Which F1 driver was the best performer during the Canadian Grand Prix weekend?
Review how each driver got on below and vote for who impressed you the most during the last race weekend.
Canadian Grand Prix driver-by-driver
Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton – Despite topping both sessions on Friday he had a scruffy start to the weekend – a spin in first practice, a bizarre crash in the second, and in the third he was last after failing to get a clean lap in before the red flags started to fly. Rosberg ran him close in qualifying but Hamilton prevailed by a comfortable margin. He pulled clear in the first stint but Rosberg kept him honest after they switched to softs, the gap rarely more than two seconds. Even so, a fourth win for Hamilton never really looked in doubt.
Nico Rosberg – Pole position was within his grasp but he had the misfortune to be allocated a duff set of tyres for one of his runs in Q3. Although eager not to appear to be making “excuses”, Rosberg said the inferior set left him short of grip, and he lined up second. He pressed Hamilton hard in the second half of the race, despite his brakes reaching a “critical” state at one stage, but had to settle for the runner-up spot.
Red Bull
Daniel Ricciardo – Last year’s winner was downcast after only managing ninth on the grid behind his team mate at a track where Red Bull’s greatest weakness was exposed. He slipped out of the points in the race and was at a loss to understand why. “We just couldn’t get any pace out of the car,” he said. “It is something we will look at to understand what the cause was.”
Daniil Kvyat – Out-qualified Ricciardo for the second time since they became team mates. Realistically he was never going to be able to keep Massa and Vettel behind in the race, but he had to keep his foot down to stay ahead of the recovering Grosjean.
Williams
Felipe Massa – A problem with Massa’s turbocharger robbed him of power in qualifying and consigned him to a 15th-placed start. Some well-worked passes helped him make up ground, including a superb side-by-side dice with Ericsson, as did the race’s longest stint on the super-soft tyres – 33 laps. He capped a fine damage limitation run by taking sixth place off Maldonado.
Valtteri Bottas – Delivered under pressure at the end of Q3 to move ahead of both Lotus drivers for fourth place – and he was less than a tenth off Raikkonen. “That was as quick as the thing goes,” he said on his way back to the pits. Although he couldn’t keep pace with Raikkonen in the race he was quick enough to take advantage of his rival’s spin at the chicane. So for the third time this year he came home ahead of a Ferrari – and this time it earned him a podium finish.
Ferrari
Sebastian Vettel – Power unit trouble was an inconvenience in practice – and a major problem in qualifying, where it put him out in Q1. Then it transpired he had overtaken Merhi under red flags in practice, incurring a five-place penalty which left him 18th. Made an early pit stop at the end of lap seven but a slow tyre change cost him more time, as did a contretemps with Alonso at the chicane. But he kept picking off his rivals and strong pace after his second pit stop brought him up to fifth place behind his team mate.
Kimi Raikkonen – With Vettel sidelined, Ferrari needed Raikkonen to deliver in qualifying and this time he did, netting a useful third. However a spin after his pit stop allowed Bottas to jump him for third place, and after aggressively spinning his tyres up he had to pit for a new set. Fortunately no one else was close enough to take advantage. He pitted for a fresh set of tyres but couldn’t catch the Williams – afterwards Maurizio Arrivabene suggested Raikkonen was managing some other problem at this stage.
McLaren
Fernando Alonso – Missed most of final practice while his power unit was changed, but despite the Honda’s lack of power he got into Q2 where he claimed 13th on the grid. However he lost places to several rivals early on and was clearly unhappy when told he needed to save fuel. Capping his misery, the car failed soon afterwards.
Jenson Button – A power unit failure at the end of final practice meant Button was a spectator in qualifying, much as he was in Bahrain. He also had to serve a drive-through penalty after changing power unit components, and just as he was relishing the prospect of bolting on super-softs for a late push, his car broke down too. An abject weekend for McLaren.
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Force India
Nico Hulkenberg – Equalled the team’s best qualifying result with seventh, at a track where Force India’s Mercedes engine neutralised some of their usual disadvantage. A late-braking move at turn three got him ahead of Maldonado at the start, but a much earlier pit stop for the Lotus driver got him back ahead. Hulkenbreg then spun while trying to defend seventh place from Vettel. “I probably shouldn’t have tried so hard to defend against Seb,” he admitted, “but when you’re a racer you just don’t want to give up a position without a fight.” That scuppered any chance of catching Maldonado at the end, and he finished eighth.
Sergio Perez – If he’d been able to replicate his Q2 lap time in Q3 he’d have started eighth on the grid behind his team mate, but struggled to generate tyre temperature on his out lap. Tyre, brake and fuel-saving was the story of the latter part of Perez’s race. He finished eleventh, and Force India’s effort to get another penalty for Grosjean so their man would inherit tenth came to naught.
Toro Rosso
Max Verstappen – Arrived in Montreal with a five-place grid penalty from Monaco, then copped another ten-place penalty for an engine change, which turned into a ten-second penalty in the race when it couldn’t be applied in full. He made it into the points places by staying out late, but the inevitable penalty dropped him out of contention again.
