Start, Albert Park, Melbourne, 2018

Vote for your 2018 Australian Grand Prix Driver of the Weekend

2018 Australian Grand Prix

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Which Formula One driver made the most of the Australian Grand Prix weekend?

It’s time to give your verdict on which driver did the best with the equipment at their disposal over the last five days.

Review how each driver got on below and vote for who impressed you the most at Albert Park.

Driver performance and results

Vote for your driver of the weekend

Which driver do you think did the best job throughout the race weekend?

Who got the most out of their car in qualifying and the race? Who put their team mate in the shade?

Cast your vote below and explain why you chose the driver you picked in the comments.

Who was the best driver of the 2018 Australian Grand Prix weekend?

  • No opinion (1%)
  • Charles Leclerc (3%)
  • Marcus Ericsson (0%)
  • Stoffel Vandoorne (0%)
  • Fernando Alonso (25%)
  • Kevin Magnussen (30%)
  • Romain Grosjean (2%)
  • Brendon Hartley (0%)
  • Pierre Gasly (0%)
  • Carlos Sainz Jnr (0%)
  • Nico Hulkenberg (1%)
  • Sergey Sirotkin (0%)
  • Lance Stroll (0%)
  • Esteban Ocon (0%)
  • Sergio Perez (0%)
  • Max Verstappen (0%)
  • Daniel Ricciardo (7%)
  • Kimi Raikkonen (7%)
  • Sebastian Vettel (8%)
  • Valtteri Bottas (0%)
  • Lewis Hamilton (15%)

Total Voters: 372

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Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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74 comments on “Vote for your 2018 Australian Grand Prix Driver of the Weekend”

  1. Magnussen, 6th in qualifying to 5th on the grid, to running 4th in the race and looking like he could stay there before retiring to something out of his control. No one else particularly stood out, so imma go with that.

    1. I voted for Magnussen as well

    2. The Haas boys were really on it on Sunday keeping both Redbulls behind for much of the race,
      Just thinking about it, had they not retired Vettel was probably going to filter in behind one or both of them considering Daniel also benefitted from pitting under VSC the race would have been truly on

    3. @hugh11 But Romain triggered the VSC, Magnussen failed to do so.

      1. Now honestly, it has to be Lewis. Pole and pretty much faultless race.

        1. It might have been out of his control but he still finished lower than he started.

          1. Finishing lower than you start doesn’t matter at all, stroll started 2nd at monza last year cause of penalties and cause the track was wet in qualifying, he ended up 7th if I recall and did the best he could, the first 5 cars were mercedes, ferraris and red bull, sometimes based on the circumstances you can’t do anything but lose positions, doesn’t make that a minus for the driver.

  2. Lewis Hamilton. A scintillating qualifying lap and a perfect race, nothing to add. He is so going to show everyone else up this year.

  3. Got to give it to Magnussen, so unlucky. Honourable mentions to Hamilton, Alonso and Perez (unlikely choice maybe but he demolished his team mate)

  4. Gave it to K-Mag. Outqualified his teammate, overtook(!) VER at the start and kept him behind during the race. Hopefully Haas can keep up their pace at Bahrain.

    1. +1 overtaking and keeping him behind him.

      1. This one has to be K-Mag. Really solid weekend, great start, great race handling VER behind. Agreessive when needed and really consistent. It’s a shame it hasn’t worked out, but a flawless performance.

  5. So so good to see Magnussen back on top form, I don’t remember such a good performance from him since his debut here four years ago. I hope the Haas doesn’t drop back too much during the season so he (and Grosjean, too) will have more chances to fight maybe even for the podium.

  6. I’m in no position to influence the vote, but Magnussen definitely stood out.

    1. And Charles Leclerc would be my second choice. Qualifying was nothing special, even though losing no more than 0.08 seconds to your much more experienced team mate in your very first attempt is nothing to be ashamed of. But still, that team mate is Ericsson.
      As others have remarked, Leclerc raced Stroll, and successfully so. He showed some serious pace after finally finding a clear track ahead of him due to Ericsson’s and Gasly’s misfortunes, almost on par with Haas/Renault/McLaren at that stage, and made a mighty impression on Stroll, whom he almost managed to undercut. The VSC denied him that, but apparently, he still managed to overtake Stroll as the race went green again.
      A very promising first showing, in my opinion, although sadly one that went unnoticed by the cameras.

      1. feel the same about him too, qualy wasn’t great, but it was the first ever of his career in a F1 car
        He also kept the STRs honest, it shows promise for the future, he should be improving session by session.

