Vote for your 2023 Dutch Grand Prix Driver of the Weekend

32 comments on “Vote for your 2023 Dutch Grand Prix Driver of the Weekend”

1. 

   Christopher Rehn (@chrischrill)
   28th August 2023, 12:49

   It’s hard to not vote for Verstappen yet again. Messy race, but he took the start and retook the lead and made all the right calls.
   Albon had a great quali and drove brilliantly in the race, but strategy calls weren’t great. Zhou made all the right calls but pace wasn’t great.
   Gasly had a good quali and good race, and could be my DOTW. Alonso was up there too.
   1. 

      Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
      28th August 2023, 13:08

      Zhou surely couldn’t even be in contention for this in the race alone though. I also couldn’t say he made all the right calls as he carried way to much speed for the conditions which led to him being the only driver being at fault for heavily hitting the barrier resulting in retirement.
2. 

   Jere (@jerejj)
   28th August 2023, 12:58

   VER for DOTW with honorable mention to ALB, but DOTD is more difficult to choose between the podium trio.
3. 

   RH
   28th August 2023, 13:13

   Alonso for DOTW. Got the early pass done and was the only credible threat to Verstappen on intermediate tires.

   Verstappen’s standards are too high nowadays. So anything except a pole and a win is not a good look imo, so Alonso takes it for me.
4. 

   MacLeod (@macleod)
   28th August 2023, 13:19

   Euh this is very Hard Max, Alsonso and Albon are the ones really impressing us the most. I go for max…..
5. 

   Coventry Climax
   28th August 2023, 13:34

   It wasn’t all that long ago that many -even the majority?- of the commenters here thought Albon was rubbish.
   For a rubbish driver, he’s been doing quite well at Williams, I would say.

   Talking of which; It’s very nice to see Williams comparing decently again, after so many years.
   For the first time, I thought Sargeant was catching up, and maybe he is finding speed, or at least some of it. His crash was possibly car failure I read, but could it have been a failure he induced himself? I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and not writing him off fully yet. Being quick to judge isn’t always the best of options.
   1. 

      Matthijs (@matthijs)
      28th August 2023, 17:33

      I don’t remember a lot of people saying that Albon was rubbish. I do think that his time at Red Bull was disappointing, for whatever reason. But he is really carrying the Williams team race after race. I do hope he gets another shot at the front of the grid (in a Williams would be a dream scenario).
6. 

   Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
   28th August 2023, 13:59

   Lawson.
   Being dropped into the seat at such short notice, no experience of the track in F1 or those conditions, and he not only kept it on track, he beat four experienced drivers!

   Total respect young man.
   1. 

      BasCB (@bascb)
      28th August 2023, 14:31

      That is a very solid vote, yeah. Being dropped in the car with hardly any running at all, keeping it on track having some decent running and overall respectable pace in this sort of weather.
   2. 

      Billys (@bilarxos)
      28th August 2023, 15:40

      Same here.
   3. 

      Simon
      28th August 2023, 15:59

      My vote goes to Lawson as well. A mightily impressive debut, especially given the short notice and changeable weather.

      I really wanted him to finish the race, and as BasCB says, beat Magnussen, Bottas, Tsunoda and Russell in the process.

      10/10
7. 

   melanos
   28th August 2023, 13:59

   Max was great this weekend but Fred was the greatest. It is always easier from the top. But what Fred did was stonking. Even a botched pitstop could not delay him. And his double pass in the first lap (was it T3?) in the lower part or the banked turn is something for the ages.
   What Albon did with the slicks in the rain impressed me too. Very poor showing from most of the rest including the Mercs, McLs and Fezza, but a decent job from Pierre Gasly who is showing Esteban who’s boss. And where oh where was Lance?
8. 

   Facts&Stats
   28th August 2023, 14:08

   Hard to choose between Verstappen and Alonso (and maybe Gasly).
   But as I didn’t like Verstappen’s overtake on Gasly, and was very impressed with the various overtakes by Alonso, my vote would (if I still had an account) go to Alonso.
   Gasly was not far behind; he did well defending against Verstappen (until he was forced off) and to keep within a few sec of the other Red Bull.
9. 

   Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
   28th August 2023, 14:08

   Surprised so many voted for VER with the huge advantage he has. I thought it was between Alonso and Gasly really. It’s a more or less 50/50 but then there is no way most of us would have put Gasly on the podium in the Alpine. So I voted for him…just.
   1. 

      Tommy C (@tommy-c)
      28th August 2023, 21:18

      The advantage Max had in this race was the brain in his head. Perez got onto inters on lap 1 and was 15-odd seconds ahead by the time Max had pitted. It was astonishing to see Max reel Perez in at the rate he did. A 15 second lead on the same tyres in the same car should be unassailable. Max is incredible.
      1. 

         melanos
         29th August 2023, 13:10

         Agree but Checo did a really poor job also
      2. 

         baasbas
         29th August 2023, 14:13

         @tommy-c
         I’m not saying Verstappen was bad, but if you look at the times Norris was about as quick (in free air) as Verstappen in that phase. So the fact he slashed the lead so incredibly quickly was actually more down to Perez being really, really slow. For instance, from lap 2 up to 9 Zhou was faster than Perez
         1. 

            x303 (@x303)
            29th August 2023, 21:05

            This the most important thing here: Verstappen wasn’t walking on water (excuse the pun), it was Pérez who was terrible.
10. 

