Race start, Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, 2022

Vote for your 2022 Spanish Grand Prix Driver of the Weekend

2022 Spanish Grand Prix

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Which Formula 1 driver made the most of the Spanish 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 Circuit de Catalunya.

Driver performance summary

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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 2022 Spanish Grand Prix weekend?

  • No opinion (0%)
  • Kevin Magnussen (0%)
  • Mick Schumacher (0%)
  • Nicholas Latifi (0%)
  • Alexander Albon (0%)
  • Guanyu Zhou (0%)
  • Valtteri Bottas (8%)
  • Sebastian Vettel (0%)
  • Lance Stroll (0%)
  • Yuki Tsunoda (2%)
  • Pierre Gasly (0%)
  • Fernando Alonso (2%)
  • Esteban Ocon (0%)
  • Daniel Ricciardo (0%)
  • Lando Norris (2%)
  • Carlos Sainz Jnr (0%)
  • Charles Leclerc (14%)
  • Sergio Perez (4%)
  • Max Verstappen (7%)
  • George Russell (29%)
  • Lewis Hamilton (32%)

Total Voters: 183

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

  1. Between Hamilton and Leclerc. Maybe leclerc because Hamilton was outqualified by teammate, but his race pace was incredible so hard to say.

    Not sure how Verstappen is getting votes but hey ho.

    1. Also unsure how it could be Russell, given he was in a car that his teammate proved had the pace to win, but was some half a minute slower over the course of lap 2-63.

      1. You’re probably joking there, right @j4k3? Russel beat Hamilton in qualifying, and his defensive drive was one of the highlights of this race.

        Sure, it will probably have cost him time (while Hamilton at the same time was just running mostly in clean air).

        1. I’m not joking. He was slower than Hamilton in clean air on a set of tyres 10 laps newer. The car had the pace to win and he came 3rd.

          1. @j4k3 Russel had nothing to gain in front of him. So it’s just about saving the engine and bring the car back home, without having to loose a position because the car was pushed too far. Definitely a better weekend compared to Hamilton imo.

          2. @spoutnik I’m referring to the stint where, had Russell been 1-2 seconds quicker, Verstappen would have come out behind him, so he had a race win gain.

    2. Not sure why LH is getting votes either. Wanted to quit in lap 1!!! Sore loser. But hey ho the team didn’t want to quit, so undeserved driver of the day as far as Im concerned.

    3. It’s driver of the weekend, Hamilton should not be in the running for this. He was outqualified by Russell, finished behind him and was 50/50 to blame for a first lap collision. The undoubted quality of his race from lap 2 onwards does not cancel out those other things.

      The obvious candidate for DOTW is Bottas. Outqualified and outraced his teammate, running a strong race deep into the top points paying places.

      1. Good point about Bottas @geemac, to me Bottas and Russel were the most standout drives. Both having great qualifying and showing what was in their cars in the race. Bottas strategy proved not to have been the perfect one for the best result, but he did manage to get it working as well as it did. And Russel had a great defensive drive that ultimately helped him get to the podium after a great qualifying run to get in between the top cars.

      2. G (@unklegsif)
        23rd May 2022, 11:19

        50/50….? Are you kidding?

        G

          1. G (@unklegsif)
            23rd May 2022, 11:20

            Grrrr – the link is embedded in the “G” above!

        1. Jelle van der Meer (@)
          23rd May 2022, 15:37

          No absolutely not Hamilton has developed a habit of understeering into other drivers – is has happened far too many times in recent years.
          If this would have happened later in the race and not lap 1, for sure Hamilton would have gotten a penalty for it.

          1. G (@unklegsif)
            23rd May 2022, 15:45

            Watch this clip and show me how Hamilton was in any way, “understeering”

            https://twitter.com/F1/status/1528484596202889216

      3. 50/50 for getting hit by MAG, just shows your anti-HAM bias.

        1. @romtrain Does the line where I say “The undoubted quality of his race from lap 2 onwards” do that as well? It was a racing incident and the stewards adjudged it as such, which means it was a 50/50 incident.

          I’ve been watching the sport for 30 years…my days of supporting a driver ended when Damon Hill retired in 1999. I am a fan of the sport…end of. I’d appreciate it if you kept your allegations of bias for people on social media (which I’m not on in any form FYI).

  2. Tough choice today. Went with George Russell. Outqualified Lewis. Kept Max at bay with some incredible defensive driving both with and without Max with DRS. Kept his cool despite the pressure of the 2 Red Bulls and brought home the podium. Bizarre that Lewis was calling to retire the car after 5 laps. I’m glad he didn’t. What a comeback! Especially given there was no safety car, that was quite an incredible drive. This all bodes well for the rest of the season! It’s been a while since we’ve had 3 consistently competitive teams.

    1. I should add that Leclerc looked to have both the race and this vote in the bag but it’s hard to vote for a driver who hasn’t got to half distance regardless of the cause.

  3. How can it be anyone other than the man who took pole and led every lap of the race until his car died..

    1. I fully agree!

    2. Completely agree. Leclerc just dominated the entire weekend. It’s a shame he retired as he was going to pull the grand slam this weekend. No one was even close to him. He got my vote for DOTW. Honourable mentions to Russell and Hamilton, who were both mega as well.

      1. True, let’s not forget leclerc had the fastest lap as well at the time he retired, taken a few laps after by hamilton.

