobayashi and Pedro de la Rosa
Virgin: Timo Glock and Lucas di Grassi

Vote for your driver of the weekend

Which driver impressed you the most in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend? Cast your vote below and have your say in the comments.

Who was the best driver of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend?

  • Lucas di Grassi (0%)
  • Timo Glock (0%)
  • Kamui Kobayashi (0%)
  • Nick Heidfeld (0%)
  • Bruno Senna (0%)
  • Christian Klien (0%)
  • Heikki Kovalainen (0%)
  • Jarno Trulli (0%)
  • Jaime Alguersuari (1%)
  • Sebastien Buemi (0%)
  • Vitantonio Liuzzi (0%)
  • Adrian Sutil (0%)
  • Vitaly Petrov (45%)
  • Robert Kubica (15%)
  • Nico H?â??lkenberg (0%)
  • Rubens Barrichello (0%)
  • Fernando Alonso (2%)
  • Felipe Massa (0%)
  • Mark Webber (0%)
  • Sebastian Vettel (25%)
  • Nico Rosberg (2%)
  • Michael Schumacher (0%)
  • Lewis Hamilton (6%)
  • Jenson Button (4%)

Total Voters: 2,366

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Brazilian Grand Prix result

Sebastian Vettel was voted the best driver of the Brazilian Grand Prix weekend. Here are the top three drivers as voted for by you:

1. Sebastian Vettel, 29%
2. Fernando Alonso, 26%
3. Nico Hulkenberg, 21%

Got an opinion on the best and worst drivers of the season? Head on over to the forum and participate in the 2010 F1 Fanatic driver rankings.

2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

    Browse all 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix articles

    Author information

    Keith Collantine
    Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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    107 comments on “Vote for the best driver of the Abu Dhabi GP weekend”

    1. I think there’s no doubts here… Vettel was the man of the weekend.

      I was surprised with Button tho. He looked pretty uncomfortable with the car, yet he got a superb result for himself and the team. That Jenson’s doll will have a wait!

      1. Vettel did nothing special. He grabbed pole and drove most of the race free of any traffic or any attack from behind.

        If the SC didn’t come out and spoil Alonso and Webber’s position after pit stops, Vettel would have done nothing interesting and Alonso would have taken the title as clearly Webber wasn’t going to challenge him.

        Congrats to Vettel but let’s not pretend he did anything brilliant in the race other than not crash.

        1. Vettel did nothing special.

          He out-qualified his team mate by half a second and finished 44 seconds ahead of him, that’s not nothing.

          1. I know its wild thinking but I can’t help thinking Webber did not have the same car as SV he is usually close behind but his week he was way off the pace.
            Is it possible he got de-tuned for some of his comments concerning the team?

            1. Of cause not. He just messed it up in qualifying and in the race he couldn’t get the soft tires to work properly. Red Bull wanted the championship, and even IF they only wanted Vettel to get it they would still give Webber the same car as Vettel. Webber started behind Alonso, and hat it not been for the early safety car, it would have been crucial for Red Bull to get Webber ahead of Alonso. To give Vettel a chance of winning. After Webber qualified so low, his chances of winning the title were gone anyway.

            2. Why would Webber have a different car. It was more a question of his driving style working the tyres a bit different, so his second lap was not as good at he would have wanted. Vettel was faster here in the same car.

          2. you are dead wrong he did nothing

          3. Webber was far from his best this weekend, but to be fair both him and Alonso would have been considerably ahead if they didn’t get caught out by pitting at the wrong time.

            1. Ahead of where they finished, I mean by that, by the way.

        2. He earned this designation when he put in the critical two or three laps to make sure he was not trapped behind Kubica and Kobayashi, and thus right in Hamilton’s clutches. Hamilton loses because he didn’t do the same.

          1. He did well when he exited the pits to stay ahead of Kubica. This is the first time I’ve voted for Vettel this year.

          2. Vettel was called into the pits after RBR saw that Hamilton was behind two slower cars and thus had the time to respond.
            Mclaren brought Hamilton in way too early, and called it a strategy, I believe it was a blunder.
            Not the first time they have done that this year. Even lapped cars have to move off track to make room, and they expect their driver to over take a car that has a very good Fduct?

            Vettel drove a faultless race. Hamilton, Alonso and Massa were let down by their teams.

