Start, Monaco, 2021

Vote for your 2021 Monaco Grand Prix Driver of the Weekend

2021 Monaco Grand Prix

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Which Formula 1 driver made the most of the Monaco 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 Monaco.

Driver performance summary

DriverStartedGap to team mate (Q)Laps leading team matePittedFinishedGap to team mate (R)
Lewis Hamilton7th+0.494s0/2927th
Valtteri Bottas3rd-0.494s29/290
Max Verstappen2nd-0.997s78/7811st-20.49s
Sergio Perez9th+0.997s0/7814th+20.49s
Lando Norris5th-0.567s77/7713rdNot on same lap
Daniel Ricciardo12th+0.567s0/77112thNot on same lap
Lance Stroll13th+0.291s0/7718thNot on same lap
Sebastian Vettel8th-0.291s77/7715thNot on same lap
Esteban Ocon11th-0.465s77/7719th-4.406s
Fernando Alonso17th+0.465s0/77113th+4.406s
Charles Leclerc1st-0.265s0/0
Carlos Sainz Jnr4th+0.265s0/012nd
Pierre Gasly6th-0.536s77/7716thNot on same lap
Yuki Tsunoda16th+0.536s0/77116thNot on same lap
Kimi Raikkonen14th+0.233s10/77111th+1.352s
Antonio Giovinazzi10th-0.233s67/77110th-1.352s
Mick Schumacher20th27/75118th+1.456s
Nikita Mazepin19th48/75117th-1.456s
George Russell15th-0.35s65/77114th-1.084s
Nicholas Latifi18th+0.35s12/77115th+1.084s

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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 2021 Monaco Grand Prix weekend?

  • No opinion (0%)
  • Nicholas Latifi (0%)
  • George Russell (0%)
  • Nikita Mazepin (1%)
  • Mick Schumacher (0%)
  • Antonio Giovinazzi (2%)
  • Kimi Raikkonen (0%)
  • Yuki Tsunoda (0%)
  • Pierre Gasly (1%)
  • Carlos Sainz Jnr (11%)
  • Charles Leclerc (2%)
  • Fernando Alonso (0%)
  • Esteban Ocon (0%)
  • Sebastian Vettel (36%)
  • Lance Stroll (0%)
  • Daniel Ricciardo (0%)
  • Lando Norris (19%)
  • Sergio Perez (5%)
  • Max Verstappen (21%)
  • Valtteri Bottas (2%)
  • Lewis Hamilton (0%)

Total Voters: 242

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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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50 comments on “Vote for your 2021 Monaco Grand Prix Driver of the Weekend”

  1. VETTEL because he showed glimps of hope.

  2. Easy choice for me. Vettel by some margin.
    Q3 appearance, racing faster cars, performed the overcut and prevailed in which was pretty much the only wheel to wheel battle of the race.

  3. Mazepin. Huge improvement since the last GP.

    1. @bulgarian you have a point

    2. He certainly showed that he might be getting a grip on the car. Schumacher overestimated himself/the car twice, but Mazepin just went on with it and drove a decent race (if almost completely invisible and in a hopeless position) to the flag @bulgarian.

      I agree that this should be mentioned. No spins, no gaffes and even being able to have a bit of a fight over postion. Let us hope he is able to build on that for the rest of the season.

  4. Not much between Norris and Vettel.

    1. I was thinking norris (totally dominated ricciardo) but I went for Giovinazzi – I may have missed some key parts of his race but it looked like he maximised both qualifying and race.

  5. For the Race I would select Vettel, but for the whole weekend its Sainz for me. He just looked great here.

  6. Pat Ruadh (@fullcoursecaution)
    23rd May 2021, 22:35

    Vettel for me. Great qualifying in 8th and brilliant race to leapfrog 2 cars

  7. I picked Giovinazzi over Vettel, Norris and Sainz. I think getting the AlfaRomeo into Q3 was a bit of a breakthrough. Just as claiming a point might be for the team.
    Vettel did really well this weekend too, let us hope it is a sign of him getting back into it.

    1. Pat Ruadh (@fullcoursecaution)
      24th May 2021, 0:16

      I overlooked Gio but good call

      1. Indeed!

  8. Vettel, great quali, and a even better race, finishing P5.

  9. Laughable that a few people have picked Leclerc. A massive opportunity wasted.

    Several good weekdends – all of the top three (plus Perez in the race) and Vettel and Gasly.

    But I went for Giovinazzi – left Kimi behind in qualifying yet again, maximized the potential of the car, and spent much of the race being one of the few drivers trying to put pressure on the car in front instead of just ticking off the laps. Top effort.

  10. Nothing epic from Max (good recovery from a less-than-perfect start) but good enough. Gasly, Giovinazzi and Vettel were the stars for me. And the two young guns at the podium (Lando lapping Ric!!). Would have voted for Perez if he had gonefor the FLAP but missed his chance. And the worst today… everybody knows who, even if he’s blaming the team.

