Autosport's Top 50 drivers for 2010 1. Sebastian Vettel (F1) 2. Lewis Hamilton (F1) 3 Jimmie Johnson (NASCAR) 4. Fernando Alonso (F1) 5. Sebastien Loeb (World Rally) 6. Dario Franchitti (IndyCar) 7. Mark Webber (F1) 8. Will Power (IndyCar) 9. Robert Kubica (F1) 10. Jenson Button (F1) 11. Denny Hamlin (NASCAR) 12. Nico Rosberg (F1) 13. Paul di Resta (DTM/F1) 14. Sebastien Ogier (World Rally) 15. Petter Solberg (World Rally) 16. Edoardo Mortara (F3) 17. Daniel Ricciardo (FRenault 3.5) 18. Kevin Harvick (NASCAR) 19. Rubens Barrichello (F1) 20. Yvan Muller (Touring Cars) 21. Jari-Matti Latvala (World Rally) 22. Nico Hulkenberg (F1) 23. Jean-Eric Vergne (F3) 24. Kamui Kobayashi (F1) 25. James Courtney (V8 Supercars) 26. Jamie Green (DTM) 27. Sam Bird (GP2) 28. Kyle Busch (NASCAR) 29. Stephane Sarrazin (Sportscars) 30. Pastor Maldonado (GP2) 31. Jamie Whincup (V8 Supercars) 32. Jason Plato (Touring Cars) 33. Andy Priaulx (Touring Cars) 34. Marc Lieb (GT) 35. Timo Glock (F1) 36. Timo Bernhard (Sportscars) 37. Jamie McMurray (NASCAR) 38. Sergio Perez (GP2) 39. Juho Hanninen (Rallying) 40. Joao Paulo de Oliveira (FNippon) 41. Mikhail Aleshin (FRenault 3.5) 42. Heikki Kovalainen (F1) 43. Esteban Guerrieri (FRenault 3.5) 44. Gary Paffett (DTM) 45. Valtteri Bottas (F3) 46. Richard Westbrook (GT) 47. Craig Dolby (Superleague) 48. Craig Lowndes (V8 Supercars) 49. Rob Huff (Touring Cars) 50. Filipe Albuquerque (Race of Champions) Notable omission - Mr M Schumacher. Stand back everyone.............. let battle commence
Wow, I screwed up bad! Thought I had a link to the 2011 list without having to subscribe to Autosport
Okay, we've established that this thread is next to useless, but I want to salvage one point. 27. Sam Bird (GP2) Is proof if any were needed of clear-cut British favourtism. 30. Pastor Maldonado (GP2) 38. Sergio Perez (GP2) Is proof if any were needed that the person who compiled the chart did not actually watch Perez race.
50) Jamie Whincup (Aus) - V8 Supercars Champion 49) Gianmaria Bruni (Ita) - FIA GT2 Champion, Le Mans GT2 Winner 48) Giedo van der Garde (Ned) - World Series by Renault Champion 47) Fabrizio Giovanardi (Ita) - British Touring Car Champion 46) Jamie Green (GB) - 4th in DTM 45) Sebastien Ogier (Fra) - Junior World Rally Champion 44) Bruno Senna (Brz) - GP2 Runner-Up 43) Lucas Luhr (Ger) - ALMS LMP1 Champion 42) Andy Priaulx (GB) - 4th in WTCC 41) Ryan Briscoe (Aus) - 5th in IRL 40) Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) - 17th in F1 39) Rob Huff (GB) - 3rd in WTCC 38) Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) - 19th in F1 37) Neel Jani (Swz) - A1 GP Champion 36) Romain Grosjean (Fra) - GP2 Asia Champion, 4th in GP2 35) Tony Kanaan (Brz) - 3rd in IRL 34) Nicolas Minassian (Fra) - 2nd in LMS LMP1, Le Mans Overall Runner-Up 33) Lucas di Grassi (Brz) - 3rd in GP2 32) Timo