Driver of the race: Round 3 - Chinese Grand Prix

frostie500

Some competition for this award this weekend.

Great performance by Hamilton to take the win after making an extra stop to Vettel. Daring overtaking move from him to take the lead in the last five laps.

Mark Webber came from 18th on the grid to take a well deserved podium, Nico Rosberg made his strategy work to lead in the middle stages of the race and take fifth, Felipe Massa outperformed Alonso and challenged at the front until the final stint.

I'll be giving my vote to Lewis though

amacachi

Fcuk it, I'll say Webber. Excellent from Hamilton too though.

Grim.

Lewis Hamilton

has to be webber

good race by vettel aswell to make the hards last 25 laps massive mistake by redbull to put him on a 2 stop

proulx

Lewis Hamilton

Webber, but was impressed by Massa again for the first time in a long time.
Poor old Jenson.....showing even he wants to join Red Bull haha

Glico Man

Jenson Button

Awesome drive from Webber to get on the podium, could've been higher but, I have to give my vote to Hamilton. Fantastic drive from him, especially after his dismal race in Sepang

freestyla

Nick Heidfeld

couldn't decide between hamilton and webber.. rosberg is next on my list so

losthorizon

Lewis Hamilton

Gave my vote to Webber. Excellent drive by Hamilton as well though

Top Dog

Lewis Hamilton

Also voted Webber, but very impressed with Hamilton's performance too.

Ghost Train

Jenson Button

Lewis I think, did what he needed to during the race to make it work, also managed the tires better than I expected

Dcully

Lewis Hamilton

Webber by a country mile.

lord lucan

Lewis Hamilton

Webber for me too,awesome race.

Kxiii

Lewis Hamilton

Has to Webber I thought at the end of the first stint his race was over but what a come back.

KylieWyley

Lewis Hamilton

Webber for me, too.

Anybody else finding the performance differences between drivers a bit artificial? The Pirelli tyre makeup, the KERs and DRS?

It's certainly creating overtaking and exciting racing but the way the tyres fall off "the cliff" is a bit mental. Hard to tell whos genuinely fast and whos struggling because of tyres.

(I accept that this has always been the case with the difference in performance between the teams but it just seems much more exaggerated now)

markc1184

Lewis Hamilton

So many different drivers had great races. Hamilton for some of his overtaking, Schumi, Massa. My vote goes to Webber though, 18th to 3rd and if the race had been 2 laps longer he would have easily passed Vettel too.

gpjordanf1

Lewis Hamilton

Webber by a country mile, nobody else came close, outstanding, pity his team isn't giving him the support he deserves..... De Rosta (SP) in the Force India has also been impressive..
But 10/10 to Button for for dumb ass of the year though, man that was funny, fair pay to Red Bull mechanics for keeping cool and waving him on....quality....

tonedef

Lewis Hamilton

Driver of the race - Webber, 18th to 3rd - 'nuff said

Driver of the race weekend - Hamilton, getting himself well placed on the grid with a set of new soft tyres left for the race and following it up with a good race performance

weekaizer

Lewis Hamilton

Webber has to get the vote over hamilton.. he had such a bad weekend between his problem with the kers and going out in q1 while seeing his teammate on pole again... but he kept his cool and drove a good race... i never thought he would have finished even in the top 8 when i seen his first stint...
Nice to see schumacher back among the crop, looks like the merc is on its way up the grid at last..

mickdw

Jenson Button

Really like webber but giving driver of the day to the hamilton despite the ear rings!

I love the situation re the tyres although I think having a single tyre supplier casues some issues. Pirelli had to be instructed to build tyres like this and as such it creates a certain falseness to the whole performance - falling off a cliff by design if you like. Much better when 2 companies push hard to build the best performing with varying levels of performance versus longevity.
Last years format was dire where a driver would often have his race decided from the grid with no possibility of getting past anyone on track and with no refueling and tyres that were not too fussy.

amacachi

KylieWyley wrote: »

Webber for me, too.

Anybody else finding the performance differences between drivers a bit artificial? The Pirelli tyre makeup, the KERs and DRS?

It's certainly creating overtaking and exciting racing but the way the tyres fall off "the cliff" is a bit mental. Hard to tell whos genuinely fast and whos struggling because of tyres.

(I accept that this has always been the case with the difference in performance between the teams but it just seems much more exaggerated now)

Well all they have to do is use a better strategy.

Tea 1000

Lewis Hamilton

I gave the vote to Webber. While Hamilton had an excellent race, Hamilton started very well and drove well the whole race. He also had KERS working. Webber started 18th, and had a dysmal first segment on the hard tyres, was 17th at first stop, so from a quarter the way into the race went from 17th to within 9 seconds of Hamilton. Everyone Hamilton over took (bar Vettel), Webber overtook and then some - without the KERS boost!
Pity he's not consistant though.

pburns

Tonio Liuzzi

Wouldn't be overly fond of Hamilton, think he's a fake SOB but would have to give him driver of the race - just. Race for me starts Sat qualifying and he did a great job setting himself up for the race and some great overtakes. I know Webber had KERS problems and is probably 2nd fiddle with Helmut Marko etc. but he made a big error dropping out in Q1.

Alonso's bad starts are costing him big time. There's been a certain amount of bad luck involved but it's something he needs to sort out. His stint stuck behind Schumacher screwed his chances of a decent result yesterday.

ottostreet

Lewis Hamilton

Webber, followed by Lewis.

I do think that Lewis got lucky with two moments in the race that defined the win.

1. When Maldonado came out of the pits and forced Rosberg to back off going through Turn 1. Rosberg had increased his lead over Hamilton after his final stop until Maldonado blocked him and allowed Hamilton to get right back on his tail.

2. Hamilton overtaking Button. He had to rely on Button getting out of it. Very Senna-esque (I hate saying that) in that he basically said 'have an accident or back off'.

Honourable mention to Vettel for not putting a wheel wrong again, and some excellent defensive driving. Parking on the apex was genius!

stoneill

Lewis Hamilton

I was going to say Button for his Red Bull pitstop - but it has to be Webber.
Hamilton was his usual clinical self.