Vote for your 2014 Brazilian GP Driver of the Weekend

2014 Brazilian Grand Prix

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

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

Brazilian Grand Prix driver-by-driver

Red Bull

Sebastian Vettel – Said he was thinking of how he almost lost the 2012 championship when he gave Magnussen room on the inside of Descida do Lago on the first lap. Alonso got ahead of him as well, but Vettel jumped back in front of both before the end of the race to take fifth and move up to fourth in the championship.

Daniel Ricciardo – Started behind Vettel but got onto his team mate’s tail early on. A suspension failure put him out for the first time since Malaysia, however.

Mercedes

Nico Rosberg – Began the weekend n the best possible way, leading all three practice sessions and then doing the same in qualifying to claim his tenth pole of the season. Hamilton came at him hard during the race, but unlike in Austin Rosberg never looked like giving him a chance to pass on the track.

Lewis Hamilton – Described himself as “probably happier with second than I’ve ever been” after a lock-up at Bico de Pato allowed Rosberg to pip him to pole position by three-hundredths of a second. A more serious mistake in the race cost him his best chance to get ahead of Rosberg, though Hamilton said he was surprised to be left out for a another lap ahead of his second pit stop, when the spin occurred. The damage was done, and Hamilton simply couldn’t make his superior pace count.

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Ferrari

Fernando Alonso – After a power unit failure on Saturday, Alonso skipped doing a qualifying simulation run in final practice. Despite an aggravating start to qualifying he took eighth, then gained a place on the first lap. Fell behind Vettel in the pits but passed Magnussen, then after a close scrap he demoted Raikkonen too for sixth place.

Kimi Raikkonen – Said he had a “better feeling in the car” and “no major problems” but was out-qualified by Alonso as usual, lining up tenth, albeit less than two-tenths of a second off fifth place. Managed to make a two-stop strategy work and but for a slow pit stop he might have been able to beat Alonso home.

Lotus

Romain Grosjean – The Lotus pair were eliminated in Q1 and Grosjean held on to his 14th place at the start. After abandoning his attempt to run a two-stop strategy, an engine failure put Grosjean out.

Pastor Maldonado – Felt his car was better than it looked in qualifying, where he was slowest of the 18 runners. Made the same strategy switch as Grosjean and spent part of his third stint trying to pass Bottas, who eventually finished tenth, before dropping back.

McLaren

Jenson Button – “I didn’t enjoy driving the car on Friday,” said Button after qualifying, “but we solved a lot of those issues overnight”. He took fifth on the grid and spent the race chasing the Williams pair. Moved up to fourth thanks to the problems Bottas suffered, but missed a chance to jump ahead of Massa by pitting one lap too late.

Kevin Magnussen – Found it difficult to get the soft tyre to work on the first lap but was only fractionally slower than his team mate in qualifying. Dropped back in the race, however, finishing over 20 seconds behind Button.

Force India

Nico Hulkenberg – “For various reasons the car is not in complete harmony with this track,” Hulkenberg admitted after Force India’s six Mercedes-powered rivals all qualified inside the top seven. He at least made it into Q2, unlike his team mate, and using an alternative strategy he was able to take eighth from Magnussen at the end of the race, and was poised to pass Raikkonen when the chequered flag fell.

Sergio Perez – Test driver Daniel Juncadella crashed his car on Friday so Perez didn’t do a single lap of the track until Saturday. His seven-place grid penalty meant it mattered little that he failed to escape Q1. Running the same strategy as most of those around him, he rarely looked like making his way into the points.

Sauber

Adrian Sutil – Had to start from the pits after late repairs to his car, which proved the prelude to a frustrating race as he also lost five seconds in the pits on his first visit. It was therefore no surprise he was the last driver running.

Esteban Gutierrez – Qualified eleventh and passed Raikkonen at the start to hold tenth, but any hope Sauber had of finally scoring a point proved short-lived. He struggled with overheating tyres and dropped back to 14th at the flag.

Toro Rosso

Jean-Eric Vergne – With Max Verstappen driving his car on Friday morning and a problem halting him early in the second session, Vergne began the weekend on the back foot. He was eliminated in Q1, and spent much of his race stuck behind Perez, unable to pass the Mercedes-powered car even with the assistance of DRS.

Daniil Kvyat – Despite being relegated behind his team mate due to the continuation of the power unit penalty he picked up in America, Kvyat gained four places at the start and went off in pursuit of a points finish. He came close to it as well, pressuring Bottas at the end of the race.

Williams

Felipe Massa – Pipped Bottas to third on the grid but nearly threw away his chance of a podium place when he broke the speed limit in the pits on his first visit, then pulled into McLaren’s box by mistake during a later stop. When on the circuit things went much better, and he duly claimed his second, crowd-pleasing podium finish of the season.

Valtteri Bottas – “I had a few mistakes in Q3 so I probably left a tenth out there,” said Bottas after qualifying, indicating he could have beaten his team mate to third place. His race went awry when he lost time in the first pit stop having his seat belts adjusted, and a subsequent problem dropped him further back. Mired in the pack he struggled with degreadation and graining, and couldn’t use the superior straight-line speed of the Williams to make progress.

