Which Formula One driver made the most of the Chinese 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 here and vote for who impressed you the most at Shanghai International Circuit below:
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 2018 Chinese Grand Prix weekend?
- No opinion (0%)
- Charles Leclerc (0%)
- Marcus Ericsson (0%)
- Stoffel Vandoorne (0%)
- Fernando Alonso (4%)
- Kevin Magnussen (1%)
- Romain Grosjean (0%)
- Brendon Hartley (0%)
- Pierre Gasly (0%)
- Carlos Sainz Jnr (0%)
- Nico Hulkenberg (7%)
- Sergey Sirotkin (0%)
- Lance Stroll (0%)
- Esteban Ocon (0%)
- Sergio Perez (0%)
- Max Verstappen (1%)
- Daniel Ricciardo (67%)
- Kimi Raikkonen (2%)
- Sebastian Vettel (2%)
- Valtteri Bottas (14%)
- Lewis Hamilton (1%)
Total Voters: 408
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When this poll is closed the result will be displayed instead of the voting form.
2018 Chinese Grand Prix
- Top ten pictures from the 2018 Chinese Grand Prix
- Ricciardo denies Bottas a badly-needed win
- 2018 Chinese Grand Prix Star Performers
- Hamilton breaks Raikkonen’s record for consecutive points finishes
- Paddock Diary: Chinese Grand Prix day four
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?
HUHHII (@huhhii)
15th April 2018, 11:20
Bottas for me. Did everything he could in quali and race (superb out-lap after pitting!) but was unlucky with the safety car. Honorable mentions to Ricciardo, Hülkenberg and Alonso.
72defender (@72defender)
15th April 2018, 12:16
Bottas, and it’s a no-brainer!
Danny Ric simply got lucky because his strategists were on point with the timing of their pit call strategy. Nothing sensational from him because of course you’re going to move up the grid with fresher softer compounds.
Todfod (@todfod)
15th April 2018, 12:55
I thought it was a really difficult decision between four drivers –
Bottas – Outqualfied and outraced Hamilton convincingly. Jumped one car at the start again, and put in mega in and out laps to make the undercut work. It was just bad luck that he had a Red Bull with fresh softs gaining on him after the SC period.
Ricciardo – Mega race. Driver of day on Sunday. Flawless overtaking and strong race pace. Although, he did get out qualified by his teammate on Saturday and wasn’t great in the opening laps when he did have the ultrasofts.
Alonso – Outqualified his teammate. Mega performance on Sunday. Great start, great overtakes and moved up more places than anyone else on the grid. The overtake on Vettel was fantastic. Thought his race was almost as good as Ricciardo’s.
Hulkenberg – Didn’t put a foot wrong in qualifying or the race. Beat his teammate convincingly on both days, soaked up a lot of pressure from Alonso to hang on to P6, and pulled a brave move on Vettel towards the end.
In the end I had to go for Bottas. He was just really flawless all weekend. I’d say it was his best performance in Formula 1 so far.
ihavenoideawhatimtalkinabout
15th April 2018, 13:11
how could you overlook dan fighting against adversity all weekend, getting to q3 on 1 lap after being in the garage all day, and then storming through the field? i suppose getting beat by two ferraris and making 1 pass on a cornered kimi is spectacular to you? anyhow, your opinion.
Todfod (@todfod)
15th April 2018, 20:13
Not discounting his performance in quali. I think he did a good enough job on Saturday. I just thought his start and opening laps weren’t as spectacular as his team mate’s. He had the ultrasofts and he should have made up more ground in the first stint.
Overall, I just thought Bottas did a better job. If it wasn’t for red bulls strategic call, Dan wouldn’t have really been considered for dotw
James
16th April 2018, 12:47
The general consensus was that ultra softs weren’t a good race tyre so of course he wasn’t going to be able to do much in the opening phase of the race.
Also it’s kind of silly to eliminate something that happened and say he (Dan) wouldn’t have been considered. Similarly you could say that Bottas wouldn’t have been considered if Vettel hadn’t chopped Raikkonen, thus pushing him back. Max would have been considered had he not crashed in the back-end. Vettel would have been considered had Ferrari reacted. Ifs and buts. Ultimately you should only discuss what actually happened, not what could have, would have, should have, or didn’t happen.
George (@george)
15th April 2018, 21:54
Yeah, was between these four for me, and I came out with the same conclusion.
GeeMac (@geemac)
16th April 2018, 8:46
Have to agree. Bottas was just plain quicker than Hamilton this weekend and had a really strong race. We wanted him to get his elbows out and he did, forceful pass on Raikkonen and defence from Riccardo, great speed round his pitstop to undercut Vettel. If the safety car didn’t come out the race was his.
Egonovi
17th April 2018, 21:06
Bottas was more like a doorman on Sunday. Pretending to close the door, but quickly opening it again when he saw Ricciardo coming.
The door was so wide open that even Verstappen would struggle hitting him whilst overtaking ;)
Phylyp (@phylyp)
15th April 2018, 11:21
Easy peasy for me – Ricciardo, for his great qualifying effort yesterday. And enough words have been said about today.
Big mention to Bottas for a great performance in qualifying and the race as well. Ricciardo’s overtakes were what gave him the edge in my vote.
DOTD – Gasly, for enlivening the race with his punt.
DOTD (dunce of the day) – Max.
JohnH (@johnrkh)
15th April 2018, 11:22
Ricciardo this week, pure class start to finish.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
15th April 2018, 16:50
@johnrkh One word, Lewis! Daniel, 2nd by the same distance between 2nd and 3rd. Not even close…
ruliemaulana (@ruliemaulana)
15th April 2018, 11:24
I vote for Verstappen. I don’t care. He always the main thriller actor.
Very high honourable mention to Ricciardo’s mechanics ensemble.
Duncan Idaho (@)
15th April 2018, 11:55
Thanks for taking the time to explain. I was struggling to understand his 6%
sethje (@seth-space)
15th April 2018, 13:17
i voted for RIC, but VER is definitely the icing on the cake. Every race again. He was very unlucky this time. To eager.
But:
If you look at the pass of RIC on Bottas it was pure luck ( and the missing balls of Bottas) . If he did this with VET or HAM the outcome would be very different.
nevertheless, RIC did a great job .
