Start, Circuit de Catalunya, 2020

Vote for your 2020 Spanish Grand Prix Driver of the Weekend

2020 Spanish Grand Prix

Posted on

| Written by

Which Formula 1 driver made the most of the Spanish Grand Prix weekend?

It’s time to give your verdict on which driver did the best with the equipment at their disposal over the last three days.

Review how each driver got on below and vote for who impressed you the most at Circuit de Catalunya.

Driver performance summary

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

Vote for your driver of the weekend

Which driver do you think did the best job throughout the race weekend?

Who got the most out of their car in qualifying and the race? Who put their team mate in the shade?

Cast your vote below and explain why you chose the driver you picked in the comments.

Who was the best driver of the 2020 Spanish Grand Prix weekend?

  • No opinion (0%)
  • Nicholas Latifi (0%)
  • George Russell (0%)
  • Kevin Magnussen (0%)
  • Romain Grosjean (0%)
  • Antonio Giovinazzi (0%)
  • Kimi Raikkonen (3%)
  • Lance Stroll (3%)
  • Sergio Perez (5%)
  • Pierre Gasly (0%)
  • Daniil Kvyat (0%)
  • Esteban Ocon (0%)
  • Daniel Ricciardo (0%)
  • Lando Norris (0%)
  • Carlos Sainz Jnr (6%)
  • Alexander Albon (0%)
  • Max Verstappen (15%)
  • Charles Leclerc (1%)
  • Sebastian Vettel (28%)
  • Valtteri Bottas (0%)
  • Lewis Hamilton (36%)

Total Voters: 226

Loading ... Loading ...

An RaceFans account is required in order to vote. If you do not have one, register an account here or read more about registering here
When this poll is closed the result will be displayed instead of the voting form.

Author information

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...

Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

43 comments on “Vote for your 2020 Spanish Grand Prix Driver of the Weekend”

  1. Driver of the weekend – definitely Lewis. Just flawless.

    But I would also mention Seb. He drove very well in a car and team, which have all but forgotten about him. Such disrespect from Ferrari is appalling.

    1. Ferrari are the worst thing since sliced bread… Perez was on point, 1st race he delivered.

  2. Glad that Vettel had a solid race; but amazed that both this afternoon, and now here he is seen as either DotD or DotW(!).
    I think the best 2 drivers were Hamilton and Verstappen this weekend. Hamilton would win it when looking at the pure result (how much is the car?), but Verstappen wins it when looking at the gap to the teammate (is Bottas really that much better than Albon).
    I rate Stroll as third best when looking primarily at the Sunday. Also Sainz and Gasly pleasantly suprised me (especially for the 2nd it seems to be a trend).
    The best moves though were by Albon (half a move in turn 4) and Leclerc (various), but they didn’t seem very smart nor part of a solid weekend.

    1. I guess our expectations of Vettel have sunk far enough that just finishing ahead of where he started and in the points is enough to feel he did a great job @coldfly?

      1. He was the only driver to gain 4 positions, one might add. But I understand the observation as a whole.

        1. Yes, difficult one this. I guess no one stood out apart from maybe Ham, but well, the car.. Etc

        2. He might have ‘gained’ four positions, but even Bottas overtook more drivers (on track) than Vettel did. @magon4

          I’ve been lenient as well in the past to award my DotW to a mediocre driver who finally punched above his weight. But Vettel is too experience for that, and I expect that driver to at least beat his teammate on Saturday.
          And don’t get me wrong, this is no criticism of Vettel (that unworthy Ricciardo fan will take care of that) but a sincere expectation that the old Vettel will one day be back and show us how good he can be.
          @bascb

    2. I agree it was hard to decide so i toss a coin it became Lewis. (Max was the other one)

    3. I’d argue Leclerc had a much better weekend than Vettel

  3. Albon. He had the toughest drive with the tyres his team put him on.

  4. Seb. Apparently he had to drive the race on his own, based on radio. He burnt out his tires assuming another pit and then held on well.

  5. I don’t think anyone stood out but I went for Verstappen for splitting the Mercedes. Hamilton was just doing what he needed to which, although he did perfectly, was nothing spectacular.

    Stroll had a very good race but was beaten on track with strategy and in qualifying and no one really stood out in the midfield over the whole weekend. Vettel did a great job but was also out qualified so I don’t think he can get it for the whole weekend.

