Which Formula One driver made the most of the Monaco Grand Prix weekend?
It’s time to give your verdict on which driver did the best with the equipment at their disposal over the last five days.
Review how each driver got on below and vote for who impressed you the most at Monaco.
Driver performance summary
| Driver | Started | Finished | Race change | Lap 1 change | Highest position | Lowest position | Gap to team mate* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lewis Hamilton | 13 | 7 | +6 | +1 | 6 | 12 | 10.284 |
| Valtteri Bottas | 3 | 4 | -1 | 0 | 3 | 5 | -10.284 |
| Daniel Ricciardo | 5 | 3 | +2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | -2.454 |
| Max Verstappen | 4 | 5 | -1 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 2.454 |
| Sebastian Vettel | 2 | 1 | +1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -3.145 |
| Kimi Raikkonen | 1 | 2 | -1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3.145 |
| Sergio Perez | 7 | 13 | -6 | 0 | 7 | 16 | 15.364 |
| Esteban Ocon | 15 | 12 | +3 | 0 | 12 | 17 | -15.364 |
| Felipe Massa | 14 | 9 | +5 | 0 | 9 | 16 | Not on same lap |
| Lance Stroll | 17 | 15 | +2 | 0 | 14 | 17 | Not on same lap |
| Jenson Button | 20 | 0 | 19 | 20 | |||
| Stoffel Vandoorne | 12 | -1 | 7 | 13 | |||
| Carlos Sainz Jnr | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 9 | Not on same lap |
| Daniil Kvyat | 9 | 14 | -5 | -2 | 9 | 12 | Not on same lap |
| Romain Grosjean | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 9 | -3.293 |
| Kevin Magnussen | 11 | 10 | +1 | +2 | 8 | 13 | 3.293 |
| Nico Hulkenberg | 10 | 0 | 10 | 10 | |||
| Jolyon Palmer | 16 | 11 | +5 | 0 | 11 | 16 | |
| Marcus Ericsson | 19 | +1 | 16 | 18 | |||
| Pascal Wehrlein | 18 | -1 | 18 | 19 |
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 2017 Monaco Grand Prix weekend?
- No opinion (1%)
- Pascal Wehrlein (0%)
- Marcus Ericsson (0%)
- Jolyon Palmer (0%)
- Nico Hulkenberg (0%)
- Kevin Magnussen (0%)
- Romain Grosjean (0%)
- Daniil Kvyat (1%)
- Carlos Sainz Jnr (34%)
- Stoffel Vandoorne (0%)
- Jenson Button (2%)
- Lance Stroll (1%)
- Felipe Massa (0%)
- Esteban Ocon (0%)
- Sergio Perez (1%)
- Kimi Raikkonen (16%)
- Sebastian Vettel (29%)
- Max Verstappen (1%)
- Daniel Ricciardo (7%)
- Valtteri Bottas (2%)
- Lewis Hamilton (2%)
Total Voters: 491
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When this poll is closed the result will be displayed instead of the voting form.
2017 Monaco Grand Prix
- 2017 Monaco Grand Prix Predictions Championship results
- Sainz takes first Driver of the Weekend win
- 2017 Monaco Grand Prix team radio transcript
- Boring or unique? Monaco GP rating hits ten-year low
- 2017 Monaco Grand Prix Star Performers
Debates and polls
- Will Alonso win a world championship title with Aston Martin?
- How long should Red Bull give Ricciardo to prove he’s not lost his touch?
- Were stewards right to penalise Alonso over his driving before Russell’s crash?
- Are Williams right to bench Sargeant so Albon can race after crash?
- Is the FIA right to make ten seconds the new standard for penalties?
Andy (@andycz)
28th May 2017, 23:08
Heart goes to Kimi, but it has to be Sainz…
Excuse me :D (@square-route)
29th May 2017, 5:32
I would have voted for Alonso if given an option; and Sato.
Lee1
30th May 2017, 10:02
In one of the most boring races I have ever witnessed… I agree Sainz drove a great race.
Please can we now get rid of Monaco off the calendar… I am not sure I saw a single real overtake (even drs was useless!).
David-A (@david-a)
28th May 2017, 23:33
Carlos Sainz. Vettel didn’t get pole, Raikkonen wasn’t quick enough in the race. Ricciardo, Grosjean and Vettel and Raikkonen are honourable mentions, though the former was fortunate not to retire after slapping the wall on the restart.