Paul A (@paul-a)
16th April 2018, 2:05
Bottas’s balls? What’s that got to do with the price of onions? Try Bottas’s maturity, or intelligence, or common sense. When a “more or less” capable car on much better rubber is catching you, there’s a choice: cause an accident or… get your balls in the way.
James
16th April 2018, 12:52
Verstappen was in no way ‘unlucky’. He had two incidents during the race, both of which were caused by his driving, nothing else.
It won’t have mattered if the lead driver was Vettel or Hamilton, rather than Bottas. If you consider that the circumstances were the same then I’m sure Ricciardo would have gotten the move done fairly soon after.
Christopher Rehn (@chrischrill)
15th April 2018, 11:24
Ricciardo for the overtakes on Bottas and Hamilton. Sure he passed the Ferrari’s too but those overtakes on the Mercedes boys were harder to come by. Impressive stuff.
ILuvSoundtracks (@)
15th April 2018, 11:28
Daniel Ricciardo.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
15th April 2018, 16:51
Way Wrong :-) Read below, learn and complain to Keith that you can’t change your vote.
Trayambak Chakravarty (@major-dev)
15th April 2018, 18:01
I’ve been reading your comments and your condescending attitude just ruins the atmosphere of this beautiful website. Please have some respect for someone else’s opinion.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
15th April 2018, 18:53
@major-dev
My apologies if they are construed that way – they are certainly not intended that way. This can also be done in a private message or a message to Keith.
It’s a bit tough, though, with the wonderful and extremely knowledgeable folks on the forum not to see the brilliance of the race from Lewis. Daniel was NEVER going to win this race without Lewis’ help. In fact, he might not have even made P2.
That feint on Max was the move of the race – if you think otherwise, that’s your opinion and I do respect it. Some folks may think Gasly’s move on Hartley was the best move and we unfortunately have to respect it.
Sun Siyuan (@peking901)
19th April 2018, 9:37
270 votes for Ric, 4 for Ves and 4 for Ham. But of course, you are smarter than all of them, you are the smartest guy.
Unlike Max, Daniel Ricciardo seized every opportunities and made no single mistake in Qualifying and Race to win this one.
Also, what you called the ‘brilliance of the race’ from Ham is just a regular defensing move from a top class driver. Vettel did it, Alonso did it, Raikkonen did it, Button did it, and even Webber did it before, at Silverstone. I really don’t understand why some of you Lewis’ fans are always trying to praise him by insulting others.
Sravan Krishnan (@sravan-pe)
15th April 2018, 11:38
If there was a vote for ‘mechanics of the weekend’ then guess who’ll win. This one is firmly Ricciardo’s. For his surgical move on Bottas, his Lunge on Hamilton and also making it into Q2 by the skin of his teeth.
F1 frog (@f1frog)
15th April 2018, 11:39
Daniel Ricciardo was the DOTD but Bottas was the DOTW because Ricciardo was out qualified by Verstappen. Nico Hulkenberg was also a star performer
Homerlovesbeer (@homerlovesbeer)
15th April 2018, 11:58
‘@f1frog‘ You do realise why Ric was outqualified by Max yes? Remember the engine blowing up in P3 for Dan? Think about the running he missed out on to set up his car.
To go out and do what he did and only be 0.15 secs behind Max after nearly not making qualifying at all was an outstanding effort.
Duncan Idaho (@)
15th April 2018, 12:00
Ric was 0.15 slower than Max after only getting 2 hot laps in after FP2 – with FP1/2 in utterly different conditions. I’d call qually performance for Ric as well.
hahostolze (@hahostolze)
15th April 2018, 11:40
Vettel or Bottas, for theirs was the most impressive race and not one altered by luck, like Ricciardo’s otherwise impressive drive.
Sam (@crunch)
15th April 2018, 11:59
Why penalise Ricciardo critically because he was lucky?
I also amicably disagree with saying Vettel was more impressive than Bottas. Vettel got undercut by Bottas due to his mistake in the final sector.
krxx
15th April 2018, 12:37
@crunch
Why penalise Ricciardo critically because he was lucky? – Bc he’s a Max idolate and they have a really, really hard time to give his teammates any props. To rate Vet above Ric for this weekend, is ludicrous.
hahostolze (@hahostolze)
15th April 2018, 13:53
You’re a strange one
Christopher Rehn (@chrischrill)
15th April 2018, 12:15
Ricciardo was P6 at the restart after Safety Car. How is that luck? He passed everyone ahead of him on track excluding his team mate who danced with Hamilton and went off. That’s not luck, mate.
krxx
15th April 2018, 12:40
@chrischrill
Nope, that’s called dutch envy.
Blackbox (@blackbox)
15th April 2018, 13:03
Brand new fresh tires and a teammate who was helping. The first is good strategy call from RBR and the second one stupidity.
James
16th April 2018, 12:58
To what advantage do you hold a driver with a superior car? Is that also luck? Is it only luck if you happen to pass with newer tyres and an inferior car than to pass with a superior car?
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
15th April 2018, 11:41
I personally think people are being extremely generous towards Ricciardo. I will say this though. He made the circumstances work to prefection, but here isn’t a chance I can say he did a better weekend performance than Bottas. He got past verstappen because of Verstappen making a silly mistake, And Red Bull were very fortunate with the timing of the safety car. He was on far newer tyres than who he overtook. The overtake on Bottas looked great and indeed was, but the difference in his tyres was huge. Newer and softer, faster compounds. And he was also out qualified by Verstappen in qualifying. He did clearly have a better weekend than Verstappen, But Bottas qualified 3rd, ahead of his highly rated team mate. He had a great start. Then Kimi in a faster Ferrari was clearly very slow behind him. Although at one stage, I don’t think this was Kimi’s fault. But Bottas’t overtake on Kimi looked great. Not the easiest place to do it. Bottas managed the distance from Vettel really well. Then at the safety car restart, Bottas was really smart. He pulled away much sooner than most drivers usually do. That caught Vettel out badly, resulting in Bottas nearly pulling away by 2 seconds. Ricciardo and Verstappen had pitted, which Bottas couldn;t have done. Ricciardo then had a huge advantage, but Bottas managed to keep him close behind for longer than the other drivers did.
