Driver(s) of the Day - 2016 Chinese Grand Prix

[UnlikeUday]

For me,

Vettel, Kvyat & Ricciardo!

Great race overall.

[Llotyhy]

Rosberg, Kvyat and Ricciardo.

[steoc4]

I also chose Vettel, Kvyat & Ricciardo before I'd even read the first post.

[Gonzales]

Kvyat and Vettel for me!

[VDV23]

Riccardo, Rosberg and Kvyat (in that order for me).

Vettel was good but he was quite clumsy, I'd put the blame entirely on him for wiping out Kimi at the start. And then he damaged his FW again.

[stebol]

Definitely Ricciardo. He was so much quicker than Kyvat all race. Was catching him a second a lap in the last stint. Had second in the bag if not for the puncture.

Kyvat threw away second place to Vettel.

[Amon]

Dan the man

From now on I only vote 1 driver

[Badgeronimous]

Ricciardo, Raikkonen and Rosberg.

Vettel had a good race, but clumsy start.

[Black_Flag_11]

Ricciardo, Vettel and Hamilton.

Hamilton dropped off at the end but like Vettel he pulled some brilliant moves, they both carved through the field like they weren't there. Ricciardo was brilliant as always, unlucky with how it all planned out, he deserved second.

Edit: although I now realise that I've accidentally voted for Rosberg not Hamilton, ah well he did dominate to be fair.

[aice]

Dan the man

From now on I only vote 1 driver

Snap

[Mercedes-Benz]

Kimi, Kvyat and Ricciardo.

RBR were surprising matching Ferrari I thought in qualifying Ricciardo lap was good but the whole race they were competitive. Had Kimi got clean start he would have finished 2nd for sure. But his run on medium and soft in the end was still good enough

[IDrinkYourMilkshake]

Ricciardo, give this man top equipment already.
Second best was Vettel. Start was a racing incident, he couldn't go right, couldn't go left, and he made brilliant moves, including passing on the outside. The only thing he did a bit wrong was leave a bit too much space on the inside.
Then again, if he hadn't, maybe Kvyat would've torpedoed into him on seeing half a gap.

[Ruste13]

Dan Riccardo is just getting better and better.

[Zoue]

Difficult one. Rosberg drove well but didn't have any pressure. Kvyat I thought was also fairly invisible most of the way through and finished where he was more by the attrition of others. Verstappen did pretty well again and showed he wasn't afraid to take on the big boys. Kimi came alive towards the end and finished on a high but I thought he was pretty anonymous at the beginning and was expecting him to be a bit feistier. Lewis had his moments but overall I thought it was a poor race for him.

Overall I'd say Vettel looked aggressive and like he meant business throughout the race, as did Ricciardo. I'd be hard pushed to choose between them

[Randine]

Kvyat and Vettel for me!

Vettel crashed into his team mate.
Kyvat did make a great move on the first lap but then sat pretty comfortably after overtaking a few drivers on older tyres.

The driver of the day has to be Ricciardo.
Got the lead at the start, was leading for 2-3 laps, then through no fault of his own had a puncture.
That put him 12 spots behind his team mate and down in 17th. Then he had to overtake so many people on track multiple times including Hamilton and came through the whole race untouched to finish 7 seconds behind his team mate.

EDIT:
In reflection Kvyat had a great race. He was only passed on track by Vettel as Vettel had gone for the soft tyres in the last stop and Kvyat opted for the Mediums.
If Vettel had not been able to make those tyres last, then it could have been a 2nd for Kvyat. It was a solid drive by him.
(However still Ric had the better more challenging drive.)

[LKS1]

Difficult one. Rosberg drove well but didn't have any pressure. Kvyat I thought was also fairly invisible most of the way through and finished where he was more by the attrition of others. Verstappen did pretty well again and showed he wasn't afraid to take on the big boys. Kimi came alive towards the end and finished on a high but I thought he was pretty anonymous at the beginning and was expecting him to be a bit feistier. Lewis had his moments but overall I thought it was a poor race for him.

Overall I'd say Vettel looked aggressive and like he meant business throughout the race, as did Ricciardo. I'd be hard pushed to choose between them

In the end I voted Ric, Nico and Seb.

