Vote for your 2016 German Grand Prix Driver of the Weekend

2016 German Grand Prix

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

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

Driver performance summary

DriverStartedGap to team mate (Q)Laps leading team matePittedFinishedGap to team mate (R)
Lewis Hamilton2nd+0.107s67/6731st-15.845s
Nico Rosberg1st-0.107s0/6734th+15.845s
Sebastian Vettel6th+0.173s62/6735th-4.453s
Kimi Raikkonen5th-0.173s5/6736th+4.453s
Felipe Massa10th+0.085s0/362
Valtteri Bottas7th-0.085s36/3629th
Daniel Ricciardo3rd-0.108s36/6732nd-6.417s
Daniil Kvyat18th+0.559s0/66315th+2.498s
Nico Hulkenberg8th-0.027s66/6637thNot on same lap
Sergio Perez9th+0.027s0/66310thNot on same lap
Kevin Magnussen16th+0.08s65/65216thNot on same lap
Jolyon Palmer14th-0.08s0/65319thNot on same lap
Max Verstappen4th+0.108s31/6733rd+6.417s
Carlos Sainz Jnr15th-0.559s66/66314th-2.498s
Marcus Ericsson22nd+0.115s49/57218th
Felipe Nasr21st-0.115s8/573
Fernando Alonso13th+0.132s4/66312th+17.435s
Jenson Button12th-0.132s62/6638th-17.435s
Pascal Wehrlein17th-0.26s64/65317th-48.589s
Rio Haryanto19th+0.26s1/65320th+48.589s
Romain Grosjean20th+0.203s27/66213th+7.83s
Esteban Gutierrez11th-0.203s39/66211th-7.83s

    Vote for your driver of the weekend

    Which driver do you think did the best job throughout the race weekend?

    Who got the most out of their car in qualifying and the race? Who put their team mate in the shade?

    Cast your vote below and explain why you chose the driver you picked in the comments.

    Who was the best driver of the 2016 German Grand Prix weekend?

    • Esteban Gutierrez (1%)
    • Romain Grosjean (0%)
    • Rio Haryanto (1%)
    • Pascal Wehrlein (0%)
    • Jenson Button (21%)
    • Fernando Alonso (1%)
    • Felipe Nasr (0%)
    • Marcus Ericsson (1%)
    • Carlos Sainz Jnr (0%)
    • Daniil Kvyat (0%)
    • Jolyon Palmer (0%)
    • Kevin Magnussen (0%)
    • Sergio Perez (0%)
    • Nico Hulkenberg (5%)
    • Max Verstappen (4%)
    • Daniel Ricciardo (45%)
    • Valtteri Bottas (0%)
    • Felipe Massa (0%)
    • Kimi Raikkonen (0%)
    • Sebastian Vettel (0%)
    • Nico Rosberg (1%)
    • Lewis Hamilton (19%)

    Total Voters: 477

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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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    81 comments on “Vote for your 2016 German Grand Prix Driver of the Weekend”

    1. Adam (@rocketpanda)
      31st July 2016, 17:11

      Daniel Ricciardo. Good qualifying, good race – couldn’t have asked for more.

      Special mention to Button and Magnussen who I felt did well with the car they’ve got.

      1. I agree, Ham did a good job too. I voted for Rosberg though. I don’t like him but I wouldn’t discriminate on any person. It’s one of the worst feelings there is in the world. Discrimination destroys lives.

        1. You voted for Rosberg ?! Was it his amazing start or professional overtake you were most impressed with ?

          1. Oh!! You voted for Rosberg because you felt sorry for him.

        2. Rosberg discriminated on Max. Drove him right off.

        3. Although I don’t agree with Rosberg being driver of the weekend, I can see fair reasoning. A lot of people are instant to jump to negative conclusions, such as Ben and bdah3056.

          I think by discrimination, while the use of the word might not be entirely correct, it is important to remember that a lot of people do have it in for Rosberg at the moment, and that we should recognise his good bits.

          Rosberg drove to pole position and was competitive and fast all race. However he did fail to win, so there are valid points on both sides. Of course Hamilton drove well throughout the whole race, but it was not particularly spectacular in any way. He lost pole of his own mistake and was lucked a win into turn one. In my view neither are worthy of driver of the weekend.

          Button’s charge was the best performance in my opinion. I voted for Button, hopefully there’s more of that to come higher up the field in races to come.

