Vote for your 2015 Brazilian Grand Prix Driver of the Weekend

2015 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

Mercedes

Rosberg put one over Hamilton again
Lewis Hamilton – “I really need to improve my grid position this time because that can heavily influence the race,” said Hamilton on Friday. He didn’t – Rosberg pipped him for the fifth race running after Hamilton’s final practice preparations were disrupted by a technical problem and a spin. He threw everything at his team mate in the second stint but was never able to force Rosberg onto the defensive, and with no strategic alternative being offered he was destined for second.

Nico Rosberg – Having been behind Hamilton in Q1 and Q2 it seemed his run of poles might come to an end. But a fractionally more committed pair of laps in Q3 saw him come out ahead in a super-close fight between the pair. Just like last year Hamilton appeared to have the edge on speed in the race, but Rosberg clung on to his track position advantage early in the race and pulled out a lead in the final laps.

Red Bull

Daniel Ricciardo – Used Renault’s revised engine but might have had cause to regret it as he found himself 0.4kph down on Kvyat in qualifying. That plus a ten-place grid penalty left him 19th on the grid. With no help from Safety Cars and little benefit from the new engine – he was 0.4kph down on his team mate in qualifying – the points never looked likely.

Daniil Kvyat – Described his Saturday effort as “probably one of my best qualifying laps this year” having struggled in the second sector on Friday. He was jumped by Hulkenberg at the first round of pit stops and thereafter had an uneventful run to seven.

Williams

Bottas bounced back after a penalty
Felipe Massa – Described this as a “race to forget” even before he was thrown out of the results for having illegal tyre temperatures. Ill at ease in the car from the word go, he scraped through Q1 and Q2 to claim a place in the top ten, but slipped back from his team mate in the race.

Valtteri Bottas – Despite picking up a three-place grid penalty for passing Felipe Nasr when the red flags came out in second practice – which Bottas felt was unavoidable – he still started in front of his team mate. A rapid start put hi on the tail of the Ferraris but he lacked the pace to get ahead of them.

Ferrari

Sebastian Vettel – Said there was only a few hundredths of a second left in his car after Q3, while the gap to Mercedes was a yawning half-second around one of the shortest tracks of the year. However in the race Vettel’s pace was more promising, particularly after he switched to a three-stop strategy to keep Mercedes under pressure.

Kimi Raikkonen – Had a high-speed spin during practice but recovered to start alongside his team mate, thanks to the penalty given to Bottas. Had to switch engines before the race, taking an older unit to avoid a penalty, but with the team still optimising the settings on the new unit after the race had started he slipped back. Stuck to a two-stopper, letting Vettel by at one stage.

McLaren

Fernando Alonso – Headed to Brazil hoping for an end to his recent reliability problems – and got the exact opposite. His car broke down in practice and again during qualifying, before he could set a competitive time. Frustrated by his team’s strategy during the race, he at least saw the chequered flag this time.

Jenson Button – Confessed to struggling with his car in practice – Alonso’s problems meant Button had to shoulder more of the development work – but felt it was running better in qualifying, even though he couldn’t make it out of Q1. Like Alonso he started well but was easy meat for more powerful cars on the main straight.

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Force India

Hulkenberg equalled his best result of the year
Nico Hulkenberg – Matched his best grid position of the year at a track where he has often excelled and set himself a target of at least holding on to the position in the race. A less than great start put paid to that, but clever use of the undercut got him back in front of Kvyat. His sixth place secured fifth in the championship for Force India.

Sergio Perez – Said he wasn’t comfortable with the car all weekend, and admitted to an error on his last run in Q2 which cost him a place in the final ten. His difficulties continued into the race – unusually he pitted once more than his team mate and found himself passed by cars which were slower in a straight line as his tyres went off quickly.

Toro Rosso

Max Verstappen – Got into Q3 for the ninth time this year, which he hadn’t expected. He did his usual combative work in the race to make up for the Toro Rosso’s lack of punch on the straights – his pass on Perez in the Senna S was a particular highlight. Ninth place was his reward after Massa’s penalty.

Carlos Sainz Jnr – When will Toro Rosso get on top of the reliability problems which have cost Sainz demonstrably more than his team mate? He was distracted by an electrical problem during qualifying which meant his steering wheel display wasn’t working, and consequently failed to make it into Q3. His car failed seconds after leaving the garage before the race start, and after he was fired up in the pits he made it just four corners before the wheels locked solid, ending his race.

Lotus

Grosjean salvaged eighth on a tough weekend
Romain Grosjean – Understandably affected by the events of Friday in Paris, Grosjean nonetheless was Lotus’s highest qualifier as usual, though a spin prevented a better result in Q2. He got his head down during the race, passing his team mate and Verstappen en route to eighth.

