Start, Mercedes, Silverstone, 2019

Vote for your 2019 British Grand Prix Driver of the Weekend

2019 British Grand Prix

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Which Formula One driver made the most of the British 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 three days.

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

Driver performance summary

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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 2019 British Grand Prix weekend?

  • No opinion (0%)
  • Robert Kubica (0%)
  • George Russell (0%)
  • Alexander Albon (0%)
  • Daniil Kvyat (0%)
  • Antonio Giovinazzi (0%)
  • Kimi Raikkonen (1%)
  • Lance Stroll (0%)
  • Sergio Perez (0%)
  • Lando Norris (1%)
  • Carlos Sainz Jnr (3%)
  • Kevin Magnussen (0%)
  • Romain Grosjean (0%)
  • Nico Hulkenberg (0%)
  • Daniel Ricciardo (2%)
  • Pierre Gasly (1%)
  • Max Verstappen (14%)
  • Charles Leclerc (46%)
  • Sebastian Vettel (1%)
  • Valtteri Bottas (8%)
  • Lewis Hamilton (22%)

Total Voters: 222

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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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40 comments on “Vote for your 2019 British Grand Prix Driver of the Weekend”

  1. Leclerc was exceptional this weekend so have to give it to him. Only 8 hundredths off pole on Saturday and despite not having the pace to match Mercedes or Redbull he had some great, tough racing with Verstappen to keep ahead where most drivers would’ve folded. After the safety car put him back in 6th he overtook Gasly and deserved a stroke of luck with his teammate taking himself and Verstappen out of contention.

    Also great racing from the Mercedes boys (unfortunate that the safety car ended that battle) and Verstappen, and good work from Ricciardo despite losing out on the safety car.

    1. Not having the pace of a Redbull? Based on what is that? Last thing I heard was that Redbull is still the number 3 car.

      I can not understand why Leclerc was voted driver of the day and is now also leading in this poll too. Bottas or Verstappen were without doubt the better two. Both robbed by bad luck but not because they did something wrong. Without the interception of Vettel Leclerc wouldn’t even have made it on the podium, his defense against Verstappen was on and over the edge, he couldn’t pass Gasley for many rounds and he was not on pole Saturday, so what was so exceptional?

      Leclerc and Hamilton had a lot of luck today, and luck should not make you driver of the day or driver of the weekend.

      1. @dutch-1 Driver of the day and this DoTW vote don’t count for anything, it’s just for fan entertainment. Everyone has their own criteria and you won’t always agree with the outcome (I often don’t). If it bothers you this much then maybe you shouldn’t participate in them.

        The stewards don’t agree that Leclerc’s defence was over the edge, and none of the commentators or experts I saw on coverage agreed with your point of view either. Leclerc’s luck somewhat balanced out, he lost out majorly with the safety car but gained when Vettel had his brain fade. He may have caught Vettel for fourth even without the crash, but certainly deserved 4th at a minimum.

        As for the pace of the Redbull, it was 3rd fastest in qualy but again all the experts, commentators, and drivers agree that Redbull had superior pace to Ferrari today. Redbull even suggested they may have been able to challenge the Mercs if they had managed to clear the Ferraris early.

        1. Sorry the last sentence of the first paragraph was a little harsh, that applies more to the comment below mine from @dallein which I read at the same time as yours.

  2. Lewis

    Sorry, but Leclerc didn’t do ANYTHING special this weekend or race.
    Yes, his Q-lap was good, then he started third and finished third only because two guys ahead crashed…
    Yeah, right, that’s deserving to be named DotD and DotW… *facepalm*

    I already despise this Vote on F1 website, but looks like here is not better.
    Just ridiculous.

    1. Hear, hear !! 100% right.

    2. @dallein you must have either watched a different race or be blind.
      Charles defended brilliantly lap after lap against Max, who is arguably one of the best overtakers out there. He ended up behind Max and Gasly, due to a bad strategy call. Then overtook Gasly clean around the outside of T3. After that of course lucky to get in front of Max and Seb because of their collision, but anyway a great race and a great qualy: 6 tens ahead of seb and 0.79 from pole…

      1. Charles kept Verstappen behind him on track (not many can) and then when Ferrari gave him a slow stop he overtook Verstappen on track.

