Start, Hockenheimring, 2018

Vote for your 2018 German Grand Prix Driver of the Weekend

2018 German Grand Prix

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Which Formula One driver made the most of the German 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 Hockenheimring.

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 German Grand Prix weekend?

  • No opinion (0%)
  • Charles Leclerc (0%)
  • Marcus Ericsson (2%)
  • Stoffel Vandoorne (0%)
  • Fernando Alonso (0%)
  • Kevin Magnussen (0%)
  • Romain Grosjean (3%)
  • Brendon Hartley (2%)
  • Pierre Gasly (0%)
  • Carlos Sainz Jnr (0%)
  • Nico Hulkenberg (24%)
  • Sergey Sirotkin (0%)
  • Lance Stroll (0%)
  • Esteban Ocon (0%)
  • Sergio Perez (1%)
  • Max Verstappen (2%)
  • Daniel Ricciardo (0%)
  • Kimi Raikkonen (3%)
  • Sebastian Vettel (2%)
  • Valtteri Bottas (8%)
  • Lewis Hamilton (54%)

Total Voters: 253

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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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103 comments on “Vote for your 2018 German Grand Prix Driver of the Weekend”

  1. In between all the failures, crashes, bad strategies and team orders, it was less Driver of the Day and more Driver that survived.

    1. Driver of the Day

      It’s never driver of the day. #Make_DOTW_Weekend_Again

  2. Well done Hamilton. Get in!

  3. Lewis Hamilton without a shadow of the doubt, sure he did a mistake in qualifying but in the race he showed his amazing rain skills.

  4. Doubtlessly, Lewis Hamilton is the Driver of the Weekend.

    1. I’d put Brendon Hartley dragging that dog of a car to 10th as a far greater achievement than Hamiltons. While Hamilton made up more places he also benefited from his main threat retiring and with his team mate (who could over overtaken him) holding up his other main threat. The reality is without team orders things could of, and likely would of ended up differently.

      Hartley on the other hand, while only making up 6 places to finish 10th didn’t have the benefit of a superior machine. It was just a very good team performance. This is the car after all that has now only scored 4 times in 22 opportunities, and was running 18th and 20th for the first part of the race. While luck is a component of any wet/dry race, the relationship between Hartley and the TR pitwall really did shine through in this race. The communication and Hartley having trust in his pitwall in such challenging circumstances went a long way to determining this result.

  5. Hulkenberg for me. Hamilton drove an amazing race but his qualifying was ragged even before the failure. Since it’s driver of the weekend, I’m going with Hulkenberg who had the measure of his teammate and made the best of the chaos with a mediocre car.

    1. Same here.
      Disappointing that many fans only look at the race result rather than the actual racing of all 20 drivers.
      Hulkenberg, Magnussen, and Botras (great quali) were the stars IMO.
      Hamilton did nothing special bar for those fastest laps at the end. He was lucky; good for him and great for the championship, but not a driver of the week. Not even a driver of the day IMO.

      PS disappointing performances by my regular Stars: Leclerc & Alonso.

      1. @coldfly Maybe because the race result is what mostly shows how well a driver performed over the whole weekend? Also a technical issue in Q doesn’t really reflect performance.

        Anyway, Hamilton went 2 seconds a lap faster than his rivals in the wet. When Vettel felt forced to try and match those lap times he crashed. Hamilton also was faster than his rivals while driving on the harder tyre and on a much longer stint.

        Hamilton made his “luck”. Apply pressure and boom.

        Disappointing that many fans only look at what they want to see rather than the actual racing of all 20 drivers …

        1. Maybe because the race result is what mostly shows how well a driver performed over the whole weekend?

          Seriously, @patrickl? I was expecting a more informed answer (rhetorical question) from you.
          We all know that any weekend there are just 1, 2, or 3 teams who can win. F1 is much more about the car than the driver.
          Thus any real fan/expert/aficionado/etc should look well beyond the race result to find the most deserved Driver of the Weekend.

          1. @coldfly Yes seriously. Hamilton drove a great race. Was faster than the other top drivers on slower tyres and massively faster when it got wet. What more can he do.

            He had a technical issue in qualifying which cause him to miss a corner. You can pretend that makes his weekend worth any less, but he won anyway. What more could he have done?

            Thus any real fan/expert/aficionado/etc should look well beyond a technical issue in qualifying to find the most deserved Driver of the Weekend.

