Which Formula 1 driver made the most of the Monaco 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 Monaco.
Driver performance summary
| Driver | Q stage | Q position | Q gap to team mate | GP grid position | GP result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Max Verstappen | Q3 | 1 | -1.464s | 1 | 1 |
| Sergio Perez | Q1 | 20 | +1.464s | 20 | 16 |
| Charles Leclerc | Q3 | 3 | -0.159s | 6 | 6 |
| Carlos Sainz Jnr | Q3 | 5 | +0.159s | 4 | 8 |
| Lewis Hamilton | Q3 | 6 | -0.239s | 5 | 4 |
| George Russell | Q3 | 8 | +0.239s | 8 | 5 |
| Esteban Ocon | Q3 | 4 | -0.380s | 3 | 3 |
| Pierre Gasly | Q3 | 7 | +0.380s | 7 | 7 |
| Lando Norris | Q3 | 10 | -0.018s | 10 | 9 |
| Oscar Piastri | Q2 | 11 | +0.018s | 11 | 10 |
| Valtteri Bottas | Q2 | 15 | -0.485s | 15 | 11 |
| Zhou Guanyu | Q1 | 19 | +0.485s | 19 | 13 |
| Lance Stroll | Q2 | 14 | +0.516s | 14 | Not classified |
| Fernando Alonso | Q3 | 2 | -0.516s | 2 | 2 |
| Kevin Magnussen | Q1 | 17 | -0.009s | 17 | 19 |
| Nico Hulkenberg | Q1 | 18 | +0.009s | 18 | 17 |
| Nyck de Vries | Q2 | 12 | +0.179s | 12 | 12 |
| Yuki Tsunoda | Q3 | 9 | -0.179s | 9 | 15 |
| Alexander Albon | Q2 | 13 | -0.407s | 13 | 14 |
| Logan Sargeant | Q1 | 16 | +0.407s | 16 | 18 |
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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 2023 Monaco Grand Prix weekend?
- No opinion (0%)
- Logan Sargeant (0%)
- Alexander Albon (0%)
- Yuki Tsunoda (1%)
- Nyck de Vries (0%)
- Kevin Magnussen (0%)
- Nico Hulkenberg (0%)
- Fernando Alonso (19%)
- Lance Stroll (0%)
- Guanyu Zhou (0%)
- Valtteri Bottas (0%)
- Oscar Piastri (1%)
- Lando Norris (0%)
- Pierre Gasly (0%)
- Esteban Ocon (44%)
- George Russell (0%)
- Lewis Hamilton (3%)
- Carlos Sainz Jnr (0%)
- Charles Leclerc (0%)
- Sergio Perez (0%)
- Max Verstappen (33%)
Total Voters: 128
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When this poll is closed the result will be displayed instead of the voting form.
2023 Monaco Grand Prix
- Mercedes ready to “grind” their way to competitiveness after major W14 update
- Verstappen surpasses Vettel as winner of most races for Red Bull
- How the first team to fit intermediate tyres in Monaco got the call right
- Verstappen’s Monaco pole run was the completion of his 2021 Jeddah lap – Horner
- Haas thrilled as upgrade performance exceeds wind tunnel predictions
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Jere (@jerejj)
28th May 2023, 15:56
DOTW & DOTD: OCO
Tommy C (@tommy-c)
28th May 2023, 16:00
Tough choice between Max, Fernando and Esteban. Went with Max as he ultimately got the job done and made the right calls. I was surprised to see how good his pace was on such worn mediums.
Rick Lopez (@viscountviktor)
28th May 2023, 16:14
Estie Bestie!
GeeMac (@geemac)
29th May 2023, 3:53
It has to be Ocon though, no? We expected Verstappen and Alonso to be the two strongest drivers this weekend and so it proved, but who honestly expected Ocon to qualify on the second row and drive such a strong race to grab a podium? For that reason, he got my vote.
David BR (@david-br)
28th May 2023, 16:14
Ocon.
Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
28th May 2023, 16:16
I voted for Max. Masterclass performance. Well deserved podium places for Fernando and Esteban.
F1 frog (@f1frog)
28th May 2023, 16:20
Esteban Ocon’s drive was better than anybody’s from the first five races of the season, but Max Verstappen’s was even better. To hold onto those medium tyres for 50 laps and still stay at Alonso’s pace, and then keep it on the road, still at Alonso’s pace, in wet conditions before pulling away once he got intermediate tyres on was one of his strongest drives in Formula 1. Verstappen has absolutely cemented his place among the all-time greats of Formula 1 now, perhaps sneaking into the top ten of all time.
