Rate the race: 2011 Japanese Grand Prix

2011 Japanese Grand Prix

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What did you think of the Japanese Grand Prix? Rate the race out of ten and leave a comment below:

Rate the 2011 Japanese Grand Prix out of ten

  • 10 (6%)
  • 9 (19%)
  • 8 (30%)
  • 7 (30%)
  • 6 (10%)
  • 5 (4%)
  • 4 (1%)
  • 3 (1%)
  • 2 (0%)
  • 1 (1%)

Total Voters: 447

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1 = ‘Terrible’, 10 = ‘Perfect’

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2011 Japanese Grand Prix

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    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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    172 comments on “Rate the race: 2011 Japanese Grand Prix”

    1. 9. What. A. Race.

      That would have to be the best we’ve seen since Canada. Extraordinary drives from Button and Alonso. I can’t believe what I’ve just seen!

      1. Fantastic drive by Jenson Button, making it clear who is this year’s number 1 driver at McLaren. Vettel drove it home, Alonso was awesome… great racing, too! An 8.

      2. Agree I gave it a 9 as well absolutely gripping race on a fantastic circuit

      3. I found Germany, and I think Hungary, possibly even Italy, far more exciting personally.

        7 for me.

      4. 9/10 for me. A gripping race, Button drove great once again and I was surprised by Alonso’s speed. Bad luck again for Hamilton (puncture) but he didn’t seem to have the pace to have won anyway – or maybe he had picked up some damage?

        Massive congratulations to Vettel – he has been amazing all season!

      5. 8, what a race!

      6. 6. Great drives sure, but exciting to watch? Not in particular. There were not a great deal of overtakes after the start, and it was mostly done via the pitlane. Thus… not fantastic in my book.

      7. 8/10
        Jenson and Fernando had incredible races, strange to see Vettel with such problems.
        Massa was having a great race until the third (?) pit stop, and since he was behind Webber he lost it, and ruined a good race by failing to pass Schumacher.
        He was going to have his best result of the season (4th) but ended a deluding 7th.

    2. Almost as good as it gets without rain

    3. Jenson Button Almost had the FIRST perfect race weekend!

      (Topping every practice session, Pole Position, Race win, and Fastest Lap)

      Only thing Jenson didnt get was Pole Position.

      1. Just 9 thousandths of a second away!

        1. he was totally the driver of the weekend:)

          1. The best driver by far :)

    4. WHAT A RACE! My god, what a race… speechless (or quite sleepy…) but what a fantasitc grand prix. Superb racetrack, incredible speedm great fights and such a tense strategic battle. Vettel is the champion, but kudos to Pirelli. 9/10.

    5. 10, absolute thriller of a race, had to hold my pee in!

      1. Shomir, that’s a little bit more than we needed to know. But, yes, great race.

    6. A perfect weekend for Jenson! A fantastic result for Vettel. The race gets a 9 from me, and +1 for the Podium celebrations. So, all told, 10/10 from me!

    7. 9.0 a 10 if we had an last lap overtake

      1. Agree

        I gave it an 8. But would have given it a 9 if Fernando had overtaken Jenson withing the last couple of laps.

    8. Stunning race from Vettel, never saw it comi….. wait, what? He lost? This is 2011 right? :D

      Fair play and congrats to him on winning, at least we don’t have to sit through the feigned championship tension now and we can just watch some nice exhibition races.

      1. lol, good one

      2. Actually, for a moment, I didn’t really spotted the joke, I’m so used to Vettel winning.

        :D

      3. When Vettel pulled into the pits and stopped his car in front of the 3, I did think for a quick second that he’d pulled into the wrong position. Then I did remember he hadn’t actually won the race.

    9. WEB 4. HAM 5 by 16s. I’m just saying…

      Perfect ace. Thanks BUT.

    10. That was an absolutely amazing race. 9/10

    11. As much as I love the circuit, and as much as I enjoy Jenson Button’s success, I always find the Japanese Grand Prix to be the strangest on the calendar. The atmosphere is completely different to, say, Brazil or Great Britain or Spain or Italy. Maybe it’s in the way the Japanese fans greet the drivers with polite applause rather than cheering masses. I don’t know. But I always find the atmosphere to be a little flat, lacking that larger-than-life quality that other races have.

