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
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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
gDog said on 29th March 2011, 5:30
What about Chandhok? Technically he did drive at the race weekend… ;)
Hare said on 29th March 2011, 7:49
he redefined the term ‘out lap’
Jay_au (@jay) said on 29th March 2011, 11:39
Brilliant! :)
box this lap (@sebashuis) said on 29th March 2011, 7:56
Petrov.
I would have felt the most pressure of the whole field if I was in that car.
Hare said on 30th March 2011, 10:07
Probably cause Petrov would have been sitting on your lap…
BBT (@bbt) said on 29th March 2011, 8:37
Vettel then Petrov, then Hamilton then Perez
OEL F1 (@oel-f1) said on 29th March 2011, 9:11
Petrov. I doubted him last season, but he sure impressed me in Albert Park.
pSynrg (@psynrg) said on 29th March 2011, 9:25
Yeah the rookie did good and Petrov proved he can run beyond the mid field. All good stuff.
But nothing compared to Vettel’s peerless drive. From quali 1 thru to the end of the race.
pSynrg (@psynrg) said on 29th March 2011, 9:27
XD
I’ve now seen the voting so far. Crazy knee-jerk ‘Oh! A new name to click’ voting pattern…
Himmat S. said on 29th March 2011, 10:29
Actually Jarno Trulli also managed a sigle stop in the race.
Carmio (@carmio) said on 29th March 2011, 11:04
Had to Perez. I’m predicting exciting things to come from this lad
Tenerifeman (@tenerifeman) said on 29th March 2011, 11:28
Even though the car was later found to be illegal I still went for Perez. Just wondering…. Petrov always said that Kubica didn’t share info so has Heidfeld helped Petrov with his set up and enabled Petrov to be much quicker?
Jay_au (@jay) said on 29th March 2011, 11:52
Not at all pleased about it, but I have to vote Vettel.
Chatting with randoms on the way home from the race, there were two consistent themes: His pace through 15 – 16, and his precision at turn 1.
Someone sitting in the Brabham stand said that if you’d put a coin on the apex of turn 1 he’d have hit it every time.
Such a clinical performance (especially given he could have eased of mid race and still brought it home), suggests that he’s in the right headspace to dominate this season, if reliability issues are no longer a factor.
Hopefully the lack of KERS keeps him in line.
DC said on 29th March 2011, 12:14
winning a race in a superior car like vettel did dose not make him the better driver in that weekend.
Look how hamilton drove a dameged car or how alonso came back from 10th place. those are the great drives bij true champions and not by car proformance.
Lee said on 29th March 2011, 15:01
Agreed. I would like to see Vettel have to race for his life like Hamilton and Alonso did last year. I suspect you might see him playing Dodgems quite a bit
PJA (@pja) said on 29th March 2011, 12:44
It’s between Petrov and Perez for me.
Vettel didn’t make a mistake all weekend but considering he is the reigning World Champion in the best car that what you expect, although I did pick Alonso for the win in the predictions championship as I thought Ferrari would be a match for Red Bull.
A great debut from Perez beating his teammate and the only driver to manage only one stop.
In the end though I think I will have to with Petrov.
Himmat S. said on 29th March 2011, 15:27
Trulli managed one as well.
VXR said on 29th March 2011, 13:40
Best driver was Perez.
Lee said on 29th March 2011, 14:04
Vettel was immense, Hamilton outdoing Button in race and quali (AGAIN) Jenson with a wide variety of excuses (AGAIN), Perez – Fantastic debut, Rubens was brainless and Petrov had the race of his life. Alonso whilst doing well to get back into 4 was a great achievement was poor to get himself back to 11th in the first place.
VXR said on 29th March 2011, 14:22
I’m sure that all of the drivers will find excuses for one thing or another throughout the season. There’s a very long way to go yet, and certainly Sepang will be a different kettle of fish compared to OZ for many different reasons.
mole (@mole) said on 29th March 2011, 22:27
Congratulations to Petrov on a great debut and for managing those tyres, however he didn’t have to fight off nearly as strong competition as Vitaly did! Great to see a driver who enjoyed the podium, all you need to see is the post match forum (BBC – so i’m guessing its UK only folks, sorry) where he clutched that trophy and declared he was going to go to bed holding it. Puts Vettel’s whining about the absence of a kangaroo on the trophy, or Hamilton’s disappointment of coming 2nd into a new perspective…