Start, Istanbul Park, 2020

Vote for your 2020 Turkish Grand Prix Driver of the Weekend

2020 Turkish Grand Prix

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Which Formula One driver made the most of the Turkish 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 Istanbul Park.

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 2020 Turkish Grand Prix weekend?

  • No opinion (0%)
  • Nicholas Latifi (0%)
  • George Russell (0%)
  • Kevin Magnussen (0%)
  • Romain Grosjean (0%)
  • Antonio Giovinazzi (0%)
  • Kimi Raikkonen (0%)
  • Lance Stroll (3%)
  • Sergio Perez (30%)
  • Pierre Gasly (0%)
  • Daniil Kvyat (0%)
  • Esteban Ocon (0%)
  • Daniel Ricciardo (0%)
  • Lando Norris (0%)
  • Carlos Sainz Jnr (1%)
  • Alexander Albon (1%)
  • Max Verstappen (0%)
  • Charles Leclerc (2%)
  • Sebastian Vettel (19%)
  • Valtteri Bottas (0%)
  • Lewis Hamilton (43%)

Total Voters: 297

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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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64 comments on “Vote for your 2020 Turkish Grand Prix Driver of the Weekend”

  1. DOTW: PER
    DOTD: HAM

    1. Absolutely, perez got my vote but Hamilton crushed it in the race.

    2. Your driver of the weekend was someone who was outqualified by his team mate?

      1. It’s called a race weekend for a reason

  2. Its driver of the weekend.. people who vote for the best driver today do not seem to understand that.

    1. If that’s a go at voting for Hamilton, he did what was possible in the Mercedes on the Saturday, outqualifying his team mate. Sure there may have been better qualifying performances, Stroll being the clear example. But Hamilton wasn’t beaten by Bottas – which personally I count as crucial as qualifying for DOTW. After that it’s a matter of qualifying and race performance, both relative. On that count I had two candidates, Hamilton and Vettel. In the end it was easy, though. THis was a standout win for Hamilton under any circumstances. Winning his 7th championship just cemented it.

      1. That’s my reasoning too @david-br, though I am not yet decided on who wins out in the end. Maybe will think/feel about it a bit more though, vote tomorrow.

  3. My ratings:
    Lewis Hamilton – 9
    Valtteri Bottas – 3
    Charles Leclerc – 9
    Sebastian Vettel – 9
    Max Verstappen – 6
    Alexander Albon – 6
    Carlos Sainz – 9
    Lando Norris – 7
    Daniel Ricciardo – 6
    Esteban Ocon – 6
    Pierre Gasly – 5
    Daniil Kvyat – 6
    Sergio Perez – 9
    Lance Stroll – 7
    Kimi Raikkonen – 7
    Antonio Giovinazzi – 6
    Kevin Magnussen – 7
    Romain Grosjean – 4
    George Russell – 6
    Nicholas Latifi – 2

    1. Leclerc 8
      But we agree with the rest

    2. All seems fair. But Vettel a little high. He should have won. Compare his performance to Leclerc from lap 10 onwards and that’s clear. He lost 33 seconds to Hamilton, whereas Leclerc gained 10 on the same strategy. He didn’t make any errors, and that gave him a podium, but his pace was well off what it should have been.

  4. Perez for me, fast in quali, fast in the race. But above all, he is under pressure to impress Red Bull and having that small chance on a seat, and showed his worth today. His two mistakes did cost both Verstappen and Leclerc more than it cost Sergio, but that’s the advantage of being in front on the line. I believe he saved his carreer today.

    1. Perez did make a mistake in qualifying (although he mentioned Giovannazi got in his way and that triggered it) @montalvo. But yeah, he did a great job of showing how he was fast enough ot be up there, actually starting on the racing line in 3rd probably got him ahead of Verstappen there. And then he patiently waited for the time to go and speed up, making sure the tyres lasted the distance. Some good defensive driving all along too.

      Hamilton did a great job in the race too, but he really couldn’t find the pace in the car for qualifying.

