The award-giving continues, as The Foot takes time off from his busy schedule to hand out some (imaginary) trophies to those most deserving of them. For the most part, anyway.Driver of the Year
Robert Kubica. With an engineer that understood the effect on weight balance of a hair line that would recede during the race, and a teammate that needed a 17 lap run up to be fast, Bobby K was finally allowed to unleash himself upon the championship and he drove a magnificently consistent season. Only an error in horrible conditions at Silverstone and a lacklustre final two qualifying sessions stop this from being a near on perfect year for the Pole.
Team of the Year
BMW. Copping abuse from one garage, and laughably slow laptimes from the other, the BMW team still managed to continue their rise throughout '08. They got their first pole position, first win and a lot of respect. With a troubling car in testing most pundits thought reality was going to set in quicker for BMW than it did in 1945, however they cured those issues and came out swinging, surging Kubica to the early lead of the championship. While it's true they blew an opportunity to win both titles after (signing Heidfeld) stopping development very early on, their strategic ploys on the pitwall were mostly spot on and made McLaren and Ferrari look like amateurs.
Performance of the Year
Felipe Massa, Brazil. Being fresh in my mind this mightn't be the best choice, but here it is, Felipe Massa in Brazil was my performance of the year. It wasn't only his epic qualifying, strong performance in tricky conditions or complete dominance throughout the race that did it for me, but also his reactions to the news of his last second championship defeat. For someone who is such a sook it was a top level performance that would've made Bill Murray proud.
Pass of the Year
Felipe Massa, Canada. Passing one car outside the pitlane these days is an epic enough feat, to pass two in one race is deserving of one of Patronises Household Item String Trophies™, but to pass two in one corner gets you a mention here. Coming up on the scrap between Barrichello and Kovalainen, Massa managed to be left just enough room by to sneak past the largely foreheaded pair at the hairpin. Most would've waited for the long straight coming right up, but that would've been boring and we can't have that in F1.
Race of the Year
Fuji. With bonkers penalties, crazy passing and a tops drive from Alonso Fuji is my number one race this year. It had everything I really like in the mix, controversy, action and a different winner (well, okay, the same winner as the previous race). Upon this exciting cake-like concoction was a creamy layer of Mark Webber charging through half the field on a one stop strategy. The large DC wreck was also a nice cherry one can place at the top of this delightful race.
Moment of the Year
ITV, Bahrain. ITVs attempts to pin the blame for the Alonso/Hamilton incident upon the Spaniard was my moment of the year. It started off reasonably enough with a large "Ooh" from Allen, but a scathing remark from Ted (down in the McLaren garage, natch) who was convinced that it was a brake test let loose the dogs of terry stupidity. Even Brundle wasn't immune, as he convinced himself over time that Alonso did something evil to facilitate the use of one of the most fragile parts of his car as a battering ram. Perhaps if Ted was down in the Renault garage like all the other reporters, he would've been able to see the telemetry that put the blame square in Hamiltons hands. Please don't carry on Ted.
Quote of the Year
Mark Blundell. It's hard to pin down any one gem, from his early season "Stagnant yellow flags" remark in Bahrain, all the way to his Brazilian "a last lap what made the GP very special" Blunders was at his very best all year. However I fink his "terry dough" remark about DCs season so far that has occurred in Monaco took the win what was offered.
Fail of the Year
Felipe Massa, Malaysia. People will point at the lack of reliability, or the mistakes in the pits from Ferrari as the reasons why the little Brazilian didn't take the title this year. However, it was his unforced error in Malaysia that really cost him. While we didn't know it at the time, he let it slip right there. That early season beaching left him parched as when it mattered.
Webber Good Moment of the Year
Silverstone. With the home town hero flying off the road, and most of the field struggling for grip in windy conditions Mark put in a blinder of a lap to grab a front row position in a car that wasn't deserving. While his teammate shuffled off to bingo after Q2 Webbo continued to fly around the track to create a stunning time when it mattered. Whether it was the amazing commitment through Priory or the perfectly controlled drift in Abbey this was a lap to remember. The 60 on Sunday perhaps less so.
Webber Bad Moment of the Year
Singapore. Pottering around at the back it looked like being another one of 'those races' for Australias most lovable citizen, when the seemingly impossible and unimaginable happened; Piquet Jnr spun. The resulting safety car brought Mark into play for an easy second just behind his F1 friend Fernando Alonso. Just when his bad luck monkey (700lb gorilla is probably more accurate) seemed to have left his back, Webbos Red Bull made an all too familiar conking sound and it was all over in a spluttering, smokey inlap. Fans (my) anger turned to disbelief when it was later revealed that his retirement was due to an electromagnetic charge confusing his gearbox from a passing underground train. Even typing it now, months later brings me to the point of tears.
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