Vote for your 2012 Indian GP driver of the weekend

2012 Indian Grand Prix

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Which F1 driver had the best race weekend in India?

Compare all the drivers’ performances below and vote for who you think was the best driver of the Indian Grand Prix weekend.

Indian Grand Prix driver-by-driver

Red Bull

Sebastian Vettel – Fastest in both sessions on Friday, Vettel secured passage through Q1 and Q2 using just eight laps. He nearly tripped up with a mistake on his first Q3 lap, but his final effort secured his fifth pole position of the season. He made no mistakes at the start, and never looked like bowing under pressure after Alonso took up second place behind him.

Mark Webber – Had a chance at taking pole position off Vettel but made a mistake at turn three on his final lap. Couldn’t get within range of his team mate at the start but probably wouldn’t have lost second to Alonso had it not been for his KERS problem.

McLaren

Jenson Button – McLaren’s gearbox problems continued in India for both drivers. It cost Button significant running in the second practice session. He took third on the first lap but was demoted by Alonso and Hamilton in the DRS zone, and had a lonely run to fifth. Set fastest lap on the final tour.

Lewis Hamilton – Hamilton’s gearshift problem occurred in the race and necessitated a change of steering wheel which was accomplished with impressive speed. By that time the leading trio were already too far ahead, Hamilton having lost a place to Alonso at the start when he braked slightly too late for turn four. He reeled in Webber at the end but was unable to pass him for third despite getting within DRS range.

Ferrari

Fernando Alonso – Before the race Alonso said his first goal was to pass the McLarens and then put pressure on the Red Bulls in the hope that something would go wrong for them. That was exactly how it panned out: he was up to third by lap four, then chased after the Red Bulls. How he must have wished the KERS problem had affected Vettel’s car instead of Webber’s. Second was the best on offer and it keeps him in range of Vettel.

Felipe Massa – Looks scruffy with spins in practice and qualifying, though at least part of that was down to a problem on his car on Friday. Never looked like figuring in the battle with the five cars ahead of him, but used DRS cannily to re-pass Raikkonen when he lost position to the Lotus driver after pitting. Coped with low fuel in the second half of the race to secure sixth.

Mercedes

Michael Schumacher – His race was ruined after minor contact with Vergne on the first lap left him with a puncture. The stewards ruled in his favour after drivers complained he did not respond to blue flags quickly enough.

Nico Rosberg – Rosberg found good performance on the soft tyres after several laps – but that was no use to him in Q3, so he didn’t set a time. In the race he slipped out of the top ten to 11th. He described his weekend as “pretty unsatisfactory”, saying his Mercedes “just didn’t have the pace”.

Lotus

Kimi Raikkonen – Raikkonen blamed the changes he made to his car after final practice for a sub-par showing in qualifying. He started seventh and couldn’t make any headway during the race, losing out in his one chance to pass Massa after his pit stop. Since its Coanda exhaust update in Korea the E20 has been conspicuously lacking in straight-line speed.

Romain Grosjean – Stayed out of trouble and scored points again, though he missed out on Q3 for only the second time this year when he went off at turn six. Got past Rosberg on his way to ninth place.

Force India

Paul di Resta – Di Resta was distinctly unhappy with his car after the race and said he was unable to finish any higher than 12th. “I’ve struggled to find the ideal balance with the car all weekend,” he said. “We identified a few issues in the data last night, but they carried over into the race.”

Nico Hulkenberg – In the points for the third race in a row, he came out on top in a battle with Grosjean, as he did in Korea. A strong start was key to this, as he jumped up from twelfth to ninth.

Sauber

Kamui Kobayashi – Using a low fuel load in Q2 backfired as an error with his brake balance settings left him 17th on the grid. Had an altercation with Maldonado during the race which resulted in the Williams driver spinning off with a punctured tyre. “It was a bit strange,” said Kobayashi of the collision. “He had overtaken me but then he suddenly came on my racing line again. I could not avoid having contact.” The stewards ruled it was a “racing incident”.

Sergio Perez – Qualified a strong eighth but unusually his tyres went off long before everyone else’s. Picked up a puncture after contact with Ricciardo which ultimately forced him to retire.

Toro Rosso

Daniel Ricciardo – Felt his car improved after switching to the soft tyres but was never in the hunt for points. “Not exactly an exciting race,” he said afterwards.

Jean-Eric Vergne – Knocked out in Q1 for the seventh time this year. Damaged his front wing colliding with Schumacher at the start which spoiled his race.

Williams

Pastor Maldonado – Got into Q3 but was already slipping backwards when his race was destroyed by a puncture following contact with Kobayashi.

Bruno Senna – Looked quick in practice but failed to make it into Q3. “I made a mistake on my lap which is disappointing because I would have been in the top ten if that hadn’t happened,” he said. However his race pace was good and he passed his team mate early on. Another pass on Rosberg secured his first point since Monza.

Caterham

Heikki Kovalainen – Began the race planning to stop twice but switched to a one-stopper. By half distance he was just over five seconds behind Kobayashi, but KERS failure spoiled the second half of his race.

Vitaly Petrov – Out-qualified Kovalainen for the third time in four races. He dropped behind his team mate and Pic at the start, but soon passed the Marussia. Kovalainen’s KERS failure allowed him to pass his team mate for 15th, but he was later demoted by the recovering Vergne and Maldonado.