      I gave it to Vettel. He beat his teammate in a car that was clearly not handing well at all in the wet. And he had a great start and first lap to get right to the front. He also defended well during the race, with only a few mistakes. And he pounced to claim that podium. I chose Vettel, because this was really the first time this year where he made things work and showed the top driver is still in there.

      1. Could easily agree with that @bascb, except that compared to Bottas at least Hamilton found quite a bit more pace (which is where he did better than Perez compared to his teammate @montalvo) from a car that had little to offer on the Saturday, while finding all he needed today; but indeed Vettel did too, and kept his head cool despite another disappointing pit-stop to pounce on his teammates mistake and get his 2020 podium result. Not the first race he did well, but the first weekend of the year it worked out.

        1. Hard to say exactly how much Bottas car was in fact hindered by the spin and hit with Ocon (his FW footplate seemed to have lodged between the barge boards, he seems to become an expert in that!) @bosyber.

          We do know that the things that Hamilton really has a huge leap on Bottas is both consistency but mainly how he is able to feel and treat the tyres to make use of the grip that can be found. That was key today.

          1. @bascb There always does seem to be Valtteri damage though. Not saying it doesn’t genuinely affect his pace, though how much we can never really tell. But he does get into these kind of scrapes far more than Hamilton to start with.

          2. Off course @david-br. There is hopefully little doubt to anyone that Hamilton is a lot better than Bottas is. Bottas had to get out of it when Ocon got into trouble with Ricciardo. He spun himself. We saw better drivers do things alike, including Max Verstappen. But Hamilton never had any such moments. Then Bottas tangled with Ocon a turn later and damaged the car. We never got enough angles of that to see who of those two was more to blame. Ocon has had many incidents too.

            It does however put some perspective on how horrible the car he had to drive after that was and why he managed to spin as many times as Hamilton had championships at that time of the race. And it certainly makes it more interesting to actually look at his driving and see how he coped. Probably did well to cope with a badly handling car pulling to the side on a track that proved too tricky for all but a few drivers during the race who did not have a damaged car.

          3. Agree with all of that @bascb, but I was mainly talking about Saturday (as there we had direct comparisons between BOT/HAM and STR/PER – which HAM and STR clearly won); in the race, we already know that HAM tends to be better with his tyre management so it isn’t really surprising that after a clean start he was better at getting a clean and successful race rather than the hampered run BOT experienced.

            Also agree that both his and Ocon’s race might deserve a rewatch to see what exactly all went wrong, not their greatest moments, even if Ocon in the end slotted in right behind RIC at the end (but w/o points, yet again) @david-br

          4. Isn’t the same skill in finding the grip what helped Hamilton get a better time out of the Mercedes though @bosyber?

            We know that Hamilton is better than Bottas, I don’t think that really is a reason to put Hamilton up on the top step for having a great weekend though, when he still couldn’t find enough in the otherwise fastest car to start on the first 2 rows. Also, Bottas still was a lot closer to Hamilton than Albon was to Verstappen, Ocon to Ricciardo, well and Perez to Stroll, although that was clearly due to going off in his second lap. Overall, that should rather count as a “ok, not great” than, yay, what an effort.

            Sure, the drive on Sunday was a great show of what makes Hamilton the best out there. But since this is about the driver of the Weekend, it has to be weighed.

          5. @bascb yes and? Vettel only got past Leclerc, who was faster in the race, coming from behind him, when Leclerc made that mistake into one of the last corners while attempting to overtake Perez. Now, he was there for it, the whole weekend and the race from the start, so fair choice, sure, but not so clear to me that it was a clearly better effort than Hamilton. Vettel still didn’t get the car into Q3 (and you could say that had it not been wet Leclerc – where L is seemingly not great – might have, as the car has been Q3 material in the last races for him), after all. But, again, certainly not a bad choice for DotW.

          6. Exactly. But Vettel DID beat Leclerc in the wet. And he did have the car there to be able to pass when the opportunity arose.

  5. Wasn’t Lewis quite fortunate that fraying inters gave the best grip in the closing laps? Would that be a fair resume?
    Vettel awoke from his long dejected Ferrari hangover and put young Lec in his place.

