[Official] Driver of The Grand Prix: Mexican Grand Prix 2015

[Born Racer]

Why is the driver of the Grand Prix on the return to Mexico?

[RichardRenes]

This is one of the few times where the option 'none' should have been available.. so i gave it to Alonso for still starting a race he knew was only going to be 1 laps long, just to please the fans.

[gert]

Yeah, you're right, no-one really did anything special today. Everyone finished pretty close to his teammate today.

I'll pick Button for correctly predicting Nasr's brake failure.

[Razzzor]

I suppose Kyvat. He wasn't far up ahead of Ricciardo but did pull a gap before and after SC, so he was legit faster than his very talented teammate, for once. He needs to do this more. Only prblem was losing 3rd, but it seemed like he couldn't do much about that, Bottas had so much more speed down that straight, the Renault was doing it's best imitation of a Honda.

Bottas was looking okay, but the move on Kimi was a bit aggressive, 50% his fault, 50% Kimi's.

Verstappen outperformed Sainz who was in mistakeville today, but then he himself lost positions to both FI's the maybe one of the Williams throughout the race, so it wasn't his usual standout performance.

[gert]

I think during the second half of the season Kvyat has been really close to Ricciardo

[Born Racer]

Bottas has to be a candidate. Really good drive and well ahead of his team-mate who has become a bit anonymous of late. Massa was driving well earlier this season and getting on top of Valtteri but now the Finn has found something again.


Nonetheless I'm going to give the credit to Rosberg on this occasion for resisting Hamilton. Lewis is a notorious hard charger for a win but even with the help of a safety car, he couldn't beat Nico today. Nico's line down to Turn 1 on lap one was also executed perfectly.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Nigel Mansell, for being the only F1 Champion to conduct a podium interview at the same track with a turn named after him.

[stripedcat]

I think it was Nico today. He got pole, took the lead(which he hasn't in the past) and resisted Hamilton. It reminded me of his earlier performances at Spain and Austria - and Brazil last year. Taking the lead - and the win.

Honourable mention to Bottas. A decent drive for him. Another podium.


Wally of the race - Vettel.

[Razzzor]

The problem is Nico had the race won from the first corner, it didn't really matter if Lewis was faster, they were always going to pit Nico with the better strategy since he was the leader, Lewis probably wasn't even allowed to go off strategy. He had no chance but to follow Nico home. Mercedes probably want Nico 2nd in the drivers championship more than they need Lewis to get another win.

Re Bottas, to be honest, if he can't beat Massa then he shouldn't be in F1. I know a lot of people will hate that comment because Massa is such a nice bloke, but he got the biggest beating by a teammate probably in F1 history, in the form of Alonso, and that's after years of being beaten by Schuey and, usually, Kimi, but Kimi has proven once again he's rather up and down and inconsistent with his performance year to year. 2008/09 was probably one of Kimi's off years, hence Ferrari firing him.

[gert]

Originally Posted by Razzzor

The problem is Nico had the race won from the first corner, it didn't really matter if Lewis was faster, they were always going to pit Nico with the better strategy since he was the leader, Lewis probably wasn't even allowed to go off strategy. He had no chance but to follow Nico home.

That's the same strategy they follow almost every race.
It has little or nothing to do with Mercedes preferring Nico to win.

I think pitting Lewis first would have been stupid
* it would have been contradictory to how they normally handle pitstops
* it would have appeared they preferred Lewis to win, not Nico.

You would have a point on Mercedes' possible preference - or how bad they want to finish 2nd in WDC as well - if Nico would have been 2nd on the road and called into pit first.
But that didn't happen.
Maybe next race? We'll see...

[VIVA GT]

Before the race had even started I was going to vote for Button on the strength of the fact that he was starting with a 70 place grid penalty, so to finish the same day would be an achievement! Having seen the race he still gets my vote as I think he did brilliantly with the machinery he was given for the race!

[bauble]

Originally Posted by VIVA GT

Before the race had even started I was going to vote for Button on the strength of the fact that he was starting with a 70 place grid penalty, so to finish the same day would be an achievement! Having seen the race he still gets my vote as I think he did brilliantly with the machinery he was given for the race!

A lot of people appear to vote for Jenson because he is Jenson Button

[Adam43]

I vote for him because he is Mark Webber.

