Vote for your 2018 Italian Grand Prix Driver of the Weekend

60 comments on “Vote for your 2018 Italian Grand Prix Driver of the Weekend”

1. 

   Sham (@sham)
   2nd September 2018, 22:36

   Some people voting for Vettel?

   ROFL
   1. 

      RP (@slotopen)
      3rd September 2018, 2:19

      @sham
      Vettel passed almost the entire field today. He only got passed when in the pits or pointing the wrong direction. After the race he offered a humble and level headed assessment of his misfortune.

      Hamilton only passed two cars, even then Vettel was mostly sideways. He got repassed by RIK once and had to do it again. He clung desperately to the lead when RIK pitted, then locked up going into pitlane. He heartlessly deprived RIK of a magical and long overdue victory He bumbled badly with his helmet getting out of the car. He mentioned Bottas last in his post-race thank-you. Finally, his champagne spraying was subpar.

      Easy vote for Vettel, like every weekend.
      1. 

         AlexTr
         3rd September 2018, 6:13

         It must ‘ve been a very painful Sunday…
         1. 

            magon4 (@magon4)
            3rd September 2018, 9:47

            hahahahaha
      2. 

         bosyber (@bosyber)
         3rd September 2018, 10:05

         I understand that if it’s Vettel every weekend for you, this one was probably easier than, say, last year Baku or Mexico @slotopen, but have you ever considered looking at merit before your default?
         1. 

            RP (@slotopen)
            3rd September 2018, 12:51

            @bosyber

            I was trying to channel whoever voted for Vettel.

            Yes, Vettel had a very bad weekend.

            I do understand the RIK vote. He did everything he could, but Ferrari messed up with the soft tires. I can’t decide if he was cool or dejected in the post race interviews.
            1. 

               bosyber (@bosyber)
               3rd September 2018, 13:49

               Ah, that explains that @slotopen, yes I do agree Kimi could be a contender (and I guess on the current vote he’s 2nd behind Hamilton); note that both irony and sarcasm aren’t always clear in writing (especially nowadays with people posting quite remarkable opinions as truth)
2. 

   Ed Marques (@edmarques)
   2nd September 2018, 22:39

   Hamilton, no doubt it about it.
   Kimi was great too. And Stroll, great weekend for him.
   1. 

      magon4 (@magon4)
      3rd September 2018, 9:48

      a little surprised stroll isn’t gettng more credit here; all in all, i guess his weekend should be rated superior to Kimi’s, no?
      1. 

         Martin
         3rd September 2018, 14:27

         As evidenced recently most people here hate Stroll because they’re jealous of his Rich dad lol.
3. 

   Understeer (@abdelilah)
   2nd September 2018, 22:45

   Lewis Hamilton, kept faith, knew his target and what he was supposed to do, executed a nice race and made Vettel look silly once more.
4. 

   David BR (@david-br)
   2nd September 2018, 23:04

   Hamilton, Raikkonen, Bottas, in that order.

   Alonso seemed determined to win his own special prize this weekend, beginning with ‘assh’ and ending, of course, with an ‘olé!’
   1. 

      Imre (@f1mre)
      3rd September 2018, 16:03

      Bottas? He was so poor.
5. 

   juan fanger (@juan-fanger)
   2nd September 2018, 23:07

   RoGro. Won the highly competitive midfield. Only put a floor radius wrong all weekend.
6. 

   nase
   2nd September 2018, 23:25

   There’s going to be a lot of applause for Räikkönen, but if this race has proved anything, it’s the fact that he can’t even win a race when everything is perfectly aligned. There was no better car than the Ferrari this weekend, no better position to start from, even the strategy was faultless, with a reasonably early pit stop to prevent any attempted undercut by Mercedes. But he blew it. This was the race that proved beyond doubt that Ferrari can’t continue with him if they want to mount a serious challenge on the championship.

