[Official] Driver of the Grand Prix: Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2021

[Knowlesy]

Isn't this a social media vote?

[Paradise City]

Verstappen was very messy and undisciplined but there was some spectacular 'escapes' from him, as he scrambled by Hamilton.

[BTCC frog]

Autosport gave Verstappen a three, the lowest of any driver. Both that and the DOTD are utterly absurd, he was somewhere in between (I gave him a 6/10). Esteban Ocon got my vote this weekend, despite losing the podium on the line. Kudos to Lewis Hamilton and Antonio Giovinazzi.

[BTCC frog]

Originally Posted by Knowlesy

Isn't this a social media vote?

Maybe, but the official votes are really just a popularity contest, or one of who provided the most entertainment. It's like how Perez won it in Mexico despite being comfortably outraced by his teammate.

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by BTCC frog

Autosport gave Verstappen a three, the lowest of any driver. Both that and the DOTD are utterly absurd, he was somewhere in between (I gave him a 6/10). Esteban Ocon got my vote this weekend, despite losing the podium on the line. Kudos to Lewis Hamilton and Antonio Giovinazzi.

I don't think 3 was entirely absurd. Low, but not absurd.

[BTCC frog]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

I don't think 3 was entirely absurd. Low, but not absurd.

I should have mentioned that the reasoning for the 3 was that the small error to hit the wall is deemed a 'massive error' so he can't score higher (the exact wording). Meanwhile Carlos Sainz made a similar, more costly error in qualifying but gets a 7, Mick Schumacher gets a five after a far bigger crash, and drivers have made similar mistakes all season and had their scores hardly affected. Verstappen had probably his worst weekend of the season, but there's no way that was a 3/10 performance, particularly given that reasoning.

[Knowlesy]

Originally Posted by BTCC frog

Maybe, but the official votes are really just a popularity contest, or one of who provided the most entertainment. It's like how Perez won it in Mexico despite being comfortably outraced by his teammate.

Yeah, they are pointless and always have been. I do wonder how much of the vote share is just Jos and Steve Nielsen at times.

It did mean we got a golden victim complex interview yesterday though.

[AndreasDavour]

Originally Posted by BTCC frog

Autosport gave Verstappen a three, the lowest of any driver. Both that and the DOTD are utterly absurd, he was somewhere in between (I gave him a 6/10). Esteban Ocon got my vote this weekend, despite losing the podium on the line. Kudos to Lewis Hamilton and Antonio Giovinazzi.

That's a good point actually. I had forgotten about Giovinazzi. He did quite well, I think. It has been a bit hard this year to judge him, considering he has beaten his teammate but also being beaten by him, all in a car that seems to be temperamental. His teammate is hard to judge as well, as he can be quite good when he is focused, and otherwise extremely bland.


I'm thinking Giovinazzi might actually be quite decent, all things considered. Maybe he is really made for a Ferrari career, though, as it sounds like he feels hard done by the powers that be. The hornets nest that is Ferrari would have been much worse than that, especially considering his nationality.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by S griffin

Can't believe the official DOTD was Max. He definitely did not deserve it.

Remember - that vote opens during the race, and closes one lap before the chequered flag.
So, for most of the time that poll was open, Max was leading the race and not facing any penalty.

[AndreasDavour]

Looking back at those votes, I think there are a portion of the voters who feel that driver of the day is the one who got the most points. I know I've seen both Lewis and Max get the DOTD award when they drove away into the distance and won.



Personally I tend to view those who transcend limits more worthy of my vote, but I'm grown to think that is not how many tv voters think.

[ascarracinguk]

Originally Posted by AndreasDavour

Looking back at those votes, I think there are a portion of the voters who feel that driver of the day is the one who got the most points. I know I've seen both Lewis and Max get the DOTD award when they drove away into the distance and won.



Personally I tend to view those who transcend limits more worthy of my vote, but I'm grown to think that is not how many tv voters think.

I would suggest that surviving and winning a race like that against max, under huge championship pressure knowing that your title rival could and was willing to end it at any point transcended the limits.

But hey thats the joy of these polls, we all work to different criteria and each opinion is valid

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by AndreasDavour

Looking back at those votes, I think there are a portion of the voters who feel that driver of the day is the one who got the most points.

Are you referring to the polls here, or on the official F1 site?

[ljakse]

After years of not posting, occasional reading, I simply have to express the joy to see that at least people here are not glorifying Max's "racing" on Sunday.
That DOTD was just a mobile-phone-generation vote with no idea what proper racing WITHOUT pushing others is.
Unfortunately, based on Max's own comments, he seems to think that what he does is proper racing.

[ascarracinguk]

Originally Posted by ljakse

After years of not posting, occasional reading, I simply have to express the joy to see that at least people here are not glorifying Max's "racing" on Sunday.
That DOTD was just a mobile-phone-generation vote with no idea what proper racing WITHOUT pushing others is.
Unfortunately, based on Max's own comments, he seems to think that what he does is proper racing.

Wholeheartedly agree!

There is a subtlety to motorsport, car placement, overtaking etc.

This was opitimised in Saudi.

Take Lewis for example, runs Max out of road at turn 1 but make sure he gives Max an out, ensuring he stays in control and on track himself.

Take Max at turn 1, flies down the inside of Lewis, our brakes himself intentionally, flying off the road and taking both of them off track.

One is acceptable, one is not. One is using your car defensively, one is using your car as a weapon.

Even when Lewis uses his car defensively at Turn 1, Max used his car as a weapon in rejoining, trying to baulk Hamilton, he had the option of rejoining in a safer manner but didn’t.

[AndreasDavour]

Originally Posted by ascarracinguk

I would suggest that surviving and winning a race like that against max, under huge championship pressure knowing that your title rival could and was willing to end it at any point transcended the limits.

But hey thats the joy of these polls, we all work to different criteria and each opinion is valid

I knew I should have quoted, as my post was actually in response to the post above me, i.e. referring to the official DOTD votes posted during the later part of the race, not the voting here on this site.


I totally agree with your description of Lewis performance above!

[AndreasDavour]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

Are you referring to the polls here, or on the official F1 site?

The official F1 site. I was posting in response to your post just above mine, but did not quote it, which made my reply stand by itself without supports and coming across as very unclear. Sorry about that.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by AndreasDavour

The official F1 site. I was posting in response to your post just above mine, but did not quote it, which made my reply stand by itself without supports and coming across as very unclear. Sorry about that.

No problem - and wasn't intending to make your post look poorly presented.

In reaction to the DOTD, I think part of the voting comes from the votes closing during the race. IF there is a late need to preserve tyres (for example) this would be missed by the voters.