Vote for your 2013 Indian GP driver of the weekend

2013 Indian Grand Prix

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

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

Indian Grand Prix driver-by-driver

Red Bull

Sebastian Vettel – It never looked like anyone was going to keep Vettel from the win and his fourth title. He was over half a second quicker than Webber on the soft tyres and took pole by eight tenths from the Mercedes. Had to drop back into the pack early on to make his strategy work but brushed the traffic aside and was over 13 seconds ahead of his team mate when Webber retired. Picked up a reprimand for not stopping parc ferme after the chequered flag so he could perform doughnuts in front of the crowd.

Mark Webber – Did a solid job on the alternate strategy despite dropping three places at the start. Second place would have been his had his alternator not failed.

Ferrari

Fernando Alonso – Missed some running in first practice due to a gearbox problem. Qualified on medium tyres which left him eighth, though his Q2 time suggested a front-row start was possible. Tangled with Webber and Button on the first lap, leaving him with damage which forced a pit stop for a front wing change. From there he wasn’t quite able to make it back into the points.

Felipe Massa – Lost time in the second sector on his qualifying lap which he reckoned could have put him higher than fifth on the grid. Nonetheless a strong start saw him take second place early on. He wasn’t able to stay there, however, as he lost time behind Sutil and was jumped by Rosberg and Grosjean.

McLaren

Jenson Button – Contact with Alonso on the first lap destroyed his race chances as he had to pit due to a puncture. He was disappointed to be so far out of contention on a day when the car was working well.

Sergio Perez – Did a long first stint on the medium tyres and ran second before making his obligatory stop for soft tyres. In the final stint he passed Hamilton and Raikkonen in one excellent move to seize fifth place – his best result so far for McLaren.

Lotus

Kimi Raikkonen – Troubled by his brakes early in the race, a brave attempt to run 53 laps on the soft tyres ended as they started to go off. His team were furious at the lengths he went to keep Grosjean behind, demanding he make way, which he eventually did. However he soon surrendered to the inevitable and made a late stop for more tyres.

Romain Grosjean – Tried to get through Q1 using only the harder tyres but paid a high price as he failed to make the cut. However with new tyres for the first stint he was better placed to make Lotus’s one-stop strategy work, and after getting past his team mate claimed an unlikely podium finish.

Mercedes

Nico Rosberg – Started and finished second, and was gratified to have a trouble-free race. Lost some time behind Massa early on but was able to get ahead of him via the pits, and was never likely to get within range of Vettel.

Lewis Hamilton – “I struggled a little bit with something different on the car this weekend which Nico had had experience of seeing maybe in the past,” said Hamilton after being out-qualified by his team mate. He passed Rosberg at the start, than ran wide at turn three and lost places to his team mate and Massa. He wasn’t able to get past the Ferrari, though it didn’t help matters that he made both his pit stops on the same lap as his rival. Hamilton’s tyres went off towards the end and he was passed by Perez.

Sauber

Nico Hulkenberg – Eighth was certain, seventh was possible before a mystery floor problem ended his race seven laps from home.

Esteban Gutierrez – Failed to build on his recent progress with a poor weekend: a second slower than Hulkenberg in qualifying, he then jumped the start which led to a drive-through and eventually finished a disappointing 15th.

Force India

Paul di Resta – Believed he could have found the missing few tenths needed to reach Q3. Pitted after just one lap to remove the soft tyres, then worked his way up to eighth for his first points since his home race.

Adrian Sutil – The only driver to run a one-stop strategy which began with a stint on medium tyres. He stayed out until lap 41, then nursed his soft tyres for an impressive 19 laps while keeping clear of Ricciardo.

Williams

Pastor Maldonado – An encouraging race for Williams as Maldonado crossed the line less than three seconds behind the points scorers. “The car showed better race pace which is encouraging,” he said.

Valtteri Bottas – Out-qualified Maldonado but his race was spoiled by radio problems which delayed his first pit stop. That left him in traffic, blunting his attempts to get into the points.

Toro Rosso

Jean-Eric Vergne – Ran a similar strategy to Di Resta but only finished one place higher than he started. “We were just too slow,” he said and the team agreed with him, urging him to raise his pace at one point.

Daniel Ricciardo – Took the final point and was trying to pass Force Indias but had to keep an eye out for attacks from Alonso’s wounded Ferrari.

Caterham

Charles Pic – Joined his team mate in retirement when he lost hydraulic pressure.

