Who was the best driver of the Australian Grand Prix weekend?
2011 Australian Grand Prix
Start, Melbourne, 2011
Who was the most impressive driver throughout the Australian Grand Prix weekend?
See below for my pick of the best drivers in the Australian Grand Prix.
Review each driver’s race weekend in detail below and vote for who you thought was the most impressive driver.
For your consideration
Here are some of the drivers who impressed me during the Australian Grand Prix weekend:
Sebastian Vettel – He may have the best car underneath him, but look at the gap to his team mate and you know he’s making the most of it.
Lewis Hamilton – Split the fastest cars on the track in qualifying and nursed his injured MP4-26 to the flag.
Vitaly Petrov – Quick in qualifying, opportunistic at the start, and looked after his tyres for a fully deserved podium finish.
Fernando Alonso – Fought back effectively with some good passes after being crowded out at the start.
Sergio Perez – A mature drive and a great debut performance – no-one else managed just one pit stop.
Compare all the drivers
You can review what happened to each driver over the race weekend and compare their performances with their team mates using the links below:
Red Bull: Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber
McLaren: Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton
Ferrari: Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa
Mercedes: Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher
Renault: Nick Heidfeld and Vitaly Petrov
Williams: Rubens Barrichello and Pastor Maldonado
Force India: Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta
Sauber: Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Perez
Toro Rosso: Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari
Lotus: Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen
HRT: Narain Karthikeyan and Vitantonio Liuzzi
Virgin: Timo Glock and Jerome d’Ambrosio
Vote for your driver of the weekend
Which driver impressed you the most throughout the Australian Grand Prix weekend? Cast your vote below and have your say in the comments.
Who was the best driver of the Australian Grand Prix weekend?
- Sebastian Vettel (12%)
- Mark Webber (0%)
- Lewis Hamilton (11%)
- Jenson Button (1%)
- Fernando Alonso (5%)
- Felipe Massa (0%)
- Michael Schumacher (0%)
- Nico Rosberg (0%)
- Nick Heidfeld (0%)
- Vitaly Petrov (33%)
- Rubens Barrichello (0%)
- Pastor Maldonado (0%)
- Adrian Sutil (0%)
- Paul di Resta (1%)
- Kamui Kobayashi (0%)
- Sergio Perez (36%)
- Sebastien Buemi (0%)
- Jaime Alguersuari (0%)
- Heikki Kovalainen (0%)
- Jarno Trulli (0%)
- Narain Karthikeyan (1%)
- Vitantonio Liuzzi (0%)
- Timo Glock (0%)
- Jerome d'Ambrosio (0%)
Total Voters: 799
Loading ...You need an F1 Fanatic account to vote. Register an account here or read more about registering here.
Rate the Race: Australian Grand Prix
Don’t forget to cast your vote in the ‘rate the race’ poll as well:
2011 Australian Grand Prix
- Hamilton and Button expect more from McLaren
- Sauber will not appeal Australia disqualification
- 2011 Australian Grand Prix: complete race weekend review
- Who was the best driver of the Australian Grand Prix weekend?
- No home advantage for Webber at Red Bull
- Relief at McLaren after last-minute changes pay off
- Ferrari look for answers on missing pace
- Collisions spoil Mercedes’ start to the season
- Petrov fires Renault with fine drive to first podium
- Unreliability and driver errors hold Williams back
Browse all 2011 Australian Grand Prix articles
Image © Pirelli
Hare (@hare) said on 28th March 2011, 23:08
As I thought, between Perez and Petrov.. I went for Petrov, but could have equally have gone for Perez.. and perhaps he edges it. He did a brilliant job. They both did.
Hare (@hare) said on 28th March 2011, 23:16
How come the bar for drivers with 0 votes, is bigger than the bar for the drivers with 1 vote? Seems to be a glitch in the matrix ;)
Alex Bkk (@alex-bkk) said on 28th March 2011, 23:42
Looks fine to me… But then again, I live in the Twilight Zone.
Alex Bkk (@alex-bkk) said on 28th March 2011, 23:44
Oops I see what you mean… needed to put on my glasses.
Simone said on 28th March 2011, 23:29
Petrov gets my vote, but… Can anyone explain the lack of love between Lewis and Sebastian at the end? It looked like they blanked each other?
Himmat S. said on 29th March 2011, 15:35
what’s that supposed to mean? (PS: English’s never been my strongest point)
Alex Bkk (@alex-bkk) said on 28th March 2011, 23:32
Oddly enough I voted for Hamilton… I think that driving that car in the condition it was in would have put most drivers off their heads.
He just gets on with the business of driving.
Nice to have such good choices though… They were all worthy.
narboza22 (@narboza22) said on 28th March 2011, 23:34
I want to say Petrov or Perez as I was massively impressed by both of them, but I can’t vote against Vettel’s quali pace and win.
DaveW (@dmw) said on 28th March 2011, 23:44
Petrov. Don’t forget he got to 3rd by taking a bold double pass on Alonso and Button. You know it was a solid pass because Alonso later sniffed that Petrov took a “risk.” Then he drove flawlessly, ahead of various RBR, McLaren, and Ferrari race cars to bring home the bronze.
