2017 Canadian Grand Prix Star Performers

2017 Canadian Grand Prix

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Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen were F1 Fanatic’s Star Performers of the Canadian Grand Prix. Here’s why.

Stars

Lewis Hamilton

Hamilton dominated in Canada again
This was vintage stuff from Hamilton at a track where he has often excelled.

Qualifying was a masterclass: he plainly kept something in reserve for Q3, and when he unleashed it he left his team mate well behind. He wasn’t challenged much in the race, other than having to shrug off an attack from Max Verstappen at the restart.

Sebastian Vettel

Over-drove somewhat on his final Q3 lap having been just four-thousandths of a second off Hamilton’s first run. His start wasn’t great and he got swamped, losing part of his front wing. But his recovery drive was hard to fault.

The Ferrari was always going to make light work of the slower cars. But despite substantial damage to his barge boards Vettel showed real grit with his all-or-nothing move on Esteban Ocon. Fourth was a great result on a hard day.

Max Verstappen

Didn’t make it beyond lap ten due to technical trouble, but he was good value prior to that. His qualifying run was excellent and his start was sublime, sweeping around Vettel for second place.

He even tried to take Hamilton on at the restart, but had to settle for second. We were denied a great fight from him when his car let him down.

Strugglers

Carlos Sainz Jnr

The aftermath of Sainz’s crash
Not his best weekend. Sainz picked up a penalty in practice for slowing in front of Magnussen, then tangled with Romain Grosjean in the race, taking out Felipe Massa. To his creditor he accepted the blame for the crash, but perhaps bigger mirrors are needed on his Toro Rosso.

Jolyon Palmer

Was almost nine tenths of a second off his team mate in Q2. His race was somewhat better, in the he finished one place outside the points, but he was unable to pass Grosjean despite the Haas being on extremely worn tyres.

Pascal Wehrlein

His qualifying crash meant he was unable to use Sauber’s new rear wing for the rest of the weekend. That compromised his race performance and his was the last car running at the end.

And the rest

Valtteri Bottas had an unmemorable run to second on a day when his team mate was clearly quickly. Kimi Raikkonen lost time with an unforced error early in the race, then was scuppered by a brake-by-wire problem. That meant the final podium place went to Daniel Ricciardo, who had been out-paced by Verstappen in qualifying.

Stroll delivered his first points
It could have been a better day at Force India if Sergio Perez had played ball. In the final reckoning he was quicker than Esteban Ocon when it mattered. But this was a fine performance by the rookie on his first visit to this track, just a tenth off his team mate in qualifying and mere hundredths behind at the finishing line.

Nico Hulkenberg put in his usual workmanlike performance for Renault. Lance Stroll kept out of trouble and passed Jolyon Palmer and Romain Grosjean to take his first points finish, but his qualifying performance was poor.

Felipe Massa started well ahead of his team mate but lost a few places at the start and was then taken out by Sainz. The other Toro Rosso driver, Daniil Kvyat, picked up a swingeing penalty for what amounted to a procedural error on the formation lap, and technical trouble ended his day.

Grosjean was forced onto an unorthodox strategy by first-lap contact with Sainz, but he made it work and salvaged a point. That was rather better than his team mate, who picked up a penalty by getting greedy during the Virtual Safety Car period. Marcus Ericsson and Stoffel Vandoorne struggled to impress in uncompetitive cars; Fernando Alonso was doing until his let him down.

Over to you

Vote for the driver who impressed you most last weekend and find out whether other F1 Fanatics share your view here:

2017 Canadian Grand Prix

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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132 comments on “2017 Canadian Grand Prix Star Performers”

  1. For me Verstappen is the absolute star of the race. Because without him we wouldn’t have got to see Vettel’s move on Ocon… :p
    On a more serious note, it was terrible to lose him from the race

  2. Has been said many times before, but that we can sit through yet another weekend where Alonso dragged his car further up the grid than seems possible only to be let down by *another* mechanical problem is just such as waste of his talent. Hope he stays in F1 next year, but gets a reliable car!

    1. As I understand it, currently there is only one team which has two drivers contracted to race next year. There are 9 teams with more points than McLaren-Honda on the Constructors’ Championship table, so one could argue every team with seats available is better than McLaren-Honda. I don’t see Alonso having any trouble getting a seat for next year, if he wants a seat that is. He did well at Indycar and might prefer that instead.

      1. I think he wants more than just “a seat”. He wants a seat with a championship winning potential. He might get that, but in a different series.

        1. Or he’ll replace VB.

  3. I really like this feature and rarely find that my opinion differs from the article.

    A real shame that Verstappen was forced to retire after a stunning start; I think it robbed us of an exciting fight for second with Bottas. I’ve also found myself wondering about where Massa might have ended up if he’d kept going. Stroll was breezing past cars from a lot further back – I think good points were available if Massa wasn’t so unlucky.

    Grosjean’s comment about Sainz’s crash being similar to his own in Spa ’12 is spot on. I was thinking the same when I saw it… a complete lack of awareness from Sainz and not for the first time (Mexico last year with Alonso? I think…).

  4. soundscape (@)
    13th June 2017, 12:15

    Credit where its due, that pole lap from HAM was one of the greatest I’ve seen in my admittedly short time watching F1. It really was incredible. He did it justice by driving a solid race too – a track where pole usually means very little for the end result. Well done Lewis.

    1. I think what set Lewis apart was his courage. Those concrete walls can be unforgiving and so most drivers will drive without completely committing. That track is all about the courage to commit, and Lewis showed that.

      The question now is can Lewis do the same again for the next race which has its own challenges.

      This season is the story everyone was wishing for last season. Ferrari are contenders largely because of Mercedes and their inability to commit to their ‘A’ driver. Let’s hope there aren’t anymore cold tire qualifiers for Lewis.

  5. Season Star Performers:
    +6: Vettel
    +4/5:
    +3: Alonso, Perez
    +2: Hulkenberg, Hamilton, Verstappen,
    +1: Bottas, Wehrlein
    0 : Giovinazzi, Ricciardo, Massa, Ocon, Kvyat, Grosjean, Button, Sainz
    -1: Magnussen, Ericsson
    -2: Raikkonen, Vandoorne
    -3: Stroll
    -4: Palmer

    1. @f1-liners

      Thanks for keeping track on these ! Do the +/- take into consideration a poor result ? for example does Hamilton have 3+ results and 1 – to equal +2 overall or does he just have two + results ?