Giedo van der Garde – Blamed Chilton for his second race-ending contact on lap one in as many races. “It’s been made really clear to us that we have to give each other room,” he said, “but today I wasn’t given any at all and that’s what’s finished my race before it really got going.” The stewards declined to intervene, which given Van der Garde’s retirement indicates they did not hold Chilton responsible.

Marussia

Jules Bianchi – A fine performance in qualifying got him ahead of both Caterhams as well as his team mate. But a problem at Bianchi’s first pit stop dropped him behind Chilton, where he finished.

Max Chilton – Continued his 100% race finishing streak despite the contact with Van der Garde on the first lap, which he unsurprisingly had a different view of: “From the video, the circumstances of the first corner seem pretty clear – I was ahead of van der Garde and he hit both Pic and myself with his front wing.”

Qualifying and race results summary

DriverStartedGap to team mateLaps leading team matePittedFinishedGap to team mate
Sebastian Vettel1st-0.928s12/3921st
Mark Webber4th+0.928s27/392
Fernando Alonso8th+0.625s0/60311th+36.605s
Felipe Massa5th-0.625s60/6024th-36.605s
Jenson Button10th+0.334s0/59314thNot on same lap
Sergio Perez9th-0.334s59/5925thNot on same lap
Kimi Raikkonen6th-0.758s49/6027th+28.096s
Romain Grosjean17th+0.758s11/6013rd-28.096s
Nico Rosberg2nd-0.07s54/6022nd-22.652s
Lewis Hamilton3rd+0.07s6/6026th+22.652s
Nico Hulkenberg7th-0.997s43/54319thNot on same lap
Esteban Gutierrez16th+0.997s11/54215thNot on same lap
Paul di Resta12th-0.029s17/6028th-1.866s
Adrian Sutil13th+0.029s43/6019th+1.866s
Pastor Maldonado18th+0.664s26/59212thNot on same lap
Valtteri Bottas15th-0.664s33/59216thNot on same lap
Jean-Eric Vergne14th+0.279s0/59213thNot on same lap
Daniel Ricciardo11th-0.279s59/59210thNot on same lap
Charles Pic21st+0.382s1/12
Giedo van der Garde20th-0.382s0/10
Jules Bianchi19th-1.168s8/58218th+0.722s
Max Chilton22nd+1.168s50/58217th-0.722s

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 2013 Indian Grand Prix weekend?

  • Max Chilton (0%)
  • Jules Bianchi (0%)
  • Giedo van der Garde (0%)
  • Charles Pic (0%)
  • Daniel Ricciardo (0%)
  • Jean-Eric Vergne (0%)
  • Valtteri Bottas (0%)
  • Pastor Maldonado (0%)
  • Adrian Sutil (0%)
  • Paul di Resta (0%)
  • Esteban Gutierrez (0%)
  • Nico Hulkenberg (0%)
  • Lewis Hamilton (1%)
  • Nico Rosberg (1%)
  • Romain Grosjean (42%)
  • Kimi Raikkonen (1%)
  • Sergio Perez (6%)
  • Jenson Button (0%)
  • Felipe Massa (2%)
  • Fernando Alonso (0%)
  • Mark Webber (1%)
  • Sebastian Vettel (45%)

Total Voters: 580

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2013 Indian Grand Prix

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Images © Red Bull/Getty, Lotus/LAT, Force India

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Keith Collantine
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93 comments on “Vote for your 2013 Indian GP driver of the weekend”

  1. Did a solid job on the alternate strategy despite dropping three places at the start. Second place would have been his had his alternator not failed.

    Alternate strategy failed because of alternator.

    Phunny !

  2. for me it’s pretty much a tie between Grosjean and Vettel. Qualifying is the tie-breaker in this case – driver of the race goes to Romain but driver of the weekend to Vettel.

    1. The Donuts were the tiebreaker for me, perfect weekend for Seb, honorable mention to DanR for not cracking under sustained pressure from Fernando, commiserations to Mark for being robbed of 2nd by the alternator.

  3. Can’t be Romain Grosjean because of the Qualifying fiasco. He failed to make the risky strategy work.

    1. And yet watch Vettel detractors to vote for Romain just not to let Vettel win the poll. *eyeroll*

      1. Jelle van der Meer (@)
        28th October 2013, 17:55

        I am shocked to see Vettel actually ahead of Grossjean, I thought that Vettel yet again would lose out on DotW despite being the DotW.

