Vote for the best driver of the British GP weekend

2012 British Grand Prix

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Which F1 driver had the best race weekend in Silverstone?

Compare all the drivers’ performances below and vote for who you think was the best driver of the British Grand Prix weekend.

Driver notes

Sebastian Vettel – Vettel thought he should have been quicker in qualifying but was grateful for his team’s strategy in the race which lifted him out of the slower cars at the start and put him on course for a podium finish. Had a minor technical problem during the race, being unable to adjust his engine’s torque setting. The enormous margin the team enjoyed in Valencia was not reproduced here.
Mark Webber – But for a shower at the end of Q3 he might have beaten Alonso to pole. But he kept the Ferrari in sight during the race and having used the soft rubber in the first stint was well-placed to take advantage of Alonso’s tyre trouble later on for his second win of the year.

Jenson Button – Rain and a yellow flag in the final sector during Q1 spoiled a run which would have got him into Q2. After gaining three places on the first lap he was passed by Kobayashi. He took the place back after the Sauber driver’s disastrous pit stop, and inherited the final point when Hulkenberg spun.
Lewis Hamilton – Looked quick as ever in the wettest conditions. But when the track dried in Q3 he was mystified at his loss of pace. Dry weather in the race didn’t help matters – even a long run on hard tyres at the start couldn’t help him gain any places from his starting position of eighth.

Fernando Alonso – Ferrari went into the weekend with an air of confidence. All appeared to be going according to plan as Alonso topped Saturday’s dry practice and took pole position – despite a few scares along the way. But deciding not to use the soft tyres at the start of the race in the hope that rainfall would keep them from having to left them vulnerable to Webber.
Felipe Massa – Ran the strategy Alonso probably should have used. A decisive pass on Schumacher set him up for a fourth-place finish, his best result since 2010, six-and-a-half seconds behind his team mate.

Michael Schumacher – Another glimpse of the old Schumacher in wet qualifying saw him take third on the grid. But both Mercedes went backwards in the race, Schumacher holding up a train of cars early on. “We knew that the characteristics of this circuit wouldn’t suit us in normal conditions,” he said. “We definitely could have done better in the wet.”
Nico Rosberg – A poor weekend saw him miss Q3 for the first time this year and slip to 15th in the race.

Kimi Raikkonen – Qualified sixth despite not having KERS. Prevailed in an early scrap with Maldonado and was closing on Massa until he went off at Village late in the race and had to settle for fifth.
Romain Grosjean – He had already done a lap quick enough for Q3 when he went off at the end of Q2, leaving him ninth when a top-five start was in the offing. Another first-lap tangle delayed him – this time the damage was limited to a broken front wing, forcing an early pit stop. But this allowed him to discard the soft tyres early, limiting the disadvantage. A fine recovery drive followed including a brave pass on Rosberg at Maggotts. He then took Hamilton at Brooklands and was briefly quicker than Raikkonen despite much older tyres. Ending the race less than seven seconds behind his team mate was a significant achievement given the circumstances.

Paul di Resta – No luck at home for the second year in a row. Minor contact with Grosjean at the start punctured his tyre and the resulting damage ended his race.
Nico Hulkenberg – Qualified ninth but was demoted due to a gearbox change penalty. He also fell into the trap of running the soft tyres in the final stint and eventually succumbed to Senna, before sliding off at Copse and losing the final points place to Button.

Kamui Kobayashi – Both Saubers made the mistake of beginning the restarted Q2 on intermediate tyres. Kobayashi pitted for full wets but could only managed 12th, which became 17th after his Valencia penalty was applied. Passed Button early on and might have scored a couple of points had he not hit his pit crew at his final pit stop. Fortunately their injuries were not too severe.
Sergio Perez – Stuck with intermediates in Q2 and paid the price: having been fastest during the suspension he ended up last. Passed Senna and Hamilton in his first stint but when trying to do the same to Maldonado the Williams driver spun and took him out.

Daniel Ricciardo – Made a poor start from 12th and fell behind Vergne – who had been 11 places behind him on the grid. This began a race-long battle between the pair with three on-track changes of position, Ricciardo prevailed, leading him home by two seconds: “My lap times were the maximum I could do as I was wringing the neck out of the car.”
Jean-Eric Vergne – Reached Q2 but started from the back row following his Valencia penalty. A strong start got him up to 15th but Ricciardo eventually had the better of him. Nonetheless, both Toro Rossos showed better pace and were closer to the midfield.

Pastor Maldonado – Showed flashes of pace in practice and delivered on it with seventh on the grid. Briefly took sixth off Raikkonen before being re-passed. After his first pit stop he lost control of his car at Brooklands while being passed by Perez and spun into the Sauber. The stewards gave him a fine and reprimand “in view of the serious nature of the incident”.
Bruno Senna – Backing off for the yellow flag at the end of Q2 arguably cost him a place in the final ten. Gained four places at the start before being passed by Kobayashi. Gradually wore down Hulkenberg’s defences to take ninth.

Heikki Kovalainen – Picked up some damaged on the first lap. Had the team responded more quickly to the recovering Maldonado he might have had a chance at 16th.
Vitaly Petrov – Didn’t even get to start the race after his engine failed as he drove to the grid.

