Vote for your Hungarian GP Driver of the Weekend

2014 Hungarian Grand Prix

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

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

Hungarian Grand Prix driver-by-driver

Red Bull

Sebastian Vettel – Having started from second on the grid Vettel had the misfortune to be among the group of drivers who were unable to get into the pits immediately after the first Safety Car deployment. He lost a place to Alonso at the restart, then spun at the end of lap 32 while under pressure from Hamilton, dropping behind the Mercedes and his team mate. After replacing his tyres he ran to the end but slipped to seventh place.

Daniel Ricciardo – Couldn’t get his tyres up to temperature when the rain came during qualifying and took fourth place. Like his team mate he struggled for grip from his off-line starting position, but unlike Vettel he was able to pit immediately under the first Safety Car period, which put him in the lead of the race. When the Safety Car came out again Red Bull opted for the aggressive strategy of bringing him in for a set of soft tyres, guaranteeing another pit stop later on. But the race came to him at the end, and on quicker tyres he passed first Hamilton, then Alonso for his second career win.

Mercedes

Nico Rosberg – Having romped into a ten second lead from pole position – despite a brief off at turn one – there’s no doubt the Safety Car’s arrival on lap eight spoiled his race. But more damage was done when he was passed by Alonso and Vergne at the restart – Rosberg blamed braking problems. It left him with one shot to pass his team mate at the end of the race, and to Rosberg’s irritation he couldn’t make the move stick, though he sportingly accepted Hamilton’s defence was firm but fair.

Lewis Hamilton – Having topped all three practice sessions the timing of his latest technical failure bordered on the farcical. A fire on his car in Q1 condemned him to start from the pit lane. He was caught out by cold brakes at the start, spinning off at turn two and incurring minor front wing damage. Nonetheless he passed Magnussen on lap three, and by the time the Safety Car came out on lap eight he had just taken 13th place off Raikkonen. His restart was exemplary, gaining four places when the track went green again, and after spending a few laps stuck behind Vettel he performed a brilliant around-the-outside pass on Vergne. That allowed him to jump ahead of Rosberg, and given the weekend he’d had there can’t have been much surprise on the Mercedes pit wall when he declined their request to wave his team mate past to maximise the team’s victory chances. Given he spent the final laps of the race on worn tyres unable to pass Alonso, that decision surely ensured he took three points off his team mate.

Ferrari

Fernando Alonso – Impressed in qualifying, taking fifth place, which became fourth after the start. Although he also missed the chance to pit immediately during the first Safety Car, he mastered the slippery conditions at the restart beautifully on slick tyres, passing Rosberg and Vergne. Having been promoted into the lead during the final Safety Car he took on soft tyres for a final, 32-lap run to the finish, and although Ricciardo found a way past he was able to constrain Hamilton and grab second place.

Kimi Raikkonen – Was justifiably frustrated after being eliminated in Q1 when the team decided against making a second run. But like his team mate he made progress in the race by running long stints on the soft tyres – indeed, he went a lap longer than Alonso when his car was heavier – and so by jumping ahead of quicker cars including Vettel he was able to gain ten places for a season-best sixth.

Lotus

Romain Grosjean – “I made a mistake when I was trying to keep the tyres warm,” said Grosjean after crashing out at turn four during the first Safety Car period. “Unfortunately, I touched the white line and spun and that was it.”

Pastor Maldonado – Has even more experience of his car breaking down in Q1 than Hamilton does – once again it was the power unit that let him down. Having started at the back he gained a few places before dropping back on lap five. He hit Bianchi on lap 17 and fell to last place, but running two long stints on softs at the end at least helped him regain 13th place.

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McLaren

Jenson Button – It’s not hard to understand Button’s deep disappointment after his team placed too much faith in reports further rain was coming. He was the first driver into the pits when the Safety Car came out, and putting him on intermediates again while everyone else switched to slicks meant a huge opportunity was wasted.

Kevin Magnussen – Caught out by the moisture in Q3 and crashed heavily at turn one, forcing him to start from the pit lane. He didn’t pit during the first Safety Car period, so when he came in to remove his intermediates a few laps later he fell to last place. He made his way back through the field at a similar rate to Button, but ended up out of the points.

Force India

Nico Hulkenberg – As at Silverstone the Force India’s sensitivity to the wind was a problem for Hulkenberg, but nonetheless he got into Q3. His race went awry after the restart – having passed Vettel he ran wide at turn five, losing three places. He then took a look at his team mate on the inside of the final corner but ran wide and clipped Perez’s car, spinning off into retirement.

Sergio Perez – Made one of the best saves of the race when he kept his car pointing the right way after being assaulted by Hulkenberg. Unfortunately he couldn’t manage the same when he got onto the kerb at the exit of the last corner a few laps later, which fired him into the pit wall and out of the race.

Sauber

Adrian Sutil – Started 11th, which was the team’s best qualifying result so far this year. “My engineer and myself worked perfectly together,” he said. “This result is very important considering our current situation.” He finished in the same position, less than a second away from taking what would have been Sauber’s first point of the season. This was despite being queued up behind his team mate in the pits during the first Safety Car period.

Esteban Gutierrez – Got ahead of his team mate at the start, and would have had a shot at the top ten had his Energy Recovery System not failed just before half-distance.

Toro Rosso

Jean-Eric Vergne – Can usually be relied upon to produce something special in the wet, and so it proved. He took advantage of Rosberg’s delay behind Magnussen to pass the Mercedes and ran second for ten laps. Then did 36 laps – more than half the race distance – on one set of mediums to finish ninth.

Daniil Kvyat – Stalled on the grid before the formation lap, which was the beginning of a miserable race. “The toughest race I’ve ever had,” he said on the radio after crossing the line in 14th, one lap down.

Williams

Felipe Massa – Said he lost time in traffic during qualifying, but nonetheless started in sixth place. Promoted to second thanks to the early Safety Car, he took the unusual route of running two stints on the medium tyre to take fifth place.

Valtteri Bottas – Lost out badly during the first Safety Car period, his initial misfortune compounded by a slow pit stop which dropped him from second to eleventh. Lacked pace on the medium tyre and was passed by Magnussen, and despite a significant pace advantage over Vettel at the end of the race he remained stuck behind the Red Bull.

Marussia

Jules Bianchi – The weekend began well as he made it into Q2 at Raikkonen’s expense. In the race Maldonado’s assault left him with “terrible balance problems” for over 50 laps. Even so he still beat Chilton to the flag.

Max Chilton – Wasn’t able to take advantage of his team mate’s problems to finish in front of the other car.

Caterham

Kamui Kobayashi – Did well to avoid getting caught up in the Maldonado/Bianchi collision. That presented him a chance to get a Caterham home in front of a Marussia – but a fuel system problem ended his race just seven laps later.

Marcus Ericsson – Way off Kobayashi’s pace in qualifying, and spun into a barrier early in the race. “It was quite a good race up until the point where I crashed on lap seven,” was his rather optimistic assessment.

Qualifying and race results summary

DriverStartedGap to team mateLaps leading team matePittedFinishedGap to team mate
Sebastian Vettel2nd-0.19s17/7027th+40.964s
Daniel Ricciardo4th+0.19s53/7031st-40.964s
Lewis Hamilton22nd39/7023rd-0.504s
Nico Rosberg1st31/7034th+0.504s
Fernando Alonso5th-0.705s68/7022nd-26.266s
Kimi Raikkonen16th+0.705s2/7026th+26.266s
Romain Grosjean14th10/101
Pastor Maldonado20th0/10313th
Jenson Button7th-0.083s68/70310th-11.185s
Kevin Magnussen21st+0.083s2/70212th+11.185s
Nico Hulkenberg9th-0.564s13/141
Sergio Perez12th+0.564s1/141
Adrian Sutil11th-0.124s2/32211th
Esteban Gutierrez13th+0.124s30/321
Jean-Eric Vergne8th-0.069s69/6929thNot on same lap
Daniil Kvyat10th+0.069s0/69214thNot on same lap
Felipe Massa6th+0.869s48/7035th-11.503s
Valtteri Bottas3rd-0.869s22/7038th+11.503s
Jules Bianchi15th-1.091s56/69315th-0.504s
Max Chilton18th+1.091s13/69216th+0.504s
Kamui Kobayashi17th7/71
Marcus Ericsson19th0/70

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 Hungarian Grand Prix weekend?