Mioki (@okif1)
30th May 2017, 18:12
Totally agree. Sainz was the top driver beating comfortably his teammate in both , qualy and race. No one else did that finishing in front of him. No one else did any outstanding overtake on track so there is no extra action to consider. On the other hand he did not received any help (intentional or unintentional) from the team like Vettel or Ricciardo. The vote it is easy for this race and has to go to Sainz.
Philip (@philipgb)
28th May 2017, 23:45
Carlos Sainz Jnr. Got the most that was on offer on Saturday and was the only driver that didn’t lose a place or get gifted a place by strategy or retirement on Sunday. It’s hard to vote for the drivers that failed on Saturday (Vettel, Hamilton, & Ricciardo). Or for the drivers that either got shafted on Saturday by strategy or lucky with the teams gifting them the right pit choice.
But Sainz earned his position without a strategy call and had nothing more on the table to get than he achieved. Solid weekend.
Kevin Wong (@fongu)
29th May 2017, 0:17
Totally agree, Carlos Sainz was impressive and had no blunder all weekend, unlike so many others.
Fran
30th May 2017, 7:37
So Vettel all but matching the pole time makes him a failure?
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
30th May 2017, 9:18
Lol yeah.
Philip (@philipgb)
30th May 2017, 13:57
You’re contextualising the word ‘failure’ which I didn’t use rather than taking me saying ‘failed’ as a literal statement.
For example:
Hamilton’s qualifying performance was an abject failure.
Vettel failed to get pole.
Neil (@neilosjames)
28th May 2017, 23:50
Was impressed with Bottas. He’s never done particularly well in Monaco but got a handle on the awkward Mercedes far better than Hamilton did, nailed a very impressive qualifying lap when it mattered and couldn’t really have done more in the race with the strategy he was on.
If I had two votes, the other would go to Sainz.
HK (@me4me)
29th May 2017, 16:23
@neilosjames, Agreed. Bottas was outstanding both in Q and R.
Fran
30th May 2017, 7:39
I bet more than half the grid would like a seat in that awkward race winning car
F1 in Figures (@f1infigures)
30th May 2017, 11:07
I thought Bottas was just plain slow in the race, at least he wasn’t nearly as fast as in qualifying. Even Hamilton with his set-up issues looked faster in race trim.
lucifer (@lucifer)
30th May 2017, 13:40
Mercedes should worry about his race pace. Qualy no problem but race there’s definitely a problem.
spoutnik (@spoutnik)
30th May 2017, 11:16
Will Bottas do a Ricciardo’2014 on Lewis? ;)
F1Junky
29th May 2017, 0:02
JB for keeping the tradition of McLaren not finishing a race. 😉
On a side note. Did he park the car near his residence so he had a short walk home?
F1Junky
29th May 2017, 0:13
Honourable mention for Alonso. Having his Honda fail him twice in a different series. My understanding is that Honda are considering Alonso bad luck and are in the process of banning him from Honda powered cars as it is damaging the brand. Hahaha.
Mioki (@okif1)
29th May 2017, 0:24
Sainz made a perfect weekend. With that horse a 6th tastes like a pole. Vettel won thanks to the team since he wasn’t able to pass Kimi. He doesn’t deserve the pilot of the weekend. Same applies to the rest of the drivers. Only Sainz made the best weekend possible with his car without a single failure.
MattDS (@mattds)
29th May 2017, 7:55
@okif1 “that horse”? What? That’s a great car, only let down by an engine not up to par with the Ferrari or Mercedes, and the engine differences are smaller in Monaco so the track suited the STR to a tee. Nothing horse or donkey about it.
GechiChan (@gechichan)
29th May 2017, 11:09
why are people saying that STR is a bad car? Especially around twisty, slow circuits their aero and chassis seems very good and the 2017 Renault engine is decent. It was clear from all Free Practice runs that the Torro Rosso was the 4th fastest car. So a 6th place is exactly were it it should have finished IMO, given Hamilton’s troubles in qually.
Ofcourse, Sainz did very well to beat Kvyat (not very difficult though) and to hold onto this place in the race, but it’s not like he drove a Sauber.
F1 in Figures (@f1infigures)
30th May 2017, 11:10
@gechichan Monaco is pretty much a Toro Rosso track, but so was Catalunya where Sainz was kicked out in Q2, so let’s give him credit for last weekend’s performance.