Scheider (Ger) - DTM Champion 31) Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) - F3 Euroseries Champion 30) Franck Montagny (Fra) - 3rd in Le Mans Overall, 7th in ALMS LMP2 29) Jenson Button (GB) - 18th in F1 28) Romain Dumas (Fra) - ALMS LMP2 Champion, Sebring 12 Hours Winner, Nurburgring 24 Hours Winner 27) Yvan Muller (Fra) - World Touring Car Champion 26) Carl Edwards (USA) - NASCAR Sprint Cup Runner-Up, NASCAR Nationwide Series Runner-Up 25) Paul di Resta (GB) - DTM Runner-Up 24) Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) - 7th in F1 23) Helio Castroneves (Brz) - IRL Runner-Up 22) Giorgio Pantano (Ita) - GP2 Champion 21) Nico Rosberg (Ger) - 13th in F1 20) Stephane Sarrizan (Fra) - Spa 24 Hours Winner, 4th in LMS LMP1 19) Jari-Matti Latvala (Fin) - 4th in WRC 18) David Brabham (Aus) - ALMS LMP2 Runner-Up, Le Mans GT1 Winner 17) Mikko Hirvonen (Fin) - WRC Runner-Up 16) Timo Glock (Ger) - 10th in F1 15) Rubens Barrichello (Brz) - 14th in F1 14) Kyle Busch (USA) - 10th in NASCAR Sprint Cup, 6th in NASCAR Nationwide Series 13) Jimmie Johnson (USA) - NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion 12) Jarno Trulli (Ita) - 9th in F1 11) Allan McNish (GB) - Le Mans Overall Winner, Sebring 12 Hours LMP1 Winner, Petit Le Mans Overall Winner 10) Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) - 3rd in F1 9) Scott Dixon (NZ) - IRL Champion, Indy 500 Winner 8) Mark Webber (Aus) - 11th in F1 7) Nick Heidfeld (Ger) - 6th in F1 6) Sebastian Vettel (Ger) - 8th in F1 5) Sebastien Loeb (Fra) - World Rally Champion 4) Felipe Massa (Brz) - F1 Runner-Up 3) Fernando Alonso (Esp) - 5th in F1 2) Lewis Hamilton (GB) - F1 Champion 1) Robert Kubica (Pol) - 4th in F1
I'd say Hamilton being world champion gives that one away get rid of those hints except a couple of obscure ones and it'll be more fun...
1 (4) Kimi Raikkonen [FIN] F1 (1st) 2 (11) Lewis Hamilton [GBR] F1 (2nd) 3 (1) Fernando Alonso [ESP] F1 (3rd) 4 (8) Marcus Gronholm [FIN] WRC (2nd) 5 (3) Sebastien Loeb [FRA] WRC (1st) 6 (5) Jenson Button [GBR] F1 (15th) 7 (RE) Dario Franchitti [GBR] IRL (1st), Indy 500, Sebring 12H 8 (13) Scott Dixon [NZL] IRL (2nd), Indy 500 (2nd) 9 (6) Mark Webber [AUS] F1 (12th) 10 (14) Nick Heidfeld [GER] F1 (5th) 11 (15) Felipe Massa [BRA] F1 (4th) 12 (12) Robert Kubica [POL] F1 (6th) 13 (RE) Heikki Kovalainen [FIN] F1 (7th) 14 (38) Nico Rosberg [GER] F1 (9th) 15 (23) Andy Priaulx [GBR] WTC (1st) 16 (30) Tony Kanaan [BRA] IRL (3rd), Sebring 12H 17 (9) Jarno Trulli [ITA] F1 (13th) 18 (7) Giancarlo Fisichella [ITA] F1 (8th) 19 (NE) Mikko Hirvonen [FIN] WRC (3rd) 20 (29) Jimmy Johnson [USA] Nextel Cup (1st) 21 (NE) Alain Menu [FRA] WTC (6th) 22 (41) Sebastian Vettel [GER] F1 (14th), Renault WS (5th) 23 (17) Sebastien Bourdais [FRA] Champ Car (1st), Le Mans 24H (2nd) 24 (NE) Romain Dumas [FRA] ALMS (1st); Le