Vote for your 2017 Russian Grand Prix Driver of the Weekend

2017 Russian Grand Prix

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Which Formula One driver made the most of the Russian Grand Prix weekend?

It’s time to give your verdict on which driver did the best with the equipment at their disposal over the last five days.

Review how each driver got on below and vote for who impressed you the most at Sochi Autodrom.

Driver performance summary

DriverStartedFinishedRace changeLap 1 changeHighest positionLowest positionGap to team mate*
Lewis Hamilton44002436.32
Valtteri Bottas31+2+214-36.32
Daniel Ricciardo5-2717
Max Verstappen75+2+255
Sebastian Vettel12-1-112-10.383
Kimi Raikkonen23-1-12410.383
Sergio Perez96+3+168-8.216
Esteban Ocon107+3+1798.216
Felipe Massa69-30610-18.821
Lance Stroll11110-4101518.821
Fernando Alonso15
Stoffel Vandoorne2014+6+41216
Carlos Sainz Jnr1410+4+2912-9.655
Daniil Kvyat12120-112139.655
Romain Grosjean19
Kevin Magnussen13130+21014
Nico Hulkenberg880-2610
Jolyon Palmer16
Marcus Ericsson1815+3+11517Not on same lap
Pascal Wehrlein1716+1+31417Not on same lap

    Vote for your driver of the weekend

    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 2017 Russian Grand Prix weekend?

    • No opinion (1%)
    • Pascal Wehrlein (0%)
    • Marcus Ericsson (0%)
    • Jolyon Palmer (0%)
    • Nico Hulkenberg (1%)
    • Kevin Magnussen (0%)
    • Romain Grosjean (0%)
    • Daniil Kvyat (0%)
    • Carlos Sainz Jnr (0%)
    • Stoffel Vandoorne (0%)
    • Fernando Alonso (1%)
    • Lance Stroll (0%)
    • Felipe Massa (1%)
    • Esteban Ocon (0%)
    • Sergio Perez (6%)
    • Kimi Raikkonen (1%)
    • Sebastian Vettel (9%)
    • Max Verstappen (1%)
    • Daniel Ricciardo (0%)
    • Valtteri Bottas (79%)
    • Lewis Hamilton (0%)

    Total Voters: 522

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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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    102 comments on “Vote for your 2017 Russian Grand Prix Driver of the Weekend”

    1. I was so tempted to vote for Vettel, but Bottas was right there and handled the pressure of his first true chance at a win superbly.

      1. +1, exactly the same thoughts. Vettel was also deserving but how could it not be Bottas on this occasion. Currently at 80%, I’d imagine this will be the largest majority in the history of the poll

      2. Vettel seriously? He got beaten off the line and even while driving a faster car, never really had a chance to attack Bottas to take that place back.

        1. Reminds me of Hamilton.

          1. Vettel didn’t have a defective start system. Although Mercedes does seem to have equaled Ferrari’s start system.

            Even if Hamilton did have start issues, at least he would be back and attack and more often than not get the place back too. Vettel only got sort of nearby in the last few laps.

            1. Clearly you haven’t watched the first three races. The Ferrari is slowest in the first phase of launch but quicker in the subsequent one/two

        2. Even while driving a faster car? The Merc without DRS was faster than the Ferrari with DRS.

        3. If he was driving the faster car, how could he have been beaten?

          1. Come on Bob, surely you can work this out?

        4. @patrickl Well it’s driver of the weekend, not driver of the race start. Getting beaten off the start down a 1km drag when the car behind has a slipstream doesn’t exactly make you invalid for driver of the weekend, especially given Vettel couldn’t set the car up properly for the start because his screen failed, so I heard.

          Furthermore, the car wasn’t faster, they were pretty much evenly matched but it seems like Mercedes had a better straight-line speed, which is essential for overtaking around there. It was part of the strategy to go at that pace and attack at the end. It just didn’t work out, but there’s no denying it was an excellent drive by Vettel.

