Which F1 driver was the best performer during the United States Grand Prix weekend?
Review how each driver got on below and vote for who impressed you the most during the last race weekend.
United States Grand Prix driver-by-driver
Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton – Brushed Rosberg aside at turn one but came under pressure from his team mate and the Red Bulls before switching to slick tyres. When the track dried he moved up to second but had dropped back from Rosberg when his team mate went off, handing him the lead and cementing his third world title.
Nico Rosberg – Has he regained his qualifying form of last year? This was his third pole position in a row, but he lost the initiative quickly to another robust move from his team mate. Got back past the Red Bulls into second, then fell behind Ricciardo, but regained the lead when the track dried. Was on course for a badly-needed win when the car cot away from his with eight laps to go.
Red Bull
Daniil Kvyat – Lined up alongside Ricciardo and got ahead of him at the start, but had a rough ride from there on. Went off trying to pass Rosberg, dropped back much more quickly than Ricciardo as the moisture dissipated, and eventually spun into a wall.
Williams
Felipe Massa – Incurred Alonso’s wrath by punting him into a spin at the start, and dropped out soon afterwards with a damper problem.
Valtteri Bottas – Was quick in the very wet final practice session, but Sunday was a wasted effort. Technical trouble in qualifying kept him out of the top ten, and another fault put him out of the race.
Ferrari
Kimi Raikkonen – Started further back than Vettel but after two laps there was just one car separating them. This was Verstappen, who Raikkonen complained about on the radio. He stayed out a lap longer than the Toro Rosso before switching to softs, but spun into a barrier one lap after pitting. Although he managed to drag his car back onto the track, a damaged brake duct forced him out.
McLaren
Fernando Alonso – Running McLaren’s new engine, Alonso started ninth partly thanks to others’ penalties, but his race was ruined by Massa at the start. A long 30-lap run on softs at the end left him vulnerable to those who pitted but it was a developing problem with his engine which finally saw off his chance of points.
Jenson Button – McLaren went the other way with Button at the end of the race, giving him a new set of softs with a dozen laps to go. He made great use of them, overcoming the McLaren’s weaknesses with passes on Ricciardo and Sainz. The latter eventually got back ahead, but Button stayed close enough to be promoted up to sixth by Sainz’s five-second penalty.
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Force India
Nico Hulkenberg – Lost places early on when he ran wide in turns 16/17/18, but showed his usual excellent touch with slicks on a damp track to move ahead of his team mate and Sainz. However a front wing failure while trying to pass Ricciardo left him powerless to avoid contact, and the result was his third retirement in four races.
Sergio Perez – Out-qualified Hulkenberg and started fifth. That was where he finished too, though he probably should have been able to keep Verstappen behind.
Toro Rosso
Carlos Sainz Jnr – Crashed in qualifying but having started last he was tenth by lap two. Despite being delayed by a slow pit stop due to a wheel nut problem, and picking up a pit lane speeding penalty, he claimed points for seventh place. Moving across on Ricciardo in the braking zone for turn 12 was questionable, however.
Lotus
Romain Grosjean – Another frustrating weekend in which he chalked up yet another qualifying win against his team mate but his race was ruined by a rival on the first lap.
Pastor Maldonado – Stayed out of trouble on his way to eighth place but was puzzled as to why he didn’t have better pace.
Sauber
Felipe Nasr – Both Sauber drivers had a lot of work to do at an unfamiliar circuit, but despite taking points for ninth Sauber team principal Monisha Kaltenborn was unhappy after Nasr hit Ericsson on lap one. “It is not an excuse that one driver did not know the track before and we were not able to run many laps here,” she said.
Manor
Will Stevens – Didn’t figure after being hit at the first corner, retiring with damage.
Alexander Rossi – Out-qualified Stevens, and problems for Sainz and Raikkonen elevated him to 17th on the grid. Ran ahead of Nasr until a Safety Car period allowed the Sauber to catch up, and was elevated to 12th by retirements, equalling Manor’s best result of the year.
I say
Both Mercedes drivers slipped up during the race, so while they occupied the top two places on the road there were others who impressed me most.
Vettel did a particularly good job patiently working his way through the field from 13th, and was no less impressive for it being exactly what we’ve come to expect of him this year – he now has twelve podiums to his team mate’s two.
Much as in Hungary, Ricciardo drove brilliantly once he was given the chance to shine but was the victim of misfortune. Had the race conditions been more like practice and qualifying he surely would have won. Button also made the best of the opportunities he had and produced his best result of the year.
But the stand-out driver for me was Verstappen. He left his team mate behind in qualifying and fought with the front-runners in the race, once again showing maturity beyond his years.