Qualifying and race results summary

DriverStartedGap to team mateLaps leading team matePittedFinishedGap to team mate
Sebastian Vettel6th-0.137s33/3935th
Daniel Ricciardo9th+0.137s6/392
Lewis Hamilton2nd+0.033s7/7132nd+1.457s
Nico Rosberg1st-0.033s64/7131st-1.457s
Fernando Alonso8th-0.122s47/7136th-1.824s
Kimi Raikkonen10th+0.122s24/7127th+1.824s
Romain Grosjean14th-0.196s51/63317thNot on same lap
Pastor Maldonado16th+0.196s12/63312thNot on same lap
Jenson Button5th-0.039s69/7134th-21.427s
Kevin Magnussen7th+0.039s2/7139th+21.427s
Nico Hulkenberg12th-0.228s70/7038thNot on same lap
Sergio Perez18th+0.228s0/70315thNot on same lap
Adrian Sutil13th+0.508s21/70316th+15.654s
Esteban Gutierrez11th-0.508s49/70314th-15.654s
Jean-Eric Vergne15th+0.617s13/70313th+7.06s
Daniil Kvyat17th-0.617s57/70311th-7.06s
Felipe Massa3rd-0.058s66/7033rdNot on same lap
Valtteri Bottas4th+0.058s4/70310thNot on same lap

Review the race data

Vote for your driver of the weekend

Which driver do you think did the best job this weekend?

Cast your vote below and explain your choice in the comments.

Who was the best driver of the 2014 Brazilian Grand Prix weekend?

  • Valtteri Bottas (0%)
  • Felipe Massa (12%)
  • Daniil Kvyat (0%)
  • Jean-Eric Vergne (0%)
  • Adrian Sutil (0%)
  • Esteban Gutierrez (0%)
  • Nico Hulkenberg (2%)
  • Sergio Perez (0%)
  • Kevin Magnussen (0%)
  • Jenson Button (19%)
  • Pastor Maldonado (0%)
  • Romain Grosjean (0%)
  • Kimi Raikkonen (4%)
  • Fernando Alonso (1%)
  • Lewis Hamilton (4%)
  • Nico Rosberg (54%)
  • Daniel Ricciardo (0%)
  • Sebastian Vettel (2%)

Total Voters: 668

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2014 Brazilian Grand Prix

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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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143 comments on “Vote for your 2014 Brazilian GP Driver of the Weekend”

  1. Has to be Massa.

    1. @becken-lima I disagree. He didn’t get the most out of the car in Qualifying, and had 2 silly errors which would’ve cost him a podium if Bottas or anybody else was closer. And that means that I would put Rosberg and Raikkonen ahead of him. Perhaps even Button

    2. A recovery drive from self-inflicted wounds matters less than the driver who led every session. I’m a Perez fan, but even Massa’s efforts at home had me on edge. He did the best he could, and I’m ecstatic for him, but Rosberg brought his best. It wasn’t a Senna or Schumacher effort, but you don’t sweep all sessions without notice.

    3. @becken-lima
      Why? Massa made two pit stop mistakes, which would’ve cost him his podium place if Bottas hadn’t ran into trouble without his own fault.

  2. I gave this to Button. Hamilton un-did himself this weekend with that spin, Rosberg drove well but I just can’t give driver of the weekend to any Mercedes driver with the advantage the car has. Button gets it due to out-qualifying his supposedly fast team mate who I think is pretty average and then driving the car to 4th in the race. He fully deserves to keep his seat.

    1. @broke84 I’m not sure about who deserves the seat. I really think if they put Alonso in and one of the two current drivers there are a lot of pro and con arguements to choose either of them. I’d go for Magnussen because they will have an experienced driver in Alonso.

    2. So you believe Button is DOTW well because he beat a team mate who you think are “pretty average”. Interesting logic.

      1. Don’t be so critical buddy, there are many reasons. I believe Button in a car that isn’t great drove, once again, a car to a place it shouldn’t be. DOTW is an opinion based poll, not just who got pole, fastest lap etc. So yes, Button for a good qualifying and a good race that isn’t a Mercedes or Williams or Red bull.

    3. I gave it to Button in Texas for a similar result when nobody else stood out, so this weekend I gave it to the guy under pressure who topped ever session, even though he had the best car.

      1. I gave it to Nico for not crumbling under the the Stevenage pressure, double points for Jenson for not giving up,

      2. @hohum Didn’t Magnussen out-perform Button in Texas? By, like, a long way? So why in the world would you vote for Button?

        1. @mashiat, he qualified ahead of mag but had 5 place penalty which put him back in traffic, he was going well until his tyres did what Pirellis do.

          1. @hohum Yes, Button did a decent job, but over the race, KM was better at tyre conservation, as he did a 2 stop like Button, yet didn’t really fall back as drastically. JB did decent, but not a DOTW performance. I would put Lewis, Nico R, and Dan R, ahead. Just my opinion…

    4. Agree, Button all the way… Challenged for a podium in the McLaren, beat his team mate by 21 seconds and 4 places. Deserving of a seat at any top team, still has it.

  3. I haven’t been impressed by Kimi at all this season. There is no doubt Alonso was in every way the superior. BUT I gave him my vote for the simple reason his side of the garage had the balls to try something different. There is a quite an obvious pecking order between cars. So you can almost always predict where a car in a normal race would finish. So I really like how both Hülkenberg and Kimi tried a two stopper in hope for more. If it weren’t for the pitstop he might have stayed in front of Alonso.

    This is also one of the reasons I like when a race has more than two pitstops. It allows for different strategies more so than just when is that one prime or option stint going to be.

    1. You mean the pecking order has changed toward Kimi?

  4. Unambiguously Rosberg. Led every session in the whole weekend and didn’t spin anywhere on the circuit. A very Hamilton-esque performance!

    1. Also controlled the gap at the front without over-driving, didn’t make the slightest mistake when the lead was under 1 second.

