Poll 2011 Monaco Grand Prix Driver of the Weekend

[Brogan]

Still undecided on this one, I think I'm leaning towards Vetel now

He didn't really put a foot wrong all weekend and although he was fairly fortunate with the safety cars, he still managed to out qualify the McLaren, which by all accounts was supposed to be faster around here.

 

[RevMaxPower]

Vettel - for keeping his .

 

[Sarinaide]

Every race he is getting more and more mature, great car, great team,.....scary thought

 

[cider_and_toast]

Pastor Maldonado gets my vote.

A solid weekend in which not only did he out qualify Rubens but also put the car into the top ten shoot out for what I believe to be his first time this season. To do that at a track such as Monaco is impressive.

In the race he made a good start and was driving at the same pace as those around him in a comfortable points position.

Just a shame that he didn't quite manage to bring it all home in the end.

A tip of the hat must also go to Button, Alonso and Vettel but it's such a shame that we didn't see what should have been one of the best finishes to a GP ever.

 

[Boyle]

A solid weekend in which not only did he out qualify Rubens but also put the car into the top ten shoot out for what I believe to be his first time this season.

He did it in Spain so that's two on the bounce for him

 

[landogeorgelewis1]

I went for Alonso purely because he shouldn't have been anywhere near Vettel and Button yet was so. But it could have been anyone of them three for my driver of the day, all three pulled of masterclasses and proved why there all world champions over the rest of the field.

 

[cider_and_toast]

He did it in Spain so that's two on the bounce for him

Ah, yep, so he did. Has it really been only a week?

Well, he really has started to show some pace then. I'll stick with my vote for him.

 

[RickD]

Sure he would have... He couldn't do anything with Vettel when he had new super-softs and Vettel had 30+ lap old softs. And when he cruised on the back of Alonso with new tyres he was again helpless. So you think that he would have overtaken the pair of them in what, 8-9 laps?

My vote goes to Vettel for the same reasons as I've given him my vote before this season.

Yes, do you listen to radio transmissions, or simply rely on what Brundle and Coulthard tell you? There is no way Vettel would have kept it on the road once the tyres dropped off that particular cliff.

Vettel still has by far the best car out there, didyou see how much faster the red bulls came out of the last corner. For that reason alone I couldn't give my vote to the bloke walking away with it all.. 2004 all over again I tell you..

 

[Sarinaide]

Yes, do you listen to radio transmissions, or simply rely on what Brundle and Coulthard tell you? There is no way Vettel would have kept it on the road once the tyres dropped off that particular cliff.

Vettel still has by far the best car out there, didyou see how much faster the red bulls came out of the last corner. For that reason alone I couldn't give my vote to the bloke walking away with it all.. 2004 all over again I tell you..

Thats what they always say, but it didn't happen, nobody thought 40+ laps was possible on softs but he did more like 50+ so yeah Button was destined to finish 3rd after botching his second stop.

 

[Slyboogy]

Yes, do you listen to radio transmissions, or simply rely on what Brundle and Coulthard tell you? There is no way Vettel would have kept it on the road once the tyres dropped off that particular cliff.

Vettel still has by far the best car out there, didyou see how much faster the red bulls came out of the last corner. For that reason alone I couldn't give my vote to the bloke walking away with it all.. 2004 all over again I tell you..

The McLaren was again the fastest car out there this weekend, to say that Vettel has "by far the best car out there" is misleading.

Red Bull aren't getting 1-2's right left and centre like Ferrari did in 2004, nor are the Red Bull team faster in every race like the Ferrari in 2004, the past two races McLaren have been faster, but Red Bull fastest in qualifying.

Jake Humphrey did say when he looked at Vettel's tyres that they still looked in good shape as did Alonso's, but we will never know what would have happened.

The top 3 were impressive, all three deserved the win, but Vettel has been faultless all weekend which this poll is about, as have the the other 2.

 

[Jru]

Maldonado for me. Great quali performance the past two weeks, but with a race to match it this time. Unlucky not to finish, but that is a discussion for elsewhere.

 

[F1Yorkshire]

I'm taking an unusual stance on this vote.

I've read all the arguments and seen the fall out from decisions made on and off the track. Hamilton's on track performance under the immense amount of pressure he was under really showed what a talent he is behind the wheel of an F1 car. Any other driver who had similar incidents would have crumbled and given up instead of battling on to the finish.

His move on Schumacher was brave and ground breaking, he then continued to attempt to overtake where no overtakes had been done before including a brave one inside the tunnel. Without him it would have just been another procession. I think today was some of Hamiltons bravest driving but also unlucky in some respects.

Unfortunately a weekend performance is not just what you do on the track. His comments and attitude post qualifying and his interview after the race still show he has a lot of growing up to do especially when it comes to dealing with the media. They were already on his back before the race and I have a strong feeling he will be making the headlines again tomorrow but for all the wrong reasons.

Why is my stance unusual? After his driving skill after the penalties and heavily damaged car to finish well up in the points is an incredible achievement and for that I award Lewis the driver of the weekend but for his actions off track I am also awarding him chump of the weekend. Controversial I know but no other driver stood out today in the same way Hamilton has done in both awards.

This post will cover both DotW and CotW.

 

[Chad Stewarthill]

Maldonado for me.
Vettel in the RBR was awesome as usual, Button drove superbly well and might well have won if his team hadn't made a naff tyre call, Alonso was excellent too. Can't go for Kobayashi since he nearly wiped Sutil out with a very rash move that they were both lucky to come out unscathed from.
But to put the Williams into Q3 for the second successive race, then to take it into 6th place around Monaco and very nearly keep it there, was an astounding achievement.

 

[Fenderman]

I've made my mind up, early. Alonso. Button should have won but as Coulthard noted he never poked his nose in. His team mate fights world war three and gets pilloried for it. To not win was one thing, to lose a place to Alonso was another. Vettel was lucky that the opposition all made mistakes. Except Alonso who pretty well stayed out of trouble and drove a solid race all the way home.

 

[Chad Stewarthill]

Jake Humphrey did say when he looked at Vettel's tyres that they still looked in good shape as did Alonso's, but we will never know what would have happened.

That's because Jake was looking at the cars that had just finished the re-started race, having done all of six laps on those tyres.

 

[dave]

After seeing everyones reasoning, I think I'll go with Maldonado because I feel alot was down to luck today for Vettel with the timing of the safety car etc.

 

[Brogan]

Maldonado for me too as it was all on merit.

Just bad luck at the end of the race put paid to what would have been an excellent result.

 

[ramilas1]

Jake Humphrey did say when he looked at Vettel's tyres that they still looked in good shape as did Alonso's, but we will never know what would have happened.

That's because Jake was looking at the cars that had just finished the re-started race, having done all of six laps on those tyres.

Yeah; Jake does kinda win Muppet of the Week , every week.

 

[EvilWhippet]

Vettel, followed by Alonso and Kobayashi. I wasn't really impressed by Button, he did all that good work then came up to that back of Alonso and Vettel while lapping so much quicker and did the whole Jenson Button Calm And Cool And Collected routine just waiting for something to happen...then something happened. He should've been on them trying to take advantage of the situation. There's a time for being "smooth" and a time for driving like a man. A man with a BEARD.

 

[Andyoak]

I'm going for Pastor for consistantly getting the best out of the Williams all weekend. Much as the arguements are strong for Button, Alonso and Vettel I feel that Pastor doing what he did for a team in crisis shows great strength of character and ability.

Maybe, now we are seeing him racing on circuits he knows we will be able to make a better assessment of his and the cars abilities.