Vote for your Belgian GP driver of the weekend

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Start, Spa-Francorchamps, 2011

Who was the most impressive driver throughout the Belgian Grand Prix weekend?

See below for my pick of the best drivers in the Belgian 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 Belgian Grand Prix weekend:

Sebastian Vettel – Typically dominant, unfazed by concerns over tyre wear, and made some excellent passes.

Mark Webber – Made the pass of the year so far on Fernando Alonso at Eau Rouge.

Jenson Button – A superb recovery after a tactical error in qualifying and picking up damage on the first lap.

Michael Schumacher – Another driver who made a strong recovery, rising from last on the grid to fifth place.

Adrian Sutil – Aside from a costly mistake in qualifying, this was another impressive performance from Sutil who’s upped his game of late.

Compare all the drivers

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: Daniel Ricciardo 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 Grand Prix weekend? Cast your vote below and have your say in the comments.

Who was the best driver of the Belgian Grand Prix weekend?

  • Jerome d'Ambrosio (0%)
  • Timo Glock (0%)
  • Vitantonio Liuzzi (0%)
  • Daniel Ricciardo (0%)
  • Jarno Trulli (0%)
  • Heikki Kovalainen (0%)
  • Jaime Alguersuari (1%)
  • Sebastien Buemi (0%)
  • Sergio Perez (0%)
  • Kamui Kobayashi (0%)
  • Paul di Resta (0%)
  • Adrian Sutil (1%)
  • Pastor Maldonado (0%)
  • Rubens Barrichello (0%)
  • Vitaly Petrov (0%)
  • Bruno Senna (0%)
  • Nico Rosberg (1%)
  • Michael Schumacher (45%)
  • Felipe Massa (1%)
  • Fernando Alonso (2%)
  • Jenson Button (28%)
  • Lewis Hamilton (1%)
  • Mark Webber (4%)
  • Sebastian Vettel (15%)

Total Voters: 585

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Rate the Race: Belgian Grand Prix

Don’t forget to cast your vote in the ‘rate the race’ poll as well:

Image © Red Bull/Getty images

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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161 comments on “Vote for your Belgian GP driver of the weekend”

  1. Button had a solid drive but for me it had to be Schumacher. 20 years of experience can be witnessed on his opening lap (YouTube the onboard) where he overtook almost half the field.

    1. Agree, hard to do much better than start 24th and last and end up 5th and ahead of your team mate who started 5th.

      1. By the same token, in Germany a few years ago, Button started last and by the end of lap one was P3.

        The start is always a lottery, Schumacher drove a great race for sure, but Button also had to come back from P19 without the fortune of a standing start to aid him AND overtake Schumacher in the process.

        Both deserve it.

        1. But you forgot to add that the McLaren is the way faster car.

          Schumacher > Button in this race

          1. True, very true, but you still have to pass the big boys. Rosberg’s car was fastest enough at the start of the race.

            I am not discrediting Schumachers race by any means, but you have to consider, the nearer the front the harder the gain. Overtaking P24 to P14 is not so tough. Overtaking Alonso and even Schumacher himself, not so easy at the best of times.

            Personally it’s split between Schumacher and Button. Don’t know how anyone can consider Vettel, it was just business as usual for him.

            If anything, people are so prone to hating Button these days I go overboard in his defence.

          2. Schumi didn’t have the luxury of a Mclaren under him,Button did well but not as good as the Maestro.
            I can foresee great things coming for Merc GP,Schumi is the most dedicated driver,and will stick to his guns come h*ll or high water.Once the car improves the 2 drivers will be on the top step for sure.

          3. Don’t know how anyone can consider Vettel, it was just business as usual for him.

            Maybe because “business as usual” for Vettel means winning the race convincingly? For me, it’s between Schumacher and Vettel.

          4. @Carl Rosberg’s car was the fastest at the start of the race due to the poor starts from the Red Bulls and the tyre blistering that they had.

          5. When you consider Rosberg had no problems at all, and was leading the race on merit early, and has the same car as Schumacher, it has to be Schumacher for being able to catch and overtake him!

        2. and you forgot that because of the sc,he recover all the distance the other drivers had on him. So he didn’t do nothing spectacular. schumacher and alonso were the drivers of the race. Alonso was the driver of the race until the ferrari and the sc screwed him.

      2. Yes, 3 more laps and he could’ve been 4th

        All he needs now is that 1 victory

    2. Schumacher’s fake then pass on both Virgins is pretty epic, he’s a worthy driver of the day!

      1. Yeah, I posted that one straight to facebook. I’ve never done that well in a console game off the start. Does Michael have it and does he want to win again? … for sure.

      2. Agree, drivers have to put high concentration on tackling the Eau Rouge in high precision not to mention the blind side up to the hill. Absolutely that’s an epic overtaking how Schumi able to perfectly judged the situation and passed both virgins at the same time.

    3. yep, would love to see that. First thing when i get home! I think i’ll probably go with michael as well. Stunning drive really.

      1. So you would all recommend then that MS start from last from now on? Or do you admit there were some extenuating circumstances that helped him? There is no skill in having the seas part in front of you such that passing them requires no skill whatsoever. Nor in having a safety car bunch everyone up. Never mind that he overcooked it (yet again) passing PdR and was lucky that cutting the corner afterwards didn’t see him spin or damage his car or hit PdR.

        NR should not be penalized in terms of accolades for starting 5th and immediately shooting to the lead even for just a few laps. In terms of ‘putting Mercedes on the map’ NR’s drive was no less impressive for maintaining the placing he did amongst the best cars on the grid. He has consistantly been best of the rest, including MS.

        So to me it is a shame NR only got 7 votes.

        1. Bit harsh on michael, if it were that easy we would all be at it!

          but yes nico deserves credit too for his great 1st half of the race.