      1. Palmer is a shocker and should of lifted a couple of levels by now

      2. Thanks F1F2, just the net result of the Stars (+1) and Strugglers (-1) of the previous races.
        Indeed, HAM has 3 stars and 1 ‘struggle’.

    2. Season DOTW performances.

      Australia – Vettel, Giovizzanai, Alonso

      China – Verstappen, Vettel, Hamilton

      Bahrain – Vettel, Perez, Massa

      Russia – Bottas, Vettel, Perez

      Spain – Wehrlein, Hamilton, Vettel

      Monaco – Sainz, Vettel, Raikonnen

      Canada – Hamilton, Vettel, Ocon

    3. This is fast becoming a great evaluation of season long quality

      1. Interesting…SV first or second in all but one where he was third. Ie. Top 3 for every race.

    4. Season Star Performers:
      +6: Vettel, Alonso

    5. @f1-liners

      + 6 for Vettel and + 2 for Hamilton. I know Hamilton hasn’t been great… but he’s still got more poles and the same number of wins as Vettel. His Monaco and Sochi performances were slightly underwhelming, but I would still give him a +4.

      My take –
      + 6 Vettel
      + 5 Alonso, Verstappen
      + 4 Hamilton
      + 3 Bottas, Perez, Hulkenberg, Ricciardo
      + 2 Sainz, Ocon, Wehrlein, Massa
      + 1 Grosjean, Kvyat
      0 Ericcson, Magnussen, Raikkonen
      – 1 Vandoorne
      – 2 Stroll
      – 3 Palmer

      1. @f1-liners

        Thanks F1F2, just the net result of the Stars (+1) and Strugglers (-1) of the previous races.
        Indeed, HAM has 3 stars and 1 ‘struggle’.

        Sorry. Didn’t know it was based on ratings given.

  6. Looking forward to Baku, it is even more a power circuit than Canada, the battle between FI/RB/Williams should be interesting

    1. Force India are expected to be fast in Baku like last year and they might be fighting with redbull, in case of Williams their dosent favor street circuits and its Canada where they should have done well but they didnt

      1. Williams did well, Massa qualified P7, which is best of the rest essentially. He was taken out 3 corners into the race.

        If their pace is the same in Baku, they should be in the fight

        1. i would say the question is how fast williams will be relative to the force indias because the force indias where super fast last year in baku. will be interesting to see whether force india carry the same speed this year also.

      2. The problem in speed from williams in canada was between the wheel and the chassis of a toro rosso :D

  7. For me, Fernando Alonso was the star of the race, no doubt about that. He was fighting for points in that dog of a McLaren and did 43 laps on one set of Ultras Soft tyres. Then going into the grandstands (even if this has nothing to do with race performance) meeting the cheering crowds was something to see. It was pure Alonso !!! He showed in this era of VIP F1 (VIP drivers,VIP fans VIP everything…) where barriers, limits are imposed to separate between the real fans and their heroes, that the F1 fans which are nice people in general deserve more respect. Alonso with this kind of moves (Indy 500 included) is strengthening his status as a true Motorsport legend

    1. Indeed – another stellar performance from Alonso. It was almost inevitable that the Honda engine would deprive him of even a single well-fought point!

      I’ve said before but McLaren’s/Alonso’s PR department must be in overdrive this season and are doing an incredible job. The foray into the Indy 500, the extra crowd interaction, the raft race, the entertaining interviews and radio remarks… all these things are keeping the attention of journalists away from commenting too much on their dreadful season. Of course, we all know it’s happening, but they’ve done a good job of putting us on their side in the struggle, rather than attacking them.

      1. Just out of interest, would Alonso going into the crowds have been as likely ‘under the tyranny’ of Ecclestone? It was superb to see and made me proud of the sport. Liberty Media have made F1 much more fan friendly. Raikkonen’s meeting with the crying boy was a heart-warming moment too.

        A few years ago I would have laughed at Alonso if he’d got a DNF, but now I will him on – he’s an excellent driver and a credit to the sport (and Indy 500!). He’s one of my favourite drivers and I long for him to get some good results.

        1. A few years ago? like when he was at Ferrari and had awful bad luck, you must have been in stiches?
          Alonso hasn’t done anything wrong to deserve never having the best car in his career.

          1. I agree, I completely admit it!

            It was during the ill-fated McLaren phase. The publicity around Alonso was very negative then, he was made out to be an egotistical prima-donna who was struggling against an inexperienced team-mate. The fact that I was desperate for Hamilton to perform was giving me a considerable bias too.

            I guess I wasn’t necessarily wanting Alonso to fail, I just wanted to see Hamilton triumph over him. But I quickly gained respect for Alonso and appreciated his performance in a cow of a Ferrari in which he was getting results seemingly beyond the capabilities of the car.

            I would love to see him win another championship. Knowing Alonso’s luck he’ll move to another team and Honda will find a broken spring or something and gain a chunk of horse-power.

          2. Alonso broke his relationship with McLaren Mercedes and had a bad relationship with Hamilton, was involved in the infamous Piquet Jr crashgate when it was at Renault, ended in a bad way his years in Ferrari…

          3. I’d say he had the best car in 2005 and 2006. So “never in his career” seems like a big stretch. Also he was offered a spot at Red Bull in 2008 and turned it down. Just a couple of years later he was going on about how “Adrian Newey is winning those championships”, but he clearly did not have such boundless admiration before that.

          4. Fireblade, disagree. the ferrari was the better car in 2005/2006. Alonso was more consistent and as usual on a few occasions really drove the nuts off it, to get it higher than it should have been

          5. @dvb78
            Ferrari was the better car in 2005?! Someones been listening to too much Samurai PR. Ferrari was 4th best car. They managed to get 3rd in constructors only thx to Schumacher. And in 2006 Renault was the best car. Alonso won 6 out of first 9 races and got three 2nd places. And Schumacher still managed to take the fight till the last race. If anything, Alonso underperformed those years.

