Vote for your 2014 Monaco GP Driver of the Weekend

2014 Monaco Grand Prix

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

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

Monaco Grand Prix driver-by-driver

Red Bull

Sebastian Vettel – Another weekend of what might have been after yet more car troubles. He coped with an ERS problem in qualifying and lined up less than two-tenths of a second off Ricciardo. In the race a clean start moved him up to this but any hopes of a podium finish died soon afterwards with turbo trouble.

Daniel Ricciardo – Ricciardo looked in fine form around the streets all weekend. He would have paid the price for a poor start, however, had the two drivers who took advantage of it not been struck down by misfortune. He gave chase of the struggling Hamilton late in the race but it always looked doubtful he would have a genuine chance to pass his rival around such a narrow circuit.

Mercedes

Nico Rosberg – Not everyone will accept the stewards’ verdict that his moment at Mirabeau, which won him the most important pole position of the year, was an entirely innocent mistake. It was a pity they did not publicise some of the information that led them to their conclusion. Rosberg’s work on his starts paid off and with the advantage of track position this looked a certain win whatever Hamilton threw at him.

Lewis Hamilton – Hamilton’s behaviour outside the car attracted rather more comment than his performance at the wheel. For a driver who’s often shown great flair around Monaco, it was surprising he was even in a position to lose pole to Rosberg in the manner he did. Overtaking any car around Monaco was always going to prove tough, let alone one from the same team in a scenario where both had to start on the same tyre compound. The mid-race Safety Car period and Hamilton’s eye problem in the closing laps only cemented the inevitable.

Ferrari

Fernando Alonso – His qualifying lap was a joy to behold, impressively seven-tenths quicker than Raikkonen. But he got boxed in behind Ricciardo at the start and lost out to his team mate. He had a quiet run to fourth after Raikkonen hit trouble and Vettel dropped out.

Kimi Raikkonen – Started brilliantly to grab fourth, which became third when Vettel parked up. The television cameras did not appear to catch the incident with Chilton under the Safety Car which forced him to make an extra pit stop and dropped him to 14th. He passed Kobayashi and was running eighth when he misjudged an overtaking move on Magnussen which cost both time, dropped Raikkonen out of the points entirely and earned him a reprimand.

Lotus

Romain Grosjean – Started 14th and sustained a puncture on the first lap, prompting an early switch to soft tyres. He found those impossible to overtake on so stopped again for super-softs on lap 23, which he ran until the end of the race. By then he had ascended to ninth place, and Bianchi’s penalty promoted him to eighth for the second race in a row.

Pastor Maldonado – Reached Q2 for the first time this year but a fuel pump problem prevented him from starting the race.

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McLaren

Jenson Button – Said he had the pace to get to Q3 but didn’t put the lap together that he needed. Tangled with Perez on the first lap, eliminating the Force India, but both were judged blameless. Ran behind Magnussen until his team mate’s power unit problem gave him a chance to overtake for sixth.

Kevin Magnussen – Believed he could have qualified one place higher but still started several spots ahead of Button. Endured a frustrating race including a long hold at his pit stop due to traffic, Vergne’s car being waved out in front of him, a power unit fault and Raikkonen’s lunge at the hairpin. But he came away with a point for tenth.

Force India

Nico Hulkenberg – Beaten to Q3 by his team mate but made amends in the race by running a long second stint on super-soft tyres. The highlight was a daring pass on Magnussen at Portier, moving up to fifth at the chequered flag – and in the points.

Sergio Perez – Was unlucky to be bumped out of the race on the first lap in what the stewards ruled was a racing incident.

Sauber

Adrian Sutil – Both Saubers went out in Q1, Sutil for the fourth time this year, and the team are now behind Marussia in the points table. He picked up front wing damage on the first lap and stopping to replace it cost him more places. He was beginning to make progress through the field when he crashed at the chicane.

Esteban Gutierrez – Was closing on Sauber’s first points finish of the year when he clipped the barrier at Rascasse and spun into retirement.

Toro Rosso

Jean-Eric Vergne – Starred in qualifying, taking seventh on the grid. Magnussen passed him at the start and his team’s eagerness to wave Vergne out of the pits ahead of the McLaren earned him a drive-through penalty. Then, with some predictability, an exhaust problem ended his race.

Daniil Kvyat – Swiped the barrier during qualifying but impressively reached Q3 on his first visit to Monaco. His race ended early however with another exhaust problem.

Williams

Felipe Massa – Proved no good deed goes unpunished when he tried to let Ericsson past during Q1 and was hit by the Caterham, leaving him unable to run in Q2. However a brave gamble of not pitting during the two Safety Car periods paid off handsomely, lifting him to seventh at the flag.

Valtteri Bottas – Was running eighth with a train of cars behind him when his Mercedes power unit failed.

Marussia

Jules Bianchi – Half a second quicker than Chilton in qualifying, he started 21st after a gearbox change penalty. But gained a handful of places at the start and made a vital pass on Kobayashi at mid-race at Rascasse. Benefit from a few more retirements in front of him to finish eighth on the road, which became ninth after a five-second penalty was applied.

