Which Formula 1 driver made the most of the Qatar 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 Losail International Circuit.
Driver performance summary
Driver | Started | Gap to team mate (Q) | Laps leading team mate | Pitted | Finished | Gap to team mate (R) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lewis Hamilton | 1st | -0.651s | 48/48 | 2 | 1st | ||
Valtteri Bottas | 6th | +0.651s | 0/48 | 1 | |||
Max Verstappen | 7th | -0.362s | 57/57 | 3 | 2nd | -36.563s | |
Sergio Perez | 11th | +0.362s | 0/57 | 2 | 4th | +36.563s | |
Lando Norris | 4th | -0.381s | 55/56 | 2 | 9th | -32.885s | |
Daniel Ricciardo | 14th | +0.381s | 1/56 | 1 | 12th | +32.885s | |
Lance Stroll | 12th | +0.314s | 53/56 | 1 | 6th | Not on same lap | |
Sebastian Vettel | 10th | -0.314s | 3/56 | 1 | 10th | Not on same lap | |
Esteban Ocon | 9th | +0.358s | 1/57 | 1 | 5th | +21.113s | |
Fernando Alonso | 3rd | -0.358s | 56/57 | 1 | 3rd | -21.113s | |
Charles Leclerc | 13th | +0.222s | 0/57 | 1 | 8th | +1.215s | |
Carlos Sainz Jnr | 5th | -0.222s | 57/57 | 1 | 7th | -1.215s | |
Pierre Gasly | 2nd | -0.241s | 56/56 | 2 | 11th | -22.737s | |
Yuki Tsunoda | 8th | +0.241s | 0/56 | 2 | 13th | +22.737s | |
Kimi Raikkonen | 16th | -0.106s | 48/56 | 2 | 14th | -24.408s | |
Antonio Giovinazzi | 18th | +0.106s | 8/56 | 2 | 15th | +24.408s | |
Mick Schumacher | 19th | -2.452s | 46/55 | 1 | 16th | Not on same lap | |
Nikita Mazepin | 20th | +2.452s | 9/55 | 1 | 18th | Not on same lap | |
George Russell | 15th | -0.35s | 46/50 | 2 | 17th | ||
Nicholas Latifi | 17th | +0.35s | 4/50 | 1 |
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
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 Qatar Grand Prix weekend?
- No opinion (0%)
- Nicholas Latifi (0%)
- George Russell (0%)
- Nikita Mazepin (1%)
- Mick Schumacher (0%)
- Antonio Giovinazzi (0%)
- Kimi Raikkonen (1%)
- Yuki Tsunoda (0%)
- Pierre Gasly (0%)
- Carlos Sainz Jnr (0%)
- Charles Leclerc (0%)
- Fernando Alonso (64%)
- Esteban Ocon (0%)
- Sebastian Vettel (0%)
- Lance Stroll (1%)
- Daniel Ricciardo (0%)
- Lando Norris (1%)
- Sergio Perez (2%)
- Max Verstappen (6%)
- Valtteri Bottas (0%)
- Lewis Hamilton (25%)
Total Voters: 193

A RaceFans account is required in order to vote. If you do not have one, register an account here or read more about registering here
When this poll is closed the result will be displayed instead of the voting form.
Debates and polls
- Who should Red Bull run in their second F1 team in 2024?
- Should Formula 1 have fewer night races?
- Should F1 switch to a single practice session for all grand prix weekends?
- Which team will break Red Bull’s record win streak?
- Were Red Bull right to drop De Vries from his AlphaTauri race seat?
Centauri (@situs)
21st November 2021, 22:09
For me, Alonso. Great qualification, great race.
JohnH (@johnrkh)
21st November 2021, 22:10
Alonso, he drove well all weekend and showed he’s still got it.
w0o0dy (@w0o0dy)
21st November 2021, 22:29
I voted Perez. Bad qualy so tricky starting position and quite a tall order to come through the field twice with a (imho) suboptimal strategy. So all in all I thought he did really well today.
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
21st November 2021, 22:36
driver of the weekend and you start off by saying bad qualy. Doesn’t really make sense to me. He put himself him a tricky situation and even Bottas with his bad start would have beaten him and Alonso did too. For Perez to have had a good performance over the weekend, he should have easily qualified 3rd due to Bottas’s penalty and finished there too. Bottas’s weekend was as good or actually slightly better than Perez, but don’t think he is worthy of a vote.
