Vote for the best driver of the German GP weekend

2012 German Grand Prix

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Which F1 driver had the best race weekend in Germany?

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

Driver notes

Sebastian Vettel – Reckoned he might have been able to beat Alonso to pole position had he copied the Ferrari driver’s tactics of pitting for a fresh set of wet tyres. Fended off Schumacher at the start and closed on Alonso, but was unable to pass. Being unlapped by Hamilton didn’t help his cause, nor did losing out in a battle for position with the other McLaren. Re-passed Button on the penultimate lap but went off the track to do it and was penalised after the race, dropping him to fifth.
Mark Webber – Qualified third but a gearbox change penalty relegated him to eighth. The Red Bull’s poor straight-line speed hampered his efforts to make up places. He passed Maldonado but was beaten on strategy by both Saubers, leaving him back where he started at the end of the race.

Jenson Button – A badly-needed return to form, bolstered by McLaren’s extensive upgrade package. Out-qualified Hamilton on merit for the first time this year, then passed Hulkenberg and Schumacher in the opening stages to join the battle for the lead. A record-breaking McLaren pit stop and a fast out lap got him ahead of Vettel, after which he caught but was unable to pass Alonso. His tyres went off in the final laps, leaving him vulnerable to Vettel. But of course, he got the place back on appeal.
Lewis Hamilton – Hamilton said his puncture on lap two was “cruel luck” and it’s hard to argue with that, although he wasn’t the only driver to suffer one. That destroyed his race and Hamilton’s head seemed to drop – he suggested to the team they should call it quits. But he pressed on and despite deteriorating handling due to damage he lapped quicker than the leaders after his second pit stop and even unlapped himself from Vettel. Despite the Red Bull driver’s protestations, this was entirely legal, though it proved to be in vain as he eventually retired with 11 laps to go. “With the damage to the rear, I think we were lucky to get that far, to be honest.”

Fernando Alonso – Wet qualifying produced yet more mastery from Alonso who captured pole position for the second race in a row. Arguably his best lap came in Q2 when he secured a place in the final ten despite begin badly held up by Massa. He sussed out the advantage of switching to fresh wet tyres halfway through Q3 as the rubber began to wear on the rapidly-drying track. From pole he clung on to the lead of the race and although his pursuers got close, they never quite forced him into defending his position.
Felipe Massa – Went off during Q2 and failed to progress to the final ten for the seventh time this year. His race was spoiled at the first corner where he damaged his front wing. Without a safety car to aid his progress, an unlapped 12th was the best he could realistically have managed from there.

Michael Schumacher – Did well to qualify fourth having only just made it into Q2. He started third partly thanks to Webber’s penalty. Made a solid effort at passing Vettel on the first lap but had to drop back and couldn’t keep Button behind. Passed Hulkenberg after his first pit stop but then fell victim to Raikkonen. Mercedes had to run a three-stop strategy which dropped him to seventh, and despite setting the race’s fastest lap he was unable to catch and re-pass the Saubers.
Nico Rosberg – As at Silverstone, couldn’t make it into Q3 in the wet session. A gearbox penalty on top of that meant he started on the 11th row. Ran a three-stop strategy and passed Di Resta for the final place in the points.

Kimi Raikkonen – Like Alonso, Raikkonen also switched tyres during Q3 in search of more grip, but he couldn’t find any. That left him tenth on the grid but he made progress early on, passing Di Resta in his first stint, then Hulkenberg and Schumacher. His pace dropped after that in his second stint on soft tyres. He looked quicker at the beginning of his final stint on mediums but wasn’t able to get on terms with the leading trio. Vettel’s penalty promoted him to third despite Raikkonen not having run higher than fourth all race.
Romain Grosjean – Wrestled with his car during qualifying, ending up a poor 15th which became 19th after a gearbox change penalty. Clipped the wing-less Massa on the first lap which damaged his car and forced an early pit stop. Never looked like making his way back into the race from there, his grim weekend was compounded when he ploughed through the gravel at turn 12.

