[gmsabu]
Which Formula One driver made the most of the Italian 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 three days.
Review how each driver got on below and vote for who impressed you the most at Monza.
Driver performance summary
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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 2019 Italian Grand Prix weekend?
- No opinion (1%)
- Robert Kubica (0%)
- George Russell (0%)
- Alexander Albon (0%)
- Daniil Kvyat (1%)
- Antonio Giovinazzi (0%)
- Kimi Raikkonen (0%)
- Lance Stroll (1%)
- Sergio Perez (6%)
- Lando Norris (0%)
- Carlos Sainz Jnr (0%)
- Kevin Magnussen (0%)
- Romain Grosjean (0%)
- Nico Hulkenberg (0%)
- Daniel Ricciardo (14%)
- Pierre Gasly (0%)
- Max Verstappen (1%)
- Charles Leclerc (64%)
- Sebastian Vettel (1%)
- Valtteri Bottas (0%)
- Lewis Hamilton (7%)
Total Voters: 209

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When this poll is closed the result will be displayed instead of the voting form.
2019 Italian Grand Prix
- ‘No simple rules fix’ for F1’s Monza Q3 farce
- Monza Q3 farce unlikely to be repeated this year – Verstappen
- Top ten pictures from the 2019 Italian Grand Prix
- Teams should have helped Vettel and Stroll avoid Ascari incidents – Masi
- 2019 Italian Grand Prix Star Performers
Debates and polls
- Will Daniel Ricciardo be racing in Formula 1 in 2024?
- Massa wants “justice” over Crashgate. But what penalty did it deserve?
- Should the stewards have taken action over Russell-Verstappen collision?
- After 25 grands prix, has F1’s ground effect revolution improved racing?
- Do late-race standing restarts belong in F1?
Bulgarian (@bulgarian)
8th September 2019, 22:04
It is a difficult decision to call the best driver of the day. As much as I like Leclerc I am cautious to vote for him, because that would mean that his cheeky driving that mistakenly went unpunished is acceptable. I voted for Ricciardo. He made a superb start, drove cleanly and finished well ahead of Nico Hulkenberg.
David BR (@david-br)
8th September 2019, 23:08
@bulgarian I voted Leclerc with the reasoning that the cheeky driving was given the green light by the FIA stewards, so he exploited whatever he had available, including stewarding leniency, to stay ahead. And he was impressive surviving the pressure from both Mercedes drivers (where his team mate had succumbed in a similar situation earlier in the season). Doesn’t mean I agree with the decisions, but as far as best driver goes, he earned it. Plus Hamilton (and the rest) gets minus points for the weekend for the Q3 nonsense.
Bulgarian (@bulgarian)
8th September 2019, 23:30
Surely, Leclerc was one of the best today. So, I have no objection if someone votes for him. It is very subjective and it always is.
Philups
9th September 2019, 14:41
@david-br
“And he was impressive surviving the pressure from both Mercedes drivers”….?
By going off and making dirty moves? lol
The only reason why he survived was Nicolas calling his daddy and Lewis and Valterri making stupid mistakes.
Philups
9th September 2019, 14:42
-a proper driver like Danny Ric would have breezed by given the amount of mistakes Charles made-
Cristian (@panzik)
9th September 2019, 14:25
Hulk made a superb start and Dan finished 11 seconds away from Hulk because he benefit from the vsc. Hulk even close the gap by 7 seconds before the end of the race
isaac (@invincibleisaac)
8th September 2019, 22:28
Quite an unlikely decision, but I voted for Stroll. Maybe he wasn’t quite the very best driver throughout the weekend but for his usual standards I thought he did very well and he did impress me. He qualified brilliantly (if you ignore the Q3 tactics ;) ) and made a great start to be up to P7. He maybe could’ve been P6 if it hadn’t been for Vettel taking him out of the points. Just look at Perez – he finished 7th from 18th on the grid. Stroll deserved a good result for a change for I went for him.
