Vote for your 2013 Italian GP driver of the weekend

2013 Italian Grand Prix

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Which F1 driver was the best performer during the Italian Grand Prix weekend?

Review how each driver got on below and vote for who impressed you the most during the last race weekend.

Italian Grand Prix driver-by-driver

Red Bull

Sebastian Vettel – As at Spa, Red Bull seemed to have more of an advantage on Friday than Saturday. But it was still sufficient for Vettel to take his fourth pole position of the year. He had speed to throw away in the race but spent a significant part of it concerned about technical trouble – he locked his brakes on the way to the first corner, damaging his front-tyre tyre which had to be watched closely. Towards the end of the race Red Bull were preoccupied with worrying signs from his gearbox. But there was no repeat of his Silverstone failure and he claimed win number six of 2013.

Mark Webber – Started from the front row of the grid for the first time since Melbourne, but was beaten to the first corner by Massa. The other Ferrari of Alonso demoted him on lap three, but Webber came back at his rival in the final stint. This was thanks to excellent pit work by Red Bull, who brought both drivers in on the same lap allowing Webber to undercut Massa and get ahead. Webber applied sustained pressure to Alonso in the final stint despite a gearbox problem but had to settle for third.

Ferrari

Fernando Alonso – Should have started from the second row of the grid, particularly with his team pulling out all the stops to help him, even putting Massa’s qualifying chances in jeopardy by having him give Alonso a tow. It didn’t work, Alonso ended up fifth, and vented his frustration on the radio. In the race things went more according to plan: he sprang a brilliant pass on Webber on the outside of the Roggia chicane which even Alonso thought might not work. Massa handing over second place was a formality, but the final stint was more a case of keeping Webber behind than chasing down Vettel.

Felipe Massa – Pipped Alonso to fourth place by a hundredth of a second once he was able to focus on his own lap. Lost at least a second letting his team mate past during the race which helped Webber to get within range. Red Bull took advantage, pitting Webber early to jump ahead of Massa, forcing him to settle for fourth.

McLaren

Jenson Button – Felt the team shouldn’t have bothered setting a time in Q3 as there was too little to gain: he ended up ninth, a few thousandths of a second the margin between him and Perez. In the race the team found they’d set seventh gear too low, compromising their drivers’ efforts to make up places. Button was picked off by Grosjean and Hamilton in the second stint but hung on to claim a point despite a severe shaking from a flat-spotted tyre.

Sergio Perez – Cut the chicane at the start after being nudged from behind by Raikkonen but held onto his eighth place. However a slow pit stop dropped him to tenth and his lack of straight-line speed made him easy pickings for Hamilton and Raikkonen.

Lotus

Kimi Raikkonen – Lotus looked in good shape on Friday: Raikkonen tested a long-wheelbase version of the E21 and although he was no faster than Grosjean in it, they were ‘best of the rest’ behind the Red Bulls. That pace vanished on Saturday and neither of the black-and-gold cars made it into Q3, Raikkonen lining up 11th. This left him vulnerable to first-corner chaos and sure enough he tagged Perez’s McLaren, breaking his front wing and forcing a costly first-lap pit stop. From there he wasn’t able to get back into the points on a day when Lotus were off the pace.

Romain Grosjean – Was knocked out in Q2 along with his team mate, complaining his out-lap went poorly. The race was more successful – he passed both McLaren drivers and despite coming under attack from Hamilton on the final lap was able to hold on to eighth.

Mercedes

Nico Rosberg – Missed much of final practice but still managed to get into Q3, though it was a surprise to see the fastest Mercedes down in sixth. He finished where he started after spending the race staring at Hulkenberg’s rear wing.

Lewis Hamilton – Looked handy in Q1 but Q2 was a disaster – he went off at Parabolica and damaged his car on his first run, then caught Sutil at the same corner on his second run, losing time and missing the cut. “I drove like an idiot,” he admitted after his four-race streak of pole positions came to an end. His team gambled on starting the race with hard tyres, prepared to sacrifice performance at the start to come on strong later. Unfortunately he picked up a puncture early on which compromised this strategy. After two stops he used his tyre advantage in the last stint to pass a string of cars, but running wide at the Roggia on the last lap meant he had to hand eighth place back to Grosjean.