        3. isn’t it how F1 works?…

          he still drove a faultless race…

        4. Congrats to Vettel but let’s not pretend he did anything brilliant in the race other than not crash.

          Isn’t being the fastest driver on the track by far all weekend brilliant?

          1. No, of course not. That’s not how you succeed in F1. i have no idea where you got that idea from. gees…

    2. 5 went for petrov as this was by far his strongest performance. To be fair all vettel had to do was keep lapping as everyone else screwed it up

      1. +1

        It was funny to see Alonso losing his cool running off the laps a few times trying to pass.

        1. I don’t think it was ‘losing his cool’ – I think he was just trying to edge a bit more late braking or find a bit more traction coming out of a corner. He had to try something, the conventional racing line didn’t get him close enough for an attempt at any stage.

          1. He was either losing his cool or trying to scare Petrov into a mistake. I’d guess the latter. I’m just amazed Petrov didn’t make one. 0.o

            1. They weren’t all intentional, but I think some of those moves off the track were. They were doing that in the GP2 race to good affect, so it didn’t hurt Alonso to try.

      2. I credit Petrov for a great drive, but Yas Marina isn’t exactly the greatest for overtaking.

        Petrov’s car was faster in the straights and that was all that was necessary to keep Alonso behind.

        Petrov’s drive was great only for the fact that he didn’t throw it off the track like he’s done in previous races.

        1. True, the track have only 3 ideal turns for overtaking.

          It’s just surprising that Petrov can manage to keep up with Alonso.

          1. The track has no ideal turn for over taking. The loops leading on to the straights make it very difficult for a driver to get a good tow. When he does eventually get the tow he is forced to lift off again as he has run out of room.
            Another failed track.
            Even Singapore has better overtaking potential

            1. That’s a bit harsh saying that there’s no chance for overtaking at all. Mark Webber said himself in the video that there’s 3 chance in the lap for overtaking. I think I would trust a F1 driver’s perspective on this.

            2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1P2NywNPZl8&feature=player_embedded

              Here’s the video in case you didn’t watch.

              It’s about 25 seconds in.

            3. And when exactly did Webber take advantage of those 3 places you can overtake in? Oh wait…..

        2. Exactly, thats why i went with Petrov. We were impressed with him keeping Alonso behind for a lot of the Istanbul race, but in the end he lost it.
          Now this weekend not only was he faster thant Kubica, he drove to the maximum to stay in front of Alonso and bag a solid bunch of points. A real improvement from him to show what he can do.
          Vettel was doing a really good job, driving fast when it was needed and not making any mistakes, but it was not an improvement over the past races

        3. Petrov’s car was faster in the straights and that was all that was necessary to keep Alonso behind.

          Nail. On. Head.

          Can’t believe so many people voted Petrov. Even he said post race that he didn’t drive particularly aggressively and that it wasn’t that big a deal to keep Alonso behind. Add to that the fact that Petrov had a brand new engine running at full blast while Alonso was nursing an engine home, and Petrov’s drive seems like it was really just being in the right place at the right time. If Alonso hadn’t been directly behind him, no one would be talking about his drive in this particular race. His drive in Hungary was equally impressive and no one went on about it after that race.

        4. If you had such a teammate like Barrichello willing to show and teach you everything (not one with “I, me, mine” close end egotistic mind), adequate attitude from the team to pilot, his car an his pitstop tactics, lack of huge psychological pressure, prejudice as for “pay pilot”, some fatal episodes during races (just remember how Alonso with light heart ruined Petrovs struggle for points and 8th position in Turkey), and the unique situation to be the first rookie witout preliminary testing experience, your words about Petrov could be acceptable. But, since everything was completely different, I have to say that you are absolutely wrong.

    3. Hamilton purely to be as close as he was in qualifying and the race in the second-best car and to even out the inevitable result of the poll ;)

    4. When you can hold off a double-world champion hungry for a 3rd WDC for the better part of a complete race, that deserves some special credit, regardless of prior performance.

      1. ..And provide most of the tension for the viewer using equipment that was clearly not the best of the bunch. Not even second or third best.

    5. Vettel had a stellar Saturday and Sunday under the setting sun in Abu Dhabi. He did everything right this weekend to ensure that he was in place to take the title from his rivals, and his pole position and dominant race proved that.