Carlos Sainz Jnr – The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve was new to both Toro Rosso drivers and Sainz prevailed in qualifying to the tune of two tenths of a second. He got ahead of Ricciardo for 12th, but the day was always going to offer little for the Renault-powered cars. “With all the fuel saving and lift-off we had to do, it was very difficult out there,” Sainz reflected.
Lotus
Romain Grosjean – Lotus were quick from the word go in Canada and Grosjean could even afford to feel slightly disappointed with fifth on the grid. He said his out-lap preparation had been compromised after Lotus sent both cars out of the pits simultaneously for their final runs. He was on course to deliver fifth place in the race when he tripped over Stevens’ Manor while lapping his rival, picking up a puncture. That dropped him to tenth, which he held despite his five-second time penalty. To his credit, having blamed Stevens initially for the contact Grosjean later accepted responsibility.
Pastor Maldonado – Backed up Grosjean in sixth despite a spin early in qualifying. Having lost a place to Hulkenberg at the start he pitted early and ran the longest stint of any driver – 53 laps on the soft rubber – to take his first points of the season for seventh.
Sauber
Marcus Ericsson – Sauber did have the benefit of Ferrari’s engine upgrade in Canada. Ericsson blamed traffic for not qualifying better but still came out ahead of his team mate. He ran to a lowly 14th, then had to park up immediately after the chequered flag with a fuel system problem.
Felipe Nasr – A nasty-looking crash in final practice was blamed on Nasr hitting the DRS button while he was weaving to warm his tyres up. Mercifully only his pride and car were damaged. Suffered a lack of power from the start of the race and had to cope with overheating brakes as well.
Manor
Will Stevens – Said he was a little less comfortable with his car than usual after being pipped by Merhi in qualifying. Was running behind his team mate at the time of his collision with Grosjean. “I left him so much room,” said Stevens. “It was an unnecessary accident.”
Roberto Merhi – Beat Stevens in qualifying for the first time this year by little more than two-hundredths of a second, and was on course to lead him home in the race until a driveshaft fault put him out.
Qualifying and race results summary
| Driver | Started | Gap to team mate (Q) | Laps leading team mate | Pitted | Finished | Gap to team mate (R) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lewis Hamilton | 1st | -0.309s | 69/70 | 1 | 1st | -2.285s | |
| Nico Rosberg | 2nd | +0.309s | 1/70 | 1 | 2nd | +2.285s | |
| Daniel Ricciardo | 9th | +0.035s | 0/69 | 1 | 13th | +33.232s | |
| Daniil Kvyat | 8th | -0.035s | 69/69 | 1 | 9th | -33.232s | |
| Felipe Massa | 15th | +1.334s | 0/70 | 1 | 6th | +15.715s | |
| Valtteri Bottas | 4th | -1.334s | 70/70 | 1 | 3rd | -15.715s | |
| Sebastian Vettel | 18th | +1.085s | 0/70 | 2 | 5th | +4.278s | |
| Kimi Raikkonen | 3rd | -1.085s | 70/70 | 2 | 4th | -4.278s | |
| Fernando Alonso | 13th | 44/44 | 1 | ||||
| Jenson Button | 20th | 0/44 | 1 | ||||
| Nico Hulkenberg | 7th | -0.724s | 69/69 | 1 | 8th | -29.139s | |
| Sergio Perez | 10th | +0.724s | 0/69 | 1 | 11th | +29.139s | |
| Max Verstappen | 19th | +0.203s | 12/69 | 1 | 15th | +18.014s | |
| Carlos Sainz Jnr | 11th | -0.203s | 57/69 | 1 | 12th | -18.014s | |
| Romain Grosjean | 5th | -0.135s | 48/69 | 2 | 10th | Not on same lap | |
| Pastor Maldonado | 6th | +0.135s | 21/69 | 1 | 7th | Not on same lap | |
| Marcus Ericsson | 12th | -0.358s | 68/68 | 1 | 14th | Not on same lap | |
| Felipe Nasr | 14th | +0.358s | 0/68 | 1 | 16th | Not on same lap | |
| Will Stevens | 17th | +0.024s | 27/57 | 2 | 17th | ||
| Roberto Merhi | 16th | -0.024s | 30/57 | 1 |
Review the race data
- 2015 Canadian Grand Prix lap charts
- 2015 Canadian Grand Prix tyre strategies and pit stops
- 2015 Canadian Grand Prix lap times and fastest laps
Vote for your driver of the weekend
Which driver do you think did the best job this weekend?
Cast your vote below and explain your choice in the comments.
Who was the best driver of the 2015 Canadian Grand Prix weekend?
