Vote for your 2014 Austrian GP Driver of the Weekend

2014 Austrian Grand Prix

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

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

Austrian Grand Prix driver-by-driver

Red Bull

Sebastian Vettel – Failed to make it to Q3 for the third time this year and things didn’t get much better in the race. An engine glitch left him a lap down, then he nudged Gutierrez and damaged his front wing, shortly after which the team retired his car to save the engine.

Daniel Ricciardo – “Daniel was quicker in turn five and has been quicker in turn two all weekend,” Vettel acknowledged after his team mate took fifth on the grid. But a poor start saw Ricciardo run wide at turn one and he was later demoted a place by Kvyat when he ran wide avoiding Vettel. Rescued some pride for Red Bull in their home race by passing Hulkenberg for eighth on the final lap.

Mercedes

Nico Rosberg – Lined up behind the Williams pair, blaming poor balance for his lack of pace on his first lap, after which his team mate’s mistake kept him from making an improvement. Couldn’t make a pass stick on Bottas at the start but jumped both Williams drivers at the first round of pit stops, after which a win looked likely. He had to bide his time behind Perez and was fortunate not to lose more ground by running wide at turn one. Just kept out of Hamilton’s reach to take his third win of the year.

Lewis Hamilton – As in Canada he looked a good bet for pole position until Q3. This time he made two mistakes, one at turn eight on his first lap and another at turn two on his second, leaving him ninth on the grid. A superb start rectified that and he ended the first lap in fourth after picking off Alonso. Quicker pit stops might have helped him jump ahead of the Williams drivers more quickly but they wouldn’t have got him ahead of Rosberg. Whether it might have made for a closer fight at the finish is another matter, but Hamilton also had to keep on top of high brake temperatures.

Ferrari

Fernando Alonso – Pleasantly surprised to line up fourth after some problems in qualifying including a mistake on his first run in Q3. He dropped one place to fifth at the chequered flag but he was never likely to keep Hamilton behind, and he was keeping Massa honest in the closing stages.

Kimi Raikkonen – Not much to celebrate in his 200th race. He locked up and damaged his left-front tyre during his final run in Q3, leaving him eighth. He gained a place at the start but 15 laps proved too much for his rear tyres in the first stint and a slow in-lap cost him several places. He was also struggling with his brakes, and a few too many trips onto the run-off at turn eight resulted in a warning during the race. He picked up a point for tenth.

Lotus

Romain Grosjean – Unhappy with his car, he had a messy final lap in Q2 and his team elected to start him from the pit lane so they could make further changes to his car. Had difficulties with tyre graining during the race on his way to 14th place.

Pastor Maldonado – Not for the first time this year a problem with his power unit interfered with his run plan on Friday. Nonetheless he out-qualified Grosjean for the first time this year and seemed to cope better with the E22’s problems, finishing 12th.

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McLaren

Jenson Button – A braking problem in final practice limited to four laps and left him on the back foot in qualifying, where he failed to reach Q3. From 11th on the grid he might have had a good race using the soft tyre but he lost ground at the start for which he blamed Hulkenberg: “there was no real need for that as there was enough room for both of us”. There was no flying end to his race this time and he ended it where he started.

Kevin Magnussen – Claimed his best starting position since Australia with sixth, less than five-hundredths of a second behind Ricciardo. He was still there with half-a-dozen laps to go but was powerless to prevent Perez, on a different tyre strategy, breezing past him.

Force India

Nico Hulkenberg – Fell foul of the track limits at turn eight during qualifying and had his best Q3 time deleted, leaving him tenth. His team mate had better pace on the alternative tyre strategy and Hulkenberg had to let him by at mid-race – though he didn’t understand the order from the team at first. Lost another place on the final lap to Ricciardo.

Sergio Perez – Qualified 11th, started 15th after his five-place grid penalty was applied and Grosjean’s car moved into the pits. Made a great getaway and crucially got ahead of Button, who also started on the soft tyres. That meant Perez hit the front when the leaders pitted, and he stayed there for 11 laps. A final attacking stint on the super-soft tyres saw him pick off Magnussen for sixth, but Alonso was too far up the road.

