Vote for your 2015 Singapore Grand Prix Driver of the Weekend

2015 Singapore Grand Prix

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

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

Singapore Grand Prix driver-by-driver

Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton – It seemed like business as usual for Mercedes in first practice, but when the serious business began and the track rubbered in they found themselves grappling with deep set-up problems. Hamilton described the problem as a sheer lack of grip, and it appeared to affect both drivers equally – Hamilton had his usual margin in hand over Rosberg in qualifying. A switch to soft tyres during the first Safety Car period could have set him up for an interesting run to the flag, but a power unit problem forced him out before then.

Nico Rosberg – When his engine died shortly before the start of the race Rosberg must have feared he was in for a repeat of last year. He was able to start the race but had to use a different procedure, despite which he maintained his place at the start. The Safety Cars falling as they did, he was never going to be able to get a jump on his team mate, but when Hamilton dropped out he inherited fourth place and regained some of the ground he lost at Monza.

Red Bull

Ricciardo set the fastest lap as he chased Vettel
Daniel Ricciardo – Revelled in having a competitive car for once, splitting the Ferraris in qualifying, and while his final Q3 run wasn’t perfect he wasn’t going to find the 0.543 seconds to Vettel. He was content to let the Ferrari pull away in the opening stages, then began chipping away at Vettel’s lead after lap seven. But how this fight would have been resolved will forever remain a mystery as the Safety Car kept Red Bull from realising their full potential.

Daniil Kvyat – Kept Ricciardo honest in practice and qualifying up until the crunch time. He nearly got past Raikkonen for third at the start, then had the misfortune to make both his pit stops moments before the two Safety Car periods. That left him sixth behind Bottas.

Williams

Felipe Massa – “Not a fantastic track for us”, admitted Massa. He only had one set of new tyres left for qualifying and made an error on his run, leaving him ninth. He pitted one lap in front of Hulkenberg in an attempt to stay in front of the Force India, but the pair tangled as Massa rejoined the track. A puncture from that spoiled his race, and a gearbox failure later ended it.

Valtteri Bottas – Declared himself satisfied with seventh on the grid and after a clean start he had a fairly uneventful run to fifth, besides having to nurse a gearbox problem in the closing stages.

Ferrari

Vettel won for the third time in 2015 – this time from pole
Sebastian Vettel – This looked like 2011 or late-2013 era Vettel: car fully underneath him, he blitzed pole position by over half a second with a second run which he later admitted wasn’t really necessary. The parallels continued into the start of the race, where he immediately drew three seconds clear at the start. That performance advantage was clearly only temporary, however, but the two Safety Cars afforded him protection and gave him the chance to control the pace of the race, sparing his tyres.

Kimi Raikkonen – Said he was pleased to qualify as high as third – over three-quarters of a second off his team mate – having failed to find the same way with his Ferrari that Vettel had. When Vettel was ran at his true pace in the race, Raikkonen’s deficit was exposed, which explains his “mixed feelings” over taking his second podium finish of 2015.

McLaren

Fernando Alonso – On Friday Alonso said eighth was a fair reflection of the team’s pace, but come Saturday he was no longer convinced they were quick enough for a place in the top ten, even if Q2 hadn’t been disrupted by a yellow flag. With cars in front hitting trouble points were definitely possible until his gearbox failed.

Jenson Button – Generally a few tenths off Alonso’s pace, he scraped into Q2 with his final run. Was kept busy with settings changes during the race as he followed Alonso into the top ten, but tangled with Maldonado and damaged his front wing. Soon afterwards he too was struck down with a gearbox problem.

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Force India

Nico Hulkenberg – Another driver who was still chasing his set-up as qualifying began, trying to dial out snap oversteer, he ended up missing the cut for the top ten. He may have tried a little too eager to claim a place from Massa at the pit exit, but it seemed harsh for the stewards to penalise him for what was little more than a racing incident in which he was the biggest loser.

Sergio Perez – Believed he could have made it into Q3 had it not been for the yellow flag caused by Sainz. He gained three places at the start, however, and profitted from the first Safety Car period to make up more places. He eventually finished seventh, holding off the fast-closing Toro Rossos in the closing stages.

Toro Rosso

Verstappen finished in the points after stalling at the start
Max Verstappen – As in Monaco, Verstappen looked instantly at home on a true street track that was new to him. Despite running very wide at the final corner he split the Williams drivers for eighth on the grid. He stalled at the start and lost a lap, but gained it back during the first Safety Car period. A switch to super-softs for the final stint allowed him to make a run into the points, and he resisted his team’s call for him to let Sainz through to have a go at Perez.

Carlos Sainz Jnr – Hit the wall during practice on Friday and again in qualifying, wrecking his chance of joining Verstappen in Q3. In the race he suffered a repeat of the gearbox problem which had delayed him in China, but he was able to follow his team mate to complete a double points score for Toro Rosso – their first since Malaysia.

