Start, Silverstone, 2018

Vote for your 2018 British Grand Prix Driver of the Weekend

2018 British Grand Prix

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Which Formula One driver made the most of the British 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 Silverstone.

Driver performance summary

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 British Grand Prix?

  • No opinion (0%)
  • Charles Leclerc (3%)
  • 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 (5%)
  • Sergey Sirotkin (0%)
  • Lance Stroll (0%)
  • Esteban Ocon (0%)
  • Sergio Perez (0%)
  • Max Verstappen (2%)
  • Daniel Ricciardo (0%)
  • Kimi Raikkonen (5%)
  • Sebastian Vettel (45%)
  • Valtteri Bottas (1%)
  • Lewis Hamilton (33%)

Total Voters: 314

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Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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59 comments on “Vote for your 2018 British Grand Prix Driver of the Weekend”

  1. Went with the race winner Vettel.
    Regardless his safety car assisted spectecular come back, Hamilton had a very bad start that hampered his race and took my vote away. Leclerc’s race was destroyed by his own team. Alonso had another good drive.

    1. @alexde same here. There were hairs between the top three in qualifying, but in the end it was Vettel who turned it into a win, with an impressive drive and with an injury too

      1. The Skeptic (@)
        9th July 2018, 12:39

        +2!

  2. Vettel. Simply he is better currently and established a firm lead in the mental championship battle. He scored a win on Hamiltons best track.

    Hamilton did great to recover and well earned second place… But also left the first place go…

  3. I went for Hulkenberg, someone who generally went under the radar this weekend. Considering the straightline deficit Renault has, he maintained his record of always outqualifying his team-mate at Silverstone and was very close to making it into Q3. In the race he kept his nose clean at the start and was the only driver to make a 1 stop strategy work, including using the hard tyres for the first time in any race this season, whilst fending off the likes of Ocon and Leclerc who were in much quicker cars

  4. Vettel of course! Hamilton did a big mistake at the start that led him to be touched by Kimi and then another big mistake after the race when he talked about Ferrari used “interesting tactics” so there is no way to vote for him this time.
    Good weekend also for Magnussen, Hulkenberg and Ocon.

  5. Hamilton from last to 2nd was incredible. Granted, he started poorly, but his recovery was spectacular.

    1. @justafan Calm down mate. What’s incredible and spectacular on having the best or the second best car on the grid, overtaking cars on which you have at least 1 sec advantage over them and finally placing yourself 6th? Had it been on a hard to overtake track, then it would have been really amazing. The same thing applies for Vettel’s “comebacks”. Not impressive at all but sad, at least for us who have been watching F1 for almost 35 years.

      1. Martijn (@)
        9th July 2018, 8:26

        I have to agree here. Painfull to see Hamiltons recovery. Not because of him, I am a fan and if it was for me he’d be more than welcome to win his home GP.. but to once see again the power difference .. it just doesnt matter at what position they start (the top 4 or 6 cars). Which makes it useless to watch. After 40 years watching I am not sure whether it still deserves my attention

        1. @mayrton What surely DOES deserve our attention is F2/GP2 series. Real competition and epic battles on every single race.

        2. It’s become like watching an SCCA national race from the 1970s, Formula A, B and C. In Formula A we have Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull. In Formula B we have Renault, Haas, Force India and Sauber. And in Formula C we have Torro Rosso, Williams and McLaren.

          1. Martijn (@)
            9th July 2018, 12:47

            Exactly. Max made a comment on this as well after the race, stating that he felt like drivng within another class, just seeing cars (Merc/Ferr) pull away on the straights

          2. (..) In Formula A we have Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull. In Formula B we have (..) – Exactly. Max made a comment on this as well after the race, stating that he felt like drivng within another class, just seeing cars (Merc/Ferr) pull away on the straights

            Haahahahaha, those orange fans and their bubble..

    2. Vettel. He was an exceptional, dominant racer. From start to the end of the race.
      Ultimate champion.

    3. Yes. And two full safety cars.

  6. Who voted for Sirotkin lol.

  7. Adam (@rocketpanda)
    8th July 2018, 22:19

    Vettel. Missed pole by a ridiculously tiny margin, took the lead at the start pretty much before the first corner and only lost the lead due to the saftey car, and even then was forced into a pretty ballsy overtake to take it back and then flew off down the road like he had at the start. Some days Vettel is pretty unstoppable and this was one of them.

  8. This forum is hilarious.

    1. Vettel fan 17 (@)
      8th July 2018, 22:27

      @patrickl why?

      1. @vettelfan17 because many people have opinions that differ from his, and he does not understand why

      2. John Toad (@)
        8th July 2018, 23:05

        Because it’s getting like football supporters.
        Everything ‘my driver’ does is brilliant, everything ‘another driver’ does is rubbish.
        It’s simply voting along ‘party lines’ without any real consideration of merit.