          2. Patrick, Patrick, Patrick, @patrickl.
            I never mentioned the technical issues, let alone hold it against him.
            I just asked you to open your eyes/mind and look beyond the race winner (and fastest lapper) and see what other drivers achieved.
            Try to look beyond the ability of the car.

          3. @coldfly Well I have an open mind. Tell me which driver managed to make up 13 places or more? Which driver closed a 25s gap and took the win while not being in the fastest car?

            You think Hulkenberg out-qualifying his team mate by a tenth, in exactly the position you’d expect that car to be and making up one place during the race is more impressive?

            Or Magnussen losing 7 places during the race scoring no points at all still means he had a great weekend simply because he qualified the car where it was supposed to be?

            How do you even know Bottas had a great Q3? Apart from that, he got beaten by Hamilton during the race with Hamilton starting at a huge deficit. How on earth is what Bottas did better than what Hamilton did?

            You are just so utterly ridiculous that I wonder if you are trolling. Or is this simply Hamilton hate?

            Either way, get off your high horse and actually learn to look at the whole weekend. You seem to be under the delusion that it’s “Driver of Qualifying”. It’s not. It’s for the whole weekend and who got the best result over that weekend.

            If a driver loses a tenth to his team mate in quali, yet beats him in the race what does that say? That he qualified poorly or that he set up his car for a better race result. Or that he’s simply a better racer? Either way Since that’s where the points are handed out so yes, people will focus more on that rather than Q.

        2. You’re inflating HAM importance again. Get real, in motorsport the machinery was the most important since day 1. The car is the real game changer, so it wasn’t that much HAM, but the tyres. The Softs did not work well for Ferrari, not to mention that they had to fight HAM on the fastest tyre while they were on the slower tyre and which didn’t even work properly, so no big wonder he was 2 sec faster. Look at VER too, he was nothing special in wet conditions this time, but 2 years ago in Brazil he trashed HAM in the wet… and everybody else! Where did VER skills for wet conditions go? So, not trying to reduce HAM importance, but saying it was him who made all that difference is more than exaggerated. There’s no such driver.

          1. Look at VER too, he was nothing special in wet conditions this time, but 2 years ago in Brazil he trashed HAM in the wet

            Erm you what? No he didn’t

          2. @mg1982 So what that Verstappen took a gamble in that race in Brazil and looked cool after nearly binning it? Hamilton and Bottas played the long game and took a 1-2 on their old tyres anyway. It’s not always the hare that wins the race.

            Anyway, I’m talking about this race where Hamilton was over 2 seconds a lap faster than Vettel when it got wet. When Vettel tried to keep up … he binned it. Hamilton had closed the gap to the lead cars even before Vettel (yet again) cracked under pressure it and caused that Safety car.

            Besides, read the massive list going around with rain affected races which Hamilton all won. Including that Brazil race.

            On the other side, last time Vettel shined in a wet race was in 2008 when he had Red Bull car which usually indeed is superior in wet conditions (and even then Hamilton also almost won all the way from the back). Yet even with advantage that Vettel spun off more often than not in the years after that.

          3. Firstly, Verstappen never trashed Hamilton in Brazil you illusionist. Hamilton was about the only driver Vestappen couldnt overtake in Brazil. Secondly, when Hamilton was on the slower tyres in Germany he was faster than the front runners who were on the slower tyres. So when the front runners got on the slow tryes why werent they as fast as Hahilton was in the first part of the race?

        3. Michael Brown (@)
          23rd July 2018, 12:38

          @patrickl

          Disappointing that many fans only look at what they want to see rather than the actual racing of all 20 drivers …

          Of all the times to say that

          1. @mbr-9 You mean this race where one driver had a magnificent race and gets rejected because he had a technical issue in qualifying?

            I’m a big fan of Hulkenberg and indeed he had a good weekend. Qualified in 7th, right where the car should be. A tenth up on his team mate. Decent indeed, but hardly spectacular. From then on he finished ahead of Grosjean.

            Hamilton embarrassed the top 4 by coming all the way from P14 and beating them. No, crushing them. How on earth is that not a much more impressive feat?

            Mind you, he did all that with the weight of fighting for the WDC on his shoulders when clearly that weight was too much for Vettel to bear.

          2. Mind you, he did all that with the weight of fighting for the WDC on his shoulders when clearly that weight was too much for Vettel to bear

            Because only one of them has ever cocked up while in pursuit of a WDC? Plus that’s not really relevant anyway.

