It’s that time of the year again, F1 is over for the year, pre season testing is a full two months away and Kimi Raikkonen has put us all out of our misery and finally announced he will return for 2012 and we F1 fans geeks left compiling list and desperately looking forward to the sight of any sort of new F1 car. Here are my top five drivers of the year.
1.Sebastian Vettel.
A no brainier this year, It’s very easy to say ‘well he had the best car’ which of course is true but to get a seat in a top car you have to earn it and the last time I checked Torro Rosso has even been close to winning a Grand Prix since his departure. He destroyed his well established team mate and had an almost flawless year putting to bed the label of ‘the crash kid’. Eleven wins and a record breaking fifthteen pole position it is hard to imagine another world champion having such a flawless season. A model world champion on and off the track.
2.Jenson Button.
Up until 2009 it was thought that he was always going to be a nearly man, winning a world championship did little to enhance his reputation given the superiority of his car and like many I thought he was committing career suicide by moving to be Hamiltons team mate. A solid 2010 but that idea to bed and I would argue that 2011 has been his finest year yet. Beating Lewis Hamilton in his own team has probably done more for his reputation than his 2009 world championship win.
3.Fernando Alonso
Still for my money the best driver on the grid. Completely destroyed his team and carried a Ferrari way above it’s performance levels. It is hard to judge how good that car was because Massa’s performance may never recover from his accident or put it simply Fernando is just that good. If Ferrari can provide him with a race car that can get within 0.5 seconds of Red Bull next year expect Fernando to be world champion in 2012.
4.Heikki Kovalainen
Easily the best drivers of the new teams with the best team mate head to head qualifying record on the grid. After a tough spell at McLaren it seems the penny has finally dropped for Heikki and he was able to drag his poor car into a midfield battle it did not belong in. If Caterham do not deliver on their promises for next year then expect Kovalainen to return to a top team for 2013. If he is not the first driver from the new teams to score a point next season I will eat my hat.
5.Adrian Sutil.
A slow start to the year in which he made more off track headlines than on track, Sutil turned in a fantastic second half of the season resulting in an impressive career high ninth in the championship table. Unbelievable is now scrambling around looking for a drive in 2012. F1 can be a cruel sport at times.
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