        1. Me too! But it seems like he is getting some credit for it, which is more than normal.

          Realistically from a race point of view it has to be Grosjean, but on the whole it is even on this one.

        2. +1 Me too :)

    2. Strategy is a team decision, DOTW is about the driver.
      IF the team had decided to send RG out on the soft tyre in Q1 he would have willingly driven the car around and into Q2.

      It’s also perceived that SV has a car advantage, backed up by the fact that Webber was blowing away everybody that wasn’t SV until his alternator failure.

      A vote for RG isn’t a snub to SV, it’s acknowledgement that RG did a great job from the P17 he found himself in, not only making up 14 places but having to nurse his tyres round all GP to make his recovery strategy work.

      1. Merv, your last line explains perfectly why I didn’t consider GRO for DOTW despite his podium.

        1. I’m flattered you read that far :-)

  4. Vettel. Didn’t put a wheel wrong all weekend. Rosberg and Perez did well too, but Vettel was just a class apart.
    And I don’t see how Grosjean can be DOTW, he was overdriving the car on Friday, his medium tyre lap was eight-tenths slower than Vettel in quali.

    1. And funny to see Hamilton and Raikkonen getting some votes too..

      1. Jelle van der Meer (@)
        28th October 2013, 17:56

        Would say more funny to see Alonso get votes, Hamilton and Raikonnen at least scored a point

    2. @wsrgo

      his medium tyre lap was eight-tenths slower than Vettel in quali.

      I wonder how much that has to do with the car?

      Nevertheless, I voted for Perez.

      1. @kingshark I’m not sure either, but his lap was pretty messy. He hadn’t really banged in a clean lap all weekend.

  5. Torn between Vettel and Grosjean. Both were flawless and had great drives, Grosjean’s strategy and tyre management were superb, and Vettel driving from the back was also good. Also Vettel sealed his 4th title and gave us that amazing celebration. Rosberg and Massa weren’t far behing.

    Could go either way, really, so I voted Vettel because Sunday was his day.

  6. Sebastian Vettel, Sergio Perez and Romain Grosjean are all fairly worthy contenders. I don’t think Grosjean did very well in qualifying even irrespective of the fact his strategy was perhaps too ambitious but he certainly did make up for it in the race.

    Perez out-qualifying Button meant his was up to scratch as far as I’m concerned and his first stint was excellent, as was his overtake on Hamilton and Räikkönen.

    But I’m going to do the predictable thing and vote for Vettel, just for that glove throwing fail :P Stick to driving, mate.

    1. There’s a couple of others I haven’t mentioned. Rosberg and a very good weekend, out qualifying Hamilton and quite comfortably out-racing him and Massa: not the perfect qualifying but a very solid race.

      1. Massa I wouldn’t have as a contender for the weekend as had he replicated Alonso’s Q2 time he would’ve started 2nd (-0.316s on his actual time) and would’ve been *only* 0.622 behind Vettel by the average improvement margin between Q2 and Q3 (discarding the medium runners and the man himself), compared to the 1.082 he actually was behind.

    2. I concur! Perez, Grosjean and Vettel all contenders. If it was driver/team of the race I’d have to go Grosjean they took the risk and he pulled it off and it was nail biting towards the end to see if he’d make it.
      Perez looked good all weekend and his results reflect that.
      But for me Vettel didn’t put a foot wrong. Boring… yes, even with the early pitstop the win was never really in question, but that just shows how steady a weekend he had. He gets my vote.

    3. YEah, @vettel1, there really were some outstanding drives this weekend, the race was a lot better than I had expected as well.

      But really, for me, this weekend it just had to be Seb Vettel. 4 times WDC – in a row – and he really was doing everything right, up and including the dougnuts in the end, and even the almost failed throwing of the gloves. That was just a genuine moment of a real person.

      Great win for him, thoroughly deserved too. So yes. Vettel is my DOTW (no DotSeason vote is up yet)

  7. I voted for Perez. He had a good qualifying, well clear of Button and close to Alonso, and drove a clean race, showing strong pace throughout. He has shown good pace before, but he hadn’t so far combined it with a clean weekend, and last weekend he did so at a time when his seat was under pressure.