            Hamilton embarrassed the top 4 by coming all the way from P14 and beating them. No, crushing them. How on earth is that not a much more impressive feat?

            Eh, where do you draw the line between beating and crushing? HAM got a lot of help from SC and got the better tyre strategy (a la VES and RAI in spain 2016) and didn’t look that spectacular in qualy either (no one really did, maybe apart from how BOT caused that reaction from Toto in Q3). Still by far most probably would be my DotW (I’ve usually not voted lately) but you seem to love to use heavily peppered sentences which make it seem as impressive as Button’s drive after he took out HAM in Canada 2011 (…emphasis on after).

          3. Michael Brown (@)
            23rd July 2018, 23:50

            @patrickl You’re making the argument for Driver of the Race rather than Driver of the Weekend.

          4. @mbr-9 No I’m not. But yes, the race result is essentially the result of the whole weekend’s performance. So yes of course that should weigh much higher than who’s ahead of who after quali.

            You are saying that a technical issue in qualifying is more important than having such an incredible race? Or even if a driver is legitimately 1 tenth up on another yet far behind in the race we should look at qualifying?

            Well you’are saying nothing really. Just cowardly one-liners, but still.

            How would you know that that 1 tenth isn;t the result of a difference in setup where one gambled on track position and therefore a setup geared more towards qualifying. Or the driver who was behind in Q3, but was driving a race setup and indeed scored more points.

            What makes a better “weekend” performance. Better Q3 or more points?

          5. Michael Brown (@)
            24th July 2018, 12:51

            @patrickl

            You are saying that a technical issue in qualifying is more important than having such an incredible race? Or even if a driver is legitimately 1 tenth up on another yet far behind in the race we should look at qualifying?

            Well you’are saying nothing really. Just cowardly one-liners, but still.

            I never said that but I’ll let you go on since you’re taking this quite harshly.

          6. @mbr-9 That’s why there was a question mark.

      2. @coldfly Leclerc and Alonso were victims of a strategy gamble, had it paied of, maybe we would be voting for them, but the rain stopped and they were trapped with inter tyres in a dry track, they had to pit again to fit slicks and by that forced extra stop they were trailing the field.

        1. @johnmilk Hulkenberg also switched to inters and he did make it work.

          You really need to learn to look beyond the simple details man.

          There were a lot of people on ultra softs and one stood out, several on inters and one stood out, several on softs and one crashed into the wall.

          It’s not just the tyres, but also what the drivers make of it on those tyres.

          1. Missing the point, that’s my fault really.

            Leclerc together with two other drivers, I believe they were Alonso and Gasly were the first ones to switch, they comoletly cooked their tyres and had to pit.

            Hulk pitted later, unless you are suggesting he made it rain only on his car

            Don’t get why you are so worked about it, but ok, as long as you are happy

          2. @johnmilk I’m suggesting you make overly simplistic claims because you look at only one small detail.

            Leclerc and Alonso were long out of contention even before they made that stop for inters.

            Leclerc spinning across the track is probably already what puts people off. Him dropping out of the points is the icing on the cake.

          3. Yes talk about over-simplistic claims

          4. @johnmilk Yes please do. What’s simplistic about that?

          5. @patrickl I would, but I’m under the effect of anesthesia at the moment, I will try to remember and get back to this

          6. @johnmilk Take care man!

    2. Completely agree. Had this been about the who was the most fortunate driver of the weekend then Hamilton would have won hands down. Hulks the real winner here.

    3. I don’t get these lucky comments, how was he lucky? Lucky to drive the best first stint of anyone? Lucky to absolutely nail driving on a damp track with slicks (unlike someone)? He started 14th and was ahead of everyone on track at the safety car restart on merit, not luck.

      Hamilton drove a perfect reverse strategy, was superior on tyre management compared to the other front runners, did not mess up his strategy (unlike Max who asked to be on inters) and did not stick it in the gravel.

      Seriously how was he lucky? :/

      …as for qualifying he had a hydraulic issue that affected his power steering before ultimately causing the car to retire, not exactly his fault.

    4. Hulkenberg was the only driver not to make a mistake all weekend, and go quick in the dry and wet parts of the race. Magnussen would’ve been in with a shout before the wet part where he fully dropped back. Onyl 24% voted for him. Sheesh.
      Hamilton made a big mistake in qualifying so how he’s winning it is beyond me. DotW not DotD…

      1. @hugh11

        Hamilton made a big mistake in qualifying so how he’s winning it is beyond me. DotW not DotD…

        Have I missed something? What mistake did he make?