Pastor Maldonado – Couldn’t get the back of the car to behaved as he wishes, made several set-up changes, and ended up failing to get out of Q1. He gambled on starting the race on medium tyres but was given a five-second penalty after carelessly hitting Ericsson. He lost places to two of his rivals in the closing stages before being promoted to the final point when Massa was disqualified.

Sauber

Marcus Ericsson – Unremarkable in qualifying, then didn’t make a great start in the race. Contact with Maldonado then ruined his race. “He hit the back of my car, spun me around and we had to pit to check for damage,” said Ericsson. “I lost around 30 to 40 seconds.”

Felipe Nasr – Didn’t look capable of making the cut for the top ten but qualified a strong 11th before picking up a penalty for impeding Massa. With few retirements, points never looked likely, though he battled convincingly with Grosjean in the opening laps and got a big cheer for his pass on Button.

Manor

Will Stevens – Said he was focussing on his race set-up instead of qualifying after ending up behind his team mate. This seemed to pay off as he led his team mate home after taking care of his rear tyres.

Alexander Rossi – On his last race weekend in the car this year, Rossi edged Stevens in qualifying. However he complained of “terrible” balance in his seconds and third stints and said he was powerless to keep his team mate behind.

Qualifying and race results summary

DriverStartedGap to team mate (Q)Laps leading team matePittedFinishedGap to team mate (R)
Lewis Hamilton2nd+0.078s6/7132nd+7.756s
Nico Rosberg1st-0.078s65/7131st-7.756s
Daniel Ricciardo19th+0.095s0/70311th+31.054s
Daniil Kvyat6th-0.095s70/7027th-31.054s
Felipe Massa8th+0.33s0/703
Valtteri Bottas7th-0.33s70/7025th
Sebastian Vettel3rd-0.34s65/7133rd-33.299s
Kimi Raikkonen4th+0.34s6/7124th+33.299s
Fernando Alonso20th6/70315th+9.311s
Jenson Button16th64/70314th-9.311s
Nico Hulkenberg5th-0.662s68/7026th-42.112s
Sergio Perez11th+0.662s2/70312th+42.112s
Max Verstappen9th-0.333s0/039th
Carlos Sainz Jnr10th+0.333s0/00
Romain Grosjean14th-0.329s44/7038th-12.526s
Pastor Maldonado15th+0.329s26/70210th+12.526s
Marcus Ericsson12th+0.244s0/69316thNot on same lap
Felipe Nasr13th-0.244s69/69213thNot on same lap
Will Stevens18th+0.132s35/67217th-10.54s
Alexander Rossi17th-0.132s32/67218th+10.54s

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 2015 Brazilian Grand Prix weekend?

  • Alexander Rossi (1%)
  • Will Stevens (0%)
  • Felipe Nasr (0%)
  • Marcus Ericsson (0%)
  • Pastor Maldonado (0%)
  • Romain Grosjean (2%)
  • Carlos Sainz Jnr (0%)
  • Max Verstappen (40%)
  • Sergio Perez (0%)
  • Nico Hulkenberg (14%)
  • Jenson Button (0%)
  • Fernando Alonso (1%)
  • Kimi Raikkonen (0%)
  • Sebastian Vettel (8%)
  • Valtteri Bottas (1%)
  • Felipe Massa (0%)
  • Daniil Kvyat (1%)
  • Daniel Ricciardo (1%)
  • Nico Rosberg (29%)
  • Lewis Hamilton (1%)

Total Voters: 526

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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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104 comments on “Vote for your 2015 Brazilian Grand Prix Driver of the Weekend”

  1. Nico Hulkenberg for me. Biggest gap between team mates in both qualifying and in the race.

    1. For me it was between him, Rosberg and Verstappen. Hulk beat Sergio convincingly, didn’t see him put a foot wrong all race. Rosberg did exactly what he needed to do to win, pushing just enough in Q2, beating Hamilton in Q3 and then pacing himself to win on Sunday. Good job, but not very exciting.

      In the end I chose Verstappen for the entertainment value he brought to the race with many a nice battle to enjoy.

    2. Hulk is certainly a Brazil specialist. I went for Verstappen, the chassis is great and this is another power circuit, the same old story of most of the season, meaning lots of ingenious overtakes and little room for error. Anyway Max toiled Carlos and achieved both a good qualifying and a great race. 1 hard point.

      1. Anyway Max toiled Carlo

        @peartree In Q, you can’t say that of the race…

        1. @xtwl you are right. Accurately there was no race for Sainz. Anyway I thought it was not necessary to state how superior has Max’s race pace been, at all venues but a couple, Russia to mention one.

