10. Felipe Massa
Scuderia Ferrari, 7th in
championship (0 wins, 0 poles, 122pts) – Re-entry
It’s fair to say that Massa’s season got off to an
atrociously poor start. Calls for his replacement were being made as early as
the Chinese Grand Prix, and by the time his teammate Fernando Alonso had managed
to hustle the Ferrari to a second victory at Valencia, Massa had racked up a
paltry eleven points. The next round at Silverstone nonetheless seemed to mark
something of a turning point for the Brazilian, and for the first time he
emerged as a podium contender with a strong fourth place. Notwithstanding
another blip at Germany, Massa proceeded to score points in every race up until
the end of the season, turning in particularly impressive drives once his seat
was confirmed for 2013 – at Japan, where he scored his first podium in two
years, Austin, rebounding brilliantly from the grid penalty brought about by
the team, and, as ever, on home turf at Brazil. That upturn was just sufficient
to allow Ferrari to hang on to second position in the constructors’ standings
and earn Massa a place on this list ahead of Nico Rosberg and Romain Grosjean,
both of whom started strongly but underwhelmed towards the end of the year.
9. Pastor
Maldonado
Williams F1 Team, 15th in
championship (1 win, 1 pole, 45pts) – New Entry
Maldonado and Williams were arguably the surprise package
of the season. After a learning year in 2011 during which the Venezuelan driver
began to eclipse the vastly more experienced Rubens Barrichello near season’s
end, Maldonado immediately established superiority over teammate Bruno Senna at
Melbourne with what was very nearly a sixth place finish – better than any
Williams would have finished since mid-2010. Maldonado featured in Q3 no fewer
than 12 times over the course of the season, out-qualifying Senna in the
process a mouthwatering 18 times. The manner in which he resisted the pressure
of home favourite Alonso to take a deserved maiden win at Catalunya was
sublime, while costly errors at Valencia, Silverstone and Spa combined with a
burst of petulance during Monaco qualifying and plain bad luck at Singapore
prevented Maldonado from being as high in the standings as he deserved to be.
You can’t teach a consistent driver to be quick, but you can teach a quick
driver to be consistent. And quick Maldonado was just about all year.
8. Nico Hulkenberg
Sahara Force India F1 Team, 11th
in championship (0 wins, 0 poles, 63pts) – New Entry
The fight between Hulkenberg and Force India teammate
Paul Di Resta was expected to be perhaps the closest intra-team battle of all
this year. In reality, such a battle was becoming rather one-sided by the end
of the year as the young German seemed to constantly come out on top. Early
results would indicate that ‘Hulk’ did take a few races to become familiar with
his team’s modus operandi, but his
fifth place finish at Valencia was the start of a worrying trend for Di Resta which,
with the notable exception of at Singapore, the Scot appeared helpless to
reverse. Hulkenberg took advantage of the chaos that unfolded before him at Spa
to snatch a career-best fourth place, and was never outside the top eight
(apart from at Abu Dhabi, where he was unfortunate to be squeezed into
retirement at turn 1) in the final six races. While he may have thrown away a
chance of a maiden podium finish with his collision with Lewis Hamilton at
Interlagos, the fact he was in such a position to begin with highlights why
it’s Hulkenberg and not Di Resta that Ferrari have their eye on for 2014.
7. Sergio Perez
Sauber F1 Team, 10th in championship (0 wins, 0 poles, 66pts) – New
Entry
While some drivers struggle to build on the impression
they make in their first year of top-level competition in their second, Perez
took a considerable step forward. Armed with a Sauber that was significantly
more competitive, particularly early in the season, than its predecessor, the
unassuming Mexican was immediately on the pace and was heartbreakingly close
to what could have been a momentous maiden win in tricky conditions at
Malaysia. Perez proved that result was no fluke by backing it up with a third
place finish at Canada, showcasing once again his uncanny knack for tyre
preservation, and of course another sparkling performance at Italy that saw the
22-year-old take the runner-up spot for a second time. Admittedly, there were
times when he was outperformed by teammate Kamui Kobayashi, and good points
were thrown away with somewhat careless incidents at Japan and Abu Dhabi; by
that time, however, Perez had already secured an unexpected but deserved
promotion to McLaren. There are rough edges to be smoothed, much as was the
case when Mika Hakkinen and Kimi Raikkonen were snapped up by Woking early in
their careers. Only time will tell whether Perez will scale similar heights.
6. Mark Webber
Red Bull Racing, 6th in
championship (2 wins, 2 poles, 179pts) – No Change
To begin with, all the signs were positive that Webber
had succeeded in putting his disappointing 2011 campaign behind him and had
finally got back on terms with Sebastian Vettel. The banning of the
exhaust-blown diffuser that the straight-talking Aussie struggled to get to
grips with last year appeared to re-invigorate Webber as he beat his teammate
to victory at both Monaco and Silverstone. Then came a period of frustration,
when a disappointing run of results stretching from Hockenheim to Singapore curtailed
any title ambitions he may have been harbouring. Webber once again became a
threat for podium finishes from Japan onwards, once the car became the class of
the field, but he was still unable to come to terms with Vettel for the balance
of the season even without the mishaps that struck at Abu Dhabi and Austin.
Though Webber proved this year, on his day, he’s a match for the best of them, his
apparent inability to string together a consistently strong season surely means
his best chances of winning the title are, regrettably, behind him.