      1. Trenthamfolk (@)
        9th October 2011, 8:53

        Were you asleep? I thought the crowd are brilliant in Japan.. The Red Bull cans in the stands were particularly good! You’re bound to get differences based on the culture of the hosts, but that’a part of the appeal for me…

      2. The Japanese crowd have to be one of the most enthusiastic on the calender, if anything it’s a criticism of the TV feed that it didn’t show through.

      3. I have to agree with PM on this. The Japanese GP just never seems to thrill me. Today I was watching it and liking it but I wasn’t on the edge of my seat and REALLY enjoying it until the last 5 or so laps.

        What it is about the Japanese GP, I don’t know. It could be its late afternoon time slot, it being the same weekend as Bathurst, I’m not sure but it just never seems as thrilling as some of the other races.

        7/10 for me.

        1. I don’t understand what you’re talking about! :P I hate races being on during the day, as it means I can’t be left alone to watch without being disturbed, but I still absolutely loved that race. The crowds are probably the most enthusiastic and crazy in the world. They had some fans dressed up as onboard cameras on Saturday!

      4. Perhaps when the 2014 regs come out we’l hear them a little more ;)

        I do agree though, but its just them and their culture. If anything its nice that it is different rather then having the same type of crowd every race. That said, at least they turn up in their droves unlike some other races and they certainly make the best effort in attire! Loved the Redbull can costumes & the Camera-mount Caps.

      5. Were you there? If not, then you have no idea. Trust me, the fans are just as excited, and the stands are FULL. The fact that the track is not opened to the crowd post-race is a bit of a downer IMHO, but at least they let us walk the back half now. Albeit in the pitch dark this year because of the later start time.

    12. It was a good race but not brilliant, excellent from JB and ALO, some good battles but would have been better if DRS was better placed. overall 7/10 but I may change my mind later when I see highlights as I’m shattered right now, very early start today! Off to work now!

      1. @Bigbadderboom now that is total F1 dedication! I hope you survive work :)

    13. Anyone know why Hamilton had that puncture at the beginning?

      1. Well if we did we would have been told.

        1. Well thanks for that…

      2. It could have been a number of things, perhaps the tiniest bit of debris got caught in the tyre, a large chunk of gravel on a kerb. He could have caught something or ripped a bit of tyre whilst warming it up on the formation lap. He was fortunate that it started to noticably affected his performance right before he came in to pits.

    14. 2. Quiet boring really. The highest point of drama was when Buemi’s wheel came off. The last few laps were ok but nothing special.

      1. Wow – nerves of steel, obviously!

      2. If you don’t enjoy watching F1, why bother?

        1. That’s a bit of a simplistic point of view, isn’t it? Are we not allowed to say negative things about F1 now? Are we all expected to sing from the same hymn sheet? Is dissent frowned upon?

          I suppose we should be grateful you didn’t brand the other poster a “hater”.

          Oh dearie me. Try and be a bit more open-minded in future.

          1. The highest point of drama was when Buemi’s wheel came off

            I’m open minded, not everyone likes F1, some people like golf. I wouldn’t go onto a golf website and make inane comments.

      3. Maybe you were watching a replay of last years race? This one was far better than a 2/10.

        We had some action at the start, Buemi losing his wheel was the least of it. We had Hamilton and Massa close several times. We had another nice pass from Webber, the fighting between Perez, Alguersuari, Petrov, Kobayashi, DiResta and Sutil with Rosberg in there at times came up nicely throughout the race.

        Button was hunting Vettel from the start after he got past Hamilton. He was close at the first stop, jumped him at the second with a string of really fast laps. Then kept him behind on still cold tyres, managed the restart beautifully.

        We had nice scraps between Webber and Schumacher as well. Schumacher leading a couple of laps and Alonso getting mightily close to Button in the end. A bit of talking about Webber being told not to think about having a go at Vettel. And Vettel closing on Alonso at the end.

