Patty's 2010 Driver Ratings

...and the class of Abu Dhabi. Some subtle differences. Force India - Mercedes

#14 Adrian Sutil
A doggedly consistent season for Dynamite Sutil, who comfortably outperformed his portly team mate and has surely done enough to merit another season with That Team That Used To Be Jordan for 2011. While his performance levels dipped alarmingly in the second half of the season as the Findia squad resolutely failed to keep their development work at the same pace as their immediate rivals, he still secured a decent-enough fifth place in Belgium, though missed out on a top ten place in the championship to Rubens Barrichello at the last.
Moment of glory: Qualifying on the second row in the barmy Malaysian GP qualifying session was impressive, as was that Belgian GP 5th place.
Moment of madness: Limping out of qualifying in Q1 in Brazil was a particularly bad performance, which highlighted just how much Force India's season had stalled.
Patty Rating: 6/10

#15 Vitantonio Liuzzi
The chunky Italian enjoyed a second bite at the F1 cherry in 2010 after he lost his way and was dumped from the Red Bull driver development scheme back at the end of 2007. He didn't quite grasp his chance with both hands, though, and the chances of him still being here in 2011 seem slim given the number of potential replacements on the horizon. Struggled in qualifying throughout the season, and was the random A.N. Other dropping out with the newbie cars at the end of Q1 far more often than he would probably have liked. Finished with less than half the points of Sutil, though boosted his meagre total with a strong drive to sixth place at the Korean GP.
Moment of glory: That sixth place was a highlight, as was qualifying sixth for the Canadian Grand Prix somehow.
Moment of madness: Nearly decapitating Michael Schumacher at the final race in Abu Dhabi was a somewhat ignominious end to what may end up being his final F1 race.
Patty Rating: 4/10

Toro Rosso - Ferrari

#16 Sebastien Buemi
Chirpy Swiss driver Buemi had a quieter 2010 after his 'Nooooo'-tastic debut in 2009, and although he outscored and outqualified his team mate Alguersuari, the general perception seemed to be that the Spaniard had shown more long-term promise than 2009's rookie of the year. That suggestion may well be a little unfair, because while his team mate was tending to turn in more headline-grabbing performances, either good or bad, Buemi was quietly getting on with his job. Four meagre points finishes was a disappointing showing, but was probably as good as the car deserved.
Moment of glory: Briefly leading the Canadian GP for all of around half a lap, and enjoying the fun of a scrap for the lead with the illustrious duo of Alonso and Hamilton.
Moment of madness: His bizarre crash during practice in China, where both of his front wheels pinged off the car following a suspension failure. Onboard replays showed Buemi still trying to drive the car even as he skated into the gravel on two wheels.
Patty Rating: 4/10

#17 Jaime Alguersuari
With future Red Bull starlets Jean-Eric Vergne and Daniel Ricciardo already queuing up for their own F1 chances, there remains a fair amount of pressure on Alguersuari after an unconvincing season. He has shown flashes of brilliance, fighting hard with Michael Schumacher on a few occasions throughout the year and resisting Felipe Massa for almost the whole race distance in Abu Dhabi to claim a 9th place finish, but for all the times that he impressed, he also spent a lot of the season achieving very little indeed. Though how much of that was down to the dreadful STR car is anyone's guess. Still, this was his first full season after his hurried 2009 mid-season debut, and the team remains hopeful of better times ahead in the future.
Moment of glory: His two ninth placed finishes in Abu Dhabi and Malaysia are the best results he has managed in his F1 career to date.
Moment of madness: A technical issue meant he was forced to start from the pits after qualifying a career-best 11th in Singapore. Incidents such as damaging his car on Karun Chandhok's wing while lapping the HRT in Spain showed that he still has some work to do to become an F1 mainstay.
Patty Rating: 4/10

Lotus - Cosworth

#18 Jarno Trulli
A fairly abject season for former GP winner Trulli, as it was for all of those drivers who found themselves stuck in a newbie team for 2010. The Italian went the entire season without getting out of Q1 once, so at least he only had to do half days on Saturday, though his qualifying abilities shone through overall, as he finished 11-8 ahead of team mate Kovalainen in the overall pecking order. His races were usually dross, ruined more often than not by somesuch mechanical issue or two, but he often proved himself to be at least a tryer if nothing else, nursing a sick car home for a team desperate for the morale boost of the odd GP finish.
Moment of glory: Being confirmed for 2011 despite rumours of him being replaced by any number of random youngsters.
Moment of madness: Ending up parked on top of Karun Chandhok's HRT in Monaco after one of the least well-judged overtaking moves in history.
Patty Rating: 4/10

