Esteban Ocon, Force India, Spa-Francorchamps, 2018

Vote for your 2018 Belgian Grand Prix Driver of the Weekend

2018 Belgian Grand Prix

Posted on

| Written by

Which Formula One driver made the most of the Belgian Grand Prix weekend?

It’s time to give your verdict on which driver did the best with the equipment at their disposal over the last five days.

Review how each driver got on below and vote for who impressed you the most at Spa-Francorchamps.

Driver performance summary

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 Belgian Grand Prix weekend?

  • No opinion (0%)
  • Charles Leclerc (0%)
  • Marcus Ericsson (2%)
  • Stoffel Vandoorne (0%)
  • Fernando Alonso (0%)
  • Kevin Magnussen (1%)
  • Romain Grosjean (0%)
  • Brendon Hartley (0%)
  • Pierre Gasly (3%)
  • Carlos Sainz Jnr (0%)
  • Nico Hulkenberg (2%)
  • Sergey Sirotkin (1%)
  • Lance Stroll (0%)
  • Esteban Ocon (9%)
  • Sergio Perez (21%)
  • Max Verstappen (9%)
  • Daniel Ricciardo (0%)
  • Kimi Raikkonen (1%)
  • Sebastian Vettel (38%)
  • Valtteri Bottas (9%)
  • Lewis Hamilton (5%)

Total Voters: 265

Loading ... Loading ...

An RaceFans account is required in order to vote. If you do not have one, register an account here or read more about registering here
When this poll is closed the result will be displayed instead of the voting form.

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...

Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

55 comments on “Vote for your 2018 Belgian Grand Prix Driver of the Weekend”

  1. Nico Hul… No? Okay…
    No obvious candidates imo. Vettel was well off in qualy, Hamilton was comfortably beaten in the race. Neither Force India beat their team mate both times. Verstappen just did what you’d expect him to do there, maybe the one I would pick, but I just feel really bad for Stoffel this weekend, so instead of going ‘No opinion’, I’ll vote for him.

    1. Somebody has voted for the Hulk.
      Probably that guy that hates Alonso ;)

      1. 7% voted for Bottas. Do they all hate Sirotkin?

    2. DOTW is Perez. Followed by Vettel.

      Hulkenberg should now “raise his level” and continue to suck Magnussens balls. What a delight to see Renaults lead driver make a giant mistake (again) and get a 10-grid penalty next week.

      1. Funny guy. I almost laughed.

  2. Vettel easily. Was fast in practice and qualifying. Managed to remain on the front row of the starting grid despite a rain-disrupted Q3. Overtook Hamilton at the first opportunity and then drove a controlled and flawless race to win.

  3. Ocon and Perez both excelled. It’s a tough call between them

    1. I went for Perez, as he cleverly got past his teammate when he got the opportunity.

      1. I took Ocon as the guy is about to lose his seat and in response has his best perfomance of the year. With nearly taking the lead on the first lap.

  4. Has to be Lewis. When skill was required in wet conditions he smashed it. Vettel only won on race day due to superior PU.

    1. Just curious, what do you call his swallowing of hook, line and sinker at restart?

    2. Hammy bottled it on the restart. Let Vettel get out of the DRS zone and the rest is history. Dropped his lip after the first pit stop and settled for second.

    3. Yeah sure, has to be Lewis every weekend.

    4. ,___,
      {O,o}
      |)“)
      O RLY?

    5. @theobserver when skill was required to have a nice start and defensive first corners he was caught sleeping. He’s an amazing driver, but both the man and his fanbase need some realism.

    6. @theobserver I must add that he had a horrible restart, was way too close to Vettel, needed to break hard and lost contact. Again: great driver, amazing pace in wet condition but far from being DOTW this time.

  5. Great quali for Ham, but threw it all away on lap 1.
    Vettel is my DOTW. Well done to Verstappen with the same lap 1 move.
    Also great Gasly, Ocon, Perez.

    Nice for Ericsson to get a point, but shame on you being overtaken twice by Hartley in a STR with Honda power on harder and much older tyres.
    I hope the musical chairs end up as rumoured yesterday.

