Driver of the Race - Spain

[steveaki13]

Who gets ya votes.

[pino]

Hate this but I must give it to Vettel ! ;)

[Robinho]

yeah , Vettel today. Good stuff from the mercs and nice to see Ricciardo get a podium that hopefully he gets to keep

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[donKey jote]

has to be stoopid vettel :dozey: :sailor: :p

[tfp]

Ricciardo for me

[steveaki13]

Driver of the Race -

Vettel: A great comeback from 15th to 4th. He was almost as fast as the Mercedes late on in clear air, but still a bit off. Great drive.

Other mentions:
Lewis Hamilton - He won the race so deserves a mention for that. :D Lewis saying he was in trouble all race. :eek: So much trouble he was only 50 seconds clear of the rest.

Daniel Ricciardo - Another brilliant race and would have been within 30 seconds if not for Bottas in the early laps. Hope he gets to keep this podium.

Bottas - Did a decent job in what is border line the 3rd best car. A good job for Williams again today.

Grosjean - Have to give him credit. 8th place and Lotus off the mark with 4 nice points. Well done to Romain.

Jules Bianchi - Passed Chilton and was keeping the Sauber's honest in the early laps. Good effort by him.

I think thats it.

[Koz]

Vettel.

[longisland]

Vettel hands down. 15 to 4.

[dj_bytedisaster]

Gotta go to Vettel. Practically no running all weekend and then from 15 to 4. Proved a lot of his detractors wrong today.

[tjoepie]

Can't disagree with the gist of what people said. I'd like to also nominate Hamilton for "moaner of the race" though - if you'd listened to his radio you'd have sworn he was being given carrots!

[Doc Austin]

This was the make or break race of the year for Vettel, and he really stepped it up. Now he needs a clean weekend without technical issues.

[Whyzars]

Rosilton again. They will continue to get my vote while ever they drive closest to the potential speed of an unleashed F1 car.

If Monaco doesn't shake out some new strengths the other teams should save their money and not bother racing for the rest of the year.

[steveaki13]

I think if Merc dominate in Monaco, the other teams will pack up significant upgrades and think about 2015. Its not like the teams just need a little more to beat them either. They need a second to catch them and 1.5 seconds to win enough races to challenge for the title. Dont think its going to happen.

[Malbec]

I think if Merc dominate in Monaco, the other teams will pack up significant upgrades and think about 2015. Its not like the teams just need a little more to beat them either. They need a second to catch them and 1.5 seconds to win enough races to challenge for the title. Dont think its going to happen.

I think the opposite. If Monaco is sewn up by Mercedes they will be the ones backing off and the other teams putting more effort in. The WCC may be off-limits to them but the fight for 2nd downwards carries on and remains closer than ever, especially now Lotus has again returned to the front at least with Grosjean.

[driveace]

Monaco is a different ball game.Driver of race was Lewis,he was conning the team a little,whilst complaining about the car,was still lapping quicker than most others.Nico was speechless at the end of race,in the fact he said nothing much to Lewis.Riccardo deserved a lot of credit too for his qualifying and his race pace too ,and a mention to Bottas who easily beat the more experienced Massa

[Tazio]

For me I think I'll call it a tie between The Boss, and Nico. Vettle had an impressive race, but let's face it the RB was that much faster than all others except the Mercs. IMHO

[truefan72]

vettel, by a country mile

[Bagwan]

For me I think I'll call it a tie between The Boss, and Nico. Vettle had an impressive race, but let's face it the RB was that much faster than all others except the Mercs. IMHO

Wouldn't you say Bottas had a bit of a good race out there , considering he was so far ahead of such a fast team-mate ?

[Zico]

Vettel

yes he had 3rd-4th best car but he had to come from much further back than anyone else to earn his 4th place. Solid drive.

[Ranger]

Vettel, easily.

Honourable mentions to Bottas and Grosjean.