#19 Heikki Kovalainen
After a couple of years playing lapdog to Lewis Hamilton at McLaren, Kovalainen enjoyed a cathartic 2010 at the Lotus Racing team. On the one hand, his results were dismal, as was the way of life with 2010's rookie squads. But on the other hand, he re-established himself as a potent F1 talent as he more often than not proved to be the pick of the rookie team drivers. His 12th place finish in the attritional Japanese GP secured 10th place in the constructors championship for the team, and with Lotus (or whatever they end up being called) looking like making a big step forwards for 2011, the generously-foreheaded Finn looks to have successfully resurrected his career this past twelve months.
Moment of glory: Becoming the first team mate of Jarno Trulli's to ever outqualify the Italian at the Monaco GP weekend.
Moment of madness: His minor moment of drama in Singapore when the rear end of his car suddenly set on fire, forcing Heikki to turn firefighter with a handily-placed extinguisher. The team presented him with a fireman's helmet ahead of the next race in Japan.
Patty Rating: 6/10

Hispania - Cosworth

#20 Karun Chandhok
Chanders endured a nightmare debut season in F1, from his impromptu debut in qualifying at Bahrain, after not completing a single lap of testing before the season or in the practice sessions themselves, through to being unceremoniously dumped for Sakon Yamamoto midway through the season. During his time in the sport, he gained plenty of plaudits, though more for just being 'a nice guy' than necessarily any great amount of driving ability. Though the early-season HRT pecking order flipped back and forwards between him and Bruno Senna, the Brazilian arguably shaded the intra-team battle, and then went on to be schooled by RBR failure Christian Klien. Still, surely there's space on the 2011 grid for at least one nice guy?
Moment of glory: Actually making it to the start of the season. That, or working out a nice little sideline in becoming a shoe-in for a BBC commentary role in the future.
Moment of madness: Losing his drive to a random Japanese journeyman.
Patty Rating: 5/10

#21 Bruno Senna
The nephew of Ayrton hardly made the most glowing impact on the sport in his debut season, and despite being the only Hispania driver to actually pretty much complete the whole season, his future remains in doubt for next season. Struggled to get on the pace early on, and then possibly entered a period of complacency after being asked to drive alongside the hapless Yamamoto. That might explain why he was so outperformed by the stand-in for the stand-in Christian Klien. Or else maybe he's just rubbish. Either way, will probably have to rely on that surname of his to further his flagging F1 career.
Moment of glory: Erm. Not much. 14th place in Korea was his best result.
Moment of madness: Being left on the sidelines at the British Grand Prix, allegedly after accidentally sending a highly critical email about team boss Colin Kolles to Kolles himself. Damn you, Microsoft Outlook!
Patty Rating: 3/10

#20/#21 Sakon Yamamoto
The indefatigable Admiral Yamamoto used his wallet to lever himself into a Hispania seat for just about half the year, and then proceeded to achieve remarkably little, even for a man in a Hispania seat. If the powers that be decide to try and spice up the racing in 2011 by bringing in reverse grids, he'll be a shoe-in for the title.
Moment of glory: Somehow managed to outqualify Senna at the Korean Grand Prix.
Moment of madness: Everything else he ever did.
Patty Rating: 1/10

#20 Christian Klien
Such was the desperation of HRT to somehow secure 10th place in the constructors championship, the team gave Klien three random weekend drives towards the end of the season, hoping that an ex-Red Bull failure could succeed where Senna's nephew and a walking wallet from Japan had failed. In the end, the Austrian couldn't get anywhere near the result needed to bump the Hispania squad ahead of Lotus in the standings, but did at least perform impressively well for a man who had been out of F1 action for so long.
Moment of glory: Outqualifying Mr Senna by over a second in his first competitive F1 outing for almost four full calendar years.
Moment of madness: Somehow managing to finish behind Senna in the Brazilian and Abu Dhabi races. Blame crazy pit stops or something.
Patty Rating: 5/10