Fran
30th May 2017, 7:40
Ricciardo doesn’t deserve his podium
EagleMk1
29th May 2017, 0:49
The best was racing some other series, but Perez and 44 were the worst.
David-A (@david-a)
29th May 2017, 0:56
Indeed Sato did very well.
EagleMk1
29th May 2017, 1:26
Of those who were, it has to be Carlos Sainz. Definitely not Seb Vettel, should have got pole but didn’t, and could not overtake Kimi on track. Kimi neither, great quali but was slower than Seb in the race and got discouraged after the strategic blunder (am not sure that it was deliberate).
Jon (@johns23)
29th May 2017, 1:28
Carlos Sainz. Special mention to Bottas keeping his Mercedes out of the barriers all weekend aft all the issues with their cars
George (@george)
29th May 2017, 1:59
I went for Verstappen, he had the edge on Ricciardo all weekend only to draw the short straw on strategy in the race.
I think the Toro Rosso was easily the 4th fastest car in Monaco, so although Sainz’s performance looks impressive on paper, with Hamilton starting so far back 6th is where he should have been. Finally, I have no idea where the Mercs were on performance, so Bottas either had an amazing weekend or an average one.
Hugh (@hugh11)
29th May 2017, 13:24
Sainz did comfortably beat Kvyat though, who was looking very handy in practice.
Philip (@philipgb)
30th May 2017, 14:01
It was the cars deserved position, but he beat his teammate in both qualifying and the race without any strategy, reliability, or incident gifts. His results were pure merit.
Mikkke
29th May 2017, 2:33
Fantastic drive from Sainz. No one single mistake in the weekend. P6 in a TR is like a victory. He keeps improving and surprising.
Sean Doyle (@spdoyle17)
29th May 2017, 3:51
Sato.
zimkazimka (@zimkazimka)
30th May 2017, 8:54
With Max Chilton close behind.
Mark (@melmgreen)
29th May 2017, 5:00
Magnussen because of the start – the only real racing in the entire race.
Kie
29th May 2017, 7:45
Was a great start from him, glad he got a point after some misfortune… Sainz though
Ru Chern (@)
29th May 2017, 5:03
Sebastian Vettel for me.
The moment Kimi Raikkonen pulled into the pits, he set lap times of 1:15 to pull that gap open for 1 stop. That was the crucial turning point of the race that led to his victory. In fact, no one ever came close lapping near Sebastian’s pace.
pastaman (@)
30th May 2017, 4:20
Ok that was the race, what about qualifying? This is driver of the weekend poll
Fran
30th May 2017, 7:43
He almost matched the pole time
Ju88sy (@)
29th May 2017, 6:46
Carlos Sainz, placed the Toro Rossi with a 2016 spec engine into 6th and then drove a very clean race to come home with an excellent points haul.
Vettel as second choice based on his blistering pace in the second stint to open a large gap to Raikonnen who just couldn’t match him when it mattered.
Broke84 (@broke84)
29th May 2017, 6:56
Hi. Torrorosso now run an up to date Renault. Only Sauber run last years engines.
Ju88sy (@)
30th May 2017, 7:39
Year out of date! I just remembered! Still driver of the weekend.
Joao (@johnmilk)
29th May 2017, 7:18
I started from top to bottom to see who deserved it the most
Vettel: out-qualified by his team mate
Kimi: out-raced by hist team mate
Ricciardo: out-qualified by his team mate
Bottas: great lap in quali, and was hurt by the strategy during the race when Merc reacted to RB, losing one position
Max: out-raced by his team mate
Sainz: out qualified and out raced his team mate, gets my vote.
Below these guys Hamilton went on a very conservative approach, didn’t put too much pressure in the cars in front (Kvyat first and Sainz later). Grosjean actually did a good race, hard to tell what the really is the pace of the Haas, it seems once again it only works at some circuits, I have the feeling he did the best possible result for them.
And Palmer? P11, just shy of the points and only ahead of cars that DNF or hit problems and had to do an extra pit-stop, great race
Aapje (@aapje)
29th May 2017, 10:33
How was Max out-raced?
Joao (@johnmilk)
29th May 2017, 10:47
by finishing behind his team mate
Murph (@)
29th May 2017, 16:29
@joao Did Verstappen ending up behind Ricciardo had anything to do with his or Ricciardo’s driving?