Lotus

Romain Grosjean – Reached Q3 for the tenth time this year which he admitted was “something of a surprise” on a track which didn’t flatter the car. He got away poorly at the start, not helped by Verstappen stalling in front of him, and ran into trouble while trying to stretch his tyres out at the end of the race. After dropping out of the points the team tactically retired his car to save its gearbox for Japan, amid doubts over how many spare parts they have.

Pastor Maldonado – Like Raikkonen at Ferrari, Maldonado couldn’t find the grip his team mate had on the softest rubber, but with Lotus further down the pecking order the difference between the two meant Maldonado was out in Q3 while Grosjean reached the final round. Like Grosjean he struggled with his long stint on soft tyres, unlike Grosjean he found it necessary to risk collisions as faster cars came past him, with the usual result.

Sauber

Marcus Ericsson – Trying to validate a new aerodynamic update at a track like Singapore was always going to be a struggle for Sauber, and they expect it will bear fruit at later races. Ericsson was shaded by Nasr in qualifying, where both went out in Q1. His race was compromised when he neglected to reset his brake balance after a pit stop, leading to a substantial lock-up. He complained about being held up by his team mate early in the race but ended up behind Nasr at the flag, just outside the points.

Felipe Nasr – Didn’t expect to go out in Q1 but admitted he is still struggling to get the most out of the super-soft rubber. He made a conventional two-stop strategy work in the race to claim the final point.

Manor

Rossi saw the chequered flag on his F1 debut
Will Stevens – Described Singapore as “the most difficult of the season so far” after clipping the wall during his first day of running at the track. Despite experiencing a lot of tyre degradation in the race he brought the car home, albeit behind his new team mate.

Alexander Rossi – With the advantage of some prior track experience Rossi was reasonably close to his team mate’s pace on his first day in the car. But a crash at the end of first practice reduced his running in the second session, and it was no great surprise that he lined up last. He admitted he didn’t get away well at the start, but he got past Stevens at turn five and finished ahead of him. This was despite losing radio communications at one stage, which was why he failed to regain a lap during a Safety Car period.

Qualifying and race results summary

DriverStartedGap to team mate (Q)Laps leading team matePittedFinishedGap to team mate (R)
Lewis Hamilton5th-0.115s26/321
Nico Rosberg6th+0.115s6/3224th
Daniel Ricciardo2nd-0.317s61/6122nd-34.03s
Daniil Kvyat4th+0.317s0/6126th+34.03s
Felipe Massa9th+0.401s0/302
Valtteri Bottas7th-0.401s30/3025th
Sebastian Vettel1st-0.782s61/6121st-17.154s
Kimi Raikkonen3rd+0.782s0/6123rd+17.154s
Fernando Alonso12th-0.691s29/331
Jenson Button15th+0.691s4/333
Nico Hulkenberg11th-0.08s10/121
Sergio Perez13th+0.08s2/1227th
Max Verstappen8th-1.259s32/6128th-1.41s
Carlos Sainz Jnr14th+1.259s29/6139th+1.41s
Romain Grosjean10th-0.463s54/59213thNot on same lap
Pastor Maldonado18th+0.463s5/59312thNot on same lap
Marcus Ericsson17th+0.123s0/61311th+7.462s
Felipe Nasr16th-0.123s61/61210th-7.462s
Will Stevens19th-0.502s3/59215th+14.806s
Alexander Rossi20th+0.502s56/59214th-14.806s

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.

Vote for the best driver of the 2015 Singapore Grand Prix weekend

  • Alexander Rossi (4%)
  • Will Stevens (0%)
  • Felipe Nasr (0%)
  • Marcus Ericsson (0%)
  • Pastor Maldonado (0%)
  • Romain Grosjean (0%)
  • Carlos Sainz Jnr (0%)
  • Max Verstappen (27%)
  • Sergio Perez (1%)
  • Nico Hulkenberg (1%)
  • Jenson Button (1%)
  • Fernando Alonso (1%)
  • Kimi Raikkonen (1%)
  • Sebastian Vettel (57%)
  • Valtteri Bottas (0%)
  • Felipe Massa (0%)
  • Daniil Kvyat (0%)
  • Daniel Ricciardo (6%)
  • Nico Rosberg (0%)
  • Lewis Hamilton (1%)

Total Voters: 694

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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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124 comments on “Vote for your 2015 Singapore Grand Prix Driver of the Weekend”

  1. I voted for Jenson and, quite frankly, if the rumours are true and he’s off at the end of the year, I’ll vote for him every race weekend for the remainder of the season as long as he’s leaving the sport and drivers like Maldonado remain in it.

    However, I understand that I need to leave some sort of justification. So, my vote goes to Jenson. Another tough weekend but a super long stint gave him the chance of grabbing a few points in the woeful McLaren Honda before yet another failure. He’s also the now undisputed king of the one liners on team radio.

    1. This was probably Button’s worst weekend of the year. Beaten by Alonso by 0.7 secs in quali, and running way off his teammate’s pace. This is “Driver of the Weekend”, not “Driver-in-your-opinion-who-deserves-most-sympathetic-votes.”

