F1 Fanatic readers have voted Lewis Hamilton the best driver of 2010.
Hamilton, who finished fourth in this year’s world championship, finished ahead of Fernando Alonso, with Robert Kubica a close third.
World champion Sebastian Vettel was voted the fourth best driver of the year.
Here are the “Driver of the Year” poll results in full:
Read the comments on the poll here.
Pass of the year: Kubica on Button
Robert Kubica’s pass on Jenson Button in the European Grand Prix was voted the best pass of the year. Watch the pass here.
It was picked as the best pass from a short-list of ten. The runner-up was Rubens Barrichello’s on Michael Schumacher at the Hungaroring.
Here are the ‘Pass of the Year” poll results in full:
Read the comments on the poll here.
Best overtaker of the year: Kamui Kobayashi
F1 Fanatic fans voted for Kamui Kobayashi as the driver who did the best overtaking moves in 2010.
Hamilton was runner-up with Kubica in third.
Here are the ‘Overtaker of the Year’ polls results in full:
2010 F1 season review
- The complete F1 Fanatic 2010 season review
- Lewis Hamilton voted best driver of 2010
- The best guest contributions of 2010
- F1 Fanatic’s 50 best articles of 2010
- 2010 F1 driver rankings part four: the top three
- Vote for the best F1 driver of 2010
- 2010 F1 driver rankings part three: 8-4
- 2010 F1 driver rankings part two: 17-9
- 2010 F1 driver rankings part one: 27-18
- Did 2010 meet our expectations? Pre- season predictions revisited
Image © www.mclaren.com
Jay Menon
29th December 2010, 1:17
Wow..first comment for me?…
Its hard to tell who is the best driver of the year, all the top 5 have ups and downs, there wasnt one person to single out.
As you’d expect, I voted for Alonso. This is very much a transitional year for Alonso, the first half of the season showed how obvious it was. Barring the last race, he was the best driver for the second half of the season. Ferari was a dog of car for the most part, just look at Massa.
Anyways, I Lewis didnt impress me too much compared with Vettel and Kubica. Vettel is really quick…but he will need to shake his tag of not being able to overtake off.
mouser
30th December 2010, 20:11
I dont understand the results of these types of polls. the best driver of 2010 was Vettel. He consistently finsihed ahead of all other drivers and thats the whole point of an F1 race, finishing ahead of your opponents. Vettel won the Title, he’s best driver.
Same thing with those “Who’s the best driver of all time ??” polls and the answer usually ends up being Senna. Senna ?, Huh ? You have to give that title to Schumi, he holds all of the records, most points, podiums, wins, 7 championships, etc..etc.
Paul McCaffrey
31st December 2010, 0:14
Pffff. Whatever.
Alonso was the best. He came from behind and put himself into position to win the title. The team let him down in the end with a tactical error.
matt90 (@matt90)
31st December 2010, 0:24
No because the question in that case is who’s the best driver, not who’s the most successful. And most people would agree that Senna was the better driver if not the most successful. The same can be applied to a single championship.
PJA
31st December 2010, 9:58
In any sport the most successful sportsperson is not the necessarily the best sportsperson, especially in a sport like F1 where the car makes such a difference.
Also when comparing greatest driver of all time you have to include other factors such as a driver being killed and not achieving all he might have achieved and that earlier seasons did not include so many races as modern F1 so it is more likely current F1 drivers will be higher up in the rankings for statistics such as most wins.
In any sport the competition around obviously plays a massive role in determining who wins the trophies.
For example say the best two sportsmen ever in a particular sport were competed at the same time and so they ended up sharing the big titles between them three each. Then after they retire there is a sportsman who is no way as good as the first two but is the best at that time, because of the lack of competition he ends up dominating the sport and wins six titles before he retires.
The statistics may say the third man was the best but aficionados of the sport would know it was the other two.
Daniel
29th December 2010, 1:31
I didn’t realise Sakon Yamamoto subscribed to this site.
Craig Woollard (@craig-o)
29th December 2010, 1:45
Hamilwon? Sorry, being a grammar nazi :)
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
29th December 2010, 13:13
Ha – corrected it, thanks.
helloooo
30th December 2010, 0:12
craig-o.
I can guarantee you wasn’t a lapsus from Keith. he is so obsessed with hamilton to win so he put hamilwon. w from t in keyboard are not even close.
isn’t that true Keith?
Hallard
30th December 2010, 17:13
wow…troll much?
dyslexicbunny
31st December 2010, 14:36
Technically, that’s being a spelling nazi.
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
29th December 2010, 1:50
Agree on all three of them. So have the new rule (you have to log in to vote) helped us to get a better result?
David-A (@david-a)
29th December 2010, 16:23
Yes, since Kubica didn’t undeservedly get 90% of each category.
sato113 (@sato113)
29th December 2010, 1:56
how can kubica’s pass on button be voted the best when the video barely shows what he did! i’d be more obliged to vote for him if i saw his onboard.
Maciek
29th December 2010, 8:30
I agree – has anyone come across any other footage of it? It’s a real shame that the only takes available are from Button’s car.
Icthyes (@icthyes)
29th December 2010, 9:05
Agree. There were better passes by Kubica this year that deserved to be number one; on Sutil in Singapore and on PDLR in Barhain to name two.
sato113 (@sato113)
29th December 2010, 12:43
and as i’ve said before, it was just first lap mayhem and the usual shuffling around. it was opportunistic but not an amazing ‘overtake’.
Anthony
29th December 2010, 13:17
Yeah people only voted for it because of how close button was from the wall… not because the overtake was great, you can barely see kubica!
Rubens overtake on schumacher was dangerous, but was on a straight line… so for me the best one was Hamilton on Rosberg (australia)
Zahir
29th December 2010, 13:23
If anything I was more impressed by Button somehow managing not to hit his car into the barrier than Kubicas move.
Still believe Hamilton on Rosberg at Australia was the best one
Pedal to the Vettel (@pedal-to-the-vettel)
29th December 2010, 17:09
Yer Lewis overtook Rosberg, but he had it under control to take it back from Hamilton before the next corner.
Lewis was just lucky a yellow flag was up to stop Nico before he could make his move on him.
TomD11 (@tomd11)
29th December 2010, 22:36
Not that I think he did, but how do you know Hamilton wasn’t aware of the yellow flags and used them to his advantage?
zawisza
30th December 2010, 8:05
Not to mention there was huge space left for Kubica on the inside, right?
Sammy
29th December 2010, 2:49
Im really surprised Lewis didnt take the overtaker of the year vote, given that he did overtook every one of his championship challengers throughout the season.
In any case, interesting voting…
Polishboy808 (@polishboy808)
29th December 2010, 3:26
Wow, shocking results….
SoerenKaae (@soerenkaae)
29th December 2010, 10:49
Exactly my words, I was kind of expecting LH to be voted driver of the year. Also maybe it would be an idea to have this vote before Keith does his driver rankings…
Nixon (@nixon)
29th December 2010, 11:18
Actually it was before Kieth did his ranking, but only by 2 articles. So i quess his rankings might have had some effect.
Fixy (@)
29th December 2010, 11:26
That was my opinion.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
29th December 2010, 13:15
The vote and the final part of the driver rankings went up together, as they always have done.
SoerenKaae (@soerenkaae)
29th December 2010, 17:57
Well I retract that statement. But still I expected LH to be voted best driver with/without your article. Lewis had a good season, but still to say that he was so much better than Vettel at overtaking is just not true. Look at his mistakes at Monza and Singapore. Actually I think it is impossible to decide between the top three, so I voted for Kubica, who was mingling with the top in a seemingly inferior car.
tharris19
30th December 2010, 14:20
Monza was a mistake, Singapore was a racing accident caused by Webber.
Regis
29th December 2010, 21:52
Its called to “Push a vote”. You put your opinion in peoples faces and straigth away ask them to vote, every voter who hasn’t made their mind up will be affected by it.
Most of the time they will follow your opinion. Politicians do it all the time.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
29th December 2010, 23:03
That’s precisely the reason why the poll is on a separate page and the position I’ve put the drivers in the rankings is not referred to in it.
See: Vote for the best F1 driver of 2010
Ajax
29th December 2010, 3:27
Well, I was not a LH fan up till now. Thought he had an easy ride into a top car and was very arrogant (monkeys at back of the pack, etc). But, I think he is turning into a very mature driver. Now he knows what failure is, and he is able to deal with the engineering side of F1 (car that sucks), he is a venerable opponent. For me, Lewis has earned some respect; he has earned my respect, and I look forward to seeing him kicking some ass in future WDC.
