44.44% vote Hamilton Driver of the Weekend

2015 British Grand Prix Driver of the Weekend result

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Thanks to an inspired and well-timed pit stop, Lewis Hamilton won his home Grand Prix for the second year running – and was your top pick for Driver of the Weekend as well.

Appropriately, the driver of car number 44 received 44.44% of the vote.

Hamilton took pole position and fastest lap on his way to victory, but this was far from being the straightforward success those details might suggest.

Lewis Hamilton’s British Grand Prix weekend

Friday practice did not go Hamilton’s way – for the second weekend in a row it looked as though Nico Rosberg had an advantage. But following overnight changes Hamilton was much happier with his car and he ended the final hour of practice half a second ahead of his team mate.

As qualifying began, the momentum swung once more, with Rosberg quicker in Q1 and Q2. But Hamilton prevailed when it mattered most, he won his eighth pole position out of nine attempts this year by little more than a tenth of a second.

From there it could have all been fairly simple but poor starts by both Mercedes drivers let the Williams pair from the second row. Hamilton initially headed Valtteri Bottas , but slipped behind him into third after a botched attempt to pass Felipe Massa at the restart.

Despite seemingly having more pace, Hamilton couldn’t make any impression on the two Williams cars out front, and had to use the undercut to finally get ahead of them at his first pit stop. This was just the break Hamilton needed, and with Rosberg stuck behind the two FW37s, it looked like a good haul of points for the championship leader.

However Silverstone showers were the next obstacle for Hamilton and his rivals to deal with. Following a brief initial drizzle a heavier burst of rain made the track very slippery. Rosberg found a new lease of life in the tricky conditions, and quickly dispatched Massa and Bottas before taking up to two seconds a lap out of Hamilton’s lead.

With his team mate bearing down on him, Hamilton made a vital call to pit for intermediate tyres with just eight laps to go. It proved the optimum moment to switch, and while Rosberg lost time with a tentative in-lap on slicks, Hamilton was now on course for his most hard-earned victory of the season so far.

Immediately after the race some were unsure whether Hamilton had made the decisive call to pit or his team had, probably due in part to the confusing interview Niki Lauda gave to Sky television moments after the race. It had been Hamilton’s decision, as the radio messages during the race had already made clear.

His choice to come in for intermediates proved right and requires a level of insight and feeling for what is happening that is all too rare these days. Top that off with him being on top in qualify and genuinely having a much faster pace then the rest of the field and he is in a class of his own this UK GP weekend.
Vincent Ouwehand (@Bazzek)

That pit call (I don’t know whether it was team or Hamilton who decided it) on a slightly wet track even made his team mate think that Hamilton would throw his lead. Others might do the same but in Hamilton’s case he’s the front runner and he’s the first one to come in.
Ilham Shaq (@Hahailham1)

British Grand Prix winners and losers

Another driver who judged the conditions perfectly and gain from them was Sebastian Vettel, who jumped both Williams drivers to take a podium finish which hadn’t seemed likely following his difficult start to the race.

Vettel lost a few places at the start too and had an underwhelming first few laps. But he managed to overtake Perez and then used the pit stop to jump the rest of the queue. Finally,he managed to overtake Raikkonen and made a good call on the pit stop like Hamilton to take advantage of the intermediates.

A podium was out of reach during the dry parts of the race, but he made it in the end through some intelligent pit work and gutsy driving.

That control in the wet before overtaking Raikkonen was cherry on top.
@Evered7

Felipe Massa was also highly rated after his excellent start and early stint in the lead.

Ended up going for Massa, great qualifying, great start and yes he was the slowest of the leading four in the first stint, but he got into that position so it was up to the other guys to overtake him, something they all failed to do. Car wasn’t really on it in the wet still did a decent job to maintain fourth.
@Davef1

And Nico Hulkenberg continued to gain the plaudits of fans for his efforts.

I voted for Hulkenberg as well. Impeccable weekend – he only lost places during the race because Force India devised a very conservative strategy for this race.
@atticus-2

This is something Kimi Raikkonen will be wary of, as Hulkenberg is one of several drivers tipped to replace him at Ferrari. The Ferrari driver had run well and might have figured highly in the poll had he not made a crucial error when the rain started to fall.

Another driver who had a forgettable weekend and didn’t feature in the voting was Daniel Ricciardo. He qualified three places behind Daniil Kvyat and was running behind him too when he retired on lap 21 with an electrical problem.