Mans 24H (3rd); Nurburgring 24H; Petit LM 25 (RE) Jeff Gordon [USA] Nextel Cup (2nd), Daytona 24H 26 (27) Allan McNish [GBR] ALMS (1st), Petit LM (1st) 27 (10) Rubens Barrichello [BRA] F1 (20th) 28 (NE) Timo Glock [GER] GP2 (1st) 29 (20) David Coulthard [GBR] F1 (10th) 30 (32) Helio Castroneves [BRA] IRL (6th), Indy 500 (3rd) 31 (43) Bruno Spengler [CDN] DTM (2nd) 32 (44) Vitantonio Liuzzi [ITA] F1 (18th) 33 (NE) Nicolas Minassian [FRA] LMS (3rd) 34 (40) Paul di Resta [GBR] DTM (5th) 35 (NE) James Thompson [GBR] WTC (3rd) 36 (42) Matt Kenseth [USA] Nextel Cup (4th), Busch Series (10th) 37 (RE) Giorgio Pantano [ITA] GP2 (3rd) 38 (NE) Romain Grosjean [FRA] F3 Euro (1st) 39 (NE) Adrian Sutil [GER] F1 (19th) 40 (RE) Mattias Ekstrom [SWE] DTM (1st) 41 (NE) Nico Hulkenberg [GER] A1GP (1st), F3 Masters (1st), F3 Euro (3rd) 42 (19) Sam Hornish [USA] IRL (5th), Indy 500 (4th), Nextel Cup 43 (26) Justin Wilson [GBR] Champ Car (2nd) 44 (NE) Oliver Jarvis [GBR] Macau GP (1st), F3 Japan (3rd), A1GP (3rd) 45 (RE) Yvan Muller [FRA] WTC (2nd) 46 (NE) Marko Asmer [EST] F3 British (1st), F3 Japan (10th), Macau GP (4th) 47 (NE) Anthony Davidson [GBR] F1 (23rd) 48 (NE) Jari-Matti Latvala [FIN] WRC (8th) 49 (RE) Fabrizio Giovanardi [ITA] BTCC (1st) 50 (NE) Alex Lloyd [GBR] Indy Pro (1st) Jenson getting 6th despite coming 15th is the big surprise there.
Through Vettels various mechanical problems. Never got the hype over webber in 2010. I thought he was lucky for the most part, had no mechanical DNF in by far the best car on the grid and finished 3rd.
The hype wasn't so much due to his talent. Several decent men have been WDC since Senna, and most of them are better drivers than Webber. But how many of them could be described as likeable, distinct characters?
Oh.. it's a 2010 list. Hammy is still a stretch at #2 for 2010, but if he's at 2 for 2011 then somebody needs a double lobotomy... full frontal.
This year's list. 50. Benoit Treluyer 49. Michael Krumm 48. Mirko Bortolotti 47. Andreas Mikkelsen 46. Garth Tander 45. Craig Lowndes 44. Kevin Magnussen 43. James Calado 42. Jimmie Johnson 41. Matt Neal 40. Jason Plato 39. Heikki Kovalainen 38. Michael Schumacher 37. Kevin Harvick 36. Bruno Spengler 35. Roberto Merhi 34. Rob Huff 33. Oriol Servia 32. Felipe Nasr 31. Robert Wickens 30. Sergio Perez 29. Brad Keselowski 28. Lucas Luhr 27. Paul di Resta 26. Adrian Sutil 25. Valtteri Bottas 24. Jean-Eric Vergne 23. Luca Filippi 22. Scott Dixon 21. Yvan Muller 20. Mattias Ekstrom 19. Sebastien Bourdais 18. Mark Webber 17. Jari-Matti Latvala 16. Anthony Davidson 15. Andre Lotterer 14. Romain Grosjean 13. Jamie Whincup 12. Sebastien Ogier 11. Martin Tomczyk 10. Nico Rosberg 09. Carl Edwards 08. Lewis Hamilton 07. Sebastien Loeb 06. Will Power 05. Dario Franchitti 04. Tony Stewart 03. Fernando Alonso 02. Jenson Button 01. Sebastian Vettel