2010 F1 driver rankings part two: 17-9

2010 F1 season review

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Read on for part two of the 2010 F1 Fanatic driver rankings.

While writing the final driver rankings for 2010 I consulted the F1 Fanatic driver form guides and statistics, re-watched the races and qualifying sessions and read your remarks in the 2010 driver rankings forum thread.

A selection of your comments from the thread are included below.

17. Nick Heidfeld

Nick Heidfeld, Sauber, Suzuka, 2010

Half-term ranking: n/a

Heidfeld’s 2010 season started very late – he was only drafted in at Sauber for the final five races.

He got up to speed quickly, finishing within a couple of seconds of Kobayashi in Suzuka and Korea. He scored as many points in his five races as Pedro de la Rosa had in 14.

Was always close to Kobayashi despite joining late in the season. Not an easy thing to do! Remember Fisichella last year?
M Sakr

Nick Heidfeld 2010 form guide

16. Felipe Massa

Felipe Massa, Ferrari, Singapore, 2010

Half-term ranking: 9

Being Fernando Alonso’s team mate must be one of the toughest jobs in Formula 1. Alonso may have been the new recruit, but from day one he out-drove Massa in the car and out-flanked him within the team – the latter becoming brutally clear at Hockenheim.

It’s easy to overlook the few highlights in Massa’s season. He did beat Alonso in four of the first seven races, though this was often down to Alonso making life difficult for himself. And Alonso didn’t completely rout him in qualifying.

But by the end of the season Massa’s function within the team had been reduced to supporting Alonso, and he couldn’t even offer much in that capacity.

Suzuka was the nadir, failing to reach Q3 then smashing into Vitantonio Liuzzi at the first turn. I was surprised the stewards didn’t give him a penalty for that. Maybe they felt sorry for him too.

I was so disappointed (and worried) last year when Massa had his accident, as I am a large fan and I think he may well have had the measure on Kimi Raikkonen.

But pre-season I was worried that Alonso would make mincemeat of him, and that’s how it seemed to go this season. He didn’t start off badly, nabbing a podium in Bahrain and finishing ahead of Alonso in a few of the first races (like Australia). But as the season got underway and Mr Eyebrows began his domination of the team (China, anyone?) the Brazilian faltered.

And when it finally looked as if he had regained some 2008 form in Germany "it" happened, and that was about it. Very disappointed for him and hope he comes back stronger next year.
Joe King

Felipe Massa 2010 form guide

15. Nico Hulkenberg

Nico Hulkenberg, Interlagos, 2010

Half-term ranking: 19

The highest-placed ‘true’ rookie of 2010 on this list doesn’t have a drive for 2011 yet. But it’s clear that’s a reflection not on his ability but his lack of sponsorship compared to Pastor Maldonado, who has taken his place at Williams.

Hulkenberg’s maiden season was scrappy at times, especially in the opening races of the season and that lifeless final appearance at Abu Dhabi, by which time he must have known he wouldn’t be returning for Williams in 2011.

But glimpses of his potential weren’t confined to that shock pole position at Interlagos and the mature way he handled racing with the championship contenders in the race. He was fifth on the grid in the rain-hit qualifying session at Sepang and had a great weekend at Monza.

It would reflect badly on F1 if a promising talent such as this cannot find a race seat for a second season.

Best of the rookies, he started to find his feet at the end of the year, caught up with Rubens (which isn’t as easy as Ruben’s detractors might like you to believe) and pulled that stormer of a lap in Brazil. If you can leave Vettel, Hamilton and Alonso looking baffled as to where you’ve found the speed on a qualifying lap, then you’re a rare talent.
Hairs

Nico Hulkenberg 2010 form guide

14. Heikki Kovalainen

Heikki Kovalainen, Lotus, Singapore, 2010

Half-term ranking: 12

Kovalainen was the only driver from the new teams to finish ahead of a car run by one of the established outfits.

He did it to Hulkenberg at Shanghai as the Williams driver made about two pit stops too many, and he somehow kept Vitaly Petrov’s Renault behind at Montreal as well.