      It was definitely great to see Button back to form, though. He did great in Q2, but unfortunately couldn’t carry that into Q3 to match Hamilton. I jumped off of the couch when Button got round Alonso in the first turn–just like at Monza! I think that both of the McLaren drivers exploited the 25 to the max at Abu Dhabi, and I hope that the 26 gives the guys a chance to chase down the Bulls again.

    6. There’s a few candidates, the lack of overtaking (which I do blame nearly solely on the track) meant that DOTDs got their status from either qualifying or snap strategy calls.

      Rosberg and Petrov both got results far higher than their cars deserved, beating two Ferraris and a Red Bull, and helped Kubica steal a decent result too. Vettel had a race-winning Saturday, and ruled the roost thereafter.

    7. Vettel, Button, Petrov, Hamilton, that order.
      Button because he passed Alonso with consummate ease, leading indirectly to his demise in the race, and probably had the run on Hamilton if the McLarens were to have raced each other freely. Petrov for obvious reasons: it couldn’t have been easy to defend from Alonso and take the psychological pressure of blocking a championship contender for so long. But Vettel was supremely good, even if he had the car. It takes exceptional strength to keep the run of pole positions and race leads going, flawlessly, especially in the final race. Webber showed how easy it could have been for Vettel to become unnerved and make a mistake in qualifying, off the grid or during the race. And his emotion at winning was great to see. Full marks and a great champion.

      1. I agree, Vettel is a humble champion.
        He’s a great character.

        He showed some outstanding performance these two years.

    8. I say Schumacher for not dying

      1. and for being such a nice guy about having a force india inches away from his head…

        AND for looking like he was on his way to the bar as soon as he got out.

        1. That must have been a major relievement for him, opening his eyes and still have his head where it belongs.

    9. Voted for Vettel.
      He won the race and also the title against all odds – of course except having the best car on the grid, but anyway.
      He won because he believed that he could win and didn’t care what Mark was talking about (asking/ begging for his favors).
      He did absolutely everything which was necessary to win his chances and delivered. Yes, he was also somewhat selfish to deny Mark any help until last moment -which never came, so eventually it happened to be the right decision, but he could also be wrong – but this doesn’t matter.

      Kubica – my second choice – shockingly weak in qualifications plus he failed the start, but then fully recovered lost positions pulling out top notch overtakings (the one on Koba was a copy of Koba on Button last year, I think). Defended quite easy against Hamilton while in the same time doing lap after lap to build a gap big enough to overtake Alo and Pet after his pit stop. All that on first set of tyres. This was exemplary drive to me, if not disappointing quals and bad start I would vote for him.

      Petrov – was absolutely great all Sat and Sun, and it was nice to see him bounce back, but rather it was his own personal best. I mean he wasn’t the best of all drivers out there just because he didn’t make any mistake and fend off Alonso. Not him, Alo would likely stack behind Rosberg, also quick on the straight. Petrov’s racing pace was quite slow, though, and that’s why Kubica could eventually pass him.

      Rosberg – after quite good (but not better than Michael) qualifications he had another very solid drive home without any mistake, well executed strategy and deserved 4th place. My third choice.

      Hamilton – my 4th choice – great quals, but he didn’t seem to play wisely against Kubica – looked too impatient trying to pass him and wore his tyres too quickly, imho, leaving himself with no ammo and complaining by radio (booo! :) Other than that great pace and deserved 2nd place.

    10. Has to be Vettel. Had less pressure than Alonso and Webber coming into the race, but had the luck that deserted him so many times this season. He should have been WDC much earlier if it weren’t for mechanical failures.

      All in all it was a very poor track to end the season with only Kubica overtaking anyone.

    11. I have to admit, Petrov surprised me. His silly mistakes from earlier in the year made me expect him to eventually give up the ghost for Alonso. Yet, he held steady for the whole damn race. I give him credit for stepping up when the chips were down.

      1. Agree. Petrov didn’t make any mistakes even with Alonso trying to distract him pointing his Ferrari to the inside line.

        But I voted Alguersuari, he got a couple of points and held Massa the whole race. the only questionnable move was letting Mark pass too easily.

        I would advise him against holidaying in Italy for the foreseeable future.

        Lol! And I think Spain wouldn’t be a good holiday destination either.

    12. went for vettel (like most of you) but would
      have given half a vote to rosberg,too…

    13. I voted for Alonso. Only jocking.

      1. …or even joking for that matter! Lol.

        1. hahahahahaha
          very fine joke. english humor?

