Vote for your 2017 Belgian Grand Prix Driver of the Weekend

2017 Belgian Grand Prix

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Which Formula One driver made the most of the Belgian 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 Spa-Francorchamps.

Driver performance summary

DriverStartedFinishedRace changeLap 1 changeHighest positionLowest position
Lewis Hamilton110014
Valtteri Bottas35-2025
Daniel Ricciardo63+3036
Max Verstappen5055
Sebastian Vettel220012
Kimi Raikkonen440027
Sergio Perez817-9-3617
Esteban Ocon9900612
Felipe Massa168+8+2815
Lance Stroll1511+401117
Fernando Alonso10+2717
Stoffel Vandoorne2014+6+21118
Carlos Sainz Jnr1310+3-3716
Daniil Kvyat1912+7+2917
Romain Grosjean117+4-1713
Kevin Magnussen1215-3+2717
Nico Hulkenberg76+1058
Jolyon Palmer1413+1+11317
Marcus Ericsson1716+1-21519
Pascal Wehrlein18-22020

    Poll closed

    Lewis Hamilton was voted Driver of the Weekend with 55.2 of the vote. This is his 24th Driver of the Weekend win:

    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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    68 comments on “Vote for your 2017 Belgian Grand Prix Driver of the Weekend”

    1. Had to choose Fernando. He deserves this and more. What he did with that engine is, once again, superb. Great qualy and a mind-blowing start. He wouldn’t be among the best teams, but the first of them. He’s daily situation must be the pure hell for him.

      1. His daily*

      2. Oh come on they gambled everything on getting into Q3. Which meant they went for a setup that was completely unsuitable for the race. Then he pretends it’s the Honda engine letting him down while it clearly was his own strategic choice what got him into that mess.

        So yeah he looked great during quali, but afterwards it became painfully obvious how completely wrong his setup was for the race.

        Still I agree it’s sad McLaren is doing so poorly. Would be nice if Alonso could at least have some outlook on being competitive at some point with their car. The way it looks now they are more likely to follow Williams down to the end of the grid rather than going forwards.

        1. I can’t agree: His setup was similar to Vandoornes, and you can’t claim Vandoornes setup was aimed towards qualification results. As we saw on the restart: there is no limit on the Mercedes PU. Even with slipstream they had little power to defend against others. and there is nothing but limits on the Honda. There are mechanics that can push a car faster around a lap than the Honda PU

          1. Well it was clear they got something wrong. Their car worked fine in quali trim (where the engine actually matters more) and during the race Alonso was indeed a sitting duck.

            The high downforce drag is negated by DRS which they can use during quali.

            It’s also nonsense that Mercede PU was so much faster. Vettel made the same “mistake”. Raikkonen was just as fast as Hamilton on the straight while Vettel was a lot slower. Engine power difference? OF course not, same engine.

            People need to learn to read bvetween the lines and actually understand the mechanics of race cars. It’s always a compromise, a strategy. Some drivers get it right some don’t.

            For Vettel it could actually have worked if he had gotten pole or managed to get past Hamilton at the start or restart. For Alonso it was purely showboating or plain stupid.

            1. @patrickl It’s quite clear from your comment that you are finding any way possible to bash Alonso. Did it not occur to you that in qualifying, the Honda engine can run to the maximum, whereas in the race it has to run in a more conservative mode relative to the other engines due to the lack of fuel efficiency of the Honda. Moreover, the extra pace in qualifying came from a tow Alonso got from Vandoorne, so stop speaking nonsense.

            2. @mashiat, Nonsense, I’m an Alonso fan. That doesn’t mean that you can realistically take a look at what he does and shake your head at his actions at Spa.

              It’s not the first time he does this either.

      3. @silver93 Alonso can’t even be bothered to finish the race if he’s not in the top 12…

        The fact that people keep saying he’s the best is laughable…

        1. @cm-cm Let’s also conveniently forget that Hamilton also wanted to retire at this very same race 3 years ago when he felt he couldn’t score any points. If any other top driver would be in the same position Alonso is for the last 3 years, a lot of them would throw more tantrums (Vettel especially). And just because he wants to retire a car he can’t be the best? That logic is laughable.

