Driver of the race

[Ranger]

Kobayashi. :up:

Vettel did everything right... but could we really take it from Kobayashi? :D

[ioan]

Yep. Kobayashi it is! :up:

[Jag_Warrior]

Kamui! Kamui! Kamui Kobayashi!!! :bounce:

[donKey jote]

Koba :D

[CaptainRaiden]

No doubt it's KOBAYASHI! He may not have the raw speed at times to qualify better, but the guy is a friggin overtaking genius! Amazing display of bravery and skill.

[CNR]

Kobaybashi as called by martin brundle

[AndyL]

Honourable mention to Heidfeld - finished just behind Kobayashi despite spending about 50 laps of the race in the garage (as far as I could tell from the TV coverage anyway) ;)

[Ent]

Well done Kobayashi, and in front of his home crowd too!

[pino]

Kobayashi :up: would love to see him on a better and faster car :D

[Hawkmoon]

Kobayashi. He was going to pass you at the spoon curve no matter what you did. Stay to the right and he was up the inside. Cover the left and he was around the outside, no problem.

Credit also has to go to Suzuka. A circuit where drivers can actually race.

[DazzlaF1]

Without question, it has to be Kobayashi, FOUR times he overtook on that hairpin including that brilliant move on the outside of Alguersuari, argably one of the best overtakes of the season.

[ioan]

No doubt it's KOBAYASHI! He may not have the raw speed at times to qualify better, but the guy is a friggin overtaking genius! Amazing display of bravery and skill.

he certainly could teach a couple of things about overtaking to Trulli and Glock who happily toured around behind Yamamoto for half of the race.

[ioan]

Without question, it has to be Kobayashi, FOUR times he overtook on that hairpin including that brilliant move on the outside of Alguersuari, argably one of the best overtakes of the season.

For that one Alguersuari deserves a big Donkey title. He just kept driving into Kobayashi even though he had three quarters of the track at disposal.

[F1boat]

Kamui Kobayashi!!!

[DazzlaF1]

For that one Alguersuari deserves a big Donkey title. He just kept driving into Kobayashi even though he had three quarters of the track at disposal.

Not to mention wrecking his own front wing which in the process cost him any chance of points. Stupid driving on his part.

[steveaki13]

Outright Driver of the Race.

Kamui Kobayashi undoubtly. He was the outstanding entertainer. Did we see many overakes other than Kamui.

Schumi on Barrichello maybe

[steveaki13]

Other good drives.

Vettel: A fine win
Webber: A solid race matched his team mate and extended his Championship lead.
Alonso: A good solid race, not much more to do.
Hamilton: A fine drive from 8th to 4th before the gearbox failure. (If not for the Grid Pen, a podium was possible)
M. Schumacher: A better drive of his season.
Kobayashi: As we said.
Heidfeld: A good job to be ahead of Kamui, until he strangly let him through.
Kovalainen: He won the 2nd division easily was in front all the way.

[steveaki13]

A final mention for Sakon Yamamoto.

He is not really my fav driver, but he got ahead of some drivers after pit stops and held them up well. Was pulling out 10 seconds on Senna.

In the end not sure where he then fell so far behind Senna, but a better race than he has had for a while.

[Tazio]

Kobi
Vettel
Fred
Mike
Fred
Mark
Fred
mike
Vettel

[AndyL]

Did we see many overakes other than Kamui.

Schumi on Barrichello maybe

Don't forget Lewis on Kamui!


Heidfeld: A good job to be ahead of Kamui, until he strangly let him through.

To be fair to Heidfeld, Kobayashi was on the soft tyres at the time and much faster. Plus Heidfeld is the new boy in the team and nowhere in the WDC. Heidfeld has been around for long enough to know what it means to be a team player.

[steveaki13]

Don't forget Lewis on Kamui!



To be fair to Heidfeld, Kobayashi was on the soft tyres at the time and much faster. Plus Heidfeld is the new boy in the team and nowhere in the WDC. Heidfeld has been around for long enough to know what it means to be a team player.

Yep on all counts.

[DazzlaF1]

To be fair to Heidfeld, Kobayashi was on the soft tyres at the time and much faster. Plus Heidfeld is the new boy in the team and nowhere in the WDC. Heidfeld has been around for long enough to know what it means to be a team player.

True, and also thanks to his sensible driving, he brought home 4 priceless points for the team to add to the 6 Koba got for 7th which has all but secured 8th in the constructors now for Sauber. A nice chunk of prize and travel money to go with that major sponsorship deal with Telmex signed this week along with Sergio Perez coming in for 2011.

