Driver of the race

[N4D13]

Surprised no one opened this thread yet!

No one caught my eye, to be honest, so I'm going to go with Grosjean here. Haas is not a driver, but he sure is a winner after today.

[pantealex]

Rosberg, he was faster than Hamilton...

[AndyL]

I liked Jolyon Palmer's performance. I enjoyed his battles with Bottas and the Torro Rossos. Although he ultimately lost both of those battles, his defending was really impressive. No swerving or typical rookie over-aggression, just consistently putting his car on the right bit of track. And he didn't give up immediately when passed. It looked like a drive of someone who's been in F1 for years.

[airshifter]

Plenty of good drives from the front to almost the back. I thought the drivers all battled well considering the performance levels of the cars they were in.

[dj_bytedisaster]

Grosjean - no debate. Putting that thing in 6th from the back of the grid in a car that's running its first race - no contest.

[Mia 01]

Grosjean! But I Think Haas is a good car and belongs in the midfield.

[The Black Knight]

Rosberg, he was faster than Hamilton...

No he wasn't!

I'd have said Vettel up until his mistake 3 laps from the end. So I'll go for Grosjean for getting the Haas team into the points on their debut. Astonishing achievement.

[Rollo]

Kimi Raikkonen.
Okay... not for his drive but for his badassery.

- I know what I'm doing.
- Yeah yeah, leave me alone.
- Something happened. Yeah, I broke something. :O

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDrPcqzD-7k


Seriously. Kimi is cooler than Steve McQueen.

[Jag_Warrior]

I'm going with Grosjean as well. That result was the highlight of the race IMO.

[keysersoze]

1. Grosjean (yes, I know his car was quick in qualifying) 2. Vettel (undone by a poor tire chioce) 3. Ricciardo 4. Verstappen (that extra 3-4 seconds in the pits was an eternity) and 5. Palmer (didn't expect him to fight like that)

[steveaki13]

Vettel, Grosjean and Riccardo.

Small mention for Werhlein who in the first stint raced hard and held position. A first for Manor really

[Tazio]

I'm also going with Rogro, nothing spectacular but he didn't put a foot wrong in the teams debut race. Yeah it is a bit of a sentimental choice!

[The Black Knight]

I don't really understand why so many people voted for Vettel. I mean, did ye not see him run off the track 3 laps from the end? I know everyone likes to be blinkered in all to their own drivers but if you're going to run off the track when on another drivers gearbox then surely that's not deserving of driver of the day.

It's much the same as when Button won the 2011 Canadian GP after about 6 pitstops and had a great final 12-15 laps of the GP to win it. The DOTD was definitely Michael Schumacher but the blinkered went for Button because of the final part of the GP, not remembering that he was really nowhere for most of the race. It's driver of the day not driver of 20% of the race.

[AndyL]

I don't really understand why so many people voted for Vettel. I mean, did ye not see him run off the track 3 laps from the end? I know everyone likes to be blinkered in all to their own drivers but if you're going to run off the track when on another drivers gearbox then surely that's not deserving of driver of the day.

It's much the same as when Button won the 2011 Canadian GP after about 6 pitstops and had a great final 12-15 laps of the GP to win it. The DOTD was definitely Michael Schumacher but the blinkered went for Button because of the final part of the GP, not remembering that he was really nowhere for most of the race. It's driver of the day not driver of 20% of the race.

Is it not possible for a driver who makes a mistake or two but also produces even greater brilliance to be driver of the day? I think often that driver would be more deserving than one who makes no mistakes for a solid but unexceptional finish.

Not that I'm saying this applies to Vettel here, but it definitely applied to Button in that Canadian Grand Prix. People didn't forget he was nowhere early in the race - they voted for him precisely because he was in last place before coming right through the field to win the race. No-one else has ever done that. It was sheer brilliance on that day that outweighed his collision with Alonso or whatever other errors might be ascribed.

Conversely, I don't really agree with the votes for Grosjean being driver of the race in Australia. He had a car with comparable performance to the rest of the midfield, and the thing that put him near the front of that group, instead of lower down and outside the points, was a combination of good strategy and luck with the timing of the red flag. Grosjean himself drove well, without mistakes, but not really any better than many of the other drivers in that midfield group.