          1. Yes, you would not understand.

    14. I went for Rosberg, though the director didn’t seem to notice him for the last 3/4 of the race, I had to follow most of the action on the driver tracker. Fast, intelligent driving again – I think he’s driven at least as well as Kubica this year but is not getting a fraction of the acclaim… despite a slightly more famous team-mate…

      Credit to Buemi too for keeping Rosberg back for so long in a rubbish car, he might have got P3 otherwise

      1. Credit to Buemi? For what, for the 15th place? You probably haven t seen Alguersuari driving from 17th to 9th on one set of tyres with consistent lap times and keeping Massa behind him…

        1. That was because the team gave him the better strategy choice in the race. Buemi was left out right to the end and as a result of that dropped to the back (look where Barricello finsished).

    15. It all depends on whether you decide Best Driver based on a completely blank canvas at each race, or whether you base it on each driver and whether they have out-performed themselves.

      Looking at it solely in terms of this race’s display of talent, a case for Best Driver could equally be made for any of the top 3 (at least); they all put in excellent shifts with their cars and couldn´t be expected to get any more out of them. However, we know these guys are capable of that and we know that they can do it every race (heck, they’re all world champions). For them they turned up, cracked on with it and did another great job. Fair play.

      But for me, Best Driver means they’ve done something that they don’t usually do; that they’ve come out of what they do as standard and excelled themselves that little bit. I don’t mean just not being a bad driver for once, but actually doing something creditable. The chap I voted for slogged around the track without making a single mistake for at least 40 laps, keeping a faster car with desperate driver behind him to boot, and still drove well enough to earn a decently placed finish for once.
      Other drivers drove solid races too, but considering Petrov did it with Alonso following him all the way to the finish line, I think he gets Best Driver on both outright performance and personal merit.

      1. I agree. Pretty easy to be the best when you are out front in the fastest car, untroubled by traffic or needing to, you know, race anyone… Not so easy to put in a stellar performance with a double world champ in the (faster) car behind you for 40 laps, trying to monster you into a mistake. I haven’t been super impressed by Petrov much this past year, but I was on the weekend. That’s why he got my vote for DOTD.

      2. Exactly, thats the reason I went with Petrov as well.

        I still hope to see Vettel fight his way to the front of the field to win it some day.

        1. My feelings exactly – I also voted for Petrov. He was faster than Kubica on Saturday, and looked good the whole weekend. His pace in the race was probably a bit less partly due to having to defend from Alonso.

          I think Vettel did a great job – as he usually does when he is ahead after the first corner, and maybe I underestimate the effort to do this, but he didn’t really know he was driving for the championship until the end, well done by the team, but it means that for him it was just another race.

          Hamilton and Button got the most they could get, and seemingly McLaren also couldn’t have gotten ahead of Vettel by strategy, so well done to them, solid work, as we would expect. Had Hamilton managed to get past Kubica it would have been an outstanding performance, now it was a solid job.

    16. As I write this…12 votes for Alonso…

      AHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

    17. Petrov. Absolutely. I can’t say it enough – it was an epic drive.When he started the season, I thought he’d be a good number two driver, but if he could channel what he did in Abu Dhabi on a regular basis, he could probably lead a team in his own right.

      1. While – imho – Vettel was the best, definitely it was Petrov who impressed most.

        I for one would prefer to vote for “the driver who impressed most”, than “the best driver”. It’s difficult to judge who was really the best, because quality of cars, setup factor etc make a lot of difference and he hardly new about all circustances. It means good drivers in worse cars will ever lose.
        However each driver has the same chance in category “who impressed most”. My 2 cents.

        1. sorry, edition:
          …a lot of difference and we hardly know about all circumstances.

    18. Everyone seems to have forgotten Button who did a massively long first stint on the soft tyres…

    19. Came down to Petrov or Rosberg for me. Vettel ran an excellent race, but he won on strategy and faultless racing in a superior car. He only beat Webber by such a large margin because of the job Petrov did running his race and not letting Alonso pass. There’s no way of knowing what Alonso or Webber could have done if they got around him, but he was the guy that put Vettel in the #1 car next year.