Qualifying and race results summary
| Driver | Started | Gap to team mate (Q) | Laps leading team mate | Pitted | Finished | Gap to team mate (R) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lewis Hamilton | 2nd | 31/56 | 2 | 1st | -2.85s | ||
| Nico Rosberg | 1st | 25/56 | 2 | 2nd | +2.85s | ||
| Daniel Ricciardo | 3rd | 24/41 | 3 | 10th | |||
| Daniil Kvyat | 4th | 17/41 | 2 | ||||
| Felipe Massa | 7th | 4/5 | 1 | ||||
| Valtteri Bottas | 16th | 1/5 | 2 | ||||
| Sebastian Vettel | 13th | 24/25 | 3 | 3rd | |||
| Kimi Raikkonen | 18th | 1/25 | 2 | ||||
| Fernando Alonso | 9th | 5/56 | 3 | 11th | +26.758s | ||
| Jenson Button | 11th | 51/56 | 3 | 7th | -26.758s | ||
| Nico Hulkenberg | 6th | 14/35 | 2 | ||||
| Sergio Perez | 5th | 21/35 | 2 | 5th | |||
| Max Verstappen | 8th | 54/56 | 2 | 4th | -3.26s | ||
| Carlos Sainz Jnr | 20th | 2/56 | 3 | 6th | +3.26s | ||
| Romain Grosjean | 10th | 0/10 | 2 | ||||
| Pastor Maldonado | 12th | 10/10 | 3 | 8th | |||
| Marcus Ericsson | 14th | 25/25 | 2 | ||||
| Felipe Nasr | 15th | 0/25 | 5 | 9th | |||
| Will Stevens | 19th | 0/1 | 0 | ||||
| Alexander Rossi | 17th | 1/1 | 3 | 12th |
Review the race data
- 2015 United States Grand Prix lap charts
- 2015 United States Grand Prix tyre strategies and pit stops
- 2015 United States Grand Prix lap times and fastest laps
Vote for your driver of the weekend
Which driver do you think did the best job this weekend?
Cast your vote below and explain your choice in the comments.
Who was the best driver of the 2015 United States Grand Prix weekend?
- Alexander Rossi (1%)
- Will Stevens (0%)
- Felipe Nasr (0%)
- Marcus Ericsson (0%)
- Pastor Maldonado (0%)
- Romain Grosjean (0%)
- Carlos Sainz Jnr (3%)
- Max Verstappen (38%)
- Sergio Perez (2%)
- Nico Hulkenberg (0%)
- Jenson Button (10%)
- Fernando Alonso (1%)
- Kimi Raikkonen (0%)
- Sebastian Vettel (27%)
- Valtteri Bottas (0%)
- Felipe Massa (0%)
- Daniil Kvyat (0%)
- Daniel Ricciardo (3%)
- Nico Rosberg (1%)
- Lewis Hamilton (12%)
Total Voters: 646
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When this poll is closed the result will be displayed instead of the voting form.
2015 United States Grand Prix
- Sponsor Watch: Mexico, USA and Russia
- Verstappen and Rosberg take second Driver of the Weekend wins
- Very high rating for US GP as Mexico’s return falls flat
- Alonso encouraged by comparison with Hamilton
- Hamilton sees no need to help Rosberg to second in championship
Debates and polls
- Will Daniel Ricciardo be racing in Formula 1 in 2024?
- Massa wants “justice” over Crashgate. But what penalty did it deserve?
- Should the stewards have taken action over Russell-Verstappen collision?
- After 25 grands prix, has F1’s ground effect revolution improved racing?
- Do late-race standing restarts belong in F1?
Tiberius (@geert)
26th October 2015, 17:59
What a driver this Max Verstappen is going to be – he even got Kimi asking about the rules.
Great overtaking – kept cool – did not put a foot wrong.
Yes – Lewis did good as well – but he has the car to go with that.
Colin (@kairat)
26th October 2015, 18:58
Meh. Going from 8th to 4th isn’t much of an achievement compared to Vettel’s P13 to P3 drive.
Max was good but Vettel was better.
Rigi (@rigi)
26th October 2015, 19:09
@kairat you can’t compare the two. Vettel has a Ferrari and Max has a Toro Rosso. Max couldn’t have finished higher, simply due to car performance differences.
Colin (@kairat)
26th October 2015, 19:11
So? Vettel couldn’t have finished higher either, so they both get maximum possible results for them in this race. BUt in the end Max gained only 4 places in the race while Vettel gained 10.
Jorge Lardone (@jorge-lardone)
26th October 2015, 19:32
+1
Dave (@)
26th October 2015, 20:11
You can’t judge the quality of a drive solely by the number of places they make up
John H (@john-h)
26th October 2015, 20:53
What an odd metric to judge how good a drive it was. I’m sure if Max had started last on the grid, it would have made up more than 10 places. You’re almost marking him down for driver of the weekend for having a decent qualifying! As I said… odd.
faust
26th October 2015, 21:45
What a bunch of “odd” fans…. They sound so illogical that you get awestruck unable to put together a sentence for a moment there. They completely abandon the rational way of thinking. Verstappen has some of the most irrational supporters.
