Vote for your Abu Dhabi GP driver of the weekend

2013 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

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

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

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix driver-by-driver

Red Bull

Sebastian Vettel – Looked on course for another pole position but a mistake at the first corner opened the door for Webber. By the time they reached the same bend the next day Vettel was ahead once more, after which he streaked away at a devastating rate. He was 40 seconds clear at one point before backing off in heavy traffic during the final laps.

Mark Webber – Hadn’t looked especially competitive in Q1 or Q2 as he edged towards the RB9’s sweet spot, but his final Q3 run was good enough to take advantage of a minor mistake by Vettel for his second pole of the year. However a customary sluggish getaway and indifferent opening stint on used tyres saw him drop to third. He rallied on the harder tyres, passing Rosberg, but was a distant second to Vettel.

Ferrari

Fernando Alonso – Knocked out in Q2 for the first time this year on “one of the tracks where we suffer a bit more than usual”. He fought back in typical style during the race with excellent pace during his middle stint. He was fortunate that his off-track excursion while passing Vergne left him with neither back injuries (he landed with a 28G force) nor a penalty, as he recovered fifth place.

Felipe Massa – Beat Alonso in qualifying for the fifth time in six races and raced very well, passing Hamilton and Sutil. Had his team put him on soft tyres for his final stint, which seemed a realistic strategy, fifth place was definitely possible.

McLaren

Jenson Button – Couldn’t get the car to turn in the way he wanted to in qualifying despite cranking the front wing up to maximum and reducing the rear wing angle. Having been sixth in final practice he was knocked out in Q2. he then became a victim of the ‘carbon fibre zone’ for the third time in four races, but admitted he had none to blame but himself for hitting Di Resta. An excellent 44-lap stint on mediums at the end of race hinted at what might have been.

Sergio Perez – Problems in final practice limited him to 18th but he rose above them in qualifying and was McLaren’s sole representative in Q3, taking ninth on the grid. “If we’d found a couple of extra hundredths, we might even have been seventh – it was achievable,” he said. Lost out to Alonso at the start and as in Japan was held up in the pits by one of his rivals making a too-hasty getaway. Two-stopped to ninth, passing Sutil on the last lap.

Lotus

Kimi Raikkonen – Said he was happier with his car after switching back to the long wheelbase chassis, though it was probably the only thing he was happy about following his row with Lotus over his pay in the build-up to the race. Adding insult to injury he was thrown out of qualifying due to a technical infringement, then clashed with Van der Garde at turn one and had to retire. It’s easy to say in retrospect this could have been avoided had he started from the pit lane – a decision he defended – but it’s not like Vettel hadn’t demonstrated this last year.

Romain Grosjean – Couldn’t quite pin down a set-up for qualifying, where he was unhappy with the front end. Losing gearbox sync didn’t help matters, leaving him behind Raikkonen on the grid. Took advantage of Hamilton’s delay at the first corner to take fourth. But pitting on the same lap as Webber cost him time behind Gutierrez and hindered his efforts to get in front of Rosberg. He eventually finished a second behind the Mercedes.

Mercedes

Nico Rosberg – As in India he was the quickest qualifier not in a soft-tyred Red Bull. He took the fight to them for as long as he could in the race but given their performance advantage it’s doubtful he could have finished higher than third.

Lewis Hamilton – Spun in Q3 due to a broken right-rear wishbone. Mercedes replaced the entire rear suspension on his car before the start and more work was being done on the grid. But after thanking them for their efforts Hamilton endured a difficult race, getting trapped behind Gutierrez, then losing more time behind Sutil which allowed Massa to pass him. He later admitted he wasn’t able to get as much out of the W04 as his team mate could.

Sauber

Nico Hulkenberg – Delivered “a perfect lap” in qualifying for sixth on the grid. Keeping the Ferraris behind always looked like a tall order and he was behind them by mid-race, but then a penalty for an unsafe release from his pit box scuppered his points chances.

Esteban Gutierrez – Not for the first time this year he went out in Q1 while his team mate reached Q3. His team apologised after he missed his chance to set a final lap in Q1 by one second. Didn’t make particularly quick progress with an unusual medium-soft-medium strategy, and although he remained unlapped he was only a few seconds in front of his penalised team mate at the flag.