I really am surprised that Ricciardo nearly has double the amount of votes Bottas has for his “weekend” performance. I wouldn’t say his race a lone was better. But that isn’t against him, he did do a brillient job, but luck was involved. Even if Ricciardo had driven harder than he did, if there wasn’t a safety car, would he have been driver of the weekend then? I doubt it. Bottas did better in the race and qualifying.
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
15th April 2018, 11:44
Ok, Riccardo now has over 3 times the amount of votes as Bottas. For what the definition of Weekend performance is, this is now getting silly. I may be over reacting a bit, but seriously, does anyone agree?
I don’t want to sound like I’m against Ricciardo, but it won’t have been that hard given he was lucky enough to have a pit stop for far newer, softer tyres than the drivers he overtook at the end.
Sam (@crunch)
15th April 2018, 11:56
In non-critical, rational response to you, I say that the driver of the weekend should be independent of luck.
Just because Ricciardo had luck, does not take away from the fact that he made brilliant passes, and is a clearly deserving winner of the grand prix. We have a comparison with Verstappen to illustrate how Ricciardo’s performance was brilliant, and Verstappen’s was less so.
Bottas did everything right, but Ricciardo did everything right to a more challenging and difficult degree. Insane passing moves. There was more pressure riding on Ricciardo to deliver from the opportunity than Bottas had to deliver this weekend, therefore, Ricciardo delivered better than Bottas did.
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
15th April 2018, 12:05
But…. Passing moves on much newer and softer compound tyres! Vs much older hard tyres. I don’t get how you don’t faster this in. Bottas is usaully very good at defending later on in the race. If Ricciardo’s tyres had been the same age, I doubt he’s have managed to overtake. Even though his overtakes looked great, I don’t think people realise how easy it will have been on those drivers that had barely any life left in their tyres.
Like I said, Ricciardo did have a great race, but those overtakes were no more impressive than Bottas getting Kimi at the start of the race, then overtaking him again later at the same time as Bottas having to defend a faster Vettel.
Sam (@crunch)
15th April 2018, 12:19
Bottas is in a Mercedes though, a much faster car than the Red Bull.
Ricciardo and Verstappen need to have stellar performances to win races, and Ricciardo managed it today.
The newer, softer compound was necessary to give Ricciardo a chance, so I don’t know why it should be factored in at all. It was essential to give Ricciardo the opportunity to perform.
Bottas needs to perform against the Ferrari and his teammate every day of the week, because the cars are similar in performance. Those are benchmark cars, and the fact that Bottas held off Vettel and passed Kimi means that he did well, but he didn’t romp them.
Verstappen is Ricciardo’s benchmark, and Ricciardo beat his benchmark (in the race).
I agree that Bottas was the 2nd best driver of the weekend, and I think @didaho has explained why Ricciardo’s performance was a stellar performance.
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
15th April 2018, 12:44
But did you not notice that in qualifying, the Ferrari’s were half a second ahead of Mercedes? The fact that Bottas was much faster than Kimi and managed to hold vettel behind was already really impressive. Verstappen was a 10th of a second behind the Mercedes, showing Red Bull were not really that far off. And Red Bull usually are more confident in the race. I still think that Riccardo had such a huge advantage over all those ahead of him once he had pitted. The Red Bull wasn’t far off Mercedes this weekend compared to the usual. Taking this into consideration on top of the fact that Ricciardo was on softer, faster tyers and were 11 laps newer than Bottas’s, that to me still doesn’t make his race more impressive. As I mentioned, Bottas had 1 or 2 great overtakes earlier in the race. Ricciardo got past Verstappen really easily and had 3 easy overtakes at the end due to his tyres.
I really don’t want to be against him, but now he has 4 times the amount of votes as Bottas for his “weekend” performance, I think it is getting silly. I know he had to miss a lot of practice and qualifying, but there was no proof he will have been faster than Verstappen in qualifying. Where as Bottas was way better than Hamilton and did better than Vettel too. He overtook both Kimi and Vettel and was leading the race before the safety car gave the advantage to Ricciardo. Surely this is an obvious reason as to why I’m very surprised about the level of votes Ricciardo has? Not enough people factor in the definition of weekend. There is no doubt Bottas was very strong in both. There was nothing outstanding about the first 50% of Ricciardo’s race.
Duncan Idaho (@)
15th April 2018, 12:07
I think the Bottas case is quite arguable – he certainly had Hamilton in a depressed state but if he had a racing manoeuvre in his pocket like Ric pulled out today he’d also have a winners trophy in there from last week.
Zeke
15th April 2018, 12:49
Bottas is a likeable and skilled driver but he just doesn’t have the natural self belief of Ham,Vet and Ric that is needed to become WDC .
He had a good weekend but not an outstanding one.
As for Max , well it’s becoming Max attack Min delivery. This kids gonna burn out quick.
Esploratore (@esploratore)
15th April 2018, 23:13
The comment doesn’t have a reply button, but mercedes much faster than red bull? I doubt.
Ofc they had the tyre advantage but this year they seem on pace with merc and ferrari, merc was behind this race, so even more of a reason to consider them at least even.
Sonsofbeaches
16th April 2018, 8:23
I didn’t say Merc was faster – Ric clearly was – mainly from perfect tight entries on 13 and 5? made possible by his fresher tyres (Max didn’t seem to think he’d be able to get that much differential on the long straight as he had a go in a strange place after 7). All I was saying is Bot had a similar advantage over the Vet last week and kept his powder dry.
Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
15th April 2018, 19:55
@thegianthogweed I too voted for Ricciardo and the reason is simple: He and the Red Bull team clearly won the race in a car with a weaker engine than either Ferrari or Mercedes use. Daniel did it in a car that probably wasn’t at the optimum setup because he only had enough time for one fast lap in Qualifying 1, so the mechanics would have had to guess some of the car’s setup. Someone at Red Bull made a very brave call during the race with just seconds to spare (recalling that Ferrari and Mercedes missed the opportunity), probably without time to discuss this with others, so they got their drivers to pit during the Safety Car. This could have gone wrong and the drivers lost places, but the call was a good one. It would have paid off for both Daniel and Max, and Daniel would have been second and Max first, but for the fact Max overcooked it with Vettel. Daniel had already put his car in a place where he was able to punish Max and Vettel for Max’s mistake. So this wasn’t a “pure chance” win, it was a win because of very hard work, good calls, good guesses, being patient, and a lot of skill.