Stephen Jones (@aus_steve)
29th December 2010, 8:45
agree 100%
ed24f1 (@ed24f1)
29th December 2010, 13:01
I have to disagree there.
He was fantastic in the first half of the year, but proved in the second half that he is by no means fully matured as a F1 driver, even compared to Button. Just look at the silly practice crashes in Hockenheim and Suzuka, over-driving and damaging the tyres a couple of times, no f-duct in Monza, not to mention Monza and Singapore.
Also, he was hardly brilliant in 2009 with a poor car. He spent a lot of time complaining (Turkey), and often when the car was alright, he made mistakes (Monaco qualifying, Shanghai). Let’s not pretend the car was poor in the second half of the season.
Scribe
29th December 2010, 22:27
pretty biased comment there man, he won twice in 09 in a car that still wasn’t anywhere near the pace setter. He complained in Turkey… WHAT A FRUSTRATED MESS HE WAS. Er wouldn’t you have complained?
He made a mistake in Monaco, in a rubbish car, because he had to go over the limit, to get anywhere near the front. Can’t quite remember Shanghai but still he got some points that weekend in a car that had to be backed of down straights in the wet. Yes he spun alot, no downforce might have had something to do with that.
What silly hockenheim crash? The car had undergone a major rebuild, the rear was unstable, whatver happened wasn’t that significant or i’d remember it.
Never really overdrove either, thats just your bias showing through, if your going to pass judgement don’t let your opinions twist a picture. Anyone with an ounce of objectivity will see through it.
ed24f1 (@ed24f1)
30th December 2010, 9:13
From Nurburgring onwards, the car was definitely amongst the best – you don’t go from qualifying 19th to 5th in one race when its just down to the driver. Also, we saw that Kovalainen made a very similar improvement.
Even at Monaco, the car wasn’t that bad at all, as the track hides some of a poor car’s flaws. People were tipping him for pole, and even Kovalainen was in 7th in qualifying. Also, it was Q1, there was no need to go over the limit at that stage.
An example of over-driving in 2010 was Brazil, there was no need to destroy the tyres twice.
Scribe (@scribe)
30th December 2010, 14:36
5th, 5th. Redbull was still miles in front, Brawn probably had the edge over them till Singapore. An was still keeping pace with them at most tracks. McLaren where kept in it by oppourtunistic use of KERS, the device being the only thing that kept them in it. Basically with more power an less downforce it was the drivers that made the differance, a la Gilles Villeneuve. (Obvs not trying to draw to strong a comparison)
At Monaco 09 make no mistake, the McLaren was dreadfull, spectators in the know remarked out how both McLarens where jerking all over the place, the drivers had to fight just to restrain their cars. The fact that Lewis was tipped for pole had more to do with Lewis prowess and the Mp4-23 mechanical grip providing the oppurtunity. But while mech grip makes more of a differance at Monaco, never forget that it’s still aero efficiency that makes the differance in the end.
AND another thing!
Yes he did have to over drive in Brazil, if he didn’t jump Alonso or either of the two Redbulls he’d go into the final race hanging on by 1 point, basically dead in the water. What was he supposed to do?
Shane
29th December 2010, 3:44
Are you kidding? Hamilton had too many DNFs to be considered driver of the year. I imagine most of your voters were British because there is definately a bias there.
The Ram (@the-ram)
29th December 2010, 3:56
Hamilton should have won all three categories. Did you see his highlight reel?! No other driver has such awesome highlight reels!
Harv's
29th December 2010, 4:07
post a link!
Kodongo (@kodongo)
29th December 2010, 7:15
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vcGYuGNPS0
zecks
29th December 2010, 16:55
ruddy i had forgotten half of those moves! however he still doesn’t get my vote for his blatant weaving
BasCB (@bascb)
30th December 2010, 21:44
And just to think we were afraid of seeing no passing at all this year after Bahrain!
Mike
29th December 2010, 4:16
I agree, There was a clear bias. 31% of people thought Hamilton was the best driver of the year with 41% thinking Kamui was the best passer of the year. This poll was clearly rigged to show the general opinion of the majority of voters…
I think the fact that 67% of people voted against the British drivers indicates that there isn’t an overly large British fan base on the site, skewing the results.
If you wanted to talk about Bias, your better off arguing there isn’t much German support on the site. They only got 16% of the vote. And even then it’s more likely a reflection of German drivers not really impressing a lot of people, despite Vettel’s championship Victory.
DavidS
29th December 2010, 5:52
Wouldn’t the lack of German support indicate an inherent British bias? Despite a German winning the championship.
Don’t mention the war!
If you guys are so sure that Keith has a heavy Hamilton bias, then take that into account when reading his articles. No source is unbiased. Australian papers were in a frenzy when Mark Webber was doing well (despite ignoring the sport before). Spanish papers hate Hamilton and love Alonso.
Personally, I’d rather Keith just write what he feels, and not attempt to placate the mob of anti-Hamilton people who cry bias every time someone makes mention of him being a good driver.
Mike
29th December 2010, 13:02
Pedantics I say! But you make a good point.
GeeMac (@geemac)
29th December 2010, 13:19
Quite right…every time a good word is said about Hamilton people cry British Bias, bgut the fact that only around 30% of the readers of this blog are British disporoves that theory.
tharris19
30th December 2010, 14:30
Bias would imply that fans of a particular driver was some how not allowed to vote or praise their favorite drivers. I don’t think that is the case at this site.
rahzamkhan
31st December 2010, 7:07
Hamilton good driver? definitely. Best driver of the year. I doubt it.
BasCB (@bascb)
30th December 2010, 21:45
I would think Glock, Sutil and Hülkenberg as well as Rosberg might have deserved more votes than they got. Still, Hamilton was a good choice for best driver this year.
IceMan
29th December 2010, 4:36
Exactly. I wonder why JB is not up there in second spot. :(
Formula None
29th December 2010, 8:12
A whole nine posts before the site was accused of bias. What took you so long?
breza
29th December 2010, 8:26
Yeah Shane,
considering that this was the worst season Lewis had in F1 the results are pretty hard to swallow…
slr
29th December 2010, 8:39
This “British bias” is getting old. Being British doesn’t automatically make you a Hamilton fan. If you go to the British GP, there is support for virtually all of the teams. I’m British and I’m an Alonso fan. You need to respect other people’s opinions.
US_Peter (@us_peter)
29th December 2010, 17:58
Not to mention that there are likely many non-British fans of Lewis Hamilton as well. Though on average I would guess that Hamilton is more popular with F1 fans in Britain than elsewhere.
Icthyes (@icthyes)
29th December 2010, 10:13
Keith, I think it’s about time you looked into a word filter that weeds out comments whining about bias. They really add nothing to the discussion, if someone thinks you are biased they can send you an e-mail complaining, the rest of us clearly don’t have a problem with it since we use your site on a regular basis.
ruffmeup
30th December 2010, 19:44
well said dat man….keath u shuld start a vote for biggest winger for 2011…and the top 3 get baned from the site…….
Patrickl
29th December 2010, 12:35
Are you kidding? Hamilton had only one DNF that was his own fault.
PJA
29th December 2010, 13:08
If there was bias towards any one driver from the readers of this site then surely the same driver would have won all three polls.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
29th December 2010, 13:22
So why did Hamilton win only one of the three polls here?
As usual I’m not convinced by the knee-jerk ‘bias’ claim which inevitably follows articles like this. Do you really think every single other person is so simple-minded and myopic that they only ever vote for someone the same nationality as them?
Let’s clear up the usual misunderstanding: the site’s domain suffix does not mean it has a 100% British readership. It is actually around 32% – you can find a recent breakdown of which countries send the most readers to the site here: https://www.racefans.net/forum/topic.php?id=437
William Wilgus
29th December 2010, 14:40
Thanks for making the nationality break-down of your site’s visitors available. I think it’s obvious, though, that the majority of you visitors are British and does not refute the claims of bias. Regardless, the results are what they are, and certainly Hamilton IS a very good driver worthy of consideration AS the best.
Maciek
29th December 2010, 16:54
Perhaps you’re not clear on the meaning of the word “majority”?