If your answer is yes, I guess you saw a different race than I did. (I voted Ricciardo Luckiest Driver of the Weekend, together with Vettel.)
Joao (@johnmilk)
29th May 2017, 18:25
@murph I can’t answer yes to that question even if I wanted to.
You guys are reading too much into it. I simply won’t vote for DOTW a driver that finished behind his team-mate, simply as that
EagleMk1
29th May 2017, 21:14
Too simple, maybe.
A driver may seriously outperform their teammate and still finish behind for whatever reason unrelated to their driving. A terrible pitstop, e.g.
WheelToWheel (@lolzerbob)
29th May 2017, 7:57
I gave my vote to Bottas, less than a tenth away from pole in a struggling Mercedes around the streets, kept touch with Vettel in the race pretty well until he also had a poor strategy and ended behind Ricciardo.
Vettel was outstanding in the race but definitely compromised himself by qualifying behind Kimi. I don’t get the Sainz praise, he clearly had the fourth best car and is flattered by a somewhat underperforming Kvyat. Still a good race from him, just nothing too special.
Joao (@johnmilk)
29th May 2017, 8:34
Bottas did win a lot this weekend. Ericsson is now in contention and strong favourite for the “embarrassing moment of the season award” demoting Bottas to second.
He is a good choice for DOTW though
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
29th May 2017, 9:02
@johnmilk
So isn’t Vandoorne also in this same “embarrassing moment of the season award” too. He did pretty much exactly the same thing. I actually feel like defending them both. As it was exactly where the track was coming apart where the manhole cover was. Sorry for defending Ericsson again but there is simply no chance he will have lost it at that speed if there wasn’t something wrong on the track that made him loose grip. Even the commentators said it was very likely due to him suddenly loosing grip due to this damaged part of the track. I guess he is still partly at fault for not realizing that it was where he went, same with Vandoorne.
Joao (@johnmilk)
29th May 2017, 9:11
@thegianthogweed
almost, my threshold is, if you mess it up behind the safety car you get nominated. It’s a good filter
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
29th May 2017, 9:43
@johnmilk
Fair enough. But the lapped drivers had just been allowed to pass the safety car and if he didn’t hurry up and do so, the drivers behind him could have been getting impatient, so he did so. But that part of the track probably wasn’t the best place to do so. He had plenty of grip until he was on the damaged part of the track and then totally lost it. I think this shows how much the track surface can make you loose grip even when going slow. You just couldn’t loose it at that speed if the track was like it normally is. I assume he had been told about the track condition. If he hadn’t, then I’d actually say he was blameless. But I don’t see how he won’t have been told, we just didn’t hear it on the radio.
Joao (@johnmilk)
29th May 2017, 9:53
The jury has been evaluating your comment and Ericsson’s defence, but the decision remains. Still a contender for the award, the jury said that after reviewing the footage, the scene where the SC seems to be putting pressure on the driver and he goes into the wall is just too hilarious to just let it go.
Worry not there is still plenty of races ahead, lets give Palmer a chance
Joao (@johnmilk)
29th May 2017, 9:15
btw, winner last year was Grosjean
Hugh (@hugh11)
29th May 2017, 19:43
But when Perez finishes where you’d expect him to in the 4th best car at various tracks, given how everyone crashed your praise him? ;)
Far as I see it, they both deserve all the praise they get and are doing fantastic jobs. Remember, they can’t go any higher than where they’re finishing without problems for the top cars. They’re maximising the result the car can get.
WheelToWheel (@lolzerbob)
29th May 2017, 20:56
@hugh11 I might be a bit biased with Checo lol. But Perez didn’t win DOTW in any of the first four races this season. Force India was hardly the fourth fastest in each of the first five races, good consistency made them look like that, but on pure pace they didn’t have the same as Williams and were evenly matched with the rest.
Loup Garou (@loup-garou)
29th May 2017, 8:44
I voted for Vettel simply because he deserved to win. Kept his teammate in sights so as to be able to leapfrog him whether if was by an undercut or overcut. Was significantly faster on the option tyres and pulled out a big lead. Remained unperturbed when the Safety Car shrank that lead time to nothing and pulled away again at the restart.
Honorable mentions to Sainz and Ricciardo. IMO, if Red Bull had planned this a bit better, Ricciardo would have taken P2 and even caused Vettel some anxious moments.
