Only just got a chance to watch the race on iPlayer... Glad I did! Best Driver: Rosberg Worst Driver: Can't really pin it on anyone Best Rookie(Grosjean,Pic,Ricciardo,Vergne): Grosjean? Best Team: Merc Worst Team: Caterham seemed iffy today Best Overtake: Far to many Funniest-moment: ? Most Surprising Result: Rosberg Least Surprising Result: Hamilton.... 3rd Special Mention to: Hamilton did well to battle on from the penalty and stay calm. Oh and DC's forum fans. Race Rating: 10/10 - Exciting throughout, glad I bothered to watch it! Best Commentator overall: Edwards?
Best Driver: Rosberg Worst Driver: No one really. Perez locking up all the time was a bit ridiculous though. Best Rookie(Grosjean,Pic,Ricciardo,Vergne): Grosjean Best Team: Mercedes Worst Team: Ferrari Best Overtake: Probably Button on Vettel. Can go to anyone though. Funniest-moment: Lao! Most Surprising Result: Rosberg - who else Least Surprising Result: Hamilton getting another podium/Schumacher's bad luck Special Mention to: Sebastian Vettel - had to be defended yesterday with so many eejits saying 'ohhh he's showing his true worth now' and even with a poor start still drove well to finish well in the points. Couldn't defend against Button, Webber but should be pleased with his result. Race Rating: 8/10 Best Commentator overall: DC/Edwards - brilliant commentating. Who in actual hell tuned into Sky's try hard coverage?
•Best Driver: Rosberg •Worst Driver: Erm....Massa again? •Best Rookie: Grosjean •Best Team: Mercedes •Worst Team: Lotus •Best Overtake: Webber on Kimi, Vettel on Kimi •Funniest-moment: Webber's wheelie •Most Surprising Result: Rosbergs tyre wear....was just perfect today •Least Surprising Result: RBR **** in Top Speed •Special Mention to: Erm...Kimi, he deserved better •Race Rating: 8.8/10, boring at the start but it really picked up later towards the end •Best Commentator overall: Myself!
Best Driver: Nico Rosberg, cant fault his driving, never made a mistake and preserved the tyres Worst Driver: no one stood out for me Best Rookie : Grosjean solid points finish for him Best Team: Mercedes good Quali, probably would have been two in the top 5 only for schumacher's pit crew mistake Worst Team:Toro Rosso Pace isnt there, compared to the other two races Best Overtake: Loads of them, Button had some pretty sweet ones Funniest-moment: In BBC preview, Jake: its not a Tilke Track, Lewis: there should be some overtaking then Most Surprising Result: Sauber's poor pace Least Surprising Result: Red Bull good race pace Special Mention to: Williams, have a good car this year and both drivers are delivering Race Rating: 9/10 Best Commentator overall: Edwards/DC, worked very well
I would have made the same choices, but Mercedes messed up Schumacher's stop and potentially cost themselves a 1-2 or double podium finish, while Ferrari's pit stops were on average 0.5 faster than the next best. I loved the chaos and overtaking towards the end, but I found the rest of the race to be quite boring. A bad result for Ferrari didn't help.
Best Driver: Nico Rosberg (I really don't want to keep giving this to the race winner but it can't be helped. Absolutely faultless drive) Worst Driver: can't think of one Best Rookie: Romain Grosjean (And finally he gets some points!) Best Team: McLaren (very close call between them and Mercedes, but McLaren got both their drivers on the podium, whereas Mercedes forced one of their's to retire) Worst Team: Lotus (Who the hell decided Raikkonen should've gone that long on those tyres? Oh well, I suppose now we have a real-life example of what happens when your tyres "fall off the cliff") Best Overtake: Webber on Vettel (It was gonna be Button on Vettel with the way he just dived down the inside, but then Mark went and topped it by doing it round the outside.) Funniest-moment: The Chinese fans (I think Jenson Button described them as "pushy" during the forum. They really do fight for a photo.) Most Surprising Result: Mercedes screwing up a pit-stop so badly. Least Surprising Result: Both McLarens on the podium. Special Mention to: Nico Rosberg (I've always liked this guy, and I loved seeing him take his first ever F1 victory) Race Rating: 10/10 (Best race of the season so far.) Best Commentator overall: Ben Edwards (I only watch BBC coverage so can't really say but oh well...)
