Vote for your 2021 Dutch Grand Prix Driver of the Weekend

35 comments on “Vote for your 2021 Dutch Grand Prix Driver of the Weekend”

1. 

   F1 frog (@f1frog)
   5th September 2021, 21:54

   For me, Gasly wins it by a smidge over Hamilton. I feel the Red Bull was the faster car all weekend and Hamilton did a super job to stay so close behind Verstappen. But Gasly had a perfect qualifying and race, and annihilated his teammate, so gets my vote. Honourable mentions to Verstappen, Leclerc, Alonso, Giovinazzi and Robert Kubica.
   1. 

      GeeMac (@geemac)
      6th September 2021, 6:07

      Gasly really maximised everything this weekend, he was an absolute star. Got my vote too.
2. 

   TFLB (@tflb)
   5th September 2021, 22:01

   Verstappen, Hamilton, Gasly and Leclerc all did very well, but I voted for Giovinazzi – one of the best qualifying laps of the season to be just a tenth off fourth, then set for points (or more likely 1 point) in the race until yet another piece of terrible luck. Honourable mention also to Kubica for stepping in at such late notice, not being way off the pace and keeping his nose clean.
   1. 

      dot_com (@dot_com)
      5th September 2021, 22:51

      He benefited hugely from the red flags in quali, then dropped 2-3 places on the first lap of the race. He was only just ahead of Russell in P11 when he got his puncture.
      1. 

         TFLB (@tflb)
         5th September 2021, 23:50

         @dot_com a: No he didn’t – perhaps he would have gone faster after the Russell crash, just like those behind him could have. But he got his good lap in when it mattered, unlike the others. His pace was top 10 all weekend. If he got lucky, then how come he ended up only a tenth off 4th in the end? It’s not like he didn’t have the pace.

         b: He got chopped badly by both Sainz and Alonso on the first lap. He was comfortably ahead of Russell in the first stint and running in 10th. Would have been in the mix for 10th late in the race. It’s an Alfa Romeo, so that’s worthy of praise.
         1. 

            dot_com (@dot_com)
            6th September 2021, 13:00

            His lap in Q3 was great, no doubt. I think he would have been lucky to get into Q3 without the red flags though, a few faster runners may have got in front of him, especially considering the track evolution. I don’t mean to take anything away from Gio, it was a good weekend for him – I just personally wouldn’t give him DOTW.
3. 

   melanos
   5th September 2021, 22:32

   Honorable mentions:
   -Robert Kubica just for being there.
   -Max did what was expected of him, nothing wrong, nothing too extraordinary, except maybe rewriting the Old Testament (Noah at the Red Sea, go figure). Got rid of an abysmal Bottas easily enough.
   -Gio for being “Mr Saturday” instead of GR this weekend.
   -Gasly for a very decent weekend
   Dishonorable mentions:
   -Bottas: The worst driver in the best car. Cringeworthy all weekend.
   -Checo: Where are you when your team needs you?
   -Lando: Where has your pace gone?
   DOTW: Alonso, hardly a great qualifyer (1/4 of a second behind his teammate) but unstoppable in the race.
   1. 

      elchinero (@elchinero)
      5th September 2021, 22:39

      Noah? Red Sea? Moses?
      No-ah-count?
      I am not a biblical scaler, however.
   2. 

      Esploratore (@esploratore1)
      5th September 2021, 23:30

      Surely perez was worse than bottas!
      1. 

         rodewulf (@rodewulf)
         6th September 2021, 3:31

         Surely perez was worse than bottas!

         This time it’s hard to go against it.
   3. 

      jff
      6th September 2021, 8:25

      abysmal Bottas

      I’m reading this the whole season, and I think it is wrong.
      He had a few very poor races (as did his teammate), but overall not too far behind Hamilton on quali and race pace.
      And most of his race pace deficit is due to the way he is (ab)used by his team.

      Perez on the other hand continues to underwhelm, if not disappoint.
      (unless he is now only fighting for the overtaking championship)
4. 

   Azmo (@azmo)
   5th September 2021, 22:32

   Performing like this under such a huge amount of pressure.. it can only be Max

   How he keeps his composure in the face of such expectations, orange clad crowds, even the royal family present, is beyond me.
   1. 

      Luke S (@joeypropane)
      5th September 2021, 22:40

      Mad to think this is the same Max who came into F1 at 17 years old, not even normal road driving license to his name, to us all saying “he’s too young”, “it’ll ruin his career”, “he needs more experience” etc.

      I’m not the biggest fan of his attitude and demeanour, though I have suspicions a lot of that comes from his dad, but as far as generational talent goes, there’s no disputing he is head and shoulders above most.
      1. 

         dot_com (@dot_com)
         5th September 2021, 22:53

         Well said. Not a fan of him personally either, but he’s become a fantastic all round racer.
         1. 

            Esploratore (@esploratore1)
            5th September 2021, 23:34

            I actually like his attitude as well, I like honesty, I hate liars, which I keep seeing in merc.
         2. 

            Knotty
            6th September 2021, 16:29

            How good to hear that so many people know him personallly……
      2. 

         Dave
         6th September 2021, 12:13

         If only he said no and wanted to debut later.
5. 

   Keith Campbell (@keithedin)
   5th September 2021, 22:49

   Driver of the race – Alonso
   Driver of the weekend – Gasly

   Honourable mentions to Verstappen and Hamilton (both solid as usual), Leclerc, and maybe Russell and Giovanazzi before their bad luck killed their chances.
6. 