        1. @fluxsource You know, when, as Toto himself said (albeit in more PR friendly words), he went wide on the kerb after mucking up his entry and then broke the hydraulics.
          Or alternatively, he actually did break them on the bumps, which seems more likely from watching the steering wheel when he got the error and listening. Either way, he broke the car. Don’t believe all the PR nonsense, see also the moment when he got stuck in 4th gear after going over the bumps, not before.

          1. @hugh11 So Toto said something before he knew the details and that’s what you keep going with? Even though both the driver and team explained a technical issue with the car was what caused him to miss that corner?

            That’s just sad.

          2. @hugh11 Ah, I see – you’re another one of those. Thanks for the clarification.

          3. @patrickl look at the article that was put up here after Mercedes had looked at it, an hour + after qualifying

            https://www.racefans.net/2018/07/21/mercedes-confirm-hamilton-didnt-cause-his-car-failure-in-q1/

            “We had the failure at turn one as Lewis ran the ‘normal’ kerb which all the drivers use in that stage of qualifying.

            “Then, with failed power steering as a result of the hydraulic failure, we had the ‘jumping’ moments that were seen on TV and which people understandably thought might have been the cause of the issue, but were in fact a consequence of it.”

            If you actually read the article, it clearly states that they say the issue was caused going over the kerb at turn 1. Not before then. He went wider over the kerb than other drivers did, and the issue happened. What they are saying there isn’t that the issue wasn’t caused by going wide, they’re saying the issue wasn’t caused by the bouncing of the car.

            @fluxsource I can say the same about you. I’m going off of what Toto Wolff himself said.

          4. @hugh11

            Either way, he broke the car

            He didn’t, the failure caused him to go wide and bump over the kerbs. Mercedes confirmed it was 100% a car issue and 0% Hamilton’s fault. If you want to argue otherwise come up with some proof.

          5. @hugh11 If you actually read the article, it clearly states that they say the issue was not caused by him taking a normal kerb at turn 1

            They then continue on to say that the “jumping” incident (ie missing the corner) was caused by his power steering failing.

            Imaging driving on the absolute limit and suddenly your steering wheel handles differently. What do you think will happen? Still a perfect racing line or perhaps not so perfect anymore?

            Again, Toto Wollf makes the same mistake you make. As in making assumptions without actual evidence.

            Yet the investigation thereafter showed the problem already existed before (and caused) the off which in the end killed the car.

          6. Fam the jumping ain’t missing the corner. The jumping is going over the grass on the exit. The power steering failed when he went too far over the kerb because he was wide on entry. Trust me, the line wouldn’t have been like it was if the power steering had already failed, and you can actually see the point watching the video when the power steering does fail over the kerb. Also, this interview where he said these things was done after they had looked at the data.

          7. @hugh11 You’ve given me absolutely no reason to trust you. Instead, I’ll trust the team that built the car and have access to all the data.

          8. Aight you do that then and read the quotes that the Team Principal put out if that’s who you trust.
            I got no agenda here. You’re the Hamilton fan, I’m a Hulkenberg fan. Don’t love Hamilton, don’t hate him. Just fed up of all the ‘tin foil hats’ as you lot have been dubbed.

          9. @hugh11 The jumping was BECAUSE he missed the turn and ended up outside the track.

            Seriously man, stop it with the made up nonsense.

  6. Neil (@neilosjames)
    23rd July 2018, 0:35

    Got to be Hamilton. Great tyre management to maintain a good pace on the softs for so long to give himself strategic options, then in the wet he was brilliant.

    Hulkenberg was the only other driver I distinctly noticed and thought he was also having a great race. Perhaps I’ll see others when I re-watch it, though.

  7. Hulkenberg for me.

    Hamilton was great in the race for sure and his pace was awesome, but Hulkenberg was yet again, really really good when it rained. He closed up a gap of 3.5 seconds to Magnussen in a blink of an eye and overtook him (which we never got to see), then later extended his gap to Grosjean from around 4 seconds to 18 seconds in a matter of 4 laps. I was hoping it would rain till the end of the race as he might even have been able to keep up with the leaders after the safety car if he found his groove.

    His qualifying was good as well, so overall, a pretty impressive weekend.