Aaditya (@neutronstar)
15th April 2018, 12:47
@thegianthogweed Completely agree. Ric’s overtaking manoeuvres were some of the most daring and the best I have ever seen from him (arguably, some of the best I’ve seen in my ten years of regularly watching F1), but up until the last quarter of the weekend, he was getting beaten by Max. It was a great victory in the end for him, but I don’t think he deserves the massive margin in the votes that he is enjoying right now. Bottas and Hulkenberg are equally good candidates for the DOTW prize.
Guybrush Threepwood (@guybrushthreepwood)
15th April 2018, 11:42
How it couldn’t be Ricciardo, I’m struggling to figure out.
Bottas did well, but just not as brilliant as Ricciardo. I guess Max also proved not anyone could get the job done.
RetardedF1sh (@retardedf1sh)
15th April 2018, 11:54
Easy, Ricciardo was outqualified by Verstappen and was trailing him for most of the race. Only a mistake by Max got him ahead. The safety car is what won Ricciardo the race. Not to say his overtakes weren’t brilliant but this was far from a perfect weekend for Ricciardo.
Bottas, however, did nothing wrong all weekend. He beat his teammate, only the man with the most pole positions of all time in qualifying and got ahead of one of the Ferraris in the start and the other during the pitstops. Only the safety car cost him the win but there was nothing he could have done about that.
RetardedF1sh (@retardedf1sh)
15th April 2018, 11:54
@guybrushthreepwood ^
Homerlovesbeer (@homerlovesbeer)
15th April 2018, 12:06
@retardedf1sh did u forget about Dan missing out on a lot of P3 then having to do a one lap screemer to get into Q2 after nearly not even starting? And then only being 0.15 secs behind his teammate who had P3 plus all but 2 mins extra time of Q1 to practice and get into the grove?
Dan did an outstanding job considering his circumstances! To vote him down simply because Max beat him (by sweet FA) in qualifying is pretty narrow minded.
RetardedF1sh (@retardedf1sh)
15th April 2018, 12:22
@homerlovesbeer “simply because Max beat him in qualifying”
Did you not read the rest of my comment? That was just one of the reasons I gave. Besides, missing FP3 had hardly any impact on his Q3 performance so it doesn’t really matter that much to me. I’m not hating on Ricciardo here, it was great effor in Q1 so all credit to him for that.
Homerlovesbeer (@homerlovesbeer)
15th April 2018, 12:27
@retardedf1sh ok then. Tell me where Dan failed to perform to his maximum potential this weekend? You can’t can you……
RetardedF1sh (@retardedf1sh)
15th April 2018, 12:33
@homerlovesbeer When you spend the first 38 laps of the race behind your teammate with a car between the two, it’s hardly maximum potential, is it.
Todfod (@todfod)
15th April 2018, 13:08
@homerlovesbeer
I don’t think you can give an instance where Bottas failed to perform to his maximum potential this weekend either. So what’s the point of the question?
Got to agree with @retardedf1sh on this one. I thought Ricciardo was great this weekend, but I just don’t understand how he’s hands down a favourite to win DOTW over Bottas. If it wasn’t for the safety car period and Red Bull’s strategy, Ricciardo wouldn’t even be considered for DOTW.
JohnH (@johnrkh)
15th April 2018, 12:16
You mean yet another mistake by Verstappen.
sethje (@seth-space)
15th April 2018, 13:24
Most of the times he makes great and unique passes. Sometimes it does not work, like today. But hee.. VER is still one of the best of the field and the hard needed spicing in the races.
Cut him some slack and enjoy his fighting spirit.
‘
MG1982 (@mg1982)
15th April 2018, 19:57
Agree, but VET qualifies there too. He did absolutely nothing wrong all weekend long. His team poor strategy gave P1 to BOT.
Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
16th April 2018, 5:07
There’s an old saying which the racing commentators regularly say, which is “To finish first, first you’ve got to finish”. While Max could have finished first, he didn’t because of his own impatience. Daniel did finish first because he chose which opportunities to exploit and which ones’ to ignore.
Martin
15th April 2018, 11:56
Because until he was handed a significant performance advantage over the Ferraris and Mercs he was having a pretty forgettable race?
DocNuke (@)
15th April 2018, 16:25
@guybrushthreepwood,
I see your point, but I could make a good argument as to why Bottas was even in the running the honors.
But when you come down to it, Ricciardo took what could have been a horrible qualifying session if the car didn’t get out resulting starting at the back of the grid and turned it on end. He picked up the win for himself and Red Bull. Like you, for those of us that see it that way, it is a no brainer.
EC (@dutch-1)
15th April 2018, 11:42
Voted Raikkonnen. He was sacrificed for Vettel and had nothing to expect but ended up on the podium.
Looser of the day of course Verstappen. Trough away a 100% chance to be the winner.
But it could pan out well for him too: Ricciardo’s mind set will be much more positive towards Red Bull again. He can laugh again so the team mates will be more on an equal level again. Still Verstappen knows he is the faster of the two and he can handle RIC in a direct fight. And when RIC will stay at in a RB next year VER will be much happier then his (former) team mate as second man in a Merc.
EC (@dutch-1)
15th April 2018, 11:45
Sorry, trough = throw
Martin
15th April 2018, 11:59
I think you meant “threw”.
Also loser not looser
Phylyp (@phylyp)
15th April 2018, 11:48
Yeah, that was good karma for him. Let that same karma help him win a race, he’s overdue one.
TFLB (@tflb)
15th April 2018, 11:43
Verstappen… nah just joking he was rubbish as he has been all season so far. I went for Both as for his overall performance, an ill-timed safety car costing him a likely win. Ricciardo was good but did get very lucky with the timing of the safety car, his teammate’s awfulness and silly strategies from Mercedes and Ferrari.
