Romain Grosjean topped the Driver of the Weekend poll for the Japanese Grand Prix, collecting more than double the votes of race winner Sebastian Vettel.
Grosjean led a large portion of the race after a remarkable start saw him take the lead from fourth on the grid.
Vettel was voted among the top three drivers for the ninth time this year. Esteban Gutierrez featured in the top three for the first time this season after scoring his debut points in Formula One.
That leaves just six drivers who haven’t featured in the top three all season.
1. Romain Grosjean
Started: 4th
Finished: 3rd
Another solid qualifying performance from Grosjean put him right up at the sharp end and using this he was able to make full advantage of the Red Bull’s poor getaway – and Hamilton’s puncture – to lead into turn one.
Grosjean made himself a small gap but could never escape from the chasing Red Bulls. He lost the lead briefly when he pitted for the first time but resumed it as Vettel made his stop.
Grosjean drove superbly throughout the race but he never stood a realistic chance against the Red Bulls – especially with Vettel only two stopping – however he did manage to hold Mark Webber at bay for a number of laps.
Eventually however the stronger Red Bull forced it’s way through and Grosjean had to settle for third in a race where he showed he was the man capable of challenging the Red Bulls in the final few races of the season.
He got the most out of his Lotus in qualifying, made one of the best starts I’ve seen in a while, led the race early on like it was business as usual and was the only one in the race to keep up with the might of the Red Bulls.
Nick (@npf1)
Out-qualified Raikkonen by at least five positions on the grid for the third race in a row and had a fantastic start. The strategy was perfect – in the end he was simply outwitted by Red Bull, nothing he could do about stopping the Red Bulls from overtaking him. Well-deserved podium.
andae23 (@andae23)
I don’t think he did a single thing wrong all weekend. Trounced Raikkonen in qualifying, had a fantastic start, and was able to hold that for a rather long time, until the superior Red Bull’s came hunting. I think he drove a better race than Webber, who in-turn drove a slightly better, but marginally so, race than Vettel.
PhilEReid (@philereid)
2. Sebastian Vettel
Started: 2nd
Finished: 1st
Vettel was denied equalling Hamilton’s run of four consecutive pole positions by his team mate on Saturday – although he was hampered with a KERS issue – then were jumped by Grosjean after making poor starts.
But Vettel used his two stop strategy to great effect, biding his time in the opening stints before pushing at the end to come out ahead of the three-stopping Webber and pass Grosjean.
Went for Vettel – he made his strategy work nicely.
David not Coulthard (@davidnotcoulthard)
Vettel for me. Very good effort in qualifying. Even without KERS, he was really close to his team mate.
His race was quite clever as well. He had a terrible start, but he carefully prepared his last stint after the first few laps. Some minor mistakes here and there, but in the end he had a better pace and better tyre management.
Yobo01 (@yobo01)
3. Esteban Gutierrez
Started: 14th
Finished: 7th
After two races of qualifying inside the top ten Gutierrez was disappointed with only 14th on the grid.
A solid start and mature race however led to his first points of the season – in an impressive seventh place – just one spot behind highly rated team mate Nico Hulkenberg.
I am going a bit different, Esteban Gutierrez. He took his first points by finishing in seventh! Amazing start from him, and great pace through the race and under pressure, after many thought he wasn’t delivering at all.
A great comeback from Sauber, and more so for Gutierrez who has reduced his gap to Hulkenberg in the last races.
the_sigman (@sigman1998)
2013 Driver of the Weekend results
| Race | First | Second | Third |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Grand Prix | Kimi Raikkonen (51.2%) | Adrian Sutil (17.9%) | Jules Bianchi (13.6%) |
| Malaysian Grand Prix | Mark Webber (34.2%) | Sebastian Vettel (17.4%) | Nico Rosberg (13.6%) |
| Chinese Grand Prix | Fernando Alonso (47.0%) | Daniel Ricciardo (18.2%) | Kimi Raikkonen (15.6%) |
| Bahrain Grand Prix | Sebastian Vettel (32.2%) | Paul di Resta (17.8%) | Fernando Alonso (11.9%) |
| Spanish Grand Prix | Fernando Alonso (61.4%) | Felipe Massa (10.8%) | Kimi Raikkonen (10.5%) |
| Monaco Grand Prix | Nico Rosberg (54.3%) | Adrian Sutil (22.2%) | Kimi Raikkonen (9.6%) |
| Canadian Grand Prix | Sebastian Vettel (36.8%) | Fernando Alonso (24.6%) | Jean-Eric Vergne (14.0%) |
| British Grand Prix | Lewis Hamilton (52.5%) | Mark Webber (18.4%) | Fernando Alonso (10.2%) |
| German Grand Prix | Sebastian Vettel (39.2%) | Romain Grosjean (27.6%) | Kimi Raikkonen (15.9%) |
| Hungarian Grand Prix | Lewis Hamilton (63.9%) | Kimi Raikkonen (12.4%) | Romain Grosjean (12.0%) |
| Belgian Grand Prix | Fernando Alonso (39.1%) | Sebastian Vettel (38.5%) | Jenson Button (6.9%) |
| Italian Grand Prix | Nico Hulkenberg (48.4%) | Sebastian Vettel (28.6%) | Fernando Alonso (9.3%) |
| Singapore Grand Prix | Sebastian Vettel (53.9%) | Kimi Raikkonen (25.7%) | Fernando Alonso (12.3%) |
| Korean Grand Prix | Nico Hulkenberg (69.3%) | Sebastian Vettel (14.9%) | Kimi Raikkonen (7.2%) |
| Japanese Grand Prix | Romain Grosjean (58.0%) | Sebastian Vettel (24.5%) | Esteban Gutierrez (6.0%) |
2013 Japanese Grand Prix
- Grosjean voted Driver of the Weekend for first time
- Webber still has doubts over Japanese GP strategy
- Japanese Grand Prix gets average rating for 2013
- 2013 Japanese Grand Prix team radio transcript
- 2013 Japanese Grand Prix fans’ video gallery
Image © Lotus/LAT
Mandice
25th October 2013, 12:01
Keep it up Romain.