        I am not yet decided on the score, but it will be in the 7-9 range for certain.

        1. Everybody has a different oppinion, maybe it’s different watching watching it on TV compred to being there to watch it in person.

          1. You were there in person @forumla-1 ? We might disagree on how good/bad a race it has been, but I find very little understanding for giving it a 2.
            It must have been big parts of the on track action were not clear on the big screens if you were there, as there was quite some action, if not even close to races like China, Canada or Germany this year.
            Just compare it to Valencia, where there was far less to say for it having been a good race. If you do that, are you still sure Japan 2011 deserves to be rated this low down?

      4. I’m with you on that. I switched over to the rugby after the first few laps and then caught the close after the rugby was over. I think I made the right choice as the rugby was a tight, exciting match with the result in doubt until the whistle went. The race on the other hand seemed to be yet another high speed train with a few DRS enhanced overtakes. In spite of what the majority of comments have been I think this season has actually been quite dull. The racing is now artificial, relying on technical gizmos and tyres designed to last just a few laps in an attempt to generate some spectator interest. I’ve been wondering about the BBC highlights programmes for next season and I reckon most races this season would have been condensed down to a five minute package at most. How many times can you show a car entering the pits and changing four tyres, or watch the same two or three cars following each other in a high speed procession before you realise it’s just not very exciting.

    15. best race this year. Full marks from me

      1. good race but best race? surely that was Canada

        1. Canada by a country mile. I was jumping up and down shouting during that one, that hasn’t happened in decades.

    16. 8 for me.

      Great drives from Button, Alonso, Vettel.

      MSC leading a few laps.

      Missed a little something I can’t put my finger on so dropped two points.

      1. Your last sentence is exactly how I feel, gave it an 8 too. Maybe because Webber and Hamilton didn’t seem to challenge anyone that much?

      2. I thought that the safety car seemed fairly pointless and certainly far too long for its purpose. It luckily didn’t spoil the race.

    17. Good race but I gave it a 6 for the dreadful TV production. Missed 60% of the action..

      1. The production was significantly worse than usual — I recall from previous years (I think) that there’s local production in Japan?

        Made worse by the fact that we got delayed in the US due to Bathurst running over, so I couldn’t chat or watch live timing :(

        Heck of a race though, especially for us Jenson fans!

        1. As far I can remember Japan and Brazil have local productions.. Not a very bright idea now.

        2. Yeah it’s local. But it Has been even worse – watching Takagi, or what’s his name for almost entire race…

        3. Well Bathurst was an absolute doozie, so can’t complain to much about that!

          1. I just wish I hadn’t seen the last two laps when I turned this race on… I’ve got 7 hours on my DVR to watch and I now know the ending :)

          2. If you want to talk Bathurst you can head over here:

            Australian V8 Supercars

      2. The TV director was lamentable, it’s true.

      3. I also had terrible breaking up and loss of sound during the race. I was worried the problem was with my decoder until the press conference was completely messed up and the BBC put up the apology for picture problems.

        1. I was watching it on ESPN Star as I’m in India at the mo, no audio or video issues here, but, we were talking about the TV production, as in what’s being shown. They missed more than half the action, not showing the right thing at the right time.

    18. Maclaren never gets the right moment to send in their drivers to the pit for a tyre change. When vettel needs fresh pairs he goes straight in, but why leave Hamilton out there for almost everyone to catch up with him , including Filipe before he is called in? The incident involving Lewis and Felipe was absolutely avoidable.

      1. Yep I too have noticed that this season – they just seem to react to Red Bull/Ferrari stops and hardly ever seem to pit first or try a different approach.

    19. 8 for me – fantastic to see JB win, great chase at the end which had me on the edge of the sofa, brilliant defence from Alonso, some great passes further down the grid. Woo hoo!

    20. 8 it was great but the stewards annoyed me as I expected a penalty for Ham and there was a little while near the start where things seemed a bit quiet. I still loved it though

      1. You expected a penalty for Ham, What about for Vettel against Button at the beginning of the race or, Schumacher against whatever his name is when the SC was out.

