After 8 months, 19 races in 18 countries, and
28,600 sets of tyres, the 2011 Formula 1 season came to a close. The battle for the championships came to a close rather earlier than that thanks to the dominance of Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull. But away from the championship standings, who really was the best driver of the season? Well read on, because the Pits Take F1 2011 Driver Rankings take the individual driver rating assigned to each driver at each event throughout the season (mostly as published on this blog but most recently not, due to various technical issues, time constraints and ‘real life’ getting in the way), adds them up, works out an average (that’s the number after the driver’s name/team) and grades the drivers accordingly. More analysis of the ratings, including a full driver-by-driver race-by-race list of scores, will be published at a later date, but for now please enjoy the following opinionated babble, starting with the surprise driver at number one…
1st Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) – 8.63
Okay, so it isn’t really a surprise to anyone with even a passing interest in Formula 1 to see Sebastian Vettel’s name at the top of this list. The German has been simply stunning in 2011 – 15 poles, 11 wins, 17 podium finishes and only one retirement. As the stats suggest, his success has largely been built on the foundations of brilliant performances on a Saturday in qualifying. So often McLaren or even Ferrari looked capable of matching Red Bull in practice, but time and time again Vettel would then stamp his authority on the whole field with mesmerising Q3 laps. He also proved his overtaking ability, which was unfairly criticised last season, on numerous occasions, including one of the moves of the season to pass Alonso in Monza. True, the world champion hasn’t been completely faultless this season; he had a few incidents in Friday practice sessions which were of his own making, leading to the loss of valuable track time (not that it slowed him down any). And, perhaps due to pressure from the home fans, he struggled in Germany to finish ‘only’ 4th. But this is nitpicking in the extreme, and by any standards the German has had an impeccable season. The most frightening thing of all is that Vettel is only 24 – he has another ten to fifteen seasons in F1 ahead of him in order to match and beat the supposedly inimitable records which countryman Michael Schumacher set just a few short years ago.
2nd Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) – 8.16
After a patchy 2010, despite fighting for the title, the two-time former champion came out all guns blazing in 2011. What a pity then that the Ferrari machinery simply wasn’t up to it. Despite promising testing form it was swiftly clear that the Ferrari was the third best car, at least in terms of qualifying pace. Indeed Alonso himself struggled in qualifying in early races, ending up behind team-mate Massa on a few occasions. But in the races he performed outstandingly – witness his electrifying start and great defensive display in Spain, and his dogged pursuit of Vettel in Monaco. A brilliant win in Britain owed much to the temporary one-race only change to the diffuser rules, but in the second half of the season Alonso took a succession of podium finishes on merit, regularly racing with and beating at least one McLaren or Red Bull. In the past Alonso has not appeared to be a driver who thrived in adversity – he was somewhat inconsistent (although at times brilliant) in his second stint with Renault, and allowed his head to drop when paired with Lewis Hamilton at McLaren. But this season he proved that he can knuckle down in difficult circumstances and produce outstanding results time and time again, which were far beyond what the car was theoretically capable of. The Ferrari team are clearly behind him in the same way they got behind Michael Schumacher (and never quite did with Kimi Raikkonen) - now they need to give the Spaniard a car worthy of his talents.
3rd Heikki Kovalainen (Lotus) – 7.26
2011 promised much for Lotus, so it must have been a bitter disappointment for Kovalainen to find that the new T128 car was still off the pace of the midfield runners in the opening races. In the context of such a let down, it would have been easy for the Finnish driver to lay into the team (as Timo Glock did at Virgin), or simply underperform like team-mate Jarno Trulli. But at no point in the season did Kovalainen allow this to happen. He simply got on with the job and pulled some great performances out of the bag, such as beating Sergio Perez’s (admittedly delayed) Sauber home as early as the third race of the season in China. In the second half of the year Kovalainen improved still further, culminating in a fabulous performance in Singapore where he beat Vitaly Petrov’s Renault home to 16th – particularly sweet given the legal wrangling surrounding the Lotus name between the two teams. By the end of the season the Finn was even being linked with a move to Renault, such was his excellent form. But he remains with Lotus, renamed Caterham, for 2012, and it will be fascinating to see what he can do in a car which surely must be good enough to mix it with the midfield runners on merit. Heikki certainly deserves such a car, and indeed needs one soon as he is approaching the peak of a career in which he has already driven for a top team (but perhaps a little too early to make the most of it).