        1. Yes, it was my second choice as well, really mature and agressiva when it counted. Stayed out of trouble and punched above the car’s weight, sticking around with midfielders. We will see much more from him. I hope Sauber can improve at least 0,5 to be more within the pack.

  7. Pat Ruadh (@fullcoursecaution)
    26th March 2018, 15:34

    Another vote for K-Mag here. Has a driver who didn’t finish won DOTW before?

    1. Massa, Hungary 2008 would be a strong candidate if there was a DotW vote back then.

  8. I’m not voting out of respect to the Haas boys, especially K-Mag, I’m sure he was on the way to be the DOW

    1. Don’t see how a retirement where it’s not his fault has anything with not being voted, as you can see he still got several votes!

  9. A bit difficult to choose. I thought of the Haas-drivers and Alonso but eventually went for Vettel.

    1. @jerejj Why?? He was behind his teammate in qualifying and the race then got spectacularly lucky on strategy. Nothing special.

      1. @tflb Yes, I admit that in retrospect I perhaps should’ve voted for either Magnussen or Alonso.

  10. I can’t decide which of Lastname brothers did best, so I go with K-Mag.

  11. Bottas, a nearly flawless weekend, with only one small mistake

    1. Yup. He even manages to overtake Stroll

    2. @strontium Bottas really did ruin his and Mercedes weekend but I blame sky. Bottas was doing alright. He won the last race of last season but sky starting saying he was under massive pressure and crash.

    3. Agreed. Bottas provided the highlight of the weekend. Honourable mention to Verstappen for trying to match Bottas but not quite having the skill to pull it off.

  12. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
    26th March 2018, 16:17

    It’s hard to tell with Haas especially since both drivers did so well – it’s hard to tell how quick the car is and whether it’s a Ferrari disguised as a Haas since Ferrari supply engines and a lot of parts to Haas.

    Obviously the Haas IS capable of keeping a Red Bull behind and not just any Red Bull but a hungry Max Verstappen. It was more settled than the Red Bull which is very hard to believe since Adrian Newey’s cars are renowned for downforce.

    If anyone voted for Haas, you might voting for Scuderia Ferrari, not the drivers.

    For me, Lewis’s qualifying was a statement that the 2nd fastest driver is still miles behind him. Same in the race – if this was not a championship, Lewis would have found a way to pass Seb and Sebastian would have crashed into Lewis on the pass since his driving skills are quite limited (almost GP2 grade) compared to Lewis’.

    1. Don’t think vettel is so bad in general, but I think he’s the one who got the most from a subpar race, verstappen got 6th which he deserved in this race.

      Most of the others in the first places had an ok or good race.

      1. Verstappen deserved to be in front of Ricciardo and Alonso at the finish.
        Borh Ricciardo and Alonso were behind Grosjean when he pitted and he ended up behind Verstappen after his stop, so would Ricciardo and Alonso if not for the VSC.

  13. KMag haas (pun intended) something with Melbourne. 4 years ago he scored a podium on the McMerc in his first F1 race ever (and never ever he could get any better or closer to the front than that), what a missed chance this time, a pitty, he deserved to fight for 4th, not a fan but he was the most remarkable this weekend. Alonso did superb and the car didnt fall apart (pfewww), Hamilton also superb but unlucky as Kimi. Vettel got the lucky strike prize already. Solid work from Perez and LeClerc but 0 points :'(

  14. Vettel fan 17 (@)
    26th March 2018, 16:22

    Magnusssen. Best of the rest in qualifying, and was a great fourth before his unfortunate retirement

  15. If this doesn’t go to Kevin Magnussen it’ll be as much of a travesty as Haas suffered in the race!

    K-Mag was supreme all weekend, he stuck in a great lap in Quali, he went round the outside of the hypemonster in Turn 1 and was comfortably holding on to 4th early on before being forced to retire through no fault of his own. A stunning, stunning drive.

  16. The main contenders did a solid job, but none of them were outstanding, especially against their respective team mates or key rivals. K-Mag, meanwhile, got himself into a great position with an excellent quali and a brilliant first corner. he gets my vote.

  17. Yes (@come-on-kubica)
    26th March 2018, 16:48

    Magnussen was tremendous in Australia. Another top drive at a track he has got his only podium. Shame he didn’t get the points he deserved. Hopefully we see more of this Magnussen this season than the petulant child we see most of the time.

  18. How can people be voting for for Vettel?!

    1. @3dom
      How can they vote for Verstappen? Because there’s nothing stopping them from doing so.