          1. Well the race result is really what “makes” the whole weekend. What’s the point of driving the fastest laps in the fastest car all weekend only to have it snatched away in the first turn? Worse still, he couldn’t make any kind of threat to take the place back.

      3. RP (@slotopen)
        1st May 2017, 1:35

        Gotta be Bottas. He beat his teamate in qualifying and drove past both Ferraris when the lights went out.

        Vettle was very impressive. A strong pole, but Bottas got around him. He made a brilliant block/brake move at turn 2 to keep Hamilton behind Kimi. That gave him cover, even if Hamilton didn’t mount a challenge later.

        Perez worked nicely, again largely off camera.

        1. I voted VB too, but to even ask ‘why Vettel’ as an alternative seems silly. SV came close. That’s got to leave him fully optimistic about the future. He drove a great race, and is likely pleased for VB, and pleased with where LH finished too. SV is thrilled to see these guys splitting points, while he takes firsts and seconds all season. There’s every reason to believe in SV and the job he is doing, including this weekend.

    2. Ferrari, Seb fan
      30th April 2017, 17:43

      Vettel (top of P2, P3 and Q, just missed out in race ) , Bottas (beat Hamilton in all sessions, did brilliant in race ), Force India drivers and the hulk all did well.

      1. I agree with all of this. Was close to voting for Hulk, but I find it hard to take Palmer seriously as a benchmark so I’m no longer sure where that car is.

        I went for Bottas over Vettel in the end, simply because Raikkonen was unusually close to Vettel, which makes me think he maybe didn’t get everything out of the car (of course it could be that Raikkonen suddenly found a few tenths in himself, but this vote is subjective anyway).

    3. Force india are showing race after race how having two good drivers is important if you are chasing points in the midfield. As to who was the best driver, i’ll go with vettel. Obviously good job by bottas and hulkenberg. Ham had a dreadful race but russia has always been difficult gor him. Schocker week end fir rogro and palmer. Stroll flattered by massa’s last pit stop

    4. Bottas. Can’t find a reason to vote anyone else.

    5. Bottas of course

    6. No brainer. Bottas easily.

    7. nelson piquet
      30th April 2017, 18:03

      haryanto easily

      1. LOL

    8. I voted for Perez, only coz he has been dragging the dog of that car into points… had been consistent. Bottas won the race, and I am in awe of him – he and Vettel are my driver of the race!

      1. @hemzshaw The car isn’t great, but his teammate was with him all race, and has finished in the points in every race so far.

      2. The car clearly isn’t a dog – they’ve had double points finishes in all 4 races. It’s the 5th best car (behind the Williams and the obvious 3), but thanks to Stroll having a tough start, they’re only behind the top 3 and Massa on pace – and Massa had a puncture and Ricciardo retired, so 6th and 7th is kinda where I’d expect them to be tbh.

        1. Alonso would call it a dog…

          1. Sundar Srinivas Harish
            2nd May 2017, 16:57

            Alonso is a double world champion, who won with what was arguably only the second best car on the grid. He also managed to get two second-place finishes in the WDC with a Ferrari that was clearly miles off the pace of what his competitors were driving. I think he’s entitled to call anything a dog – he could go on Nat Geo and call a cat a dog and get away with it.

    9. Perez!
      Should go to Ferrari next year. Who wants to bet?

      Honestly his curriculum is much more impressive than Bottas. Not only because of performance but resilience.

      1. Imagine in a few years: Mercedes & Red Bull retain their lineups, Ferrari is Vettel-Perez, Renault is Hulk-Ocon, while hopefully Williams and Force India are developing the next stars.

        1. Agree! But Alonso should be there in the mix…

          1. Sundar Srinivas Harish
            2nd May 2017, 17:01

            @spdoyle17 I don’t see Renault accepting Ocon back under their wing – Merc has done way too much for him. Also, what about Wehrlein? He deserves some love too!