  • Marcus Ericsson (0%)
  • Kamui Kobayashi (0%)
  • Max Chilton (0%)
  • Jules Bianchi (0%)
  • Valtteri Bottas (0%)
  • Felipe Massa (1%)
  • Daniil Kvyat (0%)
  • Jean-Eric Vergne (1%)
  • Adrian Sutil (0%)
  • Esteban Gutierrez (0%)
  • Nico Hulkenberg (0%)
  • Sergio Perez (0%)
  • Kevin Magnussen (0%)
  • Jenson Button (0%)
  • Pastor Maldonado (0%)
  • Romain Grosjean (0%)
  • Kimi Raikkonen (2%)
  • Fernando Alonso (40%)
  • Lewis Hamilton (29%)
  • Nico Rosberg (0%)
  • Daniel Ricciardo (25%)
  • Sebastian Vettel (0%)

Total Voters: 898

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2014 Hungarian Grand Prix

Browse all 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix articles

Images © Red Bull/Getty, Mercedes/Hoch Zwei, Ferrari/Ercole Colombo, McLaren/LAT, Williams/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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177 comments on “Vote for your Hungarian GP Driver of the Weekend”

  1. Alonso all the way! you can give him a Caterham, and still landed into the points!

    1. I would’ve voted for Hamilton if he hadn’t spun into the barriers in the first lap. If i judged it correctly from the lap chart, he’d have won the race as well, which would’ve been a historical achievement – but he threw it away.

      Thus, the vote goes to the guttersnipe Ferdy.

      1. In reality, with the time lost following cars, the spin probably cost him nothing.

        1. In terms of actual time no it probably didn’t cost him, but in terms of where he ended up after the two sc periods it most certainly did cost him. And he wouldn’t have lost all that time trying to pass Vettel, Rosberg or JEV. It would’ve provided a real nice shot at the win, much better than what he had with the spin.

          1. But there’s the potential that if he’d gotten far enough ahead, he may have missed the first SC window.

      2. If you’re referring to the spin losing him the race I believe that was neutralised by the SC

        1. Before the first SC came out, he’d have been further up from 13th place if he hadn’t spun. That in turn, would’ve offered him a better place than 7th in the 2nd sc period. He could’ve been ahead of Vettel and Rosberg, which would’ve been a quite remarkable turnaround.

          1. I’m not so sure. The fact that he started passing cars at the end of the first lap after he span suggests to me that if he hadn’t, he wouldn’t have made up that many more places.

          2. I thought the same, but given that both Force Indias run wide and let Lewis get an easy overtake right after the SC came in, therefore putting Lewis at 11th place from 13th, which is roughly where he’d have been had he not spun in the first lap

      3. He wouldn’t have won. Why? simple, because Raikkonen can’t possibly finished in 2nd, thus Hamilton can’t won.

    2. Lewis was on it in all practice sessions and after being “sent” to a start from the pits for no fault of his own making, managed to climb to P3 and had a shot at converting his pit start onto the perfect come back by claiming the win.

      Alonso almost converted his impressive P5 on Saturday onto a win with very well timed two stops strategy and superior tyre nursing skills. I wanted either Lewis or Fernando to win the race but both were denied by Daniel Ricciarado… and what a racer that young Aussie is. SC transformed the race and Dan collected all the fruits and earned his win through impressive moves to pass two world champions (ok, on very poor tyres)…

      This is the toughest call for DOW of the year

      1. “This is the toughest call for DOW of the year”

        +1 on that comment and couldn’t agree more!

      2. Not for me. Alonso was the only one not to benefit greatly from the SC and still make the podium. This whist keeping the best car behind and just losing out to a faster car with the best strategy.

        1. There was a part of the race after the first SC(I think)that he passed Vettel, Rosberg and JEV, all within a few laps and simply took off into the distance. It’s as if he was saying to himself “can’t stick around fellas, there’s a race to win” It was just incredible. The man was born to race.

      3. Tough call indeed, each driver on the podium had a good claim for DOW, in the end I went for the driver who had nationality, underdog status,extra pit-stop, and max points on his side but both Alonso (on past Ferrari form ) and Lewis from pit lane would also be worthy choices.

    3. Ryan (@ryanisjones)
      28th July 2014, 16:29

      Considering nearly EVERY comment is pro Alonso, I’m going to go and say Hamilton. Only driver in history to start from the pit and lead this race. Dealt with a huge set-back for the second race in a row incredibly professionally – no moaning or PR blunders. Was thoroughly entertaining to watch, and overtook his team-mate on track by passing Vergne instantly, something Rosberg failed to do, and is the real reason he finished behind his team-mate.

      The only let down to his drive was that rather than being put on the quickest strategy to the end (SOFT SOFT), he was put on the mediums, which was a defensive strategy and attempt to keep track position as overtaking among the top 4 had thus far proven to be difficult.

      However, as Ricardo proved, fresh soft rubber vs failing tyres made the overtake easy and if Hamilton had been given the same strategy as Rosberg + Ricardo, there would have been no holding up and they would have both ended on the podium. Thus the only real fault in his performance was that of team strategy, but pit lane to 3rd beating his pole sitting team-mate is a performance worthy of DOTD.

      1. Thus the only real fault in his performance was that of team strategy

        I beg to differ. I invite you to have a look at the lap chart, he ended up in 13th after the first sc period, had he not spun it on the first lap, he would’ve been further up ahead of 7th after the 2nd sc period providing him the perfect opportunity to win the race. He has only himself to blame for being too hasty and putting it in the barriers.

        1. The team could still have moved him onto the quicker strategy MED-SOFT by the time he was getting the team order. This would have jumped Alonso at least, Mercedes really let Lewis down yesterday

          1. +1 on that one. But hindsight is a beautiful thing. What bugs is the fact that they put him on the meds instead of softs. Throughout the weekend, softs were 1-1.5 seconds faster and the meds didn’t offer longer life. So putting him on meds was a really bizzare decision…

        2. Ryan (@ryanisjones)
          28th July 2014, 16:58

          His spin made little difference to the outcome. Even without it, he would have still been stuck behind Vettel, thus any extra time he would have gained, would have been irrelevant, as he could not pass the Red Bull.

          1. Rosberg, Alonso and Vettel could not pit when the SC came out initially, others behind could . Had Hamilton not spun, he could’ve come ahead of all three ! I haven’t done the maths but that was a possibility. Needs looking into.

          2. Have a look here:

            https://www.racefans.net/2014/07/27/2014-hungarian-grand-prix-lap-charts-2/

            Check the boxes for only HAM, RIC, VET, ROS and ALO. Watch how RIC jumps the rest when the SC comes out on lap 7. At the time, RIC is 17 seconds from the leader. HAM’s gap to the leader on the first lap alone is 21 secs ! That is very telling if you ask me. He only needed 17 seconds of gap to the first placed driver to jump him ! On lap 7 he is 33 seconds behind the leader. I’d say his spin cost him well over 16 seconds (33-17=16)

            I think you see now where i’m coming from ?

