Vote for your 2016 European Grand Prix Driver of the Weekend

2016 European Grand Prix

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

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

    Vote for your driver of the weekend

    DriverStartedGap to team mate (Q)Laps leading team matePittedFinishedGap to team mate (R)
    Lewis Hamilton10th+19.196s0/5115th+56.335s
    Nico Rosberg1st-19.196s51/5111st-56.335s
    Sebastian Vettel3rd-0.303s44/5112nd-11.406s
    Kimi Raikkonen4th+0.303s7/5114th+11.406s
    Felipe Massa5th-0.763s14/51210th+24.489s
    Valtteri Bottas8th+0.763s37/5116th-24.489s
    Daniel Ricciardo2nd-1.604s51/5127th-1.467s
    Daniil Kvyat6th-0.313s5/61
    Nico Hulkenberg12th+0.885s3/5119th+52.467s
    Sergio Perez7th-0.885s48/5113rd-52.467s
    Kevin Magnussen22nd-0.046s40/50114th-12.389s
    Jolyon Palmer21st+0.046s10/50215th+12.389s
    Max Verstappen9th+1.604s0/5128th+1.467s
    Carlos Sainz Jnr18th+0.313s1/62
    Marcus Ericsson20th+0.682s9/50217th+45.172s
    Felipe Nasr15th-0.682s41/50212th-45.172s
    Fernando Alonso13th-0.279s33/422
    Jenson Button19th+0.279s9/42211th
    Pascal Wehrlein17th+0.085s39/391
    Rio Haryanto16th-0.085s0/39118th
    Romain Grosjean11th-0.594s48/50213th-28.969s
    Esteban Gutierrez14th+0.594s2/50216th+28.969s

    Which driver do you think did the best job throughout the race weekend?

    Who got the most out of their car in qualifying and the race? Who put their team mate in the shade?

    Cast your vote below and explain why you chose the driver you picked in the comments.

    Who was the best driver of the 2016 European Grand Prix weekend?

    • Esteban Gutierrez (0%)
    • Romain Grosjean (0%)
    • Rio Haryanto (0%)
    • Pascal Wehrlein (1%)
    • Jenson Button (0%)
    • Fernando Alonso (0%)
    • Felipe Nasr (1%)
    • Marcus Ericsson (0%)
    • Carlos Sainz Jnr (0%)
    • Daniil Kvyat (0%)
    • Jolyon Palmer (0%)
    • Kevin Magnussen (0%)
    • Sergio Perez (67%)
    • Nico Hulkenberg (0%)
    • Max Verstappen (2%)
    • Daniel Ricciardo (0%)
    • Valtteri Bottas (1%)
    • Felipe Massa (0%)
    • Kimi Raikkonen (1%)
    • Sebastian Vettel (5%)
    • Nico Rosberg (20%)
    • Lewis Hamilton (1%)

    Total Voters: 419

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    Author information

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

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    105 comments on “Vote for your 2016 European Grand Prix Driver of the Weekend”

    1. Perez. Would love to see this guy in Kimis car.

      1. I enjoyed seeing him in a McLaren but apparently it they didn’t.

      2. Yeah, crashing every second race into Vettel, I’m sure Ferrari would love that..

        1. pastaman (@)
          20th June 2016, 15:00

          Uh, what?

        2. Yeah, just like he crashes every other race into Hulkenberg

      3. Voted Perez too. Glad to see my original faith in him from 2013 is paying dividends.

        At the same time I’m not surprised to see Checo dominating Hulkenberg. I’ve never subscribed to the prevailing belief that the Hulk is in the top-flight.

        1. @pastaman @mijail I remember his days from Sauber, McLaren and he used to be an overly agressive hot headed guy in the races (kinda like Mangnussen these days). That might have changed and he does show lots of talent, but I don’t think it would make too much sense to give Kimi’s seat to him (or to anyone else for that matter.) I don’t understand why so many people would like to see him being replaced. I mean just look at the championship standings, they are head to head with Vettel and if it wasn’t for continious team orders favouring Vettel he would be probably ahead this season.

