ESPN's driver of
the year. I really enjoyed
the summary more than
the classification....since it really brings out
the truth of what people prefer to avoid....regarding Nico Rosberg and
the Fonz.
1. Lewis Hamilton
Team: Mercedes
Championship Position: 1st
Points: 384
Best Result: 1st
Lewis Hamilton's second world title was a long time coming. Since 2008
he has been through emotional turmoil on and off
the track, defied paddock logic by switching from McLaren to Mercedes and taken a bunch of hits from
the media along
the way. But
the driver that has emerged on
the other side is more complete, just as tenacious and entirely relaxed in his own skin. Hamilton is a true champion.
But why does
he top this list? Why not Daniel Ricciardo? Why not Fernando Alonso? After all, Hamilton still made mistakes and showed signs of cracking under pressure, especially in qualifying this year.
The difference in 2014, however, is that those errors and slip ups used to be his undoing and now they only seem to make him stronger. Ricciardo won when
he had
the opportunities but wasn't carrying
the burden of a championship challenge on his shoulders. Alonso was relentless in a sub-par car but was poison within
the team, dividing it for his own means which arguably
left both Ferrari and himself weaker.
Hamilton, however, was only ever interested in one thing: winning fair and square. Nico Rosberg tried every trick in
the book to put him off, and at times it appeared to work, but Hamilton hit back with
the most valuable weapon in his armoury, his god-given talent. It's always been there, but so often
he has not been able to exploit it to its full potential. This year
he had an answer for everything Rosberg and
the rest of
the world threw at him and for that
reasonhe is ESPN's Driver of
the Year.
For
the top 5:
http://en.espnf1.com/f1/motorsport/story/187851.htmlSebastian Vettel didn't even ake
the top 10, and
the explanation for it is in that link I posted. I stopped frequenting this site years back since
the news is a bit slower than
the rest, but pleased to see
the bold and straightforward analysis by
the author for
the Top 10.