Who will be 2011 F1 runner up?

[raymondu999]

Hey folks. Realistically speaking, it will take a disaster to deprive Vettel of the title (Knock on wood). Who do you guys think will be the runner up, and why?

Personally; I'm thinking it will be Alonso in runner up again.

[SiLo]

I'm going for Webber. I would of gone for Hamilton but I think Webber is a safer bet considering he is what I would call, a safer driver XD

[PNSD]

If were not for two mechanical failures then Jenson Button would probably be in that position right now, or least equal with Webber.

I have therefore voted for Jenson, perhaps more in hope however. He has had a stellar year and I would like to think he could close it off by finishing 2nd overall as that's where I would probably rate his season. Best driver after Vettel.

[i70q7m7ghw]

I already created a poll and it got locked. I now call for consistantancy from the moderators, unlock mine and merge the results, or lock this one.

[Richard]

The candidates are squabbling among themselves so the points will be shared between the 4 drivers in the poll. Hence Webber will benefit because he has points in the bag.

Having said that, I believe all 4 drivers have the talent, machine & team to get second place in the WDC. Probabilities by definition do through up anomalies/outliers - so any one of the 4 could gets a perfect storm to land 2nd.

What about the WCC? Are 1st to 4th now pretty much determined?

[HampusA]

Alonso will once again start playing it cool and bring the car home safe.

I think he will end this year as the runner-up.

[PNSD]

Probably more so a testament to RedBull, but Webber leads that group yet has not won a race, compared to Lewis and Jenson who have won 2 and Alonso's sole Silverstone win.

Maybe its more surprising that Vettel's won 7! I realize Mark has not been the luckiest guy but to finish in that runner up spot, I would like to see him at least win a race.

[HampusA]

Some numbers to look at it..

These are the amounts of points the drivers have collected in the last 5 races, Europe to Belgium GP.


Never count out Alonso, he´s flying under the radar for the runner up spot

[raymondu999]

To be honest I don't really like those kind of points calculations; as how do you choose which race to count it from? Sure Alonso's got the most in the last 5, but then extend it to one more race, Canada, and you have a different picture as Alonso got a DNF there. (In this case Alonso still would be 2nd place, but my point is, you can choose the starting point to show statistics as you want them)

If we included Canada, if anyone was interested:
Vettel 116
Alonso 88
Webber 88
Button 73
Hamilton 61

[dren]

If were not for two mechanical failures then Jenson Button would probably be in that position right now, or least equal with Webber.

I have therefore voted for Jenson, perhaps more in hope however. He has had a stellar year and I would like to think he could close it off by finishing 2nd overall as that's where I would probably rate his season. Best driver after Vettel.

I'd have to say the same thing. If he could just qualify better...but he's had one hell of a season so far.

[raymondu999]

I think Button's smooth style hampers his qualifying in a way. I think that for him to really capitalize on his smooth style he has to be super-smooth, which relies on getting a good rhythm; while you only get maybe 4 or 5 laps maximum in terms of Q1; even less in Q2 and Q3.

Sure it pays back in the races with having a smooth rhythm; as it makes the driving quite easy as the moves just become repetitive; but in quali there's not much of a chance to build up a repetitive rhythm. I remember in Australia 2010 when he won his first McLaren race after Button spent 2 laps on the slicks it was just green sectors all the way in his live timing; as he balanced the tyre wear so evenly across his stint length with his smooth rhythm.

[HampusA]

To be honest I don't really like those kind of points calculations; as how do you choose which race to count it from? Sure Alonso's got the most in the last 5, but then extend it to one more race, Canada, and you have a different picture as Alonso got a DNF there. (In this case Alonso still would be 2nd place, but my point is, you can choose the starting point to show statistics as you want them)

If we included Canada, if anyone was interested:
Vettel 116
Alonso 88
Webber 88
Button 73
Hamilton 61

The number 5 was a random number not meant to put Alonso on a pedistal.
If i had written the last 6 you would have wondered why i did not choose 5 races.

At the end of the day it shows how many points the guys have collected in the last 5 races, nothing more nothing less

[HampusA]

I think it comes down more to the fact that Button just isn´t that quick over a lap compared to the rest of the guys.

In 09 he had no competition except for Barrichello the first part of the season.
Now he doesn´t have the fastest car and he´s competing against Alonso-Vettel-Hamilton.

[marcush.]

quick over one lap ,who cares ? Button did enough to destabilise vettel enough to run into a mistake walking away with the win .
He was a bit let down by the car/team but had incredible luck to get away with massive hits in Spa let alone the coming together with Hamilton.
At this time it does not look too good for the opposition of RedBull simply because the
Bulls are finishing the races with good points finishes EVERY race.Not sure how close to desaster they are running with their equipment though.And both drivers have yet to finish a season without a major fault in a race..

[HampusA]

??? I´m talking about why he´s not sitting on pole....
Hence the "i think he´s just not quick enough over a lap"