Paul di Resta – Joined his team mate in the top ten in qualifying. Briefly troubled Raikkonen at the start to run eighth, which was as high up the order as he got. Ran a two-stop strategy to his team mate’s three and this might have cost him a point – he lost out to the three-stopping Rosberg who’d started 12 places behind him.
Nico Hulkenberg – Demonstrated his flair for wet qualifying sessions again, taking fourth on the grid (after Webber’s penalty) despite a frightening high-speed spin into the gravel caused by aquaplaning. He was always going to struggle to race that far up the field in the Force India, and was mugged by Schumacher and Raikkonen together at one point. Nor could he keep the two-stopping Saubers behind, leaving him ninth at the flag.

Kamui Kobayashi – Was passed by his team mate early on but claimed the place back as he was able to run longer in his first stint. That paid off after his second stint, during which he impressively passes Webber’s Red Bull. Fifth at the flag, Vettel’s penalty promoted him to a career-best fourth.
Sergio Perez – Should have reached Q3 but went off at the hairpin in the Motodrom when he was on course for a top ten time. A penalty for holding up Alonso and Raikkonen – somewhat harsh given the conditions and the fact that both made it through to Q3 – sent him back even further. But he came storming back in the race, picking off a string of cars in the opening laps. He would surely have progressed further but damage forced an early first pit stop which compromised his strategy. Nonetheless, sixth was quite a recovery from 17th on the grid.

Daniel Ricciardo – After 67 laps of racing the Toro Rosso drivers came out of the final corner nose-to-tail, Ricciardo ahead by just 0.136s. He’d run a two-stopper to his team mate’s three and his medium tyres were suffering after 29 laps on them. Ricciardo started 11th but was passed by both Saubers on lap five and by Rosberg the lap after that.
Jean-Eric Vergne – Narrowly eliminated in Q1 by Schumacher, he reeled in his team mate in the final laps thanks to his fresher tyres but ran out of time to find a way past. Had he not made his first pit stop early due to a puncture he might well have finished ahead.

Pastor Maldonado – An anonymous weekend for Maldonado, though that was perhaps an improvement following his recent troubles. Did his usual solid job in qualifying and started fifth, but struggled with a damaged car after his first pit stop and quickly dropped out of the top ten.
Bruno Senna – Had to change his front wing following the first lap altercation, which left him last for 17 laps. Spent the final laps trying, unsuccessfully, to pass Petrov’s Caterham. However he did finish in front of Grosjean, having been 12 seconds behind him following their enforced early pit stops.

Heikki Kovalainen – Ran into trouble halfway through the race when his lap times began to climb as he reported a problem with the front of the car. He pitted for a new nose in an attempt to cure the problem, which left him 19th at the end.
Vitaly Petrov – Held off the recovering Senna for 16th place. Earlier in the race he accidentally let Hamilton pass him while being lapped by Alonso, but that became irrelevant when Hamilton retired anyway.

Pedro de la Rosa – Passed Glock for 21st place in the final laps as the Marussia hit trouble: “I had a lot of fun in today’s race. Everything went well, we maintained a good rhythm and the tyres held out without any problems, but above all I’m happy about the fight I put up on the track.”
Narain Karthikeyan – Was closer to de la Rosa than usual in qualifying and finished a third of a second behind Glock, who in turn was just five seconds behind the other HRT.

Timo Glock – Suffered a series of problems with his car during the race: “Since lap ten the balance of the car did not feel right and it became very difficult to drive. We struggled for top speed on the straights and then towards the end of the race there was a problem with the differential and the last few laps were so tough.”
Charles Pic – Led the HRTs home while Glock struggled and was 12 seconds behind the delayed Kovalainen at the end.