Sauber

Adrian Sutil – Sauber’s race was a comedy of errors – Sutil was accidentally told to stop when the team were trying to halt Gutierrez’s departure from the pits with a loose wheel. His weekend had begun badly when a trip across the kerb at turn eight during Q1 cost him a chance to progress beyond the first stage of qualifying.

Esteban Gutierrez – Well off Sutil’s pace in qualifying, his race was ruined by the pit stop error and he was the last of the runners when the chequered flag fell, seemingly unable to pass Ericsson’s Caterham.

Toro Rosso

Jean-Eric Vergne – Didn’t get on top of the car as well as his team mate did and failed to accompany him into Q3. was running 13th when his brakes failed, causing his fifth car-related retirement in eight races.

Daniil Kvyat – One of few drivers to have raced at the circuit recently, Kvyat was a surprise fourth in final practice and claimed his best qualifying position of the year so far with seventh. Lost a few places at the start but seized his chance to take ninth off Ricciardo. However his race was ended by a suspension failure.

Williams

Felipe Massa – Pinched pole position off his team mate with a lap which, though untidy in places, was cleaner than any of his rivals managed. He led convincingly at the start but a late first pit stop dropped him behind Rosberg. Hamilton also demoted Massa as he came out of the pits, the Williams driver seemingly not spotting the Mercedes coming at him from such a long way back. Bottas also jumped him at this point, and in the closing phase of the race Williams were more preoccupied with keeping him ahead of Alonso.

Valtteri Bottas – Might have taken his first pole position had it not been for a mistake at turn six. But in the race a quick first pit stop helped him get ahead of Massa. Bottass took the fight to Rosberg in the middle of the race when the Mercedes driver made a mistake, but Williams’ strategy meant it was doubtful he was ever going to finish higher than third. His pace at the end of the race showed they could have been more aggressive.

Marussia

Jules Bianchi – Believed he could have been closer to the Saubers in qualifying with a clean lap. Using a single stop strategy he passed Kobayashi towards the end of the race and was catching Grosjean’s ailing Lotus in the final laps.

Max Chilton – Lost some track time in final practice but given his three-place grid penalty it was always unlikely he was going to start anywhere other than last. He improved on that during the race by getting ahead of Ericsson, and was closing on Koabayashi at the end.

Caterham

Kamui Kobayashi – Ended his second practice session slightly early with a braking problem. Said his qualifying effort was “one of the best laps of the season”, but couldn’t translate that into a Bianchi-beating performance.

Marcus Ericsson – Came to a stop in first practice due to an ERS-H control unit fault, but was running again in the second session. However in qualifying only one of his four flying laps counted as he kept running wide at turn eight. Fell behind Chilton in the race but kept Gutierrez behind.

Qualifying and race results summary

DriverStartedGap to team mateLaps leading team matePittedFinishedGap to team mate
Sebastian Vettel12th+0.163s0/342
Daniel Ricciardo5th-0.163s34/3428th
Lewis Hamilton9th+0.118s3/7122nd+1.932s
Nico Rosberg3rd-0.118s68/7121st-1.932s
Fernando Alonso4th-1.51s70/7125th-29.224s
Kimi Raikkonen8th+1.51s1/71210th+29.224s
Romain Grosjean22nd+0.703s0/70214th+61.135s
Pastor Maldonado13th-0.703s70/70212th-61.135s
Jenson Button11th+0.307s34/71211th+18.935s
Kevin Magnussen6th-0.307s37/7127th-18.935s
Nico Hulkenberg10th-0.13s14/7129th+15.591s
Sergio Perez15th+0.13s57/7126th-15.591s
Adrian Sutil16th-0.524s67/69213thNot on same lap
Esteban Gutierrez17th+0.524s2/69219thNot on same lap
Jean-Eric Vergne14th+0.583s0/242
Daniil Kvyat7th-0.583s24/241
Felipe Massa1st-0.087s15/7124th+9.186s
Valtteri Bottas2nd+0.087s56/7123rd-9.186s
Jules Bianchi18th-0.363s69/69115th-34.088s
Max Chilton21st+0.363s0/69117th+34.088s
Kamui Kobayashi19th-1s56/69116th-9.546s
Marcus Ericsson20th+1s13/69218th+9.546s

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 Austrian Grand Prix weekend?