  8. Mark in Florida
    23rd July 2018, 2:00

    Hulkenberg for sure great driving in a power limited car. He performed probably better than the car. Hamilton? That was a gimme, he passed the other cars at will no comparison to what Hulkenberg had to work with. They even told Bottas to back off to let him stay in the lead. Bet Rosberg wouldn’t have done that.

    1. I bet Rosberg couldn’t overtake Hamilton even though Rosberg was on faster and fresher tyres while Hamilton was on older and slower tyres.

  9. The Hulk drove well in a car that should be much better, he was a class act for sure. I understand why Hamilton is a popular choice, he won the race and deservingly so. But he was in the equal best car and the rain was not a major issue, as in it did not force full wets.
    The difference in performance shown after the restart was plain to see. The gap between Merc, Ferrari then RB and the rest is huge.

  10. Hamilton. No Brainer. The hulk had a strong weekend, but Lewis’ drive on Sunday was the strongest drive of the year so far.

  11. I don’t really understand the fuzz about Lewis’ drive yesterday. Without breaking the rules he would’ve been behind Kimi and Bottas.

    His result is great so it must be that

    1. Lol, yes he only won because he lost time in the confusion over a pit stop that he didn’t need to make.

      Guy comes from 14th to take the win, goes 2 seconds a lap faster than his rivals in the wet (while his main rival can’t cope and bins it), but it’s all because he didn’t get a time penalty just like in the other 18 cases that no time penalty was handed out for the same.

      1. Lewis drive was great, but those 2s a lap quicker need a bit of context don’t you think?

        Fresh and softer tyres not in the wet but in a half damp half dry track.

        1. @johnmilk Yes, because that’s the “context” why Ericsson, Verstappen, Gasly and Leclerc also were so incredibly impressive at the same time. Oh wait they weren’t …

      2. Hamilton had a great run from 14th place to 5th. No one even thought of defending but still it was a very good run. Ones he got on the HS tyre he was very quick but I don’t really think he would’ve passed real competitors. Max got out of his way gambling with rain tyres, Vettel crashed out. After the safety car came out he went into the pits and backed out against the rules. Let’s say he would’ve driven through te pit lane because Bottas was still there, he’d still not have been in front of Kimi.

        No matter how you look at it he only won because of breaking a rule. That makes his very good drive less impressive to me

      3. Lol, yes he only won because he lost time in the confusion over a pit stop that he didn’t need to make.

        @patrickl Well there was a mistake (not HAM’s) which resulted in him given the choice of either losing the race and breaking a rule and he chose the latter, and got a reprimand (guilty, don’t do it again, get 3 of these decisions and you get a grid penalty iirc).

        Though yeah I wouldn’t have put that against HAM either. Not something worth pulling down one’s rating of his weekend (hence a basically suspended slap in the wrist from the stewards and no more).

  12. Kimi for certain.. Great defense against Verstappen at the start, put in a super stint to get ahead of Vettel and would likely have won the race if it wasn’t for Ferarri team orders

    1. @twentyseven Raikkonen was on a two stop strategy. That’s why his middle stint was faster, but he had to stop again.

      1. VET would have had to stop again too. Even with that pace – slower than HAM, there’s no chance he would have made those tyres last almost 40 laps. He started to complain after 5 laps and he was more than 1sec behind RAI. Ferrari did not have the car/pace against Mercedes with the same strategy and it’s obvious to me HAM would have dominated the race easily if it wasn’t for that 14th place at the start. In hindsight, I’d say Ferrari got their 1-stop strategy wrong, so they screwedd up VET and not RAI.

        1. @mg1982 Yes Vettel complains a lot and ruins his tyres a lot. What else is new.

          Clear case of red mist again. Why on earth would he be locking up his wheels while sitting behind Raikkonen waiting for the team to tell Raikkonen to get out of the way? He has some serious issues. There was no reason for any of that.

          Hamilton did 43 laps on those tyres and he had a lot more to deal with than Vettel did. Vettel could have just cruised home. If it had stayed dry and if he would have been able to keep his temper and later his anxiety in check. Of course Vettel managed none of that and managed to miss a wide open goal.

          1. Yes Vettel complains a lot and ruins his tyres a lot. What else is new.

            @patrickl Don’t see how he does more than e.g. HAM tbh. you have Bahrain (VET didn’t), you have Austria (HAM did), you have Canada (HAM did, well iirc minus the complaining but might be wrong there), VET last race….did? (I don’t know as I think you’ve said he did speed up but then binned it so there’s that).

