Vote for your 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Driver of the Weekend

46 comments on “Vote for your 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Driver of the Weekend”

1. 

   Tommy C (@tommy-c)
   28th March 2022, 2:59

   This is a tough one. I went with Leclerc as he qualified ahead of his teammate and nearly took the victory. Max’s qualy let him down but he was on it in the race.
   1. 

      Drop Sochi
      28th March 2022, 9:46

      Perez did everything right but didn’t get your vote?
      1. 

         baasbas
         28th March 2022, 11:08

         I would pick Perez if he could get past Sainz to take 3rd. He did great getting pole and lost the lead without being at fault. But he also could not take the fight to Ferrari. Leclrerc and Verstappen pulled a significant gap on Perez and Sainz on equal tires in the last phase after the SC. So Perez, like Sainz couldn’t give that special something extra Leclerc and Verstappen could.

         So I’d give it to Leclerc, and a hat tip to Russell
      2. 

         Tommy C (@tommy-c)
         28th March 2022, 20:34

         Max showed the red bull was good enough to race and pass the Ferrari. Sergio couldn’t manage that and missed the podium. He was unlucky with the safety car but I’m not convinced he would have won this race.
   2. 

      Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
      28th March 2022, 12:57

      Leclerc? Sainz jr is clearly the DOW.
      1. 

         Tommy C (@tommy-c)
         28th March 2022, 20:39

         I don’t think there is a “clearly” in a subjective vote like this. Objectively though, Leclerc outqualified Sainz and finished ahead of him in the race. I saw nothing from Sainz which would put him ahead this weekend. A solid weekend from him nonetheless.
2. 

   Rob (@)
   28th March 2022, 3:56

   I voted George since he’s the only driver I think maximized quali and the race
   1. 

      Michael
      28th March 2022, 12:51

      I agree. Qualified 10 places ahead of his teammate Hamilton (rememeber Schumacher outqualified Hamilton but didn’t start) and finished 5 places ahead. He also dealt with Ocon swiftly and cleanly early on to resolve his battles for the race.
3. 

   LMB-F1 (@luis)
   28th March 2022, 5:50

   This time I go with Perez, he had an spotless weekend, perhaps this is the most difficult pole of the year, his start was perfect, in a few laps he already had a good advantage over Charles, his pace in the race was at a higher level, everything was perfect, …but not his team, RB took SF’s bait, …can’t believe RB’s “strategy” is “see what they do in SF”, I mean, RB don’t have their own strategy??, in the last race the same thing happened, Checo had tires for more and his team called him to the boxes, ….and then, some bad luck, however I think that RB put him there, Sergio had it enough to fight to the end.
   I think this time Checo deserved better.
   1. 

      MCG (@malrg)
      28th March 2022, 6:07

      I agree, Perez never put a foot wrong and had it all under control. his drop from 1st to 4th was 100% bad luck. neither him nor his team had any control of it. I feel he would have comfortably held it to the flag. Best in Quali and best in race.
   2. 

      MCG (@malrg)
      28th March 2022, 6:29

      I disagree that RB got the strategy wrong. they did exactly what they had to, could not let Charles get fresh tyres first on a long lap layout. It was their only option.
   3. 

      MCG (@malrg)
      28th March 2022, 6:31

      Strategy has to be in light of the opposition strategy. You can’t cast it in concrete prior to the race and then stubbornly stick to it regardless of what is unfolding around you.
   4. 

      Patrick
      28th March 2022, 8:02

      I agree, Sergio had the perfect weekend until the pit call and the safety car. I understand RB’s strategy but in hindsight it was wrong. As you say, have your own strategy and stick to it where you can. Sergio had enough of a lead to pit after Charles but the safety car would have got him anyway ,so now RB must think hard about what they did there. For me Checo was definitely driver of the weekend and driver of the day.
4. 

   sumedhvidwans (@sumedhvidwans)
   28th March 2022, 7:07

   I don’t know where I can vote for non-drivers, but I want to vote for Ross Brawn this time.