      2. @ben-n
        +1 Their PR department is indeed doing a very solid job, i’m pretty confident that this new way of doing things at McLaren is related to Ron being out and Zak in (2 very different approach).

    2. I wasn’t going to comment, as I’m afraid I will receive the wrath of some of you and sentenced to crucifixion after it, but hell, it is the internet after all.

      I think we are in the presence of an over-glorification of Fernando. I don’t want to take anything from him, I was one of the many that tuned in to his Indy 500 race to see his performance, and it was something that I enjoyed. Nor do I want to take merit from his previous wins and performances, etc, etc..

      But lets get back to F1, this Alonso/McLaren partnership looks like one of the best things to happen to him and how people around F1 rate him, judging by the comments. The car is sold to us as being the worst thing ever seconded only by the apocalypses, and every-time he runs on the points (hence on the sentence “run on the points”) there is praise left and right, I personally don’t see why if I’m honest. The low key performances from Stoff also help into the frenzy, a driver that is yet to show his true potential, and is still learning how to make the tyres work properly. Curiously, drivers like Hulk and Massa, that pretty much are doing the same to his team-mates don’t enjoy the same prize, they are just doing their jobs and put the car where it belongs. They should start approaching the post-races and post-qualifying interviews with a bit more self-promotion maybe? “Best quali of my career” “Most perfect race of my live”?

      Granted the Honda PU doesn’t work, and when it works it is in fact the lowest on power output but at the same time we are talking about the arguably best chassis on the grid (see what I did there?). So what really is the pace of that McLaren? Can we really say? I don’t think we can. But that is just me I feel.

      One thing you guys touched perfectly, Alonso’s PR is working perfectly.

      1. @johnmilk You reference Hulk and Massa, but those guys simply aren’t a two-time Champion who is overdue from having a win-capable car, with his career nearing it’s end in F1. He is touted by many as better than LH and SV, so hence the ‘over glorification.’ Hulk still has everything to prove and Massa is done and was never touted as WDC material. FA on the other hand is a huge story right now as people see the frustration at Mac and speculate on how FA will finish off his F1 career. I find it no surprise at all that the storylines this year are becoming LH vs SV, and FA. So many people want to see FA back in a competitive car so that his massive talent is not wasted. Mercedes can grab themselves massive attention too by hiring him for 2018 on, and I think they will.

        1. Sorry @robbie that is a poor argument, I can’t make a comparison between them because Alonso has 2 championships and the other don’t? And Alonso isn’t overdue anything, come on, he had his chances, and the position he is now is mostly, if not entirely on him. Lets not forget he had the possibility to win and be fighting for championships, a lot of talent drivers don’t have those chances.

          I started my comment as I did anticipating something like yours, again I don’t want to take anything from him. But if we take things as face value taking into account the results this season, I think I did a more than fair comparison.

          I’m not saying I don’t want to see him in a racing winning car. In a perfect world plenty of drivers on the grid should have the possibility to be in one, not only Alonso, and specially not because he is entitled to it due to his 2 WDCs

          The story lines are the product of the well oiled PR machine that we are being testimony of

          1. @johnmilk Hmm, I don’t know…your calling the attention FA gets over glorification, but I really don’t get what Hulk or Massa have done for more glorification than FA. He’s the one that has the rep as perhaps the best on the grid. And I don’t buy that it is mostly entirely on him as to why he is where he is. He doesn’t have any more a crystal ball than any of us. Many people have had to buy into FA throughout his career as well as him buying into many people along the way in order for the deals to have been done, the tenures with the teams to have existed, including the exits and entries to said teams. He is not an island all unto his own.

            I don’t consider that he is entitled to another Championship…I just consider that the global community invested in F1 deserves to see this massive talent back in a win capable car. Forget about him…what about us? He’s proven way more than Hulk and Massa and he only has a small number of years remaining. We need to see him see his career through on a high in F1 before he moves on, if at all possible.

            If you think this is all just PR machine well I’d have to say that started when he started winning races and Championships.

          2. That’s is precisely my point @robbie. It is over-glorification, I don’t Hulk and Massa deserve it either. I just don’t see such big differences on their performamces this season that justify the incredible amount of praise that goes in favour of Alonso.

            I’m not saying that those 3 drivers are on the same level and have the same talent, especially Massa, who today I rate a few steps below the other two. Sometimes I doubt my sanity, bit still…

            I didn’t said thay you thought he is entitled to another WDC, but you are saying that he should at least the car for a challenge.

            I also didn’t said it is all PR. But IMO I feel there is an exaggeration of how good his performances have been so far this season.

            Again not a dig at him, it just transpires to me that way

      2. Fritz@drfritz.com
        13th June 2017, 21:48

        +1

        1. @johnmilk Fair comment. Sorry I think I misunderstood some of what you were saying.

          For me I find it very interesting when we hear of drivers, from themselves or other insiders, saying they had one of their best races ever, and it was in an inferior car, not in their Championship year. It’s hard to see it, especially on TV when he hasn’t exactly worked his way through the field like one in a top car can.

          Bottom line for me is that even if FA hasn’t appeared to have some great runs, I trust that if he or some insiders say he has, I will take his or their word for it as a proven Champion.

          The best thing will be when he gets into a competitive seat, not unlike at the 500, so he can really show his stuff again. FA’s experience at Mac is perhaps a big reminder that the ultimate winner needs the Constructor winning car. Drivers are coloured by their cars, but we do know FA likely hasn’t forgotten how to win races and Championships such as he has proven. So perhaps he gets a little more glory because he has shown that the odds are he is flattering his car more than many would, at least to many people’s opinion.

      3. Perhaps it is impossible to know, but I wonder how much of Alonso’s career decisions can really be attributed to luck.

        He could be unlucky since Renault. It is also possible he didn’t consult or listen too the right people. Honda McLauren was a big gamble. Seems like, despite the talk about Ferrari not winning, they were still a great team.

      4. -1

        best chassis counts for about 3 races on the calendar – the rest is all about HP!

      5. @johnmilk, I agree that we should always be a bit cautious when a driver is beating his teammate. Even when all of us agree that Stoffel is a huge talent; he clearly hasn’t yet ‘switched on’ this year.

        But a true race fan (which I believe you are) will see the extraordinary things Alonso is doing this year. Just have a look at the onboard of his Catalunya quali lap; it’s just as spectacular as Hamilton’s in Montreal.