    MichaelN
    28th August 2023, 14:36

    Alonso and Gasly did well. Lawson had a very respectable outing given circumstances. Hamilton recovered well but shouldn’t have had to, and Zhou had a great opening but couldn’t do much with it.
11. 

    BasCB (@bascb)
    28th August 2023, 14:36

    Verstappen, sure, he was good, as expected. Alonso did a great job, although his qualifying wasn’t exceptional, his race really was something.

    Gasly probably got out of the car what was in there too, I’d say Albon deserves a mention, Norris was doing really well, but the strategy as well as the cars’ lack of pace on the straight made that a moot point. Sainz was also doing a good job on Sunday, although his saturday was not there really (the car as well as the strategy is not up to it at Ferrari)

    And Lawson not even kept it on track without any icidents after being thrown in last minute, he even managed to beat Tsunoda (be it due to the penalty) and finish ahead of a decent chunk of others.

    Overall we got serious amounts of solid driving in the rain!
12. 

    James Bond (@jamesbond)
    28th August 2023, 14:40

    Max under pressure performed flawlessly. In another league.
13. 

    Pinak Ghosh (@pinakghosh)
    28th August 2023, 15:15

    Max is extracting the best from the car under all circumstances and this weekend was no different irrespective of the challenges. He could have driven more cautiously given the weather conditions. But the need to win is clearly visible. The 10th win in a row is definitely possible with this form and a hat trick of titles is not far away.
    1. 

       x303 (@x303)
       29th August 2023, 21:09

       I’d say winning all the remaining races is not far away. Sprint races included.
14. 

    Alex (@)
    28th August 2023, 15:42

    The rain gave several drivers the chance to show why they’re in F1

    Verstappen is on 9 straight wins partly because of the car, but also because in these dicey situations where it could all go wrong, he makes it right every time. The gap he pulled out before the red flag was astounding.

    Gasly took his opportunities and stayed glued to the front all race: no matter what the conditions, he stayed close and pounced for third at the end

    Norris and Russell both had one of their best weekends, but sadly were hung out to dry by team strategies

    Albon entertained, swashbuckled and overtook

    Lawson would probably have been happy not to get dropped at the back — but he came in 13th! In my view he comfortably outperformed Tsunoda.

    In the end, though, it has to be Alonso. Those first couple of laps in the rain were astounding: everyone else was surviving; he was racing. He put that car in places it didn’t deserve to be. 10/10 race from a master.
15. 

    Alex (@)
    28th August 2023, 15:45

    Addendum: Lawson comfortably outperformed Tsunoda on race-day anyway; his qualifying was what you’d expect for a newbie put in the seat with no notice.
    1. 

       baasbas
       28th August 2023, 16:20

       @smallvizier
       Did he?
       Don’t get me wrong, he did great. I just can’t agree with “comfortably outperformed”
16. 

    KimiRaikkonen1207 (@kimiraikkonen1207)
    28th August 2023, 17:47

    Many deserving drivers this weekend, including Alonso, Albon, Lawson, and Gasly. Ultimately I went for Verstappen for his relentless consistency and performance once again.

    I will say I’m just as impressed with Fernando, though I’ve always been a fan of his. His early overtakes in the wet on Albon, Russell, and Norris were just terrific.

    I know the Alonso GOAT thing is probably as overplayed by his supporters as it is with Hamilton’s, but the more time passes, the more I’m certain he genuinely belongs in the conversation (ridiculousness of the conversation aside). He and Hamilton certainly stand clear of the rest as the best of the post-Schumacher, pre-Verstappen era. It’s definitely close between them. I think Hamilton has the edge in pure pace, and he’s always been the better qualifier, but Fernando has superior consistency, race management, and especially racecraft. Few drivers have been more impressive to me in wheel-to-wheel racing. If you were to compile every driver’s best overtakes, Fernando’s list would be mighty impressive. Up there with the likes of Mansell as one of the great overtakers of all time, and his defending is terrific too.
17. 

    GmP (@gmp)
    29th August 2023, 2:42

    Verstappen for the weekend. Alonso for the (race) day.
18. 

    Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
    29th August 2023, 4:07

    It has to be Max. 9 wins in a row is an astonishing feat. An honourable mention to Liam for finishing this race. I don’t know why he got that time penalty, but I’d like to believe it was an error by his team, not actually his own fault.
19. 

    Todfod (@todfod)
    29th August 2023, 4:35

    Was a close one between Max, Alonso, Gasly and Albon for me.
    Max didn’t put a foot wrong all weekend. Alonso’s quali wasn’t spectacular.. But his pace and racecraft in that Aston on raceday was more impressive than anyone else. Gasly did a great job on both Saturday and Sunday.. As did Albon.

    Had to go with Alonso this weekend… Just because his raceday performance was immense. He got by Lewis and Norris with ease.. Beat one red bull fair and square. Honestly, if he was racing in that Red Bull this weekend… He’d probably have the better of Max as well.
20. 

    Illusive (@illusive)
    29th August 2023, 7:16

    Has to be Max, honorable mention for Fernando Alonso, give him a car that can win championship and boy we’ll have a season like 21 in our hands.
21. 

    Dave
    29th August 2023, 17:43

    Alonso by far considering the passes he made throughout the race. Question as t o whether Max could’ve made the moves ALO did in equal machinery.

Comments are closed.