   The regulations it seems are clearly working. If you compare to the 2021 race, Lewis had a much faster race car than Max, but he would lose out so much in Sector 1, that the final overtake in Sector 3 would be very difficult inspite of faster race car. And after the overtake, Lewis just disappeared. This time around, Max wasn’t all that faster over the full lap over Charles (some might even feel Ferrari was faster) nd only faster on the straights. Yet, he was able to follow in Sector 1, without losing too much time and attempt an overtake in Sector 3. And Charles almost pulled back ahead on lap 48 / 49, if not for the yellow flag. See their post race interviews, absolutely drenched and shining with sweat. This new Formula 1 is making the drivers absolute gladiators

   You have got to hand it to Ross. He has excelled at Ferrari, Brawn, Mercedes as team principal and now excels at FIA as well. What a legend. If this continues, Formula 1 is gonna reach stratospheric highs. No need of Drive to Survive, just watch F1 live all the time!!
   1. 

      Esploratore (@esploratore1)
      28th March 2022, 13:35

      True, he’s a good candidate, especially in a not clear cut case like this (30 to 32% lec vs vers).
5. 

   magon4 (@magon4)
   28th March 2022, 7:20

   Checo. Great saturday, very good sunday, very unlucky.
6. 

   amian
   28th March 2022, 7:34

   Checo was perfect and he outqualified Verstappen. That’s big.
   1. 

      MacLeod (@macleod)
      28th March 2022, 7:41

      He was great indeed but Max was the one overtaking both Ferrari’s which Perez didn’t so i give it to Max (Perez was my second with Charles)
7. 

   Todfod (@todfod)
   28th March 2022, 8:04

   I thought Checo and Leclerc were great all weekend. Both of them had mega qualifying laps and were perfect during the race. Checo got unlucky with the put stop, but didn’t quite mount a challenge to take 3rd place after that, so I can’t vote for him as DOTW. Max was probably the best driver on Sunday, but his qualifying performance on Saturday could have been better.

   Had to go with Leclerc in the end. He did a mega job staying in front of the Red Bulls even though his straight line speed wasn’t quite up to the mark. If it wasn’t for the yellow flags on lap 48, I reckon he could have taken the lead back and won the race. Honourable mentions to Russell, who was clearly best of the rest.
8. 

   Jere (@jerejj)
   28th March 2022, 8:23

   DOTW is slightly difficult as no one really stood out in both QLF & race, but I eventually went for VER
   DOTD: VER
   1. 

      Jere (@jerejj)
      28th March 2022, 8:24

      AM drivers finished on the same lap together, as HUL didn’t lap STR. Their final gap was 18.646.
      1. 

         someone or something
         28th March 2022, 9:27

         AM drivers finished on the same lap together, as HUL didn’t lap STR.

         Logical fallacy. Not finishing on the same lap does not require one car to lap the other, it means that one car was lapped more often by the leader, and consequently ended the race after fewer laps, than the other.
         Hülkenberg completed all 50 scheduled laps, Stroll didn’t. It’s as simple as that.

         Their final gap was 18.646.

         That’s a meaningless piece of information in this regard, because that’s just the gap at the end of the last lap they both completed. So, lap 49.
         Hülkenberg then went on to complete another lap, but Stroll didn’t.
9. 

   Ronald (@mosquito)
   28th March 2022, 8:32

   I think this is quite a difficult one. Many drivers performed well and had pro’s and Con’s:
   – Perez: did a wonderful qualifying job and seemed to be “in command”, but he ran out of luck when the (virtual) safetycar came out (I hope Mexican fans will behave better towards Latifi than some fans did last year). In the end he did not really show he had the pace on raceday because he was not able to fight back at least to the podium.
   – Leclerc showed good pace all weekend, outqualified his teammate and it was hard to spot if he even made the slightest mistake during that intense battle in the final 10 laps. In the end, he lost out in what looked to be comparable cars.
   – Verstappen was not good enough in qualifying, but showed how good he can be on Sunday by not only staying close, but by also staying close to flawless in all those laps in the battle for the win. Came out on top in what looked to be comparable cars.