This is a great demonstration of what I was saying a while ago: all you have to do is shout ‘bias’ no matter how divorced from reality that may be and immediately you get people talking about bias instead of having to actually support anything you say.
I would like to make the suggestion that posters accusing the site of bias be from now and forevermore ignored like the trolls they are.
Pedal to the Vettel (@pedal-to-the-vettel)
29th December 2010, 17:29
lol “british bias” no such thing in F1 only football and the Olympics. Yes Lewis and Jenson are born in the same country as me, but it doesn’t mean I will follow them to the end of time as a sheep…
Berger,Schumacher,Kimi,Massa, Rosberg,vettel (since 08)
These are all the drivers I’ve “backed” while watching F1 as a kid to an adult, and strange? not one of them is British… and weired enough Mercedes is my favorite team because of the Fangio era and the one team to grind Ferrari into the dirt.
My old man loves Rubens, my younger brother worships Alonso and me “MA”<- (Nick Cotton voice) backs Webber so to "stab" me in the back ha ha…
But I will admit I'll be "backing" Paul Di Resta and Josh hill in the future since both are good drivers not just because they are British…
Jameson
29th December 2010, 20:32
Based on the figures from the link you provided, 33% of the recent vistors to your site call the UK their home. Interestingly, the total votes for Hamilton (31%) and Button (2%) come out to be exactly 33%. Clearly this means that every visitor to the site from the UK voted for either Hamilton or Button. It’s also quite clear that the readership from The States (12%) voted for either Webber, Rosberg, or Kobayashi as all of their votes total to 12%. Furthermore, the Japanese at 1% of your readership must hate their countryman as they all voted for Schumacher who had 1% of the total vote.
Now that I’m done illustrating the absurd by being absurd, I must say that I’m quite surprized at the readership from The States. I’m one of those 12%, and it really makes me happy to see that there is so much support for F1 from over here. I don’t know a single person here that hasn’t asked me if Formula 1 is the same as NASCAR.
Scribe
29th December 2010, 23:07
You know what, the thing that I find most annoying about people screaming British Bias on this site, is a large proportion of the actual brits i’ve identified on this site, don’t support the british drivers or british teams.
LordHesketh
29th December 2010, 21:16
I have to say, F1 fans all over the world visit as many sites as they can to get information as quickly as possible (myself being one). I do enjoy this site for some of its breaking news and analysis. However, from a Canadian point of view, there can be no disputing that there is a clear community of biased and sycophantic British readers that do the majority of posting and voting here. Please enjoy your circle of discussion amongst yourselves, but claiming that there is no bias here is slightly ridiculous. I think the people complaining should be able to laugh it off though. Since you seem very quick to exclusively defend these sort of comments Keith, please don’t take it personally. You do a great job.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
29th December 2010, 22:00
What is “ridiculous” is this implication that all people think a certain way and only ever vote based on nationality.
I think what you see in the result of the three polls above – only one which was won by a Briton, by the way – is that most of the regular users of this site make up their own mind about decisions like this.
Yes Hamilton won the vote but by how much? 31% over 21% and 20%? It’s not very much, is it? I think that’s pretty reasonable in a year when the top drivers were very closely matched.
I think you should take a moment to actually look at the results and consider them at face value before trotting out these tired, poorly-justified criticisms about those whose opinions you disagree with.
Carl27
31st December 2010, 11:03
whats all the fuss about, Keith is right. It’s only an opinion, I am an Alonso fan, and I think he was better than Hamilton, but most people voted for LH and that’s what the poll reflects… opinions!
Will
29th December 2010, 17:19
Everyone who says Hamilton wasn’t the best because of the mistakes he made always ignores the fact that the others were just as bad.
For the record, I think Alonso has done the best job considering the cars available to the drivers, but Hamilton is right there as well. If a couple of mistakes exclude him from the running, then Alonso is out. And Webber. And Vettel. Has anyone added up the race changing mistakes that each driver has made this year?
US_Peter (@us_peter)
29th December 2010, 18:05
I think it could be argued that both Rosberg and Kubica made far fewer mistakes than the top 5 drivers did. Of course it’s also possible that that was because neither was at the front fighting for the championship, and if they had been they’d have been forced into more mistakes.
Scribe
29th December 2010, 22:49
@Shane
Hamilton had, what, 1 DNF that was his fault and another that was unlucky, the rest where mechanical.
bosyber (@bosyber)
30th December 2010, 10:24
Ehm, wait, how do the Spain and Hungary DNF count against Hamilton as a driver? Do we blame Alonso for not making the finish after nearly driving an entire race with a malfunctioning gearbox, or Vettel for not finishing in Korea, for example? I hope not.
bosyber (@bosyber)
30th December 2010, 10:27
Oh, I’m Dutch btw – do watch BBC for the good coverage, but also the Dutch F1 coverage, with a commenter who seems to dislike Hamilton over Vettel/Alonso a bit, different to BBC, but has his own bits of F1 racing insight.
Ajax
29th December 2010, 4:26
… “This poll was clearly rigged to show the general opinion of the majority of voters…”
You may not like it, but come on. Rigged? Hahaha. Conspiracy theory?
As for Hamilton having too many DNFs. Seriously? That tells me more that he is *fighting* (despite poor aero rules). What more do you want?
David-A (@david-a)
29th December 2010, 4:45
You’ve missed the point completely:
This poll was clearly rigged to show the general opinion of the majority of voters
David-A (@david-a)
29th December 2010, 4:46
formatting fail lol
Steve
29th December 2010, 5:20
Personally I think Hamilton and Alonso were the best drivers in 2010. With Alonso in front. And I think th following link has more cred than this poll…
https://www.racefans.net/2010/12/03/alonso-named-best-driver-of-2010-by-team-bosses/
As for Hamilton creating more overtaking moves than other drivers. Sure, his very aggressive, which of course also contributed to DNF’s. But the Mclaren was almost always the quickest car down the straight, thanks to mercedes power and the F duct. So in many ways, thats no surprise.
Todfod (@todfod)
29th December 2010, 5:28
I think Alonso pulled off more overtaking moves than Hamilton during the year. I do not know if Keith has recorded the stats on overtaking moves throughout the year. I do remember seeing some of those stats for the 1st 4 to 5 races.
Hamilton’s overtakes were a little more spectacular and so were Kobayashi’s, and that reflects in the stats.
Sammy
29th December 2010, 5:44
Hamilton’s overtakes were also almost always against championship contenders and midfield cars and up.
To my knowledge, Alonso mostly overtook backfield, back-marker cars either when he made horrible starts, or had a bad qualifying position.
zawisza
29th December 2010, 8:29
Does your knowledge go on strike everytime Alonso is mentioned? Just a question…:)
David-A (@david-a)
29th December 2010, 16:25
I remember phenomenal passes by Alonso on drivers in good cars. Like that one over Petrov in Turkey, or Massa in Germany.
Icthyes (@icthyes)
29th December 2010, 9:09
.
I always find it interesting that someone should be prepared to find a poll of a tiny sample size (13) of people who have various self-interests in voting certain ways than a poll of hundreds of mixed groups of fans. It would be like having a General Election based on only civil servants being able to vote.
Steve
29th December 2010, 9:44
Actually I think its based on individuals who see what goes on from all angles, have a far better understanding of F1 and are far more qualified to make a judgement in comparison to the couch potatoe critics in this thread.
Icthyes (@icthyes)
29th December 2010, 10:10
You do realise that Felipe Massa got more than half of his votes simply from Ferrari, right? If that isn’t an indication of a flawed system, I don’t know what.
I’m not doubting their knowledge of F1. But they’re certainly not unbiased and 13 is far too small a number to dilute them.
Nixon (@nixon)
29th December 2010, 11:23
“You do realise that Felipe Massa got more than half of his votes simply from Ferrari, right?” Prove it.
Patrickl
29th December 2010, 12:37
These team bosses vote are pathetic. They basically vote according to the results in the last few races.
They voted Button second best driver of 2009. Just as they vote Vettel second best this year. Both were simply drivers who were in the fastest car.
bosyber (@bosyber)
30th December 2010, 10:32
I agree – they might have better knowledge, but I am not so sure it shows in selecting drivers to test, nor does it seem to feature very high in this ‘election’ where we also don’t know how many microseconds of thought went into deciding their vote.
Also, a team boss knows the drivers he worked with, but he also has is only human, and has likes and dislikes (think of how honest Briatore would value Button …). Always easy to go with the guy that is 2 times WDC as long as the 7 times WDC guy isn’t clearly proven after his return.