        1. @f1-liners of course not denying that he had good performances, mainly in quali. But Hulk did the same in a couple of occasions too, as did Perez for example.

          I just think that overall things have been blown out of porpotion a bit, with indy 500 in the mix and all.

          I won’t of course seat here and say that Alonso is a midfield talent driver, he is at the tip, my top 3 of current drivera includes him. But if we are to praise drivers on performance this season alone, the treatment hasn’t been IMHO

  8. “sweeping around Vettel for second place”. Edit: Running over Vettel’s front wing for second. Even if you think he is an innocent party in this, subjecting himself to a very likely race-defining puncture makes his start hardly sublime. I can’t complain though you justify my comments accusing you of Verstappen bias.

    1. It was a daring move by Ver, which paid off for Ver and not so much for Vet. Similar to what Vet did to Ocon. Both situations could have ended in tears for all drivers, but the one initiating the move was rewarded. We should welcome these actions, rather then criticize them. F1 would become a snooze fest, without actual racing

      1. How is it similar? Vettel dived in the dirty side of the track he didn’t make contact with Ocon.

        1. If Ocon didn’t went off track, they would have collided for sure. I consider both actions daring as such, that both Vet and Ver needed some luck and support from the other driver to survive.

          1. You could say that about the majority of (non-DRS) overtakes ever made in F1, but we don’t typically praise a driver for not colliding with another. Ocon lost track position and had he crashed into Vettel it would have been all his own fault.

          2. @ Fireblade, agree that’s why I say welcome these overtaking moves instead of criticize them. All is with some sort of danger, therefore if someone hits another car in the process, bad luck for the damaged car. I am not talking about moves that are only possible by hitting another of course.

    2. Antoon van Gemert
      13th June 2017, 13:32

      Here we go again! Has nothing to do with ‘Verstappen bias”! It’s just a real F1-fan acknowledging a sublime start if there ever was one!

      1. I don’t accuse Verstappen for trying he did well and was lucky to get away with it, after all he hadn’t much to lose. I am not saying he did it on purpose it was almost a great move. But a move to be sublime it has to be precise besides opportunistic and ballsy. I expect perfectly executed moves to earn such praise not leaps of faith.

      2. And the Verstappen bias claim was earned last year. This year Verstappen isn’t a menace he is impatient and makes all or nothing moves at the start. I will sing his praises when he is sublime as he was in Brazil.

        1. No other driver is as sublime Verstappen was in Brazil….so I quess you won’t sing any praise for any other driver at all….

          Max doesnt make all or nothing moves…again, Max’s racecraft is better than anyone else’s on the grid…it’s racing, and if you don’t like it…than maybe you should watch some pingpong games or something…playing it safe

    3. I advise you to go through Vettels onboard vid of the start frame by frame, and watch what he is doing with his steering wheel.
      It did change my perception of the incident. Check it out and see why.

    4. if you look at the onboard video from Vettel’s car, there is a lot of space on the left before the first turn. He could have gone a bit closer to Bottas to avoid the incident, but he either didn’t see Verstappen or he wanted to push him wide in case he saw him. That’s why i believe he said in the interviews that he could have done more to avoid the contact. (the onboard video can be seen here: https://youtu.be/66pMsgFtFgQ?t=1m55s ).

      Verstappen is a bit reckless with the starts, i agree, but i dont think this was one. I bet all top racers would have done the same if they saw a similar gap, i’m sure Lewis, Seb and Fernando would have done it exactly the same.

      1. If you pass Vettel, knock his wing off, and don’t get a flat you are brilliant.

        Why not? Versappen isn’t going to be WDC this year. The car is likely to end the race on a rollback either way. Let Vettel make room, he needs the pounts.

        Versappen is pushing the boundary between fast and reckless.

        1. Versappen is pushing the boundary between fast and reckless.

          I think he is already gone on to the reckless mode.

          Mad Max undoubtedly has talent but he is not able to control and harness it properly. People like him develop an insane kind of self-belief where getting to the front is the only thing that matters, irrespective of the risks involved. Yes, motor racing IS a high-risk competitive sport but there should be…and are…limits and Mad Max frequently passes them. He knows only one way to race and while to some this may seem “cool”, it really is dangerous driving. He is a disaster waiting to happen and my fear is that it may result in serious injury or worse to him or someone else.
          And if it turns out to be someone else, Mad Max and his doting father come across as the kind who will not feel genuinely sorry in the slightest.

          1. You know what Formule 1 is supposed to be?
            Racing, the best you can on the edge of the technical and physical/fysics possibilities.
            We do not need more friendly grinning PR guys with a lot of money and no talent.

          2. Same could be said about half the track, but I am not seeing these kind of comments when Vettel wheel bangs people or Sainz crashes into other cars or Perez rams into people. Seems that when it’s about Ver, it’s always too dangerous and somehow not correct driving.

          3. quite poor judgement to play down Verstappens starts to ‘just reckless driving’.

            The only way RBR will move forward from the startgrid is to make a good start or take points when other DNF.
            Verstappen is doing the first thing, Ricciardo the second….. however Ricciardo and Verstappen have been in some good start fights this year, with Verstappen on top of the game.

            In Spain Bottas took the blame himself, in Canada Vttel admitted he didn’t see Verstappen at all… when he did he probab;y would have braked. Good racing is more then just steering the car from pole to finish.

        2. @slotopen

          Versappen is pushing the boundary between fast and reckless.

          A boundary which if you don’t pass would make you a bit Senna-esque

          1. Antoon van Gemert
            14th June 2017, 17:58

            It’s quite simple. The Verstappen-critics are just jealous and can’t believe someone that young is so good. Well, believe me, he’s that good and much more. Don’t seek all kind of excuses to put him down and certainly don’t accuse him of things that are just not true! That’s so weak! His start in Canada was sublime, from fifth to second, in one fast and daring move and that over a very short distance to the first corner. A true master at work, always 100 % in control. He’s very exceptional in the world of F1, deal with it!