          @patrickl I hear you, in my view it isn’t that impressive to achieve that gap, I just don’t rate Massa highly, although Massa is generally quick in Interlagos, even if the track has new curbs.

          1. I wrote curbs, I’m reading too much espn.

    3. Bottas was also half a minute ahead of Massa in the race even after his bizarre grid penalty. He also had 4 tenths on Massa in Q3.

  2. I wanted to vote to Rosberg flr a perfect weekend; but I felt that he was too much obsessed with hamilton behind him during the race and I feel he could have still performed better, so I voted for the other Nico. Hulkenberg had a solid drive to finish with a good haul of points.

    1. So if he pretended Hamilton was not there ( how would we know this) and he had won by more than 6 seconds in the exact same car as a 3 time world champion he would have got your vote?

      You are a very tough audience.

    2. I think Rosberg won because he was NOT obsessed with Hamilton. Just with getting the best Q3 lap in and then controlling the pace to win the race.

    3. Too much obsessed? By telling the garage to stop talking to him? Could have performed better? And risked a mistake or killing his tires?

      No, NR performed nearly flawlessly all weekend, and after a couple of tough seasons for him seems to still be fully capable of progress and full of potential to turn the tides, even if statistically most will still be giving very little odds for him to beat LH for the WDC next year. He knows what he has to do and that actions speak louder than words.

      1. Has to be Rosberg simply as listening to Hamilton speaking so much after winning the title was nauseating and all the Senna stuff, thank God Nico has shut him up if only for a little while but long may it continue. Hamilton came across as very likeable after taking a beating, it’s tough being Rosbergs team mate at the moment.

  3. Top three all drove the wheels off their car in terms of pace. Hamilton doesn’t get the vote because he lost from his teammate. Vettel gets it for finishing just some 10 seconds off Hamilton where as Bottas last year had a gap of 41 seconds. Surely Verstappen would be a very good vote too.

  4. Oh, most definitely, no doubt, the taxi driver who took us to the track in his little bright yellow Beetle..his overtakes made Verstappen look like a sissy, and the way he took the curbs was amazing; and he didn’t even have DRS!…when we arrived, we asked him his name and he just replied ‘just call me Mr Da Silva; I’ve had some distant relatives who used to do a bit of this car racing stuff..don’t really know if they were any good though’

    1. Brazilian taxi driver? Master overtaker? Amazing apexes? Mr. Da Silva? I think you, sir, have just met Mr. Ayrton Senna: the best taxi driver of all time. Always remember his quote: “When there is a gap, you either commit yourself, as a taxi driver, or be pushed around. And I’m not meant to be pushed around. When you no longer go for a gap that exists, you no longer a taxi driver.”

      1. Please don’t tell this to Lewis. He’ll ditch his zonda and laferrari for a yellow cab and I had to read that on every news…

        1. Why do you think he wore a yellow cap?

  5. ‘When will Toro Rosso get on top of the reliability problems which have cost Sainz demonstrably more than his team mate?’
    As has been demonstrated on these boards previously, they haven’t, not that much anyway, not nearly enough to account for the gap in points.

    My vote was between Hulk, Rosberg and Verstappen. Hulk won, being the driver who put his team-mate to the sword the most, and because it was impressive how he managed to regain form after a slump of sorts.

  6. Nearly went for hulk but went for verstappen due to some interesting overtakes

  7. Nico for me. Hulkenberg that is. Really needed strong results in qualifying and in the race to try wrest back the balance of power from Perez. He did a wonderful job in the race to hold off Kvyat on genuine pace.

  8. Difficult decision between Rosberg and Verstappen.
    Nico had an absolutely flawless weekend and dominated his team mate. It’s these kind of performances that he hinted at as early as Russia (only to be undone by a technical failure). He was unlucky in Texas where his otherwise great performance was only spoilt by that fateful mistake at the end. In Mexico he finally showed what he might really be capable of. The fact he’s had five poles in a row now adds to that. For the sake of an exciting championship, I hope he can carry that momentum into 2016.

    The real hero however, for me was Max Verstappen. This guy is hands down the best addition to the grid for years. He impressed me all through this season. Even after his crash in Monaco, he didn’t bother too much with the criticism, put his head down and delivered time and time again. Just as he did on Saturday and Sunday. He brought his power-lacking Toro Rosso into Q3 again whereas his team mate didn’t. His ballsy pass on Perez was the move of the year for me and so he deserves my vote for driver of the weekend.