   Räikkönen’s impact on the championship so far: He’s managed to finish ahead of Hamilton exactly once. That’s three points he’s taken from Hamilton. Contrast that with the four races he’s finished ahead of Vettel, but not ahead of Hamilton, and the 11 points he’s taken from his team mate in the process, and you can reach the nasty conclusion that Vettel’s and consequently Ferrari’s title chances would be more alive if they hadn’t even fielded Räikkönen this season.
   1. 

      Esploratore (@esploratore)
      3rd September 2018, 2:11

      I normally agree with your comments but this time not really.

      I’m not a raikkonen or anyone’s fan currently, I was only a schumacher fan, however you left out of your description that raikkonen was playing 1 vs 2 vs the mercedes, bottas slowed him down and damaged his tyres to play the team game, and had blistering and resisted almost until the end.

      You also left out that vettel, who you say would have better chances if it weren’t for raikkonen, made the mistake at the start which left raikkonen in that 1 vs 2 situation, if vettel were there to help him fight the mercedes, a win for a ferrari would’ve been far more likely.

      You also left out that bottas wouldn’t have been able to defend himself from vettel either in raikkonen’s situation, let’s be honest: the number 2 drivers did a relatively good job this year, but they’re just that, number 2 drivers, and when the number 1s perform they just can’t compete.

      I voted for raikkonen and he really should’ve had a win this race, possibly the last of his career, and I’m starting to think vettel is just not at hamilton’s level, they both have their flaws but hamilton’s last off weekend is now quite far, canada, while vettel’s mistakes are more frequent than ever.
   2. 

      Michael (@freelittlebirds)
      3rd September 2018, 4:01

      Well, I don’t think you can blame Kimi for not winning today. Kimi was fantastic today – he fought very hard to get the position back after the restart and to avoid the undercut building a ridiculous lead over Lewis.

      He’s been driving pretty well this season – the points don’t show it cause Ferrari has dropped the ball quite a few times and he’s been unfortunate. Vettel’s passes are either crashes or crashes avoided by the other driver but ultimately they are crashbound. Contrast that to Kimi’s driving today with Lewis which was a masterclass by both drivers.
      1. 

         ColdFly (@)
         3rd September 2018, 7:22

         Kimi did well but not a Masterclass!
         The Ferrari’s were faster but he failed to drive away before the pit stop.
         Then he failed to overtake a Mercedes on old tyres. And if some believe it’s impossible to overtake, then he should have left a gap to Bottas to save his tyres and prove that it’s impossible (for Hamilton) to overtake.
         Also it was Kimi who DID the undercut, rather than defending against it.
         1. 

            Alex
            3rd September 2018, 17:04

            Did you saw Kimi tires at end of the race? they were not even straight
   3. 

      Hugh (@hugh11)
      3rd September 2018, 8:27

      I think that the tyre wear played a big impact – on both Vettel and Raikkonen it was really bad, yes they were in traffic, but still. Their car was quickest but definitely harsher on ghe tyres which has a big influence in the race.
      1. 

         F1 in Figures (@f1infigures)
         3rd September 2018, 16:25

         @hugh11 Räikkönen’s early stop meant that he had to push hard on fresh tires, and therefore they were in very bad shape at the end of the race. Having said that, Hamilton was clearly faster than Räikkönen throughout the race, and that’s the reason he won the race.
7. 

   Roland Grant
   3rd September 2018, 2:10

   @nase Not sure how Raikkonen ‘blew it’ or if his strategy was ‘faultless’. That’s complete rubbish. Mercedes simply outmanoeuvred Ferrari through a clever pincer movement. They forced Raikkonen into an unusually early pitstop, requiring him to push unduly hard (not only to peg the gap to Hamilton but also to negate the risk of a safety car following Ricciardo’s engine failure), then used Bottas as a mobile chicane to hinder his progress. His 5.8s lead over Hamilton was reduced to nothing in about four laps, giving Lewis the perfect platform to perform the overtake. In short, Bottas gave Lewis the chance to win and without it I doubt he’d have caught Kimi.

   Should be noted too how fairly Kimi raced – Vettel or Verstappen should watch and learn.
   1. 

