[Official] Driver of the Race - Monaco 2011

[stripedcat]

Well I gave it to Button - just. A really impressive drive from him today, sadly his team made a bad pit call(what is it with McLaren and pit strategies?). Could he have passed both Alonso and Vettel with 20 or so laps to go? Well it would have been tricky, no doubt, but sadly we were robbed of an exciting finish.

I'll give Vettel second place as 'driver of the race'. Really impressive drive from him as well, as he recovered after the messed up pitstop, plus driving on those old tyres for so long and keeping Alonso and Button at bay. Okay he got his 'get out of jail free card' near the end of the race, but still an impressive drive from him.

Third place for Alonso. A good drive from him today and he likes his lightning fast starts! Sad that the battle with Vettel didn't last.

Impressive performances from Kobayshi and even Webber managed a monster overtake.

A shame Schumi dropped out as well, as he was having a decent race(super move on Lewis).

Epic fail of the day - Lewis Hamilton. He made a mistake for qualifying(well two actually) and then it was all downhill. A bad start. I actually thought he was having a pretty good race, until he messed up with those bad overtakes!! "Oh yeah - Massa he turned in on me - deliberately!". Yes Lewis. Lewis who beat you today? 'The new Mansell'!

[blaffer]

Good old Barrichello. For a nice pass on Schumacher and giving Williams their first points in 2011.

[sparkione]

Jenson. Wooden spoon to his team mate.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by stripedcat

Well I gave it to Button - just. A really impressive drive from him today, sadly his team made a bad pit call(what is it with McLaren and pit strategies?). Could he have passed both Alonso and Vettel with 20 or so laps to go? Well it would have been tricky, no doubt, but sadly we were robbed of an exciting finish.

What is is with McLaren's strategy? Last season Button made some good calls on the tyre changes but this season, someone else is calling the shots and making a bit of a hash of it.

Originally Posted by stripedcat

Epic fail of the day - Lewis Hamilton. He made a mistake for qualifying(well two actually) and then it was all downhill. A bad start. I actually thought he was having a pretty good race, until he messed up with those bad overtakes!! "Oh yeah - Massa he turned in on me - deliberately!". Yes Lewis. Lewis who beat you today? 'The new Mansell'!

He definitely derserves 'The Retard of the Race' award.

[Tourer]

Button for mine - cool, measured, patient when he needed to be, VERY fast when he could be - all the things needed to win in Monaco but this time didn't quite work out. Impressive drive none the less.

[rich07]

My vote goes to Maldonado, fantastic drive by him, really feel sorry for him and Williams.

[PorscheCurves]

Kobayshi for me because he got the car up to 4th at one stage, far and away higher than that car should have been.

[chunterer]

Didn't Kamui benefiot massviely from the sc though, if not for that he would've pitted and still likely been way down the order?

Vettel was super cool, Button the best on the day, but Maldonado showed like in FR3.5 and GP2 that he is an ace round Monaco, looked like an F1 old hand until that lunatic elbowed him out the way.

Funny when you think that's the sort of driving Pastor was once guilty of committing regularly....

Hope he can continue this form for Williams, by god they need it!

[greenracer]

maldonardo for mine . failed to finish because of insane hamilton move , hamilton should watch webber on how to overtake.

[MagnetON]

Vettel, excellent drive for making those tyres last and last.

Lewis deserves an honourable mention for his funny radio message, there was a round "oh no, you didn't just say that!" on our sofa!

[Marbot]

Fortunately, we never got to hear what Massa said.

[John Turner]

Originally Posted by Tourer

Button for mine - cool, measured, patient when he needed to be, VERY fast when he could be - all the things needed to win in Monaco but this time didn't quite work out. Impressive drive none the less.

Sums it up for me, too. He really tried to make things happen with a strategy that could so easily, some would say, should, have worked.

[jedrinck]

Vettel for me, the strategy didn't seem the best choice but he made it work in a car that was not dominant at all in Monaco. The safety car took some of the glory away but I think he could have defended his position against Alonso until the finish line. With the tire situation this year a lot of time during the race is spent in cruise mode and Vettel has matured in the way that he is not after the fastest race lap anymore because it is now really about going as fast as one has to rather than as fast as possible. With Alonso on his tail he would cruise around the circuit preserving his old tires in places where there was no passing opportunity anyway and step it up only in some corners where he had to to prevent Anlonso from getting into a position to attack. Not making a mistake there with an opponent like Alonso is very impressive.

[Bononi]

Button ! Great drive out there in the streets.

[JamesH]

Button I think today. Vettel was lucky, Hamilton was pants, both because of the Monaco track.

[Clive]

Jenson Button for me, good solid drive, almost back to his form. Close second would have been Maldonado, race ruined by a clumsy attempt from Hamilton. Vettel was lucky to win due to the red flag and tyre change!

[BertMk2]

Button gets my vote, easily the most impressive driver.

[W.O.T]

Originally Posted by Wims

Im surprised that noone has voted for Hamilton yet.

For me it was a cointoss between Vettel and Kobayashi. It landed on heads (Vettel) which is a shame, cause I really like Kobayashi.

EDIT: Looks like I voted for Kobayashi tho. Oh well

Looks like I voted for Hamilton when I wanted to vote for button.