Qualifying and race results summary

StartedGap to team mateLaps leading team matePittedFinishedGap to team mate
Sebastian Vettel2nd-0.47s67/6725th-23.209s
Mark Webber8th+0.47s0/6728th+23.209s
Jenson Button6th-0.073s56/5622nd
Lewis Hamilton7th+0.073s0/563
Fernando Alonso1st-1.691s67/6721st-71.428s
Felipe Massa13th+1.691s0/67312th+71.428s
Michael Schumacher3rd-3.541s67/6737th-19.919s
Nico Rosberg21st+3.541s0/67310th+19.919s
Kimi Raikkonen10th-0.845s66/6623rdNot on same lap
Romain Grosjean19th+0.845s0/66318thNot on same lap
Paul di Resta9th+1.388s10/67211th+11.065s
Nico Hulkenberg4th-1.388s57/6739th-11.065s
Kamui Kobayashi12th+0.052s42/6724th-5.971s
Sergio Perez17th-0.052s25/6726th+5.971s
Daniel Ricciardo11th-0.225s54/67213th-0.136s
Jean-Eric Vergne15th+0.225s13/67314th+0.136s
Pastor Maldonado5th-2.021s66/66315th-28.361s
Bruno Senna14th+2.021s0/66317th+28.361s
Heikki Kovalainen16th-0.911s31/65419thNot on same lap
Vitaly Petrov18th+0.911s34/65316thNot on same lap
Pedro de la Rosa23rd-0.318s61/64221st-5.483s
Narain Karthikeyan24th+0.318s3/64223rd+5.483s
Timo Glock22nd+0.071s0/64222ndNot on same lap
Charles Pic20th-0.071s64/64220thNot on same lap

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 German Grand Prix weekend?

  • Charles Pic (0%)
  • Timo Glock (0%)
  • Pedro de la Rosa (0%)
  • Narain Karthikeyan (0%)
  • Vitaly Petrov (1%)
  • Heikki Kovalainen (0%)
  • Bruno Senna (0%)
  • Pastor Maldonado (0%)
  • Jean-Eric Vergne (0%)
  • Daniel Ricciardo (0%)
  • Sergio Perez (3%)
  • Kamui Kobayashi (9%)
  • Nico Hulkenberg (0%)
  • Paul di Resta (0%)
  • Romain Grosjean (0%)
  • Kimi Raikkonen (6%)
  • Nico Rosberg (0%)
  • Michael Schumacher (0%)
  • Felipe Massa (0%)
  • Fernando Alonso (62%)
  • Jenson Button (13%)
  • Lewis Hamilton (2%)
  • Mark Webber (0%)
  • Sebastian Vettel (2%)

Total Voters: 524

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2012 German Grand Prix

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Images © Ferrari spa/Ercole Colombo, Ferrari spa/Ercole Colombo, Sauber F1 Team

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77 comments on “Vote for the best driver of the German GP weekend”

  1. Alonso has this one easily. Fast in practice, fast in qualifying and another masterful wet pole position. I’m not sure the car is capable of pole in the dry and he’s really grabbed the last two opportunities with both hands. Brilliant start, made no errors despite having Vettel and Button within a couple of seconds of him for the whole race and managed his tyres beautifully despite some blistered rears in the middle stint.

    A good return to form for Button too. Both Sauber drivers were brilliant in the race, but if they want to keep up these sort of results (or possibly get better ones) they need to start stringing entire weekends together. It’s not often they’ve got both parts right this year, and the same can be said for Lotus.

    Another shout out to De La Rosa as well, he’s been driving very well in that HRT, and Pic is quietly doing a great job for Marussia.

    1. I agree Dan, Alonso really did everything right this weekend.

    2. Jayfreese (@)
      23rd July 2012, 20:39

      Sad for a McLaren fan, but Alonso! Pole position in wet qualifying, victory in dry race, 67/67 laps ahead of his teammate plus 71 seconds at the finishing line between them two, 30th win et caetera…
      Who else can be Driver Of The Weekend?

    3. Has to be Alonso, as he was faultless all weekend.

    4. Flawless Alonso indeed, then Button for grit.
      However, race-day i most enjoyed Sauber do well on different strategies, and especially Perez’s comeback +11 places. Fun jousting with Hulkenberg. If – when – they put 3 days together consistently…

  2. I quite liked Button’s drive in the race, from all the bad luck/lack of confidence in the car to all of a sudden be qualifying 6th and finishing 2nd, was a great drive and will do wonders for his confidence.
    It was hard to pass up Alonso though, but JB just won by a whisker in my opinion :)

    1. True enough it was a well needed comeback drive from him, and I admit it was a bit of a relieve to see him back on it.

    2. I have to express my doubts he would beat Hamilton if there were no tyre puncture incident. Nevertheless, very good drive by most popular driver on the site with a great composure except the locking of the fronts a couple of times.

