Start, Istanbul Park, 2021

Vote for your 2021 Turkish Grand Prix Driver of the Weekend

2021 Turkish Grand Prix

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Which Formula 1 driver made the most of the Turkish 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 Istanbul Park.

Driver performance summary

DriverStartedGap to team mate (Q)Laps leading team matePittedFinishedGap to team mate (R)
Lewis Hamilton11th-0.13s0/5815th+41.812s
Valtteri Bottas1st+0.13s58/5811st-41.812s
Max Verstappen2nd-0.51s58/5812nd-18.887s
Sergio Perez6th+0.51s0/5813rd+18.887s
Lando Norris7th-0.743s57/5717thNot on same lap
Daniel Ricciardo20th+0.743s0/57113thNot on same lap
Lance Stroll8th-0.194s57/5719thNot on same lap
Sebastian Vettel10th+0.194s0/57218thNot on same lap
Esteban Ocon12th+0.928s57/57010th-19.771s
Fernando Alonso5th-0.928s0/57116th+19.771s
Charles Leclerc3rd-0.308s58/5814th-13.712s
Carlos Sainz Jnr19th+0.308s0/5818th+13.712s
Pierre Gasly4th-1.042s57/5716thNot on same lap
Yuki Tsunoda9th+1.042s0/57114thNot on same lap
Kimi Raikkonen17th+1.095s0/57112th+5.033s
Antonio Giovinazzi16th-1.095s57/57111th-5.033s
Mick Schumacher14th-2.894s23/56119th-24.142s
Nikita Mazepin18th+2.894s33/56120th+24.142s
George Russell13th-0.669s57/57115th-7.9s
Nicholas Latifi15th+0.669s0/57117th+7.9s

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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 Turkish Grand Prix weekend?

  • No opinion (0%)
  • Nicholas Latifi (0%)
  • George Russell (0%)
  • Nikita Mazepin (0%)
  • Mick Schumacher (2%)
  • Antonio Giovinazzi (1%)
  • Kimi Raikkonen (1%)
  • Yuki Tsunoda (0%)
  • Pierre Gasly (3%)
  • Carlos Sainz Jnr (20%)
  • Charles Leclerc (9%)
  • Fernando Alonso (0%)
  • Esteban Ocon (1%)
  • Sebastian Vettel (0%)
  • Lance Stroll (1%)
  • Daniel Ricciardo (0%)
  • Lando Norris (0%)
  • Sergio Perez (11%)
  • Max Verstappen (3%)
  • Valtteri Bottas (39%)
  • Lewis Hamilton (9%)

Total Voters: 157

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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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43 comments on “Vote for your 2021 Turkish Grand Prix Driver of the Weekend”

  1. Perez, mainly for that very robust but fantastic defense.

    1. Perez qualified a bit too low for me to be driver of the weekend. After considering Bottas, I ended up voting for Gasly.

  2. Perez, Bottas, Gasly, Leclerc. Sainz too probably. He ran in qualifying to get Ricciardo out, and was key in getting Leclerc through into Q3 later too. I gave it to Perez, but it could have been all of those.

    1. Maybe this is one of those ‘none of the above’ weekends.
      Of the ones you list above, most got outqualified by their teammates (or needed their help to get into Q3) and the last one was ‘fully at fault’ according to the stewards in a race incident.

      1. I agree. There were no stars this weekend.

    2. For me too!

  3. Gasly, good qualification and race, plus sent Alonso down to 15th and was unjustly penalized for doing so. Can’t see how anyone else is in the reckoning, not a great weekend really for any of the top team drivers.

    1. @david-br

      Gasly, good qualification and race, plus sent Alonso down to 15th and was unjustly penalized for doing so.

      Is it a plus to take a fellow driver out? Weird conclusion as usual.

      1. @rodewulf Not entirely serious that bit. Maybe I saw it as karmic/cosmic justice for his bravura Mario Kart short cut at Socchi, which frankly irritated me, along with his comments after. If Alonso stuck to showing us what he can do in a race car, on the track, it would be better.

        1. Honestly there should be Mario Kartesque shortcuts at every track but they need to have that extra level of bravado and skill to pull off – obviously with no added danger.

        2. @david-br

          Maybe I saw it as karmic/cosmic justice for his bravura Mario Kart short cut at Socchi, which frankly irritated me, along with his comments after.

          Yep, indeed it’s only in your perverted world that karmic/cosmic “justice” works that way. Punishing a driver who didn’t break the rules on that particular occasion. And forgetting completely about other instances in which the same happened but other drivers doing it. Don’t like the rules? Ask the regulators to fix them.

    2. I didn’t consider Gasly exactly because he punted a driver off. Today Bottas looked like Hamilton, nobody, really, nobody would have expected Bottas to do what he did. Mercedes has a few questions to answer.

  4. Valtteri Bottas gets my vote, he was perfect all race and only just missed pole in qualifying. Second vote would go to Carlos Sainz for a cracking fightback, with Leclerc, Gasly and Hamilton my other honourable mentions.

