15-12-2012, 13:29
Vote for the best F1 driver of 2012
Who was the best driver of 2012?
Sebastian Vettel (12%)
Mark Webber (0%)
Lewis Hamilton (21%)
Jenson Button (0%)
Fernando Alonso (49%)
Felipe Massa (0%)
Michael Schumacher (1%)
Nico Rosberg (0%)
Kimi Raikkonen (12%)
Romain Grosjean (0%)
Paul di Resta (0%)
Nico Hulkenberg (0%)
Kamui Kobayashi (0%)
Sergio Perez (0%)
Daniel Ricciardo (0%)
Jean-Eric Vergne (0%)
Pastor Maldonado (0%)
Bruno Senna (0%)
Heikki Kovalainen (0%)
Vitaly Petrov (1%)
Narain Karthikeyan (0%)
Pedro de la Rosa (0%)
Timo Glock (0%)
Charles Pic (0%)
Jerome d'Ambrosio (4%)
http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2012/12/14/vo...iver-2012/
2012 F1 Driver Rankings #1: Fernando Alonso
2012 F1 season review
December 14, 2012 at 11:59 am by Keith Collantine 110 comments
![[Imagen: ferr_alon_melb_2012-31-886x590.jpg]](http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/ferr_alon_melb_2012-31-886x590.jpg)
It’s hard not to admire a talented driver working wonders in a sub-par car. Watching Fernando Alonso grapple with the F2012 during qualifying in Melbourne, struggling merely to keep the thing pointed in a straight line, I doubted we’d see him on top of the podium any time soon.
Of course I was quickly proved wrong. At the next race the Sepang International Circuit was doused by a rain storm, and having qualified 1.3 seconds off the McLarens in the dry Alonso now had the pace to win. He seized the opportunity and never put a wheel out of place as Sergio Perez bore down on him.
This looked like a great win at the time and when the next two rounds supplied further proof of how far off the mark the F2012 was, the feat Alonso performed in Malaysia shone even more brightly. Heading back to Europe he trailed Sebastian Vettel in the championship by just ten points and Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren by six.
Beat team mate in qualifying 18/20
Beat team mate in race 17/17
Races finished 18/20
Laps spent ahead of team mate 1011/1081
For all Alonso’s skill, it is doubtful he could have remained in contention for the championship had the Ferrari remained that bad all year long.
After testing at Mugello, the team arrived in Spain with a significantly improved car, which they continued to hone over the following races. Having been 1.5% off the pace over the first four races, the deficit was cut to less than half that over the next four.
Alonso immediately delivered on the upgraded car’s potential. Having previously averaged a starting position of 9.5 he lined up second on the grid in Spain, gaining one place thanks to Lewis Hamilton’s penalty. He took the lead early on, but finished second behind Pastor Maldonado.
From this point on Alonso could usually count on the McLarens and Red Bulls being quicker, and often Lotus as well. Yet with a little luck, a little help from his team mate, and a lot more speed and tenacity, he remained in contention for the title until the last lap of the season.
In Valencia he outstripped even his Malaysian Grand Prix success. Having started 11th he picked off several rivals early on, gained a few more places in the pits and put a sublime pass on Romain Grosjean after the safety car restart. Vettel’s retirement handed him a fortunate but hard-earned victory.
He exploited wet qualifying sessions in Britain and Germany, taking pole positions in each despite a lurid spin at Silverstone. Mark Webber picked him off in the dying stages for victory in Britain but in Germany he resisted pressure from Vettel and Button to win again.
That was his third and final triumph of the season. As Red Bull and McLaren grew stronger Alonso relied on a series of podium finishes to stay in the hunt.
His efforts were stymied by a pair of no-scores in Belgium and Japan while Vettel amassed 43 points in those two races. While Alonso was clearly blameless for the collision in Belgium, he could have done more to avoid his first-lap retirement in Japan, and indicated he viewed the collision as a racing incident.
Vettel took the lead on points in Korea but Alonso was straining every sinew to keep in touch. He came home second in India after passing both McLarens and the KERS-less Webber. Abu Dhabi offered a great opportunity and Alonso capitalised about as well as he might have done by taking second.
But the balance of power at Ferrari shifted surprisingly in the final two races. Alonso had comprehensively seen off Felipe Massa for much of the season but his team mate gradually recovered his form and out-qualified him on merit in America and Brazil. Ferrari remedied the former by deliberately incurring a penalty on Massa’s car.
In Brazil Massa not only out-qualified Alonso but also jumped ahead of him in the race, before predictably giving the position back quickly. Second place was the best Alonso could expect here, even if he hadn’t gone off twice when the rain fell, and it was not quite enough to keep Vettel from the championship.
It would be easy to exaggerate Alonso’s driving this year but the reality his his driving was not faultless just as his car was not a shopping trolley with a lawnmower engine. Acknowledging the reality of his performance this years gives us a view of it that is more impressive for being authentic.
Yes, he might have given Raikkonen a bit more room at Suzuka, he might have got the restart right in Abu Dhabi and not gone off while trying to pass Maldonado in China. And it is surprising that Massa took over as Ferrari’s pace setter in the final races.