        Try to be fair. This is sport. You don’t have any personal issues with Ham, so try to be fair.

        1. I said in another article I didn’t like Seb’s move at all and I’m so sick of people crying that people aren’t balanced because of who they support. It happens all of the time now. Ham’s incident was more severe and it was exactly the same as Spa imo and I gave him the benefit of the doubt for that because it was one of those things but while one’s a mistake two is foolish.

          And thanks for the advice but I always try to be fair. When I comment it isn’t about who I like (unless I give a little hurray and admit I support them or whatever) it’s about what I think was fair, who did well and what I feel was right or wrong etc.

        2. @latina You obviously don’t realise that @Steph is probably the least partisan person on this entire website.

          You don’t have any personal issues with Ham, so try to be fair.

          Actually, I’m willing to bet none of us on here do. But most people know right from wrong when they see it, and Hamilton certainly was at fault on this occasion. Okay, again.

      2. I was surprised HAM didn’t get a penalty, not because he should have but just because the stewards seem to be after him most of the time.

        I thought Vettel was lucky to get away with the push at the start which was clearly both deliberate and dangerous, if that had been Shumi or Hamilton there would have been an outcry and probably a penalty.

    21. An 8 for me because it was Suzuka. A 10 for Alonso, he was incredible.

    22. Fitting that the three best drivers of the season filled out the podium, plus so many great performances over the weekend.

      It was Button’s best overall weekend this season, pretty much flawless today, and only denied a first Mclaren pole by quali-king Seb. Fernando superbly fought to the end, proving like Seb, why he’s such a worthy double champ.

      The two Mercs and Perez were the other standouts. Schumi beat Massa’s Ferrari, when 7th should have been the best possible result. Rosberg took a well deserved point from 23rd, while Perez got his head down and got a great result despite the attention on his teammate. Honourable mention to Sutil for the overtakes, almnost made me wish the points went down to 11th! :P

      9/10 for me, thanks to the close battle between the top three teams, plus numerous battles down the field.

    23. 9/10

      Only China and Canada were better this year.

    24. Less actions that you would expect from the cars being so close. But good race, I give it a 7, but the last laps were worth of more of that.

    25. It.has.been BEAUTIFUL

      9/10

    26. I gave it a 10.

      The most exciting race this season. And with the pit strategies, it was like watching a race from the late 90’s! Simply incredible!

    27. 5/10. One of the most boring races this year. After the SC period nothing happened. DRS was too much sometimes (Hamilton passing Massa), and didn’t work at all at times (Vettel vs Alonso). A couple of good moves due to the tyres.

      1. Errr? Didn’t you watch the race? :P

      2. Agreed the SC was a bit over the top… but that was a solid eight on the scale.

      3. You must have watched a replay of Valencia.

      4. How can you complain that DRS was both too much and not effective – just an excuse to complain?

        1. Well, obviously it should be adjusted as the race unfolds to create potential but not allow for easy overtaking all while not being artificial. :D

          Of course. I’m being sarcastic. DRS was good.

      5. I gave it very harsh 6 due to the TV production, but you’re on a whole new level here!
        It wasn’t boring in the least bit. No overtakes? I’m not sure what you watched..

    28. Brilliant race, great stuff from Button, Alonso and of course Vettel

    29. I gave an 8. Entertaining, but no overtake on track for lead. Hm, maybe should’ve given à 9.
      Oh and good stewarding!

      1. A solid 8 is better than a maybe nine. Martin must have a dog in this fight ;)

      2. I think that the stewarding was good – generally the stewards this year seem to be too happy to give out penalties and fail to understand that sometimes in F1 cars are going to come together, drivers make mistakes, and drivers don’t want to lose places. I think a more hands off approach and let the drivers get on with it is the best way.

