Button: Driver Of The Year?

[Insider 0]

This from Crash Net..........comments please

Having counted down the top ten drivers from our F1 poll between Christmas and the start of the new year, it is time to reveal the complete list covering all 27 pilots to have appeared in a grand prix this season.

In all, nearly 50,000 votes were cast by Crash.net readers, resulting in Jenson Button emerging ahead of world champion Sebastian Vettel to scoop the number one spot, but who filled places 11-27?

Button polled an average rating of 8.815 compared to Vettel's 8.510, while third-placed Fernando Alonso was left trailing - much as he was on track - with an average mark of 7.744. That, however, left the Spaniard well clear of the rest of the field and, of course, there were a couple of high profile drivers who didn't even make the top ten...

What follows is the complete list and average mark out of ten for each driver:

1. Jenson Button Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 8.815

2. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 8-510

3. Fernando Alonso Scuderia Ferrari 7.744

4. Paul di Resta Force India F1 6.829

5. Nico Rosberg Mercedes GP Petronas F1 6.369

6. Michael Schumacher Mercedes GP Petronas F1 6.077

7. Mark Webber Red Bull Racing 6.014

8. Heikki Kovalainen Team Lotus 5.860

9. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber F1 5.781

10. Adrian Sutil Force India F1 5.745

11. Lewis Hamilton Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 5.655

12. Sergio Perez Sauber F1 5.501

13. Jaime Alguersuari Scuderia Toro Rosso 5.348

14. Bruno Senna Lotus Renault F1 5.121

15. Vitaly Petrov Lotus Renault F1 4.782

16. Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso 4.735

17. Rubens Barrichello AT&T Williams 4.722

18. Nick Heidfeld Lotus Renault F1 4.491

19. Daniel Ricciardo HRT 4.345

20. Felipe Massa Scuderia Ferrari 4.152

21. Timo Glock Marussia Virgin Racing 4.037

22. Pastor Maldonado AT&T Williams 3.905

23. Jarno Trulli Team Lotus 3.565

24. Jerome d'Ambrosio Marussia Virgin Racing 3.564

25. Vitantonio Liuzzi HRT 3.503

26. Karun Chandhok Team Lotus 3.319

27. Narain Karthikeyan HRT 2.866

Do you agree the poll results? If not, why not?

[Argento Reloaded 1]

Despite different machinery Jenson, Nando and Vettel did an outstanding job and clearly outpassed their teammates. Wich one was the best? To close ...Nando did and extraordinary job with the worst car of the 3, but if you -or othrs- prefer Jenson is Ok for me too.

[Rainmaster 7]

To echo Argento, my top three are Alonso, Vettel and Button and I see very little between them. Alonso did incredible things, putting his car where it shouldn't be. Button had outstanding highs but I am not sure he was as consistently brilliant as Alonso and perhaps Vettel. However you see it, they all drove great seasons.

[Massa 0]

Averages are skewed by c*mwipes who are upset that Vettel won 11 races and is an evil team-abusing jerk who has no talent whatsoever and just benefits from his team's slave labor and therefore give him a rating of 0.

Meanwhile, no one really hates Button...

I won't play the nationality card but it's no coincidence all the Canadian teams' players lead the All-Star Game voting in ice hockey, and it's easy to vilify Germans and make heroes out of "Our Jenson." You get enough people either using nationalism to vote a driver up or xenophobia to vote a driver down,

I guess my point is I don't think this poll was exactly as worthwhile as the discussion on TF1 will be. We may draw the same conclusion but I think people here can come up with better reasons to get there than what I suspect motivated voters.

Anyway, Vettel was the driver I hated most in 2011, which tells me he must have been the best one.

Heidfeld's my second best. Petrov scored 34 points alongside him, and then 3 without him. Heidfeld so selflessly brings out the best in everyone but himself.

[dribbler 6]

In my opinion, Vettel's physical achievement surpassed everyone elses by some margin. What Button did was exceed expectation better than anyone else.

Either way, they are for me, clearly the top two of 2011.

[BradSpeedMan 6]

This from Crash Net..........comments please

I'de tend to go more on the poll from James Allen as it would be more respectable Sean, also on every other site besides this one

Having a dominant car does'nt extinguish Vettel achievements this year, and although Button were in the form of his life this year, it was after all the team principals vote (take cue from Alonso fans last year) that would give more of a clear and realistic assesment. You know what I mean

[Insider 0]

I'de tend to go more on the poll from James Allen as it would be more respectable Sean, also on every other site besides this one

Having a dominant car does'nt extinguish Vettel achievements this year, and although Button were in the form of his life this year, it was after all the team principals vote (take cue from Alonso fans last year) that would give more of a clear and realistic assesment. You know what I mean

I never saw it but it's based on small sample opinion as is the TP vote. I am not saying JB was the Driver Of The Year but if 50,000 people really did vote, it's impressive support from the fans for him and less well-equipped drivers like Di Resta, Heikki and Kobi.

[Kopite Girl 0]

I have to say that I don't care if you call me biased, but JB did an absolute beautiful job in 2011. It's so great to see him finally get the recognition he so richly deserves. I'm still buzzing from the fact that everyone I know thought Lewis would beat him last year, they got that wrong!

However, 2011 is most definitely Vettel's year. He's the champion. That hurt to say!

I'm looking forward to a Button v Vettel season long battle for 2012. With Jens being victorious of course.

[Quiet One 15]

Been watching the season's highlights and will probably watch all races again during the off season. I can't help butu agree with Brad here. He has made clear how did he try to compensate for the most obvious bias, so it's seems a better reflection on actual perception of driver's performance and less a partisan support for any driver (which is unavoidable, I know, as "driver of the year" can mean so many different things) I would have chosen JA's poll over this one even if Alonso finished below JB, mind you (the difference is so minimal you can call it a technical draw)

I ialso tend to rely more on Autosport's poll among team leaders (which also place JB in 2nd place above Alonso). And I still think the best measure is the one they made with team principals, team members, former f1 drivers journalists and the like (of which I have yet to see one this year)

In any case, my opinion is that, no matter how you look at it, Vettel came out as the driver of the year and not just because of being a WDC. Watching the highlights made me realize that it wasn't as easy as it seemed (McLaren was so close so many times). Button or Alonso for runner up is a matter of taste, mostly. You can guess my choice I agree with Steve on his assesment.

There were many others this year which as far as driver's quality is concerned was a rather good year, despite all the rants about old drivers, pay drivers and the like.

I might go on about all this in more detail...it's the perfect time to post walls of text without feeling guilty as there isn't too much posting anyways

[BradSpeedMan 6]

I just hope Button carries this form forward to next year, I eagerly await what will transpire between the Mclaren driver's. It can only take the team forwards I reckon....

Man, 4 months for the break is just way too long....

[Jenson_Rules 0]

Well it's clear Button and Vettel were the drivers of the season, along with Alonso

[Delta 0]

No. As much as I love both JB and Lewis, Vettel has to go down as being the best of 2012. He made a difficult sport make look ridiculously easy. Yes, he had a good car but its dominance lay in qualifying more than race trim. This season, for me, was where he showed how much better than Webber that he was.