HRT

Pedro de la Rosa – De la Rosa made a terrific start and briefly held 17th before the Caterhams and Marussias came past him. On lap 43 he suffered the latest in a series of brake failures for HRT, putting him into the barrier at turn four.

Narain Karthikeyan – Treated his brakes gently to survive to the end, albeit 40 seconds behind the next car.

Marussia

Timo Glock – Said his car’s long run pace felt good on Friday but couldn’t replicate it in the race, finishing well behind his junior team mate.

Charles Pic – Qualified last but made a great start and held off Petrov for several laps. Finished ten seconds behind Kovalainen but at least half that was down to blue flags late in the race.

Qualifying and race results summary

StartedGap to team mateLaps leading team matePittedFinishedGap to team mate
Sebastian Vettel1st-0.044s60/6011st-13.217s
Mark Webber2nd+0.044s0/6013rd+13.217s
Jenson Button4th+0.115s5/6015th+12.357s
Lewis Hamilton3rd-0.115s55/6014th-12.357s
Fernando Alonso5th-0.084s60/6012nd-35.237s
Felipe Massa6th+0.084s0/6016th+35.237s
Michael Schumacher14th+0.598s0/55222ndNot on same lap
Nico Rosberg10th-0.598s55/55111thNot on same lap
Kimi Raikkonen7th-0.035s51/6017th-10.876s
Romain Grosjean11th+0.035s9/6019th+10.876s
Paul di Resta16th+0.748s0/60112th+27.817s
Nico Hulkenberg12th-0.748s60/6018th-27.817s
Kamui Kobayashi17th+1.143s4/20114th
Sergio Perez8th-1.143s16/202
Daniel Ricciardo15th-0.519s59/59113thNot on same lap
Jean-Eric Vergne18th+0.519s0/59215thNot on same lap
Pastor Maldonado9th-0.348s19/59216thNot on same lap
Bruno Senna13th+0.348s40/59110thNot on same lap
Heikki Kovalainen20th+0.744s39/59118th+8.671s
Vitaly Petrov19th-0.744s20/59117th-8.671s
Pedro de la Rosa22nd-0.001s42/421
Narain Karthikeyan23rd+0.001s0/42121st
Timo Glock21st-1.049s3/58120thNot on same lap
Charles Pic24th+1.049s55/58119thNot on same lap

Review the race data

Vote for your driver of the weekend

Which driver do you think did the best job this weekend?

Cast your vote below and explain your choice in the comments.

Who was the best driver of the 2012 Indian Grand Prix weekend?

  • Charles Pic (2%)
  • Timo Glock (0%)
  • Pedro de la Rosa (0%)
  • Narain Karthikeyan (1%)
  • Vitaly Petrov (0%)
  • Heikki Kovalainen (0%)
  • Bruno Senna (4%)
  • Pastor Maldonado (0%)
  • Jean-Eric Vergne (0%)
  • Daniel Ricciardo (0%)
  • Sergio Perez (0%)
  • Kamui Kobayashi (0%)
  • Nico Hulkenberg (3%)
  • Paul di Resta (0%)
  • Romain Grosjean (0%)
  • Kimi Raikkonen (0%)
  • Nico Rosberg (0%)
  • Michael Schumacher (1%)
  • Felipe Massa (0%)
  • Fernando Alonso (59%)
  • Jenson Button (0%)
  • Lewis Hamilton (1%)
  • Mark Webber (1%)
  • Sebastian Vettel (27%)

Total Voters: 481

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2012 Indian Grand Prix

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Image © Red Bull/Getty images, Ferrari spa/Ercole Colombo, Sahara Force India F1 Team, Marussia

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Keith Collantine
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119 comments on “Vote for your 2012 Indian GP driver of the weekend”

  1. Tight one- you couls argue Vettel, Alonso, Hamilton, Hulkenberg, all 4 did very good jobs

    1. we always pick up the same guys, even this vote is f1-annoying!

    2. Voted for Seb.. but did all hear the roar from crowd when Alonso name was announced in the Podium Ceremony?seems lot of Indian Fans really love him

  2. Voted Vettel. He once more had a perfect weekend. Impressive hos he kept his head cool after he lost his first timed lap in Q3. Alonso did great too, but got a bit lucky when Webber got his KERS failure.

    1. Lucky in passing KERS-troubled Webber but getting into that position was only his driving.

      1. Again, Alonso result is ”lucky”. If I understand every good result Alonso get is with luck. stop it plz

        1. No, i wasn’t saying his result was purely down to luck. He actually had a great race, and showed his almighty racing skills in the battle with Hamilton and Button. But it just feels he got 2nd place (the overtake on Webber) for free.

        2. But you also cannot argue that he had his fair share of good fortune, while Webber only seems to attract misfortune.

    2. I voted Alonso because he raced as hard as his car would let him, so was in the right place to capitalise on getting lucky with Webbers KERS problem.

    3. Vettel has always HUGE luck(He gets MASSIVE Greatest car and his team mate sometime outqualify Vettel but he always give his position to Vettel in first a few coners.)

      1. *cough cough 2010*

  3. Vettel and Alonso both had great weekends. I was most impressed by Nico Hülkenberg though. Another successful weekend for him and once again he made his team mate look really slow in comparison. Great show.