        2. I must have missed Pedro de la Rosa, I have no recollection of him in this weekends race at all.

  2. Vettel. Pole on Saturday, win unexpectedly on Sunday.

    1. Vettel.
      Button’s race was good but qualifying was poor – not the same for Schumacher, who started last but not by his own fault, and had a great race.
      But Vettel once again beat everyone on Saturday and did the same on Sunday.

      1. Button’s poor qualifying, at least at spa, wasn’t his fault either.
        After changing his FW (because of the 1st corner mayhem), he came out behind Schumacher.

        1. no one has yet to describe well why Button is somehow better than Vettel over the entire weekend. I can understand better why people are voting for Schumacher because the Mercedes is behind the top 3 teams. But Button should be finishing in the top 3 to 5 in every race period. That he makes it difficult for himself is hardly impressive from my vantage point. But am glad to see Schumacher at least ahead for the time being. Button deserved the last driver of the weekend but no way does he deserve it this time.

          1. While it’s true Button had a dismal qualifying session it’s unfair to suggest it was really his fault. At the time he was CALLED TO PIT by the team, he was P2 and ahead of his team mate. He was very unlucky that the track changed significantly in 2 MINUTES to the effect that even Bruno Senna beat him.

            If you go back to Q1 Button was P1, ONE SECOND, yes that is right ONE SECOND faster than the next. And while it was only relevent to Q1 it does suggest that Button was driving exceedlingly well. Reel back to the practice sessions and he was ahead of his team mate also for the majority of the weekend. Added to that his great RECOVERY drive on sunday I would say that justifies his worth over the entire weekend.

            We all know that the RBR is a qualifying special, and that at the time of the race when Lewis lost it Vettel would have ended up BEHIND Lewis.

            While Vettel well deserves his win, since he actually won the race, his whole weekend was no better than Button’s. And there is nothing to suggest that Button would not have been challenging for pole.

            The truth of the matter is that if it had not been for several retirements and screw ups (during the season) that had absolutely NOTHING to do with Button, he would be Vettel’s closest challenger and probably still in with a good chance of fighting for the title.

          2. We all know that the RBR is a qualifying special, and that at the time of the race when Lewis lost it Vettel would have ended up BEHIND Lewis.

            Lewis inherited the lead from Vettel only when Seb pitted. Hamilton was not going to win anything. Only Alonso looked close at one point, but the Ferrari’s tyres went.

          3. Plus, when Hamilton listens to the team, he gets criticised for not thinking for himself. Button didn’t do that in conditions he usually excels.

          4. @David A

            I am wrong about Lewis and his track position in the race. I have no problem admitting that.

            Put in perspective, Lewis is an amazing driver, but just as Vettel won on sunday, you’d have to ask yourself, why Lewis yet again failed to finish.

            As for Button you’d have to ask yourself yet again why he drove such a great race when so many people on this site think so little of him. Just trying to redress the balance.

            I already gave my version of the Button Q3 situation. You can’t call it a bad call on his part, he can’t always ignore his team. He cannot always see how within less than one minute track conditions might change so dramatically.

            As for Vettel and his business as usual, for sure he is a very good racing driver. He has almost two titles that you will not be able to take away from him. But you cannot deny that for the third season running he’s driving the best car on the grid. Few have such fortune in one season in their entire career let alone 3.

          5. I can see where you’re coming from with regards to Button and Vettel, but having fortune with his car doesn’t mean that Seb can’t be the best driver out there, and is indeed a good pick for DOTW this time.

        2. If Button was really so good he’d have qualified for Q3. He couldn’t.

    2. I’m also going to be unpopular and say Vettel. He deserves a DotW but unfortunately a drive through the field is seen as a much better drive than winning from pole.

      Still, he didn’t have it easy. He ended up making 3 passes for the lead, one of which wasn’t DRS on Alonso who had better straight line speed.

      His move on Rosberg was also brilliant.

      Would still be happy to see Schumacher win it though. He started last but it was no fault of his own so you’d say he did a great job that weekend.

      1. I’m saying Vettel too. Everyone else had something go wrong at some point, whether it was their fault or someone else’s. Vettel didn’t, and managed this odd blistering situation fairly well, winning having scored pole. Plus he did some overtaking.

        1. In the end, it’s supposed to be who you thought was the driver of the weekend. On top of that, there’s no right or wrong opinion. Vettel was easily the best over the weekend and therefore he deserves the coveted *ahem* driver of the weekend award. Schumacher may well have gone on to score pole in qualifying, but we’re only speculating and that shouldn’t overshadow what actually happened.

          1. By this definition though, the driver of the weekend is always the person who won the race. It’s driver of the weekend, which should consider that some drivers are in faster cars than others. Schumacher took his midfield car from last to 5th, Button took his very fast car from 13th to 3rd (albeit with quite a few bumps in the road on the way) and Vettel qualified pole and won the race. Both Schumacher and Button has issues in qualifying, which were not of their own doing, and so shouldn’t detract from their standings in the driver of the weekend award. But like you say, there’s no right or wrong answer and each one of these guys put up a good fight.

          2. It’s driver of the weekend though right. We can only judge Schumacher on his driving, not a mechanic error. He was fastest in first practice on Friday you will recall.

        2. Vettel for every reason Ajokay said.

          1. Voted for Schumacher, I think to beat Rosberg starting from last… I would have thought it impossible before the race.

            However, I think Vettel also did brilliantly. He didn’t put a foot wrong, and was always the man to beat.

        3. Vettel gets it for doing some overtaking, and being cool calm and collected all weekend.

      2. I think both Red Bull drivers had a great race. A Red Bull 1-2 normally means a bit of a procession at the front but both drivers really had to work for it.

        After their first stops they were down in around 11th and 16th and made quiet a lot of passes throughout the race, fighting their way back up to 1st and 2nd.

        1. Id probably go for seb too. His life made was made easy after the SC due to some shocking strategy by ferrari that would make formula ford teams cringe. But seb got the job done after early scares with tyres and made a few great moves along the way too.

