Your Infinite Improbablity Drive Of The Race - China

TomWazzleshaw · Post by **TomWazzleshaw** » 17 Apr 2011, 08:44

You know the drill.

1. Mark Webber: Drove like a man possessed after qualifying to finish on the podium
2. Mercedes: Rosberg could have won it and Schumacher was on fine form.

shinji · Post by **shinji** » 17 Apr 2011, 08:47

1. Mark Webber
2. Mark Webber

(secondary 'sub-Mark Webber' award - Mercedes drivers, rather than Mercedes as a whole)

Shizuka · Post by **Shizuka** » 17 Apr 2011, 08:48

1. Webber - unexpected podium
2. Kovalainen - finishing ahead of Maldonado on his own merit, beating Perez after he had a drive-through
3. HRT - double finish! Really, REALLY useful for them

F1000X · Post by **F1000X** » 17 Apr 2011, 08:50

Webber. A champion's drive.
Rosberg. Maybe, just maybe he's got a win in him this year.

GroupLotusRenault · Post by **GroupLotusRenault** » 17 Apr 2011, 08:51

Webber- For driving like a man on a mission

HRT- 2 Finishes is a good step and for 2 laps Liuzzi was ahead of both Virgins!

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 17 Apr 2011, 08:51

Webber, obviously...

Jeroen Krautmeir · Post by **Jeroen Krautmeir** » 17 Apr 2011, 08:51

1. AussieGrit (Mark Webber)
2. Team Lotus

Valrys · Post by **Valrys** » 17 Apr 2011, 08:54

Webber - 18th to 3rd, with a fantastic drive while lacking KERS
Hamilton - as the British commentators said, a Champions drive.

Honourable mention to D'Ambrosio for being 30 seconds up the road from Glock, and Hispania for getting both cars to the end of the race, as well as Kovalinen for beating another car on merit.

tkcom · Post by **tkcom** » 17 Apr 2011, 09:00

Webber Not bad for a #18 starter. Even more amazing? No rain or safety car or major retirements to get him up there!
Kovalainen Taking a good bite into the midfield.

sswishbone · Post by **sswishbone** » 17 Apr 2011, 09:02

1. Mark Webber - Fantastic salvaging to 3rd after starting 18th

2. Massa - Podium was best they could hope and was fighting for the win, not bad considering the result of Alonso by contrast

Post by **mario** » 17 Apr 2011, 09:15

GroupLotusRenault wrote:Webber- For driving like a man on a mission

HRT- 2 Finishes is a good step and for 2 laps Liuzzi was ahead of both Virgins!

Liuzzi was only ahead of the Virgin Racing cars because he jumped the start - he got a drive through for that pretty quickly (although he'd already been passed by both Glock and D'Ambrosio by that point).

Well, I guess that the first nomination is fairly easy, even though he went out so early in qualifying. Ironically, having so many fresh sets of tyres was actually a major benefit to Webber, since he was simply miles faster than anybody else (being three seconds a lap faster than anybody else is stunning). It makes you wonder where he could have finished if he'd been a little quicker in his first stint, though - he was really struggling on the harder tyres.

For second, I'd have to say Mercedes, especially Rosberg - Schumacher nearly caught and passed Alonso near the end, whilst Rosberg was able to drive a brilliantly strategic race (he even lead for a while in what is a quite inferior car). Perhaps Mercedes did leave themselves slightly exposed near the end, since they had to do the longest stint on the hard tyres, but Ross Brawn earned his money today.

Post by **tommykl** » 17 Apr 2011, 09:19

1. Mark Webber
2. Felipe Massa

McDuck · Post by **McDuck** » 17 Apr 2011, 09:39

tkcom wrote:Webber Not bad for a #18 starter.
Kovalainen Taking a good bite into the midfield.

That's the thread right there.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 17 Apr 2011, 09:45

1. Webber - no explanation required
2. Hamilton - fuel leak so close to the start, yet the car did not run out of fuel despite the pace of the race, etc.

thalion · Post by **thalion** » 17 Apr 2011, 09:46

1. Kovalainen
2. Webber

I chose this ordering because everyone else will have Webber first.

Ed24 · Post by **Ed24** » 17 Apr 2011, 09:58

1. Webber - Obvious reasons.

2. Massa - He hasn't been faster than a team-mate in China since Villeneuve in 2005, and practically destroyed Alonso today. Deserved a podium, and would have got one with a 3-stopper.