      1. @mashiat is absolutely right, and on top of it, those points he was going to grab were Alonso’s before his car failed. This is ridiculous.

        1. But Jensons fastest lap was faster than Freds.

          1. @hohum Maybe because…HIS CAR LASTED LONGER

          2. @mashiat from memory they set their fastest laps on L24 and L27, I am less sure of my memory when I recall that Jenson set his lap earlier (24) than Fred (27) but the PUs demise does not appear to be the crucial factor, not that I care really, they’re both excellent drivers and I reckon Fred probably has the edge his record suggests.

          3. Peppermint-Lemon (@)
            22nd September 2015, 23:42

            Yup I saw that too, and think it’s significant that Jensons ultimate race pace bettered Alonso. He should not be finishing f1 this year.

        2. Lighten up chaps – try and see the funny side!

    2. While I understand your sentiment, I have to say that if your not going to vote for the driver that you feel was the best on a weekend, then don’t vote at all.
      Right now my favorite driver is Max, so if on some weekend I don’t feel that he performed well, then I just don’t vote. It’s as simple as that.

      1. @irejag, by not voting for the driver (not car and driver) you believe did the best job you are still rigging the vote in favor of your fav driver.

  2. I was torn between the brilliant Vettel and the brilliant Verstappen. In the end, I went for Verstappen because his form was more surprising. I expected Vettel to win when the Mercedes cars were out of the equation. He drove a clean race, great race.

    Verstappen drove a less than clean race but still a great one. Add to that the entertainment value of a car coming from over 2 minutes behind to finish well in the points. Great recovery, powerful drive with some insane qualifying style laps to catch the Manor cars and then just forcing his way through the Sauber and Lotus cars. Verstappen wins my vote.

    1. +eleventy million.

      I did not expect that!

    2. Verstappen actually performed not so well, he was very lucky with the safety cars which make it look that he drove a great recovery drive. Not so special in my opinion.

      1. @niedle The safety cars helped him massively of course, but he still came right from the back (after the safety car) to score good points.

        He performed incredibly well. To have not performed well would have been to just sit there at the back dawdling.

      2. I agree. Verstappen’s result was due to lucky breaks via the safety cars. His drive itself was good but nothing special.

        1. And more than a few cars falling out in front of him

    3. Makes me think that we should ask Keith if he could consider doing a first, second and third votes.

    4. It seems everyone is indeed going for Verstappen or Vettel.

      Personally, I voted Rossi. Significantly outperformed his comparatively experienced teammate in his debut race, for me that deserves DOTW. But Vettel and Verstappen also deserve it.

      1. Not to mention him spending the latter half of the race without any radio, that makes it even more impressive.

      2. Good point @strontium, Rossi did very well (apart from the 1 somewhat costly error on Friday).

        1. @bosyber to be honest I wouldn’t say his error was costly at all. Okay, it took time and money to repair the damage, and it meant he didn’t get to participate in FP2, but ultimately he didn’t lose out in terms of position both on the grid or in the race. Being his first time in an F1 car, practises are all about finding the limit.

          1. Plus he also went the second half of the race without a working radio.

          2. yes, I agree @strontium, it was mostly costing the team money, and him just a bit of embarrasment – hence ‘somewhat’ – I still agree that he made quite a showing with his 1st weekend in the car, easily beating his teammate. Manor is rightly very happy to have him in their car.

      3. Rossi has had experience of the track whereas Stevens hadn’t which I think makes a massive difference around this particular circuit, and was out qualified by Stevens. Good race performance though. Should have perhaps got the hint that he could overtake the safteycar to unlap himself when Ricciardo kept slowing down for him (did the pit board tel him?) and was not too good getting out of everyones way at the restart.

    5. yep, Ferrari and Seb fan here, but you gotta give it to the kid; he’s either crazy or brilliant.
      from 1 lap down to 8th on a street circuit!
      and those Kamui overtakings without the tears afterwards!

      besides, Seb did not need my vote this time to win … :)

    6. My sentiments exactly. Thank you for wording it so well.

    7. Peppermint-Lemon (@)
      22nd September 2015, 23:47

      I voted max in the end, although vettel was very impressive. I think max will end up being the best driver on the grid before long.

    8. For me there are three contenders, and they are all products of the Red Bull young driver programme. Verstappen, Ricciardo or my vote Vettel – for that stunning qualifying lap.

  3. ColdFly F1 - @coldfly (@)
    21st September 2015, 15:04

    Must start with VE…
    Vettel, especially for his stellar (2nd) pole lap, and how he accelerated when required during the race.
    Verstappen; he completed the race distance in the shortest time ;-)
    And I just loved how he recovered and made a few ‘Verstappen’ moves on other drivers.
    Sainz is also very impressive, not a lot slower than Verstappen!

    1. @coldfly, Just for fun I’m going to say “He had the best car !” for Singapore.

  4. Close call between Verstappen and Vettel. Perhaps Vettel was more impressive but we know he can control a race like this. Verstappen once again exceeded my (already high) expectations. Massively helped by the SC but still he gets my vote.