    1. Ericsson Made the same mistake Seb did last year against Lewis and the same mistake Lewis made this year(although Lewis bottled it at the restart).. If you overtake before first corner they’re going to overtake you on the long straight, if you get too close before radillion you have to lift then you cannot carry the same momentum (that’s what happened to Seb last year), that’s why Seb gave bit space before eau Rouge and carried the momentum to the straight.. Hamilton went for it in the last chicane after the restart and overcooked it..

      Look how he had the speed to overtake but decided to wait a bit and carried the speed to the main straight and did the job..

      1. @j3d89 I don’t really buy that lifting through Radillion is the reason Vettel couldn’t get past. It was because of the Mercedes’ superior PU. If you look at the replays, Vettel is still able to use the slipstream to get alongside but loses out the drag race afterwards.

        1. Hamilton said that coming down to eau Rouge he backed off a bit to force vettel do the same because he knows vettel doesn’t want to overtake him there due to the fact that hamilton would overtake him easily in the straight… So yes vettel had to lift .. his mistake was to get too close down the hill.. this year he knew Hamilton could try that instead he kept bit of space and maintained the momentum to the straight.. I’m probably mistaking the names of the corners.. but check spa 2017 after the race interview… Lewis explain it there

  6. Hulk with 8%.

    Nice.

  7. Perez had a great race. The distance to Ocon in qualifying had more to do with chance than skill, I’m not saying he would have beaten Ocon, but it should have been closer. His second stint was beautiful.

    Hard to argue against Vettel, but a sentimental drive from the Mexican.

    1. @faulty He was within, what, half a tenth of Ocon, not a big gap! Despite completing his lap about a minute earlier when the conditions were slower.

  8. I voted for Gasly, he finished in the points after a very consistent drive with a slow Honda engine. Of course it helped that a bunch of people crashed out, but still it can’t be easy. Very impressed with Le Clerc as well such bad luck today…

    1. Actually i don’t believe the Honda engine is so slow if you watched the kamel straight both cars were decent with normal wings. If you then watch Renault engine teams RB with a wing (if you can call that) so skinny.
      Gasly did well but there were more people doing a consistent job. So I went for Max as he overtook cars Haas and Ocon and 1 DRS overtake on Perez.

  9. Vettel had a great race but I was surprised he was so far back in qualifying, and the two Force Indias each had a great day, but neither were supreme on both. Bottas didn’t really do qualifying but his race was very good. And Hamilton drove an exceptional qualifying lap but made an error on the one chance he had to attack Vettel.

    Could have picked any of them, but went for Bottas because he did a ridiculously beautiful overtake, and the others didn’t.

    1. Can I repeat my opinion on Bottas’ drive today: Hitting a Williams at the start; all overtakes courtesy of DRS; and not a lot faster than Ricciardo who was on harder tyres.
      A forgettable race for Bottas; deservedly last in Formula 1A.
      @neilosjames

      1. @coldfly Indeed

        Formula 1A

        :) Haven’t heard that before, but it’s fitting

    2. @neilosjames

      Vettel had a great race but I was surprised he was so far back in qualifying

      According to this article about Vettel’s angry radio messages, he started his final attempt with a low battery.
      It doesn’t say how low, or why that was the case. But with Spa certainly being one of the more inconvenient places for that to happen, it could easily explain a few tenths.
      Additionally, he caught Ocon, whose lap was almost 3 seconds slower, so that probably cost him a chunk of time as well.
      All in all, Vettel was probably quick enough to beat Hamilton’s pole lap without those issues – but then again, he set his lap time almost 2 minutes after Hamilton did, which was clearly beneficial, giving the drying conditions.

      Long story short:
      The gap was huge, but there were so many factors playing a role that it cannot be taken at face value. At the end of the day, it was all about putting together a decent lap in the best possible conditions, but it was a chaotic situation, and nobody came anywhere near perfection. In a scenario like that, a gap of 7 tenths can be considered a small-ish gap.