      Esploratore (@esploratore)
      4th September 2018, 2:06

      Yes, I’m so sorry he didn’t get this win, this was the raikkonen of the old times, with only a little speed missing, after all he’s 38, he’s in the decline age, but he had a lot of character, how often do you see raikkonen overtaking hamilton nowadays?

      After all if we go back and look at china, this is exactly what ferrari asked to do with bottas, slowing him down so vettel could catch up as raikkonen that time had older tyres, but bottas won races last year and will have future chances too, this might’ve been raikkonen’s last chance.
8. 

   Michael (@freelittlebirds)
   3rd September 2018, 3:51

   This was another masterclass drive by Lewis. He was magisterial today and keeps proving that he’s the best.

   Kimi’s performance today was also great and he proved that he’s one of the best wheel-to-wheel racers in F1.
9. 

   Todfod (@todfod)
   3rd September 2018, 4:44

   Had to be Lewis. Stellar effort in qualifying and an absolute phenomenal Sunday. Honourable mentions to Raikonnen and Stroll as well.
10. 

    Jon (@johns23)
    3rd September 2018, 5:28

    Lewis chipped away at those Ferraris all weekend, then showed them the way in the race when they thought it was a 1-2 shoe-in. This is why he gets paid the big bucks
11. 

    Andy Bunting (@wildbiker)
    3rd September 2018, 6:46

    SeeBashem! True to form. Exactly the same as last year & the year before. Crumples under pressure. Then spits the dummy out! Compounds that nonsense in itself by throwing all of his toys out of his pram too!
    His red mist moments are legendary! This was just another one. To have the brass neck to blame Lewis is at best diversionary? No, truth is he had the red mist & royally screwed up AGAIN! No one to blame but himself.
    Lewis handles the current pressure cooker F1 environment way better!
    1. 

       magon4 (@magon4)
       3rd September 2018, 9:50

       that’s quite a bit over the top, isn’t it? even known lewis-biased pundits didn’t really call it a vettel mistake. it was a race incident where both risked, and hamilton came out with a little more luck.
       1. 

          55Savage
          3rd September 2018, 15:44

          even known lewis-biased pundits didn’t really call it a vettel mistake

          90% of Twitter and even Vettel’s own supporters called it a Vettel mistake, that’s what it was. Don’t make stuff up, it’s not cool.
       2. 

          Alex
          3rd September 2018, 17:22

          Even Italian newspapers called it “ennesimo”(umpteenth) error by Vettel.

          It was Vettel that let the car slide into Hamilton, if he didn’t hit he would be third and the team would be in 1 and 3 with strategic possibilities. But no he had to win the race in first turn.

          It is one more error in one long list of bad judgements by Vettel this year.
12. 

    bosyber (@bosyber)
    3rd September 2018, 7:06

    I haven’t quite decided yet; I could see Hamilton, Raikkonen, Grosjean, Ocon, and I guess Stroll as candidates.
13. 

    frood19 (@frood19)
    3rd September 2018, 7:09

    A few noteworthy names this week. Hamilton obviously, the force india pair again, the two Williams, raikkonen. I would have added verstappen but his horrible move on bottas and his utter lack of contrition or humility really ruined it for me. Nasty driver and deserved a harsher penalty. I think he was saved by the fact bottas was not hugely disadvantaged but that misses the point that he could have caused another totally avoidable and dangerous accident
    1. 

       frood19 (@frood19)
       3rd September 2018, 7:10

       I ended up voting for ocon.
14. 

    ColdFly (@)
    3rd September 2018, 7:14

    I’d give it to Kimi had he overtaken Bottas.
    But Hamilton showed he’s a big step above Raikkonen.
    Also well done by Gasly, Grosjean, Verstappen, Racing Point guys, and Stroll(!)
15. 

    Philip (@philipgb)
    3rd September 2018, 7:30

    In a race he rightly should have lost 10 points of his lead and had his mind on damage limitation, Hamilton attacked and stole a victory.

    No bumbled strategy or unforced error gifting him the win, he fought and took it himself.

    The closest thing to a criticism you can level at him would be the team using Bottas as a road block, but even then it was to limited effect.
16. 