[keysersoze]

I don't really understand why so many people voted for Vettel. I mean, did ye not see him run off the track 3 laps from the end? I know everyone likes to be blinkered in all to their own drivers but if you're going to run off the track when on another drivers gearbox then surely that's not deserving of driver of the day.

It's much the same as when Button won the 2011 Canadian GP after about 6 pitstops and had a great final 12-15 laps of the GP to win it. The DOTD was definitely Michael Schumacher but the blinkered went for Button because of the final part of the GP, not remembering that he was really nowhere for most of the race. It's driver of the day not driver of 20% of the race.

It's called having an opinion. Besides, only two posters mentioned Vettel, and I mentioned him along with 4 others. He's one of my least favorite drivers (Rosberg is the other). I named Vettel because of his stellar start, and the fact that he led comfortably. Even after losing the ground to Hamilton after his spin, he managed to catch back up. Considering he qualified 8 tenths slower than Hamiton, I'd say he had a very good race, and could have won the thing if not for the red flag. Since he left Red Bull, Sebastian has really proven his value.

[The Black Knight]

Is it not possible for a driver who makes a mistake or two but also produces even greater brilliance to be driver of the day? I think often that driver would be more deserving than one who makes no mistakes for a solid but unexceptional finish.

Not that I'm saying this applies to Vettel here, but it definitely applied to Button in that Canadian Grand Prix. People didn't forget he was nowhere early in the race - they voted for him precisely because he was in last place before coming right through the field to win the race. No-one else has ever done that. It was sheer brilliance on that day that outweighed his collision with Alonso or whatever other errors might be ascribed.

Conversely, I don't really agree with the votes for Grosjean being driver of the race in Australia. He had a car with comparable performance to the rest of the midfield, and the thing that put him near the front of that group, instead of lower down and outside the points, was a combination of good strategy and luck with the timing of the red flag. Grosjean himself drove well, without mistakes, but not really any better than many of the other drivers in that midfield group.


So a driver is to be rewarded DOTD for being inconsistent?

For Button, a final 15 laps, no matter what he did, does not mitigate that the rest of the race he drove was pretty rubbish. Had Michael Schumacher not drove a sublime race that day I'd have gone for him myself but Schumacher really deserved to win that race for how he drove. It was, in my opinion, the best race he had out of retirement and certainly, it was a thousand times better than Button's inconsistent dribble he produced for most of the day. Like I said, it's DOTD, not the best driver of 15 laps.

[The Black Knight]

It's called having an opinion. Besides, only two posters mentioned Vettel, and I mentioned him along with 4 others. He's one of my least favorite drivers (Rosberg is the other). I named Vettel because of his stellar start, and the fact that he led comfortably. Even after losing the ground to Hamilton after his spin, he managed to catch back up. Considering he qualified 8 tenths slower than Hamiton, I'd say he had a very good race, and could have won the thing if not for the red flag. Since he left Red Bull, Sebastian has really proven his value.

Sebastien's qualifying pace was not a reflection of the cars true pace. He likely would have been much closer had he gone out a second time in qualifying. I'm still on the side lines over how good Vettel really is because, at the end of the day, he still got whipped by Danny but I would agree that he has done very well since joining Ferrari but given how poor Kimi is these days, I wonder is that what is making him look better than he really is. We'll find out in time I guess.

[dj_bytedisaster]

Sebastien's qualifying pace was not a reflection of the cars true pace. He likely would have been much closer had he gone out a second time in qualifying. I'm still on the side lines over how good Vettel really is because, at the end of the day, he still got whipped by Danny but I would agree that he has done very well since joining Ferrari but given how poor Kimi is these days, I wonder is that what is making him look better than he really is. We'll find out in time I guess.

You talked about people being blinkered. Could it be that this applies to you as well? Your complaint pretty much looks like you're miffed that someone mentioned a driver you quite obviously don't like. I mean seriously, you dredge 2014 up again? A season that most people, including Ricciardo and other members of his former team say was not representative of his true skill. People seem to forget that had to change his chassis three times that season due to cracks, at least three races saw RIC finish in front of VET due to team mistakes.