Max Chilton – The biggest role he played in Marussia’s success was getting out of Bianchi’s way when he was being lapped. He also tangled with Raikkonen at Mirabeau during the second Safety Car period, earning a reprimand.

Caterham

Kamui Kobayashi – Was unhappy with Bianchi’s move at Rascasse, saying: “I’m sure I’d have finished in the points if Bianchi hadn’t hit me when he forced his way past”, adding his car was “basically undriveable” after the contact. Nonetheless he brought his car home 13th after a late second pit stop.

Marcus Ericsson – Stayed out of trouble and benefited from the retirements of others to take 11th, just a few tenths ahead of the recovering and fast-closing Raikkonen.

Qualifying and race results summary

DriverStartedGap to team mateLaps leading team matePittedFinishedGap to team mate
Sebastian Vettel4th+0.163s2/51
Daniel Ricciardo3rd-0.163s3/513rd
Lewis Hamilton2nd+0.059s0/7812nd+9.21s
Nico Rosberg1st-0.059s78/7811st-9.21s
Fernando Alonso5th-0.703s50/7714thNot on same lap
Kimi Raikkonen6th+0.703s27/77312thNot on same lap
Romain Grosjean14th-0.16s0/028th
Pastor Maldonado15th+0.16s0/00
Jenson Button12th+0.379s6/7716th-27.011s
Kevin Magnussen8th-0.379s71/77110th+27.011s
Nico Hulkenberg11th+0.091s0/015th
Sergio Perez10th-0.091s0/00
Adrian Sutil18th+0.004s0/231
Esteban Gutierrez17th-0.004s23/231
Jean-Eric Vergne7th-0.55s10/101
Daniil Kvyat9th+0.55s0/100
Felipe Massa16th-0.198s19/5517th
Valtteri Bottas13th+0.198s36/551
Jules Bianchi21st-0.596s75/7519thNot on same lap
Max Chilton19th+0.596s0/75314thNot on same lap
Kamui Kobayashi20th-1.599s38/75213thNot on same lap
Marcus Ericsson22nd+1.599s37/75211thNot 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 2014 Monaco Grand Prix weekend?

  • Marcus Ericsson (0%)
  • Kamui Kobayashi (0%)
  • Max Chilton (0%)
  • Jules Bianchi (60%)
  • Valtteri Bottas (0%)
  • Felipe Massa (1%)
  • Daniil Kvyat (1%)
  • Jean-Eric Vergne (1%)
  • Adrian Sutil (0%)
  • Esteban Gutierrez (0%)
  • Nico Hulkenberg (6%)
  • Sergio Perez (0%)
  • Kevin Magnussen (0%)
  • Jenson Button (0%)
  • Pastor Maldonado (0%)
  • Romain Grosjean (0%)
  • Kimi Raikkonen (3%)
  • Fernando Alonso (1%)
  • Lewis Hamilton (3%)
  • Nico Rosberg (12%)
  • Daniel Ricciardo (9%)
  • Sebastian Vettel (1%)

Total Voters: 659

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2014 Monaco Grand Prix

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Images © Daimler/Hoch Zwei, Ferrari/Ercole Colombo, Red Bull/Getty, Force India, Marussia

Author information

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

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97 comments on “Vote for your 2014 Monaco GP Driver of the Weekend”

  1. HAM for me.

    1. Huh? Joking right?

    2. For the worst possible classified position in a Mercedes from the worst possible grid slot in a Mercedes?

      1. @mateuss Well when you put it that way… He as good as came last right? But seriously he does deserve some credit, it can’t be easy driving with one eye, and he does have a decent enough reason to question the result on Sunday given the events of Saturday

    3. Evidently you did not read the F1 article which reported that Lewis lied to his team mate after there was an agreement about engine seatings in the previous race. Lewis is just not an honest guy and complains bitterly when things do not go this way. See the article in the last F1 newsletter. Lewis is the same guy how tried to screw over Alonzo when they were team mates…. The guy is just not to be belived …. did he get any medical attention after the race to help with his alleged eye issue?? Thanks, RnR PS I have never, I say never said anything about any other driver because I know their job and the politics in F1 are daunting, however, LewisH is not to be believed nor trusted……

      1. OmarR-Pepper (@)
        27th May 2014, 0:07

        The guy is just not to be believed

        @racernorriski don’t forget twitting McLaren’s telemetry when he got angry with his team. No surprise his ex-McLaren team showed him the door when he “showed up to visit”

      2. Evidently you did not read the F1 article which reported that Rosberg had done just that previously in Bahrein, hence Hamilton doing the same in Spain.

        I’ll now wait very patiently for you to state that Rosberg is not an ‘honest guy’ and retract the rest.

        1. Well said!

      3. And you didn’t read the Article that said that Nico Turned his Engine up in Bahrain 1st to try to overtake after the Safety Car… thats when they allowed Lewis to Change his settings which was heard on the Radio…Lewis Paid him back in Spain and Now Rosberg “Made a Mistake” in Mirbeau..so in the Gamesmanship Stakes Rosberg is Leading 2-1… Get all your facts straight before you make a statement please…

    4. @kvijilio me too…
      I fell bad bashing Hamilton all weekend…

  2. Absolute no brainer. Has to be Bianchi. He was mixing with the Saubers and the Lotuses in free practice, battered Chilton in qualifying, and produced the race of his life to finish in 9th. The overtake on Kobayashi will be controversial but it was still a top move.