   In the end I went for Verstappen because I think an excellent performance on raceday is more important than an excellent performance on Saturday.
   1. 

      Jake (@j4k3)
      28th March 2022, 11:20

      @mosquito one of the toughest in a while! But I would disagree that the Ferrari and Red Bull were comparable. It looked to me that, especially once they were on the practically non-deg hard tyres, the Red Bull was the better package, hence I went for Leclerc for getting so close to victory.
      1. 

         Ronald (@mosquito)
         28th March 2022, 17:30

         I disagree with you because Leclerc kept very close after being overtaken and because Perez wasn’t able to make life hard on Sainz for P3. But that’s just my take on it.
         As usual: almost impossible to decide which car is quicker since it is impossible to get driver quality and form out of the equation
10. 

    petebaldwin (@)
    28th March 2022, 8:49

    As others have said, it’s a tricky one this week. Max was beaten by Checo and both Ferraris in quali, Leclerc did well but couldn’t catch Perez and got overtaken by Max. Perez drove really well but after the pit stops, couldn’t get past the Ferraris…. Russell had a solid weekend if a bit unspectacular.
11. 

    David (@nvherman)
    28th March 2022, 9:07

    I’m not going to deny the fact that I’m a huge Verstappen fan, so obviously I’m happy with the result. However, for DOTW you’ve got to hand that to Leclerc: clean sweep of Practice sessions, outqualified his team mate (and Verstappen) and led a large chunk of the race, including the epic and clean fight for the victory, ending up less than 0.5s behind. If he’d won I’d still have been happy with the result.
12. 

    Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
    28th March 2022, 9:30

    Perez did really well in qualifying and for the first third of the race, but was nowhere after that, and his lack of pace was down to him. I feel he’s getting a few too many sympathy votes.

    Perez was poor regarding race pace for what turned out to be the majority of the race. Surely we can’t ignore that fact? At the start of the race, Verstappen was nowhere near as far off Perez’s pace as Perez was off verstappen after the safety car. This to me indicated verstappen and leclerc in the 2nd stint likely will have caught up and passed Perez anyway. Their pace was on another level to Perez in most of the race, and that surely can’t be denied?

    Sainz was much slower than Leclerc and Perez was falling back from him, and yet Verstappen managed to overtake Leclerc for the race win.

    Perez was unlucky, but in most of the race, his pace was not good.
13. 

    Qeki (@qeki)
    28th March 2022, 10:07

    I voted for Latifi as I can’t choose between Perez, Leclerc, Verstappen, Ocon or Bottas?
    1. 

       Todfod (@todfod)
       28th March 2022, 13:19

       Must have been a tough one with Yuki and Schumi in the mix as well.
14. 

    Broom (@)
    28th March 2022, 10:20

    Got to be Checo for me. Brilliant maiden pole and would have been on course for victory if not for the VSC coming out when it did.
15. 

    Christopher Rehn (@chrischrill)
    28th March 2022, 10:31

    Verstappen lost out in quali to Perez, but beat Leclerc to the line. But he had a faster car, and was shown how it’s done several times by Leclerc before finding his way past.

    Yeah, I’m picking Leclerc. The faster Ferrari, and almost bagged a win despite a clear top speed advantage. But Verstappen was better on Sunday, and Perez was better on Saturday. Clearly though, Leclerc was 2nd best on both days which adds up to an overall nomination from me.
16. 

    Jelle van der Meer (@)
    28th March 2022, 10:35

    Amazing to see that Hamilton still got 3% of the vote despite failing to reach Q2 in qualifying while his team mate qualified 5th.
    Also in the race despite hugely benefitting from the 1st safety car moving him past various opponents still only finished 10th in the 3rd fastest car again with his new teammate easily finishing 5th.
    1. 

       Esploratore (@esploratore1)
       28th March 2022, 13:40

       Yes, he has quite a following on this site, I’m not surprised seeing the comments that flew around last year when he was a protagonist, such as that he deserved to win the title because of abu dhabi, ignoring silverstone, baku and hungary, when verstappen could’ve also gone for a holiday during abu dhabi and won the title if it weren’t for those.