[Tazio]

Wouldn't you say Bottas had a bit of a good race out there , considering he was so far ahead of such a fast team-mate ?Speak for yourself daddy-0 ;)

[henners88]

Driver of the race is hard to judge for me. I would like to say Vettel due to his start and finishing positions but his progress appeared to be missing from the coverage. A hugely dull race all round and one I am glad I recorded rather than wasting a precious Sunday afternoon watching live. I'm losing interest fast and at this rate I'll be missing half the season like with MotoGP.

[jens]

Rosilton again.

Hamberg was pretty handy too, wasn't he? I think it's a close call between the two of them.

[steveaki13]

Driver of the race is hard to judge for me. I would like to say Vettel due to his start and finishing positions but his progress appeared to be missing from the coverage. A hugely dull race all round and one I am glad I recorded rather than wasting a precious Sunday afternoon watching live. I'm losing interest fast and at this rate I'll be missing half the season like with MotoGP.

Bye Henners :wave::(

[jens]

A hugely dull race all round and one I am glad I recorded rather than wasting a precious Sunday afternoon watching live. I'm losing interest fast and at this rate I'll be missing half the season like with MotoGP.

Same with me really. I can admit I missed the Spanish GP, because valued doing something else right in the middle of Sunday. This season brings out the memories of the most underwhelming seasons or scenarios I can possibly remember. Big gaps between teams and team-mates running after each other often too. 1992, the first third of 1998, 2002.

Whatever 2013 was, at least there was some diversity among teams. Before late-season Webber resurgence we had four different drivers from four different teams at the top of the drivers championship - Vettel (Red Bull) followed by Alonso (Ferrari), Räikkönen (Lotus) and Hamilton (Mercedes) battling it out. And four teams winning races during the season. It actually left an impression there was competition and four teams were competitive. Though it must be said it lasted only for half a year. But guess better than nothing.

[henners88]

Same with me really. I can admit I missed the Spanish GP, because valued doing something else right in the middle of Sunday. This season brings out the memories of the most underwhelming seasons or scenarios I can possibly remember. Big gaps between teams and team-mates running after each other often too. 1992, the first third of 1998, 2002.

Whatever 2013 was, at least there was some diversity among teams. Before late-season Webber resurgence we had four different drivers from four different teams at the top of the drivers championship - Vettel (Red Bull) followed by Alonso (Ferrari), Räikkönen (Lotus) and Hamilton (Mercedes) battling it out. And four teams winning races during the season. It actually left an impression there was competition and four teams were competitive. Though it must be said it lasted only for half a year. But guess better than nothing.
I have to say I've been pretty turned off for a few years now and 2012 was a year I thought could have produced a tougher fight at the end, but unreliability saw that off. A gap at the front is a gap at the front regardless of how big it is. We saw how hard it was for teams to close a 0.5 second gap so a 2 second gap this season just allows the team at the front to take it easy. The new regs have simply replaced this team at the front and we have a very similar situation where consecutive wins are always going to decide the outcome. We did have a few different winners in previous years, but in the end it was the most reliable and consistent package that won. This season is not much different apart from others having a stab at a win and we are still looking at the same dull procession IMO. I think it robs us a little of seeing these guys ability if they have it so easy because we all know how good a racer they are. Hamilton has made his name in F1 being one of the best at wheel to wheel racing and I have to say he's excited me the most in the last decade because of this determination. Vettel is also great at wheel to wheel and I felt we didn't see much of this up to now and it was the main reason many fans felt he hadn't proved himself. Yesterday he apparently drove his socks off and would deserve my driver of the race. I said after Bahrain we shouldn't be too quick to declare F1 as no longer 'boring' because too many variables came into play to make that a brilliant race to watch IMO.

I've waited years now to see Lewis win another championship and at this rate it'll be over at the earliest point with only his team mate capable of bringing a challenge. Some how I think Mercedes will prevent a challenge right to the very end because Hamilton is potentially worth more than Rosberg from a marketing perspective dare I say and one driver will have to be left out. I can't see Merc pushing Lewis out the door. Its a weird situation for F1 right now and with dwindling TV audiences and now dull racing, they need to decide if its the 'show' that needs to be repaired or whether the car industry related technology is more relevant for the long term good of the sport. They should both be important, however right now it doesn't seem to be working in harmony.