          1. I agree, It’s said enough just how much patience Alonso has shown. Yes he’s given into the occasional outburst and moments of pessimism but if Vettel or Hamilton were in the same situation they’d be acting like the world was ending.

    2. Dani Ric, for his ability to telepathically retire his teammate.

      1. Hami for the weekend , Ric for the race..still cannot beleive he got ahead of bot and kimi and pulled away with that inferior engine.

        1. RIC got ahead due to the penalty of RAI, so that was quite easy. How he stayed ahead is another question ;-)

          1. @demercer
            So the overtaking of Bot had nothing to do with getting ahead of him, huh.. And go and try to answer your so-called second question. Stop hatin’ on everybody but Verstappen.

            1. if you’re honest Ricciardo’s move on bottas wasn’t as spectacular as some people make it out to be. Bottas got the restarthorribly wrong, at the exit of turn one he was already at least five car lengths behind Vettel. And was then overtaken by Ricciardo and Kimi. he was just napping at the restart. Even Massa would have got past him on that restart.

            2. Ric himself said in the post race chat, it was gifted to him by Kimi. But once in front, he was on his own. Very good drive. But not driver of the weekend. Ric is a great guy with straight forward talks. Dont remember hearing BS from him. Voted for LH who did a great job entire weekend

      2. I too voted for Ricciardo. I thought his third place was an excellent result when you compare the car’s ability to that of Mercedes and Ferrari. He put the car in the right place to capitalise upon a mistake by Kimi.
        If I hadn’t voted for Daniel then I would have voted for Lewis. His equalling Michael Schumacher’s tally of 68 pole positions is a good achievement, although I suspect the Mercedes car is more dominant than Schumacher’s Ferrari was at its peak.

        1. It was a very good drive.
          But good enough for driver of the weekend, after being outqualified by his teammate ?

    3. Hamilton took a perfect pole position and did a great race to take the win so he takes my vote. Vettel could also take it but it depends if the Ferrari was faster or slower than the Mercedes.

      Ricciardo had a good ending but he was trounced by Verstappen in qualifying and for most of the race until Verstappen retired. Verstappen would have been a contender had he not retired because there was the safety car and chaos later.

      Hulk had an excellent race but he had been outpaced by Palmer in qualifying. Alonso was going rather backwards in the race and probably intentionally retired so not him.

      Grosjean and Massa both had excellent results, but neither of them really stood out, only profited from the attrition

      1. If I remember right Grosjean and Massa gained only Verstappen’s place. They were ahead of both Force India when they collided.

      2. Oh yeah. Mad Max would have done xyz if only he had finished the race. I mean really. Whats wrong with people? You have to finish the friggin race. Everything else you do up to that point is irrelevant.

        1. I agree so lets all stop voting for the quitter Alonso.

    4. Alonso! It was brilliant his performance lying about an alleged motor problem. He is the better actor in the grid, deserves an Oscar!

      1. Are you Jarno Trulli by any chance?

    5. There was next to nothing to choose between Hamilton and Vettel all weekend. Both gave a stellar qualifying performance, they had a clean tussle on the opening lap, and both had the measure of one another during the race.

      Hamilton tried to play with Vettel during the restart, but Vettel now seems wise to his game, so what it ultimately comes down to is Hamilton’s defence once the race was back underway again. That little lift to keep Vettel close to prevent him having a run on him down the Kemmel straight, and his braking on cold, harder compound tyres into Les Combes was pretty much all that set them apart all weekend. You’re looking at two all time greats in roughly equal cars and the margin between them is tiny. This week it went to Hamilton, braking literally a metre earlier or later could have cost him the race. It was masterful.