    1. I also voted for Perez, he drove well all weekend I thought.

  8. Vettel, Grosjean, Perez, Massa and Rosberg… too many to choose from :/

  9. Grosjean was good. Perez was better and Vettel was predictably, the best.
    In control, through traffic, and he was just blisteringly fast. I know this doesn’t count per se, but his celebrations were a class act. Humble, giving one hell of a show for the fans, and now a couple of Indian chaps has race gloves which are most likely worth hundreds of pounds as a result.

  10. As usual, Max Chilton votes for himself!
    I voted for Romain, he did an amazing job with his Lotus.
    I hope we can see him again in 2014 with more solid drives!

    1. how many accounts does Max Chilton has on F1fanatic.co.uk ? :P .. He’s ahead of Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen…. although it’s a pity that people here have wasted their votes on Hamilton and Raikkonen for the Indian GP

  11. OmarR-Pepper (@)
    28th October 2013, 16:12

    Both Vettel and Grosjean were 17th at some point. Vettel for strategy and Grosjean for a bad Lotus planning. It’s DOTW and considering Vettel wasn’t in the need to push for a victory to become champion, but pushed anyway in both quali and race, he gets my vote.

    1. The consensus appear to be that there have been some really strong drives throughout the weekend. Massa did well, Perez too. Rosberg very good in the race and not shabby in quali either. The two stand outs for me were Vettel and Grosjean. I believe the qualifying fiasco at lotus was more due to the team perhaps being overly ambitious, can’t really fault Grosjean there. He was absolutely outstanding in the race too. I was so impressed. But it is fair to say that vettel did not put a foot wrong the whole weekend. His second stint on the medium tyres was just excellent, it won him the race. He was the man this weekend. So I have voted vettel. But Grosjean was a close second

  12. I voted Rosberg – 2nd in qualifying and the race was the absolute maximum he could have achieved in the Mercedes this weekend, and he solidly beat Hamilton on merit in equal machinery. I think Rosberg’s race only went fairly unnoticed due as Grosjean’s successful one-stop strategy and Vettel’s championship story made better viewing. That shouldn’t take anything away from Rosberg’s achievement, which was a quick, canny and pretty much error-free race weekend.

    1. well said, couldnt agree more.

  13. Let us not be swept in Vettel-mania when making this decision and remember that he had a completely dominant car this weekend, so surely it can’t be him. Also we must remember that is it “The Driver of the Weekend” not just the race, so in spite of Grosjean’s brilliant race drive, his erratic and erroneous performance in qualifying surely eliminates him. For me, when all things are considered, it is a choice between Perez and Rosberg, who showered both of their more illustrious teammates in their dust. Personally, I thought Perez was set for a podium had he not had warm-up issues on his final set of primes, and couple that polished drive in the midst of contractual pressure with fast yet consistent pace all weekend, and you have the driver who should logically surely be the DotW. Now watch everyone vote for Sebastian Vettel…

    1. Why can’t you vote for someone with a good car?

      1. Jack (@jackisthestig)
        28th October 2013, 19:57

        Too right, Vettel’s pace rendered Webber’s (supposedly better) strategy useless before he retired.

    2. @william-brierty I think it’s a bit unfair to blame Grosjean for the quali trouble. I think the team were a bit overly ambitious with the strategy to be fair

    3. Jelle van der Meer (@)
      28th October 2013, 17:58

      Vettel earned DotW beyond any doubt – doing the donuts removed the last of any possible doubt

    4. @william-brierty

      he had a completely dominant car this weekend, so surely it can’t be him.

      He having the best car somehow makes his drive impossible to the best?
      That’s a bit ridiculous.

      1. I’m sure if this was 2005, he would also vote against Alonso. (/sarcasm)

        1. @mnmracer Of course not, the 2005’s Renault was the inferior car! Only third or fourth on the grid, it was all Alonso’s outperforming his own car!1!!!11!

          Right @william-brierty?

    5. @william-brierty

      “Perez and Rosberg, who showered both of their more illustrious teammates in their dust. Personally, I thought Perez was set for a podium had he not had warm-up issues on his final set of primes.”

      1. Perez only showered Button in dust because of a first lap puncture courtesy of Alonso, which ruined his tire strategy. Not sure that would be considered Perez dominating his teammate.