          Next up is michael. was fast all weekend. and his bad qualifying had no reflection on himself. he was helpless to avoid an accident. During the race he picked off drivers like vintage michael used to, including his team mate.

          then button, who had a great race BUT played apart in his qualifying woes.

          and fernando deserves a mention, more for his race than qualy. Made no errors, was very fast, and played apart in some great moves on others and on himself. Shame his team let him down. But despite it, again he refuses to blame them. He protects them brilliantly no wonder they love him at ferrari.

          1. agree,Alonso passed rosberg,massa and hamilton under the same race condition,tires and when the drs wasn’t enable yet.
            Then he passed sutil,webber once he came out of the pit stops.
            He was fighting for the win right until the Ferrari team screwed him (once again ) on the strategy.

            Button was helped by the sc,I still don’t know why there was a sc,there was not need for it.

          2. actually ive changed my mind, Give it to buemi for going flat out through eau rouge with a collapsed rear wing! had did he manage that!!!! and then nearly past who ever was infront of him.

          3. Can’t agree more on the bit about Alonso. His move on Massa was suicidal, more of a Hamilton manoeuvre. Didn’t look like team orders there…

      3. His move on Rosberg was also brilliant

        Absolutely, one of the best passes of the race. Vettel for me too. He deserves it, and it wasn’t easy at all, they had problems with the starting tyres. Safety Car came at his help, but good fate is when opportunities meet the prepared.

      4. if Alonso had a better straight line speed so how can Vettel overtakes alonso so easily (he passed him before the breaking point) please be realistic !!!!!!!!!!!!

  3. Trenthamfolk (@)
    29th August 2011, 17:03

    Was torn between Jenson & Schumi, But Jenson had it for me this weekend… I thought it was a great race with some brilliant performances from loads of drivers. Viva F1!

    1. I was torn between Jenson and Schumacher too, but I voted for Schumi. I guess we both half-voted for both drivers then. :)

      1. Button did a good race for sure but I think Schumacher edges it between those two.

        He was in an inferior car to the McLaren and made up more places.

        Also driver of the weekend has to include Qualifying and Schumacher started last by no fault of his own. Whilst Button was unlucky it was a bad decision to not be on the track during the end of the session when it was getting faster and faster.

        1. HappyFeet (@)
          30th August 2011, 0:16

          Schumi for sure. He is still the best despite turtle car. :)

    2. I too was torn between Jenson & Schumi, so I voted for…. Vettel. This didn’t seem like a race that was handed to him by any means, he had to defend a bit, he had to pass (more than he usually does) and even though he wasn’t under any pressure at the end… well he did exactly what he had to do both days.

      * full disclosure: button fan, almost voted for him just for that reason

  4. Sebastian Vettel. Once again.

    Special mentions for Mark Webber, Jenson Button and (urrrrrgh, I hate saying this) Michael Schumacher also. But, ultimately, who was it who took Pole Position and won the race? The soon-to-be 2 time World Champion did. You can’t really ask for more than that from a driver.

    1. Agree esp with the tyre worries before the race.

  5. Schumacher. 24th to what is realistically, his maximum the car will allow (highest after the top 3 teams)

  6. Vettel, hard to read into practice, but he kept it all together in quali and the race.

  7. Its just so tough again to vote on this. We had Senna and Alguersuari doing a superb job in qualifying, but Senna had his (forgivable, but still) mistake at the start and just a solid drive to bring it home after that. And ALG never got a chance even at that much.

    Mark Webber made a sure candidate for the pass of the year, but he just cannot seem to get the Red Bull off the line. Hamilton started off well, with some nice moves and keeping out of trouble, only for it to end in a collision that needn’t have happened.

    Schumacher was really great, lets hope we see him and Mercedes like this more often now (didn’t we say that earlier in his second career as well?). Surely a serious contender for driver of the weekend.

    Rosberg made a great start, but got cought by the horribly chosen DRS zone placement. He did his best, but not superb.

    Button has a stellar drive, comparable with Canada but this time in the wet and not making a single mistake on his part. And some of his passes were really excellent and gutsy. This is the Button we want to see each weekend. Even the qualifying thing was not really his mistake, so he is a serious contender.

    Vettel did a qualifying stunt once again, he was not perfect off the line, but he did get Rosberg with fine employment of DRS as soon as it was there. He had the SC exactly come to him and solve his pitstop dilemma for him, and then he made an excellent pass on Alonso before DRS got enabled again (passing Webber on the go somewhere). And he did pass Rosberg again after his first pitstop.
    Thanks Katy for pointing these passes out for me, as I had forgotten about them in the overload of DRS ones.

    I am not yet decided, and possibly TommyB89 will have to wonder what Vettel has to do to get it again, but who knows, it might really be him today.

    1. As you say, too many choices, we need to be able to vote “undecided”.

    2. Nice post BasCB, Unfortunately some races we have a lot of contenders for driver of the weekend, much like Spain.

      Both these races have probably been Vettel’s best of the season but like Andrew Tanner said in COTD last time out, the fairytale drive through the field normally gets the votes over winning from pole, even if Vettel did have to work hard for it and made a few passes.

      1. In the end, I voted for Vettel.

        Sure, Schumacher did an amazing race, but when I think it over its not something we hadn’t seen before, be it only Canada came close in his recent career.

        Button might have won it if they had not made the mistake in Q2. We will never know. As with Schu it was an amazing drive, remiscent of Canada, but in the dry and very much with the same determination seen in Brazil 2009.

        But it was the first time in a while where Vettel really had the opportunity to show not just an incredible pole pulled out of the hat in Q3, but also keeping his cool on the tyres and some very impressive overtaking skill to win it. Yes, this is really what we are talking about Seb!

        1. Forgot to add to that, it was a good confidence boost for the team, after several races where they missed it by a small margin.

