Driver of the Weekend: 2015 FORMULA 1 UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX

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Who was your driver of the weekend? Remember this takes into account the whole weekend, not just the race. Please use the comments to tell us why you voted the way you did.

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With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.

43 thoughts on “Driver of the Weekend: 2015 FORMULA 1 UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX”

  1. i voted for ricciardo…he was the only guy to actually race one on one with the mercedes when their superior engine grunt was equalised. he pulled some nice passes and showed what he can do.

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  2. Ricciardo.

    Pre-race… handled media speculation with a smile.
    Qualifying…. did incredibly well in atrocious conditions with that dog of an engine – and got out of the car smiling.
    Race… took it to the big boys, raced like a racer and got out of the car smiling

    Ricciardo!

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    • I voted MAX but I have to say DR really brought me around on him this race. He keeps flashing brilliance and I’d like to see him in a car that can mix it at the front every race.

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  3. Verstappen drove a good race, I think Sainz’s drive from the back was just as impressive. I gave the vote to Rossi. Seeing how hard the guys in the good chassis were working, for his first run in the wet, in a car he doesn’t know, Rossi drove really well. While the track was drying the Manor looked like a real handful. Either Rossi is a pretty solid driver or Stevens is slow. Rossi was nearly half a second quicker in qualifying and Stevens crashed out in the race. Rossi kept it together and put Manor in a position to pick up points in the event of a Raikkonen/Bottas type finish and there was potential for it.

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  4. I think every driver made errors this weekend. The one who made the least IMO was probably Nico Rosberg. He couldn’t do much about getting barged off at turn 1 (maybe Lewis watched the MotoGP?), but fought back overtook the cars in front and pre-safety car lottery he was destroying the entire field with his lap times. His only real error of note was lighting up his rear tyres in that final stint. Kinda sums up his season really, quick at times, but when he’s not had bad luck he’s had no luck.

    Honourable mentions go to Vettel, Max and Alonso.

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    • Rosberg lost the race because of his own unforced error… (going off track). He lost the race and could not prevent Hamilton becoming wc anymore. That’s basically a huge error.

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      • Yeah he did lose the race because of his error. Had we not had either of the final two safety cars however he could have happily made that error and still won, others made errors and got away with them. The Rosberg error was really odd though, it’s very rare to see someone light up the rear tyres like that and go zipping off the road, it was like his differential decided to cease working for 5 seconds.

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    • Verstappen did only 2 fast laps (FP1) prior to qualifying because of mechanical problems in FP3, hence he was a bit struggling in qualifying, but nonetheless he made to Q3.

      In the race he had a slightly slow initial getaway, but made that up right away in the first corner. And besides slightly overshooting the next corner after overtaking Vettel, all the rest was pretty flawless, and great tyre management at the end making the option tyres work for so long without having done any set up work to the car added to that…

      …because it’s driver of the weekend, in my opinion considering the above, Verstappen was a bit more impressive putting a Toro Rosso on 4th as a Ferrari on 3th…but Vettel still was great, and so are some others as Perez, Sainz and Button.

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    • He got passed by Hamilton in the first corner, because he had a poor start (at least not as good as Hamilton’s) which lead to the pass in turn 1. So that is at least two errors.

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  5. There are too many to choose from. It could be Hamilton who stuck with it even though it looked like his chance had gone. It could be Rosberg who also drove a good race, and but for one minor mistake would have won it. He did keep Vettel behind him, which I wasn’t certain he was going to do, but he played “best for the team” in the end. It could be Vettel who made his way through the field and was challenging for second place. It could be Ricciardo, who drove a good race until hit by another car. It could be Button who has lost none of his overtaking ability when he has the power. It could be either of the Torro Rosso drivers, or it could be Perez who drove a good race too. It seems unfair to select one from all the drivers who gave us all an exciting race.

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  6. Under-reported story of the weekend:

    Lamborghini-Red Bull

    I know i’m the resident Red Bull insider on TJ13 but how did you guys miss this scoop? Falls directily in line with your ‘Building 9’ scoop!

    CANNOT WAIT!

    Reply

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