AndreaModa · Post by **AndreaModa** » 17 Apr 2011, 10:03

1. Webber easily walks this one. I've got an old VHS called 'Murray's Magic Moments' in which the old boy shows us some classic F1 bits and pieces, one of the little features is drives from the back of the grid, included are ones like Watson/Lauda drives in the early 80s for McLaren, along with Schumacher's drive at Spa in 94 or 95 I forget and some others. I'd imagine this drive would definately get included if it had been put together now!

2. Mercedes. We knew they'd go better in the cooler conditions, but Ross Brawn showed us some of his old strategic know-how, and Michael pulled off some great moves and battles. A solid race all round that should have yielded more, I was pleasantly surprised by the team's pace.

razta · Post by **razta** » 17 Apr 2011, 11:14

AndreaModa wrote:1. Webber easily walks this one. I've got an old VHS called 'Murray's Magic Moments' in which the old boy shows us some classic F1 bits and pieces, one of the little features is drives from the back of the grid, included are ones like Watson/Lauda drives in the early 80s for McLaren, along with Schumacher's drive at Spa in 94 or 95 I forget and some others. I'd imagine this drive would definately get included if it had been put together now!

2. Mercedes. We knew they'd go better in the cooler conditions, but Ross Brawn showed us some of his old strategic know-how, and Michael pulled off some great moves and battles. A solid race all round that should have yielded more, I was pleasantly surprised by the team's pace.

agree 100%

CarlosFerreira · Post by **CarlosFerreira** » 17 Apr 2011, 11:19

1. Team Lotus: according to Mike Gasgoyne, "Jarno quickest race lap quicker than fernando and only 7 tenths down on Vettal", and Kovalainen beat Maldonado in the race.

2. Mercedes: on the pace, and spot-on in strategy. Shame Rosberg appeared a bit "soft" when under pressure.

Can't give this to Webber. He did have the best car in the best possible strategy...

Ross Prawn · Post by **Ross Prawn** » 17 Apr 2011, 11:25

Webber - I going to nominate him for rotr until half way through the race.

Rosberg - A definate 'where did he come from moment' when he popped into the lead.

Kovalainen -

Phoenix · Post by **Phoenix** » 17 Apr 2011, 12:06

Mark Webber - Fabulous race; yes, he had a distinct tyre advantage, but even so he barely put a foot wrong all race.
Felipe Massa - He had the better (and something else, probably) of Alonso all race and deserved a podium spot at least.
Nico Rosberg - He made full use of what the Mercedes had improved and was a podium contender all race.

Klon · Post by **Klon** » 17 Apr 2011, 13:13

1. Mercedes - Well, most impressive performance by them, really looked good.

2. Felipe Massa - Seems to have found the will to challenge (and beat) Alonso, things are looking great for him.

Mark's performance was not improbale at all. He simply has the best car in the field, KERS problems aside. If he'd won it, then I would have considered him an option. Anything less than a fifth place would've earned him my ROTR.

Aerospeed · Post by **Aerospeed** » 17 Apr 2011, 14:01

1. Mark Webber - 18th to 3rd, nuff said.

2. Nico Rosberg - Leading - In the Silver Toilet! Deserved a podium today!

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 17 Apr 2011, 14:02

Got to make a special mention for Pirelli for making the tyres perfectly and giving us races with so many changes of positions, even with just a lap or two of the race to go.

Warren Hughes · Post by **Warren Hughes** » 17 Apr 2011, 14:25

1. Kovalainen - he beat a Williams and a Sauber. Plus I predicted him for IIDOTR in predicament predictions.
2. Webber - how exactly did he do that?

QuickYoda41 · Post by **QuickYoda41** » 17 Apr 2011, 14:40

1. Webber
2. Kovalainen

(Rosberg was looking good, too, but he threw it away with that mistake falling behind Massa and Button)

Waris · Post by **Waris** » 17 Apr 2011, 14:54

1. Webber - AWESOME
2. Hm, this hard, because there were a few surprises. I'll go with Massa, I think, he seemed to pop up out of nowhere. Honorable mentions also to Rosberg and Schumacher.

Bob · Post by **Bob** » 17 Apr 2011, 14:57

1. Webber - that was insane
2. Kovalainen - almost on the lead lap and lapping at the leader's pace

Honourable mention to Massa, a solid drive.