      1. I see it the same way, yeah. Rosberg really did all he could and did it well.

        1. Rosberg for me as well. Love how he controlled the pace and kept Hamilton at bay for many laps.

          Very ingenious of Rosberg to set a pace that would require Hamilton to use up his tires trying to close that 7 second gap whilst allowing Nico to conserve his.
          Hamilton took the bait… it worked.

          After that Nico held off a charging Hamilton who could not get past even WITH the use of DRS.

          Great race between Nico and Lewis.. was very exciting to watch and hats off to both of them.

    2. As much as it pains me, I agree

  5. James (@jamesjames123abc)
    10th November 2014, 12:40

    My vote goes to Rosberg. In my opinion, it was his best weekend of the year.

    Honourable mentions go to Button and Hulkenberg as well.

    1. I agree here.

      I voted Rosberg, in spite of not being his biggest fan. I did so because, had it been Hamilton in his place, he would have had my vote.

      Button also did an outstanding job, however.

      1. I like your reasoning.

  6. Rosberg, definitely. Did a very Hamilton-esque performance today. Dominated Practice, got Pole Position (won the trophy as well) and managed to win despite being the slower Mercedes today. Great job by him! And honorable mentions to Raikkonen, Button and Alonso too.

    1. petebaldwin (@)
      10th November 2014, 13:15

      @mashiat – How can the best driver of the weekend be slower than his team mate?

      1. LotsOfControl (@for-unlawful-carnal-knowledge)
        10th November 2014, 13:18

        What? Which planet are you from?
        Ah, yes.. not of THIS Earth!

        1. petebaldwin (@)
          10th November 2014, 16:12

          From what I saw, following mistakes from Hamilton, he caught Rosberg straight back up which would suggest that he was faster. I certainly didn’t see Rosberg drive away from Hamilton at any point in the race…

          1. Why would rosberg need to drive away from hamilton?

            All that Hamilton did after he spun was eat up more tire life trying to catch up. Being extra far in front doesn’t give any benefits, so why would Nico waste his own tires for no gain? At the end of the race he was gaining half a second or more in the sector of the track with most of the turns and none of the drs/straight-line drafting opportunities… 100% guarantee if he tried to ‘drive away’ from Hamilton during the race he wouldn’t have been able to pull that off.

          2. You seriously think that Rosberg let another car get within 0.5 seconds as part of having full control? Nonsense. And I say that as somebody who thinks that Rosberg was probably the DOTW.

        2. Hamilton almost had 71 laps to overtake Rosberg, the only time he came close was during the pit stops.

      2. @petebaldwin: Rosberg has been faster over a single lap over the whole weekend. And if you start 2nd, you have to overtake your team mate to win. He failed to do that in 71 laps, and hence did not deserve to win.

        Next time he should just be faster in qualifying and the whole discussion will be not required.

        1. petebaldwin (@)
          10th November 2014, 16:16

          @xenomorph91 – You are absolutely spot on there. Rosberg has been quicker over a single lap and his pole position trophy shows that this is not just a one-off. His issues have been race pace, not one-lap pace.

          You are also right in that Hamilton failed to overtake Rosberg and as such, did not deserve to win. I never suggested he did. I voted for Massa because it was a real improvement over what we have seen from him (in general) this year.

          And again, you are right that Hamilton should sort his qualifying out because as the faster driver in the race, there would have been no discussion required.

      3. @petebaldwin By winning the race perhaps?

        1. petebaldwin (@)
          10th November 2014, 17:37

          @strontium – If that was the criteria for DOTW, it would be a very boring feature…

          1. @petebaldwin I’m not saying that it is the only way to get it, I am saying that winning is a valid enough reason to be DOTW.

          2. petebaldwin (@)
            10th November 2014, 18:00

            @strontium – Fair enough. I just can’t see how either of Hamilton of Rosberg could be considered as neither did anything that special. Hamilton couldn’t pass Rosberg and Rosberg couldn’t create and maintain a gap. Rosberg won the race but I think most drivers on the grid could win in a Mercedes.

          3. @petebaldwin that is a valid statement given that Chilton is no longer on the grid ;)

      4. @petebaldwin Why did Hamilton win DOTW in Bahrain then? He was slower than Nico. Didn’t even get pole.

  7. Rosberg, one of the easier votes this season and long overdue!

    1. @psynrg agreed clearly Rosberg, you need to factor in championship points pressure, being hunted down by one of the most agressive racers on the planet and still held his nerve.

      IMO it’s not overdue, he just earned it this weekend. Button was brilliant too, he really showed that he’s still hot property

      1. @twentyseven

        I don’t think Nico has pressure – in fact, he has nothing to lose and everything to gain at this point and you can see that in his interviews. If he felt pressure, he would have made mistakes as he has in the past.

  8. Button is DOTW for me. Punching well above McLaren’s weight.

    Rosberg had a good weekend too, but he is in the fastest car and Hamilton made a mistake that effectively cost him the lead, maybe the win.

    1. Mmmmmm, not really. I agree that Button’s race was strong, but McLaren has been a faster car for some races already, at least better than Ferrari… which he passed in this race again. MAG also qualified better than both Ferraris, so it’s the car “at fault” too. So, I agree he punched above than normal, but “well above”. Just my opinion……

  9. I’m going for Button. He did great in qualifying, and drove a really solid race to get 4th and was in the running for a podium. Considering how his team-mate struggled this weekend it’d be a great shame that a driver with Jenson’s ability may be forced out of F1.