  4. I voted Kimi R. If only for the fact that he alone has scored points in the last 14 races on the trot.
    Not even Vettel himself has that kind of form…..even if I have to agree on him winning easily.

  5. Alonso for me. Fighted his way past both MacLarens and never gave up despite Red Bulls pulling away, so he has in the right place to capitalise on Webber’s problems.
    Strong performance in difficult conditions vs. also strong performance, but in not-so-difficult conditions (i.e. Vettel)

  6. Alonso. I mean, this guy can stick to the target and make the best out of any situation! It’s uncanny! Getting that Ferrari to at least look on par with the Red Bulls at times is an award-worthy performance.

    Notable mentions, in order:
    Vettel – not questioning his driver abilities, the kid is brilliant, but that car is even more so…
    Hulkenberg – strong once again, miles above Di Resta
    Webber – if it wasn’t for the KERS issue there’s no way he could have lost 2nd place to Alonso
    Hamilton & Button – both doing a good job
    Rosberg – the guy was on rails the whole race, clean driving at its best. Too bad that W03 is such a sloth.

    1. I’ll have to agree with this post. Vettel was near perfect, but the fact is that winning from the front is always going to be less interesting than scrapping around in the field behind.

      Alonso was impressive… he finished about where the car’s race pace allowed, given Webber’s issue, but had to use all of his speed, determination and racecraft to put himself there.

      Hulkenberg arguably was the best of the lot just looking at his finish in 8th, ahead of Grosjean, Rosberg, Senna, his teammate, etc. and not making mistakes. Hard to compare this low-profile result with Alonso.

      Button was damn impressive on the first lap but the mid-race pace wasn’t there. Might be the car’s fault but you can’t know.

  7. I voted Vettel here and Alonso on jamesallenonf1, both have different meaning.

    1. I voted Vettel; he was only a fastest lap away from yet another perfect weekend. Alonso wasn’t going to catch him for a minute. Alonso drove well, but Vettel was in a different league. Ferrari had similar race-pace but Alonso barely made a dent in his lead, in fact he was slower in the first stint.

      1. I think we have to judge situations with some logic (i always respect all the opinions & first of all all the peoples but that doesn’t mean that sometimes we can’t criticize what seems sometimes illogical ), we can argue who is the driver of the weekend
        Vettel has drove very well after all he won the race that’s enough for me to vote him the driver of the weekend no matter the car he’s driving except if another driver did an extraordinary race
        Fernando did an extraordinary race (that’s what is always expected from the best driver on the grid) first lap always on fire & driving absolutely on the limits

        Alonso drove well, but Vettel was in a different league. Ferrari had similar race-pace but Alonso barely made a dent in his lead, in fact he was slower in the first stint

        Yes he was in a different league, the league of Adrian Newey the league that enables him to be faster than anyone else on the grid
        to suggest that Alonso was slower than Vettel on the first stint when they have similar race pace without pensioning the fact that he was fighting 2 Mclarens & 1 Red Bull while Vettel was on clean air is absolutely controversial
        Alonso himself said that this was one of his greatest drive (60 qualifying laps !!!),
        Every one has the right to express his own opinion & i think that Vettel will win the DTW but sometimes when we try to hide the truth it becomes absolutely disrespectful

        1. I respect Alonso’s ability and he did run a good race, but when he was passed the McLarens he continued to fall back. He wasn’t going to catch Vettel.

          Yet again people are dismissing his skill as being due to Newey’s skill in designing. Granted, Newey has definitely unlocked some speed in that Red Bull, but Vettel has utilised it brilliantly. You don’t get 4 wins in a row if your a slow driver.

          All I ask is that you also recognise that Vettel is a good driver, perhaps one of the greats, as Schumacher was (nobody doubts his ability even though his Ferrari was undoubtably the fastest car by a long, long way – a much greater margin than the RB8 has over the current Ferrari).

          I don’t doubt that Fernando Alonso is probably the quickest driver on the grid (but not by the margins that have been suggested in my view) and in return I think others shouldn’t doubt Vettel’s speed.

      2. The Red-Bull is in a different league. Especially in qualifying and the 1st few laps of the GP.

  8. I went for Vettel. He was perfect all weekend except I think he wished he would have pushed a little bit harder on that final lap.

    I think there’s a good chance Alonso will end up winning this poll, given the amount of praise he’s been given over the past 24 hours, e.g. in the sense that he is ‘relentless’ and ‘never gives up’. I don’t really understand all the praise, and I find it a little irksome if I’m honest. Of course he doesn’t give up; neither does Narain Kartikeyan, or any of the other drivers for that matter. He had a good car, and he made good use of it. Whether he made better use of his car than anyone else is difficult to say, except for Felipe Massa, but that’s hardly a reliable yardstick this season.

    Of course, he did pass some people on his way to third, but those were not moves that required incredible skill. On the first lap, he got a run on both McLarens who compromised each other’s exits out of turn 3, then motorway-passed his way past Button and an ailing Red Bull.

    A very good drive by Alonso, to be sure, but I still feel that either the qualifying speed of the Ferrari – or Fernando’s inability to get the best out of it on Saturdays – is flattering Alonso’s performances on a Sunday.