      2. Perez, no thanks

        1. A S (@aminsarur)
          2nd May 2017, 5:50

          Perez would be on par with Vettel if teams gave him the chance

            1. Paul VILLENEVE
              2nd May 2017, 18:34

              No doubt Perez is the best of the rest

    10. Easy choice this time and not only because it is common to vote every new winner as the driver of the weekend – that was the case when Rosberg, Maldonado, Ricciardo and Verstappen claimed their maiden victories. Bottas beat his team mate Hamilton in qualifying (and the latter will most probably become the most successful qualifier of all time soon), then started like a rocket and withstood the pressure. Even if he was not 100% perfect, the Finn certainly impressed me more than any other driver this weekend.

    11. Bottas. Would’ve given it to Seb again if he won though.

      Honorable mentions: Alonso for not driving in that snoozefest of a GP, the HULK-SMASH against Palmer continues and both Force India drivers for another double points finish.

      1. I thought it was a great race

    12. Happy that Bottas won at last but after the start he wasn’t so impressive. There was a moment when he locked up than I thought, one more mistake and you are done for. Fortunately there were no further mistakes.

      Vettel lost it at the start but I’m not sure he could have done much better against Bottas’ Merc. He could have handled Massa better in the last lap but the only way he could have won was another mistakes by Bottas.

      44 seemed demotivated. Could have passed Kimi at the start but got could feet and braked too early. Seriously, that’s no way to win a championship. Next time there’s TO at Merc he’ll be getting the pointy end.

      Perez, Hulkenberg and Sainz seemed to do a pretty good race but we saw too little of them

      So who is DOTW? Of course Alonso, for avoiding the race altogether, it was do awful.

      1. Could have passed Kimi at the start but got could feet and braked too early. Seriously, that’s no way to win a championship.

        I don’t disagree that he was unmotivated for this race, but crashing out at the first corner isn’t any way to win a championship either. 3rd was the best that was available today, considering his pace, and he came 4th. That’s not a disaster.

        If you’re not feeling the mojo then it’s best not to try and force it.

    13. Has to be Alonso,Hamilton or Palmer. I’ll probably go with Palmer because he did have a new chassis so only crashing it twice is really impressive.

      Alonso did an amazing parking job in the pitlane and to just walk off like that shows just how amazing he is. I mean not helping at all or walking to the nearest way off track as the race is about to start shows just how much better he is than everyone else.

      Hamilton was outqualified and out raced but Bottas is fresh at the team and no doubt really happy about that ! so to only be half a second slower in qualifying and 36 seconds in the race is a really good performance from him.

      1. hahaha +1

      2. Alonso was flawless today, just like Vandoorne in the previous race.

        1. Alonso only made one mistake during the race.

          Getting in the car.

          ;)

      3. Paul Ortenburg
        1st May 2017, 6:16

        You forgot to mention Stroll who managed to actually finish today.

    14. Can’t not vote for Bottas really. Eclipsed his triple world champion team mate all weekend, and then made a great start and held off a 4 time world champion under immense pressure to take his maiden victory.

    15. Currently Hamilton hasn’t had a single vote, which got me wondering when was the last time he hadn’t received any votes.

      1. Baku 2016?

      2. To be fair, I don’t think Hamilton would vote for himself for driver of the weekend either. I think he’d vote for Bottas as well.

    16. This is one of the easiest DoTW decisions ever. Bottas was flawless in qualy to be within a tenth of pole, flawless start, flawless first stint, flawless under pressure, apart from 1 mistake, which he dealt with very well. Extremely well deserved first win, vindicates my belief in his abilities

    17. Vettel. Did what all top 4 driver had the opportunity to do: take pole. Then drove a flawless race. Was quicker than Bottas at the end, even gaining while driving in Bottas’s dirty wake. On most other circuits he would’ve overtaken him.

      Kudos to Bottas too offcourse. He nailed the race, but could’ve started on pole. Toto Wolff believes so as well.