- Roberto Merhi (0%)
- Will Stevens (0%)
- Felipe Nasr (0%)
- Marcus Ericsson (0%)
- Pastor Maldonado (5%)
- Romain Grosjean (0%)
- Carlos Sainz Jnr (0%)
- Max Verstappen (1%)
- Sergio Perez (0%)
- Nico Hulkenberg (3%)
- Jenson Button (0%)
- Fernando Alonso (2%)
- Kimi Raikkonen (0%)
- Sebastian Vettel (42%)
- Valtteri Bottas (14%)
- Felipe Massa (10%)
- Daniil Kvyat (2%)
- Daniel Ricciardo (0%)
- Nico Rosberg (0%)
- Lewis Hamilton (21%)
Total Voters: 699
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2015 Canadian Grand Prix
- Fifth-placed Vettel wins Driver of the Weekend
- Even Montreal can’t lift F1 from its 2015 torpor
- Sponsor watch: Spain, Monaco and Canada 2015
- 2015 Canadian Grand Prix team radio transcript
- Top ten pictures from the 2015 Canadian Grand Prix
Debates and polls
- Will Daniel Ricciardo be racing in Formula 1 in 2024?
- Massa wants “justice” over Crashgate. But what penalty did it deserve?
- Should the stewards have taken action over Russell-Verstappen collision?
- After 25 grands prix, has F1’s ground effect revolution improved racing?
- Do late-race standing restarts belong in F1?
lockup (@)
8th June 2015, 12:45
I’m tempted to go for Seb, for his stunning pace, though some of his racecraft / passing was a bit shaky. Valterri? Carlos? I’m not sure.
Ivan B (@njoydesign)
8th June 2015, 13:59
I was torn between Vettel and Kvyat, but went with Kvyat. The only Renault powered car in the top ten, been ahead of his teammate all weekend ona track where his teammate won last year, great defending in the race. A little hero.
yore
8th June 2015, 15:43
Yeah. I am a bit upset I cannot vote for him, since I picked Seb. Great drive. Amazing really.
Iestyn Davies (@fastiesty)
8th June 2015, 21:13
@njoydesign I’m surprised there aren’t more votes for Kvyat, Hulkenberg, Sainz and Ericsson. Kvyat was doing remarkable times for someone with a Renault engine!
Ivan B (@njoydesign)
8th June 2015, 21:28
@fastiesty Yeah, he is being absolutely ignored =)
yore
9th June 2015, 1:10
+1
Broom (@)
8th June 2015, 14:00
He also did overtake someone under reds in quali. He had a great race though.
Lance (@lancelot)
8th June 2015, 14:04
Which he was already punished for.
Broom (@)
8th June 2015, 16:26
As he should have been. It was a very poor error for a driver of his ability and experience.
Transmix (@transmix)
9th June 2015, 20:13
I guess it’s not the first time when he’s done it
spoutnik (@spoutnik)
8th June 2015, 18:42
Impossible for me due to the red flag.
Euro Brun (@eurobrun)
8th June 2015, 20:56
agreed. otherwise close
Eric Morman (@lethalnz)
9th June 2015, 4:31
i am not a Massa fan but i thought he deserved it, great drive to end up in 5th.
Atticus (@atticus-2)
8th June 2015, 12:46
For once, I would go for Fernando Alonso – he had a superb quali (for once), a great first lap, climbing the joint-highest places and showed his great racing skills in defending from all the faster cars, particularly from the Ferrari of Vettel. He really didn’t deserve his DNF and his outrage at his package was quite understandable considering he must have seen he delivered everything once again for no visible result at all.
spafrancorchamps
8th June 2015, 15:11
I agree. Alonso was man of the weekend for me too. Superb qualifying as he was really on the edge of every corner. Then during the race he had a fantastic start and and was doing his outmost best to keep much faster cars behibd him. Without this stupid DRS he would have succeeded to keep at least the STR’s and Sauber’s behind him, but maybe Massa as well and probably Vettel a bit longer than he did.
Then going all loud against this fuel saving nonsense F1 has gotten into, made him for me the best driver of the weekend.
Unfortunately, a driver of his caliber is driving 14th-16th. It’s a shame to see him drive in that McLaren.
Others who were doing a great job this race: Massa and surely Hamilton.
J (@jerr)
9th June 2015, 21:50
I agree with you, voted for Vettel but after reading your comment I remembered his battle with Vettel and realized I answered to quick.
Christopher Rehn (@chrischrill)
8th June 2015, 12:49
It’s difficult because most drivers did what was expected, no more. I can’t vote for Vettel only because of his red flag incident – very clumsy. I’m tempted to vote Massa but he still didn’t perform THAT amazingly. The top 3 delivered solid performances but nobody overperformed.
Christopher Rehn (@chrischrill)
8th June 2015, 12:50
It’s Bottas or Massa, I’d think… How about Massa for DOTW? Sure, he’ll have it!
Simon (@weeniebeenie)
8th June 2015, 13:00
Seems like quite a harsh reason to discount Vettel. It was a mistake, sure, but it had no consequence on his weekend, just a minor error of judgement.
D (@f190)
8th June 2015, 15:03
@weeniebeenie
Its a mistake which gets you thrown out of most Karting tracks. I’m unsure on how much it impacted his race, but if he started from a few places higher he may have had a chance to take Kimi at the end.
Graham (@guitargraham)
8th June 2015, 15:16
ive seen race bans for less
MarkM (@mpmark)
8th June 2015, 20:56
@f190 if Vettel didn’t have that sticky left wheel that wouldn’t come off on his first stop in the pits he would have been 5 sec closer to Kimi, would have made a great finish for 4th.