          1. yeah best drivers change, get better such as Romain and Perez, I think you are confusing with Maldonado ?

            alonso, hamilton, vettel, did crash often on early years as well.

    2. Perez. Did a great job in qualifying and the race as well. 2 podiums in 3 races. Making best use of the pace in the car. Did crash in FP3 but don’t think he missed out on anything because of that.

      Honorable mentions to Rosberg, Vettel, Kimi.

      Hulk, who?

      1. Last race Saint started at the back and finished in the points but was dismissed as driver of the weekend due to the crash, Perez cost himself a 2nd place start due to crashing during the weekend made up 4 places in the race but looks like getting driver of the weekend.

        Hamilton got driver of the weekend last week but Rosberg got pole, fastest lap and was in front for every single lap he could not have done better but does not look like getting driver of the weekend.

        1 rule for 1 another rule for others. Lewis even has 2% of the vote as I am posting.

        1. “Last race Saint started at the back and finished in the points but was dismissed as driver of the weekend due to the crash, Perez cost himself a 2nd place start due to crashing during the weekend made up 4 places in the race but looks like getting driver of the weekend.”

          Sainz crashed during qualy, Perez crashed during practice. I think most sane people would agree a crash in practice where drivers are pushing to find the limits is more forgivable than crashing during qualy or the race.
          Sainz overtook a load of backmarkers effectively, Perez overtook a Williams, a Ferrari a Torro Rosso and a Red Bull and his way up the standings.

          “Hamilton got driver of the weekend last week but Rosberg got pole, fastest lap and was in front for every single lap he could not have done better but does not look like getting driver of the weekend.”

          Rosberg was behind his team mate all through practice til a setup change hampered Hamilton’s qualy. Even so Rosberg was 4 tenths down to Hamilton in the first sector alone. It was quite obvious Rosberg got pole more through a lack of competition than due to doing a brilliant lap. In the race he was again untroubled while his teammate (the only other driver with any chance of winning) was hampered by more technical issues.

          “1 rule for 1 another rule for others. Lewis even has 2% of the vote as I am posting.”

          Hamilton has got pole and won the race plenty of times and vast swathes of f1fanatic commentators have disregarded him for the exact same reason I presume they are doing it to Rosberg now, they both have the best car going. It is really not “1 rule for 1 another rule for others” as much as you would like to twist it otherwise.

          Im not saying Hamilton deserved DOTW in Canada but he at least put a very impressive stint in on the softs to fend of Vettel. All Rosberg did on Sunday was drive around in the fastest car for 51 laps at the front and briefly sabotage his own race by sticking his engine in the wrong mode until the pitwall pointed out he had messed up. I think in the circumstances this weekend Perez deserves it a lot more!

          1. Rosberg led every lap, got pole and fastest lap. He did not crash in any session Perez did and got a penalty for it. What would Rosberg have to do to get DOTW? He did not have the highest top speed that must be it?

            Perez crashed in practice when drivers are not pushing as hard as quali so I would say a quali crash is more forgivable but often has a greater impact. Perez crash in practice did have an impact though.

            1. “What would Rosberg have to do to get DOTW?”

              Actually be the driver of the weekend?

              “Rosberg led every lap, got pole and fastest lap.”

              Yeah, in the best car. It isn’t that much of an achievement. Especially considering he wasn’t getting the best out of the car. Like I said there have been plenty of times before Hamilton has got pole and won the race and not been voted DOTW this “1 rule for 1 another rule for others” is just in your head :)

            2. But I would doubt that present day Rosberg, even in a Merc on song and everything
              going for him, would have the skill to carve through, say, ten or eleven places on a
              course like Baku.

              A Vettel perhaps, a Ricciardo, a Button-of-old, an Alonso ( and how ! ), a Verstappen, a Hamilton….but not, in my opinion, a Rosberg. He’s shown several times how weak
              he can be when he’s well back in the field, the chips are down, and it’s all down to pure overtaking skills. He’s a superb driver…when everything is perfect. Not otherwise.