Pedro de la Rosa – Tried to taken on the Marussias with a one-stop strategy but his tyres went off in the final laps and he ended up 23 seconds behind Pic.
Narain Karthikeyan – Closer to de la Rosa than usual in rain-hit qualifying. Had Pic behind him briefly in the opening stages: “My rear tyres started to wear out and I couldn’t keep up with him so I pitted”.

Timo Glock – Could’ve used his wet-weather prowess to get Marussia into Q2 but was denied by the heavy rain at the end of Q1. Brought the car home 18th but the gap to Caterham remains wide.
Charles Pic – Fell to last at the start but easily recovered the places lost to the HRTs.

Qualifying and race results summary

StartedGap to team mateLaps leading team matePittedFinishedGap to team mate
Sebastian Vettel4th+0.406s0/5223rd+4.836s
Mark Webber2nd-0.406s52/5221st-4.836s
Jenson Button16th+0.611s3/52210th+7.981s
Lewis Hamilton8th-0.611s49/5228th-7.981s
Fernando Alonso1st-1.319s52/5222nd-6.459s
Felipe Massa5th+1.319s0/5224th+6.459s
Michael Schumacher3rd-1.309s46/5227th-28.241s
Nico Rosberg11th+1.309s6/52215th+28.241s
Kimi Raikkonen6th+0.081s52/5225th-6.787s
Romain Grosjean9th-0.081s0/5226th+6.787s
Paul di Resta10th+1.453s0/11
Nico Hulkenberg14th-1.453s1/1212th
Kamui Kobayashi17th-0.824s0/11211th
Sergio Perez15th+0.824s11/111
Daniel Ricciardo12th-0.587s28/52213th-2.072s
Jean-Eric Vergne23rd+0.587s24/52214th+2.072s
Pastor Maldonado7th-0.624s11/51216thNot on same lap
Bruno Senna13th+0.624s40/5129thNot on same lap
Heikki Kovalainen19th+0.45s0/0217th
Vitaly Petrov18th-0.45s0/0
Pedro de la Rosa21st-0.298s50/50120th-12.554s
Narain Karthikeyan22nd+0.298s0/50221st+12.554s
Timo Glock20th-2.525s51/51218th-20.425s
Charles Pic24th+2.525s0/51219th+20.425s

Review the race data

Vote for your driver of the weekend

Which driver do you think did the best job this weekend?

Cast your vote below and explain your choice in the comments.

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

  • Charles Pic (0%)
  • Timo Glock (0%)
  • Pedro de la Rosa (0%)
  • Narain Karthikeyan (0%)
  • Vitaly Petrov (0%)
  • Heikki Kovalainen (0%)
  • Bruno Senna (1%)
  • Pastor Maldonado (0%)
  • Jean-Eric Vergne (0%)
  • Daniel Ricciardo (0%)
  • Sergio Perez (1%)
  • Kamui Kobayashi (0%)
  • Nico Hulkenberg (0%)
  • Paul di Resta (0%)
  • Romain Grosjean (17%)
  • Kimi Raikkonen (1%)
  • Nico Rosberg (0%)
  • Michael Schumacher (2%)
  • Felipe Massa (5%)
  • Fernando Alonso (19%)
  • Jenson Button (0%)
  • Lewis Hamilton (1%)
  • Mark Webber (50%)
  • Sebastian Vettel (1%)

Total Voters: 566

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2012 British Grand Prix

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Images © Ferrari spa/Ercole Colombo, Lotus F1 Team/LAT,

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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135 comments on “Vote for the best driver of the British GP weekend”

  1. I’d like to vote Massa but I voted Webber.

    1. Alonso FTW!!!
      Had the third fastest car on sunday (according to the fastest laps), took pole position in most difficult conditions others failed to cope with but lost the win because of a faulty strategy made by his team!
      So, there’s really no dilemma for me! :)

      1. Shane (@shane-pinnell)
        9th July 2012, 18:40

        +1

      2. Absolutely Fernando!

      3. Except he was nowhere near the pace in Q2 and almost got knocked out. Fortunately for him the FIA listened to his demands of stopping Q2 and waiting until the track was almost completely dry.

    2. I voted for Massa. Its not every day you have your best race in 2 years, is it? :)

      1. You probably have one on average once every 2 seasons or so.

      2. Was Massa better than Alonso? No. So at the very least there was one driver better than Felipe. Finishing fourth in possibly the fastest car on the grid, and praising it as a huge success only shows how mediocre Massa has become.

  2. OmarR-Pepper (@)
    9th July 2012, 14:18

    I must say Lewis and Fernando battle was the most espectacular in many races!!! That’s the reason why I chose Lewis as the best (his team is a fail now, so his race position is not his fault).

    1. I must say Lewis and Fernando battle was the most espectacular in many races

      @omarr-pepper really??