      1. I’d say there are some clear differences.

        Biggest one is that Vettel obviously chose the wrong setup for the race. Hindsight is perfect perhaps, but limiting his top speed on the straight to have more downforce in the twisty section might have been a reasonable gamble for Q3. However, it turned out to be a really bad choice for the race. He was 6 km/h slower than Raikkonen in the speedtrap. While Raikkonen was almost at the same pace as Bottas and Hamilton.

        Then the big strategic advantage which Ferrari built up during qualifying (having a new set of ultrasofts left) he squandered. He really should have had Hamilton at the restart with those faster tyres.

        Hamilton was masterful. Amazing lap in quali, didn’t put a wheel wrong the whole race, defended perfectly and he had no help from his teammate on setup/data who was struggling all weekend.

        Ricciardo did well too in the end. Not too impressive during Q3, but when he got the opportunity he seized it with both hands and grabbed that last podium slot. Great result for his weekend which I doubt he ever expected.

        1. Other than asking his race engineer where to gain time on Vettel… lol

          1. @ispookie

            Lewis asked where Seb was quicker and was told they where even all around the circuit, so not much help really.

        2. @patrickl

          Then the big strategic advantage which Ferrari built up during qualifying (having a new set of ultrasofts left) he squandered. He really should have had Hamilton at the restart with those faster tyres.

          He should, and like I said Hamilton’s defence against that was masterful. Over the entire weekend there was nearly nothing to choose between them. But that defence was where Hamilton really outclassed Vettel. Which at the level they were both driving was marginal, but still all Hamilton.

    6. Vettel. He did a great classification and race witn a car clearly inferior to the Mercedes.
      Hamilton have also a good weekend, and Hulkenberg, the best of the rest.

      1. I’m really surprised about how many people still comment suggesting that the Ferrari is inferior to the Mercedes @jorge-lardone

        Mercedes definitely have the upper hand on a Saturday (as long as the circuit isn’t full of tight and twisty slow corners and/or smooth asphalt) but in general the Ferrari has been quicker on a Sunday (it’s only really Spain and silverstone that Mercedes have controlled on a Sunday). It’s track position that has hurt them on occasion this year, today included (helped by a very commendable drive by Hamilton)

      2. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
        28th August 2017, 0:06

        @jorge-lardone @3dom I’m surprised too – the Ferraris are mighty on Sunday. Lewis should have lost today – he didn’t because he drove like a maniac for the last 15 laps – he nearly burnt his soft tyres and even had to slow down… You could see the effort that he put into it after the race, it took him a long time to calm down.

        I think Vettel is in shock today. I would be if I were him…

        1. The Mercedes has longer wheelbase(easy victory for Ferrari 2007 with same longer wbase and in that year McLaren had better handling which was observed at monaco) and a more powerfull engine ,on a track like spa both give you a big advantage.than look at Monaco how close bottas was to the Ferraris on pure chassis performane.I don’t see what’s so hard in defending the inside with a more powerfull engine. Even Toto believes they had a better car at spa this year.next i’ll hear how masterfull it Wii be for Mercedes to win Monza.

          There’s no real argument for the Ferrari being better.

        2. Well, he isn’t.
          Far from it, Ferrari made a step forward.
          And, yes, it is tight between the cars (as was the Red Bull vs McLaren fight in 2012), but Mercedes has a slight advantage, overall (as McLaren had in 2012).

    7. Hamilton performed when needed. And I think with the younger audience, people don’t spot the excellent way Hamilton handled that restart. Blind timing the SC. Pushing Vettel to the outside line for the bus-stop chicane by cruising. Slowing him down before Eau Rouge to deny any slipstream as Vettel almost kissed his rear wing, made him choose as soon as he got on top of the hill as he was already on his tail, gave him one option (the wrong one, which Bottas didn’t do in Spain and there you see the difference between a champion and a very good driver) and out drag him.

      Ricciardo just had some luck with the SC, Alonso was not forced to go to McLaren, Massa just didn’t do any dumb things which is what his role should be at Williams and Vettel could not get 1,5sec in tyre compounds to stick and was outsmarted at both starts. This will be a tipping point in the season. I think Lewis will go home much more relaxed then usual today.