    Nothing to take away from Rosberg, but Max impressed me that extra bit more this time.

    1. I had the same dilemma. I very nearly voted for Verstappen. I ended up going with Rosberg, however, for one reason: I would probably have voted Hamilton if the roles had been reversed.

      I wish I could vote for 2…

  9. Jelle van der Meer (@)
    16th November 2015, 13:51

    I voted Max Verstappen.

    Quotes from Lewis Hamilton – 3 time world champion:
    “I had good pace it’s just you can’t overtake here,”
    “I was behind Nico and he trapped me for some time so I just killed my tyres,”
    “It’s a shame because it’s such a great track but you just can’t get close enough to race. I don’t know if there’s other people overtaking but unless you’ve got a huge advantage on the guy in front…”

    Yet rookie Max Verstappen managed to overtake 3 cars into turn 1 despite having less engine power while running pretty much the entire rate within 2 seconds of the guy ahead and having someone close behind him most of the time.

    Yes DRS and slipstream helped Max but he did it in a Toro Rosso with Renault engine and managed to do it on the limit rather than over the limit like Pastor demonstrated.

    1. @jelle-van-der-meer To be fair, the condition are different. Hamilton need to pass Rosberg which has same car (means they both have more or less equal performance in straight and corners) and on same strategy (tires performance is, again, more or less equal). Verstappen passes is largely because the difference of tire wear. If he was in Hamilton position, I doubt he can overtake Rosberg.

      1. Still dont understand why Hamilton didnt go for soft tires to try and have a go at Rosberg. It’s what Verstappen did..

        1. Because Mercedes kept both drivers on the same strategy to safeguard the 1-2 and get Rosberg the points to secure second in the championship.

        2. Well, that likely wasn’t the optimal strategy the team wanted him on @maxv, given that Mercedes felt it was unfair to give either a different strategy.

      2. Verstappen on Perez overtake: Verstappen was on 21 lap old tires and Perez was 22 lap old tires, Verstappen was close behind (0.3s-0.9s) Perez most of those 21 laps and yet he didn’t ‘kill’ his tires, Verstappen lost all he gained in the twisty bits on the straights even with the use of DRS, Perez had the clear advantage.

        For me Verstappen is again driver of the weekend with Grosjean a close second.

      3. Verstappen passes is largely because the difference of tire wear.

        Hurrah, I’m glad I’m not the only one who notices this. Verstappen is a massive talent no doubt, but whenever he passes someone everyone is quick to gush and often fail to notice/ don’t want to acknowledge (depending on your choice of broadcaster) that his pace advantage at that moment in the race is down to his tyres. Great examples are his passes on Nasr in Spa and Brazil.

        1. I don’t understand. Both Max and Cheko were on the medium tyres, having started on the softs. Max had been on them for 20 laps, Cheko 21 laps. If Max had any advantage in his tyres, that advantage must come from being better at looking after those tyres, despite following closely in the dirty air for many laps!

        2. I’m going to explain old school, no DRS, F1 overtaking at which Prost was a master at. Get in the gearbox of your opponent for 5-7 laps (and back out for some laps and repeat if needed) and force the one in front of you to drive defensive lines and burning up their tyres if you can’t pass normally, all the while preserving your own tyres.

          And now before everyone is going to say de STR10 is such a good chassis (which it is), it isn’t designed to be really nice on the tyres according to Horner, the RB11 however is (hence in Monza and Spa they could do without an extra pit stop while the Toro Rosso guys had too). And Perez being one of the best defensive drivers and being one of the best in preserving his tyres on the grid, isn’t the most easy one to be doing that to…so it was actually classic old school F1 overtaking of young Max like the greats of the past, by burning up Perez’s tyres while preserving his own, and when his tyres were gone, waiting up on Perez to have a slightly bad getaway going up the straight while he made sure to have a good exit and have change to overtake.

          1. And that made this duel, the duel of the race… Young ace no doubt. Which begs the question… Howcome other vastly more experienced drivers do not do this..

            Hamstapen arguably unlike Maxstapen proven greatest driver this year, was unable to challange Rostapen this way.

            Maybe Mercedes is a very poor car at following and great in clear air.

          2. Verstappen needed DRS to make those moves, don’t be mistaken by that…

          3. The DRS off sets the big power deficit he has, so if there hadn’t been DRS but he would have had a decent engine, he would have done the same job and the others still would have complained.

            DRS have made them lazy, even before the race Hamilton was already complaining about there would be no overtaking, and if you go into a race with such a mindset, you’re sure not even going to try it. Anyone watching late 80s and early 90s F1 knows how hard the drivers had to work in being able to overtake sometimes…now I can understand to a degree the need for tyres which don’t fall off a cliff that quickly for them to be able to do that again, but to say it wasn’t possible was not right, it is just a lot of hard work to do so.