        He got screwed over by his team AGAIN during the safety-car, but overtook Gasly brilliantly and oh btw, he also outpaced his teammate the entire weekend.

        Yeah, Leclerc is the DoTW alright.

        1. *facepalm*

          He just drove with pretty average result.
          If this is consider a drive of the Weekend, then … *facepalm*

      2. OMG, defending for several laps and 1 overtake!
        Yes, YES, this is the sign of unbelievable driver skills.

        *facepalm*

        I’ve never read a bigger nonsense.
        Yes, his overtake on Gasly was good… but that’s it. Just good.

    3. Well, HAM didn’t do anything quite special either if you ask me. He didn’t take the PP, he failed to overtake BOT, and the SC granted him an easy win. Then, personally I’m not that amazed by his last lap FL and on 30laps old tyres because Mercedes is known by now to work better in colder temps and harder compounds, Austria being the perfect counter-example. Also, the track gets faster as the race unfolds and the FL is set usually in the last part of the race, no matter if it’s even the hardest/slowest compound.

      1. Agree. Lewis was good this weekend but honestly, he wasn’t much better than Bottas. He inherited this win through luck and a better strategy. I think Leclerc and Verstappen were both better than him.

        I voted Leclerc. Stellar quali, really solid racecraft on Sunday. He managed to keep a chasing Max behind with brilliant deriving, and managed to pull a fantastic overtaking move on the other Red Bull to reclaim that podium spot.

        Other notables for DOTW were Norris. He was stellar up until the point Mclaren’s strategy and safety car ruined his race.

        1. @mg1982 @todfod The SC didn’t really change anything, he would have been ahead after BOTs second pitstop anyway. The “better strategy” only materialised because he could keep his tyres going, and then he still had equal or better pace on hards than Bottas on mediums, even taking fastest lap from Bottas running on new softs.

          He was insanely much better than Bottas.

    4. Driver of the Weekend. Lewis got out-qualified by Bottas and was running second until the first round of stops. He was good this weekend, but not the class of the field. It was nip and tuck between the two Mercedes.

    5. almost half poled seem to disagree with you, I’m one of them. If you cant see how LEC drove an exceptional race then you’re bias in your views.

  3. Leclerc for me he had a great weekend followed by Hamilton, Bottas both just great qually and races. Special mention for Ricciardo who redeemed an ordinary Austrian weekend with a very strong drive.

    1. I left out Gasly I think he had his best race so far this season.

  4. Leclerc gave me most fun.

  5. Hamilton worked very well with Giovinazzi and had an excellent final lap.

    1. I voted for Charles, but Hamilton was absolutely mighty in this race. He was going to win it no matter what.

    2. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
      15th July 2019, 14:02

      @juan-fanger excellent last lap? that’s like saying that Usain Bolt’s record of running 100 meters in 9.58 seconds is an excellent time :-)

      James Alison used the word breath-taking to describe the lap and he was trying to downplay Lewis’ accomplishment on account of Bottas’ misfortune and his own excellent race.

      I’d use stupefying, epic, insane. Probably the best lap that Silverstone has ever seen and will ever see and possibly the one of the best laps of motorsport of the past century. I can assure you Bottas did not sleep last night because of that lap and Vettel hugged his 4 Championship trophies thinking he’s the luckiest guy he has won any after that lap.

  6. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
    15th July 2019, 1:23

    Lewis because of his fastest lap – he did it with the hard tyre after 30 laps on it beating the Bottas’ Mercedes which had brand new soft tyres.

    Lap of the ages and a statement from Lewis that he would have won even without the safety car.

  7. Think I disagree completely with leclerc being driver of the weekend, I voted verstappen.

    However it wasn’t clear cut, hamilton was outperformed in qualifying and wasn’t able to make an overtake stick on bottas, though he did good attempts, was gifted a win by a bad bottas strategy, on the other hand he got the fastest lap at the last lap, that’s really what I’d like to see from a driver.