Force India

Paul di Resta – His optimism after qualifying only 12th was vindicated after a fine drive to sixth place, the first driver home on a one-stop strategy. Though repelling Alonso’s soft-tyred Ferrari was always going to be a challenge he did will to hold back Hamilton’s faster Mercedes.

Adrian Sutil – Wasn’t as comfortable with his car in qualifying and was knocked out in Q1. He also made good progress with a one-stop strategy, starting on the medium tyre unlike Di Resta, but an early stop left him with a long 27 lap stint on softs. However he only lost one place – to Perez, on the last lap – and came away with a point.

Williams

Pastor Maldonado – Qualified ahead of Bottas in Q2, blaming traffic for not getting closer to the top ten. Williams again had some of the slowest pit stops due to the changes in their procedure to prevent wheels being lost, and his second stop dropped him back to 16th. A good final stint left him just outside the points at the end.

Valtteri Bottas – Said he was disappointed with his qualifying result – he believed the car was capable of Q3 but lost time behind Raikkonen in the final sector. Williams split their strategies, putting Bottas on the medium tyre, and as he struggled for grip at the start fell behind the Caterhams until his tyres came in and he was able to pass them. Saved the soft tyres for his final stint but was unable to go on the attack as he had to slow down and let Vettel lap him, spoiling what could have been an interesting end to his race.

Toro Rosso

Jean-Eric Vergne – Locked up on his last lap in Q2 and with that went his chance of getting into the top ten. Tried to one a one-stop strategy but his tyres dropped off too quickly too soon and he had to make a late pit stop.

Daniel Ricciardo – Said getting into Q3 was “a good achievement”, though he couldn’t manage any higher than tenth. But his start was dreadful, losing seven places: “I had to run wide to avoid some accidents and from then on, my race was pretty much over.”

Caterham

Charles Pic – Said there was “definitely some pace in the car here” but couldn’t unlock it, suffering from understeer in qualifying. During the race he was told to let Van der Garde by.

Giedo van der Garde – Said Di Resta held him up in qualifying, but it’s doubtful he would have qualified any higher. Fell behind Pic at the start but after pointing out he was quicker than his team mate he was eventually waved by and finished ten seconds ahead.

Marussia

Jules Bianchi – A suspension failure in final practice caused a crash which damaged his gearbox. The team had to fit a replacement and the subsequent penalty relegated him behind Pic and Chilton. Was surprised to be so far off the Caterhams’ pace in the race, and finished only five seconds ahead of Chilton.

Max Chilton – A DRS glitch hampered his qualifying effort, but in the race he was close to Bianchi on performance.

Qualifying and race results summary

DriverStartedGap to team mateLaps leading team matePittedFinishedGap to team mate
Sebastian Vettel2nd+0.118s55/5521st-30.829s
Mark Webber1st-0.118s0/5522nd+30.829s
Fernando Alonso10th+0.104s18/5525th-15.705s
Felipe Massa7th-0.104s37/5528th+15.705s
Jenson Button12th+0.388s0/55212th+12.569s
Sergio Perez8th-0.388s55/5529th-12.569s
Kimi Raikkonen22nd-0.455s0/00
Romain Grosjean6th+0.455s0/024th
Nico Rosberg3rd-0.082s55/5523rd-45.617s
Lewis Hamilton4th+0.082s0/5527th+45.617s
Nico Hulkenberg5th-0.368s23/54214thNot on same lap
Esteban Gutierrez16th+0.368s31/54213thNot on same lap
Paul di Resta11th-0.375s47/5516th-15.083s
Adrian Sutil17th+0.375s8/55110th+15.083s
Pastor Maldonado14th-0.052s16/54211thNot on same lap
Valtteri Bottas15th+0.052s38/54215thNot on same lap
Jean-Eric Vergne13th+0.427s50/54217th+31.982s
Daniel Ricciardo9th-0.427s4/54216th-31.982s
Charles Pic19th+0.276s22/54219th+11.109s
Giedo van der Garde18th-0.276s32/54218th-11.109s
Jules Bianchi21st-0.8s51/53220th-4.885s
Max Chilton20th+0.8s2/53221st+4.885s

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 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend?

