Best and Worst of 2002

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Following a month of voting for the Best and Worst of the 2002 season, the results have been finalised and most of them were not surprising. Here is a rundown:

Best Driver - Michael Schumacher: The first of several 'expected' results. A driver who manages to finish in every race on the podium has to be the best.
Michael Schumacher won over 75% of the vote. Mark Webber was second but with only 6.19% of the vote.

Worst Driver - Alex Yoong: The first of many in the Worst categories for Yoong.
His qualifying record has affected his race reputation!. Alex Yoong won over 71% of the vote. Pedro de la Rosa was second with 7.42%

Best Qualifier - Juan Pablo Montoya: 7 Poles (5 of which in a row) and not in a red car and none for your team-mate has to be a great achievement. Juan Pablo Montoya won 60.61% of the vote with Michael Schumacher in second with 28.45%.

Worst Qualifier - Alex Yoong: Already 2 awards for Yoong. Qualifying is what rattled Yoong, he just couldn't do it. And with Webber as your team-mate, well forget it.
Alex Yoong won over 85% of the vote (still not the highest vote in any category though!)
David Coulthard (beaten by Kimi Raikkonen) and Ralf Schumacher (beaten by Juan Pablo Montoya) were 2nd and 3rd but with very few votes.

Best Team - Ferrari: Scored as many points as all the other teams combined. Enough said!.
Ferrari won the most number of votes in any category with over 90% of the vote. Williams came second with a mere 3.71%

Worst Team - Arrows: This one was a little closer. Arrows actually did reasonably well when they made it onto the track, however they missed a lot of races due to financial problems. Arrows won 42% of the vote with Minardi in second with 18.53%, well you need to have a good budget to be in F1. BAR was third with 16.06% of the vote, 4 years on and they are still claiming next year ... and Jaguar was 4th with 14.82%, early in the season they were really bad.

Most Improved Driver - Kimi Raikkonen: He impressed in his first season at Sauber in 2001 and he impressed even more this year at McLaren. He out-qualified David Coulthard in the team and almost won a race.
Kimi Raikkonen won 34.85% of the vote. Rubens Barrichello was second with 22.4%, he demonstrated that on some occasions he can match Michael. Jenson Button was a distant third with 9.96% of the vote, he looked strong early in the season but Trulli got him as the season progressed.

Least Improved Driver - Alex Yoong: The third 'worst' award for Yoong. However this was the closest category of all. Alex Yoong won 18.75% of the vote, he had some racing experience at a number of races yet he couldn't even get close to Webber the 'real' rookie.
David Coulthard was second with 16.25%, when someone young and inexperienced like Raikkonen out-qualifies you, you do look bad!. Ralf Schumacher was third with 13.75%, scored less points this season than last yet his team-mate scored more.

Most Improved Team - Renault: They were the only team (alongside Ferrari) to achieve their stated goals. Finishing the 2001 season in 7th, they aimed for 4th and they got it scoring more the double the points scored by Sauber in 5th.
Renault won just over 50% of the vote. Williams were second with just 9.9% ahead of Toyota with 8.66%. 

Least Improved Team - BAR: From finishing 5th in 2000 to 6th in 2001 to 8th in 2002, they have to be a strong candidate for least improved. They say next year's car will be good, we'll they've said that every year.
BAR won 24.72% of the vote with McLaren in second with 19.78%, a team with such a budget cannot be excused for dropping back to 3rd in the championship and with a big margin. Jaguar came third with 14.83% of the vote, the R3 was a disaster at the start of the season and they didn't improve it much. 

Best Rookie - Mark Webber: Out-qualifying Alex Yoong wasn't too difficult but the margin by which Webber did it was astonishing. It will be interesting to watch Webber and Pizzonia head to head in the Jaguar.
Mark Webber won 66.67% of the vote with Felipe Massa in second with 22.22%, Massa could have been higher had he spun less often during the season.

Worst Rookie - Alex Yoong: The final award goes to Yoong bringing his tally to 4 awards. Alex Yoong raced for 3 races in 2001 yet despite his gained experience from those races he still achieved the worst record of all the drivers this season in qualifying compared to their team-mate (refer to the Quali-flyer section for detailed analysis!).
Alex Yoong won 77.83% of the votes. Takuma Sato was second with only 9.88% while Allan McNish was third with 7.41%

We would like to thank all of those who participated in this Poll and keep an eye for the next poll prior to the start of the 2003 season to give your predictions for the new season.