    Honourable mentions to Ricciardo, Perez and Rossi.

    1. Christian Horner said it best: “Congratulations to Sebastian, both he and Daniel were in a league of their own today.”

  5. Reasons to not give it to Verstappen;

    1) Failure at the start
    2) Only thanks to the SC did he finish anywhere else than in front of the two Manors
    3) Ignoring of team orders that potentially could’ve given the team more points.

    I really see no other choice than to go for Vettel who missed out on a Grand Slam by 0.028 seconds. He grabbed maybe the most dominant pole of the season controlled the race every single lap and never made it look like Ricciardo would have chance. If the Mercedes fail in whatever way you can bet all you have on Vettel as he is not only the man of the first half of the season but basically finishing third, second and first in the last three races easily the driver of the season. One can only hope he finds some little extra on his Suzuka.

    1. @xtwl All three of your points are invalid. The start was not his fault, SC was only part of his recovery drive, and it didn’t cost the team ANY points.

      1. I didn’t say the start was his fault but surely partly. Yes, the SC was part of it, only like 80% or so. Sainz possibly could’ve gotten past, hence I used the word ‘potentially’. In essence I never understand why a driver would not obey team orders be it Vettel or Verstappen or even my favourite Webber. In my head it seems normal you listen to your boss but then again I’m not fighting for any worldchampionship(points) in any category.

        1. Even the team says that their call was not correct. What more do you want bud.

          1. At the time I’m pretty sure they didn’t think it was not correct otherwise they would not have given it.

    2. A lot of things that happen in racing are fortune. Verstappen was fortunate that the safety car came when it did, but that shouldn’t detract from his seriously impressive driving skills which he yet again demonstrated. He was fortunate in the same way that Vettel was with Mercedes not being able to tell its elbow from it’s ass at the weekend.

  6. Vettel by a country mile. He was not only fast but planned the race brilliantly. In the first stint, he was aware of the threat from Ricciardo’s Red Bull with its better chassis and tyre saving setup. So he sprinted away and then held station, ready to adjust for whichever strategy RBR used. After the first Safety Car intervention and enforced tyre change, he used a different tactic to beep Ricciardo at bay, this time saving his tyres for a while before sprinting again. In the final stint he steadily pulled away from Ricciardo as the flag approached, clearly not pushing the limit on the supersoft tyres.

    Don’t forget that the leader is usually the miost disadvantaged with safety car stops because the gaps built up are lost. Vettel managed pretty well with both stops.

    1. Not sure how you consider the RBR the better chassis other than from a tire saving point of view, if anything Ferrari have as good as a chassis as RBR. Ultimate qualifying pace proved that with Seb pulling at 0.5 gap.

      The leader is also at an advantage because he can run in clean air and dictate the pace at the front on a circuit like Singapore. He was actually also at an advantage with the safety car because is snuffed out any chance that RBR had in undercutting him for the lead.

      So no, I would not say Seb by a country mile, def driver of the weekend but not a country mile. I would put both Seb and Ricciardo right up there.

      1. OK, but in reality I do not believe that Red Bull had any chance of undercutting Vettel. Apart from the fact that the undercutting ploy does not seem to work as well these days (perhaps because all have similar tyres albeit different strategies), IMO Ferarri and Vettel were pacing the first stint to allow for either move by Red Bull. The first SC came out in the 14th lap and most predictions were that the leaders would come in around the 16th lap if they were 2 stopping. Ricciardo was not close enough to take advantage.

        Also, attempting to undercut in a circuit like Marina Bay where it is difficult to overtake can easily have the opposite effect.

  7. Classic Vettel. The pole lap was incredible, and the race was controlled from start to finish.

    1. “The parallels continued into the start of the race, where he immediately drew three seconds clear at the start.”

      Especially when he just opened up a 2 seconds gap in 1 lap :D
      I still hear people complain about that from 2013. He must gave brought his 2 seconds to Ferrari.

      He lost the grand chelem by 2 hundreds of a second because of his fastest lap. That must have hurt him.

    2. That pole lap…. It was jaw dropping and horrifying. Ah. I will watch that one again and again for a long time. Great lap.

    3. Peppermint-Lemon (@)
      23rd September 2015, 0:00

      Yeah the pole lap was immense

  8. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZ5RTlLZCU4

    Vettel’s pole lap – Could you vote any other driver?
    One of the best laps I’ve ever seen in 20 years…

    1. Agreed.

      He was a whisker away from the grand chelem, one of the most obvious DOTWs of the year for me.

      1. absolutely 100% agreed

        1. Yep, Vettel would have won in a RB car also this weakend. That pole lap and also pulling 3sec on Ric in lap and then just controlling the race. Vettel is not only DOTW but also driver of the season so far.

          1. My opinion, too. Vettel against the all-mighty Mercedes.
            For this DOTW I can’t understand how ham as 2%…

    2. Vettel’s Singapore pole laps are fascinating to watch. There is no other pole lap I watch occasionally just for the hel of it. How close he is to the walls, it’s so intense, horrifying, brilliant and thrilling.