    1. I really find it funny how people want to discredit other drivers that they did not vote for.
      I think you just proved Alonso was the driver of the weekend if anything but for your long excuse why he in your opinionm, should not be.

      1. @suka – I think the Vettel bashing is extremely disrespectful. He is the fastest driver in the world right now (I think he’s more than a match for Alonso in his current form). I also find it incredibly irritating when people dismiss his talent as “down to the car” and then proceed to suggest Alonso is flattering that Ferrari. In actual fact, the Ferrari is most likely the second (possibly third) fatest car on the grid and he is scoring podiums because that’s what that car’s capable of, just as Vettel’s won the last 4 races because his Red Bull is the fastest car. They are both doing equally good jobs for their machinery but Vettel is the one that is winning races from it so I believe that he was driver of the weekend (we can see from Webber the difference the driver makes).

        1. @vettel1, I was not bashing at Vettel only at his fans sometimes.
          With all the respect to Webber as a person, I really can’t take Webber as the benchmark for Vettel, Hamilton, Alonso, Raikkonen or even Button.

          1. @suka – I probably wasn’t clear enough on that. I wasn’t saying that you necessarily were “Vettel bashing”, just the general Alonso fan base in particular do. I understand your frustrations!

        2. @vettel1, Oh I get it, you’re stating what I’ve already said about Vettel’s fans. If I understood it that way(English second language), I wouldn’t bother replying.
          I’am glad you understand my “sweet” frustration since Alonso obviously is the Driver of the Weekend. Hamilton or Hulkenberg would also do to my liking.
          Thanks for proving my points above true.

          1. @suka – No, you evidently have misunderstood. I am saying that I don’t generally appreciate how my favourite drivers’ talent is normally dismissed as being solely down to the car, which is clearly not the case.

            If Vettel wins by a large margin (such as he did in India) this is always the immediate conclusion people jump to, in particular rival fans (such as Alonso, but by no means all of Alonso’s fans).

            You in fact have just backed up my opinion; I respect Alonso’s talent immensely – he is currently for sure one of the top two drivers in the world. He had ran a good race and I think he did well, but of course we are all entitled to our own opinions and I believe Vettel was better on this occasion – he was all but untouchable and Alonso wasn’t able to apply any pressure to him such was his lead.

            I was trying to sympathise with you, but I’m not going to now.

          2. @Vettel1, I agree that we all fans sometimes overlook your favourite driver’s talent due to his great car; clear example was in Belgium but not on this occasion where RBR qualified around .300 and .500sec ahead of Hamilton and Alonso respectively.

    2. @adrianmorse I agree. Everyone seems to take for granted that Alonso’s Ferrari is crap and it’s only due to Alonso’s supreme efforts that that car can achieve anything. The Ferrari seemed better than the McLarens on Sunday. Everyone seems to be praising Alonso a whole lot these days…

      Whether he made better use of his car than anyone else is difficult to say, except for Felipe Massa, but that’s hardly a reliable yardstick this season.

      I totally agree with this. Alonso is very good no doubt, but still we can’t really know how good or bad that car really is.

      But all in all Alonso did drive really well on Sunday. But better than Vettel? I’d say they were both really good.

    3. @suka i agree with you.

  9. I voted Alonso today because he dragged that Ferrari to a position where it doesn’t belong. He continues to prove he is the best package on the grid and that an excellent driver does make a difference.

    1. That Ferrari was miles ahead of the Maccas on race pace, especially on the softs where he pulled substantial gap on them. Only reason Massa couldn’t keep pushing is because he was told on lap 20 something that fuel level is critical and had to tip-toe around for the rest of the race. Alonso put that Ferrari right where it belonged and then because he was in such a position he could pass a KERS compromised Webber for second. A very good drive from him but nothing god like as some people would like to believe. If he managed to pass Vettel and win then I would have said that he put that car where it didn’t belong, yet Vettel seemsto be impervious to Alonso’s “god like” powers and won the race.

      1. Massa is human and he managed 6th xD

  10. I think we need to seek clarification as to what is ‘Driver of the Weekend’ because why the majority is in favour of Alonso as well as Schumacher having votes instead of someone like Hamilton or Hulkenberg is almost beyond me.

    Unquestionably, he had a strong weekend on par with Vettel’s & stands out more given he fought & persevered brilliantly as well as being on the limit as per usual to get his ultimate result but Vettel’s strong weekend personally is more notable throughout the entirety of the weekend compared to Alonso’s, which originated mostly from his performance in the race, yes race day is when points are won but people need to take into account the form demonstrated in practice & qualifying sessions. I’m sorry but if you’re going to be voting solely for entertainment purposes rather than driver performance, then don’t bother clicking the ‘vote’ button when you’ve made your selection.

    Also, what about mentions for Hamilton, Hulkenberg & Senna? Hamilton didn’t put a finger wrong that was proven costly throughout the weekend, the only negative for him was McLaren’s pace not being strong enough, particularly in the first stint & the issues he had with his steering wheel. Hulkenberg out-performed Di Resta almost convincingly & put himself in a enviable position to score points at the start & Senna pretty much translated his encouraging pace & form in practice into a good race.

    1. @younger-hamii I don’t see where the ambiguity is here. It’s the F1 driver who you think was best this weekend.