TFLB (@tflb)
15th April 2018, 11:55
Bottas I mean… autocorrects to Both as!
Joseph (@bigjoe)
15th April 2018, 16:24
@tflb
Verstappen put Riccairdo and Hamilton in the shade until the safety car. He was flawless with an excellent start until he got his quick tyres and then run off the road by Hamilton which lost him the place to Riccairdo. Unsettling I would say. Without the safet cary he was due a well earnt 3rd place, yet you claim he was rubbish ?
watch here from 3.35 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiub1DnUnkg
TFLB (@tflb)
15th April 2018, 16:32
@bigjoe Without the safety car… Well it happened didn’t it? You know the saying if my uncle was a woman he’d by my aunt? It’s pointless having ifs and buts like that. Yeah he was flawless until the safety car came out – just like Maldonado was flawless in, let’s say, Australia 2012. Then he crashed. The point being it doesn’t matter how good your race was if you throw it away through your own mistakes – and it’s even worse when you take others with you. Also, Hamilton didn’t run him off the road – Max lost it all by himself. He should have known there was no grip out there.
Joseph (@bigjoe)
15th April 2018, 16:50
@tflb
There isn’t a witch-hunt for your uncle though.
Verstappen was flawless and the quickest driver for most of the race. You’ve got a very unhappy time ahead of you watching F1 now you’ve stated Verstappen is ‘Rubbish’ He’s done nothing Senna or Vettel didn’t do and still cleaner than Schumacher and will remain faster and in more demand than his team mate.
TFLB (@tflb)
15th April 2018, 17:09
@bigjoe aha. You tell yourself that if it makes you feel better while the rest of us look at facts and the real world. Being good for half the race doesn’t matter if you crash in the other half. And no, he wasn’t the quickest driver, where did you get that from? Apart from blind bias obviously.
Joseph (@bigjoe)
15th April 2018, 17:38
@tflb
Where’s it been obvious I have bias?
The great thing for neutrals like me is that Max has got under Lewis’s skin two races in a row making Lewis look blatantly unsettled, and in a slower car. This is great for the championship fight for genuine F1 fans to watch rather than spouting on forums ‘…driver I don’t like… is “Rubbish”
You’re in for a long slog if you can’t recognise Verstappen as being the fastest at the moment. Riccairdo is a solid opportunist which might pay off though.
TFLB (@tflb)
15th April 2018, 19:30
@bigjoe sorry but your entire argument ‘Verstappen the fastest’ etc and inability to recognise that his mistakes have made his performance a bad one points at you being biased in his favour. Also I don’t think it’s solely Max who’s to thank for Hamilton’s unhappiness. Also I didn’t say he is rubbish in general, rather that he has been so far this season – two very different things.
MG1982 (@mg1982)
15th April 2018, 20:09
Just as you said, VER better start was more due to the fact that VET messed up RAI start and thanks to a lot faster tyres… and less to his skills. Plus, saying he was good for 3rd is quite a gamble. RBR started on Ultras, so they were on long strategy with Mediums OR a 2 pit-stop strategy: Ultras, Mediums and Softs. When the SC period happened they got rid already of the Ultras and were on Mediums. Not impossible, but it’s hard to believe VER and RIC were going to resist HAM and RAI on 10 laps older tyres… same tyre! If they decided to bet on a 2 stop strategy, again… very hard to believe the Softs would have guaranteed a +20sec deficit and then on-track overtaking too.
MG1982 (@mg1982)
15th April 2018, 20:11
…would have guaranteed the recovery of a +20sec deficit…
Aaditya (@neutronstar)
15th April 2018, 12:21
Bottas and Ricciardo were great, but overall, I think Hulkenberg was really great this weekend, so I gave the vote to him. I’m pretty sure Sainz is not yet at his best for some reason, but regardless, Hulk was really fast and consistent throughout. His pass on Vettel round the outside of turn 1 was the cherry on the cake.
Aaditya (@neutronstar)
15th April 2018, 12:24
Better still, Hulk’s pace was towards the end of the race was exactly the same as those in front of him, barring Ricciardo. Granted, he was on the softs but it was still pretty remarkable. He bagged the fifth fastest lap of the race.
Homerlovesbeer (@homerlovesbeer)
15th April 2018, 12:30
Guys voting for Verstappen are seriously delusional!
/me makes loopy loopy gesture
Neil (@neilosjames)
15th April 2018, 12:55
Riccardo for me, very special performance to go from barely getting a lap done in Q1. Yeah he got lucky but he still had to work for it, and that pass on Hamilton was beautiful.
Honourable mentions to Bottas, Hulkenberg and Alonso.
faulty (@faulty)
15th April 2018, 22:13
I had to decide between Hulkenberg and Alonso. I went with Hulk as he drove a flawless race while keeping his car at peak performance.
I couldn’t vote for Ricciardo for 2 reasons, a) The win was a team effort and he played a part of it, but it wasn’t out of his own genius that he made up 5 places to end in the lead, and b) most importantly he was the slowest of the 2 Red Bulls all weekend long, check the race lap times, and also, he was beaten by his teammate in qualifying.
Hugh (@hugh11)
15th April 2018, 13:00
Hulkenberg. Had the beating of Sainz all weekend, and made a superb overtake on Vettel as well.
Ricciardo was great but got outqualified by his team mate and spent the first half of the race behind him, although he was better when it mattered.
Bottas is the other option and he didn’t really do anything wrong, but I’m a Hulk fan sooo…
Joao (@johnmilk)
15th April 2018, 14:13
The Hulk too
It is the 3rd weekend that he might have passed under the radar, but 3 perfect weekenda in a row, and finally best of the rest
faulty (@faulty)
15th April 2018, 22:17
I agree. Hulk kept the car at maximum pace, improved on his starting position and beat his team mate in qualifying and in laptimes.
Verstappen mistakes are really distorting who was the faster of the Red Bulls this weekend.
Jay Menon (@jaymenon10)
15th April 2018, 13:05
Dan Ricciardo. Easy.
He was the driver of the day yesterday, and he was driver of the day today. That makes him the driver of the weekend.
No ifs and buts, the guy found himself with the opportunity, didn’t put a foot wrong, and executed Red Bull’s improvised strategy to perfection. What else can you want?