He was regularly the highest-placed of the new teams’ drivers, and that wasn’t just down to having better reliability than his team mate.

Kovalainen had a strong season, revelling in his role in developing a new team. Having fewer mechanical retirements than Trulli helped, but Kovalainen generally seemed to be punching above his weight, even after the Lotus stopped developing their 2010 car. Like Glock, he took advantage of his opportunities and made it to Q2 in Malaysia and Belgium.
ed24f1

Heikki Kovalainen 2010 form guide

13. Michael Schumacher

Michael Schumacher. Mercedes, Shanghai, 2010

Half-term ranking: 13

A few races into Schumacher’s comeback several people were wondering what his exit strategy was going to be. It’s to his credit that he stuck it out.

Schumacher’s problem was rooted in the tyres, particularly the fronts, which wouldn’t allow him to throw the car into the corners in his customary style. Mixed weather conditions, so often his forte in years past, exposed the problem even more.

He was often seen slipping back down the field and at times his defensive strategies clearly went too far – as at the Hungaroring.

But there was light at the end of the tunnel. As Mercedes made progress with the car, Schumacher’s performances correspondingly improved – notably in Korea.

He never looked like beating his team mate, and when he had the chance to in Interlagos he let Rosberg by, even though Rosberg had not done the same for him in Suzuka.

On whose standards are we to judge his year? The standard he set in his dominant years, or the standard we would expect of a 41-year-old who’s been out of the sport for three years?

Schumacher was pretty disappointing this year, the first year he completed a full season without winning at least one race. Two fourth place finishes and little more than half of the points scored by his team mate shows he doesn’t have the touch he did before.

A terrifying smash at the last race of the year is probably another tick in the ‘retire again’ column. If 2011 is the same as 2010 I can see him pulling out half way through next year and handing the reins over to probable test driver H?â??lkenburg.
Plushpile

Michael Schumacher 2010 form guide

12. Jaime Alguersuari

Jaime Alguersuari, Toro Rosso, Bahrain, 2010

Half-term ranking: 15

Alguersuari made solid progress throughout his first full season of F1. By the end of the year he had gone from being the junior partner at Toro Rosso to regularly out-qualifying and out-racing Sebastien Buemi.

There are still some rough edges on this young talent – he ran into his team mate at Hockenheim and picked up a penalties at Spa and Monza.

I thought he would be really poor, but in my opinon he totally crushed Buemi, and drove well in the last four races of the season. I think he’s one to watch for the future.
Daykind

Jaime Alguersuari 2010 form guide

11. Timo Glock

Timo Glock, Virgin, Singapore, 2010

Half-term ranking: 14

Glock took the fight to Lotus beyond what the VR-01 should have been capable of. As usual, he stood out in wet races and might have caused a late upset in the new teams’ championship battle if he hadn’t been taken out by Sebastien Buemi in Korea.

He was impressive in Singapore too, defending his position from a string of faster cars before his race was ruined by the safety car intervention. Clearly a talent that deserves better machinery.

“Impressive” is not enough to describe Glock’s work this year. He has always been on the gearboxes of the Lotuses, and sometimes even coming home in front of them, in a car that was arguably not capable of such feat. Worthy of note was his defence from Sutil at Singapore – pure class, he didn’t even need to put a wheel off the racing line!
Guilherme Teixeira

Timo Glock 2010 form guide

10. Kamui Kobayashi

Kamui Kobayashi, Sauber, Valencia, 2010

Half-term ranking: 16

Kobayashi looked like a loose cannon at the start of the season, particularly in Melbourne where he was rarely seen with a front wing attached to his Sauber.

But, much like his car, he came good as the season went on and the team put his overtaking prowess to good use with some daring strategies. He grabbed seventh at Valencia after springing a surprise attack on Fernando Alonso, then passing Buemi within sight of the flag.

More heroics followed at his home race in Suzuka. But he wasn’t just a one-trick pony – a more conventional strategy yielded his best result of the season – sixth place at Silverstone. There’s still room for improvement, particularly in qualifying, but otherwise a very impressive season.