5. Jenson Button
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, 5th in
championship (3 wins, 1 pole, 188pts) – Down 3
In spite of a trio of impressive victories, Button’s
third season at McLaren failed to build on the momentum of his second and
allowed a refreshed Hamilton to re-assert his superiority. Though Button’s
Melbourne victory boded well for an assault on the championship, it proved to
be a false dawn as the 2011 runner-up later endured a fallow period which was
as bewildering as it was pedestrian: his title aspirations were all but
obliterated by mid-season having accumulated a scant seven points in the six
races from Bahrain to Silverstone, and it wasn’t until Hockenheim that the Brit
found his form once again. His remaining wins at Spa and at Sao Paulo weren’t
attained without superb driving, but on the same token Button managed to by and
large avoid the mechanical misfortune that blighted Hamilton’s campaign – the meagre
difference between the respective points tallies of the McLaren teammates masks
the degree to which Button was simply outperformed. Not only should the arrival
of Perez in place of Hamilton next season make Button’s life easier in terms of obtaining
results, it should equally ensure that the car at his disposal is
more to his liking. Don’t rule him out of contention for a second title just
yet.
4. Kimi Raikkonen
Lotus F1 Team, 3rd in
championship (1 win, 0 poles, 207pts) – Re-entry
How Raikkonen would fare in his first season back after
two years of rallying was one of the great mysteries of the pre-season, but the
Finn wasted little time in providing the answer. Making the best use of a
competitive Lotus machine, a close second place at Bahrain – a race he could
have won but for a tad more aggression – let the world know in no uncertain
terms that the ‘Iceman’ was back. Thereafter, Raikkonen established a virtually
unrivalled level of consistency, scooping an additional five podiums in the
next eight races. Though it seemed for a time as if that 19th career race win might nevertheless
just elude him, an emphatic drive at Abu Dhabi, albeit aided by the demise of
Hamilton, happily ensured that wasn’t the case. It was also clear by the end of
the season that Raikkonen had firmly seen off the challenge of teammate
Grosjean, who wasn’t really the same driver after his one-race ban. Finishing
in the points in every race bar one (as well as completing every lap of the
season barring the very last at Interlagos) in a year of such unpredictability
demonstrates the ability that took Kimi to the 2007 title hasn’t waned.
3. Sebastian
Vettel
Red Bull Racing, World Champion (5 wins,
6 poles, 281pts) – Down 2
Placing the man who became just the third man in history
to string together three successive world titles only third in this list may
seem a trifle harsh, but Vettel’s 2012 crown somehow lacked the sparkle of his
first two. It took the reigning champion longer than expected to adapt to the
nuances of the new Red Bull machine, and with the exceptions of his Bahrain
victory and at Valencia, where 25 unquestionably deserved points went down the
drain with alternator failure, the flourish of his 2011 campaign was noticeably
lacking for much of the year. His qualifying record against Webber only stood
at 11-9 in the German’s favour, and crucial errors were made at Hockenheim (did
he really expect to get away with that?), Monza and Interlagos, where he was
very fortunate his first-lap shunt with Senna didn’t end up costing him the
title. It was only from Singapore onwards that he really hit his stride, and
his four successive wins, not to mention his comeback from the pit-lane to
third position at Abu Dhabi, were all well merited. It’s a stretch to say that
Vettel is not a deserved recipient of the title, but considering the equipment
at his disposal it arguably should have been a slightly simpler affair.
2. Lewis Hamilton
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, 4th in
championship (4 wins, 7 poles, 190pts) – Up 2
While 2012 was probably the most consistent and
error-free campaign put together by Hamilton yet, several blunders by McLaren
and a depressing amount of bad luck meant that a championship challenge was
never on the cards. From the start of the European season, Hamilton had the
measure of teammate Button just about everywhere, as evidenced by a qualifying
record of 16-4 in favour of the younger Brit. The only real mistake he made all
season was his over-aggression in defending from a hot-headed Maldonado at
Valencia, and his four wins at Canada, Hungary, Monza and Austin were all
occasions when he was undoubtedly the class of the field. What’s more, he could
have taken twice as many: what ought to have been a straightforward victory
from pole position at Catalunya went south because of McLaren’s failure to fuel
Hamilton sufficiently during qualifying, mechanical failure robbed him of near
certain wins at both Singapore and Abu Dhabi, and Hulkenberg’s ambitious lunge
at Brazil deprived Lewis of what would have been a fitting send-off in his
final race for McLaren. If Mercedes can get their act together in time for the
new rules in 2014, Hamilton is going to be an awfully difficult man to beat.
1. Fernando Alonso
Scuderia Ferrari, 2nd in
championship (3 wins, 2 poles, 278pts) – Up 2
Had you suggested that, after the first round of the
championship at Melbourne, that Alonso would be world champion eight months
later, the men in white coats would rapidly have been sent for. Yet, that is
precisely what he came oh-so-close to doing. The Spaniard always extracted the
very maximum from what was for the most part the third-fastest car in the field,
reaching the podium positions 13 times throughout the season despite only being
able to qualify sixth on average. Alonso’s win in the tricky conditions at
Malaysia was masterful, and some of his overtaking at Valencia was a joy to
behold even if Renault alternator woes were the main cause of an emotional home
victory for the man from Oviedo. After a third win of the year at Hockenheim, a
third title appeared to be well within Alonso’s grasp, but it was ultimately
Ferrari’s inability to develop their car as well as Red Bull that denied him.
Fernando’s desperation to get back on terms with Vettel was evident at the
first turn at Suzuka; if not for that rare error, or perhaps Ferrari’s
strategic mistake at Canada, we would be lauding one of the greatest and
unlikely title triumphs that the sport has ever seen.
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