[Andy77]

no vote from me today . too equally good drives by some

[strider]

It's interesting to compare the votes on here with those on James Allen's website, which are currently:

1. Jenson Button with 1,696 votes giving him 31.47%
2. Fernando Alonso with 1,521 votes giving him 28.22%
3. Sebastian Vettel with 843 votes giving him 15.64%
4. Kamui Kobayashi with 756 votes giving him 14.03%
5. Pastor Maldonado with 527 votes giving him 9.78%

The big difference is over there Alonso has picked up a load of votes, but here just three and I'm wondering why that is.

A legacy from 2007 perhaps or maybe from the Teflonso period?

I thought he drove very well on Sunday and could very well have won had the race run full distance without the red flag fiasco.

[Adam43]

Teflonso drove a very good race. I could only vote for one person . The top five are the same.
The wierd thing is Webber getting three votes, but then that is always wierd

Sutil not getting a look in here - Getinthere thinks he's a contender.

[Splatz the Cow]

Webber did the fastest lap of the race on his first attempt, the final lap.

Vettel had clear track all day and held everyone up (Button, at least.)
When Button had clear track for a long stretch, he was ferociously quick, but Webber beat their times on his one and only clear lap of the whole race.

If you give a moment to consider each driver, on the merits of their race, it is sometimes different from what it first appears.

Webber was held up almost the whole race, and was blighted by more Red Bull "team" work, and yet he patiently went back out, and kept the car clean, and picked his moments.

In contrast I find it amazing that Hamilton has any votes - but I guess that's always a bit weird isn't?

Rather than patiently working his way up through the field, and looking after his tyres - which Vettel did very well - Hamilton did everything he could to score a DNF. Rather than counting his blessings after being clipped by Michael (if that actually happened at all) and escaping major damage, he caused two accidents.

Worst of all, was the arrogance to send a competitor into the barrier, just because he was in a poorer-team car. Top drivers know that the back-markers teams can't afford the spare parts, and testing as much, and so Maldonado was expected to lift out and let Hamilton through. I don't agree with that ethic, but its a tactic that works: Move out or I'll crash you out.

No matter how much Williams publicly and privately support Maldonado over the incident, in which he was not at fault in any way, when Williams look at the bank balance cost of repairs from the crash, there will be some resentment. In the future the bottom line will dictate that Williams will ask Maldonado to keep it clean and secure the points. Where as Hamilton knows he is fully supported by McLaren to do anything no matter what the cost. Up to a point.

It was basically rich kid versus poor kid.

But Maldonado came away from the weekend looking all the more like a composed developing future talent.
Hamilton comes away looking like a spoiled, petulant, immature driver, with enormous skills; yet shown up by Schumacher's pass.

Jenson was good in the McLaren, but Maldonado was great in that Williams.

So I voted Maldonado.

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by Splatz the Cow

Webber did the fastest lap of the race on his first attempt, the final lap.

Vettel had clear track all day and held everyone up (Button, at least.)
When Button had clear track for a long stretch, he was ferociously quick, but Webber beat their times on his one and only clear lap of the whole race.

If you give a moment to consider each driver, on the merits of their race, it is sometimes different from what it first appears.

Webber was held up almost the whole race, and was blighted by more Red Bull "team" work, and yet he patiently went back out, and kept the car clean, and picked his moments.

Or to look at it another way:

Webber set the fastest lap of the race on fresh tyres, with no fuel on board and with nobody to race against. He spent the rest of the race failing to get past slower cars and was comprehensively beaten by those ahead.

It is sometimes different from what it first appears - and sometimes not

(fwiw Hamilton had a ****ter too)

[JamesH]

Originally Posted by BertMk2

Or to look at it another way:

Webber set the fastest lap of the race on fresh tyres, with no fuel on board and with nobody to race against. He spent the rest of the race failing to get past slower cars and was comprehensively beaten by those ahead.

It is sometimes different from what it first appears - and sometimes not

(fwiw Hamilton had a ****ter too)

What he said! (although you didn't mention he was in the fastest car)

I'd have been surprised if Webber didn't set the fastest lap under those conditions.

[JamesH]

Originally Posted by Splatz the Cow

Rather than patiently working his way up through the field, and looking after his tyres - which Vettel did very well - Hamilton did everything he could to score a DNF. Rather than counting his blessings after being clipped by Michael (if that actually happened at all) and escaping major damage, he caused two accidents.

Worst of all, was the arrogance to send a competitor into the barrier, just because he was in a poorer-team car. Top drivers know that the back-markers teams can't afford the spare parts, and testing as much, and so Maldonado was expected to lift out and let Hamilton through. I don't agree with that ethic, but its a tactic that works: Move out or I'll crash you out.

No matter how much Williams publicly and privately support Maldonado over the incident, in which he was not at fault in any way, when Williams look at the bank balance cost of repairs from the crash, there will be some resentment. In the future the bottom line will dictate that Williams will ask Maldonado to keep it clean and secure the points. Where as Hamilton knows he is fully supported by McLaren to do anything no matter what the cost. Up to a point.

It was basically rich kid versus poor kid.

But Maldonado came away from the weekend looking all the more like a composed developing future talent.
Hamilton comes away looking like a spoiled, petulant, immature driver, with enormous skills; yet shown up by Schumacher's pass.

Jenson was good in the McLaren, but Maldonado was great in that Williams.

So I voted Maldonado.

Whilst I disagree with much of the above (sounds like sour grapes to me), I will comment that you seem to be dissing LH for actually trying to overtake other cars, on a track where overtaking is very very difficult. OK, he cocked up big time, but at least he tried. Webber didn't. Being happy to sit behind other cars for the whole race in the vain hope someone conks out or crashes isn't really racing, is it?

And since when was being overtaken by another driver being 'shown up'?