Sauber

Nico Hulkenberg – Starred in qualifying, snatching a brilliant third place, beating both Ferraris. Although they passed him at the start Hulkenberg yielded no further ground in the race. The Sauber seemed to be transformed at a circuit where the team expected to chew their tyres in the slow corners. Hulkenberg even closed in on the Ferraris during the final stint on his way to an excellent fifth.

Esteban Gutierrez – Continues to struggle in qualifying – this was his eighth Q1 elimination. Again the race was better, but the gap between him and Hulkenberg in qualifying made a huge difference.

Force India

Paul di Resta – Went off at Parabolica during final practice when a brake disc failed, fortunately without causing serious damage. Missed his braking point at the Roggia chicane on the first lap and hit Grosjean. Luckily for him the contact only ended his own race, or his punishment would surely have been tougher than a reprimand.

Adrian Sutil – Of all the cars Sutil could have held up by dithering at Parabolica, it had to be Hamilton, who he has fallen out with lately. The stewards concluded it wasn’t intentional, but moved him back three places on the grid. Force India continue to lack pace since the change in tyre construction and Sutil never looked like challenging for the top ten before retiring with a braking problem on the final lap.

Williams

Pastor Maldonado – Produced a very good lap to get Williams into Q2. He then lost time at the weighbridge which compromised his next run, but it’s doubtful the car was capable of reaching Q3. On race day he could do little more than watch the gap grow between his car and the faster ones ahead.

Valtteri Bottas – It was a similar situation for Bottas, who finished eight second behind his team mate: “I couldn’t really challenge any of the cars ahead as we just didn’t have the race pace today.”

Toro Rosso

Jean-Eric Vergne – Lamented that he seems to be spending more time watching the races on television this year instead of competing in them after his fifth race-ending technical failure, this time due to an engine failure. He at least achieved his third Q3 appearance of the year.

Daniel Ricciardo – Provided some justification for his impending promotion to Red Bull with a safe-pair-of-hands performance, starting seventh and finishing there.

Caterham

Charles Pic – Caterham were unusual in that they were the only team who made two pits stops for each driver out of choice. Pic pulled far enough ahead that he was able to leave the pits after his second stint with almost ten seconds in hand over the Marussias.

Giedo van der Garde – Unlike Pic, Van der Garde came out between the Marussias and had to pass Bianchi to back his team mate up in 19th.

Marussia

Jules Bianchi – Said he “ran out of time” trying to suss out the best set-up for his car and ended up half a second off the slowest of the Caterhams. Particularly struggled for pace on the hard tyre.

Max Chilton – Also struggled with his car’s balance but stayed close to his team mate “despite experiencing the toughest blue flag phase of the season”.

Qualifying and race results summary

DriverStartedGap to team mateLaps leading team matePittedFinishedGap to team mate
Sebastian Vettel1st-0.213s53/5311st-6.35s
Mark Webber2nd+0.213s0/5313rd+6.35s
Fernando Alonso5th+0.01s46/5312nd-3.894s
Felipe Massa4th-0.01s7/5314th+3.894s
Jenson Button9th+0.013s31/53110th-1.438s
Sergio Perez8th-0.013s22/53112th+1.438s
Kimi Raikkonen11th-0.238s10/53211th+5.565s
Romain Grosjean13th+0.238s43/5318th-5.565s
Nico Rosberg6th-0.41s44/5316th-22.528s
Lewis Hamilton12th+0.41s9/5329th+22.528s
Nico Hulkenberg3rd-0.45s50/5315th-30.525s
Esteban Gutierrez16th+0.45s3/53113th+30.525s
Paul di Resta15th+0.145s0/00
Adrian Sutil17th-0.145s0/0116th
Pastor Maldonado14th-0.386s52/53114th-7.742s
Valtteri Bottas18th+0.386s1/53115th+7.742s
Jean-Eric Vergne10th+3.841s0/140
Daniel Ricciardo7th-3.841s14/1417th
Charles Pic20th+0.157s49/52217th-15.098s
Giedo van der Garde19th-0.157s3/52218th+15.098s
Jules Bianchi21st-0.395s49/52119th-12.226s
Max Chilton22nd+0.395s3/52120th+12.226s

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 2013 Italian Grand Prix weekend?