    1. +1. I can’t believe that some people put ALO-MAG option above ALO-BUT. I just hope that Ron will once again put two best possible drivers in his car.
      Jenson drove grate race with brilliant overtaking moves. Rosberg had a great weekend too but he only needs to beat one opponent every weekend.

      1. @toxic
        ‘I just hope that Ron will once again put two best possible drivers in his car.’

        The best possible combination for which year though? ALO-BUT may be the best for 2015, and possibly 2016, but by then at least one of them (BUT most likely) would want to call it a day in F1. ALO-MAG gives the better long-term prospect.

        I wouldn’t be sad to see Button going. He’s still a good driver, able to put in great performances, will easily do well should he move to a different discipline (WEC or Triathlon sound the most plausible at the moment), and has in my opinion the best WDC story going from 2009. He’s had his time and if he goes, he can look back and know he did well.

      2. @toxic thing is with Magnussen, people would choose him as he is young and has a bigger F1 future ahead of him, unlike Button who probably won’t be around for more than a few years.

      3. Best possible driver pairing for 2015. I know that Magnussen has a future but it’s exactly that.. a future. If Magnussen would be close to Button points wise then it would be a different story but it’s not really the case. They can always left Magnussen in the team to learn from both Alonso and Button and just make the move when the right time comes.
        This is exactly how it was happening in the past. Young drivers were coming to the teams as reserve/test drivers and were promoted to the main team when needed. I know that it was easier back in the day with the unlimited testing but it doesn’t change the fact that Jenson did better job than Kevin this year and McLaren unfortunately need the money from the constructors championship.
        I don’t want to take anything from Magnussen but this year it is Jenson who is achieving better results and you can always count on his consistency. It is of course just my personal opinion :)

  10. Went with Massa, because he not only scored a podium, he was the quickest Williams in qualifying and the race. That involved beating a driver I consider streets ahead of him, so credit where it’s due.

  11. Maybe sentimentality is getting the better of me but i voted for Button (again). Strong qualifying and comfortably beat his team-mate as he usually has this season. I think he finished as high as realistically possible and had some good fights with the Ferraris and Vettel to get there. Rosberg will win the vote i’m sure but i think he was let off the hook by Hamilton’s spin and if not for that we would probably have seen another race-day defeat.

    Strong weekends also for Massa, Hulkenberg (anyone notice his fastest lap was only 0.173 secs away from fastest Merc, helped by tyres of course but still), and wierdly…Gutierrez!

  12. I think it has to be between Rosberg, Button and Hulkenberg, with an honorable mention to Massa.

    3. Button. Once again showing he has what it takes in F1, and fully deserving of a seat for years to come (providing he continues his results). He was great wheel to wheel, and he extracted the most out of the car, and he ended up only 7 seconds behind a clearly faster Williams. Great drive.

    2. Rosberg. Flawless almost all weekend, until the race. Even though he never looked like he was going to let Hamilton past, he still let a 7 second gap slip away. He had enough pace for the turbulent air to keep him ahead, but if it had been the other way around he’d have probably been gapped considerably. However, he didn’t ever give Lewis a sniff so he did what he needed to do when it mattered. But being fastest in every other session is no easy job against someone like Hamilton, so that’s why he’s ahead of Button.

    So I have to give it to the Hulk. He had a stellar race, and his qualifying was very good as he comfortably beat Perez, something that has been lacking recently. In the race it was Hulkenberg of old, running in a clearly not great car to finish well in the points after starting 12th. Great. Granted it was a different strategy but you have to make it work and when the car is clearly quite weak now compared to some others, it could almost be considered giant killing.

    I think it’s probably the closest between the top 3 I’ve seen in a while where there were actual stand out performances. Last week there and before that it has been close at the top, but it was usually deciding who deserved it least. This was to decide who deserved it more which is always nice.

    1. Also, I could have just as easily gone for any of them, I think all three are deserving. Only reason I voted for Hulk ahead is because I like him more.

  13. Voted for Rosberg. He was in extreme pressure this weekend to out perform Hamilton and keep his championship fight alive. He did everything to be still in contention for WDC at Abu Dhabi.

    Honorable mentions to Button, Vettel, Hulkenberg and Raikkonen.

  14. I don’t see a reason for the landslide in Rosberg’s favour (at this point in the voting) since he wouldn’t have been on pole without Hamilton’s T10 and his race pace was every bit as poor as was in Austin.

    For me the logical choice is Button. He worked with the team to improve a plain slow Friday car, qualified a brilliant P5 and finished an even better P4. It was a classically Button-esque weekend, and an excellent showcase of his professionalism and ability: a clear DotW choice for me.

    1. @countrygent agree completely, I also voted Button.

    2. Fastest driver in Brazilian Grand Prix:
      Friday
      Session 1: Rosberg
      Session 2: Rosberg
      Saturday
      Q1: Rosberg
      Q2: Rosberg
      Q3: Rosberg
      Sunday
      Race: Rosberg

      Could this be the reason for people voting for Rosberg?

      1. petebaldwin (@)
        10th November 2014, 18:03

        Fair enough argument but all that really says is that Rosberg beat his team mate. It doesn’t take into account that other drivers may have maximised the performance of their cars whilst Hamilton showed that in the race at least, the Mercedes could go faster.

        1. This is true. There were other drivers that did well (Button, Massa) and comparing drivers with different cars is quite difficult and always matter of opinion.

          Rosberg did what he had to do, without errors. Pressure for Rosberg and Hamilton was greater as they are still fighting for the championship. For others, the season is pretty much over.