      1. OmarR-Pepper (@)
        9th July 2012, 15:19

        @fer-no65 well my friend make me remember another like THAT one recently. I remember Valencia had many DRS passes and good overtaking, but do you remember Wheel to wheel action this year? looks like my mind is sleeping today because people want to kill me for choosing Lewis

        1. @omarr-pepper He wants to kill you?? The fight lasted all of 3 corners. That is why he is questioning you. You can hardly call it a ‘battle’. It was just an overtake; and there have been plenty better than that this season already. Like the many at Valencia by Alonso or Gosjean’s on Hamilton.

          1. OmarR-Pepper (@)
            9th July 2012, 16:26

            no, fer65 doesn’t want to kill me, (of course nobody wants it, just saying ;) ) . Regarding my comment, if you see most of the overtakes last just one straight, one corner or one DRS-button push. If this “simple overtake” took 3 corners and you add Hamilton regained the position in the middle of the scene with a car much worse than the Ferrari, well, so in my totally humble opinion, that’s a battle. Like Montoya and Raikkonen many many years ago, in Germany.

          2. @omarr-pepper

            To be honest, I’m struggling to come up with one example because there were so many!.

            Rosberg, Massa and Perez at Canada comes to my mind.

      2. (@omarr-pepper)

        What’s the point?

        Lewis is the best driver of the weekend because, despite he was finally overtaken by Fernando, he was able to have a good fight making a great defense of his position?

        1. davidnotcoulthard
          9th July 2012, 23:45

          I’d call that the Driver of The Lap/Corners, not Weekend.

  3. I’d like to vote for Grosjean, but I’ll go with Webber.

      1. Grosjean DOTW? Come on.. He fail in Quali(this is new) by his stupidity and he fail in the first laps(as usual) after a clash with a Force India and he went to pits. And going to pits so early(10 laps early), didn’t disadvantaged him so much, because he had new tyres and had an advantage. He finished on 6th because Maldonado, Perez and Koba had problems. I heard things like, “come on he is to young…”. Hamilton when he arrived in F1 wasn’t so stupid..and he was fast too.

        1. @sorin I’m surprised you go on about that because I didn’t vote for Grosjean and neither did @oskar , considering he agrees with what I said.

          All you say it’s true (ish), and that’s why I voted for Webber ;).

  4. Huh ? Someone voted for Ham ? This should be an open and shut toss-up between Webber and Alonso…

    1. OmarR-Pepper (@)
      9th July 2012, 14:23

      well Mark it’s my opinion and remember I normally prefer to vote for everyone else insted of choosing Lewis.

      1. OK… I realize everyone has a free vote in this… perhaps you could explain your logic for HAM being the best driver in this race… compared to the performances put in by Webber, Alonso, Raikkonen. Grosjean, etc… ? Just a bit confused as to what you saw in HAM’s performance.

        1. Mclarens are slow.This ends HAM discussion.

          1. DRIVER of the weekend, not constructor

  5. Im sorry, how does Lewis have 15% of the votes?

    1. This is a British website and some people are very closed minded.

      1. Here we go again. Did you check the number of votes before bringing up the British-bias argument? First time I checked, there were 9 votes and Hamilton had 22%, which is two votes (and one of those two was probably from @omarr-pepper, who isn’t even a Hamilton fan). Currently, after 63 votes he is at 5%; hardly shocking, because he did do a good first stint and entertained us with a battle for the lead.

        1. OmarR-Pepper (@)
          9th July 2012, 16:37

          @adrianmorse yes it was me, and I agree with your opinion. Now you see the percentage has fallen to 3% and decreasing… I sometimes don’t get the point of some people, when you state an opinion which is different to theirs. It was probably because of the broadcast that I saw a boring-to-normal race and the highlight was that Hamilton vs Alonso scene. Talking about consistency you have Grosjean or Webber… People normally complain when a driver “cruises” to victory, they want an overtake in the lead and that eventually gives the result of “driver of the weekend”… sometimes not. Rosberg flatted everyone in China and he got DOTW, Vettel did it many times last year and hardly ever got one. And then they say that bias affect decisions?
          it’s like I MUST regret what I said about “DOTW” right? Like when I didn’t see the most exciting race of the year in Valencia and gave it a 6.

      2. Thankfully us British Live in a pseudo democracy where we think we can say anything so + 1 Hamilton from me. Only kidding it was obvioulsy webber!

    2. Some people just vote for their favourite driver. Maybe Keith should do two polls per race.
      One for vote for your favourite driver and one for driver of the weekend. :p

      * and no I’m not being serious with the two poll suggestion.

      1. Why we even have this problem? Can’t people get over the fact, that others can vote whatever they feel like? This is the point of the voting, if we all agreed, where would be no reason to vote.

        1. The point is not to pick whoever we feel like though, it is to try and come up with a consensus for driver of the weekend. You know, the driver who has performed best over the course of the grand prix weekend?

          People get annoyed when some voters don’t seem to put any thought into the events surrounding the weekend, or make a vote based on only some of the information. Or worse still, always vote for the same person regardless. They want everyone to put the thought into it they do, and make a considered choice, so we have the best chance of coming up with a good answer.

          It’s a good thing we don’t decide who gets to govern a country this way — oh wait…

    3. he did well with the mclaren, nontheless i cant see other reason but the doughnuts.