  9. ILuvSoundtracks (@)
    21st September 2015, 15:32

    Ricciardo, but I could have voted for Vettel for passing Senna’s win record. However I mostly supported Ricciardo last year so my vote goes to him.

    1. This is a vote not about who you support the most, but who exceeded your expectations the most, drove the best, most consistent, etc.

  10. Awesome race by Vettel, but my true hero for this race was definitely Verstappen!
    It’s just insane to see what this guy is capable of. His fighting spirit after his failed start, his mad overtaking skills (confident and clean), that’s what it’s all about!
    He was flying and consistently outperforming Sainz – who now probably realises he has been beaten in his own game! That team call was absolutely crazy.
    I’m confident Max IS a team player – however making a call like that is just an insult to his intelligence.
    So instead of a racer controlling and managing the 1st position from finish to start, I chose a racer who’s having an impact on so many levels it’s scary. In Singapore he once again confirmed he has a great future ahead of him!

    1. How was Sainz properly beaten this weekend? They basically finished next to each other after both having plenty of misfortune that cost them dearly.

      1. Sainz was down on qualifying and down in the race.How can you not call that properly beaten?Let’s be honest, being beaten by a teammate that was one and a half lap behind, can hardly be called a job well done. Even if you lost 10 seconds yourself in another strange Toro Rosso glitch.

      2. Ah.. PorscheF1. Have you really looked at the raceweekend? Just look at the lap times… Sainz was beaten in the practise sessions; in qualifying (big mistake loosing his car when and where it ws not needed) and overall during the race. It’s crystal clear. IF not please visit the stats section and some youtube videos. Sainz has talent but he has to up his game otherwise he willnot make it; which I will confess is a pity for F1; but in all honesty I see Max as having more potential and having more natural talent.

  11. I voted for Grosjean. Not saying Vettel and Verstappen didn’t have great weekends but hear me out. I do not believe Maldonado to be that bad. I actually think this fast driver is being upstaged by a faster regular driver. Grosjean had a great week end, despite the result. Q3 was nothing short of a miracle. He called it right on tyre strategy and probably should have been more assertive when his team decided elsewise. But until then I enjoyed his composed drive which looked likely to lead him to some descent points after an unlucky start. He has been a joy to watch this year and why Maldonado gets to announce his seat before him is just ludicrous.

  12. Vettel, of course! Also good job by Ricciardo and Perez.

  13. Seb Vettel. Simply for having the courage to go for the better time in Q3 even with a guaranteed P1 and smashing others comprehensively and for leading the race from start to finish.

    The first lap was a stunner as well, gaining 3 seconds and effectively killing off any chance that Ricciardo had when DRS was enabled. So was the sudden dip (2s) before the pit window.

    All race long, he was driving a controlled race and was at times a second faster than the second Ferrari. That is domination in any dictionary. If Ferrari can keep up this pace for the rest of the year and if Mercedes suffer any reliability problems, WDC is still game on.

    If ever a designer wanted motivation to build a better car for the driver, he must see his pole lap. Was astounded and I still am.

  14. Yeah, Vettel.
    He was in control from start to finish, and never came under pressure despite two safety cars. The first one may have helped his strategy a bit, but that’s a minor relativising factor. His qualifying was perfect, and, as in the race, the fact that his team mate was a very distant third, proves that it wasn’t just the fastest car that won (unlike Hungary).
    Flawless drive, can’t look past that.

  15. OmarRoncal - Go Seb!!! - @omarr-pepper (@)
    21st September 2015, 16:06

    I am a diehard

    1. OmarRoncal - Go Seb!!! - @omarr-pepper (@)
      21st September 2015, 16:11

      Hahaaha I pressed post instead of space…. well, as I was saying… a fan of Vettel since his 2008 campaign, when he proved what he was capable of. But seeing Max reminds me when you saw teen Seb and it was the same kind of awesome performance. Max gets my DOTW for making it to Q3, having to endure the glitch at the start, and why not, for defying a silly order from the team. Champion material.

  16. Vettel monstered this weekend. Yes Mercedes were way off pace but we haven’t heard of any problems for Raikkonen so we have to assume that gap was pure pace. In the race the car didn’t appear to have a huge margin over Red Bull given the complete lack of threat Raikkonen made but Vettel did what he does best and control the race from the front.

  17. Vettel. 0.782 of a seconds over his team mate in qualifying. What else is there to say. Unbelievable lap from him, and perfectly executed race. Kudos also to Verstappen, Ricciardo and Alonso.

    1. Apart from when it’s LH in a Merc doing the same to his team mate. Then of course it’s all moot and totally about the driver in this particular case…

  18. Unbelievable weekend from Vettel. He’s the king of Singapore. That pole lap alone deserves it.

  19. Bernd Maylander gets my vote. Again.

    1. I wanted to vote for Virtual Bernd Maylander. But I can’t, so Vettel it is.

  20. Usually think that going for the winner is too easy a choice. And my natural instinct would be to gravitate to the most important surge through the field, in this case (as per usual) Verstappen.
    But both Ricciardo and Vettel were near-perfect. So, Vettel it is.