Voter's Comments - Top 5 in each category

Voters Comments:

I feel guilty rating some as "worst" in a category, knowing how good all of the drivers are. Relatively speaking, though, I'll stand by my choices. Driver Getting Less of a Chance Than He Deserves is Massa - Doug G - USA
(BD - MS, WD - AY, BQ - MS, WQ - AY, BT - Ferrari, WT - Minardi, MID - GF, LID - RS, MIT - Toyota, LIT - Williams, BR - FM, WR - AY)

Great to see Mark Webber finally make the step up and hopefully Jaguar can provide a Sauber like car for 2003. 
The 2002 has been very one sided but the competition in the midfield has been extremely competitive. Shame there is no championship for non Top 3. Great to see Minardi dicing for position at the Monaco and US GPs. 
Congratulations to Ferrari on an awesome 2002 but next year let Rubens challenge MS. Look forward to the new BAR Honda and the competitiveness of Williams and McLaren in catching Ferrari. 
Lastly I think Yoong and Sato like most Asian F1 drivers of the past just weren't meant to have the run they deserved. Hopefully Sato gets a drive next season and Alex moves on to greener pastures in the US CART championship - Craig - Australia
(BD - MS, WD - AY, BQ - JPM, WQ - AY, BT - Ferrari, WT - BAR, MID - KR, LID - PdlR, MIT - Renault, LIT - Ferrari, BR - MW, WR - AM)

Let's see how the new rules affect next season's races - Cooky - Australia
(BD - MS, WD - AY, BQ - JPM, WQ - RS, BT - Ferrari, WT - Arrows, MID - MW, LID - DC, MIT - Ferrari, LIT - Arrows, BR - MW, WR - AY)

MS Rules! - Arun - India
(BD - MS, WD - TS, BQ - MS, WQ - TS, BT - Ferrari, WT - Arrows, MID - MS, LID - AY, MIT - Renault, LIT - Jaguar, BR - FM, WR - TS)

Fairly cut and dry as to who the best driver and team were for this season (unfortunately). 
It would be fairer to have the category read instead of best team, "team with unlimited resources and willingness to win no matter what the effect on our reputation or the the good of the sport" 
Best team for the buck would have to be Sauber again - Glenn - Canada
(BD - MS, WD - AY, BQ - JPM, WQ - AY, BT - Ferrari, WT - Jaguar, MID - JT, LID - DC, MIT - Renault, LIT - McLaren, BR - MW, WR - AY)

I think Takuma Sato was very disappointing considering how comprehensive his wins were in the last year or so in other classes - David B - Australia
(BD - MS, WD - TS, BQ - JPM, WQ - AY, BT - Ferrari, WT - Arrows, MID - NH, LID - PdlR, MIT - Renault, LIT - McLaren, BR - MW, WR - TS)

Best - anticipation of a new season Worst - the season - Stewart M - Australia
(BD - MS, WD - AY, BQ - JPM, WQ - AY, BT - Ferrari, WT - Arrows, MID - FM, LID - AY, MIT - Renault, LIT - Arrows, BR - MW, WR - AY)

Anyone who says that the 2002 season was boring is woefully ignorant of sports. No one whines about Tiger Woods being too good because it's silly and stupid. The fact that Ferrari and Michael Schumacher are so far ahead of the other teams is the reason they deserve every trophy they get. It's the other teams' fault for failing to challenge the Ferrari dominance. I give Ferrari every ounce of credit for being the #1 Formula One team, by FAR. The real shame of the sport is the lack of fire, effort, and talent seen from the other teams. If we saw that, maybe Ferrari would have a run for their money. But if no one steps up to challenge the Scuderia, it will be everyone's fault but Ferrari's - Kevin - USA
(BD - MS, WD - AY, BQ - JPM, WQ - AY, BT - Ferrari, WT - Arrows, MID - KR, LID - EI, MIT - Renault, LIT - BAR, BR - FM, WR - AY)