  11. It was between Alonso and Vettel and I went for Alonso. Of course that Vettel had a clean weekend, very fast in all sessions, dominated the race and so on… but Alonso had to fight two Mclaren´s and a RB (yes MW had a Kers problem but did Ham took advantage of it?).
    In conclusion I prefer to highlight a man who is second but has to make his way up the order than another who has by far the best car and can control a race from the first to the last lap without a great effort.

  12. Argh, Alonso or Vettel. I can’t decide :/

  13. Voted Vettel. “Driver of the Weekend”. No questions about that. He was making the car flow seamlessly through the circuit. He just dominated the weekend.

    There is lots of praise from media, Ferrari( Of course) and even Martin Brundale as to Alonso Does not give up. I don’t understand what everyone expect with 4 races to go and 6 points difference !!!! Did they think Alonso would park his car and Say I give up and walk away. I am a great fan of Alonso too. But he just drove a normal race. He stuck to the plan. Like he said the mclaren duo did not bother to think that he was behind them. So overtaking them was easy. Even otherwise the Mclaren cars were not at their best. They would have been overtaken. Then overtaking Webber who was without KERS was just a formality, one more lap Lewis would have overtaken him. It does not mean that Alonso did badly but he did nothing extraordinary.

    As far as driver of the weekend. Alonso and Massa both qualified close to each other. Nothing significant from Alonso there. I am having a feeling that Maasa is in a better form than Alsonso last couple of weeks but Ferrari is trying to tone him down. In fact Massa had car troubles during the weekend still qualified and finished well.

  14. Alonso.
    They way he calculates an overtake is just mind blowing. He could have out braked one of the mclarens after he got between them but decided to play it smart, slow in and fast out; Another example is on grosjean. Also if he didnt push he might have not been able to catch webber when he got the KERS problem. Good inspiration and driving style to anyone involved in motorsports.

    1. Note the grosjean overtake was from another race, I think valencia.

  15. I won’t say who I ended up voting for but my top 3 (in no order) were:
    Vettel, Alonso, Pic.

    All outperformed their team-mates and drove above the car (…maybe Vettel didn’t, but credit where it’s due!!)

    1. richard cantelo (@)
      29th October 2012, 17:17

      I agree with you Ben. ps – I have got my own brain, but you’re spot on.

    2. Worth mentioning that Alonso used new diffuser. I assume Massa would have been slower even if he had it though

  16. Alonso didn’t put a finger wrong that was proven costly throughout the weekend, the only negative for him was Ferrari’s pace not being strong enough

    Fixed. And there’s your explanation for voting Alonso. It’s the exact same reasons one would vote for Hamilton as well. Hamilton outqualified Alonso, Alonso outraced Hamilton while in FP they were both there or thereabouts.

  17. Vettel and Alonso both drove faultless weekends. But I think Alonso had to work harder to achieve that – one only has to look the difference in the way the Red Bull and the Ferrari behaves to admit that. Not to mention the duels Alonso won. So vote goes for him.

    I always wonder if Vettel would be able to match Alonso’s performance in a reverse situation. I can’t help, but think of Turkey and Belgium 2010…

    1. @atticus-2 Funny that you ignore Spa 2012 and bring up two years old incidents when you wonder if Vettel can battle through the field…

      And I don’t know which duels you are referring to. The only one I can think of was at the start, and partially aided by Hamilton and Button fighting each other. His other two passes were typical DRS boring overtakes.

      I mean, I’m not discrediting Alonso, he really drove a bloody good race, but people are blowing it way too out of proportion. After his good start, he only had to DRS past a guy who had absolute rubbish race pace and another guy who couldn’t defend on the straight at all – the kind of move everyone used to scream and kick about how much DRS is unfair. (By the way, I’m not talking about you specifically here Atticus, but this is the general feeling I’m getting from the users here at the moment).

      Kudos to him for seizing the opportunity, but to me, given the circumstances, second place was not surprising at all.

  18. Bob (@bobthevulcan)
    29th October 2012, 14:54

    It’s a tough call between Vettel and Alonso.

    On one hand, you have Vettel doing business as usual, absolutely untouchable throughout the weekend, and leading every lap in what was a near-flawless race for him. I’ve argued before that, even with the fastest car on the grid, it takes enormous concentration and effort to pull off a faultless performance like this weekend’s, and I stand by that assessment.

    On the other, Alonso was simply superb. He pulled off some stunning slipstreaming on the first lap, trounced both McLarens, before hunting down and picking off Webber as only Alonso can – pushing the car to the limits of its performance and giving it his all.

    Both were sublime this weekend, but for his gritty, valiant effort, Alonso gets my vote.

  19. Vettel and Alonso were perfect in the race. Vettel was perhaps a bit better in the rest of the weekend, but I voted for Alonso because of the way he fought the McLarens. He was fighting like a devil all race and he could take second place away from Webber. This means that, despite Vettel’s perfect race, Alonso didn’t lose that much to him and he owes much of it to his own attitude.

  20. Alonso for me.
    Vettel wins Car of the Weekend.

    1. @bullfrog

      Vettel wins Car of the Weekend.

      Im gonna use that excellent quote!

    2. I often can’t help myself wonder what would have happened if Vettel and Webber had switched the cars with Alonso and Massa.