Provided a lot of entertainment this year, especially towards the end once Sauber became more reliable. Every time the camera cuts to a Kobayashi replay I get excited because you know something amazing is about to happen!
Katy

Kamui Kobayashi 2010 form guide

9. Adrian Sutil

Adrian Sutil, Force India, Silverstone, 2010

Half-term ranking: 8

Started the season brightly but found it increasingly difficult to impress in the Force India as the team fell behind in the midfield battle.

What marked Sutil’s season out as such an improvement over previous campaigned was that, by and large, he cut out the mistakes and accidents – Korea being a notable exception.

His natural talent shone through more often and he pulled off some excellent overtaking moves, particularly on Buemi in Valencia and Schumacher at Silverstone. In fact, he and Schumacher crossed swords several times in 2010 and Sutil often came out on top.

Even as the car’s performance waned Sutil was seldom troubled by team mate Liuzzi.

People have been quick to slate Adrian Sutil after a disapointing second half of the season, but that just typifies how short people’s memories are.

He managed to drag a car that was average at best to points in almost half of the races this season, including superb fifths at Malaysia and Spa. His excellent points haul very nearly helped Force India to pip Williams to sixth in the constructors’ championship.
Ned Flanders

Adrian Sutil 2010 form guide

2010 F1 season review

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Images © BMW Sauber F1 Team, Ferrari spa, Cosworth, Lotus Racing, Mercedes, Red Bull/Getty images, Virgin Racing, BMW Sauber F1 Team, Force India F1 Team

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Keith Collantine
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72 comments on “2010 F1 driver rankings part two: 17-9”

  1. I’m fairly happy with that.

    I think Schumacher is too high though. He wasn’t better against Rosberg than Massa was against Alonso, and I think almost everyone would agree that Fernando is a much harder team-mate to beat.

    To have the fourth best car in the field and never threaten the podium is fairly disappointing.

    1. Schumacher was better against Rosberg at the end of the season than Massa was against Alonso at the same point. The difference was Massa became demoralised and that affected his performance. It would have been very easy for Schumacher to fall into the same psychological trap, that he didn’t is to his credit. On that basis he deserves to be above Massa.

      Besides the Mercedes was the 4th best car right at the start of the season, and then only briefly right at the end. In the mid-season it wasn’t 4th best. That Mercedes finished 4th is due only to Schumacher being way better than Petrov, as Rosberg and Kubica were fairly evenly matched.

      1. Daniel >Well said Daniel,I totally concur.IMO Schmacher should have been placed higher.BUT,he will be next year.:)

        1. It’s fantastic to watch him ahead of those boys next year!! The Legend is back next year with the right car!

    2. Then again, the Ferrari was arguably the better car and the team was doing a lot for Massa at the start of the year.

  2. Surprised you put Alguersuari so high as you are not a fan of him… I would put him a two places higher, but it doesn t really matter… I think he is not a driver, who can achieve results immediately like Hamilton did, but I consider him as very wise, because his level of learning and improving during the year was great… His main targets were to improve his times on supersoft and soft tyres in qualifying, beating teammate in the second half of the year and improve consistency… All was successfully done, he can be happy about what he achieved as the points doesn t show the whole truth… And I am expecting another step forward next year… Hopefully the new car will be at least as good as this year s was in the first half of the season…

    1. Surprised you put Alguersuari so high as you are not a fan of him.

      I’ve never said anything of the sort.

      1. “3. Which driver will be replaced first?

        I said: Jaime Alguersuari”

        Doesn t seem to me that you had some expectations…:D

        1. But that does not have much to do with being a fan or not.
          I, for example was a bit of a fan of Bourdais, but never expected Torro Rosso to keep him all of 2009. Actually a pleasant supprise for many was the fact STR did not drop any of its drivers during the season this year.