I like Michael Schumacher because he had usually done all podiums in 2002 season with eleven wins, five second places and one third! And he had taken several pole and he hadn't any retirements and fourth place or below! 
Ferrari is the best team that has finished over nine one-two unstoppable races! Ferrari's teammate, Rubens Barrichello, had won four races and runner-up in the drivers' championship despite of a slow start! If Ferrari had more improvement, I would have expected that Scuderia team will make over ten races unstoppable and no retirements of both drivers in 2003. 
I think the worst driver is Alex Yoong because he had not only suffered several retirements, but also had failed to qualify three races and two races were replaced by Anthony Davidson - Li C H - Hong Kong
(BD - MS, WD - AY, BQ - JPM, WQ - AY, BT - Ferrari, WT - Minardi, MID - RB, LID - AY, MIT - Ferrari, LIT - Minardi, BR - TS, WR - AY)

Expecting better competition to Ferrari/Schumi - A Rojas - Paraguay
(BD - MS, WD - AY, BQ - JPM, WQ - AY, BT - Ferrari, WT - Arrows, MID - JB, LID - AY, MIT - Renault, LIT - Minardi, BR - FM, WR - AY)

Ferrari was amazing, untouchable on the top. BAR was the biggest failure, if it was not for their luck at the British GP when the rain worked so well in their favour, they would have ended the season with 2 points. Considering their driver line-up and their budget this is more than a failure. Jordan was with a significantly smaller budget and with practically only one driver this season and they managed to outperform BAR on so many occasions and they finished two places ahead. BAR at the end even fall behind the Jaguars - Galin R - Bulgaria
(BD - MS, WD - AY, BQ - JPM, WQ - AY, BT - Ferrari, WT - BAR, MID - GF, LID - JV, MIT - Renault, LIT - BAR, BR - FM, WR - AY)

What about best team principal, director or designer? 
What about FIA sterility to decide a really REALISTIC measure to increase F1 popularity.
What about the most BOZZO guy in F1? There are a lot of "WHAT ABOUT".
Let's look in the mirror and decide for ourselves if we will watch or go on a F1 race. If we'll say Yes that is the result of a good 2002 F1 season. 
But let hope the others will be able to put a good fight in 2003. Against of course FERRARI. My best regards to everyone, Marian - Romanian living in the US
(BD - MS, WD - JPM, BQ - MS, WQ - TS, BT - Ferrari, WT - Minardi, MID - MW, LID - JV, MIT - Renault, LIT - BAR, BR - FM, WR - TS)

Salo drove flawlessly in a sub-par car for an over-funded, underachieving, and unappreciative team. He will be dearly missed. 
Raikkonen was the most consistent qualifier outside MS, particularly considering the state of MC in 2002. 
Ferrari. What's to say? 
Coulthard never put a foot wrong on Sunday and proved his adeptness at being consistently quick while conserving his equipment. Make no mistake, once the MC proves reliable I fully expect the talented and aggressive Raikkonen to leave David behind, but it's hard to fault David's 2002 season... perhaps his best under the circumstances. He's almost becoming... likeable. 
Renault... did anyone take a legitimate step forward besides Ferrari? 
Webber will have to prove himself yet again while driving for a sub-par team. Just remember his opening drive in the Mercedes at LeMans a few years back. He'll get there eventually.
De la Rosa. Hate to drag poor Pedro through the mud, but he showed so much promise at Arrows only to fall to pieces as a teammate to Irvine. 
Certainly Yoong set new limits in the Worst category, but naming Alex is like shooting fish in a barrel. 
Jaguar and Toyota battle it out for most over-funded and under-performing, with BAR a close 3rd (they merely hype themselves less). Toyota lose out due to rookie status, but look for them to win Worst/Least Team in 2003 with the over-rated Panis and CART's rookie DeMatta. 
Poor Eddie Jordan. Everything seems to be sliding in the wrong direction since 2000. Scratch that, poor Fisichella! 
Once again, Alex is too obvious. Sato drove one race with competence, and that was the final event of 2002 at this home GP. I'm not impressed. - Ga F - USA
(BD - MSa, WD - PdlR, BQ - KR, WQ - PdlR, BT - Ferrari, WT - Jaguar, MID - DC, LID - PdlR, MIT - Renault, LIT - Jordan, BR - MW, WR - TS)