It’s hard to know how good Hamilton was because Button was so bad. Hamilton did a solid job. He looked poised to jump right on Vettel’s back before his team messed up his stop and the car let him down. But the McLaren was very quick most of the weekend, so 2nd place probably is where he should have been by putting in a day’s work.
Perez did a good job but it wasn’t like he had a clever plan to run 1 stop. He fell fair of the mysteries of the Pirellis. I’m not going to discount his job because he is a rookie. This vote should not be controlled for experience level. In that case Schumacher and other old-timers would be disqualified from these votes.
joac21 (@joac21) said on 28th March 2011, 23:58
Im feeling like home on this page now! a lot of support to my fellow countryman perez!..
ill allow myself to be biased on this one, so voted for perez, but still impressed by vettel, petrov, alonso and di resta.
worst of the weekeend: Barrichello.
Adam Tate (@adam-tate) said on 29th March 2011, 6:15
Yes, the most experienced grand prix driver of them all should know better than to go for a gap that isn’t there and take someone out of the race.
Hyoko said on 29th March 2011, 0:01
Alonso for the most entertaining race, if not the best. A poor quail and a worse start, but then he got into a lot of fights and won them all. His exterior pass on Kamui at the parabola was the highlight of the weekend. On the other hand, his Kers-aided pass on Nico felt gimmicky.
Vettel was boringly perfect, winning straight from pole. LH also boring, only coming close to Vettel near the end of the first stint but never having a chance to fight. And then almost ruining the race with the off.
Vitaly Petrov gets it for me. Superb start, and then no mistakes. Also no fights after the first corner, a few laps from the end it seemed Alonso and Webber would catch him, but it never happened, he picked up his pace on time. Too bad we were denied a good fight for the podium.
Terrific debut for Chaco Perez, too bad he got a dsq. Also the cameras didn’t show him much.
tyngdekraft (@tyngdekraft) said on 29th March 2011, 0:06
Perez has done nothing special and his qualifying performance was pretty poor, especially compared to his teammate. Anyway, I voted for D’Ambrosio
Jarred Walmsley (@jarred-walmsley) said on 30th March 2011, 0:25
So in your opinion a rookie who finished 7th and beat his teammate in the race is worse than one who qualified and finished last?
formula1jmfangio (@) said on 29th March 2011, 0:42
I have to go with Petrov on this one, anyone that saw him racing in GP2 can tell they guy is right for this job and last year even though he was severely overshadowed by Kubica( and honestly what other rookie could have topped Kubica?) he has shown proof of his talent several times.
Hopefully this was proof enough for his doubters as drivers with a lot more experience in F1 still make mistakes see Hamilton,Vettel,Alonso, Barrichello,Schumacher and the list can go on
two thumbs up for Perez though on his debut, it’s encouraging to have a solid representation from the Americas
VaNja said on 29th March 2011, 1:02
It’s really annoying how a lot of won’t just be realistic about drivers
1. Petrov the guy was so lucky this weekend he doesn’t even know how je got to the podium ,you people talk about some great manuover he made passing alonso and button on the start…… COME ON!!!! button almost knocked alonso out of the race and left himself wide open, any fool would have Passed them…. after that the man didn’t do anything special
2. Hamilton and vettel just drove their boring races, great job on quallifying though both
Vanja said on 29th March 2011, 1:08
3. Alonso truly man of the day, made the race interesting, almost knocked out of the race, then fights back to p4 ( had some brilliant passes)
I really don’t know what race you people were watching but in the one i was watching he was the hero CAN’T UNDERSTAND WHY YOU HATE HIM SO MUCH :s
NW said on 29th March 2011, 1:52
I agree that Alonso did the best race… after the first corner. With a decent start he could have been second (I see no way he could pass Vettel though).
Hyoko said on 29th March 2011, 2:08
And Massa gets a honorable mention for a great start and a solid defense from Button. But that was it.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) said on 29th March 2011, 8:07
It’s possible that other people don’t have the same opinion as you.
formula1jmfangio (@) said on 29th March 2011, 1:22
To Simone: the lack of love between Hamilton and Vettel is due to the fact that now they have the same number of WDCs but in Hamilton’s delusional world he’s “the best of his generation”, even better than Alonso or Scumacher so it’s natural for him to be arrogant towards Vettel
Hyoko said on 29th March 2011, 2:13
Get a hit man and put a contract on Seb, Mark, Jenson, Kamui, Nico, Fernando, Felipe, Robert, Vitaly, maybe Sergio and a few more, and maybe you’ll win another WDC, Mr Lewis.
Adam Tate (@adam-tate) said on 29th March 2011, 6:18
I wouldn’t classify Alonso and I certainly wouldn’t classify Schumacher as the same generation of driver as Hamilton.
craig-o (@craig-o) said on 29th March 2011, 2:35
Nice to see Karthikeyan getting a vote or two :)
wasiF1 (@wasif1) said on 29th March 2011, 2:41
I agree that you have your favourite driver but that doesn’t mean you will vote the wrong guy.
wasiF1 (@wasif1) said on 29th March 2011, 2:40
I voted for Petrov but Perez equally deserve the trophy,great drive from both of them. The thing was both surprised us with there pace.Sadly Perez won’t be able to carry points.