[Official] Driver of the Grand Prix: Spanish Grand Prix 2024

[Aysedasi]

Yep, and there are often other 'drivers' for pushing your favoured perspective.....

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by nobster

Finishing second in clearly the fastest car of the day gets you driver of the day....
To finish first in not the fastest car around should get it!

I have always previously, and will continue to advocate for individuals making their selection for any reason they wish.

I understand the case you are making for Max here (or for Lando to not) - but it depends on how you approach the vote.

As always, the voter can decide to judge it on the race performance alone, or to consider the whole weekend. They might also place the performance in the context of the season. It is also possible to vote for a reason other than performance alone.

In the case of Lando - I suspect a lot of it is down to the feeling of experience. Max has a proven record of getting a lot out of a car, even when the car is not quite in the sweet spot. A lot of viewers probably head into a weekend with an expectation that Max will do well, and recognise that he has demonstrated the ability to perform under pressure. Lando, on the other hand, does not have that bank of proven performance (yet), and so when he does put in a good result it carries more weight (in the context of his overall career to date).

Or - it could just be that people don't like Max...........

[morninggents]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

As always, the voter can decide to judge it on the race performance alone, or to consider the whole weekend. They might also place the performance in the context of the season. It is also possible to vote for a reason other than performance alone.

But this thread is 'Driver of the Grand Prix' only the race is the Grand Prix. The practice and qually are just that.
No reason why you could not start a 'Driver of the weekend' thread.

I gave my vote to Max.

[Aysedasi]

I think this has been interpreted more widely in the past. I certainly base my vote on the race and not qually, but others see it differently.

I didn't vote for Max as I actually disagree that he hasn't got an at least equal car to anyone else. I saw no real evidence to the contrary - in qualifying or race. Just because Lando in the McLaren is now beginning to match him on speed says more for me about the McLaren than any fall-off as far as the Red Bull is concerned. I expected Max to win and he did.

[E.B]

I must admit I think of the Grand Prix as the entire meeting. Agreed the GP is arguably technically just the race.... but then the official calendar on say F1.com shows GPs as being from Friday to Sunday. ie Spanish GP shows as having occured 21-23 June, this weekends Austrian GP shows as happening 28th-30th June.

Having said that I dont ever think of practice performance when voting on a GP, but to me qualifying is part of the GP weekend and generally critical / influential to the race outcome. Certainly when I "Rate the Grand Prix" I consider qualifying... especially when it is as / more enjoyable than the race.

Of course your point now raises the question of how should I vote for say the Austrian GP where there is a Sprint race as part of the GP weekend.

Maybe I am more into the racing than the semantics.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by E.B

I must admit I think of the Grand Prix as the entire meeting. Agreed the GP is arguably technically just the race.... but then the official calendar on say F1.com shows GPs as being from Friday to Sunday. ie Spanish GP shows as having occured 21-23 June, this weekends Austrian GP shows as happening 28th-30th June.

Having said that I dont ever think of practice performance when voting on a GP, but to me qualifying is part of the GP weekend and generally critical / influential to the race outcome. Certainly when I "Rate the Grand Prix" I consider qualifying... especially when it is as / more enjoyable than the race.

Of course your point now raises the question of how should I vote for say the Austrian GP where there is a Sprint race as part of the GP weekend.

Maybe I am more into the racing than the semantics.

I also regard the Grand Prix as the entire meeting. As for sprint races, the original sprint races used set the grid for the actual Grand Prix race, so I would include them. However, now sprint races are a stand a lone event, though points count towards the WDC and WCC, I regard them as separate.

[chillibowl]

its definitely not a 'just the race' vote for me. could be affected by past races as much as it is by events from this specific weekend whether it be surrounding controversy, injuries, nostalgia, hype etc as much as it comes from any of the time spent on track.

i think a couple of practice sessions last year from Alonso (season opener for his first weekend with AM for example) had me rooting for him and (i would have to look back and check) also saw me voting for him as driver of the race.

for me, its all fair game and i enjoy hearing peoples reasoning for their varying votes.

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by E.B

Of course your point now raises the question of how should I vote for say the Austrian GP where there is a Sprint race as part of the GP weekend.

But there are separate sprint race polls, so personally a sprint race result would have little influence over my DOTR decision....