John H (@john-h)
27th October 2015, 3:10
touché
Ninjenius
27th October 2015, 11:23
@kairat So? Sainz made up 14 places (prior to his 5 sec penalty). Indeed, Sainz binned it in qualifying, so doesn’t deserve DotW, but then again Vettel was VERY fortunate not to damage his car when he kissed the barrier in quali. I agree, Vettel did a great job (he’s my number 2 DotW) and got the most out of the car in the race, as did Verstappen. But I’d say Max did more than “getting the maximum possible result”, putting in some ballsy moves – both offensive and defensive – and just showing that stand-out spark and hunger.
dane
27th October 2015, 19:16
What moves though? Sainz had far more overtakes. And an overall better race. That’s despite a slow pit stop, a problematic pit limiter, and a worse race strategy.
wert
26th October 2015, 22:20
MV qualified 10th in a high downforce car in wet conditions. In those conditions they were pretty much on par with Ferrari actually. Certainly he should have been faster than Force India or at least Williams of all people. So, no big Ferrari car performance difference there. After it dried out, Ferrari got faster as we saw anyway. Naturally Vettel got seriously faster as well. There was nothing miraculous there. Actually, when they went onto slicks on damp/drying track, he was clearly a lot slower than Vettel, also slower than Hulkenberg and on par with Alonso on a drying track. And it wasn’t that Ferrari or Force India was excellent in those conditions, since Raikkonen and Perez was a lot slower than them. And I mean A LOT.
To the Max !
27th October 2015, 1:21
Nothing special about only having done 2 fast laps before qualifying, being pretty flawless in treacherous conditions, and not being able to do any set up work to a car and yet managing option tyres to the limit at the end of course?
If MV would have had a high downforce rain set up, he would have ended up the same as the Red Bulls. Him losing time at the end was because they decided to let CS pit and not him (so CS had a better change to get more points). The team thought MV was able to keep 4th place on his old tyres, so they took the risky strategy of letting CS pit first with SC2 (after that it was too late for MV to go also without losing places).
Trido (@)
27th October 2015, 9:39
And both only did it because of the Safety Cars. Without them, I think Vettel was more likely to finish in 4th. Verstappen also benefited greatly by the issues Red Bull and Williams faced.
nil
27th October 2015, 10:29
No. Vettel was at worst going to finish 3rd. He might have won the GP if there wasn’t a 2nd round of SCs though.
faulty (@faulty)
27th October 2015, 13:20
Agree. I liked Verstappen’s drive best, but Vettel’s drive was the best.
f1alex (@f1alex)
26th October 2015, 20:50
What a driver this Max Verstappen is going to be
What a great driver he already is, more like! :) Give him a top car and he will be another Vettel, no doubt about that.
f1alex (@f1alex)
26th October 2015, 20:51
^that was meant to be a quote but I suck.
grat
27th October 2015, 12:57
Except that Hamilton and Vettel both get slated for winning in a better car. So if you give Max a good car, he won’t be nearly as good a driver, according to the “logic” around here.
Never mind the fact that only 10 times in the last 57 years has the constructor’s championship NOT been shared with the driver’s championship (or the fact that of the current grid, Hamilton is the only one who’s done it), if you have a really good car, you can’t be considered a great driver.
fernand
27th October 2015, 22:36
He reminds me of Vettel a lot.
US_Peter (@us_peter)
29th October 2015, 20:44
Me too, and what’s interesting is that my friend who took me to the race was telling me beforehand that I’d be able to pick out differences in driving style much more easily in person than watching at home on TV. That seemed to be true, and nowhere was it more apparent than in the esses. I watched a good portion of the race in and around that area, and BY FAR the two drivers who looked magical through that section were Vettel and Verstappen. Where other drivers made very gradual arcing turns following the curves of the track, those two seemed to hit the apex of each turn and their car would just pivot as if it were on a turntable. It reminded me of descriptions I’d read of how Vettel was able to use the blown diffuser to his advantage in the Red Bull years. I could never really see what was described watching on TV, but in person there was a clear difference to his and Verstappen’s driving at least in that section of track on that day. I’m not at all surprised that those two had such a good race nor that they’re the two leading this poll. That matches what I saw on Sunday.
darry
26th October 2015, 21:41
Verstappen did like nothing whole race. His teammate was on his tail in a couple of laps, but dunno what his problem was as always… He nursed a set of tyres, so that’s the DOTW? You’d think he did something more extraordinary in a wet weekend with such a high downforce car…
merabella
26th October 2015, 21:55
Verstappen’s teammate was A LOT more impressive during the race. He got the penalty because his pit limiter wasn’t working. But he had the incident in quali. So I cannot give either of them.