JerseyF1 (@jerseyf1)
8th June 2015, 15:44
It’s the reason I didn’t vote for Vettel. It was a very basic mistake to make and almost arrogant to think the red flag didn’t apply to equally to him as the Manor he overtook. I’m generally a van of Vettel and no doubt over the course of the race he did a great job, but for blatantly and intentionally breaking one of the most fundamental rules (and as a result getting a deserved punishment which may have adversely impacted his race result) I couldn’t put him as my DOTW.
I thought about Hamilton and Hulkenberg but in the end my vote went to Bottas.
Park
8th June 2015, 16:39
Why rule out Massa?
pSynrg (@psynrg)
8th June 2015, 13:03
Vettel. Such a brilliant racer, a couple of moves were a bit rash but that’s because he is just that, an out and out racer!
D (@f190)
8th June 2015, 13:08
He’s such a racer he can’t stop, even under red flags !
curmudgeon (@curmudgeon)
8th June 2015, 13:33
Voted for Vettel. Great performance on race day when it counts and it is lucky for Mercedes that Seb started in P18. Looking at his race pace, he might have otherwise given the silver arrows trouble as they had brake and fuel issues.
AdrianMorse (@adrianmorse)
8th June 2015, 13:06
A difficult choice as there was no driver that really stood out over the whole weekend. I considered Vettel, Bottas, and Massa. Vettel for his outstanding race pace, Bottas for a typical fast-yet-somewhat invisible podium, but in the end I gave it to Massa for his pass on Ericsson.
Christopher Rehn (@chrischrill)
8th June 2015, 15:50
That was really the only good battle of the race. Very clean and tight overtake with the two drivers staying fair but firm.
Jules Winfield (@jules-winfield)
8th June 2015, 13:11
I would have voted for the groundhog if that had been an option, but it wasn’t, so I voted Massa as he (and Ericsson) provided the most entertaining moment of the race.
Brian Frank (@brianfrank302)
8th June 2015, 18:15
+1 on the groundhog
Iosif (@afonic)
8th June 2015, 13:15
I think Massa really deserves it this week. He started at the back of the grid, with no fault of his own, and made his way to the best position his Williams could achieve. He made clean overtakes (with DRS help of course), and the best pass of the race, to Ericsson.
Vettel on the other hand, also left out of Q1 for reasons out of his control, however he made a stupid mistake at practive which cost him another 5 places on the grid. Then, even though his pace was great, he made a mistake trying to pass Alonso, and also had a moment with Hulkenberg. However his pace at the end was amazing, gets you wondering what would’ve happened if he started at P3 as usual.
So Massa it is for me.
BasCB (@bascb)
8th June 2015, 13:31
Agree with your choice for Massa. As well as the reasoning for not giving it to Vettel @afonic
As for Hamilton, its much the same why Vettel was often not in contention for DotW when he was winning everything.
Colin (@kairat)
8th June 2015, 18:43
There was no “moment” with Hulk. Vettel was just driving aggressively and did nothing wrong, as Hulk himself said later. Hell, Force India’s Bob Fernley said he had no complaints about it:
“That was an aggressive move but a good move. I’d like to see more of that being ignored.”
Kudos to Vettel for actually racing despite playing it safe.
Colin (@kairat)
8th June 2015, 18:44
despite*=instead of
Iosif (@afonic)
8th June 2015, 18:59
To be honest, I had not read Hulk’s comments before posting that. Still, sadly in this DRS era, the best thing when you have a superior car is to play it safe, and wait for a clean overtake.
vtf
9th June 2015, 17:51
Yeah. For example Vettel went for a DRS pass the second time with Alonso. He did the smart thing, but it was a tiny bit disappointing for the viewer.
phil
9th June 2015, 17:54
That was a good move. People criticize it but it was amazing that he did go for an overtake inside chicane instead of waiting for more DRS zones. Inside chicane! Vauv.
Park
8th June 2015, 13:21
I think Massa should beat Vettel on this. Massa started at P15, but Vettel effectively started at P16. Felipe lost the position to Seb because of the disadvantage of his strategy.
BasCB (@bascb)
8th June 2015, 13:32
More importantly, Vettel was partly at fault for starting as far back as he did (with the red flag thing)
Park
8th June 2015, 14:19
Don’t forget, Ferrari is still better at tyre management, which should give Seb more freedom to push the tyre during his battels.
Park
8th June 2015, 14:27
* push the tyres in the battles
ulu
8th June 2015, 16:00
Vettel overtook twice the same people. He was dead last after his pit. Everything going wrong in a race weekend, a bit like Button 2011, a SC or something to spice things up would have made it very similar.
HS (@hsvdt15)
8th June 2015, 13:28
Voted Maldonado. Yes, he was outqualified by Grosjean, but he kept out of trouble and raced excellently wheel to wheel when it mattered, and finally scored some points.
ulu
8th June 2015, 16:01
I was impressed with his intelligent manner of racing really. Good job Pastor!