  • Marcus Ericsson (0%)
  • Kamui Kobayashi (0%)
  • Max Chilton (0%)
  • Jules Bianchi (0%)
  • Valtteri Bottas (42%)
  • Felipe Massa (4%)
  • Daniil Kvyat (2%)
  • Jean-Eric Vergne (0%)
  • Adrian Sutil (0%)
  • Esteban Gutierrez (0%)
  • Nico Hulkenberg (0%)
  • Sergio Perez (14%)
  • Kevin Magnussen (2%)
  • Jenson Button (0%)
  • Pastor Maldonado (0%)
  • Romain Grosjean (0%)
  • Kimi Raikkonen (0%)
  • Fernando Alonso (12%)
  • Lewis Hamilton (15%)
  • Nico Rosberg (9%)
  • Daniel Ricciardo (0%)
  • Sebastian Vettel (0%)

Total Voters: 616

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2014 Austrian Grand Prix

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Image © Daimler/Hoch Zwei, Force India, Williams/LAT

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Keith Collantine
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66 comments on “Vote for your 2014 Austrian GP Driver of the Weekend”

  1. perez 16 to 6 impressive……….

    1. Ok
      Freaking Out !!!!!
      Mark Webber on the podium !!!!!!!!

      Woooohooooo

  2. I voted for Alonso. Not his fan, but he really grabbed opportunities, that were presented during the weekend. He qualified 4th and finished 5th and it’s hard to imagine anyone finishing better in this Ferrari. His performance looks even more impressive comparing to Raikkonen.

    It seems that he is doomed to demonstrate his impressive performances in a dog of a car.

    1. @Osvaldas31 Agreed, I voted for Alonso as well. Mercedes and Williams seemed to be unbeatable this weekend so the Spaniard once again could not have done better.

      To me Alonso is the unsung hero of 2014. It would be such a delight to see him fight for the title in a third Mercedes…

    2. I voted Alonso also. It was a fairly subdued performance in terms of lacking the headline-grabbing moves, but he quietly ground out a very solid result considering the relative competitiveness of his car. Good qualifying and a typically good race.

  3. A case could be made for Rosberg but I went with Alonso this weekend. Good in qualifying and consistent in the race. I don’t think he could’ve done more with the package he had. Props to Rosberg, Kvyat and Magnussen, though.

  4. One of the hardest choices this season, could of easily given my vote to Bottas or Hamilton but I think Perez deserves the majority of the credit followed very closely by Bottas. I enjoy weekends where the choice isn’t obvious.

  5. No one driver had an especially great weekend. I’m tempted to go with Perez because he outqualified the ever-impressive Hulkenberg and finished 6th after starting 15th.

    1. I’m tempted to go with Perez because he outqualified the ever-impressive Hulkenberg

      Nope.

  6. I voted Roserg. Honorable mentions to Alonso, Bottas and Perez. I dont understand all the votes for Hamilton, sure his race was good, but this is DotWeekend, and he failed to even set a time in Q3.

    1. @austus and except for a good start his race was very un-Hamilton.

      1. petebaldwin (@)
        23rd June 2014, 13:53

        I can understand votes for Hamilton… An amazing first lap followed by decisive moves when he got the change. His pass on Bottas was vital to put pressure on Rosberg but he just couldn’t find the pace to get onto him early enough.

        1. the first lap didn’t involve amazing driving but – his car was just better then those around him, he just steered it through.

  7. I went for the driver who not only was notably better than his world champion team mate in qualifying, but in the race too. I went for Kevin Magnussen. Only really made one mistake all weekend, and that was letting Perez past too easily. I would have gone for Perez or Bottas but they were outqualified by their team mates and this is Driver of the Weekend, not Driver of the Race.

    Honourable mentions also to the Mercedes drivers, Kvyat, Alonso and Kobayashi.