    3. “he wouldn’t have been on pole without Hamilton’s T10” Yeah, that’s racing man.

      1. As far as I see it, Rosberg shouldn’t be told he was fortunate for Hamilton’s mistake, Rosberg did the job where Hamilton failed to.

        At the VERY least, it’s a reason for not voting for Hamilton, it’s definitely not a reason for not voting Rosberg..

  15. petebaldwin (@)
    10th November 2014, 13:14

    Can’t go for either Mercedes driver. Hamilton was much quicker than Rosberg in the race but finished behind him because of a mistake. Rosberg wasn’t the fastest driver in his team.

    I’d probably go for Massa overall. He made mistakes but fought hard to secure a really good podium finish in front of his home crowd.

    1. I don’t understand why people are dinging ROS because of HAM’s spin. Being fast doesn’t mean much if a driver is going to make critical mistakes. Keeping mistakes to a minimum is also part of racing.

      1. petebaldwin (@)
        10th November 2014, 16:20

        @trublu – I’m not dinging ROS because of a spin. I’m not sure he’d have won the race without Hamilton’s spin though. Rosberg did well but he didn’t beat Hamilton on pace and for me, that’s a prerequisite to win DOTW.

        It’s very difficult to judge a McLaren driver against a Ferrari driver because you don’t know the relative pace of the cars. With two team-mates, it’s a bit more claer.

      2. @trublu I think the point is that without a good benchmark how do we judge Rosberg? He had to yield over 5s to his teammate in a single stint to save his tyres, because pace for pace he can’t look after them as well. Not making a mistake doesn’t qualify him for DOTW. Even after Hamilton’s spin he was only saved by the track layout really.

        I went for Jenson. Perfect answer to McLaren.

        1. I don’t think the track is to blame at all. Overtaking was definitely possible, not just at the end of the 2 long straights. Yes, it is true that Hamilton showed a better pace overall, but at the end of the day, Rosberg did exactly what he needed to take that win. He did not make a single mistake, he did not burn up his tyres trying to escape Hamilton, he was consistently quicker in the middle sector, thus rebuilding a gap that Hamilton couldn’t bridge with the help of 2 consecutive DRS zones. It wasn’t too spectacular, but I think he managed the race extremely well.

          1. Roberg was only quicker in the middle sector when Hamilton was in his dirty air. That’s how the layout works in the leader’s favour.

            Yes there were other passes, when cars had a bigger advantage than being in an identical car on an identical strategy. Rosberg did drive well, but not DOTW well, for me.

          2. @lockup And Rosberg used the track layout to his advantage. I personally agree with @nase

          3. Hmmm, well cmon @strontium, what else was Rosberg gonna do? He’d have to deliberately slow in S2 to achieve any other effect than gap his close pursuer.

          4. @lockup
            I know how dirty air works and have taken it into account. Rosberg was, with very few exceptions, putting in faster middle sector times even before Hamilton had reached the DRS window.
            Also, Rosberg managed to build a gap of 0.8-0,9 seconds every lap, which is significantly more than seen in other close battles throughout the field, indicating that Rosberg has in fact actively used the middle sector to build a gap.
            Like @strontium said, it was a case of using the track layout to his advantage. Lewis had a big advantage with two DRS zones back-to-back, so Rosberg had to push hard to keep him out of his slipstream. And that’s what he did. Flawlessly.

          5. @nase Lewis didn’t have DRS when he was catching from 7.5s behind. I don’t think you have the data to take dirty air into account do you?

            Rosberg drove well, didn’t make any mistakes, and always exited Juncao far enough ahead not to be caught. Not out of DRS range though, as he surely would have wished.

            He was able to do that because it’s impossible to follow closely though S2 in the same car on the same tyres. I don’t see any ‘active’ driving in S2, just decent, error-free driving.

            But NR had to give up 5.5s to make his tyres last as well as Lewis’, and in the previous stint he couldn’t protect his tyres as well as Lewis, on the same pace. So IMO a decent drive, nothing wrong with it, but saved by the track layout from the faster car, and thus not DOTW.

          6. @lockup
            I didn’t say or imply that Lewis had DRS before catching Nico.
            And, as I said: Nico’s middle sector times were faster than Lewis’s before the latter had to struggle with dirty air. That might have been the result of a setup choice. Or intelligent driving by Rosberg who kept his rear tyres alive, while Hamilton’s were overheating.

            For the rest, let’s just agree to disagree. I see no reason to deny a DOTW to a driver who wasn’t the fastest in a race, yet managed to defend his position. You do.

          7. @nase Okay that’s cool. I must say my memory is Lewis’ S2 times were at least as good in free air but I don’t know a source for them now. Maybe I could investigate the app, but anyway yes I rated JB a bit higher, no worries – it would be hopeless if a driver got 100% of the vote :)

          8. @lockup
            The funny thing is, I didn’t vote for Rosberg, either (I chose Massa instead, though more out of respect for him in general than for his performance). So we were basically having an academic discussion. ;)

    2. I can’t agree with you more. Rosberg made no mistakes, that’s it. Lewis made a mistake, what a pity. Massa made mistakes also, but he finally made it to podium. For the Brazilians, he is like the champion.

  16. Nico all the way. GO Nico GO. Next race can not come soon enough. Thanks, Norris PS No matter what the outcome it has been a great long duel between the Mercedes boys and I still intensely dislike the double points.

  17. I chose Button. Faster than team-mate in both quali and race and comfortably fourth, a result well higher than what McLaren seemed capable to achieve. And he did not make errors unlike Massa or Hamilton.

