Driver Of The Year - 2007

[aussief1 4]

Ive just updated the scores.

It makes interesting viewing

Thanks for the update ykick

[Autumnpuma 0]

Too early to say. If Kimi continues to emulate Michael Schumacher and pull fast in and out laps, then he will surely win races and the title. No other driver has proven to have this ability on a consistent basis. That would make him the best. If Kimi only sporadically uses this ability and Lewis wins the WDC, then the 'Driver of the Year' would be Lewis.

In the end, the driver of the year, to me, is the one that juggles all the variables at his disposal during the testing, GP weekend, and on his days off to win him the WDC. Yes, the WDC winner will ultimately be my 'Driver of the Year'.

[Silas Talbot 0]

In the end, the driver of the year, to me, is the one that juggles all the variables at his disposal during the testing, GP weekend, and on his days off to win him the WDC. Yes, the WDC winner will ultimately be my 'Driver of the Year'.

I think the driver of the year is more than the sum of the parts (adding up the driver of the day scores), and more than the champion. Who bucked the trends? Surely if Lew Ham is faster than Alonso for the rest of the year, but comes up just shy of the WDC, he deserves consideration for DOY.

As you say, the DOY "juggles all the variables at his disposal" most effectively, but that person might not be the WDC, precisely because each driver has a completely different set of circumstances, challenges, etc to deal with. Different car, different team, different pit crew, different experience, driving style, etc... Everyone brings a wholly different package to race on the same tracks. The person who does the best isn't necessarily the one who has made the most of what they've been given.

The person who stuns me most, impresses me most, is my driver of the year. The person who performs better than they should so reguarly that we are forced to raise our expectations.

My picks for the first half:

Driver of the first 1/2 year: Lew Ham

Team of the first 1/2: BMW

[Autumnpuma 0]

I think the driver of the year is more than the sum of the parts (adding up the driver of the day scores), and more than the champion. Who bucked the trends? Surely if Lew Ham is faster than Alonso for the rest of the year, but comes up just shy of the WDC, he deserves consideration for DOY.

As you say, the DOY "juggles all the variables at his disposal" most effectively, but that person might not be the WDC, precisely because each driver has a completely different set of circumstances, challenges, etc to deal with. Different car, different team, different pit crew, different experience, driving style, etc... Everyone brings a wholly different package to race on the same tracks. The person who does the best hasn't necessarily the one who has made the most of what they've been given.

The person who stuns me most, impresses me most, is my driver of the year. The person who performs better than they should so reguarly that we are forced to raise our expectations.

My picks for the first half:

Driver of the first 1/2 year: Lew Ham

Team of the first 1/2: BMW

This is a valid reason, I think. But your definition and mine being different tells us that everyone will have different criteria in picking their personal Driver of the Year.

F1 isn't American Idol or whatever where the audience chooses the winner. F1 is a competition and we qualify the best as having accumulated the most points. That is the only way to determine the 'best' in a given year. It is such with any competition. The best is the winner. Ultimately we must all agree with that or the competition becomes meaningless.

[Silas Talbot 0]

Oh I forgot --

GJ ykick, a nice list.

but.. putting this together didn't have anything to do with DC being in 4th, did it??

[ykickamoocow 0]

Oh I forgot --

GJ ykick, a nice list.

Thanks. It took quite abit of time to create as i went searching through old threads.

but.. putting this together didn't have anything to do with DC being in 4th, did it??

Actually no. I knew DC would be doing reasonably well on my list before i created it because he got 3 points at Bahrain but i didnt think he would be as high on the list as he currently is. Though i dont think he will be scoring more points any time soon as the Red bull seems to be getting less competitive and less reliable. I dont know how that is possible but somehow Red bull have made it happen.

[Silas Talbot 0]

F1 isn't American Idol or whatever where the audience chooses the winner. F1 is a competition and we qualify the best as having accumulated the most points. That is the only way to determine the 'best' in a given year. It is such with any competition. The best is the winner. Ultimately we must all agree with that or the competition becomes meaningless.

I agree with you that we cannot lose all standards to the abyss of relativism, but I believe that voting upon a DOY does not discredit the validity of the WDC. It does not render each man as the measure of all things. Winning counts, and discussing a 'driver of the year' shouldn't be viewed as an attempt to devalue the accomplishment of the champion. He scored points most often, and that is a fine accomplishment. But scoring points most often is just one way of measuring the complex events of F1, and we do discredit to the pilot and his crew to believe that an abitrary point system is the only valid metric upon which to evaluate performance.

