1) BUTTON IN CANADA
On Lap 37 of the wet-dry 4 HOURS Canadian Grand Prix, Jenson Button was LAST of the lot after clashing with Hamilton and Alonso, and pitting three times over punctures and a speeding penalty.
Just 33 laps later, he won the race after a mesmerising drive through the entire field, boosted by a series of cleverly-timed pit stops.
The icing on the cake came at turn six on the very last lap when leader Sebastian Vettel, spooked by the ever-closing Button, slid wide and let the Brit through to win what he described as "definitely my best race ever". Definitely the best race seen in years.
Other highs were Jenson winning in Hungary or when ill in Singapore but racing great thanx to Italian pasta ;)
A woman in Monza saying that in front of Red Bull boss, Chris Horner, as you can hear at the end of this video:
(song: Noel Gallagher, "Aka what a life", published on 11 September, Monza race)
That weekend was a high, Button from 7th in the first laps, finished 2nd. And in those days the first McLaren shop in Italy opened here.
That weekend was a high, Button from 7th in the first laps, finished 2nd. And in those days the first McLaren shop in Italy opened here.
3) BUTTON @ RED BULL PIT BOX :) & THE MARSHALL FALLING
Some of the comic moments of the year — along with the Canadian marshall who fell over twice in front of the F1 pack — came in China as Jenson dived in to Red Bull's pit box by mistake for a tyre change.
LOWS
1) SIMONCELLI :(
Tragedy as we lost British IndyCar star Dan Wheldon in a crash, a week before MotoGP ace Marco Simoncelli died in Malaysia, that shocked us to the bone.
2) KUBICA
F1 drivers like to have a bit of fun over the winter — and Renault's Polish star Robert Kubica thought he would try rallying. Alas, he crashed his Skoda into a barrier on the Ronde di Andora event in Italy, emerging with life-threatening injuries including a smashed right arm that may yet end his career. The accident was also a blow to Renault's F1 challenge, from which the team never really recovered — although their radical exhaust system didn't help.
3) HAMILTON FLOP
Confusion inside the head of (they say he was) the world's fastest F1 driver, Lewis Hamilton.
The most bizarre incident of a bizarre season for Hamilton came at Monaco. He was given two penalties after colliding with Felipe Massa and Pastor Maldonado. Afterwards he branded both "stupid". Asked why the stewards had singled him out, he replied: "Maybe it's because I'm black."
And he described his frequent visits to race officials as "an absolute fricking joke". Hamilton's inner demons stayed with him through most of the season, resulting in a series of untypically crass incidents (often while fighting against Ferrari's Massa, he could never overtake him easily, as if Massa was Senna) such as his crazy tangle with Kamui Kobayashi at Spa.
Massa even got a nonsense penalty. I couldn't stand Massa, but then I even began to like him, thanks to Hamilton.
Roll on 2012, eh Lewis?