    Honourable mentions to Ricciardo, Hulkenberg, Massa, Ericsson, Kvyat and Magnussen.

    1. 1000% agree with Bianchi, complete no-brainer…

    2. My reasoning as well. He had great practices, looked like he might be able to scrap out of qualifying 3, and a great race.

    3. Gotta agree. Great result and it was one of those weekends nobody else really stood out. The other contenders for the trophy – Hulk, RIC, ROS, Ericsson, Kvyat all had their good moments but also a few glitches throughout the weekend.

  3. Easiest of the year for me. Of course that has to be Bianchi.

    You can say it’s down to luck and the amount of retirements but he just took every opportunity there was.
    He was comfortably fastest of the Marussia/ Caterham boys in qualy, beating Chilton by 0.6 sec.
    He had to start from the back of the grid due to a gearbox change, and he delivered a very mature drive.
    Jules made a fantastic but risky move on Kobayashi when he let Kimi by and he was just faultless the rest of the race.

    This brings us back to the Minardi days when they were over the moon when they scored a point. It’s just so nice to see a backmarker score points.

    And btw, Chilton also helped Marussia to points, because he hit Kimi, who fell back and hit Magnussen.. Haha

  4. I was tempted to go with Bianchi. But after some consideration I gave it to Rosberg. While Bianchi helped Marrusia to their first ever points, a lot of variables fell into place. Not taking away anything from Bianchi or the Marrusia’s progress, Rosberg gets it for withstanding immense pressure from Hamilton throughout the weekend.

    1. I respect your opinion but I disagree. Rosberg once again cracked under pressure in Q3, only this time it ended up playing to his advantage. In addition, his race was strong, but it was made a lot easier by his own variables falling into place: safety car stopping strategies, debris hitting Lewis’ eye(not that it would have given Lewis the win, but it took away the pressure), the safety cars allowing him to save fuel. While both Rosberg’s and Bianchi’s drives were impressive, both of theirs were a bit lucky.

    2. Rosberg suspicious missed braking point is now an intentional move in my book after viewing the footage of both his Q3 attempts and his correction in the race, gotta give to Bianchi.

      1. @jcost

        doesn’t context mean anything to anyone nowadays? In free practice, drivers will run off the track when making mistakes that if that same mistake had happened in the race, they would have kept on the track.

        In qualifying, risking running into the barrier is pointless after a mistake, especially since the run is effectively over. How many times have we seen a driver on a hot lap in qualifying bail out because of small error or traffic up ahead? A hundred, a thousand, more?

        ROS second run in Q3 was more on the edge than his pace in the race. Breaking a bit later to maximize hundredths of a second. In qualifying, his run was over with the mistake, but in the race a driver will do almost anything NOT to go into the run off. (Conversely, in qualifying, a driver wouldn’t risk a move like RAI did at the Loews hairpin on MAG, but it’s worth it the race – though contact with MAG altered his radius). Drivers lock up in races all the time. Heck, ROS was locking up behind the safety car.

        Now I wouldn’t put it pass ROS to have hung it out more knowing if he makes a mistake and a yellow comes out, he’s in the catbird seat. But premeditated ala Schumacher ’06? I don’t think so. He’s not that kind of guy. I’ve never seen it.

    3. Rosberg won the race due to a Pole position because hamilton couldn’t do his last lap, and during the race he had no oposition with Hamilton’s trouble in the last laps… Can’t see any briliance in Rosberg’s weekend

      This is one of the “Cheapest” wins of the last few years, can’t vote for Rosberg this weekend.

    4. I agree and gave my vote to Nico R. Nico ran a perfect as can be expected race when you realize that Lewis was on his tail for most of the race. If Nico had babbled for one micro second Lewis would of passed but Nico drove without incident and won the race … fair and square. Many of the drivers of the less exalted teams did a superb job with the equipment they have to work with…. no matter how hard I try I can not get FilipeM up on the podium … same for Kimi and Jenson…. and RoaminG …. yes Bianci did a great job … I think I got ’em all …. Thanks. RnR

      1. You need to have a significantly faster car at Monaco if you want to overtake and it’s not that hard to defend against an identical car, even if it’s on your tail the whole time. And when it comes to winning “fair and square”, remember that the stewards didn’t declare Nico “innocent”. They declared him “not guilty”. There is a big difference there. It means it wasn’t a clear cut. It might have been an honest mistake, so they decided not to punish him. It might have been an honest mistake, but it doesn’t mean it was. I’m still rooting for Nico in his championship bid, but this one felt like a cheap victory.

  5. voted for bianchi. but i’d like to give out an honorable mention to kimi, kvyat and ericsson, all drove superb but unlucky circumstances lead to their respective finishing positions.

  6. I was torn between Rosberg, Bianchi and Hulkenberg.

    Rosberg dominated the race from start to finish, holding Hamilton off which isn’t by any means, easy.