4th Jenson Button (McLaren) – 7.16
It’s easy to forget, among all the (mainly BBC-inspired) hype around Button’s 2011 season, how poorly he began the year, and this is reflected in his overall driver rating. A silly error in cutting a corner in Australia put him down the field, and this was followed by average displays in China and Turkey. Many would point to the Canadian Grand Prix as the turning point of Button’s season, when the McLaren driver took a fabulous yet fortuitous win after clashes with Hamilton and Alonso, but in fact he subsequently struggled in wet-dry conditions in Britain and Germany. It was Hungary that was truly the turning point, as Button beat Hamilton in a straight fight for almost the first time in his McLaren career after a great battle. Thereafter Jenson, perhaps due to increased confidence, was mighty and all-but matched Vettel on a number of occasions to become the German’s main rival. Finishing runner-up in the world championship was a significant achievement, particularly as it put him ahead of team-mate Hamilton. But one cannot help have a sneaking suspicion that Hamilton remains the faster driver, and may reassert himself next year. Nonetheless Button certainly had his best season in F1 in 2011 and can be proud of his efforts. If he can perform at his very best for a full season next year then he could match Hamilton again, and if McLaren’s car is similarly fast out of the box then a second world title is not out of the question.
5th Adrian Sutil (Force India) – 6.95
2011 began badly for Adrian Sutil. Force India’s new car was off the pace, and rookie Paul Di Resta appeared to be able to extract more out of it than he could. Sadly for the German, the end of his year was even worse, as he was ousted from his long-held Force India seat by his compatriot Nico Hulkenberg. The bit in between, however, was excellent. A 9th place finish after a great drive in Valencia galvanised his season, and he finished in the points on nine occasions including brilliant 6th places in Germany and Brazil. He gradually got on top of Di Resta, and by the end of the year had outqualified him 10-9 and outscored him by 15 points. Sutil invariably got the most out of the improving car, and was racing against and beating the Mercedes regularly on merit by the end of the season, something none of the other midfield runners managed to do consistently (bar Renault in the opening races). It’s a travesty, therefore, that Sutil has to look elsewhere for a seat for 2012, and I for one think Force India may come to regret their decision despite the undoubted potential of their new line-up. Sutil’s only realistic option now is Williams – the fact that such a move represents a retrograde step is indicative of Williams’ decline and Force India’s improvement (this improvement being in part due to Sutil’s contribution over the last few seasons).
6th Sergio Perez (Sauber) – 6.88
The Mexican had an up-and-down sort of season, exemplified by his stunning Monaco practice pace being followed by a scary qualifying crash which put him out of action for two races. His debut in Australia was excellent, and it was immensely cruel that he was disqualified from 7th post-race through no fault of his own. It was particularly harsh on the youngster because he only once matched that result during the rest of the season, in Great Britain. His qualifying pace was generally good, and his head to head record against Kobayashi in qualifying was 11-7 in his favour. He generally scored his points, however, by making his tyres outlast the opposition, which indicates an old head on young shoulders and a good level of racecraft, impressive for someone so inexperienced. He also showed good strength of character when coming back from his Monaco accident, and honesty in standing down in Canada after not feeling at his best during Friday morning practice (though this also led to some slightly-harsh questions from some quarters about his fitness). He narrowly pips Paul Di Resta to the rookie of the year title (at least according to these driver rankings – both newcomers were fantastic) and is clearly still a potential star of the future, and his Ferrari links make him a potential replacement for Felipe Massa in the medium-term. To prove himself still further, he needs to beat Kobayashi on pace and points next year, and on the evidence of 2011 this is certainly a possibility.