George.be
30th May 2017, 14:41
Redbull planned and executed perfectly, and outraced BOT in a Merc. Causing trouble to RAI was possible, but VET had nothing to fear. RAI became impossible when RAI started to close the gap in laptime between the Bull and the Horse, while the pitwindow wasn’t large enough… RIC would’ve gotten traffic, a few laps later, while RAI got some cleaner air.
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
29th May 2017, 8:56
@lolzerbob
I agree with you on Bottas. I think I’ll go for him too.
Also agree about Sainz too. I could understand why he gets some votes but I will be surprised if he actually gets driver of the weekend overall.
He qualified 6th which was good, but as you say, the car looked really strong as Kvyat proved in practice. So as there was such a huge pace gap between Sainz and the drivers in front, he had clean air and not much to to fight against for a lot of the race. It was good, but just what you say, for the pace of the car, nothing that special.
Kvyat may have underperformed slightly in qualifying but in the end, he started 9th. And would have certainly been 9th in the race if it wasn’t for Perez. He was stuck right behind other drivers most of the race which made the gap to his team mate look much bigger because they were holding him up. I’d say Kvyat was actually strong in the race. He was doing all he could really as overtaking was next to impossible. I certainly can’t say Kvyat was under performing here. (unless you mean just in qualifying) But I guess it is qualifying that matters most here.
The commentates on Channel 4 also said that Kvyat looked to have had a very strong weekend if it wasn’t for qualifying. He looked to be better than Sainz in practice and decent in the race too.
Mikkke
29th May 2017, 12:38
What is your problem with Sainz? As soon as somebody starts talking good things you stack him. He did again a fantastic qualy and a perfect race. No comparable with your friend DK!! Bud luck but again slower in P3 and qualy, where really matter!! The race of Dk, bad start loosing 2 position and he open the door to much to Perez, but agree not his fault. Driver of the weekend SAINZ NO DOUBT
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
29th May 2017, 13:53
It is true that when people do say things like Sainz is a very consistent driver, then I do disagree. Because he hasn’t been that strong in half of the races this year. And as @lolzerbob says, I agree. I don’t quite understand why Sainz is by far the best driver of the weekend for so many people. He did about the best he could, niether qualifying or the race really stood out. If I voted for several drivers, I would include him and several others. But the fact that Toro Rosso was clearly the next fastest car behind the top 3 teams here in Monaco to me doesn’t make 6th place that impressive. It was a very good weekend, but not outstanding. I don’t want to make it sound like I don’t rate Sainz. I think he is good, just not quite as good as others think. Sorry if think I mean something else.
MazdaChris (@mazdachris)
29th May 2017, 9:37
Sainz drove yet another great race. So far he’s right up there as one of the best, most consistent drivers this year. Very impressive stuff, and if either driver in RBR goes elsewhere next year I reckon he’d be a great choice for promotion.
Vettel also drove a great weekend and looked like winning pretty much from the outset. Just a slight mistake in qualifying resulted in him being out-qualified by his teammate, otherwise he’d have been my choice.
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
29th May 2017, 10:06
@mazdachris
“So far he’s right up there as one of the best, most consistent drivers this year.”
Hmm, not sure. he had one of the most clumsy mistakes I’ve seen in quite some time with Stroll in Bahrain. So crashing out badly in 1 out of 6 races doesn’t actually make him what you’ve said really does it? This weekend was very strong but he had nobody to fight against most of the race and the car was quite clearly the 4th best this weekend so he didn’t really finish any higher than expected.
So that is around 85% of the races he’s performed well in, although some were much better than others. He is hardly one of the most consistent if he’s had one terrible race out of just 6. His team mate was clearly better in Australia. And in Spain, although Kvyat had a very poor qualifying, Kvyat barely finished behind Sianz who started well ahead of him which makes me wonder if Sainz actually had a very strong performance there too.
Sorry so say this to Sainz fans but I think he needs to show more consistency before a top team should have him. At the moment, I think he’s a bit like Perez used to be. Really strong at times, but sometimes under performing or making big mistakes. I believe he’ll improve though.
Mikkke
29th May 2017, 12:45
Please in one year and one race together SAINZ 68 points
Kvyat 9 points
No more comments!!!