    1. I agree.

      1. +100, same here

  5. Checo Perez’s defense was the only saving grave of a very dull race. A mention to Yuki Tsunoda for a less succesful but spirited defense, and to Carlos Sainz for the comeback. Tool of the day: Pierre Gasly with a thoroughly deserved penalty. Sometimes you just have to hit the brake, Pierre.

    1. Not too impressed by Max or Valtteri. The were just about right, no mistakes, nothing too brilliant. And both missed pole, although Valtteri got it gifted. Not DOTW material. If anything, their race shows that the Merc is way ahead of the RBR car. Max could never come close, and almost 15 seconds without any significant mistake or misfortune (and the fastest pitstop) say it all.

      1. Indeed, 15s off Bottas in semi-wet conditions shows how fast the Mercedes is now. Hope RBR can counter it or the last races will be like the past 6 years :/

  6. Bottas was very good, solid, but I thought Hamilton drove a better weekend even though it went a bit wrong in the end. He pulled some great passes, did some terrific racing, but stayed clean and sensible with smart judgment. The way the others raced him showed they respect him, and that if you’re nice to people and race clean they tend to be respectful back.

    With the tyres, the team could have ordered him in but didn’t, then persuaded him in at the worst time, I think he’d have held on for the remaining 7 laps, some of his pace around Lap49/50 being about traffic. Sainz – very good too, and Max faultless.

    1. @zann

      He pulled some great passes, did some terrific racing, but stayed clean and sensible with smart judgment.

      He raced well and no blunders this time, but Mercedes car was leagues ahead the others this weekend, even Red Bull turned out to be left eating dust. We should hope this doesn’t become a trend (I believe it won’t, just a swing in momentum on machinery performance), but it reminded a lot the super dominant Mercs days of stifled competition.

      The way the others raced him showed they respect him, and that if you’re nice to people and race clean they tend to be respectful back.

      Typical selective memory.

    2. Absolutely, I also think he could’ve gone to the end as 3rd, he impressed more than verstappen this race, although nowhere near to consider him better overall across the season ofc.

      1. Just check the deterioration curve of Ocon (similar to Leclerc and Hamilton before they pitted) and it seems impossible for Hamilton to defend 3rd place. Even Leclerc would probably not have made it (and he was way ahead).

  7. went for Leclerc as there was a moment where he coud sincerely think about winning the race, which I find impressive

    1. I voted Leclerc as well. He was stellar in qualifying and then was within a couple of seconds behind Max up until the pitstops. I honestly think Ferrari dropped the ball on strategy with Leclerc, they should have either pitted him around the same time as Max or left him out on the same set of inters for the entire race. He had a podium finish in the bag this weekend.

      1. Typical Ferrari indecision.

  8. petebaldwin (@)
    11th October 2021, 1:31

    Tough one this time. Bottas drive well but he was out qualified by Lewis and we all know if it wasn’t for the grid penalty, Bottas would have finished 2nd at best. Verstappen struggled a bit and had a quiet race. Perez was beaten by his team mate. Hamilton should have taken control of the pit situation – people blamed Norris for not pitting when his team asked him so same must apply here.

    I guess Leclerc for a solid performance but no-one majorly stood out today.

  9. I went for bottas, not sure it’s right but he impressed, remember he had a great car other times this season and he was never able to beat verstappen on pace, except now, and he’s usually awful in the wet.

    Sainz was also impressive, but it’s more like ferrari improved, and leclerc is constantly among the top when the car is good enough.

    Perez had a good race finally, hamilton drove well and could’ve taken 3rd if he continued, he wasn’t too far behind verstappen before he stopped, I was impressed by how close he could stay behind him despite 40 laps old tyres.

  10. Just saw that table. Apart from Haas, every other team had one driver leading the other driver for ALL of the 57 or 58 laps. Not even during pit-stops did the other driver lead a single lap. One for the stats!!

  11. I voted for sharl but there’s not a great option.
    Him and max were the only drivers who I think maximized their result and beat their teammate in both quali and the race. Although maybe Charles could have done better with fewer offs
    I would also consider sainz and bottas, but sainz was limited by his penalty and his p8, while good, wasn’t incredible, and bottas was outqualified by Hamilton, who I’m sure would’ve won without the penalty

  12. DOTW & DOTD: BOT

  13. I was going to give it to Alonso for his super qualifying, but the crash against Schumacher was amateurish

    I’ll give it to Leclerc. Very good qualifying, and doing that pace in the wet with a low downforce setup was top notch. Not changing tyres at the end wasn’t his fault.

  14. I’ll go with Mick Schumacher.
    He was fast since friday despite the non-competitive package: 13th fastest in FP2, stunning 14th in Quali putting the Haas in Q2, than got crashed out by Alonso, dropping at the back & being stuck behind slower cars.
    Overtook back Mazepin after the pit stop & finished 24 secs ahead.
    Yeah, think i’ll go with Mick for a change.

    Honorable mention to Carlos Sainz, who was the best driver in the race imho, followed by Bottas.

  15. Don’t think it was a weekend with many true stand-out performers. Went with Leclerc, as he qualified really well and I can recall a moment when I looked at the timing screen and wondered what on Earth a Ferrari was doing sat comfortably close behind a Mercedes and Red Bull.