â¢Best Driver: Nico Rosberg â¢Worst Driver: Perez - Constantly locking up and nearly pushed his teammate off the road. â¢Best Rookie(Grosjean,Pic,Ricciardo,Vergne): â¢Best Team: Mercedes - They seem to have sorted out some of the tyre issues â¢Worst Team: STR - The car has no pace. â¢Best Overtake: Webber on Vettel, but there were a lot of other great ones. â¢Funniest-moment: Brundle - "I haven't been this disappointed since Shrek 2" â¢Most Surprising Result: Webber still continuing after flying off the road â¢Least Surprising Result: Great finishes for Williams â¢Special Mention to: Vettel, Button, Alonso â¢Race Rating: 10/10 â¢Best Commentator overall:
Best Driver: Rosberg Worst Driver: Massa Best Rookie(Grosjean,Pic,Ricciardo,Vergne): Grosjean Best Team: Mercedes Worst Team: Caterham Best Overtake: Webber on Vettel Funniest-moment: Red bull gives webber wings again Most Surprising Result: Mercs lasting tyres Least Surprising Result: Mclaren getting podium Special Mention to: Rosbergs first pole and win, Also for china finally filling those seats up. Race Rating: 8/10 Best Commentator overall: Ben Edwards
Chinese Winners are: Best Driver: Nico Rosberg (15 votes) Worst Driver: Felipe Massa, Kimi Raikkonen, Sergio Perez (3 votes) Best Rookie: Romain Grosjean (19 votes) Best Team: Mercedes (15 votes) Worst Team: Ferrari (6 votes) Race Rating average: 8.82 Very varied voting for this race, thanks to all who voted
Total for season : Best Driver Jenson Button (1) Fernando Alonso (1) Nico Rosberg (1) Worst Driver Felipe Massa (3) Kimi Raikkonen (1) Sergio Perez (1) Best Rookie Daniel Ricciardo (1) Jean Eric Vergne (1) Romain Grosjean (1) Best Team Mclaren (1) Mercedes (1) Sauber (1) Worst Team HRT (2) Ferrari (1) Mclaren (1) Best Race Malaysia (8.92) China (8.82) Australia (7.92)
I agree, chaps. Bit surprised, actually. China was thrilling and easily the best so far. There's no accounting for taste, eh? [EDIT: This year's Chinese GP was 'officially' the fourth 'best' race in history.] I'm in two minds about Raikkonen's race in China. I almost put him down as worst driver and he was certainly the difference because Grosjean made a two-stop strategy work. In 2007, however, Raikkonen struggled considerably with the Bridgestones early in the season and we know how his season went on, so I think it's just gaining experience in the heat of battle and I don't think it's valid to pillory him for it.
Of course, statistics can never describe quality but I agree that China 2012 was a spectacularly good showpiece for F1.
Best Driver: Rosberg Worst Driver: Karthikeyan - he was nearly (he might have been passed) a lap down on a Marussia Best Rookie(Grosjean,Pic,Ricciardo,Vergne): Grosjean - finally sorted himself out Best Team: Mclaren - would have been Mercedes if it weren't for the pit stop Worst Team: HRT - as ever, going backwards Best Overtake: Webber on Vettel on penultimate lap, round the outside of the hairpin Funniest-moment: Webber attempting to take off his piloting career Most Surprising Result: Kimi and Lotus messing his race up, should have brought him in with about 10 laps to go, he could have salvaged a point from Kobayashi or Alonso with the clear air he would have had Least Surprising Result: Massa way out of the points, even with a dodgy strategy Special Mention to: Senna - vastly improved, and still has much more to give, keep watching him Race Rating: 8/10 Best Commentator overall: Ben Edwards