    30. Trenthamfolk (@)
      9th October 2011, 9:19

      9 For me, as a Jenson fan… All these years of following are really paying off!

      Now, where’s Massa mouthing off when you need him? Probably waxing Alonso’s daily run-about before sweeping out the Ferrari garage, no doubt…

      1. Brutal! I love it!

    31. Fantastic race, one of the best this season. Drivers of the day: JButton, FAlonso, Schumi, Rosberg, and Perez.

    32. 9’s and 10’s??? it wasn’t bad, but i’ve seen better for sure

      1. @f1yankee wasn’t last years Suzuka a snoozer on a beautifull track? Compared to that it really was a 9!

        I had a thoroughly good time with the mid field battle to switch back to at any time when the top were just chasing each other. The director might have done a better job of catching all of it though. Still I think it deserves a 7-9/10 rating.

      2. I agree, and for the fourth race out of the last five, both Brundle and Couthard have said something along the lines of ‘this is going to be a cracking finish’ and then it’s a completely unchanged procession to the flag. Disappointing.

    33. The people giving this a 9 or a 10 surely had some kind of emotional investment in Button winning.

      There wasn’t very much for the non-McLaren fans. Everything was decided in the pits, with no memorable passes at all. Vettel was extremely cautious and was never really going for the win.

      The alleged “battle” for the lead at the end was seriously overhyped by the commentators. Button cranked his engine mode up a bit and it was over before it began.

      Remember Canada: Button was at the back of the field and fought his way through to 1st on the track. Now think of Japan: Button started second and slotted into 1st after a cautious pitstop from Vettel. Same score? Not even close!

      1. Trenthamfolk (@)
        9th October 2011, 9:39

        Fans of particular drivers like to see them winning? Hmm… interesting theory… work hard on that one?

        It all depends on what you enjoy about F1. Remember, anything can happen, and as Ferrari boy was catching Button, it was incredibly exciting for me! I agree that Button’s fight to the front in Canada was monumental, but I detect a degree of bitterness that your man didn’t win today…

        Don’t forget that Vettel fans may also be happy about something or other…

        1. I voted nine because webber beat hamilton.

    34. I think everybody must have seen something I didn’t! Nice result and great to see a champion crowned, but an average race I thought. 6/10.

      1. I completely agree.

        I think that this enthusiastic rating is influenced too much by the result of the race. Some Vettel victories were far better than this race.

      2. I gave it a 6, and I say that as a McLaren and Button fan. It really wasn’t THAT interesting…

        Canada and China were 9s / 10s, not this.

    35. Button can’t win in the dry. Button can’t beat Hamilton in the dry, oh wait.

      1. Trenthamfolk (@)
        9th October 2011, 9:41

        +1

        1. Ditto… I used to have a cat named Mini Button, she loved Jenson of course.

      2. He’s being MURDERED by Hamilton this year.

        1. Let’s give the stale Button fan versus Hamilton fan a rest, everyone…

          2011 has been the year, if any, where Button has proved he has the raw pace as well as the mind and measure. He’s become a very, very complete driver.

    36. I don’t agree with the 9s and 10s either.

      For me, 10 is an absolute miracle, one that stands out as an all time greatest drive. The best. I obvoiusly can’t choose one.

      9 are absolute cliffhangers. Monza 1967, Donnington 1993, Spa 1995, Silverstone 2008. Or a last lap championship decider (Interlagos 2008), or last-lap win (Monaco 1970, Montreal 2011).

      8 are the very good races in a year. I gave a lot of 8 this year. China, Monaco, Hungary, Belgium comes to mind.

      7 are the good races, kind of like some nice tactical battle, some close, but not so adventurous races, etc.

      I gave it a 7.

      I know I’m strict, I use a similarly strict inner value system judging movies on IMDb too.

      :D

      1. That’s a good rating system you have. I gave it an 8 because my favourite driver drove a 10. That would be Alonso.

        1. And that would correlate up to 100% with my favourite driver. :)

          And indeed Alonso again got everything out of his car – as usual. I adore his consistency since midterm last year. The 2010 Belgian and this year’s Malaysian errors were the notable exception. I used to wonder if he would oust Vettel given the same conditions.

          Despite Button’s recent revival since Hungary, I still think Alonso is at least the 2nd best driver this year.

          But that’s pretty much out of topic.