Racehound
31st December 2010, 22:03
Best post Steve….and all the managers of the teams voting Alonso best driver of 2010 says it all really. As for this British bias argument, I believe there is an element of truth in that. I know many people who will back other football teams in European competition just because they are British. Same in most other sports. Britain and the USA are sick nations when it comes to flag waving nowadays. They love getting their Union Jack/St Georges Cross or Stars and Stripes out and then littering the whole country with them. They decorate their houses and cars with them like their lives depended on it! How many drivers helmets are based on their national flags colours or design? So whatever the results of any “readers polls” are, the only real objective opinions with all the knowledge included as far as F1 goes comes from the teams. You could have 100 per cent here voting Ramilton as best driver of 2010, but compared to the team managers opinions, it is a pi55 in the ocean. #:)
Ajax
29th December 2010, 6:23
“Your comment is awaiting moderation”. Yeah, bravo. Let’s try again…
Not sure whether you agree or not! “to show the general majority [opinion]…”. Surely that is the point of having a poll, right!? Hahaha. Rigged my x.
matt90
29th December 2010, 14:21
He was making a joke
Maciek
29th December 2010, 17:03
And an old joke to boot. Ajax – snap out of it. It’s an ironic way of saying that since the poll shows how people voted it’s not ‘biased’ – get it?
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
29th December 2010, 7:36
I disagree with the choice of Kobayashi as the best overtaker. He might have done the most overtaking, but I found the vast majority of it was just mugging the car in front and seeing what stuck.
Puffy
29th December 2010, 7:52
Fair enough. But his overtaking moves were gutsy in a car that quite frankly had no right to be overtaking some of those that it did. Much easier to streak past another car in a nice elegant manner when you’re in a McLaren or Ferrari. He’s definitely rough around the edges but man is he entertaining; and a driver that I expect great things from some day.
Patrickl
29th December 2010, 12:40
He hasn’t even done most overtaking. Not even close. Kobayashi had only 20 overtakes. Just about the least of all “old team” drivers.
He might have made the most overtaking attempts though. As you said, mostly he was just diving past without actually making it stick.
I agree that not braking early enough and flying off the road on the other side doesn’t make you a “best overtaker”
slr
29th December 2010, 19:37
I think Kobayashi’s overtakes has gotten the most fans of their seats. Fans generally enjoy it when someone in a slower car passes World Champions. Anyway most of the overtakes from the top teams were just faster cars breezing past inferior cars.
Patrickl (@patrickl)
29th December 2010, 19:52
You mean a “slower” car with fresh tyres overtaking cars that he was ahead of a few laps earlier?
slr
29th December 2010, 20:53
Some of Kobayashi’s overtakes may not be so great from a technical point of view, but fans enjoy watching a rookie performing overtakes. I’m sure many know about the technical sides of some of Kobayashi’s passes, but the excitement they felt watching Kobayashi’s overtakes clearly means more to them than the technical side of these passes.
Patrickl (@patrickl)
29th December 2010, 23:11
Well, indeed there must be some explanation for it, when in fact just about the poorest overtaker gets called the best overtaker.
Though I’ll agree that he made the most entertaining pass of the year. The one on Alonso in Valencia. Alonso really needed that spanking after his embarassing mental breakdown.
bosyber (@bosyber)
30th December 2010, 10:35
I think his moves also got pretty good coverage. If a moved is entirely or almost missed by the on screen coverage, it is rather hard to be enthusiastic about it, unless you were at the track to see it.
Beninlux
29th December 2010, 7:47
I am a massive Hamilton fan, but do think that Kubica was the better driver this year. Totally agree with Kobayashi being best overtaker. However, the best overtake of the year, without doubt, was Schumi on Alonso at Monaco.
verstappen
29th December 2010, 10:17
Agreed!
Unfortunately there weren’t enough of us, to get that one nominated.
JaegerGolf (@jaegergolf)
29th December 2010, 8:10
Hamilton wins always and that’s really ridicolous. Look at Monza, look at Singapore, free practice in Hockenheim and in Japan.
How can you vote Hamilton as the best driver in 2010 when he smashed the title because of own driving mistakes?
He did not drove like an F1 champion.
Vettel just did 2 complete mistakes. The crash in Spa with Button, 1/2 mistake in Instanbul and 1/2 mistake in Hungary.
Remember how many points Vettel lost due to mechanical failure.
Vettel was the best driver in 2010, there is no doubt about it.
I’m really looking forward to 2011 and the poll at the end of the season, probably Hamilton will win? :P
Icthyes (@icthyes)
29th December 2010, 9:22
Yeh, no bias here. “Only two complete mistakes” come off it mate, Turkey was 97% his fault, Spa was more like 70-30, Hungary was his own silly fault (a total “noob” moment if I ever saw one from Vettel). In contrast Hamilton only made one error that cost him anything that was totally his fault.
If Red Bull hadn’t kept up the pace of development Vettel wouldn’t have been champion because of those mistakes; in fact, it all came down to Alonso being stuck behind Petrov for the second time this year. Yet you see fit to say Hamilton lost because of his. I would at least respect the “made the best out of the best car” argument for Vettel being #1 driver.
judo chop
29th December 2010, 11:03
What about Vettel’s horrible starts this season? Red Bull’s crap starts cost them dozens of points.
Patrickl
29th December 2010, 13:48
Fanboys are just so depressing.
Amazing how fanboys like that can claim that Singapore was Hamilton’s mistake and then happily claim that Singapore was Hamilton’s fault and then pretend that Turkey and Hungary weren’t Vettel’s faults.
How about Silverstone? Vettel messed up his start and was driving so violently that he ended up with a flat tyre. That’s much more Vettel’s fault than Webber not braking in Singapore was Hamilton’s fault.
BTW how many points has Hamilton lost due to car failures or people ramming into him? Not a whole lot less than Vettel.
Pedal to the Vettel (@pedal-to-the-vettel)
29th December 2010, 17:44
Hamilton punctured vettel’s tyre at silverstone mate. It confirms it on the the official F1 2010 DVD that he slashed his tyre. Not Lewis’ fault just a first corner incident.
Or are you trying to give an example of what it looks like with other “fanboys”?
No insult intended btw.
Patrickl (@patrickl)
29th December 2010, 19:54
Indeed. If Singapore was supposedly Hamilton’s fault then Silverstone was even more so Vettel’s fault.
K (@k)
29th December 2010, 22:16
Fanboy – A pathetic insult often used by fanboys themselves to try and put down people who don’t like whatever it is they like.
Scribe
30th December 2010, 0:17
Where have you been K? Haven’t seen you in donkeys years!
K (@k)
30th December 2010, 1:31
I thought I posted under one of your comments the other day!
I’ve been busy fanboying Zack Hill and his right foot!
Off season cold turkey? Well it is christmas ;)
Patrickl (@patrickl)
1st January 2011, 23:43
Perhaps, but read JaegerGolf’s post and say (with a straight face) that the term doesn’t apply …
Funkyf1 (@funkyf1)
29th December 2010, 8:28
Interesting results, kubica deserves the pass of the year, just because he was unable to win driver of year. He showed what excellent talent he has in a lack lust car and keep the racing exciting, as did Hamilton and that’s why he won driver of the year, not because he is British. F1 is the ultimate driving competition with supposedly the best drivers, unfortunately as mentioned in my prior post, money influences to much these days and without a chance to test and prove themselves, finance is playing a bigger roll than talent these days. Drivers such as Hamilton, Kubica, Kobayashi along with the occasional Alonso move make for interesting viewing. I am a Mark Webber fan and think he is a very talented driver, but much prefer to see the prior mentioned drivers “race” than watch the likes of Webber and Button precision driving round the track or the likes of Michael Schumacher bully his way round pushing other drivers that challenge him off the track. I think these 3 drivers won because they are keeping the fans interested in the sport with the way they drive
judo chop
29th December 2010, 11:12
“kubica deserves the pass of the year, just because he was unable to win driver of year”
Not being rude but this an example of the skewed logic that bedevils this site.
snafuracer
29th December 2010, 8:40
Well, this is UK site, so it’s normal. Hamilton had too many DNF and too many mistakes, being pushed by others and forced into errors to be the driver of the year. But, that’s the vox populi :) P.S. I don’t really care about charts at the end of the year, especially. There’s only one chart sitting at the Formula 1 site, and it shows different.