All in all, a very good week for Sauber.

[ioan]

[start of rant]
I sometimes wonder why some people keep mentioning their favorite drivers every time in the Driver of the race thread even though they did nothing to warrant that.

What exactly did Alonso accomplish today? He inherited Kubica's place, that's it, still it looks like a big accomplishment for some people.
[rant over]

[redson]

[start of rant]
I sometimes wonder why some people keep mentioning their favorite drivers every time in the Driver of the race thread even though they did nothing to warrant that.

What exactly did Alonso accomplish today? He inherited Kubica's place, that's it, still it looks like a big accomplishment for some people.
[rant over]

What about keeping the pace of the Red bulls in a circuit that suited them so well? You should go to the doctor to check, your hatred of Fernando is not normal

[ioan]

What about keeping the pace of the Red bulls in a circuit that suited them so well? You should go to the doctor to check, your hatred of Fernando is not normal

I must have missed Alonso doing 1:33:5 seconds / lap. So why was he 8 seconds behind Vettel at one point during the race?

Vettel paced himself today, the RBR drivers could have gone way faster, just check how much faster they were at the restart after the SC.

IMO Alonso did nothing to warrant mentioning his name in the driver of the day thread. :)

[Sonic]

[start of rant]
I sometimes wonder why some people keep mentioning their favorite drivers every time in the Driver of the race thread even though they did nothing to warrant that.


It a good job then that both my fave's did a good job then :)

Kobay - Well what can you say? The guy has got heart. I really hope Sauber can give him a decent car next year to show what he can do as team leader and use that as a springboard to a higher ranking team.

Nico R - give that boy a medal! B*******ks to team orders. You. Shall. Not. Pass. (in a lord of the rings/gandalf stylee ;) ) Shame he ended the race in the wall through no fault of his own.

[markabilly]

Kobashi.
Others gets honorable mention such as Vettel, webber and schuie.
FA was not worthy of being listed at all.
Best thing one could say for FA, except for mumbling or not knowing what the black ban was for, he did nothing to deserve even a donkey award

YAWN


Too bad Kobashi ain't mexican or russian, he might have a drive next season

nowadays:
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$>>>talent

[Daika]

I didn't find anybody that stood out today. They drove according the "ranking" order. Nothing special.

[keysersoze]

Kamui was magic on the brakes today and was a clear star.

I felt Sakon did a good job keeping Glock at bay--and Timo is no slouch when it comes to dicing. It was pretty obvious from the on-board footage that Yamamoto had his hand absolutely full driving that pig of an HRT, and his heart must have been in his throat every time he had to turn the wheel, because the rears looked lie they were constantly going to break loose.

[Allyc85]

Kamui was magic on the brakes today and was a clear star.

I felt Sakon did a good job keeping Glock at bay--and Timo is no slouch when it comes to dicing. It was pretty obvious from the on-board footage that Yamamoto had his hand absolutely full driving that pig of an HRT, and his heart must have been in his throat every time he had to turn the wheel, because the rears looked lie they were constantly going to break loose.

Yea gree Kobayashi was great today, and for once I will complement Yamamoto on his driving :)

[52Paddy]

Kamui :up:

Sutil was driving well too until the engine let go.

[rohanweb]

Kamui Kobayashi-> the guy is mighty fast !
Honourable mention to Lewis Hamiltion-> for bouncing back from 8th placegrid ,scaring lonso for 3rd place before finishing 5th with a broken gearbox.

[Robinho]

Vettel drove a great controlled race, but it was only what he should have done in that car on this track, so for that reason i'll say Koby, who drove an awesome, slightly scary and very watchable race and overtook more drivers that the rest of the field put together* (*statement made for dramataic effect with no liability taken for its accuracy)

[Big Ben]

I was going to say something but I'm afraid Ioan might get all bully with me for not saying the only right thing to say so I will say they were all mediocre today. ok? take care now

[N. Jones]

I was going to say something but I'm afraid Ioan might get all bully with me for not saying the only right thing to say so I will say they were all mediocre today. ok? take care now

:laugh: :laugh:


I believe Kobayashi was the best out there today. He owned the hairpin!

[christophulus]

Kobayashi no doubt - aggressive driving but clean overtakes. More of the same please!

[Duchess]

Kamui gets an A+ from me, when he's in a rhythm he knows how to be an exciting driver! This race would've been a bore for me had he not made those eye-popping overtakes at Spoon.