      1. Luis de la garza
        1st May 2017, 1:52

        Vettel lost 1st place at the start. Bottas won. Definetely Bottas DOTW

      2. Vettel did alright. He shouldn’t have let Bottas pass him on the opening lap, but I’m not sure how he could have stopped it.

        What should be concerning the fans is that there’s been very little Ferrari / Mercedes passing this season– Most of the passes between those teams have happened off the start, or in the pit lane.

        This race was all about the start– The order for the top 5 didn’t really change between lap 7 and the checkered flag.

    18. I think Raikkonen summed it up best getting Bottas and Hamilton mixed up. If someone told you their result was the other way round I’d happily sing Hamiltons praise, stealing a win from the faster Ferrari’s while the teammate brought the car home in the position it belonged in.

      Bottas thoroughly outperformed Hamilton this weekend, I didn’t expect that strong a showing from him so soon but I had a feeling he might have more potential Than Rosberg ever had. No ‘DRS glitch’ to explain this one, just the better driver and he soaked up the pressure from Vettel like a champion. Well deserved and hopefully the first of many.

      1. Lauda said that they’d assess Bottas after four races. Well, that’s four races. Will Bottas keep his seat?

        1. Unless Ferrari wants a different Finn next year, almost certainly.

          1. Bottas, no thanks

    19. Bottas, of course. Vettel and Perez were good aswell.

    20. Have to give it to Bottas. Vettel a contender as well due to excellent qualification (after all, it is driver of the weekend).

      But the Mercedes was simply quick enough in the tow after the start, and then Bottas was very fast in his first stint (surprisingly so).

    21. No doubt. Alonso !

      1. Yup…he made it a cake WALK!

    22. This is one of the easiest, handsdown.
      Bottas for DOTW and honourable mention to the Force India drivers. The car this year is for between 9th and 12th place. Yet somehow they deliver.

    23. Great win for Bottas; I’m stoked for the guy.
      But was his drive more exceptional than others (e.g. Hulkenberg), or just reflecting the pace of the car.
      DOTW should not go automatically to an unexpected winner, but there person showing the best driving skills over the whole weekend. And to me Bottas did not stand out as such this weekend.

    24. Massa of course!

      1. With special mention to Vandoorne and Stroll, both of whom finished their races for the first time.

    25. MaddMe (@)
      1st May 2017, 1:00

      For the Weekend, it has to be Vettel. He drove brilliantly throughout the weekend and up until the race matching a defeating the Mercedes from FP2 onwards…

      For the race, then Bottas, with no doubts after driving a near flawless race and a superb start.

    26. Vettel.
      Bottas got the drag pass and just drove out in clean air. Great he got his 1st victory, but driver of the weekend???? No.

    27. Boittas obviously gets the driver of the week but,I need to mention a “negative” award for the driver who selfishly ruins the fans chance to see a great finish rather than just a good one. It should be called a “Massa”
      Had Felipe Massa acted like a grown man and moved aside for Vettel there would have been the rare ( in F1) and wonderful wheel to wheel last lap battle for victory but, Massa stopped that from happening.
      Thank you very much Felipe.
      Then to make his failure even worse in a post race interview he calls Vettel a complainer and says that Vettel had no chance of catching Bottas. Well that was correct in that THANKS TO MASSA Vettel had no chance of catching Bottas but, had Massa done the right thing Vettel would have been very close and with DRS being what it is Vettel would actually had a chance to thrill us all with a wheel to wheel finish.
      Personally I think Bottas would have held on but, I ( and I am sure many others) would have loved to have seen it played out.
      A couple of good things have come of this, from now on where someone does something selfish and foolish and thus robs the fans of an opportunity to see something great it can now simply be called a” Massa” and a driver or other athlete who ruins a finish or sporting event by a selfish and foolish act shall be eligible for the “Massa”.
      So in one fell swoop we have a new noun a new verb and a new award
      One more thing Felipe,if you are going to ruin any more races for us then just re-retire right now ,

      1. I’m not a Massa fan at all, but in this case it looked more like he was in the wrong place by accident. He can’t just disappear.

