Start, Sochi Autodrom, 2020

Vote for your 2020 Russian Grand Prix Driver of the Weekend

2020 Russian Grand Prix

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Which Formula One driver made the most of the Russian 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 Sochi Autodrom.

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 2020 Russian Grand Prix weekend?

  • No opinion (1%)
  • Nicholas Latifi (0%)
  • George Russell (0%)
  • Kevin Magnussen (2%)
  • Romain Grosjean (0%)
  • Antonio Giovinazzi (0%)
  • Kimi Raikkonen (0%)
  • Lance Stroll (0%)
  • Sergio Perez (34%)
  • Pierre Gasly (2%)
  • Daniil Kvyat (4%)
  • Esteban Ocon (0%)
  • Daniel Ricciardo (15%)
  • Lando Norris (0%)
  • Carlos Sainz Jnr (0%)
  • Alexander Albon (0%)
  • Max Verstappen (21%)
  • Charles Leclerc (7%)
  • Sebastian Vettel (0%)
  • Valtteri Bottas (6%)
  • Lewis Hamilton (6%)

Total Voters: 206

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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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44 comments on “Vote for your 2020 Russian Grand Prix Driver of the Weekend”

  1. I voted for Perez, although I couldn’t at first decide between him and Ricciardo, but eventually went for him.

    1. Both the DOTW and DOTD.

    2. Danny Ric, Checo and Chuck LeCluck all made their teammates look a bit average this weekend (again). Of those three, Danny made a couple of self-confessed mistakes in the race, and Chuck started on the better tyres to help him jump the soft-shod starters, so giving it to Checo.

      1. Oh, and Max.

        If Albon ever gets close to Max then it’s DOTW for him :)

    3. Verstappen was great, but I’ll give it to Perez too. The lap times at the end was especially good for a midfield car.

    4. I’m beginning to think that it’s a complete waste of time having things like driver of the day and driver of the of the weekend competitions because, firstly, people just do not understand the difference between the two statements and often vote the driver of the weekend when the person they nominated was only the driver of the day. Secondly, because people on this site only vote for drivers they like rather than drivers who put in great performances. I mean, how on earth is Lewis Hamilton not easily driver of the day and weekend when he brilliantly qualifed about half a second a ahead of Bottas and in the race itself he repassed Bottas going into turn one And then after silly penalties he went from 11th place to finish on the podium. Now how is that not a contender for drive of the weekend, and WEIRDLY ENOUGH Mad Max who started second and did not pass one single car, yet was voted driver of the whole weekend. so voters do vote according to who they like and not who is the best driver. I notice many voters are just bitter and jealous of Hamilton brilliance

  2. Thought Leclerc consistently got the best out of the car this weekend. Compare him to his four time world champion team mate and he’s really driving well this season.

    1. +1, I had the same thought. Assuming that Vettel hadn’t forgotten how to drive, Leclerc bringing the draggy car with the F2 engine home in 6th, was a significant feat. And yes, I keep waiting for Leclerc or Vettel to yell GP2 engine from the cockpit.

    2. And doing to Stroll that which Hamilton was penalised for doing to Albon in Brazil…and not a murmur.

    3. I’m not sure that Vettel is driving the same car as Leclerc. Leclerc is obviously doing great in his car. Vettel is doing pretty well for the car he’s got.

      1. Those Aston guys, they have made such a blunder hiring Seb.

        1. Yeah what team would want a driver with 4 championships, 53 wins, 57 poles, and 120 podiums?

      2. @freelittlebirds Well he wrecked it again, so it might not have been 100% no.

  3. Perez, he qualifed best of the rest easily, then in the race managed to jump the Renaults to go up to and stay 4th for the whole race.

    1. I also voted for Perez, as I think the Renault was probably faster than the Racing Point this weekend (particularly Perez’s non-upgraded car), but Perez got the maximum out of the car to finish so far ahead of Ricciardo and Ocon, and only finish ten seconds behind Hamilton. However, my driver of the day would be Charles Leclerc because that Ferrari had no right to be sixth, as shown by four-time champion Vettel’s position. He loses points for missing Q3 and the collision with Stroll, but on his day, I think Leclerc would be able to beat Hamilton or Verstappen in equal cars, even if his consistency is not quite on their level yet.

      1. @f1frog

        even if his consistency is not quite on their level yet.

        But that’s the whole point which makes Hamilton so successful. Verstappen and Leclerc (let alone Vettel) are not nearly as consistent as Hamilton. So they might win a race here and there, but a season is generally longer than just a race here and there.

        Leclerc is not even near Verstappen though. The few times Leclerc does well in Q3 then he generally drops down during the race. It’s usually only when he has an off strategy that he sort of performs decently during a race. Like

        1. @f1oclown
          “But that’s the whole point which makes Hamilton so successful.”
          Well, having the most dominant piece of engineering made for him by the greatest engineering team of the world, combined with the strongest engine designed by the best engine builder and an incredibly weak and obedient teammate is what makes Lewis so succesful.
          He can’t hold a candle against Max his consistency, let alone his raw speed and overtaking skills.
          His consistency better than Max, whahahaha, f1oclown at his best.

    2. Perez and Max, George and Daniel a good second.

  4. I think Perez deserves it this week. Can’t be in a good place ‘inside’ given recent events, but I think he got everything he could out of his particular, non-upgraded car.

    Honourable mentions for Ricciardo and Leclerc.