    20. Vitaly Petrov for soaking up the pressure from Alonso for 40 odd laps.

      1. As he said.. there was no pressure… it was easy… Alonso was only close enough to try an overtake once.

        OK drive (one of his best maybe) but behind his team mate and defo not best of the weekend. If Ferrari hadn’t messed up would more than ten voted for him… I think not…. Kubica keep Hamilton behind easy enough (one of the best over takers in the business) show how easy the Renault drivers had it when in front, make no mistake they were very fast in a straight line.

        Like I said good drive, but IMO not the best of the weekend…. Vettel, Hamilton or Button for me, struggle to pick between them

      2. PS.Did you end up ahead of me in the prediction Champ, I think we were level? :-)

        1. Not sure about the prediction championship unless Keith put up the result which he will do on Thursday.

    21. how luck changes the people opinion?
      everybody seems to forget how vettel almost lost the championship because of his stupidity and how alonso almost won the title because of his bravure and pure talent. now all of a sudden vettel is the best . wow wow wow
      if hamilton or alonso was part of redbull this year would have been another 2001 or 2002 or 2004 season
      the championship would have been done 5 races before the end. but because it was the crash kid and i thank him for that it got interesting
      he never led the season. that to me tells a lot.
      I don’t believe in luck but the fingerface got some and I mean a lot. and please don’t start with the points he lost that were all his fault crash on weber button the engine failures are reflection of the way he drives

      1. I agree, and this was partly the reason why I was so disappointed he won it in the end. There are many other reasons, being an Alonso fan, being a Webber fan, being an Australian, disliking RBR’s so-called ‘equal’ status etc. The list goes on ! But really, Vettel should have had this in the bag by mid season. The fact that he didn’t even lead the standings until the last round suggests to me that he was not the best driver over the season – and therefore deserving of that title. I don’t deny his talent (when out in front & not having to actually race anyone that is ;) ) but this year, I don’t beleive he was the best driver over the season. Not by a long shot.

    22. Just a comment….you are asking us for the “best driver of the GP weekend”. This seems to be asking us for the best driver who is driving at the GP weekend, as opposed to the driver who put in the best drive of the weekend.

      These two questions are very different.

      If you are asking us who we think is the best driver of the weekend, the answer, for me at least, would probably be the same person for most, if not all, of the season.

      While the driver who put in the best drive of the weekend would change quite often.

      I realize this sounds contrived and overly “picky”, but from the votes and comments above I would say you are not getting responses that are all aimed at the same idea.

      Of course when running a blog like this, which I enjoy very much by the way, having open ended questions may allow for greater input and freedom for your readers.

      You would certainly be the expert in this area, and I gladly differ to your better judgment.

    23. I voted for Petrov.. holding up the 3 time WDC for 40 odd laps is one mean feat.

      But Vettel should also get a vote.. he drove a flawless weekend.
      I felt that webber somehow wasn’t driving the same car as him.. since he seems to be losing most of his time in the second sector, where theres like 2 straights and a chicane!
      but don’t take that away from vettel, he drove a fantastic race. truly a deserved WDC

      1. Only Petrov defending kept that 2 time WDC from actually becoming a 3 time WDC!

        1. Not quite – Alonso also needed to pass Rosberg (and, later, Kubica).

    24. can only be vettel. making pole count (for a change) slipping under the radar and snatching the championship from 3rd place. jenson did great getting past teflonso at the start which surely was a contributing factor in seb’s WDC win. lewis had a great, controlled drive. webber was a let down. bit like that rocket they built on james may’s “manlab”. never really looked in it in quali and continued throughout the race. was never close enough to alonso to capitalise on the mistakes made and looked like a beaten man before the race even started.

      final word….. the season needs to open with bahrain & abu dhabi – getting the 2 most boring races out of the way – as the tracks do nothing to let the drivers shine. going off the circuit should penalise you, not let you set a faster time / pull away from those following.

    25. Accidental Mick
      16th November 2010, 8:34

      Just a thought. If Petrov was “holding up” Alonso, why couldn’t Webber get close enough to Alonso to have a ceack at him?

      1. It’s unlikely that Webber was seriously trying to overtake Alonso or even put pressure on him. Webber was disappointed by his team and Vettel for not helping him when it would’ve been smart. Also, overtaking Alonso would not have helped Webber at that point at all.

    26. Accidental Mick
      16th November 2010, 8:36

      Sorry – that should be crack.

    27. Petrov didn’t do anything special, I see however, that Alonso’s haters don’t think the same. Have you ever considered the fact that the Russian was running purely fresh new engine, while Alonso had machinery almost three races old ? Geez, the fan-boyizm never stops …..