          1. It was quite a challenge for me to pick a driver, who was one of the worsest in 2009… But don t know why exactly, I had the feeling he can do much better next year (2010) with gaining more experiences… Remember, he had NO proper testing in 2009, so it was obvious he would struggle, mostly on the race distance… In 2010 his race pace was OK from the beginning, but he
            wasn t quick on low fuel with softer tyres…(qualifying)
            Again, it bettered from Germany… To this point (end of year 2010) seems that my inner feeling was right and I think there is more to come from him as he is still very young (only 20) with a plenty of room for improvement… Sure, he made some mistakes as a typical rookie, but having the 4th best mileage of the season behind Alonso, Massa and Vettel is quite an achievement looking how unexperienced he still is compared to some other drivers… I had one prediction already with Hamilton before 2007 (again there was a feeling he can do well beside Alonso) and it turned right… So let s see, what s gonna happen this time…:) But a solid car is also neccessary…

        2. That doesn’t make me “not a fan”, that means I thought he might get replaced. And to be honest the remark was aimed more at the team that employ him than the driver himself. They cut a driver mid-season last year and in 2007 as well.

    2. I was actually shocked to see Alguersuari ranked so many spots above his teammate. Sure Buemi had probably 10 more races experience than Jaime does.. but Buemi was very unlucky in the first 6 to 7 races, where he suffered from mechanical retirements and unavoidable collisions. I think because Alguersuari was a little better towards the end of the season, people forget how bad he was at the start, and vice versa for Buemi. I thought this ranking was based on how they performed throughout the year and not just how they performed during the last 6 to 7 races.

      1. Well doesn’t that reflect improvement on the driver as well though?

        Buemi struggled late this season. He had some bad luck in there but eh. I really haven’t been that impressed with him. I think he’ll have to work hard next season to keep his seat over Jamie.

      2. Buemi was always involved in spins and collisions, not only this year, but also last year… A random? I don t think so… For me he just isn t mentally strong and he cracks under pressure, like in Korea, Singapore or Brasil this year… And another important thing is that he had not problems ahead of race or in pits, when it was crucial… Do you remember
        Alguersuari s problems after his best quali effort in Singapore? He had to start from pitlane… Looking at results, 8th place was really possible that day… In Korea his mechanics messed his stop, so he lost 4 places to Liuzzi… The Italian finished 6th! In Spain Jaime again lost places in pit while he was driving ahead of Kubica, who later crossed the line as 8th… Buemi was fast in some 5 races, Alguersuari at least in 10… And from Belgium he was consistently running around 10th places (only exception Monza), while Buemi NOT… It is about improving and Buemi just
        wasn t… He fell down with the slowing development of the car…

      3. I thought this ranking was based on how they performed throughout the year and not just how they performed during the last 6 to 7 races.

        It is based on their performance throughout the year.

  3. Apart from Sutil being in 9th, that list seems fair. Alguersuari might be a bit high, though I haven’t really paid any attention to his season.

    1. And if you don t pay your attention to someone, then it is hard to judge him properly, isn t it?
      I tried to follow every driver, but with the new teams it was quite tough as they were not that much shown on screen…

    2. I honestly think Alguersuari did show some good racing skill during the middle and later part of the season (not in Suzuka though). And he had pretty good battles for position all of the year.

  4. Disagree. This means that Rubens was better than Kamui and Adrian?? No, not done.

    A common feature of all these 3 drivers was that they dominated their team-mates. But Rubens had the weakest of the 3 team-mates – a rookie.
    Both Adrian and Rubens scored 47 points each but Adrian had 4 retirements to Rubens’s 2. Kamui had the most retirements of course at 8.
    I think the order should be 8. Kamui, 9. Adrian, 10. Rubens

    Keith, I hope you are not taking the safe-route out by ranking such closely matched drivers in order of their championship finishing positions.

    1. I think most people would rank Hulkenberg as better than Liuzzi at least, and possibly de la Rosa as well.

      1. I certainly would tend to do so.

    2. A common feature of all these 3 drivers was that they dominated their team-mates.

      But that’s not the only way to rank them.