  6. Webber for me. Awesome lap in qualy ven though got pipped to pole by a few hundreths of a second. Very good race, made up time where he needed to, pulled a very good overtake to take the lead and the victory. Pretty open and shut Best driver of the weekend.

    1. *even though

  7. Romain Grosjean for me, it was a fantastic recovery after a difficult first lap.

    1. superb race for him but pity he wont win the vote because most voter will pick the podium winner

    2. Grosjean spun his car in Q2, which meant he had to start further back than what his car was capable of, which led to his first lap incident. I agree he was impressive from lap 2 onward, but he certainly didn’t do better than Webber or Alonso over the course of the whole weekend.

      1. Yeah i had forgotton that for Grosjean . Guess you could argue Alonso was lucky it got red flagged in Q2 as he was heading out otherwise.

        On that note it has to be Webber

    3. Yeah superb race by Grosjean….another clash in first lap. You should be proud of him. I am.

  8. Lewis Hamilton.

    No, wait. I misread the title. It’s “Vote for the best driver of the British Grand Prix weekend”, not “Vote for the best British driver of the Grand Prix weekend”. My mistake.

    In that case, I vote for Lewis Hamilton. Jenson Button second, Paul di Resta third. Because according to the television director, there were only three drivers in this race. This Grosjean guy who went from twenty-third to sixth? Please, we don’t need to see that – a British driver did the same thing in the GP3 race. What we really want to see is Lewis Hamilton going backwards.

    1. I agree completely.

    2. I agree with you

    3. I suggest you submit a formal complaint then. Otherwise it’ll be the same next year, no point complaining unless you do it properly eh?

  9. Should be Webber offcourse, He drove a good racem kept Alonso in sight and pounded when the chance and timeing were right.

    However, since he’s gonna win it anyway, I voted for the driver who I think might have won it if he hadn’t spun in Q2. Grosean started 9th, dropped top last, but finished 6th, only 7 seconds behind his teammate! What an awesome drive!
    (though we heardly saw him in the coverage)

    Alonso and Massa deserve honorable mentions (but as to why people have voted Hamilton so far…. :-S )

    1. Re Hamilton votes: the race is on for the first person to drop the dreaded b word.
      :p

      1. Grosjean’s strategy was actually by far the quickest in the race! He spent the least amount of time on the slower tyre (the soft), and had two long runs on the hard tyre. So even though he gave up positions at the start, he was at an advantage at the end. The front runners spent too little time on the hards, and far too long on the softs.

  10. Vitaly Petrov – Didn’t even get to start the race after his engine failed as he drove to the grid.
    He did out-qualify Kovalainen, though. Which is all the more impressive when you consider that Kovalainen had more time with the CT01’s new parts than Petrov did, and most of what Petrov got from them was based on what Kovalainen established.

  11. Voted for Grosjean though praise for Alonso and Webber.
    We are forgetting one thing is the intelligence Alonso showed while dealing with the yellow flag in Q2. He went slower than his last lap’s ;ast sector but not too slower and reached Q3. That was the masterstroke. He is a canny fellow and knows rules. BUt Grosjean impressed me a lot . Ham after his last stop was praised for covering Gorsjean specifically on the radio but he was much much faster than Ham . Impressive given that he was quicker on the worn tyres too. Lotus just needs a clean and warm weekend to win a race.

    1. Yes, Grosjean impresed me too. This is the first time when he failed not only in first lap after the start, but he fail in quali too(when he goes out of circuit in a not fast lap(unique)). Not to mention the “incident” with Raikk in quali. Very, very impressive, Grosjean.

  12. Very difficult choice between Webber and Alonso. Both drivers drove a consistent and calm race, maybe even a perfect race. The truth of the matter is that I just can’t choose between those two, so in order to not give one driver an advantage over the other, I voted for Grosjean. He dropped back at the start after damaging his front wing, but he never let his head down and kept going at it. This resulted in a great comeback race with outstanding overtakes to finish just behind his teammate. In the end, he and Raikkonen were actually faster than those in front of them, for Grosjean on much older tyres. I’m starting to become a Grosjean-fan!

    1. Me too…First lap is more spectacular with Grosjean. NEW: the qualis too. (out of circuit in Q2, and “incident” with Raikk). One word: superb..

  13. Grosjean’s drive is overated IMO .His initial pitstop meant he was in free air with the better tyres while the likes of raikkonen and massa were stuck behind schumacher.And didn’t he beach the car all by himself .Not a candidate for a DOTW methinks.

    1. +big ONE

    2. Ye, everything except first lap worked out perfect for Grosjean, he hit all hit overtakes at the right time just when opponents were starting to have problems with traction. But I gotta say those two overtakes he pulled were impressive.

      I only wish Kimi was not stuck behind Schummi in the beginning :(

      My Vote goes to Webber. That start was lucky, would have been a worse incident than Maldonado vs Perez.

      1. No one realises that to pit on the first lap, and be in free air on the hards (as well and minimise the amount of time on the soft tyre, as the hard could last two stints pushing hard for the whole race) was actually a faster strategy than to be stuck behind slower cars like MAS, VET and RAI were. The only reason GRO ended up behind RAI was because they had to change his front wing, and he was slow on his in lap, which cost a lot of time.

