[Official] Driver of the Grand Prix: British Grand Prix 2018

[Born Racer]

Who do you think the driver of the British Grand Prix is?

[Aysedasi]

It has to be Hamilton for me. Not for any jingoistic reasons either. Last to 2nd, great performance. OK, he has one of the best two cars, but still did a good job. Other than that, I'm not picking all that much out in the kudos stakes; Haas flattered to deceive, but the Hulk did well.

[Red]

Bernd Maylander, he led the most laps I believe. Special mention to Kimi Raikkonen, he pulled a few on track battles, without team orders.

[EffectiveSprinkles]

Vettel. Got unlucky with the SC but made no mistakes and pulled off a great overtake. And his start was sublime.

[GT6]

Well had to think but for me the drive of the day was Lewis, First to last on the first lap and then back to Second, was slightly helped by the fact that there were 6 cars so much faster than all the others and really only 4 cars in the race for the podium.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Alonso, finished a creditable 8th in a car that he knows is well below par, even before FP1.

[Racer65]

Wouldn't say he was "slightly" helped. There were only 3 other cars in the race and he wouldn't have caught them without the safety cars. No-one he overtook put up the slightest fight either.

At the end of the day the reason why he was in the position he was was because he messed up his start and got into a battle he shouldn't be in whereas Vettel didn't put a foot wrong the whole race so he has to be driver of the day for me.

[P38 in workshop]

I went for Vettel,hard not to.Hamilton is clearly a magnificent racing driver,but as a human-its a bit early to make pronouncements,lets return to the topic when hes grown up.

[Aysedasi]

I thought it was Driver of the Race, not an assessment of a driver's qualities as a human being?

[ASCII Man]

Vettel, without doubt.

Lewis' so-called charge through the field was no more than some farcical theater thanks to the enormous gap in performance coupled with a DRS that turned normally hard earned passing into nothing more than a formality, and a joke.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by ASCII Man

Vettel, without doubt.

Lewis' so-called charge through the field was no more than some farcical theater thanks to the enormous gap in performance coupled with a DRS that turned normally hard earned passing into nothing more than a formality, and a joke.

I didn't see what was exceptional about Lewis's charge, there was no contest when it came to passing the cars/drivers that were further down the field and has been pointed out, it showed the massive discrepancy, between the front of the grid and the rest of the field.

[Kempi]

Vettel as well. Could have given it to Kimi as well for also making good work but that T3 mishap killed his chances.

Vettel had to overcome the disadvantage of the Safety Car and other than Hamilton actually managed to pass an equally fast car on true terms. Hamilton did not have to fight any of the Top 3 team cars. Bottas does not count because he moved over.

[TrapezeArtist]

I'm amazed that people are voting for Seb. He won because his team-mate turfed his main rival out of the race on the first lap. A meritorious race, yes, but not DOTR.

Lewis has been criticised above for the ease with which he passed lower order cars. Well of course, that's why they're down there and he's up at the top. The reality is, he was flying and turning in lap-times quicker than the other front-runners throughout most of the race. Regardless of the sluggish start, he would have won the race if it were not for Kimi.

Kimi certainly gave us some excitement in his battle with Max, which he ultimately lost. That could have ended up the same way as Kimi v Lewis, but Max ran off the track completely rather than just "giving Kimi room". Perhaps that was Lewis' mistake.

Well done Fernando, too. Taking the McLaren to places it has no right to be. If only Williams had a driver like that.

[Kempi]

Vettel won because he won the start. Lewis completely botched the start putting himself even behind his teammate.

I know Mercedes are trying to make it look like Ferrari now have the strategy of punting of Mercedes but that is silly. Or, as Vettel said: , at least, would struggle to be that precise and take somebody out. In France I lost my wing, so I screwed my race. (...)"