BBT
29th December 2010, 8:43
The best car chart you mean. ;-)
Patrickl
29th December 2010, 13:56
Did you even watch this season?
Hamilton made the least mistakes of the last 4 title contenders.
Vince
29th December 2010, 8:58
Far too few votes to be statistically significant. 4 – 5 hundred votes for best driver… you need thousands of votes to get a realistic result, along with a methodology to ensure that the people polled represent a broad spectrum of F1 fans.
Means nothing unfortunately…
xtophe
29th December 2010, 11:06
Yes, actual statistical correction would probably make this a valid poll for scientific research.
Please get a grip on reality. Statistics are always flawed in one way or another and polls that are run by newspapers hardly even reach the number of respondents this poll has.
To meet your goal you would need to sample the entire population of F1 viewers. Then you’d need to select a method, which in itself is ofcourse some sort of bias, because you as a researcher have opted for one method and not for another.
“Les statistiques sont comme les bikinis, elles montrent beaucoup, mais cachent l’essentiel.”
bosyber (@bosyber)
30th December 2010, 10:39
Anyway, that’s why it is good the number of votes are shown too: you can make up your own mind about the sample size. The poll isn’t claiming to be The Truth, is it?
Osvaldas31 (@osvaldas31)
29th December 2010, 9:46
Hamilton wasn’t the best driver this year. He didn’t do anything special this year, and I think it was the worst Hamilton’s season in his F1 career. He was much sharper in previuos seasons.
Steve
29th December 2010, 9:57
Really Osvaldas31 ? His worst year ??
So when he won the championship during a year where he ran up the back side of 2 other title contenders when he didn’t see a red light at the end of the pit straight warrants for a better year ? And lets not get into detail of his other embarrassing blunders that year. That mistake on its own is an absolute shocker and IMO doesn’t deserve a world championship. period !
As far as his driving goes, that year was a poorer effort from him yet he won the championship.
This year, he drove as good as he has since he was Alonso’s team mate in 07.
Hamilton himself said he only rates his form this year a 6/10. So whats he trying to say ? His form was worse than MOST other drivers on the grid ? Or worse than every title contender ?
what a load of hoo ha !
Patrickl
29th December 2010, 13:57
Well it was Hamilton’s worst result so far. And still he was in contention of the WDC.
That must not sit well with the Hamilton haters.
Steve
29th December 2010, 14:23
His worst year as far his placing yes. But in regards to his driving, his worst year was 08. The year he won the championship.
Sammy
29th December 2010, 15:14
I agree with that. But you have to take into account the banning of traction control, and Lewis was still relatively young and inexperienced in F1 years.
He has however, driven better since then…in 2009 for example, understated, but probably his best year in terms of driving.
Osvaldas31 (@osvaldas31)
29th December 2010, 16:06
Yes, this year he made fewer mistakes, but he didn’t have that speed and sharpness as in the first season in F1.
Steve
29th December 2010, 17:20
Thats right. His best year so far from a driving perspective was his first. And that was because he was pushed to the limit by Alonso. No other driver has pushed him as hard.
Sammy
29th December 2010, 22:26
i agree. Alonso made him focus on everything.
Brian Baum
1st January 2011, 4:02
PJA wrote: “I like how you make allowances for Alonso’s season because he had a difficult car but say it doesn’t matter what the McLaren was like when looking at Hamilton’s performance.”
I’m speechless PJA. Seriously, did you bother to read ANYTHING I wrote??
Since it’s clear you didn’t, this comment of mine is just about one inch above yours: “Like Alonso, I think Hamilton did a GREAT job with a car that clearly wasn’t as good as the Red Bull. But I still think Alonso did a better job with what he had to work with. Like the team bosses and the other F1 drivers, I think Alonso was the driver of the year.”
Credit where credit is due. Happy now?
bosyber (@bosyber)
30th December 2010, 10:41
I guess he means that he thinks he could have done more, maybe have been smarter at the start of the year, but okay given the car and the competition.
Elvis Barnet
29th December 2010, 10:37
Hmmm.
Based on the performances in 2010, Hamilton was clearly not the ‘best driver of 2010’.
Can people read the criteria and not vote ‘favourite driver’ instead?
Otherwise, Heaven forbid, it makes the users of this site look like they don’t really understand F1
Cyclops_PL (@cyclops_pl)
29th December 2010, 11:05
Probably they don’t, but Keith does, and his previous article heavily influenced some people. Let’s be clear, I’m not accusing Keith of anything, I’m just stating the fact. That’s how psychology works, people want to identify themselves with some kind of authority, in our case – Keith, so more or less subconsciously they blindly follow his opinion, modifying their own just to fit the “authority’s” opinion. There’s also fitting in with majority mechanism, the current leader of the vote always gets extra votes, because people want to be in the majority, want to be those who were “right”. If it’s possible, I would suggest modifying polls so they would not show the results until closing.
xtophe
29th December 2010, 11:08
Am I wrong in thinking that the poll result doesn’t pop up unless you a) click a link b) have already voted?
Cyclops_PL (@cyclops_pl)
29th December 2010, 11:13
It does, but that doesn’t mean people won’t talk about it in the comments) while the voting is till on (see the rigged Pass of the year vote and comments regarding results while voting was still on), influencing others who didn’t vote yet. I think the result should be displayed only after Keith closed the poll.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
29th December 2010, 23:56
What nonsense. People can vote however they choose.
K (@k)
30th December 2010, 0:47
Keith surely you see that writing an article that makes a case for who you believe the best driver of 2010 to be and opening a pole at the same time on the same site will have effect the readership and how they vote.
Many people will believe what you wrote and vote accordingly, it’s not a criticism it’s just a fact of the human psyche. That’s how advertising and propaganda work.
http://www.spring.org.uk/2009/09/why-you-cant-help-believing-everything-you-read.php
Jameson
30th December 2010, 4:04
Way to point to an utterly asinine article and study that have no actual bearing on the implication that this site is biased toward British drivers (which of course it is not).
The so-called study is implying that if you interrupt people while they are processing information, the subject will then not be able to effectively comprehend the information resulting in the inability to make an informed decision. How do I get a cushy job where I can con money from the taxpayers so I can point out the obvious to numb-skulls?
How does the study have no bearing on the poll results, you ask? Polls are entirely based in opinion–not facts, fabrications, and comprehension as with what the study is concerned. If we are basing everything purely on facts, then Vettel was clearly the best driver as he won the WDC, and the worst driver is Klien as he was last. However, as naming someone the “best” of anything is entirely subjective, you simply cannot claim that someone expressing their opinion in the matter will have any effect on the opinion of another person. This is evidenced in the fact that there are a number of disparities between the poll results and Keith’s rankings.
Additionally, don’t have people read something that tells them not to believe everything that they read in order to make your point–it’s obviously counter-intuitive. I’m not entirely certain that the numbers quoted in the article are even properly represented.
bosyber (@bosyber)
30th December 2010, 10:48
What I find interesting about reading this site is that if Keith has an opinion, he tries to find reasons why he holds that opinion, and in rating the drivers, he gives pros and cons after every race, and did so again in the season reviews, inviting people to agree or disagree with reasons for why they do so.
You can call that “influencing”, but others might reasonably call it discussing an opinion with facts and reasoning. How is one supposed to make up ones mind? And is this best done when one is uninformed but opinionated, or from weighing facts and after discussing differing viewpoints?
Gut feeling can’t really be excluded from human decision making, but we can at least try to do better than that, and F1fanatic has been doing a great job at it.
K (@k)
30th December 2010, 16:04
Jameson – I can’t be bothered to spell it out for you, I’d suggest reading all the relevant articles again and thinking about it a bit harder.
Sounds like your looking for a job on the BBC news desk.
ruffmeup
31st December 2010, 0:07
surley people who vote on this site dont only visit this site for information on f1..for them to be influenced by keiths article it must be the only information thay have on the subject….and f1 is not advetising
Patrickl (@patrickl)
29th December 2010, 19:58
Some people actually try to see the driver performance seperate from the car performance.
I’d have to say that the current top 3 would exactly fit my list. I’d say Rosberg should be ahead of Vettel and Button should be ahead of Webber. Then it would be perfect.
K (@k)
30th December 2010, 0:49
Then it would be perfect…
…In your own imagination land.