    1. ‘Fortunate’ if you know absolutely nothing about Formula 1 and how tyres evolve. Your case obviously. Not the case of Hamilton, also obviously.

    2. Rodber No I wouldn’t say that’s particularly fair. Hamilton read the conditions and situation perfectly, defying his team’s recommendation to pit for for a second set on inters both at the mid point of the race and again in the final couple of laps. Any luck he had, he made himself. Bottas had the same opportunity but failed to do anything all day.

      Vettel beat Leclerc fair and square, sure. I wouldn’t classify it as putting him in his place though. Vettel got a great start and was error free, but Leclerc had more pace and overtook him on track, before making a small error at the end to lose the place back.

    3. It’s amazing how often Ham “lucks into” these decisions. If he’s not careful, people might start to think that he knows what he’s doing 😜

    4. It was fortunate, but also a huge gamble. If the rain predicted at the end had arrived both hamilton and perez would have been called out massively. Hamilton probably had enough of a gap to nurse it home, but it would have been no guarantee. Getting lucky should only be criticized when it didn’t come with any risk (ie stroll in monza)

    5. I don’t think Vettel “put Leclerc in his place”. This was Vettel’s best weekend for a whole year, and yet was 3 corners from being beaten by his teammate.

      1. Not to mention that he lost a 40 second advantage to his teammate from lap 10 onwards. On the same strategy.

  6. Weekend? Easy, Perez.

    Of the day? Lewis, Perez and Vettel, in that order.

    Period.

    1. Montréalais (@)
      16th November 2020, 3:08

      Macrob: +1

    2. I agree with this DotW Perez, Ham for DotD…

  7. Quite tough. Leclerc had more pace than Vettel lost of the weekend, but in the end Vettel our qualified him and outraced him, so I went for Vettel.
    Hamilton, Sainz, Stroll and Perez had a great weekend too.

  8. Some solid drives from a few drivers today, though I’m not sure anyone was free of mistakes completely.

    Hamilton, Vettel, Perez, Leclerc, and Sainz for me were the best drivers today. I have to rule out Perez, Leclerc, and Sainz because they were outqualified by their teammates by large margins (Sainz receiving a penalty too), leaving only Vettel and Hamilton. I’ll give it to Hamilton just because when he was 20 seconds behind 1st about halfway through the race I expected him to cruise to 4th or 5th for the championship, so winning by 30s was quite atonishing.

  9. Poll is closed-Keith can you add my vote for Hamilton

  10. Hamilton for me, won the race in a car that wasn’t quickest, look at Bottas, also Norris’ fastest lap was 2.5 seconds quicker than Hamilton’s.

    Perez did very well, but Stroll outqualified him, both Ferrari’s were solid but it has to be Hamilton.

  11. My first thoughts: Hamilton, easy Choice. But having thought twice I’m not so sure anymore. His drive was so… unspectacular. In a crazy GP he managed to pass just one car and never set the timing screens alight.

    Meanwhile we have Verstappen and Leclerc (at least in the race) with spectacular pace, Stroll who made history on saturday and Vettel, who after a perfect first lap was constantly defending without ever putting a foot wrong. And Perez once again had a fine weekend end finally made it to the podium.
    I sleep over it and vote tomorrow ;)

    1. Yeah, I went for vettel because I felt he most outperformed the car. Hamilton had a great drive, but can’t help but feel that there was more than p6 available in quali

      Perez is a good choice too, but he was outqualified by lance stroll

    2. @roadrunner in what way did Stroll “make history” on saturday? I mean all respect to him for getting the job done in quali, but getting one pole position in a mixed up wet qualifying is hardly making history.

  12. Went for Vettel. I’m sure he’d be the first to admit he’s been poor this year, but he was comfortable racing near the front, competitive in different stages of the race, don’t think he made any major errors and he qualified ahead of Leclerc.

    And seeing him take the podium spot a few corners from home provided a nice big happy-boost to me and (probably) a lot of other neutrals as well. The least I can do is give him a DoTW vote.

  13. Hamilton, he does not usually provide entertainment, but today he did. Also matched Schumacher. GOAT debate can now continue on equal ground.

