paulsimery: Vote for the best driver of the British GP weekend

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Which F1 driver had the best race weekend in Silverstone?

Compare all the drivers’ performances below and vote for who you think was the best driver of the British Grand Prix weekend.

Driver notes

Sebastian Vettel – Vettel thought he should have been quicker in qualifying but was grateful for his team’s strategy in the race which lifted him out of the slower cars at the start and put him on course for a podium finish. Had a minor technical problem during the race, being unable to adjust his engine’s torque setting. The enormous margin the team enjoyed in Valencia was not reproduced here.
Mark Webber – But for a shower at the end of Q3 he might have beaten Alonso to pole. But he kept the Ferrari in sight during the race and having used the soft rubber in the first stint was well-placed to take advantage of Alonso’s tyre trouble later on for his second win of the year.

Jenson Button – Rain and a yellow flag in the final sector during Q1 spoiled a run which would have got him into Q2. After gaining three places on the first lap he was passed by Kobayashi. He took the place back after the Sauber driver’s disastrous pit stop, and inherited the final point when Hulkenberg spun.
Lewis Hamilton – Looked quick as ever in the wettest conditions. But when the track dried in Q3 he was mystified at his loss of pace. Dry weather in the race didn’t help matters – even a long run on hard tyres at the start couldn’t help him gain any places from his starting position of eighth.

Fernando Alonso – Ferrari went into the weekend with an air of confidence. All appeared to be going according to plan as Alonso topped Saturday’s dry practice and took pole position – despite a few scares along the way. But deciding not to use the soft tyres at the start of the race in the hope that rainfall would keep them from having to left them vulnerable to Webber.
Felipe Massa – Ran the strategy Alonso probably should have used. A decisive pass on Schumacher set him up for a fourth-place finish, his best result since 2010, six-and-a-half seconds behind his team mate.

Michael Schumacher – Another glimpse of the old Schumacher in wet qualifying saw him take third on the grid. But both Mercedes went backwards in the race, Schumacher holding up a train of cars early on. “We knew that the characteristics of this circuit wouldn’t suit us in normal conditions,” he said. “We definitely could have done better in the wet.”
Nico Rosberg – A poor weekend saw him miss Q3 for the first time this year and slip to 15th in the race.

Kimi Raikkonen – Qualified sixth despite not having KERS. Prevailed in an early scrap with Maldonado and was closing on Massa until he went off at Village late in the race and had to settle for fifth.
Romain Grosjean – He had already done a lap quick enough for Q3 when he went off at the end of Q2, leaving him ninth when a top-five start was in the offing. Another first-lap tangle delayed him – this time the damage was limited to a broken front wing, forcing an early pit stop. But this allowed him to discard the soft tyres early, limiting the disadvantage. A fine recovery drive followed including a brave pass on Rosberg at Maggotts. He then took Hamilton at Brooklands and was briefly quicker than Raikkonen despite much older tyres. Ending the race less than seven seconds behind his team mate was a significant achievement given the circumstances.

Paul di Resta – No luck at home for the second year in a row. Minor contact with Grosjean at the start punctured his tyre and the resulting damage ended his race.
Nico Hulkenberg – Qualified ninth but was demoted due to a gearbox change penalty. He also fell into the trap of running the soft tyres in the final stint and eventually succumbed to Senna, before sliding off at Copse and losing the final points place to Button.

Kamui Kobayashi – Both Saubers made the mistake of beginning the restarted Q2 on intermediate tyres. Kobayashi pitted for full wets but could only managed 12th, which became 17th after his Valencia penalty was applied. Passed Button early on and might have scored a couple of points had he not hit his pit crew at his final pit stop. Fortunately their injuries were not too severe.
Sergio Perez – Stuck with intermediates in Q2 and paid the price: having been fastest during the suspension he ended up last. Passed Senna and Hamilton in his first stint but when trying to do the same to Maldonado the Williams driver spun and took him out.