[TheNo1F1Fan]

Rosberg.

[Greem]

Vettel, for showing he's got the stones to say sorry.

[chillibowl]

Originally Posted by Razzzor

The problem is Nico had the race won from the first corner, it didn't really matter if Lewis was faster, they were always going to pit Nico with the better strategy since he was the leader...

i was a bit surprised with LH taking an extra two laps after NR had pitted.

Nico on lap 26, LH on 28, and then NR on 46 and LH on 48. if Nico's was the optimal strategy then why would LH wait an extra lap, rather why move one lap further away from the optimal strategy? so i feel like LH was trying to take a different approach which ultimately did not materialize as tire wear was higher than expected.

anyways i gave the vote to NR. he did what he had too and that was dominate his dominant team mate. small victory perhaps but something he can build on.

[bjohnsonsmith]

On reflection though, Button for a superb drive from 70th on the grid to 14th.

[gert]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

On reflection though, Button for a superb drive from 70th on the grid to 14th.

90th

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by gert

90th

Math was never my strong point, so even better.

[bauble]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

Math was never my strong point, so even better.

Likewise, but by my junior school maths level I reckon Jenson started 11th. in Singapore.

IE; 20 places back puts him last I'm the USA, 20 more and last in Russia, yet another 20 grid drops and he's last in Japan. That's sixty places, so 10 more and he is 11th. in Singapore!!!!!

It sounds whacky I know but how else can it work?

Maybe I should go back to skool.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by bauble

Likewise, but by my junior school maths level I reckon Jenson started 11th. in Singapore.

IE; 20 places back puts him last I'm the USA, 20 more and last in Russia, yet another 20 grid drops and he's last in Japan. That's sixty places, so 10 more and he is 11th. in Singapore!!!!!

It sounds whacky I know but how else can it work?

Maybe I should go back to skool.

I'm totally confused .

[bauble]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

I'm totally confused .

BJ! Logical! To go back 70 places Jenson has to go back in time, which makes him an ideal candidate to be the next Doctor Who.

Another possible scenario is that he drops places over the next few races until he has taken all 70 grid drops. OK so far?

So let us assume, for he sake of my maths, that JB qualifies 8th. in Brazil. He goes back ten places to the back of the grid, then in Abu Dhabi he qualifies 1st. (chuckle) he drops 18 places to the back of the field. Ah! There are no more races this year so he carries over a further 42 drops into 2016.

Not very good for our nice Mr Button, so I will stick with my original plan and he starts 10th. in Singapore.

Let us hope for the sake of our collective sanity he has no more engine/gearbox failures in the next two rounds.


Nurse The pills.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by bauble

BJ! Logical! To go back 70 places Jenson has to go back in time, which makes him an ideal candidate to be the next Doctor Who.

Another possible scenario is that he drops places over the next few races until he has taken all 70 grid drops. OK so far?

So let us assume, for he sake of my maths, that JB qualifies 8th. in Brazil. He goes back ten places to the back of the grid, then in Abu Dhabi he qualifies 1st. (chuckle) he drops 18 places to the back of the field. Ah! There are no more races this year so he carries over a further 42 drops into 2016.

Not very good for our nice Mr Button, so I will stick with my original plan and he starts 10th. in Singapore.

Let us hope for the sake of our collective sanity he has no more engine/gearbox failures in the next two rounds.


Nurse The pills.

Doctor Who,

But bauble, you originally said Button would start 11th in Singapore. #20

[TrapezeArtist]

Originally Posted by bauble

BJ! Logical! To go back 70 places Jenson has to go back in time, which makes him an ideal candidate to be the next Doctor Who.

By any logical scenario, a 70 place grid penalty would have had Jenson starting from the city centre in Mexico City.

[TrapezeArtist]

Bottas. Got on the podium, which is about as high as anyone can get in a non-Mercedes. And did it despite the unwanted attention of hid fellow-Finn.

Obviously I could have gone for Rosberg, and I nearly did. It's just that the attempted Finnish fratricide swung it in VB's favour.

Vettel may have been having a bad day at the office, but Raikkonen is a clear winner of POTR. I was a big fan when he first came into F1, but he has been sliding downhill ever since. His radio transmissions and interviews are sometimes amusing, but his close-quarters driving is becoming something of an embarrassment.