   Pjotr (@pietkoster)
   5th September 2021, 23:11

   I voted for Kubica. Amazing job, jump in that car, race with one hand, epic.
7. 

   Pedro (@)
   5th September 2021, 23:12

   Gasly, qualified fourth, and finished there as well
8. 

   Esploratore (@esploratore1)
   5th September 2021, 23:27

   Slam dunk verstappen, 1 vs 2 competitive mercedes.

   Other drivers who did well are hamilton, gasly, giovinazzi, leclerc, alonso.

   Certainly not perez, who won the f1 driver of the day, cause recovering to 8th was good on such a track, but it’s his fault he started so far back.
   1. 

      rodewulf (@rodewulf)
      6th September 2021, 4:10

      @esploratore1

      Certainly not perez, who won the f1 driver of the day, cause recovering to 8th was good on such a track, but it’s his fault he started so far back.

      Checo was the saddest f1 driver of the day from all our memories, unfortunately. Even the toothless racecraft and irresolute attitude of Bottas was a better thing in comparision, because of what happened on quali.
9. 

   Broke1984 (@broke1984)
   6th September 2021, 7:25

   Gasly. Qualified 4th and finished 4th with yet another dismal showing by his over-rated team mate. Shame the tv directors barely showed his race
10. 

    Balue (@balue)
    6th September 2021, 7:26

    Easily Verstappen. To pull that out in front of that expectant crowd at home first time when it was so close was as good as it gets.

    Such a joke with Perez winning the official driver of the day making a noob error ending up last. No wonder FOM are coming up with one joke idea after another for F1, when they see the level of the ‘fans’.
    1. 

       Tommy C (@tommy-c)
       6th September 2021, 7:32

       Basically being rewarded for making passes he shouldn’t have needed to make! If you can call being voted driver of the day a reward…
       1. 

          MacLeod (@macleod)
          6th September 2021, 8:18

          Max had to overtake Bottas to keep Lewis behind him.
          1. 

             jff
             6th September 2021, 9:25

             I think you ‘jumped’ too quickly; @tommy-c was obviously talking about Perez.
       2. 

          Keith Campbell (@keithedin)
          6th September 2021, 11:16

          @tommy-c I’ve long since accepted that dotd award is basically ‘overtaker of the day’ or ‘recovery drive of the day’, regardless of how they ended up at the back. If a driver in a fast car is near the back of the field at the start then any kind of reasonable recovery into the points makes them a near guarantee for the fan vote. Perez probably should have made it to 6th if he didn’t ruin his first set of tyres trying to overtake a Haas.
11. 

    Marinated Monolith (@)
    6th September 2021, 8:14

    Gasly was sublime but he, like Leclerc, was pretty much on a race of his own from lap 2 onwards. Max at least had to deal with Bottas in the middle part of the race.

    I still have to hand it to Alonso though. Was merely okay in Quali but still has one of the best first lap racecraft on the grid even though he’s 40 and managed his tyres well to be able to attack Sainz in the end.
    1. 

       jff
       6th September 2021, 9:34

       Interestingly, Gasly and Verstappen had very similar races: ‘leading’ solely against two chasing team mates behind you.
       Not sure which one performed better (also we did not see Gasly a lot).

       What made Verstappen’s fight a bit harder was that his main opponent is (IMO) better than the lead chaser in the Ferrari.
       And Mercedes clearly chose to attack the driver ahead as a team; whereas Ferrari decided to …. (yeah, what did they decide/do?).

       Alonso is just a fun case all by itself. He knows he is not the fastest qualifier (anymore) but decides to make up for that on lap 1. And during the race he doctors his own strategy (going slower when he can, and faster when he needs to) to get the most out of his race.
       1. 

          rodewulf (@rodewulf)
          6th September 2021, 15:21

          jff

          Alonso is just a fun case all by itself. He knows he is not the fastest qualifier (anymore) but decides to make up for that on lap 1. And during the race he doctors his own strategy (going slower when he can, and faster when he needs to) to get the most out of his race.

          For sure, I do believe there’s room for improvement on his side during quali and he’s well aware of it. Improving in raw speed at his age might be more difficult than if he was younger but should he have listened to all this age blabber he’d never been here doing incredible races once again in first place.
          And despite claims that Ocon was much faster in the beginning of the race, his teammate really wasn’t thinking about the long run. In the second stint he was slightly more careful about pushing at the right time, but it proved to be too late and right at the final lap two overtakes meant that he scored only 2 points against Alonso’s 8 in this round and it was mostly due on the difference of experience levels rather than top speed delta.
12. 

    grapmg (@)
    6th September 2021, 9:16

    Bottas!. In the lead for 8 laps and almost fastest lap. Extraordinary performance for a second driver.
    But serious who voted for him and why Perez driver of the day that must be a joke.
    Star performers for me Max, Alonso, Gasly and Hamilton
13. 

    Jere (@jerejj)
    6th September 2021, 9:49

    DOTW: VER without a doubt
    DOTD: Slightly harder, but I’ll go for GAS despite being anonymous for the most part.
14. 

    ferrox glideh (@ferrox-glideh)
    6th September 2021, 23:30

    It’s nice to see Gasly come into his own this year, another seriously good weekend for him.
15. 

    Sacha Gortchakoff (@gosac)
    8th September 2021, 14:47

    I only vote for Räikkönen

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