            Exceptional is also the fact that saturday he wil open (probably not in person, because that would cause mayhem in such a small place) his first and only official Max Verstappen Store in the little village called Swalmen (about 8700 inhabitants) in the most south province of the Netherlands, called Limburg, near the German border. You can also see some Max Verstappen memorabillia, as the helmet he wore during his first Grand Prix win in Spain 2016! I gonna visit it saturday, because it’s just 10 minutes walking distance from my home!

  9. Lewis was amazing. He got the win and result he badly needed. Baku is now CRITICAL for Hamilton to win again and would make even more history. With a win, he would have won at every track on the schedule. AMAZING.

    1. It’s certainly a historical oddity for a driver to spend a major part of his career driving the most dominant cars ever seen in Formula One.

      1. Not really among those with the most championships though (VET spent 1.5 season with properly mid-field/backmarker cars, Fangio……, Ascari……., etc)

      2. Yeah, it was complete luck. The first conversation went like this: ” Hey you, the guy with the tats and the bulldog. Yeah, my name is Toto. You want to drive the fastest race car on the planet? I’ll throw in 30 million a year. Cause I’m a nice guy…”

        1. You want to drive the fastest race car on the planet

          Well at least that part sticks ;)

  10. I think Ericsson did a flawless weekend and didnt struggle near as much as many other drivers with much better cars.

    1. Ah! But he’s never as spectacular as Alonso or Hülkenberg are with their mediocre cars, is he? Although he seems to get as much out of the car as is possible on most occasions, he never seems to be able to get more as do the very best. A competent F1 driver he is, better than Magnussen, Palmer, Stroll and Wehrlein, but a spectacular talent worthy of a top drive? No.

      1. We can only speculate what Ericsson could have done in an McLaren but hands down Alonsos driving in that car are spectacular. He is with no doubt the top three drivers on the grid and Marcus have yet to shine like that, i agree.
        Hulkenbergs work so far are impressive aswell but maybe shines extra bright when in comparrison with a seriously struggling Palmer. Hard to tell really how good or bad the Renault is and i’m not so sure Marcus wouldnt be on pair with Hulkenberg even thou he would have his hands full for sure. Ericsson has bin consistent, solid and done good enough work with a backmarker to earn a spot in a higher team. Then we shall see what he’s made of.

      2. Are you seriously suggesting, that Ericsson is better driver than Wehrlein and Magnussen? Based on what?

        1. Wehrlein and Ericsson are very close so we shall see at the end of the year who has the upper hand. Magnussen fels sloppy ( sir Movealot…;-)) and to much inconsistent in a much better car so i rank him lover than ERI and WEH for now.

          1. “Lower” not lover haha

        2. Everyone on the grid is better than Magnussen, maybe on the same level as Palmer.
          Hard to say versus Wehrlein. In qualifying they are so close, 4-1 in favor for Wehrlein but the total difference is around 0,1s. Ericsson’s race pace is better than Wehrlein’s. In Barcelona he did a fantastic race, although he was quite lucky with the strategy and the vsc.

          1. To this should be added that out of the four times Wehrlein has outqualified Ericsson, the latter lost the entire FP 1 session on one occasion and that Ericsson’s final qualifying attempts were scuppered on two further occasions (where the splits showed that he was on course for a PB) by others crashing and bringing out the yellow flags. In the races, Ericsson is consistently faster and especially so during the second half. In Barcelona where Wehrlein scored a fantastic eighth due to a successful strategy and keeping others behind him, Ericsson overtook several others including Alonso and Stroll (twice) on his way to 11th. No matter how one reasons, to overtake a Mercedes powered car twice with a year-old Ferrari engine is no mean feat.

          2. First of all, I respect your personal point of view on Mag when you rank him lower than the other drivers on the grid – that is fair and I don’t expect that to change in the near future.

            But lets just compare the two drivers at first, and then I’ll give my personal view afterwards :)

            Ericsson had a fair season with the non-competetive Caterham as a rookie in 2014 and then collected a noteable 9 points in his second season with Sauber in 2015, despite his teammate Nasr collected 27 points in the same season with a similar car. Ericsson best result has been a P8 in Australia in 2015, which is in his only pointscoring season as a F1-driver finishing five times as pointscorer with; P8 in Australia, P9 in Italy and 3xP10 in China, Hungary and Belgium respectively.
            I’ll give you that Magnussen did compete on better terms in a better car in 2014, beating Perez to the seat at the former McLaren Mercedes but he did get a podium finish in his debut in Australia after qualifying 4th. He finished a pointscorer on twelve occasions in the 2014 season as a rookie with; P3 in Australia (P2 after Ricciardo was given a DSQ), 5th in Russia, 2x7th in Austria and UK, 8th in USA, 4x9th in Malaysia, Canada, Germany and Brazil respectively and 3x10th in Monaco, Italy and Singapore respectively. Alonso took over Magnussen’s seat for the 2015 season leaving him a test and reserve driver for that particular season: Magnussen started in one race as he replaced an injured Alonso for the Australian GP, but retired on the formation lap due to a mechanical failure/technical issues.
            Jumping straight to the 2016 season were Ericsson was still at the Sauber team and Magnussen was signed with Renault. Sauber with thier C35 designed for the 2016 season with a Ferrari 061 power unit and Renault with an almost 1,5 year old Lotus chassis designed for the 2015 Mercedes PU106B power unit but eventually ended up with a Renault power unit. Competing in very different cars, Magnussen did better that Ericsson scoring 7 points to Ericsson’s zero points. Magnussen won 12-7 in race finishes and also 14-7 in qualifying in 2016. In pure race speed Magnussen was faster than most of the field with 7 top10 fastest lap racing the difficult and old Renault RS16. Ericsson did that once. In that same season both teams stopped development on the both the chassis early in the season, leaving the Renault far worse than the Sauber. At the end of the season Magnussen ended up with total of 7 points and Ericsson zero points. Magnussen then signed as driver for Haas in 2017 (not as a pay-driver) and Ericsson kept his seat in Sauber. To outright say that Ericsson is a better driver than Magnussen is hard to justify when you look upon the results and cars of 2016. Saying that he is worse than rest of the grid is utterly nonsense but I respect it as a personal point of view.

            When you say sir Move-a-lot I think you are referring to the incident where he defended P8 against Stroll and Hulkenberg? Well, no complaints was given, he followed the rules reagarding defence of a position and when he chose his raceline he moved to the right because the track has a right bend just past the finish line. I don’t see your point in him being inconsistent and sloppy.. inconsistent and sloppy in what?