      2. I think we are probably rather fortunate to have so many candidates for driver of the weekend!
        Well said Bas, a lot of options.

        I do slightly disagree on Rosberg, he was impressive, but lost out to Schumacher in the end; not sure that was entirely fair to him, but it tends to go that way, with him getting points in, but MSC being noticed (in both good and bad ways).

        I think I’ll do as you Bas and vote for Vettel, he made sure to be where he needed to be on track both on Saturday and on Sunday, perfectly showing why he is going to get his 2nd WDC this year.

  8. A split decision between Button and Schumacher after coming up the field but I will give it to Michael. Best race from him this season so far.

  9. While Schumacher’s drive was magnificent, similar to Webber’s drive in China, it simply has to be Vettel this time. Losing the lead against Rosberg, he quickly recovered, overtook him without DRS, had a brilliant pace despite all the tyre concerns, made more brilliant passes (Blanchimont… Holy!) and totally deserved the victory.
    Possibly his best race, yet.

    1. he only lost the lead beacuse he was concerned about the tires.

  10. Webber was awesome as usual. But so were Schumi and Button. But I voted for Webber because I know he’ll get less votes than the others anyway.

  11. Schumacher. A superb drive from last to 5th position – the max. he could get in this poor Mercedes.

    1. HounslowBusGarage
      29th August 2011, 17:47

      “poor Mercedes”? The other bloke in a Mercedes overtook Vettel for the lead. Not that poor, surely.

      1. But quickly been taken down by faster cars after a couple of laps, it’s quiet a poor car.

      2. Yeah he took the lead… and was promptly overtaken, eventually dropping to 6th.

  12. This is another tough one, but for a different reason to the usual “so many drivers were good over the weekend”, because no-one really had a perfect weekend (except maybe Sebastian Vettel). So my vote goes to Sebastian, as he was the only one that didn’t make a mistake over the weekend, stuck his Red Bull on pole at what most people thought would be their second weakest track behind only Monza, and then powered to victory whilst pulling off some impressive passes.

    As for the others, well, Webber made another one of his terrible starts and did well to climb back to 2nd, but you can’t look past the winner of the Grand Prix. Webber did a good job, but the fact he made the mistake in the first place shows that Seb did better on the whole, and I think he was only cruising at the end and could have pulled away from Mark if it became necessary.

    Jenson Button drove another one of his brilliant races after yet another poor showing in qualifying (although this time it wasn’t his fault, apparently). I’m getting sick of this “smooth driving style” comment that everyone seems to be making, and I think that it’s actually Jenson having a superior feel for worn tyres, or for a track with reduced grip. He wears his tyres out probably just as much as anyone else, but he manages to maintain a reasonable pace on them once they’re past their prime. His race was brilliant, but I can’t put him above Sebastian Vettel.

    Schumacher is hard to judge on this occasion thanks to his car failing in qualifying. His drive through the field was incredible and the fact he finished above his team-mate who at one stage led the race is astonishing. I’d probably have him as the second best driver of the weekend, but the best in the race (although he did have more tyres than anyone else). Unfortunately we didn’t get to see what he was made of in qualifying.

    I’d like to give an honourable mention to Fernando Alonso, who after a difficult start managed to work his way past his team-mate and at an early stage looked good for the win (with Red Bull’s tyre uncertainty). I dare say he’d have finished much higher up if it weren’t for his poor strategy and the Ferrari’s lack of pace on the harder compound.

    1. Schumacher’s tyre advantage wasn’t actually that great because only the drivers in Q3 used slicks and even then only used one set (I think). Therefore everyone had more than enough for the race.

    2. Who said he made a mistake?

  13. Vettel, definetly. Mark, Schumi, Alonso and Jenson did very well too, but it just has to be Vettel.

    He was supreme yesterday. And unlike the others, he didn’t put a foot wrong all weekend.

    1. Yep. You’ve pretty much summed it up perfectly. Although Schumacher didn’t make a mistake in qualifying, you can’t look past Vettel, which is unfortunate for Michael as we’ll never know how he would have gone. Schumacher was the driver of the race, but this poll is about the weekend, which includes Saturday and to an extent, Friday.

      1. well, yeah, Michael’s problem wasn’t his own mistake, but it was still a mistake by his team. You could say the same about Jenson missing Q3, hardly down to him.

  14. I think it’s not right to vote for webber just for one pass because he still ended up being comfortably beaten by his teammate. I wouldn’t vote for Vettel either because he was lucky with the safety car. Button might have won if he hadn’t messed up qualifying. Therefore I think the award has to go to either Schumacher or Sutil, who both got the most out of their cars.I’d give it to Schumacher over Sutil on the basis that Schumi’s crash in qualifying wasn’t his fault.

    1. Button was lucky with the safety car in Montreal as well, I don’t think that’s a reason to vote him down.

      1. Well, I didn’t rate Button’s race in Montreal particularly highly because of that.

        1. You just cannot please some people. Button won an awesome race overtaking about 19 cars in Canada, an excellent gutsy stylish win against odds in Hungary and brilliant performance pushing right to the last taking Alonso with 4 laps to go to get on the podium in Spa, once again making up not 10 but 16 places as by lap 5 he’d fallen back to p19 due to being hit at the start and hit by debris during the opening lap.

          I could equally say I don’t rate any of Vettel’s wins as he’s had the fastest car on the grid for the last 3 years.

          1. It’s narrow-minded just to look at the drivers in the front-running teams for the best performances. Many of the best performances happen in the midfield.

          2. you are clearly biased. button was helped the most by the safety car. he wouldn’t have finished in the point if it wasn’t because of it.

          3. @tete, of course I am biased, it’s my opinion.