But in any case SebVet was his superb self as usual. He gets overlooked a lot I feel. Went for him. I’d say unlucky not to win… I don’t wanna hear about “he cannot win if he’s not at front” again either. Those 3 + Button was the best imo.
fer
26th October 2015, 23:22
Verstappen was so great that he had a pace matching McLaren and Williams in wet!
ben
27th October 2015, 10:56
Unfortuntely for Max, despite his lowly finishing position, his teammate had a better race.
To the Max !
27th October 2015, 14:48
Sainz had a good start and was in lap 2 only 2 places behind Verstappen (only Raikkonen between them). In lap 4 there was only 1.2 seconds between them.
So tell me, why didn’t Sainz ended up ahead of Verstappen if he had a better race (the slow pit stop time lost got neutralized by a SC) ?
If a driver has a better race, he ends up ahead of the other driver when he’s really close behind the other driver in the first few laps. If it hadn’t been for Verstappen being able to manage his tyres that well in the last stint, and by so being able to hold on to 4th place without having to pit under SC2, the team would have needed to let Verstappen pit right away under SC2 and Sainz would have had to wait another lap (Verstappen being able to hold on 4th with his old tyres helped Sainz actually)…it was not a bad race of Sainz, but apart from steering around the trouble in the first lap, he got helped a lot by how well Verstappen can manage his tyres. Sainz’s good race got helped a lot in in the end by the team having an extra strategic option to not having to pit under the SC2 because of Verstappen being able to give that to them.
ura
27th October 2015, 11:31
Overtakes:
Sainz: 8
Vettel: 6
Rosberg: 6
Alonso, Ricciardo: 5
Nasr, Verstappen: 4
Button, Raikkonen: 3
Hülkenberg, Massa, Grosjean, Rossi, Hamilton: 2
Perez, Kvyat, Ericsson, Maldonado: 1
Bottas, Stevens: 0
Most overtaken: Ricciardo: 11, Button: 6, Kvyat: 6
Kirk
27th October 2015, 20:31
Can we just look at MISTAKES instead of overtakes?
Overtaking with a faster car is easy – it is avoiding mistakes that matters more.
Carlos made many mistakes – hence his grid position.
Even Vettel made mistakes and was on occasions at every end of the track.
Ad Tiberius mentioned – even Raikonen forgot the rules because of Max Verstappen.
Verstappen did a flawless race and made an impossible 4th because of his driving and lack of mistakes.
No one in the race can claim that one – except Lewis of course – he was flawless too – but had the better car.
And if you really want to compare drivers – then please look at amount of races driven and experiences – then you really have to give it to Max.
I agree – Lewis and Vettel are 7 times worldchampions – Max is his 16th F1 race ever.
Its a no brainer really.
nihale
27th October 2015, 22:42
I wish you wouldn’t make things up like Verstappen didn’t make mistakes. He had a great race already, no need for hyperbole. At the end of their inter stint, Toro Rosso was visibly in better condition than Ferrari and looked quite fast. Watch Vettel vs Verstappen and it is obvious. And if you watched that you wouldn’t be saying “Max didn’t make any mistakes unlike Vettel” or something. They were both quite good.
To the Max !
27th October 2015, 23:24
You’re just assuming the Toro Rosso was in a better condition as the Ferrari at that time. I just wish you didn’t try and downplay what simply could have been good driving by trying to make the impression about the cars being in different condition…for all we know, the Ferrari was in a better condition.
Verstappen has a very different driving style as Vettel. Where Vettel uses the whole of the track in a corner running very wide on the exit, Verstappen goes to the apex right away and looks for a very straight line out of the corner from the apex to go on full throttle as quickly as possible (similar as Hamilton), hence you think the Toro Rosso was in a better shape, but no way in telling by just looking at the video.
Retired (@jeff1s)
26th October 2015, 18:07
My favorite driver, who I follow since he’s 13, has just turned into a three-time world champion of my favorite sport and I didn’t even voted for him this weekend, I just gave my voice to another three-time world champion – even fourth – Sebastian Vettel. The Ferrari driver has a vista, a lecture of the game that still surprises me.
Ian Bond (@ianbond001)
26th October 2015, 19:43
yeah, Seb was great but i expected him to try to win; i don’t think he should have pitted
Max was great also; he gives me butterflies every time he’s close to the car ahead in a braking zone.
But i gave my vote to Jenson this time. He made up more places than Max with what we know was definitely an inferior machine to everybody around him … including Fernando.
hamman
26th October 2015, 21:48
If Ferrari didn’t pit they would have older tyres than anyone around them and 0 sec advantage with V/SC coming out. They did exactly the right thing by pitting. There was no way to win after last 2 SCs.
Max Jacobson (@vettel1)
27th October 2015, 9:36
I found the decision strange at the time also but I see their reasoning. He wouldn’t have held off the Mercedes on old mediums.
drmouse (@drmouse)
27th October 2015, 13:15
@ianbond001
My vote also went to Button. He did a lot better than he should have, even with the attrition.