          1. I went for Button too, that was a strong drive!

          2. “Rosberg drove to pole position and was competitive and fast all race”.

            I have to say I think Rosberg’s race pace was the most disappointing part of his weekend.

            Before his penalty was given, he was told by the team that he needed mid 1:19’s to resist Ricciardo, and for the next few laps he could barely break 1:21’s.
            Then after he came out behind the two Red Bull’s, he had nothing. He spent 20 laps behind them in the final stint and the closest he could get to Verstappen was four seconds – that means it had nothing to do with dirty air. He just simply wasn’t quick enough.

            I feel like his clumsy overtake has rather taken the attention away from his generally poor race pace.

    2. Chosen Hulkenberg. Strong drive to beat his teammate in qualifying and the race. Notable mentions to Ricciardo, Button and Lewis

    3. Between Daniel Ricciardo, Valtteri Bottas and Nico Hulkenberg for me.

      Ultimately went for Hulkenberg as he was in need of a result on a Sunday and absolutely delivered.

      1. Magnussen had a good race and Button certainly had the edge on Alonso. Also worth mentioning.

    4. Daniel Ricciardo for me. Didn’t put a foot wrong and beat his teammate and a Mercedes!

      1. Honourable mentions to Button, Hamilton and Hulkenberg for very good drives also.

    5. Ricciardo for me.

      Beat his teammate in qualifying despite not being happy with the balance of his Red Bull, and put in a couple of stonking stints during the race.

      A well deserved and hard earned 2nd, delivering a psychological blow to Max Verstappen (who looked like a beaten man after the race) in the process.

      1. Verstappen not happy with teamorders. If Verstappen was on the same strategy as Ricci…he would have been 2nd easily.

        This has the name Horner all over it

        1. Actually, Verstappen was on the ‘better’ strategy as he was on the slower tyre for less laps.

        2. “Verstappen not happy with team orders”. Where did you read or hear that? No-one has come out and said he was asked to move over. Yes, he moved over, but from what I have seen, no-one including Verstappen himself is saying that he was asked to move over by the team.
          Verstappen moved over because it was the only sensible option at the time. When Daniel was on softs and him on super softs (1 sec advantage), he couldn’t open a gap to Ricciardo. When the situation was reversed, Ricciardo was going 1.5 seconds faster. When Max let him pass, Daniel had already almost past him anyway. Better to cede defeat than to be beaten fair and square. It was very smart from Max as in the future he might be able to use it for leverage.

          Max moving over was Max saving face, not a team decision. Dan was miles faster in this race. In fact if Max hadn’t held Daniel up in the second stint, maybe Daniel could have placed more pressure on Hamilton for the win.

          1. He has actually said that, on Dutch TV, that he was asked to move over, but he said he did so gladly, because of differing strategies and team priorities.

          2. Very odd that when Ricciardo was interviewed on Channel 4 after the race he didn’t even mention that Verstappen had let him pass. Previously thought he was a decent guy! Verstappen was not even interviewed ( did not want to be interviewed?). No mention of all this by “commentators” either!
            (Of course may have been different on Sky coverage).
            Will you be surprised when you see Verstappen moving to Ferrari?

      2. I didn’t think that Verstappen looked beaten. He let his teammate on a different strategy through. Ricciardo got the better strategy for once and there wasn’t much he could do about it. I mean, he could have fought tooth and nail for second and let Rosberg beat both of them so went with the correct overall strategy of letting Ricciardo through without losing time and stayed ahead of Rosberg. That was some quality sensible team driving in my opinion.

        1. Yes picking up a double podium to rub in Ferrari faces before the summer break :)

      3. You may have missed the fact the race was completely controled by the team, not the drivers.
        Horner well explained the strategy for the RBR drivers, Verstappen was put on SS the second stint to cover Rosberg knowing this would compromise his 2nd place. Letting Ricciardo pass was a team call and RBR ordered the drivers to finish in this order.

        Ricciardo did not beat Verstappen, but was favoured cause he is on P3 in the championship while Verstappen is on sixth.
        Ricciardo, a well earned third place, but don’t get carried away, it was a team efford to make it happen.

        1. You mean Ricciardo a well earned Second place and a good third for Max?

        2. Duncan Idaho (@)
          31st July 2016, 22:33

          Agreed the strategies were split to cover the Mercedes but to suggest that at the time of the first pitstops it was any kind of favouritism is revisionism at its finest.
          Lets try this: Max just couldn’t manage his tyres – he wasn’t fast on the softs and chewed up the supersofts forcing his team to manage his race around his relative weakness.