    1. Good choice.

      1. It is a good choice, and he is being largely underrepresented now I look at the results…

    2. Once Kevin can do that to Jenson every weekend it’s definitely time to retire….. 2015 might be a swansong for him if he’s still around.

  8. LATG (@lotus-grosjean)
    23rd June 2014, 13:39

    Kvyat for me

  9. Bottas, brilliant Q, just missed out on pole because of his experienced teammate. Did not let things hang coming race day, defending from Rosberg into T1, taking back P2 in T2. Had very good pace to keep Hamilton behind in his second stint and managed to finish well ahead of Massa. In the last few laps he even was the fastest car on track. His race would have been even more brilliant if he somehow got the fastest lap aswell. First podium for this lad, hope many more to come for Williams and him.

  10. It is Bottas for me. P2 on the grid, P3 in the race, super job. He was on it all weekend and only a small mistake in Q3 kept him off of pole, though that is not enough to take this award from him in my book.

  11. Hesitated between Alonso and Pérez, but the former got my vote, because as much as her had a lot less to do than the latter to deliver the perfect race performance, which they both did, Alonso was also faultless, and for once, great in qualifying, whereas Pérez made a mistake with which he missed Q3.

    Impeccable performances.

    Rosberg’s stable weekend is easy to overlook, while Massa, Bottas and Hamilton were all fantastic at some point of the event, but all of them made crucial mistakes at some points.

  12. petebaldwin (@)
    23rd June 2014, 13:50

    Really difficult one as plenty of drivers did well but none were perfect…

    Rosberg had a good race but wasn’t faultless and could have won by a much bigger margin.

    Hamilton had a great race but let himself down in Q3. He made some decisive moves (ie on Bottas) when he needed to and had a fantastic start.

    Bottas did well but Williams poor strategy let him and Massa down. Probably made the least mistakes other than being caught napping by Hamilton after the pit stop.

    Massa was disappointing after a great quali.

    Perez did well in a car that wasn’t as strong as those he was competing with….

    I’d probably go for Bottas but it’s a tough one.

  13. Gideon Hadi (@)
    23rd June 2014, 13:58

    Bottas, a decent qualifying, which could gone better if he did not make a mistake. But he maximised every opporpunity in the race, he able to jumped teammate and hold Hamilton for couple of Laps which was very impressive considering the speed of Mercedes. His pace also showed that he could win the race if the team had a better strategy. Lewis, Fernando, and Perez also a honourable mentions

  14. This race I really wanted to give my vote to Kvyat. Best starting position of hi career with an impressive 7th. He avoided trouble in qualifying, and ouperformed greatly his teammate. Good start on sunday, he might have lost a position to the super-fast Mercedes driven by a recovering Hamilton, but he managed to pull a brilliant overtaking on Ricciardo’s Red Bull, none the less. But his early retirement means we will never know how he would have finished the race.

    Oh, the hell with it, my vote goes to him anyway!

  15. Tough call.. Most people messed up somewhere along the way.. Either with mistakes in Quali (HAM BOT), poor starts (ROS, KVY) or falling asleep at the wheel and letting Hamilton sneak passed (MAS).

    Alonso, had a great weekend, 2nd for me was Bottas, his quali was still good enough to go ahead of the Mercs and he was right on the pace, ready to pounce on the Mercs in the race.. That was exactly what Williams wanted, no risks but applying pressure.

  16. Bottas for mine. The onky driver throughout to have a ‘clean & successful’ weekend, unlike Mercedes (Quali), Massa (Race), and Kvyat (Suspension Failure).

  17. Chris (@tophercheese21)
    23rd June 2014, 14:09

    For me it was very very close between Bottas and Hamilton.
    But for me this weekend it’s Bottas, as stunning as Hamilton’s first lap was, he did pretty much as expected and brought home the 1-2.

    Bottas however was able to stay with Rosberg for most of the second stint even with Williams running a strange strategy, and the Mercedes visually apparent pace benefit.

    A tremendous weekend all round for him. Qualified on the the front row, and then only lost one place in the race to take his maiden podium. Fantastic stuff!