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
8th June 2015, 13:37
Tempted to give it to Nasr for giving us the rookiest moment ever and a good laugh.
Bottas, I guess. Everyone else made mistakes. But don’t truly great drivers drive it quicker than the thing goes?
vtf
8th June 2015, 16:05
What mistake did Bottas’s teammate do? Also, I think Massa had a better pace.
petebaldwin (@)
8th June 2015, 17:35
@bullfrog – Imagine how crazy everyone would be going if Verstappen had made the mistake Nasr did…
Nase (@)
8th June 2015, 13:43
Okay, so there were very few truly outstanding contenders. Vettel comes to mind, but that red flag incident makes it impossible for me to vote for him. That has to be the silliest mistake so far this year, and that’s not for a lack of silly mistakes … Hats off to him, however, for thoroughly eclipsing Räikkönen, and, even though he finished slightly behind the Finn, making the latter’s talk about needing better qualifyings, and nothing more, sound incredibly hollow.
What about Hamilton? I guess his performance lacked something extra. Keeping your team mate just over the 1 second gap for most of the race is quite a nice feat, but since said team mate had to avoid driving in the slipstream for many laps to keep his brakes from failing, this sounds somewhat less exciting. The fact that Mercedes follows the rules by the letter when Rosberg asks for information about Hamilton, but seems to have a more liberal approach when it’s Hamilton who’s asking, also casts some shadow over a well-deserved and clean performance whenever it counted.
I’m going for the inevitable outsider vote: Massa.
Let me explain why:
When Massa pitted, after spending 37 laps in traffic through no fault of his own (after all, it was a turbo charger failure that got him stuck in Q1), he rejoined the track with a gap of 59 seconds to the lead and more than 37 seconds behind his team mate, Bottas. Obviously, those numbers aren’t too impressive.
But from then on, his race was outstanding. Having to complete 33 laps on the super-soft tyres, more than anyone else that day, he unleashed his pace and finished the race with a gap of less than 16 seconds to Bottas. Thus, his final stint was on average more than 6 tenths per lap faster than his team mate’s – on a track that hardly allows such differences, and with tyres that must’ve been marginal in the final laps.
To top it off, he also managed to reduce his gap to Hamilton by some 3 seconds. Doesn’t sound too impressive at first, but in other words, his final stint was faster than the Mercedes’! With a car that lost 40 seconds to the Mercedes in Bottas’s hands!
To sum it up: Even though his result looks a bit meager, I don’t think anyone deserves it more than Felipe Massa.
JerseyF1 (@jerseyf1)
8th June 2015, 15:48
I must have missed this – can you provide a link or quotes?
JerseyF1 (@jerseyf1)
8th June 2015, 15:48
@nase
Nase (@)
8th June 2015, 16:57
@jerseyf1:
What @hahailham1 said. I’m afraid I have no links on the subject as of now, but surely Keith will provide us with his radio message transcript soon.
vtf
8th June 2015, 16:04
It was cringe-worthy from Mercedes really. Blatant number 1 moment from the team.
Ilham Shaq (@hahailham1)
8th June 2015, 16:29
@jerseyf1 maybe @keithcollantine will post the radio message for us later on, i’ll quote @afonic quote on another article :
bchgrl1478 (@svfan)
8th June 2015, 21:07
The German and Austrian broadcasters also picked up on that and were talking about why Hamilton was being being given information on Rosberg’s fuel/brake problem status.
Ilham Shaq (@hahailham1)
8th June 2015, 16:31
agree with this one, vote for massa, too.
Drg
8th June 2015, 18:30
I find all this ‘he must be a number 1’ stuff ridiculous. I mean what are you folks trying to get from this? Yet another rod to smack him over the head because you don’t like him and he has this embarrassing ability to win three times as many races as his team mate in that ‘dominant car’ regardless of where he starts? Honestly grow up!
More to the point – yes there was a tiny ‘coaching’ infringement somewhere there. By an engineer who had put up with pretty much everything you can imagine in the last two weeks and to add just even more misery, he had his father die during that time span.
Surely even the most rabid on here can see the man was under extreme pressure both on and off the track and that as the ‘engineer’ that called Monaco, has probably been beating himself up even more that you guys can.
So what do the LH anti brigade do? Immediately start with the ‘look he is being coached’ or ‘LH has a number 1 status’ as if his results do not actually suggest he could not go anywhere and expect such! But no he lives in a team that treats them equally and his poor grieving engineer makes a slight slip that frankly made zero difference to the race yet somehow, once again the ‘anti’ brigade are there with their clubs to beat him over the head with.
Have just a little humility folks – Bonno lost his father and a very important race for his chap all in a week. A slip of the tongue that they were warned and did not repeat is hardly the reason NR could not win the race!
Look at the reality – the only time he has even looked like battling or winning over LH is with super new sticky tyres against knackered yards such as Bahrain 14 (he lost) or starting at the front. And that does not work too well given how many times LH gets past him when he does. In fact only tracks that hate overtaking give him a chance. And that’s when he is in front!