          1. “Max just could not manage his”…all were struggling. Max was on Super Soft with heavier fuel load. Ricciardo had the supersoft with lighter fuel load. Again, had Verstappen had the same strategy as Ricciardo he would have been 2nd. Also, Max lost lots if time with the Rosberg incident.

    6. spafrancorchamps
      31st July 2016, 17:28

      Jenson Button for me. But I am sure most votes will go to Hamilton or Ricciardo.. as podium candidates always seem to get chosen.

    7. Was between Ricciardo and Hulkenberg. Chose Ricciardo. Both have maximized their respective packages both in qualy and race with Ricciardo winning the tie-braker by destroying his team-mate, my least favorite driver on the grid, a certain dirty spoiled kid who gets babysit-ted by the stewards

      Another driver who shone in this race was JB. Can’t think of anyone else especially worth mentioning

      1. That’s quite harsh on Verstappen, but I will admit that I’m very surprised that he hasn’t received a penalty for his sometimes overaggressive defending. When he gets into a position to fight for the championship, I predict that he will cause a lot of crashes.

        1. @ultimateuzair Indeed. The stewards instead of teaching him a lesson are babysitting him. So it’s not a surprise, that afterwards MV has guts to stupidly compare it to Austria, which was nowhere near the same. He knows he’s an invincible wonder boy he can do and say whatever he likes with impunity. And when those crashes do come, he’s lucky there’s no Senna or Piquet around. They would’ve kicked three colors of **** out of him, and not in the Coulthardy, just show and no go, kind of way, but for real

      2. That’s harsh on Verstappen I don’t think he has done anything wrong. The FIA has this grey area regarding driver standards, it is RB’s leverage that you have to blame for Verstappen’s favouritism. For instances many of his great moves were like this great move from Nico, but when you do that on an RBR they give you a 5 sec penalty.

        1. And when you do the exact same thing on your team mate they give you a 10 second penalty. Seriously poor driving from Nico I hope he learns you have to actually turn into a corner when overtaking.

          1. Nowhere near exact same thing

        2. @peartree Well you see, that’s where we differ. I think he has done a lot wrong. He’s using a lot of dirty tactics in battle. That’s not what I like to see. And Nico’s overtake was a lot like MV’s overtake in China last year. I have zero problems with that. What I do have problems with is MV moving all the time in the braking zones while defending position. I’m not against defensive driving in F1, it’s an art in itself. But not the way Max’s doing it. He’s basically saying: Don’t overtake me or we crash

          1. I dont think people care that much about what you like to see…they only care about real racing

            1. @indiana If that’s real racing in your opinion then you have no clue what real racing is

    8. Why does Ericsson have 10 percent! This is the best driver of the weekend not the worst

      1. He had a perfect start but got squeezed out at the first corner and then he ran a flawless race. Properly beating his teammate amongst other things.

        Hardly the worst driver of the week.

      2. @lolzerbob Because it’s a vote. You disagree? You make an alternative vote. Why on earth people question each others votes, it’s not like it has any impact on how you will vote.

    9. Dan and Ham would have earned it today. With Ham you never know how much really is the car.. So in doubt I give it to Dan today.

      1. My choice is with the caveat that I didn’t pay enough attention to Ericsson and Hulk. However I at least noticed that JB was really good today!

    10. Ricciardo

    11. I voted Haryanto, for having an unnoticed farewell.

      1. Haryanto has done a much better job than what his cv would suggest, or rather Pascal is not special at all. Pascal is the more confident driver but most of what is perceived a big gap between both drivers is Pascal’s higher aggression, at race starts and traffic and blue flags, as on pace and consistency they are the same.

        1. @peartree Uhh what? Pascal mostly managed to have a Sauber or Renault between him and Haryanto at the end of the race, not to mention several time threatened and actually got into Q2, which Haryanto never did. In this race alone their fastest lap has over 1s difference, which is pretty big no matter how you look at it. Haryanto might be better than Chilton and Pascal might not as good as his hype, but saying they have same pace and consistency is a bad joke.

    12. Voted for Hulkenberg. Didn’t put a foot wrong all weekend. Riccardo and Button were great too :)

    13. I gave it to Lewis. He drove superb. I guess RB must be ok with their engine since they stopped complaining about it.