    I do not see how it could be Rosberg. Yes, he was quicker in practice and in quali, but, as it was the case several times this year, on Sunday he was constantly slower than his team-mate, to the point that he almost lose his position pitting earlier than him.

  18. Not one of his biggest fans, but that was a masterclass from Button. I really wish he had gone up against Alonso, he deserves it.

  19. I refuse to believe that Rosberg will not win this. Won the race whilst hardly making any defensive moves (indicating he had pace to spare and was taking it easy), topped all 6 timed sessions, and didn’t put a foot wrong all weekend.

    If he doesn’t win this poll, then something has seriously gone wrong.

    1. @keeleyobsessed If you are taking it easy on tyres and have pace to spare, you would maintain the gap around 2-3 seconds ideally.

      1. @zippyone Why? You’re in front. Maybe he was confident in his setup and tyres that he knew he could push IF he was attacked, but he wasn’t and therefore didn’t need to.

        2-3 seconds is a good place to stay behind, but if you’re in front, then it doesn’t matter. You only need to win the race by 0.001s in the end, pushing harder could harm parts which are vitally important for Abu Dhabi

        1. @keeleyobsessed In case of an error such as lock up, you do not want the guy behind less than a second away ready to pounce.

  20. Just look at the facts here. Who was P1 in each session?
    Free Practice 1: Nico Rosberg
    Free Practice 2: Nico Rosberg
    Free Practice 3: Nico Rosberg
    Qualifying 1: Nico Rosberg
    Qualifying 2: Nico Rosberg
    Qualifying 3: Nico Rosberg
    Race: Nico Rosberg

    Based on that, I went for Nico Rosberg.

    1. OmarR-Pepper (@)
      10th November 2014, 14:04

      @craig-o Agree with you, especially this is DOTW. I would say that many time we (I include myself into this logic) sometimes weigh the race more than all the other sessions, of course because it’s more important. But this kind of performance by Rosberg can’t be denied.

    2. @craig-o @omarr-pepper
      BTW, I just checked and it’s the first time this season one driver has topped every session in a race weekend! Great stuff ;-)

  21. As a massive Hulkenberg fan, it makes me sad not to vote for him as DOTW for the race at which he led his first laps this season. But Brazil 2014 absolutely belonged to the other Nico, who was pretty much faultless from FP1 to the end of the race.

  22. I voted for Felipe. Not because he was particularly outstanding, but because he deserves the recognition. He gave his home crowd a reason to go crazy, which is never a bad thing, especially when things look so grim.
    He has had a difficult season of being seemingly dominated by Bottas, although a careful analysis of lap times shows that he is just as competitive as Valtteri – “The Real Deal” – Bottas.
    While it is true that he made a pair of mistakes in the race, it was nice to see him drive a very strong weekend and eventually finish in the top 3.

    1. Well, Bottas had an older engine than Felipe which alone explained the difference in qualifying (finnish post-qualy interview). Just saying the outcome could have been very different (pit stop problems x2)….. Still happy for him and his homeGP podium though.

      1. @alexanderfin
        That’s possible, although I’m not 100% sure if it’s nothing but the truth. There’s a lot of explanations for this and that which only surface in the driver’s home country’s national TV, but aren’t repeated to other media. Not only in Suomi. ;-)
        I’m pretty sure the Spanish media will have talked endlessly about Alonso’s engine (which is outright ancient compared to Räikkönen’s)…

        Anyway, you’re definitely right. The race could have taken a different turn with Felipe’s penalty. But then, Bottas had an issue with his seat belts, and from then on, his race went south.
        Which is precisely why I voted for Felipe. There have been quite a few races this season where he could’ve finished ahead of or at least alongside Valtteri, but as so often, he has attracted the occasional freak accident or unusual technical issue. On Sunday, he was, for once, the lucky one. So I gave it to him, although others may have deserved it more.

        1. @nase
          The thing about engine was that Bottas himself said he had an older engine…

          But yes there should be no what if’s in F1, what happens happens.

  23. Went for Button this time, completely out-performed Magnussen and also beat both Red Bulls in qualifying and race. A real shame if he’s not on the grid next year.

  24. Nico Rosberg. Ensured that Lewis was always chasing, but never quite ablse to get ahead by being inch perfect from P1 through to the race. Lewis was, again, faster in the race, but it’s who crosses the line first that counts.

  25. Wanted to vote for the HULK but had to vote for Rosberg because he was the quicker driver during free practice and qualifying, but in the race I think Hamilton was the faster driver

    1. Newsflash people – if Hamilton was fastest during the race he would have finished FIRST.

  26. as usual, no mercedes driver gets my vote. i gave it to hulkenberg, who has a surprisingly low amount of votes. thought he had a great race, certainly better than massa with his silly mistakes.

  27. Rosberg! We were always highlighting how Hamilton led all practice sessions and qualifying even when he didn’t take pole, this time Rosberg was perfect from Friday to Sunday! He might have really changed his approach from Austin, though one may wonder why it took him so long to do so.

  28. tgu (@thegrapeunwashed)
    10th November 2014, 15:57

    I’m a Hamilton fan, but I’ve no hesitation in giving it to Rosberg on this occasion. What impressed me most was the final stint: Lewis had looked quicker in the race up to that point and in the final stint they were both on the same tyres for [pretty much] the same number of laps: I thought this is it now, Lewis will continue to catch him and then pull a move in the final laps. But then Nico managed to hold him at 0.5-0.7s for the remainder of the race.

