F1 Bahrain Grand Prix: Driver of the Day - Vote Now!

[Paul Jeffrey]

Voting is open for the RaceDepartment 2019 Bahrain Grand Prix 'Driver of the Day'.

The duel in the desert is over, the winner has been crowned and the racers have all taken the chequered flag (or not for some), and now its time to throw down your vote for the driver you believe has performed best this afternoon.

Some fought hard, some drove smart, but who did best? Vote and comment now!

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[RotcivHP]

Renault is still in the way of Verstappen, stealing his podium...but it would be a shame if Leclerc out of podium, great race.

 

[Lesley Buurlage]

great gesture of respect from lewis. but honestly the mercedes team really should be ashamed of how they handled this, it's competition after all but those pitmembers applauding 2 of the easiest overtakes you can possibly imagine really pisses me off, very disrespectful towards leclerc, who didn't deserve this at all

 

[LeSunTzu]

Leclerc was dominant, but today Hamilton was exceptional: putting up a fight against Vettel in a slower car and eventually winning it was something special.

 

[RobertGracie]

Leclerc wasnt driver of the day no no no....he was driver of the weekend!

 

[MrCharme]

Shame you can only vote for one driver. Leclerc and Hulk both deserve it.

 

[ZuneGuy]

I think that Leclarc was the driver for qualifying, but Lewis was the driver of the race. He picked his battles making passes and kept his composure throughout the race, staying relevant for whatever might happen. No one on the grid races wheel to wheel better than Lewis, no one.

Can someone explain to me how Mercedes was lucky today. I mean part of being a good constructor is making sure that your cars and the technology that they employ are strong enough to carry the car over the line first or second for every race - Mercedes did this most of last season, and they did it two weeks ago, and today, Ferrari has not.

 

[Enagee]

great gesture of respect from lewis. but honestly the mercedes team really should be ashamed of how they handled this, it's competition after all but those pitmembers applauding 2 of the easiest overtakes you can possibly imagine really pisses me off, very disrespectful towards leclerc, who didn't deserve this at all

Its a team sport and requires driver input and team input , no good if you have a fast driver and an unreliable car. On this race, their car was more reliable. Battle of the mechanics.

 

[mopro]

What a race!
Leclerc is definitely a new F1 star material. He is cool, confident and fast, while Hamilton showed us he's still the boss. Vettel needs to hire an excellent meditation guru or just go skydiving like Ham. The new weight rule seemed to made Bottas faster as he is fitter now than last year (and chubbier). Mc Laren shows signs of comeback etc..
There are enough close races and quality drama for me to get excited about F1 again.
Now.. if only they can make Monaco more interesting beyond qualifying.

 

[Lesley Buurlage]

Its a team sport and requires driver input and team input , no good if you have a fast driver and an unreliable car. On this race, their car was more reliable. Battle of the mechanics.

oh no denying that mercedes have done their homework better in terms of reliability, though imo you should still have some degree of respect for the opposition. hamilton showed that the right way pointing out this shouldn't had been a win and showing respect towards charles. now looking at the team: from my view celebrating an overtake on a car which is 40 kph down like it was one where a tense wheel to wheel battle took place is the wrong way of doing it, the fact Toto didn't celebrate that way says enough. you can disagree with my opinion but for me it stays disrespectful, no matter what

 

[delpinsky]

Great job Leclerc!
Really unfortunate with his issue but... very lucky with the last minute Safety Car

He deserved the 1st place, but ...damn Ferrari!!!

What's going on with Vettel?

 

[farjam]

I was very upset because of charles, but then i literally died laughing when bottas said "i'm not very familiar with luck" or maybe it was "i'm not used to be lucky" or something like that

 

[pcraenme]

There can be only one.... CHARLES

 

[SellerieMitDip]

While almost everyone voted for Leclerc (and deservedly so) I voted for Hülkenberg. It's a shame (and a weird coincidence) to have both Renaults retire at the exact same spot on the same lap in the Grand Prix. But his drive was magnificent. Yes, he got luckly in the beginning and managed to gain places up to P11 on the first lap but after that it was all his drving and a good strategy. Almost finishing P6 and best of the rest, even overtaking his own teammate (who was on a strategy that unfortunately didn't work out) while starting P17. And that in a car that wasn't capable to reach Q3.

 

[paracletus]

Leclerc all weekend. Bad luck, but was pragmatic about it.
Not the first time this has happened in racing and it won't be the last.

 

[BrainsBush]

Renault is still in the way of Verstappen, stealing his podium...but it would be a shame if Leclerc out of podium, great race.

That's what Max also said after race. "Today we did not deserve a podium. Glad that Charles at least could finish with a 3rd place'.

 

[snyperal]

Leclerc easily.

Well done for Lando too, getting a mcclaren. Into q3 and into the top ten is massive!

 

[farjam]

So it seems leclerc's car problem was not about energy recovery system , it was an ICE problem

binotto:
"We are checking the engine now so we do not have yet a clear explanation of what happened," he said.
"It is an engine problem. We had miscombustion on one cylinder but [the reason is yet] to be understood.
"The engine will go back to Maranello for careful checks because when something like this happens you need to take your time to do your checks carefully. But the engine was running at the end of the race so it is still able to run.
"We will use it certainly on the Friday in China and we have an entire Friday to assess its behaviour, its functionality and its performance."

 

[jtlarsh]

I gotta give to Hulk. I mean before his engine gave up, he was up 11 spots. Best of the rest, including his teammate Ricciardo. On a side note, I think Red Bull needs to rethink Gasly. Absolutely zero incidents, good pit stops, and he was getting passed by Toro Rossos' and Alfa Romeos' on track. In the number 3 team on the grind, to perform that poorly... two weeks in a row is pretty sad. Not really his fault, not sure what made Red Bull think he was ready for that tier after just one mediocre year in Toro Rosso.

 

[pcraenme]

I gotta give to Hulk. I mean before his engine gave up, he was up 11 spots. Best of the rest, including his teammate Ricciardo. On a side note, I think Red Bull needs to rethink Gasly. Absolutely zero incidents, good pit stops, and he was getting passed by Toro Rossos' and Alfa Romeos' on track. In the number 3 team on the grind, to perform that poorly... two weeks in a row is pretty sad. Not really his fault, not sure what made Red Bull think he was ready for that tier after just one mediocre year in Toro Rosso.

Maybe the RB is not a much faster car than the midfield cars and Max is making the difference here? I think RB really needs to do some homework, and this year it is not all about the engine, but also the car itself. And yes... the Hulk was great today as well... maybe he should become Max’ teammate at RB?