Best Driver: Worst Driver: Best Rookie (Nasr, Verstappen, Sainz, Stevens, Mehri): Best Team: Worst Team: Best Overtake: Funniest-moment: Most Surprising Result: Least Surprising Result: Special Mention to: Race Rating: /10
Best Driver: Hulkenberg, consistent drive in variable conditions. Massa also qualifies for his defence against three drivers snapping at his heels and failing to pass. Worst Driver: Grosjean/Verstappen Best Rookie (Nasr, Verstappen, Sainz, Stevens, Mehri): Sainz. Best Team: Williams Worst Team: Lotus or Mclaren Best Overtake: Nothing stood out really. Funniest-moment: Raikkonens side of the garage making the right moves at the wrong times deary me. Most Surprising Result: Williams upturn, Kvyat drive. Least Surprising Result: Ham win. Special Mention to: Kvyat, Hamilton, Massa, Hulkenberg Race Rating: 8/10
Best Driver: Massa and Vettel. Worst Driver: Grosjean Best Rookie (Nasr, Verstappen, Sainz, Stevens, Mehri): Stevens, shame about his mistake Best Team: Wiilliams Worst Team: Lotus Best Overtake: rosberg on two Williams in tricky conditions Funniest-moment: none Most Surprising Result: Alonso survived to score Least Surprising Result: Mercedes 1-2 Special Mention to: Bottas, deserved to lead ahead of Massa early on, but Massa did what he had to do Race Rating: 5/10 artificial entertainment
Best Driver: A hard one to choose this time but I'll say Hamilton and Massa Worst Driver: Verstappen and Grosjean Best Rookie: Stevens despite his mistake and Sainz despite his car failing Best Team: I want to say Williams but they didn't serve their drivers well enough and the car was crap in the wet so Force India and Mercedes Worst Team: Sauber Best Overtake: Lewis on Bottas, lap 1 Funniest-moment: Vettel's face when Dettori hugged him Most Surprising Result: Alonso Least Surprising Result: Merc 1-2 Special Mention to: Kvyat, Hulk and Pérez quietly delivered Race Rating: 9/10 - F1 woke up again
Best Driver: At a push I will say Vettel. Never saw him getting 3rd place, so must have driven well to get there. Worst Driver: Sainz. Learn to park you car properly rather than ruin everyone else's race. Best Rookie (Nasr, Verstappen, Sainz, Stevens, Mehri): They all looked like the rookies they are in quali and the race. Best Team: Mercedes Worst Team: Sauber. Off the pace all weekend Best Overtake: Rosberg on Massa. Really lunged at it and made it stick. Funniest-moment: Nothing springs to mind Most Surprising Result: A point of McLaren! Least Surprising Result: Mercedes 1-2 Special Mention to: The top 4. All drove really well in their own way. Race Rating: 7/10. Williams 1-2 was good, Vettel coming from nowhere to get 3rd was a surprise. edit: Worst driver nomination was MAL+GRO, however report now says Ricciardo dived into Grosjean which tipped him into Maldonado, so not their fault.
I think Vettel's 3rd had a lot to do with pitting for inters at the optimum moment and Williams leaving it too late for both of their drivers but it was a decent drive, IMO, though I'd also say less special than his result suggests. I think he more or less admitted he got lucky on the podium; or was it in an interview?
I did find it hard to pick out a truly worthy drive today. Everyone had their good bits, but no one really stood out as having an excellent drive over the entire race
I found it hard too: as you say, no one was flawless or really outstanding. He was superb again. I only didn't include him myself because he too profited from someone else's bad call, in this case Ferrari's with Raikkonen. Btw, ASC doesn't rate Hulk
Made up two places on his grid position, as did Perez. Vettel made up 3. Don't recall him doing anything particularly brilliantly, good drive not in question, but I also don't believe all the hype about him that goes on here about him so as to think he ****s golden bricks everytime he gets a points finish.
No wonder F1 bosses think he is too heavy if he is carrying all that gold ready to S*** at the end of the races!