        Passing backmarkers is also a skill. When Vettel doesn’t have that skill than that’s also his fault. It’s always Vettel who keeps running into backmarkers in the wrong posititon, expecting everybody to jump out of the way.

        1. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
          1st May 2017, 20:09

          @patrickl
          I actually think Bottas may have made a smart decision and tried to stay behind Massa until a point where it was easy for Massa to let him by, but harder for him to let Vettel pass. I don’t think Massa did anything wrong at all. He was also racing wasn’t he? In fact, he was closer to Ocon than Vettel was to Bottas at that point so why should he give up his race? Championship points further back are surely just as important. Massa had already lost several places due to his slow puncture so it was understandable that he didn’t want to waist his time. I don’t see why any lapped drivers should have to slow down massively to let leaders through. Just allow them past where you don’t have to cost yourself several seconds.

          1. I agree.
            I was wondering why Bottas did not pass Massa earlier, as it seems he could have. But he had Vettel on his tail and knew that Vettel would have the DRS on the main straight and made sure he’d have that as well by staying behind teh back marker in the parts where Vettel could not pass him.
            Top job by Valtteri.

            It should not go unnoticed that Valtteri lost 2 seconds of his 5 second lead on Vettel when one earlier backmarker held him up in the twisty bits while Vettel passed same backmarker with DRS on the straight, gaining rather than losing from it. But Bottas did not curse on the radio and kept his middle finger on the wheel.
            He deservers driver of the weekend not only for his driving skills, but also for being best of all in manners.

      2. It’s fun to believe that Vettel could overtake Bottas so easily or at least try to overtake in a circuit that had only 1 overtake in the entire race. Seeing people talking about this as if a overtake is just about closing the gap between the driver ahead is even more fun.

    28. Had to be Bottas for me. Ferrari were the quicker of the 2 cars this weekend, but Valterri maximised his qualifying performance, made a stellar start, and really didn’t put a foot wrong under pressure on Sunday. This was the best race of his career so far.

      1. Have to agree

    29. I voted Hamilton, because from the comments on here I understand that apparently he drove that car way beyond what it could, such were its problems and faults. Probably best race of his career.

    30. Gotta be Hulk for overtaking HAM in quali :-)

      1. Ferrari, Seb fan
        1st May 2017, 8:44

        That was probably one of my most favourite moments this weekend

      2. @brawngp Oh that’s right, qualifying had more overtakes than the race. Can’t believe I complained about an exceptional track like this.

    31. It could be anybody
      Bottas – overtaking 2 cars at the start and defending the position
      Verstappen – overtaking 2 cars at the start and defending the position
      Vettel – pole and chasing Bottas on the outside of turn 4
      Raikkonen – for being oblivious to how Bottas got ahead
      Hamilton – for having a tough weekend, knowing that he’ll come back stronger
      Ricciardo – for firing up the excitement
      Massa – for being part of the fight for the race win
      Stroll – the only driver who consistently drive within DRS range
      Grosjean – for doing a mid air pirouette
      Palmer – for crashing in P, Q, R
      Wehrlein – for singlehandedly doing all overtakes.

      1. @f1-liners

        You can remove Wehrlein from that list. The overtake was ordered by the team as they messed up calling him into the pit during safety car. Ericsson was ordered to let him pass.

        1. Thanks Jonas, I did not know that.
          Don’t understand what happened then. Wehrlein was behind after the start, Ericsson pitted first, Wehrlein next and was still behind.
          Why would the team order Ericsson to let Wehlein get past.

          1. @f1-liners Because the team messed up and thought Wehrlein deserved to be in front of Ericsson, so they ordered him to let Wehrlein pass after he had been into the pits.

