Driver of the race - Chinese Grand Prix

[gm99]

My nomination this time goes to Vitaly Petrov - great race, kept it together in difficult conditions and to top it off, passed one Michael Schumacher.

[F1boat]

Petrov!

[pettersolberg29]

Petrov was really great, Button obviously. Also good for Alonso (after the jump start). Rosberg and Kubica get honourable mentions too.

[Garry Walker]

Why was petrov so great when he finished far behind his teammate and was slower pretty much all race long?

[pino]

Petrov followed by Alonso :up:

[Robinho]

Button for me, great race, right tyres at the right times, managed the conditions brilliantly, despite safety cars.

Petrov was excellent too, great racing and passing.

Lewis was quick, but too many incidents for me, pit stop release was probably ok, at the same time as vettel. not sure about the webber incident.

Rosberg drove well, but threw away the lead with a small mistake, might have been difficult to beat otherwise

[Robinho]

Why was petros so great when he finished far behind his teammate and was slower pretty much all race long?

thats not a bad call, Petrov raced well, but Kubica obviously had the better race

[ioan]

Why was petrov so great when he finished far behind his teammate and was slower pretty much all race long?

Like only 2 places behind? Petrov is a rookie in case you have forgotten.

Drive of the race goes to Button for managing to salvage it even if only by a very small margin.

[Garry Walker]

Like only 2 places behind? Petrov is a rookie in case you have forgotten.
.
25 seconds behind. That is a big margin.

[ioan]

25 seconds behind. That is a big margin.

Let's try again: He's a rookie and Kubica is in his 5th season. Spot the difference?

[donKey jote]

button, alonso and petrov... in reverse order :p

[Garry Walker]

Let's try again: He's a rookie and Kubica is in his 5th season. Spot the difference?
So what? Did kubica perform better today than Petrov? The answer to that can only be yes. Whether one of them is a rookie or not is irrelevant.
Hamilton, Schumacher were shining against their teammates from first race on.

[pino]

button, alonso and petrov... in reverse order :p

Exactly :up: :D

[ioan]

So what? Did kubica perform better today than Petrov? The answer to that can only be yes. Whether one of them is a rookie or not is irrelevant.
Hamilton, Schumacher were shining against their teammates from first race on.

The world is not black and white dear Garry. Others might think different than you, and this is such a case. And that's my last word on this theme.

[DexDexter]

Button, Rosberg and even if nobody noticed it, Kovalainen drove a fantastic race for Lotus, finishing only one lap down to the leaders.

[DexDexter]

button, alonso and petrov... in reverse order :p

What did Alonso do to deserve a mention in this thread?

[Ari]

Petrov and Rosberg....

Just beat my boy at the end too. :(

[ioan]

Button, Rosberg and even if nobody noticed it, Kovalainen drove a fantastic race for Lotus, finishing only one lap down to the leaders.

You're right about Heiki, impressive drive in that car.

[Ent]

Rosberg for me, followed by Kubica.

[steveaki13]

Overall erm.. Button

But a mention for

Button - For winning the race calmly.
Hamilton -For the overtakes and racing, held back by to many incidents again.
Alonso- After Penalty and stops finished 4th and ahead of teamate.
Kubica- Solid Drive
Petrov- Good race to score points.
Kovalainen- Only 1 lap down and ahead of a Williams
Senna - First finish and double Hispania finish, also only 2 laps down good effort.

[UltimateDanGTR]

well, Button was one of the donkeys (the 2nd safety car restart indiscression) but i would also say he was one of the drivers of the race, for a great performance and strategy otherwise.

honourable mentions and other candidates are kubica, petrov and Rosberg-all who drove calmly and solidly nearly all race

[rohanweb]

Lewis Hamilton : for really keeping the race alive with hisextra ordinary overtakings
Jenson Button : for the cool headedness
Vitaly Petrov : wretling that renault for good points

[jens]

Obviously Petrov wasn't the best driver of the race, but he deserves a mention for generally an impressive performance in difficult and changeable conditions. He made a few mistakes, but generally was competitive. The potential he seemed to have based on the first three races has finally been turned into a result. Kubica - another great drive, the deployment of SC may well have cost him a podium.

For Rosberg this was by far his best wet race ever. Finally he has managed to prove himself in such conditions as well. Button v Hamilton - another battle of tactics and speed. The story of Button in 2010 has been quite a fairytale so far - from an underdog and widely-expected #2 to a genuine championship contender and a worthy WDC defender. :up:

Alonso managed another impressive comeback drive, but the jump start (which I haven't seen for ages among front-runners. Last time was when - Fisico in Canada'06?!) lowers his mark.

At the back - I didn't follow live timing, but how did Kovalainen's and Senna's laptimes look like compared to the rest of the field? Somehow Chandhok finished as many as two laps behind Senna. And it was great to see Heikki up in the points early on - great boost for the team. :D

Finally - I thought de la Rosa was performing well too. :p : He was around P4, when the engine blew up once again...

[Dzeidzei]

Nico for making MS look like a sock again. The Renault twins were fine too.

[Wasted Talent]

Like only 2 places behind? Petrov is a rookie in case you have forgotten.

Drive of the race goes to Button for managing to salvage it even if only by a very small margin.


LOL....."salvage".

DoR - Button.

Petrov good but had big spin

WT

[ioan]

LOL....."salvage".

DoR - Button.

Petrov good but had big spin

WT

And Button went of like a rookie too, so what's your point exactly?!

[keysersoze]

Good gosh that Renault is easy on tires. Kubica and Petrov on only two stops and the latter has enough in the last laps to run down Schumacher (MS was 12-13 seconds up the road after Vitaly passes Alguesuari) and stalks Webber, who was 5-6 ahead of Schumacher, into a mistake.

Renault were the team that overachieved, and their drivers were very cool-headed in changeable conditions. Of course, Button deserves all the credit for keeping it together and looking after his equipment. Lewis was a tiger all-race long but destroyed his tires--still, he gets a nod as well. I so want Nico to get his first win and he continues to impress.

[Wasted Talent]

And Button went of like a rookie too, so what's your point exactly?!

I am saying that Petrov had a good race but had a biggish mistake so I rate Jenson as better for DoR - smaller mistake, other wise excellent.

(If Petrov was okay to spin why was Jenson hammeed for his similar spin in Q1 at the last race??)

I wouldn't describe Jenson's drive as a salvage job - Massa's was a salvage job as he got into the points with a poor drive

WT

[Mia 01]

First Petrov then Jenson

[truefan72]

Hamilton, Petrov

[Storm]

For being a rookie with an impressive drive in such conditions - Petrov