Best Driver: Vettel Worst Driver: Verstappen.. So much hype, so little performance Best Rookie (Nasr, Verstappen, Sainz, Stevens, Mehri): Sainz by default Best Team: Mercedes Worst Team: Marussia Best Overtake: Vettel on Ericsson - Wasn't shown on TV, but around the outside of Vale Funniest-moment: Restart of the safety car Most Surprising Result: Alonso actually finished.... IN THE POINTS! Least Surprising Result: Merc 1-2 Special Mention to: Alonso for points. Sainz, Nasr.. Race Rating: 8/10
Best Driver: Kvyatt, he's got a Renault in that you know... Worst Driver: I think Grosjean caused the pile-up Best Rookie (Nasr, Verstappen, Sainz, Stevens, Mehri): no idea Best Team: Mercedes Worst Team: Mclaren Best Overtake: Lewis on bottas, it's the only one I remember that wasn't a foregone conclusion Funniest-moment: erm Most Surprising Result: Alonso finishing Least Surprising Result: Williams bottling a win to hand Merc a 1-2 Special Mention to: Vettel, Massa, Hulkenberg and Alonslow Race Rating: 5/10, Williams made it interesting for a while, but it was the usual borefest it's been for the two seasons since the suicidal tyres, only broken up by some rain. Bernie might try and get 'fan sprinklers' introduced.
Best Driver: I can't think of one deserving over the other. Worst Driver: Verstappen Best Rookie None Best Team: Merc - it would have been Williams but for their passive strategy - AGAIN! Worst Team: McLaren Best Overtake: The only ones of note were Nico on the 2 x Williams in the damp Funniest-moment: synchronised team collisions Most Surprising Result: Williams in the fight Least Surprising Result: Merc win Special Mention to: Massa Race Rating: 4/10
Great to read your post, EMSC. I want to say thanks. I know that's ridiculous but nonetheless, I do. So I will. THANKS! I'm going to add my list as soon as I get a chance (hopefully within an hour or so).
Best Driver: Three: Kvyatt / Massa / Hamilton Worst Driver: Verstappen. Harsh? Perhaps. But he needs to be constructive when things aren't going his way. His tender age and lack of experience are contributing factors, but in an adult's game, neither is an excuse. Best Rookie: Sainz / Stevens Best Team: Mercedes Worst Team: McLaren Best Overtake: 2: Rosberg's nice move up the inside of a Williams in the wet; and Hamilton's spirited recovery of position from Bottas having lost out to both Williams at the start. Most Surprising Result: I expected more from Toro Rosso at the event. Sainz was doing well until his retirement (which should have seen him make a better attempt to get right over to the barrier if at all possible); but Verstappen's inexperience has finally shown itself in his total inability to focus on problem-solving rather than public criticism, hence his appearance above. Funniest moment: Rosberg being told "Plan B". If it was (as I believe) an effort to wrong-foot other teams, it was not even close to subtle. It made me smile because it was so suggestive of an extra stop – which didn't make sense, especially with a clear threat of rain still some time from the circuit. And it wasn't only me smiling… Least Surprising Result: McLaren's woes continue. Sadly, what has become a year of testing is being done in full view of the public at the tail-end of actual races! Then again, with regulations, complications, loopholes and perhaps some behind-the-scenes skulduggery from various interested parties who in my view should be less closely associated, Honda should have known that the way of integrity is not necessarily how other entities play this game, and therefore to expect what has happened. Special Mention to: Hulkenberg Race Rating: 8.5/10. I'm very pleased to see that at least two people on this forum can be open-minded enough to overlook the current state of affairs in F1 sufficiently to appreciate what I think was a decent race, rather than adding further to the criticism currently enveloping our sport. I have to say this: I am beginning to wonder if some part of the current wave of fault-finding is simply that it has become fashionable. I know this will not apply to all criticism of course and that the real variety (constructively based on fact rather than an emotional response, for instance) is essentially healthy. But the evidence I'm finding before my very eyes suggests more of the former and less of the latter. [Edited after seeing I'd somehow pasted in an extra 'Funniest moment'].
Best Driver: I'm getting worse at these things, but at a push... Kvyat Worst Driver: Sainz and his awful parking Best Rookie (Nasr, Verstappen, Sainz, Stevens, Mehri): Nasr, but this is more by default Best Team: Force India (relatively) Worst Team: STR (again relatively) Best Overtake: Rosberg in the damp? Funniest-moment: Williams blitzing the start and spoiling the Mercedes party Most Surprising Result: Vettel sneaking through to the Podium Least Surprising Result: Mercedes 1-2, although for a while it could have been a 1-4! Special Mention to: Massa did what he could, Hamilton for Q3 recovery and race win, Vettels end of race charge forward. Race Rating: 8/10 - Not bad not bad, obviously upsetting those of certain dispositions but there we go!
The race wasn't bad... I wouldn't exactly call it a classic either though. Williams could had have made a better fist of it but the rain threw a nice spanner in the works... Despite weather butting in and Williams taking off like a rat up a drain-pipe, it was still pretty much the result most people predicted. I think that's why people aren't jumping for joy too much.