Very close behind were Vettel and Verstappen. Both had amazing weekends. I just couldn’t help favouring the underdog, though.
hamtime
26th October 2015, 21:49
+1 Yeah. Man, he’s good.
hamtime
27th October 2015, 10:30
Love to see Ham vs Vet 2016.
Jack
26th October 2015, 18:09
Was going to give it to Sainz for starting from the back and taking 11 places in two laps but a penalty for speeding in the pit lane ruined it. Verstappen had a great drive but didn’t particularly do anything memorable in my opinion compared to other races which is why I went for Vettel, who recovered from 13th and was brave to go for mediums
Rigi (@rigi)
26th October 2015, 18:19
Sainz’ pit lane limiter wasn’t working, it’s not really his fault.
spoutnik (@spoutnik)
26th October 2015, 19:01
@rigi I didn’t know that, thanks for the info. I thought at the time that he had to be more careful about pits, as it was not the first time.
Adam (@rocketpanda)
26th October 2015, 18:09
Voted for Jenson Button. Made that McTractor look pretty good and beat Alonso with the upgraded (failing) engine. Probably the first time all season both McLaren’s have actually looked racy on pure pace.
Kvyat (until he crashed), Ricciardo, Perez, Vettel and Hamilton were all pretty excellent too.
dex022 (@dex022)
26th October 2015, 18:13
Same opinion here.
Iosif (@afonic)
26th October 2015, 19:06
Button for me too. Vettel has earned it as well, but he is just spotless this season, I am tired of voting for him.
Given the state of McLaren, plus that Button had the last spec engine, it was a really solid drive from him.
amena
26th October 2015, 21:57
LOL. I feel really sorry for Vettel. He gets passed over even after getting acknowledged as pretty much perfect.
Ian Bond (@ianbond001)
26th October 2015, 19:45
Definetly Jenson; i just think people did not think of his race before they voted.
Andy (@andybantam)
26th October 2015, 20:34
+1
Jimmi Cynic
26th October 2015, 21:56
+2
sonia luff (@sonia54)
27th October 2015, 18:03
+1, i voted Jenson. Some good overtaking and a fastest lap at one stage in the race.
Anil Sanagavarapu (@anilsk2013)
27th October 2015, 4:14
I voted VES, but when I read your post, I wish I had thought some more. BUT deserves it – he really out drove ALO and made the best of his machinery, and his opportunities.
Patrickl (@patrickl)
28th October 2015, 9:31
Why on earth would Button beating Alonso and his broken down engine be a sign of good performance?
Alonso was heading for a great race result when the engine failed.
Philip (@philipgb)
26th October 2015, 18:17
Yeah I’m not even going to over think this. Not voting for the race winning, world championship winning driver, who won in mixed conditions, in a five way fight for the lead, in a car you can’t categorically state was the fastest car is madness. Lewis Hamilton.
hahostolze (@hahostolze)
26th October 2015, 18:27
Except you can categorically state it was the fastest.
hamtime
26th October 2015, 22:47
I agree, but probably except the part at the beginning with Inters. Red Bull was faster. Though I admit we didn’t see Nico’s pace in clean air.
Jon (@jons)
26th October 2015, 19:05
Is it really madness not voting for Lewis?
Well, Merc was the fastest car as soon as the track started to dry…
Beaten by Rosberg in Qualy, driver error on turn one that led to contact, slower pace than Rosberg until the track dried, and all the luck in the world with the last safety car.
He won because of Nico making driver error and a late SC that erased those 10s advantage Nico gained over him.
Philip (@philipgb)
26th October 2015, 19:21
That Ferrari chased them down at a frightening rate and the Red Bulls took them self out of the race through incident. I’m still not convinced the Mercedes was the quickest car this weekend in either condition.
Q3 was called off, was bold enough even with the high stakes to go for it, and true.
Like I said I’m not overthinking this one, there were a number of drivers who had an exceptional race and I’m sure you can quantifiably rate their performance higher. But they weren’t fighting for a championship and they didn’t win the race.
ceng
26th October 2015, 22:02
Red Bull did wet setup. That’s why they looked fast in wet and a lot slower in dry. Mercedes was clearly overall fastest. At least when Vettel wasn’t somehow chasing them down the road like a bat out of hell …
Kingshark (@kingshark)
26th October 2015, 22:37
@philipgb
If Lewis was not so slow in the first part of the race, did not get outqualified by his teammate, and did not luck into the win thanks to two safety cars, I might have gave it to him.
Adam Hardwick (@fluxsource)
26th October 2015, 21:55
Got to remember all the bad luck in the world with the VSC before that – if you’re going to take into account one, you should do the same with the other.
darren
26th October 2015, 22:22
You make your own luck. He was second.