              Guess I’ve stirred up the Hornets nest…time to run for cover in the local Pub !

            3. Martin

              Please define the weekend Rosberg could of had which would make him driver of the day in your opinion. He got 100 percent in all key indicators cannot do anymore.

              Perez crashed damaged his car and got a penalty so was not 100 percent even without knowing what his car is fully capable of.

              Rosberg won in the best car…….yeah and his team mate can be argued to be the best driver on the grid so beating him in every aspect is incredible. Hamiltons issues were mainly down to himself, the issue in the race cost him a better result but unlikely he would of beat Rosberg starting from where he did. The race issue was also suffered by Rosberg but he fixed it himself which for me compounds the fact he was driver of the weekend…pole, lead every lap, race win, fastest lap and he fixed a car issue his teammate was dumbfounded by.

            4. “Please define the weekend Rosberg could of had which would make him driver of the day in your opinion.”

              I would define it as a driver performing better than anyone else over the weekend. Rosberg was off the pace his car could manage during qualy, and in the race messed up his engine mode which, if he wasn’t saved by the massive advantage Merc had at Baku, could have cost him the win.
              Perez qualified his car as high as he could get it and even with his grid penalty was 5 places higher than his teammate! It was an incredible performance.

              “Hamiltons issues were mainly down to himself”

              Not true. His qualy was hampered by a setup changed Merc made to both cars after practice which effected the rhythm he had built up on Friday, his race was compromised by having a PU issue from the start of the race that was not of his making

              “The race issue was also suffered by Rosberg but he fixed it himself which for me compounds the fact he was driver of the weekend … he fixed a car issue his teammate was dumbfounded by”

              Err no. Hamilton and Rosbergs issues, while resulting from the same underlying cause, were completely different. Hamilton suffered a PU issue from the start of the race caused by the team configuring the wrong settings. Rosberg suffered it when he put his car in the wrong engine mode himself (not for the first time this season!)

              From Autosport:
              “Hamilton’s engine was placed into this faulty mode from the start of the race, while Rosberg found it later on when he switched into the ‘wrong’ mode of his own volition.”

              “But Mercedes was permitted to inform its drivers of a problem with the mode they were in. Mercedes did this as soon as Rosberg switched into the offending setting, so he was able to intuitively correct it – within ‘just the one lap’.
              Conversely, Hamilton did not enjoy the benefit of inflicting the loss of power on his own car with an adjustment, so could not simply reverse engineer himself out of trouble.”

              Basically Rosberg changed his PU into the wrong mode and his engineer came on the radio and told him his car was in the wrong mode. All Rosberg had to do to “fix” his issue was undo the mess he made for himself.
              Hamilton however had to look through all his switch position to work out which one the team had messed up, all while threading an F1 car through concrete barriers at 200mph.

              That fact that he actually got full engine power back and instantly went quickest on track is a bigger argument for Hamilton being DOTW than Rosberg “fixing” his own mess.

          2. DOTW results last week and this really do say 1 rule for 1 and another rule for others. In fact look at Keithsome driver ratings Rosberg on 5 Perez on 4, something I agree with.

            Hamilton was not faster this weekend he was not capable of utting a good quality lap in, fast but out of control, Rosberg was the fastest driver of the 2 as if you cannot complete the lap you are not fast.

    3. Perez, after Malaysia his best podium I reckon.

      1. Definitely.

        I voted Perez, primarily because he got to the podium by overtaking, not strategy. (that’s right Nico, Checo earned it!)

        1. He “earned it” in the second fastest car, and only needed to earn it because of his own crash.

          1. Well you don’t know that, not many finish where they started but a battle with Vettel would have been better for Perez.

    4. ColdFly F1 (@)
      19th June 2016, 17:23

      Great race by Perez, but we knew the car was fast.
      Very good race by Vettel, showing who’s daddy vs his team mate.