            I don’t know if BOT and RAI does as much but if they do the FOM doesn’t publish it (in much the same way we don’t get to hear about Gasly doing so – doesn’t necessarily mean he does so less than e.g. HAM).

          2. @davidnotcoulthard Two very clear examples were USA and Silverstone last year.

            I’m not going to lookup specific examples of BVettel messing up his tyres before the rest. But Vettel in general usually needs to stop before Hamilton.

            This race Vettel was just playing theater. “Oooh look at my tyres overheating and I’m locking up. Do you see it, do you see it?” “Of course we see it , you are doing this on purpose. Stop it already you red misted goof.”

            Yes in Austria Hamilton tried to race on tyres that couldn’t race. That’s an exception.

          3. @patrickl Not my point though.

            This race Vettel was just playing theater. “Oooh look at my tyres overheating and I’m locking up. Do you see it, do you see it?”

            It would’ve been more productive to just say you can’t overtake (different strategies and newer tyres and all), I mean overheated tyres would’ve been visible in telemetry afaik, and likewise intentionally flat-spotted optimal-temp ones.

            But Vettel in general usually needs to stop before Hamilton.

            doubt it. Would be interesting if someone’s interested in compiling data for that.

  13. Has to be Hamilton

  14. Hamilton is the obvious pick for driver of the day, but we’re looking for the driver of the weekend. He created his own luck by running a long first stint on softs, then making his ultras last. Nice race.

    Hülkenberg is another strong contender and my choice for driver of the week.

    Ericsson ran the same strategy as Hamilton did, and it elevated him to P9 which isn’t that bad considering, but his starting position comes from a poor Saturday. Saturday, as we all know, is part of the weekend.

  15. Lewis flawless in the wet and demonstrated why in these conditions, his main title rival is no match for him.

  16. Let us not forget Grosjean, who had a moderate weekend but a great result under enormous (albeit self-inflicted) pressure. Magnussen was running really well but lost out badly at the end, he’s impressed me a lot this year. I gave up on him a while back, but I have been proved wrong, yet again. Long may it continue.
    Hulkenberg was strong and managed the final phase of the race well, good dicing with Alonso.
    Vettel was strong and ran well, tripped up by the smallest of errors – it reminded me of Hamilton sliding into a gravel trap on the pit-lane entry way back (was that China, 2008?), not dangerous but really, really painful.
    And Hamilton, choosing to believe six impossible things before breakfast. Relentless.
    So a really hard call for DOTW. I haven’t chosen yet.

    1. Indeed, that’s what I thought about, and it was china 2007, the first year of hamilton’s career, which basically was like throwing away a record rookie title, I’d blame mclaren for that, hamilton wasn’t very experienced yet and they’d have to know his tyres were too old.

  17. Hulk or Bottas. Went with Hulk this time. Hamilton will probably win, but he’s not even a contender in my eyes, since his victory was depending on huge amount of lucky circumstances, he broke his car in qualifying (I don’t believe Mercedes’ claims at all. It looked quite straightforward to me that the overspeeding over the bumps broke Lewis’ car) and recklessly tried to push his car to the pits ruining everyone else’s laps while doing that.

    1. You picked Hulk but went on to bash HAM. You could have just given your reason picking Hulk lol. The hate is real.

      1. @lums Crazy isn’t it. I read that post as “Despite all the actual evidence and statements by those who know best, I’m going to believe the story I made up in my head and blame Hamilton”. They’re not even honest with themselves.

        1. @lums @fluxsoure What’s your problem? So many people have voted Hamilton that I find it important to note why I’m not voting him. Should be simple enough to understand why I did that. Hulk and Bottas were both pretty much flawless throughout the weekend and got most out of their car. Hulk probably more efficiently than Bottas so I voted him.

          1. @fluxsource
            We desperately need that edit-button to fix typos…

          2. @huhhii My problem is particularly with this part:

            I don’t believe Mercedes’ claims at all. It looked quite straightforward to me that the overspeeding over the bumps broke Lewis’ car

            The lengths some people (yes, I mean you) will go to to make it Hamiltons fault are hilarious.

