Driver Performance Analysis: The Chasing Dogs

- Published on May 31st, 2011 by Benson Jammichello

Force India

• Qualifying: di Resta (13th) Sutil (14th)
• Race: Sutil (7th) di Resta (12th)

 

Well, that was much better wasn't it? After having a bit of a rum start to the season, Sutil finally managed to besta his younga team mate (see what we're doing there? Yeah, nifty, isn't it?). About time too.

He was one of the drivers who really made the pit stops work for him, coming in after the first safety car to put on option tyres and then after the second to put on a fresh pair of boots which was, we must confess, well needed.

This was mostly because he'd managed to cause the safety car in the first place by thwacking his right rear against the barriers, carrying on and causing a big accident. A stunning return to form: quicker than earlier on in the season, but also a bit more crashy. The Sutil we know (and love?!) returns.

di Resta, by contrast, endured a bit of a frustrating race. After outqualifying Sutil again (five in six now), he found himself in the unenviable position of being stuck behind Alguersuari's Toro Rosso. After being "a bit too ambitious" (his words or "a little over-eager" (Vijay Mallya's words) in trying to overtake the young Spaniard, he damaged his car and took a penalty from the stewards. To be honest, after all that, finishing twelfth wasn't bad.

Definitely di Resta's year so far. Can he keep it up for the entire season?

Badger's Best: Sutil

Renault

• Qualifying:  Petrov (10th) Heidfeld (15th)
• Race: Heidfeld (8th) Petrov (DNF)

Not a great weekend for Renault.

 

Down on where they should have been in qualifying, a slight recovery in the race and then a big crash for Petrov. Could have gone better. Much better, in fact.

Heidfeld's qualifying performances have been all over the place (18th, 6th, 16th, 9th, 24th, 15th). What is he doing?! It really comes to something when the words "Petrov is more consistent" come out of our keyboard (6th, 8th, 10th, 7th, 6th, 10th - in case you were wondering). Sort it out, Nick. To be honest, we're not sure he's doing enough to stay in F1 next year, given the tools available to him. Does he deserve it?

Petrov's big crash took us back to the halcyon days of last year when the only thing he could be relied on to do was throw it off the road. We miss those days. After complaining of pains in his legs, the medical team took their time getting him out of the car. It turns out he's fine though, which is nice.

Petrov's definitely cementing his place in the team, something we didn't think we'd say this time last year. Along with his voice and his face, we've really come round to him.

Badger's best: Heidfeld

Williams

• Qualifying: Maldonado (8th) Barrichello (11th)
• Race: Barrichello (9th) Maldonado (18th)

For an analysis of Maldonado's Monaco skills take a look here.

 

While he was generally outstanding all weekend, is he just a one-track driver? If you're only going to have one decent race in a blue moon then you run the risk of being crashed into and taken out of the race. We're sorry it happened, but not entirely sympathetic.

He really needs more performances like this one to justify his place in the team, otherwise all the oil money in the world isn't going to keep him in a drive.

Bored with Barrichello now. He's so consistent. And fairly quick. The main attraction for us was his pass on Schumacher. Take that, Michael. It's a few years too late, but cathartic nevertheless.

Badger's Best: Maldonado

Toro Rosso

• Qualifying: Buemi (16th)Alguersuari (19th)
• Race: Buemi (10th) Alguersuari (DNF)

Another pretty disappointing weekend for Toro Rosso, brightened slightly by a point at the end of it.

Buemi moved through the field and was running eleventh until Maldonado and Hamilton got together at the first corner (now there's an image and a half), nipping into tenth to take a point.

Alguersuari managed to get caught up in the Petrov/Sutil/Hamilton crash, which ended his race.

There's really not that much more to say about it all to be honest, although Buemi did confess that "by the end of [the race], I have to admit I was not too sure where we were in terms of strategy and tyres, with the situation made more complicated by the Safety Car and the red flag." See, even drivers get confused sometimes.

Badger's Best: Buemi

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