Talking Räikkönen down to belittle Vettel's driving in 2015 is another thing that tells me you aren't exactly unbiased here.

[Big Ben]

It's driver of the day not driver of 20% of the race.

So a drivers that leads 99% of the race and than smashes the car to a wall will definitely have to be the driver of the day, right? I suppose it's enough to be the best driver of 51% (I rounded it up for clarity) of the race to be the driver of the day too?

[Firstgear]

I would have been less impressed with Vettel if he had just stayed 5 seconds behind Hamilton for a comfortable 3rd place. He was trying for the maximum, overcooked it (and he admitted this afterwards) and in the end it didn't cost him anything (points wise). That's the kind of hunger and attitude I like in a driver. I'm not a big Vettel fan, but I'm not going to criticize him for trying 'til the end.

Come to think of it - maybe I'm being a little soft on him because I loaded up on Ferrari in FGP :)

For me, it's between RoGro & Palmer for DOTD.

[AndyL]

So a driver is to be rewarded DOTD for being inconsistent?

For Button, a final 15 laps, no matter what he did, does not mitigate that the rest of the race he drove was pretty rubbish. Had Michael Schumacher not drove a sublime race that day I'd have gone for him myself but Schumacher really deserved to win that race for how he drove. It was, in my opinion, the best race he had out of retirement and certainly, it was a thousand times better than Button's inconsistent dribble he produced for most of the day. Like I said, it's DOTD, not the best driver of 15 laps.

The reward is for brilliance, not for inconsistency. Inconsistency doesn't have to automatically outweigh brilliance.

You memory of that race seems rather faulty. It was over the last 30 laps that Button went from last to first, though racing through the whole field in just 15 laps would have been an even more remarkable achievement. He was as consistent as anyone else for the first 40 laps too, apart from the collision with Alonso. He was in the top 10 for pretty much the whole race except after pitting and then after the collision, and set the second-fastest lap in the period of the race prior to the red flag.

[Starter]

I would have been less impressed with Vettel if he had just stayed 5 seconds behind Hamilton for a comfortable 3rd place. He was trying for the maximum, overcooked it (and he admitted this afterwards) and in the end it didn't cost him anything (points wise). That's the kind of hunger and attitude I like in a driver. I'm not a big Vettel fan, but I'm not going to criticize him for trying 'til the end.

Come to think of it - maybe I'm being a little soft on him because I loaded up on Ferrari in FGP :)

For me, it's between RoGro & Palmer for DOTD.
So what's the definition of the best driver of the day? Going for it on every lap (like Gilles, my all time favorite driver, who never won a championship in F1) or playing the hand you have on a given day and accumulating points toward the real goal, the WDC? I would think that the one who keeps their eyes on the true prize and doesn't throw it away is the better driver.

[Firstgear]

I don't believe going for it every lap, no matter what the circumstances are, is the correct answer. If this was the final race of the season and Vettel needed 3rd to secure the championship, then I'd understand him staying a comfortable 5 seconds behind Hamilton. This is early in the season and he had enough of a gap to the guy behind - so why not push? Hamilton was on older tyres so might be more easily forced into a mistake - so why not push?

I don't have 'the' definition of DOTD. For me, it's just a gut feeling. Probably the guy that exceeds expectations by the most. Maybe the guy that's most entertaining (in a good way - spectacular pass, not in the Maldonado entertaining way) That's why my picks were Palmer (rookie, driving like he's got a few seasons under his belt) and RoGro (that was more of a 'team gets points in first race' - pulling on the heart strings thing)

[Mia 01]

For me it´s always the impression a particular driver have on me who gets the vote. I don´t have to explain myself.

[Duncan]

A lot to choose from here.

Grosjean. Awesome result for Haas on their first outing. No drama, just got done what needed to be done.

Wehrlein. Was quite shocked to see a Manor as high up the order as it was. What's up with that? Definitely going to be one to watch this season.

Palmer. Great first outing in a sub-par car, made Sainz look pretty silly for a long time.

