The Class of 2012...how did they all fare? |
Driver of the Year
Fernando Alonso. Driver of the Year |
1. Alonso: A surprisingly easy pick
given the variety of race-winners and the fact that the drivers’ championship
went down to the wire. His brilliance, passion and sheer iron-willed
determination shone out race after race as he pushed his Ferrari to way beyond
its limits to achieve some astounding results. He may not have won the title
but this was his finest season in Formula 1 by far.
2. Vettel: Slightly harder to
choose the runner-up but it has to be Seb – he hauled himself back into the
title race and ultimately triumphed to become the youngest Treble Champion in
F1 history. Ok his resurgence was in no small part due to Adrian Newey’s
game-changing upgrades but he still had to seal the deal. Vettel’s drives in
Abu Dhabi and Brazil from the back of the field were championship defining.
Kimi Raikkonen at Monaco. Old school. |
3. Räikkönen: A very close call
between Kimi and Lewis Hamilton but Kimi squeezed onto my podium for these
reasons: (1) This guy hadn’t raced in Formula 1 for 2 years and it was as if he
had never been away. In his first season back, he finished 3rd in
the Drivers Championship, ahead of both McLarens, a Red Bull and a Ferrari. Yes
the Lotus was good but not in the same league as those other cars. (2) They
don’t make drivers like Kimi any more – a racing demon on track and cult-hero off
it, largely for refusing to be a media-sponsor-friendly cyborg. Kimi is currently
kick-starting his winter break with some snowmobile racing. (3) Kimi wore a
retro ‘James Hunt’ helmet at Monaco. Actually this alone propels him into my
top 3!
Team of the Year
The Red Bull Dream Team |
1. Red Bull: A hugely likeable and
impressively cool-under-pressure team boss in Christian Horner, a genius designer
in Adrian Newey and blindingly fast
driver in Vettel. Its safe to say after 3 winning seasons that Red Bull +
Vettel is one of the all-time great car/driver combos. After a distinctly
lacklustre start to the season, they came roaring back with a vengeance. The
perfect package.
2. Lotus: Remember all the debate
at the start of the season whether the New Lotus were the true (or
illegitimate) heirs of Colin Chapman’s Lotus or the offspring of the former
Benetton/Renault team (not to be muddled with Team Lotus which is now Caterham)?
Doesn’t seem important now. This team confounded all expectations by mixing it
with the big boys with ease. Their
tactics and strategy need a bit of fine-tuning but overall a superb season.
Kobayashi's brilliant podium at Suzuka |
3. Sauber: Just pip a couple of
other worthy contenders (notably, Force India) by their string of excellent
results particularly in the early part of the season. Three podiums for Perez
(before the wheels came off after his move to McLaren was announced) and an
emotional podium for Kobayashi was a great return. They were desperately
unlucky not to capitalise on their 2nd and 4th place
qualifying positions at Spa. The future
looks bright in 2013, not least because Hulkenberg is coming on board.
The Best Race of the Year
The Brazilian GP 2012 |
1. Brazil: A spell-binding race where
the title hung in the balance from the start to the finish. Cram-packed with
crashes, breathtaking driving and constant drama. The spirit of Senna lives on
at this magical track. Interlagos should get the final race gig every year.
2. Valencia: One of my favourite F1
races ever. A stunning drive from Alonso to win the race after qualifying 11th,
Kimi was 2nd and most brilliantly of all, Michael Schumacher was 3rd.
Without a doubt, the best podium of the season.
Schumacher at Valencia, 2012 |
3. Abu Dhabi: I feel terrible at
leaving out the fabulous inaugural United States GP (well at the Circuit of the
Americas) but for once the race was as spectacular as its setting. Carnage on
the track, banzai overtaking, dramatic retirements, a phenomenal drive from
Vettel to finish 3rd from back of the grid and a Lotus’ first win (courtesy
of Kimi-Matias Räikkönen) since 1987.
The Most Coma-Inducing Race of the Year
1. Korean GP: Vettel took the lead at
the start and led for all 55 laps. Psy didn’t even do the podium interviews.
Presumably because he had passed out with boredom.
2. Indian GP: Vettel won after leading
from start to the finish. For whatever reason, F1 in India isn’t working.
3. Singapore GP: Vettel won. You get the
idea. The most exciting thing was the appearance of the Safety Car.
The Ayrton Senna Award for the Best Qualifying
Performance of the Year
Schumi bossing Monaco for one last time! |
1. Michael Schumacher at
Monaco: The
moment when Schuey snatched pole at the death at Monaco was without a doubt my
BEST moment in the entire season. They all said he was past it. Well boo sucks
to the doubters and haters. At the track which most rewards the raw talent of a
driver as opposed to the raw speed of the car, Schumacher rolled back the years
in electrifying fashion.
2. Kamui Kobayashi at Spa: An absolutely
mesmerising performance to take P2 on the grid and a tragedy that Kamui’s race
was abruptly ended in the first lap carnage.