7th Paul di Resta (Force India) – 6.84
If you’d offered Paul di Resta a final points tally of 27 for 2011 at the start of the season, the Scotsman would surely have bitten your arm off. The Force India car didn’t look capable of getting anything like that number of points at the beginning of the year, but di Resta still shone in scoring points in his first two races and generally showing Sutil the way – not bad for a driver straight out of DTM who hadn’t raced a single seater for four years. As the car improved the more-experienced Sutil gradually asserted himself, but that is to take nothing away from di Resta’s performances. Despite silly collisions in Monaco and Great Britain the rookie’s consistency was most impressive, as he finished all but one race and eight times in the points. Singapore was the highlight – 6th place was frankly a phenomenal result, and owed much to the Scot’s mature approach in looking after his tyres effectively. 8th in Brazil, although overshadowed by Sutil’s 6th place, was another great performance. Di Resta duly retained his drive, and will be joined by Nico Hulkenberg for 2012. Their intra-team battle will be fascinating, as both have a season of racing experience under their belts as well as a year as a third driver. It’s tempting to see their battle as a straight fight for the Mercedes drive when Michael Schumacher calls it a day, but whatever the ultimate reward di Resta needs to beat his latest German team-mate in order to further his career.
8th Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber) – 6.84
It’s been a mixed season for the Japanese racer, as is often the case in a driver’s second year. His best finish of 5th, achieved with a great drive in Monaco, matched Felipe Massa’s best result! He also drove fabulously in Canada to run 2nd for a while. However, his star did wane during the latter part of the year, although points scoring finishes in the last two races helped Sauber to secure 7th in the constructors championship. He put in some feisty performances but seems to have toned down some of the aggression that he became known for in 2010, which has helped his finishing record but perhaps made him less noticeable. Despite this, he certainly hasn’t been “anonymous”, as the BBC labelled him during the final ‘F1 Forum’ of the season, this seemingly being the default opinion that the blinkered BBC pundits have of most midfield F1 drivers bar di Resta. But the view of ‘Dee See’ et al does illustrate the problem of having a relatively anonymous second half of the season in comparison to the first – Kobayashi was widely praised for his efforts last year despite a rocky start. The Japanese driver needs to string a full season together in 2012, and beat Perez in both qualifying and the races, to continue justifying the faith Peter Sauber has shown in him.
9th Daniel Ricciardo (HRT) – 6.82
There was a time mid-way though 2011 when it seemed Daniel Ricciardo was on the verge of being handed a Toro Rosso drive. But the improving form of Jaime Alguersuari meant that Red Bull had to find another way to get their protégé onto the grid. Enter the impoverished HRT team – a relatively pressure-free place to start an F1 career but hardly a plum drive. The Australian made the most of it though, after a cautious but sensible start at the British Grand Prix. Thereafter he outqualified the experienced Vitantonio Liuzzi four times, and generally at least matched (and often beat) the Italian in the races as well. Considering how hard it is for a driver to come in to F1 halfway through a season (as Bruno Senna told all and sundry until he was blue in the face), Ricciardo did very well, and shone most brightly in Abu Dhabi where he qualified 20th. So a job well done in 2011 then, but what about the future? While both Toro Rosso drivers continued to match each other it looked unlikely that Ricciardo would be given a chance there, but the team have got around that by dismissing both drivers! Ricciardo therefore gets a great chance to impress Red Bull bosses in 2012, and could make a rapid ascent into the senior team if Mark Webber decides to call it a day, provided he can get the better of his new rookie team-mate Jean Eric Vergne.
10th Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) – 6.79
The form of Mercedes in many ways defined Nico Rosberg’s season. He proved in 2010 he could get the better of Michael Schumacher and largely did so again this year, which most observers still put down to Schumacher underperforming. Rosberg’s fight for points and recognition outside of his team was hampered by Mercedes’ inability to match their form of 2009 (as Brawn) and even 2010, and this led to the young German appearing somewhat anonymous at a number of races. Even if he got the best out of the car he was only ever destined to finish 7th in normal conditions, with Mercedes some way off the pace of Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren but normally clear of the midfield pack. In addition, despite Rosberg generally having the edge on his team-mate, Schumacher actually had the majority of stand-out drives in the silver cars (for example at Montreal and Monza). Rosberg was particularly unlucky in Italy, when the wayward Liuzzi took him out of contention at the first corner. Otherwise reliability was good, but despite his consistency it seemed like a slightly underwhelming season in comparison to the heights of last year. In all honesty he probably got the most out of the car, and retains his ‘best driver in F1 never to win a race’ tag. He will be hoping to lose it next season for the right reason (finally taking his maiden win) rather than the wrong one (becoming a forgotten man next to the latest batch of talented rookies in F1, namely Perez and Di Resta).