  14. Lewis Hamilton was the only driver not to spin all weekend ( along with Seb). Clear driver of the weekend.

    1. Latifi? Oh wait…

  15. The drivers that managed better the tyres took the top results, Stroll did well but killed his front tyres twice, fast but in the end that was not what the race asked for, a pity and a a proof of Hamilton, Perez and Vettel finesse at the wheel, as Leclerc and Sainz too, both excelled, the only bad patch on Leclerc race was that judgement on the last corners, but overall he drove a great race.

    1. @jpvalverde8 I think Leclerc’s attempt to go for second was great to see and just shows that he wasn’t happy to cruise and collect third place. I was happy that Perez held on in the end and also happy to see Seb back on the podium.

      The difference between the two Ferrari drivers is that Leclerc would be disappointed with a finish lower than second while Vettel will be over the moon at getting on the podium and having his best race all year in the same car despite starting further up the grid than his team-mate and only passing him at the last corner because of Leclerc’s error. Leclerc will have plenty more chances to get on the top step of the podium but for Vettel and Perez this could be one of their last chances (this comment could easily come back to bite if Perez gets the Red Bull drive and Vettel refinds some of his old form at a resurgent Aston Martin next year!)

  16. I voted for Hamilton because despite his ordinary Friday/Saturday his Sunday was brilliant. Taking nothing away from Perez who had a great weekend. I think Stroll deserves a mention he drove very well all weekend and in the first part of the race. He’s no Hamilton or Verstappen, but he does not deserve some of the vitriol he gets.

  17. Vettel for me. He deserves it in this year son negative.
    Hamilton did a great job and is the better driver of his generation. A great champion.
    Good weekend also for Perez, Stroll, Sainz and Ricciardo.
    The worst: Bottas, Verstappen, Russell, Latiffi.

  18. Perez for me, although nearly Hamilton for an amazing race. Went with Perez for a good qualifying effort and backed up in the race keeping just enough pace to hold onto second. Vettel and Leclerc did very well too but qualifying for them was shaky.

  19. Split between the podium finishers. Ham did well to weather the early wobbles before coming into his own once the dry line appeared. Perez did lose out in quali but he was still quite strong and drove a canny second stint. Vettel put his car in the right places on lap one and while he struggled a lot more than Leclerc with the inters (Leclerc reversed a 30-second deficit to pass him on the track) he was strong at the end of the stint both times and was opportunistic. Plus strong defensive driving against Verstappen in stint 1 and Hamilton in stint 2.

  20. I am surprised Leclerc isn’t getting many votes. After a horrible 1st lap, he was behind the group of one of the slowest drivers (Kvyat, Gasly, Giovanaazi, Magnussen) in his 1st stint. A good early pit stop helped him overtake all of them except Magnussen. After he overtook Magnussen on track, he built himself a large enough gap so that he was the only one who could pit for fresh inters without losing position in the lap 35-40 phase. He did that early pitstop and overtook another set of relatively slower drivers – Ricciardo, Sainz, Verstappen. After that he went ahead and overtook Verstappen, Albon, Vettel and Stroll on-track! Had he made that move on Perez stick, this drive would have been comparable to Max in Brazil 2016 or Lewis in Silverstone 2008

    But for the overall weekend, Checo wins it for me. He was strong throughout qualifying and fended off Max, Albon, Leclerc in the race successfully and only 1 driver unsuccessfully (Hamilton)

    1. Yep Leclerc was a standout (on par with the race winner given the car).

    2. For me the main issue is Leclerc didn’t have a great qualifying and I personally thought they (Ferrari) could have done better. He did also cost himself 2 places at the end with a mistake. Not saying it wasn’t a great drive because it was, but on balance I think Hamilton and Perez did better for me over the weekend. He certainly didn’t hurt his reputation though and it was a fine drive regardless.

  21. Hamilton winning by a margin?
    Maybe F1 fans deserve dominant cars.

  22. AJ (@asleepatthewheel)
    16th November 2020, 6:08

    IMO DOTW has to be Perez. Qualified an excellent P3 (was apparently held up by Gio). Nailed the start, and from there on controlled his pace and made a 1-stop work on the way to the podium. Also kept an extremely impatient Verstappen at bay in a Red Bull which appeared to be on song all weekend, probably forcing the eventual mistake by Max. That would have taken some life out of his tires, which makes the eventual result all the more commendable.