    Bianchi drove solidly throughout, obviously retirements heped him massively to get in the points. But still, first points for Marussia, which is amazing. Thrashed his team mate and don’t forget that vital move on Kobayashi which was opportunistic and it showed that Marussia are the best ‘new’ team.

    Hulkenberg had a quiet race, but he was consistent and was effectively the best of the rest behind the Mercedes, Ricciardo and Alonso. His move on Magnussen was epic as well.

    Even with the retirements, I went for Bianchi. I mean, Marussia got their first ever points!

    1. which isn’t by any means, easy

      It’s Monaco. Yes, it’s easy.

  7. I didn’t go mainstream. I voted for Hulkenberg. Maybe he wasn’t impressive in qualifying, but drove flawlessly in the race and grabbed every opportunity, didn’t make mistakes and avoided collisions with others, which others couldn’t. And his pass on Magnussen was one of the best this year.

    1. I agree! Although I was torn between him and Bianchi, who did a tremendous job.

  8. I tried to think of alternatives, but it has to be Bianchi. Usual great effort in qualifying, and starting last on the grid to come in 8th on the road was supreme, even considering the usually high attrition by recent standards (even for Monaco). And his overtake on Kobayashi was incredibly ballsy. Perhaps an even simpler choice than last race.

  9. If anyone other than Bianchi wins, we riot!

    1. It may come down to mis-aimed clicking. The Chilton fanclub will appear larger than it is, today!

  10. Went for Nico Hulkenberg.
    Not because Bianchi was unimpessive, but I found the Rosberg error in Qualy too important. Delibrate or not, reversing out of the escape road should be avoided at all times. And Lewis’s comments throughout the weekend has definitely put me off from supporting him anytime soon. Sebastian went through 4 years of dominance without losing his head (hypocrisy after Multi 21 aside), Lewis cant go 4 races. And obviously he lost out to Nico.
    Hulkenberg didnt make mistakes, grabbed every oppurtunity and made an amazing pass on Magnussen. More importantly he did ALMOST 50 laps on supersofts and managed to evade the claws of Button.

    1. same here hulk what a drive……

  11. I voted Jules .Fantastic drive . Risky move on none other than Kobayashi . Great drive under pressure despite the penalties .
    @keithcollantine

    it was surprising he was even in a position to lose pole to Rosberg in the manner he did.

    The margin was around 6 hundredths of a second despite all the controversy .

    The mid-race Safety Car period and Hamilton’s eye problem in the closing laps only cemented the inevitable.

    I agree with you mildly that Rosberg winning was sort of ‘inevitable’ . But no mention of him holding onto 2nd driving with eye problems in those closing laps . I am not going for sympathy votes . Just thought you could have mentioned it as it was part of the action.

    1. Uh, by the time Daniel Ricciardo caught Lewis, his eye was okay. He said it himself. So he simply stayed ahead of Daniel, who had an arguably faster car for over the corners, but had a deficit of 4-6kmph on straight and drivability problems for 4 laps.
      And ^ is approximately the same length as Keith’s whole summary of Lewis’s weekend, it isnt worthwhile to mention the fact, really.

  12. I shall not vote for either Mercedes driver since they ended up pretty much as expected, and neither shall I vote for Ricciardo whom Vettel had a pretty realistic chance of beating in both qualifying and the race had it not been for those mechanical gremlins… Vettel never got the chance to show what he could really do, so he’s out of the equation as well.

    I’ve narrowed down my choices to Hülkenberg and Bianchi but I decided to go for the latter. Apart from a dragging a Marussia to the points by taking advantage of mechanical failures and driving errors from others, like Hülkenberg he managed a brilliant overtake on another driver (Kobayashi) and also finished ahead of Grosjean (Not accounting for the penalty) despite being equipped with backmarker machinery, made even more impressive by the fact that Grosjean is a proven talent and among one of the best drivers on the current grid. We can argue that Bianchi got lucky with attrition, but he made no errors unlike the Sauber pair and he simply made the most of a situation that was to his benefit. Thus my vote goes to Bianchi.

    1. Apart from a dragging a Marussia to the points

      Apart from dragging a Marussia to the points*

    2. Lotus_Grosjean
      27th May 2014, 0:24

      I would say E22 looked awful the whole weekend. Still, impressive drive by Bianchi :)

      1. Awful by their standards perhaps, but certainly not at backmarker level alongside Marussia and Caterham.

  13. Jules Bianchi is the only driver deserving a 10/10 last weekend.
    Even though he made a fault standing in the wrong starting position – and admited he could have make Q2, Bianchi was faultless when the action really started.

    Still can’t believe Marussia has now scored points in F1, and they probably could have done twice as much if not for a rookie pitwall mistake.

    Bianchi is, in my own opinion, the most talented of my fellow coutrymen.

    1. about the pitwall mistake. when someone takes your grid slot there’s basically nothing you can do.