          3. Even more telling is JEV who is 25.3 seconds adrift of the leader on lap 7 and still manages to come out ahead of Alonso and Vettel… Hamilton truly threw away a great chance =(

          4. I agree he was gifted the Vettel pass, wasn’t looking like passing Sebastian at that stage.

          5. Ryan (@ryanisjones)
            28th July 2014, 22:30

            @shrieker – The Maths

            Hamilton overtakes Magnussen on lap 3 who is the person right in front of him. From lap 3 to lap 7 Hamilton cuts the time behind Vergne from 14 seconds to 8 seconds. So 6 seconds in 5 laps = 1.2 seconds per lap catch up. However that is flattering as he lost two seconds overtaking Magnussen and could only make up 1.2 seconds because of the clean air that had developed between drivers.

            Lets assume Hamilton did not spin and thus overtook Magnussen on lap 1 but because of less clean air was catching Vergne at an average of 1 second per lap. Vergne is 8.5 seconds ahead of Magnussen on lap 1 thus Hamilton would have caught him by lap 8 or at the very least been within 0.8 seconds, thus crucially, ahead of Vettel.

            It would seem his spin had more of an impact than I imagined. Good spot.

        3. To be fair to him, spinning in the wet with cold brakes and tyres is easy to to, especially as he had no formation lap to warm everything up. He was hasty, yes, but he had to be to make up any ground after starting stone dead last.

      2. @Ryan,

        On a second thought, i think there were other cars in between Hamilton and Vergne, so he could not have closed up on Vergne and thus jump Alonso and Vettel on the first SC period. Judging from the race chart, those drivers (on lap 7) were Sutil, Esteban and Perez. He’d have to overtake them first. Could he have overtaken all three and latched onto Vergne by lap 7 if he hadn’t spun ?

        I think that is a very close call and borders on trivial. You might’ve been right about the spin not having an effect after all.

  2. Fernando for me. Maximised everything, held back cars that were clearly faster, 1st of all the 4 that were screwed by the SC, in arguably the 4th, more likely the 3rd fastest car of the lot. What a drive. Close behind are Ricciardo and Hamilton. Top 3 of the race were the top 3 drivers of the race.

  3. Now prepare yourself for this. Because this doesn’t happen often.

    I have gone for Fernando Alonso.

    I could have easily gone for Daniel Ricciardo, but he was massively helped by the safety car, and was outqualified by his team mate.

    I could have easily gone for Lewis Hamilton, but I’m unsure how much that spin cost him, he spent quite a long time behind slower cars too, like his team mate.

    Instead, I went for a driver who not only outperformed the car in qualifying, but was the highest placed car out of those who were caught out by the safety car. While Vettel, Bottas and Rosberg were seventh, eighth, and fourth respectively, Alonso made it onto the podium.

    An absolutely phenomenal drive all weekend.

    1. And an honourable shout to Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen for their drives in the race, their qualifying was terrible but fifth and sixth respectively are important results for them at this stage of the season.

    2. I agree completely.

      1. I don’t think there’s any doubt on who I will vote for in the DotW poll. Alonso was phenomenal today. He nearly won today, despite driving the 3rd-4th best car and being screwed over by the early safety car.

        His opening laps after the SC with slick tyres on a damp circuit were incredible, he overtook Vettel, Rosberg, Button and Vergne in 2 laps! Shame he couldn’t quite hold on in the end, what would arguably have been his finest win to date.

        He even beat Rosberg in a straight fight, F14T vs WO5, and the F14T in the hands of Alonso won.

        What a driver, really.

        1. ^ this. Alonso showed, yet again, why he is the class of the field.

  4. If this were ‘driver of the race’, I really would not be able to choose between Ricciardo, Alonso and Hamilton. Those three guys made the race and did pretty much everything right (apart from Lewis spinning on lap 1).

    However, looking at the weekend, Ricciardo was pretty much where one would expect him but didn’t beat his teammate. Hamilton’s qualifying can’t really be classified because of what happened.

    Fernando put his pile of rubbish on a respectable 5th during qualifying and lead in a car that only took one podium so far this season. As far as relative performance goes this weekend, I have to give it to Fernando.

    1. @npf1 And have you voted for Bottas the previous two weekends?

      1. @beejis60 Not sure what you’re asking or implying, but Bottas for Germany, Button for Britain.

      2. I voted for Alonso this weekend, and Bottas for the last 3. What’s wrong with that, B.J.?

  5. Fernando. No question about it.

    1. Fe-no-me-na-le.

  6. Smoked HAM 4 sure.
    Aced all practice Sessions, unlucky quali, and drove a fantastic race. Only thing let me down was his Grumpy Cat impression on the podium. Smile mate. Not all that bad.

    1. Yeah it’s really frustrating, he probably earnt more this past week than most of us would earn in our lives, yet he still can’t acknowledge his fans properly on the podium. I’m a Hamilton fan, but I wish he was more like other drivers in this respect.

  7. I would go for either ricciardo or Alonso – both delivered more then the car can expect. with the 2 safety cars, and the car advantage, Hamilton was always on for a podium, even when he made 2 driving mistakes on the way, and declined team orders, which might have cost Mercedes the team a win. Rosberg was driving there abouts, the safety cars hurt him against his teammate, and then his teammate hurt him more, he might have won if it was only 1 safety. Both merc drivers do not deserve driver of the race, after the safety car periods, either of them should have won but did not – Hamilton was not good enough to pass Alonso on inferior tyres, and Rosberg lost out from not being able 2 (or allowed to) pass Hamilton, which cost him his chance in the end. I actually liked Vergnes drive today also, 3rd best for me.

    1. Hamilton indeed had the inferior tyres versus Alonso. At least Alonso understood this when he gave his interview on Sky.

      Comical how a podium was supposedly always on for Hamilton. On a track where overtaking is as impossible as it is at Monaco.

    2. and declined team orders, which might have cost Mercedes the team a win

      It’s worth mentioning that at the time they only gave the orders because they thought Rosberg was guaranteed to finish behind Hamilton anyway. ignoring those orders might have cost the team a win (although Rosberg beating Ricciardo would have still been very tough and quite unlikely, seeing as he showed that he didn’t have the pace to actually get far ahead of Hamilton anyway), but even they can only say that in hindsight.

      1. but any team in the modern era makes this call, a driver catches up to a teammate on a different strategy, it is only fair to let the driver past, so many teams and drivers adhere to this, but Hamilton did not. Hamilton used the excuse that rosberg was not close enough, but he was close enough at first when the order was given, then rosberg sat behind Hamilton, either through dirty air or because he expected Hamilton to let him past. it is a team sport. in terms of luck, Hamilton had none in qualifying, but rosberg lost out heaps in safety cars while Hamilton made up heaps. Rosberg could have passed Ricciardo at the end, newer tyres and a much faster car.

        1. but he was close enough

          Not really. He never got to a point where Hamilton could have given him the place with an easy lift. It would have still cost Hamilton 2 precious seconds when his own eventual finishing position was far from certain.

          then rosberg sat behind Hamilton, either through dirty air

          He couldn’t sit behind him for long so dropped back. Besides the fact that doing your only championship rival a favour (and hindering yourself in the process) is a bit silly when both the constructors and drivers titles are only going to your team anyway, if he didn’t have the pace to stay in the DRS zone for more than a lap or two then I don’t believe he had a significant pace advantage which warranted moving over for anyway.

          Rosberg could have passed Ricciardo at the end, newer tyres and a much faster car.

          He might have been able to. But as I said, even Mercedes didn’t think that would happen if Hamilton complied. They just thought it would guarantee he finished behind Hamilton rather than behind the drivers who eventually came 5th and 6th. And if Rosberg could have done that, so could Hamilton had they given him the correct, faster strategy- even if they only put him on that strategy once he’d already been hindered by using mediums for a bit.

