Carlos Sainz Jnr was voted Driver of the Weekend by F1 Fanatic readers for the first time following his sixth place finish in Monaco.
He narrowly beat race winner Sebastian Vettel to become the fifth different poll winner in as many races.
Carlos Sainz Jnr’s Grand Prix weekend
The Toro Rosso drivers were quick from the off in Monaco and in practice it seemed Daniil Kvyat might have an edge on his team mate. Sainz ended that debate in qualifying, however, taking advantage of Lewis Hamilton’s Q2 exit to put his car on the third row.
In Monaco qualifying is often half the battle, and so it proved. Sainz was quick enough in the race that Hamilton wasn’t able to jump back ahead of him. He easily kept the Mercedes driver behind in the second stint.
The final gap between him and his team mate flatters Sainz, as Kvyat was hit by Sergio Perez, but this was nonetheless a fine result and certainly thew best the car could achieve at this tough circuit.
Fantastic drive from Sainz. No one single mistake in the weekend. Sixth in a Toro Rosso is like a victory. He keeps improving and surprising.
Mikkie
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.
@mazdachris
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.
@murph
Monaco Grand Prix winners and losers
The moment Kimi Raikkonen pulled into the pits, he set lap times of 1’15 to pull that gap open for one stop. That was the crucial turning point of the race that led to his victory. In fact, no one ever came close lapping near Vettel’s pace.
Ru Chern (@Ruchern)
I voted for Vettel simply because he deserved to win. Kept his team mate in sights so as to be able to leapfrog him whether if was by an undercut or ‘over cut’. 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.
@Loup-garou
While some felt Raikkonen had been unlucky or even unjustly treated by his team to lose the lead to his team mate, others gave that idea short shrift:
Raikkonen 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 Raikkonen (0.7 seconds). It took a long time for Raikkonen to lap Button and Wehrlein, during which Bottas came closer by around four seconds. If he had kept the four 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.
@Mike-dee
Driver of the weekend: The Twitter verdict
Ferrari’s tactics regarding Raikkonen were met with more suspicion on Twitter:
Criticise Ferrari, but if they did not do this and Vettel lost at end of season by 2 points you would criticise them for opposite reason #F1
— Culé Pesimista (@NilesDamhill) May 28, 2017
Seems the teams still didn't know for sure the crossover between used ultrasofts and new supersofts. Kimi payed the price of this #F1
— Michael Heal (@MHeal10) May 28, 2017
Lance Stroll sucks….. #FormulaOne #MonacoGP
— Bãlldiñhö™ 🇧🇲 (@Balldinho) May 28, 2017
Team orders in F1 need to go. Vettel celebrates after team mate moves aside. Great win dude.
— Sam (@dog___bone) May 28, 2017
Perfect race by Seb Vettel and @ScuderiaFerrari
Keep the moment up !! #MonacoGP— Varun Sood (@thefrogger2) May 28, 2017
Vettel acting like he didn't win because of team orders 😒 #F1
— Kwame (@1baako) May 28, 2017
Pretty disappointed with the race today since Kimi got robbed. #MonacoGP #Kimi7
— Thomas Ballard (@22_TJB) May 28, 2017
Just watching the f1 race from earlier can't believe Ferrari did the dirty on kimi #disgusted
— Sally Fraser (@sallyfraserF1) May 28, 2017
Feared a lot for Pascal today! Hope he's good! Such a young guy with good skills! #MonacoGP
— Lenny B. 🌹 (@lovelennylove) May 28, 2017
After what happened today at #MonacoGP, Ferrari team orders denying a well deserved win for Kimi Raikkonen. I won't watch F1 this year. #F1
— Michael Kazmierczak (@MikSF) May 28, 2017
I think @ScuderiaFerrari must only B allowed 1 race driver cause the teamate who signs thinking equality is dooped in2 no.2 #F1 #monacogp
— JJ-Mitch (@Mitch_F1nut) May 28, 2017
Good victory for Sebastian Vettel but would've liked to see Kimi Raikkonen win the #MonacoGP. Team strategy might've cost him P1!#Ferrari
— Shrikant Shankar (@Shrikant_23) May 28, 2017
Vettel with the no team orders.. yea right… #f1
— Tricia (@Tricia_AR25) May 28, 2017
Watching how huge Vettel was celebrating his victory at #MonacoGP after his team obviously gave him an advantage over Kimi, disgusted me.