  11. The entire weekend can only be max.
    Sunday, Perez, Norris and of course Vettel share the position.

    1. He didn’t put the qual lap together when he had the chance and was overdriving a touch. Was beaten by a Ferrari, and likely Bottas if the final lap could have been done.

      1. Charles was the one who was overdriving his car Max build up towards his fastest lap and would have beaten Bottas easily. Also his race. pace was better than Bottas and Charles pace. Some say Max was lucky but in fact Charles took away a perfect weekend for Max.

  12. I chose Norris as he looked like he was in a different league to Ricciardo who is a respected performer around Monaco usually. He also lapped

    1. He also lapped him and qualified ahead of at least 2 faster cars. Sainz also was great and while he didn’t out qualify his teammate he may have been robbed a chance at pole. Finally Vettel did a really solid job although it felt it was largely possible due to Gasly pace being poor hence causing him and Hamilton to both lose out.

      As many people point out on here, Verstappen did well to win but arguably it was to be expected once he was First at the First corner. Very mature drive though and was in control.

      1. Sainz also was great and while he didn’t out qualify his teammate he may have been robbed a chance at pole

        Not really, his sector laptimes were slower on the lap lec crashed. That was the last available option to put in a faster lap.
        So he never had a chance to better his time.

  13. This is a tough one. I went with Lando. He is really making Daniel look a little silly now. Snatching a podium and lapping his team mate in the process. Keep it up!

  14. I commented a week or two ago that Lewis seems to have stamped out his poor weekends that used to pop up occasionally. I’ll humbly eat my words… but one weekend does not a championship decide! Great to have a genuine fight on our hands even if this particular race wasn’t particularly lively.

  15. Sainz was a no brainer for me.

    Was right up there throughout practices, qualified well (could have been better if not for the red flag) and drove a great race to finish not that far off Max.

    Seriously underrated driver.

  16. Sainz was good, but clearly had the joint fastest car this weekend and also a messy final sector in his first run in Q3 cost him a better starting position, maybe even pole because he was up on Leclerc until sector 2.

    I think Norris and Vettel were more impressive and I’d say even perfect throughout the weekend. Went with Vettel for that insane overcut on Gasly and Hamilton. Finished ahead of faster cars, so great job and great to see a glimpse of what he can really do on a good day.

  17. Poor verstappen, even with a perfect race he loses the driver of the weekend vote, not the first time!

    I voted for verstappen, as a big vettel critic he did really well this time and was definitely one of the standout drivers, and will surely win the poll at this point.

    Norris and sainz also did well, leclerc would’ve also been a candidate if the gearbox hadn’t been damaged.

    1. Gasly also maximised the result.

      1. Lewis Hamilton (1%)
        Valtteri Bottas (2%)
        Max Verstappen (21%)
        Sergio Perez (6%)
        Lando Norris (17%)
        Daniel Ricciardo (0%)
        Lance Stroll (0%)
        Sebastian Vettel (30%)
        Esteban Ocon (0%)
        Fernando Alonso (1%)
        Charles Leclerc (3%)
        Carlos Sainz Jnr (15%)
        Pierre Gasly (1%)
        Yuki Tsunoda (0%)
        Kimi Raikkonen (0%)
        Antonio Giovinazzi (2%)
        Mick Schumacher (0%)
        Nikita Mazepin (1%)
        George Russell (0%)
        Nicholas Latifi (0%)
        No opinion (0%)
        Total Voters: 126

        Wow, look at this, gasly was seriously underrated, same voters as hamilton?

  18. Although there were some really good performances from Verstappen, Sainz, Vettel and Gasly, the way Norris could drag McLaren to a place where it shouldn’t have been (given their recent form and results from free practices), and the fact that he completely trounced Ricciardo, make him the DoTW for me.

  19. Tough call between Norris and Vettel. I’ll give it to Vettel just because where he came from was further away than Norris.

  20. VET for me but also big weekend for Max. Very controlled out front. Bravo Max

  21. I voted for SAI despite not getting as good results as he maybe could’ve.
    DOTD: VER

    1. Sai result is helped by a position gained as a result of lecs dns.
      His q3 never was a threat to lecs times. His last try in the lap lec crashed was 0.25 off in sector times.
      So, he cashed where lec crashed.

  22. Loads of good picks this weekend but I gave it to Bottas. He did was his 7-time worldchampion teammate could not: pressure Max during a difficult weekend for Mercedes.

    Strong qualifying and had a serious shot at pole before the red flag. Was able to keep up with Max before his rotten luck struck ones again.

  23. I have to give it to Gio just because he got that 1 point. He wasn’t maybe the best one but a crucial point for him and for Alfa.

  24. Vettel getting sympathy votes. How lovely and how indicative for his poor campaigns the last decade.

    1. F1oSaurus (@)
      24th May 2021, 11:05

      It was a genuinely good performance from Vettel though. Not like when people vote for the driver who didn’t get pole in the fastest car and simply drove to the finish with no opposition competing.