Patrickl (@patrickl)
1st January 2011, 23:45
Well it would actually confirm more to the real world. Rosberg has been a better driver than Vettel all year and most certainly better than Webber.
Rob Wilson
29th December 2010, 12:09
I’m a Hamilton fan through and through but i don’t think he was the best driver this year, i actually thought it was his worst year of his 4 in f1, bar Montreal and Spa it wasnt majorly impressive, good yes, but the best in 2010, no. Alonso for me was the best driver in 2010 closely followed by Vettel and Kubica. I hope Hamilton in 2011 is more like the Hamilton of 07/08, and please god make the MP4-26 competitive from the start!
Sammy
29th December 2010, 15:17
I dont know what kind of Hamilton fan you are but I, as one of them, DONT want him to return to the driving of 2008. People tend to forget his earlier drives in the season but for the first ten races he was conclusively the best driver out there, getting every ounce of performance from his car. He got punted in Australia where from 11th, he was challenging for a podium!!!
Not to mention had the Singapore move stuck, most media would be singing his praises. Lewis was awesome in 2010
Patrickl (@patrickl)
29th December 2010, 20:00
Yeah it’s amazing how quickly people forget. They just seem to remember the last race and the end classification.
Vettel was a wreck during the first 2/3 of the season while Hamilton was performing near perfect every race.
He made one bad mistake (in Monza) and got rammed by Webber in Singapore. All of a sudden he’s “making too maniy mistakes”.
Maksutov
29th December 2010, 12:39
Your obsession with Hamilton is a little overrated, and its getting old.
Hamilton is a great driver or even excellent driver no doubt, but lets put it simply, it doesn’t matter what hypothetical scenario or statistic you/we look at, if Hamilton was the best driver in 2010 then he would have been the 2010 F1 World champion. But he wasn’t and therefore he is not.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
29th December 2010, 13:43
I’m not sure who you’re addressing with that ‘your’? I was going to run the results of these polls regardless of who won.
K (@k)
29th December 2010, 13:49
I agree.
I like Hamilton but all the deluded accolades and capricious statements he is subject to make it hard to support him.
Patrickl
29th December 2010, 14:00
So the fact that Hamilton was driving a car that was on average 1 second per lap slower than the Red Bull and STILL he was close to the WDC doesn’t mean anything?
That Vettel blundered his way through the season and was even almost beaten by a midfielder like Webber means nothing either?
Brian Baum
29th December 2010, 14:58
Sure it means something… It means Hamilton was good enough to finish fourth in 2011, but he was NOT the best driver. Not even close.
David-A (@david-a)
29th December 2010, 16:32
17 points away in a relatively slow car. Ignoring the point that was just put in front of you isn’t a wise thing to do.
Brian Baum
29th December 2010, 18:12
Alonso wrung the neck of his Ferrari which was also a dog for much of the year and he just missed the title by four points. Like Hamilton, he made mistakes, but he overcame them better and finished second not fourth in the championship. From your logic, that should actually make Alonso the best driver this year.
David-A (@david-a)
29th December 2010, 22:21
Brian Baum said Hamilton “wasn’t even close”. I’m referring to the fact that Hamilton definitely was arguably the best driver this season. along with Nando.
Besides, Hamilton had to make do with an even slower car than Alonso, and no team orders.
Brian Baum
29th December 2010, 23:00
David, I disagree that Hamilton was the best or was even up with Alonso this season. Was Hamilton’s car as good as the Red Bull, no and neither was the Ferrari. I’m saying Alonso was able to get more out of his car. The McLaren wasn’t as slow as you imply. In addition to the wins Button and Hamilton earned, they could have also won at Monza and Abu Dhabi. McLaren CLEARLY used team orders, they were just not as obvious about it as Ferrari was in Germany.
Overall, the finishing order is pretty much correct as to who were the best drivers in 2010. VET should have brought the WDC in much earlier, ALO put in some amazing drives to lead the championship into the final race (in a much slower car than the two Bulls), WEB had his opportunities but lost it all in Korea, and you know how I feel about HAM’s season.
To say Hamilton was the best in 2010, you would have to go back to 2005 and give Schumacher driver of the year. His car was a pig and the tyres didn’t work well with the chassis. Yet he finished in third place (ahead of Montoya in the much faster McLaren). Somehow I doubt you would give him the same credit that you want to bestow on Hamilton.
Patrickl (@patrickl)
29th December 2010, 23:06
It’s pretty much a given that the McLaren was slower than the Ferrari. Especially at the beginning and end of the season.
Other than that. Hamilton lost more points due to car failures and Webber’s brain failures than Alonso. More importantly, Alonso lost more points due to his own mistakes than Hamilton did.
Anyway, obviously the majority of voters here can see this. Indeed Alonso was pretty close behind Hamilton, but still … behind.
K (@k)
30th December 2010, 0:26
From McLaren’s own blog:
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
30th December 2010, 0:31
I addressed that very quote in this article where I explained how the McLaren was usually slower than the Ferrari:
2010 in stats part three: car performance
But let’s be clear, we’re talking about a pretty small margin either way.
Brian Baum
30th December 2010, 0:34
You certainly could go race by race and find plus and minus points for each of the top drivers. HAM dodged bullets when he passed the safety car and raced VET in the pit lane. He also came within inches of disaster at Spa…. Of course there were ALO’s two epic passes on HAM late in the season, the huge error at Monza and impatience that cost him at Singapore. Add them up and that is almost half the races.
Not giving VET credit for winning the championship is wrong. Unlike Hamilton in 2007, VET didn’t fold under the pressure. Yes, VET is still a bit wild, but he will grow out of it. As I said above, the final order is pretty much correct.
K (@k)
30th December 2010, 1:19
There wasn’t much between any of the top three teams, clearly Red Bull had an edge for most of the season but Ferrari and McLaren had competitive cars and were in with a shout.
You have to go back to the original question really:
Not to be confused with who is the best driver, who is the fastest etc. How many people do you think considered pre-season testing?
It’s a fairly informal and undefined question. It’s a popularity contest really where most people will vote based on their lasting impression of the season, however that came to be, and who they favour.
I guess if had voted it would have been for Vettel for the simple reason that he won the championship although that would have been an unconsidered choice.
If your seriously looking at which driver did the best job then a considered choice might be Timo Glock, since he arguably had the most to offer his team.
David-A (@david-a)
30th December 2010, 4:37
What, 6 (not 13) points more out of a slightly faster car? Of course Hamilton was at least up there with Alonso. You’re remembering Alonso’s fantastic second half of the season, but being ignorant of his largely patchy first half.
Brian Baum
30th December 2010, 6:24
David A said “You’re remembering Alonso’s fantastic second half of the season, but being ignorant of his largely patchy first half.”
Thanks for making my point for me, David. Yes, Alonso had a terrible first half. But he was able to turn his season around. Hamilton led the championship for five out of six races, Canada through Spa, before self-destructing at Monza. Alonso then stepped it up and had the results he needed when it really counted. That’s why the team bosses and his fellow drivers voted Alonso the best driver in 2010.
David-A (@david-a)
30th December 2010, 17:22
You’ve still failed to convince anyone that LH “wasn’t even close” to being best driver of the year. Hamilton’s equally fantastic 1st half can’t simply be disregarded in the final reckoning.
You’re making far too much out of him apparently “self-destructing” post Monza, since that was his only bad race (with Singapore largely viewed as a racing incident, if not Webber’s fault). Hamilton made the least errors of the top 4 and still had the speed to be a serious challenger. That’s why F1Fanatic viewers voted Hamilton as the best driver of the year.
Patrickl (@patrickl)
30th December 2010, 22:51
Hamilton had a whole lot more car trouble than Alonso did. Alonso had only one retirement (Malaysia). Hamilton’s car broke down in Spain and in Hungary. That cost him a lot of points. It also slowed him down in Japan.
Alonso lost 4 points due to mechanical failures. Hamilton 32.
bosyber (@bosyber)
30th December 2010, 11:02
I don’t know why he wasn’t “even close”. Fact is, he actually was very close – at the start of the last race he was in a way closer than Webber to getting the WDC, because Red Bull seems to have decided, sensibly, to sacrifice Webber to give Vettel a good chance.
Vettel and Red Bull should have been able to get the WDC done much earlier – Alonso/Ferrari and Hamilton/McLaren did well to stay so close. In the last third of the season, McLaren seemed to struggle with getting the car right. Hamilton made some mistakes because they needed to take a risk or he would be out of the WDC race (I think Monza was also showing that they were nervous). During this part of the season Alonso/Ferrari were doing very well.