[Paolo_Lasardi]

Ricciardo

then
Räikkönen
Rosberg
Verstappen

also good
Kvyat, Wehrlein, Vettel, Magnussen, Sainz

Not convinced by McLaren strategy. Ferrari outsmarting competitors for final stint. Shouldn't overtaking under SC be prohibited also at the pit entry?

[Mr-E]

Vettel, Ricciardo and Rosberg.
Kvyat shouldn't have been on the podium.

[Black_Flag_11]

Ricciardo

then
Räikkönen
Rosberg
Verstappen

also good
Kvyat, Wehrlein, Vettel, Magnussen, Sainz

Not convinced by McLaren strategy. Ferrari outsmarting competitors for final stint. Shouldn't overtaking under SC be prohibited also at the pit entry?

I thought so too but it's one of the few exceptions. Underlined below:

http://www.fia.com/file/40135/download?token=WmmrCaLS

39.8 - With the exception of the cases listed under a) to h) below, no driver may overtake another car on the track, including the safety car, until he passes the first safety car line for the first time when the safety car is returning to the pits. However, if the safety car is still deployed at the beginning of the last lap, or is deployed during the last lap, Article 39.15 will apply.
The exceptions are :
a) If a driver is signalled to do so from the safety car.
b) Under 39.12 or 39.16 below.
c) When entering the pits a driver may pass another car remaining on the track, including the safety car, after he has reached the first safety car line.
d) When leaving the pits a driver may overtake, or be overtaken by, another car on the track before he reaches the second safety car line.
e) When the safety car is returning to the pits it may be overtaken by cars on the track once it has reached the first safety car line.
f) Whilst in the pit entry, pit lane or pit exit a driver may overtake another car which is also in one of these three areas.
g) Any car stopping in its designated garage area whilst the safety car is using the pit lane (see 39.11 below) may be overtaken.
h) If any car slows with an obvious problem.

[Badgeronimous]

Herbert will be saying Kyvat is outperforming Ricciardo again.

[Flash2k11]

Rosberg and the 2 RB boys, Ricciardo and Kyvat.

Mildly surprised anyone is going for Vettel, took his team mate out and had a messy squabble with Bottas that could have ended a whole lot worse too.

[infi24r]

Herbert will be saying Kyvat is outperforming Ricciardo again.

He actually did say that if you listen to the post race dialogue. He picked Kvyat as his driver of the day and when Di Resta pointed out how much better Ricciardo was Herbert said "well my driver beat yours".

This is the type of expert analysis you can expect on Sky.

[Black_Flag_11]

Herbert will be saying Kyvat is outperforming Ricciardo again.

He actually did say that if you listen to the post race dialogue. He picked Kvyat as his driver of the day and when Di Resta pointed out how much better Ricciardo was Herbert said "well my driver beat yours".

This is the type of expert analysis you can expect on Sky.

Getting beat by his younger teammate could be a sign it's time to retire too.

[Toby.]

Herbert will be saying Kyvat is outperforming Ricciardo again.

He actually did say that if you listen to the post race dialogue. He picked Kvyat as his driver of the day and when Di Resta pointed out how much better Ricciardo was Herbert said "well my driver beat yours".

This is the type of expert analysis you can expect on Sky.

Wouldn't expect any better from Herbert.

[jrwb6e]

This is the type of expert analysis you can expect on Sky.

I don't know. Johnny Herbert is an expert. I mean maybe Ricciardo was unmotivated and that's how he got the tire puncture in the first place? The results says it all.

[jrwb6e]

Mildly surprised anyone is going for Vettel, took his team mate out and had a messy squabble with Bottas that could have ended a whole lot worse too.

Vettel reminded me of Maldonado today and I don't recall Maldonado getting this much credit.

[bjornborg]

Herbert is beyond poor, it's embarrassing how he responds. 'My drivers beats yours' is such a ridiculous thing to say given what happened in this race. It's an amateurish comeback, something like you would expect in the high school backyard.

Drivers of the day: Daniel, Kimi, Vettel

[purchville]

Herbert will be saying Kyvat is outperforming Ricciardo again.

Actually, that is exactly what he did.

[purchville]

Herbert will be saying Kyvat is outperforming Ricciardo again.

He actually did say that if you listen to the post race dialogue. He picked Kvyat as his driver of the day and when Di Resta pointed out how much better Ricciardo was Herbert said "well my driver beat yours".

This is the type of expert analysis you can expect on Sky.

Getting beat by his younger teammate could be a sign it's time to retire too.