      1. I suppose you can sit in the middle of the track and wave your hands at the marshals so the start gets aborted.

  14. Nick Veneris
    26th May 2014, 17:14

    I think that mercedes monopoly, continued in that weekend, but surely the man that won the bet of bringing the first points to marussia – ferrari, was Jules Bianchi. Not only did he manage to achieve his first points in his f1 career, but also he did a stunning and brave driving through the short roads of Monaco. Being qualified into the last position and managing to get into the points is quite a massive achievement for the young driver, considering the fact that Monaco is the shortest track among the 19 races of the calendar and the most difficult to overtake, due to that fact. So, all credits to that guy , who fully deserved the 2, why not 4 points that he could get if there was’nt that five-second penalty.

    1. Nick Veneris
      26th May 2014, 17:18

      Correction – narrowest

  15. Had to pick Bianchi. Though high attrition and two ridiculous accidents from the Sauber drivers played a role in it, he still scored points in a car that has no business in the top half of the field. It has been too long since the team with the smallest budget has managed such a feat. Finishing two laps up on Chilton added some comedy to it as well.

    Other than that, there were a few other drivers who drove brilliantly. Hulkenberg was impressive as ever. Grosjean scoring points in spite of bad luck and bad strategy was outstanding. Raikkonen was epic until Chilton decided that he wanted to have a go at him. And Button actually had a very good showing, timing his pit stops perfectly around the chaos and making some ballsy moves to cut through the field. Good stuff.

    1. Maybe those 2 points will mean they won’t have to put Chilton in a car next year. The kid is embarrassing himself and blowing the family fortune in the process.

  16. Guys, it’s Bianchi. There’s just no excuse for even picking anyone else this time around. I’m a HAM fan but he has a really “meh” weekend. RIC drove a good race and ROS won the race, but 80% of that was because he was sitting on (a questionable) poll at Monaco so he almost has to win unless he makes a major mistake. The HULK drove a strong race with a lesser car.

    But at the end of the day Bianchi scored what may turn out to be historical points. A team like Marussia lives or dies on little things like this and he finally did what nobody else has been able to do! No questions, Bianchi :)

  17. Bianchi for sure but Vergne has also delivered a strong week-end even if he was not lucky

  18. It has to be Bianchi. He once again demonstrated his crushing superiority in qualifying over Chilton, which hasn’t been quite as evident as last year in this early part of the season. He then drove a supremely composed race, mixing it with faster cars on genuine pace, not just track position. Yes, he benefitted from others’ misfortunes and mistakes, but he was still there on merit as well. His move on Kobayashi was exemplary stuff — you might even say he KK’d KK, which is no mean feat at a track like Monaco. I’m so chuffed for Marussia to have finally nabbed those first points, and for it to have been Bianchi that did it. He really is an exceptional talent.

  19. Bianchi; scoring points in a Marussia, in a dry Monaco race with 3 penalties and 14 finishers.

    If Rosberg didn’t make his mistake in Q3, he’d get the nod. Mind you, I’m talking about the mistake, not it being intentional or not.

  20. Bianchi had the weekend of his life, no-brainer. Honorable mentions to Rosberg (very canny in qualifying, hats off to him) and also did what he had to do on the race. Massa, Ricciardo and Vergne (terribly unlucky) all drove well too.

  21. Bianchi just deserves it. Had some luck, but every driver needs some at some days.

  22. Bianchi gets the sympathy vote but the real heroes were RIC, ALO and HUL if you ask me.

  23. One of the easiest DOTW poll for me. Picked Bianchi for his great efforts in placing a Marrusia at 8th position(ignoring his penalty) and a great overtake on kamui.

    Hulk had another strong weekend and his pass on kevin was just amazing. It deserves Pass of the season uptill now and may be it will be the best pass of this season.

    1. Actually I forgot to mention Rosberg as well. He did a stellar job in doing what he did in his Q3 incident which according to many people (not me) was deliberate. To do that lock-up so perfectly and fake it as if it wasnt deliberate in one of the twistiest circuits of the world – it definitely deserves a mention.

  24. Bianchi was a close call but slightly on the lucky side. Rosberg drove a fantastic race but his ironic performance be it intentional or accidental in Q3 keeps him from get DOTW. My vote goes to Ricciardo. Absolutely rock-steady consistency in both qualifying and race-pace once again. First time this year we’ve seen any team place any real pressure on a Mercedes as well. Kudos.