    2. Register a RaceFans account > Select Vettel > Vote

      1. Yes, don’t know what’s with some decisions, but some might be trolling, example there’s people who voted palmer 10 on the last season, a season where he was replaced for being 1 sec off his team mate on race department site, there’ll be outlier, that’s just how it is.

        Vettel had a better weekend than verstappen but definitely subpar for his standards imo.

    3. I guess some people think getting to the finish line first with the aid of a rule that no one else thought of using is fair. Maybe they’re tired of seeing a Mercedes car finishing at the front with the air of technology that no one else thought of and think that isn’t fair.

      1. @drycrust

        I guess some people think getting to the finish line first with the aid of a rule that no one else thought of using is fair.

        What rule are you talking about?

  19. You’re missing a few drivers in the poll, Keith.

    I want to vote for Lastname from the TLA team, but can’t find that option. For shame, Keith, for shame.

    1. Some what off topic but do we need those graphics on throughout the whole race. I personally find it annoying. I like having information on a regular basis or when things are changing. This though just becomes a distraction. IMO.

  20. Was about to vote for Magnussen but ended up with Alonso. Needed to cheer myself up for this season. I know his qualification wasn’t as good as it could have but he took everything that was left on the table and ended up 5th in front of a red bull.

    1. @spoutnik He got lucky with VSC, that’s all. He had a good weekend but not spectacular by any means.

  21. VIVE LECLERC!!!

  22. Lewis, Magnussen or Kimi. I voted for Kimi

    He beat Vettel in qualy and he won the press conference afterwards.

    1. @anunaki

      I might vote Kimi with you just because I’m offended Vettel has the same 9% of the votes, despite be beaten all weekend.

      1. He won when it counted. If people vote Alonso why not Vettel? Both lucked into making positions but Vettel won the race. Neither should get it. Hamilton ran off the road when pushing so one of the Haas drivers, Magnussen was best but the Haas wheel gun allowed a Ferrari win but cannot vote for the wheel gun so bu pure luck its Grosjean who knew nothing about it but had no choice but to stop in just the right spot to enable a Ferrari win and thats all that counts for me.

        1. Hamilton lost nothing, there was not much chance to overtake, he risked, and didn’t retire or lose a position due to it.

  23. Hamilton put in a great lap in qually, but was clearly sand bagging most of qualifying – he could have had pole driving at 90%. Spent much of his race conserving, didn’t create enough of a gap (I know these things are tightly managed by the team), he went off chasing Vettel, so not the flawless weekend we expect from a 4-time champion.

    Leclerc impressed, but I didn’t see enough of him to give him my vote – apparently he spent a lot of the race conserving as he didn’t know how much fuel he had left. Still an impressive debut.

    Alonso had a good weekend, as did Hulkenberg and Perez in comparison to their teammates. Kimi was strong too, but like many others, it was K-Mag who gets my vote for DOW.

    1. Disagree with taking points off hamilton for the mistake when chasing vettel, he should’ve won the race, was behind due to bad luck, knew it was unlikely to overtake a similar car, risked, it didn’t work but he also didn’t retire or lose a positon.

      Had he lost a position, sure, but he lost nothing, he just did an attempt and it didn’t work.

      1. Also SURELY not the weekend we expect from the other 4x champion either, slower than raikkonen in qualifying (being raikkonen 39 I’d expect more from vettel), slower in the first stint.

  24. Magnussen, of course. Good weekend also by Hamilton, Vettel, Kimi.

  25. Checked results, undecided between several drivers, saw that magnussen and alonso were already heavily voted, and went for hamilton, they all had a good weekend, even raikkonen and ricciardo (don’t think penalty was deserved) and grosjean.

  26. I’m going to say Magnussen, good quali and well done to keep both RBRs behind him until the wheel gun failed. Honorable mentions to both Alonso and Ricciardo.

  27. No one really showed some outstanding performance this weekend so I’ll give it to Hamilton for the qualifying lap. Shout out for Magnussen, Alonso, and Raikkonen.

  28. ILuvSoundtracks (@)
    27th March 2018, 8:35

    Kevin Magnussen.

  29. Alonso for me

  30. Magnussen – again. Another flowless race, with overtaking of faster cars, great defending and a perfect quali. Grosjean is a good driver, but a clear no 2 in star quality.

    No question he has super skills and is the favorite to replace Raikkonen at the moment.

    1. Flawless

    2. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
      27th March 2018, 13:26

      I still think that Grosjean has the edge on Kevin – their qualifying was about the same. Kevin’s pass was ok – it was more Vettel blocking Verstappen than Kevin passing but he did hold it together and defended well.