      2. On for a podium except he (Perez) couldn’t get his tires warmed up properly – hmmm.

      3. Rosberg much legitimate in terms of driver of the day than Perez.

      4. Massa blew away is far more illustrious teammate, finishing in P4 with Alonso in a scruffy P11.

    6. @william-brierty A driver comes first in all the 5 Session of the Weekend and the reason for not voting him Driver of the weekend was “He had a Good car ” that must the the COTD ….
      Going by your logic Ayrton Senna & Alian Prost would never have been the DOTW

      BTW just for your kind info… This is not the “vote for the worst car of the weekend
      ” ……. Oh Wait @xusso we now know who has been Voting for Max Chilton LOL LOL.,,,,

    7. Perhaps you should make a poll for “car of the weekend” instead

    8. Let us not be swept in Vettel-mania

      No, it is better be swept in Vettel-bashing /s

      it is a choice between Perez and Rosberg, who showered both of their more illustrious teammates in their dust.

      I miss one name here, yes, some driver that also showered his more illustrious teammate in their dust

  14. Sebastian Vettel.

    Demoted to 17th and overtook 13 cars in 10 laps to come out in front again. After which, he just control the whole race and the pack behind him to take is 6th consecutive wins and 100% record in India with his 4x consecutive World Champion.

    Despite knowing the rules of having the car driven back to Parc Ferme, he continued to deliver the donut celebrations in front of the crowd. Kneeling and bowing in front of the car and the crowd are his appreciations for the team and the fans respectively that supported him throughout.

    Nonetheless, its IVETTEL.

    Special mentions to Grosjean, Massa, Sutil and Nico Rosberg.

    Grosjean to finish in the podiums after starting 17th is a good result for him. Massa finishing in front of Alonso showing that he still has drive in himself. Sutil, making that medium compound Pirelli tyres last for 39 laps is an amazing tyre management in 2013. And of course Nico Rosberg to make a German 1-2 after a poor start to the race.

    Good day, good job and bring along Abu Dhabi. We are seeing the records of consecutive wins being broke. It’s nice to witness a 60-year history that is about to be re-written at the end of the season.

    1. Actually the 13 cars he “overtook” let him pass like he was lapping them. And he didn´t control the whole race, Webber´s gearbox failed when he was leading and Vettel inherited the lead. Just for that I went to vote for Grosjean. He started 17th fought his way through the field, and he even made Kimi pissed off, and only Perez has manage to do that (Also great drive from him, loved his double overtake to Ham and Kimi)
      This GP had very great drives from a few drivers. I was surprised by Massa, he could have been in the podium if his tyre startegy worked out. Also Perez drove a good race without pissing someone else, his fight with Alonso was incredible as well as his tyre startegy. Who said he doesn´t how to drive?

      1. Ein? When Webber alternator failed the one leading the race was Vettel by more than 10 seconds

        1. Looking at the lap chart, Vettel passed 9 cars on track (Chilton, Bianchi, Bottas, Maldonado, Guitierrez, Sutil, Grosjean, Ricciardo, Perez). There may be additional ones but as they pitted on the lap where Vettel passed them, you can’t tell from the lap charts.

          Grosjean passed 5 cars: Guitierrez, Maldonado, Sutil, Guitierrez again, and Raikkonen.

          All stops had been done when Webber retired on lap 40. Webber was 14 seconds behind Vettel, lapping 0.2 seconds slower than Vettel. Hence, Webber would have had to pick up his pace by 0.9 seconds per lap to catch up with Vettel at the end. So Webber had no chance to win. Although he would have easily finished second.

          @oletros @cocaine-mackeine

          1. Oh sorry, my mistake. Slept during the race and woke up exactly when Webber retired, I thought he was in the lead.

  15. Qualifying pole-1pt
    Driving from the back of the grid to the front-1pt
    Winning the race-1pt
    Winning wdc-1pt
    Doughnuts and post-race antics-1pt

    Driving from 17th place to podium finish-1pt

    5-1, so it’s vettel with grosjean as the runner-up and special mention to rosberg..

  16. I was close to giving it to Grosjean again. But besides driving an excellent, well controlled race, that doughnut from Vettel with a car that has to hold up in Abu Dhabi as well made the difference… I gave it to him!

  17. Vettel. Not a foot wrong the entire weekend. Took pole position, was .7 faster than Rosberg’s Merc, and masterclass driving. Grosjean had an amazing race coming from 17th to finishing 3rd, however, had a bad qualifying.

    DOTW: Vettel
    DOTRace: Grosjean
    Honorable mention: Rosberg

  18. Vettel was stratospheric, in so doing the number 1 driver of the weekend for every reasons as he mastered India. Grosjean has perfecty executed his strategy to climb on a remakable podium but I want to give my voice to Perez.