          1. and declined team orders, which might have cost Mercedes the team a win

            @kpcart surely you don’t believe at this stage if the season, in such a tight title battle, that Hamilton should surrender points to his teammate just to allow mercedes to “get a win” through rosberg, when he at the time was in contention for the win (and importantly a reduction in the points deficit to his main championship rival)? What you smoking?!

    3. lol this again,no they cost Ham the win my friend, Alo wold have been absoloute toast with Ham on Softs, if Ric can do him on them Ham would have. Clearly Primes were bad idea, they always are if a track has been wet, Softs are the grippy tyres. When Mag went off in qually if their were guys on primes they would have struggled much more. Vergne cost Ros win not Hamilton, Ham did not get helped by saftey car in comparison to his teammate, his teammate was still ahead, it is like you discreditng his pass on Vergne for bad tryes did you see the pass? It was bestpass of season

      1. he past vergne when vergnes tyres were coming to an end compared to rosberg sitting behing him many laps before that. if they put softs on hamiltons car, he would have finished last, he would not have lasted long on them.

        1. You don’t get it. They could have given Hamilton 2 sets of softs instead of 1 set of primes. Just like Ricciardo did. Hamilton would have had a pretty decent chance to win the race on that strategy.

        2. Rosberg couldn’t pass Vergne when his tyres were fresh though. Hamilton’s tyres would have also been pretty close to being finished considering he was stuck behind Vergne, Vettel and Rosberg for 19 laps. Also, how would he have finished last if he had softs on? In the practice sessions the options were better on pace and pretty even in terms of tyre life. We saw that with Alonso, in a Ferrari that isn’t as easy on its tyres as the Merc, so even if he only stopped once, Hamilton could have made it to the end on softs rather than mediums.

      2. are you joking, safety car did not help Hamilton compared to his teammate??????

      3. Luth (@soulofaetherym)
        28th July 2014, 17:51

        ‘Ham did not get helped by saftey car in comparison to his teammate’ this man loses crredibility x]

    4. Hahaha ludicrous.

  8. It’s a very difficult decision between Ricciardo, Alonso and Hamilton. Hamilton had that spin, but given that he was desperate to catch the pack and had (I believe) never driven a lap in that car nor had a warm-up lap to test the conditions, he might be forgiven. Ricciardo had the good fortune of the safety car, but used that fortune brilliantly. Alonso raced wonderfully, with a particularly impressive defence against Hamilton given that his tyres were presumably in a worse state. Hamilton could perhaps be accused of failure to pass Alonso given his fresher and supposedly more durable rubber. If wear heavily affected his traction, it isn’t surprising that Hamilton struggled to get in a position to pass, but then again Alonso seemed better on the brakes anyway.

    I genuinely don’t know which way to go at the moment, but I think Raikkonen- 4 places behind his team mate wasn’t so bad considering where he came from- and Vergne also deserve special mentions.

    1. I think the Mercs and Totto Rosso’s might also have suffered from that tape still being on the front brakes.

  9. Alonso was great of course BUT he did not start from the pitlane AND he had the right tyre at the end (medium tire proved too conservative choice). Had Hamilton the soft compound would even give him the chance to victory (considering he managed equivalent -to the soft compound- lap times)

    1. But on the other hand he drove a Ferrari

      1. and did not gain 30 seconds on first safety car, and did not have the best car by mile

    2. Yeah… and the race wasn’t fully dry and with 2 SC periods… which obviously helped HAM a lot too. In a dry race and w/o SC, HAM’s chances to get to the podium were minimal.

      1. Agreed .Too much being made of Hams drive.

  10. maarten.f1 (@)
    28th July 2014, 15:12

    This is a no-brainer for me. Alonso. He didn’t do anything wrong this weekend, and it’s really something of him to put the Ferrari on a podium!

  11. Alonso mastered his race, what a lesson, what a tension! Pure talent.

  12. It’s a shame that a driver of the calibre of Fernando has only 2 championships against his name. He deserves many many more. All he needs a half decent car

  13. I’d say all the drivers in the top 3 deserve DOTW, but I agree with the pundits at Sky who gave it to Hamilton. Epic drive from pitlane to P3 on a track where overtaking is supposedly impossible. Brilliant overtakes on Raikkonen and Vergne and good blocking of Rosberg in the final lap.

    He was only let down by the team and their odd strategy call to put him on medium tyres when he had fresh soft tyres available in abundance. With the right srategy (like Ricciardo used) he could have even won the race.

    Ricciardo should have performed better in qualifying. He should have been faster than Vettel, although in the end it didn’t matter for the result. His qualifying mishap was corrected for by the first safety car. The safety car actually also cost both Alonso and Hamilton a lot of positions. But then those two overcame that slight setback when many others failed to do so (Rosberg, Bottas, Vettel) and others failed to capitalize on their advantage (Button and Massa).

  14. With so many excellent drives to choose from, it’s perhaps a pity that Jean-Eric Vergne may not get many votes for his excellent qualifying and race performances. I also did not vote for him. I also considered voting for Hamilton and Ricciardo, who also had great races.

    Ricciardo was quick and faultless, and also patient when he needed to. Importantly, he passed two tough defenders in the closing laps to clinch a great victory. As for Hamilton, if only his team had fitted soft tyres at his final stop, he might have passed Alonso and scored a fairy-tale win starting from the pitlane.

    I voted for Alonso, though. Fernando is often uncanny in the way he gets a slow car onto the podium, and yesterday he was at his uncanniest. A shame for him he could not hold on to the lead, but an amazing second place nonetheless.

  15. Alonso has become a consummate professional. His ability to drive and develop the car has been on display for the past two seasons, as he keeps showing up on the podium in machinery that his teammates struggle to even score points with. His post quali and post race comments show a clear understanding of every mechanical, tactical, and strategic factor that has had to be managed to achieve his results. And when it is clear that good fortune has helped him, he notes that too. He has learned to keep a cool head and go about his business, putting in a Herculean effort while flying under the radar for most of the weekend, and he drives with grit and elegance week in and week out. He would be excused for overdriving given how far below his skill his machinery has been for the past several years, but never seems to make the mistakes that result from that kind of frustration, ie pushing the car beyond its limits and either breaking it or putting it in the wall. He has become a master at knowing exactly what his car and team are realistically capable of at every weekend and getting the maximum out of every opportunity without making such errors. If he is not given a worthy car in the next couple of years while he still has his skills, it will be a crying shame, not only for him but for the sport.

    1. I voted for Alonso, but am thrilled with the arrival of Daniel Ricciardo as a new star, and would give him equal billing as DOTW. The guy can RACE. And the pure joy he brings with him is a welcome tonic, and reminds us all why people get into racing in the first place.

  16. Ricciardo for me. Honourable mentions to Hamilton and Räikkönen.

  17. If you put in a balance the driver performance and the quality of the car, there is only one person qualify for Dotd, that’s Alonso.

    P.d: RIC and HAM did great. The 3 of them drove great but only one of them did it in inferior machinery.

  18. Got to give it to Fred. This was a hard choice. Ricciardo was phenomenal. But he won in the 2nd fastest car, and the fastest cars had trouble and/or unfortunate strategy. Hamilton almost gets it. I will overlook his spin on lap 1—no warm up lap, slick conditions, ice-cold brakes, and many others hit the wall on their own. And let’s not forget he started from pit lane. But the Mercedes is the best car in the field by far. The Ferrari had no business being where it was at all. Alonso dealt with massive pressure from Hamilton in the end to keep that position and kept those soft tires on forever.

  19. Alonso. decent qualy, got dealt with that rubbish card thanks to Ericsson, and managed 2nd (perhaps his car was better for overtaking compared to those around him at the 1st SC? But anyway……).