— WIN — IPHONE 7 PLUS (@giveawayzomato) May 28, 2017
Poor Kimi he deserves wins this season #MonacoGP
— isabella daisy (@isab3llabridges) May 28, 2017
Vettels engineer snooked Raikkonens engineer on the Pit Wall. Get over it. #MonacoGP
— Buzzing Howler 🐝🐺 (@916JacketPack81) May 28, 2017
Unimpressed with #Ferrari strategy, that race was Kimi's. #MonacoGP2017 #f1
— Lisa (@GeriatricPunkNS) May 28, 2017
Why should there always be a sacrificial lamb in #MonacoGP?
— Reign Vidal (@reignvidal) May 28, 2017
Poor kimi. The irony is that he's a much more skilful and talented driver than Vettel will ever be. #MonacoGP #KimiRaikkonen
— Vanessa Seah (@vanessaseah) May 28, 2017
Vettel won the Monaco GP with those laps in clear air whilst kimi pitted. If kimi had been on it all race he'd have won. #SkyF1 #MonacoGP
— Pete Lawson (@fidgetbumble) May 28, 2017
For 2nd year in a row, the guy on 2nd step of podium at #MonacoGP feels robbed of a win by their own team! #Ricciardo in '16 & #Kimi in '17
— Siddharth Kumar (@boozinsid) May 28, 2017
Feel bad for Kimi, clearly the number two driver now – shouldn't be happening this early in the season. #F1
— 2headdboy (@2headdboy) May 28, 2017
Though I root for Vettel,I think the real winner today is Kimi. Vettel can smile all day long, but he knows who really deserves it #MonacoGP
— Amran 🌐 (@Amran_Siyabi) May 28, 2017
Is that the race that #KimiRaikkonen should have won? 🏁#Unbelievable #ferrari #MonacoGP
— TomG (@thomgee) May 28, 2017
Palmer, Stroll and Kvyat; all shouldn't have a seat next year. #f1 #formula1 #sillyseason
— Ed Mello (@edmello) May 28, 2017
Of course they had to mess up Kimi so Vettel could win. #MonacoGP
— aquamillo (@AquaMillo) May 28, 2017
Once again Button proving why he was my favourite driver since Schumacher. Going to be sorely missed again. #MonacoGP
— Ollie Maclean (@ollie_maclean) May 28, 2017
Tempted to say new world champion #F1 #Vettel #MonacoGrandPrix #Ferrari
— Chidiebere (@chidizeani) May 28, 2017
Also, #ScuderiaFerarri totally screwed Kimi out of a win. I know Seb needs the points, but still… #F1 #ThrillofDefeat
— Ian S. McAlpine (@PunkRockSkeptic) May 28, 2017
Earned it..#SebastianVettel #MonacoGP 🎉🎊🏆
— Hassan Basma (@H_b9ma) May 28, 2017
Another rough time for Kimi at #MonacoGP @eddymemphis at least say congrats to ferrari man Sebastian Vettel.
— Mubarak (@MubarakJosko) May 28, 2017
How can #Vettel celebrate that victory #F1 is a joke sometimes
— Chris Darbey (@Chris_D81) May 28, 2017
Keep serching the talent of @PWehrlein @SauberF1Team #F1 #MonacoGP #disaster
— Monsieur_F1 (Mr.F1) (@MonsieurF1) May 28, 2017
Disappointing day but @SChecoPerez did set the fastest lap #F1 #MonacoGP
— Paul Bendrey (@Monkimedia) May 28, 2017
Anyway, felt bad for #Kimi7 #MonacoGP that should’ve been his win.
— Al Francis Cruz (@pransiscruz) May 28, 2017
Awesome awesome race by Vettal and Kimi to win the 1st and 2nd places of #MonacoGP #FormulaOne #FerrariF1
— Thapan Chand (@thapanchand) May 28, 2017
Why are people freaking out that Vettel is the #1 , Hamilton is also #1 for Merc, Wake Up !! #F1
— FORMULA JUAN (@F1Master) May 28, 2017
Well. @JensonButton did not look happy #f1 #MonacoGP
— Rob Hedrick (@RobTVLA) May 28, 2017
Worst day for Mercedes in years, I hope the team can learn from this terrible weeken @MercedesAMGF1 #F1 #MonacoGP
— Christian Ashby (@ChristianSHBY) May 28, 2017
Kimi let Vettel stay ahead today… No one bats an eye.. When Hamilton does it.. He's too selfish and self centered #MonacoGP
— The Flick Show (@Theflickshowng) May 28, 2017
The way the F1 articles are written in a manner how faster Vet was compared to Kimi , is purely to deflect the attention of the Team Orders.