    The McLaren driver had his best weekend of the season, he was fast and consistent, and wow that move on the backstretch on Hamilton and Raikkonen was a delight. DRS is exciting when two drivers have it.

  19. A complete tie between Grosjean and Vettel! Can I vote half a vote for each? If this was driver of the race then it would definitely be Grosjean, 17th to 3rd is simply immense. He was only able to do that though because qualifying was totally ballsed up in the first place!

    Vettel won the race from pole, nothing new there but his strategy relied on him being able to cut back through to pack after pitting early, which he did superbly. Great way to win a 4th title, well done Seb!

    I literally had to toss a coin, and Grosjean won my vote

  20. On my shortlist:
    Vettel (of course)
    Grosjean (but he had a poor qualifying)
    Rosberg
    Massa
    Perez

    The latter three are the most surprising considering their advantage on their team mates. But to be honest (although I might be biased) I think Massa did the best job of all because Alonso was not, apparently, in bad form but couldn’t do anything in the race, indicating the Ferrari had little pace. The Merecedes was fast and Rosberg did well to beat Hamilton, and I think Button just had an awful weekend so it was easier for Perez to beat him this time. Massa had a great start too, stayed in contention with Grosjean and Rosberg for most of the race despite having – but I may be wrong – an inferior car.

  21. This is a circuit that is supposed to be very difficult to pass and no one did more passing that Romain G., so he was my pick for this week. HOWSOMEVER, this does not take away from Sebastian V. and RED BULL who are at the pinnacle of the sport at this moment, except of course for Mark W. some folks are just star crossed or so it seems. An earlier comment, Can’t be Romain Grosjean because of the Qualifying fiasco. He failed to make the risky strategy work escapes my understanding as it seems this would be a point in Romain’s favor for a driver vote as he overcame the screw up and was on the podium …. Thanks, Ray

    1. Compensating for a mistake doesn’t take the mistake away! But I see your point.

  22. Vettel, of course. Also very good job by Rosberg. In the race, Grosjean, Massa and Perez did well.

  23. Voted for Vettel, but I was really close to voting Perez. He did absolutely everything right this weekend. Grosjean was fantastic in the race, but failed in qualifying, which makes it hard for me to vote him.

  24. Vettel. It’s easy to say he had the fastest car and he didn’t have any competitors, but his strategy was very risky. After the second lap he was in the middle of the traffic. He overtook everyone without losing much time, while the drivers who stopped later (Massa, Rosberg, Hamilton) got stuck behind someone. Brilliant drive by Seb.

  25. Was torn between Vet, Gro & Perez, I went with Perez because Vettel has the car and skills to completely dominate the race really so was kind of a given, Grosjean didn’t Qualify well so there’s that, but Perez out performed Button this weekend and was up to 3rd or more at one point and equalled there highest finishing position this season so deserves some credit for that.

  26. A few obvious choices but I’m going for a guy who punched above his car’s weight, was rapidly onto the back of the leading group, and way more impressive than Hamilton and Massa, who went missing mid-race and threw away good starts. And that double pass was impressive and brave, despite being in the world’s longest DRS zone. Another vote on the board for Perez.

  27. Alonso gets 1% for turning up. Even though he put the primes on in Q3, I doubt he would’ve been much higher on options (maybe still behind Massa even) considering his one-lap pace this season (I suppose you could say many seasons now). He was clumsy in the first few corners (maybe a consequence of qualifying 8th), especially going into Button, and then struggled to get passed weaker cars. Gutierrez in particular was giving him a hard time.

    I voted for Vettel anyway based on his very strong performances in qualifying and race, and not “because he won his 4th title”, like some people seem to assume. All of the top 5 did very good jobs this weekend.

    1. It’s now gone to 0%. My faith in F1Fanatic readers restored!

    2. @deej92 It’s pretty much a given every weekend that Alonso, Raikkonen and Chilton always get their vote for being able to drag themselves out of bed and to the paddock.

      1. Yeah, it seems that way. I didn’t even see Raikkonen have 1% until now – I will restrain myself from another rant. I doubt Chilton is getting votes out of seriousness – I find it quite funny.