Arthur (@eriko)
26th October 2015, 19:48
I gave Hamilton my vote as well. I’ve never really been much of a fan and everyone did a stellar job to give us a great race, but the man who fought hard for the win and took his third championship is the DOTW in my opinion.
Rigi (@rigi)
26th October 2015, 18:18
My driver of the weekend was Max Verstappen, but i think he’ll get the most votes anyway, so my vote goes to a driver that has impressed me ever since he made his debut.
Alexander Rossi.
He out-qualified Stevens and even though he didn’t really have a chance to finish ahead of anyone, he held Nasr behind him for a long time. And we have to keep in mind, all the other drivers now have a lot of experience in this years cars, he’s only had his thrid race in that car. It just shows that, even if he couldn’t take the fight to Vandoorne in GP2 this year, he deserves a full time drive for Manor next year.
spoutnik (@spoutnik)
26th October 2015, 19:03
Rossi was on fire, and with a bit more luck, he could really have been in the points!
Craig Woollard (@craig-o)
26th October 2015, 18:18
Tough one this time. It’s between Verstappen, Button and Vettel. Vettel’s recovery drive was exceptional and his strategy was spot on. Button was classic Button in damp conditions. However Verstappen for slapping it well into the top 10 in qualifying and having a mega final stint seals the deal for me. Sainz had a strong recovery drive after his qualifying error though.
corap
26th October 2015, 22:07
Verstappen didn’t qualify well into the top 10. He was 10th. He just started 8th because of Vettel and Raikkonen getting engine penalties.
Robbie (@robbie)
26th October 2015, 18:20
Saw the race on a very disjointed way with interruptions due to visiting family and even a car trip across town during the race, but I give the nod to LH, as much as I disliked him moving NR off the track, for taking the win and stamping his authority on the WDC, even though I acknowledge Max’s race and his continuous exciting season and what his future should hold, as well as SV’s day. But it’s driver of the weekend and LH didn’t get a chance to answer to NR’s q2 decided pole.
hahostolze
26th October 2015, 18:22
Has to be between the too VE’s for me, either Vettel or Verstappen. Both immense. Going for Verstappen because he largely got to the front on is own steam, overtaking and not winning places because of DNFs and mistakes. Showed great awareness in the rain. Incidentally his team mate was ridiculously impressive too, but his mistake in qualifying and the fact the majority of his places was won at the start and afterwards from DNFs and mistakes makes it slightly less glossy, but this from Sainz was as good as Verstappen was in Hungary and Suzuka and rightly got credit for, so Sainz, kudos too.
Shout-out to Button for once again managing conditions perfectly in the wet-drying.
Uzair Syed (@ultimateuzair)
26th October 2015, 18:27
Surely, the DOTW has to be Max Verstappen. This is probably a bold statement, but I think that he is doing a better job in the Toro Rosso than Vettel did in 2007/8. Yes, Vettel won a race but in 2008 I would say that it was probably easier for a midfield team to win then than it is now. There was no super-fast dominant car in 2008, and Massa, Hamilton and Raikkonen were not very good that weekend in Monza.
Philip (@philipgb)
26th October 2015, 18:55
He’s currently on more points than Torro Rosso have ever scored in a season. Not a Torro Rosso Driver, but both drivers in the team combined.
Granted before 2010 they were on the old points system, but still remarkable.
However under the current point scoring system Vettel would have been on 93 points in 2008. I do think it’s easy to underestimate what Vettel did that year , he outscored Webber in the actual Red Bull and by more than the 10 points that win gave him. Then you look where Coulthard and Bourdais finished that season and it truly gives some perspective on what Vettel delivered. His promotion wasn’t just because of a one off win.
sare
26th October 2015, 22:28
If the car didn’t came out late that year, Vettel could have beaten Alonso with the way he was driving that year.
Patrickl (@patrickl)
27th October 2015, 23:22
Back then STR used pretty much the same car as Red Bull did. But then with a Ferrari engine instead of a Renault engine.
David-A (@david-a)
28th October 2015, 3:08
And Red Bull were down in 7th in the team’s championship, with a worse car than they have now.
harry
26th October 2015, 22:45
Not really. They were just as much off the front. There were a couple of wins from front of the midfield but those were all weird situations really. And Vettel scored so much that he got the 6th for the team that year. They could have finished 5th if they had a better 2nd driver too. But at the beginning of the season they were nowhere, driving last year’s car, more like Force India this year I guess. No, they were actually a lot worse. But later on Vettel capitalized on that wet race immensely. Verstappen did good, but he qualified 10th. He needs to work on his quali, he was slower than Massa of Williams…. Like his teammate he was also depending on others getting DNF or getting into incidents this race. And that’s pretty normal. Vettel had that 1 win, but he also had a lot of races like Verstappen had too, finishing 4-5-6 regularly. Not like he had more DNFs than SV did back then, but he does have half the points that guy did.