            James Allen on the subject
            http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2011/08/dealing-with-a-threat-a-deep-dive-into-race-strategies-from-the-belgian-grand-prix/

            They came through the field brilliantly using strategy as well as car and driver pace. Button finished third and Schumacher fifth, ahead of his team mate Rosberg, who qualified fifth. When both made their final stops around lap 30/31 Schumacher was just five seconds behind Rosberg. But crucially he was now on new soft tyres and Rosberg on the slower medium tyre.

            It would not have been possible without the safety car on lap 13, as Schumacher was 20 seconds off the lead at that stage and Button 21 behind. The safety car took away that time gap and made a comeback possible. Also the track allows it; not only is Spa a good track for overtaking, but with the adjustable DRS rear wing, a fast car and new soft tyres, passing was very easy on the Kemmel Straight. This was all factored into Button’s and Schumacher’s strategy.

            The way Button in particular came through the field from 13th place after the Safety Car restart was very impressive. He went through Perez, Petrov, Sutil, Massa and Rosberg and then bridged the gap to the leading trio. But it was a consolation prize; he believed that he had the car to challenge for pole position and the race win in Spa, but that strategy mistake in qualifying cost him that chance and gave Vettel one less rival to deal with.

            And this race was an opportunity for Button to beat Vettel because there was so much variation on strategy, if he had started alongside him on the front row.

            Both benefitted by the safety car, and I am not alone in thinking Button’s drive was impressive.

  15. For the first time this year I will vote for Vettel. Really impressive weekend from him. Think Schumacher will probably win the poll but Seb was the best driver over the weekend.

    1. Its a toss up. Both Schumacher and Vettel were equally impressive this weekend.

      I think Vettel silenced a lot of critics who mocked his racecraft. And for the first time since his comeback, Schumacher thoroughly outclassed his teammate.

  16. Close call between Webber and Button, who both could have won the race if the former would have had a good start, and the latter would have qualified better. But, myvote goestoWebber because of his incredible pass.

    1. Webber’s pass on Alonso was really breath-taking. Mark however was lucky it was Alonso in front, had it been Hamilton neither would have made it up the hill :)

      1. Alonso was being very sensible at Spa all race long. He had plenty of chances to take out himself and the other guy while getting passed but he didn’t. Thats very mature but I wonder if drivers might try to exploit that in the future.

        1. Alonso knew that his car wasn’t as fast as the others because of the tires. he always think about points when the car is not good enough than crashing by blocking other cars. alonso fight for the win right until the sc was deployed, then the ferrari crew once again screwed the strategy. Last but not least alonso passed hamilton ,rosberg and massa at the beginning of the race ,giving the other cars room and under the same tires, with not drs enabled. he was the driver of the race right until that point.

      2. I have to differ. In this instance, if it was Kobayashi instead of Alonso, it would have been a different story. After all, why should he have given way? He is entitled to stay in his position, isn’t he?

        1. Well, I might be wrong but I think that Alonso had to lift the throttle anyway. Being in the middle of the track meant that he couldn’t go through Eau Rouge full throttle without taking the risk to push Webber out of the track (and take the risk of a penalty for that) or to totally miss the turn.
          But again, I might be wrong.

          1. Correct! To take Eau Rouge flat you have to be on the kerb prior to the compression point at the foot of the hill. Any further to the right and the Angle is too acute to make it over to the right for the exit at Raidillon.

  17. NO question about it and no doubt Schumacher was the driver of the weekend.

  18. I’m not surprised that Vettel has the least votes between the 3 main contenders but I’d definitely say he was the driver of the weekend. Sweet overtakes, especially the pass on Alonso, and flawless drive. One of his more impressive drives and he outclassed the rest of the field.
    Schumi was brilliant though.

    1. That’s the problem right, Vettel finally shows us a race where he is not leading all the way but so many other great drives to consider.

  19. Horror of horrors, on the numbers I almost voted for Schumacher, but then I thought about it a little.
    OK he started at the back, but overtaking the three newish teams shouldn’t be a problem. And he got past Filipe because of a puncture, and his team mate was told to drive economically because of fuel worries. So in reality he only made up about 11 places, and why didn’t Nico get the same pit treatment.

    So I voted for Jensen, who if it hadn’t been for damage caused by others would probably have kept his place in front of Schumacher and been in front of Webber, after his early pit stop. Which probably means he should have been at least 2nd without the bad luck.

    1. Michael drove a brilliant race the overtaking on both virgins at the same time running through Eau Rouge was stunning, arguably it could be said why Michael didn’t get the same pit treatment in his past races where it adverse him and his wheel problem in quali, i think it just down to bad luck etc. But it’s your call to vote which driver :)

    2. Rosberg couldn’t have the same “pit treatment” as Schumacher because he qualified thus using up tyres. Schumacher had 3 brand new sets of softs to use in the race because he didn’t get a lap in during qualifying.

  20. Easily Schumacher. Did not put a foot wrong all weekend, whereas Vettel has struggled unitl Q2 as he admitted, and Button managed not to see the green lights in a critical moment which could well cost him a victory.

    Otherwise I don’t think Webber’s move was the best of the year – Fernando was out of the pit, was not able to defend properly. It was a perticularly well executed and brave move though, just not the best of the year.

    Speaking of Alonso, his decisions and driving was also spot on it was just down to some poor characteristic of the F10 and some stragetic calls which kept him from finishing on podium, so I would definitely consider him as well.

    But all in all, it was Schumacher who ran the show on Sunday, I think. Impeccable drive.

    1. (+1) Spot on! :)

  21. ‘Mark Webber – Made the pass of the year so far on Fernando Alonso at Eau Rouge.’

    i disagree. Although it was a ballsy move to trust Alonso so much and keep his foot on the gas, it wasn’t a technically brilliant overtake.

    1. agreed. what about the overtaking moves alonso made on rosberg, hamilton and massa ,with the same tires,race conditions, and when the DRS wasn’t enable it.