11th Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) – 6.74
To say that it hasn’t been a vintage season for the McLaren star is a massive understatement. The number of incidents that Hamilton was involved in is staggering, and the majority seemed to involve either Felipe Massa or Pastor Maldonado. Unfortunately for Hamilton he was generally to blame for the majority of them, and his post-Monaco rant against the stewards smacked of sour grapes from a driver who many feel has had it easy in his F1 career thus far. From then on the bright-eyed, bushy-tailed Hamilton of previous years was gradually replaced by a dour moody teenager, and on many occasions the Briton was seemingly only capable of a platitude and a strained smile for the omnipresent media. Even more worryingly, team-mate Jenson Button had the better of Hamilton for pace on several occasions. And yet despite suffering his worst season in F1, and despite all the personal angst and numerous on-track incidents, the Englishman still won three races – as many as Button and a record that most other drivers on the grid, Felipe Massa and Mark Webber among them, would love to have. This included a brilliant win in China, when the Red Bull was still the car to beat, and a great drive in Abu Dhabi (albeit assisted by Vettel’s puncture). Provided Lewis can sort his head out, 2012 represents a great opportunity to wipe the slate clean and get back to his brilliant best.
12th Jaime Alguersuari (Toro Rosso) – 6.74
This was a make or break season for both Toro Rosso drivers, with team owners Red Bull pushing younger drivers like the aforementioned Ricciardo towards Formula 1. The pressure seemed to get to Alguersuari at first, as he had an awful start to the season. Despite qualifying a stunning 7th in China, it took until Canada for the Spaniard to score points. But the top ten finishes then started to flow – seven of them in the last 13 races, including finishing 7th in Korea by passing Nico Rosberg on the last lap. Although Toro Rosso ultimately missed out on 7th place in the Constructors championship, despite their end-of-season surge, it seemed certain that the improving Alguersuari would retain his seat. But then came the shock decision to replace both Alguersuari and Sebastien Buemi with the inexperienced Ricciardo and Vergne. The team would surely have been better served keeping at least one known quantity in the car to match a rookie up against, and if so Alguersuari would have been a shoe-in for 2012. But now the Spaniard is scratching around for a drive, and without the backing Red Bull have given him during his career so far it will be hard to find one. HRT seems a good fit, although not a good career move and in any case the team have recently said Alguersuari is unlikely to drive for them. It would be a great shame if Alguersuari’s Formula 1 career was over at the tender age of 22, but he is young enough to drop into GP2 and try and find a way back, Romain Grosjean-style.
13th Michael Schumacher (Mercedes) – 6.53
After a feeble 2010 season, Michael Schumacher really needed to shine in the second season of his F1 comeback. On occasion, the legendary German certainly did – he drove very well in Canada and was unlucky to miss out on the podium, and in Monza he held off Lewis Hamilton’s faster McLaren time and time again. His robust defensive driving in Italy was certainly on the edge of what is acceptable, but did not deserve the widespread condemnation it received. What did deserve criticism was the seven-time champion’s poor qualifying form. Schumacher has never been the absolute quickest over one lap (it took him an age to break Ayrton Senna’s all-time pole record during his ‘first career’) but a record of 2-15 in favour of team mate Rosberg is nothing to write home about. The good news for Schumacher is that, given the current regulations, qualifying isn’t as important as previously, but it’s still an area he needs to improve. The other issue was a lack of consistency – appalling displays (including collisions with rivals) in Turkey, Valencia and Singapore made it hard to believe the man under the helmet was the same guy who once won 91 Grand Prix. Like old team-mate (but certainly not mate) Rubens Barrichello, Schumacher clearly has a burning desire to continue competing in Formula 1. However, when David Coulthard mused during commentary in Istanbul that maybe it was time for Michael to give up, the ever-sharp Martin Brundle summed up everyone’s thoughts by responding “what, on this race, or his career?” Perhaps Schumacher needs to ask himself the same question.