  20. It´s impossible to look past Alonso on this one. After the safety-car, he started behind Rosberg, both the same new options, and finished ahead of him. He has beaten a Merc on track, and it wasn´t the safety car helping or a major problem at Merc, Alonso was just better.

    Honourable mention to Ricciardo

  21. I dont like him, but he deserves it –> ALO

  22. Magic Alonso

  23. This sounds like a forum for the Anti-Hamilton lot …. looks like a whole 22000 of them …. LOL …. I doubt this comment will ever see the light of day ….

    1. happy Hamilton bashing ….

  24. The delusional Alonso fans predictably out in their numbers here. All of Alonso’s votes should be for Vergne.

    1. You should go to a pub and show your disrespect and insolence there.

    2. He got some votes from people who don´t even like him, though. Like mine. Acknowledging someone´s performance isn´t the same as being a fan or supporter, it´s possible to differentiate between who one likes most and who does his work best.

      But I have to admit: If there was a possibility to vote Alesi, I would, even if he isn´t even participating anymore and probably never was the best. ;)

    3. @surface Usually it’s me who will make a comment like that, but this week even I voted for him. The Ferrari is probably the fourth fastest car in qualifying trim, so to place it P5 certainly is not bad. Also, in the race, he was the only one of the front four before the safety car to finish on the podium, and beat the Mighty Mercedes on merit. I very rarely give Alonso credit, because at times he and Ferrari tend to make out that the car is far worse than what it is, but the fact is that it is not the best car, and on the day he finished ahead of the fastest cars despite being compromised by the safety car.

      1. +1
        I think Alonso’s performances are often exaggerated, but this time he was without a doubt the DotW.

    4. I’m not an Alonso fan, Never was. But this time, he truly deserves it.

  25. Alonso for me. A stellar drive by him. I was reminded of bits of 2012 shade in him during the race.
    JEV was also brilliant throughout, funny how people forget his post SC overtaking and defending. Driver of the race maybe, but Alonso pips him by showing his best throughout the weekend.

  26. DOTD should be bestowed on Alonso.
    First of all, he was very good in qualifying managing to overtake one Williams car, which is definitely faster. Secondly, he had great start and terrific race pace. He made only two little mistake – cutting the chicane and went off wide in the first corner. He did not lose a position due to those faults. Moreover, somehow he was able to keep Hamilton. I do not know the answer how it can be.
    Alonso was even more impressive given the fact that his Ferrari was terrible on exit of corners.

    Second in this poll should be Ricciardo. Yes, he has won the race, but he lost to Vettel in qualifying, and lost places on the start. After that he was flawless. Great drive, great person.

    Third should go to Hamilton. Excellent drive from pit lane to the 3d place. But, that funny mistake in the very first lap after the 1st corner… And he broke the front wing compromising his race pace. Third and no higher.

    1. The Ferrari was a faster car and had faster race pace here than the Williams, it will be different for the next two circuits. Kimi had a better race than Fernando today and didn’t make any driver errors. Alonso should thank Vergne and Rosberg for holding up VET HAM and RIC. The Ferrari is not a bad car for race pace but nando talks bad about it to make himself look better.

      1. Luth (@soulofaetherym)
        28th July 2014, 17:54

        Kimi should thank all those that crashed giving him places, or those who brought out the SC’s x]

      2. If Ferrrari was faster than the Williams and Kimi had better race, then how is that Kimi on fresh tyres could not get past Massa???

  27. No question; Fernando Alonso, for the myriad of reasons already discussed. He continues to punch above the F14T’s weight, and his on-track battles have been an absolute blast to watch for several races now.

    Ferrari is really going to be in bad shape if he leaves.

  28. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
    28th July 2014, 15:53

    This was a tough one but I have to give it to Lewis. He held up Ricciardo the 1st time. He made the right call to disobey team orders at a difficult stage in the race. He held up Nico on tyres that were 3.5+ seconds faster.

    As for Alonso, a close second although Lewis would have passed him if they had put him on new softs. Ricciardo was stellar too.

    1. held him up by driving him off the road. he also made 2 driving errors at the start of the race which he wouldn’t have been able to make up if he wasn’t in the fastest car, and didn’t gain about 45 seconds to the front with 2 safety cars. disobeying teammorders is a moral right or wrong you choose. Alonso and Ricciardo did nothing wrong, and made the best of their givien cars with no errors, so they did better.

      1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
        28th July 2014, 20:15

        @kpcart – he did not drive him off the road. He went wide. Nico does that ALL the time on the 1st corner when Lewis and Nico are side by side and Lewis loses more positions as a result.

        The spin was the result of trying to make up ground that he normally would not have had to. Obviously Lewis’ car was set up for race conditions so of course it would have been the fastest car.

        As for the team orders – Mercedes was asking him to give up the WDC so that’s all on Mercedes. They are trying to justify them.

  29. gave it to alonso, didn’t think he would be able to fight for a win but hey, he did it. in that dog of a car.

    splendid performance by ricciardo and hamilton aswell.

  30. Voted for Alonso, the only one of the top 4 from the start who managed to recover from the first safety car by 3 overtaking manouvers in 2 laps. He was still behind the big gainer from that safety car, Ricciardo, but came close to out-strategy him by doing one stop less.

    Honorable mention to Esteban Gutierrez who was running quite safely ahead of Raikkonen before his car broke down.

  31. Ricciardo for me. Did a pretty good job in qualifying before beating BOTH Mercedes in the race fair and square (passing two former world champions in the process).

    Honourable mention to Vettel for save of the year for surviving that spin.

  32. I vote Alo too but you cannot deny he sort of plays on it, i mean the guy bigs himeself up like no other, he was calling himself a superhero last year i think or some gladiator he sure like too blow his own trumpet. He is great driver but to me he seems to be too settled he is all smiley these days like he just accepts the car, he should be far more bullish about talking of the dog he as been given and actually call his team out.You will say he istrying to bind the team by being nice, how as that worked for him so far?.

    Im sorry but Alo window is almost certainly over it is stating the obvious, the guy 33 nearly, since 2010 the guy been on a mega peak, it will be the Hamilton era now.

    Can we honestly see Ferrari fighting for title in 2015? As i said their is no way his level will be this high in 2 years it is just not possible, Rai and Button all peaked, same will happen wtih Alo you cannot beat father time.

    1. To me, the lack of drama and hot-headedness are examples of how professional Alonso has become. There is no benefit of calling your team out in public– that is for internal discussions. It is clear to me from the quotes that have been made public that Ferrari know that Alonso deserves a better car and they are desperate to give him one in order to hold on to his services. If Alonso were truly “too settled” as you say, he would be content to cruise around and only finish ahead of his teammate. But no, any time it is possible for him to take an opportunity and overachieve, there he is, standing on the podium and yesterday, unbelievably, nearly WINNING. A true professional lets his actions do the talking. Being at peace with one’s life and the situation one finds oneself in is a true gift that is too rarely seen among celebrities and sports stars. Yes, he accepts the reality of what he cannot change, which is that Ferrari did not maximize engine development under the new regs, but since there can be no engine development is frozen until the season ends, there is absolutely nothing anyone can do about that. That ability to accept, to be at peace with life, while still working hard to maximize one’s opportunities, is a Zen skill that too few achieve or even recognize. Time does catch up with everyone, but Alonso out of everyone will achieve as much as possible for as long as possible.

    2. And the guy calling himself the Ayrton Senna incarnate is humble? Thanks!

  33. Ricciardo, Alonso and Hamilton all put in performances that could be considered worthy candidates for drive of the season. Ricciardo put in a spirited drive, and on any other weekend going from 3rd to first in one lap would have made him my driver on the weekend. But then you have Hamilton, putting in one of the all-time great recovery drives, very comparable to Button in Canada 2011 and Vettel in Abu Dhabi 2012.