    2. No doubt with a name like sato113 you would have preferred for them both to be taken out?

  22. Vettel deserves my vote. Flawless drive, pulled off amazing passes(Passed Rosberg on the outside of Blanchimont, attacking Alonso on Kemmel Straight without DRS). Managed to maintain gap even with his faulty dashboard.

    Impressive drive by Schumacher, would have been great if he was on podium.

    Button made use of the safety car period for a pit stop and so did Vettel.

  23. Jaime Alguersuari – been driving quick all weekend, already a place at La Source before being taken out.

  24. I voted for Vettel but I really didn’t want to. I love Vettel but I hated voting for him this weekend. I really wanted to vote for Michael particularly as his wheel falling off wasn’t his fault and the fact that he started last and finished ahead of his team mate but this is a ‘Driver of the Weekend’ poll and even though it was through no fault of his own at the end of the day he didn’t do anything in qualifying.

    Vettel nailed pole on a weekend that wasn’t meant to suit Red Bull, pulled off some passes and kept his cool despite the tyre fears. He did everything he needed to and managed to add this classic to his CV. Webber was spectacular with his overtake and his race was good(it’s probably been his best weekend this year) but he had yet another rubbish start and Seb out qualified him. Button and Fernando both had great races but were very poor in qualifying and the only other choices for me were Jaime and Bruno who were the exact opposites of Button and Alonso by being wonderful on the Saturday but had a miserable time on Sunday so I can’t vote for them.

    1. Agreed 100% about Vettel.

      It’s interesting how similar Mark Webber’s race was to last year, really. He made a terrible start and then benefited from the misfortune of others, but he also made a few passes. It may sound silly, but I thought that pass on Fernando was an unnecessary risk. Fernando had cold tyres and Webber had the momentum and the DRS, so he should have just waited until after Eau Rouge instead of trying the craziest move of the season like he did!

      1. would love to of seen the move from fernando camera!

      2. “I thought that pass on Fernando was an unnecessary risk.” Totally agree, it was a stunning moment though.

      3. It may sound silly, but I thought that pass on Fernando was an unnecessary risk.

        I strongly disagree. If you’re a racing driver and you get a chance to pass you take it.

        You don’t wait until later because it’ll cost you time and you can’t be sure you’ll get a second chance.

        Anyway, surely being able to make a pass work at the first opportunity is the hallmark of a top racing driver? As Webber said, he wouldn’t have risked it against a driver he thought would be a liability in that situation.

        1. Or how Ayrton Senna would have said: If you no longer go for a gap, that exists, you´re no longer a race driver.

          1. I hate how much that quote is overused these days but in this scenario it’s perfectly apt; Mark saw a gap, had the speed, and took the place.

        2. No risk no game,Mark needed that.

      4. Sorry Damon, have to disagree there. If there is a gap, you have to go for it, simple as that. Webber and Alonso have a lot of trust in each other believe it or not, and neither would take an unnecessary risk to put one another in danger. Because Mark was fighting his way back through the field, any sort of backing off would disrupt his progress. We’ve seen more dangerous overtaking than that before too (Alonso on Schumacher at 130R). It was a VERY impressive move round the outside, perhaps one of the best overtakes I can remember.

  25. Webber’s overtake was something VERY special.

    But, he was outqualified by Vettel, and had a disaster of a start, so Schumacher for me.

    1. i think the one that makes that move special is alonso because he was very wise if mark did that move against Hamilton(very aggressive & good defender) he”ll be finished mark said many times this year that he enjoyed very much fighting with alonso Australia Turkey Barcelona Valencia ..

  26. On Saturday – Alguersuari
    on Sunday – Schumacher

  27. Had to go Vettel for qualifying. Schumacher second choice for his great first lap.

  28. Lewis Hamilton, was looking after his tyres well in the race, and managed to put his damaged car on the front row of the grid. an unfornatunate incident caused him to crash! Lewis deserved the win.

  29. I want to say Webber just because of that awesome pass on Alonso, but I will go with Schumi. Fantastic drive from dead last, showed that the old fox still has it.

    1. …just! :P

    2. Fantastic drive from dead last, showed that the old fox still has it.

      it was good to see that from Schummel Schumi, wasn’t it? :-)

  30. I never voted for Vettel before but this weekend he showed all his abilities as well as being as clinical as ever.. He definitely gets my vote..
    Schumacher and Button were both very impressive at getting through the field but both had tire advantages over the front runners and a major car advantage over the rest.

    Vettel was forced to perform some magic this weekend under huge pressure and he made it look easy.

  31. Vettel was very good today, as was Webber, with his stunning pass on Fernando into Eau Rouge my highlight of the race (closely beating Nico Rosberg’s electric start). Button from 13th also deserves a massive shout out. But for me, driver of the weekend has to go to Schumi. He had been quick in the changeable weather, and is of course a master of Spa. I had tipped him to do well in quali on saturday before qualifying last through no fault of his own. To then go from 24th to 5th in a car which is nowhere near the fastest in the feild was a brilliant achievement. His first lap, as i have seen mentioned in other comments on this topic, was incredible. I hear you ask why was Button’s 13th to 3rd not better? Well, I think the McLaren was the fastest race car yesterday, or at least a very close second. I also look at this as driver of the weekend. Button and his team messed up on Saturday. I also didn’t vote for Webber in China for this reason. Back to Schumacher anyway, my childhood idol, what a fitting way to mark 20 years in F1.

    1. Also a quick shout out for Ricciardo in the HRT, promising performance before his retirement, staying out of trouble, although until we see him in the STR next year I will not form a view on him.

  32. Younger Hamii
    30th August 2011, 2:01

    Die Hard Vettel(55 Votes) & Hamii(6 Votes) Fans

    1. Vettel deserves every one of those votes and more to be honest.

    2. Hmm… Vettel got pole and won the race in a very impressive manner

  33. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGOZ0SVEtHo&feature=related
    Schumachers first and a half lap at spa.