  18. Would’ve gone for Vettel but I think not making it to Q3 was his fault, so Bottas.

    1. Joe (@lllljoellll)
      24th June 2014, 23:25

      Wow! Vettel, I rate Vettel the worst driver this weekend… May I ask why would you put him as best??

  19. Driver of the Weekend should go to someone performs to his maximum all weekend, right?

    So, why are people voting for Bottas, Rosberg, Hamilton, and to some extent Perez?

    Bottas – while having a brilliant race – messed up his final Qualifying lap and therefore blew any chance of his first pole position. Even if he hadn’t made the mistake though he was still behind Massa on the lap up to that point, so he would still have been out-qualified. Yes his race was good, but as weekend’s go his wasn’t the best.

    Rosberg – Admittedly was caught out by the yellow flags on his second Quali run but his first wasn’t good enough to beat either of the Williams cars and in a car that’s clearly faster he really should have done.

    Hamilton – Made two errors in Qualifying when he really should have taken pole.

    Perez – Ok, so we all now his qualifying isn’t the best, but he was still out qualified by his team mate.

    So in my book, it’s between two men: Fernando Alonso, and Kevin Magnussen. Both really extracted the maximum out of their cars throughout the weekend and comprehensively beat their team mates.

    However my vote goes to Alonso for doing so well to get so close to the pole sitting Williams during the race in a car that really has no right in doing so.

    1. I think that is a very reasonable analysis, however, as someone who voted for NR I’ll defend him by saying I don’t think it is fair to blame the guy for not beating the Williams in quali on his second to last hot run. It’s not like that was a mistake on his part, and the Williams’ were obviously on it in Austria.

    2. Joe (@lllljoellll)
      24th June 2014, 23:39

      I think you have a point there with Alonso, that red truck is just so weak it’s impressive he finished 5th however Magnussen was a joke defending against Perez and he ran wide once, just like Rosberg, and while Perez didn’t get a very good qualy result, he fought his way to 6th finishing ahead of the “next big thing” (Hulk) <—sarcasm right there.

  20. Paul (@frankjaeger)
    23rd June 2014, 14:38

    Gave it to Hamilton here.

    I probably really should have gone Bottas but I can’t ignore Hamilton fantastic 1st lap gains. Additionally, his reactivity when the situation called for it was really impressive

  21. Didn’t took me long to make the obvious choice: Valtteri Bottas.

    The deciding argument:
    Career-best qualifying position, career-best race position. First-ever first row start, first-ever podium finish.

  22. Kvyat; his performance in quali was exceptional, and was running in an extremely strong position until his supension failed.
    I am very surprised more people didn’t vote for him

  23. Went for Perez. Overall, I really like what he did in the last 2 races… except for the crash, of course.

    Notable drives: Alonso and Bottas.

    I don’t quite get that amount of votes for HAM, he was kinda mediocre all the weekend, except for the start. ROS beat him most of the weekend and in most important parts of it (Quali and Race), the only glorious moment being the start… but not that glorious in my opinion when his car is miles away in front of the competition. Finishing 2nd from 9th is no wonder (we’ve seen a lot better than that more times) as almost everybody realized after 10 laps of the race that Williams don’t seem to have the race speed to keep Mercedes behind.

  24. Tough, but I don’t know how people can vote for Lewis when he effectively blew his weekend in qualifying and let Rosberg pull further away from him. Bottas was good in the race but scrappy in qualiy, the opposite of Massa. I think Perez’s strategies are flattering his pace, he’ no much for the Hulk over one lap. So, it’s probably Nico or Fernando, but because of the significance of Rosberg’s race, for the bigger prize, it’s him for me.

  25. Bottas, first podium, very steady race drive, lost a place on the first lap and got it back. Locked out front row in qualy with Massa. A great weekend for a promising young driver.

    Honorable mention to to Hamilton, he was DOTW on the first lap only. Also honorable mention to Perez and Alonso.

  26. Really wanted to give my vote to Perez for his impressive 16th to 6th drive, which was particularly special if you compare it to Button’s attempt at doing the same strategy in a faster car than the Force India (Magnussen handled Hulkenberg with ease all race).