2015 Driver of the Weekend winners

RaceDOTW winnerVotes
2015 Australian Grand PrixFelipe Nasr60.6%
2015 Malaysian Grand PrixSebastian Vettel66.4%
2015 Chinese Grand PrixLewis Hamilton44.5%
2015 Bahrain Grand PrixKimi Raikkonen57.1%
2015 Spanish Grand PrixNico Rosberg60.0%
2015 Monaco Grand PrixLewis Hamilton37.3%
2015 Canadian Grand PrixSebastian Vettel41.6%
2015 Austrian Grand PrixNico Hulkenberg34.9%
2015 British Grand PrixLewis Hamilton44.4%

2015 British Grand Prix

Browse all 2015 British Grand Prix articles

67 comments on “44.44% vote Hamilton Driver of the Weekend”

  1. I believe Hülkenberg, Massa and even Vettel or Kvyat deserve it more than Hamilton but a Brit winning on Silverstone surely is something special.

    1. Did any of those drivers get pole? or fastest lap? or win? No. So I’m sure they deserve DoW just for turning up.

      1. None of those drivers had the car to do any of those things. Hamilton had the car and therefore was expected to be on the podium, and more likely than not, to win.

        He was a second per lap off the pace of his team-mate on Friday, and whilst he made a brilliant decision to change onto inters when he did, he only got into 1st position through the pitstops.

        He might be a Brit (though I’m not sure why that matters) at his home race, and he might have won, but it was hardly a clean weekend for Hamilton. I’d have gone for Hulkenburg if I’d voted. Really showing what he can do in a new car. Exciting times in the future for him.

        1. So in your eyes in sport losing is winning. ‘It’s not the winning , it is the taking part’. Meanwhile the rest of the planet respect winning, that is why the winners take their place in history and losers are only discussed in forums years later. I think Bernie should get Dow, I’m sure his chauffeur did a great job too.

          1. But getting pole position and winning in a car which is significantly faster than anything out there does not necessarily imply that he did the best job during the weekend. It just means that he did better than one other driver when it counted and that was his team mate.

          2. Unless F1 becomes a spec series or another team builds a car to challenge Mercedes, DotW must surely be the sole preserve of Hamilton and Rosberg under those criteria. Can’t you see how ridiculous that would be?

          3. You do get that DotW isn’t just where you click the name of the race winner don’t you?

        2. Nico faster in practice? First, who cares. Second, Lewis had ride height issues (that the team fixed overnight), so hardly his mistake.

    2. I’m shocked that a lot of people can’t agree with your opinion and voted for Hamilton.

      Shame on them…

      1. ColdFly F1 (@)
        14th July 2015, 17:11

        Maybe we need a poll if people agree with the outcome of the poll ;)

        1. Ehehej…

          Hear, hear @keithcollantine

      2. @becken-lima Or maybe people have their own mind and their own opinion and voted with that in mind. Just a thought.

    3. I want what you are on

  2. Odd that Hamilton won this. He wasn’t on good form in practice sessions and he did amateurish mistake when trying to overtake Massa after safety car period, letting Bottas go through.

    1. And he only pitted because he had nothing to lose – Rosberg was reeling him in hand-over-fist and would have overtaken him before the next lap anyway.
      I’m really disappointed that Hamilton got this one. Given the dubious logic such as that displayed byTiomkin above, perhaps the vote should be for “Driver in the fastest car who did best in Q3” – but then Vettel would have won most votes for 4 1/2 years. Why didn’t that happen?

      1. Maybe he has the kind of fans who vote for him again and again. You know the kind who votes for their favorite TV actors or couples in polls repeatedly, to the point of making everyone in the fandom hate their “ship”.

        1. You can only vote once.

          1. @woodyd91 – But anyone can create multiple profiles and then vote more than once (not claiming HAM fans are doing it, just saying)

          2. @huhhii I very very much doubt that people Hamilton fans or otherwise are actually creating multiple account on the website just so they vote multiple times for a driver of the weekend poll.

            This isn’t the music awards with Justin Bieber up for an award.

      2. I am not pushing my logic on anyone. You can vote for whoever you like. But seeing as he won (Hamilton) most people must like rewarding success. No other diver in my opinion deserved it more this week. Just telling it as it is. I don’t vote but if I did Bernie would have it.