[Blinky McSquinty]

Rosberg, Vettel, Kyvat.

Ignored in yesterday's qualifying was a monster lap by Rosberg to seal the pole. Using any standard for comparison, it was an incredible lap. And whenever any driver makes the win look this easy, it means he did an excellent job. Rosberg executed the race the best of any, deserved the win and recognistion as a driver who bested everyone.

Vettel did make a mistake on lap one, but his recovery drive was absolutely superb. Of all the drivers who did find themselves toward the back after a few laps, he was the best recovery drive. Kyvat was impeccable.

[infi24r]

Herbert is beyond poor, it's embarrassing how he responds. 'My drivers beats yours' is such a ridiculous thing to say given what happened in this race. It's an amateurish comeback, something like you would expect in the high school backyard.

Drivers of the day: Daniel, Kimi, Vettel

The thing that frustrates me about Sky is, these are meant to be 'expert commentators'. So their insight should be generally higher than that of the public, but actually they tend to just completely ignore what happens on track and sprout off the finishing order. How about some actual perspective on the races? The Sky coverage is basically just show the race, then show the interviews.

[lbennie]

Rosberg, Vettel, Kyvat.

Ignored in yesterday's qualifying was a monster lap by Rosberg to seal the pole. Using any standard for comparison, it was an incredible lap. And whenever any driver makes the win look this easy, it means he did an excellent job. Rosberg executed the race the best of any, deserved the win and recognistion as a driver who bested everyone.

Vettel did make a mistake on lap one, but his recovery drive was absolutely superb. Of all the drivers who did find themselves toward the back after a few laps, he was the best recovery drive. Kyvat was impeccable.

If Rosberg's lap was a monster lap, ricciardo's was god like, that Merc is more than 0.5 ahead of the RB.

[mikeyg123]

I'm struggling to reconcile anyone having the opinion that Kvyat drove better than Ricciardo with what I saw on track on Sunday.

Ricciardo pretty much in a class of one in quali and in the race IMO.

[Randine]

I'm struggling to reconcile anyone having the opinion that Kvyat drove better than Ricciardo with what I saw on track on Sunday.

Ricciardo pretty much in a class of one in quali and in the race IMO.

Yes, it was a bit like Hungary last year when Ric had an amazing drive and had contact with 3 other cars.
While Kvyat was in 8th and stuck behind Hulk.

Then most of the cars in front of Kvyat had issues:
Hulks front wing went on the straight, safety car, kimi retired with car trouble, ham hit Ric in turn 1, Rosberg and Ric came together and next thing you know Kvyat who was having a very average race gets promoted to the podium and 2nd place. Ric finished 1 place behind (3rd) that day too.

[Lotus49]

Ricciardo,Kvyat and either Rosberg or Verstappen for me(vote went to Max).

But Ricciardo was head and shoulders above anyone else on track this weekend. Sublime in all aspects of racing.

[Liket]

Rosberg, Ricciardo. And I voted Massa because I think he did a good job defending his place for a long time. All the other top finishers either got caught by people at a severe disadvantage (Kvyat) or were involved in clumsy accidents (Seb) or could probably have done better at some points (Kimi, after the SC on softs).

[nixxxon]

Herbert will be saying Kyvat is outperforming Ricciardo again.

He actually did say that if you listen to the post race dialogue. He picked Kvyat as his driver of the day and when Di Resta pointed out how much better Ricciardo was Herbert said "well my driver beat yours".

This is the type of expert analysis you can expect on Sky.

Getting beat by his younger teammate could be a sign it's time to retire too.

Indeed... Herbert should retire and finish his commentator career as their younger team mates can do much better

[kleefton]

Felt Ricciardo was fast, drove a flawless and agressive race and thought he should be the driver of the day.
After him I thought both Ferrari drivers drove a really good race. Raikonnen seems to have been rejuvenated this year.
Rosberg was really dominant but it is hard to judge his performance as Lewis was again taking out of the equation.
I thought Lewis drove a solid race, considering the problems he had all race. He made some good moves, but I wished he had protected the inside on Ricciardo because it was obvious that that move was going to happen.
Massa also drove really good defensively and outperformed Bottas again.

There was a lot of good driving going on in the race, lots of others drove really well, like Verstappen, Sainz, Alonso, Button. Very nice to see. Even Gutierrez managed to finish in front of his teammate.