MaddMe (@)
28th May 2023, 16:30
It was a difficult one between Max, Esteban and Fernando.
I went with Max for his superb qualification and then keeping his Medium tyres alive for over 50 laps and then his single stop for the inters.
Esteban drove a blinding weekend and effectively the surprise for the weekend and a very close joint second with Fernando.
Illusive (@illusive)
28th May 2023, 16:51
Max was mega on those mediums and not to forget that unforgettable quali lap, he is the driver of the weekend. Great drives from Fernando and Esteban too.
If I'm not wery much mistaken (@ifiamnotwerymuchmistaken)
28th May 2023, 18:10
On the basis of putting an Alpine on the podium, Ocon. Realistically, the only driver to “outperform” his car.
GmP (@gmp)
28th May 2023, 19:45
Ocon was best in the race. He was really under pressure and held on the his 3rd place. Max was excellent, but not much challenged. Over the weekend however I gave it to Max. Except FP1 he led each session, and then delivered it when it was most important, and did it when knowing he was behind during the lap, to clinch pole. DOTD:OCO, DOTW:Max
Melbourne '96 (@melbourne-96)
28th May 2023, 20:05
Totally agree.
Dex
28th May 2023, 21:52
No doubt Stroll. To drive like that and keep your seat, that is a true accomplishment. Shame on Aston Martin, such blatant nepotism. There’s no place for that in this century.
Paul
29th May 2023, 0:11
I do wonder how long before Stroll Snr just adopts Alonso and lets Stroll Jnr go race in another series replacing him with another driver like Norris or somebody else that could do with a decent car.
roadrunner (@roadrunner)
29th May 2023, 0:26
Without Daddy Stroll no Junior Stroll in F1, but also no front running AM.
At first, I was very critical of the Stroll/AM project, but they are doing something right. Let’s appreciate of how old Stroll transformed the Mercedes satellite that Racing Point had become into a front running competitor.
And if you were a billionaire, motorsport fanatic, owner of a race team and your son is a very good driver (yes, mediocre in F1 terms, but still no disaster) wouldn’t you keep and support him? He’s family after all and staying loyal to him is kind of nice.
EffWunFan (@cairnsfella)
29th May 2023, 2:06
I have to say that Stroll has developed into a much better driver than I originally gave him credit for.
That said, the fact that he got such extended opportunities to develop, and that fact that a cashed up team should obviously seek the ‘best’ drivers that they can leads me to wholeheartedly agree with Dex.
Paul
29th May 2023, 0:09
Nyck de Vries
For neither crashing during the race and for not finishing in the back 5.
An impressive result… by his standards.
I have an opinion
29th May 2023, 7:53
Definitely the most improved driver.
EffWunFan (@cairnsfella)
29th May 2023, 2:26
I find myself voting for Max again, even though I really would rather not as I am not a fan of the ‘whole’ of Max.
Ocon did drive a fantastic race, though I am unsure claims that only he outdrove his car. Sure, the RB is the class of the field but getting through that graining phase and doing what was required seemed pretty impressive to me. Perhaps I should allow myself the excuse of uncertainty, to vote for Esteban but I just couldn’t. (I’m not even sure I saw enough coverage of EO tbh).
Anyway, it’s all pretty subjective. I can’t believe that there were no drivers outside the top three that deserved a vote, yet at the current time all but one vote seems to have gone that way.
GmP (@gmp)
29th May 2023, 3:46
I can’t believe that there were no drivers outside the top three that deserved a vote, yet at the current time all but one vote seems to have gone that way.
We can only vote for one, and for me that was Max for the weekend and Ocon for the race. For just the race I was also impressed by Gasly and Piastri. Solid races, scoring points in cars that are not top of the class. Hamilton fourth was a good result, but it is in a Mercedes, they should be at the sharp end.
Pinak Ghosh (@pinakghosh)
29th May 2023, 4:04
Max gets the driver of the weekend. There was speculation that advantage of Red Bull will not be as large as in Monaco as the other circuits with more top speed. To an extent that was true. But seeing how Max pulled off sector 3 in Q3 was phenomenal. To top that up, taking the medium to more than its expected life on Sunday and then the team making the right call for inters sealed the victory.
Todfod (@todfod)
29th May 2023, 5:34
Alonso. Just 0.07 away from pole against a much quicker car. Then drove a controlled calculated race, which could have been the first non Red bull win if it wasn’t for a bad strategy call.
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
29th May 2023, 16:04
Ocon.
Everybody else only did what they were expected to do (except Perez perhaps)