    37. excelelnt race, well done Jenson, another fabulous performer. Vettel World Champion, but for a very heavy percentage of the year, Button’s performance has shone! As for his team mate, ah well, messed up last run in qualifying and the Beeb as usual tried to blame Schumacher and then Webber – were they supposed to back off because wonderboy was in front of them? Am fed up with the Beeb commentary team’s Hamilton bias…

    38. 9 from me, very enjoyable race.

      Seeing Schumacher in the lead certainly brought back memories!!

      1. Ahhh, but enjoyable is like a cold pint on an hot afternoon. Can do that any day ;)

    39. 7 from me. The best races are the ones which you don’t want to end and I certainly felt that today. Even though it didn’t have a significant negative impact on the race, I felt the safety car was a bit unnecessary and smelled strongly of “improving the show”.

    40. I loved it – DRS was not too effective

    41. 9/10

      For this season I would only rate Canada and China higher. Very entertaining race on a classic track.

    42. A quick thought ….. that was Jenson Button’s first dry-weather win for Mc’Laren !!

    43. Was it a good race? Yes. Did I enjoy it? Yes. Was the best race of the season? Definetely not. 7/10 for me

    44. Spectacular victory for Jenson Button, spectacular drive from Fernando Alonso, spectacular championship for Sebastian Vettel. Full marks guys, you deserved it :)

    45. Highly entertaining race, and I gave it a 7. Honestly, now I think I could’ve given it an 8, and a last lap overtake would’ve made it a 9. It wasn’t one of those all time great races to watch though. And I’m inclined to blame the Japanese TV director for that to an extent.

      Hats off to Jense and Fernando though, they were brilliant. Wish there’d been a proper scrap for the lead on the last couple of laps.

    46. Went with a 8 but was dang close to a 9

      Best dry race for a long time. Great to see the top 6 being so close through the whole race.

      Shame Kobayashi didnt have a great race

      1. @mrgrieves Yea Kobayashi was very quiet, which was a shame. I’m sure the fans would be thrilled all the same. Perez brought home a great result for himself and Sauber so it should take some of the pressure off Kobayashi.

        1. @AndrewTanner There was too much focus & pressure on Kobayashi in this race,massive wheels spin in the start of the race,ruined his Sunday there.

    47. So whynwere we getting endless tv coverage of some halfwits dressed up as red bull cans when we should have been watching a new world champ weighing in? Dreadful production.

      1. Trenthamfolk (@)
        9th October 2011, 9:59

        Got to keep the home crowd happy… no crowd. no grand prix…

        Pop along to your local slimming world meeting, lots of weighing in going on there, you could get your fill…

        1. So long as its Elle Mcpherson in the slimming comp I’d be happy, not that she needs to change.

          1. Trenthamfolk (@)
            9th October 2011, 10:06

            :-)

    48. lol, a dead heat between rating it a 7, 8 or nine…

    49. Certainly a 9 from me. Best since Canada, like @damonsmedley said. Great battles throughout the race and a thrilling last-few-laps dash, that ultimately came to nothing, but did certainly make me sit-up.

      Having the Red Bull tyre drama certainly added to the spectacle, for once, they were caught off-guard.

    50. 6 Good race but we have seen better races this year.I think one of the big problem has been there were many battles in the mid-field but the main focus of FOM was with the front-runner where nothing too much was happening. It was disspointing for me not to see Kobayashi not having a strong result.

    51. The race was a little dull in my opinion (rated it a 5).

      Yes it had some good moments (like the start, the final few laps etc.) but overall it felt a little processional to me.

    52. Absolutely fantastic race. I thought Vettel’s start was a push too aggressive, but JB drove such an amazing race. He was certainly the driver of the weekened, and only 0.09s off of a completely clean sheet during the weekend too.

      The action probably only deserves a 9/10, but the fact that JB won has to bump it up to a full 10. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, despite SV, JB has been the best driver this season.

      Also, a big congrats to Seb on his second Championship. He did truly deserve it.