14th Mark Webber (Red Bull) – 6.47
After the highs of 2010, when Mark Webber fought for the driver’s title and only just missed out, 2011 was a sobering year for the Australian. While team-mate Vettel romped to the title, Webber was left trailing in his wake, and only picked up a solitary win at the final race of the season in Brazil (after Vettel’s gearbox problems). After Webber’s quip about being the number two driver last year he actually assumed the role this year due to his comparative lack of pace, and although Red Bull did get involved in Silverstone to prevent him passing Vettel for 2nd it generally seemed that the two drivers got fairly equal treatment. The source of his struggles appeared to be the new Pirelli tyres, which were of course the same for everyone but evidently did not suit Webber’s driving style. More often than not he was forced to make additional pit stops in races due to wearing out his rubber, which made matching the mercurial Vettel impossible. The Australian’s highlight this year was undoubtedly the ballsy pass he pulled on Alonso in Belgium going into Eau Rouge, which caused even the normally monotone David Coulthard to break into Murray Walker-style excited tones and showed that Mark’s racecraft is still intact. But any chance of an improvement in results in 2012 depends on more than just overtaking prowess, as Webber’s pace and ability to look after his tyres has to improve if he is to take the fight to his team-mate.
15th Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso) – 6.47
As touched upon under Kamui Kobayashi’s write-up above, a driver’s second or third season in Formula 1 can be extremely difficult even if the first shows promise. Sebastien Buemi is a prime example of this, with the Swiss driver never managing to shine in 2011 despite some solid performances. Of all the drivers this year I find him the hardest to write about, which was the case when doing driver ratings for the individual races throughout the season. Turkey and Hungary were his best events, with 9th and 8th place finishes, but he was outscored by team-mate Alguersuari despite making a far better start to the season. It looked like he would retain his drive after another inconclusive year, but with Toro Rosso’s raison d’être being to bring on promising young drivers the Red Bull hierarchy had obviously seen enough. There’s literally no talk linking the Swiss driver with the vacant Williams seat, which is now the most sought-after on the grid despite the team’s awful season (the key phrase there being “on the grid” – better to be on it than off it, even with a team in decline). Even HRT don’t seem interested, and it’s therefore hard to see Buemi ever getting back to an F1 race seat. The harsh reality is that in the last three seasons, Buemi never really did anything to make people sit up and take notice, and in the cruel world of Formula 1 average is simply not good enough.
16th Nick Heidfeld (Renault) – 6.36
‘Quick Nick’ didn’t really live up to his soubriquet in 2011. It was more a case of ‘not-quick-enough-in-qualifying Nick’, as the German struggled to match team mate Petrov on Saturdays. However, in the races Heidfeld was his usual solid self, although he did get involved in a fair few incidents (with di Resta in Britain and Buemi in Germany) which while not of his own making, owed much to his lowly grid positions. In truth the German was never likely to perform as well as Kubica had in 2010, and an early podium in Malaysia was sandwiched by difficult races in Australia and China which were a more accurate reflection of things to come. But did Heidfeld deserve the chop? Probably not to be honest – the German was ahead of Petrov in the championship at the time and only finished three points behind the Russian in the end, and in driver rating terms he’s the top placed Renault driver. It seems a long time though since Heidfeld was tipped as the next big thing at the start of his F1 career, and missing out on a McLaren drive to Kimi Raikkonen way back in 2002 now looks to have been his career-defining moment. I’ve always felt that Heidfeld was a Button type driver – solid and consistent, and capable of great things in a fast car that really suits him. Sadly it now seems likely that he has driven his last F1 race.
17th Vitantonio Liuzzi (HRT) – 6.29
‘Tonio’ Liuzzi remains something of an enigma in Formula 1 terms. Fabulously quick on his day and with an enviable record in the lower formulae, he has never quite convinced at the highest level. A move to HRT was never likely to revitalise his career, but the Italian did a good steady job for much of the season. The highlight was Canada, where he was best of the ‘new’ team drivers in a fabulous 13th place, helping HRT to beat Virgin to 11th in the championship again. He made errors in practice in Monaco and at the start in Monza, but made few other glaring errors. He easily had the measure of Narain Karthikeyan, but Daniel Ricciardo was made of sterner stuff and the pair were generally evenly matched. It was a somewhat similar situation as in the latter half of 2007, when Liuzzi was paired with an inexperienced Sebastian Vettel at Toro Rosso, and the Italian deserves credit for maintaining his motivation in what was effectively a lose-lose situation (if he beat Ricciardo, it was always going to be because of the rookie’s lack of experience, with Liuzzi considered a ‘known quantity’). The problem now for Liuzzi is that, with HRT signing Pedro de la Rosa, it’s hard to see him staying with the Spanish team next year unless they can somehow afford to pay two drivers rather than be paid by one of them. As there’s not really any further for him to slip down the grid, it could be curtains for his F1 career.