Great guy, with hot wife and cute son. =D
Oople
25th October 2013, 12:55
And a fast car.
Dang, that guy’s lucky :P
TheBass (@)
25th October 2013, 12:08
Grosjean first, Vettel second. Sounds right to me.
mixwell (@mixwell)
25th October 2013, 12:41
so happy to see this :)
hope he keeps this form going. really liked him ever since he joined F1 but it all got messed up last year.
eljueta
25th October 2013, 13:19
Good for him. As someone said in another post, he already had speed, now he’s learning how to manage a race. Hope Lotus has a good car next year, and if they hire the Hulk, I’ve chosen who I’m rooting for next year :P
pSynrg (@psynrg)
25th October 2013, 13:23
First time maybe but certainly not the last!
Already on form this weekend – like this driver a lot…
Rigi (@rigi)
25th October 2013, 13:40
good to see him getting the respect he deserves. even after all the abuse he got from the media and other drivers last year, he kept his head up and has steadily increased his driving ability to such an extent, that he is able to beat his team-mate at a consistent rate. i’m sure we will see him win a race in the future!
OmarR-Pepper (@)
25th October 2013, 14:13
Please somebody mail Boulier the poll results of the Italian and Korean GPs. PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!
OmarR-Pepper (@)
25th October 2013, 14:18
I’ve just read in SkyF1 the two main candidates are Hulk and Pastor. Pastor!!! Can you believe it? That would be the hell of a waste of a top seat
eljueta
25th October 2013, 14:25
A lot of venezuelan oil coming in too =/
Max Jacobson (@vettel1)
25th October 2013, 17:58
Maldonado isn’t a bad driver, but fully agreed – Hülkenberg any and every day of the week.
Merv (@)
25th October 2013, 18:22
He’s shocking, if he does end up there it’ll be a disaster for me as a Lotus fan.
He caused at least one if not more of the accidents RG got blamed for last year.
Max Jacobson (@vettel1)
26th October 2013, 0:02
@cylconetag he definitely is not shocking. His speed is immense.
His racecraft is questionable though, to put it mildly.
Max Jacobson (@vettel1)
25th October 2013, 15:51
It’s not correct that Gutierrez was rated above Hülkenberg logically speaking: he lost to his teammate, obviously in equal machinery, which is the first thing you must do. Therefore, he cannot possibly have driven to the car’s true potential.
David Margono (@woshidavid95)
25th October 2013, 15:58
@vettel1
I suppose this is where people’s expectations come into effect; when Rosberg does a (near) Grand Chelem in Monaco he gets DOTW by a landslide because that doesn’t happen everyday. On the other hand, it’s expected of Vettel to win and break records, making it less impressive in the eyes of fans when he accomplishes the same feat. Can’t say I agree with this but that’s just how it is; Gutierrez usually fails to impress so his weekend at Suzuka exceeds the expectations of many, making a handful of people compelled to vote for him.
Patrick (@paeschli)
25th October 2013, 16:06
Yep, Hulkenberg is the true 3rd man for me …
cjpdk (@cjpdk)
25th October 2013, 23:11
The achievements of a driver should be balanced against what is expected of them. Vettel winning is fairly standard, Rosberg winning is more impressive, Di Resta winning would be stunning, etc.. Gutierrez performed better than expected, making his 7th place more impressive than Hulkenberg’s 6th.
Max Jacobson (@vettel1)
26th October 2013, 0:04
@cjpdk I don’t agree: to be driver of the weekend, you must by definition be better than at least your teammate, realistically everybody else. You don’t win world championships “because you performed better than expected”, and I apply exactly the same standards to this
He was beaten by his teammate in both qualifying and the race, so he did not perform better than him. It’s as simple as that.
cjpdk (@cjpdk)
27th October 2013, 18:31
@vettel1
I understand what you’re saying, but people will vote for the driver that impressed them most. Otherwise Vettel would have won the last 6 DOTWs (not likely :P)
It is a bit unfair, but DOTW is ultimately an opinion poll
Iestyn Davies (@fastiesty)
25th October 2013, 19:20
So if I’m right, those not in DOTW so far are: Sergio Perez, Pastor Maldonado, Valtteri Bottas, Giedo Van der Garde, Charles Pic and Max Chilton.
Out of those so far I would pick Bottas for getting 3rd in qualifying in Canada. Maybe he was a bit unlucky there.
Also, since the change in the tyres, Vettel has only been out of the top 3 once, in Hungary where he had a problematic race.