Gusmaia
21st November 2021, 22:43
I understand your comment, but given that it is driver OF THE DAY, I would consider a great driving on Sunday even if after a bad Saturday – sometimes, a bad Saturday would allow for a driver to become the driver of the Sunday. But in fact, Perez finishing on 4th is not an acheivement when driving a car 1sec faster than everybody that is not Merc/RB.
Scalextric (@scalextric)
21st November 2021, 22:58
This is driver of the weekend.
Not driver of the day.
DeanR (@deanr)
22nd November 2021, 7:49
Oops 🤦♂️
Gusmaia
21st November 2021, 22:39
Sincerely, giving how far ahead MErc/RB are form the rest of the field. unless Perez or Bottas saved a children during the race, finishing on 3rd/4th place is a regular day on the job and does not require further prizes.
melanos
21st November 2021, 22:46
Why RBR decided to pit Perez so early losing possible strategic options is a mistery to me
Oxnard (@montalvo)
21st November 2021, 23:30
Perhaps they saw a potential incoming tyre failure? The kerbs weren’t exactly suited for the Pirelli’s.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
22nd November 2021, 0:11
Seems like a reasonable conservative strategy when they saw bottas was out of the points but hamilton was not beatable, as in a weekend of damage limitation where you can suddenly gain points? Let’s not risk a puncture!
CarWars (@maxv)
21st November 2021, 22:14
Fernandooooooooo
Tommy C (@tommy-c)
21st November 2021, 22:35
Tough to choose between Fernando and Lewis this weekend. Gave it to Fernando as there’s no way that Alpine should be anywhere near the podium. Back to his old best! Great to see.
Mike
21st November 2021, 22:38
Señor Fernando Alonso
F1 frog (@f1frog)
21st November 2021, 22:42
Fernando Alonso gets my vote. Yes the Alpine was quick this weekend, but Alonso still drove the wheels off it to get on the podium and beat Perez. Honourable mentions to Hamilton, Verstappen, Norris, Ocon (defended like a lion), Stroll and Schumacher (was not far behind the Alfa Romeos, and finished a minute ahead of Mazepin).
Ceres (@ceres)
22nd November 2021, 0:47
Big fan of Norris (/McLaren) but the only reasonable and logical choice this weekend is Fernando…!
Mr Fabulous (@mrfabulous)
21st November 2021, 22:44
Alonso: I’ve never been his greatest fan, but he deserves my vote for that performance
hyoko
21st November 2021, 22:47
Best: Alonso
2nd: Max
Tool of the day: Valtteri
Botched job of the day: Pierre
Grossly overrated average driver of the day: exercise for the reader
nandy
22nd November 2021, 1:32
Jamilton!… Do I get a prize!?
ttongsul (@ccpbioweapon)
21st November 2021, 22:55
Lewis deserves driver of the day.
Hate fluke win drivers that do not do anything spectacular winning the award like
alonso who lucked out inheriting 3rd after due to grid penalties and benefited from Bottas DNF plus suspiciously timed VSC at the end of the race which saved him from being caught by perez and his tyres exploding.
Sorry but being 3rd because a dozen random things went your way isn’t driver of the day material but the ‘modern’ F1 fan loves supporting mediocre midfield drivers doing midfield things i guess..
slowmo (@slowmo)
21st November 2021, 23:11
@ccpbioweapon I think nobody is saying discount Hamilton completely but dismissing the achievement of Alonso is a bit much. I’m not a fan of Alonso but he was there on merit today. Sure Bottas might have got him without the puncture but he had Perez covered. Its also fair to highlight that if doing what he did was so easy then what happened to Gasly. Alonso maximised all he could this weekend to finish ahead of Perez and deserves to be in consideration.
spoutnik (@spoutnik)
22nd November 2021, 18:30
As others already noted, comment quality has been somewhat spiralling down. Anyways, Alonso had a perfect weekend, and had the others not been penalised for errors entirely their fault (Alonso slowed down accordingly in Q3), he’d be still best of the rest. So all in all, Hamilton and Alonso had a really flawless weekend and probably both deserve it, it’s all personal in the end.
Also, please refrain from posting useless and baseless conspiracy comments next time, thank you.
Karthik (@kart1131)
23rd November 2021, 7:02
I could say, “Just like the wins, Lewis got after his lucky switch to Mercedes in 2013”. But I don’t like to belittle one’s achievement.
72defender (@72defender)
21st November 2021, 23:10
Nando, Lewis and then Nando again.