  28. I voted for Perez. Vettel obviously did a brilliant job all weekend, but his result was never in doubt. Grosjean should really have finished 2nd, he did well to recover from qualifying but he shouldn’t have been there in the first place. Perez was the surprise performance of the weekend, he had a strong qualifying and got the best out of the car in the race. I’ve given him plenty of stick this season so he can take the carrot for this race :)

  29. lol, who voted Max Chilton??

  30. Vettel… topped every session except Q1!
    Pole by 3/4 of a second
    Fought back from P17 after adopting the risky strategy
    Won by 30 seconds

    Amazed to think half the voters didn’t see that!

    1. @91jb12 F1F should grey out other options

  31. At the end of lap 60, I was considering between Romain and Sebastian.
    Then at the start of lap 62, the deal was sealed.

    1. Hehe, I see what you did there!

  32. Yes! I just voted Perez for DOTW! Incredible I know!

  33. Laps leading team mate:
    Fernando Alonso 0/60
    Felipe Massa 60/60

    Wow! It’s not Fernando’s fault but nonetheless, I wasn’t expecting that!

  34. Voted for Perez. Probably the best he’s driven all season and he managed to out qualify Button. No idea why people are voting for Grosjean considering his qualifying was terrible. This is driver of the weekend, not driver of the race.

    1. maybe, but what a mighty race it was

  35. finishing 2nd and having about 2% votes … What a reward!

  36. A Driver Tops all five sessions of the weekend… that is a simple enough reason for me to vote Vettel as the DOTW.

    Add to that Bonus….. Winning WDC, Doughnuts, drive from 17th to 30 sec lead, Pole position etc

    1. Good Job by Rosberg ( I am getting a feeling that he is starting to match Hamilton)

      Also good Job by Grosjean and Perez.

      A Special mention to Sutil for the one stop strategy by making both the tires last such a long stint……

  37. I had to think hard for this one. But eventually decided it was Vettel. Could have been Romain. But then we are voting for the Driver of the WEEKEND. That’s sadly where Romain lost out. His drive on Sunday was impressive. His qualifying on Saturday wasn’t.

  38. Voted Grosjean!
    How come he managed to make his tyres last for so long???

  39. Top drives from Vettel and Grosjean, both of them didn’t out a foot wrong. But the most impressive performance for me was Sergio Perez: started on the medium tyres and somehow managed to outrace Hamilton and was right on Massa’s tail at the end.

  40. It hurts to do it but I voted Vettel, once again this German has showed the world that he belongs up there with the best of the best. I’m looking forward to next year to see if the rule change can spice up the action and create another season where someone can take the fight to him.

    I salute you Mr.Vettel, well done sir!

  41. Voted for Vettel. He was perfect all weekend and you couldn’t have asked for more from him. Although I doubted his race strategy at first, but by overtaking cars, he didn’t comrpomise it and made it work. Besides, his celebration was the most enjoyable I’ve ever seen (and I watch F1 since 1999).

  42. RoGro was awesome but Vettel was just perfect.

    Also: doughnuts!

  43. Vettel, donut!

    err, I mean, no doubt!

  44. Since it’s driver of the WEEKEND, it’s clearly Vettel.

  45. In a race where the dude was spotless and won his FOURTH world title (and gave us amazing doughnuts for good measure), to vote for other than Vettel should be considered illegal or ethically questionable. Just my last $0,02.

  46. Grosjean just edged it ahead of Vettel for me.

    Also honourable mentions to Rosberg, Massa and Perez.

  47. I would like to start the debate on who is the strongest driver at McLaren. Lately Hamilton hasn’t impressed. Rosberg seems more race clever. Rosberg contender for World Champion in 2014?
    Hamilton never to achieve anything else apart from the occasional brilliant race win?

    1. I meant to say Mercedes.

  48. I surprised myself by voting for Perez, although all the top 5 had good weekends overall. Can’t argue with those who voted Vettel, as yet again he’s had a flawless weekend and destroyed the field. But can’t help but feel it’s a little too easy for him right now. Between him and the team they have that car perfectly balanced every weekend and he’s the best part of a second a lap quicker than anyone else bar his teammate (and a few tenths faster than him too). So maybe getting 5th in that McLaren, racing against many cars of similar pace, is harder to achieve than a win in the RedBull? maybe…

    Congrats to Sebastian on his fourth title, undoubtedly the driver of the season in my opinion. And i couldn’t help but grin like an idiot when i heard the crowd’s reaction to his celebration, that was a nice touch.

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