      1. well HAM didn´t had a puncture at the start yet he was passed by 2 cars, while Button passed cars in front of him….

  3. My vote’s for Lewis, for rattling Vettel while unlapping, and for sheer entertainment value. He brightened up a dull middle race.

    1. If I’d had two votes, I’d have gone for Kobi. A good solid race from one of the mid-teams.

      1. Sergio Perez also drove brilliantly.Remember he started from 17th.

    2. Me too. The way he showed the leaders that he was faster than them in a wrecked car was amazing.

      1. he had very new tyres. tyres are king these days

  4. Hard to see a compelling argument for anyone but Alonso. Fast in practice, put it on pole, then controlled the race to secure another win. By any standards it was a more or less flawless performance.

    1. I managed to find a compelling argument fairly easily, if I may say so -: Kimi Raikkonen.
      His move on di Resta round two corners out of DRS reminded me why I was watching. With respect to all here: any one of our current six champs on the grid, plus a few more besides, can win a race from pole in [excuse me for contradicting propaganda] A CAR THAT IS ONE OF THE FASTEST IF NOT THE FASTEST, good strategy calls, minimising all mistakes, maxing where poss: not always that easy I know. Plus dare I say, some luck

  5. It’s really hard to vote for anyone else than Alonso, who once again made the best of every opportunity, withstood serious pressure for one and a half hours and won in a car that rarely looked like the quickest on the grid, while his team mate scored 0 points in the same car.

    So Fernando again, for the third race in a row.

  6. I voted Alonso. He was very good at managing the race and the pole position he won. He was the leader of the race for almost all part of it. He was capable of defending from Vettel and Button in a way that shows a lot of matturity and confidence while you are going around a track at 200kmh or 300kmh. That radio message on the 62 lap tells a lot.

  7. Alonso – simply masterful weekend.

    And Hamilton, for the fun factor :)

  8. Alonso “for sure” and by far.
    I would complete the podium with both Saubers, what a fantastic pace and combativeness they had.
    On the low side Webber, Grosjean and Massa were hardly seen in this race (I excluded Hamilton because despite the result he left his mark in the race) :-)

    1. Kobayashi and Perez only needs to improve in qualifying.With that they will be eyeing victory.

  9. Not really any question about it this weekend, it has to be Alonso. In qualifying Smart strategy combined with great wet-weather pace meant he set not just one but two laps good enough for pole position. Then the race was just vintage Alonso as he controlled the race from start to finish despite the Ferrari not being as fast as his pursuers. That he leads the championship by over a win despite not having the quickest car at any race so far shows just how remarkable his form has been this season.

  10. Button, Raikkonen & Kobayashi all did well across the weekend, Perez drove a good race – but there’s no question this week, Alonso far and away dominated the whole weekend.

  11. The best driver of the race is fernando alonso he did a great race 67 qualifying laps holding the pressure of vettle the of button he was really a master and he proved that he is the coming champion.kobyashi was also one of the best today

  12. I expect quite a few votes for Button, but I don’t think they would be justified. He was only 3rd/2nd in probably the quickest car and I think that’s because he messed up by flatspotting his brand new set. Hamilton was much quicker than him, again. Good for his morale that he got on the podium though.

    I voted Alonso, because he wiped the floor with the competition in the wet, improving his time on his final lap where others couldn’t and he had to take a lot out of the car to stay ahead and he did. Also because nobody else did particularly well in both qualy and race.

    1. The problem for Button was really qualifying. If you adjust for the qualifying positions, Button effectively ran the race distance faster than Alonso, it’s just that he started further back. Had the qualifying been in the dry, and he managed to hook up a lap good enough to put him on the first or second row, there’s every chance that he would have won the race.

      Button drove a great race, and his outlap to overtake Vettel was at least as significant as the unlapping of hamilton, or the mighty pitstop, in helping him overtake the German driver.

      Ultimately though, the poll is about the performance over the whole weekend, not just in the race. And for that reason, you really do have to give it to Alonso.

      1. I think Perez drove the best race, so still not an argument for Button.

    2. What race were you watching? Hamilton wasn’t quicker than Button this race, he had a bad start then after his puncture and subsequent pit stop was ~65s down on the leader. He was then in free air until lap 17 but ended up being lapped more than 80s behind the leaders.