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
26th October 2015, 18:28
Vettel, Max, Button… In that order, honorable mentions to others… Many raced well.
ColdFly F1 (@)
26th October 2015, 19:16
Agree with those 3 @jureo. All memorable drives.
I include Sainz in that list; he also drove extremely well.
And Kvyat almost made my list; until he crashed.
As much as I like Vettel this year, and would vote for him as DOTY, I cannot vote for him this weekend. He drove very well, but it was a bit embarrassing to be overtaken by Max, even if it was only for a very stint.
This week I’ll vote for Button.
monobe
26th October 2015, 23:00
Button who got out-qualified by his teammate is more vote-able than Vettel who got overtaken by Verstappen for a couple of hundred meters when he had practically nowhere to go…
You do realize Toro Rosso might have been even faster than Ferrari at that part of the race… They have a chassis right up there with the very best. I was surprised they qualified so badly. Max was slower than Williams at qualifying and he was barely matching Alonso on damp track with slicks. What was that… It looks like McLaren might have a good chassis then, even if it’s not at RB/STR/Merc level yet.
ColdFly F1 (@)
27th October 2015, 7:25
You probably missed that only Alonso’s McLaren had the PU upgrade.
monobe
27th October 2015, 10:34
You probably missed that the upgrade was like 1 tenth of a second, and the quali was in wet.
MacLeod (@macleod)
27th October 2015, 8:36
I think you right here with Lewis and Sainz as 4th and 5th. It was really hard to select as these five drivers are really the best.
Button did well outracing Alonso with his power engine
Max did a good quali and even beter race
Vettel was really good but at the end i thought you would pass ROS with his new tyres…
Sainz was good but boged his quali and damaged his car and again hit Alsonso i think a tad risky.
Lewis did what he should do with that car winning. But i wasn’t impressed in the wet when the red bulls took over.
paul
27th October 2015, 10:45
Alonso had an accident.
Max had a bad quali.
Rosberg lost 2 seconds in 3 laps to Vettel all of a sudden, but if he lost the position he might have lost his job. It’s possible he was thinking should he let Vettel get ahead, not that Ferrari was faster or anything.
Sainz was right behind his teammate, but again they managed a bad pit stop in Toro Rosso with a pit limiter not working too.
Red Bull had a wet set up.
hahostolze (@hahostolze)
26th October 2015, 18:29
Has to be between the too VE’s for me, either Vettel or Verstappen. Both immense. Going for Verstappen because he largely got to the front on is own steam, overtaking and not winning places because of DNFs and mistakes. Showed great awareness in the rain. Incidentally his team mate was ridiculously impressive too, but his mistake in qualifying and the fact the majority of his places was won at the start and afterwards from DNFs and mistakes makes it slightly less glossy, but this from Sainz was as good as Verstappen was in Hungary and Suzuka and rightly got credit for, so Sainz, kudos too.
Shout-out to Button for once again managing conditions perfectly in the wet-drying.
tmax (@tmax)
26th October 2015, 18:33
Voted Max. Vettel was a close second.
I am wondering how the career is going to shape up for Max. I don’t think he will step into Ferrari after Kimi retires next year. Ferrari will keep him as the replacement for Vettel after 2020 or so by which Max might have driven for a big team like Red Bull or ??? …. . By then who knows he would have a WDC to flash at Maranello. They will pocket him just like they did Vettel. The lure of the Ferrari Legacy is too hard for many to ignore.
And Guess what by 2020 he will be just 23 which is not an old age by any means !!!!!
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
26th October 2015, 18:58
@tmax Goes to show, that guy could be still driving in F1 by the time we reach 2030! and if he does a MSC and continues until he’s past 40, he’ll be racing until 2040! MAD!
tmax (@tmax)
26th October 2015, 19:23
@fer-no65 Wow the Numbers looks Scary by all means…. That is Like Jos Verstappen , Senna (RIP), Mansel or Prost still drivng today !!!!
hamtime
26th October 2015, 23:02
He’ll probably get bored.
ILuvSoundtracks (@)
26th October 2015, 18:34
Verstappen. Maybe he’ll do it much, much better the next races?
Markus Meier (@mmrks)
26th October 2015, 19:04
Vettel 1st, Verstappen 2nd, Button 3rd. shame that nico did the mistake at the end otherwise he would have been 1st
TribalTalker (@tribaltalker)
26th October 2015, 19:05
No love for Ricciardo in the comments above, which surprised me.
Vettel was impressive, as usual.
Hamilton was able to roll with the punches and salvage a win when it really didn’t look to be on.
Verstappen and Button shone, some great moves.
Maldonado did well, again. Shocking but good.
I enjoyed the coverage of Hulkenberg, Sainz and Perez too.
But a complete package, over the whole weekend (what there was of it)? Probably Vettel, but it’s marginal.