Given in three years and 50 odd races he has yet to take the fight to LH on track, overtake him and win without something dramatic helping him… Well knowing the fuel levels a few laps from the end.. No sorry – not biting…
Iosif (@afonic)
8th June 2015, 18:48
Well my problem isn’t with Rosberg or Hamilton and who is number 1, I couldn’t care less. I had just watched a race where for 2 hours the two leading cars were driving 1-2 secs apart, and still it was so boring the director was showing us battles for the 10th place.
So anything that Mercedes could have done to make sure their drivers won’t fight, yes it concerns me. I don’t have the data the judge that, but lets say, just for the sake of the argument, that Nico has had some extra fuel. Then the reply “I can’t comment on that” could have been “you have some extra fuel, go for it”, quite a difference, isn’t it?
I would also like to know if letting a driver know of another driver’s fuel level is allowed or not, and if not, why Lewis didn’t get a warning.
D (@f190)
8th June 2015, 22:36
I understand your point, but it would also be quite different if they said “low on fuel Nico, save some” wouldn’t it. Had they said that, no doubt people would say its about giving Hamilton an easy win etc etc. We’ve seen before they don’t mind the drivers fighting, we’ve also seen both drivers are highly likely to ignore anything the team says anyway, so why do people think Rosberg wouldn’t put up a fight. Looking at actual data from the race its clear the gap was only closed because Nico was using more fuel than Hamilton at that stage. When Hamilton used more the gap grew, then shrunk when Nico used more. No conspiracy, just common sense really. The more fuel you use the faster a driver can go. As far as missing out goes then Rosberg knows his much fuel he started the race with, and how much he’s used per lap, so he wouldn’t ever be in a situation where he’s shocked to finish the race with a huge amount of unused fuel.
Tom Davidson (@wacamo)
8th June 2015, 21:04
you make some fair points. But there were two infractions that I recall… the 50meter advisement and a while later, the 100meter one. Given that Nico was advised prior to this that he was good on fuel and not so much on brakes, I think that while he was driving in dirty air, Hamilton was developing an issue. Perhaps Nico, missed (was deprived?) a chance to use a bunch of fuel, ride into the dirty air and hound LH potentially for a pass. The fairly abrupt cessation of info to Nico from the pit wall (at least that we caught on-air) will undoubtedly bring out some conspiracy theorists … (ala: here’s your seven points back Lewis)…
Drg
9th June 2015, 17:41
Fair points but…
Not once has Nico ever ‘taken a fight’ to Lewis unless there was an outstanding performance difference (tyres – Bahrain etc etc) and a kg of fuel extra one way or the other was never going to change that regardless of who did what.
We have to be a bit sensible – NR is a great driver. He is just up against someone on another plane – like it or not. And Nico did the next best thing – bank the points when he could rather than be embarrassed or simply lose them due to attempting a race he knew he was not going to win. Pretending he could ‘take the fight’ to LH kind of ignores the last 30 plus races where he actually has done nothing of the kind unless he had a distinct advantage and even then – lost!
He is not stupid – he knows banking points when he can has quite remarkably kept him in the fight for the last two years despite being completely out driven all day long.
Tom Davidson (@wacamo)
10th June 2015, 1:41
I do not pretend to like Hamilton- but he is a better driver. Another plane? As in Senna? Nope. Not in his dreams.
You entirely missed my point- had Nico been made aware of the potential vulnerability of LH, he might have acted differently. (after all, LH had been advised of Nico’s issues and had been advised at least twice on how to save his drive)
Perhaps I’m ‘pretending’ that this is ‘sensible’ enough for you ;-)
Jason
9th June 2015, 17:01
Since Nico was GIVEN a race win in Monaco, the team were right to deny him Lewis’ information in Canada. The team still owe Hamilton big time this year. Nico’s 2 wins have come when the team made a mistake pitting Lewis an extra time. 2015 should be legendary for Lewis and Mercedes.
Vinicius (@v27racing)
10th June 2015, 0:18
Very well commented. All this speed carried on the second stint and the first stint full of overtakes that required talent and pace, how could he not be choosen the best driver of this race?
Craig Woollard (@craig-o)
8th June 2015, 13:53
Certainly a toss-up between the two Williams drivers and the likes of Hulkenberg and Ericsson. Went with Massa in the end, a very solid recovery drive after a poor qualifying through no fault of his own.
montreal95 (@montreal95)
8th June 2015, 14:08
went for Hulkenberg. Did absolute best of what was possible in the car both in qualy and race. Destroyed Perez the whole weekend to bounce back from a difficult Monaco
Other 4 drivers who did exceptional jobs this weekend were Hamilton, Vettel, Bottas and Massa. Had Grosjean not made the mistake would’ve added him too
Raikkonen, Maldonado, Kvyat and Sainz were very good too
DaveF1 (@davef1)
8th June 2015, 14:11
Maldonado had a pretty solid race. Bout time he got some luck after his misfortunes in Spain and Monaco where he arguably didn’t deserve to leave point-less.
BlueChris (@bluechris)
8th June 2015, 14:21
I voted LH simply because the title says “Vote for your Canadian GP Driver of the Weekend” and no for who did a bit better job in Sunday etc. LH did a very good job overall.