      But this one should go (at least does for me) go to Rosberg. Not a single mistake; got all he could out of the race: Pole, Win, FLAP, led all laps.

      1. @coldfly same. Perez was good, but his mistake in FP3 eventually hit hard: he could’ve finished 2nd and maybe challenged Rosberg if he had some sort of problem or delay. He made a good enough job to return to the top 3 tho. But it could’ve gone 1 better.

        Rosberg on the other hard, was faultless again. Unlike his team mate, he didn’t put a foot wrong all weekend, he took advantage of everything happening around him and drove perfectly to the win. It was easy, sure, but he made it work.

      2. Agree. Rosberg it is for me. Perez’s crash puts him behind the Mercedes driver.

      3. yeah, I agree. In the end had Perez not crashed saturday morning, he might have started from the front row, and quite likely could have held onto P2 too. Rosberg managed to rattle Hamilton in qualifying, set pole, led all the way, including some button fiddling while cruising ahead and won by a mile also setting the fastest lap.

    5. Force India had quick car this weekend, but then again you need a driver who can deliver in a fast car and he does it every time. Hulk did a good job considering he wasn’t on the best strategy, but he needs to regain his spirit, we know he can deliver.

      1. I simply cannot understand what has happened to Hulkenberg. He’s such a good driver but recently it seems like every race is just another race for him. I don’t know if it’s a motivational thing, he’s definitely got the ability to challenge Perez, and in my view, beat him.

    6. Neil (@neilosjames)
      19th June 2016, 17:41

      Perez stood out to me as a driver who did more than would be expected given what he was driving.

      There was a temptation to vote for Rosberg, but… I have no idea how good he really was. Pole was a forgone conclusion when Hamilton hit the wall and after Rosberg led into Turn 1, the win was in the bag. So I had to go with Perez.

      1. My thoughts exactly.

    7. Adam (@rocketpanda)
      19th June 2016, 17:44

      Sergio Perez, totally. That car isn’t terrible but it’s not really podium quality, either. Should have started P2 if it wasn’t for the crash and then fought his way back up to 3rd – far and above what the car is capable of. I rather hope he’s wearing red next season.

    8. It has to be Perez…

      Rosberg did indeed drive a perfect race, but, so did every other driver in the top 10… Perez made his error yesterday and not only put it behind him, actually motivated himself to push hard for the podium (in a mid strength team).

    9. Definitely Perez. P3 before penalty and finished P3 on merit, never looked slower than cars behind him which includes Hamilton, Ricciardo, Bottas, and Raikkonen. Looks he still has some speed left, too bad there’s no Hamilton in his back to push him further.

      Also need to mention Raikkonen who giving one of his best performance after rejoining Ferrari, and Button who starts at 19th and finished without getting lapped.

      1. Oops, meant P2 before penalty.

    10. Perez not giving much to haters to dig, he is really raising the bar great overtakes to earn yet another podium ! He has podiums in a third of the tracks yeah !

    11. Hamilton deserves this DOTW for sure. Did no one notice how he became an IT Engineer from MIT while driving in an F1 car?

      1. More like an octogenarian tech phobe trying to switch on a smartphone.

        1. Nah that would be Nico “Oops I put my car in the wrong mode again” Rosberg ;)

          1. But he knew how to fix it.

            1. Well I would hope so he broke it in the first place haha

    12. Rosberg for me, a grand slam. couldnt really do anything else to prove being driver of the week.

      I really like Perez so he is definitely a very close second.

      1. I’m no fan of ROS, but you gotta feel sorry for him with these DOTW polls. Even when he gets pole and wins a race where he didn’t put a foot wrong, he can’t seem to win. I know he’s in the fastest car, and is expected of him to deliver, but somehow i find this ironic that Lewis usually gets DOTW when he wins, and ROS doesnt.

        Perez was very good indeed, but the car here in Baku was pretty fast and also he crashed in qually, so i’m not sure if he really deserves the DOTW.