In the earlier part Alonso/Ferrari were the team that didn’t seem sure of what they were doing, having lucked into a Bahrain win, but finding themselves a bit slower than they expected, leading Alonso to be on edge and making mistakes, and the team to not always be on the ball with strategy.
These two teams did very well, as did their highest placed drivers. If the Red Bull hadn’t been so much faster, I think both would have made less errors, and the fight would have been solely between these two. I don’t know who would have won it, but I do think it is hard to argue with them being the best two drivers. Maybe Kubica will prove to be up with them, but he just wasn’t under the same pressure as these two, Webber, and Vettel this year.
Maksutov
30th December 2010, 14:15
No, I didn’t say that. But maybe the reason Hamilton was close in points is because other teams made silly decisions throughout the season? Red bull certainly did.
But to judge who is the best under these circumstances is impossible. Also, 1 sec/lap is a little over-exaggerated, especially considering the qualifying times. The only way to determine with “absolute certainty” which car, and therefore which team, was the fastest or slowest (and by what margin), is to have the same driver test every single car and then see what happens. Certainly some cars will suit certain drivers more than others and vice verse. And for all we know maybe Hamilton would have been slower in a Red Bull.
But I dunno about Webber being a midfielder though. I disagree with that.
Brian Baum
30th December 2010, 18:27
“You’ve still failed to convince anyone that LH “wasn’t even close” to being best driver of the year.”
OK, how’s this…
Vettel won the world championship, was the fastest all year and finished ahead of Hamilton.
Alonso had a difficult car but finished within four point of the championship after having a crappy first half of the season and finished ahead of Hamilton.
Webber had a great run and could have won, regardless, he finished ahead of Hamilton.
I could care less that Hamilton car was a little slower, broke like a china plate when touched or that it managed its tyres worse than the other cars. Get over it. He finished fourth. The other drivers were better.
Here’s a question for you. If Alonso won the WDC this year, would you still have voted Hamilton as the best driver? Seriously??
Brian Baum
30th December 2010, 18:31
David A: One more thing. You wrote “Hamilton made the least errors of the top 4 and still had the speed to be a serious challenger.”
That sums my point exactly… Yes, Hamilton made the least errors and still had the speed to be a serious challenger AND HE STILL FINISHED FOURTH.
David-A (@david-a)
30th December 2010, 20:05
Brian Baum: you don’t understand that his car clearly lacked pace compared to Red Bull and Ferrari. That’s why he finished fourth, only 16 points off Vettel. Car performance and driver ability are two different things.
I’m afraid that you still haven’t made a valid point and are still wrong.
Brian Baum
30th December 2010, 20:51
David A:
Clearly I can’t change your mind, and you can’t change mine.
If finishing second is the first loser, than finishing fourth is the third loser. Hamilton was third loser this year. Better luck in 2011.
Have a Happy New Year.
David-A (@david-a)
30th December 2010, 22:28
Well, I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree.
When looking at the final standings, car performance has to be considered.
Happy New Year.
Patrickl (@patrickl)
30th December 2010, 22:54
“If Alonso won the WDC this year, would you still have voted Hamilton as the best driver? Seriously??”
Well that blunder in Abu Dhabi is certainly held against him.
But yeah, even despite that, Hamilton is much closer than you would assume he would be driving a car that is about a second a lap slower than the top car and breaks down a lot more than the second fastest car.
How on earth can you claim that driver quality is only determined by number of points amassed. That’s the dumbest thing I have ever heard.
Brian Baum
30th December 2010, 23:28
“How on earth can you claim that driver quality is only determined by number of points amassed. That’s the dumbest thing I have ever heard.”
I guess you haven’t READ any of my previous posts… Of course it has more to do with the number of points amassed:
Alonso was better than Hamilton for several reasons. 1. He had the disadvantage of coming into a new team, a new car and a new system. 2. He made a lot of mistakes early and had some very bad luck that made a horrible start to his season, putting him nearly 50 points down at mid-year. 3. His outstanding driving at the end of the season put him on top of the tables at the final race.
Hamilton had his bad luck/bad driving at the end of the season and it cost him. There honestly wasn’t a prayer of HAM becoming champion at Abu Dhabi unless VET, ALO and WEB all had heart attacks and died at the same time. Monza and the following three poor races truly finished his chances of the WDC this year.
Like Alonso, I think Hamilton did a GREAT job with a car that clearly wasn’t as good as the Red Bull. But I still think Alonso did a better job with what he had to work with. Like the team bosses and the other F1 drivers, I think Alonso was the driver of the year.
Tell you what. Since neither Alonso or Hamilton won the WDC. Let’s call it a draw and give Hamilton the best driver of 2010 up to Italy, and give Alonso best driver of 2010 after Monza.
PJA
31st December 2010, 9:38
I like how you make allowances for Alonso’s season because he had a difficult car but say it doesn’t matter what the McLaren was like when looking at Hamilton’s performance.
Ed Bone
29th December 2010, 13:34
As a huge Hamilton fan I am nonetheless surprised to see him top the poll, but it’s worth reflecting that had he been just slightly more cautious in Monza, and also Singapore, it might have been a completely different outcome for him going into the last race.
Hamilton knows he can do better, he said so himself, but his style is unashamedly that of a born racer, making him easily the most entertaining driver on the grid, and surely this has something to do with his popularity in this particular poll?
Electrolite
29th December 2010, 13:36
Yawn yawn yawn. Still the old battle between People who Like Hamilton vs People who do like Hamilton.
Anyway, to express my views I wouldn’t have had Hamilton as the top driver, simply because of his numerous avoidable retirements in the second half of the year. He’s been amazing don’t get me wrong. I think the likes of Kubica have been just as impressive if not better, and Alonso’s recovery was astonishing. But the people have spoken! Can’t wait to see what the order will be this time next year :)
Bring on the 2011 car launches now…
snafuracer
29th December 2010, 15:06
Well, no it’s not a battle – I like both Hamilton and Alonso (what an irony), I can’t dismiss his talent (LH), but he simply wasn’t better than Vettel or Alonso. Or, if we’re going to argue – what makes a driver best ? Our personal subjective perception of the matters or some dry facts ? Winning the WDC as a main factor ? No, I don’t think so, Red Bulls just had the best car, and they – Mark Webber or Vettel would’ve become champion a lot earlier if it wasn’t the engine issues. The best driver cannot have 4 DNF. Vettel had 4 as well, Alonso -3, Webber – 2, just for the sake of statistics.
Sammy
29th December 2010, 15:27
4 DNFs? Are people really this daft? 2 of which were mechanically related, 1 of which was deemed a ‘racing incident’, and 1 which was a tad opportunistic…
1 self inflicted retirement isnt that bad I think.
Electrolite
31st December 2010, 0:03
I said they were avoidable, not his/not his fault.
Paulo
29th December 2010, 13:41
I think in a season where all the top drivers have made as many mistakes as each other it is probably only fair to say Vettel, who came out on top, has been the best driver.
Brian Baum
29th December 2010, 13:52
Why is this comment awaiting moderation?
K (@k)
29th December 2010, 14:33
Your poll result lacked the necessary pie charts to back it up.
Brian Baum
29th December 2010, 14:39
Thanks, I’ll get right on it…
K (@k)
29th December 2010, 16:36
If you could produce something as informative as this I think it would shed some light on the matter.
Roger Carballo AKA Architrion
29th December 2010, 15:18
Living proof of how partisans Lewis fans are. He said it was his most average drive since he was on F1. But, no. Don’t believe Lewis, the fanboy base word has come, praise the lord…..
My gosh….
Patrickl (@patrickl)
29th December 2010, 20:01
It was his most average season and still he was best! That’s why people are a fan of him. Not the other way around.
judo chop
29th December 2010, 23:32
No it’s not, Hamilton didn’t say “it was his most average drive since he was on F1” because 1. He said nothing of the sort 2. The term “most average” is nonsense. For a phony quote can’t you invent better “proof”? Hamilton gave himself 6/10 which considering his car and championship position could be construed as being big-headed. If we were to join you in your new found readiness to take him at his word it would mean that – with an extra 40% his powers to draw on – Lewis has the ability to win the championship in this season’s HRT!
keep hating!