[wedge]

Kobay AKA Mr Excitement

Hamilton - exceptional performance considering he was handicapped with Free Practice mileage, third on the grid and arguably third quikest driver based on outright speed during the race.

[Valve Bounce]

I'd love to see Kobay driving at Ferrari next year. That would create interest in F1 beyond Bernie's dreams. :D

[Hawkmoon]

Kobashi.
Others gets honorable mention such as Vettel, webber and schuie.
FA was not worthy of being listed at all.
Best thing one could say for FA, except for mumbling or not knowing what the black ban was for, he did nothing to deserve even a donkey award

YAWN


Too bad Kobashi ain't mexican or russian, he might have a drive next season

nowadays:
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$>>>talent

Alonso did know what the black armband was for and Kobyashi has already been re-signed by Sauber.

What exactly did Vettel and Webber do? Put the fastest cars exactly where they should have been. Hardly great drives from either of them. They did the job without any pressure from behind so your yawn applies to them as much as it does to Alonso.

[Ari]

Kamuison

[airshifter]

A lot of good drives, but watching Kobayashi take car after car was the best part of the race. They had an overhead shot when he was catching up Sutil through the "S"'s, and Kobay was taking huge chunks of time off of Adrian.

I'd like to see what he could do in a better car.

[Valve Bounce]

.........................and Kobyashi has already been re-signed by Sauber.

.

Best hope for a decent drive next year if one pops up then. :p :

[CNR]

Alonso did know what the black armband was for and Kobyashi has already been re-signed by Sauber.

What exactly did Vettel and Webber do? Put the fastest cars exactly where they should have been. Hardly great drives from either of them. They did the job without any pressure from behind so your yawn applies to them as much as it does to Alonso.

i think this has put some egg on some faces
no names
red bull still fast with the better testing for flexing

[markabilly]

Alonso did know what the black armband was for and Kobyashi has already been re-signed by Sauber.

.


You mean he signed the same kind of contract as Heidfelt?????????Really helped him "out". (no pun intended, but clearly implied)

Or was it the same kind of contract signed by pedro??? Really helped him "out", too. (same)

Even more interesting are the various press releases, hinting, or should I say begging for more money for Kobyashi from Japanese sources???


http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/87414


Sauber's managing director Monisha Kaltenborn said: "Ideally you want the driver from the country he comes from to give that kind of performance. I think he did a great job, because he had a lot of pressure from the public, and we could see the amount of media attention he was getting.
"It is an ideal situation to have for the Japanese market. We understand the economic difficulties, especially in Japan, but we hope this performance can give them a push to support him."


I hope he stays, but........................


$>>>>>>>>talent and performance :(

[Retro Formula 1]

Koby followed by Hamilton.

[I am evil Homer]

Koby
Hamilton
Heikki

[yodasarmpit]

Kobayashi

[ioan]

I'd love to see Kobay driving at Ferrari next year.
No way, I don't want to see his career destroyed by a bank.

[truefan72]

Kobayashi :up: would love to see him on a better and faster car :D
me too. He would be terrific
I'd say his future is bright

[truefan72]

No way, I don't want to see his career destroyed by a bank.

me neither. Kobayashi in many ways is a like a less refined Hamilton. Fast, daring and willing to attempt the pass and not intimidated by anyone. in other words Alonso's nightmare.

Can you imagine if he did join Ferrari and after the first few races was leading Alonso in points? It would be fireworks at Ferrari for sure.

But in all honesty, it would be a likely place for him to move based on all the openings, relationships and dynamics in F1.

I could see him at ferrari with Massa at Sauber and kimi at Renault

[truefan72]

he certainly could teach a couple of things about overtaking to Trulli and Glock who happily toured around behind Yamamoto for half of the race.

perhaps the HRT straight line speed was better than the lotus or Virgin, and its poor aero made the turbulence in its wake rather difficult to follow unless your car is 2-3 seconds faster than the HRT. Just perhaps

...then again it was an HRT and you are probably right ;)

[truefan72]

A final mention for Sakon Yamamoto.

He is not really my fav driver, but he got ahead of some drivers after pit stops and held them up well. Was pulling out 10 seconds on Senna.

In the end not sure where he then fell so far behind Senna, but a better race than he has had for a while.

fair enough
although Senna to me is now the guy least deserving of an F1 spot.

[truefan72]

I must have missed Alonso doing 1:33:5 seconds / lap. So why was he 8 seconds behind Vettel at one point during the race?

Vettel paced himself today, the RBR drivers could have gone way faster, just check how much faster they were at the restart after the SC.

