The best drivers do not always have the best car, so whilst Red Bull certainly produced the fastest car in 2010, did they also have the best driver? Sebastian Vettel had a fabulous season becoming the youngest world champion and it would be easy to argue that he was the best driver of the year, his remarkable 10 pole positions illustrative of his dominance over his partner Webber, but if he were in the Ferrari would he have still won?
As it's the season to be reflective we thought we would give you our top eight drivers.
8) Kamui Kobayashi was the most exciting driver to watch in 2010, driving for Sauber he pushed hard all the time, while others in similar slower cars were content to settle he always was looking to overtake. It is very early in his F1 career, but if he can get into a competitive car, he could become a real star.
7) We debated long and hard in the office about Mark Webber, his third in the championship should surly have warranted a higher standing in our review than 7th place. If the season had ended in Monaco, where he drove well to win, he would be in our top three. He may argue that the team gave more support to his teammate Vettel, it may be true, but part of driving well is gaining the support of the team. Webber, we are sure is a nice guy, his Australian chip on shoulder can be endearing, but he had the fastest car and much greater reliability than Vettel and still managed to throw the title away. Webber is a good driver but not a great and certainly not in the same league as Alonso and Hamilton, either of whom would, we are certain, have won the championship if driving a Red Bull in 2010.
6) The son of an F1 champion, it cannot also be easy for Nico Rosberg to emerge from the shadows. Indeed may felt, including us at Afterabc Racing that he would disappear behind the his teammate Michael Schumacher. Clearly, Michael was not up to his normal standards, but Nico dominated the performance of the team. The Mercedes car was disappointing, but the young driver proved he is a fine driver. It is too soon to tell if he will be able to take the next step and win races, but he had a good season.
5) The 2009 world champion, Jenson Button illustrated in his championship year, that given the equipment he was a winner. The weakness of Button's driving is he seems less able than his teammate Lewis Hamilton to adapt quickly to a poor car set up. If the car is perfect, then Jenson is a great driver, one of the very best on the track, when the car is off a little his performance drops. Jenson won two of the opening four races, and at that time was consistently out qualifying Hamilton, and in the wet in China, he was pulling away from his teammate. Jenson has a fabulous strategic brain as he showed in winning in Australia and China. The second part of the season, he seemed less comfortable with the car and the performance suffered. Jenson should also be congratulated for his conduct as world champion; he is a great ambassador of the sport.
4) Robert Kubica should not still be with an uncompetitive team, he was fantastic throughout the season and pushed his slow Renault to the absolute maximum. He had the advantage of low expectations, so his performances were not hampered by pressure that those in great cars must endure. He was disappointing in 2009, but 2010 should lay to rest lingering doubts about his ability.
Kubica made very few mistakes in the season and the performance in Monaco, Spa and Suzuka were spectacular. Two podiums in a slow car is a very considerable achievement, and as a result, he is Afterabc Racing fourth placed driver.
3) Lewis Hamilton finished the season in fourth place, just two points off Webber who had a much faster car. Hamilton has matured, and the stupidity of the past has gone. He is a great racer and his attacking style great to watch. His race victories particularly at Spa were hard fort, but he did make a few very costly errors, crashing out in Monza and Singapore. The late season return to form came a little late, but he remains one of the finest drivers.
2) Sebastian Vettel's performances make him a very worthy winner of the championship; nevertheless, he was driving the fastest car and should have won the title before the last race of the season. It is true that the car's reliability let him down at a few races, in Bahrain, Australia, Spain and Korea, but he also made too many mistakes and errors. However, he is very young and the mistakes will fall away as he gains more experience.
Vettel's ten pole positions and five wins in the season were great to watch. It was particularly impressive that he could often just increase the performance again at the last lap. He did not show this year the ability to fight from the middle order, if he had he would be the best driver in 2010, but we place him a very creditable 2nd.
1) Afterabc are bias, we are huge fans of great driving talent, and for us, Fernando Alonso is the most talented driver on the grid. Fernando's move to Ferrari started poorly, the car was slow and the young matador was trying too hard. At the mid-point of the season, Alonso was 47 point behind the title leader.
Ferrari improved the car, and Fernando produced some outstanding performances, in Monza and Singapore he was brilliant. He closed the gap, and but for a strategy error in Abu Dhabi would be champion. He ended the season with more than a hundred points more than Massa, a dominance that underlines his great racing skills.
Fernando is unanimously Afterabc driver of 2010..........
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