    3. Yep.. I agree. Although I was tempted to vote for Grosjean, but he blew it in unnecessarily in Q2. His race pace was awesome, but he just puts himself in difficult situations way too often. For me the DOTW was Alonso as he did everything he possibly could during the entire weekend. Fastest in FP3 -> Pole -> Led from the start despite being on hard rubber -> Put a fantastic in lap in to come ahead of Mark Webber. The tyre strategy screwed him in the end but overall I thought he was slightly better than Mark the entire weekend

  14. Webber followed by Grosjean and then Alonso.
    Webber was always very fast and didn´t make mistakes, neither as Alonso, but he won and Alonso didn´t.
    Grosjean would have my vote hadn´t he had a spin in Q2 when already with a time good enough for Q3.

  15. Felipe Massa for me. After so many bad results and critisism, which made him having bad phychology and no self-confidence he scored his best result after Korea 2010. He wasn’t so much off Alonso’s pace as he used to

    1. OmarR-Pepper (@)
      9th July 2012, 15:40

      Hey! Massa passed from having just 10% of Alonso’s points last race to having 18% now. And “if” Massa wins next race with Alonso DNF, he can have 37%.
      You first saw it here :P :P :P

    2. @sigman1998
      Im with you on the Massa thing.
      For me, DOTW is the one who surpasses expectations. Voting for the Winner is usually not DOTW for me. Its no great feat when ALO, VET, WEB, HAM or any of the top finishers win the race. This is expected behavior and is not a “breakout performance” in my book.

      Massa made a HUGE uptick in form while WEB simply maintained his par.

      1. Well it’s nice to see Massa has handed the ” most dangerous driver to overtake” mantel to Maldonado and is now getting on with the job of scoring points . It’s pretty obvious that the Ferrari is massively improved and easier to drive, Massa has always been fast in a fast car and that I think is the difference.

      2. @javlinsharp But isn’t that just rewarding a driver for doing badly in previous races?

        It seems perverse to vote for Massa for Driver of the Weekend when he was consistently beaten by the only other driver who has the same car as him.

        1. I have to agree with Keith here. The vote is for the best driver of the weekend, it’s not a poll for “driver who was less rubbish than usual and deserves a pat on the back”. By Massa’s standards it was a good weekend but how on earth can anyone say he performed better than his teammate when he was still handily beaten?

          1. Alright you caught me, in a moment of benevolent pity.

            I guess my comment was based on a single idea at the cost of logic, relevance, and common sense.

            Basically, I chose my vote because Massa’s drive was “remarkable”.
            The performance from the top 10 drivers is certainly Top Notch, as always. Nothing can be taken away from a Win, Pole, or Fastest Lap.

            Taken in the context of the past several GPs the top drivers receive these triumphs every other week, and to some extent it can be said these are common events for those drivers, we have come to expect it from them. It is only the Laws of Chaos that stir the pot every now and then, a bad altenator, late rain in Q3.

            Great Achievements are Great partly because they are Rare, and someone will always snag the brass ring. In the face of this perverse view of status quo, I dare to call the stupendous achievement of the top 10 “less remarkable”.

            But on this weekend, Filipe had a good day.
            In a car that any driver would kill for but he just cant drive.

            With the press ripping out his guts, and his team openly doubting him.

            Chosen to replace RB because he would “shut up and play a good stooge” for MS.

            With the constant reminder of WDC glory lost by 1 point, and knowledge he will never be that close ever again.

            Probably racing his last season in anything better than a grocery cart.

            For Filipe, Silverstone 2012 was a small reminder of glories past, a respite from the doubter, and just maybe a shred of hope that he can still exit F1 with honor. For him, it was remarkable.

          2. @javlinsharp

            I think we have couple driver on the grid beside Massa who lost WDC by a point and it seems it made them only stonger.

          3. @Kimi4WDC
            I never like arguing with a fellow Kimi fan, and perhaps I risk being labled as a Massa-fanboy, but….

            Massa took a Heavy Heave Spring to the face at over 100mph in the year after his heartbreaking loss. Traumatic Brain injury is a sure-fire way to crush WDC dreams.

            Somehow, I have little pity for LH missing the WDC by 1 point in his rookie year. Sounds more like the “silver spoon” tapped his tooth a little. It didnt make him stronger, but simply showed his weakness.

          4. Only someone with zero knowledge of Hamilton’s career prior to F1 would allude to the ‘born with a silver spoon in his mouth’ cliche.

            He may have started in F1 with a top team, but he (and his father) worked hard for that opportunity and earned it with results.

          5. @keithcollantine
            Sir, I have great respect for your knowledge of F1. It is the reason why I so enjoy your blog.