  21. Alonso for me. Knew he didn’t have the quickest car and knew what he had to do to limit the damage – and drove 60 qualifying laps to do it. Very impressive.

  22. I have one word for Alonso – Respect! He had a car that was not even 4th best and yet had to finish at least in second to have any hope of staying in the title hunt. And if anyone thought that Ferrari might end up 3rd or 4th at best were in for a surprise. McLaren found that out the hard way and in the end Webber could not keep him off. KERS or not, I think Fernando would have taken second on a flat tyre as well, such was his determination. End result, he is just 13 points off and as viewers we get to witness a very absorbing title fight.

    I would have voted Vettel otherwise but his domination this weekend was not as spectacular. His drive in Singapore was his best of the season for me. What Newey does with those cars seems like black magic.

    The other really good drive was from Nico Hulkenberg. He drove very coolly and maturely. With all the talk surrounding how Perez could be a future world champion and Maldonado being tipped as one to watch for in the future, everyone seems to have missed this bloke and now he is starting to make a case for himself as having the potential of maybe being a World champion one day. Certainly, if he keeps driving with this level of maturity, driving for a bigger team than Sauber might not be a very distant dream.

    1. @mahavirshah
      4th best car? really?
      It was easily the 3rd quickest in qualifying, and on par with the Red Bull in race pace, or at least pretty close. I just can’t see how that car could be any worse then the 2nd best car on race pace. Alonso drove very well, but I don’t think that there is any indication that his car was even close to 4th best.

      1. @mads If they were 3rd best in qualifying then they would have qualified 3rd wouldn’t they. By fourth best I meant in terms of grid places and not as in 4th best team. And it has happened quite a few times actually that the ferrari has way better race pace than qualifying pace. All through the weekend it seemed that only Mclaren could match the Red Bull’s on pace and Ferrari to beat them and one of the Red Bull’s was very impressive to me.

        1. Surely 3rd best car would put them in 5th and 6th in Qualifying? erm… which is where they were?

          Race Pace and One Lap Pace are two very different things and it’s easy to say with hindsight that Ferrari has the 2nd best race pace – He would have struggled for 2nd if Webber hadn’t lost KERS.

          Unfortunately for all the “non-RBR fanboys” – RB seem to have the fastest one lap and race pace which is a shame considering how unpredictable this season has been so far

  23. I haven’t voted for this one yet. I simply can’t split Vettel, Alonso, Hamilton or Hulkenburg.

  24. I see some people suggesting Alonso did a normal job and his 2nd place was thanks to DRS and Webber’s KERS failure. But the fact is, Seb can turn up at any circuit now expecting to have the car to take pole, set fastest lap and win. Alonso does not have that luxury, and must drive every corner of every lap during the weekend with the pressure of knowing one mistake is a hammer-blow to his slim title chances, since he doesn’t have the car to make up for it the next race. To absorb that kind of pressure, and still turn in the sort of clinical performance that he did wins it for me. Alonso without a doubt.

  25. Amazingly, 88% of the votes (at the moment) are shared between Vettel and Alonso. I guess that’s due to the fact that no-one really impressed during this race, and therefore the votes are going to the race winner and the guy that made up the most places (overtaking dnf/puncture drivers excluded) during the race. And deservedly so, imo

    1. Not exactly equaly shared though 60-26 at the mo to FA

  26. I voted for Lewis’ mechanics who were able to swap out his steering wheel without impacting his pit-stop time. Getting that new steering wheel on in the right position at the first stroke from outside of the car in the heat of the moment was masterful.

    1. Oh yes, remarkable moment. That surely will go down as one of the best things ever happened in F1.

    2. Pit-stop of the seasson!

  27. Alonso on the basis that on Friday it looked as though Red Bull had a half minute in hand. No-one expected anything other than a RB one-two. Granted Webber’s KERS failed but it is further proof that Fernando values the last ten laps as the most important of the weekend (bar the start obviously). His negotiation of the two McLarens was special. Deliberately hampered his qualifying to run a longer seventh gear to attack in the DRS zone. Vettel was special again but knowing that his team mate would not challenge him meant that he was effectively maintaining the gap from turn 3.

  28. Vettel, of course! The best driver after Schumacher.

    1. Not in this race! but in modern formula 1.

      1. Do you not have eyes?? The poll is for the best driver of the weekend,not for the best driver in modern F1!!!!

        1. Yes, I have eyes and I am votin for the best driver of the weekend and my comentaru is that he is the best formula 1 driver after Schumacher in modern era.

          1. But is he? Really? Or is he blessed with Newey’s masterful car designing skills?

            We’ll never really know – statistically, yes he is up there with the greats and time will no doubt bring his all time stats closer to that of true legends but in reality… if Alonso, Hamilton or Kimi were in Webber’s car I’m not so sure that the results would remain in Vettel’s favour.

          2. @mcgregski
            It’s not just Newey that makes the car go faster.
            Newey is a vital cog, but almost everything on the car is designed to make it go faster.
            One man can’t single-handedly design every single aerodynamic device, develop it, test it, fit it to the car, etc…
            He is an absaloute genius, and without him, Red Bull arguably would be nowhere right now. However, the Red Bull team as a whole need at least some of the credit when a red Bull wins.
            The mechanics need some praise; without them, the car either wouldn’t be built, or would fall to pieces.
            The whole areo team need credit, because without them, the car wouldn’t be developed, or designed in time for the next race.
            The fabricators at the factory need credit, because without them, the aero pieces would break, or just cease to be at the races at all.
            #You see the point I’m trying to make?