    But for me, the driver of the weekend has to be Alonso. Suffered the same safety car delay as Vettel and Rosberg, but left both of them behind on the restart. And when Hamilton was struggling with a loss of grip on the medium tyres, Alonso ploughed on despite spending almost as much time on the softer tyre. Once again Alonso reminds us that he’s one of the best there is.

  34. 5th in the qualifying and 2nd in the race with 4th best car. Has to be Alonso. Honorable mentions to Ricciardo and Vergne.

  35. Ricciardo was very lucky in this race. He did his first pit stop under the safety car. Second was also just when it seemed that safety car would come out. With a fast car and luck, he did what he was supposed to.

    For me, Alonso gets the DOTW. Did very well qualifying P5. Even though he got disadvantaged by the first SC, he overtook 4 cars in the first two laps (VET and ROS and Vergne!) which set him up for the race.

  36. Who voted for Marcus Ericsson?
    Anyways, has to be Alonso for defending superbly in a slow, bad handling red vacuum cleaner on dead tyres against a much faster Mercedes and an RBR with very good handling for 10 laps and still beats the Merc.
    Honorable mentions to Hamilton, Ricciardo, Vergne.

    1. “slow, bad handling red vacuum cleaner on dead tyres”: what a wonderful description!!

  37. This poll is kind of the correct reflection of the driver’s standings for the weekend. The other one at JF1 is a bit skewed. Voted for Alonso BTW. Favorite driver but his driving made the choice a whole lot easier.

    Keep it Fernando, your reward is near.

    1. Have to agree the JF1 poll is odd

  38. Alonso. That car has no right to be anywhere close to the podium, yet he was only a few laps away from winning in it. Didn’t put a foot wrong while chaos broke out around him and made all the right moves at the right time. An absolutely epic drive.

  39. Only one sensible option here: Sergio Perez.
    Had a smashing race.

  40. Yes indeed Alonso. He was actually one of the cars that missed out when the first safety car came out while others such as Riccardo and Hamilton took advantage. But whereas Rosberg and Vettel got stuck in traffic Alonso overtook the championship leader and a very annoyingly well driven Torro Rosso to get his chance of winning the race. Riccardo and Hamilton were great. But luck helped them get on the podium, it couldn’t stop Fernando.

  41. Hamilton, if they’d put him on a 3 stop using only softs he’d have won, in a car that, while fastest, didn’t work perfectly (brakes at the start, fuel flow at the end). The mediums were so slow on any car, really don’t know what Mercedes were thinking. Even so, to start from the pits and to beat his pole-sitter team mate, it was a great recovery. Fighting his team instructions and Rosberg at the end, he showed again that he can be ruthless when the championship is on the line.

  42. I always look for a driver who had a perfect weekend. This time there was only one such: Jean Eric Vergne. Did the maximum total of what could be done with that car. Perfect in qualy perfect in race 10/10

    3 closest challengers:

    Alonso was a close second, however he made a small mistake in qualy and lost 1 place on the grid as a result and made a small mistake toward the end of the race 9.5/10

    Hamilton made a huge mistake at the start of the race on cold tires but from then on was perfect 9/10

    Ricciardo was perfect in the race but was beaten in qualy comfortably by Vettel 9/10

    1. Mocho_Pikuain
      29th July 2014, 12:33

      Do you really think JEV could have done what Alonso did? Do you really think he should have qualyfied 4th on saturday with that Ferrari? And BTW, knowing Alonso, I am quite sure he jumped that chicane on purpose.

  43. Forget the weekend. Alonso is the driver of the season. Time and time again he entertains us and, as I said last week, he fights each lap as he is a contender for the championship. If “hunger” is the criteria, according to Lewis, NOBOBY is hungrier to race than Alonso. Add his incredible talent and racecraftmanship and, voila’, the best driver all around. Alonso thought that, when moving to Ferrari, he would have been able to replicate the Schumacher era at Maranello, with the whole team supporting him and him alone. While he does have the support, the engineering talent was not there, Brawn’s brilliance in strategizing races was not there. Too bad for Alonso. As a driver, only Lewis comes close to his speed.

  44. Alonso, by far, Hamilton if he hadnt´spun on the 1st lap, Ricardo did a great race although sc helped a bit, but Alonso woooooooow, having 2 fast cars behind him , that takes pure talent, i know it will be hard to see him on thepodium again this seasson but i hope we can have him again, he is like a obtacle in the track for all the drivers and he makes it fun for every one.

    This is my first post and im form Mexico city.

  45. Hamilton, of course. Also ricciardo deserve it.

  46. totocaster (@)
    28th July 2014, 17:47

    Voted for Hamilton this time. Few of his overtakes were super-scary and impressive. To be honest, if not those overtakes, Hamilton, Alonso, Ricciardo and JEV, all were very good.

  47. Voted for Alonso. Great drive holding off faster cars,though couldn’t manage to win. Nice driving by Ricciardo too. perhaps the first race of the season where the Mercedes dominance wasn’t so evident.

  48. JEV, Alonso, Hamilton in that order. Had Hamilton not been put on prime, might have been different as he surely would have got 2nd, maybe the win.

  49. I voted for Alonso , good drive in an inferior car.

  50. I voted for Alonso , good drive in an inferior car.

  51. Surprised I’m the only one going for Jean-Eric Vergne. He hold off 2 Mercedes and 2 Red Bulls.

  52. Driver of the weekend has to be Lewis , we all watched the race to see if he could get on the podium, from the practice sessions to the car on fire,to the pit stop start, he’s been the one we’ve all been talking about . He never let us down it as a thrilling race, shout at the screen race, hide behind the cushion race. If only Mercedes had thrown the strategy book out the window and given Lewis a 3rd stop with the soft tyres too .We might have been watching a fifth win for Lewis at the Hungarian GP. Its not like he used any of his soft tyres during qualifying, heck he could have put all 3 on that he didn’t use and have won the race. Thrills ,spins and fighting talk a race to watch over and over again.

  53. Daniel Ricciardo. Drove a great race and was smart enough to switch to three stops, which got him the win.

    1. @mojopixel
      You can’t really give the driver credit for the three stop strategy. That is a team decision, and the fact he past 2 cars with spent tires doesn’t really impress me. He did have a great drive, but you can’t even compare it to ALO and HAM.

  54. A podium finish from starting from the pits! Without doubt my vote goes to Hamilton for his sheer determination, and resilience when all odds seem to be against him.

  55. Can I change my vote? I accidentally pressed the button too early and went for Bianchi when I wanted to vote for Vergne. He was bossing that Toro Rosso up in P2 for so long.

    1. Bianchi had a great quali, 1.1 seconds faster than his teammate and making it to Q2, and he was ahead of e.g. Button who went on to score a point when he (Bianchi) was maldonadoed. So he may have had a slight chance to score again (after Monaco), a vote or two isn´t wrong, even if it´s accidental ones.

  56. Alonso gets my vote by a country mile. It’s almost trite to say it at this stage as we’ve had to say it so many times before, but Alonso really is a remarkable driver. He’s able to consistently battle with cars which on paper appear to be far superior to his own machinery.

    He qualified a fantastic 5th in his F14T, but that was nothing compared to what he gave us on Sunday.
    Whether it was tyre management, wheel-to-wheel racing, putting in impressive laps in the damp on slick tyres, consistency, defensive driving or just being able to coax all he could from what he had, Alonso’s drive was a true masterclass. He had to be inch perfect on each lap of his 32 lap stint to fend off the faster cars behind him, and in the end he simply didn’t have the tools to resist Ricciardo. That should take nothing away from his performance. I loved watching him race and fight. It’s a pity he didn’t get the win his drive deserved but we’ve become accustomed to seeing Alonso drive his heart out with little reward for a long time now.