            At the same time, I also have confidence in my statements about LH. Surely, his early carreer started lowly. Even I have heard the stories of the old yellow helmet that helped his father pick him out on track, of the weekends driving the country and huge family sacrifices.
            Sounds very much like stories from the early days of Alonso and Kimi. They both came from meager beginnings with little money, and both had strong results that got them into F1 in the first place.
            However, NEITHER of them had a rookie season next to the reigning World Champion, driving the Silver Spoon, oops i mean Silver Arrow. Did Alonso or Kimi, or their family work any less than LH to get where they are?
            I defer to your superior F1 knowledge to name another driver who debuted next to the WDC in a top 2 team? If that is not possible, I feel confident that my point is made, that Hamilton was born into F1 with every advantage a driver could ask for, more so than any other driver ever got, indeed, the “Silver Spoon”.

            Massa was never a wunderkind, never more than a 2nd seat filler. He was never supposed to get so close to the prize. He is now the joke of F1, like Badoer and Speed. For him, Silverstone was bit of vindication, a validation that he does indeed belong in F1, at least for that weekend…

          6. ‘Silver spoon’ insinuates that he received great privilege he did not necessarily deserve. I disagree that he did not deserve his place in F1 in 2007.

            I don’t see why you object to him getting the chance to drive for McLaren – what did you expect them to do, give him to another team?

            Hamilton was the one who collared Ron Dennis and made the connection with his team. He knew who he wanted to drive for. Pretending he got it all given to him without having earned it does him undue disservice.

          7. I accept the criticism for use of the cliche. I do still feel Hamilton’s association to Mclaren is unique, and provided him with great advantage even as I clarify my statement. Everybody deserves what they get by the very fact that they have it. I was not in the room, I have never met Ron Dennis nor Lewis Hamilton, I cannot say well or ill about how the situation came to be.
            That said, I am probably not alone in thinking that more could be expected from LH at this stage, given that he started in F1 with so much.

            My original point was in response to a comment that other drivers have also missed the WDC by 1 point yet they overcame the obstical and had followup success. My purpose was to point out that there was a huge difference in position, capabilities, and circumstances between Massa losing WDC by 1 point and Hamilton losing WDC by 1 point.

            Perhaps I could have been more clear on that point.

    3. You’re funny! You vote for a driver because he wasn’t so much off the teammate’s pace as he used to be? This poll is supposed to choose who was the best each weekend.

      1. If indeed, the purpose of the poll is to choose who is the best each weekend, then the answer is clearly displayed on the top step of the podium. Why bother having a poll?

        I take a deeper interpertation of the “Driver of the Weekend”. I take it to mean the driver who did something remarkable. Nico Hulkenburg taking Pole, thats remarkable, Pastore Maldanodo, or Nico Rosburg winning for the first time, that is remarkable, any driver that ligitimatly makes-up 6 places with on-track passes, that is remarkable.

        One of the top drivers winning a race like they already have done this season, to me, that is status quo, and not remarkable.

        If we simply want to gauge who is the best, thats easy, Timing & Scoring does that for us already.

        1. @javlinsharp

          If indeed, the purpose of the poll is to choose who is the best each weekend, then the answer is clearly displayed on the top step of the podium.

          No it isn’t because the drivers all have different cars.

          1. So, indeed, we do not judge all drivers the same because they have different cars. Button or Vettel winning again and again in a dominant car is, by this definition, not worthy of DOTW, yet a good result for a backmarker is a remarkable feat that is celebrated.
            I take the next logical step and make a distiction as to the skill of the drivers as well.

            ALO has more talent in his dandruff than MAS has ever had. Up until Silverstone MAS has been in the waaaaay back because his skill seems to be gone.

            For this reason, I celebrate his significant positive direction. Alo took pole, and WEB took the win, VET was right there as he usually is.

            Of all the driving performances this weekend, I feel MAS had the best day when compared to his usual performance.

          2. Yes, but it’s driver of the weekend, not drive of the weekend.

  16. Alonso!! Why? Fastest in FP3, pole on saturday, confortably in the lead for 90% of the race, and only lost because of the stupid Pirelli tires.

    1. Possibly lost it through bad Ferrari strategy, just like Canada.

      Hey just watched 2010 season review (6 hours of races/interviews). The number of drivers talking about tyre management after each GP was surprising. Particularly because they were Bridgestone tyres.

      Bored of the Pirelli bashers. They’ve obviously got little else they can think of to say.

      1. I don’t think Ferrari had a bad strategy: they had a slightly different strategy with respect to the Red Bulls, which resulted in a small lead over them. They gambled for rain that did not come, so at the end, they started dropping back and unfortunately for them Webber was there to take the win.

      2. do you find it normal for the medium compound to be faster than the soft one? pirelli basher? the tires are a joke

        1. The soft tyres we’re quicker.

          Everybody knows softer tyres degrade faster, that was the same in the Bridgestone era and it’s the same now.
          If Alonso had prolonged his stints on the harder compound Webber wouldn’t even have gotten close.

  17. Alonso. He was the quickest driver of the weekend and only lost due to the strategy.

  18. Not sure how Grosjean is deserving of a vote seeing as he hit Di Resta, surely that should automatically invalidate his worthiness for driver of the weekend? Don’t really see how it could be anyone but Webber. Solid in both the rain and the dry, made the best of his strategy and made a brilliant pass for the win. Job done!