  5. I don’t agree Schumacher being behind people like Alguersari, Glock or Sutil…I don’t see him having done much more mistakes than them. Had Schumacher did the disasters Sutil did in Korea where would you put him? I think it depends on the fact that he was expected to begin from the point he ended, and so many estimate now he’s very disappointing. But even if I wasn’t happy also, I don’t think he was so bad.

    1. If it was about mistakes only, then we would have seen Alonso already on the list :P

      Also, Schumacher probably did more wrong in Montreal, Hungary, and Singapore than Sutil did in Korea.

    2. And? Is Sutil s Korea disaster the one thing that really matters in whole season? He was brilliant in Spa and Sepang, for example… In Spa his pace advantage over Liuzzi was incredible 1,7 seconds per lap… I like Michael, but it clearly was his worst year since being in Formula One… But it could be better next year, so let s wait and see…

      1. I would not say it was Schumachers worst year,but I would say the car “they” gave him was the worst car he has driven for F1.

        However,Great Champions are Great because they NEVER give up no matter what.Most of the F1 drivers (if they had 7 World Titles under their belt) would have thrown the car back at Mercedes and told them what they could do with it.

        BUT,MSC stuck at it until he mastered that disfunctional monster into something that resembled an F1 model.Next year,hopefully Mercedes will have got their act together and give the Maestro something that is at the very least driveable,and also mechanics that can connect mentally to the living Legend called Michael Schumacher.

        1. “BUT,MSC stuck at it until he mastered that disfunctional monster into something that resembled an F1 model.”

          You make the Mercedes sound like an HRT car. It was the 4th fastest car on the grid, and Rosberg showed that the car was capable of finishing on the podium at times. At the end of the year, Schumi finished the season with half the points tally of Rosberg. If 2010 is not his poorest season, then which season do you think was worse?

    3. But his car was in the top 4 at the start of the year (Rosberg podiums). Look at Petrov, the only rookie in a truely competative car this year.

      I think the comparison to their team mates weighs a lot in the ranking.

  6. I’m a bit big headed about this, 2 quotes in two days :)

    1. Guilherme Teixeira
      20th December 2010, 16:49

      Same here :)

      For me these quotes mean more than a comment of the day =P

  7. Seems about right, although I’d definitely have Glock ahead of Sutil this year… perhaps even in the top 10 considering that Virgin was absolutely pants.

  8. I’m really liking this list so far.

    It matches up quite closely with how I felt the season went.

    Interestingly from the comments people have been leaving this year I got the impression the people’s top drivers were Chandhok, Petrov, and Kobayashi.

    In reality the people leaving comments on the website are probably the vocal minority.

    It would be ace to have a ‘like’ feature on peoples posts so we could just click a button to agree with them. That way you get a wider view of peoples feelings rather than one guy spamming love for a driver around each article, like I do ;-)

  9. I fail to see how Sutil is in front of Kobayashi, Kovalainen and above all Glock, but perhaps that’s just me.

    1. That’s me also. I can’t fathom Sutil being ahead of Kamui especially after a quite unimpressive fourth season in F1.

      1. I don t get the underperforming of Adrian Sutil here…
        Force India finished the season as 7th best team in Constructors Championship… That means places 13, 14 for the drivers… Liuzzi finished down in 15th, so underperforming and Adrian Sutil was up in 11th!!!! and it wasn t an impressive season for him? :o
        Just wondering…

        1. Force India was on pole last year at Spa, and they had two podiums last year. Sutil was unable to have a podium this year and the latter part of his season was quite mediocre. They couldn’t prevent Williams and their Cosworth engine to pass them at the last race and Sauber was faster for the last four races. I am quite disappointed with the lack of gusto that Sutil has shown in 2010 frankly. Though I like him and would like to see him in a better car but which top team would offer him a drive now ?

          1. But that late season slump was mainly to do with their respective cars.

            Williams started improving a lot after Silverstone and at the same time FI lost a lot of technical people to Sauber and Lotus.

            I think Sutil always was very quick, but he started taking the results to the finish this year more often than not. Remember how many times he crashed out of solid points last year?