Row Man Gross-Gene · Post by **Row Man Gross-Gene** » 17 Apr 2011, 15:01

Webber

golic_2004 · Post by **golic_2004** » 17 Apr 2011, 16:01

Webber, Webber, Webber, Webber, Webber. Did I mention Webber?

jackanderton · Post by **jackanderton** » 17 Apr 2011, 17:20

1. Webber. One thing Brundle did reiterate to good effect was him lapping 3 seconds a lap faster than everyone else at one point.

2. Kovalainen. A great day for Lotus whichever way you look at it. Now that the overblown promises are out of the way, the first signs of actual competition, albeit in the back of midfield are beginning to happen. That it sadly coincides with the demise of Williams is an unfortunate supplementary.

shinji · Post by **shinji** » 17 Apr 2011, 17:35

jackanderton wrote:
2. Kovalainen. A great day for Lotus whichever way you look at it. Now that the overblown promises are out of the way, the first signs of actual competition, albeit in the back of midfield are beginning to happen. That it sadly coincides with the demise of Williams is an unfortunate supplementary.

And, in fact, is quite apt.

JohnMLTX · Post by **JohnMLTX** » 17 Apr 2011, 17:37

1. Webber- Drove out of his bathplugging skull. Amazing fights on tract, and brilliant tyre stints a la Hungary last year. Aussie Grit all the way!!!
2. Kovalainen - Squeezed every drop of speed out of his car, and really proved his talent IMO. These may be the first signs of Lotus reaching the midfield?
3. Rosberg - Brought a sub-par car to the front once again. That first win is in the cards.

Barbazza · Post by **Barbazza** » 17 Apr 2011, 18:12

1. Webber
2. Massa

Much as it pains me to say it, Hamilton was great too, but that was much less improbable than these two's brilliant drives.

RAK · Post by **RAK** » 17 Apr 2011, 18:30

1) Lewis Hamilton's mechanics: While Hamilton's performance itself wasn't unexpected, the mechanics were still working on the car on the grid - and despite that, Hamilton still won.

2) Mark Webber: Any lower than a podium and I would have looked elsewhere, because a strong performance would have been expected considering the car, driver and team, but considering everything, Webber really bounced back in style. A master's showing of strategy and sheer racing performance.

Rocks with Salt · Post by **Rocks with Salt** » 17 Apr 2011, 19:01

Mark Webber: Never doubted he could do it right from the moment they announced he was going to start on the harder compound; it was going to be a battle with tire strategy, and he was in a unique enough position to capitalize on it. On top of that, he made them last, too.

Lewis Hamilton: For pulling out some fantastic passes in the final stint while Button was fading away behind him, especially after having to perform so much work on the car before the race that I definitely questioned whether or not he would DNF with a mechanical problem.

DOSBoot · Post by **DOSBoot** » 17 Apr 2011, 19:16

Mark Webber: 18th to 3rd. Something that would make John Watson proud.

watka · Post by **watka** » 17 Apr 2011, 20:00

1. Mark Webber - Fair enough he's got the best car on the grid, but after a poor first stint and being without KERS, that was a stunning performance.

2. Lotus - Genuine pace from both Trulli and Kovalainen.

Honourable mentions to Massa and Rosberg, they would have been in my top 2 had their final stints been better. Hamilton had a great race, but I think he's the best racer on the grid, so his was hardly an infinite improbability. D'Ambrosio and di Resta both deserve shout outs for having the better of their far more experienced team mates.

Myrvold · Post by **Myrvold** » 17 Apr 2011, 21:13

Heikki Kovalainen: Never would've tought a Lotus was going to beat a Williams this soon.

Jerome D'Ambrosio: Did not imagine him beating Glock, even though it looks like Glock is seriously demotivated...

I will not nominate Webber, I didn't expect a podium, but I did expect a good result.

Dan B · Post by **Dan B** » 17 Apr 2011, 21:24

1) Felipe Massa: Outscoring Alonso again and giving his best effort.
2) Heikki Kovalainen: Finishing ahead of a (albeit terrible) Williams and finally becoming a good midfield driver.

I am not nominating Webber because, as others have said, he has the best car on the grid. Ok, his KERS didn't work, but anything lower than 6th would have been ROTR worthy. I would only have considered him IIDOTR if he won or started from dead last.