            Newey leads the team, but he isn’t the only factor in car performance.

  29. Difficult to decide between Alonso and Vettel. Vettel did again a wonderful job during the weekend, it may look easy on that RedBull car, but I don’t think so. On the other hand Alonso during the race was impeccable. That first lap was simply beautiful, and he emerged victorious on that battle. After that, although the redbulls have created their usual margin he kept on and finally grabbed the second podium spot. So, Alonso for me.

  30. Not an Alonso fan, but he did as always drive a superb race, so he got my vote.

    1. But I nearly voted for Charles PIC, sterling work at the back, he is now looking ready for a faster team, hopefully with their introduction to KERS next year, he will be lining up against Timo Glock again, and hounding the midfield for points.

  31. Voted Alonso even though I’d suggest he did only get past Webber because he lost KERS but if 3rd was the best Alonso could have got, I’d have probably still voted for him for passing the Mclarens and for his attitude. Vettel and Webber got everything they could from the RB8 so the top 3 were all excellent.

  32. Vettel was the undisputed king .. He has shown what ” I came, I saw , I Conquered” means again .. and this is Formula One .. This ain’t about coming second .

    1. @nimba – fanatstic point. You don’t get remembered for coming second, second is another name for the fastest loser!

      Good drive form Alonso, but he wasn’t driver of the weekend.

  33. The difference between the Mercedes drivers is clearly noticeable. Almost 6 tenths faster was Rosberg in qualifying, and he managed to avoid trouble at the start and have decent race pace.
    Just a point, in no way do I think he was driver of the weekend!

    1. Lol.

      Newey, Newey, Newey….

  34. if there is a rating for a best pit crew.. the honors should go to Mclaren for the awesome steereing wheel change

  35. Have to vote for the finger waving one albeit reluctantly!

  36. Sem (@05abrahamsemere)
    29th October 2012, 20:06

    Alonso is the driver of the weekend, but Button is a close second. Vettel did well but he had the fastest car, JB in a Mclaren beat Vet’s fastest lap so it isn’t all that impressive. Button obviously had rear tyre issues as he mentioned earlier otherwise he would have been much closer to Hamilton or possibly ahead of him, as we all know who is the best driver out of them two anyway. But this was an average race 6/10.

    1. Button did very little to justify himself being better than Hamilton or Vettel this weekend.

    2. @05abrahamsemere – Button may have set fastest lap, but Bruno Senna had the fastest lap before then. Does that make him better than Vettel? Sure, he was faster, but you saw the sparks form Vettel’s car. Anyway, McLaren were the quickest on the hard tyres.

      If I’m honest, Hamilton was much better.

  37. I felt Alonso was going to be leading before I looked at the results, and I was right, but I decided to be contrariant and say Vettel. After all he took the maximum out of the car, again, and almost achieved a Grand Chelem – which I always regarded as the best indicator of a driver’s talent. His car had little problems towards the end but he striked me with his fastest lap on the final tour. He was so determinated to achieve it and I was actually sad to see him beaten by Alonso and Button, although I’m, like many, bored by the lack of variety in results since Vettel has re-started winning.
    Vettel did everything, led FP1, FP2, FP3 and Q2 and Q3, being second in Q1, and won the race leading every lap. True, he had a better car than Alonso who was absolutely perfect during the race, but his pace over the McLarens suggested he could have beaten at least one of them in qualifying. Or maybe he couldn’t, but I’d pick Vettel anyhow.

  38. I voted for me. My endurance and never-say-die racing spirit in watching every lap of the most boring race of the year is worthy of VOTW (viewer of the weekend). There was no “I can’t catch him, sniffle sniffle” in my lounge-room.

    Oh, it’s about drivers, sorry. Had to go VET, simply brilliant.

  39. I seem to remember Webber changing steering wheels during a pit stop too, I just can’t remember where, and I’m not even sure if it was in 2010 or 2011. Does anyone remember? How long did that pit stop take? Would be nice to compare that with McLaren’s pitstop from yesterday.

    1. I think it was Canada 2011… when Webber also had, surprise, surprise; KERS failure!

  40. Since Alonso choose to compete on designer level, I had to choose Vettel. In the end, the poll is about the drivers.

  41. I had to spend some time thinking about this. There wasn’t really a driver that stood out from the rest. Vettel won, Webber was closer to him than usual, before he hit trouble. The McLarens did what they could and finished outside the top three. Alonso beat both of them after a brilliant move on lap 1 and passing Hamilton a few laps later. Massa as usual being much slower than Alonso, Raikkonen unable to pass him (DRS ruined his race in that way). Behind them, Hulkenberg did fine, I think people overrate Senna’s performance yesterday.

    I eventually voted for Vettel: people hugely underestimate what it takes to take pole position, and then win the race on Sunday. He again was superb, and I think it’s unfortunate (both for him and for the sport) that people seem to appreciate nor applaud this.

  42. David Livingstone
    29th October 2012, 22:25

    For me, despite the storming drive from Alonso, it really can’t be anyone other than Vettel.