    2. I still don’t get why people rate kobayashi so highly. The guys a good overtaker and has his moments, but he does that with kamikaze moves!

      Seems a bit like Takuma Sato to me!

      1. A Kamikazee sacrifices themself. Kobayashi is no kamikazee, he actually makes the pass stick, he does it cleanly and doesn’t end up in a wreck. If he wasn’t Japanese I don’t think you would have used that word, or compared him to Sato.

        1. Exactly. Kobayashi in his two races last year was dangerously over the edge. As he’s proved this year, that wasn’t because he’s a lunatic driver, it’s because he didn’t know where the limits of the car were.

          Now he does, and he’s a much better driver for it.

          1. Soumya Banerjee
            21st December 2010, 14:43

            I think Kobayashi is great at passing,but otherwise he isnt so great. He isnt a great qualifier,and gets overtaken on track pretty easily and far too often.

    3. Me as well. All three of those drivers were faultless all year round, with a couple of exceptions for Kobi, who is a rookie after all. Sutil is in his fourth year, and “eliminating the mistakes” is something he should have been doing two years ago, not this year. Even at that, he made a balls of Korea, which only serves to completely negate the “much improved” argument. The time for him to have improved was two years ago. Now, he’s just treading water and taking up a seat that Hulkenberg could sit in.

  10. I´d have ranked Kovaleinen higher. He was very good this season! and also, he was involved in some pretty spectacular moments, like his car on fire in Singapore, and the Webber crash in Valencia. Granted, that has nothing to do with his skills, but still…

  11. I completely agree with everything, especially Kovalainen, yet im not sure about Glock, I was impresssed with his ability to stick with the lotus but not sure he deserved that high. Interested to see your number one, assuming its between vettel alonso and hamilton!

    1. i agree with that, though i think kovalainen deserves to be above glock as he is an exceptional racer and he has gone from one of the best teams in history to one of the worst (lotus racing, not team lotus :P), and his mental attitude has been specatacular all season.

      id put alonso on no1, as everyone seems to be doing it. shame, as he should have marks deducted for being a ********

    2. it will be kubica :)
      kubica
      vettel
      Rosberg
      alonso
      Webber
      Hamilton
      Button
      Rubens

      1. Doubt it. How on earth would you put Hamilton in 6th? I would put Rosberg in front of KUB to BTW and also….

        … Wait, you’re kidding right?

      2. Agree with this – although i would have Alonso in 3rd instead of Rosberg!

        Kubica has to be driver of the year. Just has to be.

        1. Well, if Kubica going to be best driver, then there can’t be three places between him and Rosberg. They were evenly matched.

  12. Not sure I agree with Sutil being quite so high: in Korea he was a liability and I’m sure there were other instances – although I may be guilty of blaming him for Liuzzi’s awful season (Liuzzi and Massa were magnetically attracted in Montreal, I think).

    What this 17-9 category demonstrates more than anything however, is that there are quite a few (comparatively) mediocre drivers in F1. If you were to give any of these a drive in the Red Bull, how many of them on this year’s form would have beaten Vettel? Not Massa or Schumacher on this year’s form, Hulkenberg or Kobayashi maybe (although I’d argue that either would have made too many mistakes), none of the others.

    The drivers in the top category – Alonso, Barrichello, Button, Hamilton, Kubica, Rosberg, Webber – any of those in Red Bull #2 would have given Vettel a run for his money, and I’d personally say Alonso, Button, Hamilton or Kubica would have beaten him…

    1. Maybe Alonso or Hamilton, but not the guy who sturggled 2/3 of the time against Heidfeld or the guy who simply wasn’t quite fast enough to defend his title.

      Mechanical troubles that only struck Vettel in the RB6 cost him the chance to wrap up the title several rounds earlier.

      1. You’re incorrect (or maybe just a little biased ;) about Kubica vs. Heidfeld, as they were quite evenly matched during their time at BMW (Nick scored a little more points, but Kubica had more podiums, a win and a pole). And remember he started as a rookie.