Alex machina (@smartrip)
8th June 2015, 14:35
LH should be discounted because Merc cars are just so good. I don’t think anyone would argue with the fact that it’s easier for any driver to win when you have a clearly superior car.
JerseyF1 (@jerseyf1)
8th June 2015, 15:50
@smartrip it’s not that easy for Nico. Hamilton is in the best car and wins races because he is a superior driver.
vtf
8th June 2015, 16:07
When he got in that car it wasn’t the best car. It was like the 4th best or something. So what does that say about him? I think he is one of the best drivers, but best car doesn’t equal best driver automatically.
russ
8th June 2015, 16:41
But the question was who is the Driver of the weekend,Not “Who is the Driver of the weekend unless they happen to be in a superior car”.
rm
8th June 2015, 17:57
But when Vettel was taking pole and winning races, being in the best car was always considered disqualifying in terms of DOTW.
Alex machina (@smartrip)
8th June 2015, 18:16
@jerseyf1 Hamilton is a great driver but he has a huge advantage by having the Merc car. He doesn’t have to fight through traffic, dirty air, etc. All he has to do is have a good start and defend.
Not saying Hamilton isn’t good – just saying that he’s winning most of the races because he has a superior car, not because he’s pulling some amazing driver magic week in and week out.
Tom Davidson (@wacamo)
8th June 2015, 21:07
This is an excellent point. All thing being equal, the Mercs should pretty much always end up 1 & 2. Their downfall this year appears to be gray-matter related.
Drg
9th June 2015, 17:44
Then explain why when he did not hAve the best car for example in the red bull Vettel years… He won more races despite many issues than the other candidates?
phil
9th June 2015, 18:06
@Drg Because most of the time his car was better than other candidates. Sometimes his car was even better than RBR. Jenson also had similar results.
Alex machina (@smartrip)
9th June 2015, 18:25
That’s my point. I’m not saying LH’s a bad driver. He did decently in those RB years but Vettel still dominated because he had the better car.
Both Vettel and LH are great drivers, no one doubts that. But their true test of skill is how they do in a “regular” car.
David-A (@david-a)
9th June 2015, 18:31
@drg Won more races than who? Alonso won the same number (11) between 2010-13, both obviously far less than Vettel.
Drg
8th June 2015, 18:39
Explain how Rosberg has such trouble… In the same car?
Or are you joining the ‘he is number 1 and being coached’ club? Get real. He has won in absolute dogs of cars and like him or loathe him, is absolutely up there as one of the finest drivers of F1 history. His fashion sense or media profile? Even his fashion choices.., well I don’t give a toss frankly. I watch races not Big Brother or Next top Model…
I am starting to wonder just what all this complete negativity is really down to? The fact you have forums to join the ‘crowd’ just to feel good or an actual evaluation of a sport that some of us have spent a lifetime watching and in many cases participating in…
Alex machina (@smartrip)
8th June 2015, 19:07
Haha wow, calm down, champ. Take breather!
Look, I don’t think Rosberg has trouble at all – he dominates the field just like Hamilton. I think Hamilton is a better driver than him; that’s why Hamilton beats him. So I’m not saying Hamilton bad (you can relax now).
All I’m saying is that to start at P1, in an obviously better car, gives you a HUGE advantage. That’s all haha.
(I’m starting to wonder that maybe you should watch Big Brother and America’s next top model. It’ll provide you an outlet for your knee-jerk reactions to forum comments…)
Drg
9th June 2015, 17:59
I do not need to calm down – I am not upset I assure you. The fact remains that NR in the very same car is doing the next best job. Banking the points knowing he can’t take the ‘fight’ he talks about, to LH unless there is a distinct performance advantage. What annoys me is during the other ‘dominant’ years pretty much one guy was taking the fight to RB on a regular basis and winning (and I don’t mean banking points through reliability and determination Al la FA regardless of the end of year platings) despite the sometimes hilarious mechanical and reliability issues suffered – yet because he finally gets a car that can win and does so, he must be discounted from any consideration?
Now when Vettel starts getting poles, performing heroic races through the field (like all the time rather than the scrappy stuff so far) and is the only other chap winning races regularly despite breaking down half the time or his pit stops causing chaos during a four year stretch of ‘dominance’ from others and then coming fourth at the end of the year regardless due to the final couple of races then we hopefully will use the same criteria when he has a car he can win in for a couple of years?
I just see it as double standards – but well, it Lewis…
phil
9th June 2015, 18:27
Some Lewis fans are acting like he is the most underrated driver. You are like “Is it ‘cos he’s Lewis?”.