  • Max Chilton (0%)
  • Jules Bianchi (0%)
  • Giedo van der Garde (0%)
  • Charles Pic (0%)
  • Daniel Ricciardo (1%)
  • Jean-Eric Vergne (0%)
  • Valtteri Bottas (0%)
  • Pastor Maldonado (0%)
  • Adrian Sutil (0%)
  • Paul di Resta (0%)
  • Esteban Gutierrez (0%)
  • Nico Hulkenberg (48%)
  • Lewis Hamilton (8%)
  • Nico Rosberg (0%)
  • Romain Grosjean (0%)
  • Kimi Raikkonen (2%)
  • Sergio Perez (0%)
  • Jenson Button (0%)
  • Felipe Massa (2%)
  • Fernando Alonso (9%)
  • Mark Webber (1%)
  • Sebastian Vettel (29%)

Total Voters: 665

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2013 Italian Grand Prix

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Images © Red Bull/Getty, Sauber

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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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109 comments on “Vote for your 2013 Italian GP driver of the weekend”

  1. The Hulk, by far! Fair.

    1. +1. Quite obvious, nothing to add :)

    2. @jeff1s Same here… But who voted Max Chilton??

      1. Tom Chilton.

    3. Well, the Hulk for punching way above Saubers apparent weight. I am always amazed by how many seem to vote for their fav regardless of what actually occured.

      1. Absolutely, as Mario Andretti said he deserves a better car – we can all talk here but when a former WDC speaks, I think the teams need to listen! Sign the guy while you still can:-)

        1. Well it sounds like he’ll either be in a Lotus or a Ferrari next year so I look forward to seeing how he does with something a little more competitive.

          1. @bazza-spock
            Somehow I have a feeling that Hulkenberg has long back been signed by some other team (maybe Ferrari), that is why Sauber is trying so hard to get Sirotkin a superlicense to fill up the vacant seat

  2. Vettel, by far!

    1. Shreyas Mohanty (@)
      9th September 2013, 13:51

      @driftin You are a masterpiece, bro. Were you watching Nico Hulkenberg?

      1. Michael Brown (@)
        10th September 2013, 0:20

        You can vote for Vettel even if you notice Hülkenberg’s performance.

      2. IMO either are deserving of the title. They were the two Stand-Out drivers of the weekend.

    2. Well logically it’s hard to fault a vote for the pole-sitter and winner but this poll would be redundant if winning was the only criteria, this is about the driver ,not the car/team, would SV have done better than DanR had he been in an STR, would DanR have lead every lap in a RBR ? As I write this DanR appears to have zero votes while Nando, outqualified by his team-mate has a bunch of votes as does Lewis”I drove like an idiot” Hamilton. Hulkenberg got exceptional performance out of an unexceptional car, we must do better and use our heads not our hearts if this poll is to be at all relevant.

    3. Vettel probably “technically” earns it, but since the Red Bulls lined up 1st and 2nd on the grid and finished in the top 3, my choice went to a driver who outperformed his car I’m both qualifying and the race.
      Aside from blitzing his teammate (albeit a rookie) he also outperformed both Mercs, Lotuses, McLarens, Force India’s etc etc and kept in touch with the leaders.
      That stands out more for me.

      1. Obviously I’m referring to Hulkenberg…

  3. This was Vettel weekend all the way.

  4. Vettel. The only driver who was flawless all weekend.
    Honorable mentions to Hulk and Dan.

    1. I think it’s fair to say Hulk was flawless too – he didn’t put a foot wrong all weekend :)

  5. Hulkenberg, for sure!

  6. Well, I can imagine which two drivers will share all the votes :D

  7. The only stand-out drivers for me (ie: managing to string together a successful Saturday and Sunday), were Vettel, Hulkenberg and Ricciardo.

