Driver of the Race

[steveaki13]

Driver of the Day nominations please.

[steveaki13]

Driver of the Race - Lewis Hamilton - It was close thing, but he really drove well. Way better than his team mate.

Honourable mentions:
Sebastian Vettel - Done a fine job for me, the car hadn't seemed that great all weekend, but he was best of the rest.

Fernando Alonso- Done his usual good job. Had a battle with Hulkenberg, but 4th was the best he could get.

Nico Hulkenberg - What a fine drive from Nico. This really makes you realise he deserves a top drive.

Romain Grosjean - Not a stunning race, but he did well to get the car home and 11th is decent for Lotus this season.

Kamui Kobayashi - 13th place and won the division two scrap.

[dj_bytedisaster]

Driver of the Race - Lewis Hamilton - It was close thing, but he really drove well. Way better than his team mate.

what is your definition of 'close'? he did what people endlessly slagged Vettel off for - driving off into the distance with a car that basically has no competition.

Driver of the day is Hulk for me - always in midfield cars yet always finds himself duking it out with Alonso. That was one inspired drive.

[steveaki13]

what is your definition of 'close'? he did what people endlessly slagged Vettel off for - driving off into the distance with a car that basically has no competition.

Driver of the day is Hulk for me - always in midfield cars yet always finds himself duking it out with Alonso. That was one inspired drive.

I mean it was a close vote for my driver of the race. It was between him and Hulkenberg .:p

As for waltzing off into the distance. I always give the driver credit. Last season I must have given Seb 5 or 6 Driver of the Race votes in his string of 9 wins at the end of the season.

So don't make out I give Lewy credit and never did Seb for a dominant win. :)

[Mia 01]

Nico Hulkenberg!!

[Tazio]

The Boss. The rest of the top 5 drivers also drove well. For me it is hard to determine with all the cars how much of their success or lack of is down to the car or the driver at this stage. One can compare them with their teammates but even then there can be extenuating circumstances that we are not aware of.

[dj_bytedisaster]

I mean it was a close vote for my driver of the race. It was between him and Hulkenberg .:p

As for waltzing off into the distance. I always give the driver credit. Last season I must have given Seb 5 or 6 Driver of the Race votes in his string of 9 wins at the end of the season.

So don't make out I give Lewy credit and never did Seb for a dominant win. :)

Driver of the day is for doing something extra-ordinary. Sorry, Lewis did not. He kept it on the road, that's all. And just how Vettel never was my driver of the day in the last 9 races 2013, I don't think Lewis deserves the honour. It would be devalueing the drive of people like 'nando and Hulk.

[steveaki13]

Driver of the day is for doing something extra-ordinary. Sorry, Lewis did not. He kept it on the road, that's all. And just how Vettel never was my driver of the day in the last 9 races 2013, I don't think Lewis deserves the honour. It would be devalueing the drive of people like 'nando and Hulk.

Fair enough.

For me the winner often wins Driver of the Day and sometimes others do.

[Zico]

Driver of the day is for doing something extra-ordinary. Sorry, Lewis did not. He kept it on the road, that's all. And just how Vettel never was my driver of the day in the last 9 races 2013, I don't think Lewis deserves the honour. It would be devalueing the drive of people like 'nando and Hulk.

Yes, totally agree. Lewis controlled the race well, made no mistakes and beat his team mate but compared to the rest had it fairly easy in a dominant car . Alonso, Vettel, Hulkenberg, Button, Kobayashi and even Bottas were probably more deserving of that title.

If the thread title was 'driver of the weekend' that would probably have made Lewis a more worthy candidate for achieving his pole in such difficult, car equalising conditions.

[henners88]

I can't vote my favourite driver Lewis as driver of the day because he didn't do anything special other than drive off and turn things down on the car. I never gave Vettel credit for it so can't do it for Lewis because it's boring and looks far too easy. I've waited years to see Hamilton have a run at the championship and too many more of these I will either turn off or start cheering for someone else. I can't blame Lewis, he has a good chance of upping his stats like Seb has been doing for years and drivers love winning. As fans we like racing though and this isn't it. The car is the defining factor these days and these guys don't just suddenly have enough talent to blow everyone away, they need the best package. This just conforms to me that give any of the top guys the best car on the grid and they will convert it into wins and championships. A dull era indeed.