    2. I went for Verstappen too, definitely out performed his car. His overtakes were the highlights of the weekend.

    3. Well, first of all kudos to Max; but Lewis task was a lot more difficult; while Max could use the better chassis of the Toro Rosso compared to Lotus and ForceIndia to stay close in the last corner and then benefit from the slipstream and DRS to negate their speed advantage, Lewis did not have that luxury.

      Also don’t forget that Lewis was able to pass Kimi at ease on his first attempt (on brand new tires vs 20+ laps for Kimi; why, Kimi, why so easy?!). But against Rosberg with the same car and tires it was always going to be a very toll order.

  10. NR for me. He owned the weekend. Second would be Max for his one particular pass in the race, but this is dotw.

  11. Plenty of people got probably the maximum out of their machinery. However, there were no real stand-out performances, at least for me, so I voted for Rosberg.

  12. Grosjean for me. He managed to beat Verstappen (and Maldonado) on a circuit which should suit the Toro Rosso better. Also kept his head cool after the attacks.

  13. Verstappen. He had skill enough to make some great overtakes stick, and sense enough to withdrawl on the moves that would have potentially put him out of the race. The progress he is making is amazing.

  14. Tough pickings this weekend as we had less of a stand out.

    Went for Verstappen as once again he extracted more from his car than expected and all that in an exciting manner.

  15. Nico Rosberg obviously

  16. I am voting for Verstappen’s girlfriend as she probably taught him all those crazy positions.

  17. I voted for Vettel as my only 10/10 performance of the weekend, with Hulkenberg a close second only because he had a bad start. It’s unlikely he could’ve held to 5th place anyway as Bottas was faster and unlike Kvyat who also had a faster car didn’t have a top speed disadvantage. but a bad start it was so only 9/10 for him

    Further great performances this weekend by Rosberg, Kvyat, Grosjean and Verstappen

  18. Voted Nico Rosberg, he pulled a stunning weekend all weekend long. If he had more than a few weekends like this per year maybe Hamilton would have a serious fight on his hands…

  19. The only reason not to vote Rosberg is Hulkenberg. I’m guessing the Mercedes engine helped him quite a bit against Kvyat, whereas Rosberg had to fend off Hamilton every lap, so the latter gets my vote ultimately.

  20. DOTW for Brazil…. Difficult difficult difficult.

    Vettel again far outpaced Raïkonen. Bottas far outpaced Mass. Kvyat far outpaced Ricciardo. Hulkenburg ditto on Perez. SO, they beat their teammates, but I can not remember them doing anything else that was special. So I can not choose any of them, they were all equally good for DOTW
    Rosberg, Grosjean, Button, Nasr and Stevens did not really outpace their teammates, just a little bit. NBot DOTW worthy.
    Verstappen had no contest with his teammate. Difficult to judge what would have been if Sainz had been there. He certainly got a lot camera time again this week which allowed us to see how he could make his overtakes stick in an underpowered car. He explained overtaking was only possible when the guy in front made a “not so good” exit on the last turn while his exit was good enough to close in with DRS. Unlike many other DRS overtakes, they had to occur at braking into Turn 1. And he did so both going inside and outside. So… I voted for him, for again showing the Renault isn’t half bad when coupled with a great chassis/package and ditto driver. I would have really liked to see what Sainz could do in this race.

    1. @euitdebos

      but I can not remember them doing anything else that was special.

      It could be argued that Vettel also made the Mercs switch from a 2 stopper to a 3 stopper. Because of how much Hamilton burned out his tires in the last stint, Vettel was within about 2 seconds on the last lap of P2. If the race was another lap, or if Hamilton had an off with his worn tires, Vettel could have easily moved up a step. Not as fancy as Verstappen and his passing, but a little more than “nothing else that was special.”

  21. I voted for Verstappen purely because of the amount of on track time spent in proximity to Maldonado whilst coming out unscathed has to be a record?

  22. Max started 9th and finished one place behind in 10th. Overtook drivers who were on a 2 stopper while he was on a 3 stopper. So, why vote for him exactly?

    And even use him as an example to say that Lewis is wrong about being unable to overtake? Lewis was on same strategy as Rosberg, don’t forget.

    My vote : Hulkenburg. He is quite clearly an Interlagos specialist.

    1. Nico started 5th and finished 6th. How is that better than starting 9th and finishing 10th? They both finished the positions they qualified on. I find that a rather odd argument to put in negation of Verstappen, but in praise of Hulkenberg.