            Magnussen shows potential still being 24 years old and no longer a pay-driver. Remember how long it took for Perez to settle as driver in FI and he still brings in sponsorship money from Carlos Slim. Magnussen just found a team where he thrives, and only being seven races into 2017 you need to have more patience with him. Ericsson on the other hand show no signs of moving to a better team because his lack of potential. Magnussen beat Vandorne and won the championship in Formula Renault 3.5, impressed as a McLaren young driver, has a podium fininsh to his name in F1 and is one of the most competetive drivers on the grid. He has the most overtakes in lap 1 of any driver on the grid. He puts up a fight for his position making a somewhat interesting race for spectators, he drove brilliantly in Sochi 2016 to take home P7 and he provides competent opposistion to Grosjean. So I rank him above Ericsson and Wehrlein for now and also above Stroll, Palmer, Vandorne and Kvyat :) With all this being said, Magnussen has to show some more of his potential and realise it, because other seriously talented drivers are stepping up their game, Ocon, Sainz jr, Giovinazzi but also Werhlein, are getting better.

          3. Whoa.. That must be some kind of record, 4479 characters. :)

            Seriously, do you actually mean that the 2016 Sauber was on the same level as the Renault? It was the rain in Brazil that made it possible for Nasr to score the points, otherwise that car was awful. Even the Manors was a threat from time to time…
            The comparison you make regarding points in 2016 doesn’t mean anything when they are in different cars.

            How can you not see that inconsistency seems to be a big issue for Magnussen. On a good day he is very good but he can also disappear and underachieve, which I mean happens quite often.
            I have read some interviews with Kevin and he admit’s that he is overdriving the car.
            From AutoSport:
            “I’m a driver that, if I have a problem, it’s most of the time because I’m overdriving,” the Dane conceded. “I naturally tend to overdrive the car.
            Maybe that is why he seems to struggle so often.

            “Ericsson on the other hand show no signs of moving to a better team because his lack of potential.” It was between him and Ocon taking the seat in F1. Guess FI got some sweet deals from Merc to take on Ocon.

            And what was that strange behaviour from Kevin denying he apologised to Ericsson in media after taking him out in Australia, even if many people actually heard him do it on the plane home…
            That kid is odd.

          4. I was aiming for that record.. I think? :) And by the fact you actually did count them somewhat flatters me haha

            I have pointed out the difference between the two cars from 2016, Renault took over from Lotus on the last day and along came the Lotus car. A car which had little to no development made for the 2015 campaign and had almost no changes in that very same season. The Lotus team had the car build to fit and utilize the Mercedes power unit, and when Lotus withdraw they took the Merc-deal with and left Renault with no opportunity to develop a car for their own power unit. Sauber did all this and was prepared for 2016. That was a huge disadvantage for Renault.

            I see your point in being inconsistent – by all means, I was only looking at the results and the cars. My focus on these two things may have had influence and biased my view. But I still don’t see him as sloppy.

            Well Kevin said he didn’t pardon for the incident and Ericsson said he did. I guess you can say both of them are odd :)

  11. Fukobayashi (@)
    13th June 2017, 14:25

    No disrespect intended whatsoever but did anyone proof read this article? A lot of grammatical errors which is not typical of this great website!

  12. I thought it was a good race.
    These are my stars for Canada.

    5+ Hamilton
    4 Vettel, Perez, Ocon, Ricciardo
    3 Bottas, Stroll, Grosjean, Alonso, Verstappen
    2 Hulkenberg, Magnussen, Kvyat, Massa,
    1 Palmer, Ericsson, Vandoorne,
    0 Wehrlein
    -1 Räikkönen
    -2 Sainz

    1. 3 stars for Stroll, the same as Alonso who was driving 1 second behind him in a vastly inferior car?

      1. Fil, I do not quite understand what your point is, my opinion is about the drivers, not about cars, I consider Stroll did a very good job, he had good battles on the track, he solved it very well, got his first points, Congratulations, … Alonso, makes wonders with a car that does not work, in my opinion Alonso did a good job too, …I say.
        What would be your classification? … please.

    2. Agree on everything exep Perez whom i like, he screwed his team royaly on sunday.

      1. Hi Friz
        “Perez”, yes and no, … it is very easy to judge, just like everyone, but I liked his “selfishness”, I behind the wheel would have done the same, maybe, … Hunt, Sena, Mansell, Schumacher , Button, Hamilton, Vettel, do not hurt better people behind the wheel with their teammates, … of course Perez is not world champion, but he did what others have done … well, bad, it’s different to think about it Behind the keyboard with the cold head, behind the wheel should be something else, I do not blame it at all, in the end this gave a good end to the race, what fun will come in the following races to FI, … we’ll see.

  13. Agree with the article. But if there was an award for ‘almost star performer’, I would give Stroll one. He did well, considering the pressure.

    1. He was way off the pace the car could have had while having a clean race. He seems to be improving, and having a decent race with a points finish will probably help his confidence, but this wasn’t even remotely close to a star drive. Had Massa finished the race without hitting big trouble, it’s likely Stroll would have been at least 40s behind him.

    2. He was seriously outperformed again by “best before”-Massa in qualifying and nervously brought a “straightline-rocket-Williams” home in 9th ( with a couple of DNFs ) on an enginefriendly track.
      A starperformance by Stroll standards considering his F1-career so far and with that pressure it brought him. But medioker at the most if you compare with the rest of the grid. But then again he’s young, learning and perhaps with these first points in his home-GP he gets the boost and confidence he needs to show what he’s made of.

  14. Are you blokes Serious? Stroll was a shocker!!! missin apex’s and running in deep,locking tyres ect..his car was a missile along the straights l think the fastest of the whole field..he showed his lack of skills again and under proformed in a very fast car..Massa was a chance for a podium if he wasnt taken out..ALSO Strolls points were flattering considering the cars that didnt finish ahead of him.

    1. The Williams should have been up there with the Force India ‘ s imho. And you re right, had VER and a Toro Rosso finished, Stroll would have been outside the points…

      That said, he did have some good overtakes and who knows, maybe hos confidence is boosted and he gets better

    2. So where Vettels, bur everybody seems to use à different ruler to Vettels achievment.

      Vettel did well, Stroll drive well in the last half.