As a thought experiment, say the same seasons was run twice, with different point being awarded in the WDC for finishes each time -- 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and 10, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, .5

Although the race results are exactly the same, same crash outs, tech failures, etc..., a different driver is champion in each season. What has changed? Nothing but the whims of Bernie Ecclestone. This doesn't mean we should invalidate the WDC in one season, or both, these drivers are the acknowledged champions... however we would be remiss not to look past this single metric when considering which man gave us the finest drive of the year.

[Autumnpuma 0]

I agree with you that we cannot lose all standards to the abyss of relativism, but I believe that voting upon a DOY does not discredit the validity of the WDC. It does not render each man as the measure of all things. Winning counts, and discussing a 'driver of the year' shouldn't be viewed as an attempt to devalue the accomplishment of the champion. He scored points most often, and that is a fine accomplishment. But scoring points most often is just one way of measuring the complex events of F1, and we do discredit to the pilot and his crew to believe that an abitrary point system is the only valid metric upon which to evaluate performance.

As a thought experiment, say the same seasons was run twice, with different point being awarded in the WDC for finishes each time -- 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and 10, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, .5

Although the race results are exactly the same, same crash outs, tech failures, etc..., a different driver is champion in each season. What has changed? Nothing but the whims of Bernie Ecclestone. This doesn't mean we should invalidate the WDC in one season, or both, these drivers are the acknowledged champions... however we would be remiss not to look past this single metric when considering which man gave us the finest drive of the year.

Everything of value needs to be measured by one standard or the value is gone. I rank Gilles above any other driver I have seen simply because of the enjoyment I get(got) from watching him. Is he the best? No because each person enjoys and values something different. Some would say the otherworldly skills of Senna excite them most; still others would say the mechanical precision of Prost. What then do we do to determine the best in a sea of personal bias? We must have something constant with which to guage them all; the points system. In order for that system to have validity it needs to remain constant, year in and year out.

We can disagree about our personal favorite..the one driver who brings a smile to our faces, but we must all, in the end, agree that the best is the one who accumulated the most points in any given season...regardless of what point system we use.

[Silas Talbot 0]

In order for that system to have validity it needs to remain constant, year in and year out.

But it doesn't remain constant! There have been 23 different point systems since 1950. The rules are quite fluid, and themselves quite arbitrary. Kimi seemed to be the only driver who knew about dropping the Q3,107% rule in France...

There is only one metric to determine a champion, but all other metrics are not automatically relativistic personal preference. Because something cannot be quantified cardinally does not mean that it does not exist.

[Autumnpuma 0]

But it doesn't remain constant! There have been 23 different point systems since 1950. The rules are quite fluid, and themselves quite arbitrary. Kimi seemed to be the only driver who knew about dropping the Q3,107% rule in France...

There is only one metric to determine a champion, but all other metrics are not automatically relativistic personal preference. Because something cannot be quantified cardinally does not mean that it does not exist.

Ah, I wasn't clear. I meant constant during a season...the points system is contstant over a season whereas the fickle opinions of the fans are not. F1 competition is held each year so if the points change from year to year that doesn't matter. Each year we crown the 'best' and that best is determined by the points system of that season. I define the 'best' as the person and team that accumulates the most points, as per the rules set down as the basis of the competition.

I accept that there are many valid ways to define 'best' but 'winning' a competition is only possible if we all agree to abide by the same set of determining factors.

[SuperKimi 0]

Being the ferrari fan i am, i'd say Kimi or Felipe. But i sldo think that Alex Wurz, Nico Rosberg and Heikki Kovaliven have done great jobs. And of course, Robert Kubica, doing great after his monster accident and Canada

[Max Mosley 2]

As you say, the DOY "juggles all the variables at his disposal" most effectively, but that person might not be the WDC, precisely because each driver has a completely different set of circumstances, challenges, etc to deal with. Different car, different team, different pit crew, different experience, driving style, etc... Everyone brings a wholly different package to race on the same tracks.

Indeed.

[Jem of the Shire 0]

Being the ferrari fan i am, i'd say Kimi or Felipe. But i sldo think that Alex Wurz, Nico Rosberg and Heikki Kovaliven have done great jobs. And of course, Robert Kubica, doing great after his monster accident and Canada

Before the season started I predicted Wurz would be a huge disappointment, and I still think I'm right - he rarely gets into Quali 2, and I think he's much better use as a test driver. He was slow at Benetton and he still is

[The Rumble Strip 0]