    AMG44 (@amg44)
    3rd September 2018, 7:53

    Hamilton. He passed both (quicker) Ferrari and Kimi twice. Somewhere i was hoping for Kimi to win this one before he retires. Vettel+Ferrari is the quickest and most reliable package this year but he is making too many errors.
    Hamilton is 30 points clear including a (car failure) DNF in Austria.
    Singapore potentially would be the toughest race for Mercedes so Vettel better cut out the mistakes before he run out of races.
    1. 

       magon4 (@magon4)
       3rd September 2018, 9:52

       race pace didn’t suggest that ferrari had the quicker car on sunday. nor does the data. even toto wolff said the mercedes was faster on the sunday.
       1. 

          Esploratore (@esploratore)
          4th September 2018, 2:09

          If toto wolf says mercedes are faster you have to believe him, he will take every chance to say ferrari is faster when he can!
17. 

    Hadzhiev (@hadzhiev)
    3rd September 2018, 8:00

    Verstappen – resisted a much faster car over a race distance on a circuit which is relatively easy to be overtaken (with this “””superb””” DRS technology).
    Vettel did a very good comeback drive – but he needed to act more smartly. It was a nasty clash and could have ended bad for both of them but it was relatively easy to guess that his positioning of the car made him more vulnerable. He should check 1998’s Monza GP and the move Schumacher did on Häkkinen… how it should be done in this chicane. ;-)

    To be honest, I’m disappointed overall by the way the races evolve. This DRS and enormous run-off areas make it far too easy for people to be left unpunished for their driving mistakes – and I say this although the cars are much much more drivable than they were 10+ years ago. Just compare the lap of Montoya and the one from Räikkönen – Montoya needed to make corrections in every corner… now it’s like driving a train. ;-)
    1. 

       Kehinde
       8th September 2018, 11:32

       Had to choose the 2 bad boys of the weekend, it appears.
       What of Hamilton? Any special mention, seeing he was not your DOD?
18. 

    MacLeod (@macleod)
    3rd September 2018, 8:04

    This was very hard for a clear driver of the weekend:
    Kimi had a great Saterday but failed on Sunday lost the race when he couldn’t overtake Bottas. Lewis solid Saterday but got passed by two others but good Sunday. Vettel ah yes failed on Saterday and made a mess on Sunday. Bottas couldn’t overtake Max and had a bad qualiflier. Max had a good Qualiflier and a good race even with the faulty stewards penaulty.

    Perez from 16 to 8 Grosjean on 6

    I would go for Lewis or Max
19. 

    Tango (@tango)
    3rd September 2018, 8:11

    It’s a shame we didn’t see much of the Ocon v Grosjean fight. On the app it looked pretty close
20. 

    Thomas Bennett (@felipemassadobrasil)
    3rd September 2018, 8:42

    No votes for Stroll? Let’s change that!
21. 

    JohnH (@johnrkh)
    3rd September 2018, 9:21

    Hamilton for me even though he had little help :) he showed he is a smart driver as well as fast.
22. 

    Jere (@jerejj)
    3rd September 2018, 10:32

    I went for Raikkonen despite the end-result although I thought about voting for Sirotkin as well.
    1. 

       Manuel Falcao (@mfalcao)
       3rd September 2018, 10:37

       Sirotkin had a great race, finally he got a break, Williams in somewhat got at fast tracks, and both drivers are delivering when the car is a bit competitive. They are not the best drivers in the pack but performances like these show that they are not as bad as people make them out to be.
23. 

    Manuel Falcao (@mfalcao)
    3rd September 2018, 10:34

    After seeing the driver data, my driver of the day is Perez, great race lapped almost way faster then all the midfield, only 1 tenth from Ver. time. He needs to improve his qualifying, and maybe that’s the reason Ocon is not ready for Mercedes, he his great at qualifying but he still lacks a bit of race pace compared to the top guys, I don’t thing he would do better then Bottas at this stage, he needs to improve on race day to be close to Hamilton.
24. 

    Hans Herrmann (@twentyseven)
    3rd September 2018, 11:58

    Hamilton just activated “Legend Mode”!