    If he hadn’t overtaken those 10 cars in the first lap and let’s be honest they weren’t exactly going places, then I think Norbert would have had to have had a big word regarding his motivation.

    He goes on to take Paul Di Resta at the top of the hill, and overshoots the corner, but not a hint of giving the place back despite the huge advantage gained not having to take the correct line!!!!

    Tsk tsk. If that had been Lewis he’d have had to give it back or face a penalty.

    1. Very true: I didn’t see that.

      It would be interesting to see if DiResta complained about that on the radio…

    2. Schmacher was already passed Di Resta at the 100 meter marker board on left side of video. He was already in the racing line at the corner with the pass done and dusted.

      Really need an overhead shot. If Di Resta was glued right on his back when cut the corner a penalty would have been needed other wise it is just cutting the corner which is allowed as long as doesn’t happen couple of times.

      As for Lewis getting penalty if happened, if you look at penalties dished out in past 2 years it will be hard to find anyone who has been punished any harsher than Schumacher. It seems they are tying to make up for his first career let offs!

      1. Well Said Snowman

  34. Both Schumacher & Button deserve but I voted the later as he showed that he can be a aggressive driver when required & unlike his teammate he is calm & cool.

  35. I would go with Vettel this time. Unlike some other of his wins, this one he really had to fight for, making some good passes in the process and despite abnormal amount of blistering on his front tires.

  36. If we go on like this, at the end of the year we will have a dominant world champion that never won the driver of the weekend. This shows that voters usually nominate their favourite drivers and don’t vote for the one’s they dislike, so their vote kind of loses it’s value. It’s not fair but that’s the way it goes. Vettel should have had the most wins in here too!

    1. Well that depends on how you look at it. I think it has more to do with drivers moving up the field is seen as being better drivers because they show their skill in overtaking. The skill of controlling the race is not very appreciated. Only when it comes as a surprise from “the underdog”.

  37. I think “drive thru the pack” drives this year have becomme very easy coz of easy DRS overtakes and Pirreli tyres. So this discounts Mark Webber and Button from the fight of the best driver since they are driving the best cars. Webber cant be given coz of his habbit of making bad starts( he cant be this unlucky, he must be doing something wrong ). I think Schumi is the best this weekend. 2nd comes Fernando, his drive in the first half was breathtaking and he lived up to his calibre. He was ruthless as well patient and didnot make even 1 mistake. He could have easily taken Webber, Vettel and Button out if he had been as impetous as Hamilton but kudos to him for that. He again showed where Massa belonged.

    1. If cars are evenly matched on pace several things are worth consideration, firstly you won’t catch the car in front to put yourself in contention for an overtake, secondly if you are in a position to over take, they will be in contention to attack and retake. So an overtake is an over take DRS or not. If you catch over take and pull away, it means you are genuinely faster. Not just lucky to be close enough to activate your DRS.

      1. I m not talking abt a car being genuienly faster or not. If a car is GENUINELY faster, it should be able to overtake without the DRS, isnt it ?

  38. Michael was the Driver of the day that’s for sure. But Fernando was a very close 2nd as I believe had he had the right tyres in his last pit stop, he could have won the race. He clearly had the fastest car, it was tyres that let him down. Lewis Whamilton was my choice of worst steering wheel operator, he was definitely not what I consider a Driver in this race!!!…

  39. Possibly this is stating the obvious but I’ll state it anyway :)
    When you pick your DOTW what you’re trying to do is strip away all other influencing factors (Car, team mess ups, racing incidents, mechanical issues)and judge the driver on his performance alone. Therefore drivers with a huge mountain to climb due to negative influences are seen to perform excellently in order to overcome these adverse conditions.
    With this in mind I think alot of people have come to the conclusion that the higher the mountain of adverse conditions is to climb the better the driver performance.
    That’s fine but there is an increasingly obvious flaw with the weighting people put on a driver who makes his way through the field. And that is that the rules as they are set now dictate that drivers at the back have a distinct advantage over drivers at the front. This has had such a severe impact that it’s almost advantagous to qualify poorly and reap the rewards of these rulings. SO you are allowed to run on the fresher tyre while front runners run on a tyre they have scorched around the track on, possibly multiple times, you may also have a greater reserve of tyres in your arsenel during the race. Plus with DRS the backmarkers won’t hold you up like they used to, this makes the gap from first to last on the grid seem very small.
    With this in mind I say sorry Schumi and Button I’m much more impressed with a guy who can put his car on pole and battle with the front runners than a recovery drive aided by a contrived system.

    1. I think that applies to some past instances this year – Webber in China springs to mind.

      But in Spa only the drivers who reached Q3 used any slick tyres before the race, and even then only one set of softs, so I don’t think it made that big a difference here.

      As you say, you have to consider the individual circumstances of each driver. Button, for example, was badly delayed by his front wing damage early on, and dropped behind Schumacher because of it.

    2. It’s an opinion poll. No one is going to get a medal.

      I vote for whoever I think deserved a little credit everynow and then, if it happens to be my favourite driver, it means I will hang around the forums and argue the point, if not, it’s just a tick in a box.

      I voted D’ambrosi, because I loved rice pudding.

      Someone said that it’s likely that this years title winner won’t have been driver of the weekend. I am sure he’ll be really really bothered by that.

      1. I think it’s worth a bit of discussion Carl this website is called F1 Fanatic after all not F1 Enthusiast :)

        Also, this logic is the exact same logic team management will have to go through when selecting drivers for their team. T

        They can’t all sign the WDC and possibly they wouldn’t want to.

      2. ‘I voted D’ambrosi, because I loved rice pudding’

        :)

  40. My heart says: Alonso, but it has to be divided between MSC and Button, I think,

    Alonso did a great start, overtook number of people under similar conditions, but the SC and the medium tires put him out of the podium. He hasn’t had a good chance to do a clean lap @Q3, so he might have even been at better position at the start. Well, it didn’t happen, that’s life.