        1. Perhaps I am a little biased :P but I’m not convinced (yet) that Kubica would be faster than the likes of Vettel.

    2. Totally agree, though I think Rosberg could have given him a decent run for his money too!

  13. 16. Felipe Massa
    Half-term ranking: 9

    I think this speaks by itself.

    1. Another seven points lost!

      Keith… tell us this was deliberate? :D

      1. Nah, that’s a coincidence – the hand of Luca was not behind this one :-)

      2. This speaks even better. Losing those 7 points in the Championship, Massa lost 7 places in the drivers’ list. He was never good after Germany apart from Italy. His situation was hurt physically in 2009, mentally in 2010 knowing he can’t fight for the title.

        1. 2006 – Even year – A Ferrari driver (Schumacher) loses the title at the final round.
          2007 – Odd year – A Ferrari driver (Raikkonen), #6, wins the title at the final round.

          2010 – Even year – A Ferrari driver (Alonso) loses the title at the final round.
          2011 – Odd year – A Ferrari driver (Massa), #6, wins the title at the final round.
          Hope so!

  14. So the Lotus is faster than the Ferrari…
    Going by Alonso unable to pass Petrov in Abu Dhabi, and then Petrov unable to pass Kovaleinen in Montreal!

    1. Haha nice analogy!

  15. Kobayashi is ranked too low. He should be in the top 8.

  16. MouseNightshirt
    20th December 2010, 16:00

    It took this list to remind me how good a job Glock actually did this season. He really did shine in that Virgin – I just hope he doesn’t waste his peak years in such a pig-ended car.

    1. I know he only had a rookie team mate so that probably flatters him but I was really impressed with Glock too especially at Singapore. He managed to defend supremely and keep a good queue of cars behind him. I was gutted for him at Korea too.

  17. I have a different names on couple of positions but firstly I would swap Massa with Schumacher

  18. kobayashi should be 9th in front of sutil

  19. Kovy, Kamui, Jaime and Sutil are all a bit high for me.

    Kovy was terrific but Jarno was usually right with him so I don’t think his season was that special but it was very good.

    Kamui’s qualifying is woeful sometimes. Nick shouldn’t have been able to come back with no testing and only be a tenth off his time at Singapore. His Sunday drives were cracking a lot of the time but I felt that was because they had to be to make up for the day before.

    I thought Jaime had promise but he just didn’t do anything for me. Sure he beat Buemi more so kudos to him for that but he still seems a bit scrappy and I’m not convinced of his outright pace so I’d bump him down one and I’d pretty much say the same about Adrian and move him down one also.

  20. Under_investigation
    20th December 2010, 23:38

    Glock did well but he is ranked way too high… Ok he was impressive in Singapore and Korea but what else? And he had a weak team mate so easier to shine.

    Kobayashi should DEFINITELY be ahead of Sutil, at least.

  21. Kieth I want yo to think really hard and long before you put Alonso and Vettel in front of Hamilton. Think about the exciting passes, matching the RBR’s in qually, the flawlessly consisten drives (check average finishing position) and ultimately the beating of another WDC teammate in Button…. Kieth, be guided..

    1. matching the RBR’s in qually

      Kidding, right? Hamilton’s 1 pole to RBR’s 15, average starting position 5.0 to Vettel’s 2.0? True about the consistent drives, though, but wasn’t that much better than Button (3.75 to 4.47, smaller difference than in qualifying).

  22. Sutil was good, but I felt he didn’t outperform his car as much as say, Kovalainen, Glock or even Kobayashi. In contrast, I think Heidfeld deserves to be higher up the order. Fisichella found it difficult in Ferrari that was fighting for third in the championship. Considering Sauber’s performance level and development ability, he did a very good job.

  23. Kovalainen deserves better. Basically, he did the maximum possible with the car. He was matched up against the Saturday legend Trulli, and held his own in qualifying, and beat him in the races. He made few if any mistakes. You can’t make either point about many higher ranked drivers, incuding Sutil, Schumacher.

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