    14. Daniel Ric. For taking the fight to Mercedes, and winning best of the rest trophy.

      1. To be honest Lewis Hamiltin did a perfect job. But I cannot vote for a man who spent his race managing the gap and saving engine and tires…

        1. Do you think Ricciardo did any different?

          If you see the long run pace, Ricciardo was just as fast as Rosberg already. So it was “the car” for Ricciardo as much as it was for Hamilton.

          Although apparently Hamilton did have his car better set up for the race (instead of a 100% quali focus) and he was able to go a lot faster when he needed too while Rosberg never seemed to have any extra pace at all apart from Q3.

    15. I think RIC is DOTW. Did the job in qualy and the race, those series of laps on the supersoft tyres in the 2nd stint were mesmerising. Rosberg had to pit otherwise he was a sitting duck. To finish 6s behind a Merc (engine turned down or not) is an achievement. Also with Verstappen “outscoring” RIC since his arrival I think this was a much needed result on a Sunday. Oh and drinking out of his shoe deserves a notable mention as well. Hon mentions to Lewis for extending his championship lead vs the homeboy Rosberg, Button and Bottas as well.

    16. Obviously Hamilton, who will probably never win this poll unless he laps all the other drivers.
      What a champion.

      1. I get your point and it is a fair point, but in the end it’s been like this for all f1 dictators, noticeably Vettel in the past.

      2. He did lose to his teammate in qualifying. Without that, I’d vote for him, but now I think Ricciardo is more deserving.

      3. Yeah, I have to agree, plenty of good drives, but I had to throw it to HAM because he can’t win these polls yet his performances have been pretty solid. Not really sure what is going on at Ferrari, seems like someone is micromanaging and confidence is low.

      4. @rantingmrp

        Hamilton, who will probably never win this poll

        You mean Hamilton who’s won this poll more times than any other driver?

        https://www.racefans.net/2016/01/08/your-top-ten-drivers-of-the-last-five-years-revealed/

    17. In the end going with Ricciardo who shows consistent pace all weekend. Another contender is Hamilton and Button. Nothing really stands out again this weekend, but Button, Magnussen, and Grosjean shown some brilliance in the race.

    18. I don’t really get why Hamilton has 25% of the votes. I mean, he got outqualified by his teammate, then basically ran a unchallenged race to first as his teammate fell behind early on. Sure, he drove a great race, but like I said, he was unchallenged. I like how when Rosberg was unchallenged in the first 4 races of the year, he was only once in the top 3.

      1. Hamilton should have won this vote for a couple of races now. He now often drives with a serenity that reminds of past greats like Jim Clark.

    19. In a weekend with few standout performances, I went with Jenson.

    20. Hamilton for me. I don’t normally give it to merc drivers but he bossed it today. Only fault of the whole weekend was one lock up in quali

    21. RIC for me. He beat Max Saturday and Sunday And he beat ROS as well. Sure he got the better strategy this time but he made the ss work great in his 3rd stint

    22. Jenson Button, Great driving on a great strategy, plenty of overtakes, and was better than his teammate. Plus he gained the most places this race, to earn valuable points that helped reduce the gap to Toro Rosso in the standings.

    23. I just nominate name “felipe” they did the best unlikely thing: Both Felipes DNFed :) if your name is felipe you have the littlest chance in a german race?

    24. Sainz has been impressing me weekend in weekend out. Again today he did so with the machinery he has at his disposal (remember, a year old Ferrari engine) after outqualifying his teammate by more than half a second. He raced Massa hard and did not run into his rear when he drove very slow through the hairpin, eventually overtook him like he’s been driving these cars for years. The pointsgap between him and Kvyat has steadily increased and though it did not today he again finished ahead in what was arguably the best position the STR could manage on a track where aero plays little part. If not Sainz, surely Ricciardo.

      1. Although I agree with in principal that Sainz has performed very well this year, Hockenheim was an exception, especially when compared with Kvyat. The difference between Sainz (12th) and Kvyat (14th) at the end of lap 2 was 2.358s. At the finish the difference between Sainz (14th) and Kvyat (15th) was 2.496s. Toro Rosso didn’t have a good weekend and both drivers did nothing special.

    25. Hamilton had a superb race, but he was outqualified on saturday.
      Ricciardo had a perfect week-end. So did Hulkenberg.
      Same for Button. Guttirez was in front of Grosjean in quali, in the race and made the two stopper work, he lacked some pace to grab some points though.