    32. Went for Vettel to oppose the Bottas hype.

      1. Why don’t you make your own mind up?

    33. suryana (@mursidsuryana)
      1st May 2017, 9:54

      Easiest Choices so far. Have to be Massa!! 😀

    34. Best driver is obvious: Fernando Alonso, the only one who foresaw how boring the race would be and bailed out before it began.

    35. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
      1st May 2017, 13:50

      I know there are worse drivers but Kvyat really has to step up his game (if he can) against Sainz – 4 races and he’s behind him by a huge margin.

      Haas really has to fix the brake issues for Grosjean – they would have had a lot more points if Grosjean was confident in the car. They’ve been talking about brakes almost like Honda is talking about engines…

      1. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
        1st May 2017, 20:38

        @freelittlebirds
        I know we have had some disagreements in the past I have to say I can’t agree again. These 2 drivers have pretty much been level this year. I’d actually say that Kyvat has more often been performing better than Sainz when he’s had the chance. Even towards the end of last year, he out qualified Sainz more often than not. The same continued this year. Then in the races, Australia, Kvyat was far quicker. So much so, that the team ordered Sainz to allow him thorough. He then later, very unfortunately had an over heating problem and had to pit again on lap 50. But even then he finished pretty close to Sainz and just one position behind. The next race, Sainz admittedly did have a very good race in the end. But it started of with a very clumsy start and a light crash into the barrier which he was very lucky to get away with. Kvyat had to retire through no fault of his own so we had no idea what he could have done. Very unfair and false to say “4 races and he’s behind him by a huge margin.”
        Then in Bahrain, Sainz clearly had a poor race with a very big mistake. Getting on for as bad as Kvyat’s mistake in Russia last year other than that this resulted in 2 cars retiring instead. Kvyat may not have had a very strong race, but the car wasn’t strong their either. But he did have very entertaining scrap further back with several overtakes on other drivers but it was unfortunately out of the points. Then this race in Russia, Sainz did qualify in front but barely by a hundredth of a second. Then in the race itself, Sainz was certainly better this time but by the end, Kvyat was only about 5 seconds behind and he was catching up lap by lap.

        This pretty much shows that Kvyat is very evenly matched overall this season. I’ve seen several other people that are thinking that either Sainz is worse than many think or Kvyat has recovered from he poor form last year.

        1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
          1st May 2017, 20:52

          @thegianthogweed Your comments are valid – I guess we’ll have to wait for the rest of the season to see.

          Here’s a link to the 2016 teammate battle between them.
          https://www.racefans.net/2016/12/01/2016-f1-season-stats-team-mate-battles-the-midfield/

          Sainz had a couple of P6 positions at the end of the season with 1 year old PU from Ferrari…

          I’m not disagreeing with you that Kvyat has shown better form of late compared to early 2016 (post demotion) and that’s probably why they’ve resigned him but he’s not convincingly beating Sainz by any metric.

          1. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
            1st May 2017, 22:24

            @freelittlebirds
            I just thought that in the first 3 races including qualifying, Kvyat had overall been a little better. But I think that over all, they will be very evenly matched. And no I don’t expect that Kvyat will be better than Sainz by the end of the season. I just think he has totally recovered from last year. Which I was quite hopeful he would achieve.

        2. robert steiner
          2nd May 2017, 8:33

          Sorry Ben you are always bringing your arguments helping DK, i understand you like him but from there to say he is beating CS is a long way. First look the numbers and statistics from last year,only in front in 2 races and one was Singapore where Sainz had the incident at the start with NH. Second this year so far no one single race in front, in Australia DK has a better strategy but he was behind, in China the track was damp Sainz had the speed of the leaders and DK was lapping 3 sec. slower per lap. The last 2 races DK was passed by CS at the start and was slower than CS. I can agree with you that he recovers from last year but so far not faster than CS at all.