    In that order. Vettel got my vote, he dominated throughout and was never challenged for victory or pole in reality.

    Hulkenberg outperformed the Sauber (or Gutierrez is underperforming it!) again and deserved his 5th place.

  8. Vettel or Hülkenberg.
    Can’t see any other possible vote.

  9. Hulkenberg. Vettel’s weekend was flawless, but Nico made a believer out of me

  10. The only contenders are Vettel and Hülkenberg. Since I couldn’t decide between them I looked at the poll for the Belgian GP where Vettel was in second behind Alonso… (It’s Driver of the weekend, people, Vettel was flawless there while Alonso didn’t deliver on Saturday) – That made me vote Vettel: Perfect qualifying effort and very good pace without making mistakes; same could be said about Hülkenberg.

    #3 for Ricciardo, very good job on Saturday and Sunday.

    1. @rez0 same thought process for me.

  11. Seb followed closely but Hulkenberg.

  12. I’m a Vettel fan, but I voted Hulkenberg. Not that Vettel could have done any more or better, but qualifying third and finishing fifth in this year’s Sauber is a serieous feat. So for me it’s logical he would edge it in front of Vettel.

  13. Has to be Hulkenberg for me. Surprisingly a a driver from a midfield team had a great weekend. Normally they have a great quali (see Bottas Canada 2013) or great race (see Perez Italy/Malaysia 2012). Hulkenberg was fantastic in both.

  14. I voted Vettel as DotW at Spa for a similar performance, but I think the incredible Hulk deserves it for this weekend. Faultless qualifying to put his Sauber in 3rd (watched his lap on Sky Sports F1, and it was just that: faultless), and a tremendous race to hold 5th and keep Nico Rosberg behind for 53 laps, which, going on Lewis’ and Nico’s respective pace throughout the race, was no mean feat. When will this lad get a top drive? There are at least three drivers currently occupying race winning seats that don’t merit them half so much as he does.

    Honourable mentions: Vettel (obviously) and Ricciardo.

  15. Hulkenberg, with Vettel a close second. No one else is close this time

  16. Definitely Hulkenberg. Brilliantly outperformed his car all the Weekend. Vettel was also great, but still only second best German.

    1. Actually the results were Vettel best German on Saturday and best German on Sunday.

      Not doubting Hulkenberg’s brilliant drive but the actual result says 2nd best German which is no bad thing with Vettel in the mix. Hulkenberg would have for it from me also had he maintained his grid position but he didn’t shine on lap 1. The fact that he kept Rosberg behind after shows that he could have maintained 3rd had he performed to ‘best driver’ standard on lap 1.

      1. I doubt any driver could keep Alonso and Webber at bay in the current Sauber.

      2. Shreyas Mohanty (@)
        9th September 2013, 16:30

        @psynrg Why exactly are you talking about nationality here?

  17. Hulkenberg by a country mile.

  18. Vettel was once again better than his team mate and, with a better car, the fastest of all drivers. But what Hulkenberg did with what was at his disposal is even more impressive.

  19. Nico Hulkenberg. Drove the wheels off during qualifying and the race, keeping with the Ferraris and Red Bulls and fending off faster Mercedes (Nico Rosberg). His speed is underlined by Gutierrez’s finishing position.

  20. Nico Hulkenberg, he qualified in a brilliant third only behind the Red Bulls, and finished behind Ferraris and Red Bulls. He finished one second behind Massa and ten behind Vettel. He was under pressure from Rosberg but kept his mind and didn’t make mistakes. Well deserved vote for Nico.

  21. Pretty easy win for Hulk here. Fantastic qualifying, great race pace, professional and solid all round. Deserves the Ferrari drive.

    Vettel was peerless but everyone is tired of seeing the lights to flag victories where he drives to 75% of the car’s capacity for everything except 2 or 3 laps then claims the result was very close and shouldn’t be taken for granted. That booing may not be nice, but it’s human nature. I wish it didn’t happen, but until red bull have genuine competition in the paddock they and he will continue to be unpopular.

    Alonso drove well but was beaten by massa, and nobody who gets beaten by massa can really be in the running for any kind of accolade.