18th Felipe Massa (Ferrari) – 6.21
If there was ever a case of a driver losing his edge, it’s Felipe Massa. The Brazilian is a shadow of the driver who came within a whisker of winning the world championship in 2008, and even performed more poorly than in 2010 when Ferrari admittedly had a more competitive car. He rarely seemed capable of getting among the Red Bulls and McLarens, unlike team-mate Alonso who habitually did so. In fact, more often than not he was under threat from behind, from the Mercedes and/or whichever of the midfield teams was on song on a given weekend. His nadir was India where he made almost identical basic errors in both qualifying and the race, running into the kerbs and breaking his suspension. In mitigation the Brazilian did suffer a fair bit of bad luck across the season, particularly in making contact with Lewis Hamilton on a near race-by-race basis. The fact that Hamilton was criticised for even being in a position to have to overtake Massa, and that many observers commented that this was indicative of the Briton’s loss in form, shows in turn just how far Massa’s stock has fallen in the last two seasons. It’s hard to see things improving in the future while Massa remains at Ferrari with Alonso alongside him, but if Massa leaves the Italian team (as is inevitable unless his pace improves considerably) it’s hard to see who else would take him. A sad state of affairs, especially given Massa’s freak 2009 accident which seems to have completely stymied his development.
19th Bruno Senna (Renault) – 6.13
After initially losing out in the battle for the second Renault race seat to Nick Heidfeld, the Brazilian nephew of the legendary Ayrton Senna can’t realistically have expected to be racing in 2011. But when Renault made the semi-surprise decision to relieve the German of his duties after Hungary the Brazilian got his chance. This (as well as the pressure of the Senna name) may explain the Brazilian’s slightly defeatist attitude - he repeatedly expressed how difficult it was to enter F1 mid-season and appeared to be asking for more time to show what he could do before he’d even started. In reality excuses were not really needed as Senna generally did a solid job, especially in qualifying when he was usually ahead of the more experienced Vitaly Petrov. His qualifying debut in Spa was most impressive, but he spoilt it all with a rash lock-up at the first corner. Thereafter he never shone quite as brightly again (despite picking up his first points in Monza) until the last round in Brazil, when he got his car into Q3 before controversially being penalised in the race for a clash with Michael Schumacher. Sadly, Senna’s decent form was not enough to secure a Renault drive for 2012. If he gets offered a test driver role with the team he should probably take it, given the fairly high possibility of one of the team’s new drivers proving disappointing and the propensity of Eric Boullier to wield the axe, which could open the door for Bruno again.
20th Narain Karthikeyan (HRT) – 6.13
For a driver who was plying his trade in the NASCAR Truck Series 12 months ago, the fact that Narain Karthikeyan competed in eight Grand Prix this year is a miracle in itself. Funding from Tata obviously played a part in securing a drive at HRT, but the Indian didn’t disgrace himself despite never managing to outqualify team-mate Liuzzi. His finishing record was generally good, and he followed in Karun Chandhok and Sakon Yamamoto’s 2010 footsteps by concentrating on bringing the car home, although this also led to him taking the somewhat-unwanted record in Valencia of being the only man to finish 24th in a Grand Prix! Sadly for the Indian driver, he had to step aside in favour of the Red Bull-backed Ricciardo for the second half of the year. He got his reward in India though, when he was drafted back into the team for his home race, doing an excellent job to outrace the highly regarded Australian. While it’s hard to see Karthikeyan being on the grid full-time next year, his season at HRT did his reputation no harm at all, and he can return to NASCAR (or move elsewhere) with his head held high. And don’t be surprised to see him pop up again if a backmarker team is short of funding come next year’s Indian Grand Prix…
21st Vitaly Petrov (Renault) – 6.05
When Vitaly Petrov stood on the podium in Australia, he surely never imagined that his seat at Renault would be taken by Romain Grosjean just nine short months later. Any pundits who had even suggested such a thing at that time would have been laughed out of the paddock. But that is exactly what has been recently announced and looking at the Russian’s season as a whole (and indeed last season as well) it’s hard to argue against the decision. Sure, Petrov started well with his Melbourne podium, and also performed well in Canada. But he blew hot and cold, and in the second half of the season he really struggled as the car lost its competitiveness. He matched up respectably to the experienced Heidfeld, but Bruno Senna proved quicker in qualifying on four out of eight occasions despite far less experience of the car. His ill-advised post-Abu Dhabi rant against the team was the last straw and a massive error of judgement on the Russian’s part. The fact that Renault took a punt on signing Kimi Raikkonen showed they knew Petrov wasn’t cut out to be the number one driver, and taking another gamble on Grosjean can easily be justified as the Frenchman was quicker than Petrov in his end of season Friday practice outings (meaningless though Friday sessions may ultimately be). Petrov could perhaps pop up at Williams, given their financial constraints and his presumed Russian backing, but will need to prove himself all over again wherever he ends up.
