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I'm surprised that I didn't make this thread sooner.
Which were your 10 most impressive race performances this season?
Mine are (in order of the calendar):
Fernando Alonso in China
Jules Bianchi in Monaco
Nico Rosberg in Canada
Valtteri Bottas in Silverstone
Lewis Hamilton in Hungary
Fernando Alonso in Hungary
Daniel Ricciardo in Belgium
Lewis Hamilton in Singapore
Lewis Hamilton in Japan
Daniel Ricciardo in Abu Dhabi
Honorable mentions which didn't quite make the list:
Sebastian Vettel in Spain
Lewis Hamilton in Germany
Daniel Ricciardo in Hungary
Jenson Button in Japan
Nico Rosberg in Brazil
Hamilton in Bahrain - If you ever want to learn more about racecraft then you should study that race very carefully.
Jules in Monaco - Stunning performance, loved the crazy overtake. Sign of an extremely hungry driver.
Riccardo - any of the three wins really, he was on it from race 1 and he too showcased almost superior racecraft compared to his teammate.
Rosberg in Brazil - The only win Rosberg had where there was nothing wrong with the cars and he beat Hamilton legitimately pushing him into a mistake. Great performance by Rosberg. Also worth pointing out Silverstone Quali, great thinking.
"If the only thing keeping a person decent is the expectation of divine reward, then brother that person is a piece of sh*t"
I have no idea how I could have forgot about Hamilton's drive in Bahrain. It feels so long ago!
I'd also say that Rosberg's drive in Canada is underrated. He nursed a broken and wounded car to 2nd place when everyone was expecting him to drop through the field like a stone. I loved it how he'd always have *just* enough in hand in sectors 1 and 2 to keep Perez behind in sector 3.
Ham in hungary? spinning into the wall after 5 seconds, then doing nothing the whole race, benefiting from safety car, couldn't pass struggling vettel, then got stuck behind alonso when it mattered most. There were epic performances from hamilton this year, such as in suzuka and usa. Hungary? c mon.
Anyway, hamilton holding off rosberg by any means in bahrain could be at the top. Followed by ricciardo's epic pace in spa to keep himself out of range of rosbergs op merc. Ric in USA was also something special. Imo even more so than abu dhabi.
Juzh wrote:Ham in hungary? spinning into the wall after 5 seconds, then doing nothing the whole race, benefiting from safety car, couldn't pass struggling vettel, then got stuck behind alonso when it mattered most. There were epic performances from hamilton this year, such as in suzuka and usa. Hungary? c mon.
What about passing Vergne around the outside after Rosberg failed to do so for an eternity?
So 1 overtake is all that matters, lets disregard tons of other stuff which might contradict our theory. Give me a break. As I said, hamilton had good stuff to show in 2014, hungary was not one them.
3 times Hamilon zero times Perez = not nice.
Hamilton in Singapore - you've got to be kidding. 0,007 in Q, no competiton, his own team took care of his team-mate, ultra dominant car and one formality overtake. It was walk in the park, nothing more nothing less
Hamilton in Hungary - you've got to be kidding, he was extremely lucky not to finish the race on the first lap, extremely lucky with safety cars, didn't make tyres last and made mistake that helped Ricciardo overtake.
Hamilton in Japan - this one is debatable, he did the job but it was IMO nothing special, had big pace/tyres advantage (good for him) but almost blew it, rain helped - no doubt about it, hard to separate so whatever, maybe it was
From memory:
- It's a crime not to include Perez Monza, Perez Austria/Canada or Perez Bahrain, I would start drives of the season with those.
- You want Hamilton put Malaysia or USA, engine settings problems for Rosberg or not it was a very good overtake at the crucial moment.
- Alonso - China(?) and Hungary, Silverstone was good too
- Bottas - only Germany, hard to say with Ham and tyres but still very impressive, pity about Austria, his fault.