    1. I’ve come to think that when people boo, they’re booing the fact that the teams seem utter incapable of challenging Red Bull sufficiently.

      1. If they were booing because other teams are incapable of challenging, then surely they’re booing the wrong people ;)

    2. @hairs he won with a gearbox glitch – that’s quite impressive. I don’t think him not having to push 100% can be used to his detriment.

      Also, being unpopular shouldn’t really affect the ratings.

      Not that I disagree with nominating Hülkenberg (he certainly deserves it more than Alonso did the Spa vote) but it’s not really fair to criticise Vettel for winning so easily (in fact, that should be very much to his credit).

      1. Well my point is not to be personally critical of him, but to explain why people are reacting negatively to him.

        And if he can win comfortably without pushing the car to the limit then people will react the same way they did with Nico in Monaco: Deserved victory, but not the way we want to see someone win. While you can argue that shouldn’t affect the voting, I don’t think it’s an argument that holds water. If we’re being asked to vote on who did the best job, then a guy who out performs his equipment clearly deserves it more than someone whose equipment is faster than anything else on track even when it’s broken…

        1. @hairs I don’t think the quality of their equipment should go any further than giving context on how well they could’ve theoretically finished. Jim Clark for example had a similar car – one which was massively fast, yet fragile (obviously to extremes in each respect in comparison to the Red Bull). Yet I’d imagine few doubted that he was performing brilliantly.

          We must remember that Webber drives the same car, yet he’s been nowhere near as dominant. That surely says something that it can’t all be the car.

          As for Nico’s though, I do seem to remember him easily winning the poll…

          1. @vettel1 In Clark’s day, there was an awful lot more to go wrong, and the driver was on his own managing it.

            A modern driver, no matter how good they are, have a team of 100 people monitoring the car and telling them what’s going on (and how to fix it) over the radio. One of the perils of comparing old and new.

            Should Vettel be booed and given less credit? Possibly not, but the fact remains he will.

  22. The Hulk. Then Kimster/Iceman & the HAM!
    Proper Racing, overtakes and racecraft in F1 not boring fest!… Verdammt nochmal!

    1. LotsOfControl (@for-unlawful-carnal-knowledge)
      9th September 2013, 14:07

      Agreed. I don’t care about what’s going on in FP’s or in qualifying. I look at the race only, because the race is the ONLY thing that really matters.
      For me Hulk, Vettel, Ham & Kimi!

      1. You cannot ignore qualifying: it is a crucial part of the weekend which often establishes whether a driver will have to fight on Sunday because they’ve not put their car where it should be. Hamilton definitely did that, Räikkönen too. So I’m completely with @spoutnik here.

        1. LotsOfControl (@for-unlawful-carnal-knowledge)
          10th September 2013, 13:01

          I understand you, but for me it’s the race that counts when I decide driver of the weekend. For me it’s about the driver of the race.

    2. @ladyf1fanatic @for-unlawful-carnal-knowledge I can’t agree more for Hulkenberg but I just don’t see why should Hamilton and Raikonnen be cited here. They both made huge errors and doesn’t deserve anything.

      1. LotsOfControl (@for-unlawful-carnal-knowledge)
        10th September 2013, 13:04

        Well, it’s because Kimi was drove faster race than Vettel after he went for a nose change, Hamilton for entertaining me.

  23. Vettel got my vote to counter the tifosi and secure his 2nd place :) – but HULK and RIC had a pretty good weekends too. Excited about 2014 he will definitely put more pressure on Seb in qualifying than Mark does right now.

  24. Vettel won, didn’t put a foot wrong, but my vote goes to the guy that is quickly becomming my favorite driver out there, yay for the Hulk! The car was probably not as bad this weekend as it has been in the past, but still to qualify it 3d and finish 5th is a superhuman effort if ever i saw one!

  25. Has to be Hulkenburg, for me. Vettel did a very good job yet again, but Hulk was incredible. That car had no business qualifying third and finishing fifth.

    Extraordinary performance from Nico.

  26. @keithcollantine
    Another great example weekend why we need three votes.