  • Max Chilton (5%)
  • Jules Bianchi (0%)
  • Giedo van der Garde (1%)
  • Charles Pic (0%)
  • Daniel Ricciardo (0%)
  • Jean-Eric Vergne (0%)
  • Valtteri Bottas (0%)
  • Pastor Maldonado (0%)
  • Adrian Sutil (1%)
  • Paul di Resta (10%)
  • Esteban Gutierrez (0%)
  • Nico Hulkenberg (1%)
  • Lewis Hamilton (1%)
  • Nico Rosberg (7%)
  • Romain Grosjean (3%)
  • Kimi Raikkonen (3%)
  • Sergio Perez (1%)
  • Jenson Button (0%)
  • Felipe Massa (4%)
  • Fernando Alonso (8%)
  • Mark Webber (2%)
  • Sebastian Vettel (53%)

Total Voters: 538

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2013 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

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Images © Red Bull/Getty, Daimler/Hoch Zwei, Force India, Caterham/LAT

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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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120 comments on “Vote for your Abu Dhabi GP driver of the weekend”

  1. Chilton man, chilton! Breaks records and stuff

    1. 8% of the vote when I cast mine, good enough for third place!

      1. When I was voting, he was at 50%!

        1. So it’s been you all along!

          :-P

    2. Chilton. Lets give him one DOTW come on.

    3. I think Chilton really merited to be in the top 3 this time. As Keith said, “Max Chilton broke Tiago Monteiro’s record for most consecutive race finishes at the start of an F1 career.” Sad he dropped back to 1% ^^

      1. You’re being sarcastic, right?

        1. No way, Chilton needs some votes! He was absolutely brilliant. Take out 20 cars and he won!

  2. Bound to be Vettel again, and hard to argue. It’s all a bit too easy for him at the moment – the Redbull is by far the class of the field, and he has the measure of his team-mate, but he still has to get the job done and he always does (except for a rare mistake in qualifying).

    Good races for Rosberg and Di Resta too but not outstanding enough for my vote.

  3. Someone could argue Kimi is the dotw just because he showed up…

    1. I was ready to vote for Kimi for that exact reason. I decided not to vote for him because he showed up but on sunday he was there just for only 500 meters.

    2. I voted for him because of his determination in getting away from Abu Dahbi.

  4. Vettel by a mile, marginally off of pole position but embarrassed everybody in the race. His gap even after the first lap was incredible.

    Honourable mentions to Rosberg for a quiet good result and for doing a lot better than Lewis, and to Di Resta for a solid drive up to 6th, fighting two world champions.

  5. Went for Alonso for the fighting and getting a decent result in the end.

    Vettel was flawless but he was only driving very fast, imho that’s not racing….

    1. But the vote is for Grand Prix driver, not Grand Prix racer of the weekend.

    2. ^that.

      Also, driver of the weekend includes qualifying, just so everyone is clear on what criteria they are actually voting on.

      1. @mnmracer

        But the vote is for Grand Prix driver, not Grand Prix racer of the weekend.

        @vettel1

        Also, driver of the weekend includes qualifying, just so everyone is clear on what criteria they are actually voting on.

        Vettel was out-qualified by Webber on his (Mark’s) weakest circuit, so going by such he shouldn’t be driver of the weekend either, right?

        1. I voted Rosberg btw. He out-qualified Hamilton on Lewis’ strongest track, and then did everything necessary to finish on the podium.

        2. I voted for Di Resta @kingshark.

        3. I was commenting on the racer/driver, not on qualifying.

    3. Can’t understand the Alonso vote who is once again beaten by Massa during quali and race if we discount the ferrari strategy. So if you like the red colour, you should have the decence to vote Massa.

      Only sensible choice to me is Vettel. A bit further there is Rosberg and next Chilton and DiResta. Even if Chilton record is just staying on track, one could say he hasn’t push enough if he is in that situation, he hasn’t done anything compared to Bianchi.

    4. Alonso failed to make it to Q3 in qualifying. Massa beat him in qualifying .

      Then Alonso does an average race. Could not overtake hius team mate on track. Finally Ferrari had to trick Massa through a bad strategy to get Alonso ahead of him to finish 5th.