- Rosberg - Brazil and/or Canada
- Ricciardo - only Hungary, lucky with competition (Mercedes gifting it) and SC or not, the one on Hamilton was good, the one on Alonso formality, Belgium? Win is not the same as a great drive. Mistake in qualifying, mistake at the start (I don't really remember but it's a safe bet). Abu Dhabi? Who did he compete against? No one - same as Belgium.
- Bianchi had Monaco, Grosjean Spain or USA, Hulkenberg Abu Dhabi, even Vergne had Singapore
Not that many drivers making a difference races overall. Races decided early, big gaps, some action only when Bottas or Ricciardo blew starts. Notice lack of Vettel, Button, Magnussen, Kvyat, Massa, Raikkonen etc.: 2015 is going to be great :-/ . Overtake of the season: Perez on Button in Monza (first one).
I don't know how the hell I forgot Perez in Bahrain/Monza (I'd add Austria to that too). In Canada he was good but blew it, although you could argue that without the brake problems, that accident would have never happened. Grosjean in Barcelona was also an excellent performance. Massa's best performance this season was probably Abu Dhabi, closely followed by Singapore.
Juzh wrote:Ham in hungary? spinning into the wall after 5 seconds, then doing nothing the whole race, benefiting from safety car, couldn't pass struggling vettel, then got stuck behind alonso when it mattered most. There were epic performances from hamilton this year, such as in suzuka and usa. Hungary? c mon.
What about passing Vergne around the outside after Rosberg failed to do so for an eternity?
Or passing four cars in one lap and beating Rosberg after starting from the pit lane and spinning and getting on the podium. All on a track they call Monaco without the barriers. People always say Belgium was the turning point of the season, but it was Hungary were Hamilton got under Rosbergs skin, which caused what happened in later races. It was his best drive of the season imo.
"Leave it to Lewis Hamilton to ruin Redbull's day" - Martin Brundle
"Ok Lewis, Its Hammertime!!" - Peter Bonnington
"Fresh tires, 15 laps. What do you think Lewis Hamilton is going to do?" - Martin Brundle
I wouldn't rate Rosberg's performance in Brazil as one of his best.
I feel that Hamilton pushed himself into making a mistake rather than it being of Rosberg's doing.
At that stage Hamilton was looking like he had massive pace in hand compared to Rosberg who just looked like he did not have an answer.
Hamilton pushed more than he needed to and ended up spinning.
Yes Hamilton made a mistake and Nico didn't but Nico looked the slower of the two.
If Hamilton had been a little bit more measured in his approach then I don't think Rosberg would have had a reply.
What about Massa's drives in Brazil and Abu Dhabi?
I thought these were great races from him, finishing ahead of Valteri and looking like he had regained his form of old.
Drive of the season for me goes to Hamilton in Bahrain.
Another one that I don't think has been mentioned which impressed me was Jenson's drive in Abu Dhabi.
Apparently no one knows that Hamilton had a fuel pressure problem in Hungary resulting in loss of power and preventing him from overtaking Alonso and losing the place to Ricciardo as well.
Juzh wrote:Ham in hungary? spinning into the wall after 5 seconds, then doing nothing the whole race, benefiting from safety car, couldn't pass struggling vettel, then got stuck behind alonso when it mattered most. There were epic performances from hamilton this year, such as in suzuka and usa. Hungary? c mon.
You know he had an engine issue halfway through that race?
Bianchi in Monaco. Included a somewhat(!) crucial overtake as well. He was future wdc imo...
Education is that which allows a nation free, independent, reputable life, and function as a high society; or it condemns it to captivity and poverty.
-Atatürk
Hammer44 wrote:Apparently no one knows that Hamilton had a fuel pressure problem in Hungary resulting in loss of power and preventing him from overtaking Alonso and losing the place to Ricciardo as well.
I'd completely forgotten about that.
I think it's great that we are so spoiled for choice.
Hamilton in Bahrain
Bianchi in Monaco
Hamilton in Germany
Ricciardo in Germany
Hamilton in Hungary
Alonso in Hungary
Ricciardo in Hungary
Ricciardo in Italy
Hamilton in Singapore
Hamilton in Japan
There could easily be another 10 or 20 'worthy mentions'.