  57. I voted Alonso. That performance, near win, second place, holding back the Mercedes and staying in the track with completely dead tyres. A close second for me is Ricciardo, the only reason I wont vote for him is because the top four was unable to pit when the SC came out. Big congratulations to Hamilton as well, awesome result after a near race ending collision with the barrier in the first lap.

  58. My vote goes for Räikkönen. He wasn’t helped by the safety car unlike the top three and made a fantastic recovery all the while driving a boat. In fairness Alonso drives that boat as well but the boat was made for him and rented for Kimi.

    1. OK, I’ve seen the race too and I do not agree much with you. RAI did pretty well, but lots of stuff that happened in front helped him: Vettel spinning, DNFs for both Force Indias etc. Also, the 1st SC did not help any drivers until Button! That’s because the digital SC warning placed before entering the garages started to blip right after Vettel passed, so the 1st driver to notice the SC warning and that could take advantage of that was… Button ! And he did, he entered to change the tyres, followed by Ricciardo, who was right behind him. Only that McLaren made a move that did not work out, as we’ve seen some laps later. So, after the 1st SC period, the order was Ricciardo 1st, Button 2nd, ……. ,ALO 8th etc, so RIC definately benefited from the 1st SC period, and not really ALO, HAM.

  59. I’m struggling to see how people can vote for Hamilton over Alonso and Ricciardo. He had a decent race, but far from anything Alo and Ric have shown. Firstly he binned it all on his own and damaged his front wing slightly. Then he massively benefited from safety cars and traffic that engulfed his teammate after the safety car. He was humbled by Alonso and Ricciardo.
    Which is making me sad to see that Ric is getting so few votes for such a drive.
    I’m voting Alonso, and everyone is entitled to their own opinion of course, but these are not shades or details, Hamilton was considerably less impressive than Alo and Ric.

    1. +1.

      Went for Alonso. RIC was great too, but the 1st SC period helped him a lot too. From 6th, RIC found himself 1st, Button 2nd while ALO (4th previously) dropped to 8th. So, the SC definately helped RIC and Button, not at all ALO.

  60. Many were doing a good job …. but my vote goes out to JEV for this one… simply loved his drive.

  61. Has to be ALO. With that car, 3rd fastest car at best this race, he managed… a 2nd ! Considering that none of the main competition (Mercedes, RBR, Williams) retired and that the 1st SC period did not help him (from 4th dropped to 8th), his result is even more impressive.

  62. Alonso. Best driver in the field by far, best driver since Schumacher in his prime. Days like Sunday showed this, it was a 2012 style drive.
    Shame the British media are so biased and don’t even mention Alonso or Ricciardo’s great drives……

    1. @ourkid89 Are they not both mentioned above?

      And were both not also mentioned in the race review? (Ricciardo seizes chance for second victory as Hamilton stands firm against Rosberg)

      1. Sorry Keith, I didn’t directly mean you. But 99% of the rest are biased. We don’t all support Mercedes. It’d just be nice if Ricciardo, the race winner, was in the papers, on sports news, not ‘Hamilton ignores team orders.’

      2. @keithcollantine
        I don’t think he is referring to you. Obviously, Alo is leading in this pole. I think he is referring more to the TV stations and online newspapers publications.

  63. Fred gets proper credit here

  64. Tough one.
    Hamilton, Alonso and Ricciardo were simply brilliant.

  65. Toughest choice ever for DOTW. The quality of the racing by Alonso, Hamilton, Ricciardo made it such a difficult decision. In the end I chose Hamilton for his drive from the pit lane to the podium. This is one vote I truly wish could be split 3 ways because each driver deserved it.

    More of a Ricciardo fan than a Hamilton fan or Alonso fan, but my decision is not based on personal bias. Hamilton had the odds stacked against since Saturday through no fault of his own. In the race he overcame huge obstacles including his own driving error early in the race. He also made one of the wiser choices I’ve seen him make as a driver to not just slow down and let Rosberg pass. He is a racer. I do not subscribe to conspiracy theories, however it seems that even his own team did not give him a chance to win.

    Mercedes have the enviable position to come under such heavy scrutiny for their pit wall decisions because they have such a superior car and two world class drivers with nearly equal talents. Mercedes made a bad call with the team orders and possibly tire choices too. Good thing Lewis ignored the orders and we a fantastic race at the end for the win by several great drivers.

    1. I have to echo @bullmello sentiments , Im an Aussie so by council law and my allegiance to James Squire Brewery I’m required to be A Dan Ricciardo supporter , And I am, Go!!!! Dan the Man, Oi Oi Oi!

      So with a great weight on my shoulders ,

      I vote Fred,

      1. @greg-c – I really wanted to vote for Ricciardo and his wonderful second win and I can see how Alonso got your vote. Nice to have tough choices like that.

  66. Chris (@tophercheese21)
    29th July 2014, 0:29

    I voted for Hamilton on this one.

    – Fastest through all three practice sessions.
    – Taken out of qualifying through no fault of his own.
    – Started from the pit-lane and finished on the podium.

    1. – Taken out of qualifying through no fault of his own.

      In the same way, you could say that he ended up on the podium through no fault of his own either. He was massively helped by the safety car. Fair enough, that’s part of racing, but if we are talking about good and bad luck, being let down by your own team is surely more of your own undoing as a team, than simply losing out when someone completely unrelated crashes at a time which is the worst possible for your race.
      So, all in all, with what we know now, compared to Rosberg who is his main rival, Hamilton benefited from SC more than he suffered from the quali mishap.

      1. Chris (@tophercheese21)
        29th July 2014, 2:13

        By that logic, Vettel shouldn’t have won DOTW for Abu Dhabi 2012.

        During the early stages of the race Lewis overtook 4 people in one lap. He was pretty determined regardless of safety cars.
        Yes they helped him, but they also helped Ricciardo, so I guess that rules him out of contention as well huh?

        1. Chris (@tophercheese21)
          29th July 2014, 2:14

          Clarification*
          Vettel came a close second in DOTW for Abu Dhabi 2012.

  67. Alonso and Lewis, They’re total class. I give it to Lewis though cos he had to start from pitlane. Fantastic drive from Ricciardo to. Would happily watch those three slugg it out all the time!

  68. Neil (@neilosjames)
    29th July 2014, 3:46

    Another race with a lot of possible choices. Alonso was awesome in the closing laps and at the first restart (and the whole race, really)… Ricciardo called his strategy beautifully, drove well throughout and nailed two impressive overtakes to win… and a guy who doesn’t have many votes but is worth a mention, Jean-Eric Vergne, drove a great race too and defended very well against quicker cars.

    Went with Hamilton in the end – for the recovery, the move on Vergne, ignoring those absurd team orders and holding off Rosberg, all in a car that the team had only built overnight. And partly because I’m a sucker for recovery drives.

  69. World Champion leader Nico Rosberg: 0% Votes

    1. That is a bit ironic. He shouldn’t feel bad though. Even Max Chilton isn’t voting for himself any more. ;-)

  70. Definitely Alonso! Hamilton is good too.

  71. So many great performances, it’s very hard to pick one over another.

    Also, interesting how Rosberg hung back from Hamilton and requested to be let through.. I think if that was Hamilton he’d be barging his wy through there.. Might be the difference this year for the WDC!

  72. Easily Hamilton, Alonso lucked into that position and taking into account the whole weekend – I didnt see him top any sessions.