    Rosberg truly raised his game this weekend, drew out a mistake from Hamilton, then kept him at arm’s length – it was a terrific performance. If he can repeat it in Abu Dhabi he might be crowned champion, and deservedly so. What’s more, it suggests 2015 could be even more closely contested than this season.

  29. I was beginning to believe that Rosberg would go the entire year without winning DOTW, but this is definitely his this time.

  30. Rosberg. Don’t like him but can’t take away his flawless performance this weekend. Well, not flawless actually, since he wasn’t the quickest. But as someone great once said “F1 is about finishing first at the slowest possible time”

  31. Pretty easy win for Rosberg this weekend. Flawless everywhere, quicker than his teammate, and drove “just slowly enough to win” in the classical style.

    Mclaren engineers pretty clearly would have voted Button en masse, and they’ve got a good argument. Whatever his future, he’s made a lot of friends in that team.

  32. By the same logic I’ve given DOTW to Hamilton in the past, Rosberg beat his teammate in EVERY session and won…faultless.

    To add to this, the pressure he’s under at the moment…no win since Germany, Hamilton overtaking him on track so easily last time out and with significant work to do in the championship. Good drive.

    Honourable mention to Kimi for making the wrong strategy work out pretty well.

  33. Sebastian Vettel: he had a quietly very impressive weekend, out-qualifying and out-racing his teammate (prior to his premature retirement), and being the highest placed non-Mercedes engined car. The only blip was running wide at T4 on the first lap – his initial getaway at the start was rather good.

  34. My driver of the weekend was Rosberg, he was fastest all weekend and took a deserved victory.

    Second would be Button who is having a good finish to the season and continues to remind the team just what he can do, it will be a shame if this his final season in F1 as he has shown he still one of the best drivers on the grid.

    Massa as usual put in a good performance at his home GP however he made a few mistakes during his pit stops and if he had been involved in a closer battle they could have cost him a position.

  35. GO Nico GO …. Thanks, Norris

  36. Funny how haw Hamilton has so many votes considering he was beaten quite clearly by Nico all weekend…

  37. Had Rosberg lost the race, my choice would either be Massa or Räikkönen. Massa was on it the whole weekend (although Bottas’ older power unit certainly contributed to his lack of pace, as did the mistakes in the pits), and I’d vote for Kimi simply because how much he improved based on the previous weekends.

    But c’mon, this is driver of the weekend. Nico was fastest in all the sessions. Has to be him.

  38. Rosberg. I think it’s easier being the chaser, but even so he dominated Hamilton this weekend… Brazil really is his bogey circuit.

  39. Easy pick this time: Rosberg. Fastest at every session and wins the race with no mistakes. Great drive.

  40. I’ve voted for Hamilton several times this season for making the most out of the best car and beating his teammate; hence my vote has to go to Rosberg this time.

  41. Rosberg. I couldn’t be a bigger Hamilton fan but Rosberg did the job on Saturday and held Hamilton at bay on Sunday. Good drive.

    1. I don’t think he deserved it at all. His race pace was no where near Hamilton’s, you could see that from the way Hamilton was under 1 second behind for a large number of laps. Every time we have seen this in the past and Hamilton has overtake Nico, Lewis has driven off into the distance, such as last week.

      1. Got to agree with @williamstuart on this one, as one inclined towards Rosberg. He may have had the one lap advantage, but it was hardly emphatic. Hamilton made a crucial error also when it mattered, so I wouldn’t hand it to either of the Mercedes drivers.

        1. Exactly, I voted for Button as the only real stand out driver from the weekend, as I mentioned below, imagine how impressed everybody would be if he was 10 years younger…

  42. 100% Button, he out drove his team Nate more emphatically than any other pairing on the grid, his qualifying was better, his race pace and race craft was far better too. If he was 10 years younger that race would’ve been enough to make him the next Alonso or Vettel, but because he is over 30 he will lose his seat at the end of the year. How absolutely pathetic. I was excited for Magnussen after McLaren said that he was already faster in the sim than Perez after announcing him last year, and the fact he’s been thoroughly outclassed by Button this season says a lot about Button. Imagine if he was given the WO5 this season… Rosberg didn’t deserve it because if Hamilton’s far greater pace an tyre management in the race. He was running in dirty air for large parts of that race, yet managed to preserve his tyres enough for some charges at the end. Obviously Hamilton didn’t deserve it either though. But I would say his performance was more impressive overall considering Rosberg’s advantage going into the race in apparent pace. The fact Hamilton was quite clearly faster on race day indicates that Rosberg still can’t put together a good showing in a race. Had Hamilton not spun, he would’ve been about 3 tenths ahead after the final stop and you can imagine Hamilton would’ve driven off ahead of Rosberg.

    1. *team mate

  43. FP 1: Rosberg
    FP 2: Rosberg
    FP 3: Rosberg
    Pole: Rosberg
    Win: Rosberg

    Pretty obvious choice.

    1. Not really, Hamilton was faster than Rosberg in the race, and used his tyres better than Rosberg. Had he not made the mistake he would’ve won. I thought Button was far more impressive.

      1. You’re saying that as if Hamilton was a better driver over the weekend than Rosberg. Although his race pace wasn’t amazing he kept him behind and he topped all sessions. I also think Button had a great performance but Hamilton has own DOTW a few times this year with similar performances so Nico deserves it in my opinion.