    53. What was the massa’s ‘thing with the rear wing’ lol?

    54. Interesting thought from @mpj1994 – will people who saw the exciting finish to the Bathurst 1000 earlier today rate the Japanese Grand Prix lower?

      https://www.racefans.net/groups/australian-v8-supercars/forum/topic/2011-bathurst-1000-finish/#post-44313

    55. I think it would be better is all the votes were averaged into one result.

    56. Good race, I gave it a seven. Perfect DRS zone – not too hard, not too easy – and a great battle for the lead.

      Also, am I the only one who adores the autumn sunlight and the way it reflects on the track and cars in Suzuka? It’s just stunningly beautiful!

    57. almost fell back asleep due to lack of action 6/10 for me

      1. I completely agree. What race were these other f1fanatics watching?! Utterly forgettable.

    58. high point…gotta be another win for Mclaren

      low point…what on earth was the safety car doing out for that long?

      1. I’d stand in line for this…

    59. 7/10 +1 on top though for Vettels title win.

      But because Vettel didn’t win, this race will have to rate in the top 6 for they year ;)

    60. After reading these comments, I do wonder whether I was watching the same race.

      Jenson got ahead through the stops and so he passes Vettel in the pits. He wins. Good and massively respectable drive, but so what?

      Jenson and Alonso managed their tyres very well, Prost style performance. The *exciting* drivers, Vettel and Hamilton (plus Kobayashi) could not respond. How on earth is that exciting? It’s even questionable about whether it’s racing.

      This year’s tyres have been a joke, it’s manufactured racing. If it were Senna vs Prost, Prost would have won by now.

      1. So, 1989 was manufactured racing, too, then.

        1. 1989 didn’t have tyres that would disproportionately benefit the tyre-easy driver and neither did it have so many ridiculous penalties for driver mistakes. This year may well have far more passing, but previous seasons had far more respectable racing. Buy Senna tomorrow if you need reminding.

    61. It kept threatening to take off, but never really did. Still, good to see the top three teams so close and there was some decent action.

      Great to see Vettel crowned as a worthy champion, and well done to Button for a great win (which was his first in the totally dry since Turkey 2009). Bring on South Korea!

    62. The race itself was very good – but part of the enjoyment factor of a race is what is riding on it, and how the events in a race have consequences in the championship. However it was never in my or anyone’s mind that Vettel was going to come out WDC today. For which he thoroughly deserves.

      Button completely deserved that race win today after his performance this weekend. After the start of the race was the only time Hamilton’s been ahead of him.

    63. 6 – Not too much excitement. The race was decided by pit stops and strategy. It makes you wonder why on earth Formula 1 ever decided to ditch mid-race refuelling – due to the messing-up with the tyres, nothing has changed really.

    64. 8/10. Safety car was out two laps too long.

    65. ok, Imissed it,my driver won…anyone got some youtube highlights to post.please!!!!! p.s. or a delayed stream

    66. Good race I gave it a 7/10.

    67. 6.

      While i enjoyed it. I wasn’t gripped by it. Not a huge amount happened on the track. It was all in the Pit stops. Which while sometimes interesting, it does seem a bit routine.

    68. 1
      A McL won
      ’nuff said

      1. It is rate the race, not rate who won.

    69. 7. Pass for the lead was via pit stops. Would have been lower but having the first few cars within several seconds added a little tension. But several drivers had off weekends, by their standards,.e.g. VET, ROS, HAM, BUE, SEN. Somewhat took the shine off even though I enjoyed the final result.

    70. 8/10 for me.
      Good race with a fantastic ending, the last 5 or so laps had me on the edge of my seat! Great stuff.

      1. Could someone please post a youtube video of the last 5 laps,i missed this race live (2am) hope to see a reply at 4pm est….

    71. 6, somewhat dull after watching the last 10 laps of the Bathurst 1000….which Speed showed live !

    72. 8/10 I think. Not quite good enough for a 9 and definately not a 10 imo, but still a very enjoyable race! Jenson drove a very good race. He’s certainly shaping up to be a top-notch driver, isn’t he?! Alonso drove a fantastic race (to pip a faster McLaren and the Red Bull!) and out-performed the Ferrari as usual. Congratulations Sebastian Vettel. World class driver and such a beautiful person!

