Hamilton edges Di Resta as top Singapore driver

Lewis Hamilton won the closest ever Driver of the Weekend poll so far following the Singapore Grand Prix.

Hamilton took a mere 26.2% of the votes with four more than Paul di Resta. And race winner Sebastian Vette was not far behind in third place.

This is also the first time the poll was won by a driver who did not finish the race.

Driver of the Singapore Grand Prix Weekend poll – top three

1. Lewis Hamilton – 26.2%
2. Paul di Resta – 25.6%
3. Sebastian Vettel – 18.6%

Lewis Hamilton

Started: 1st
Finished: DNF

Hamilton took his fifth pole position of the season with a huge advantage of almost half a second over the next driver on the grid, Pastor Maldonado. He led the race comfortably until his gearbox failed and believed he would have won had it not been for that.

Hamilton. Unbelievably fast in qualifying, fantastic pace throughout the early stages of the race. It’s a pity he couldn’t finish – and probably win.
sigman1998

I’m going with Hamilton. He had everything under control and was cruising from early on. A cruel mechanical failure robbed him of a victory. Mechanical failures have been more common this year, but this one may have robbed the championship of a really good fight down to the last race.
Mark Salt

For me it was Lewis Hamilton. Fantastic first lap in Q3 and great stuff in the race. Very disappointed to see him retire and maybe lose his chance of the championship but he was on top form. If McLaren can sort out their reliability then they are a force to be reckoned with. They could and should have had four wins on the trot now.
smifaye

Fastest by half a second in qualifying, did nothing wrong all weekend managed the gap to Vettel and had the win all-but in the bag.
baldgye

Paul di Resta

Started: 6th
Finished: 4th

After securing his best grid place of the season, Di Resta overtook Fernando Alonso at the start, but was unable to keep the Ferrari driver behind him on the first lap. He stayed out of trouble and Lewis Hamilton’s and Pastor Maldonado’s problems promoted him to fourth – his career-best result.

I voted for Paul di Resta. Singapore, probably the toughest race on the calendar, is believed to be one of the few venues where the driver’s ability plays bigger role than usually in F1. Di Resta drove intelligently, didn’t put a foot wrong, beat his team mate fair and square, and finished less than four seconds behind Alonso. That was a performance worthy of a champion in a mediocre car.
Girts

Ok. Di Resta – your time. There’s something about this guy and Singapore and I wouldn’t be surprised if he wins it next year or the year after next. Well done.
Antonio Nartea

Sebastian Vettel

Started: 3rd
Finished: 1st

He was fastest in all three practice sessions, but was unable to keep the momentum in qualifying, where he finished only third. When the lights went off, he got in front of Maldonado in second and capitalised on Hamilton’s misfortunes to take the lead and eventually win the Marina Bay race in the second consecutive year.

Driver of the Weekend is Vettel for me. He didn’t deliver in Q3 and might not have won if it wasn’t for Lewis’ gearbox, but this was a classic Vettel victory. Not a fan, but well deserved.
Nick

He won from off the front row and made important and decisive passes after his first stop, both of which people have claimed he can’t do.
91jb12

2012 Driver of the Weekend results so far

Round	First	Second	Third
Australia	Jenson Button (43.6%)	Fernando Alonso (21.1%)	Sergio Perez (8.2%)
Malaysia	Sergio Perez (61.4%)	Fernando Alonso (28.1%)	Bruno Senna (3.7%)
China	Nico Rosberg (69.1%)	Lewis Hamilton (10.0%)	Jenson Button (6.4%)
Bahrain	Kimi Raikkonen (56.3%)	Sebastian Vettel (19.3%)	Paul di Resta (10.6%)
Spain	Pastor Maldonado (56.8%)	Lewis Hamilton (27.5%)	Fernando Alonso (6.4%)
Monaco	Mark Webber (32.6%)	Heikki Kovalainen (20.2%)	Fernando Alonso (14.2%)
Canada	Lewis Hamilton (58.7%)	Sergio Perez (19.1%)	Romain Grosjean (15.3%)
Europe	Fernando Alonso (51.7%)	Sebastian Vettel (18.4%)	Michael Schumacher (8.9%)
Great Britain	Mark Webber (50.1%)	Fernando Alonso (18.7%)	Romain Grosjean (17.3%)
Germany	Fernando Alonso (62.4%)	Jenson Button (12.5%)	Kamui Kobayashi (8.7%)
Hungary	Lewis Hamilton (55.2%)	Kimi Raikkonen (30.1%)	Bruno Senna (5.5%)
Belgium	Jenson Button (52.7%)	Sebastian Vettel (20.5%)	Nico Hulkenberg (8.9%)
Italy	Sergio Perez (50.6%)	Lewis Hamilton (30.0%)	Fernando Alonso (10.9%)
Singapore	Lewis Hamilton (26.2%)	Paul di Resta (25.6%)	Sebastian Vettel (18.6%)

Hamilton appeared in the top three for the fifth time, three of which have been wins. Paul di Resta reached the top three for the second time this season. Neither he nor third placed Sebastian Vettel have won the poll so far this year.

2012 Singapore Grand Prix

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Image © McLaren/Hoch Zwei

9 comments on “Hamilton edges Di Resta as top Singapore driver”

DMajrekar (@dmajrekar)
4th October 2012, 10:06

The McLaren driver is the first driver to appear in the top three without finishing the race

Didn’t Vettel retire from the European GP this year and still come 2nd in the pole?

magon4 (@magon4)
4th October 2012, 10:12

yep.
Ewa Zaborska (@lilla-my)
4th October 2012, 10:32

Yep, sorry! My mistake, thanks for pointing that out :).
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
4th October 2012, 10:41

@dmajrekar @lilla-my Have taken that line out.

magon4 (@magon4)
4th October 2012, 10:08

If you looked at the Top 3 list above, you would never guess that Sebastiab Vettel was 2nd in the WDC standings in a competitive year (meaning no super-year for his car). His maximum at any race was slightly over 20%.

f12007v (@f1fan-2000)
4th October 2012, 11:03

He did not have the best pace and is not as fast as others during the race, but was consistent through the season, (despite having some no-score races), so he had got more points than all the other drivers on the grid except for Alonso. Other drivers like Hamilton had great pace in both qualifying and the race, but is not so reliable in the results.

So this voting isn’t a fair judgement on who did better in the championship. As people votes for drivers with the most outstanding race pace and gained the most number of positions during the race and finished at the very front. Vetel deserves the 2nd place in the WDC anyway.
1. Max Jacobson (@vettel1)
  4th October 2012, 17:53
  
  @f1fan-2000
  
  Vettel deserves the 2nd place in the WDC anyway
  
  For sure, him or Hamilton deserve the the title of 2nd best driver so far this year, but Vettel hasn’t been sufficiently credited for it in my view (even with the reasons you have given taken into account). Hamilton won this pole and by no means was he anywhere near as dominant as Vettel was in Valencia (in fact I believe Vettel was actually starting to gain just before Hamilton retired).
  But then again, I’m sure he’d rather be 2nd in the WDC than higher in this pole!
  1. Traverse Mark Senior (@)
    4th October 2012, 22:43
    
    (in fact I believe Vettel was actually starting to gain just before Hamilton retired)
    
    You’re right, he was catching Hamilton. However, during his post race interview with the BBC, Hamilton said that he was coasting and concentrating on maintaining the integrity of his tyres. So although Vet was gaining, Hamilton had more pace up his sleeve.