This was a boring season always with Ferrari and Schumacher winning leaving the others far behind. Coulthard has to improve otherwise he will be beaten by Kimi. Ralf and Montoya they are both great drives but with some mistakes. 
In the future a great battle between: Montoya and KIMI!!!! 
GO KIMI!!!!!! - Ana M - Portugal
(BD - MS, WD - AY, BQ - KR, WQ - AY, BT - Ferrari, WT - Arrows, MID - KR, LID - AY, MIT - Ferrari, LIT - Arrows, BR - FM, WR - AY)

I think the worst team award has to go to Arrows - so many broken half-promises! 
I hope Eddie Irvine gets a drive next year as he is a very good driver in my opinion. I also rate very highly Kimi Raikkonen, and I think he could be a serious challenger for Schumacher's crown in 2004 - Ben C - New Zealand
(BD - MS, WD - AY, BQ - JPM, WQ - AY, BT - Ferrari, WT - Arrows, MID - KR, LID - GF, MIT - Toyota, LIT - Jaguar, BR - FM, WR - AY)

Ferrari, Ferrari, Ferrari... that was 2002. Everything else was mediocre or bad in comparison. There's not much else to say really. I've always been a Ferrari fan, but for the first time I wish that the other teams come closer to Ferrari,  just to keep the beauty of this sport alive. Saludos David - Spain
(BD - MS, WD - AY, BQ - JPM, WQ - AY, BT - Ferrari, WT - BAR, MID - RB, LID - RS, MIT - Renault, LIT - BAR, BR - FM, WR - AY)

 I think the best driver and qualifier are pretty much self-evident, as well as the best team. Kimi is THE one to watch. Once he got a decent car this year, he was the only one to seriously challenge Michael in France. If not for a little oil, who knows? 
I have to go with Toyota for most improved team. They, after all, started from zero and for the most part ran mid-pack. Alex Yoong, easy choice for worst rookie, driver and qualifier. Although I did consider JPM and RS for worst driver. They seemed more concerned with each other than with the rest of the grid. Team orders are a bad thing? 
Jaguar has buckets of money and decades of racing experience, they should be one of the top teams not all excited about one third place for the season - Jeff S - USA
(BD - MS, WD - AY, BQ - MS, WQ - AY, BT - Ferrari, WT - Jaguar, MID - KR, LID - RS, MIT - Toyota, LIT - Jaguar, BR - MW, WR - AY)

Not far from what the results showed at the end of the season - Andre - Brazil
(BD - MS, WD - RS, BQ - JPM, WQ - AY, BT - Ferrari, WT - Minardi, MID - RB, LID - NH, MIT - Renault, LIT - Sauber, BR - FM, WR - AY)

Well I have to say that Ferrari has done a fantastic job they really deserve it, and congratulate Michael Schumacher for winning his fifth driver championship title. On the other hand, it is sad that Eddie Irvine is leaving Jaguar. Lets hope that he will still be driving for 2003 - Shawn C - Singapore
(BD - MS, WD - PdlR, BQ - MS, WQ - AY, BT - Ferrari, WT - BAR, MID - KR, LID - PdlR, MIT - Williams, LIT - BAR, BR - MW, WR - AY)

Ferrari deserved everything they earned. Unfortunately this year really shows that unless a team has a major manufacturer behind it there is really no hope of attaining the podium. With the changes to the points the minor teams will still be desperately racing for a meagre few points however it will not change the positions up-front - Steven P - Australia
(BD - MS, WD - AY, BQ - JPM, WQ - AY, BT - Ferrari, WT - Arrows, MID - JB, LID - AY, MIT - Renault, LIT - Arrows, BR - MW, WR - AY)

Eddie Irvine and Jaguar rock!!!!!!!! Eddie's performance at Monza was spectacular. With his car, it was incredible to see him qualify fifth and finish third. His practice times were outstanding in Belgium, he was only beaten by the unbeatable Michael. Jaguar was only to be let down by a change in track temperatures. I was appalled at Jaguar's decision to let him go for '03. I hope that he and Giancarlo make up Jordan's line up next season - Ben A - USA
(BD - EI, WD - AY, BQ - JPM, WQ - AY, BT - Ferrari, WT - Minardi, MID - KR, LID - MS, MIT - Jaguar, LIT - Minardi, BR - AM, WR - AY)