      1. Yeah Stroll is still learning and still ragged, but he was there in the end to collect a couple of points. Sure he benefitted from the attrition or setbacks of others. Happens all the time. If you want to go there, so did Bottas, and DR who ended up on the podium, with SV set back, Max gone, Kimi faltering in the end, etc etc.

  15. Those 3 Ricciardo podia should have been for Verstappen. He is the better Red Bulldriver now in Q as well as in the race. Ricciardo playing second fiddle, but a fortunate one. Really wonder how good Verstappen is gonna get.

  16. So ALO, who ran out of fuel (OK, We should say had a oil pressure problem, to save face) did good, and Vandoorne was mediocre at best in his GP2-engine slow car, while saving fuel constantly, to get to the finish? Both didn’t get a single point, so both weren’t doing a good job, IMHO, but you can’t do a good job without decent tools. Stroll had one big advantage: Massa was out, so Felipe couldn’t show what the car really was capable of. Had Massa reached the finish, i think he would’ve taken 40s over Stroll.

  17. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
    13th June 2017, 18:00

    I personally do not understand in the slightest how a driver can get voted driver of the weekend when he only did a tiny fraction of the race, no matter if it was his own fault or not that he retired. It would be like giving Massa driver of the weekend for his mighty start in Britain 2015 but then fell right behind when it started raining. We didn’t get to see nearly 85% of Verstappen’s race and we just don’t know if it will have resulted in a terrible or brilliant race. I think his best chance was 3rd really as Bottas was comfortably ahead of Riccirado by quite some margin even if he was behind Hamilton by a similar gap. I know it wasn’t Verstappen’s fault that he retired but I really think drivers should have completed virtually all the race before we can consider them as drivers of the weekend as they haven’t had the chance to drive where it matters most.

    1. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
      13th June 2017, 18:01

      Sorry, I don’t mean as a driver of the weekend, I mean Star Performer. But I still think the same.

      1. I agree Ben, giving him star preformer with only 10 laps is weird

    2. @thegianthogweed I think this is a first, but I think I agree with you.

      Now, don’t ruin this beautiful moment talking about Ericsson

      1. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
        13th June 2017, 18:32

        @johnmilk
        I won’t this time. Sorry, I shouldn’t have changed topics when replying to you before as it wasn’t related to the title.

        I am sure we used to agree quite often before I became what you think is an Ericsson fan though! :D

    3. Agreed. Max drove brilliantly for the short time he was in the race, but doing it for 10 of 70 laps is not enough IMO to single him out for special praise. For all we we know if his car had not let him down he’d have crashed out later on. He’s an exciting young talent but still a bit too rash and error prone.

      1. he is the one
        14th June 2017, 11:53

        rash and error: with this words you are framing. last year MV was the driver with the least collisions. SV had a grid penalty for 3 times causing a first corner collision. Ofcourse he made some mistakes but who did’nt. using this words it only for the bennefit of you own truth. For the last three GP, MV was faster in F1 F2 F3 and Q and ahead in the race of DR. In Q is he is the only RB driver on striking distance of number 2 ferrari or MB and in this race he jump to second place. So is overall performance this whole weekend (year) single him out for special praise.

  18. Verstappen? Sure?
    My God…
    Great bias of the century…

    1. Really? That great a bias? Strong quali, and a rocket start, and looking to have perhaps challenged LH or at least podium, in a car that we know should be no better than 5th behind the two Mercs and Ferraris? I think beyond how much of the race he completed, he continues to show himself to be the most exciting addition to F1 in a while and his career is already looking to be ultra exciting going forward. He is simply enthralling to watch and to see what he does next. Massive career ahead for him.

    2. I did a check on ur profile and I never saw anything positive about Verstappen. Do you hate him that much?

      Jorge Lardone commented on the post, Vote for your 2017 Chinese Grand Prix Driver of the Weekend 2 months ago
      Carlos Sainz Jr. Also good weekend by Hamilton, Vettel, Ricciardo, Perez, Magnussen.

      I quess the one that really stood out here was Verstappen…starting 17th ending up 3rd…but no, you decided to opt for Ricciardo who started 5th and ended up 4th behind his teammate :D hahahaha

      People shouldn’t take you seriously at all

      1. One should never feed the trolls

      2. He doesn’t hate anyone as much as he hates Alonso!

        I suspect Alonso may have slept with his wife! LOL :)

        1. Hate?
          NO! Memory…
          Remember Piquet Jr. crash in Singapore 2008?
          Fine…

      3. Verstappen’s performance in Brazil 2016 was one of the most stunning ones I’ve seen in the last years. It utterly changed my mind about him. Verstappen won the DOTW poll with 68% of the votes. It is very unusual to get such a general consensus in this community.
        However, Jorge’s impressions were the next ones:

        Jorge Lardone (@jorge-lardone) 14th November 2016, 1:17
        Perez. He did a great job. Also Hamilton, Nasr, Sainz, Hulkenberg and Vettel.

        Fortunately, most of the F1Fanatic members honour this community with very interesting comments based in objectivity and the love to this sport. This is why I daily follow this blog, instead of the motorsport section of The Sun.

  19. If Vettel’s car had its barge boards damaged for most of the race, then his fight to P4 was an outstanding achievement.

    Hamilton did well to win but I seem to recall that when Vettel was winning from Pole in his Red bull, a lot of people commented that it was Newey’s car winning. Odd double standards.

    1. Fukobayashi (@)
      14th June 2017, 10:03

      This record was tiring then and it’s tiring now. That lap from Hamilton would have been pole in a Ferrari or a Mercedes, it was that good. End of.

      1. It would not have been pole if Vettel was in a Mercedes.

        1. It would have, Hamilton was the better driver of the two on Saturday that is all there is to it.

  20. Alonso has been relentless this season. He is getting the maximum out of the chassis. That is how you measure a driver’s performance.

    1. +1
      same last season

  21. Max a star performer??
    The guy only knows one setting Pooowwwerrrrrrrr, overdriving his car resulting in many technical failures.
    If a RBR races is a star performer then it is RIC, the guy know’s to take his time and bring the car home.