    I’m not even a fan, I’m a fan of that style of measured driving though, immense skill coupled with aggression and acute strategic awareness.

    Kimi was on form also which was great to watch, nothing ghe could do about the well executed Merc strategy..

    What a great race to watch!
    1. 

       AntonioCorleone
       3rd September 2018, 23:39

       Yes, I agree.
       After he passed Raikkonen on the restart, he made what was for me the move of a champion when he saw it’s going to be tight in the second chicane, so he lifted and let Kimi through. That, for me, makes him in the league of Schumacher and Alonso. My respect for Lewis has grown sky-high. And I am a Ferrari fan
25. 

    Jay Menon (@jaymenon10)
    3rd September 2018, 13:43

    I was going to go for Kimi, but I actually went for Bottas.

    Lewis winning was a culmination of a brilliant team performance. If Kimi was not held up by Bottas, they would not have won.

    Bottas drove really well to make his tyres last and to keep Kimi behind for as long as he did. He drove really well after his pitstop as well.

    Perhaps not a drive of the weekend, certainly a drive of the day.
    1. 

       Martin
       3rd September 2018, 19:35

       but I actually went for Bottas

       You must really hate Hamilton lol
       1. 

          Esploratore (@esploratore)
          4th September 2018, 2:11

          Tbh I wasn’t impressed by either hamilton nor bottas, mostly by raikkonen this time.

          Bottas was incredibly slow compared to hamilton, so that’s out, hamilton needed bottas to slow down raikkonen, so that’s out.

          There were other good performances behind, like the williams drivers and grosjean.
26. 

    James
    3rd September 2018, 13:57

    Hamilton purely based on performance, but Raikkonen is my driver of the day for giving Lewis room to pass at the chicane. That kind of firm but fair driving is good for the sport.
27. 

    Martijn (@)
    3rd September 2018, 15:36

    Very solid race from Hamilton, true championship level. Overall strategy from Mercedes also impressive. Kudos to Verstappen in an inferior car. Well done. Bottas needs to improve as the gap in performance vs Hamilton is too big for him to be in such a desired seat
28. 

    Thomas Bennett (@felipemassadobrasil)
    3rd September 2018, 15:41

    Williams of the weekend:
    Who was your worst driver of the weekend?
    Cast your votes
29. 

    GeeMac (@geemac)
    3rd September 2018, 17:22

    Sergey Sirotkin. The guy has been plugging away in difficult circumstances all season and finally managed to bag his first point after a solid weekend.
    1. 

       Martin
       3rd September 2018, 19:38

       Stroll beat him in both qualy as the race, how can you vote for Sirotkin over Stroll? It makes no sense.
30. 

    Fernando Deutsch (@)
    3rd September 2018, 17:25

    Perez for me. Yes, both Force India and him did not read correctly Q1. Did a good start, was able to pass the hard MAG whom jumped the chicane twice. With a broken car was able to pass 4 cars on track. If you have the F1 live-timing app you would see the amazing pace he had. Ended 1 second behind Ocon after being 5 places back.
    1. 

       Martin
       3rd September 2018, 19:40

       Yes, both Force India and him did not read correctly Q1

       To be fair to Perez that was the teams fault only, he wanted to go out again.
31. 

    PJA (@pja)
    6th September 2018, 20:41

    My driver of the weekend was Hamilton. He managed to get closer in qualifying to the Ferraris than I thought he would and then he put in a great drive to capture the victory in the race itself.

    Raikkonen secured a very popular pole and I thought he was in a great position to take his first victory for Ferrari since re-joining the team after Vettel‘s first lap incident ruled out the prospect of Ferrari using team orders to deny him, but Hamilton was just too quick for him in the race especially with the tyre problems Ferrari had with the softs.

    Grosjean maintained his upturn in form after a poor start to the seasn with what would have been best of the rest before his disqualification due to the legality of his car’s floor.

    Stroll managed to get the Williams into Q3 for the first time this season and he backed that up with points finish which has sadly become a rare occurrence for the team.

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