  25. The only way I can decide this is by being HUGELY nitpicky, so please don’t moan about any of my comments. By all means express your opinion, but please respect that these are mine as well, and in some cases we’ll have to agree to disagree.
    Vettel – Was beaten in Qualifying although admittedly had car troubles, but had been behind Daniel most of practice. Good start jumped him ahead of Daniel but never showed potential in race following early exit.
    Ricciardo – A strong practice and qualifying was somewhat ruined by a poor getaway. Lucked back into third though did well to take the fight to Lewis at the end, despite the latter’s eye issues.
    Rosberg – Flawless in the race but was level with – if not a tad behind – Lewis in practice, and only secured pole after making a mistake, which in my opinion was on purpose. Though given Lewis ‘cheated’ in Spain, I suppose fair is fair.
    Hamilton – I’m a Hamilton fan but his moodiness got a bit much. I don’t blame him as I’d be exactly the same, in fact would probably have been even worse, but still. However, Lewis made no mistakes throughout the weekend, except perhaps not being quick enough on his first run, or getting his second one in sooner.
    Alonso – Despite out-qualifying Kimi and finishing a strong fourth, he was being comfortably beaten by his teammate up to the point Kimi had issues, and had dropped back a bit from Daniel.
    Raikkonen – Was out-qualified by Alonso but made a good start and was on for a good race, until his collision with Chilton. As if being out-qualified wasn’t enough to detract from driver of the weekend, he then made a clumsy move on Kevin.
    Grosjean – Out-qualified his teammate but suffered with damage on lap one, although I’m not sure what happened. A fantastic recovery drive saw him finish eighth post-Marussia penalty, but I’d imagine he was somewhat annoyed the Safety Car came out just as he’d closed back up to the tail of the field following the early stop.
    Maldonado – Out-qualified by Romain and never got a chance to make the start. Although that was probably a good thing.
    Button – Out-qualified by Kevin and got himself involved in an incident with Sergio. Solid drive however.
    Magnussen – Eighth was a fantastic grid slot and did brilliantly to avoid Jean-Eric in the pits. Unlucky to have race somewhat ruined by Kimi and pulled a good but too early move on Jean-Eric, though let him back through and left himself vulnerable to Nico.
    Perez – Incredibly out-qualified Nico but made a mess of the opening lap in collision with Jenson.
    Hulkenberg – Surprisingly beaten in qualifying but pulled an impressive race out to benefit from incidents and keep his tyres together. Move on Magnussen was mega.
    Gutierrez – Threw away Sauber’s first real chance of points with a rookie error.
    Sutil – Threw away any chance of anything with a crash, though admittedly this was probably not entirely his fault.
    Vergne – Brilliant in qualifying with seventh and was running superbly in the race. Let down by the early release from the pits and race ruined completely when exhaust failed.
    Kvyat – Fantastic on his first trip to Monaco, but was beaten in Qualifying after putting it in the wall, though like Sutil perhaps not entirely at fault. Good race ruined like his teammate with an exhaust issue.
    Massa – Only error was being kind enough to pull aside to let Marcus through in qualifying. Recovered brilliantly from the setback and put in a strong drive on a unique strategy to salvage points.
    Bottas – Car seemed nowhere in Qualifying but was running strong in the race – albeit while struggling and with a train behind him – and ultimately retired with a power unit failure.
    Bianchi – Was mega in practice, qualifying, and the race, but let’s not forget. While his performance was phenomenal by scoring Marussia’s first points, he cost himself two more by lining up in the wrong place!
    Chilton – Just no.
    Kobayashi – Qualified 1.6 seconds clear of his teammate and just 2 tenths off of Chilton in a much better Marussia. Was running strongly and probably would have scored points too if not for the damage sustained from the Bianchi overtake/collision.
    Ericsson – Poor in qualifying and his mistake was very rookie-like, but kept his head in the race to equal Caterham’s best result.

    So, judging from that only a few driver’s had a weekend without a mistake or something that rules them out of driver of the weekend running:
    Hamilton, Grosjean, Vergne, Massa and Kobayashi.

    Out of the five, my vote goes to Vergne, because he really did nothing wrong at all and has clearly been cursed with as many car issues and as much bad luck as Vettel this year!

  26. I’ll be certainly a part of minority but my Driver of the weekend goes to Jean-Eric Vergne.

    Has looked very good all through the weekend and after the big teams, he was clearly the driver to pick up the pieces of any misfortunes at the front and indeed it happened. Qualified a fantastic 7th and was heading for a top 5 finish hadn’t had been the team’s eagerness to launch him into the path of Kevin. From there on, his race was spoiled by Renault’s as well as season’s first engine blow up. Good job.

  27. I voted Vergne. The only thing he did wrong was lose a place off the start, other than that he was basically immense and let down by his team and Renault. He’s easily the unluckiest driver in F1 at the moment.

  28. Bianchi was brilliant in qualifying. Out qualified Chilton by 0.7s. Then, starting from the back of the grid to finish in 9th at a circuit like Monaco is absolutely superb. One of the great young talents in the sport and hope he will be in a better car next year.

  29. Without question Bianchi. Brilliantly moved his way forward (with some attrition to aid him) to grab team’s first ever points at the race where it will be noticed. Kobayashi looked like he could have, until Jules past him, and have to commend Ericsson on 11th, also that team’s best. Anyone have 350 million pounds I can use to buy them?

    1. @jrhonf1 – Not quite, but feel free to declare your interest in the F1 Fanatic Grand Prix Team here: https://www.racefans.net/groups/f1/forum/topic/f1-fanatic-grand-prix/

  30. Kimoni Nakamoto (@)
    26th May 2014, 21:45

    Maldonado gets my vote. Easily his most impressive performance to date.

  31. I picked NR because I believe him and the stewards that he did nothing wrong, and even though he did make a mistake I think the pressure is so much bigger for him than, for example, Bianchi, and the fact that NR drove a flawless race, again, with big pressure and LH always right behind him, sealed it for me. I was quite concerned for NR’s start, but he nailed it at exactly the time and race he needed to.