      Wow that is an interesting choice for the driver of the weekend.

  6. Paul di Resta is my driver of the weekend. He excellently executed one-stop strategy and managed to keep Hamilton behind in the final laps achieving the best possible result.

    After a string of retirements, Di Resta has now had three strong weekends in a row. It would be a real shame not to see him in F1 next year, hopefully his overall performance will outweigh the money that Force India (or a better team) could get by hiring a less capable driver.

    1. I heard Hülkenberg had a reasonable chance to get the Lotus seat so di Resta’s seat should be fine :)

      Also voted for di Resta: outqualified and outraced his team-mate easily and made a one-stopper work despite having Hamilton on fresher tyres after him … great job, he deserves second spot in this DOTW :)

      (Why do people voted Alonso as driver of the weekend? He missed out Q3 …)

    2. But I wouldn´t mind see Di Resta go if one of the two Jr. Mclaren liek Kevin Magnussen were to come to Force India, he certanly will be a more exciting driver…

      1. I think Sutil should be replaced, not di Resta IMHO

        1. @paeschli :) Could be both… I wouldn´t cry for any of them to be honest…

  7. Felipe Massa.
    good in Saturday, seems capable to maximising whatever Ferrari had in their tanks. shows good racecraft and his opportunistic move at Hamilton was nice. if Ferrari gave him soft in the end, he’d be in front of Alonso.

    1. Ferrari’s decision not to give to Massa some soft shoes to finish the race was extremely strange, to say the least.
      I remember last year the author of another blog saying about Alonso, as a great merit, that he “takes all the oxygen in the team”. I wonder what kind of oxygen there is to breath in that team, and how the group will cope next year.

    2. Voted for Massa as well, I’d say it was his best performance of the season

      1. Totally agree. His passing was superb.

  8. OmarR-Pepper (@)
    4th November 2013, 13:50

    To see Kimi having 3 votes (7% out of 45 people) is what makes me wonder how these 3 people decide

    1. I have been a hard core Kimi fan since 2003, but honestly DOTW for this one is totally unwarranted.

    2. There are many who understand this as poll “vote for your favorite driver”. And others who undestand it as “vote for the driver of the weekend, excluding Vettel”.

      1. OmarR-Pepper (@)
        4th November 2013, 21:11

        @ironcito that about Vettel is right… but let’s not forget there are others who see a black hole in space where other drivers are. I mean, some other people also have a “I’ll never vote for Mr…” philosophy.

        1. LotsOfControl (@for-unlawful-carnal-knowledge)
          4th November 2013, 21:23

          No you wouldn’t. You just think u would. It’s a matter of principal.
          Everybody needs, wants and has to be treated fair. Be it millionare or not.

          Being screwed over by a millionare is the same as being screwed by on who’s not.

        2. LotsOfControl (@for-unlawful-carnal-knowledge)
          4th November 2013, 21:25

          Sorry.
          I wanted to reply to @jamiefranklinf1, in the comment below.

          Again, I apollogise.

      2. Jack (@jackisthestig)
        5th November 2013, 12:12

        ‘Driver of the Weekend excluding Vettel’ is one of the biggest compliments you can give him.

  9. Boohoo!! I want to give this vote to my favorite driver (who is a millionaire) for creating drama like a little girl initially and for finally racing without being paid for it!!

    1. Would you continue to show up at work if you hadn’t been paid all year?

      1. I would if I were a millionaire doing something that I have always wanted to do. Kind of a no-brainer.

        1. @for-unlawful-carnal-knowledge

          Then you don’t know me that well. Kimi Raikkonen is almost certainly a multi-millionaire. If I had that much money, then I wouldn’t care about even having a large pay packet. If anything, I’d want the team to have that money in order to build me a better car. I understand that some people want a living wage, but when you have that much money, then principals mean jack to me, I’d be more concerned with having a car under me that enabled me to win races.

          Given that BBC reports suggested that his salary was £6.7 million, I’d be more than happy to cut that down to way below a million in order for the team to be in a better financial state.

          1. LotsOfControl (@for-unlawful-carnal-knowledge)
            4th November 2013, 21:53

            You can’t cut down anything if you haven’t been payed at all.