    1. These ‘over driving’ claims about drivers are a fallacy. It’s not like the days of manual gear changes, gear shifts are electronic, the telemetry allows the power unit usage to be a finely honed art.

      Failures like this aren’t driver incurred, the Renault is just a dudd.

      1. The redbull’s are pushed to the max as it is with no safety margin just to stay within 0.7 sec. Overdriving will brake the car.

        1. Ok, what would Max be doing exactly that would constitute over driving?

          The throttle is drive by wire, you press it and it increases fuel pressure, and that is capped at a maximum rate for all teams and drivers. Max can’t aggressively ask more from it than it can give. And there is a total fuel limit for the race, the team will through testing find the optimal amount and tune their engine modes. The driver just operates it.

          The gear changes are triggered from an electronic trigger in the paddles. It’s not like ramming a manual into gear. They change gear at a designated rev point, and can’t over rev on down shift.

          About the only thing I can think that impacts reliability would be the driver following closely to another car for long periods allowing temperatures to peak. But that is all monitored and they are warned beforehand.

          I’m genuinely open to what a driver can do to overdrive a modern F1 car that results in engine failure.

    2. Just like RAI was in 2005.

  22. he is the one
    14th June 2017, 11:39

    i am glad you guys have a eye for the performance of LH, because driving for the WDC with firm competition of SV is not so easy. Max who is robbed from us for the second time in three races. You can feel he is able to fight with Bottas en Kimi for third and in Canada even for second. I hope his luck with his RB13 will change quikly because without MAX races are not the same. Looking forwarts to Hungary and Singapor where the three teams will be close.
    This WDC is not over. SV is a men on a mission, this will go to the end of the season.
    It’s seems Occon found his mojo because he is right there with Perez and the better in Canada.
    Sainz has to concentrate on his driving and less talking about how well he is doing. Kyviat starts to get the better over you!!

    1. It’s seems Occon found his mojo because he is right there with Perez and the better in Canada

      I agree and I even think Bottas should be looking over his shoulder because Ocon showed he’s both increddibly quick and a team player if he has to be. He’s still a Mercedes Young Driver you know.

  23. @keithcollantine, i have another start performer for the list – Sir Patrick Stewart.

    1. @ianbond001 Lol yeah for sure, you’ve nailed that one. He was great.

      1. I dislike all those actors, singers and entertainers on the podium. All they do is self-promotion and taking away the light from race winners. They take the stage for themselves and what is worse they don’t know a damn thing about F1 racing. Their questions are painfully ignorant. Star performer for drinking out of anybody’s shoe? Basking in the limelight, shouting in the micro with their theater voices, being the popular guy “LEWIS, MY FRIEND”!!!! Don’t make me laugh it’s make believe, fake! Please give me a Coulthard, Brundle, Stewart, Irvine, Windsor, or a female racer once in a while.

  24. Think MAG did an exellent job – he was the reason PAL couldn’t overtake GRO and despite starting from no.18 he was quickly in the points as no.8 before getting a weird penalty as he gave the position back to VAN again… his qualify was ruined by WER and his team – you can’t blame him here…

  25. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
    17th June 2017, 11:47

    Sorry to complain about Sainz again but he really doesn’t look ready for a top team drive yet and I’m not sure he will be. In the races themselves this year, he overall has looked worse than Kvyat I’d say.

    Kvyat has suffered 3 retirements and an issue in Australia too resulting in him finishing behind Sainz when he will have easily been ahead. that is 4 / 7 races where he’s had problems. Points make is look like Sainz is doing much better but I really think it is quite obvious that this isn’t true when you look at the amount of mistakes Sainz has made. Last 4 races, including himself, he’s been responsible for 4 retirements. He’s collected 4 penalty points and been given 2 3 place grid place penalties for the following race and many believe that this wasn’t enough for his latest incident. I’ve seen some other people mention Sainz’s dangerous move in Mexico towards the end of last year which was pretty much identical to what he did here in Canada. It didn’t result in a crash but he forced Alonso onto the grass who very nearly totally lost control. So if we include the last 3 races from last year too, Kvyat often looked stronger than Sainz there too. So in the last 10 races, Sainz really has been all over the place in terms of performance. Half the time, he’s been pretty poor which is why I don’t get why he’s rated so highly. In this time, such as Monaco and some other races, he had very good results. But I can’t say that is any better than Kvyat, who hasn’t had any noticeably poor races.

    Kvyat may not have had any stand out races, but he certainly hasn’t been poor. He hadn’t made any obvious mistakes either and he’ll have missed out on a lot of points due to retirements. He was so unlucky in Canada. The penalties have been out of control this year some of the time. If they give an incorrect penalty and the driver servers it, they really shouldn’t be given another and have to server the rest of it, especially if it was something that was barely their own fault. He understandably will have been really annoyed with this. None of this will have happened if he didn’t have issues in the first place which was yet more bad luck.

    I still think Toro Rosso should keep both these drivers as they seem to be at the same level although I’d now say Kvyat is looking like the better driver overall in the races. Their race pace really isn’t that different. But Sainz has been making too many really big mistakes. It is just qualifying where Sainz sometimes beats Kvyat by a long way. Kvyat often recovers very well. Such as in Spain when Sainz started well ahead in qualifying. Kvyat was hardly 5 seconds behind in the race in the end. I think to many of of us are are both overrating Sainz and underrating Kvyat. The points just don’t show there true performances this year.

    Although Sainz has had 1 or 2 very strong races, he’s also had 2 of what could well be the most clumsy and dangerous crashes of this year. He just isn’t consistent.

  26. My Performers:

    Hanilton – 5/5
    Vettel – ⅘
    Stroll – ⅘
    Ocon – ⅘
    Ricciardo – ⅘

    The Rest:

    Perez – ⅘
    Bottas – ⅘
    Hulkenberg – ⅘
    Alonso – ⅘
    Raikkonen – ⅗
    Grosjean – ⅗
    Palmer – ⅗
    Verstappen – ⅗
    Vandoorne – ⅖
    Ericsson – ⅖

    My Strugglers:

    Magnussen – ⅖
    Wehrlein – ⅖
    Massa – ⅖
    Kvyat – ⅖
    Sainz – ⅖

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