[VIVA GT]

At the end of the race yesterday I thought immediately that Driver of the Race must go to Lewis. To go from plumb last on the first lap to finishing second was far better than anyone else had achieved. Then when he went off & sulked instead of talking to Martin Brundle at the end of the race, and when hew was finally interviewed, to accuse Ferrari of deliberately taking him out at the start of the race was a ridiculous statement to make.
If Lewis had made as good a start as everyone else, Kimi would have been nowhere near him to 'take him out, so that was a driving error. But, others made driving errors too, Kimi obviously locked up and ploughed into Lewis, Seb ran wide an more than a few occasions, and from what I saw, no one else had a flawless drive either.
So, I have returned to my original opinion and have voted for Lewis as DOTR, because his drive through the field was brilliant driving (despite him being in one of the faster cars). If the award was for Person of the Race however my vote would not have gone to lewsi.

[F J Nedos]

Kimi, for stirring the pot

[Neil22]

Vettel, with kudos to Lewis and Kimi.

[chunterer]

Kimi. Because he drove like a man possessed! Don't think i've seen that level of entertainment from him since Suzuka '05.

[S griffin]

Too many people focusing on the front four. I vote for the Hulk. Brilliant drive to be best of the rest in 6th

[gert]

Originally Posted by S griffin

Too many people focusing on the front four. I vote for the Hulk. Brilliant drive to be best of the rest in 6th

Good choice!

I can see why people voted for Vettel though (I did). He had a very good start and managed to overtake his main championship rival. He also had to overtake the other Mercedes and had to put up a fight for it.

I think Hamilton's comeback drive was nothing really special: the cars he overtook never made a fight of it (*). Same goes for most of Kimi's comeback, although he had to overtake the Red Bulls on track.


(*) I do understand why, they don't want to get involved in a fight that isn't theirs and only costing them time.

[F1Guy]

LOL! His main championship rival got taken out by his team-mate, and he had to fight for the win!!???

Oh please!!


Same old story in here too. If Petal leads from lights to flag, or even finishes on the podium, he will end up as the DOTR on this forum. Hamilton get's taken out, with a sensational comeback from dead last to second, and he doesn't deserve DOTR?? Give me a break!!

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

I thought it was Driver of the Race, not an assessment of a driver's qualities as a human being?

Exactly. I think some see Hamilton as a different type of human being, and this has a major influence to their voting ability.

[Mekola]

Somehow Lewis' performance on this race reminds me highly those of Jim Clark on 1967 Italian GP, and even Senna's 1988 Brazilian one. Then gets my vote.

[Mekola]

Originally Posted by F1Guy

Exactly. I think some see Hamilton as a different type of human being, and this has a major influence to their voting ability.

Go to Long Beach, my friend, you'll find comfortable there.
Chris Pook will do the rest.

[ASCII Man]

Originally Posted by Mekola

Somehow Lewis' performance on this race reminds me highly those of Jim Clark on 1967 Italian GP, and even Senna's 1988 Brazilian one. Then gets my vote.

No, just no. Stop comparing current drivers with those from the past, please.

Hamilton had it really easy with his car + the overkill that is DRS, the mere presence of it just made his performance light years away from what Clark and Senna did in a lot tougher and dangerous circumstances.

[wnut]

Originally Posted by VIVA GT

At the end of the race yesterday I thought immediately that Driver of the Race must go to Lewis. To go from plumb last on the first lap to finishing second was far better than anyone else had achieved. Then when he went off & sulked instead of talking to Martin Brundle at the end of the race, and when hew was finally interviewed, to accuse Ferrari of deliberately taking him out at the start of the race was a ridiculous statement to make.
If Lewis had made as good a start as everyone else, Kimi would have been nowhere near him to 'take him out, so that was a driving error. But, others made driving errors too, Kimi obviously locked up and ploughed into Lewis, Seb ran wide an more than a few occasions, and from what I saw, no one else had a flawless drive either.
So, I have returned to my original opinion and have voted for Lewis as DOTR, because his drive through the field was brilliant driving (despite him being in one of the faster cars). If the award was for Person of the Race however my vote would not have gone to lewsi.

Stone last to 6th in 10 laps (no pit stops for any runner - other than 1 retirement) says it all. What are we watching?