          2. @for-unlawful-carnal-knowledge

            You’re missing the point though. These drivers are here to win, so if that were me, I’d be wanting most of that finance in the team. Take last year for example, Kimi was paid, albeit probably late, but that extra £6m could well help the team develop some parts to get a little more out of the car. It’s not just Kimi I’m saying is wrong here, I’m saying that a lot of people are if they are being paid large amounts when their teams are struggling.

            I don’t see Hulkenberg complaining, despite there being rumours that he may not have been paid, and maybe, just maybe that’s because he realises the significance of the team developing the car, rather than his savings.

          3. LotsOfControl (@for-unlawful-carnal-knowledge)
            4th November 2013, 22:00

            And if Kimi agreed to cut down his sallary to, let’s say 1 million, it would basically make him a PAY driver! He is not a team owner.
            Lotus’ fault entirely.

          4. LotsOfControl (@for-unlawful-carnal-knowledge)
            4th November 2013, 22:05

            I understand what your saying, but my view is different.

            Sorry for the double post.

          5. LotsOfControl (@for-unlawful-carnal-knowledge)
            4th November 2013, 22:09

            About Hulkenberg, I am sure he is not complaining because he realises the significance of the team developing the car, but because he is in no position to. He hasn’t secured his drive yet.
            Kimi has the leverage and he rightfully used it, Hulkenberg doesn’t.

  10. Rosberg for me, and I think people are voting Alonso for the sake of voting him again, but that’s just my opinion.

    1. I agree with you on Rosberg. He did a very good lap in qualifying and made the most of the race too. Grosjean could have been very good but for his strategy, Ferrari messed up a bit for Massa, Vettel made crucial mistakes in qualfying and Webbrer didn’t follow up on his great qualli lap during the race.

      1. Well, I wouldn’t use “crucial” to describe it @bascb: that implies through it’s meaning that it was decisive or of great importance, which it clearly wasn’t with either (he still romped it). A mistake nonetheless though, and I agree with you besides your use of crucial!

        1. Well, yeah @vettel1.
          I mentioned it as crucial, as it meant he could not have the perfect weekend but had to take a bit more risk at the start. Overall it proved to be not a big problem for him.
          But then again, I fear that not even if he had really messed up and gotten a 5 or even a 10 place grid drop it would have changed the results, apart from the margin he would be leading perhaps.

  11. As promised, I voted for Max Chilton (for getting that record)

  12. Sad to see Webber at 2% and Grosjean at 0% at 00:15 Hours

  13. Vettel, Rosberg, then how about Chilton.
    Sounds like a good top 3.

    1. But did Chilton actually do anything better than his team mate?

      1. @matt90 Of course not.

  14. I went for Di Resta because the “driver of the weekend” means putting everything together. Vettel was obviously unbeatable but PDR didn’t put a wheel wrong all weekend, and his race was magnificent, holding off Hamilton on 30+ lap old tyres was very impressive. He has now out raced and out qualified his team mate 3 races in a row and has scored 48 points to Sutil’s 29. If he isn’t retained it would be totally unfair…

  15. It’s Chilton again.

    Well this time it’s not just 1%, it’s 7%!!!

  16. Vettel. Everyone else was nothing special.

  17. Alonso 12%? Really?
    He ruined his weekend on Saturday, and Massa looked better for most of the race, to be honest.
    But ok.
    It’s Vettel for me.

    1. I didn’t vote for Alonso -or anybody else- as DOTW. But for DOTLS (driver of the last stint) I would have voted him hands down.

      1. That’s mainly because Vettel didn’t bother going fast :P

        1. Exactly, that’s the problem with Vettel, he wins race after race without even bothering to wake up O_o

    2. Alonso 12%? Really? He ruined his weekend on Saturday, and Massa looked better for most of the race, to be honest.

      That was EXACTLY my reaction.

    3. Exactly my reaction. I wouldn’t even have him in my top5.

  18. Shreyas Mohanty (@)
    4th November 2013, 14:24

    I went for Di Resta. Spotless performance and great job with the tyres.