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
29th May 2017, 13:59
I’ll say one thing. I admit Kvyat was very poor over most in 2016. Quite possibly one of the worst drivers on the grid over the whole season. But I think he has suddenly become much better and nearly even to Sainz now. There is no point me going on about it as I’ve compared their season this year so far enough times. Sainz has scored a lot more points, but has also had more messy weekends than his team mate and it has been Kvyat who has has far worse luck so far this year.
MazdaChris (@mazdachris)
29th May 2017, 13:25
I see your point but I think it depends on how you look at the Stroll incident. Yes it was stupid, shouldn’t have happened, but it’s one moment in a race,and otherwise he’s doing a good job. I don’t think you can say that he performed badly throughout the race, just a moment of brain fade. Those are the kind of mistakes you can iron out, no problem. Verstappen has had similar issues but you can’t doubt his talent.
Point is, he’s making best use, most weekends, of the equipment put at his disposal. He’s making people stand up and take note, which is something that’s really hard to do in a midfield team, and on occasion has shown flashes of real brilliance. I never considered myself a fan of his as such, but this season I think he’s really proving his quality and I’m excited to see what he could do if he’s given the equipment he needs to win races. He’s doing a great job for sure.
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
29th May 2017, 14:09
@mazdachris
I also sort of agree with you on what you ahve said now about the Stroll incident. The rest of his weekend was fine. But it is the race that counts, and because of that single huge mistake, he ended his chances of a good result. So that does in a way make it a bad race doesn’t it?
I don’t want to be sounding like I like or am trying to defent Kvyat, but other than qualifying (where Sainz has been better), when both drivers have been racing, their race pase has over all been pretty close. As in Kvyat caught right up to Sainz in Spain even though he started well behind which makes me wonder if Sainz was very good there. Similar in Russia. Kvyat was catching towards the end. And in the very first race. It was very clear than Kvyat was far better.
But in the end, I have to admit, Sainz does perform where it matters and gets the points. But Kvyat has been unlucky in 3 races now and as I’ve said before, if it wasn’t for Kvyats reliability and retirements, he would have quite a lot more points than he has and Sainz would have a little less.
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
29th May 2017, 10:09
I’ve copied this below from what I said on Planet F1:
It was pretty close between the top 6 actually.
I went for Bottas because of both his qualifying and the race. I personally think he did the absolute best he could in qualifying. He was 0.002 of Vettel and 0.47 off pole. He just came out of nowhere in qualifying. Rather unlucky it didn’t result in a front row start. About his race. He looked to have one of the best starts. Very similar to in Russia. He got partly along side with vettel but had to brake early or else he will have got stuck in the inside. So for the people who complained about what he did last race, it is sometimes necessary to brake early. Last time it just unfortunately didn’t work out as he had 2 other cars to his left.
From then on here in Monaco, Bottas did slowly fall behind the Ferrari’s but pulled away from Verstappen by a few seconds. He then started to get closer to the Ferrari’s. I didn’t think he would start gaining on them later on. Bottas unfortunately did lose out to Ricciardo during the pit stops but I still think he did pretty much the best he could. Then towards the end of the race, Ricciardo very nearly cost himself the race. But luckily didn’t. Bottas very nearly got past him though.
The reason why I couldn’t vote Ricciardo for this was because of his qualifying. He was quite some margin behind Verstappen and Bottas even though both Red Bulls often looked to be better than Mercedes early on in qualifying. I very nearly went for Verstappen but he made a small mistake in the pits according to Horner. Parking an an awkward angle which apparently cost him a bit of time. Other than that, he was very strong but couldn’t quite get past Bottas. He sometimes got to under half a second but most of the race, he was over a second behind.
I was also very close to voting for Vettel. If I listed them I would say Vettel was the 2nd best driver of the weekend. His race was brilliant but his qualifying was not as impressive as it could have been I think. I don’t want to under rate Kimi’s performance but Vettel usually does get the better of him. The difference was tiny and he got a good result in the end. But he very nearly cost himself the lap. He put himself in a really awkward position with the other drivers doing their warm up laps. He just did this lap quicker than he needed too. He got away with it though. However, he did get a reprimand for crossing the yellow pit exit line during qualifying, so that was a mistake too. If not for this, I think he could quite easily have been driver of the weekend.
Kimi had a great qualifying and a very good start to the race. He was very unlucky in what the team seemed to decide what to do, but after the team did do this, Vettel clearly did look better. I still think Kimi did have a very good race though and will have had a very strong chance for the win I think if it wasn’t for his team helping out Vettel.