  19. Maldonado!

    Best driver oops.. joke of the weekend!

    Vote Grosjean though.. Exciting drive from the back of the grid

  20. It was between Grosjean and Senna for me, but in the end I think Petrov had an astounding race.

    1. Seeing Senna go for it on Hulkenberg on the penultimate lap and make it stick, while still holding Button off, was one of my favorite bits, not gonna lie.

  21. Grosjean! He is making mistakes but remember he is almost a rookie. Webber great also.

  22. someone has voted for Maldonado! Either it’s a mis-vote or Pastor has an account here! :p

  23. I voted for Alonso because I felt he drove better than Webber and also did the best qualifying lap in the rain. If it were not for Ferrari’s poor pitwall strategy calls that were completely out of his control, Alonso very likely would have walked away with the win

    Webber did well too, so it was a tough call.

  24. Real toughy between Alonso & Webber. As someone who sat thru’ Saturday’s weather to watch Alonso claim pole, it very nearly went his way, but on the whole Webber won & won well, keeping his head & not panicking over anyone else’s strategy & getting best out of his tires.

  25. Aditya Banerjee (@)
    9th July 2012, 17:00

    How did Grosjean get so many votes after flunking on Saturday??? It was his own fault!!

  26. Went for Alonso, but Webber and Grosjean deserved it as well. Alonso gets it because, in the scope of the weekend, he was consistently strongest in all conditions.

  27. While Alonso and Webber drove good solid races, I think the stand out was Grosjean.
    Yes a mistake in qualifying and at the start hurt him, but he didn’t let it affect him and he sped through that field with some good overtaking and top tyre management. The fact those Lotus’s were setting the fastest laps at the end of the race is amazing, now they just need to qualify better and we might finally see that win!

  28. No one really stood out for me, went for the winner.

  29. Mike the bike Schumacher (@mike-the-bike-schumacher)
    9th July 2012, 17:54

    I voted for Pastor

    1. Mike the bike Schumacher (@mike-the-bike-schumacher)
      9th July 2012, 17:55

      Just Kidding :P

  30. I think my username makes it clear I’m a huge fan of Lewis, but this weekend was not his best. Clearly the McLarens have lost some pace and one could take that into consideration, however I thought Webber was totally in the zone yesterday. Every time they showed his on-board camera, he looked smooth and calm, and you could tell he had the rhythm going. For that reason, this was an easy decision.

  31. It took me a long, long time to choose between Webber and Alonso. Either deserve it this weekend. I eventually chose Alonso as his pole lap was brilliant and he drove most of the race in the lead. The wrong strategy from Ferrari coupled with the Red Bull’s stronger pace lead to him being passed right near the end. Alonso really is at his driving peak this year, with a much improved Ferrari that still is the third fastest car after the Red Bull and the Lotus.

    All credit to Webber though who had a similarly outstanding weekend and will probably and deservedly win this poll.

  32. I’m glad that Senna got into the points, but Webber was the driver of the day, bearly missed out on on pole and a solid strategy, good pace helped him win the race.

  33. I watched wimbledon instead (the race was broadcasted a few hours late here and they overlapped). When I first switched to the race, Grosjean was coming out of the pits in last, and every time I flipped back in the tennis game and set breaks, he had picked up 3 places. I’m really not sure what happened or how he did that, but he got my vote (which probably shouldn’t have been cast) anyway.

  34. Webber ‘for sure’. Won the race, qualified well (& out-qualified Vettel) and even made a great start for a change. Nice one mate.

  35. Romain Grosjean, because his fight back through the field was amazing, despite the fact I faile to see any of it due to the director.
    His qualy performance wasn’t as good as it could have been, but most people last race seemed to disregard qualifying and pick Alonso

    1. (at Valencia)

  36. Michael Brown (@)
    9th July 2012, 20:11

    I voted Webber, although Alonso is a close second. Ferrari dropped the ball when the brought Alonso in too early, although they were afraid they would have lost the spot to Webber if he stayed out.

    Also, could someone explain to me why using the options for the last stint is a bad idea? I thought it was preferable to use the options for the last stint because the fuel load is at its lowest, so you can get the fastest lap times.

    I’m probably gonna answer my own question but having the options for the first stint hopefully will allow you to clear traffic and lose less time.

    1. davidnotcoulthard
      9th July 2012, 23:59

      Q:Also, could someone explain to me why using the options for the last stint is a bad idea?

      A:The soft set tyres were slower than the set of hard tyres.

    2. could someone explain to me why using the options for the last stint is a bad idea

      It was not a bad idea but a correct one but it just backfired. Ferrari saw Massa doing pretty good lap times on soft tyres oin a heavy car . He did 15 laps. So they assumed that Soft for Alonso will be able to do atleast 15 laps on a rubbered in track on a light car but it just did not happen and this is where Alonso lost the lead. Simple.

  37. Definitely Alonso. The F2012 is still not the best car and his pole position was an amazing result, and his race was superb. It’s strange and a pity that he was so slow on the softs.