    2. @huhhii – Amateurish mistake? He glued himself perfectly (tell me the last time you saw any driver successfully do this) to the rear of Massa for the safety car restart with full intent.

      Lewis attacked from the get go, surely exactly what every F1 fan wanted to see. He dramatically out-braked himself losing downforce and locking up, switching to the outside line after Massa rightfully took the defensive line. It’s the kind of thing we expect from Lewis Hamilton and he delivered. Successful or not it’s called racing!

      This is what everyone wants to see in F1 and you are dismissing it as an amateurish mistake…

      1. Lewis doing whatever he does doesn’t make him DOTW automatically. If he was successful with his move on Massa, then it would be understandable.
        It’s not like other drivers were just cruising around the midfield either. Kvyat on Vettel, Vettel on Perez did make the successful kind of moves. And their race wasn’t any more lackluster than Hamilton’s either.

      2. @psynrg
        Yes I agree, he made a mistake, but not an ‘amateurish’ one, unless being professional means never taking any risks.

      3. Hamilton is the only driver I’ve ever seen who gets extravagant praise for making mistakes. “It shows his racer-like aggression and commitment to winning!” If other drivers spin/run off track and lose places/collide with another car etc it’s considered a sign of lack of ability. With Hamilton not only are these things not considered minuses, they are treated as pluses.

        1. Just imagine if that was Vettel…

  3. Suprised Lewis was voted DOTW. Thought Hulk and Kvyat were both better.

    1. Agreed. I think even Vettel & Massa was better.

    2. agreed Bro Both are better.

  4. I’d never thought he’d won the DOTW for this race, but it’s absolutely ridiculous that he won it with such a percentage. He was hardly spectacular in any part of the weekend.

    1. Except for pole position, and Oh, the last pit call and Maybe the Race win…Except for that Nothing.

      1. but he made a shocking start and throughout practice was off the pace to Nico, practice is a part of the race weekend, and to be DOTW you should be better than your teammate throughout the weekend at least. Plus in the race he made multiple errors that other drivers didn’t

        1. What was the point of Nico being ahead in practice only to not get pole?
          Hamilton was better all week when it mattered. Nico only had a good spell of 3 – 5 laps during the race.

          1. I fail to understand why people see practice sessions as some of performance indicator. Are they actually aware of the reason for practice sessions? It is to find the ideal set up the car for qualifying and race. Therefore, it is irrelevant how well a driver goes in practice – for it makes no difference if he is beaten in qualification or the race on pure pace. I mean, of what value is your practice pace, if you were beaten by your teammate to pole and a race win?

            Moreover, Mercedes have confirmed Lewis practice issues were due to a ride height problem found on his car. The fact that he overcame this issue, got pole and won the race, through no fluke, speaks volumes of his expertise.

          2. @kbdavies Surely a driver hitting the wall four times in FP does not deserve DOTW

          3. Ryan (@ryanisjones)
            15th July 2015, 10:07

            @PorscheF1 Isn’t FP about finding the limit of the car? Wouldn’t hitting the wall go hand-in-hand with finding the limits?

        2. Hamilton shouldn’t be dotw in my opinion, but the comments he gets on here are amusing. I mean, the guy makes mistakes and then corrects that by changing his setup at the last minute and then gets pole. Seems like a pretty good job to me.

          Then multiple errors in the race? I remember two, but also all the good things he did in the race to win it.

          Personally, I think kvyat should have got this one anyway, but its always funny to see the comments against Hamilton.

          1. @john-h – Loooool! If it was that easy, then EVERYONE else should be on pole inc Rosberg, his teammate who has only beaten him to pole this year. It is comments like these that are extremely amusing!

          2. Apologies, @john-h. I did not read your comment properly. Please forgive me.

          3. No probs @kbdavies, you are forgiven :)

  5. 44 must really hold something special for Lewis. 44.44% of the votes this time.

    1. won the lap from 44 on, changed tires on lap 44 (past the start/finish line) and the sun came out right on the last lap. Someone was smiling on Lewis that day.

      As for Nico catching Lewis on the off tires, I think that really shows how much people really understand tires, how crucial it is to have them at the right temperature and how specific race tires are. If Nico had not had to race Bottas and Massa after the safety car, chances are he would have been suffering grip issues too.