  6. How can people be voting for Hamilton? Hardly driver of the day, is he?!! Fastest car out the front – a Sunday drive in the park more like.
    Vettel did well but wasn’t a patch on Leclerc – unlucky for him.
    Driver of the day has to be Carlos. Not even a fan of his, but boy did he fight hard in that McLaren.

    1. HOW? Pole position. Won the race. Lead every lap. That’s HOW.

    2. @markopoloman, it’s driver of the weekend, not day.

      The headline of the page is: “Vote for your 2020 Spanish Grand Prix Driver of the Weekend“, and further, the body text states: “It’s time to give your verdict on which driver did the best with the equipment at their disposal over the last three days.

    3. Oh dear. He dominated the race. Beast of the race.
      ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

  7. Voted for Sainz. Finally a race where he didn’t have either a bad stop or tyre failure, and finished ahead of Norris as he would otherwise have done for the last 4 races. Hamilton and Verstappen great also.

    Not sure what Vettel did that was anything other than average – out-qualified by his teammate and on course to finish behind him as well? Nothing special whatsoever.

    1. @tflb Yeah I agree, voting this week is particularly weird. I get voting for Hamilton for ‘dominance’ factor but really Mercedes were in a league of their own and Bottas was out of contention by turn 1. Qualifying seemed average for Lewis – reasonable first lap but nowhere on his 2nd run, then ran the race at a comfortable pace.

      Vettel did a good job in the race, impressive that he kept the softs alive but they clearly suited the Ferrari, and I doubt he would have finished ahead of Leclerc if not for the failure. Max was pretty faultless, so I can understand his votes more.

      But for me Sainz made the most of this weekend, finishing P6 in a very stacked midfield where any small mistakes could cost multiple positions. Finished ahead of probably faster cars in the Ferrari and Redbull, and plenty of close competitors in the Alpha Tauris, Renaults and sister McLaren. Always goes well at Barcelona in front of his home fans and managed the same this year without the visible fan support.

  8. Kimi got everything out of his car and then some.

    1. Strategy wasn’t great but that’s alfa. Seems he passed every car up to p14 twice, unseen by TV except for when Grosjean played dirty as he was passed.

  9. Of the whole weekend, then Lewis Hamilton. Perfect race and very good qualifying. Surprise of the weekend for me was Lance Stroll – given a good car he is starting to show good results. Very well done also to Max Verstappen and and well done to Sebastian Vettel (very good race, but no so good in Qualifying).

  10. The Skeptic (@)
    17th August 2020, 1:28

    I agree with Sebastian for driver of the day – he gained places, and managed an extra long stint on soft tyres perfectly. For some strange reason Ferrari pitted him on the same lap as Leclerc (who started on softs) and thus didn’t maximise his start on mediums (they could have gone another 5-10 laps).

    But he was behind his team mate in qualifying again, and that really isn’t good enough for DotW.

    That leaves Lewis and Max. While Lewis did a great job – I think that Max shaded Lewis – because Max outperformed the car by getting 2nd place. I only wish I could see them in cars with comparable performance! (Not team mates though..).

    1. For some strange reason Ferrari pitted him on the same lap as Leclerc (who started on softs) and thus didn’t maximise his start on mediums (they could have gone another 5-10 laps).

      Ricciardo tried exactly what you are saying, started on mediums extended that stint by 6 laps compared to Seb and switched to softs. Daniel was 1.5 seconds behind Seb on lap 28 (one lap before Seb pits). At the end of the race, Daniel was 3.2 seconds behind Seb, but there were 3 other cars in between which meant he finished 11th instead of 7th.

      While I am sure Daniel had more pace on his fresher tyres,on a track where overtaking is difficult, it is better to stop early and defend in the later part of the race than prolonging a pitstop. So, the strategy for Vettel was definitely spot on.

    2. How do you out perform a machine?
      If the machine is still in one piece, I think still just performing the machine.

  11. Hamilton. Won pole (probably on more of a race setup than VB), good start, excellent first stint at just the right pace to nullify Verstappen, then set off into the distance. By the end of the race he was still pulling away, in his ‘zone’, and according to his own reckoning (obviously not entirely objective but also not irrelevant) one of his best ever races. The fact he would have won on an average (for him) performance and didn’t need to overtake anyone undoubtedly masks how good he was in the race. As Wolff rightly said, Hamilton is now driving on another level and today it was clear in just how far ahead of everyone. Vettel had a good race, but DOTW, I don’t see it. Saturday he was outqualified by Leclerc and failed to get into Q3.