Max had the same opportunity, but he bottled it.
Joseph (@bigjoe)
15th April 2018, 17:25
@jaymenon10
Exactly. Max needs to think of the long game and give Lewis that crash he is looking for. Max has nothing to lose if they both go off. Lewis was supposedly fighting for the title yet has two swerves at Max in one corner suggesting Max is getting under his skin, going on to fuel a witch hunt the second race in a row by calling him names. Muxt have been especially annoying after losing out to Max at the start.
The Future looks great for Max if Red Bull can hang on to the top two teams. I said earlier this year Red Bull have the best driver pairing.
ihavenoideawhatimtalkinabout
15th April 2018, 13:08
anybody that doesn’t hand this honor to dan isn’t thinking clearly.
montreal95 (@montreal95)
15th April 2018, 13:10
Voted for Hulkenberg. He doesn’t get enough credit for his consistently excellent performance. Bottas close second-outperfomed LH fair and square all weekend on a Hamilton track. Alonso 3rd.
Ricciardo was supreme in the race but lacks in qualy speed at the moment so is P4 for me. Vettel P5 because of his start tactics and because everything presented to him on a silver plate in Scuderia Vettel
The rest do not deserve a mention in a DoTW context.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
15th April 2018, 19:29
@montreal95 I loved Hulk’s performance in this race – I’m so glad to see him in a better car and I really hope he starts contending for podiums and wins.
Todfod (@todfod)
15th April 2018, 13:12
It’s hard to take this poll seriously when Max has more votes than Fernando and Sebastian combined.
sethje (@seth-space)
15th April 2018, 13:27
Well, Max did some grat things.. look at the start.
His nice attempt on HAM failed. Nothing wrog with that. His eagerness cost hem dearly on VER.
But i can understand why people vote for him. We need drivers likte that. Look at Bottas and the way he gave in to RIC. Lost his balls somewhere during the race.
‘
sethje (@seth-space)
15th April 2018, 15:06
great… wrong…like… etc.. sorry. Typing on a phone..
FlatSix3.6 (@kegguts)
16th April 2018, 5:07
I’m surprised Max got votes over some other drivers, I suppose that’s just tribalism.
Jere (@jerejj)
15th April 2018, 13:42
Easy choice: Daniel Ricciardo.
Sonics (@sonicslv)
15th April 2018, 14:09
Well Ricciardo cool headed and great passes makes him easy DOTW. But the best performer this weekend is definitely the Red Bull mechanics.
Joseph (@bigjoe)
15th April 2018, 16:41
@sonicslv
His cool head wasn’t getting him anywhere near Verstappen though until Lewis had two swerves at Max forcing evasive action.
Mashiat (@mashiat)
15th April 2018, 14:12
Gasly, simply for making a 5/10 a 9/10!
Loup Garou (@loup-garou)
15th April 2018, 15:31
Ricciardo of course but an honourable mention for Bottas.
Great fairy tale race for the Ozzie. Almost missed qualification and avoided an engine penalty by the skin of his teeth. In the race he drove superbly, always keeping in touch, grabbing every chance that he got, pulled 3 great passes and went on to win. Could not be better.
Bottas did well too. Outqualified his teammate, was never threatened by him in the race, managed to leapfrog into the lead at the pit stops and then held off Raikkonen to keep his second place.
Jorge Lardone (@jorge-lardone)
15th April 2018, 16:34
An extraordinary lap in qualifying and a great race, he did the best he could despite being hit by a stupid driver. Also a very good weekend for Ricciardo, Hulkemberg and Bottas.
Jorge Lardone (@jorge-lardone)
15th April 2018, 16:34
Vettel, of course.
Todfod (@todfod)
15th April 2018, 20:15
Of course. I don’t think you’ve voted for another driver as dotw in years
Joseph (@bigjoe)
15th April 2018, 16:34
Until the safety car Verstappen was looking the stronges. Excellent start taking Lewis. Faster than his team mate heading for a 3rd.
I voted for Bottas as he made Lewis look ordinary.
I doubt anyone worked harder than Alonso though. What a trooper. Great start and great restart too.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
15th April 2018, 16:49
For the guys who voted Daniel, you all got it WRONG!
Let me first start by saying that Daniel was fantastic and answered the questions regarding him and Max and also proved his comments for Bottas’ race last week in the race! Perfection but as sublime as he was, there’s one driver who’s the reason for all this and undid a massive team mistake today all alone.
Who is that? Obviously it’s Lewis Hamilton. All this happened because of Lewis’s move to test Max’s reflexes which pushed him off track with half the track available for Max:-)
Lewis had noticed that Max and Daniel had new tyres and once he taught Max the best lesson ever taught in F1 using Max’s own skills against him, he let them both by so they can get P1 and P2 or take out Seb. Guess what? He got both right.
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again! Lewis is the best tactician in F1 ever!!!! The fact that he’s driving while he’s doing that, is absolutely amazing. The fact that he undid Mercedes’ mistake was insane.
He took away so many points from Ferrari and were it not for taking evasive action that cost him the position to Kimi, he would have take even more points.
Masterclass from Lewis showing that you can make more ground without wining the race just by making the right calls. Not only did he help himself in the WDC but he has also helped Mercedes in the WCC.
To change one of Churchill’s famous quotes – I think we can safely that Lewis is not lucky to be driving for Team Mercedes but that Team Mercedes is very lucky to be on Team Hamilton.
Pure class and his votes show that most of you don’t understand F1 :-)
Joseph (@bigjoe)
15th April 2018, 16:54
Nice story :) But Lewis harping on and on about his tyres to the pit kind of gave the game away that he was made to look ordinary by Bottas.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
15th April 2018, 17:29
@bigjoe – yes, and I can defend it but guess what? You don’t defend this. If you don’t get it – you don’t need to.
It’d be akin to a deaf music fan listening to Beethoven’s 5th. If you can’t even hear it, how can you appreciate it?
I’ll let you guys talk so I can sit back and just watch and see how good your respective hearing is – maybe you’re not as deaf as you might appear:-)
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
15th April 2018, 19:04
@bigjoe It’s been mentioned by another member that my comments may have been disrespectful. No disrespect intended at all. I just voiced my opinion that I felt people got this wrong.
