Autosport awards - a complete joke!

[The Black Knight]

I can understand Sebastien Vettel receiving International Racing Driver of the year award since he won the title - no problem there.

I cannot understand Jenson Button receiving 2012 British Competition Driver of the Year Award ahead of Lewis Hamilton. They both had the same car underneath them and Button was destroyed by Hamilton in every conceivable way this year excepting Spa and Australia. It has just proven to me that the Autosport awards are complete rubbish and not reflective of the true story.

[F1boat]

I am happy with the Autosport Awards results. I agree with them with the choices of Vettel, Red Bull, Loeb, Citroen and Shedden in their respective categories. The award of Jenson seems to be a little bit weird and I can think of only two explanations. One is that Lewis may not be popular among journalists (I guess that journalists vote in these awards?). If true, this is not very professional, although it will further emphasize the problematic character of Lewis. The other explanation however is that Jenson is a British driver who will continue to defend the honour of a British team, while Lewis will go to a German rival. This means that we had a nationalistic vote, which is understandable. After all, the award is for British driver.
My personal choice for British driver of the year however would be Dario Franchitti, who won the Indy 500 for a third time - that's great achievement.

[F1boat]

Who votes in these awards anyway?

[F1boat]

If so it is strange to see Button with more votes than Hamilton, it seems that I underestimated his popularity... Vettel also seems more popular than what is seen in forums.

[dj_bytedisaster]

The problem is that not all readers of Autosport as as well informed as most people in here. They look at the stats and see that Hamilton seemed to be retiring a lot and that we seemed rather inconsistent. That most of these retirements and lower points positions are to blame on the team has already left the memory of many casual F1 fans.
Then there is the topic of popularity. Button has a bit of an image as the 'quite, but likeable bloke', while Hamilton did himself very few favours with his 2011 antics. That certainly plays a role, too.

[The Black Knight]

You only have to venture on to Autosports forum to see they have hundreds of posters with the place being quite busy, but rarely do you find a sensible person who really knows what they are talking about and the quality of discussion is appalling. You get a lot more quality discussion here in my experience. If that is a correct demographic of the type of person who generally reads Autosport then its not surprising you get results like this.

I agree with that. I ventured onto the autosports forum a few weeks ago. I'm not a member. I was going to become a one but after a few quick scans through the threads I decided I twas better off not debating with most of the people in there as it would frustrate me too much. So for my own sanity I stuck to this one

[The Black Knight]

I am happy with the Autosport Awards results. I agree with them with the choices of Vettel, Red Bull, Loeb, Citroen and Shedden in their respective categories. The award of Jenson seems to be a little bit weird and I can think of only two explanations. One is that Lewis may not be popular among journalists (I guess that journalists vote in these awards?). If true, this is not very professional, although it will further emphasize the problematic character of Lewis. The other explanation however is that Jenson is a British driver who will continue to defend the honour of a British team, while Lewis will go to a German rival. This means that we had a nationalistic vote, which is understandable. After all, the award is for British driver.
My personal choice for British driver of the year however would be Dario Franchitti, who won the Indy 500 for a third time - that's great achievement.

Yeah, unfortunately I think you are right in these assumptions. People seem to warm to Button more than Hamilton these last few seasons. Button is a fantastic driver but he this year when Hamilton got his head down really showed the true gap between the two and for most of the year Hamilton has been on another planet to Button. It's a pity people don't read the question before answering it though before letting their personal feelings get involved.

[F1boat]

Button is a fantastic driver but he this year when Hamilton got his head down really showed the true gap between the two and for most of the year Hamilton has been on another planet to Button.

This is a little bit harsh as I think that Jenson had a poor season for his own standards. Hopefully he will do better next year, as he is one of my favorite drivers. However I am very surprised that he is more popular than Lewis, even if among the Autosport readers. My impression from the online communities, including the Autosport Atlas forum, is that Lewis and Fernando are the most popular drivers... yet they lose to Jenson and Sebastian.

[The Black Knight]

This is a little bit harsh as I think that Jenson had a poor season for his own standards. Hopefully he will do better next year, as he is one of my favorite drivers. However I am very surprised that he is more popular than Lewis, even if among the Autosport readers. My impression from the online communities, including the Autosport Atlas forum, is that Lewis and Fernando are the most popular drivers... yet they lose to Jenson and Sebastian.

Well, to be honest, I think this year has just highlighted his limitations as a driver. Give him a car that handles perfectly and he'll be just as quick, if not quicker than anyone else. If the car isn't perfect though he is very limited. Yes, fingers crossed that he'll do better next year and that McLaren give him the car he required but I honestly think he'll only win you a championship with a car that is clearly the best on the grid for most of the year.

[F1boat]

Time will tell...