F1 Racing driver of the Year 2012

Postby **LewEngBridewell** » 27 Nov 12, 21:15

Sebastian Vettel wrapping up his 3rd world title is a massive achievement, but who else could be classed as driver of the year? Many people have praised Fernando Alonso's season as the Spaniard's finest ever, while Kimi Raikkonen certainly impressed on his return from rallying.

Maybe it was Pastor Maldonado, who put Williams back on the top step of the podium for the first time since Interlagos 2004? Or it could be Sergio Perez, who dragged his Sauber to 2nd place twice, in Sepang and Monza.

Who is your F1 driver of the year, 2012?

Postby **scotty** » 27 Nov 12, 21:22

Alonso for me. Maximised the pace of the car all year long and somehow took the title to the wire in a car that had no right to be doing that. Very close second is Hamilton, followed by Vettel and Raikkonen. Those four are the best four drivers in F1 and showed it this season - they were in a league of their own.

Postby **andrew** » 27 Nov 12, 21:22

Vettel without a doubt. Didn't have the best start of the season and his championship prospects were looking pretty bleak but he kept his head up and got the job done. :thumbup:

Raikkonen for a pretty good come back and some funny moments, Massa for finding his form again and Maldo for proving that he is not just another pay driver need a mention as well.

Postby **acosmichippo** » 27 Nov 12, 21:55

I feel we have an obligation to DQ Maldonado, win or not. Dude caused way too many crashes this season.

Postby **Denthúl** » 27 Nov 12, 22:00

scotty wrote:Alonso for me. Maximised the pace of the car all year long and somehow took the title to the wire in a car that had no right to be doing that. Very close second is Hamilton, followed by Vettel and Raikkonen. Those four are the best four drivers in F1 and showed it this season - they were in a league of their own.

Alonso has really, really impressed me.

Kimi has also been massively impressive. To come back after a few years out and finish third in the championship ahead of four drivers in faster cars and win a race is fantastic, even accounting for the problems that McLaren faced. He's the only driver to finish every race of the season and all but one in the points, showing that he knows when to go for it and when to back off. The battles between him and Schumacher in the last two races were some fine examples of racecraft that certain individuals up and down the grid should pay some attention to. :hehe:

Postby **What's Burning?** » 27 Nov 12, 22:05

This is a tough one since the holy trinity did drive very well this year, best driving I've seen out of Vettel, and Hamilton and Alonso, but it was clear who had the "short stick" in that battle so for him to put that car consistently on the podium, for him to make fantastic start after fantastic start, makes him my vote for the title in 2012.

Oh yeah and Hamilton is god! :hehe:

Postby **Jabberwocky** » 27 Nov 12, 22:08

Alonso, but Kimi did amaze me this season

Postby **headless** » 27 Nov 12, 22:12

Wow, this is a one horse race!!

Postby **racechick** » 27 Nov 12, 22:47

No contest. Lewis Hamilton. His best season yet. Without this....................

Australia -Safety car Looses 2nd place
Malaysia - Slow pit stops.
China - Gearbox change
Bahrain - 2 very slow pit stops.
Spain -under fuelled, lost his pole and a likely easy win
Valencia - Maldonado crash and pit stop error
Germany - Puncture
Belgium - Grosjean crash
Singapore - Gearbox failure (retires from lead?)
Japan - Suspension issues
Korea - Suspension issues
Abu Dhabi -fuel pump failure retired from lead
Brazil - Hulkenberg crash taken out from lead

Ok I know others have had misfortune but the above list is ridiculous!!! He'd have had the season sown up before Brazil without that. so Lewis

Postby **scotty** » 27 Nov 12, 22:58

This isn't the 'misfortune of the year' list though :hehe:

Postby **racechick** » 27 Nov 12, 23:00

he'd win that one convincingly! No I know, it's just unbelievable how much he actually had.

Postby **What's Burning?** » 27 Nov 12, 23:04

racechick wrote::hehe: he'd win that one convincingly! No I know, it's just unbelievable how much he actually had.

Next year RC... Hamilton will get to make his mark as a driver in the sport next year. I wouldn't be surprised if he does for Mercedes next year what Alonso did for the scuderia this year... or in 2014. :hehe:

Postby **stonemonkey** » 28 Nov 12, 00:30

Alonso, Hamilton, Raikkonen and Vettel all drove brilliantly this year. Hamilton keeping his focus through all the crap luck could throw at him, Kimi finishing every race mostly in the pionts on his first year back to finish 3rd and also being the most entertaining, Vettel although he let the early RB performance get to him came back strong in the 2nd half. But I think Alonso should get this for working to get as much out of the Ferrari and the team as he could.

Postby **darwin dali** » 28 Nov 12, 01:23

I think KR still had some rally fever in him as shown in Brazil, e.g.

FA: I don't buy the hype about his driving to the max all the time, etc. Compare FM's results of the second half of the season where he was sometimes faster than good ol' Alonso and had to let him pass. So, after the summer break, the Ferrari was quite competitive judging from FM - Alonso's performance was just about what was expected, but tellingly, not enough to keep the lead in the title race.

Postby **myownalias** » 28 Nov 12, 08:43

It has to be Fernando Alonso; to finish only three points behind Vettel after 20 races in a car which was nowhere near the fastest is incredibly impressive!

darwin dali wrote:Alonso's performance was just about what was expected, but tellingly, not enough to keep the lead in the title race.

Don't forget that Alonso had two DNF's through no fault of his own, if he had one less DNF, he would have still taken the title.

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