Daniel Ricciardo – Made a poor start from 12th and fell behind Vergne – who had been 11 places behind him on the grid. This began a race-long battle between the pair with three on-track changes of position, Ricciardo prevailed, leading him home by two seconds: “My lap times were the maximum I could do as I was wringing the neck out of the car.”
Jean-Eric Vergne – Reached Q2 but started from the back row following his Valencia penalty. A strong start got him up to 15th but Ricciardo eventually had the better of him. Nonetheless, both Toro Rossos showed better pace and were closer to the midfield.

Pastor Maldonado – Showed flashes of pace in practice and delivered on it with seventh on the grid. Briefly took sixth off Raikkonen before being re-passed. After his first pit stop he lost control of his car at Brooklands while being passed by Perez and spun into the Sauber. The stewards gave him a fine and reprimand “in view of the serious nature of the incident”.
Bruno Senna – Backing off for the yellow flag at the end of Q2 arguably cost him a place in the final ten. Gained four places at the start before being passed by Kobayashi. Gradually wore down Hulkenberg’s defences to take ninth.

Heikki Kovalainen – Picked up some damaged on the first lap. Had the team responded more quickly to the recovering Maldonado he might have had a chance at 16th.
Vitaly Petrov – Didn’t even get to start the race after his engine failed as he drove to the grid.

Pedro de la Rosa – Tried to taken on the Marussias with a one-stop strategy but his tyres went off in the final laps and he ended up 23 seconds behind Pic.
Narain Karthikeyan – Closer to de la Rosa than usual in rain-hit qualifying. Had Pic behind him briefly in the opening stages: “My rear tyres started to wear out and I couldn’t keep up with him so I pitted”.

Timo Glock – Could’ve used his wet-weather prowess to get Marussia into Q2 but was denied by the heavy rain at the end of Q1. Brought the car home 18th but the gap to Caterham remains wide.
Charles Pic – Fell to last at the start but easily recovered the places lost to the HRTs.

Qualifying and race results summary

	Started	Gap to team mate	Laps leading team mate	Pitted	Finished	Gap to team mate
Sebastian Vettel	4th	+0.406s	0/52	2	3rd	+4.836s
Mark Webber	2nd	-0.406s	52/52	2	1st	-4.836s
Jenson Button	16th	+0.611s	3/52	2	10th	+7.981s
Lewis Hamilton	8th	-0.611s	49/52	2	8th	-7.981s
Fernando Alonso	1st	-1.319s	52/52	2	2nd	-6.459s
Felipe Massa	5th	+1.319s	0/52	2	4th	+6.459s
Michael Schumacher	3rd	-1.309s	46/52	2	7th	-28.241s
Nico Rosberg	11th	+1.309s	6/52	2	15th	+28.241s
Kimi Raikkonen	6th	+0.081s	52/52	2	5th	-6.787s
Romain Grosjean	9th	-0.081s	0/52	2	6th	+6.787s
Paul di Resta	10th	+1.453s	0/1	1
Nico Hulkenberg	14th	-1.453s	1/1	2	12th
Kamui Kobayashi	17th	-0.824s	0/11	2	11th
Sergio Perez	15th	+0.824s	11/11	1
Daniel Ricciardo	12th	-0.587s	28/52	2	13th	-2.072s
Jean-Eric Vergne	23rd	+0.587s	24/52	2	14th	+2.072s
Pastor Maldonado	7th	-0.624s	11/51	2	16th	Not on same lap
Bruno Senna	13th	+0.624s	40/51	2	9th	Not on same lap
Heikki Kovalainen	19th	+0.45s	0/0	2	17th
Vitaly Petrov	18th	-0.45s	0/0
Pedro de la Rosa	21st	-0.298s	50/50	1	20th	-12.554s
Narain Karthikeyan	22nd	+0.298s	0/50	2	21st	+12.554s
Timo Glock	20th	-2.525s	51/51	2	18th	-20.425s
Charles Pic	24th	+2.525s	0/51	2	19th	+20.425s