Best:
Hamilton and Webber on fresher tyres catching and passing drivers at the end of the Chinese Grand Prix, and of course the moment where Lewis got past Vettel to take the win.
Petrov’s podium in Melbourne.
Alonso vs Webber in just about every Grand Prix.
Button overtaking every car and forcing Vettel into a mistake to take a last-gasp victory in Canada. Actually, the whole race was the moment of the season – even the lengthy stoppages. I enjoyed that Grand Prix more than any other race I’ve ever seen.
The drama and chaos of Monaco. DRS wasn’t working so it was a proper Grand Prix full of excitement and tension. The fact drivers were allowed to change tyre under red flag conditions was probably the most frustrating and disappointing thing I’ve ever witnessed in F1, however.
The numerous scraps for the lead in Germany were amazing.
Rowan Atkinson’s now famous reaction in India. That was probably the funniest moment of the year.
Worst:
Sadly, there were many of these this season. Robert Kubica’s rally accident got the year off to a terrible start and Renault made a mess of the rest of the year. I’ve never been more annoyed with a team in my life. First there was the Lotus mess, then all of the driver management issues. I like Robert, Nick, Vitaly and Bruno, but I don’t feel the latter three were treated well at all this year. They had redeemed themselves (for me anyway) for Singapore 2008, but they really took a step backwards this year.
Red Bull’s team orders. The bit that annoyed me the most was that they’d been so critical of Ferrari after what happened at the Hockenheim and vowed to never employ team orders themselves, but did so as soon as the chance of an inter-team battle arrived. If it were anyone else, it probably wouldn’t have bothered me, but you can’t make fun of something and then do it yourself because it’s hypocritical and extremely disappointing for the fans. The slither of remaining respect I had for Christian Horner escaped in an instant when I heard that call.
The whole Turkish Grand Prix. It was exciting – yes. There was lots of overtaking – yes. But it wasn’t the F1 I know and fell in love with 10 years ago. It was like I was watching something else entirely and it was a blur. I can barely even remember anything from that race, actually. It lacked the drama and tension of a Grand Prix and the only good battle was between Hamilton and Button down the pit-straight.
I hope the DRS is gone. It’s had its chance and it failed miserably. If all of the cars were the same, it would work. But some cars are faster in different parts of the track than others. For example, Red Bull are slower on the straights and often the DRS wouldn’t work as well for them (Webber in Abu Dhabi for example). They can tune it and play with it forever, but it will never be right for everyone. The best option is to get rid of it before F1 loses its entire fanbase.
2011 came and went – as usual – far too quickly. But I’m not disappointed, I’m glad the madness is over in a way. I hope it’s back to its best (2010 springs to mind…) next year.