  19. Well, Vettel did a Vettel, not much to add.

    Good job by Nico Rosberg, Paul di Resta and Fernando Alonso, whose last stint was the real highlight of a supremely boring race

    Maybe I should mention also Mark Webber also, for once he did the job and got the 2nd he really should be getting in most of the races. But I was disappointed that he couldn’t get to the first corner ahead of Vettel and make him sweat a tiny little bit. I don’t resent all those Vettel’s victories, just the fact that their are so foreordained, so bloodless, so lifeless.

    I’m not voting this time, no one was good enough. But maybe I should vote the recordman Max Chilton.

  20. Di Resta was my man of the race… but I think Rosberg over the course of the weekend was a little better.

  21. “Kimi Raikkonen – Said he was happier with his car after switching back to the long wheelbase chassis”

    I think he switched back to the SWB car

  22. Rosberg gets my vote. Put in a solid qualifying to line up third, and although that’s where he finished after 55 laps it’s hard to fault him for this considering the performance advantage of the Red Bulls. Still, he had a great start and battled with Webber as long as he could.

  23. I voted Kimi (j/k)

  24. It was a toss up between Rosberg / Vettel – Vettel “messed up” Q3 and Rosberg didn’t play the KERS-chess right – but went for Vettel, mainly because I’m a fan of his. He sits in the superior car but it’s just brilliant what he does with it and no sign of complacency.

    DiResta and Grosjean had solid weekends too. ALO had a good race but qualifying isn’t his strong suit. Hulk and Massa had just bad luck.

  25. Quite surprised to see just 8% votes for Di Resta at this point. He had to defend throughout the race, and kept faster cars behind him quite admirably. Vettel is quick, the Red Bull is quick, both were flawless on race day but it was a performance any of the top drivers could’ve replicated with relative ease. A DOTW performance in my view came from Di Resta more than anyone else.

    1. Shreyas Mohanty (@)
      4th November 2013, 19:00

      ^This.

  26. Well Vettel will win this DOTW by a mile, so I voted for Giedo van der Garde.
    Yes I am a Dutchman, but he deserves some credit. He has outqualified Pic for the second time in a row.
    Pic leads their qualifying battle by only 9 against 8 for vd Garde. While Pic has a year of experience under his belt.
    Also vd Garde had to sit out fp1 in Abu Dhabi while Kovalainen took his seat.
    And then he still had the upper hand all weekend over Pic to finish 11 seconds in front of him, and
    in his second stint he was delivering the same laptimes as the Toro Rosso’s and Bottas.

    Hopefully he has done enough to be in another year in F1 next year.

  27. I liked Paul di Resta a lot, the only other real standout this weekend besides Seb.

  28. So Alonso was the second best driver of the weekend???

    Also a bit confused how Kimi has 4% of the votes. Anyway, voted for Vettel. He was perfect.

  29. Seb was gone, easy pick for me

  30. Vettel was deeply impressive in the race, but he made that mistake in qualifying, so he wasn’t totally peerless.

    Rosberg was very good in the race also but arguably in qualifying he didn’t do as well as he could have either (Hamilton showed with his sector times that Mercedes could have been real contenders for pole position).

    Massa did well in qualifying and was looking like beating Alonso before that strategy call, so he could also be in the running.

    But I’m giving my vote to Paul Di Resta: 6th place was a really good effort for him considering Force India’s recent steep decent from competitiveness and it’s looking like a turnaround from his really poor run of form starting in Monza.

    1. On Massa however, he didn’t manage to replicate his Q2 time in Q3, so he still did underperform.

      1. Or did he overperform in Q2?

        1. I don’t think you can “over-perform” @magon4 ;)

          1. hahah agreed, just getting on your case! In Formula 1, it is the race that counts, at the end, that is the truth. No points for qualifying. Massa did better than Alonso this race, IMO.

          2. Agreed – Massa looked properly on-form for once! Qualifying is only part of the game and there’s no use having lots of pace over one lap if you can’t repeat that over a race @magon4, which has appeared to be the case more often than not with Massa (and the opposite with Alonso).

    2. @vettel1
      Re: di Resta’s “really poor run of form starting in Monza”, I think this has been exaggerated.

      His poor form has basically amounted to two offs — Singapore and Korea. (I think you can excuse Monza as simply an isolated first lap incident.)