    13. Rosberg, definitely. Kudos to Perez as well. Honorable mentions to Raikkonen (Lost that podium just through strategy, had great pace)

      1. He had a 5 sec penalty. Totally his own doing. Even before that he couldn’t shake off Perez. Difficult to say if he would have had the 5 sec gap by the end going by the performance for the rest of the race. @sravan-pe

        1. “Even before that he couldn’t shake off Perez”? It looked so for 2 laps but later he easily pulled away from him. He’d have had the 5 second gap on a better strategy and maybe if he hadn’t let Vettel through which seemed completely unnecessary.

          1. Kimi’s biggest gap to Perez was 2.6s. It was just before his pits. Prior to that it was under 1s mostly and 1.2 on the penultimate lap before he pit. No way he shook off Perez.

            Vettel was straight away 1s faster once he passed Kimi. So it was correct of Ferrari to do the swap. Only thing they did wrong was bringing him in when they did for the soft tires.

    14. More Rosberg than Perez. His qualifying was dominant, Hamilton couldn’t matched him and made every possible mistake. Kept the lead, something which did not happen in any of the GP2 races, ran away immediately, set the fastest lap right at the end to take a Grand Slam. Had Hamilton’s same problem, but fixed it, without “moaning”.
      Perez put his car into the barries in FP3 in silly fashion, costing himself and Force India a front row he very hardly fought for, but which could have turned his race around.

    15. Has to be between Rosberg, Perez and Bottas, they all thoroughly trounced their team-mates. I went for Perez, think maybe I should have gone for Bottas looking at the results though, hopefully he managed to grab #3.

      1. Bottas? c’mon… he never has the reliability problems Massa has, it is not even fair to say such a thing.

    16. Rosberg it is for me. Fir sime reason the Merc drivers never seem to get credit for a flawless weekend. Of course Perez had a stellar drive and to some extend Bottas did a good job today as well, but both messed up earlier parts of the weekend. So Rosberg it is!

      1. It’s because whenever one of them has it easy, and it’s mostly Nico, it’s down to having a car that’s ahead of the field. Though this normally happens whenever one is out of position and having trouble. Put yourself in Nico and Lewis’ shoes, and once they are in clean air, which seems the objective of f1 races nowadays, they have it easy. All they need to do are to hit their braking points and keep it out of the wall or out of trouble. We’ve seen this with both drivers. They get credit whenever they have a fair fight, no reliability issues, no one of them making mistakes unless under pressure and when they start 1-2 and finish 1-2. Like today, he doesn’t get credit that much…

      2. When U have the best car in the field u can afford to cruise without competition this is Extremely boring to the Purist. F1 should be about battles like Prost vs Senna.

    17. Even if we consider Marc’s dominance the very fact is that F1 rewards those this make fewer mistakes . On that account Rpsberg had a flawless weekend and is the DOTW.

      He created the pressure on his teammate and we saw Ham crack under it and self inflicted damage.

      It’s time we give ROS credit for his effort and not call him a winner by default.

    18. Sergio Perez it is. Had great momentum this weekend on a new race track and in general has been performing well. He has a knack for podium finish and has good feel for these Pirelli tyres. There was only one mistake, but Force India team did a great recovery job after FP crash.

    19. Ben (@scuderia29)
      19th June 2016, 19:11

      Who the hell voted for Hamilton?

      1. Some guy from Monoco, goes by @Blessed_1. Has a picture of a bulldog for his avatar.

    20. Easy: Rosberg. No. Perez.

    21. Ben (@scuderia29)
      19th June 2016, 19:13

      Perez for me, he’s really impressing more than he ever has before, really on top of the well respected hulkenberg..maybe perez is the best option for ferrari for next year?

    22. Perez!! Midfield car with top shelf driver.

      1. it was no midfield car at this track… I bet he’d challenge Vettel if he started in his original qualifying position.