    73. To be honest, I thought the race was nothing special, gave it 7/10. Hardly seemed to be any action, was a shame that Button overtook Vettel in the pits. The climax was alright, slightly tense, but could of been better.

    74. I think i’d regret voting 7 instead of 8 but regardless,Good Race overall plenty of action.Just how F1 is,today & I loving it

    75. It wasn’t amazing, maybe the fact that Vettel didn’t win for a change clouded the fact there were quite a few dull moments. Looking at it on the whole it was brilliant, but lap by lap? 7/10

    76. I gave it a 7, a good race but not great.

      There were 10 lead changes during the race, every single one of them via pit stops.

    77. An 8 for me.
      Good race with the top 3 teams relatively close to eachother at points, with Schumacher getting in amongst them, and Rosberg working his way to the points.

      Just a tad disappointed that the pass for the lead was done in the pits.

    78. Not even close to being the best race this year. That said, it was enjoyable and not just for the context surrounding it. 7/10

    79. It was worth getting up at 6 for… 7

    80. sid_prasher (@)
      10th October 2011, 20:52

      Going with 8, great race but the safety car was probably not necessary!

    81. “the safety car was probably not necessary”

      You would prefer a marshall getting hurt (or worse)?

    82. Suzuka, like Spa, Silverstone and Monaco, is one of those tracks where I don’t care if the race is any good, it’s just a joy to see the cars in action.

      But the intrigue provided by one of Red Bull’s rivals putting one over on them was, for me, tempered by the fact that there wasn’t much sparring at the front.

      Vettel tested Alonso’s defences once or twice but nothing came of it. What briefly looked like being a Montreal-style last-lap thriller never materialised.

      Don’t get me wrong, I marvelled at Button’s coolness under pressure, cranking out the fastest lap when he badly needed it, but can anyone honestly say they wouldn’t rather have seen a three-way battle for the win unfold on the final lap?

      Yes, there were some moves further down the field. But up front the major changes of position happened via the pits – a bit too refuelling era-style for my liking, and hopefully not the beginning of a trend.

      I also thought the timing of the safety car was a bit odd. We didn’t see much of the debris it was apparently brought out for, which left a nagging feeling it wasn’t really necessary.

      This brings me to my final point: the quality of the broadcast. Now, FOM have dropped some clangers and missed some big moments this year. But this rare look at a race through non-FOM (in this case, Fuji) eyes showed us there’s room for it to get much worse.

      Missing the new world champion celebrating his achievement in front of the crowd with some doughnuts was a particular low. But all weekend long the cameras cut to the action just after it had finished. It was three days of slowing-down laps and drivers accelerating away from rivals they had just overtaken.

      But for all that, this was a Grand Prix at one of F1’s ever-diminishing number of awe-inspiring tracks. So if the racing wasn’t quite up to scratch and the camerawork was dreadful I’m not too bothered. Just don’t ever let them take Suzuka away.

      1. @keithcollantine Last but not least!

        Your subjective posts are more endearing and thought provoking than your typical write-ups which are tarnished by necessitated professional objectivity.

        Is this perhaps a snippet of more to come in future? I for one would be intrigued to read a proper feature article series which provides your personal accounts of race weekends and other miscellaneous topics related to the site coverage during any particular week.

        I could envisage it being very popular and compelling for many of the same reasons that make bloggers with a raft of knowledge/history/experience in the sport a big draw to F1 fans.

        I can also envisage several reasons why you might be hesitant to embark on such a venture, most obvious of which would be to minimise the potential of alienating people from continuing to visit and/or contribute on this site based on a personal dislike of your opinions.

        However, you don’t appear to stray away from giving your opinions in the comments section of many articles and the forums so I imagine such concerns can’t be very prominent.

        Here’s hoping.

    83. 7, no real fight for the lead (just Red Bull napping and Button maintaining the lead) and not exactly a large amount of on track fighting.
      Seeing Button and Vettel celebrating their victories afterwards and the grandstands completely filled almost 2 hours after the race raised the score by 1 point for me, although that’s not exactly the race.

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