    He was on top of all three practice sessions, all three qualifying sessions, and then drove a nearly perfect race.

    He controlled the race flawlessly and still had alot of time in hand, it seemed. He turned up the wick significantly on the last lap, and was also the last of the frontrunners to pit, so presumably had the best tires, also. I can’t fault him, and therefore he gets my vote.

  43. Alonso all the way. He is the Terminator, just keeps coming back! Car quick, he is there, car average, he is there, car rubbish, he is still knocking on the door.
    I would argue hes not only the driver of the weekend, he is the driver of the season, regardless of who wins the championship.
    Take nothing away from Seb, but Alonso is just incredible.

    1. well its just that the circumstances of Vettel always in the quickest car alludes to a borefest 1st from start to finish whereas Alonso’s are always come from behind spectacular drives. Kind of like comparing Valentino Rossi and Mick Doohan, although Rossi had the bike underneath him to race ahead like Doohan, he would prefer to race with the others and dice for position. Im sure roles reversed Alonso would race into the sunset in a RBR

      1. well its just that the circumstances of Vettel always in the quickest car alludes to a borefest 1st from start to finish whereas Alonso’s are always come from behind spectacular drives.

        Only 5 races ago, Vettel went from 11th to 2nd.

        1. While Spa was a mega driver for Seb, he was assisted by the fact that Alonso, Hamilon, Perez, Kobayashi, Grosjean and Maldonado were all eliminated at the first corner. Had they not been, I very much doubt he would have finished ahead of all 6 of them.
          In India, Alonso had to fight from 5th the 2nd without Grosjean doing the spring cleaning for him. Of course he got a bit lucky with Webber’s KERS but it wasn’t like 1/4 of the grid was eliminated in front of him.

          1. @davef1 – Vettel had gained no places at the start (in fact he lost a place) but he picked off everyone bar Button in a superb drive. Granted, shy were slower cars but still @david-a ‘s point stands; Vettel can do what his car is capable of just as well as Alonso can.

  44. OmarR-Pepper (@)
    30th October 2012, 2:03

    I can’t believe I voted for Alonso, but he deserves it this time. And Senna should be 2nd. But I can only vote for one, so Alonso gets my vote. :S

  45. Though Vettel did an awesome job but I have to vote Alonso, he just did what he needed to do that is to keep Vettel in his sight,his opening lap attack over the Mclarens was a mark of a true WC.

  46. a pretty boring race afterall……..

    several drivers did well, especially Alonso and the Hulk.

    But I felt Bruno Senna did well in the race, transformed his practice form into very good race pace. At the race he was generally quicker than Maldonado, and even Grosjean and Rosberg, showing very good pace. And he did a couple of very good overtaking, esp the one on Rosberg. For me his overtaking was the best bits of the whole boring race.

    If he wasnt being let down by his qualifying, he should be able to get to top 8 finish.

  47. Alonso. Only because the Red Bulls are light years ahead at the moment and he is doing everything he needs to in order to mitigate the damage done until Ferrari can hopefully catch up a little bit.

    Vettel did well again but quite frankly, his performance was nothing special. There are a couple drivers on the grid capable of doing what he did given his car.

  48. The only reason Fernando was able to pass Mark was due to the fact that the RB8 had KERS issues,.

    1. and it only shows how much faster their car is. You don’t believe ALO could have won in India? or are you delusional? The race was about passing the line on P3. ALO started 5th and finnished 2nd almost matching VET pace.. in a 2012 ferrari…

  49. Hulken of course … the lone shiner for us people in India … and he deserves it. Alonso had a better car to cut his task but hulk defended against Grosjean who was on a better machine. nt to forget the awesome start — 12th to 9th

  50. Grande grande, Fernando. Although I root fo Sebastian my vote goes to my least favourite driver. Incredible drive. Alonso ate everyone who could be eaten one by one. He is the ultimate competitor and always there no matter what happens.

  51. Alonso for me. His display of dominance over both McLaren guys was very impressing to watch and somewhat of a rarity for us F1 fans. He kept good pace with the Red Bulls (as did Massa) which is probably the best you can ask of anyone not in an RB8 at the moment.

  52. Keith.
    I think you should rename this poll to “driver of the race” for next year. I believe many here would prefer it to “driver of the weekend”. Also, the results of the polls are pointing in the same direction. I mean how can Alonso be driver of the weekend? Of the race perhaps but not weekend. Vhat does Vettel have to do to win this? Dominated free practices, started from pole positin, led every lap of the race and almost had fastest lap too.
    I really believe you should consider renaming the poll next year.

    1. right.. it should be driver of the race. who cares about weekend.. points only available on sunday. the votes are always based on how one performs on raceday. there are very few people who vote based on the whole weekend. if more than one driver outperforms then people take in to account what drivers did on saturday and sunday.

  53. Vettel was 1st in every single session this weekend. All five of them. No other driver has achieved that feat at a Grand Prix weekend in the 21st century. (Stat courtesy of @cmckinleyF1!)
    If that doesn’t optimise ‘driver of the weekend’ I don’t know what does.

  54. Again maybe it was because I found the race to itself to be dull, but no driver really stood out for me to be an obvious choice of driver of the weekend.

    It came down to Vettel or Alonso, and in the end I voted for Alonso.

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