Welcome to the first match-up of our brand new Character Cup competition. It's been a little while since we previewed the new tournament, because we've been fiddling around and improving the graphics and the polls. Hopefully the wait has been worth it as we kick off our first matchup.

A quick recap, though. We're pitting the 2010 drivers against each other to find out who has the best character. It's not about driving fast, or overtaking ability, it's about how they handle being in the sport we love. Your votes should go towards the driver you think is the nicest, or who deals with the media well. We already know who is fast and who is slow, but it's what makes them tick we're voting on today.

Without any further ado, let's begin with our first pair - last year's reigning Character Cup champion Fernando Alonso and Renault new boy Vitaly Petrov.

Fernando Alonso

Alonso remains intensely popular within Spain, and as a multi-World Champion, he's managed to get the country a second Grand Prix. Within the paddock, though, it's hard to tell whether Alonso is making friends of enemies. His angst-ridden McLaren days still remain fresh in the minds of a lot of F1 people, despite racing now for Ferrari, with another stint at Renault in between. His red-overalls made him happier to start with, but the frustration of not managing a repeat Bahrain win is beginning to show.

Vitaly Petrov

The brand new Russian driver had the unfortunate task of taking a Renault seat vacated by the disgraced Nelson Piquet. He's done a pretty good job of it, by generally keeping himself to himself. Rarely sticking his head above the parapet, Petrov has been mostly outclassed by his more experienced teammate Kubica, but has shown occasional signs of racing spirit. He's the best placed rookie of the season so far, with 6 points on the board. It's always the quiet ones you have to look out for!