      When Hamilton was faster than the leaders after being lapped, he had just pitted for a brand new set of tyres whilst Alonso, Vettel and Button were all approaching the end of their second stints having pitted once for fresh tyres.

      1. yes I wondered that too

      2. THANK YOU!….

  13. Alonso simply did not put a foot wrong. He won largely due to being inch-perfect lap after lap – in the majority of the race, one misjudged brake zone from him was all Vettel, Hamilton or Button needed to pass him, but it never came.

    Both Red Bull and McLaren was arguably quicker than Ferrari at some point of the race. (Just look at Massa…) It would have been decisive if it weren’t for the faultless drive of Alonso.

    Button also drove a phenomenal race. He started 6th, showed excellent pace and creativity to pick out opponents, bar Alonso, to his liking. He went past Maldonado (at the start), Hulkenberg, Raikkonen and Vettel (in the pits) on his way to second.

  14. Even though I don’t like Alonso much, I must admit that he was clearly the driver of the weekend.

    But I can’t understand why Hamilton has gotten 7% so far. His weekend was disastrous.

    1. Happens every race. Hamilton could be 5 seconds a lap off the pace. He could turn his car around and drive the wrong way round the track. he could hit the pitlane limiter then pull the steering wheel off and throw it at Felipe Massa. Doesn’t matter. Someone would still say he was the driver of the weekend, and make ridiculous comments about him being “entertaining” like it was the bloody X-Factor rather than a motor race.

      1. Hamilton didn’t actually do much wrong in the race. He just got an unfortunate puncture. He drove pretty well in a damaged car. So people do have reason to vote for him if they like.

        I voted Alonso by the way as you can see below.

        1. He was outqualified by Button for the first time this year, and when he got his puncture he came on the radio basically saying he wanted to stop. He showed good pace at certain points, but he never really made much of a charge to get back near the points. Could you really justify saying that he was the best driver over the whole weekend? Hard to see how.

          1. On quali, yes, by less than a hundredth… curious what was deciding factor at choosing the tyres for Q3, whether it was HAM himself or pit to run inter rather than full wet.
            And again nice coincidence of BUT’s excellent start coupled with HAM’s poor start…. reminiscent of Melbourne this year… simply curious on those because while I want to see all fall in good shape to all the drivers, sometimes things happens in the least probable way probability-wise.

      2. f1tooslownowadays
        23rd July 2012, 23:40

        Hamilton could have been driver of the weekend…

        If he’d driven like Alonso ;-)

  15. Alonso easily.

  16. Alonso… by a country mile. Vettel was a cucumber this weekend.

  17. no contest…. nando. IF jenson had snatched p1 from him in the closing laps, then it’d possibly be a different story, but alonso made the best of the entire weekend. loved the comment to his team over the radio about “don’t worry” or however it went ;-)

  18. It definetely has to be Alonso. Another perfect performance from spaniard. He showed that he is the most complete driver on the grid: claimed pole in wet qualifying and drove faultlessly in the dry race in the car, which fast, but not fastest at the moment.

    Button also takes credit because he caught the leaders, who were quite far and seemed uncatchable. It seems his troubles are over.

    Raikkonen also has to be mentioned. Started 10th and finished on the podium. His overtaking moves were not only most enjoyable during the whole race but also top class. If only Lotus were quicker in qualifying…

  19. Αlonso, easily. A magic lap in Q3 gave him pole. The start gave him the lead. But his fabulous defence on Jenson Button gave him the win and an advantage for the championship. Button was gaining 0.4s with DRS and Alonso had them back in the rest of the lap under the same circumstances. Als, fantastic tyre management.

  20. Alonso – the way he managed to evade being caught in the DRS zone despite not being able to pull a gap of over a second to Vettel or Button for most the race was brilliant.

    He also managed his tyres better than Button making fools of Brundle, Kravitz and co in the process who were making out he’d be a sitting duck to King Jense.

  21. Alonso. Definitely. The man hasn’t done a thing wrong all weekend.
    Although Button and Kobayashi are worthy of a mention. :)

  22. Vettel….or do you mean ON the course???

  23. Driver of the weekend? Definitely Alonso. If it was just about the race, there could be half a dozen candidates, but when considering the whole event, Fernando has this one easily.