    1. Alonso lucked into that position ?!?! You must be kidding… ! Probably you did not watch the race, but the facts are like this: ALO started the race from P5 (and it’s not the worst position for him to start a race this season, the best being P4 !), was P4 after the 1st corner on merit (merit = no one crashed, made some big mistake etc), then passed Vettel for P3 on merit again, lost the position again to Vettel… then SC period occured and he dropped to P8 ! The biggest winners of the 1st SC period were Ricciardo, Button, Massa and Magnussen. They were fighting for P5 to P8 before the SC ! It’s also worth mentioning that none of the main competitors (Mercedes, RBR, Williams) DNF this race, so again no luck for ALO ! Last thing, HAM was ~1second behind ALO and couldn’t overtake him for many laps (more than 10 laps!), so I don’t see that luck anywhere. My opinion, you’re definately subjective and exagerrating. ALO did perform brilliantly again given that Mercedes, RBR and even Williams were significantly faster.

    2. If you like to talk about drivers who lucked into the final positions, Raikkonen qualifies here in my opinion. He started P13, then he obviously benefited from the DNFs of both Force Indias, Vettel’ spin and McLaren’s bad tyre call. Also, any SC period is good news for a driver starting P13. Last thing, the cars starting around P13 are definately slower than cars starting P5 ! If it wasn’t for all these, I highly doubt RAI would have finished higher than P9.

  73. Pit lane to podium – has to be Lewis for me, easily.

  74. Alonso, Ricciardo and Hamilton had awesome drives. Hamilton recovered well and had a good strategy, Ricciardo had to do all the work by passing the pair for the win and Alonso demonstrated how defensive driving is done, in an inferior car. Vergne drove brilliantly as well and handled his tyres, but today it is Alonso’s turn to win this vote.

  75. antonyob (@)
    29th July 2014, 11:29

    I think you need 3 drivers of the weekend this time but Ricciardo won and showed aggression, skill and intelligence. Lewis was at his memorising best and Alonso, well if he isn’t in the top 3 drivers of any weekend he probably isn’t racing. Ricciardo by a err nose ….ahem

  76. Bring on the conspiracies .

    Merc sabotaged Nicos race but blamed it on Lewis ,

    Lewis say’s “Why did you ask me to pull over , I thought Nico was the No.2 Driver”

    Nico is negotiating with Ron for a Lewis Honda deal.

    just a few to get started,

  77. The decision was to be decided between him and Alonso. Facts:
    Ricciardo started in 6th and finished 1st, with an amazing performance.
    Alonso started 5th and finished 2nd, with an amazing performance too.
    The safety car entrances were good for both.
    With that said, there’s no doubt for me. Ricciardo is the DOTW. He deserves it.
    For many, Alonso was the driver, but, let’s be honest, he was not that good. Not this weekend.

    1. Don’t forget that the timing of the first safety car actually put Alonso a few places back and the time he lost by this was not recovered anywhere. It might cost him the victory as well.

    2. Did you watch the race ?!? I don’t think so. The 1st SC period resulted in ALO dropping from P4 to P8, while RIC was boosted from P6 to P1. Hope you know how to make some comparisons !

    3. And I’ll tell you how that happened too: there was a digital warning sign placed right before the pit entry. It started to blip “SC” right after Alonso passed the pit entry and before Button got there. There was a difference (4-5seconds) between ALO and BUT. Button saw the SC warning blip and entered the pits. Ricciardo, who was right behind him, followed Button. So, Button should have been luckiest, but McLaren put him on Inters again (which proved wrong later) and also had a worse pit stop. After the pit stop, RIC was 1st, Button 2nd, Massa 3rd (who was behind RIC initially)…., Alonso 8th. Tell me RIC wasn’t a lucky lad…….

    4. @atticus-2, @corrado-dub, Hold on, Alonso fans. I’ve watched the race, and IMO, Alonso and Ric had the same beneficts with the SC entrances.

      First time SC entered, Ric was the lucky one, we all know that. But, second time SC entered, Alonso was promoted to the 1st position, and turned out to be the lucky one, as he drove away from Vergne like a mad man, which in the end made him earn a place in the podium.

      So, putting aside the “fanship” factor, Ric was superb this weekend. Alonso was not that good, bu he did what he always does, which is driving like very few.

      1. @yes-master Hold on, Ricciardo fans. I’ve watched the race, and IMO, Ricciardo had more benefit from the SC.

        It wasn’t the SC that promoted Alonso to 1st position, it was rather Ricciardo’s commitment to a 3-stop strategy. He would have pitted in a few laps anyway.

        So, putting aside the “fanship” factor, Ricciardo was still more lucky with the SC than Alonso.

        1. @atticus-2, we have different perspectives of what happen last weekend. I was just responding to your previous comment, as you seemed to forget that Alonso was promoted to the first position with the second SC entrance. I realize now, that you haven’t. You just tend to create a different story on your mind, with the argument that they had different pit strategies, etc. They have a strategy, but that changes with the development of the race. Ric adapt very well. With luck and know-how. If it was Ric in Alonso position, would you vote for him as DOTW? Or would you still vote for Alonso, as he managed to win the race? Think about that.
          But, hey, for me Ric was superb this weekend, and he deserves the DOTW. And, look, I’m not a Ric fan. Not yet. But, if he maintains this quality, I’m going to become one. As most of us will, probably.

          1. Dude, no offense, but your logic has some faults and/or you’re missing some facts. Ricciardo also distanced from Button&rest when he was PROMOTED to 1st place. Another fact is that he distanced more than ALO did when he was 1st ! I’m mentioning THIS because this advantage helped him a lot in switching to a 3-stop strategy. Also, in racing in general, a driver is good mostly as his car is allows him. More exactly, RBR was obviously better than Ferrari. From the German GP people started to predict that RBR might win this race OR at least give Mercedes’ a run for the money. Guess what… it happened ! But, the same people, didn’t see Ferrari having a good race at Hungaroring. Another thing is that ALO WASN’T PROMOTED to 1st place, like RIC, but he gained that place fairly. How’s that ? Well, because they opted for a 2-stop strategy !! And also because they made the right call, unlike McLaren and Williams, both drivers of each team being in front of ALO after the 1st SC period pit-stops !!! ALO also didn’t do any mistake who costed him quite some time and places, like Vettel ! So, very sorry, but there wasn’t any luck for ALO in this race, just the team making the right tyre choices, keeping him on track for +30laps on Softs and also a strong drive with some minor mistakes !!

          2. @corrado-dub, so in the end you’re assuming that my logic’s fault is due to the fact that I don’t share your perspective or value some facts as you do. Ok. And, btw, no offence taken.

  78. tgu (@thegrapeunwashed)
    29th July 2014, 13:57

    Clearly Lewis for me: his decisive move on Vergne was the best of the race, essential to his finishing position, and in stark contrast to Rosberg’s faffing.

    Fernando gets the nod for second – for hanging in on shot tyres, but it was a lot less spectacular than Lewis’ race.

    Daniel was brilliant again, but his team put him on clearly the best strategy – I’m surprised more drivers didn’t follow suit on lap 23 and the second safety car, it seemed obviously the right thing to do.

  79. Yet another tough choice for driver of the weekend, my shortlist is the obvious contenders of the podium finishers Ricciardo, Alonso and Hamilton.

    Because of the circumstances of the Grand Prix I am sure you could easily argue that most of the field owe their final result to the wet dry nature of the race and the two safety car periods, and that if it had been a normal dry race the finishing order would look very different.

    That may be the case but I still think those three all drove superbly.

    I think the state of each driver’s tyres determined the finishing order when they met in the final laps with. When Hamilton caught Alonso I initially thought he would get past as Alonso had been on the softs for quite a while but it seemed Hamilton’s tyres weren’t much better either. Then Ricciardo seemed to get past Hamilton and Alonso and build a gap relatively easily on his much fresher softs.

    In the end my vote went to Alonso with Hamilton second and Ricciardo third.

    If Hamilton hadn’t spun on the first lap or if he had managed to get past Alonso at the end I would have voted for him instead.

  80. I think Daniel deserves this vote.

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