  38. My vote goes to DRS.
    DRS had lots of passes. DRS changed the outcome of the race. DRS made ALO look like a rookie getting passed on the straights. If it were not for DRS, this race would have been very boring. Because DRS was so important to the race, I now hate DRS even more. The FIA should investigate DRS for unfair advantage.

    1. Wow…. so, Grosjean’s 2 incredible passes through Maggots and Becketts were virtue of DRS?

      DRS was about right here, it was by no means a slam dunk, demonstrated perfectly by the fact that Hamilton was able to (briefly) re-pass Alonso, even though Alonso had DRS and MUCH fresher tyres….

  39. --- (@brazil2007)
    9th July 2012, 21:45

    Petrov, clearly. He didn’t get overtaken a single time during the race; he didn’t make any driver errors either :)

    To top it all off, he didn’t finish behind Kovalainen.

    1. soundscape (@)
      9th July 2012, 22:50

      lol +1

  40. I think Massa, even though I don’t like him

  41. My vote went for Webber as he made the highlight move of the weekend.
    I am sorry to ask, but what was the Grosjean’s ”incident” with Räikkönen in qualifying. I did not notice that one.

    1. davidnotcoulthard
      10th July 2012, 0:02

      Where they almost made a contact. The close call.

  42. Tough call because both Alonso and Webber were pretty impressive. Alonso made the most out of the situation on saturday, getting into Q3 by the blink of an eye and getting a great lap together to gain Pole position.

    On the other hand Webber was always on his tail, missing pole by half a tenth and outqualified his team by quite some margin. And then on Sunday he made no mistakes and capitalized from Alonso’s lack of pace on his final stint to win Silverstone for the second time in 3 years. So I´d say Webber is my driver of the weekend.

  43. Hmm.. hard decision. Well, my vote gone 4 Alonso. Webber did good on the weekend too, so if there would be another vote, I’d give it to him :)

  44. Watching Grosjean race was interesting, he was at the back then each time he came past me he had overtaken someone else.

    I would love to have given him my vote but it went to Webber. Mark deserved the win. I was cheering when he came past us in the lead as was everyone around me! Plus my photo was on his car! I thought Red Bull managed a good race in general making decisions at just the right time.

  45. I just want to say that I don’t think the difference between Alonso and Webber was their strategy, rather it was that Webber was able to perform better relatively on his soft tyre stint.

  46. Makes me happy to say Mark Webber. He has shown his worth this year and to have outqualified Vettel more than he has been outqualified is something special. He showed great maturity as expected to take this win. It was particularly flashy he just drove really good consistent laps and picked up the pace when it was needed.

    If he continues to drive like this then surely the title will be his.

    1. I agree to some point. As for Webber taking the title I feel he’ll still be dependent on how much trouble Vettel will have this season. If not for the cucumber and the alternator failure in Valencia, Vettel would still have been leading this championship. Also, we know that Vettel is strongest on the circuits yet to come. And a few of those circuits (Singapore, Abu Dhabi most definitely) are not to Webber’s liking.

  47. It was Mark’s weekend. You could see how determined he was since the beginning. He was always driving to the limit, while Seb was far more cautious.
    This attitude allowed him to start in the front row, but he clearly wanted to win. And he managed to do that, so driver of the weekend for me, no doubt.

  48. 1. Massa – made a huge progress from what we’ve seen up to now. This is almost the Felipe Massa A.D. 2008
    2. Alonso – Was on the verge od dropping out in the quali, took the pole, didn’t put a foot wrong in the race, lost due to Ferrari not handling option tire well
    3. Webber – Very nice race, won because Alonso’s tires were gone, which hardly can be atributted to Mark’s skills. Still was clearly better than his teammate, the two time World Champion.

  49. Melchior (@)
    10th July 2012, 11:22

    Mark Webber.He had a near perfect weekend

  50. would vote grojean, but it says driver of the weekend. so webber gets it.

  51. Webber off course. Alonso had the fastest car and should have won it comfortably.

    I guess this shows how easy it’s been for Vettel ‘pulling away at the front in the fastest car’. LOL.

  52. Tough choice. No one really stood out for me if I’m honest but I voted for Massa. He qualified well, raced well and finished well. He didn’t relent and kept plugging away. Probably nothing THAT special but he seems to be finding his feet again with Ferrari so I feel quite humble for him.

  53. I’d say best drivers were those pilots who flew the biplanes at the start of the BBC Intro sequence that to me was the most entertaining part of the grand prix for those that missed it. I nearly wet myself at jake humphries face during the roll.
    The actual BBC coverage was shocking this week though DC is no match for Brundle on the Grid Walk.

  54. Voted for Sergio Perez, mainly for his frank an honest opinion after the Maldonado incident. Fastest in quali before red flag, too. Impressed me the most.

  55. I voted Webber. Ferrari and Alonso have to learn that the best stategy is to try getting the finish line as soon as posible. Been in front of the RB after the last Pit Stop without tires isn’t enought. (I am an Alonso Fan).

  56. I can’t say that any driver really stood out over the weekend, a case could be made for or against most of the likely candidates.

    I narrowed it down to Webber, Alonso and Grosjean and in the end decided to vote for Grosjean.

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