I loved Daniel’s win and I was celebrating but to give credit to him over Lewis is simply preposterous imho. The feint on Max Verstappen was simply the most move of the race and gifted P1 to Daniel.
The ramifications of that move are absolutely stunning for everything and may play out not just for this season but many seasons.
Macca (@macca)
15th April 2018, 23:43
@freelittlebirds – Your comments aren’t disrespectful. They ARE utter rubbish but they’re not disrespectful.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
15th April 2018, 23:50
@macca ha-ha great argument. So was Ronaldo’s header that won the game against Juventus followed by the penalty kick. Buffon thought it was rubbish – now he’s out (with all respect to Buffon)…
Jonas Karlsson (@orchide)
16th April 2018, 8:18
@freelittlebirds “Lewis had noticed that Max and Daniel had new tyres and once he taught Max the best lesson ever taught in F1 using Max’s own skills against him, he let them both by so they can get P1 and P2 or take out Seb”
So you mean he was looking into the crystal ball while driving so he knew Max would take out seb?
He’s not only the best tactician…ever…he is even some kind of medium.
As stated above, just rubbish.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
16th April 2018, 13:57
@orchide actually, he could see Daniel behind Max and I’m pretty sure that he knew that Daniel was dying to get in front of Max. He didn’t need to defend but obviously he chose to.
Was that decision rubbish? Not according to Daniel, Kimi, and Christian Horner and certainly not according to the WCC and WDC.
You are also rubbishing the psychological value of Max making a 3rd mistake in 3 races, two of them with Lewis, while he’s beleaguered by critics and a mistake that cost him the victory. Psychology is probably the #1 factor in sports – you could be the best racer but if you don’t have confidence, you could be the worst driver on the track.
But obviously I’m the one who’s wrong here on this forum that’s supposedly a racefans. I suppose our comments should be XOXO I love my driver or #IHateLewis or #RubbishAllGreatArguments
I’m delighted that Daniel won but, in all honesty, his victory was nothing
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
16th April 2018, 14:10
Continuation
extraordinary. Afaik, he passed Kimi in the fastest car on the straight without DRS with a speed differential of DRS (Sky Sports was showing their respective speeds as he made the pass and I think he was 20km faster). If you rubbish everything, you should rubbish those passes. I personally don’t even though they weren’t that incredible.
It was just the boost that Daniel needed and I’ve been talked enough about the differences between Max and Daniel even though I’m a huge fan and critic of both drivers. Yes, you can be both by the way:-)
Joao (@johnmilk)
16th April 2018, 12:13
@freelittlebirds this is probably one of the best things I have ever read here
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
16th April 2018, 13:59
@johnmilk
I’m pretty sure this is out of sarcasm but I’m happy this time to see that you finally got this one right!
Who knows, there’s a Michael Phelps in all of us waiting to be discovered:-) Glad I was the one to push you in the right direction! Now give me 50 laps of butterfly :-)
Joao (@johnmilk)
16th April 2018, 14:13
@freelittlebirds it wasn’t sarcasm. Just take it as you want it
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
16th April 2018, 14:23
@johnmilk well you sir have proven me wrong :-) Thank you indeed for the positive comment! It’s a refreshing change of pace from the word rubbish that’s been ringing in my ears since yesterday.
Philip (@philipgb)
15th April 2018, 17:34
This race has to have Mercedes and Ferrari making offers for Ricciardo. I’d wager Verstappen has the greater pace and slightly better wheel to wheel. But no one slings one down the inside under braking like Ricciardo.
Was up against it in qualifying, but in the race as soon as there was a sniff of victory he was absolutely on it.
Joseph (@bigjoe)
15th April 2018, 17:45
@philipgb
‘This race has to have Mercedes and Ferrari making offers for Ricciardo’
In an unpolitical sport with fair employment contracts it would. I imagine contract talks would be very complex at best and we’ll never see the right drivers in the right cars.
Philip (@philipgb)
15th April 2018, 18:55
@bigjoe
Mercedes and Ferrari have drivers with contracts expiring this year, Ricciardo is out of contract at the end of this year.
Mercedes have extra incentive given how hard Hamilton is likely negotiating and how depending the team have been on him.
ferrox glideh (@ferrox-glideh)
15th April 2018, 19:47
I love that someone voted for Lewis. LOL!
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
15th April 2018, 20:08
@ferrox-glideh Oh, that would be me – Daniel Ricciardo would have voted for him too.
After all, Lewis’s move on Max won the race for Daniel. I love Daniel but Daniel would have been in tears on the podium today had it not been for Lewis. If you don’t give credit to Lewis for running off Max with half the track available to Max, then you don’t understand how difficult that is to do. Second, we are not talking about any driver but talking about Max Verstappen who has made Daniel look like a driver who may not belong at Red Bull (in most races that is, not today).
ferrox glideh (@ferrox-glideh)
15th April 2018, 21:47
@freelittlebirds I think that Max has outdriven himself all year long, especially today. Hopefully he will get back into his previous fine form. Lewis drove fairly well, but it was a dismal weekend by his standards.
ferrox glideh (@ferrox-glideh)
15th April 2018, 21:53
RIC has about double the championship points of VER so far this year. Draw conclusions, or make excuses.
Esploratore (@esploratore)
15th April 2018, 23:24
Remember that points count for nothing in a season like last year where verstappen outdrove ricciardo all year long but lost more points through reliability, ending up behind, so the fact ricciardo is ahead on points isn’t enough.
However let’s say verstappen had the potential to have a better result in australia but had (although unbalanced car) a spin and several off track which let ricciardo go ahead, in bahrain he was behind but could’ve come back to fight for podium, like hamilton did, and despite ricciardo having a mechanical dnf he wasn’t able to get a better result than him due to an over aggressive move on hamilton (I mean not leaving him space after) and today again verstappen was ahead, had he overtaken in a more calculated way he’d have won the race and ricciardo 2nd since he’s also faster than him most of the times, but made a couple of mistakes that even without the penalty made his race much worse than ricciardo’s.