    BUT what Alonso did with the red tractor was impressive. It was a sea of Mercedes powered cars, but somehow Alonso was in the mix, and not far from the second Williams. Best driver in the grid, and I don’t even like him.

    1. Joe (@lllljoellll)
      24th June 2014, 23:55

      I agree with you almost entirely since I really liked Alonso’s race and enjoyed watching him finally top 5 again, and Perez great job as well, but I just have a sweet spot for new podium grabbers…Congrats to Bottas.

  27. WilliamB (@william-brierty)
    23rd June 2014, 16:54

    Drive of qualifying? Unquestionably Kvyat. Drive of the race? Probably Hamilton. Driver of the weekend? Errr…Bot…er…Alonso: got the best out the car in both qualifying and the race, he couldn’t have done anymore.

  28. For Lewis and Nico this is the forth consecutive race where the guy ahead in Q2 was beaten by his team mate in Q3

  29. Difficult decision, really. Nobody really comes to mind initially, so I really had to take an approach by sorting them out. Ended up with Magnussen and Alonso, went with Alonso, as I thought Magnussen could have given Perez more of a fight to deserve DotW.

  30. Hamilton, was faster the whole weekend, except in quali…

  31. Got to be Bottas for his overall consistency throughout the weekend, ever since FP3 he wasn’t outside of the top 3 cars and even though Massa out – qualified him he was able to stay with the two Mercs for the majority of the race.

  32. Botas, without doubts. A great race for him.

  33. Bottas. At least he tried to fight with Mercedes. Great drive.
    Alonso was impressive too, but it happens regularly. Perez also drove well, but I don’t think he would do that good starting from the top 10.

  34. I’m going for Bottas – a breakthrough that’s been coming for a while now. Sounds like a sick car denied him a result like this in Canada. Although Massa beat him to pole (must have an eye on that FIA Pole Position Trophy…) it meant the attention was largely away from him, and I thought he was the most error-free of all the front-runners. Getting Rosberg back at the second corner was a nice moment.

  35. Had to be Perez for me, both mercedes drivers were worthy of it particularly Hamilton but their car is so good at every race bar canada that they don’t stand out although i came close to voting for Ham. Bottas deserves a nod too for getting first podium but his race wasn’t exciting more a case of the car coming good under him which I for one am happy to see. Perez totally bounced back from a crash which cost him and his team dear points especially now williams are producing better drives and 16th to 6th has to win it for me.

  36. Perez was as excellent as he has recently been in the race, so much my fav Hulkenberg is actually becoming less of a surprise with his consitency compared to Perez’s long – but fast – stints. Hamilton had one hell of a first lap, but then had little to do against Rosberg, who was also very good, as the pair were too evenly matched. Massa was brilliant in qualifying but, though always within sight of Bottas and on the same lap times, outshone in the race. Alonso hailed his best race of the year but made no significant progress as the leaders had too big an advantage and his rivals hit trouble. I say Bottas was the best driver of the weekend, who qualified 2nd and finished 3rd.

    1. Joe (@lllljoellll)
      25th June 2014, 0:09

      “Perez’s long – but fast – stints”
      Sorry I’m just so happy somebody actually posted that, I think I’m about to cry… I’m just not used to that, most people will just demerit Checo saying “Oh he is good with his tyres” but one thing is just being gentle on the rubbers and another is being gentle on the rubbers while setting fastest laps and fast pace out there…
      As for the rest of your post, I couldn’t agree more…

  37. Alonso. Fifth with the Fiat is an impressive accomplishment.

  38. I voted for Nico, I felt at the beginning of the year he was too nice and friendly and was subconsciously playing second fiddle to HAM, I believe it more when he took pole in Bahrain but allowed HAM to pass him on the 1st corner ,even though he could have easily pushed him wide and maintained 1st place, HAM however has been going for it since day one. In the same race, he pushed Nico wide several times near the end as they battled for position 1 and he didn’t even feel the need to apologize, he was racing and it didn’t matter who it was. This happened in China and Spain too and I think this is where Nico finally realized he was playing it too nice.
    From Monaco, he has put his game face on and he is unapologetic and taking it to HAM. I don’t believe he would have celebrated the Monaco pole earlier in the year, but by the time Monaco had reached he had had enough of playing second fiddle.
    The god thing about this is, he seems to match or even better HAM on several occasions, winning pole in Canada was a statement HAM couldn’t ignore, and yesterdays controlled and dominant drive was another strong statement.