    All that said I fully understand picking Bianchi as the majority have…he drove very very well, but just not under the kind of pressure NR was/is.

    1. Bianchi was under fierce pressure. Imagine if he crashed while in the points. When his engineer came on the radio, telling him that he was in the points, that must have put some extra pressure on him.

  32. I strugle to understand how Rosberg gets so many votes with such a “Cheap” win. The pole was what we saw (doesn’t matter if it was on purpose or not), didn’t let Hamilton do his last lap that probably would be pole judging for the 1st sector and this season’s pole history, and during the race, the only person that could have challenged him had a eye problem…

    It was a easy win almost any driver could have achieved that win with that car. Rosberg only did a good start, after that, the only threats he could have would be the end of each stint that never hapened: First becaus of the safety car, and last, hamilton had eye problem.

    1. And I don’t think it is nearly as easy as you make F1 sound to lead a race at Monaco against a formidable teammate and not make a mistake, including at the start which has created a few problems for NR. He nailed his start, and he flawlessly stayed in front of LH all day, under big pressure, including having to adapt to minding his fuel usage.

      1. I’ll give you the start, that was the only key point, other than that, with today’s tires and rules, drivers just wait for the end of the stint to attack. First sting, it was safety car, and the end of second stint, Hamilton had the eye problem, so rosber never had a real attack from lewis

  33. Bianchi was under fierce pressure. Imagine if he crashed while in the points. When his engineer came on the radio, telling him that he was in the points, that must have put some extra pressure on him.

    1. Please delete

  34. I think, Ricciardo.

  35. Bianchi was on fire this weekend. I wouldn’t usually say it but Maurussia was my pick for Monaco. Let’s just hope that these points finishes can keep going. Chilton on the other hand needs to just stop while he’s got room to dig himself outta the hole he got into. He’s slow as and needs to quit. ASAP

  36. About Kobayashi’s disapproval of Bianchi’s move:

    1. First off, the king of banzaiosity should actually be appreciating banzai moves, not criticising them.
    2. Looking at the replay, Bianchi does sort of appear to be Hail Mary-ish with his dive, but once he was alongside Kamui, the first contact is 50-50, because Kobayashi did not expect the Marussia to be there. But seriously, once the corner opened up, did Kobayashi expect Bianchi to vanish? He’s asking for it, converging into the corner for a second, and a third time. The move itself might have been a bit brave, bordering on foolhardy, but the fact that, halfway into the corner, Bianchi held the inside line and was alongside Kamui meant that the move was done and dusted. Kobayashi had no business converging at the exit, but he clearly didn’t open up the steering as much as he would normally have.

  37. It was between Bianchi and Ricciardo for me.. but had to go with Jules. I don’t remember the last team the poorest team on the grid had a driver who fought that bravely

    1. 2008 FI’s debut year in F1 adrian sutil was running 4th when kimi hit him. One of the less funded team at that time.

      1. Yeah I clearly remember that…. that race made me a fan of Sutil. (Up until this season at least)

        But he didn’t finish with any points…

  38. Hulk because of:
    1) That move on Mangussen; and
    2) 11th to 5th is a spectacular effort.

  39. Has to be Jules Bianchi – managed to keep going under big pressure from much faster cars for most of the race, and was there for the steal when others got it wrong! Would’ve put Nico Hulkenberg otherwise due to again outperforming the car and staying ahead of Jenson Button for so long on those old tyres.

  40. With bad quali and the clumsy move on Magnussen he’s obviously not the DOTW but I still voted for Kimi just out of sympathy. Probably one of the unluckiest races in his career.

  41. Has to be Jules !! Though others like Rosberg, Ricciardo, Hulkenberg, Grosjean, Button and Raikkonan impressed me.

  42. Bianchi will win by a landslide but i’m slightly reluctant to vote for him after reading some of Kobayashi’s comments after the race. Was there a 2nd incident between the two at the chicane?

    http://www.planetf1.com/driver/18227/9326557/Kamui-blames-Jules-for-lost-points

    “As we went into the chicane after the tunnel, Bianchi hit me on the side and I had to cut through the chicane to avoid more contact,” he explained.

    Either way, i know it’s Monaco but the overtake we saw was really a bit messy – nudge on the way in, loses the rear and hits Kobayashi again on the way past. If his suspension had broken at this point we would all be saying how he’s being too rash this year and having too many incidents. The margins between hero and zero i guess.

    Having said that, i struggle to find any driver who had a clean and impressive weekend. Rosberg – good first qualy lap but very lucky to get away with his mistake on the second run (i don’t think it was planned). Hamilton – not good enough on first qualy lap. Ricciardo – good qualy and race but poor start. Alonso – great qualy, poor start, quiet race. Raikkonen – great start, unlucky not to podium but ultimately lost patience after the setback and made a clumsy move on Magnussen. I could go on…. So in the end my vote goes to Bianchi anyway ;)

    p.s. Disagree on Chilton’s contribution being moving over for Bianchi while being lapped. His main contribution was puncturing Raikkonen’s tyre under the safety car, putting him out of position and eventually resulting in Kimi taking both himself and Magnussen into the wall and behind Bianchi. Funny how things work out.