      2. MG421982 (@)
        19th June 2016, 19:39

        I hardly believe it’s a midfield car anymore. Just think what engine has under the body…

        1. Williams have exactly the same PU and finished 6th… Sorry Force India are still a mid field team…

        2. U honestly believe Merc gives everyone else the same engine they run on their cars. Ever hear of The Research and development race in F1. U need the money for this and the top teams are wealthy. Rumor has it Perez does not even have a Simulator at FI to practice with. So teach me about a Midfield car cuz clearly I have no Idea.

          1. They do. Mercedes, Force India, Williams and Lotus (While they had a Merc Engine) have all went on record multiple times stating that everyone gets the same hardware.

            But you know, if the tin foil hat fits!

            1. So F1 teams do not cheat?? I think ill keep my foil hat then. Not all methods of cheating are caught by the FIA ill bet my home on that.

            2. “So F1 teams do not cheat??”

              No, but I dont assume just because an F1 team could cheat it automatically is. By your logic Perez only got a podium because him and his team cheated.

        3. Tell that to Hulk ! You really think that car drove by itself to first row and thir place ?

    23. As a Ferrari fan, I’d love to see him replacing Kimi next year. He’s showing some great talent in a sub-par car, consistently beating Hulk.

      1. Remember there was a time before he moved to McLaren when the Italian Fans were getting Excited about seeing Perez in red.

    24. come on guys.. Give the guy some credit. He got another grand slam today, his weekend was perfect, nothing could have been done better. Must be Rosberg! (and I am far from being a fan of his)

      1. He was perfect.. But Perez was more suprising.

        It is vote the driver pole. Not who what team/driver combo got best pace/result.

    25. Only Perez

    26. MG421982 (@)
      19th June 2016, 19:40

      Rosberg.

      Great race by Perez too. Could be this the end of Hulk in getting a top seat?!

    27. Always hard to vote in such a race. Nico P1 quali, P1 race, lead from start to finish. 56s infront of teammate. He could not have done a better job.

      But that is to be expected of him.

      Then there was a suprise Sergio Perez. He got P3 on pace. Even took Kimi at the end. In a car that is 4th or 5th at best?

      So I vote for him. And I hope Ferrari do some math. And count how many constructor points they would have with Perez in #2 car. How many FOM milions is that worth, and how much cheaper he is from Kimi mega star. I bet math says replace him right now for the rest of the season.

      1. That force india is not 4th or 5h best car. Here, they were quick. Well… a 2km straight with the most powerful engine always helps… Here, they were like 2nd best car or 3rd because of the circuit. Smooth surface, long straights…. Not ferrari’s friend as it was in Sochi…

        This weekend it was: Mercedes, Ferrari/Force India, Williams… Even Hulk could have done a better qualifying which would allow him to have a better result…

    28. Voted for Perez because Force India is definitely not so fast. see what Hulk did..?

      Also great race for Nasr as he did very good job with the poor Sauber.

    29. This race was so dull I struggled to recall which driver stood out. Then I remembered Perez making that final pass even if he didn’t need to. Great quali, great race and he’s starting to make Hulkenberg look average.

    30. It hs to be Rosberg for taking another Grand Slam. Honourable mention to Perez for a superb podium.

      1. *has

    31. Rosberg for me, he silenced the doubters with a perfect weekend.

    32. maarten.f1 (@)
      19th June 2016, 22:27

      Perez. Definitely Perez.

      Honorable mention goes to Vettel, for not letting the pit wall screw up Ferrari’s race this time.

    33. Rosberg was incredible. But it’s hard not to vote for Perez.
      Qualified 2nd and had another great podium.
      I think he deserves another shot on a top team.

    34. Rosberg put enough pressure on Hamilton to force mistakes from the latter in Q1, Q2 and Q3 to eliminate Hamilton as a threat for the win. Rosberg made a perfect start, then built up enough of a lead to be able to retain the lead after pitting and he had the fastest lap as well. This, people of da house, was the*perfect race*, yet you vote 70-20 in favour of someone else…

      Seriously, what is wrong with you when you can’t or refuse to recognise and reward a driver who does the perfect race?