3. Pastor Maldonaldo at
Barcelona:
Stuck the Williams on the front row in 2nd place. An absolutely stunning
feat.
The Nigel Mansell ‘Il Leone’ Award for the
Individual Best Drive of the Year
Vettel at the Abu Dhabi GP |
1. Vettel in Abu Dhabi: From the crushing disappointment
to be demoted to the back of the grid, he stormed through the field to finish 3rd.
Alonso at the European GP |
2. Alonso in Valencia: A truly stunning drive
to win the race after qualifying in 11th place.
3. Perez in Monza: Mesmerising drive to
finish 2nd after qualifying in 13th place.
Honourable mentions:
Vettel - Brazil
Hamilton - United States
Button - Spa
Kimi - Hungary
Hamilton and Grosjean - Canada
Maldonado - Barcelona
Perez - Malaysia
The Random Celebrity at a Race Award
Matt Le Blanc at the United States GP |
1. Matt Le Blanc at United
States GP:
Take a huge bow. You charmed the pants off us at the United States GP and
didn’t even flinch when Martin came out with the ‘how you doin’ catchphrase
that you must have heard like oh a trillion times.
2. Hugh Grant at British GP: Even by Eddie Jordan
standards, it was an utterly bizarre interview? Have we heard any Oscar buzz
surrounding Hugh’s film where he plays six small evil parts. Somehow I don’t
think Daniel Day-Lewis (PLEASE can Bernie invite DDL to a race!) will be losing
too much sleep. But Hugh we do love you and if we're going to have a posh toff as PM, it might as well be you!
3. Owen Wilson at Malaysian
and Brazil GP: Despite his blanking of The Pitlane Legend that is Martin Brundle, for
some reason (as yet unfathomable!) I have to include wee Owen Wilson.
Perversely, I’m looking forward to some more Owen sightings in 2013 and the
giddy heart-stopping prospect that he may even deign to share a few words with
the nation.
The Inaugural Best Use of Social Media Award
Lewis: What, you mean you never followed me? Ooops my bad. |
1. Lewis Hamilton: There could only ever
one possible winner! From tweeting confidential telemetry data to bagging out
his team-mate for unfollowing him (when Jenson had never followed him anyway!),
Lewis was on fire with his communications to the Twitterverse. Lets hope Ross
and Norb don’t put the kibosh on all our fun next year. Can you imagine
how fantabulous Lewis’s rants could be about the 2013 Mercedes?!
2. Fernando Alonso: A total revelation.
Funny, controversial and passionate. The Samurai sayings were brilliantly
bonkers. Oh and Nando, I am loving your work on Instagram!
3. Fake Charlie Whiting: So scarily believable that
even the Real Charlie Whiting was impressed enough to bestow an invitation on
his doppelgänger to attend the
Canadian GP as his guest. When F1 meets the real world with surprising results!
The Time to Call it a Day and Move to Nascars
Award
Narain, I'm sorry to say but you're fired. |
1. Narain Karthikeyan: Please forgive me Narain,
but it hasn’t really gone too well has it? He’s definitely not one of the top 100
24 best drivers in the world.
2. De La Rosa: Way past his sell-by
date.
3. Mark Webber: Very controversial
(there are definitely less talented drivers) but he is such a waste of a prime
seat at a title-winning team. Totally chucked his season away (again) and
doesn’t even help his team-mate much. Fail.
Biggest Disappointment of 2012
1. Mercedes: Need I go into detail.
Probably the hardest thing to take was that the season promised so much at
first and then totally and utterly imploded. Bitterly, bitterly disappointing. The
only way is up but it’s a freaking long way.
The Williams fire |
2. The Williams fire in
Barcelona: After the euphoria of Maldonado’s win for Williams (and the team’s first
win in 8 years), it was almost like watching a Greek tragedy unfold to see fire
breaking out in the Williams garage post race.
3. Singapore, Japan, Korea
and India:
An absolutely horrific quartet of races. The biggest borefests imaginable that
luckily I have pretty much managed to block out thanks to the stupendous final
3 races that followed India.
Brundle - A master at work |
The Murray Walker Broadcasting Award is awarded to Martin Brundle. A seamless transition
over to Sky. His #MartinsGridWalk is already a legend in its own lifetime (and
you only appreciate how brilliant his pitwalks are when you sit through the
awkward almost-car-crash gridwalks over on the BBC). Martin Brundle is the
shining star in Sky Sports F1’s firmament and the biggest reason by miles that
we watch the races on Sky.
Lifetime Achievement Award is awarded (posthumously)
to Professor Sid Watkins. This truly
remarkable man proves that not all legends in Formula 1 need to race cars. The
Prof did more than anyone else to call time on Formula 1’s ‘killing years’ and was
one of the greatest men ever in motorsport history.
The Prof and Ayrton |
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