      Even his defense is relative because Bottas could barely passing the Force Indias and the Haas ain’t really a Haas. It looks like a Haas but if you peel the paint, there is a red car there as Horner is suggesting and as is evident after Australia.

      Max might have been trying to climb Mt Everest in his Speedo:-)

  31. Lewis. Set a Senna esque lap (and before you cry about ‘party mode’ the Ferrari was FASTER on the straights and Vettel has admitted his lap was just plain better. Source: http://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id/22916082/sebastian-vettel-credits-lewis-hamilton-not-mercedes-engine-pole-lap – Sebastian Vettel credits Lewis Hamilton, not Mercedes engine, for pole lap)

    Peerless in the race too and let down by the rules, a useless teammate and a Ferrari team which with a clear number 1 driver policy.

    LEWIS.

  32. Stroll, because his Dad’s check for $1,677,000 cleared, the first of 21 such checks payable to Williams.

  33. I didn’t think that many drivers really stood out this weekend, with it being the start of the season we also don’t really know where every team and driver are ranked this year yet so we don’t know who was outperforming or underperforming their car.

    Hamilton’s pole lap in qualifying was supreme and he was on course for a comfortable victory until the virtual safety car period.

    Vettel has a few votes but I never considered him as a contender for driver of the weekend, firstly he was beaten by his teammate in qualifying and Vettel only lucked into the win due to the timing of the VSC and would have most likely finished third in the race behind Hamilton and Raikkonen without the safety car period.

    After pre-season testing Haas were tipped as best of the rest and they proved those predictions correct this weekend. It was Magnussen who was quicker in qualifying, he got ahead of Verstappen at the start of the race and, as good an over taker as Verstappen is, Magnussen never really looked in danger of losing fourth and it was Verstappen who made a mistake and spun. It was a shame that he lost out due to problems at his pit stop on what would surely have been his best result since his debut in F1 with McLaren at this circuit in 2014 when he achieved a podium.

    Alonso previously said that McLaren should be in Q3 at every race this season, he just missed out on that target this time being eleventh quickest in qualifying, but aided by the events of the race he did recover to finish fifth.

    My votes went to Magnussen with Hamilton second.

  34. Chuck, the Clerk, had a fantastic first race in F1. Also, KMag impressed me with his first corner overtake on Verstapples. This race may not have been pass heavy, but it was certainly interesting.

    1. Kimi was also outstanding, not just in qualifying, but especially in the first press conference. Classic Kimi.

  35. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
    29th March 2018, 9:33

    A bit surprised by the amount of votes for Magnussen actually. I suppose this may just be me, but given he only did around 45% of the race, we didn’t get to see it all, so I would be against voting for drivers with as little track time as this. We never know if it could have continued to be great or turned into a disaster of his own making.

    Although not that many of gone for Leclerc, It does surprise my that he has any really. People seem to be forgiving him because he’s a rookie. When I said at the start of the season that I thought Ericsson would be better, several said to me that as they thought Leclerc was a really highly rated driver, it would be unlikely he’d be beaten by a driver who most seem to call terrible. So from their point of view, is even a rookie beating a “terrible” driver qualifying really that impressive? And the “terrible” driver had a much better start and gained 1 or 2 places then had to retire. While Leclerc had 2 drivers pass him right off the line.
    For a rookie, it was good yes, he didn’t panic after his bad start and kept things clean for the rest of the race. But he gained most positions because of the retirements. The main Positive was beating a Toro Rosso. But I don’t think it was close to being good enough for driver of the weekend. As if we just talk about qualifying and what we get the chance to see like people have with Magnussen, Ericsson had a far better weekend than Leclerc. Basicaly, I think Leclerc is going to turn out to be good, but I don’t think Ericsson is anything like as bad as people suggest. So this season, I think Leclerc will have a tough time beating Ericsson.

    I would probably go for Hamilton but I’m still unsure. I thought Kimi was great this weekend and I think it is really odd that Vettel has more. Vettel did nothing wrong in qualifying or the race, but the fact is, Kimi was faster in qualifying and was ahead of Vettel until certain circumstances meant Vettel managed to luckily find a way from 4th to 1st.

    I thought Alonso did well during the race, but he was a bit lucky. I may not be realising how hard it is for a team to get used to a new engine. But given Mclaren and Alonso thought they had one of the best chassis, I really expected him to be in the top 10 in qualifying given he managed it with a Honda engine several times last year near the end. I think he deserves some votes, but being very nearly the most voted for seems a bit too much. I certainly don’t think he should have nearly twice as many as Hamilton.

  36. New poll. Worst team of the weekend. Haas.

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