    Leclerc defended well against verstappen, overtook him shortly after boxing, verstappen did a brilliant overtake on vettel, leclerc also managed to overtake a better than usual gasly, verstappen defended well whenever he had to.

    Bottas did pretty well as well, he was unlucky, so again not clear cut but I think the driver who gave the most interest was verstappen and he hardly made any mistake.

    1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
      15th July 2019, 13:41

      @esploratore Hamilton was gifted the win by Giovinazzi and the safety car. But Bottas was right behind him after that and he couldn’t make any attempt at a pass, let alone get close to Lewis which Lewis did manage to do at the start of the race. If he wanted the win, he had to fight for it and the way you fight in F1 is by at least getting close to the car in front of you and making an overtake attempt.

      Lewis showed that he had enough pace to outdrive Bottas at the end of the race judging by the fastest lap on the hard tyre over the soft new tyres on Bottas’ car.

  8. Leclerc. Here’s why:
    1. Inch perfect defending. Only on one occasion (down the Hangar straight) did he defend slightly late. Even the collision with Max after the Safety Car wasn’t his fault really, Max turned into the apex despite Leclerc being alongside him. Hard racing, but fair. As for the rest of the race, he was using the ‘hang out to dry’ strategy brilliantly, going inside, braking early to prevent the switchback and letting the car drift to the outside to prevent an outside pass.
    2. Brilliantly attacking as well. His move around the outside of Gasly was beautiful, but his pass on Verstappen right after the stops was clever. He moved to the inside in his mirrors, forcing Max to brake late to cover the faux lunge, and his cold tyres didn’t take. This was similar to Leclerc’s move on Bottas at Turn 1 in Bahrain.
    3. Maximised qualifying yesterday. Beat his teammate handily. Yes he got lucky later in the race but one can argue he got jumped by Verstappen and Vettel only due to the safety car pitstop melee, so he wasn’t at fault for being behind them.
    4. Not too many other candidates. Hamilton was outqualified and was helped massively by the SC, Bottas’s race unravelled after a brilliantly combative first stint. Gasly improved but still fell short. Sainz and Raikkonen were outqualified, Ricciardo drove well but was a little lucky at the restart to gain positions. None of the rest stood out that much.
    Verstappen comes close, but let’s face it, he wasn’t able to defeat Leclerc in a straight out battle and for the first time in a long time, came off second best in a wheel to wheel battle with the clear DoTW candidate. And it was clear as day that Ferrari was the 3rd fastest race car today.
    Therefore Leclerc.

    1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
      15th July 2019, 13:53

      @wrsgo Leclerc was awesome (as was Max in this race and in Austria sans the last overtake on Leclerc) but Lewis’ fastest lap resembled a magic trick. It’s like saying to everyone “hey guys, you’re all quick and the best drivers in the world but I’m quicker on the slowest tyre after 30 laps”. It’s the equivalent of Phelps winning by a full lap over the next competitor and the other guy having set the world record the day before.

      I actually think that Bottas was more stung by the fact that he lost the fastest lap to Lewis than the fact that he lost the race. I think it’ll take a very long time for him to recover from that – all the poles in the world won’t make up for it.

      1. @freelittlebirds Be that as it may, it’s still hard for me to vote DoTW to a guy who won by such a margin because of the SC and was outqualified by his teammate. Also, with track temperatures dropping late in the race, as well as fuel loads, the possibility of the hards lasting to that extent (in a car that was the best race car today) was always there, coupled with the fact that people with new tyres have difficulty switching them on in such conditions. It was a great drive, and a great statement from Hamilton, but DoTW? I think I’m gonna give it to the guy who outqualified his teammate and successfully held off a faster car for several laps, in a track where passing is relatively easier.

        1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
          15th July 2019, 18:35

          @wsrgo Of course that’s your choice and it’s well argued :-) I think Leclerc was awesome but his qualifying was a bit one-sided as Vettel hasn’t really been competitive in the past few races.