          1. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
            2nd May 2017, 9:35

            It looks like you didn’t read my points at all?? I know, Sainz was far better last year. I agree there. But you clearly didn’t see Australia if you are saying what you have. Shall I repeat myself again? Kvyat was faster the team ordered Sainz to let him past. Then on around lap 50, when he shouldn’t have had to go and pit again, Kvyat had an over heating problem and had to get new tyres. He even then finished the race pretty close to Sainz and was only 1 position behind. There is no doubt Kvyat was stronger here. In Bahrain, Kvyat qualified ahead, as he had been doing quite often towards the end of last year too. Then in the race, Sainz had a bad start and nearly took himself out. But did indeed recover and have a very strong race. Kvyat retired very early on through no fault of his own so you can’t judge him there. His speed compared to Sainz may well have been related to his issue.

            In Bahrain, Sainz did unfortunately have an issue in qualifying. But in the race, he made a really big clumsy mistake. Kvyat hasn’t made any obvious errors in the races so far this year. Kvyat may not have finished in the points this race. But the car wasn’t that strong and he did have a good scrap and overtook several drivers further back. It isn’t just me that thinks Kvyat has improved.

            Then here in Russia, Sainz did beat Kvyat by under 0.010 second in qualifying. So not much. Then in the race, it is true that Sainz had a much better race, but Kvyat was catching at the end lap by lap and was only 5 seconds behind when they both finished.

            I recorded all the raced and I’ve been skipping through them to make sure what I’m saying is correct. Saying this year that so far Kvyat hasn’t had one single race in front isn’t ture. As he clearly did better than Sainz in Bahrain and was really unlucky in Australia.

            I’m not saying Sainz is bad, but these what I have said are all facts. Sainz may have more points, but this year overall, neither driver has clearly been better than the other.
            I’m no big fan of either driver for that matter, I’m just comparing them and it certainly is true that they have both had races this year that were stronger than each other. But I’d say if it wasn’t for Kvyat’s bad luck, he will have beaten Sainz in Australia by quite a long way.

            This is almost exactly what I said when I was commenting on what freelittlebirds said and he did say my points were valid even though he did have similar thoughts to you at first. Just make sure you read my points this time before saying things that are not true.

            1. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
              2nd May 2017, 17:03

              Sorry, 5th line down I meant to say in China, not Bahrain.

    36. Lol i love how Alonso got 1% for not even starting the race. Must have been one massive warmup lap…

      Jab aside Bottas sure answered his critics, including me. Last few races we criticised him for being 30s behind Hamilton in the race… Clearly not on equal level. Now two races in a row he gets advantage in quali, and now somewhat in the race.

      Now we will count Hamilton underperformance as car trouble, but how much of previous races was car derived trouble for Bottas?

      In any case he did a great start, awesome first stint and then did 0 wrong while holding his advantage.

      Good enough in my eyes to justify his spot at Mercedes. Is he good enough to rattle L’Hamilton? We will see and enjoy the show.

    37. ILuvSoundtracks (@)
      1st May 2017, 14:47

      Valtteri Bottas took revenge for what happened back in Bahrain.

    38. Bottas. But Vettel was close. Good weekend for Perez, Hulkenberg and Ocon also.

    39. Alonso for doing the right thing and refusing to participate in this poor excuse for a GP.

    40. Alonso for reducing that poor excuse of a race by a whole lap.

    41. I went with the obvious choice for driver of the weekend and voted for Bottas after his achieved his maiden win in F1.

      He was quicker than Hamilton all weekend, so when he out qualified his teammate on Saturday it wasn’t a surprise. A great start meant he managed to get ahead of both Ferraris at the start of the race and after that I thought only car trouble or a mistake by Bottas would stop him winning.

      Bottas has always performed well at the Sochi circuit so it shouldn’t be that much of a surprise that this is where he takes his first Grand Prix victory.

      When Mercedes announced Bottas as their new driver there were plenty criticising the move but I have always rated Bottas and thought he would be able to keep Hamilton honest.

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