- 03 Dec 10, 21:35#228625TOP FOUR PLACINGS BY MARK HUGHES AND HIS REASONS WHY
Number1. Lewis Hamilton
He made his mistakes-a silly one at monza, a two-to-tango one in Singapore, a brilliantly recovered one in Suzuka practice- towards the end of the season, and so therefore the perception was skewed compared to Alonso, who made more but earlier n the year. In reality, Lewis transcended the level of an ordinary car that wasn’t usually even as good as a Ferrari, and had no business leading the champion as late as the Belgium GP. His highs were higher than anyone else’s and though his brilliance retains a ‘ phew, that was close’ flirting with disaster, and probably always will, he gets away with it far more often than logic says he should. There is not another driver on the grid that would not be shaded in the same car by his stunning speed and occasional capturing of the seemingly impossible.
Number2. Robert Kubica
As usual he made hardly an error worthy of the name while maximising an ordinary car everywhere, and transcending its level on three of the great driver’s tracks- Monte Carlo, Spa, and Suzuka, where he qualified second, third and fourth respectively. Renault knows where its car stacks up against the others regarding aero numbers and engine performance, and makes no secret of the fact that has invariably flattered it. The challenge of doing this, of course, less than fighting for a world championship, so he’s being judged by his playing of an easier game. Yet to know his personality even a little is to be certain he wouldn’t even notice the pressure of a title fight were he ever to get in a cart that would allow it.
Number 3. Fernando Alonso
Once it began to get important, and the taking of a title became tangible, Alonso reverted to being the truly great driver he is. He was relentlessly magnificent in his late chase and brief overhauling of the Red Bull’s. Earlier in the year, he made a lot of errors: his first corner Australia, jumping start in China, twice wrong footed in the traffic of Montreal, hitting the Monaco barriers in Saturday practice. The two halves should be considered as one, with neither having sway over the other, and as such his season was not quite as impressive as the two guys above him in this list. As ever, the way this warrior persona insists that a when rteam gathers itself around him, and only him, created controversy. But actually this is precisely the sort of personality Ferrari needs. For them, he is closer to perfection than any other would be.
Number 4. Sebastian Vettel,
It seems churlish not to place the world champion first. But wonderful season though he had quixotic-quick that he is, untouchable when running at the front the way he is, it shouldn’t be forgotten that he was in a car with a significant performance advantage yet only just clinched it. Yes partly that was down to earl-season unreliability that was nothing to do with him, but also it was about the Turkey collision, the Hungary error behind the safety car and the Spa collision. There was amid-late-seasonperiod whee the frustrations from previous races were affecting his performance. Once he parked that he became the competitive gold standard. He lost Singapore though to the slower car fo Alonso- through nothing more than a small error in qualifying. Such are the tiny margins that separate at this level.
You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.
Abe Lincoln
Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power. Abe Lincoln
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Noooooooooooooooo Tex 