  10. I voted for Hulkenberg because only the 1st lap was exciting

    Rest of the race was BORING!

  11. I voted Ocon; knowing this might be his last race for a while, qualifying 3rd and keeping his cools at the inside of Vettel… very majure driving and ditto result! Here’s for hoping he will be staying in F1!

    1. He lost his place to his team mate, though, and didn’t threaten to win that spot back during the remainder of the race. Can’t be him, imho

    2. Your vote reminds me of an article that said Ocon was a star performer a few GPs ago even though hr qualified and finished the race behind his teammate

  12. A tough call, but I went for Perez.

  13. Perez for me, was very close to Ocon in qualifying despite completing his lap earlier when conditions were slower, then a great start and impeccable race. Honourable mentions to Hulken… no wait I’m confused. Honourable mentions to Vettel, Hamilton, Ocon, Grosjean and Gasly. Bottas did nothing special; he couldn’t not finish 4th with the advantage the top teams have over the rest and his passes were assisted by a hugely overpowered DRS.

  14. Ocon for the balls of Titanium to get alongside Vettel on the first lap and to challenge him for the lead .

    1. @nimba If that’s your reasoning then why not Hamilton or Perez who also challenged for the lead?

      1. @tflb Because he also took P3 on Saturday of the race WEEKEND

        1. @nimba Yeah and Hamilton took 1st, I still don’t see your reasoning. Also Ocon was only half a tenth ahead of his teammate despite doing his lap in better conditions, and was outpaced on the Sunday of the race WEEKEND.

  15. Vettel, of course.
    A good saturday and a great sunday. Also good job by Hamilton, Perez, Ocon, Grosjean, Magnussen, Gasly.

    1. Vettel — not “of course”, but because “second in qualy, first in race” is better than the other way around.

      I’d add that it’s disappointing to see that “older drivers” — Räikkönen, Alonso, Ricciardo — despite their experience, were all taken out (intrinsically) on lap 1. Not a good omen for the future of the sport or the commercial fortunes of Liberty.

      1. 100% Nico Hulkenberg’s fault, there’s nothing Alonso, Leclerc, Raikkonen or Ricciardo could have done to avoid the shunt. Having said that, such an abysmal failure to brake is uncharacteristic of Nico, maybe it was a mechanical brake failure or something beyond his control.

        On the other hand Valteri Bottas, who used to be a pretty safe driver, is becoming a real tool. He has got nearly 10% of the vote, surely because he recovered about 14 positions, but I saw no merit in that. They all were motorway-like, DRS-assisted, uninspired passes on vastly inferior cars. If just one circuit could get rid of DRS, it should be Spa.

  16. It can’t be Vettel as he was useless in the rain, it can’t be Lewis as he wasn’t able to retain his lead nor trouble Vettel, my heart wen’t for Bottas.

    1. Useless in the rain, useless in the dry, amd you went with useless at the start?

      You could have went with Perez, Gasly, even Grosjean

  17. Tifosi need Perez in the second Ferrari.

  18. Sirotkin, for surviving the first lap nudge and doing well for a while in a Williams. Apart from that Perez, RoGro and Gasly for winning their (competitive) intra-team battles.

  19. Has to be Checo. Pipped in qualy by Ocon, but he delivered when it counted. He kept his nose clean and drove a great race. Considering all the drama that he and the team have endured, this was the perfect riposte.

    Well done to Checo and Racing Point.

  20. Jelle van der Meer (@)
    27th August 2018, 7:28

    I voted for Max Verstappen as he didn’t make any mistake an achieved the maximum possible, as well as superb overtake on Ocon. And probably doubled the # of visitors at Spa.
    Ahead of his teammate all weekend, gained 2 places in round 1 and made 2 overtakes afterwards before driving in no mans land for the rest of the race.

    Honorable mention for Vettel (winning but in the best car), Perez (nearly beat Bottas) and Ocon (great qualifying and nearly leading the car)

  21. Voted for Magnussen, just to show that his race was far better than it seems afterwards. He gained 2 positions on the first lap, trailed grosjean with 3 sec on the first stint, but was pitted too late, which costed him another 8 sec., but for the entire 2nd stint he was 0,4 to 0,9 sec faster than Gro and even faster than both Peres and Ocon.