IMO Alonso did nothing to warrant mentioning his name in the driver of the day thread. :)

plus Hamilton was reeling him in at an incredible pace and was probably going to pass him before 3rd gear gremlins showed up. None of the top 3 deserve a driver of the race as none of them did anything except play cat and mouse with each other. Vettel just drove away in a dominant car. Webber was not trying to win but bring home solid points.
I am undoubtedly a Hamilton fan, But I gave my DOTR to Kobayashi. A well deserved title

[Big Ben]

Ok... so I was going to say Hamilton too... for that amazing pass he was going to pull on Alonso. I think it´s should be considered as the best overtake manouvre that was ever going to be done if not for the technical problems... damn it!

[CNR]

:up: :rotflmao:
Ok... so I was going to say Hamilton too... for that amazing pass he was going to pull on Alonso. I think it´s should be considered as the best overtake manouvre that was ever going to be done if not for the technical problems... damn it!

[Tazio]

Ok... so I was going to say Hamilton too... for that amazing pass he was going to pull on Alonso. I think it´s should be considered as the best overtake manouvre that was ever going to be done if not for the technical problems... damn it!

:s ailor:... :rolleyes: ... :s ailor:... :s mokin:

[wedge]

I must have missed Alonso doing 1:33:5 seconds / lap. So why was he 8 seconds behind Vettel at one point during the race?

Vettel paced himself today, the RBR drivers could have gone way faster, just check how much faster they were at the restart after the SC.

IMO Alonso did nothing to warrant mentioning his name in the driver of the day thread. :)

Solid drive from Alonso, consolidated and arguably gifted a podium. RBR blatantly had the quickest car so what more would you expect from Alonso?

[ioan]

Solid drive from Alonso, consolidated and arguably gifted a podium. RBR blatantly had the quickest car so what more would you expect from Alonso?

I certainly expect more before I would consider mentioning him in the Driver of the race thread, or maybe this thread has some other use then talking about THE driver of the race?!

[Big Ben]

Solid drive from Alonso, consolidated and arguably gifted a podium. RBR blatantly had the quickest car so what more would you expect from Alonso?

You're dead wrong. Big daddy doesn´t like the Spaniard and you are not welcome to say positive things about him so you either say Kamui for some decent and entertaining passes (though pretty meaningless) or at least you have decency to say FA's no good. Next time I'll go directly to the mods.

[truefan72]

You're dead wrong. Big daddy doesn´t like the Spaniard and you are not welcome to say positive things about him so you either say Kamui for some decent and entertaining passes (though pretty meaningless) or at least you have decency to say FA's no good. Next time I'll go directly to the mods.

I've notice a sharp upswing in your posts defending Alonso from all comers relevant or not. perhaps you should refer yourself to the mods.

[ioan]

You're dead wrong. Big daddy doesn´t like the Spaniard and you are not welcome to say positive things about him so you either say Kamui for some decent and entertaining passes (though pretty meaningless) or at least you have decency to say FA's no good. Next time I'll go directly to the mods.

Interesting that you say that Kamui going 12th to 7th by passing on the track is meaningless however Alonso inheriting 3rd is worth mentioning in the Driver of the race thread! Can anybody spot the Alonso fanboy?! :p

[ioan]

I've notice a sharp upswing in your posts defending Alonso from all comers relevant or not. perhaps you should refer yourself to the mods.

We've got only one moderator, who's a die hard Alonso fan so he is tolerating eu's 'energic' outbursts.

[Garry Walker]

Solid drive from Alonso, consolidated and arguably gifted a podium. RBR blatantly had the quickest car so what more would you expect from Alonso?

To come clean about singapore and admit what he really knew. No one believes his current story, no one with an IQ over 30 anyway.


Interesting that you say that Kamui going 12th to 7th by passing on the track is meaningless however Alonso inheriting 3rd is worth mentioning in the Driver of the race thread! Can anybody spot the Alonso fanboy?! :p

Yeah, he must still be pissed off by how Kamui embarrassed his idol at Valencia and we all know how Alonso fans are more sensitive than teenage girls.

[truefan72]

Yeah, he must still be pissed off by how Kamui embarrassed his idol at Valencia and we all know how Alonso fans are more sensitive than teenage girls.

lol teenage girls are a sensitive lot indeed.
3 sisters growing up and 2 nieces right now who are barely tolerable.

[ioan]

To come clean about singapore and admit what he really knew. No one believes his current story, no one with an IQ over 30 anyway.