22nd Pastor Maldonado (Williams) – 6.05
The first Venezuelan in F1 since Johnny Cecotto in 1984 looked somewhat out of his depth during the first few events this season. At that stage it wasn’t obvious just how bad the Williams FW33 was, which probably made the rookie’s performances seem worse than they really were. Then came an amazing weekend at Monaco, where Maldonado has always gone well throughout his career –a brilliant 8th on the grid was followed by a mature drive in the race, and 6th place beckoned before a clumsy move from Lewis Hamilton ended his race. His outstanding Monaco weekend notwithstanding, Maldonado generally displayed his best form in the second half of the year, and by the end of the season he was regularly out-qualifying Barrichello. Another trait from the rookie’s junior career (other than great form on the streets of Monte Carlo) is being somewhat wild behind the wheel, and this continued with a number of offs and another incident with Hamilton in Q2 at Spa, for which he was unfairly held solely responsible. One solitary point (ironically scored at Spa) was a poor return for the year, and as Jake Humphrey repeatedly and meaninglessly stated (clearly the one F1 fact he had learned for the year) it was the worst full season for a Williams driver in the team’s history. But Maldonado did improve throughout the season and gets another chance in 2012, thanks in the main to his backing from oil giant PDVSA. He needs to bring his best 2011 form forward into 2012 in order to impress further.
23rd Timo Glock (Virgin) – 5.95
Timo Glock must surely regret throwing his lot in with the then-fledging Virgin team at the end of 2009. If things had worked out differently he could have been a Renault driver at the start of 2010, but two years on Renault have signed two more new drivers and not a mention was made of the German filling either seat. This is a measure of how far his stock has fallen and how easily forgotten drivers are in the unforgiving world of F1. 2011 was worse than 2010 for Glock in a number of ways; he was matched at times by the not-all-that-highly-rated Jerome D’Ambrosio and, unlike in 2010, didn’t have the carrot of trying to get among the Lotuses to spur him on, due to their improved pace and the lack of development on the MVR-02. This seemed to effect Timo’s motivation at times, and may explain his relative anonymity. There were some good moments – his qualifying lap at Monaco was one of the best of the year, and in Monza he finished well in 15th, only two laps down. But overall it wasn’t a vintage season. It was surprising therefore that he has committed himself to Virgin (renamed Marussia in 2012) for three more years of presumably the same or similar. One assumes there must be a get-out clause of some kind in case a bigger team comes calling, but with every passing season that the talented German spends mired at the back of the field the chance of that happening dwindles still further.
24th Rubens Barrichello (Williams) – 5.95
Was 2011 a season too far for the veteran? Rubens never really shone this year, and was lucky to beat team-mate Maldonado in the championship standings, thanks largely to the Venuezuelan being taken out in Monaco when on course for a hatful of points. The most amazing thing was that Barrichello (and indeed Williams) wouldn’t have scored at all under the points system used until 2009, as his best finish was only a brace of 9th places. Those finishes were in two races of high attrition by modern standards) – Monaco (ironic given his team-mate’s misfortune) and Canada. For the rest of the year, Rubens never looked like scoring, and was frankly anonymous. His home race in Brazil provided a bright spot when he dragged the recalcitrant Williams to 12th on the grid and beat the delayed Michael Schumacher home. But being outqualified consistently by Maldonado and never even making it into Q3 once was a more accurate reflection of his year. It was surprising given his experience that Rubinho wasn’t able to make more out of the change in regulations for 2011, in particular the new Pirelli tyres which allowed for some interesting race strategies (at least in early races). With only four points on the board, 17th place in the championship would be a sad way to bow out of F1, but it’s probably time for the Brazilian to leave the sport he clearly loves before the sport leaves him behind.