The Hulk was DOTR by a country mile today.

[jens]

Gaps between teams were pretty significant. I remember last year's Canadian Grand Prix. Lightyears between cars and P6 got lapped. So DOTDs are based on who beat his team-mate and seemed to be doing about fine given the machinery. That's all we can gather here.

So Hamilton, Vettel, Alonso, Hülkenberg, Button... Kvyat, Grosjean, Kobayashi. Did I forget someone?:D

I believe Williams was capable of a bit more, but Massa didn't have the speed nor overtaking, when necessary, and Bottas didn't capitalize properly either.

[Mia 01]

Kevin ruined Kimis race after only a couple of hundred meters, and my morning.

[pino]

Kevin ruined Kimis race after only a couple of hundred meters, and my morning.

My morning too, stupid Dane :p: anyway my vote goes to the Hulk !

[Ranger]

Hulkenberg.

[TheFamousEccles]

The Hulk for mine, but special mention of Kyvat for keeping his nose clean in the race and finishing.

[N4D13]

There is something I don't understand. Why do so many people keep implying that Hülkenberg is overdriving his car? There's absolutely no question that he is driving really well but it is not like we can put a finger on the cars' pecking order yet. For me it is not really clear whether his good results are coming because he is that good or it's just the car.

As far as I'm concerned, any of the top five guys, barring Rosberg, could be DotR for me. Rosberg himself was pretty much invisible but you would have to wonder whether there were technical issues or, perhaps more likely, team orders. I obviously can't buy that Nico would lose more than three seconds to Lewis in the first three laps for no reason.

[Zico]

*Rosberg himself was pretty much invisible but you would have to wonder whether there were technical issues or, perhaps more likely, team orders. I obviously can't buy that Nico would lose more than three seconds to Lewis in the first three laps for no reason.

Team orders to drive slow over the first three laps? No... that doesn't really seem a very likely reason to me.
I just think Lewis is ultimately the quicker of the two, had a slightly fresher car... probably had a better set up and so was able to get right on it from the off.


I have a feeling we'll see a lot, lot more dominance over Nico from Lewis than last year if (as I rightly or wrongly envisage) tyre temps are no longer thee main critical lap time delta pace deciding factor.

[anfield5]

Hard to pick. Hamilton was faultless, but he was in by far the best car, Vettel drove well in a car capable of beating all but the Mercs, which he did. Alonso wrestled an unco-operative red tractor around to a better place than it deserved Koby san drove well. But if I have to pick one it would be Hulk, bold tactics and a faultless effort

[longisland]

For me DOTR would be Massa. This is the widest track on the race calendar. If Bottas is substantially faster than Massa, he should be able pass Massa especially there is no fuel or tire issue. In the end, Bottas never got around Massa & that ends the debate of Bottas having any chance of overtaking Button. If Bottas can't overtake a "slower" car, I doubt he is going to trouble Button.

[Koz]

For me DOTR would be Massa. This is the widest track on the race calendar. If Bottas is substantially faster than Massa, he should be able pass Massa especially there is no fuel or tire issue. In the end, Bottas never got around Massa & that ends the debate of Bottas having any chance of overtaking Button. If Bottas can't overtake a "slower" car, I doubt he is going to trouble Button.

Yeah, but Bottas also got an order to NOT overtake Massa, after Massa refused to let him past, didn't he?

He also got one at the beginning, not to race Massa until they were past Mag?

[Tazio]

Koz, Your point is well taken but I think that there is a distinction between strategy in the first stint, and the fourth, not that I agree with it entirely. How can you ask a guy to pull over in an ultra-exhausting race like Malaysia in the closing laps? I'm not going to say Massa is their #1 driver, but FWIW Massa really needed to beat VB or else fall further behind, and then be obliged later in the season to let him through to help for the WDC. Not cool IMO bro.