That will never happen.
Worse is that both him an Briatore are now welcome in the Ferrari garages.



Yeah, he must still be pissed off by how Kamui embarrassed his idol at Valencia and we all know how Alonso fans are more sensitive than teenage girls.

:D
Than we shouldn't remind him how Sato overtook Alonso around the outside in Canada 2007, or how Heidfeld gave him a lesson in Monaco in 2004 (I think,not sure about the year), to mention just a couple of the most painful ones! :p

[donKey jote]

you guys do enjoy living in the past... get over it! :p :laugh:

come to think of it, time to change my sig too I guess... the one I dedicated to ioan a couple of years ago when he was crying about Schumi getting the boot boo hoo :rotflmao:

[pino]

We've got only one moderator, who's a die hard Alonso fan so he is tolerating eu's 'energic' outbursts.

Yes I am a die hard Alonso fan as much as I was a Michael die hard fan when he was driving for Ferrari and I did tollerate your "energic" outbursts for 8 long years...

Your hypocrisy amazes me but doesn't surprise me any more !

[Garry Walker]

That will never happen.
Worse is that both him an Briatore are now welcome in the Ferrari garages.
The current ferrari leadership, headed by luca di montezuma, is about as classless as they come. So no wonder cheaters like Alonso and briatore are welcome there.




Than we shouldn't remind him how Sato overtook Alonso around the outside in Canada 2007, or how Heidfeld gave him a lesson in Monaco in 2004 (I think,not sure about the year), to mention just a couple of the most painful ones! :p
That was 2005 at Monaco where Heidfeld humiliated him.

Another one of my favs was when the supposed master tactician and superb reader of the race crashed like the biggest idiot in the world at Brazil in 2003.

[555-04Q2]

The current ferrari leadership, headed by luca di montezuma, is about as classless as they come. So no wonder cheaters like Alonso and briatore are welcome there.

Garry, unless you live in a perfect world, or are just plain old ignorant, you don't have to harp on about cheaters etc. Everyone cheats in F1. Some get caught, some don't. Accept and move on!

[Garry Walker]

Garry, unless you live in a perfect world, or are just plain old ignorant, you don't have to harp on about cheaters etc. Everyone cheats in F1. Some get caught, some don't. Accept and move on!

Alonso and Briatore are big cheaters even compared to everyone in f1.
alonso has been involved in 2 big scandals already (well, 3 actually) and has gone unpunished, when in fact he is the one who should have been given harsh punishments.
Well, he will get what he deserves one day.

[ioan]

Yes I am a die hard Alonso fan as much as I was a Michael die hard fan when he was driving for Ferrari and I did tollerate your "energic" outbursts for 8 long years...

Your hypocrisy amazes me but doesn't surprise me any more !

To be fair you weren't the moderator 8 years ago, so you didn't tolerate anything.
And since you are the mod you continuously PM me with menaces, so where's the tolerance you're talking about? And you call me a hypocrite! :rolleyes:

Anyway maybe we should take this story to PMs?

[ioan]

Another one of my favs was when the supposed master tactician and superb reader of the race crashed like the biggest idiot in the world at Brazil in 2003.

Yep on the start finish straight.

[Duchess]

Good lords, the determination y'all have to dig up pathetically old bones is astonishing. Just accept that some people like Alonso and move on! Makes me want to distract the thread by yelling, "ALGUERSUARI NUMBER 1 DRIVER 4EVER YEEEAAAAAHHH!!"

[steveaki13]

Good lords, the determination y'all have to dig up pathetically old bones is astonishing. Just accept that some people like Alonso and move on! Makes me want to distract the thread by yelling, "ALGUERSUARI NUMBER 1 DRIVER 4EVER YEEEAAAAAHHH!!"

:up:

Couldn't agree more.

(Well about the digging over of the same issues).

Not so much the Jaime bit. ;)

[52Paddy]

Good lords, the determination y'all have to dig up pathetically old bones is astonishing. Just accept that some people like Alonso and move on! Makes me want to distract the thread by yelling, "ALGUERSUARI NUMBER 1 DRIVER 4EVER YEEEAAAAAHHH!!"

We need more people like you on the forum.

[Duchess]

We need more people like you on the forum.

Well I could try to clone myself, but in this era that might be particularly uncomfortable. :laugh:

As far as Alguersuari goes, he may not be a #1 driver but he sure makes some entertaining House mixes! He has a solid backup plan as a DJ if his F1 career doesn't pan out (and I'd listen to his stuff, it's good!).