      Just like in Turkey 2020 were Vettel performed well by going long, keeping out of trouble and being bold when it mattered.

  25. Of the race? Definitely Vettel and Perez.

    Of the weekend? Well, who outqualified their supposedly superior team mate and ran well for their entire race? Bottas. Yeah he retired, but before that he was definitely close to Verstappen on a track where the Mercedes just looked uncomfortable. Yeah, I’ll actually pin my DOTW on Bottas courtesy of a very strong Saturday.

    Some honorable mentions to Vettel, Verstappen, Sainz, Norris, Gasly, Giovinazzi…. Actually, a lot of honorable mentions hah.

    1. I’m not entirely with you on Bottas – he had been slowly dropping back from Max by the time he came in for the pitstp @chrischrill. Then again, Bottas clearly was showing Hamilton the way at a drivers track, so it clearly does show he was doing a good job with that.

      I chose Giovinazzi, but yeah Norris, Sainz also had a good weekend, and Vettel certainly as well. Perez had a decent drive back to the front, but still lacking in pace. I think Mazepin actually coming ahead of Schumacher (and importantly, keeping the badly handling car out of the barriers) is also a step forward (and his qualifying was’t too bad either)

  26. F1oSaurus (@)
    24th May 2021, 11:23

    Voted Vettel this time. it doesn’t happen often, but he really did well. Probably had a decent quali (difficult to say what the potential of that car is), but he especially drove a good race. Good strategy going long. Plus taking that spot from Gasly (in a faster car) with that bold move coming out of the pitlane.

    Bottas also did a tremendous job. Qualified extremely well and looked even to be in the fight for pole in what was clearly the third fastest car at this track. Properly maximized the weekend until the pit incident took him out. Really undeserved and extremely unlucky.

    Also impressed with Sainz. He really seems to be on top of Leclerc and genuinely looked like a contender for pole. Sainz should have been in front of Bottas in Q3 though. I get that he was unlucky with Leclerc crashing, but still.

  27. It was a good weekend for Vettel. But for a man of his talent it wasn’t outstanding and should actually be the norm. A couple of things came his way, narrowly surviving Q1, two retirements infront and getting a good strategy from the team, which he put to good use though. Either way, I am happy for him and hope this trend continues.

  28. Vettel, Norris, Sainz, Giovinazzo and surprisingly excellent weekend by Mazepin stood out to me. If only the race was as good as the practice and qualifying sessions. Mercedes and Ferrari messed up. I think a Ferrari would have won if Leclerc hadn’t crashed.

  29. My vote goes to Vettel. That was easily his best drive since Canada 2019, and I really hope he can begin a good run of form. I am very glad he won the F1.com driver of the day vote, as if Perez had won it, he would now have 60% of those votes for the season, despite currently sitting 13th in my driver rankings. Lando Norris comes a close second for yet another tremendous drive, lapping his teammate, while Verstappen, Sainz, Gasly and Giovinazzi also deserve a shout-out. Valtteri Bottas also did a good job on a weekend when Hamilton had a shocker. And, perhaps controversially, I rated Leclerc highly for this weekend too. Of course, he lost points for crashing in Q3, but he still did well to put the Ferrari on pole. I punish qualifying-ending crashes less than race-ending crashes, and despite the fact that Leclerc’s crash (almost certainly) was the reason for his DNS, I treated it like a qualifying crash, rather than a race-ending crash.
    The strugglers (in my opinion) would be Hamilton, Ricciardo, Alonso, Tsunoda and Schumacher.

  30. Quite a few notable performances; from Sainz and Norris to Giovinazzi, Vettel, Bottas and Pérez. Chose Norris because of his utter domination of his teammate, who lest we forget is a former Monaco winner.

    Honourable mention to Mazepin for being mature about it and staying out of trouble, whereas his teammate wrecked his car twice and failed to beat him in the race.

  31. Really good weekend from Carlos, Lando, Seb, Gio, and Valtteri. In the end, I don’t think you can look past Max though.

  32. Max was on his way to pole when the red flag came, he won the GP and he became the new leader in the championship. That’s a proper weekend for you

  33. Contenders – Vettel, Gasly, Norris, Giovinazzi in that order for me.

    Any of these four could be given DOTW and it would be fair. For me, Vettel and Gasly put their cars much higher in qualifying based on their recent form and car performance and really did maximise whatever they could in the race. Vettel gaining places through strategy puts him ahead.

    Norris did maximise his weekend as well, but the car is pretty good all around and Ricciardo’s current form doesn’t help judge the actual gap between the two. Giovinazzi did extremely well to put himself into Q3 and the move on Ocon in the first lap was well judged. However, he did lose the place to Ocon at the start.

    1. Had Leclerc not crashed out and Max claimed pole on that second run in Q3, then won, he would unquestionably earn my vote for DOTW. Ditto for Leclerc/Sainz and even Bottas.

  34. ILuvSoundtracks (@)
    24th May 2021, 16:50

    Sebastian Vettel.

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