  43. Huge credit to Bianchi for his 9th place, but I voted Alonso – he destroyed Raikkonen in qualifying and then avoided the dramas ahead and behind to finish in an unheralded 4th, the best he could get out of that Ferrari.

  44. Marcus Ericsson for mine. 11th in his first F1 gig in the principle is something that shouldn’t be overlooked.

  45. Bianchi for me.

  46. I think there are 2 possible drivers of the weekend either Vettel for his masterful control (self control that is) hearing the radio message where he almost losses it at the team for another breakdown and just manages to save it at the end. Or Bianchi for finally getting a new team into the points shame he lost out on 8th but still 2 whole points should make Marussia’s season.

    1. @ck2000 Wish Lewis could learn Vettel’s self-control on the radio but I gave my vote to Jules. I know some luck was involved and wish I had an option to give a thumbs up to the Hulk too.

  47. Bianchi. He dragged a Marussia to 8th on the road, despite having served a 5s penalty for no reason, and finished 9th with another 5s after the race. Honorable mentions to Ericson, who dragged his Caterham to 11th, Grosjean, who endured a first lap puncture, and Hulkenberg.

  48. No-one stood out for me. Alonso’s quali lap was fantastic, but a lacklustre race. Ricciardo looked full of flare in practice, but again seemed to leave a bit on the table at the start and later in the race. Hulk qualified poorly, but made up for it later. Bianchi made the most of attrition (which is no disgrace, but nothing above and beyond). Rosberg and Hamilton didn’t do themselves any favours. I chose Kvyat because despite not having driven the track in any formula before, he still impressed with speed and confidence. His accident takes a little of the shine off, but he minimised the damage well, reported to the team responsibly, and got on with it afterwards. I’d give him an 8/10.

  49. Wait, Nico won’t be the DOTW?! Ok, I give up…

  50. Rosberg was flawless, but the suspects he had to block Hamilton’s lap to keep the advantage show he wasn’t perfect, because I believe Nico can beat Lewis on pure pace when he’s on form. Hamilton himself was good but even if he was the victim of a cheat he could’ve done more than what he did to reverse the fortunes at Mercedes. Ricciardo was impressive as usual, Hulkenberg during the race made up for his below-par qualifying. I’d like to vote for Vettel every time he has a car failure because despite the awful luck he’s having he keeps a professional behaviour and does the best he can.
    But today I must give my vote to Bianchi. I mean, hats off for scoring Marussia’s first points! Despite two penalties, which were the team’s fault, he kept his head on and even made some crucial overtakes, not simply staying there waiting for others’ retirements.

  51. @tamtamvideo
    27th May 2014, 16:57

    Driver of the day was Max Chilton – his contact with Kimi gave a new podium (direct impact on the race outcome) + put pressure on Kobayashi (who was well in the race ahead of Bianchi) by Kimi’s attempts which eventually allowed the cheeky move from BIA at Rascasse + put pressure on GUT (same place mistake under Kimi’s pressure) + put Kimi in another driving style mode to recover places (ending up in his attempt on MAG) – all these are better arguments than getting a points finishing position by eluding a 5 sec stop&go and adding 5 sec instead of 30 which might have been during race (not SC because would bring delays from blue flags too)

    1. @tamtamvideo

      A 5 second stop & go penalty isn’t supposed to include a drive through the pitlane. It is supposed to be a flat 5 second penalty, that is all. So ideally it is to be served at your next pitstop, and you wait 5 seconds after (or before, not sure) the tyres have been changed. If you have already completed all your stops then the 5 seconds is added at the end, because it isn’t intended to put you 30 seconds behind.

      It got complicated in this case because the only planned stop happened during a safety car, where it turns out you aren’t allowed to serve your 5 second penalty – so they had it re-issued. So no, Bianchi didn’t elude a 5 sec stop&go, he actually served it twice, once in the race (during safety car though), and once added to his time at the end. Also he was not the first car to stop in the wrong grid slot, so he’s not entirely to blame for the penalty in the first place.

      1. @tamtamvideo
        1st June 2014, 23:28

        No argument on the regulation you pointed out, but for the sake of the argument what would you say if HAM started on the grid on the same level with ROS (as BIA and CHI did back there and got the 5 sec stop & go penalty), then came first in T1 and from there on cruised the whole GP and eventually building enough space between him and ROS and taking the penalti the very moment SUT crashed (that is before SC came in)… I just proved how he might have won the Monaco GP (just as BIA scored that 8th place demoted to 9th afterwards…). Pure speculation, yet…

  52. Paul (@frankjaeger)
    28th May 2014, 18:44

    I think i’m gonna give it to Jules but I really think think his performance in the race is being sensationalised by people. He got very lucky with other drivers’ errors and made a dogey move on Kobayashi which I still don’t know how to evaluate.

  53. Has to go to Bianchi. Great racking by him and marussia deserve it.

  54. I voted for Bianchi, I don’t think I have to explain why as most have also made that decision.

    Hulkenberg had another good race and after yet another Grand Prix I find myself praising Ricciardo and Kvyat.

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