  5. Perez or you are wrong

  6. Perez, no question.

  7. Perez making it clear he isnt losing his seat because of lack of talent

  8. Charles Leclerc, of course. Ricciardo and Perez did a good work also.

  9. A lot for Perez, somehow. I just watched the replay but except for an occasional flash of pink, what did he do? Asking, not challenging (at this point). Did well but.. did he pass anyone? Have a strong battle? 4th is nice, but I don’t see a reason for Driver of the Weekend.

    1. Paul Villanueva
      28th September 2020, 6:31

      Outqualified teammate without upgrades by a huge margin, Consistency in FP 1,2,3. Did a nice Move on RIC, Renaults were looking good this weekend and beat them by +10 sec. Best of the rest. With all he beeen through this last weeks Dude what else do you need?

      1. Of course he’ll outqualify his teammate by a huge margin if his teammates car isn’t working…

  10. Pérez had a very solid weekend, P1, P2, P3, he was always at the top of the standings, and he confirmed it in Q3, 4th, clearly beating the two Renault, just behind Max.
    He started on the dirty side of the track, lost positions, but with a good strategy and good tire management, Checo got the best of his car, and surpassed the Renault cars, clearly separating from Daniel, final 4th place, …excellent performance, outstanding.

  11. I was going to give it to Leclerc but changed my mind to Checo.

    Leclerc drove well, no doubt. But he was lucky that the Stroll incident didn’t fetch him any penalty. Also, Ferrari clearly used Vettel to slow down Ocon and Ricciardo. So, the 2 positions he gained after lap 1 – Ocon and Gasly – were due to Ferrari’s help and because of Gasly’s own softer tyres at start and the needless VSC pitstop for him.

    Checo on the other hand drove a very solid race. Great pace during the pit stop phase to be able to jump both Ricciardo and Ocon (of course helped by Seb ahead).

    On the other hand, Renault really need to think about their strategy. They were running 4th and 5th before the first pitstops, had no hope of catching the top 3 and apart from Checo, all their pursuers were more than 2-3 seconds behind. In such a situation, was it really necessary to pit BOTH their drivers so early on and put them behind Vettel? They conspired to make that 4th, 5th into 5th, 7th!!

  12. Voted for the guy who has no drive next year.

    That’s F1 for you: a really good driver that has carried his team to many best-of-the-rest results (and contributed with lots of money from Mexican sponsors) is now being fired and can’t find a seat for 2021.

    1. Not finding a seat i really think he is going to Haas. Like Kimi is staying and Mick Schumancher are at Alfa Romeo.

  13. Perez was great – but I have to say that I don’t recall any moments specifically.
    Racing Point are going to regret their decision, as Vettel is not the better driver in midfield battles. If I was Perez, I’d walk away from F1. There’s no point at all going to the only team likely to make a space.

    I went for Ricciardo, though several in the midfield could’ve taken it.

    1. I would as well if I was Perez. I could see him jumping over to Indycar for next season as there is no point in driving for a slow team unless he’s just desperate to stay in F1… With his sponsors etc, he could get a decent seat wherever else he goes and could be fighting for Championships.

      1. He belongs in F1 as mush as old Kimi does.

  14. Kvyat did really well at his home race, defeated his teammate like Ricciardo and Perez did.

    1. I also went with Kvyat, partly because he’s underrated a lot, he had a good weekend with no mistakes (Leclerc did hit Stroll, Ricciardo missed the chicane; Verstappen was great on Saturday, but in the race he just couldn’t do much to make a difference).

  15. I’m beginning to think that it’s a complete waste of time having things like driver of the day and driver of the of the weekend competitions because, firstly, people just do not understand the difference between the two statements and often vote the driver of the weekend when the person they nominated was only the driver of the day. Secondly, because people on this site only vote for drivers they like rather than drivers who put in great performances. I mean, how on earth is Lewis Hamilton not easily driver of the day and weekend when he brilliantly qualifed about half a second a ahead of Bottas and in the race itself he repassed Bottas going into turn one And then after silly penalties he went from 11th place to finish on the podium. Now how is that not a contender for drive of the weekend, and WEIRDLY ENOUGH Mad Max who started second and did not pass one single car, yet was voted driver of the whole weekend. so voters do vote according to who they like and not who is the best driver. I notice many voters are just bitter and jealous of Hamilton brillianc.

  16. Hard to think of anybodywho would deserve it for an oustanding performance, nobody exactly shone this weekend. Alpha Tauris were okay-ish, Perez, Bottas and Verstappen didn’t do any mistakes. I would probably pick Verstappen despite his spins in the free practice.

  17. I went for Perez for the reasons others have already said. I’d say it was probably a 7/10 performance by him though – there weren’t any incredible drives by anyone. He was the best this time out but there have been other races this year where 4 or 5 drivers put in better performances in my opinion.

  18. Verstappen for me. Beat one Merc in qualifying and the other one conviently (but penalty assisted) in the race. Plus a gap even more huge to his teammate than usual.

    Honourable mentions to Perez, Leclerc and Giovanizzi

    1. @roadrunner Yeah it was amazing to beat Mercedes in both Q and R, but the Red Bull car has improved (as it always does as the season progresses) and on some tracks it works well, so part of that was the car IMO.

  19. Most people choose Perez, which i can understand… but for me it has to be Verstappen. His problem is just that he has set such a high standard, that we are getting used to his high performances. Splitting the mercs in both qualy and the race is a top job for sure.

  20. There has to be a first time for everything. I vote for Perez, a fine performance on and off the track.

  21. Paul Villanueva
    29th September 2020, 3:56

    I Just found Hamilton and Perez are the only two drivers on the grid to score in every race they participate this season. Outstanding consistency from Perez.

Comments are closed.