bosyber (@bosyber)
9th September 2019, 8:10
Well reasoned @invincibleisaac; I think Leclerc is my driver of the weekend, but compared to some of those votes for Vettel, have to say Stroll deserves them more.
isaac (@invincibleisaac)
9th September 2019, 9:57
@bosyber I think Leclerc did well, but I honestly think he should have received a penalty. Firstly for forcing Lewis off the track (in a similar way VER did to BOT last year, and received a +5). On the Channel 4 commentary David Coulthard said straight away “Leclerc will get a penalty for that!”. Once LEC got a warning DC made a very good point “You should either get a penalty or not: not a warning. It’s either okay to do, or it’s not.” Then when Leclerc cut turn 1 I don’t think he gained much of an advantage, but then he moved right in front of Hamilton mid-way through the curve, which again I thought would’ve resulted in a penalty given his black and white flag. But I wasn’t too surprised because how could they give a Ferrari, who was leading the race, a penalty at Monza. Another track and it might’ve been different.
But, on a more positive not, it’s great to see lots of good home-race results this year:
– Verstappen winning Austria in the Red Bull
– Hamilton winning Silverstone
– Vettel finishing 2nd in Germany from 20th
– And now Leclerc winning Monza in a Ferrai
bosyber (@bosyber)
9th September 2019, 18:12
Well @invincibleisaac, if that black-white flag is a something like a yellow, then I think he might count himself lucky he didn’t get two for the two different ‘on/over the line’ bits of driving, which should be a red … But, not convinced the stewards really worked like that. I suppose it being new might mean they just have to get consistently used to that (what, other sports have clear and solid rules on how that works? how is that possible? Not in F1 ;)
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
9th September 2019, 20:43
You can also add that Stroll finished 25 seconds behind Perez. Despite getting wallaped at the start, taking time to get going, getting damage, having a 20 second penalty. I think it is quite possible to claim that Stroll had better pace on race day than Perez. perez should have finished further ahead of him if the opposite was the case. This gap was only just over a pit stop window despite Stroll having a drive through and suffering what he did at the start. Despite his mistake, I think Stroll had a really good race, and think he deserves more credit than Perez. Just think that if he didn’t get that drive through, he may have almost caught up with Perez despite what happened at the start.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
8th September 2019, 22:58
Vettel, undoubtedly.
(chuckles, scroll up and look at the chart)
Good Lord, someone actually voted for him! Didn’t realize his mum was on RaceFans.
Bulgarian (@bulgarian)
8th September 2019, 23:03
His dad has voted too, as Vettel has 6% from 35 votes. That makes 2 votes from 35.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
8th September 2019, 23:27
@bulgarian – Ah, it was 3% from 33 votes when I commented. She probably had to nudge him awake.
Bulgarian (@bulgarian)
8th September 2019, 23:33
As far as I know, Seb has a brother too, so don’t wonder if… :)
Phylyp (@phylyp)
8th September 2019, 23:37
LOL :)
Homerlovesbeer (@homerlovesbeer)
9th September 2019, 2:52
Don’t forgot somebody has voted Max too lol
JohnH (@johnrkh)
8th September 2019, 23:38
Yeah well couldn’t go past Leclerc, he used a couple of dubious moves on Hamilton but he was fighting for the win. Ricciardo and the Hulk had a very good weekend (about time). Hamilton drove well kept calm, while Bottas well I didn’t expect him to be able to past Leclerc even on fresher tyres. Albon is proving his worth couple of mistakes but he kept it in one piece. if it were any other team than RB Verstappen should be worried but well it’s RB enough said.
Russell showed his class again in a car that was hopelessly slow.
Vettel…well what can you say, zero pressure from anyone and he blows it again. As a few here have said I think Monza has signaled the changing of the guard at Ferrari.
On Missed Apex a couple of weeks ago a guessed commentator suggested that Ricciardo has a clause in his contract that would release him if a seat became available at Ferrari.