    Button and MSC both carried great performance, I watched the onboard start from MSC’s lap, and it was excellent, it was great to see him progressing rapidly.

  41. My vote goes to Vettel. He put his car on pole. He made some non-DRS assisted overtakes at the front of the field. He overcame tyre-issues and he won a GP on what is considered a ‘drivercircuit’.

    Unless he starts lapping the top-5 or something, it’s starting to look like Vettel won’t be the DotW for a long time.

  42. I picked Alguersuari he was on it the whole weekend and he would’ve been on for some good points if it wasn’t for Senna clouting into him. Hopefully in Monza there won’t be any problems like in the race at Spa.

  43. themagicofspeed (@)
    30th August 2011, 13:23

    Has to be Michael. Just as i was thinking he’s past it, he shows us the magic isnt dead. That was beyond doubt the best race of his comeback (not his whole career), in my opinion. Imagine what he might have been capable of in Massa’s Ferrari (i would love to see useless Massa get the boot, and Ross & Michael return to Ferrari to claim the 8th title he so cruelly lost in 2006, and maybe 2 more for the ones he should have won in 1997 and 98). What a drive, i love how he came out of the woodwork to show all the new boys (Vettel, Hamilton, etc) he’s still the boss and would have blown them away into the weeds on Sunday given a better car and a few more laps.

  44. It has to be Vettel but I voted Schumacher.

    I think that sums it up.

  45. how can it be anyone but button, schumacher had a great race no doubt but the mercedes pace advantage over the lower teams meant schumacher didnt have to work that hard to overtake the lower order cars whereas button was pulling stunning overtake after stunning overtake on cars of a similar pace. he was absolutely incredible and deserves the driver of the weekend by a mile.

    1. If Buttonm had a car that he thinks should have been on pole, then he had a big advantage over the cars he was passing.

  46. It’s really difficult.

    Bruno Senna and Jaime Alguersuari had exceptional qualifying sessions, but they are ruled out because of their lack of racing.

    Vettel was brilliant all weekend, it has to have been one of his best ever wins, and best ever poles. He was utterly dominant and made some good overtakes.

    Mark Webber recovered from a dreadful start to make a stunning pass on Alonso, and had a great race overall.

    Button again managed his tyres well and drove a great race to 3rd, but his bad qualifying rules him out for me.

    Fernando Alonso drove very well after starting eighth, but unfortunately the Ferrari didn;t have the pace for a podium.

    Sutil had another good race, while I think Rosberg’s start and defending was top quality.

    But for me, it’s his team mate that gets driver of the day. His first lap was immense, where he got 9 positions at the start. Showing his twenty years, he finished fifth in the fourth fastest car. A stunning drive from Schumacher, but what a shame his whel came off in qually, he could have contended for the podium.

    1. I went for Vettel but Schumacher would have been my second choice without a doubt. Nice synopsis Daniel!

  47. Michael Schumacher. He had a motive equal to 2004.

  48. coming into eau rouge 1st lap 220 kph with the tiniest of lifts on the gas Schumi Plows through debris, not only drive of the race that move alone shows he’s not going anywhere for a long time, he still has the will of a champ just not the car of a champ!!

  49. Fantastic drives from Schumi and Jens!!! Great race track

  50. Great Spa!!! Fantastic derives from Shumi, Jens and Mark!!!

  51. Looks like Vettel is going to miss out again! I voted for him anyway.

    A great drive and it’s good to see him reassert his dominance once again, plus his first win at Spa. A good year for him, considering he won at Monaco too.

    1. Don’t forget he’s traditionally very strong in Suzuka too; and he was very strong in Brazil last year too

  52. Who voted for Hamilton? :s

  53. Too many good drives from Spa, but has to be Schumi. Worth the 20 years.

  54. Voted for Massa…. He had an awesome weekend…. BAZZINGA!!! Qualified 4th and out-qualified his team mate only to finish 8th… why is he still around? If Renault can see the light of day with Heidfield why can’t Ferrari with Massa?

    Anyway, Schumi did well but one would expect to at Spa. The guy lives pretty much next door and was his first race in F1.

    For qualifying I’d give it to Senna. Having not commenced a race in the car he immediately out qualifies his team mate and Alonso – pity the mistake at the start.

    Button also had a good race considering he had his rear barge board chewed up by a Force India and then someone’s piece of front wing went into his fonrt wing and took out his side mirror (scary stuff if you were drivign flat chat amongst heavy traffic at the start). Pity McLaren made the wrong call to box him during Q2.

    Vettel did a good race too, operating outside of Pirelli’s camber recommendations caused the quick wear rate but they’d fixed that by inflating more air in the subsequent tyre changes.

    Webber did an awesome overtake on Alonso at Eau Rugue, pity the anti-stall kicked in at the start – he’s been getting that a lot recently.

    Alonso did a good job too by dragging the average F10 up from 8th to 4th, swapping places with Massa.

    The guys who qualified outside the top 10 didn’t have as much tyre issues as the top ten as they could use whatever to start with, but perhaps also they didn’t run as much camber and stuck within the recommendations from Pirelli. In some of the races this year it’s almost better to not get into Q3 but to be the fastest in Q2 in order to save an extra set of the quicker tyres. Thus the ability for some of the guys at teh back of the field to finish in a higher and unexpected position.

  55. I voted for Button as the qualifying error was purely down to bad communication. He had shown some good pace in qualifying before that. His race was fantastic to follow and he really showed his overtaking skills with many gutsy moves. I was really impressed with the way he attacked the race, it was more like a Hamilton drive rather than Button.

    Honourable mention to Sebastian Vettel who came back from what looked like it was going to be Webbers big chance. Also Schumachers first lap is just amazing, definitely try and watch it on youtube to see him drive beautiful past the back markers.

  56. I voted for Schumacher in the end. What happened in qualifying wasn’t his fault and he put in a great drive in the race on his 20th anniversary.

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