  27. The Incredible Hulk!

  28. Hard to choose between Vettel and Hulkenberg. Both out performed their team mates and extracted the absolute maximum from their machinery. Went for Hulkenberg though simply because he took a car top the top end of the grid that’s usually only a bit better than the Williams.

  29. Hard to choose between Vettel and Hulkenberg. Both out performed their team mates and extracted the absolute maximum from their machinery. Went for Hulkenberg though simply because he took a car top the top end of the grid that’s usually only a bit better than the Williams.

  30. hülkenberg

  31. No doubt: Hulk.
    Vettel is close, but he made one error.

    But which 10% voted for Alonso? Terrible weekend: outqualified and frustrated on saturday, outperformed by his teammate on sunday, who was ordered to let him pass. And almost caught by Webber, who had to let him go ’cause of technical problems. This means Alonso is 100% not driver of the weekend…

    1. I’m more intrigued by the 1% for Max Chilton

    2. Hülkenberg had a poor start, you can also consider that he made one error :P

      However I voted for him, Vettel being a close 2nd and Riciardo third. Quite sad nobody voted for Daniel :(

      The 50%+ score for Hülkenberg is quite impressive! :D

      1. Hulkenberg’s poor start (compared to the Ferraris’ and Red Bulls’) is explained by the fact that usually faster cars make better starts.
        Also Ferrari are renowned for their lightning starts.
        I don’t think anyone within the Sauber team expected the Hulk to be in front of either Alonso or Massa after the first Variante.

  32. It has to be Vettel, Hulkenburg and Ricciardo.

    Vettel should be the DotW for the dominance since FP2 and also how professionally he handled the disgruntled fans.

  33. Hulkenberg all the way . He just shoved the opinions of his critics down the dustbin with that performance !

    If he goes without a drive …… I can’t even think of that !

    maybe Ferrari ? They can’t give the crap reason saying he isn’t experienced enough as he just outqualified both ferraris at their home race . Again what a way to do it !

    Honourable mentions to Vettel who was flawless as ever.

    What more could Alonso have done ?

    Maybe a little more in Qualifying , he would have had a shot at vettel and that call not to come into pits went astray as the rain did not come , so two minor errors there . Otherwise a steady performance from him too and that overtake had me on the edge .

  34. It’s very hard to see past Vettel on this one really. Like him or hate him he barely put a wheel wrong all weekend and had to nurse the car home too.
    Hulkenberg just put himself on the map at the perfect moment in time when silly season is about to go bonkers. Last thing I remember him doing is putting a Williams on pole in Brazil and promptly losing a race seat. The guy has talent and hopefully this will land him somewhere he deserves to be.

  35. On di Resta:

    Luckily for him the contact only ended his own race, or his punishment would surely have been tougher than a reprimand.

    I don’t think that’s fair, Grosjean received a 10 place grid penality for a similar incident at Monaco …

    1. That’s because he’s a repeat offender, you should already know what he did in 2012. Besides, Grosjean ended not only his own race but Ricciardo’s race as well at Monaco, although to be fair none of them would have scored points even if they finished.

      1. I dont think its fair to give a penality in function of the fact if there were consequences or not @woshidavid95

        Also, they should judge Grosjean in function of the incident, not because it is Grosjean. He only made one error on race day this year and got a 10 grid place penailty for it, so if di Resta does something similar, he should be penalised in the same way

        1. I agree with the second part. The only problem with it being that the stewards do need to take into account (in my opinion) whether the driver committing the offence crashes into someone every other race like Grosjean did last year.
          But apart from that, driver offences of the same kind should be treated equally.

          However, whether there are consequences to other drivers is a rather crucial part.
          Surely if I crash into somebody and take him out (as well as taking out myself) it’s a worse offence than just crashing into the same guy but only taking myself out of the race.
          In the latter case the penalty is mostly just having taken myself out. But if I also take somebody else out, that’s not fair to whomever that guy was. Hence a harsher penalty.