      1. Listening to his description of the restart, helps highlight how impressive it was @xiasitlo

      2. @xiasitlo Very good analysis. Lewis did so well at that restart to not get passed by an equal car with 2-step faster tyres on. A bit like Bahrain 2014. Masterful defending ad planning there. DOTW for me.

    8. Mighty drive by Lewis, amazing qualifying performance finding half a second where his teammate couldn’t, great tactics especially at the start where he tried his best to nullify the split stream benefit to Vettel , then resisting Vettel’s charge on ultrasoft, I taught that his win was lost after the SC, let’s just hope that his car won’t let him down.

    9. Im going with Hulkenberg as he has been again “best of the rest”.
      He really gets out the maximum of that Renault!

      1. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
        27th August 2017, 22:20

        For driver of the “Weekend”, I would question him getting the most out of his Renault. Palmer quite clearly looked stronger than Hulkenberg at the start of this weekend. He was 7th and best of the rest in P3 and Hulkenberg was 11th. Then in Q2, Palmer was 7th again. He set 7th early on in Q2 then had a clutch failure. The team then managed to fix it and at the last moment, he managed to improve his time a little more still. But still 7th. Hulkenberg was 9th but over 3 seconds behind him. Then when it came to Q3, Palmer had issues and had to pull off track. But even though Perez, Ocon and Hulkenberg were on the same ultra soft tyres as Palmer used in Q2, All 3 of their times were slower than Palmer’s Q2 time. So even though Hulkenberg qualified 7th, his time was still 3 tenths slower than Palmer’s Q2 run. I am pretty certain that Palmer would have comfortably beaten Hulkenberg in qualifying this weekend if not for his issues. Hulkenberg did look a lot better in the race, but I do wonder if Palmer’s would have turned out differently if he didn’t have his penalty and had qualified ahead of his team mate.

        If there was an option to vote for several drivers of the day instead of a single driver of the weekend, Hulkenberg certainly would be on the list as he did very well in the race.

    10. I try to find someone who has stood out over the weekend, from any team, but I’m not feeling it this time.
      The leading two were good with HAM better in qualifying and VET in the race. Both their teammates had issues and/or underperformed.
      RIC again pounced when he had an opportunity which was very good, but out-done by his teammate otherwise.
      HUL did well but PAL was quicker until the race. Very disappointed PAL didn’t come through the field better.
      GRO did very well in the race and held off MAS when it mattered, while MAG ran off the road.
      MAS was quick coming through the field and continues Williams run of poor qualy and better race pace. STR had some moments but he couldn’t seem to put overtakes together like his teammate.
      OCO and PER? Terrible! They’d be feeling the heat a lot more if they’d done what they did to other teams. Both cost Force India a truck load of points.
      SAI and KVY? To be honest, didn’t see a lot of them and not sure how well they went. Maybe one or both was brilliant to qualify and finish where they did.
      ALO had a great start but a pathetic finish. VAN was mostly invisible.
      ERI seemed solid while WEH struggled. Very hard to tell whether they’re any good.

      Ended up giving my vote to GRO for his efforts in the race. Finish as high as he could have, held off MAS who was quicker in a straight line, and didn’t stuff up like many others around him.

      1. Have to ask – how on earth was SV better in the race?

        He lost despite having a huge tyre advantage at the safety car restart?

        LH held him off and was clearly much better in the race?

        1. Marian Gri (@)
          29th August 2017, 13:40

          There was no huge tyre advantage this time with the Ultras! Don’t tell me HAM kept a 2.5-3sec faster car behind purely on skills. The Softs worked extremely well this race, especially for Mercedes, even more for HAM in particular. His best lap from FPs (which was faster than his best lap with Softs from the race) was a looot faster (1.5sec) than what VET achieved with the same tyre. If you noticed, the teams did not even bother much with the SuperSofts, that well the Softs worked. On theory, VET should have been like 3sec faster than HAM at the restart, hardly believe he was even 1sec faster in reality. He couldn’t get HAM at all after the restart. Nobody can keep a 2-3sec faster car behind purely on skills at Spa.