          3. @fluxsource Toto Wolff said right after the qualifying that it was a driver error. From the onboards and team radio during the qualifying it seemed to be 100% driver error. Hamilton then denies it and Mercedes releases a weakly written statement to support him. It was all media games. It would’ve looked bad in the media if Wolff/team would blame a driver and a driver would blame a car. It’s as simple as that. Mercedes in order to calm the situation. I’m not gonna buy the poor excuses Mercedes made afterwards.

          4. @fluxsource Oh and even if Mercedes wasn’t lying and Hamilton didn’t cause the problem the part about pushing the car still remains. He should’ve just calmly park the car to a safe place. Instead he kept on pushing the car on the track, causing yellow flags to sectors 2 and 3, ruined everyone else’s laps in the process. And it looked dangerous as well.

          5. @huhhii You just keep that keep that tin foil hat on, it’s bound to keep you safe.

            I didn’t have a problem with your comment regarding pushing the car, although I disagree with it.

          6. Why do you feel the need to explain why you are not voting for HAM. You might as well just give reaosn for not voting for other drivers.

            It is not important for you to hate on a driver cos so many people voted for him. Vote for your desired driver and keep it moving.

            My goodness, cant believe i sponsor this site with its childish, weak followers. And most of the HAM bashers are middle aged white men and above which makes it more irritating.

            I dont support anyother driver but that does not mean i go around bashing them.

    2. since his victory was depending on huge amount of lucky circumstances

      Like?

    3. I went with Bottas. Was the closest to Vettel in qualifying and lost the victory with an unnecessary pit stop and team orders.

      Hamilton and Hülkenberg are other obvious candidates. Vettel actually drove a perfect weekend up until that tiny slide, but nevertheless it happened so puts him out of contention

      1. @strontium Without that pit stop Bottas would most likely have been fourth.

  18. The DOTD: Definitely Hamilton, but the DOTW; a bit more difficult to choose, but I’ll go with Vettel for that with honorable mention to Hulkenberg.

    1. @jerejj Ha, that’s funny.

  19. Archit (@architjain07)
    23rd July 2018, 13:36

    Nico Hulkenberg for me! I dont even to mention top 3 teams as they are leaps and bounds ahead of the pack. Its the midfield teams I am interested in. Hulk is now long due to get a car to fight for podiums and wins. Hopefully next year Renault matches or outpaces RBR. Would also love to see Alonso in a Renault (minus the no 1 status). I truly believe Hulk has the pace and skills to match Alonso atleast in one lap pace.

    1. I don’t think renault can recover 1,5 sec on red bull in a year, they seem to catch up SOOOO slow compared to the front runners, not as slow as mclaren, but not fast enough.

      And yes, hulkenberg really deserves a shot with a top team, like a few others who never did.

  20. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
    23rd July 2018, 13:45

    Another classic vintage drive by Lewis – he was as quick as the other drivers who had just changed tyres. And once there was a hint of water on the track, he came alive.

    Sure the team order took a bit of his glory away but I don’t think anyone can blame Mercedes when there are so many things at stake. A win at their home GP (possibly last time) with 1-2 formation, Dieter Zetsche standing on the podium ceremony at home, the WCC on the line. Plus, I can’t see Bottas passing Lewis to swap a victory, Rosberg couldn’t have done it either and he even commented that Lewis is incredible at defending his position.

    Hulkenberg also shone but I’ve always been one of his biggest fans on this forum so I’m not surprised.

    1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
      23rd July 2018, 13:53

      I also wanna tip my hat off to Fernando because I know that even though the result yesterday was awful, he was probably the best driver out there. I still don’t understand how he has gotten 40 points in his McLaren and is ahead of both Magnussen and Grosjean in the championship.

      I’m not his biggest fan but that is just stupefying. The team is disintegrating and he somehow manages to go out there and get the job done and he’s 36 years old. If there was a Valentino Rossi award in F1, Fernando deserves it.

      1. Yeah it’s a waste. Just like Hulkenberg to be honest. People held Sainz in high regard, tipping him for a Ferrari seat even. Then Hulkenberg utterly crushed Sainz.

        Put Alonso and Ferrari in those Ferrari’s and we’d have a whole different situation.

        1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
          23rd July 2018, 16:09

          @patrickl

          Put Alonso and Ferrari in those Ferrari’s and we’d have a whole different situation.

          Alonso and Ferrari in those Ferraris? I’m not sure I follow – did you mean Alonso and Hulk?

          1. @freelittlebirds Heh, yes Alonso and Hulkenberg in these Ferrari’s. Would love to see that.