    2. That position he lost was to a clearly faster in a straight line Lotus piloted by Grosjean who qualified way out of position due to an error in Q2. He was always going to be giving that place back.

      Getting that car into Q1 in the first place warrants praise. Perez and Maldonado had cars capable of being faster.

      Hulkenberg lost his position to Bottas at the start. A better start would have seen him finish 5th and take my vote, but he didn’t.

      You’re right that his overtaking is not comparable to a Mercedes being stuck behind a Mercedes. He was in a car with more downforce than the cars he was passing so even though he would have been losing grip in their dirty air he was still left with enough to fight those cars. A car following an equal car in dirty air is going to be at a disadvantage to the car in front.

  23. I think Vettel was the fastest driver of the weekend. put him in the Mercedes and he would have finished 20 seconds ahead of Rosberg and 10 seconds ahead of Hamilton (if Hamilton could get past his teammate).
    If Ferrari can find .5 seconds a lap for the new car in chassis alone, Vettel will take care of the rest and beat the Mercedes drives to the championship next year (even if the engine is still underpowered), Mercedes have the best car but clearly not the best 2 drivers in the sport.

  24. Tough decision between the two Nicos. They both had very strong weekends. Hülkenberg dominated Pérez, who obviously struggled to get his car to work for him. Rosberg didn’t quite ‘dominate’ Hamilton, but in retrospect he was in control during the entire race. His dropping back in the early stages of the race initially looked like he came under serious pressure, but as it turned out, he was managing his tyres and brakes quite drastically, allowing Hamilton to come desperately close, but never close enough to actually threaten him. Whenever it counted, i.e. when the pit stops neared, Rosberg was able to pull away from his team mate: 1.6 seconds in the first stint, 3.3 in the second, 2.5 in the third, then opening an unusually large gap over Hamilton in the last 10 laps or so, even though Hamilton didn’t have any issues with his car.
    This final aspect is what made me choose #6 over #27: The former beat his team mate in an even fight, while the latter drove brilliantly while his team mate was unable to challenge him due to poor balance. The same argument is also valid for Bottas: The Finn may have delivered a clean performance, but we have no means of knowing whether his pace was really strong, or if he simply finished where his car belonged, while his team mate never got the car to work properly.

    1. … aaand Verstappen is leading the poll. What was his race again? Oh yeah, he was called a future world champion on-air for performing a non-trivial overtake on Pérez.

      I am seriously getting so fed up with this hype. I don’t even dislike him! But this is just disproportional. This poll is misused for a lot of different kinds of bias (including my own, of, but if the main consideration for 2/5 voters appears to be nothing else than “has Verstappen overtaken someone today”, this is becoming a nuisance.

      1. * (including my own, of course)

      2. I think this poll is not that influenced by what broadcasters have to say about drivers. The poll hasn’t been won by a landslide by Hamilton in weekends Sky are praising him through the roof if he had a poor race.

        If anything, I’ve seen a lot of people praise Max for “providing the only excitement this race”. Driver of the weekend polls (here and elsewhere) have been won before by drivers who might not have finished at a very exciting position, but delivered interesting moves during a race.

        Be glad you don’t have to watch Dutch coverage. I’m a fan of Max (but not more than I am of Grosjean, Hulkenberg and others) but Dutch coverage only talks about Max. At least Sky/BBC/RTL tend to praise other drivers during a weekend as well, but Sport1/Veronica are wearing me down after just two full races and one highlights broadcast..

  25. I voted for Rosberg for one simple reason.

    Hamilton was unbearable this weekend. Going on and on about Senna (a driver known for beating some of the toughest team-mates in the world and some great overtakes) all through the weekend, the media lapping it up. Then, after being beaten by his team-mate, said that ‘overtaking is impossible’. No Lewis, you weren’t trying hard enough. Max found a way, Pastor Maldonado at least attempted to find a way.
    The worst thing about this race by far was the BBC commentary stating everything that Hamilton was doing as foolproof evidence that Lewis was quicker, yet when the exact reverse happens (i.e Hamilton 1.5-2 seconds ahead of Rosberg), claim that Hamilton was controlling the pace.

    Rosberg went out, played it clever in Q2, managed to get pole (Considering the Q2 strategy hasn’t always worked in previous races), then controlled the pace, only really needing to make 1 defensive move all race at the start. That’s why he gets my vote.

  26. Tough call, you could vote for Rosberg, Vettel, Bottas, Hülkenberg or Verstappen …

  27. Alonso, for at least providing some comic relief on Saturday.
    Only highlight of the weekend really.

    1. Yeah everyone feeling sorry for him can get stuffed. Did you see that vantage point he had for watching qualifying? Meanwhile I’m sat at home watching it on my computer screen and my Honda is equally as useless on the road now it’s wet and cold.