2002 has given F1 fans a great exhibition of cars, but other than that and the overwhelming dominance of Ferrari, the season has often been....just boring - Sukhaloka M - India
(BD - RB, WD - AY, BQ - JPM, WQ - AY, BT - Ferrari, WT - Minardi, MID - KR, LID - EI, MIT - Renault, LIT - Jaguar, BR - MW, WR - TS)

I think Coulthard has done a excellent job in a car that is nothing compared to that of the Ferrari. The only man to beat the F2002 to a win I have to say is a good effort. Even though his qualifying performance has been below standards, his race results have shown why he is one of the best drivers out there - Sam - Australia
(BD - DC, WD - JV, BQ - KR, WQ - AY, BT - McLaren, WT - BAR, MID - RB, LID - AY, MIT - Renault, LIT - BAR, BR - MW, WR - AY)

I am a Ferrari and Michael Schumacher fan but I hope next season does not have the same team orders from Ferrari to try and help him to win the championship. He is good to win enough without team orders. Also why not encourage the other teams to improve to the standard Ferrari has attained instead of coming up with ways to slow the best down?... After all this is supposed to be the epitome of motor sport. - Chris - New Zealand
(BD - MS, WD - AY, BQ - JPM, WQ - AY, BT - Ferrari, WT - Arrows, MID - MW, LID - JPM, MIT - Renault, LIT - McLaren, BR - MW, WR - AD)

Michael was supreme as usual, however I had to think hard about the best qualifier as Montoya was brilliant in qualifying. I stuck with Michael because he is more consistent, if he is not on pole he is usually second and I think Williams had a great car in qualifying anyway. Yoong is totally out of his depth and wouldn't be driving if he didn't have money. BAR are a waste of space and money with Jaguar not far behind. It is time for Max Mosley to pull out of Formula 1.The guy lacks vision and has run out of ideas. Until he faces the reality that the cars are the problem not the rules nothing will change. The lot of changes on for 2003 are tinkering at the edges at best and will do nothing to address the issue which is overtaking and on track racing. People will accept a manufacture dominance if they're seeing racing on the track. 
I am a massive Schumacher fan and believe he and Ferrari are the reason why F1 is surviving. Take that out of the equation and F1 will really struggle. If Schumacher retired right now I would stop watching it, and I don't think I'm alone. Something needs to be done drastically. Raikkonen is going to be a star and I hope Webber will be Australia's next F1 world champ regards - Mathew T - Australia
(BD - MS, WD - AY, BQ - MS, WQ - AY, BT - Ferrari, WT - BAR, MID - KR, LID - JT, MIT - Renault, LIT - Jaguar, BR - MW, WR - AY)

I picked BAR as the least improved team and worst, considering the financial resources available, they should have been able to do a lot better than they have. Honda win the award for the most disappointing engine manufacturer - Paul S - Canada
(BD - MS, WD - AY, BQ - MS, WQ - AY, BT - Ferrari, WT - BAR, MID - RB, LID - RS, MIT - Renault, LIT - BAR, BR - MW, WR - AY)

2002 was a blast already looking forward to 2003. Are you guys going to change 6 n pole to 8 n pole? keep up the good work and we will see you in the paddocks - Jammys - Canada
We are looking into it! - Ed.
(BD - MS, WD - FM, BQ - JPM, WQ - AY, BT - Ferrari, WT - Arrows, MID - JPM, LID - JT, MIT - Jaguar, LIT - Sauber, BR - MW, WR - FM)

Its been an eventful season, but not always for the right reasons. I must admit I've cringed a bit as well, especially at Ferrari's antics. I think from last year to this year Jenson Button is most improved driver (otherwise it would have to be Raikkonen) and despite everyone hailing Mark Webber, Felipe Massa, for me was the best Rookie - Linda - United Kingdom
(BD - KR, WD - PdlR, BQ - JPM, WQ - AY, BT - Ferrari, WT - Arrows, MID - JB, LID - DC, MIT - Renault, LIT - BAR, BR - FM, WR - AY)

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