          2. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
            23rd July 2018, 16:30

            @patrickl Actually, come to think of it, I would love to see Alonso in a Red Bull next to Max.

            I’d then put Ricciardo in a Ferrari.

            Alternatively, I’d put Hulk in a Ferrari with Vettel and Ricciardo at McLaren (with Sainz) or at Renault with Sainz.

            I think it would spice everything up.

          3. @freelittlebirds Also a better option, but still I’d rather see Alonso in the faster car fighting for the WDC :)

          4. Ricciardo at mclaren? That’s the only driver who would really be unhappy between those, that’s a career-breaker!

  21. Not a lot of people who stand out, vettel could’ve been there if not for the mistake, hamilton I’m dubious cause I’m not sure if it was actually a mistake in qualifying, even if he said it was a problem, it could’ve been generated from his excursion, leclerc this time wasn’t great on the wet, bottas and raikkonen weren’t exceptional.

    I think it really comes down to hamilton vs hulkenberg, given hamilton was already voted by the majority and that I’m unsure about qualifying I’m gonna go with hulkenberg, who did well in the rain and got best of the rest, while hamilton did a great job in the race and even if it weren’t for vettel’s mistake, given the SC wouldn’t have been deployed that soon, he’d have likely still been a threat, depending on how long the rain lasted.

    1. Ah, and grosjean wasn’t bad either! Was really surprised he didn’t spin during the rain.

  22. Thomas Bennett (@felipemassadobrasil)
    24th July 2018, 11:18

    Am I the only one who voted for Perez? Beat Ocon, ended up P6 which the FI isn’t much more capable of and recovered well from his spin. Hamilton was good, but not as good as the results suggest. As Seb showed in France, overtaking midfield machinery isn’t that difficult.

    1. @felipemassadobrasil Overtaking midfield machinery isn’t that difficult no. That’s why even Vettel manages to get past those.

      After that is a major difference though. Vettel didn’t get past any of the top guys and finished down in P5. Hamilton did and he took the win. ie he beat several cars in his own league by quite a margin. He even spooked the lead car so much that he crashed trying to keep ahead.

  23. While Hamilton did drive fairly well, do people seriously claim that he wasn’t extremely lucky with how the rain started at the exactly right time, how the Safety Car benefited him by far the most, how he got away with breaking rules and how those “magical” lap-times came with much better and fresher tiers? And of course the Mercedes team-orders as well. While I think Hamilton deserves to lead the championship. I just don’t see how his race was that impressive, and everyone I have talked with agrees with me. To me, Hulkenberg was by far the most impressive driver during the weekend. I hate to say it, but I do feel that the fact this is a British site does effect the results quite a bit. (Not meaning to offend anyone, just saying as this kind of bias seems to be pretty common in other countries too).

  24. The poll closed before I placed my vote but here is my choice and comment for Driver of the Weekend for the 2018 German GP.

    From 14th on the grid to finishing 1st meant the only choice for driver of the weekend for me was Hamilton.

    Car problems in qualifying meant he started down the grid, meaning for the second race in a row but for different reasons Hamilton had to drive through the field. It was also similar to the British GP in that his car advantage and DRS meant most of the moves were straight forward with some drivers not even putting up any fight so they themselves didn’t lose time.

    Hamilton did a great job of looking after his tyres, he maintained a good pace on his soft tyres throughout and at times their condition seemed comparable to the soft tyres on the Ferraris even though Hamilton had had his tyres since the start of the race.

    When the rain came not long after Hamilton had made his stop I thought he had been unlucky with the timing and if he had waited a few more laps he could have gone straight to inters, but the drivers who actually did change from dry tyres proved the correct decision was to stay on slicks after all as the track was not wet enough for long enough to change to wets let alone inters.

    The part which elevated the drive to driver of the weekend status was when the rain came paving the way for Hamilton to take the victory, once again he seemed to excel in the wet conditions compared to most of the other drivers out there.

    I know in the end Hamilton was helped out by Vettel crashing and bringing out the safety car but the way things were going it wouldn’t have been a surprise if Hamilton had still gone on to win the race even without a safety car, he was closing on the cars in front who were on slower and older tyres in damp conditions.

    At the restart after the safety car it seemed Bottas had got his tyres up to temperature quicker so he was in a position to challenge but Hamilton dealt with it and by the time the team issued the orders to hold station I think Hamilton’s position in first was already secure.

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