— George Vassilev (@JoroVassilev) May 28, 2017
Very unfair on Kimi. Doesn't deserve this kind of treatment from @Ferrari. Should have won today. #MonacoGP
— Lokesh Bherwani (@lokeshbherwani) May 28, 2017
robert steiner
2nd June 2017, 16:58
Well deserve!! Getting better and better, hope for good team next year.
erikje
2nd June 2017, 17:01
Well deserved win. Strong and consistent drive. Not buckling under the Ham pressure.
Scuderia-Racing-Or-Ping-Pong (@)
2nd June 2017, 17:27
Who even forgot that Sainz had an impressive result?
MaddMe (@)
2nd June 2017, 18:34
Yeah, Sainz is an easily over looked driver, which isn’t really his fault. He drove a superb race and does deserve the DOTW. At Russia, he also drove an impressive race, (at least until he drove into Stroll) starting at the back of the grid and climbing a good number of places in the first race (if nothing more, mirroring the performance of his former team mate and RBR driver Max Verstappen in his Chinese opening lap).
I do feel for him, he has tremendous talent and no room in the top team currently available for him.
Gabriel (@rethla)
2nd June 2017, 22:41
@maddme
Sainz midfield drive is brought up as impressive 9 out of 10 races. Hes the least overloocked guy in the field.
WheelToWheel (@lolzerbob)
3rd June 2017, 9:37
@rethla Exactly
Mikkke
2nd June 2017, 18:36
Very interesting driver!! I think this new cars suit his driving. Really one of the future candidates for a big team, I hope he can make the step!!
Mike Dee (@mike-dee)
2nd June 2017, 19:35
These Twitter reactions are ridiculous… did they all watch Sky Sports UK?
Fran
2nd June 2017, 21:24
Some people on this forum think Perez is a better driver than Sainz
Nigel
2nd June 2017, 23:54
Haha…. easy how many podiums does Sainz have?
In my opinion he is an ok driver. Not exactly setting the world on fire. Also no room for him at RBR but they rather keep him at Toro.
Fran
3rd June 2017, 8:30
Is that how you judge talent?
beneboy (@beneboy)
3rd June 2017, 10:21
On results ?
Yes. Obviously consideration is given to machinery, but, at the end of the day, drivers are judged on their results.
Nigel
3rd June 2017, 11:45
+1
Guybrush Threepwood
3rd June 2017, 21:15
In that case Maldonado is better than both of them and most others.
Nigel
2nd June 2017, 23:57
He did however have a great weekend and deserves this.
Miane
2nd June 2017, 21:36
I’m quite surprised how people just don’t think at all. If Ferrari’s pitstop strategy was coincidental why Vettel knew that he should conserve his tires and make that hot laps at that time? Someone had told him to keep cool and wait for Kimi pit stop.
Another point is that no one told Kimi that he was at risky of losing his position to Vettel. No one told him “Kimi do 2-3 hot laps because you’re going to stop first and you can get back in traffic and on slower tires.” I feel very sorry for him, it’s the same Ferrari did in the past and they’ll keep doing it. To say that it was not intentional is saying that Ferrari is very amateur or that Kimi engineer is as dumb as a door.
Fran
3rd June 2017, 8:32
Kimi shouldn’t have given Vettel the opportunity to save his tyres
MattDS (@mattds)
2nd June 2017, 22:45
This has to be one of the more far out arguments in this discussion.
I mean, what else was he supposed to do? Locking his tyres in a bid to flatspot them so they wouldn’t be saved while he was driving behind a slower Raikkonen he couldn’t pass on Monaco anyway?
His tyre conservation was a natural consequence of not having to be anywhere near the limit while following Kimi around.
Hey maybe Kimi got Vettel’s engineer he had last year in Spain. You know, “duh of course you don’t give up track position in Spain”.
Sergey Martyn
3rd June 2017, 15:17
6th place start, 6th place finish. How many people achieved the same especvially in Monaco where you can’t overtake. I think hundreds.
What a great result!
Peter
3rd June 2017, 17:38
From the top 6 finishers in Monaco only Sainz achieved it ;-)
But yes, I don’t see it either why Sainz’ performance is hailed as being so good this weekend.