        2. @paeschli
          I personally havr a soft spot but I’ll have to disagree with your second statement. Repeat offenders should naturally be given more severe punishments for the same reason that stiffer sentences are meted out to recalcitrants in court; basically if you’ve already made a mistake and didn’t learn from it, naturally the severity of the punishment should be greater since the original more lenient sentence isn’t enough of a lesson/deterrence.

          1. have a soft spot for Grosjean*

          2. Your argument makes sense but Grosjean only made one (!) error this year. He clearly leveled up his game so he shouldn’t be treated that harsh.
            @woshidavid95 @dragon88
            If Grosjean receives a 10 grid place penalty and di Resta makes exactly the same error, he should also receive some kind a penalty. Okay, he only ruined his own race but his move was still pretty dangerous. Braking too late can have big consequences

          3. @paeschli
            There’s also the swipe on Button at Hungary but that aside, it will take quite some time before he gets rid of his accident-prone reputation; it’s perfectly reasonable for people to keep an eye on him given his history of on-track incidents. He’s getting better, but he still has to improve and it’ll be some time before he can rid himself of that crash-prone image.

  36. It was either Vettel or Hulkenberg easly…

  37. As I suspected before I voted, the driver who dominated the weekend did not get DOTW but rather the one who did something unexpected with less equipment gets the nod. Not saying there’s anything wrong with it…it’s just as I expected. And perhaps it’s as it should be, and after all…the voters have had their say with their vote.

    1. The driver of the weekend pools often turn out this way, see the last poll from the Belgian Grand Prix.

      It’s a very personal thing. Some people appreciate the efforts of a driver alone at the front, crushing his opposition; others prefer the drivers that fight their way through the field, including flashy/daring manoeuvres. Then there are those pining on the underdog showing grit and determination to hold his ground…

      I feel that a dominating performance of a certain driver in the field is very underappreciated nowadays, however I can’t exactly blame people for getting tired of it.

  38. seriously who in their right mind thought Chilton was the driver of the weekend?

    1. @mrsleepy3
      Probably Max Chilton and his entire extended family voted for him :P

  39. Vettel. Almost a perfect weekend for him. Anyway, Hulkemberg did also a great weekend. I want se him next year in a winner team.
    I agree with Withman (@polestar31):
    “But which 10% voted for Alonso? Terrible weekend: outqualified and frustrated on saturday, outperformed by his teammate on sunday, who was ordered to let him pass. And almost caught by Webber, who had to let him go ’cause of technical problems. This means Alonso is 100% not driver of the weekend…”

    1. @jorge-lardone agreed. I also don’t quite understand Hamilton, considering he made quite a major mistake in qualifying.

      1. Well as for performance (as an entertaining performance) Hamilton and Räikkonen win this one hands down. Yup they messed up qualifing (and had incidents) but the race was saved of snoozefest because of them.
        If Vettel wouldn’t win races that easily he would have much more wins in DoTW.
        Instead there are as of now more and more people who are turning away from F1 as one man wins it all. And that can’t be good for the “show”.

  40. Driver of the Weekend – IMHO & My Vote Vettel …

    Hulk was pretty close …

  41. Tough call between Vettel and Hulkenberg. But, went for the Hulk. He just drove the wheels off of that Sauber. Not just for outperforming the machinery, but also for keeping the other Nico behind in a much faster car for a long while. We all know the Merc was pretty fast, even Kimi couldn’t keep it behind.

  42. Hulkenberg far outperformed his teammate all weekend long. Qualified extremely well and amazingly raced with the top teams for the whole race. One of the most gratifying things in F1 is to see a young driver in lesser equipment do well. Call it love of the underdog or whatever you wish, but that was Hulkenberg at Monza in 2013.

    A side note: McLaren celebrates a 50th anniversary by putting too low of a gear ratio for 7th gear in both cars and then bungles a pit stop to boot. Sad. Meanwhile Red Bull pits both drivers on the same lap and never misses a beat. No team is perfect, but is it any wonder why Red Bull and McLaren are where they are in the standings respectively for 2013?

    1. Give Hulk a bike and still would outperform Gutierrez, is like the rookie is trying hard to get it wrong…

      McLaren is a disaster this season, nowhere near where a legendary top team should be.