    11. Close run thing between Hamilton and Vettel, but I think Hamilton did everything required to win. The Mercedes should have had the advantage but Ferrari were surprisingly quicker during the race, but Hamilton’s qually lap was essential, his start and restart (up the Kemmel straight) was masterfully defended, so he tips it for me.

      Ricciardo made the most of the restart and amazingly stayed ahead of Raikkonen and Bottas when they should have been hot on his heels, but he was out qualified by Verstappen again. Hulkenberg did well to finish best of the rest, but again looked slower than Palmer this weekend. Grosjean looked quick and tidy during the race, but nothing outstanding compared to the battle out front. So for me, Hamilton edges this one this weekend with one of his better weekends so far this year.

      1. Marian Gri (@)
        29th August 2017, 13:46

        RAI and RIC were on Ultras at the restart, BOT was on Softs. Maybe we’re asking too much from BOT given the tyres equipped.

    12. Lewis, Nico and Daniel in this order for me! And again Palmer failed and i thought he would be beter in the race after his qualifier but Nico is an beter racer. So next season i hear someone southern takes his spot.

    13. Hamilton, with Vettel and Grosjean close behind. Ricciardo was good in the race but trounced in qualy. Kimi was faster than Vettel all weekend until it mattered for some reason. Bottas was nowhere near LH’s pace. Hulk had a good race but Palmer was beating him until the problems. Massa made the best of a bad situation. Ocon and Perez got what they deserved. Sainz=Massa. Palmer, MV unlucky. Have nothing positive to say about the rest

    14. No one in the midfield really stuck out for me. Ordinarily, for qualifying 7th and finishing 6th I’d vote Hulkenberg, except it actually looked like Palmer was quicker in qualifying before his car failed, so I can’t really vote for him from that. Although Hulk was much quicker in the race and would be a contender for DotD.
      Therefore, I’m going to go for Hamilton. Was close between him and Vettel, but Hamilton controlled the race. He was helped by the turbulent air meaning that Vettel couldn’t get within DRS range when he was on the ultra softs, but he controlled the restart perfectly and made no mistakes. Also seemed to set the car up better than Vettel.

    15. Hamilton easy.. Close second Vettel.

    16. Token Grosjean fan here. A great job (same for Massa and hulk)

    17. Massa had a great race, never gets the praise he deserves.

      1. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
        28th August 2017, 13:31

        I’m a Massa fan. Massa had a great race on race day. Practice and qualifying also counts towards the weekend for these votes and Massa made a really big mistake by ignoring yellow flags and picking up a 5 place grid drop that actually resulted in him moving from 16th to 16th. This was due to other drivers having much greater penalties though. If this vote was for driver of the day, I certainly could consider Massa as one of them.

        1. And don’t forget his crash at his first real lap during P1.

    18. ILuvSoundtracks (@)
      28th August 2017, 14:07

      Hamilton pulling away with it.

    19. Hamilton all day long. Took an unassisted pole with one of his full on hammertime laps, judged the start and restart to perfection. Looked defiant all weekend and didn’t put a foot wrong.

    20. Not able to give an opinion. I was there and since the organization was absolutely dreadful, I was not able to see more than 3 square centimeters of racing tarmac.
      Even the big screens were out of sight.
      That was after a 2 hour que to get in at around 7:30 in the morning, to find the “perfect” spot.

      And after a night in a wet meadow without a shower or even running water that they dare to call a camping.
      What a disgrace.

      From what I’ve seen on a fellow fans iPad sitting there next to me watching the tele, Hamilton. What a drive, all weekend.