  21. I voted for Vettel. But where is the “my choice” section, Keith?

  22. Can’t see past Vettel for this weekend. Honorable mentions to Ricciardo, Verstappen and Perez

  23. Very tough decision! Vettel, Ricciardo, Verstappen or Rossi? Vettel dominated, and even if we assume the Red Bull was inferior it only does harm to Raikkonen and not to Vettel. Twice his lead was deleted by the Safety Car but he mastered his pace and tyre deg in every situation. For Ricciardo the same, Kvyat was unlucky after the pits to fall behind and make a direct comparison extremely hard. Verstappen had a great qualifying; perhaps Sainz would’ve made it closer had he not been unlucky with his Q2 crash. Having stalled (by his own fault I believe) he recovered to eighth with crazy overtakes, but surely benefitted from the interruptions in the race and even though Sainz had problems later on in the race he caught his team mate. Rossi crashed in practice but that’s no surprise considering how his car handled. And despite that handicap, not knowing the car he stayed ahead of Stevens from start to finish. Awesome debut, he gets my vote.

  24. Despite Vettel’s stunning lights to flag victory – showing exactly why he is world champ 4X – has to be Max Verstappen – pitlane start to 8th on a difficult, endurance sapping, circuit he’d never driven on before knocks it out the park

  25. I think I’m the only one to vote for Rossi… His first ever weekend in F1, he crashed in his first session but was immediately on the pace and quicker than his team mate who has been driving the car for the whole year (who also crashed the car in free practice). Then in the race, he managed to get off the line safely by avoiding Max. Then his radio went, so for half the race he had no communication with the pit wall, which explains why he was caught in the pack on the restart, and even then he didn’t make a massive mistake and got off line quickly to let cars through. All this while driving that difficult Marussia and on the most physically demanding race of the year… Vettel had it easy.

  26. For me, the contenders are Ricciardo, Vettel, Verstappen and the two McLarens. All were sublime, but I can only vote for one of them. In the end, I had to go for Vettel. He was simply flawless in qualifying and the race. He brought vintage Vettel to Singapore, which is why he gets the vote.

    1. Seriously, why is Button even considered. He qualified seven tenths behind Alonso before running a normal race before he hit Maldonado. It was fifty-fifty for who was a tfault, but how could Button be DOTW.

  27. Some impressive performances this weekend, especially the Toro Rosso pairing and Rossi did well too considering it’s a complicated circuit. But Vettel was brilliant, so he gets my vote (for what it’s worth, i.e. very little).

  28. vettel for sure.. pole + win. beats his teammate again

  29. Althoug Vettel was super this weekend. He does have 7 years experience and a very good car and team. But Verstappen is only 17, race the toughest track for the first time and drove a fantastic race even when the universe almost collapsed when the lights went off.
    Sure he was helped by the Safetycar. But that’s a tactic he fully exploited given the odds.

  30. Vettel, only one fastest lap away from the Grand Chelem, in a car that isn’t dominant, at a grueling 2 hour long street race at night, with 2 safety car periods, a virtual safety car, and talk of his greatest rival tying a legends record, when he himself was going to surpass it in fewer races with a victory. No matter how well Verstappen drove, Vettel showed everyone how its done

  31. Sorry Keith, I didn’t even read your article and voted Sebastian Vettel. He drove a four-time world champion race and lapped the circuit like no one else in qualifying (Turn 22).

  32. Don’t understand at all why so many fell in love with verstappen. It was a good drive for sure but let’s be honest those 2 safety cars made it seem a lot better than it actually was. Being honest I respect Sainz a lot more for not being so rude. It’s one thing to stand your ground but just doing so because Dad told you to defeats the purpose of the action.

  33. My vote is for Perez
    Perez did a good job
    As in the last few races it has done

  34. Vettel for sure.

    At the start of Q3, Brundle said he doubted anyone could/would get into the 1’43s. Vettel did with a pole lap that was amazing.

    Then a brilliant drive from the front, not a foot wrong all race.

    A race winner who gets a Grand Chelem deservers DOTW. Vettel came oh so close, and then had the maturity to let it go to ensure victory.

  35. Surprised Max is even considered for DotW. Seem to remember Vettel being crucified for disobeying team orders and “being a racer.” Though I guess Vettel was a 17-year-old arrogant rookie and not a 3-WDC like Max, so it was a completely different thing–Oh wait.

  36. Honourable mentions to Sergio Pérez for avoiding contact with Hülkenberg at the beginning of the race. Visually, there was no way this wasn’t going to end in tears. Yet, somehow, Pérez managed an insane drift that saved both their races, and almost overtook Hülkenberg in the process.
    That was one of those moments, like Massa’s in Singapore 2012, where things start to go wrong, but magic happens instead.

  37. Since Vettel and Verstappen will get most votes i will continue my trend of voting for someone else than usual. This time I’ve picked Alexander Rossi.