          As for the tyres, I’m sure there were variables that contributed to Lewis’s fastest lap including the fact that Bottas’ tyres weren’t completely new but Mercedes obviously felt the soft tyres were the better tyre as they put those on Bottas.

          1. @freelittlebirds Fair enough. I think, in hindsight, Hamilton’s performance was much better and he could have won without the Safety Car. It’s quite close between the Hamilton and Leclerc for DOTW and I think it’s fair to go either way.

  9. I give it to Charles Leclerc. Building confidence and before too long will be up winning races. I loved how fiesty he was with Max! fantastic racing. Lewis Hamilton did fantastic, but thats no surprise at Silverstone

  10. Leclerc by a good margin. Great racing, super qualifying, and it was rather satisfying to see Vettel come unstuck after yet again Ferrari had worked massively in his favour.

    Honourable mentions: Gasly, for finally looking on a par with Verstappen. Hope it continues. Great move on Vettel and didn’t constantly look like he was about to crash, unlike his teammate…
    Bottas for having the edge over Hamilton but losing out on strategy. Probably deserved the win.
    Ricciardo for again beating Hulkenburg and resisting the temptation for a kamikaze move on Sainz.
    And finally Albon for managing to get all the way to the end on the ‘wrong’ tyres.

  11. Pierre Gasly for me, as well as, the DOTD with honorable mentions to Leclerc, Verstappen, Sainz, Raikkonen, and Kvyat.

  12. I don’t want to pick one driver. Hamilton, Bottas, Leclerc, Verstappen all treated us with amazing battles on the limit and in the midfield there were too many to notice. The battle between Leclerc and Verstappen was the most enjoyable and lasted a good part of the race.

  13. Lewis, plain as day. Harassed P1 off the start in a way that we no longer thought was possible in modern F1 and you could physically see how hard he was hustling that car with the bit firmly between his teeth. Add to that zero errors, sportsmanlike defending and attacking AND fastest lap on old battered tyres and that was truly something very, very special.

  14. Voted for Max V

  15. Mi vote for Sainz. I had some dounts since during Q2 he wasn’t able to beat his own Q1 time and got a 13th, way behind the potential of the car, as Norris demonstrated. After knowing that the qualification problem was due to an improper setup of the front wing during Q2 I believe I can remove that from the cons (team failure). After that I can only see the best performer. He climbed from 13th to 6th, the best of the rest. He was able to maintain Ricciardo behind for more than 10 laps with a set of hard tires that they never tested (team failure).
    He demonstrated that he can overcome and compensate team failures, climbing 7 positions and being the winner of the second league, something no other was able to do. Following the excellent 13 positions climb in Austria, Sainz is silently scoring, so only people well versed in all the details of F1 is noticing it.

  16. F1oSaurus (@)
    15th July 2019, 20:26

    Has to be Hamilton really. He smartly set up his car for much better long run pace while Bottas went for a Q3 setup. Hamilton even almost had pole in spite of that, but he completely crushed Bottas during the race. Showing indeed he had a massive long run pace advantage.

    Setting the fastest lap on 31/32 lap old hard tyres to beat Bottas on newish softs was astonishing. Bottas must truly be shocked and wondering how he can ever stop the hurt.

    Good races from Leclerc and Verstappen too.

  17. With all of this “expert” analysis that the SC gave HAM the race, we need to revisit the best driver in Austria as the excessive heat obviously gave VER that race since HAM finished 5th but has 7 1sts and 2 2nds in the 9 races that weren’t held in excessive heat.

  18. LEC for me. To drag that Ferrari up to 3rd on the grid (whilst his more experienced team mate languished in 6th and failed to explain why) and then battle it out against the clearly faster Red Bull of VER was a worthy future world champion’s drive.

  19. My vote went to Leclerc, good performance in qualifying and a great battle with Verstappen in the race, the safety car timing and another poor strategy call seemed to have cost him a podium but Vettel’s clash with Verstappen meant he did finish third in the end.

    Hamilton was mightily impressive in the race, including setting the fastest lap on the last lap on old tyres but he didn’t manage to do the business in qualifying and missed out on pole.

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