It's Over!

[Ranger]

DRS should be dumped immediately.

I feel like throwing something everytime someone says it is/ever was a good idea, and worse when commentators celebrate an 'excellent' DRS overtake.

[AndyL]

I'm a bit surprised to see so much negativity. I enjoyed the season. My impression was that we had competitive racing for podium positions most of the way through most races. How many seasons have we seen in the past when the podium positions have regularly been set at the end of lap 1.

For me the main negative wasn't on the track, it was in the stewards' room. Too many penalties given out for straightforward hard racing.

[wedge]

Get rid of DRS. I remember Turkey in particular had a lot of overtaking, most of which was totally meaningless.

I completely agree but there's no denying that it has helped in Australia (no overtaking but the car behind could catch up); especially Abu Dhabi & Barcelona which are stonewall snorefests; but useless at Valencia.

I'm a bit surprised to see so much negativity. I enjoyed the season. My impression was that we had competitive racing for podium positions most of the way through most races. How many seasons have we seen in the past when the podium positions have regularly been set at the end of lap 1.

For me the main negative wasn't on the track, it was in the stewards' room. Too many penalties given out for straightforward hard racing.

At last, another agrees!

This year reminds of 1993. Prost/Williams was the class of the field but that was a great year - and arguably Senna's best ever. Prost/Vettel, Hamilton & Button/Senna, and Alonso causing a nuisance for a podium a la Schumi that year.

[jens]

I disagree to an extent.

The midfield teams have been exceptionally competitive. STR, FI, Sauber,Renault fighting for points till the end; FI and MGP fighting to be fourth best team on race day.

Exceptionally competitive? Don't think so. They had comparable performance to each other and that's why they all managed to get some points every now and then, but we saw in 2009, what being 'exceptionally competitive' really means for midfield teams. Force India getting a pole and a podium on merit. Williams getting many 4th and 5th places. Red Bull, who back then was considered as a traditional midfield team, becoming a front-runner. In 2008 STR was 'exceptionally competitive' by getting a win on merit. Even in 2010 Kubica was getting a few podiums pretty much on merit! In 2011 all midfield teams were getting lapped most of the time, even Ferrari got lapped once. This I don't consider as 'exceptionally competitive'. Renault got closest to it in 2011 by outracing Ferrari on merit in the first two races. No-one else ever managed it again.

Kovy has been solid all season but IMHO had Lotus had a special driver I reckon he could've dragged that car for a point.

Lotus' best result was P13. Which was the race they got closest to P10 time-wise? I think they were always well over half a minute behind P10 and only outraced a car from an established team if they had a problem. I don't see, how was a point possible. It almost sounds like if Minardi had had an exceptional driver in, for example, 2001 (well, they had Alonso : ), they would have got a point...

[wedge]

Exceptionally competitive? Don't think so. They had comparable performance to each other and that's why they all managed to get some points every now and then, but we saw in 2009, what being 'exceptionally competitive' really means for midfield teams. Force India getting a pole and a podium on merit. Williams getting many 4th and 5th places. Red Bull, who back then was considered as a traditional midfield team, becoming a front-runner. In 2008 STR was 'exceptionally competitive' by getting a win on merit. Even in 2010 Kubica was getting a few podiums pretty much on merit! In 2011 all midfield teams were getting lapped most of the time, even Ferrari got lapped once. This I don't consider as 'exceptionally competitive'. Renault got closest to it in 2011 by outracing Ferrari on merit in the first two races. No-one else ever managed it again.

2009 had radical rule changes and that can always upset the applecart and form guide. 2009 FI got lucky with their low DF package.

In 2005 tyre changes were banned, Williams were a midfield team and yet Heidfeld managed pole and a threat for a race win.

Rules stability can give a level of monotony.

Lotus' best result was P13. Which was the race they got closest to P10 time-wise? I think they were always well over half a minute behind P10 and only outraced a car from an established team if they had a problem. I don't see, how was a point possible. It almost sounds like if Minardi had had an exceptional driver in, for example, 2001 (well, they had Alonso : ), they would have got a point...

It's subjective and therefore open for opinion and debate!

[TheFamousEccles]

I'm a bit surprised to see so much negativity. I enjoyed the season. My impression was that we had competitive racing for podium positions most of the way through most races. How many seasons have we seen in the past when the podium positions have regularly been set at the end of lap 1.

For me the main negative wasn't on the track, it was in the stewards' room. Too many penalties given out for straightforward hard racing.

I'm with you on the stewards.

And if they're gonna have DRS, let the drivers use it at any place they want (like in qualifying).

[Mark]

I'm with you on the stewards.

And if they're gonna have DRS, let the drivers use it at any place they want (like in qualifying).

I'd agree with that, if you are with a second at the detection point, then you can use it anywhere for an entire lap.

[wedge]

In 2008 STR was 'exceptionally competitive' by getting a win on merit. Even in 2010 Kubica was getting a few podiums pretty much on merit!

Jens, its been a long year but Renault grabbed a couple of podiums at the start of the year before they went backwards. Petrov 3rd in Australia, Heidfeld too in Malaysia - he made a sensational start by jumping up to P2 from sixth.

[zako85]

Regarding the extreme rate of reliability this season, I would like to mention one record 2011 has managed to accomplish. Fewest amount of drivers to finish in a Top6 position during a season: 13. This is a clear record as the previous lowest was 15, done last year. As we remember with the past top6 points system, usually we had 16-20 drivers getting championship points during a season. In 1989 even as many as 29.

I think this may have to do with the performance gap that existed between the top four teams and the rest for sure. With eight drivers of those top 4 teams having by far the fastest cars, clearly the top 6 was going to be contested primarily between them. I would say this made races and quals quite boring to watch. Unless Renault, Williams, Force India, and others make some progress to at least match Mercedes, I don't see this situation changing even next year.