  22. Thomas Bennett (@felipemassadobrasil)
    27th August 2018, 10:57

    I couldn’t think of anyone so said Gasly. Perez and Ocon were good but qualy was basically a lottery so it wasn’t that brilliant. They were well behind Vettel and Hamilton. C4 would have probably said Verstappen even though he didn’t actually Do anything.

  23. Very little to write home about. The highlight of the race was Seb Vettel’s non-DRS overtake (all the other overtakes in the race were lethally dull). But Seb should have got pole on Saturday and didn’t (but then, maybe it wasn’t totally his fault after all). Both FI drivers had decent races. The polesitter has a decent Saturday but a totally average Sunday, and his teammate was even worse, in spite of all the positions he recovered. Max Verstappen at least didn’t do anything egregious. Unfortunately, most of the guys doing great driving this year (Dan Ricciardo, Fernado Alonso, Charles Leclerc) were collected at turn 1.

    Too hard to choose, so I passed. If possible I would have given 1/2 vote to Seb Vettel, and 1/4 to both Perez and Ocon.

  24. Perez was good despite all the stress around him lately proving again he is really upper league now, but Vettel was really top notch in a crucial race for the championship. Could maybe have been slightly better in the wet qualifying, but I guess still feeling the burn after Germany.

  25. Was thinking to vote vettel but in the end I went with perez: he was great, going to the limit of what his car could do, at times not losing anything in a lap to a recovering bottas, he did the best he could to keep him behind, unlike ocon (who ofc doesn’t want to ruin his relationship with wolf).

    Vettel had a good race, but mostly did his job, he had a superior car at least engine-wise, attacked hamilton in the right place, where I’d have expected before the race started, made it work, and then managed to keep him far away at all times.

  26. There were a few drivers I considered but for some of the main ones I looked at I don’t think they had faultless weekends they all seemed to have something which detracted from their overall performance.

    Having taken a dominant victory Vettel would seem an obvious candidate for driver of the weekend and he is currently leading the vote, but the fact he didn’t get pole in the wet conditions counts against him for me.

    They said in commentary that it had stopped raining before the end of Q3, so as always in those conditions you expect the driver who manages to complete the last lap in qualifying to have the advantage and to be the favourite, Vettel was about half a lap behind Hamilton so even when Hamilton went to the top of the timesheets after his final lap I was certain Vettel would be able to beat it considering the Ferrari had looked the quicker car all weekend and the track was getting better and so I was very surprised when he was only second quickest.

    The star of qualifying for me was Ocon, finishing third quickest in the wet Q3 after everything that has happened with Force India, yes he benefitted from some quicker cars running out of fuel so not being on the circuit at the end when it had stopped raining but he still had to put the lap in on a weekend when his future in F1 is in question.

    Unfortunately Ocon lost out to his teammate at the start and dropped further places to quicker cars during the race so only finished sixth.

    Grosjean had a good qualifying and race result, but I feel it only stood out as a good performance because of how poor he has been during the first half of the season. If Grosjean had delivered so far in 2018 to the same standard he had he has shown he can recent years, this result, considering the relative pace of the Haas, would have been what was expected of him.

    Verstappen lost out due to the strategy Red Bull took in qualifying, thinking the rain would continue, so prioritising getting the cars out quickly on wet tyres rather than waiting to put more fuel in so they could run to the end of Q3. He managed to avoid all the trouble at the start and went on to climb his way up to third.

    After the announcement he would be moving up to Red Bull for next season Gasly put in another good weekend, and if I hadn’t voted for him last time out he probably would have been a stronger contender for my vote.

    Despite losing out to his teammate in the race, I decided to go with what my heart said and vote for Ocon. If I looked coldly at the facts of the race I wouldn’t have voted for Ocon normally, but with what he did in qualifying and everything else going on with him and the team it influenced my decision enough in the end.

Comments are closed.