So there’s no doubt ricciardo’s consistency is paying off atm, but again, points don’t tell the whole story, 2017.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
16th April 2018, 14:17
@macca I can’t argue about it because I’m a fan and a critic of both drivers and I’ve really said everything many times.
I feel at this moment it’s more appropriate to berate (might be a strong choice of words) Max for his 3rd (actually 4th if you include running off track with Lewis) consecutive mistake and to celebrate Daniel’s victory!
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
15th April 2018, 23:57
@ferrox-glideh Oh I’m on your camp about Max and the points and his dangerous driving. I was super vocal back when he had the accident at Monaco back when he was not considered a prodify. Others felt that as long as he’s talented, he can do anything he wants.
He’s less dangerous now but he’s involved in many incidents and this was his 3rd incident in 3 races today. I really wished for a much more severe penalty today to just get him to think twice.
But had he won, he would crushed Daniel’s ego in the process and that was a mistake that other drivers would not have made today.
This maybe a situation where 2 drivers end up looking average – Daniel being outperformed in almost every race and Max not scoring points because of his on-track aggression.
In the end Sainz and Hulk might have been much better drivers and I haven’t sat and thought about it but just saying it here, I’m almost contemplating that Renault might have the better drivers this year.
Macca (@macca)
16th April 2018, 2:36
@esploratore @freelittlebirds – How can you argue that Max out drove Dan in 2017. Everyone always blames the retirements for Dan scoring more points but if you actually take the time to look at the statistic Max retired 7 times to Dan’s 6 and was outscored by 32 points. (More than 1 race win)
It’s also not a given that Max would have one the race yesterday if he didn’t have his off. If you go and look at the lap times leading up to his incident with Hamilton, Dan was catching Max.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
16th April 2018, 14:18
@macca sorry, I replied to your comment right before this one under @esploratore ‘s comment – my bad:-)
Esploratore (@esploratore)
17th April 2018, 1:39
@macca : so you just consider the NUMBER of retirements and not the points they lost with it? I calculated it before, generally verstappen had issues from further ahead than when ricciardo had those in 2017 and it comes out slightly ahead on points if you correct for that.
Verstappen threw away some points last year due to his all or nothing approach, but even then he’d still be ahead with even reliability.
Sun Siyuan (@peking901)
19th April 2018, 9:59
Just one move could make him your DOTW… Then how about the astonishing lap that Bottas under-cutted Vettel?
Lewis winning! —DOTW!
No? Then Lewis pole position! —DOTW!
Still no? Lewis brilliant move! —DOTW!
None of it? Emm, let me think. He tried everything to win the race! —DOTW!
I just found the logic here: ignore the others and find any reason to vote for Lewis!
Jon (@johns23)
16th April 2018, 1:11
Danny Ric for sure! Was looking bad for him the start of the weekend but stood up and just got on with it
Pink Peril (@pink-peril)
16th April 2018, 8:13
Holy testicle Tuesday Batman, it has to be Danny Ric. *That* overtake was a league all of its own. Sure he didn’t qualify all that well but when you consider he was in the garage with about 3 minutes to go, he did an immense job over the weekend in the time available to him. Bottas and Alonso also had great weekends, but I had to go with DR.
Patrick (@anunaki)
16th April 2018, 8:42
I gave it to RIC mainly because he won the race.
Max was faster in qualy and had a better 1st half of the race. He should’ve been dotd but he messed up bigtime.
Bottas was also very good this weekend. Maybe he did a better job but I still give it to RIC because of the overtakes and the win.
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
16th April 2018, 9:19
We worked out last year that Bottas won DOTW by the biggest margin of any driver that year. That was in Russia. 79% then the next was Vettel at 9%. The fact that Ricciardo is very nearly beating that basically due to a safety car and free pit stop is a bit generous IMO. It didn’t change that Bottas’s performance was great all race long. Ricciardo was 6th behind Verstappen and Verstappen also had a much better start. Ricciardo’s race was unimpresssive and only looked good after he had a huge advantage. He did all he could, so it is a real achievement, but I’m amazed he has over 5 times the votes as Bottas and one is about the most voted driver over any other even compared to virtually all the races last year.
Lucky circumstances in the last part of the race really do seem to chance peoples views. If this happened slightly later and he didn’t quite manage to get Bottas, would he have got it then when it was only one less overtake in less time? I very much doubt it. Due to what happened, he and Verstappen had a much better handling car in the last part of the race, so I personally think Ricciardo has been extremely over rated. If a strong car in the top 10 in 6th started on new softer tyres and the rest were on used harder tyres, would they have won DOTW if they got past them all by the time a third of the race had gone by? This is the advantage the Red Bulls had at the end and it was only due to Gasly…
They made a great decision, and the team did deserve to win. ricciardo’s overtakes all looked impressive, but given the age of tyres everyone he went past was on, I think they are being overlooked.
Brian (@flyinglapct)
16th April 2018, 16:08
Clearly it should be BOT. RIC deserves DOTW as much VET did in Australia. Race was won on strategy.
PJA (@pja)
19th April 2018, 19:41
I didn’t think that the driver of the weekend was that straight forward, there were a few contenders in my opinion.
Ricciardo – A great race aided by Red Bull’s strategy call to pit for fresh tyres under the safety car, however he was beaten by his teammate in qualifying but you have to factor in that his mechanics only just got him out in time in Q1 because of power unit problems in FP3.
Bottas – Quicker than Hamilton in qualifying and looked like he was on course for the victory after getting past Vettel during the pit stops, that was until the safety car was called out and he stood no chance against a much faster Ricciardo on better tyres. He did well to hold off Raikkonen in the final stages to keep second place.
Hulkenberg – He was best of the rest behind the top three teams in both qualifying and the race
Vettel – I don’t think he did much wrong this weekend but found himself finishing down in eighth and seeing his points lead in the championship cut. In qualifying it again looked like Raikkonen would be the quicker Ferrari, but again Vettel put the quick lap in when it mattered to take pole. In the race I thought he was on course for another comfortable victory but first he lost the lead to Bottas in during the stops when Ferrari were slow to react to the Mercedes pit stops and after the safety car he was hit by Verstappen damaging his car and dropping him further down the field.
In the end I voted for Ricciardo.