Roger Carballo AKA Architrion
30th December 2010, 8:00
LAUGHING OUT LOUD!!!!
:-))
judo chop
30th December 2010, 11:21
I’m laughing at you too!
Sammy
29th December 2010, 15:25
Looking at how Lewis is apparently soo unpopular among readers of this site(judging by Keith’s article responses after he rated him no.1), its a wonder he was even voted as the top driver.
What does that tell us?? Either there seem to be a majority of F1 fans who rate Lewis as the best driver of the lot and dont care about all the other B.S, or the haters actually secretly love watching Lewis.
Funnily enough, the risk-averse trend has been to name Robert Kubica, every year as the ‘Best Driver’, because he apparently is a god-driver among men, mistake free in every sense of that word.
Had Keith chosen him, there wouldnt be cries of favouritism and obsession and whatnot,the commenters would be falling over themselves to agree. The hypocrisy is pathetic.
I think as an unbiased fan, really and truly, where one to watch the entire season, observe the differences in car performance…I think one would be hard put not to put Lewis in as the best driver this year.
Roger Carballo AKA Architrion
29th December 2010, 15:27
Lewis himself doesn’t believe it, my friend. He said it was his worst year so far….
JamesC1991
29th December 2010, 16:01
Well Hamilton winning driver of the year,certainly won’t disagree with that.
Seb fan here but you Hamilton haters need to go and find a brain,from Germany onwards the Mclaren was half a second to a second and a half slower depending on which event and outperformed the car.
Too say he didn’t deserve it cause of mistakes is nonsense.
His only mistakes were Monza,Japan and Germany practice sessions.Singapore Webber’s fault imo.
look at the other contenders and there bad moments
Seb:Turkey and Belgium all his fault,Hungary utter stupidity,slight error in Qualifying in Singapore
Webber:smashed into Lewis is Oz and then hit Heikki in Valencia,Singapore hit Lewis and got very lucky,Korea obviously and then a pathetic race in Abu Dhabi.
Alonso:jump start in China,practice in Monaco,contact with Massa in Silverstone,crash in Belgium.
Hamilton really made the least mistakes out of these 4 drivers so there you go Hamilton haters.
Overtake of the season,don’t agree with the majority.
I had 2,Hamilton on Rosberg in Melbourne and Kubica’s move on Sutil in Singapore,2 incredible overtakes.
Overtaker of the year,I agree wtih,had to be Kobayashi,sensational overtakes in Valencia and Japan despite obviously having fresher tyres in both races.
Steve
29th December 2010, 17:27
James.Each driver made dozens of mistakes thgrough out the year when you disect the races. And all those small errors in some ways in some races made a difference to their final position in a race. Your just looking at the big picture.
Marco
29th December 2010, 17:14
The best driver poll winner is not bad, I have Lewis also high… But Kobayashi as “the best overtaker” of the season, I have to laugh… :D There were drivers which much cleaner overtaking and without using option fresh tyres, but ok let s have a comedy… :D
Mads (@mads)
29th December 2010, 23:12
Yeah but lets see Hamilton’s overtakes, he have made some brilliant ones this season, but in a perfectly balanced super quick McLaren it is not hard, the McLaren have also had the highest top speed at nearly all races, which makes it a lot easier to get the edge over the competition, because you cannot really overtake in the high speed low downforce sections anyway, also dirty air removes a lot of the advantage which for instance a Red Bull would have over a McLaren in the fast corners.
Kobayashi had a Sauber, which were rubbish, and look at how he have performed compared to his team mates. He has qualified lower then his team mate in a lot of the races, but with some clever thinking and a series of gutsy moves he has nearly every time ended further ahead. He has made some really great overtaking moves this season, also imagine that it is his first full season. I agree he has not been very clean, but he has clearly taken some chances where most others didn’t dare to do.
judo chop
29th December 2010, 23:46
What about Hamilton’s double pass on Vettel and Sutil in China (pass of the year IMO)? No high speed blast pass there just masterful control under braking which is his hallmark. Kobayashi’s not even close to Hamilton.
Mads (@mads)
30th December 2010, 0:15
Yeah true that was a good one, but it was more a case of Sutil fighting Vettel, and they both outbreaks them selves, and then Sutil blocking Vettel out of the corner so he is pretty much stuck there. Hamilton just took the corner perfectly and in the process overtook two cars.
Neusalz (@dpod)
29th December 2010, 17:38
Everyone has there own opinion, although Hamilton is not my #1 there is no need for me to be yelling biased or nonsense like that. Hamilton is talented as well and we shoud appreciate his contribution to the sport instead of bashing him.
Nick
29th December 2010, 23:39
Totally agree dpod. He does stand out for his human qualities / humour / inteligence compared to the lack of charisma of other drivers, chief amongst those being Alonso I am afraid.
hellooo
30th December 2010, 5:12
charisma? humour? human qualities?intelligence?
how long you didn’t use a vocabulary?
nothing you saying reminds me of Hamilton
or you just making a joke in which case makes me laugh
rci 808
29th December 2010, 23:27
you have to be kidding right?
Steve
30th December 2010, 0:06
+1 ???
YeaMon
30th December 2010, 3:53
LOL @ Lewis being voted number 1.
John
30th December 2010, 12:30
Hamilton of course! Did mistakes of a rookie but who cares. This is a british site… :P
Ken
30th December 2010, 12:45
Yea but the same standard you use to judge Hamilton must be used on all the other drivers and of course they pale in comparison.
Ken
30th December 2010, 12:40
Notice how if anyone puts a couple of overtakes together
they become best overtaker. I must admit Kamui did a good job on Alonso in Valencia. But Alonso is not that hard to overtake, ask Nick Heidfeld.
You guys are supposed to be F1Fanatics, whats with all the double-standards.
The best overtaker is of course Hamilton.
brum55
30th December 2010, 14:04
I think Hamilton was the most spectacular driver of the season especially of the top 5 but that doesn’t mean he was the best. However his drives through the field in Australia, Malayasia and China were the most exciting.
Pedal to the Vettel (@pedal-to-the-vettel)
30th December 2010, 20:16
Simple enough thing to sort this out is to post how many members can actually vote in this pole. Just because you see 31% on the chart doesn’t mean the 33% of possible british voters all voted for Lewis or jenson, no country is that sad.
Another good thing if you could is to post the nationality on who voted for who, though I’m sure Keith you would start getting European biased next… Groan…
Actually don’t change anything, it would just lead to more rubbish from WUM’s
Electrolite
31st December 2010, 0:05
Argh there are so many stupid comments on this article! The results are what they are and everyone is entitled to their opinion. Move on.
VXR
31st December 2010, 13:48
Considering that Hamilton only gave himself a 6 out of 10 for this season, this is not a bad result for him is it.
Flying_Wombat
1st January 2011, 12:31
Which idiot voted for Yamamoto???
Robert A. Rogers
2nd January 2011, 21:22
Absolute rubbish, and I am being polite now. Vettel, Webber or Alonso Yes, Hamilton, no. If being in the media’s eye is more important than what is achieved on the track, what are we trying to achieve here?
tommy
3rd January 2011, 9:09
I don’t quite understand why you think Kubica’s overtaking of Button was not brilliant?
They were fighting wheel to wheel on a STREET TRACK for 6 corners instantly, with cold tyres or at leaast not at their best, and not completely yet being in a race rythm – with Kubica most of the part being a little behind, so he was the one who needed to squeeze between Button’s right tyre and the wall – not mentioning Renault/Mclaren’s car class difference and the fact that they both overtook 3rd party car while fighting each other – let me repeat – it all happened on a street circuit. If this is not breath taking overtaking – then I think there is not such at all out there.
I’m glad that this one was rewarded – becouse whole world saw milion times Barichello/Schumi (which in fact was impressive and frightening, but not requiring that much skill from Barichello), and almost noone noticed this perfect overtaking from Kubica. Till now.
Not always the brightest star shines most beautifuly.
Platine
3rd January 2011, 23:21
This poll has slightly restored my faith in humanity.
Hamilton so clearly the best, Rosberg was also highly impressive in a pretty rubbish Merc.
Matty
3rd March 2011, 10:33
Anyone with a pulse could’ve won sitting in that RB6, THAT’S why Vettel isn’t driver of 2010. Someone like Hamilton or Kubica, who manages to grab a f1 car by the scruff of the neck and do great things with it deserves that title.