  24. My driver of the weekend was Fernando Alonso. He was flawless.

    On the upturn in JB’s performance though, I’m not so sure. I think McLaren had comfortably the fastest car this weekend and would have probably qualified well had it been dry. LH was running at the leaders pace with better tyres but also a damaged floor. Also, JB has proven time and again he is very capable in the wet yet, he only just beat Hamilton who believed he got it wrong. I expect McLaren to strong in Hungary, but again they got far less out of their package than they should have.

  25. Alonso didn’t put a foot wrong all weekend. Remember, it’s a weekend, not just the race. So against this you can’t even consider Button, Vettel, Hamilton, etc., in my opinion. Alonso was supreme all weekend. Look at his teammate only to see where the banana peels were that he avoided. A slip up in Q3, a dinged wing. Stuff like that is not happening to him. He almost makes it look easy.

    I wish though that we could assign a ranked slate of three drivers. We need cumulative voting. First past the post is not so satisfying here. I’d like to give Kobayashi a nod for a flawless drive in the Sauber, quick and efficient with the tires.

  26. Voted Alonso but nearly voted Hamilton purely for the overtake on Vettel and generally anoying him. and plus it gets one some peoples nerves on here when you vote hamilton. ;-). Oh and i just like to scew the figures but i managed to resist the temptation this time.

  27. This weekend Alonso made it perfect, Q3, pole and a strong win. Simply the best.

  28. How this isn’t 100% Alonso is a mystery to me…

  29. Alonso was flawless, and it’s nice the voting is reflecting that already, huge percentage for him. Most importantly he had a great qualifying lap in very difficult conditions and perhaps not in the best car. As for the race, another great start and despite having two world champions in arguably faster cars hounding him for the whole race he kept a cool head, kept his tires from degrading too quickly and was all round just fantastic. It doesn’t matter how much Massa has lost in recent seasons, he was still in the same car and the difference between him and Alonso is night and day.

    Alonso will be a treble world champion, and if Ferrari can keep this up for a few seasons we have a career mirroring Schumacher’s to look forward to, hopefully with a bit more of a challenge from the rest of the field though, don’t want it getting boring now! ;)

  30. Hulkenberg. I think he did a very good job this weekend. P5 in quali is surely good enough, considering that Di Resta started in P9.
    His car was very slow, actually. But he always defended really well, especially against Perez.
    He did too much considering his car, so driver of the weekend for me. And I’m quite surprised that only a couple of F1fanatics noticed that.

    Obviously Alonso was perfect during this weekend, but it’s clear that he is going to win the poll, so I decided to give my vote to a different driver.

  31. Clearly it is Alonso, then Kobayashi, Button, Raikonnen for race and Schumacher with Hülkenberg for quali.

  32. I Love the Pope
    23rd July 2012, 19:20

    We almost need a “Best Driver Who Did Not Win” category.

    If it existed, I would have voted for Kobayashi.

  33. A flawless weekend for Alonso: negotiated the tricky qualifying conditions (and Massa during Q2) to put the Ferrari on pole; made a clean start; managed his tyres through the stints and ultimately controlled the pace of the race. Particularly impressive was his ability to consistently deliver a fast sector 1 time to stay just out of reach of his pursuers at the DRS zone.

    Also strong race performances by both Sauber drivers and Button, although I wonder if Button extracted all the pace that was available from the McLaren upgrades.

  34. It’s Fernando once again. Really clever driving under pressure meant he never had to really defend while he also preserved his tyres. He really is the complete package, and he’s never been better than he is now.

    Honourable mentions to Button and Kobayashi who also drove excellent races.

  35. I actually thought that Lewis drove an excellent race. In spite of the unlucky puncture, he raced tenaciously at the back of the grid, and his un-lapping move on Vettel was one of the true highlights of the race. I can imagine Hamilton thinking at the time: “Well I may be a lap down due to a puncture now, but I’m gonna race the leaders anyways… for the hell of it”. Of course, he wasnt really a factor in qualifying or the race, even if he was very quick at times, so I cant vote for him.