Vettel. Awesome off the line, could have finished higher but for factors beyond anybody's control. Looks like Ferrari will make this at least a contested season (Whoohoo!). Really can't fault him for leaving the track at the end; he was clearly driving on severely compromised rubber for quite a while and just hit the limits. For me, that gets bonus points for having the balls to hang the car out on the edge even if the result was that he wasn't successful in getting Hamilton.

Verstappen. Got to love this guy. Raw energy and totally fearless. Even a spin and knocking off an endplate didn't seem to slow him down much. Expecting great things...

Raikkonen. Yes, I know I have a jet of flames coming out just above my head. What's your point?

Alonso. High difficulty score for a double inverted twist with tucked wheels, minor deduction for failing to stick the landing.

[The Black Knight]

Good I'm glad we got all this out of the way above and this is the reason I brought it up (apologies to all those that felt I was implying they weren't entitled to an opinion - that wasn't the case at all) but I felt this was the best way to get an honest answer as what everyone truly thinks the DOTD should entail. This debate just proves to me what Lewis Hamilton said was absolutely correct, the Driver of the Day award is a completely pointless exercise. Everyone's idea of what determines the driver of the day is different and therefore pointless. Unless there are certain criteria which define it then really it means absolutely nothing.

To me the driver of the day should be the driver that drove a consistent, mistake free and blindingly fast race but all our opinions are different. Here are what has been said thus far:


So what's the definition of the best driver of the day? Going for it on every lap (like Gilles, my all time favorite driver, who never won a championship in F1) or playing the hand you have on a given day and accumulating points toward the real goal, the WDC? I would think that the one who keeps their eyes on the true prize and doesn't throw it away is the better driver.


The reward is for brilliance, not for inconsistency. Inconsistency doesn't have to automatically outweigh brilliance.

You memory of that race seems rather faulty. It was over the last 30 laps that Button went from last to first, though racing through the whole field in just 15 laps would have been an even more remarkable achievement. He was as consistent as anyone else for the first 40 laps too, apart from the collision with Alonso. He was in the top 10 for pretty much the whole race except after pitting and then after the collision, and set the second-fastest lap in the period of the race prior to the red flag.

Correct it is faulty but everyone's memory is faulty given the perspective they come from their own bias. Ask Mia and Kimi is the driver of every race.


It's called having an opinion. Besides, only two posters mentioned Vettel, and I mentioned him along with 4 others. He's one of my least favorite drivers (Rosberg is the other). I named Vettel because of his stellar start, and the fact that he led comfortably. Even after losing the ground to Hamilton after his spin, he managed to catch back up. Considering he qualified 8 tenths slower than Hamiton, I'd say he had a very good race, and could have won the thing if not for the red flag. Since he left Red Bull, Sebastian has really proven his value.


I think all the above posts go to show is that no one really knows what DOTD should be and the criteria that defines it. There are no set criteria. I'm going to go out on a limb and clearly state that DOTD award in F1 is useless. It's fine here in a forum where it doesn't really have any impact but, realistically, when there is an actual award unless there is a set criteria involed it's laughable. There is the winning driver and that, by definition, should be the driver to receive driver of the day.

It's like having a player that finished 8th in Wimbledon get the player of the tournament award. The tournament winner should be the tournament player. F1 is the only sport I can think of that could come up with an idea like this. We all know the winner of the race gets the winners trophy because he crossed the line first, none of us know who gets the DOTD award until a million different people have voted on it. One of the reasons I don't like having this kind of criteria as well is that the trophy is awarded based on emotion than actual physical results or a set criteria. Us humans are emotional beings with our own bias and ultimately, while a few will be able to move beyond that to vote, very few will actually be able to overcome it so until DOTD has been defined then it's pointless.

[anfield5]

1. Grosjean - faultless performance in what looks like a decent middle of the pack car.
2. Palmer - drove well, made no mistakes and deserved to score a point or two, it will be interesting to see how good or bad the Renault really is as the season progresses.
3. Vettel - great start, great drive (apart from pushing too hard to get past Hamilton at the end - this was only brought on by the teams lack of tactical brains). Deserved to win, the tactical brains at Ferrari need to sort their shyte out.