  43. Vetted for me – Hülkenberg was incredible, but increasingly Vettel is actually becoming an underdog in these polls (which is baffling considering his form this season).

    1. I don’t understand Lewis being voted DOTW considering (by his own conviction) he messed up his own qualifying. Alonso I also don’t understand but to a lesser extent considering he was out-qualified by his teammate (which in the context of Hülkenberg and Vettel’s imperious performances surely prevents him from being the best driver)?

    2. To be fair ignoring Seb’s performance in these polls is thing of the past. This year he has 3 wins – more than any other driver.

  44. It’s very difficult to decide between Hulkenberg and Vettel. Both had a fantastic weekend, they were really impressive. I’d love to vote for both of them, but unfortunately I can’t.

    In the end I voted for Hulkenberg, because it was nice to see him up there again, and his performance on saturday was just incredible. I really couldn’t believe it. And keeping P5 with a Mercedes behind all the race.. that’s not something I expected.

  45. Michael Brown (@)
    9th September 2013, 19:27

    In the end, Vettel gets my vote. Hulkenberg is a very close second though.

  46. Im a Ferrari fan, but I have to say Vettel this time, what a great driver, what a great car, what a great team is Red Bull.

    Nico Hulkenberg did also a really good job, still sticking with Sebastian.

  47. I actually already voted for Vettel before I remembered the Hulk. But Vettel would have still gotten my vote – he was just untouchable this weekend.

  48. Hulk hit the nail in the head with his Sauber this weekend, very impressive. To think that Di Resta had a very poor weekend, likewise Raikkonen and the already hired Ricciardo was not that outstanding, Hulk in the other hand is driving like if he was outside this whole drivers shopping list. I suspect Di Resta is the guy for the #2 spot on Ferrari, he also shares italian roots and his comments were very optimistic before the race, I don’t know I’m digressing.

  49. Vettel was flawless all weekend but Hulkenberg completely outperformed his car. He had no business finishing ahead of the Mercedes, the Lotuses and even the Force Indias, Torro Rossos and McLarens – but he did and therefore he’s my driver of the weekend.

  50. Vettel won, for sure, but Hulkenberg impressed me so much more.

    1. Rhyming Comment of the Day!

      1. Vettel, Hami and Alonso; Hulk since I can vote but once, though.

  51. Obviously Hulk put on an insane performance in both qualifying and during the race. Vettel was Vettel 2011 again:-) Hamilton’s last stint was just pure entertainment – I just can’t stop watching that guy race, he’s simply amazing.

  52. For the first time it seems I have voted with the majority and that would be for Nico Hulkenberg. I would say that Nico H. did the most with the least, that being his car, so he got my vote for the first time. Sebastian V. did what was expected of him so no reason to vote for him as it appears that he will win another championship. i was surprised that Fernando did no better than 10% which I interpert as many Ferrari fans being realistic this time around. Thanks, R

  53. Hulkenberg without any hesitation deserves best driver of the weekend. We haven’t seen Sauber do this well all season. Doesn’t matter if the car was suited to this track like some people have been saying. Nico drove the car to that position, and he did an awesome job.

  54. Voted for Vettel. Utter domination of his opponents, and handled the podium booing well. Hulkenberg was a surprise, But I was hoping for a better start from him. Honourable mentions for Massa (the little trooper) and Hamilton (for unprecedented honesty). Not the best drivers on the track, where it counts, but providing interesting side-stories off-track, and the kind of depth that Vettel domination is sometimes unable to.

  55. Massa for me. Had a strong race, wa let down by his team and his pit stop.
    He could have taken 2nd place, but was a real team player and gave up his place to Alonso.
    He should have been allowed to chase Vettel.

  56. The votes say it all, no comments really needed. Sad that Massa relinquished a place to Alonso, but there you go!!! Few other drivers drove a good race, but the Hulk knocked it out of the park this last weekend for sure

  57. Although Vettel hardly made any mistakes all weekend I had to vote for Hulkenberg as he impressed me the most.

    Not only did he put in a great performance in qualifying he also followed it up in the race. When you consider where Sauber have been this season it was a big surprise.

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