Driver(s) of the 2013 Season

[steveaki13]

So without all just saying Seb, who else has inspired you this season.

[steveaki13]

Well 2013 comes to an end.

So my driver of the Season has to be:

.....drumroll.....

Sebastian Vettel. Surprise Surprise.

Other drivers who have done a stand out job for me this season are:

Fernando Alonso - Despite a poor Ferrari car he has outperformed it time and again and finished second in the Championship.
Lewis Hamilton - Not an outstanding season, but well done for coming to Nico's team and beating him over the season.
Romain Grosjean - He got his head down and turned his raging 2012 crash fest into a brilliantly consistant 2013. Good Luck for 2014.
Nico Hulkenberg - A shocking Sauber early on, but since its improved Nico has been mighty and fully deserves a top seat soon.
Jules Bianchi - It seems a while ago, but lets not forget at the start of the season Bianchi looked awesome. A solid season for him.

[AndyL]

I guess you have to give Max Chilton some credit for being the first rookie to finish every race in their debut season. Though that's probably partly because he never had to worry about anyone running into the back of him at the start!

[steveaki13]

True and sadly he was quite slow most weekends.

Anyway some Teams who have done a great job.

Red Bull - What a Car they designed, wow lets hope they struggle slightly more in 2014 so we have a title race.
Mercedes - Won multiple races for the first time back in F1 and again improved another step. They now need a title challenger in 2014.
Lotus (on track) - Decent Car and were a lot more consistant for 2013.


Special mention:
Sauber - Donkey first half of season, then credit for evolving the car so much in the latter half of the season.

[555-04Q2]

Besides Vettel I have to say Alonso for once again proving why he is rated as the most complete F1 driver at the moment. Whipped his donkey to second place again. Fantastic season for him :)

[tjoepie]

Has to be Vettel, unless you're so deep in denial that you can't see the light.

As others have said Alonso, but also Hamilton very impressive first season with Mercedes (not a Hamilton fan). I'll also second Bianchi, who I'd have loved to see in something better in 2014, but it doesn't seem likely...

[anfield5]

Best drivers of the season

1. Alonso, continually hauled his big red dog around at or near the front, where it usually didn't deserve to be
2. Vettel, was faultless all season and nobody can begrudge him the title. (apart from that nonsense in Malaysia)
3. Grosjean, after last season most people doubted him, but in the second half of the season he was exceptional and hinted at what might still be to come.
=4. Hamilton and Rosberg, both did an equally fine job in a much improved car.
5. Hulkenberg, when Sauber finally sorted the car out he was a regular point score. SOMEONE NEEDS TO GIVE HIM A TOP DRIVE!!!
7. Raikkonen, would have been higher, but he again showed what he can be like when his heart is not in it, I personally think Ferrari have made a huge mistake in resigning him
=8. Ricciardo and JEV. As with the Mercedes driver, there is nothing between these two
10. Bottas, showed glimpses of what talent he has, hopefully the Williams-Mercedes of 2014 will let him shin.

[jens]

So without all just saying Seb, who else has inspired you this season.

Who inspired me personally?

Nico Hülkenberg, I think I have been paying attention to him in my comments on a few occasions, but I like what I see. I remember saying early in the year that we have at least 4 top drivers on the grid. However, Hülkenberg is making a very strong case of getting added into this group, because I can't see weaknesses in his performances. Very consistent, fast, good in qualifying, good in the race, good racecraft in battles and it looks like a good team leader at least for a midfield outfit. Reminiscent of several past great drivers, who were pulling above their weight in midfield cars. And we have seen it now for the second year in running. The only problem is that he is unproven in a top car.

Romain Grosjean. I always liked the guy, always thought he was fast, but always feared he was erratic. He improved his racecraft massively this year and in the second half of the season improved his overall consistency. Impressive string of results: 3-3-3-4-2. Would have been one more third without Singapore failure. To be honest, I fear a bit that with Lotus financial issues they may drop backwards a bit with the new regs and clean sheet design, so it may be some time before Grosjean can again replicate these sort of results. But at least he has got some results and has made his mark in F1 world.

Sergio Pérez inspired me as well. Some fierce battles on track, determined racing against Button in some early season races. Brave though overambitious at Monaco. Ironically in the year of "Pirelli racing", when people rightfully complain that we don't see proper battles, Pérez racing at Monaco is still one of my highlights of the year. In the end he was beaten by Button and left behind the door of McLaren, but I think he is a decent addition to the F1 grid even if he has been ruled out now as a future top star.

Other than that obviously... Yeah. Vettel is great. Alonso is still great. Hamilton and Rosberg is a good team-mate battle and I like the fact Rosberg has been so close. Räikkönen is good and will be good to see, how well can he re-adapt at Ferrari.

I also liked Ricciardo's qualifying and Bottas' confidence and consistency as a rookie.

[gm99]

Lewis Hamilton - Not an outstanding season, but well done for coming to Nico's team and beating him over the season.


Well, we all saw how much of Nico's team it was in Malaysia, didn't we? :p And Nico scored double the number of Lewis' victories ;) Honestly, I think the Merc drivers were pretty evenly matched throughout the season.

Apart from Vettel, who truly owned this season (especially the second half), I was very positively surprised by Grosjean.