But this imperfect season was still a tremendous effort, and one which came within four points of being a truly stunning achievement. For that, he has to be F1 Fanatic’s driver of the year.
http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2012/12/14/20...ankings-1/
Who was the best driver of 2012?
Sebastian Vettel (12%)
Mark Webber (0%)
Lewis Hamilton (21%)
Jenson Button (0%)
Fernando Alonso (49%)
Felipe Massa (0%)
Michael Schumacher (1%)
Nico Rosberg (0%)
Kimi Raikkonen (12%)
Romain Grosjean (0%)
Paul di Resta (0%)
Nico Hulkenberg (0%)
Kamui Kobayashi (0%)
Sergio Perez (0%)
Daniel Ricciardo (0%)
Jean-Eric Vergne (0%)
Pastor Maldonado (0%)
Bruno Senna (0%)
Heikki Kovalainen (0%)
Vitaly Petrov (1%)
Narain Karthikeyan (0%)
Pedro de la Rosa (0%)
Timo Glock (0%)
Charles Pic (0%)
Jerome d'Ambrosio (4%)
http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2012/12/14/vo...iver-2012/
2012 F1 Driver Rankings #1: Fernando Alonso
2012 F1 season review
December 14, 2012 at 11:59 am by Keith Collantine 110 comments
It’s hard not to admire a talented driver working wonders in a sub-par car. Watching Fernando Alonso grapple with the F2012 during qualifying in Melbourne, struggling merely to keep the thing pointed in a straight line, I doubted we’d see him on top of the podium any time soon.
Of course I was quickly proved wrong. At the next race the Sepang International Circuit was doused by a rain storm, and having qualified 1.3 seconds off the McLarens in the dry Alonso now had the pace to win. He seized the opportunity and never put a wheel out of place as Sergio Perez bore down on him.
This looked like a great win at the time and when the next two rounds supplied further proof of how far off the mark the F2012 was, the feat Alonso performed in Malaysia shone even more brightly. Heading back to Europe he trailed Sebastian Vettel in the championship by just ten points and Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren by six.
Beat team mate in qualifying 18/20
Beat team mate in race 17/17
Races finished 18/20
Laps spent ahead of team mate 1011/1081
For all Alonso’s skill, it is doubtful he could have remained in contention for the championship had the Ferrari remained that bad all year long.
After testing at Mugello, the team arrived in Spain with a significantly improved car, which they continued to hone over the following races. Having been 1.5% off the pace over the first four races, the deficit was cut to less than half that over the next four.
Alonso immediately delivered on the upgraded car’s potential. Having previously averaged a starting position of 9.5 he lined up second on the grid in Spain, gaining one place thanks to Lewis Hamilton’s penalty. He took the lead early on, but finished second behind Pastor Maldonado.
From this point on Alonso could usually count on the McLarens and Red Bulls being quicker, and often Lotus as well. Yet with a little luck, a little help from his team mate, and a lot more speed and tenacity, he remained in contention for the title until the last lap of the season.
In Valencia he outstripped even his Malaysian Grand Prix success. Having started 11th he picked off several rivals early on, gained a few more places in the pits and put a sublime pass on Romain Grosjean after the safety car restart. Vettel’s retirement handed him a fortunate but hard-earned victory.
He exploited wet qualifying sessions in Britain and Germany, taking pole positions in each despite a lurid spin at Silverstone. Mark Webber picked him off in the dying stages for victory in Britain but in Germany he resisted pressure from Vettel and Button to win again.
That was his third and final triumph of the season. As Red Bull and McLaren grew stronger Alonso relied on a series of podium finishes to stay in the hunt.
His efforts were stymied by a pair of no-scores in Belgium and Japan while Vettel amassed 43 points in those two races. While Alonso was clearly blameless for the collision in Belgium, he could have done more to avoid his first-lap retirement in Japan, and indicated he viewed the collision as a racing incident.
Vettel took the lead on points in Korea but Alonso was straining every sinew to keep in touch. He came home second in India after passing both McLarens and the KERS-less Webber. Abu Dhabi offered a great opportunity and Alonso capitalised about as well as he might have done by taking second.
But the balance of power at Ferrari shifted surprisingly in the final two races. Alonso had comprehensively seen off Felipe Massa for much of the season but his team mate gradually recovered his form and out-qualified him on merit in America and Brazil. Ferrari remedied the former by deliberately incurring a penalty on Massa’s car.
In Brazil Massa not only out-qualified Alonso but also jumped ahead of him in the race, before predictably giving the position back quickly. Second place was the best Alonso could expect here, even if he hadn’t gone off twice when the rain fell, and it was not quite enough to keep Vettel from the championship.
It would be easy to exaggerate Alonso’s driving this year but the reality his his driving was not faultless just as his car was not a shopping trolley with a lawnmower engine. Acknowledging the reality of his performance this years gives us a view of it that is more impressive for being authentic.
Yes, he might have given Raikkonen a bit more room at Suzuka, he might have got the restart right in Abu Dhabi and not gone off while trying to pass Maldonado in China. And it is surprising that Massa took over as Ferrari’s pace setter in the final races.
But this imperfect season was still a tremendous effort, and one which came within four points of being a truly stunning achievement. For that, he has to be F1 Fanatic’s driver of the year.
http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2012/12/14/20...ankings-1/
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