David (@djarvis)
21st November 2021, 23:26
Has to be Senor Alonso. Had a great qually, made a very important move on Gasly and its likely he would have held on from Perez, possibly even Bottas. Brilliant to see him on the podium again
Jim from US (@jimfromus)
21st November 2021, 23:47
Alonso.
Thought Tsunoda drove well today too.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
22nd November 2021, 0:12
Absolutely alonso, hamilton and verstappen also drove well, but it’s to be expected, verstappen could’ve avoided the penalty, although that’s more on red bull.
F1oSaurus (@)
22nd November 2021, 9:31
@esploratore1 Verstappen was the one who should have reacted to those double waved yellow flags.
rodewulf (@rodewulf)
23rd November 2021, 16:45
@f1osaurus
Just because you don’t like the guy, ain’t it right? Where have you been when Vettel failed to slow down to yellow flags in Bahrain and impeded Alonso in Austria II quali? I don’t remember you saying he was the one who should have reacted, is it just because he’s a “nice” guy?
If you did the same about him, I stand corrected.
nandy
22nd November 2021, 1:15
Obviously Alonso. If only he’d gone to Merc years ago, you’d be looking at a nine/ten times world champion and statistically (not that he needs it) the GOAT since Schumacher (even though he is anyway)
rodewulf (@rodewulf)
22nd November 2021, 7:03
nandy
Those statistics alone wouldn’t make him a more amazing than he already is. When competition is hindered, pure statistics become somewhat arbitrary.
Todfod (@todfod)
22nd November 2021, 4:31
Was close between Nando and Lewis this weekend. Had to give it to Nando because he punched above the car’s weight. Great qualifying.. great start and overtake on Pierre. Great tyre management and race pace. Didn’t put a foot wrong all weekend.
Great to see him back up on a podium
x303 (@x303)
22nd November 2021, 21:56
My thoughts as well. Hamilton didn’t put a foot wrong and couldn’t do any better but Alonso beat faster cars to get that podium.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
22nd November 2021, 4:36
Let’s be honest. Fernando was awesome but Perez lost the podium due to the 2 stop strategy. But he had messed up in qualifying and didn’t deserve it.
Great to see Fernando there. I can’t believe it took him this long to podium, very unlucky…
F1oSaurus (@)
22nd November 2021, 9:44
@freelittlebirds Perez was just poor. To start off he completely bottled Q2. Then with a car that’s a second a lap faster (even in Perez’ hands) already and then on tyres that are almost 20 laps younger also giving 1 or 2 seconds a lap pace advantage, he still is unable to catch Alonso.
rodewulf (@rodewulf)
23rd November 2021, 16:36
@f1osaurus
He just hadn’t been poorer than Bottas amongst the drivers in top or upper midfield teams. The bloke had to be awakened by Toto to do something and still could manage just a few passes on much slower cars. And then the stretch in strategy making the tyre blow. Of course it was mostly Mercedes strategists fault, but if he was a driver of the type that take better care of his tyres, like Hamilton and Alonso (just to list drivers that you won’t dispute), maybe he would have avoided that by himself.
James Bond (@jamesbond)
22nd November 2021, 5:39
Ole Ole Alonso. What a performance!
Sacha Gortchakoff (@gosac)
22nd November 2021, 6:31
HUUUGE KUDOS for ALO !
it’s just that for this season I will only vote for Kimiman
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
22nd November 2021, 9:37
It can only be Alonso I think. Qualified well and got everything he could out of the car to finish where he started. Give him a capable car and if he’s top class. Always has been.
Honourable mentions to Lewis of course, Max, Esteban and Lance Stroll. Stroll’s best finish of the season I believe.
Jere (@jerejj)
22nd November 2021, 10:00
DOTW: HAM, DOTD: ALO
rodewulf (@rodewulf)
23rd November 2021, 16:41
@jerejj
Could be the other way around without any problems. Alonso looked like more impressive in the race than in quali for contextual reasons, but he also maximised everything in quali, second best of the rest from the AlphaTauri of Gasly, who actually paid the price in race trim of an one-lap pace so good.
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
22nd November 2021, 13:20
Hamilton was perfect.. But booring..
Verstappen did excellent damage control, fun overtakes, avoided crash, recovered well..
Impossible to pick between them…
So i vote Alonso.
Sridhar
23rd November 2021, 4:16
The sly old fox for sure. Nando is a character and F1 needs the likes of him around post Kimi’s retirement.
rodewulf (@rodewulf)
23rd November 2021, 16:38
For sure. In times like these we need the old guard around.