  28. This one’s tricky. For me, between Rosberg, Hulkenberg and Verstappen. Rosberg beat Hamilton once again, Hulkenberg continued his fine form at Brazil, and Verstappen entertained with a group of fantastic overtakes into turns 1-3. I think I’ll vote for the Hulk, because I’ve already voted a few times for Rosberg and Verstappen.

  29. Tempted to go for Rosberg and Hulkenburg, but as Verstappen’s overtaking helped me keep awake, he gets my vote.

    1. @jules-winfield but the poll is for the best driver of the weekend !!!!

      1. +1

        Max was great DURING the race, not the whole weekend.

        1. Jelle van der Meer
          17th November 2015, 14:03

          You serious??? Getting a Toro Rosso into Q3 is not an achievement?

          Also various folks are commenting that he only could overtake due to freshes rubber – well Perez and him were on equally old medium tyres – getting a better corner exit is a driver quality.
          As to the DRS, all other overtakes on the main straight were done around the finish line, due to the lack of Renault Engine Max could only get near the car ahead in the braking zone so to that extend DRS helped but only to equalize the engine power not giving Max an advantage compared to those he overtook.

          Driver of the Weekend is who preformed the best in qualifying and race compared to the car he has. To that extend Max got the maximum out of the Toro Rosso and to my knowledge he made no mistakes for that reason I voted for Max, for that same reason Hulkenberg qualifies as well. Why 30% votes for Rosberg I do not understand as yes he got pole and won the race but doubt he would have kept Hamilton behind if Hamilton was allowed to change strategy or if Brazil offered some more overtaking possibilities.

  30. Had to be between Rosberg, Hulkenberg and Verstappen for me. Nico seems to be better at the ‘securing 2nd in the championship’ than anyone since Barrichello in 2002/2004 and had a very good weekend. Hulkenberg finally got back up after a string of disappointing weekends and Verstappen managed to get into Q3 despite a lack of straight line speed and finished as high as he could.

    Ultimately went with Verstappen.

  31. Rosberg. If he’d driven like this more often this year we would be rubbing our hands at the prospect of a title decider in Abu Dhabi.

    Resisting the pressure of Lewis Hamilton with no more than 2s gap for most of the race. Super consistent lap times every lap. As Rosberg once said, to beat Lewis you have to be perfect.

    Max, as ever, shone brighter. Just an amazing prospect.

    Rosberg gets the nod on this occasion. Max can just go and play, Rosberg had to rise above it all.

  32. I went for Max. That was some terrific judgment, right on the edge.

  33. Nico Rosberg, of course. Good weekend also for Vettel, Bottas, Nasr.

  34. There were four drivers who really impressed me… Rosberg, Hulkenberg, Grosjean and Verstappen. Thought their basic performances were of a broadly similar level, so went with the one who made the greatest contribution to the very short race highlights show.

  35. Max Verstappen deserves it again! :D

  36. Although the fight for the win was quite fascinating, the real excitement was in the midfield. My choice would be between the Lotus boys. Grosjean was king of the middle, faultless drive and almost twice as many overtakes as Verstappen. Much overlooked though is Maldonado. He was on a rather unfortunate strategy, with a very long and conservative first stint and then a quick second half of the race. Being on the wrong tyre for most of the time, he ran out of rubber at the end, else he might have beaten both Grosjean and Verstappen. Pastor also did more overtakes than boy wonder (by the way, I like Verstappen Jr) and I think his penalty was a bit overdone (Nasr didn’t leave a lot of room). Without it, he would at least have finished ahead of the STR.

  37. Rosberg for me:
    set the perfect lap in qualifying
    truly dominated the race, leading from almost start to finish and holding off any attacks from Hamilton to win by over 8 seconds. Mark of a Champion.
    Nico Rosberg is certainly favorite for me to take pole and win at Abu Dhabi. And i would think he will bounce back much much stronger next year.

  38. Voted Rosberg. Slam dunk …. He had the triple and missed the grand chelem by a tiny bit.
    Of course this poll is for the driver of the weekend !!!!

    Max verstapoen drove a good race did the best overtake . the kid is doing good. I would have voted for him if this polling is for the best overtake of the weekend. But sure he does have a future. I am predicting this once again. He will win the WDC with some one and then he will move to Ferrari to win another WDC !!!!