    Singapore is a treacherous place to make your debut in, despite slight knowledge of the track from two years ago. Also Rossi only had one (correct me if i’m wrong) practice outing from last years version of the car that he was driving, so beating your team-mate in the race was a tremendous effort. Despite his admittedly poor qualifying and the crash in practice, I think Rossi had a great Debut and proved why he’s not just some pay driver that brought in more cash then Merhi. Definately deserves my Vote.

    But of course, there are some other drivers that deserve credit, that being Vettel, Ricciardo and Perez. Kvyat too, terrible luck for him with those safety cars.

  38. Vettel for me, but given he’s already winning, I just vote for Ricciardo for I think there was nothing between them this weekend driving-wise. They were incredibly closely matched here last year already.

    1. …And Ricciardo doesn’t have many votes af of right now.

  39. If it was any other weekend, I could have given this vote to Max Verstappen. He was good in qualifying and despite having to start dead last on raceday, he had an amazing race. Of course safety car helped him but as we say fortune favors the brave. Watching him drive is absolutely thrilling.

    But man what Vettel did this weekend, reminded me of his 2011 or late 2013 performance. His pole lap is definitely one of the best I have seen in the sport. His 3 second gap to Ricciardo on the first lap and then managing the gap was brilliant. Two safety car periods and both time he handled them perfectly. A very clever drive from him. My vote goes to him.

    Mentions to both RB drivers, Perez and Grosjean.

    1. Forgot about Rossi as well….First weekend and he was ahead of his team mate. Nice start to his career.

  40. Somebody voted for Hamilton. Looks like there are fans who have their heads buried so far up his proverbial that they cannot see anything outside.

    1. In fairness he out qualified his team mate, and was keeping pace with the leaders until his car failed. We will never know what would have happened if it hadn’t, but he’d already made it past a Red Bull, he was doing as well as the car would allow.

  41. “The parallels continued into the start of the race, where he immediately drew three seconds clear at the start.”

    Especially when he just opened up a 2 seconds gap in 1 lap :D
    I still hear people complain about that from 2013. He must gave brought his 2 seconds to Ferrari.

  42. Ultimately went with Vettel. Pole by a comfortable margin, race win by a less comfortable margin, but never allowed Ricciardo to attack. Daniel also had a very good weekend, as did Max Verstappen. If Alexander Rossi hadn’t crashed on Friday, he’d probably get my vote, but two cars crashing on a Friday is not something you want to have on your conscious at a team like Manor.

  43. In fine Vettel, the driver of the weekend. Seemed very cormfortable

  44. Vettel.

    It was a game of chess and Sebastian played it beautifully.

    Honorable mention to Max, Checo Perez and Ricciardo

  45. I chose Vettel. I don’t get the love for Verstappen this weekend though. He finished ahead of his teammate, but if there were not 2 safety cars, he would have ended up a lap down. This isn’t ANYTHING like the barnstorming drives we’ve seen before from the back of the field to a podium or near podium by drivers like Webber.

  46. I voted for Vettel. It was almost a Grand Chelem Race for him. Pretty much a straight pick. His Pole lap was a good one. He improved of the practice sessions and did a picture perfect race. Very Vettelesque !!!!

  47. I feel like Ricciardo is being massively undersold here. Probably just me, but he didn’t make a single mistake and imo put the redbull way ahead of where it should have been. Judging on the gap between him and kyvat.

    1. @spaceman1861 Ricciardo deserves a top 3 in this DOTW no doubt, but Kyvat lost a lot of time as he pitted just before the Virtual Safety Car. Otherwise Kyvat would have been close to Raikkonen and ahead of Rosberg.

  48. Either VES or VET. But went with VET.

    The 2nd stint was interesting. I thought he had lost pace or tyres has gone off fast.

    But suddenly, just one lap, he pulled a 2.8s gap from Ricciardo. That’s when I know he knew what he was doing and he knew how to control the race. Who the hell manages a 2.8s in one lap all of a sudden?

  49. My vote goes to Vettel and Max. Both did very well IMHO.
    The first lap gap was a deja vu effect of Vettel’s RBR days and he kept it on the lead like forever. Max was stunning honestly from the last position to where he finished, 8th.

  50. @keithcollantine …. We should have a

    Fantasy League

    .

  51. The Vet gets my vote.

  52. Max or Vettel or Ricardo, very hard to make a discussion on this. I went for the one with the overtakes during the race which is very important to me. Max for me!

  53. Based on performance Vettel or Verstappen

    Vettel drives a pretty decent car with a pretty decent engine, and the fact he is a multiple world champion with a good feeling for these kind of circuits…its no wonder he won the race

    However…Max Verstappen, a 17 year old boy, who drives his first season of F1 and second season of Formula racing in general, did not only had a very good Quali, but also made a very very good impression with his fighting spirit and abnormal skillset.

    I could name a few dozen drivers who would now have finished near the position Verstappen has, after his Anti Stal didnt work during the start of the race.
    Ffcourse Verstappen got lucky with the SC situation, but stats are saying that Singapore has a 100% SC situation during the years.