       However he didn’t benefit from the 1st SC, because of the rules you have to stop once in the race, he was one of the few on hard tyres, so the first SC was badly timed for him, and then the 2nd too.
17. 

    Jake (@j4k3)
    28th March 2022, 11:16

    I think the Red Bull was the better overall package this weekend, due to their decision on low downforce set up (maybe they learned from last year when they went for the high downforce approach and realised you just can’t hold off mega straight line speed on this track!). Therefore I’ve gone with Leclerc for getting oh so close to the win. For me, despite coming out behind, he was the better of the two in the wheel to wheel battle. I thought his bolting out of the last corner just after they both locked up in their game of DRS chicken was brilliant!

    It was a remarkably similar race to last year, with the guy in the slightly faster car not quite being able to get into the DRS range of the one with more downforce until a fortunate VSC helps them get within range, and then there was ultimately no holding them back.
18. 

    roadrunner (@roadrunner)
    28th March 2022, 12:38

    Difficult one.
    Verstappen, Leclerc or Russell ?

    Perez had a great qualifying but no pace on hard tyres so no chance he gets my vote.

    Verstappen had a soso Saturday but a great race including passing both Ferraris.

    Leclerc rock solid on Saturday and flawless and smart on Saturday but was beaten in the end.

    So I gave it to Russell. One whole second faster than Hamilton plus strong race with some good moves!
19. 

    Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
    28th March 2022, 13:26

    By a process of elimination (Latifi? No. Not Tsunoda. Albon? Nope, etc) I arrived at Verstappen. Raised his game when it mattered.
20. 

    Esploratore (@esploratore1)
    28th March 2022, 13:43

    Russell indeed is an underrated candidate, but I would go for leclerc, since there’s more of a claim to say verstappen wasn’t effective enough in quali than that leclerc was subpar in the race, I think the cars were too close to call in both quali and the race (and for the record, also in the first race’s quali, I would only give the slight edge to ferrari in bahrain race pace) and in the end verstappen had to be creative with the overtake and still had leclerc very close to him in the end, he didn’t pull away.
    1. 

       Esploratore (@esploratore1)
       28th March 2022, 13:43

       Despite this, seems verstappen will win the poll, but very close with 30 to 32% atm.
    2. 

       Esploratore (@esploratore1)
       28th March 2022, 13:44

       Oh, well, not too obvious, 31 to 32%!
21. 

    The Dolphins
    28th March 2022, 15:41

    Charles had a good weekend overall but Sergio did it when it counts with his qualifying lap only to be unlucky with his team’s early pit call.
22. 

    János
    28th March 2022, 17:14

    Seeing that some people still voted for Lewis after THIS weekend made me chuckle!
    1. 

       erikje
       28th March 2022, 18:57

       Agreed, but not really surprising :)
23. 

    Gill
    29th March 2022, 0:08

    Was riding onboard with LEC on the first stint and at one point you could see Checo starting to disappear into the distance. LEC was told to push a bit more and he said “I Can’t!!”

    Perez should have easily won that but it was not his fault. Still amazing weekend for PER with that legendary Pole lap. Perez for me
24. 

    MCG (@malrg)
    29th March 2022, 1:16

    I like Mick, but really feel he will be out of F1 after this season unless there is a big turnaround.
    Early Days, but looks like Ric’ may be getting on top of it.
25. 

    Pinak Ghosh (@pinakghosh)
    29th March 2022, 5:33

    Difficult to vote this one – there were phases during the weekend when different drivers were strong. Perez has a strong Saturday and early laps of Sunday. Leclerc had a good middle stint and Verstappen had kept enough pace and tyres to mount a challenge and win in the final stint. Voted for Leclerc. He mentioned that Ferrari were running more downforce. That’s why sector 2 was where Red Bull cars were consistently quicker on Saturday and Sunday. What is surprising though is that the racing till now has been unexpectedly clean.

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