  12. Vettel of course. With a dog car he drive a great race. He is a champion and deserves a much better car.

  13. Norris for the race with some epic defensive driving.

  14. isaac (@invincibleisaac)
    17th August 2020, 7:49

    I went for Hamilton – Got pole, great start, controlled the pace whilst managing tyres and led every lap. Also (fun fact) Hamilton’s lead of 24 secs was his 4th largest winning margin, behind; Silverstone 08 (1:08), Silverstone 14 (30 secs) and Monza 2015 (25 secs).

    I also thought Verstappen got the maximum result, and honourable mentions to Sainz, Stroll and Raikkonen.

    On a side note, yesterday only the top 3 drivers finished on the lead lap … when was the last time this happened?

    1. @invincibleisaac In Austria in 2018 but also in the 2017 Spanish GP while in the 2011 event (also this track), the fourth-placed driver was the last to finish on the lead lap.

      1. isaac (@invincibleisaac)
        17th August 2020, 10:29

        @jerejj Wow thanks! Spain doesn’t always produce the closest races then.

  15. DOTW: HAM
    DOTD: VET

  16. Max for sure. Keeping Bottas behind whole race and lapping your own team-mate (partially helped by the C1 stint of Albon) is incredible.

    Honorable mention to Lewis and Seb

  17. Verstappen. Hamilton was great though a little lucky not to lose pole, but Verstappen again dominated his team mate in qualifying and maximised his race result splitting the Mercedes.

    For all those that say any driver could win the championship in the Mercedes, Verstappen in a car nearly as quick is exactly why you still need Hamilton.

    1. Lewis lucky not to lose his pole?
      Lol.

      1. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
        17th August 2020, 14:20

        Why are you so puzzled by this? He was in a way. Hamilton’s 2nd run was nearly half a second down on his first. Bottas did his fastest sector in 1 and the fastest of anyone in 2 on his 2nd run and looked on target to beat Hamilton, but in the last sector he just didn’t do quite as well and was only 0.075 behind. And just 0.16 slower than his previous lap.

        As @philipgb implies, it was lucky for Hamilton that Bottas didn’t improve his final sector or he will have lost pole.

        1. @thegianthogweed But isn’t that standard for this season? Hamilton keeps the tire alive for the whole lap, Bottas fades in the last sector.

          1. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
            17th August 2020, 20:01

            Hamilton was 0.114 faster in the final sector, so some of what you say may be true, but still Hamilton was still a bit lucky that Bottas couldn’t improve in that final sector as he had in the previous two which very few other drivers (including hamilton) had.

  18. I went for Perez as I think his penalty was harsh, HMs to Vettel, Hamilton and Verstappen.

  19. My driver ratings:
    Lewis Hamilton – 10
    Valtteri Bottas – 7
    Max Verstappen – 9
    Alexander Albon – 5
    Charles Leclerc – 9
    Sebastian Vettel – 8
    Sergio Perez – 8
    Lance Stroll – 8
    Daniel Ricciardo – 6
    Esteban Ocon – 5
    Carlos Sainz – 9
    Lando Norris – 6
    Pierre Gasly – 8
    Daniil Kvyat – 6
    Romain Grosjean – 5
    Kevin Magnussen – 7
    Kimi Raikkonen – 8
    Antonio Giovinazzi – 6
    George Russell – 7
    Nicholas Latifi – 6

  20. I went Vettel as he is not getting the support from the team he deserves, the car is a dog and because of that he is obviously not mentally 100% involved, after all of that he showed real grit.
    Yes Hamilton had absolute control from the start but as I’ve said before with his talent, experience, car and the team behind him should we expect less?
    Verstappen was on the radio complaining that Hamilton was going so slow until Hamilton was given the all clear to go which showed RB/Verstappen had no hope. It was then Verstappen decided not to worry about what they are doing worry about what we are doing lol. That may reflect on his inability to read his car which is a problem. Or maybe he’s overestimating his own ability, but in general I don’t see that as a fault in a top level racer.
    Bottas blew it from the start and his achilles heal as always, his lack of aggression in overtaking put him out of the running for second.

  21. This has turned into 2014, but without the intrateam Merc battle.

    1. So 2015?

  22. Between Hamilton, Verstappen and Sainz for me but a lot of good performances out there. (Raikkonen, Vettel, Gasly, Leclerc and the Racing Point Guys)
    Went for Verstappen in the end because he beat a car that was clearly faster, his entertaining albeit a little childish Radio messages and because I haven’t voted for him so far this season…

Comments are closed.