Sainz is another driver to mention. He had a decent performance in qualifying and a very good race too. We didn’t see that much of it though. He was clearly out of the top 5 battle so had clean air a lot of the race which will have made it easier. 6th is a very good result for him though although Toro Rosso was pretty much the 4th best team this weekend anyway. Shame for his team mate who may have had 9th possibly if he didn’t get knocked out by Perez.
Murph (@)
29th May 2017, 15:47
Since you keep bringing it up, here is the exact quote Horner used in his Ch4 interview:
“Unfortunately at the pit stop we lost about .4/.5 of a second. The positioning of the car is quite difficult here in Monaco, it’s at a slight angle.”
Nowhere did he suggest Verstappen made a mistake; he is talking about the angle of the car that makes it a bit harder for the pit crew.
Matn
29th May 2017, 20:13
And it showed, it was actually the wheel-gun-man missing the first attempt which cost something shy of a second
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
29th May 2017, 10:14
How just how can Hamilton have any votes at all?! He now has 2%. And Bottas only 1% more. Hamilton didn’t perform where it matters most. Qualifying is on Saturday so it is still part of the weekend! In the race, he only finished as low as he did because of him costing himself in qualifying. If it wasn’t for the safety car, he will have finished quite some margin behind Bottas. I admit Hamilton’s recovery driver was decent but nobody should even consider him as driver of the weekend. finishing behind a Toro Rosso as well as both Red Bull’s is not where a Mercedes should be and this was his fault for under performing in Qualifying. It baffles me that he has any votes…..
Kenny
29th May 2017, 10:44
It seem while everyone tried arguing for their driver of choice, you chose to argue against one you obviously don’t fancy. Way to go.
Besides, the blame for qualifying appears lame as even Mercedes explained that they got the car setup wrong.
Let’s be positive.
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
29th May 2017, 13:15
My main point is that he didn’t make it through to Q1. So we didn’t see him perform at the level he should. So just that surely should exclude him from driver of the WEEKEND. Even if Bottas couldn’t take part in qualifying at all due to no fault of his own and he had a very good race, I don’t think I could vote him for driver of the wekend. So same for Hamilton. No matter if he had issues or not, he did a poor job in qualifying which cost him the race. I respect Hamilton when he performs well. He did have a very decent recovery but his pace was hardly better than Bottas and clearly not as good in qualifying. That is my reason why I’m so surprised that they both now have an equal percentage of votes for driver of the weekend. Bottas clearly did better overall.
I doubt car setup prevented him getting through though. He didn’t do a single proper timed lap until too late when the yellow flags came out. Even with the wrong setup, I think he could have easlily got through if he did one sooner. He just kept backing out of them. His team kept telling it was critical to get a lep in early which turned out to be ture. Also, another thing to add about Hamilton’s qualifying is that he got in the way of Kvyat and Magnussen very badly in Q2 when they were on fast laps. Both of them complained about this. I think I’ve got enough points as to why Hamilton isn’t deserving of DOTW at all this time. But like you say, Lets be positive about his future. He doesn’t often have have week qualifying performances like this.
Fireblade
29th May 2017, 17:09
the blame for qualifying appears lame as even Mercedes explained that they got the car setup wrong.
Nothing is ever Hamilton’s fault. Apparently he’s not involved in setting up his own car. Maybe he should ask Bottas for some tips, since he managed to get his setup working properly.
Mioki (@okif1)
30th May 2017, 1:37
They also said that they were missing Nico a lot, specially the engineer point of view. LH is a remarkable driver, but only that. He doesn’t provide valuable feedback to engineers and his setup was wrong.
Fran
30th May 2017, 7:48
But who voted for him?
Patrick (@paeschli)
29th May 2017, 11:24
Kimi Raikkonen for me: he would have won if Vettel wasn’t driving for Ferrari.
F1ed (@rinodina)
29th May 2017, 18:46
I voted Kimi too, mainly because of his sad face on the podium. Without doubt the saddest silver medal winner in the history of sport in general.
Michael
29th May 2017, 21:37
No that award was Daniels last year at Monaco.
F1ed (@rinodina)
29th May 2017, 23:31
I think Kimi’s case was infinitely more tragic, because he was victimized in favour of his own team mate.