      Both incidents (Singapore and Korea) were regrettable, but what is forgotten is that on both occasions he was racing well ahead of Sutil, and in Singapore in particular he was having an outstanding race — and was on for would have been an outstanding 6th place finish. Furthermore in the three races since Korea he has outqualified, outraced and generally looked faster than Sutil in every session.
      Japan: outqualified Sutil (0.6 seconds), outraced Sutil (20 seconds).
      India: outqualified Sutil (0.1 seconds), outraced Sutil (2 seconds).
      Abu Dhabi: outqualified Sutil (0.4 seconds), outraced Sutil (15 seconds), despite damaged rear wing.

      The media are desperate for narratives in F1 and they have recently tried to paint a story of di Resta’s “terrible slump of form”, but this really is not an accurate picture.

      In many ways the last four/five races have been a breakthrough for di Resta. In previous years these Tilke-drome Grand Prix have been Paul’s weakness, but this year it looks like he’s put this problem behind him. His improvement compared to Sutil at these circuits since the 2011 season is significant. Remember also that in 2012 it was only at these last five races that Hulkenberg (the messiah!) managed to outpace di Resta. If di Resta and Hulkenberg are paired again in 2014 I think di Resta would have a very strong chance of coming out on top.

  31. Vettel. His lead here at the moment is almost as big and embarrassing as his lead was on Sunday!

  32. Vettel. He has succeeded in making even the driver-of-the-weekend poll boring…

  33. Once again it may be boring to vote for Vettel, but you have to give it to him. RB/Vettel made everybody else look like total amateurs, it’s just inconceivable how he’s outperforming everybody so consistently and relentlessly. I remember reading back in the summer break how he could beat his 2011 points haul, but he’ll have to win all nine races left in 2013 to do it and i remember thinking “yeah, fat chance”. Now he’s actually within touching distance of doing it. I think if he actually pulls it off it will be a bigger achievement that winning the title. NINE wins in a row, in an era when the cars are supposed to be more closely matched than ever? That’s just ridiculous.

  34. Looked hard to find someone else other than Vettel to vote for DOTW, but couldn’t see anybody else.

  35. Chilton has more votes than Pic and Bianchi, did I watch the same race as everyone else?

  36. Voted for Rosberg… In this Kingdom of Boredom, or I should say United Emirates of Boredom, it was difficult to find suitable candidate.

  37. This poll is getting more boring than races themselves. It can’t be anyone but Vettel! He is way more closer to perfection than everybody else.

  38. Massa, outqualified Alonso, and would have finished ahead if not for a heavily biased strategy

  39. Chilton, hands down.

    1. Please explain.

  40. For me there was only one standout for this race; Paul di Resta. As much as you guys (understandably) hate him around here, the fact of the matter is he managed to go from 12th to 6th on a two stopper while holding of Hamilton. More importantly, he might have just destroyed any hope of Sauber beating FI in the constructors. As dominate as Vettel was, at this point it’s clear the RB9 is doing most of the work for him. I mean, the season is almost over and nobody is bringing out any major upgrades, not to mention the fact the car is built around him. To me Paul deserves my vote.

  41. Hasselhoff for Driver of the Weekend.

  42. Massa. Excellent form in quali, drove well in the race before getting screwed by Ferrari. Vettel was outstanding in the race, but he did make a small mistake in qualifying allowing Mark “Fast Start” Webber to take pole position in what is clearly the best car in the grid. By a country mile.

  43. Seriously the only drivers deserving are Vettel, Di Resta, Rosberg and maybe Grosjean… apparently a number of us view it as ‘Vote for your favourite driver’ or ‘Vote for anyone but Vettel’.

    1. Alonso I don’t understand at all.

      1. @vettel1 Exactly >_> Massa had the better of him for a large proportion of the race – even exploiting a badly held-up Hamilton and overtaking him when the chance presented itself – and only lost out in the end over a rather slow pitstop and an unusual tyre strategy… and as for Raikkonem getting 3% of the votes, I don’t know what goes through the heads of those 3%; they must view every DOTW as ‘Vote for your favourite driver’.

