Coulthard!
For the honesty and entertainment factor of his interviews.
Hamilton for on track.
He had a bad start to the season, and sometimes it seems like most of the world is against him, yet he has not buckled under the pressure, he's focused himself and produced some dominant performances recently.
Alonso close second - he is an animal - if you compared boxers to F1 drivers, Alonso would be Tyson
Hamilton for some absolutely great drives - Monaco (OK, the tyre failiure was a bit fortunate but it was a smaller mistake than many others) and Silverstone really stand out for me.
Honourable mentions go to : Kubica is outperforming the BMW - I can see BMW improving to be a very good package.
Webber has made a few good drives but we can't compare him that easily to Crashard. Vettel is doing well and would be a similar level to Kubica if he was in a BMW (like he made his debut in) - I expect big things from him in 2010/2011.
Alonso has had one or two flashes of brilliance but twice as many flashes of stupidity - I can't believe that he got away with that stupid lunge-cum-ram down the inside of Heidfeld that he knew that wouldn't happen down the inside of Lowes.
Alonso. I am not a fan of his, however I have a huge amount of respect for him now that he has gone to a team with a slower car and is still showing a lot of fighting spirit. He is not just laying down and dying. Impressing me a lot
I'd have to pick Alonso. Even though he's a complete arsehole, he's been putting in some very solid performances in what is one of the worst cars on the grid. He's definitely proven so far that it simply wasn't Renault who had an unbeatable car (05 & 06) but that Alonso is a phenomenal driver.
I only caught the match in Silverston a month back, when it was heavily raining. I loved the rain racing, it's exciting watching those drivers understeer then oversteer, only having the throttle cutoff traction control keeping them in line.
Has to be Webber for me, put in some great performances so far this season. I just hope this guy gets a shot at the title before he retires from f1 as he's a hidden gem at Red Bull
Voted for Hamilton, purely based on his Silverstone performance.
I attended the race, and was sitting in the Farm enclosure overlooking Abbey in the pishing rain. I can tell you now, at mid-race, only two people were actually in control of their cars in the standing rain, and that was Lewis Hamilton and Rubens Barrichello. The youngster, and the master \o/
Due to ECU problems. They have a soft gear selection option for the rain so that the throttle is eased in when they shift up. thats why webber basically spun in a straight line.
=_= These F1 cars have too much technology. They can't even race properly anymore. Everytime someone messes up it's a problem with some technology. Pfft.
Yep, agreed fully. I thought he would be pants, but he's doing an awesome job in that bugger of a car, especially with the high-rated Rosberg as his team-mate.
Both Trulli and Webber are where they should be in relation to their car's performance, IMHO. But they have been impressive, just not VERY impressive.
Hamilton is where he should be also, as is Massa and Kimi. Kovi has been a bit disappointing so far, but he's showing signs of finding traction (pardon the pun).
Vettel has been incredible in a few races. Very unlucky fellow due to other people hitting him, but he's putting that STR where it simply does not belong - in both qualifying and in races. Same with Alonso, but he's a two-time WDC. Vettel is almost a rookie.
Piquet has been surprisingly good in some odd races, like Montreal and obviously at Hockenheim.
Outstanding performance from both BMW drivers. Kubica with his near-100% drives, and Heidfeld for his consistency and beautiful overtakes.
So for me:
1. Nakajima
2. Vettel
3. Kubica
4. Heidfeld
5. Webber (patriotism at play)
Expect Kimi and Felipe (NOT Heikki, as I had originally written ) to be more impressive in the second half of the season thanks to the introduction of the shark fin on the f2008.