Lewis Hamilton was faultless this weekend and drove unchallenged to victory on Sunday afternoon. The Mercedes driver may therefore deserve the title of 'GPblog Driver of the Day', but there are also other candidates such as Max Verstappen, Fernando Alonso or perhaps Esteban Ocon.
Verstappen had to start from seventh on the grid due to a five-place grid penalty, but after just five laps he was back in second place. An impressive advance in a short time of the current leader in the world championship. He maximised his chances with 19 points at the Losail International Circuit.
For Alonso, it was his first podium since returning to the premier class of motorsport. Indeed, it was his first top-three finish since 2014 when he was still racing for the Ferrari team. The two-time world champion put in an excellent performance by finishing behind Hamilton and Verstappen on P3 in Qatar. Teammate Esteban Ocon finished fifth and Alpine did very well in the battle for fifth place in the Constructors' Championship.
These are all great performances, but we would like you to tell us who the real GPblog Driver of the Day of the Qatar GP is. Let your voice be heard via the poll and comment section!
When i watched the race i noticed how many cars Perez had passed. I think he deserves my vote. Alonso really looked after his tires... but in the end it was just a big gamble. The VSC played a big roll for Perez not reaching the podium IMHO.
I wouid say ALO for over achievement and HAM for the quali, his car was not almost half a second quicker than the RB. As for VER, he did well overtaking but he overtook all weaker cars, even PER overtook easily
Verstappen was supreme. Got the absolute maximum he could have given the incredible Merc advantage (as it has had for most of the season.
Fernando Alonso. Why should Hamilton or Verstappen get driver of the day when they’re in the 2 fastest cars on the grid. We should expect them to finish 1st and 2nd.
I dont care for Alonso much but i was happy for him to get the podium. It was also nice to see a driver that wasnt a mercedes or red bull driver on the podium. Alonso does deserve driver of the day today.
Perez was driver of the day who was robbed of a podium by dubious VSC. Or Alonso if you want to give it to him for staying in a top 5 position then capitalising on RBR dubious strategy for Perez.
Both Alonso and Hamilton managed their tires extremely well through the race but Hamilton had the luxury of a clearly superior car today. Max's start was impressive and I think he got the most out of the Red Bull today. But Alonso's podium deserves driver of the day.
"Let your voice be heard via the poll and ??comment?? section!" Oh god here we go it already started ?