    I know the Ferrari seemed to have good pace in those conditions (as Sainz also showed), but it was still impressive.

  16. Bottas, for doing the job he is paid to do (which is pick up the pieces when Hamilton can’t win and nick points off of Verstappen).

  17. One of those weekends where there are reasons not to vote for almost everyone. Bottas – solid race but Mercedes was clearly class of the field and he was unchallenged at the front and failed to get pole. Probably would have been a safe P2 if not for Hamilton’s penalty. Perez had a great race – maybe the best of anyone – but his qualifying was still poor and with no bad luck or mechanical issues he still finished 10 seconds behind his teammate so can’t justify that one either. If Perez was good, Max was still better. Sainz had a good race but we didn’t get to see him properly compete in qualy and he had that clumsy move on Seb that could have gone badly wrong. Hamilton was good but ultimately responsible for wrongly defying his team’s strategy advice and finishing P5, when P3 was probably possible.

    I went for Leclerc. Another great qualifying performance and showed good pace in the race. Rolled the dice on strategy but bailed early enough to still probably maximise his result. Gasly could be a contender too if you don’t put any blame on him for the T1 incident.

  18. Well credit where credit’s due, I went for Bottas. As others have mentioned he did the perfect no. 2 team driver performance. Maximum points when the no. 1 is out of the picture. I think he hardly put a foot wrong really and never really looked like being beaten.

    Others to be commended are Leclerc, Sainz, Gasly and Hamilton.

  19. Tough to single one out this weekend. Bottas ended up effectively dominating the race but he was still technically outqualified by his teammate. Whether or not his approach was different knowing Lewis would take the penalty is of course something only he will know. I think the most impressive for me was Leclerc. He made a few errors towards the end on the rubbish tyres but I was surprised to see him keep Bottas and Max in sight for most of the race. Hopefully it’s a sign of a more competitive Ferrari for the final stretch of the season.

  20. Clearly a Bottas-Sainz tie for me. Sainz succeeded in bumping Ricciardo on Saturday, before easily outpacing him in the race to reach decent points.
    Bottas, on the other hand, started up front and led from lap 1 and never looked back. Verstappen was close at stages, but never in any real place to trouble the Finn. It’s possible this was the final win for him, but if so it was a really sweet one. Dominated this weekend.

  21. Bottas. Hands down. And about time he showed up. He’s been better in the 2nd half, except for that free toll pass he gave to Verstappen in Sochi.

  22. Jelle van der Meer (@)
    11th October 2021, 15:29

    Curious if Lewis would have gotten 10% of the votes despite a sub par performance to his own standards on a none British website. In a car that clearly was 0.3-0.5 seconds faster per lap it is pretty disappointing that he only managed to finished 5th with main cause of him missing the podium being his own rejection to pit the first time when he was called in by his team. He made a nice overtake on Vettel and Tsunoda but the next 3 were easy straigh line speed passes.

    For me the clear driver of the weekend was Sainz who did what he could on Saturday to help his team and drove a brilliant race to finish 8th despite an unfortunate slow pitstop and making many nice overtakes in a mid field car.

    For the rest of the top 6:
    Bottas made no mistakes but just drove a superb car – based on passed performance it has a highlight race for him but that says more about his usual performance rather than his Turkey performance.

    Max an uneventful race simply drove home to 2nd place after realizing he didn’t have the car to challenge Bottas.

    Perez drove a good race, had a very good start from 6th and cleanly stayed on the inside of turn 1. Put up a great fight against Lewis and delivered what he should have done in more races this season.

    Leclerc drove a strong race but pitted too late due to poor information from Ferrari, he asked a clear question and got a horrible answer. Prior to pitting he did made 2 time costing mistakes but managed to minimize the damage.

    Gasly drove a reasonable race, I think the penalty was harsh although re-looking the footage he either should have gone more right prior to turn 1 – he left the right side open for Alonso or stay more on the inside during turn 1 as Perez left him space. The big winner of that turn 1 incident was actually Lewis as it took Alonso out of the queue of cars he had to overtake and gave Gasly a 5 second penalty, without Lewis would have been 6th maybe even 7th.

    1. @jelle-van-der-meer

      Curious if Lewis would have gotten 10% of the votes despite a sub par performance to his own standards on a none British website. In a car that clearly was 0.3-0.5 seconds faster per lap it is pretty disappointing that he only managed to finished 5th with main cause of him missing the podium being his own rejection to pit the first time when he was called in by his team.

      Yeah, Mercedes had so much pace but they squandered it, losing a podium not due to pitting like the whiner behind the wheel suggested so angrily, but actually by coming in too late for a new set of inters. Lewis proved once again that he doesn’t have a good reading of race conditions, despite usually being an extremely fast driver, versatile in executing so different strategies, but whenever it’s needed he does have a tough time in the task of elaborating them. Max is proving himself better in that quality, but not yet on Fernando’s level, the best of his generation in racing IQ.

  23. Sainz – easy really.

    1. Yep. Help the team relegated McLaren car in Q1, helped his team mate in Q2, gain so many position at the race even with a bad Ferrari pitstop.

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