    Button drove an excellent race, and to climb to second from sixth was most impressive. Also, he outqualified Hamilton for the first time this year, which is impressive. If it were just driver of the race, I might have voted for him.

    Raikkonen and Kobayashi were also very impressive, and I would have loved to see what they could accomplish from further up the grid, but neither were able to do much on saturday in the tricky conditions.

    Meanwhile Vettel was seriously ragged, and almost reminded me of his Silverstone 2010 drive, when it seemed like he’d just lost his cool. A poorly-judged illegal pass on Button sealed his fate, but the inconceivable arrogance shown by him and Horner after the race in their comments towards Hamilton certainly didnt help his case.

    Alonso? Well, he was in control, full stop. He controlled qualifying in what looked like very, very tricky conditions. He controlled the race with an excellent start, and subsequently withstood pressure from Vettel and Button (and even Hamilton to a lesser extent) for a hard-earned victory. The most impressive part of Fernando’s performance, for me, was his defense against Button. Even though Button closed the gap and got within DRS range, Alonso didnt let him past, but also didnt drive the tires off his car trying to escape button. Which meant that he was in a good position all the way to the checkered flag. It was very calculating, and very effective, which really epitomizes Alonso’s driving this year altogether. Either way, he is DOTW for me, by quite a margin.

  36. I don’t like Alonso at all, but this was a super drive. He was able to master the wet conditions in Q3, while others (such as Raikkonen) faltered. His pace carried into the race and was able to control the race from the front. His tire preservation in the first stint was excellent. Although I don’t think the Ferrari is the fastest car Alonso makes it seems like it is.

  37. Do we have any choice? I’m almost sorry for Kobayashi who was amazing, but Alonso is perfect.

  38. Alonso. Looked confident right from FP1 and trough the weekend. Didn’t mess up, and simply delivered.

  39. so my top 4 was right in the predictions. right up until vettel overtook button, damn!

  40. Perez got my vote. I knew both guys had a good race at Sauber but even after his penalty he delivered and bagged some valuable points. A great demonstration of how to look after your tyres once again.

  41. Daniel Brown (@scuderiaferrarifanatic)
    23rd July 2012, 23:12

    Got to be Alonso, once again his performance was faultless and nobody else really stood out that much.

    Alonso really only has to win a few more times, and pick up points in every race, to maintain some cushion over the Bulls.

    But it could all change so fast. Nothing is final yet. A DNF for ALO with VET or WEB winning would change everything.

  42. I expect Alonso to walk this one in, clearly the class driver of the weekend.

  43. It really is difficult to look past Alonso for this vote. Honourable mentions go to Jenson Button, Kimi Räikkönen and Kamui Kobayashi.

  44. I was curious to see if Button would pip Alonso in this one.. It was a great race from him and great to see him back at the front end, showing his ability as a racer..
    Keith’s description of Alonso’s “Mastery” is bang on though, he’s a clear winner IMHO.

  45. Fairly easy pick this week with Alonso. He was the class of the field without a doubt. Superb qualifying lap and he went even quicker on his last lap. Hard to tell what it would have been in the dry but you have to make the most of what you get.

    He drove a great race and many were expecting a repeat of Silverstone but everytime Button got close he just pulled out that gap once again. Really great performance.

    An honourable mention must go to Button, Kobayashi and Perez. Hard to judge whether it was more Button or McLaren who made the massive gains but good to see him back at the front. Great to see the two Saubers up there at the front as well, especially Perez starting from way down the order.

  46. Dimitris 1395 (@)
    24th July 2012, 11:05

    Well, I can’t look behind the winner and for another race, Alonso was brilliant in every single aspect of the weekend. He is on top form and he is the major candidate to win this year’s championship.

  47. This one was easy, Alonso was just perfect during all weekend.
    Liked also Button´s race, full of character.
    Finally both sauber drivers, this guys must have a lot fun in this races coming from the back.

  48. Alonso… perfect weekend!

  49. Kamui Kobayashi. A perfect race from him, and if he had not been unlucky in qualifying it would have been a podium.

  50. Darn I forgot to vote in this driver of the weekend poll and it seems to be closed now.

    For what its worth I would have voted for Alonso, another flawless performance, also a good showing from both Sauber drivers

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