Sauber - Ferrari

#22 Pedro de la Rosa
The ancient form of Pedro de la Rosa always seemed like a slightly odd choice from Sauber for their lead driver in 2010, and it didn't turn out to be a particularly happy partnership. But despite the perception that he had been schooled by team mate Kobayashi, the Spaniard ended at 7-7 with the Japanese driver when he was dumped before the Singapore GP, and his lack of results was really as much down to bad luck as it was poor judgment. De la Rosa retired from seven of the first ten races of the season while the car was at its uncompetitive worst, but as Kobayashi became a regular points scorer by the middle of the season, DLR did not follow suit. Although he finally got off the mark with seventh place in Hungary, he was dumped soon after. And that, surely, is the end of the De la Rosa F1 story. Surely?
Moment of glory: That seventh place in Hungary, or his battling appearance in the top ten of qualifying at Silverstone.
Moment of madness: That early-season spate of retirements. None of them were really his fault, more car-based issues, but a lack of track time can't have helped the returnee's confidence.
Patty Rating: 5/10

#23 Kamui Kobayashi
Super Crazy Kamikaze Kamui gave little reason for F1 writers not to use lazy and slightly insulting Japanese stereotypes about him this season, with a series of willfully bonkers displays of overtaking at just about every race weekend going. Which of course has made him one of the stars of the season. Often using the only remaining pit stop tactic left on the refuelling ban era, i.e. run long on the hard tyres first off and then go on a short overtaking blitz on the softs late on, the Japanese driver has single-handedly succeeded in proving that even with the 'dirty air' issues and the like, overtaking is still possible in modern Formula One. Unhinged? Possibly. Dangerous? Rarely. Brilliant? Yes, very much so.
Moment of glory: His late-race run at Valencia on grippy soft tyres was fun, but his race-long attempts to pass the whole field into Suzuka's hairpin was better.
Moment of madness: Was the only victim of the Wall of Champions at the Canadian GP this year. Still, Kamui, Button crashed there once, and look where he is now, so there's hope yet.
Patty Rating: 7/10

#22 Nick Heidfeld
Ickle in 'slightly dull, barely worth writing about' F1 appearance shock. The perennial standard of driver averageness paired up with the perennial standard of team averageness to form a perfect storm of blandness for the final five races of the year, after Heidfeld had got bored with being a Mercedes GP understudy and Pirelli tester. Showed his dogged ability to perform 'sort of ok' no matter what the situation with two points finishes in those five races, but is running out of options to further his career for another year and is already whispering sweet nothings towards the DTM for the future. F1 may just have lost it's barometer of average.
Moment of glory: His eighth place at Japan in only his second appearance of the season, coming home just behind team mate Kobayashi.
Moment of madness: Getting ki-boshed into retirement by Michael Schumacher in Singapore.
Patty Rating: 5/10

Virgin - Cosworth

#24 Timo Glock
2010 was always going to be the sort of season at best described as "character-building" for Glocky, after the German passed up the chance of a Renault drive in favour of helping the new start-up squad, but even he might not have expected life to be quite this difficult. He ended up finishing bottom of the pile in the championship for any driver that actually completed a full championship season, and took four races to even chalk up a race finish. Still, he occasionally showed flashes of fighting spirit, holding off a string of cars for half the race in Singapore in an ultimately futile attempt to improve his and Virgin's championship showing, and regularly providing the Lotus duo with their only real opposition in the irrelevant 'Class B' scrap at the back of F1's grid.
Moment of glory: Making Q2 twice in Malaysia and Belgium, largely helped by the failings of others.
Moment of madness: Being outqualified twice by his hapless team mate.
Patty Rating: 5/10

#25 Lucas di Grassi
A somewhat harrowing season for the Brazilian driver, who endured nineteen races of almost-complete anonymity in the second Virgin seat. It looks like his F1 career may well comprise of nothing more than this one year with the backmarking Virgin team, which is a bit of a shame, but he never really got a handle on the car, and only outqualified his team mate Glock on two occasions throughout the season. The fact that his likely 2011 replacement was in his car for Friday practice towards the end of the season was hardly a confidence-booster, but without a wealth of sponsorship to back him for 2011, his time in the sport was always likely to be brief.
Moment of glory: Passing Michael Schumacher in the Australian GP was a wonderful moment of impudence from the underpowered Brazilian in a fight with a seven-time champion.
Moment of madness: Going weeks at a time without being acknowledged by commentators or TV pictures. Di Grassi could have taught even Nick Heidfeld a thing or two about keeping a low profile in 2010.
Patty Rating: 3/10

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