    2. Neil (@neilosjames)
      8th July 2018, 23:57

      @Patrickl I think every site that allows comments is the same nowadays… depressingly ‘tribal’.

      It’s become a bit like politics.

    3. If so then i voted for Max but i gave my vote to Vettel as he had a great qualflier just beaten by Lewis marginally but his race was super (and with a injury). Lewis didn’t deserve the vote because of his poor start and if the safety car didn’t came he would finish 4-5. Max was a good second, Nico my third.

  9. Could have been Hamilton for his brilliant recovery, but he lost the place himself. Even worse he once again proved to be a very bad loser.
    Went for Vettel instead.

    1. “This is either deliberate or incompetence” – Toto Wolf.

      1. Bronze arrrows
        9th July 2018, 17:33

        That was James Allison. Maybe he was referring to the garbage Ferrari he designed.

  10. ColdFly (@)
    8th July 2018, 22:32

    Many good, none great, hence Vettel.

    1. ColdFly (@)
      8th July 2018, 22:42

      I’m sure there was some brilliant driving down the field as well but it was not shown to is on TV.
      I recall a great overtake from Verstappen on the outside of Raikkonen. But other than that we were not shown a lot other than the ‘cruising past’ by Hamilton and Raikkonen.

  11. Hamilton was a monster this event so I voted for him. Still it’s a shame the fastest way to get to the end of the race in these cars is to drive 6 seconds off the qualifying pace.

  12. Da Hulk

    Didn’t have the car on Saturday but managed to be best of the rest and make that rather odd strategy work (albeit iirc Renault did strugle a lot with tyrew at Paul Ricard)

    1. My guy knows :)
      V impressive keeping all those cars behind on the hard tyres, and actually pulling away from Ocon after the SC.
      Also on Saturday Sainz went out in Q1 when he was fighting for Q3.

      1. I also fully agree with you guys, voted Hulkenberg. He did a stellar job, yet went almost unnoticed on Sky.

        1. I voted Vettel because I didn’t see any flaws in his whole weekend, and he shrugged off a tweaked neck around one of the most neck stretching circuits on the calendar. But Hulk would be deserving as well. I hope we see a lot more races where he escapes the melee and shows his speed, and Renault give him a car to match the lead pack. Every time I watch someone destroy his race on the first lap (like Singapore a couple years ago and the string of races up to it), I think of Holden in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back: “WHEN, LORD? WHEN’S GONNA BE MY TIME?!”

  13. David (@davidjwest)
    8th July 2018, 23:12

    I went for Hamilton, pole position in a (marginally) slower car and great recovery drive with some damage.

    1. I’d say Mercedes have the fastest car and should have got pole by more

      1. David (@davidjwest)
        9th July 2018, 18:09

        If you add up the fastest sectors for each team in qualifying, Ferrari were quicker. Not much in it but certainly they were quicker on the softer tyre, on the mediums Mercedes probably had a slight edge.

    2. There was no damage

  14. I chose Hamilton, was on it all weekend. He stole the pole from Ferrari; if past his prime Kimi is one tenth away, it means Ferrari was faster this weekend, and Seb’s lap wasn’t great to be only 0.05 faster. Anyway, Lewis could have still won from 3rd or 4th after the bad start, the crash wasn’t his fault and his recovery was faultless.

    1. My thoughts exactly. Ferrari was definitely the quicker car on Saturday, and Lewis stole pole from Vettel with an absolutely phenomenal lap.

      Unfortunately, he binned the start and then got taken out by a sloppy Kimi. But it was an absolutely top notch recovery drive. I can’t remember the last time someone finished in P2 after being last at the end of lap 1.

      Lewis got my vote this weekend.

      1. ColdFly (@)
        9th July 2018, 7:46

        Toto Wolff and Valteri Bottas didn’t think Ferrari was the quicker car on this track (“for sure we should’ve been in the front row both cars today. It was extremely close so disappointing to be fourth.”) @todfod

        IMO Ferrari now has the stronger PU (at least for Silverstone) but Mercedes still slightly the overall better package.

        1. I don’t at all consider that LH stole pole. He has owned that spot as well as wins at Silverstone. This time SV stamped his authority with a front row start and a blistering one at that.

          1. I think this time around hamilton did a really good job, I consider bottas a really solid benchmark, so the fact hamilton was 3 tenths faster doesn’t happen often, looking at sector times it’s hamilton that did the difference in qualifying; voted for vettel though.

  15. Neil (@neilosjames)
    9th July 2018, 0:05

    Thought Hamilton’s pole lap was beautiful, and in the race he did exceptionally well to maintain strong pace and keep his tyres alive through traffic.

    Could also have gone for Vettel, who stood out as well but had a less interesting race, while Alonso was (seemingly… race director never let us see him) very strong, as was Hulkenberg.