Vettel doesn’t have to have the same destiny as Lewis did. Did Lewis start in a midfield car? No. It doesn’t actually detract from his value. Should we wait for Lewis to become youngest quadruple WDC to “prove himself”? No. He doesn’t have to prove himself anymore. Neither does Vettel. Vettel’s doing a good job. Good for him. Also good for Hamilton as he’s also doing a good job. Vettel doesn’t have to come close and lose championship because his car breaks down or he was unlucky etc. He already had that. Moreover he also managed to win the WDC despite that. If someone’s getting poles in dry conditions, it just shows that his car is capable of that and the driver delivered. Moreover, Vettel isn’t scrappy through field. He isn’t using a Mercedes which is faster a couple of seconds than the cars he is overtaking. Or he doesn’t always wait for a DRS zone to just breeze pass people. You may argue that would be the smart thing to do, or he is a tad too aggressive for your taste, but he isn’t scappy. For example he had 2 incidents last race: Alonso and the Hulk. If you have been watching some time now, that was another exciting chapter for the ongoing on-track battle of Alonso vs Vettel. Hulk overtake was most surprising, because they were inside the chicane together! It was daring, and Hulk was going too fast to get inside with Vettel, which is why Vettel bailed in the second part, which is allowed. If you want to keep watching boring DRS stuff, there were plenty of them too.
Alex machina (@smartrip)
9th June 2015, 18:29
Look, no one is doubting LH. There is no double standard. Everyone knows both Vettel and LH are great drivers.
What I’m saying is that if you give an average driver the Merc car, you can expect them to do pretty well against the rest of the field.
I would argue it takes more skill to do the scrappy stuff than to be in the best car in the best starting position.
This is true of Merc now and RB a few years back. That’s NOT the same thing as having a double standard…
Park
8th June 2015, 14:37
There were some drivers who did a good job, HAM, BOT, MAL, KVY, ERI, SAI.
But VET and MAS had the toughest job to complete. Lewis didn’t feel real presure from Nico.
PorscheF1 (@xtwl)
8th June 2015, 14:52
@bluechris If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree it will think its whole life it is stupid. Mercedes is supposed to be in P1/P2, you can’t expect a Force India to be there…
Sven (@sven-d)
8th June 2015, 14:26
Vettel. Great recovery despite all the misfortune he had all weekend. Great pace overall compared to his teammate, aggressive and determined driving.
Bruno (@brunes)
8th June 2015, 14:59
Massa without a doubt
Dan_the_McLaren_fan (@dan_the_mclaren_fan)
8th June 2015, 15:01
This time, I wanted to vote for someone who has been perfect all week-end, with zero mistake and a nice result. Only two drivers would qualify for that, and it wole Hamilton and Bottas. But a victory would be expected for Lewis, while 3rd place for Bottas ahead of both Ferraris was more than his car was capable of. I voted for Valtteri!
vtf
8th June 2015, 16:08
Even though his teammate did a better job…
Park
8th June 2015, 16:29
Only 16s behind!
phil
9th June 2015, 18:30
I hope you are not implying that he didn’t do an even better job because he finished 16secs behind.
He couldn’t qualify properly because of his PU, much like Vettel.
PorscheF1 (@xtwl)
8th June 2015, 15:08
I will cast no vote. Nobody did something worth more than any other driver. Yes Vettel and Massa drove through the field but their cars together with DRS were plenty faster than the others. You don’t credit an LMP1 driver for overtaking GT cars do you? It’s almost the same really…
Bottas could be others their choice, why I ask? He just drove the race, nobody behind could even match his stop speed and the cars ahead were plenty faster. Yes he finished third but really only because Kimi had that incident, otherwise that would have never happend.
Kimi, unimpressive as is the trend this season. Verstappen the talent he is could do nothing with his worthless Renault. McLarens were nowhere, not that I expected them to be anywhere.
As I voted 6 for average, drivers just did what they expected.
KaIIe (@kaiie)
8th June 2015, 15:12
No standout performances this weekend, so I suppose I “must” vote for Lewis.
Alex machina (@smartrip)
8th June 2015, 15:14
just because he won?
JerseyF1 (@jerseyf1)
8th June 2015, 15:52
Seems like a reasonably good yardstick for driver of the weekend!
Alex machina (@smartrip)
8th June 2015, 18:18
I think it’s actually quite a poor yardstick given all the advantages Hamilton has…
Graham (@guitargraham)
8th June 2015, 15:15
vettel’s mistake was in overtaking under the red flags, and being at 200mph at the time too was totally unforgivable. it would usually result in a total exclusion from practically any other motor race on the planet. ive seen race bans for less and yet some are still voting for him. sigh
Deana (@sammy)
8th June 2015, 15:22
He obviously meant no offence–probably got distracted and forgot about the red flag–and no harm was done. Other drivers in the past overtook under a red flag(Button, Rosberg, Ricciardo) and received far less harsher penalties than Vettel, if any. If anything, Vettel’s penalty was inconsistent and unfairly harsh.
If it’s about being too fast under a red flag, then practically all drivers should receive a penalty for that, because they all were fast, including Manor in question.
For me Vettel is no doubt the DotW, fought back after all the misfortune he had.
vtf
8th June 2015, 16:10
+1 I think there should be a speed limit under red flag.
Adam Hardwick (@fluxsource)
8th June 2015, 17:09
@sammy if it was because he “got distracted” while a red flag was out then it’s even more unforgivable. That “no harm was done” is categorically no defence at all. It was dangerous and reckless behaviour that he got of lightly for. There’s no way he should be driver of the weekend after that.