    21. I was planning to vote Lewis, with Romain a close second, when I noticed that a staggering 10% of the people that voted have reading issues, don’t comprehend the meaning of the word “weekend” and voted DR. So I voted MV out of symphaty.
      (Really people, being outqualified by half a second on a track that is supposed to be “all about the drivers” puts you out of contention for the Driver of the Weekend award.)

      1. @murph I’m glad I’m not the only one who discounts drivers who get out-qualified by their teammate in this poll…as you say, it is Driver of the Weekend not Driver of the Race.

        1. On that logic, you reduce your DOTW field by half, no matter where they finish the race….hmmm, maybe we need a DOFP and a DOQ.

      2. So how did Ricciardo’s “race weekend” go? He went home with a third place. That sounds like a pretty good “weekend” result.

    22. I normally don’t vote for a driver in the most dominant car out there (albeit very slightly this weekend) who wins from pole. This time I do, with the main reason being Lewis’ masterful defending move on Seb right after the restart where he slightly lifted off in Eau Rouge which lead to Vettel having to lift of even more and losing ground from Raidillon onwards. Not only did Lewis think about this being a possibility, but he put it into practice perfectly as only the absolute greatest can! His record-equaling 68th pole is the other reason. History being made this year.

    23. Heart was with Vettel, but voted for Nico who did a splendid job !

    24. I’m a bit surprised that Nico Hulkenberg isn’t getting much of a nod in the vote, he had a stellar weekend. He put the Renault solidly “best of the rest” in quali ahead of the slippery Force India’s (which was no mean feat) and he finished a very comfortable 6th in the race.

      Hamilton was superb, I cannot deny that. He really had to work for this one and he performed like a true great would when the chips were down. But I can’t help give my vote to the Hulk for the job he is doing in a Renault that is probably only the 5th quickest car on the grid at best.

      1. @geemac Hulk was schooled by Palmer in qualy before the latter’s retirement. Many here have noted that Hulk’s race was great, but qualifying…not so much.

        1. @neutronstar for the very first time this year however. It’s quite possible he set his car up with the race in mind rather than qualifying, which came good.

          1. @offdutyrockstar Hmm..but I remember Hulkenberg saying “There’s something wrong with the rear” during qualifying, and also remarked later that he couldn’t find a good setup.

            Either way, Hamilton had a more consistent weekend, so he in my opinion deserves the DOTW title.

    25. While a few drivers had a good race I struggled to choose a driver of the weekend, unless someone puts in an exceptional performance in the race one of the criteria I use is how they performed against their teammate in both qualifying and the race.

      Ricciardo secured another podium, but yet again Verstappen was the quicker of the two Red Bull drivers over the weekend but once more his car let down in the race.

      Hulkenberg was best of the rest behind the top teams in the race, but for the first time this year Palmer seemed to be the quicker of the two, but again suffered car problems this time in Q3 when he was on course for his best qualifying of the season.

      Sometimes I also don’t pick the drivers in the best cars unless they dominate the whole weekend, but this time my choice for driver of the weekend was between the drivers in the fastest cars, it came down to the two title contenders Hamilton and Vettel.

      Spa was predicted to be a Mercedes circuit but Ferrari were much closer and even seemed to have the best race car, so it was not the straight forward Mercedes 1-2 I thought it was going to be before the weekend started, it was not even a Mercedes 1-2.

      Leading up to qualifying it seemed to be one of the few meetings where Raikkonen was the faster of the two Ferraris but it was Vettel who delivered the goods when it mattered in Q3 to secure a front row start and in the race it never seemed that Raikkonen would trouble Vettel.

      Hamilton achieved a record equalling pole with a great lap in qualifying, he then managed to retain the lead at the start which gave him all important track position, Vettel was rarely more than two seconds behind him during the whole race and if Vettel had got past Hamilton I think he could have gapped him.

      Vettel shadowed Hamilton for most of the Grand Prix and if Hamilton had made any mistake then Vettel would surely have won.

      I decided to vote for Hamilton as think he performed the better of the two throughout the weekend.

    26. Pole King Lewis Hamilton. The entire weekend was his.

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