  6. Would we have given Vettel a DoTW during his RBR domination days?

    1. I think the question should begin “did we…” and the answer would begin “sometimes…”:

      https://www.racefans.net/category/regular-features/driver-of-the-weekend/page/8/

      1. I feel it was more like “rarely”. Is there an easier way to look for DOTWs for past years? Were they ever listed collectively? @keithcollantine

        1. I think there are still a pretty big amount of people who think Vettel should not be champion, is average and owes everything to the car where as Hamilton is the top of the bill whatever car.

  7. Are the people calling for Kvyat as DOTW aware of his amateurish spin through Stowe that cost him a potential 3rd/4th place?

    1. It wasn’t on TV, so it never happened…

    2. I think everyone heard it by now. If spinning with you slicks in downpour is the only mistake you made all weekend and other drivers were not any more deserving and faultless than you were, you can overlook.
      I guess only Hulk had a better weekend.

      1. I think it’s pretty hard to overlook a driver spinning his way out of a potential podium position in any situation.

        1. Well it’s your opinion of course. Others may think differently though.
          Btw, it is quite normal that he had an “amateurish” spin, as this is his second year in Formula 1. I think people are forgetting this.

          1. Disagree entirely that it’s “normal”, and I have two compelling reasons: Silverstone 08 & Monza 08.

          2. True. But, Vettel and Hamilton both had their amateur hours… Japan’07: Hamilton leads the race while Vettel is 3rd, both of them are having a good race, then during safety car period Vettel crashes into the back of Webber lol. Vettel gets penalty, then it turns out Hamilton was decelerating-accelarating in a weird way and Vettel couldn’t anticipate his moves. Hamilton got the penalty instead of Vettel in the end. But today the probability of something like that happening is negligible. Both would be mindful of the situation. Nevertheless, I thought they both had a good race that day. Even though one got a penalty, the other got DNF. It was their first season, Vettel’s fifth race or something? If that wasn’t as serious as a DNF and a penalty, I would pick one of the two for DOTW, even if they made mistakes. Kvyat’s been probably more tame compared to those two, at least up until now.

          3. I suppose so, pal.

            Another example is Hulkenberg winning DOTW for Brazil ’12 despite spinning and getting himself a penalty.

  8. Did he seriously get 44.44% Keith? I find that really really difficult to believe, I’m not a mathematician but the odds of that have to be very low.
    It reminds me of qualifying at Jerez in ’97, even today I think there was a glitch somewhere hehe

    1. 1.21.072 Villeneuve-Schumacher-Frentzen
      LOL That incident was much more striking and unbelievable imo.

    2. ColdFly F1 (@)
      14th July 2015, 17:25

      Yes it looks like 44% – probably 260/585 votes (link) @mantresx

      It’s really a huge coincidence, but I’d be really surprised when Vettel (#5) wins DOTW with 5.5% of the vote!

      1. @coldfly

        probably 260/585 votes

        Exactly!

      2. “…but I’d be really surprised when Vettel (#5) wins DOTW with 5.5% of the vote!”

        LOL!
        I think you would need at least 18 other drivers to be voted max ~5.4
        Who didn’t get any vote then?

    3. @mantresx

      Did he seriously get 44.44% Keith?

      Of course.

      I’m sure you don’t mean any offence but please appreciate if it weren’t the case then I’d be lying to you, and I hope you don’t actually think I would do that.

      1. @keithcollantine oh no! sorry it was more of an expression at the strange coincidence, been here long enough to know you wouldn’t lie. That what happens when english isn’t your native language and you post without double checking :->

  9. Notice the comment counter also on 44? Not anymore, purely posting this to tick the comment counter from 44 to 45.

    1. I noticed it and then refreshed before posting and it went to 46. I’m sad now :-/

  10. He deserves it.

  11. You can really only get DOTW is you come from behind and/or have some fluke strategy call. Making a late stop for fresh supersofts overtaking a lot of cars is also a good way to get votes.

    It rarely has anything to do with actual driver skills.

    1. Maybe people voting think it wasn’t a fluke strategy call. Isn’t that even remotely possible?

  12. Not to take anything away from his great victory but this was not Hamilton’s cleanest weekend by far and surely there were other drivers who equally deserved the win like Vettel, Hulkenberg or even Kvyat (despite that spin that nobody seems to have seen)

    Then again the fans have spoken.

    1. Vettel should not be considered, especially as he got outqualified by Kimi. He had a pedestrian race only to reel the Williams in due to the rain.

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