      1. its sad be I’d have to say I agree… see my comment about 5 – 6 up.

        1. I’m an Alonso fan. And I voted for Petrov.

    28. Interesting that “in for your consideration” is not included a driver, who climbed most positions in race compared to qualifying and who s car really don t belong to top 10…

    29. Getting the WDC is one thing, the single race performance is other one. Vettel did what he had to do with the fastest car in his hand. It was a good performance, but an expected one.

      If I could, I would vote for both Renault drivers. Obviously I can’t, therefore my vote goes to Kubica. Petrov also had a great race, yet he displayed only defensive abilities, whereas Kubica showed himself well both in defense and in offense. One of his best all-round performances of the season.

    30. I am amazed so few people voted for Alonso.

      His race was a disaster, but his driving behind Petrov (who also drove brilliantly) was a sustained lap after lap drive on the limit in his Ferrari. He put the car off the track more and more towards the end. But being able to push past the limit of the car, have it go from underneath him, and then recover it several times in the closing laps, barely losing any ground on Petrov, was quite brilliant to watch!

      Note : I am not an Alonso fan. And am super happy for Vettel. It just seems that people vote based on the outcome of the race, rather than analysing the actual driving.

      1. recovering from an over-run onto tarmac isn’t exactly difficult. put a gravel trap there or some slippery grass and he’d either have had a DNF or lost a few places.

      2. So youre saying that because Alonso made mistakes and put the car off the track, but was able to recover from said mistakes, he was the BEST driver of the weekend? Yas Marina has miles of tarmac runoff, so Alonso essentially had an insurance policy allowing him to push as hard as he could with minimal risk. It makes no sense to say he was the best driver because he was able to recover from mistakes that he made. Put simply, Alonso (and his team as a whole) fell short this weekend.

      3. I never said that Alonso was the best driver of the weekend. Just that I was surprised how few voted for him.

    31. Alonso!!!!!!!!!

        1. I presume for the same reasons I outlined in my post at the bottom of page 2. :)

      1. You guys are hilarious. Explain to me logically how Alonso outdrove Petrov over the weekend, much less Vettel. Please.

        1. I didn’t say Alonso out drove Petrov. Although in a straight head to head with equal equipment I know who my money would be on. Despite having a soft spot for Petrov, and watching him come up through GP2.

          What you need to remember is Alonso had an engine on it’s third race this weekend just gone. Petrov had a brand new one.

          If Petrov had not been in-front of Alonso we probably would not have even noticed his race this weekend.

    32. First, this track is rubish if you want to overtake someone so holding behind back another driver is quite easy if you don’t make a mistake.

      Second, Petrov was terrible for almost whole season and now people are blinded because “he stopped Fernando Alonso for almost 40 laps!”. This was good race for him, I mean he didn’t crash like usual but Renault should kick him right away (I know this will not happen since he brings money…)

      My vote for Kubica, would vote for Rosberg too if I could.

    33. This one goes to Alguersuari!! Great race holding position to Massa and Webber… AND FINALY IN THE POINTS!!! After 3 races finishing in 11th position. Hopefully you’ll get a more competitive Toro Rosso next year, Jaime

      1. Although, as Newey said, Alguersuari might have been the key to Ferrari’s fatal strategic error, holding Webber for 3 laps that opened the time window for Ferrari to get Alonso into the pits and back into the track in front of Webber. Uhm…

    34. “how luck changes the people opinion?
      everybody seems to forget how vettel almost lost the championship because of his stupidity and how alonso almost won the title because of his bravure and pure talent. now all of a sudden vettel is the best . wow wow wow
      if hamilton or alonso was part of redbull this year would have been another 2001 or 2002 or 2004 season
      the championship would have been done 5 races before the end. but because it was the crash kid and i thank him for that it got interesting
      he never led the season. that to me tells a lot.
      I don’t believe in luck but the fingerface got some and I mean a lot. and please don’t start with the points he lost that were all his fault crash on weber button the engine failures are reflection of the way he drives”

      OMG so much hatred in one single person!
      I sincerely hope this is due to your young age and are not raising children yet.