    1. As someone pulling for Nico more and more each race, and who voted him for dotw, I think yours is an excellent commentary.

    2. +1. Although I voted for Perez I think Nico is steadily gaining momentum over Lewis. It think if he keeps chipping away and getting those little points advantage, he might really come alive in the later part of the season if there is less pressure on his shoulders.

  39. No doubt for me this week: Alonso. Like so many times, he seems to be the only one able to get the most out of the Ferrari engine. Of course, credit to the top four, especially Bottas, but Alonso was the driver who stood out for me.

  40. I voted for Hamilton.

  41. Perez in my choice. Also good weeekend by Bottas, Rosberg,Magnussen and Hamilton on race only.

  42. I’ve voted for Perez, he recovered from that nasty penalty which by the way he didn’t deserve. At first he went from 15 to 11th wich was crucial. He proved once again how good he is in saving the tyres. The team risked with a different strategy from the rest of the teams by staying with the softs for almost 30 laps, I’m not sure, ok maybe they should have changed earlier but at the end I think it wouldn’t have made any difference. Besides he is outshining his teammate with amazing performances although HULK has more consistency, Perez has had more bad luck, I mean lately he’s more in the spotlight. Anyway he did a superb race, I’m surprised that he is so underrated by most of the people.
    In the second place I’ll put Alonso, handling well the race as always, then Bottas because he had a good weekend and finished it in the podium. Hamilton from 4th to 9th, impressive race and kudos for Nico, first place again and beating Hamilton

  43. Went with Bottas. He proved that he can mix it with the best with a very mature performance.

    Looking forward to him fighting at the front in years to come. The next generation of star drivers will be every bit as good as the current ones, if not better. Cant wait for K Mag, Danny Ric, Bo77as, Hulk and Kvyatt to go head to head.

  44. For me it was down to Perez, Bottas, Sutil, and Maldonado.

    I wasn’t too surprised, (though my idiot self picked against it), that Williams once again was good on a point-and-squirt track. That shouldn’t shock anyone this season anymore. A front-row lockout shouldn’t have been too inconceivable in hindsight. Bottas did his career best, though.

    My vote was Perez, because he hung in to an eighth of a second in qualifying versus his likely overrated teammate, and then made a fair strategy work out best for him. Ideally, SFI would have brought him in three laps earlier for his first stop, and one or two later on his second. It would have made him close enough to Alonso in the closing stages to at least make FOM have to bounce back and forth between the on track action.

    Sutil? Punched above his weight despite driving the Swiss Turtle, and despite his team not knowing how to operate a piece of equipment that they should be familiar with by now.

    Pastor? I’ve been grading on a curve with that driver for the past season and a half, and I’m starting to think he might be able to graduate from the safety scissors soon. Well done, Pastor.

  45. There was only one driver out of all 22 that had a perfect weekend: Fernando Alonso. Yet the majority voted for Bottas who failed in qualifying, losing even to a not very impressive and not mistake free lap of his team-mate. Go figure

  46. Driver of the weekend was another difficult decision for me.

    Out of the Mercedes drivers both made mistakes in qualifying but Hamilton made the bigger mistakes on Saturday, on race performance Hamilton was probably the better of the two but not by enough that would give him the edge over Rosberg for the whole weekend.

    As for the Williams pair, again it was a case of one performed better on Saturday and one on Sunday. Massa was the star of qualifying setting the fastest time when it mattered most, whereas Bottas had been on top but made a mistake on his final run. In the race though Bottas was the more impressive of the two.

    Of the other drivers Alonso managed to make sure he was best of the rest behind the Mercedes and Williams in qualifying and the race and considering the tools available I voted for Alonso as driver of the weekend.

  47. A curious split in this poll – Hamilton got enough votes to finish second but few people left comments explaining why they voted for him.

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