Fran
30th May 2017, 7:50
Yes the victimisation caused his in lap to be two seconds slower than his team mates
Mike Dee (@mike-dee)
30th May 2017, 7:09
No, Kimi did not have a good race. He could not do the one thing that mattered as the leader: get by the lapped cars quickly. He was staying too far from Button (around 1.5 seconds) so no blue flags were shown. Vettel was able to run much closer to Kimi (0.7 seconds). It took a long time for Kimi to lap Button and Wehrlein, during which Bottas came closer by around 4 seconds. If he had kept the 4 seconds as a buffer, later on, the threat of an undercut by Bottas would have been much less so that Ferrari would not have been forced into pitting him when they did.
@paeschli
mertol
29th May 2017, 11:28
Jenson Button. Peeing in Alonso’s seat? Legend!
Scuderia-Racing-Or-Ping-Pong (@)
29th May 2017, 14:43
Vettel. Boom!
Murph (@)
29th May 2017, 15:21
I’m absolutely not a big Carlos fan, but he has to be driver of the weekend this time. Not that he did something very special, but he was flawless all weekend.
(I do feel sorry for Kvyat though, because it seems all the bad luck is coming his way this year.)
Murph (@)
29th May 2017, 15:22
Luckiest drivers of the weekend: Ricciardo and Vettel.
Loup Garou (@loup-garou)
29th May 2017, 16:46
I guess you must be in the 2% that voted for Hamilton. It figures.
Loup Garou (@loup-garou)
29th May 2017, 16:44
I am tempted to say Alonso. Yes, I know he wasn’t there in Monaco but that live radio message that he sent to Button from Indianapolis was a treasure.
F1ed (@rinodina)
29th May 2017, 18:34
Jolyon Palmer for me. He succeeded in being completely invisible during and still finishing the race!
GtisBetter (@)
29th May 2017, 21:42
For some reason he was on the on-board feed in the beginning of the race for a long time, doing nothing interesting at the back of the midfield. Probably because he had Renault painted on his nose.
Jorge Lardone (@jorge-lardone)
29th May 2017, 19:27
Vettel, of course. Good weekend also by Sainz, Ricciardo and the Hass boys.
John H (@john-h)
29th May 2017, 23:28
Vettel got outqualified, so how can he be driver of the weekend?
Sainz of course.
petebaldwin (@)
30th May 2017, 2:03
Depends how you vote… For me, practice and qualifying exists to set you up for the race and nothing more. Qualify on pole and crash out in the race and your qualifying performance is irrelevant.
Sainz was a very close 2nd for me but those laps by Vettel when they were needed were exceptional.
Fran
30th May 2017, 7:52
Sainz too was out qualified by Raikkonen
petebaldwin (@)
30th May 2017, 2:00
Monaco driver of the weekend – Vettel.
Driver of the weekend – Alonso.
Fran
30th May 2017, 7:53
Magnussen
DB-C90 (@dbradock)
30th May 2017, 11:10
Bottas for me. He managed to be really close to pole in a car that his teammate found almost undriveable and followed with a clean and pretty handy race result.
Vettel and Dan Ric honourable mentions but both didn’t get the best out of qualy whereas I thought Bottas got the maximum he could out of both sessions.
PJA (@pja)
30th May 2017, 13:16
With how boring and processional I found the race I was considering choosing ‘no driver’ in the driver of the weekend poll for the first time, but I managed to pick a driver to vote for in the end.
The only drivers who really stood out this weekend where the ones who underperformed or made mistakes, Hamilton in qualifying and Button and Perez among others during the race.
Some will make the case for Vettel and Ricciardo due to them making up places during the race but this was due to the team giving them the optimal strategy and they were both beaten by their teammates in qualifying.
Bottas had a good weekend, it seemed that Mercedes wouldn’t get near to Ferrari in qualifying but Bottas managed to get a lot closer than expected and with the way the pit stops worked out he couldn’t have done much better in the race.
My vote went to Sainz, while I don’t think he was exceptional this weekend he probably put in the best performance of all the drivers. Best of the rest in qualifying and the race there was no way he could have done better unless one of the front runners had problems.
MacLeod (@macleod)
31st May 2017, 7:57
I voted for No opinion (1%) as noone was really good all weekend in this very boring race. Overtaking in the pits but no overtakes on circuit (none seen, i hear there were some)
Fran
31st May 2017, 10:27
MacBlackCleod
Fran
31st May 2017, 10:29
Tiger woods