      The only thing I like about the season being over is that you can retrospect on a championship race by race and doublecheck the facts to what has been stated in the press and in blogs.
      Then you will find out that Vettel earned himself the epitheton”crash kid”while he crashed the least of the top 4:namely twice(Turkey and Belgium)Some even called him the proctologist while his team mate was the one who was spotted twice examening the rear end of his opponents.
      In Silverstone he even AVOIDED a crash when Webber agressively moved over on him and he chose to go off track to avoid the collision.Had the roles been inversed you can bet your donkey Mark would have defended his line and the crash statistics would show 6 for Webber 3 for Vettel and who knows, the WCC and WDC might have gone to a competing team.
      I remember Martin Brundle shouting at the start:”Vettel is driving his teammate into the wall” while he actually left him ample room to manoeuver and then when Webber made a much harsher move on his “teammate” he said:”Well he can do that ,can’t he?”Not so sure the RB team shares MB’s opinion, since they stated their drivers can race at will as long as they leave each other enough breathing space.
      I guess the whole F1 world was all fired up over the nosecone decision,and so was I really,but this still didn’t give MW the right to risk another collision between 2 splendid cars owned by the team that writes him a (fat) paycheck!
      What really beats everything this season is what happened behind the SC in Hungary,and the conclusion by many that Vettel was a dumb rookie.
      Can you imagine that he was leading that race by 12 sec to Alonso when unfortunately for him the SC came out?
      RB made the right decision(contrary to what MB thought) to keep Mark out on the track while all the other protagonists pitted for new rubber.
      Coulthard said: “Webber should be on the radio to his team and say ok let me do 15 or 16 “qualifying” laps and let Sebastian hold the field up and lets do a 1-2 for the team,because if he has Sebastian running his normal pace then this could cost him dearly as Martin just said.”
      “Does Vettel really want Mark to finish second?”asked Brundle.
      Well,apparently he did,and that for a teammate that didn’t show the same sense of team spirit in some previous races.
      Anyway, to give Webber a headstart he had to fall back as
      much as the rules allow while the SC was out,because once the race restarted he had Alonso to deal with.
      Bring in to the mix radio problems with Vettel’s car and Webber shooting away in turn 15 under SC coming in and there goes your reward for being so loyal to your team.
      I’d love to hear the radiocommunication between the pits and Webber’s car during SC procedure!
      To call a sportsman stupid, who’s helping out a teammate and gets screwed over in the process is despicable to say the least!Don’t forget SV lost 17 points to MW and 13 to FA due to the most rediculous drive through I’ve ever witnessed.

      There’s more to the picture than meets the eye,certainly in a multi million dollar circus like F1,but I’m not letting myself get sucked in to that reality distortion field that has been created by some commenters.
      Vettel was the best in Abu Dhabi and in the championship over all,he never let anyone get under his skin,he kept going after a remarkable number of setbacks and demonstrated coolness and strength of character up to the very last race .
      He should be applauded for that, not hated!!

      1. vettel’s mother or father?

    35. I voted for Vitaly Petrov this time. I was considering to vote for one of the two Renault drivers, but, overall I think Vitaly has made a relatively bigger impression on me than Robert: he outqualified his more experienced (and talented) team mate and he bore the pressure of a former two-time worldchamp for a majority of the race.
      Although I’m a big fan of Sebastian, I did not vote for him, because he did what he’s very good at and has done already many times: winning form pole position!

    36. 34 votes for Alonso. It must be a joke. And a funny one.

      1. And Petrov for best isn’t a joke? Just because he held a driver behind him on a track where overtaking is impossible?

        1. impossible? kub overtook twice and it was all the fun from this race :/

        2. …and because he outqualified his much more highly regarded team mate, and generally drove a flawless race to make the most of an odd strategy. Dont get me wrong, I didnt vote for Petrov, but I certainly wouldnt call it a joke that so many did.

    37. petrov…no brainer

    38. So the best driver is… Petrov?

      This is truly a flaw of democracy, majority is wrong but we keep going like nothing happend.

      1. Bernie Ecclestone…is that you? ;)

      2. This poll is for who you thought the best driver of the weekend was. Not who you think the ‘best driver’ overall is.

    39. I voted Alonso just for a laugh

    40. Vote in Petrov? Hatred to Alonso?
      Understand, it is not alone of the United Kingdom that participate of this site. LOL

      1. Yes, Russia participate too. Apparently.

        1. Brazil also. Alonso has fans here, but most of the fanatics for F1 hate it because of Hockenheim.

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