  44. I am not too sure on this one.
    Vettel was absolutely mind blowing in the race. But he has been that for such a long time now, that even as a fan of his, it is getting too predictable to really amaze me. His qualifying lap wasn’t exactly brilliant. Far from in fact. But then he did outperform Webber in the doughnut contest at the end : )
    Rosberg was pretty good, but I didn’t find him excellent. Loosing the KERS game to Webber and not really putting up a fight in qualifying, when Lewis’ sector times showed that it was possible.
    Alonso.. bad in qualifying, all right in the race.
    I think Di Resta is where it’s at. He really made the most of his strategy, defending brilliantly against much faster cars while taking care of the tyres.

  45. I don’t understand what is so amazing about Chilton’s record, Charles Pic would have finished every race if it weren’t for mechanical failures, so basically people are praising Chilton because the Marussia is a reliable car.

    1. @speedking84 I heard someone saying the reason Chilton finished every race is because he isn’t fast enough to either stress his car or be in anyone’s neighbourhood ;)

      1. That’s true, although he’s so slow I’m surprised enough air get’s into his engine, atleast he’s the best driver at heating up his brakes.

  46. Went with Vettel again, despite missing out on pole. Looked good all weekend and settled the race on turn one.

    Rosberg is really looking good as well, but would have been a more likely candidate to me if he kept it in front of Webber after the start.

  47. I went for Hulkenberg, qualified 6th when his teammate was 17th, was on for a good result until his team caused him to have a drive through, and still finished right behind his team mate.

    Vettel, Rosberg, Di Resta, Grosjean and Perez all had good weekends though.

  48. It has to be Vettel; he crushed everyone else. A bit of a mistake in qualifying, but he even apologized for that on the radio, and I would think his race performance more than made up for that.

    On top of that, he gave me a good laugh when I saw the donuts and heard the radio exchange with Horner & Rocky. I hate that he makes winning look so easy, I hate that other teams can’t even come close to him; it’s hard not to like him once you see the funny, human side.

    Before, I never said I was a fan of Vettel (not to be confused with hating him, but he wasn’t the one I was cheering on) but he’s won a fan in me.

  49. This is an easy one: Vettel.

    He was simply fantastic, and is able to get so much more from the car than Webber.

  50. Paul di Resta for the second time this year for me – again in Arabia. He pulled off a very similar tactic as in Bahrain, held off the stronger Mercedes with Hamilton on board, beat his teammate comfortably in qualifying. Tyre management is one of his strongest points – although the car is very suitable for the job, as Sutil has shown it as well.

    It would be a real shame not to see him on the grid next year, I always notice while looking through the lap times how incredibly consistent he can be, pulling off 20 or more laps within half a second, and he does that while going fast, that is a really useful factor for any team, so I hope he will keep this Force India seat, or in case he will be dropped another midfield team will go for him.

  51. People forget “the weekend” runs from Friday to Sunday evening doughnuts. Vettel only made one mistake that whole time – first corner of his final run in Q3. Even then, he was just 0.118sec behind Webber. Vettel for me.

  52. Chris (@tophercheese21)
    5th November 2013, 2:42

    For me it was a toss up between Vettel, Rosberg and Alonso.

    I chose Rosberg because he drove the wheels off that Merc.
    Vettel was superb yet again, but Rosberg gets my vote.

  53. David not Coulthard (@)
    5th November 2013, 6:29

    Went for Vettel.

    Though I do like the fact that Max Chilton got some of the votes.

  54. Di Resta deserves this one …

  55. Definitely Vettel. Although he made a mistake in Qualifying, he dominated the race and made everyone else look like there were in GP2 Cars.

  56. Sigh….. Sebastian Vettel

  57. voted for vettel, sort of wish i could vote for massa as well though

  58. Vettel.

    If chilton manages to finish all 19 races he will get my vote for brazil.

  59. Vergne

    If Toro Rosso decided to pit then he wouldn’t of tyre issues and he therefore could of finished in the points.

  60. I voted for Vettel.

    His performance over the weekend may not have been as flawless as has often been the case this season as he missed out pole, but Vettel still was the driver of the weekend for me.

    It may have been due to the fact that I found the race rather boring but apart from Vettel, no drivers really stood out for me to even consider not voting for Vettel.

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