    Max worked his way up with some incredible overtake manouvres and within 31 rounds, he was in front of his own teammate again.
    The way he showed his composure during this race, its something beautifull to watch.
    In my eyes he is the revelation of the last 30 years, and believe me, I am a die-hard Senna fan.
    His talent is obvious, and everyone who says otherwise, is not seeing things very clear.

    From p8, to stalling his car, to being almost 2 laps behind, to be lucky with the SC…but to have the talent to overtake were others can’t, as a 17 year old rookie…..I will take my hat of to you Sir :)

    This Verstappen kid is a beautifull diamond, and we should take good care of such a good thing.

    Ive become a big fan of a Verstappen, something i didnt knew was possible since the days he dad drove for Tyrell and Arrows.

    My voice…and a big one, goes to the greatest talent of the last 30 years…Verstappen

    1. Just one more thing

      For a 17 year old boy, to say No to his team, refusing to let Sainz pass because Sainz thought he could overtake Perez….thats something only the great can afford to do. Schumacher and Senna would have never ever stould ground for his teammate.

      Max is making the hearts of millons of fans, tick faster…way to go son

  54. It has to be between Vettel and Ricciardo this time around. Both Verstappen and Sainz made errors during the weekend, but both of their recovery drives were exceptional. However, back to picking between Vettel and Ricciardo, I believe that whilst Ricciardo was unlucky with the timing of the two safety cars, Vettel simply had that special something this weekend which helped him win the race. Very controlled, near-perfect, smashed his team mate, it has to be Vettel for me.

    1. What error did Verstappen made again? The start at least was not Verstappens fault but confirmed a software failure.

      1. No errors.

        Both Toro Rossos had anti-stall software failures

  55. I am leaving this as a post rather than reply for next time a driver pulls off a top weekend and gets slated for it.

    My choice Saintz for not punting a certain brat off the track…

    1. You lot crack me up!

      SV (with a serious advantage at this track through whatever factors) gets a pole and a win and there are people clambering to give him driver of the weekend.

      LH pulls that off plus tops the lot on several occasions and it’s ‘he can’t possibly have DOTW because he had an advantage/poor team mate/no one to overtake/yellow hair/odd fashion choices/a fast car’

      Now SV drove a great race. He should, he had a huge advantage and was on pole. It was not easy but if your going to accord him with messiah status then please do the same for others!

      Plus work out who has been swearing and complaining the most about Pirelli and figure out what his response would be if questioned today?

      Then figure there is some manipulation going on here and you are falling for it.

      1. LH pulls that off plus tops the lot on several occasions and it’s ‘he can’t possibly have DOTW because he had an advantage/poor team mate/no one to overtake/yellow hair/odd fashion choices/a fast car’

        At Red Bull this was more or less exactly what people said with Vettel.

      2. I suppose that you started to visit this site in 2014 then, because Vettel is one of the race winners with less DOTW

  56. 1. Verstappen
    2. Vettel
    3. Perez
    4. Rossi
    5. Sainz

    1. Ricciardo shared with Vettel, forgot xD

  57. For me the driver I choose is the driver that entertained me most. So it’s Max . Christopher commented it well. I expected Vettel to win ( and he did it in an admirable way! ) but wat Max showed is exactly why I will be in front of the TV with my timing app for the next race.

  58. Guybrush Threepwood
    22nd September 2015, 22:29

    I was going to give it to Vettel but then when I thought about who got the most out of the car, given the Ferrari was clearly superior to the RBR and Ricciardo only finish 1.5 seconds behind Vettel, I think Ricciardo is most deserving. Especially considering the safety cars took away any supposed advantage RBR had on running long.

  59. I think Verstappen deserves it, he fought very hard for the better positions and showed some impressive overtakes.

  60. People want more overtaking in F1 – Max gave it to them. A stunning pole lap and the safety car deprived Seb of that opportunity.

  61. My driver of the weekend was Vettel.

    With the Mercedes team off the pace this weekend Vettel was in a league of his own at the front and put in a performance we came to expect in his Championship years at Red Bull.

    Second would be Verstappen who put in a great recovery drive after stalling at the start, he was helped by the safety cars to make up the lap he fell behind at the start, but it was still impressive.

    With regards to Verstappen refusing team order, on the BBC highlights race footage the only team radio played was of the team telling Verstappen to let Sainz by without giving a reason, so if that was all he knew it is perfectly understandable that he said no.

    In the post-race interviews Sainz said that the plan was to let him by to have a go at Perez as he had the fresher set of tyres of the two Toro Rosso drivers, and if he wasn’t successful then he would let Verstappen back through before the end, he added that this was something he has already done a few times this season when the roles were reversed.

    If Verstappen knew all of that his defence isn’t as strong. I haven’t read that many articles on who knew what so I would say the blame is primarily with the team for a failure to communicate properly.

    My third choice would be Ricciardo, given the pace of Vettel I doubt he could have achieved a better result even if there had been no safety cars.

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