    Other contenders
    Ham: qualified a ‘lowly’ P6, later came alive in the race. Made the 1-stop work. But the Merc is the class of the field.
    Lec: Bad quali, 2-stopper, also went off in the end.
    Vettel: Beat lec by 1.4 seconds in an ‘unequal’ car, for P11 though. I suspect keeping Ham behind was more to do with the conditions and Ham thinking long term than pure defensive driving. Also on a 2-stopper.

    Clown of the weekend: Bottas.

  23. Perez is my DOTW..I think the reason RP did well in quali is that their setup overworked the tyres ..and this is the exact reason why they were at disadvantage in terms of managing a long stint hence I think Perez did a remarkable job to keep the inters alive till the end..it helped that whoever came to attack him got knocked down by their own mistake

  24. Everybody see that Leclec can’t drive at wet. Completely, period.

  25. I voted Hamilton. He looked nowhere in Friday and Saturday, but on the lap that mattered in Q3 still best his team mate even if 6th looked a terrible result given the unique circumstances of this circuit

    But it all culminated in Sunday’s performance, for all the speed of the other cars Friday and Saturday, none had an answer to whatever witchcraft Hamilton worked on his tyres

    It was the best response to those who think anyone would win in the same car and one of his best drives

  26. Voted for Lewis Hamilton. That was not just racing. It was a statement from a worthy champion.

  27. Can Hamilton and Perez just share it? With Hamilton’s wrestling the misbehaving Mercedes to P6 in Qualifying and then his ultimate performance balancing Perez’s Qualifying and race.

    Seriously, it’s hard to choose. Both looked like the race was never going to be there’s, Hamilton struggling to see the podium and Perez at risk from the superior Red Bulls.

    And yet, Perez stook doggedly to his teammate then took advantage when Stroll’s tyres filed to play ball -which we have since learned may be due to wing damage- and stayed ahead of everyone else except for Hamilton. Even at the end, When Leclerc took him, Perez refused to give up and force the Ferrari into an error allowing him to retake the position and hold it to the end.

    Hamilton meanwhile, did what he does a lot of these days. Plays it safe and waits for the moment to pounce, taking advantage of rivals errors and maximising every opportunity.When Bottas span at the start, Hamilton could have just sat back and finished where he was, but instead pushed for the win.

    Plus both drivers showed amazing tyre management skills, making their intermediates last almost the entire race. I remember Hamilton overrules his team on a 2nd pitstop (Don’t box me!) Did Perez do the same?

    And I’ve said it in another thread, but that’s probably the first time I’ve seen a driver -let alone two- go from intermediates to slicks without pitting.

  28. Sergio Pérez gave us a driving lecture yesterday, people think that tire management is something that comes easily, and they don’t realize that it has more to do with good driving, Checo yesterday drove at the highest level seen, in the worst possible conditions, Checo yesterday conferred above his car and also well above his team, Checo took his car to the end with his own hands and with his own strategy, Checo was smart enough to take out Racing Point of his strategy, this second place from yesterday, is more than a victory for Checo, Sergio yesterday showed us the high level he has in his condition.

    Congratulations to Sergio Pérez, he is definitely my driver of the weekend and I dare to say that this was the best ride of the year seen by any driver.

  29. Voted for stroll, I felt he was underrated and drove very well and only lost a lot of time after changing tyres through no fault of his own.

    I think this definitely puts an end to the pay driver claims.

    Other candidates would’ve certainly been leclerc and perez, again I feel like leclerc drove better than vettel, even if this was probably vettel’s best race of the year; hamilton drove well but mostly minimized the time loss on his mistakes, and didn’t overtake people like vettel, verstappen and albon, only passed them due to strategy and through their mistakes.

    1. He is a pay driver, you can’t argue that.
      But He has what it takes to be fairly in F1. He just need more experience, confidence and consistency.

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