Dane
9th September 2019, 0:40
It’s got to be Leclerc right? Only his 2nd year and he’s beat a (nearly 6x) champion to the win twice in a week in a 53 lap duel.
MG1982 (@mg1982)
9th September 2019, 6:53
And with harder tyres! Remember 2017 Spa, the praise HAM got for resisting VET with fresher softer tyres, and VET the flak of course. Nobody praised VET for giving it all, it was all about having the better car (and tyres), yet not being able to pass HAM. Yesterday tho, HAM got praised for giving it all in a faster car and tyres although he failed to maintain even P2. This world…
Philups
9th September 2019, 14:36
@dane
When the title says: Dirtiest driver of the weekend, sure, but any driver getting a black flag and still making dirty moves……hmm, you gotta have a manage like Nocolas Todt to get away with that.
Jon (@johns23)
9th September 2019, 1:43
Ricciardo for sure! Leclerc did fantastic but has a dragster for a car down the straights, well done to him soaking up that pressure.
Mashiat (@mashiat)
9th September 2019, 1:58
@johns23 Ricciardo was great this weekend, but I feel like the race wasn’t too difficult for him. Beating his teammate is an accomplishment, but the Renault was probably 4th fastest, and with Albon and Verstappen out of the picture, and the fact that he pitted under the VSC while his teammate couldn’t, meant that it was quite a easy drive for him. Unlike Leclerc for example, who was driving under pressure for 53 laps.
regs (@regs)
9th September 2019, 2:11
Leclerc, Kvyat and Russel
JMDan (@danmar)
9th September 2019, 2:42
The result was predictable. Leclerc is everyone’s new darling.
Homerlovesbeer (@homerlovesbeer)
9th September 2019, 2:53
@danmar He’s been my darling since midway through last year :)
JMDan (@danmar)
10th September 2019, 5:06
We’re definitely watching a superstar in the making. He’s so grounded for a young man.
Esploratore (@esploratore)
9th September 2019, 5:16
I voted leclerc obviously, just like in spa him and hamilton were the protagonists for the win, this time however they were closer for most of the race, I think hamilton has been underrated, saw no marks higher than 7 in the driver ratings I saw, I’d have given 10 to CL and 9 hamilton. Obviously also good race from ricciardo, renault did well also performance wise, apart from that, both albon and verstappen had a race that is under the minimum that can be expected, verstappen did better in the circumstances.
Jere (@jerejj)
9th September 2019, 7:25
DOTW: LEC, as well as, DOTD with honorable mentions to both Renault-drivers, PER, and GIO.
Philups
9th September 2019, 14:34
@jerejj
Dirtiest driver of the weekend: Leclerc
Manager of the weekend: Nicolas Todt
When a driver gets a black and white flag (after deliberately screwing his teammate in quali) and is allowed to continue making dirty moves….not a driver of any part of the weekend in my book.
But having the son of Jean as a manager seems to be working pretty well.
ColdFly (@)
9th September 2019, 9:37
Difficult to vote on the DotW poll as we hardly saw any racing action from the drivers outside the lead.
I didn’t see him but according to the lap charts Perez did a stellar job keeping Verstappen behind him.
Philups
9th September 2019, 10:16
Todt family business for making sure Charles would go by unpunished.
Ioannis (@ioannisk)
9th September 2019, 12:14
LEC, with honorable mentions to RIC and PER.
*That battle between PER and VER must have been really good but the TV director was a guy who had originally applied as a volunteer for the track but instead they put him in charge of TV directing room.
faulty (@faulty)
9th September 2019, 13:08
For the last few races the TV direction has been dismal.
Ioannis (@ioannisk)
9th September 2019, 13:54
I would go for “Abysmal”.
Jorge Lardone (@jorge-lardone)
9th September 2019, 19:01
Leclerc of course. Another excellent weekend. Despite being only in his second season he is demonstrating his great quality.
He made the pole and won the race without having the best car, which as we all know is the Mercedes.
He is already emerging as the best driver of his generation.