  16. I am a Ferrari fan but got to give it to Hamilton. He won qualifying with a slower car. Ran through the field at a rapid pace and maintained good pace on older tyres at the end.
    His only mistake was the race start.

    Seb did well in the race with a slower race car then Mercedes. Great start, got lucky 2ith safety car as Mercedes clearly had better tyre life and race pace. But still had to overtake Bottas cleanly (unlike Baku and Paul Ricard). Which he duly did. But his mistake was qualifying.
    Ultimately, qualifying is more skill than race start. Hence, my nod to Hamilton.

    1. ColdFly (@)
      9th July 2018, 7:51

      qualifying is more skill than race start

      I agree that quali should have a bigger impact on DOTW than the race start.
      But that said, quali result is more the relative performance of the cars (only 2 teams can realistically achieve this) whereas the race start is primarily driver skill.

  17. Vettel. He never looked like being caught after that initial jump-pass on Hamilton. The Safery Cars did not help and they put him back towards Hamilton and the risky second tyre change placed him behind Bottas. All those and he drove with a sore neck on a circuit where G-force effects are very high.

    Hamilton’s fightback to second was good but he was helped by the two safety cars in closing-up the distance.

  18. Could happily have given this to either Vettel or Hamilton. I went with Hamilton because he gave a hell of a qualifying lap and the only fault I can find was bogging down off the line. His dash through the field more than made up for that.

    1. I have to give it to Vettel, but I’m disappointed we didn’t get the head to head we’re still waiting for this year. Kimi’s mistake robbed us of that (but was genuinely just a mistake). I think Lewis and Seb would have taken turns in the lead as their respective tire advantages played out. The Ferrari was ever so slightly faster by sectors, but neither would have been able to get away completely. I think the Ace in Ferarri’s hand was the fresh set of softs, though. While the cars are so equal, I hope we get to see some dicing at Hockenheim.

  19. Vettel

    1. Max. 10/10 when he DNF!

  20. Surprised about the lack of love for Nico Hulkenberg. He out-qualified his teammate and finished 6th in a car that had no right to. Top drive.

    1. That’s because of the lack of coverage on cars which were fighting for the 7th place. There was not even a single overtake of Alonso that got broadcast either. Top drive from Hulk and Alonso who I think recovered really well after he was forced to go off the track by a Force India.

  21. Based solely on the race itself: Vettel, but the whole weekend overall: Hamilton.

  22. Stroll. The bi-weekly check to Williams cleared and he didn’t crash.

  23. amilton was the standout this race

  24. I gave it to vettel and I’m honestly surprised hamilton was so well-voted cause ok, he did a great job in qualifying and a good recovery, but such a bad start is inexcusable, he would’ve likely won if not for that, if I had to rate hamilton I’d give him an 8.

    Notice how the slower cars seem to have given up trying to fight a recovering top 6? It was particularly noticeable here with hamilton, like they weren’t even trying to defend, and ofc he was helped by a good choice under SC and he had pitted not that long before SC came out, while bottas’ choice didn’t pay off cause he was the only one whose tires were really old in the top 6.

    1. Eh, the start was really the only mistake from Hamilton the whole weekend, but it is critical. I wouldn’t call it inexcusable, but it’s definitely a weakness his rivals take frequent and vicious advantage of. It’s like having a weak serve in tennis.

      The only thing that punt by Kimi really damaged, aside from his position, was Hamilton’s morale, and even still he fought back to second. He did it cleanly and very quickly. I just don’t think Seb made any significant mistakes at all, and bonus points for toughing it with the neck pain, so he gets my vote.

      The aero factor is just too strong for the rest of the pack around Silverstone, and high speed corner incidents tend to be racing ending, so they just stay out of the way of the top 6. I suspect the same will be true of Spa and Suzuka.

  25. Vettel was narrowly beaten in qualifying but didn’t make a mistake in the race, his better start putting him in front and allowing him to control the race, he lost the lead when he pitted under the safety car but the fresh tyres that he had because of this meant it was more when not if he would retake the lead and go on to win.

    Hamilton edged it in qualifying to take another pole but he made a poor start which meant he was in the wrong place at the wrong time and got tagged by Raikkonen dropping him to the back and although he put in a good recovery drive to finish second, because of the big car advantage he had most of the overtakes were straight forward and it seemed like the other drivers often didn’t put up much of a fight. He then benefitted from the safety car to end up on the podium.

    Hulkenberg made the most of a different tyre strategy to finish best of the rest in sixth after starting in eleventh.

    Leclerc again managed to get into Q3 and was on course for another good result until a problem at his pit stop forced him to retire.

    When one of the top drivers in one of the quickest cars wins I normally look for reasons not to vote for them and so I was close to voting for Hulkenberg or Leclerc but in the end I decided I would vote for Vettel.

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