  4. Personally I voted for Russell for his defense against the two faster Red Bulls, but can’t argue with Hamilton’s brilliant recovery drive.

  5. Between Russell and Hamilton, but went for Russell because he outqualified Hamilton. Both were ace though.

  6. Tied between Leclerc, Russell and Verstappen, I’d say…

    Hamilton also did a great job today but I’m surprised that after all these years, he still doesn’t default to fighting (instead of whining) when he finds himself outside of the points…

    I get it, he’s been in a competitive car for most of his career and is a little bit “spoiled” in that regard, but why does he still want to park it whenever he finds himself at the back of the grid, even when he has the entire race ahead of him?

    1. but I’m surprised that after all these years, he still doesn’t default to fighting

      I’m surprised that after all these years, people still haven’t figured out that it’s his driving that matters, not what he says on team radio. Interestingly, even for team radio, he’s held to a different standard than his peers.

    2. All the great F1 drivers, past present and no doubt in the future “whine”.

      Or did you, conveniently, not hear Verstappen yesterday?

  7. It is not the drone pilot.

    1. Agreed. That drone should not be used again – or the pilot should learn how to keep it more level.
      Made me feel seasick at times.

    2. the drone was awful

    3. Yes, didn’t like it either.

  8. Tough one to call.
    Looking at all the drivers right now over 6 races I have thoughts on who is not going to have a drive next season.
    I am a Ric’ fan, but starting to think he’s out along with Latiffi and Schumi’ if nothing changes soon.

    1. Yes, ricciardo has been terrible in recent times unfortunately, cause he is certainly capable to be as good as perez on the right car, maybe better, schumacher got close to getting points lately but not close enough, and latifi I don’t think I can find anything positive to say!

  9. Neil (@neilosjames)
    23rd May 2022, 6:54

    Was between Leclerc, who had a very good weekend, and Hamilton, whose race was so impressive it made up for the sub-par qualifying. And Bottas too, don’t think he could have done any more than he did (apart from defend a little harder, but one could argue he cost himself the least possible amount of time).

    Went Hamilton in the end, because his race pace was just so good despite effectively being on a two-stop, and nothing genuinely surprised me quite like seeing him reeling in Sainz. Has to be something special to overcome qualifying behind your team-mate, and that was.

    1. True, that felt good when he caught and overtook sainz, was unexpected as ferrari was supposed to still be faster, if you see leclerc’s performance.

  10. DOTW: RUS for delivering well in both QLF & the race considering car limitations.
    DOTD: His teammate for recovering well with the outright 3rd-fastest machinery with honorable mentions to RUS, BOT, OCO, NOR, ALO, & TSU.

    1. Surprised leclerc is not in this list.

  11. Maybe Leclerc should get it, what more could the guy do ? But it is too hard too pass on Hamilton’s performance in the race, given that he did it on a two-stop strategy that was a disaster for the other ones who tried it.

  12. For me, it’s Leclerc. He took pole with a decent margin despite being under pressure after a spin. He was easily clearly the fastest driver on track when his car just died.
    Verstappen won thanks to Perez playing the team game, and a mega stint on softs. Not enough to warrant DOTW for me.
    Hamilton once again finished behind Russell in both Q and race, but drove a brilliant race. Honorable mention, sure, but no DOTW.
    Russell probably comes closest to stealing it from Leclerc, so my top 3 for this weekend is:
    1. Leclerc
    2. Russell
    3. Hamilton

    1. replace Hamilton for Bottas and you have my top 3

  13. DOTW George Russel. Got the maximum out of the car both in qualifying and in the race. Defended hard but fair against the Red Bulls. Despite Toto’s claim this isn’t a race wining car yet.

  14. Leclerc, then Russell.

  15. Russell DOTW, followed closely by Leclerc, Hamilton DOTD.

  16. How the hell is this not a clear LeClerc win? The Hamilton votes are bloody ridiculous!

  17. Lewis Hamilton (32%)
    George Russell (30%)
    Charles Leclerc (15%)
    Valtteri Bottas (8%)
    Max Verstappen (6%)
    Sergio Perez (5%)
    Lando Norris (2%)
    Fernando Alonso (1%)
    Yuki Tsunoda (1%)
    Total Voters: 164

    I went with russell, his defense against the red bulls was impressive, but certainly you can make a case for hamilton and leclerc as well, leclerc did nothing wrong except that spin in quali, but it’s quite typical that after a driver makes a mistake and doesn’t have a banker lap, then he will be pretty slow on the 2nd run, to make sure to not make another mistake and start 10th, yet leclerc managed to beat verstappen’s time by 3 tenths, which was otherwise unbeatable, with a car that didn’t look the clear fastest, and I agree his mechanical problem doesn’t disqualify him from dotw, russell also outqualified hamilton and it’s hard to see what he could’ve done better, hamilton was blameless in the crash and had an impressive recovery and pace with a car that should still be 3rd best.

    Seems hamilton got about 54 votes or something like that out of 164, I wasn’t particularly impressed by the others, good recovery by alonso obviously, and bottas had a good weekend as well, verstappen made that mistake and didn’t look like he’d be in a position to beat leclerc, and perez wasn’t as fast as verstappen.

  18. Can definitely see how personal bias influences these votes, we are a fickle bunch…
    How did Alonso only get 1% in a drive from last to 9th?

Comments are closed.