25th Jerome D’Ambrosio (Virgin) – 5.84
The Belgian rookie had the unenviable task of driving for the lowest placed of the ‘new for 2010’ teams, and it was always going to be an uphill struggle to make an impression in 2011. He was the first Belgian in Formula 1 for 17 years (not 20 years as Jake Humphrey’s scriptwriter claimed at Spa – he must have forgotten Philippe Adams in 1994, as most people have, not to mention the sometime Belgian licence-holder Bertrand Gachot) and probably had to soak up some pressure from the home fans as a result. But overall, D’Ambrosio did little wrong, and made more of an impression than Lucas Di Grassi (remember him?) managed last season. He matched Timo Glock on several occasions and beat him on a few, although on those weekends when he didn’t one of more of the HRT drivers was usually able to challenge him. He performed particularly well in Canada to beat Glock home in the type of wet conditions the experienced German normally excels in, but that was his only real stand-out performance. It wasn’t enough to keep D’Ambrosio in the car, as in 2012 the game of musical chairs that is Virgin’s second seat is being played by Charles Pic. Given that D’Ambrosio is managed by Gravity Sport Management, a subsidiary of the Renault team owners Genii Capital, it wouldn’t be surprising if he ended up testing there. Having said that, Renault have nearly enough drivers on their books to fill the entire grid so whether there is space for him is another matter.
26th Jarno Trulli (Lotus) – 5.83
2010 was a poor season for the Italian veteran, but he sunk to new depths in 2011. A second successive season without a point wasn’t a surprise given the Lotus proving to be off the pace of the midfield cars, but another year of being thrashed by Kovalainen was the last thing he needed. Trulli’s strength has always been qualifying, but his team mate beat him 16-2 in that regard and also out-raced him. Jarno’s main moan was that he didn’t get on with the power steering system in the Lotus, but even when this was changed later in the season his performances didn’t really improve. Being replaced by Chandhok in Germany was ignominious, and appeared to signal the impending end of Trulli’s F1 career. And yet, incredibly, Lotus announced that same weekend that they had extended the Italian’s contract for another season! At the very least they should have waited until the end of the year to see who else was available - it’s hardly like teams are queuing up to take Trulli off their hands. As I stated as long ago as my season preview, there’s no shortage of talented and hungry young drivers who could replace him, and a fair few experienced drivers who would surely do at least as good a job (Heidfeld, Barrichello, Senna, Petrov, Alguersuari et al). Rumours that Lotus tried to line up Ricciardo for 2012 suggests that even they now think they have made a mistake, but as it stands the Italian gets another chance to salvage some pride at the end of a career of underachievement.
Not rated (one-off drivers)…
Pedro de la Rosa (Sauber)
Of the two drivers who made one-off appearances in 2011, McLaren test driver de la Rosa was the more impressive. His vast experience was put to good use in Canada, when he filled in for the still-groggy Sergio Perez after his Monaco crash after Sauber neglected to send official reserve driver Esteban Gutierrez to Canada. He did a solid job to acquaint himself with the car (whilst still in McLaren overalls for Friday practice) to qualify 17th and finish 12th. Despite this, it was hardly a performance to make rival team bosses sit up and take notice. But HRT presumably saw something that no-one else did (possibly a large cheque from their Spanish backers?), because they have signed the 40 year old Spaniard up for 2012.
Karun Chandhok (Lotus)
Moving into an F1 race seat mid-season isn’t easy and the Indian driver’s display at the Nurburgring, replacing Trulli as a one-off, certainly proved that. He was a moderately-respectable eight-tenths behind team-mate Kovalainen in qualifying, but endured a disastrous race. A lurid spin and a general lack of pace restricted him to 18th, two laps behind Kovalainen. He was also, embarrassingly, a lap behind Ricciardo’s HRT. The fact that Chandhok was not then parachuted, Karthikeyan-style, into a race seat for the Indian Grand Prix indicates that the team were not all that impressed, although he did get to drive the Friday morning practice at his home race and a number of other events. There’s no real talk of the Indian getting a drive anywhere in 2012 though.
Driver Ratings Summary