      1. It’s not about refusing to recognise Rosberg, but you can only vote for 1 driver. Rosberg had a car that easily had the win in the bag. A lackluster performance by Hamilton saw him unchallenged though. Rosberg couldn’t have done any better, but then neither could Perez and he had to really work for his performance. Both deserve a lot of credit for a great weekend, and my vote was marginal, but I still lent towards Perez because it just to me edged it in how impressive the weekend went for him.

        1. Thanks for explaining, but if you base your vote on such preconceptions then Felipe Nasr and no-one else should have been your driver of the race this time with Marcus Ericsson getting the vote in Canada.

          By the way, had their roles been reversed I’m convinced there would have been a huge vote for Hamilton as DOTR…

          1. Is this website dominated by the Hamilton fanbase?

    35. It’s impossible to make a case against Rosberg this weekend, especially after two subpar races.

    36. Has to be Rosberg. Perez crashed in FP3 which is a minus. He drove a great race to recover to third, sure. He was brilliant. Still, he made one mistake over the weekend. Rosberg didn’t.

      Rosberg qualified on pole, led every single lap of the race, took the victory in style with fastest lap. That’s a grand slam. You can’t deny that. He was brilliant.

      1. Other than the obvious two, shoutout to Nasr for bringing the slow Sauber up to P12. It was the first time he beat Ericsson all season. Also a friendly nod to Vettel, who did the best of what he got. The Red Bulls got lost on strategy a bit.

    37. Has to be Rosberg for me. Further ahead on the road to his teammate than Perez was ahead of Hulkenberg and a flawless performance from qualifying onwards.

    38. I would be astonished if Sergio Perez gets less than 80% of the vote quite frankly. He was so utterly superb in qualifying and the race that I can forgive his crash in free practice.

    39. Haryanto, didn’t make a mistake all weekend.
      -The only driver not to drive down any off the escape roads on friday and saturday, or brush the wall.
      -Out-qualified his high-rated teammate along with an assortment of Saubers, Renaults and McLarens.
      -Was clobbered by Gutierrez in turn 1, had a long stop for a new nosecone and tyres at the end of the lap. Then finished the race on a single set of softs while most others had serious trouble keeping their tyres alive (ask public darlings Ricciardo and Verstappen).

    40. Perez was my driver of the weekend, he was an excellent second fastest in qualifying and he then overcame his grid penalty to score another podium, including overtaking Raikkonen on track at the end of the race when he knew that Raikkonen was due a time penalty and the safer option would have just been to follow him home.

      Perez did lose some marks because of his crash right at the end of FP3 which damaged the car and resulted in him getting a gear box change grid penalty, if that hadn’t happened and he had started second I think he would have finished second ahead of Vettel, but he wouldn’t have had the pace to challenge Rosberg no matter where he started.

      I normally list more than just my driver of the weekend, but I don’t think there were any other stand out drives to be honest.

      It may have been due to the fact that I found the race to be dull that I didn’t consider anyone else for driver of the weekend as no one else impressed, although Haryanto’s performance in qualifying was a surprise. I wouldn’t even give Perez my choice for driver of the weekend top marks as he wasn’t faultless as I mentioned.

      Vettel may have been my second choice, but given his car, his performance in qualifying and the race was probably what I would expect of him of anyway.

      Rosberg got the race win, pole and fastest lap, but Mercedes seemed in a league of their own this weekend with an even bigger advantage than in recent races. Also Hamilton was clearly quicker in practice and it wasn’t until Hamilton went off the boil for whatever reason on Saturday that Rosberg started to top the timesheets.

      So I stuck with my policy that when a driver has such a car advantage I don’t vote for him even if he gets pole and the win, unless they dominate the whole weekend or have an exceptional race.