      In the end, I voted Button because he’s driving a Mclaren :)

    26. I went with Ricciardo, but I considered Hulkenberg and Button but what with Ricciardo beating his teammate, good stints, good qualifying and race, I felt he deserved it. Hulk was excellent all weekend, Button did well too. All needed good results this weekend and got them. Hamilton overcame his qualifying mistake with a solid start, had a great and needed result to give him a good bump in points the Drivers Championship, but I didn’t feel he needed to to as much as the race continued and his general pace stayed consistent, not to know what he did by any means, he worked to get the win, but I just didn’t feel it compared to what Ricciardo, Hulk and Button had to do and what they accomplished.

    27. Hamilton nailed the start again and drove a clinical race, but his Q3 run was poor. Ricciardo qualified well, obviously got a good result, but did lose position to Verstappen so I can’t help but feel strategy saved his result. Button out qualified Alonso and made up more positions than any other points scorer. It’s easy to miss how well he performed back in the mid pack but he had a genuinely impressive race so gets my nod.

    28. ColdFly F1 (@)
      1st August 2016, 8:41

      Ricciardo based on his usual strong quali, fastest lap and faultless Sunday execution.

      Other drivers I noticed: Hamilton great race to turn 1, and cruising in his Merc after that. His Saturday was less impressive. Rosberg had a great Friday and Saturday, but made some ‘expensive’ mistakes on Sunday: poor start cost him the win; forgetting to turn in cost him place 2 and 3.
      Verstappen had a solid race and a beautiful overtake on Ricciardo, and then had to ‘take one for the team’ to let a faster Ricciardo pass. I’m very impressed how RBR managed this race, and great to see how RIC/VES enjoyed the double podium.
      The other noticeable pair of drivers was Button and Alonso. Solid drives by both. Good overtaking by Alonso until he ran out of fuel, and a solid points haul for Button.
      I noticed Magnussen a few times in the early stint, but not sure where he went after that.

      1. Magnussen suffered from a bad strategy call and was left for far too long on very worn tyres. He dropped down the order for that reason.

    29. I almost never vote for him, but this weekend I had to go for Hamilton despite him not qualifying on pole. Hamilton is in such a strong place right now, impeccable driving and in full and total control of the race. Hamilton is my DOTW. Honorable mentions to Ricciardo, Button, Hulkenberg, Wehrlein, and Ericsson.

    30. ILuvSoundtracks (@)
      1st August 2016, 9:07

      Ricciardo without a doubt.

    31. Would have been Dani Ric, but the caveat is he won a place due to team orders, not by actually overtaking his teammate, so my vote will go to the man who drove a perfect weekend, Nico Hulk.

    32. I voted for Hulkenberg. Among many good performances this weekend, I just felt his was a bit more special.

      – HAM drove very well on sunday, but was beaten on friday and saturday by ROS. His (HAM) interviews on saturday are testament to that
      – Both RIC and VES had a good weekend. Fighting with Mercedes on a track like this, that was not expected at the start of this season
      – McLaren is really catching up. BUT slightly better (again) this weekend. Working for his Williams seat next year?
      -WEH, ERI, SAI did as expected and beat their teammates and some others but nothing really special
      -KVY actually did quite well in the race compared to the rest of his weekend

    33. Daniel for me . Great qualifying and race.Must have felt like a race win for him today.A drink from the boot is usually for a win aka Dave Reynolds and Jack Miller.

    34. Going with HUL as he was clearly ahead of Perez this weekend and maximized his result by finishing best of the rest (beating Bottas in the race).

    35. Lewis Hamilton for me. He won another good race in his way for a new champioship. A good weekend also fro Ricciardo, Hulkemberg and Button (he destroy his teammate again).

    36. Hard not to give this one to Lewis Hamilton. Did a good (albeit not fantastic) job in qualifying, had a decent start and cruised to the end without any big mistake. Solid, but not brilliant.

    37. Hamilton, but it was a hard decision, because this race was very boring, there were not actions on it.

    38. It was another case of there not being a standout driver this weekend and I don’t think anyone had a perfect weekend.

      My choice for driver of the weekend was between Ricciardo and Button and in the end I decided to vote for Button.

      Button had a solid Saturday qualifying ahead of his teammate but was more impressive in the race gaining a few places to finish 8th.

      Ricciardo was best of rest behind the Mercedes in qualifying, he gained and lost a place at the start of the race to remain third, and then after he was let through by his teammate he seemed to have a quiet and straight forward race until the end to finish second.

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