WheeledWarrior (@wheeledwarrior)
26th October 2015, 19:10
Has to be Verstappen, stellar drive once again!
Jorge Lardone (@jorge-lardone)
26th October 2015, 19:26
Vettel, of course. He is the better driver of this generation. Also good work by Sainz, Verstaapen, Nasr, Perez and Hamilton.
hunocsi (@hunocsi)
26th October 2015, 19:27
I really don’t understand anyone voting for Hamilton – he was weaker in nearly everything during the race than Rosberg, even after a better start and pushing Rosberg off the track he fell behind his teammate, who was clearly on for a win – but his only mistake came during the final part of the race which decided the winner, so Rosberg falls out of contestion too.
Verstappen, Button and Vettel were all having a great race, but I chose Ricciardo as he was quicker than Kvyat throughout the day, and when he got ahead of him he pulled off the overtake of the year on Hamilton – only the lack of rain stopped him from a win, but Red Bull’s mistake of not pitting either car during the first SC was also crucial of missing out on at least a podium or top4 chance.
m"
26th October 2015, 23:06
They did a dry setup on purpose. That is how they were soo fast. Reverse of fortunes with no further rain.
Ricciardo still cannot match his teammate at the starts imo.
Patrickl (@patrickl)
27th October 2015, 23:21
And Kvyat can’t match his teammate in keeping the car on the road.
The start is mostly mechanical anyway. So that says more about the car than the driver.
ColdFly F1 (@)
27th October 2015, 7:29
Same here @hunocsi.
IMO Rosberg was better than Hamilton this weekend, but less than 1/10th of the votes of his teammate.
Maybe you get bonus points for DOTW when you win the WDC ;-)
Patrickl (@patrickl)
27th October 2015, 23:20
Weaker in everything that didn’t matter you mean?
Hamilton got the win while Rosberg crumbled -> marks for Hamilton and exit on the side for Rosberg.
If anything, it was obvious he didn’t have the laps to get his setup perfected and yet he still beat Rosberg with it.
hunocsi (@hunocsi)
28th October 2015, 13:23
@patrickl He was slower, his inters went out faster, plus I think for the first time he got properly overtaken by Rosberg, who made a mistake, that’s why Hamilton won. That’s not a plus for him, that’s a minus for Rosberg. And had Rosberg made that mistake let’s say during the period when he led by 10 seconds, it wouldn’t have mattered anything, but obviously it was at a crucial time, so it’s a big minus – but his driving was much better, he lost it in the head.
And Hamilton had the chance to drive more in practice, he chose to not go out as much.
Patrickl (@patrickl)
28th October 2015, 16:22
Hamilton was told by the team to wait for FP2. Which then was cancelled.
Whatever happened, Hamilton beat Rosberg. So he performed better than Rosberg. Rosberg didn’t just make an error, he was hounded by Hamilton and pushed into a driver error trying to stay ahead. That’s a skill. Especially these days when it’s so hard to follow a car as close as Hamilton was doing.
Vettel didn’t have a great weekend because he binned it in Q1. Crashed into the barrier and only barely made it back. I really don’t understand how anyone can vote for him. See how that works?
hunocsi (@hunocsi)
28th October 2015, 19:42
Yes, the results tell us that, but this is the Driver of the Weekend vote.
Nick (@npf1)
26th October 2015, 20:31
Have to go with Max. Didn’t have any sensible running in FP3, but ran high in Q1 and 2 to end up 8th on the grid. Finished 4th, perhaps with some ‘luck’ from safety cars, but as always, those conditions are the same for everyone. Vettel, Button and Sainz had notable races, but Vettel didn’t really impress in qualifying, Button wasn’t as impressive as Max in my opinion and Sainz’ mistake in Q1 was his own fault, so can’t really credit him with a good race weekend.
maxx
26th October 2015, 23:13
Imo Max getting ninth in quali was what’s disappointing and less than impressive for me :( They didn’t have an over-the-top wet setup like the RedBulls maybe, but they could have at least beaten Williams and Massa! At least they didn’t go overboard with wet setup like RedBull and had a good pace in dry part of the race as well. Why would Red Bull do such an illogical thing I don’t know… Not like it would matter if they setup the car like Ferrari and qualified behind, Ferrari was gonna get penalty in any case. I guess they risked it all for a wet win race.
Andy (@andybantam)
26th October 2015, 20:37
I see Rosberg’s family has been voting again…
Keith Campbell (@keithedin)
26th October 2015, 21:01
If Rosberg had gone on to win the race I think he would have got my vote, after all he got pole, had the pace over Hamilton for the first stint at least and made some good moves to get back into position after the start. But he slipped up under pressure (yet again) so I’m afraid he doesn’t deserve it.
Lots of drivers made errors so for me it was between verstappen, button and vettel who were mostly clean and finished well but like the majority I went with the youngster in the end.