    41. I have a different view. So, according to my humble opinion:

      I think the drivers are supposed to highlight the car with their abilities. Not the other way around.
      For instance, Senna with Toleman/Lotus and Alesi with Tyrrell/Ferrari/Benetton had inferior cars by far. Or Hill with Arrows. Even Frentzen with the unreliable Jordan back in 1999 was so close to the championship 2 races before the end. Inferior cars on all aspects. Yet they delivered. Another example: Who can forget Senna (with the amazing McLaren) and Alesi (with the poor Tyrrell) battle in Phoenix? Today, it’s like Magnussen battling and demanding overtake on Hamilton.

      Mercedes is by far the best car.
      All they got to do (ROS and HAM or HAM and ROS for blind fanatics) is drive it home (chequered flag). ROS just did it and does not deserve a single vote because as I said before, this specific car highlights the drivers. Not as it should be. If there was a vote for the worst driver of the weekend, then it should go by 100% to HAM.
      All in all, my vote goes to Sergio Perez. 2nd on qualifying with an inferior car, 3nd on the race.

      If I had to give two more votes, for 2nd and 3nd position, then 2nd would have been VES because while almost every other team went for 1 stop strategy, he was forced to do 2 yet he came back from 15th on 8th, and 3nd place on BUT for the reasons that I have already analyzed.

      1. I Agree at one point ROS was just cruising thats not exciting. Shame most people do not remember old F1. Perez deserves it.

    42. ILuvSoundtracks (@)
      20th June 2016, 14:36

      Pérez.

    43. I am split between Rosberg and Perez, both outqualified and outraced their teammates, but in the end i think Perez mistake in P3 robbed him and us for the only possible battle for the lead, i have to go with Rosberg.

    44. I fell sorry for Rosberg here. Perez wins driver of the weekend here, but what more could Rosberg have done. He dominated qualifying by miles. Actually light years. He won the race by a similar margin and could have won by more if he wanted to. How can a guy who has probably been one of the 2 most standout performers this year not get close to winning DOTW. Still I can’t bring myself to vote for him. Best car and all that.

    45. Rosberg, Vettel, Perez…they have a good weekend…my vote is for Perez, he is racing in a Force India!!!

    46. Perez tested the limits of the car in FP1,2, did the homework. Avoidable error in FP3 from which he recovers mentally and takes a FI to 2nd in Quali. Gets a grid penalty, yet starts well and drives a flawless race overtaking a williams, a RB, a TR and a Ferrari. Celebrates with BOTH sides of the garage, relaxed banter in a podium where it’s clear they all had fun. First thing he does is thank the team after apologing for error, with a podium.
      This is a driver I’d like leading my team, every weekend.

      1. +1 mate

    47. Vettel, but just because he could able to supercede strategy of him team. I would like to write Verstappen or Kimi, but I think Vettel deserves it.

    48. All podium drivers were strong contenders. Rosberg put in a strong qualy lap (brushing the barriers) and was solid in the race but relatively uncontested due to Hamilton’s poor qualifying. Perez was very good in both qualifying and the race but ultimately it looked like the Force India was the second fastest car this weekend so P2 was there for the taking – and it was his mistake in P3 that cost him.

      In the end I voted for Vettel. Only lost out to faster cars in qualy (hard to say if RB was faster over one lap, looked very close), had a clean race with good pace. But I’m also impressed that he thought to question Ferrari’s strategists which resulted in him not making the same strategy error as Raikkonen suffered.

    49. It would have easily been Perez had he not binned in practice, giving himself a penalty. With that in mind, Rosberg was produced a Grand Chelem and nobody else was particularly impressive, so it has to go to Rosberg this time.

    50. It’s between Rosberg and Perez. The German had a faultless weekend and completed Grand Slam. While the Mexican put his heart and soul into this race. Without his mistake in FP3 Checo would have started from the front row and who knows what would have happened in the 1st corner. Also there was one more thing: Perez knew about Raikkonen’s penalty but he successfully passed Kimi on track and it was really more satisfying. So, my vote is for Checo.

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