    1. He missed the triple @tmax
      Hamilton got fastest lap

      1. @3dom

        Yes you are right. That was what I was trying to mean . he missed the fastest lap. Although he
        1) was on pole
        2) lead all laps
        3) won the GP

        My understanding is that all the above three + fastest lap constitutes the grand chelem.

  39. This was very hard as Nico Rosberg was spotless keeping a weak Hamilton behind. Nico Hulkenberg scored a good finish too bad it didn’t start to rain. Max Verstappen made a lot of overtakes even without DRS and drove a clean race. Grosjean was also overtaking but mostly by DRS.
    So the driver of the week should be the one really racing someone. So Nico and Max as supporter for Max this was really hard.. I selected Nico.

    Keith maybe something for next year: can we select a nr.1 nr.2 nr.3 so the result will be more realistic when the scores are calculated of all the fans. I would gave Nico 3 point Max 2 points and the Hulk one point. Is this possible?

    1. All overtakes this race were in a DRS zone, except Vettel on Raikkonen.

      Verstappen did 3 overtakes, I don’t know if that qualifies as “a lot”.

  40. I went for Verstappen. His overtakes were the highlight of an otherwise bland race.

  41. I voted for Lewis Hamilton, the reasons are as follows:

    1) A triple world champion deserves more than 1% of the votes
    2) He came 2nd in race
    3) He came 2nd in quali
    4) Topped couple of FPs
    5) Got the fastest lap

    1. A triple world champion deserves more than 1% of the votes

      Fully agree: it’s absolutely ridiculous that Alonso and Button, with 3 WDC between them, only score a grand total of 0%.

  42. Another overtaking masterclass from №33. Impossible to follow and overtake with nowadays cars? Tell Max more about this.

    1. @hoshino As much as I love watching Max do his brilliant thing. His passes were all tyre + DRS assisted.

      He was on fresher tyres than all the cars he passed. He was able to close on them by having superior grip out of the last turn. Followed by DRS assistance down the front straight.

      This says nothing for the ‘impossible to follow’ argument.

      1. Interesting how you missed several people showing an example where the difference in tyre life was one lap, which isn’t a difference at all.

        1. @raceprouk The number of laps the tyres were used in the race is irrelevant. Perhaps Perez already did a lot of laps on that set or perhaps his car is much harder on the tyres.

          The actual fact that Perez’ tyres were gone and Max’s were not is why he made that pass. Both Perez and Verstappen said that the move was only on because of the tyre difference.

          1. If Perez is harder on his tyres than Verstappen surely that only adds to the achievement by Verstappen?

  43. ILuvSoundtracks (@)
    17th November 2015, 14:26

    Rosberg gets the Driver Of The Weekend for me.

  44. My vote goes to Kvyat. The Renault just can’t compete with Mercedes, yet, he managed 7th in qualifying and 7th in the race, without the so called better specced Renault engine.

    Can’t really say Rosberg, as he was just the best because Hamilton just wasn’t very good this weekend.

  45. I don’t think anyone really stood out. Voted Rosberg for doing a more O.K. job then everyone else.

  46. For obvious reasons I voted Max V., but…
    @ Keith, when do we do a “worse driver of the race” could be funny and entertaining…no ?
    I’d vote Maldonado, he just can’t avoid looking dumb, can he ? He’s a parody !

  47. Voted for Verstappen, but I feel Bottas is again underrated. He was miles ahead of Massa the whole weekend and again he get’s no recognition for it again since he was never shown on TV.

  48. The day Max Verstappen gets a top running car is the day F1 will be exciting again.

    1. @itswais77 Until he starts winning everything ala Vettel/Hamilton?

  49. OK I voted for Nico R. as he had to be perfect to keep L the Ham behind at all times. None of the other drivers were particularly outstanding….. I considered Jenson B, Romain G, V. Bottas and Felipe M….. mostly because I just always cheer for them BUT????

  50. Hamilton win a race: not DOTW, cause his machinery
    Rosberg win a race: sure a DOTW, even though both have same car.
    This is the best compliment you can give Lewis.

    1. @casy Rosberg didn’t win this, though.

  51. My driver of the weekend was Verstappen. He managed to get into Q3 in qualifying and put in an impressive performance in the race along with some excellent overtaking moves.

    Second would be Hulkenberg, he has a history of performing well at Interlagos and did so again this weekend. In recent races he has been outperformed by Perez at Force India but there was a big gap between the two this time with Perez surprisingly quite a bit back on his teammate.

    Rosberg may have won the race and beaten his world champion teammate, but it was one of those weekends where I didn’t really consider Rosberg for driver of the weekend given the car he has, it is the same reason why I didn’t vote for Vettel or Hamilton on several occasions when they won a Grand Prix in their champions years.

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