  44. Not a hard choice this time: Jenson Button.

  45. Rosberg dominated the entire weekend.

  46. Kimi, because he could improve on his perform.

  47. I’m on record doubting if the Mercedes drivers deserve the DOTW just because of winning and leading Q & P sessions. One can argue that they only beat 1 driver by doing that.
    But, during many past races I have awarded DOTW to Hamilton, and Rosberg has been at least as good this weekend. Deserved DOTW this weekend for Rosberg.

    Massa did well, but 3 mistakes should take it away from him notwithstanding his impressive ‘come back’ drive.
    PS the 3rd mistake is complaining about the tyres a few weeks back. Due to the soft tyres we saw extremely cautious driving and a somewhat boring race by all (bar Hulkenberg).

    Hulkenberg. He is actually my runner up. He had another impressive Brazilian weekend. And best of all, he was the only driver who showed some balls during his late attacking drive on soft rubber.
    I do not understand why he only gets such a low support this weekend. I would certainly never have picked Button over him.

    And a final DOTW nomination goes to Bianchi. According to latest reports he is still in a critical condition in Mie GMC. After his terrible accident, his team first failed to make 2 races, and now has folded. #ForzaJules

  48. A general comment to all those saying that Hamilton was fastest this weekend (he very well could have been fastest).
    To finish 1st, 1st you need to finish, 2nd you need to finish ahead of 2nd!

    It is totally irrelevant how much you stay in front, and (unless you’re Vettel) no need to risk/prove fast lap times.

    1. It is totally irrelevant for what concerns points and standings. While rating the absolute performance of a driver it must be taken into account IMHO. If Rosberg had mantained a gap of 2-3 secs to Ham then I would agree that he was just cruising and controlling the race, and so I would have given him DOTW too.

      The fact that this did not happen in my opinion shows that Ros had not the pace to keep his team mate at distance, so he was not faster than his only real opponent and therefore not the best candidate for DOTW weekend.

  49. How the hell does Kimi have more votes than Hulkenberg? Kimi was out qualified and out raced by his team mate, Hulkenberg the opposite. Madness.

    1. Kimi despite being the quite kind has many loyal fans you know.

  50. Usually I’m reluctant to give the winner the DOTW, but that’s what I’ve done this week. It reminded me a little of Damon Hill’s performance in Japan 1994. Both had seldom beaten their rival in a straight fight all year and owe their position at the front to reasons other than pure speed, now delivering a timely reminder that they are in the title fight on merit. Definitely Rosberg’s best performance of the season, possibly his best performance ever, and not a moment too soon.

  51. I’d take Massa for this race but I know Button deserved it. Feel kinda sentimental for Massa with his home crowd cheering him and thought of his 2008 lost WDC within a couple of seconds, that was painful and remain with him.
    He’s a nice fella, and how big his son has grown too.

  52. Has to be a reluctant vote for Rosberg.

    We saw plenty of other drivers make it past their teammates but Rosberg held it together and nailed qualifying.

    Best of all bringing the points deficit down to one where if Hamilton DNF’s on the next round it can no longer be blamed on double points that he lost.

  53. My TOP5:
    1. ROSBERG
    2. Button
    3. Raikkonen
    4. Vettel
    5. Massa

  54. It was between the both Nico’s :) for me with Button as a good third. I enjoyed all three drivers during the race. Too bad FI waited too long with Hulkenberg last stop i really thought they could even jump Alonso.
    So i selected the underdog this means Nico Hulkenberg

  55. Nico Rosberg: For his hilarious comments on double points, his post race interview humour, and his basically perfect weekend.

    I will be devastated when Lewis loses the title on the last race, but I think that most people agree that he will still be the peoples champion this year.

  56. It’s an easy option to choose Nico but i won’t. He was faultless all weekend long, yes, but it was Hamilton who presented the pole and also the win with two mistakes. Nico did nothing special to beat Lewis.

    I say Felipe. He made a rookie mistake (or Maldonadoing) but recovered it like a pro. Best possible result was getting the last spot on the podium and he managed to keep it. But the most important, Bottas didn’t seemed he could have beat him if he hadn’t had the problems that occured in pit stops.

    1. I disagree. I don’t see the merit in using Lewis’s mistakes to undermine the value of Rosberg’s win. In this instance, with the intensity of the competition between the two, Rosberg had raised his game, so Lewis had to raise his. As a consequence he pushed just a little too hard succumbing to the temptation / pressure to beat Rosberg.
      For me Rosberg was on it all weekend both on-track and psychologically and he deserves the vote.

  57. Has to be Rosberg.

  58. Rosberg clearly deserved it this weekend. But I voted for Hamilton anyway – he thrives on “positive energy”, so sending as much as I can his way.

    1. *Sarcastic applause*

  59. I chose Rosberg because Piquet wasn’t on the list

  60. Don’t think Rosberg can be the best driver in a weekend in which he wasn’t even the fastest driver in his team. Think Button or Massa among others deserve it far more.

    1. He crossed the line in the least amount of time so mathematically he was the fastest race driver and he qualified on pole with the fastest single lap.

      Lewis has won races without being the fastest lapping driver in the race and received the credit he deserves for his race craft. I think rosberg deserves this one dotw.

  61. Went for Button. He did a great job and got the best he could have done with the McLaren. Showed his highly talented teammate the way home by quite a margin and almost threatened Massa’s podium in a slower car.

    Rosberg did excellent to take pole and withstand pressure from Lewis all weekend, but Lewis’ pace advantage showed that Rosberg was lacking in overall race craft, so he loses on that count. When your teammate can lose it and recover to spend the rest of the race under your tailpipe, you’re doing something wrong.

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