[Mia 01]

sebastial vettel!!

[zako85]

If I had to select only one driver of the race, then that would be Hamilton. What's there not to like? Flawless qualification, good start, good race, good fight with Rosberg, but confusing radio chat.

Vettel did extremely well too. Under the circumstances, finishing fourth was the best you could have possibly expected anyone to do. Ricciardo did well too. This was a surprisingly good race for Red Bull. Sure, they did not get 1-2 this time, but 3-4 is still quite respectable, showing that Mercedes is now Red Bull's real competition.

[Malbec]

Driver of the race is hard to judge for me. I would like to say Vettel due to his start and finishing positions but his progress appeared to be missing from the coverage. A hugely dull race all round and one I am glad I recorded rather than wasting a precious Sunday afternoon watching live. I'm losing interest fast and at this rate I'll be missing half the season like with MotoGP.

Each to their own.

I thoroughly enjoyed the race, we had various inter-teammate battles down the order of the highest quality.

Hamilton/Rosberg on different strategies shaped up to be yet another fascinating contest like in Bahrain. This is like 1988 except (and I'm aware some people will hate what I have to say) classier with two quality drivers who can act both on and off the track as adults rather than two petulant teenagers.

A resurgent Kimi vs the usual excellent Alonso. Hulkenberg vs Perez. Grosjean showing his true quality yet again where his teammate tripped over himself. Vettel fighting through the field, the guy who can't race or overtake, to almost match his teammate. Ricciardo finally getting the podium he deserved. Many excellent performances throughout the field and also IIRC only two retirements through technical failure, only a couple of months after the first test sessions where some teams could barely crawl around the circuit once or twice in a day.

Edgy torquey cars with not enough downforce meaning the drivers have to earn their salary through tonnes of opp-lock and a sensitive right foot.

I'm more than happy with F1 this year. Its more of a challenge for the drivers than before and the quality of the competition is really shining through, we truly are blessed with a very talented field at the moment. Even the paydrivers at the back are high quality, Chilton's record in consecutive finishes is a testament not just to the reliability of his Marussia but also his ability to race cleanly. Its great.

[airshifter]

It was interesting to see that most of the battles were within the teams. It goes to show just how much the car matters in this sport as well. Really for me Bottas was the stand out this race, finishing well ahead of Felipe and quietly collecting a 5th place finish.

Perez managed to get by Hulkenberg as well, and though they were at the bottom of the points finishes, not an easy task. That team has great potential if they can develop the car. The Ferrari changes seemed to help Kimi narrow the gap to Fred, but some of those slow motion shots they played... holy flat track! Both of those guys were earning their money and that car still looks to be a handful.



Very hard for me to pick a driver of the race. Brilliant execution up front by both Mercedes, and excellent drive by Vettel to claw back up behind Ricciardo. Valteri just got it done and hardly got noticed much, while Grosjean did get noticed some pulling that pig up to an eighth place finish. I think everyone that finished in the top 10 drove a really good race.

[henners88]

Each to their own.

I thoroughly enjoyed the race, we had various inter-teammate battles down the order of the highest quality.
I'm glad you enjoyed it more than me Malbec. There were aspects of the race I enjoyed and a Hamilton win is always something that makes it worth while, I just felt the race was a bit stale until the end. We've had years of midfield hero's and cruise and collect winners and I just want a battle at the front. I hope Rosberg ups his game sharpish and we see Lewis having to work a little harder for this championship. A few more laps on Sunday and I think we would have had an exciting end to the race. :)

[Sage-sg]

I don't like Vettel but I must admit that he made great job. And Kimi showed that he's not slower than Alonso. Ferrari made me cry! I don't understand wherefore they picked the bad strategy for Kimi.

[Mekola]

Naturally, Hamilton. Despite Vettel did an excellent race.