16 replies to this topic

[MassaFan14]

Best is obviously subjective, so you can take it to mean whatever you want- either best race, most iconic race, most important- any.

 

Anyway, here's mine.

 

Hamilton- Britain 2008( so many options

Bottas-Russia 2017( hammering Hamilton, first win and resisting strong pressure)

Vettel-Italy 2008

Leclerc- Monza 2019( I know Bahrain 2019 and Spa 2019 were both very good too, but the fact that it was the first Ferrari win since 2010 there edges it for me.)

Verstappen- Brazil 2016( very close call with Brazil 2019)

Albon- China 2019( you could make a case for Brazil as well)

Norris- Bahrain 2019( not a lot of standouts yet, understandably)

Sainz- Brazil 2019( honourable mentions for Spain 2016 and Singapore 2017)

Ricciardo Monaco 2018( maybe the most controversial)

Ocon- Italy 2017( not much to really choose from)

Gasly- Brazil 2019( just ahead of Bahrain 2018

Kvyat- Hungary 2015( possibly the toughest choice, with China 2016, Germany 2019 and Spa 2015 being in there)

Raikkonen- Japan 2005( simple)

Giovinazzi- Singapore 2019( really not many options)

Perez- Malaysia 2012( Baku 2016 and Bahrain 2014 are essentially equal as well)

Stroll- Baku 2017

Grosjean- Belgium 2015( tight call with USA 2013

Magnussen- Australia 2014

Russell- Hungary 2019( for the first lap alone)

Latifi- N/A

 

 

[MassaFan14]

Actually, Giovinazzi at Brazil 2019 would probably have been better, but I digress.

[Atreiu]

What about Nurburgring 2013 for Vettel?

 

I remember watching it and believing he won twice that day, one race before the SC and the other after. And after the SC the Renaults split strategies to pressure him and it still didn't work.

[Spillage]

Fun game! Here are mine:

 

Hamilton - Fuji 2007. There are obviously an awful lot to choose from but this was pretty special, probably even moreso than Silverstone '08 because of the context - LH was in his rookie season and I think the only driver who didn't make a mistake all day, even as his illustrious teammate his the wall behind him. He looked like a guy who'd been driving for years.

Bottas - Melbourne 2019. Most of his wins have been pretty close but here and in Austin he had a clear pace advantage over the field. I went for Melbourne because I think Hamilton was driving for the title in Austin. In Melbourne Bottas pulverised the opposition. "To whom it may concern, **** you" was a great radio message as well.

 

Vettel - Monza 2008. It's easy to go for the spectacular surprise rather than the routine wins and probably some of Vettel's Red Bull and Ferrari drives were better - Singapore 2013 and Bahrain 2017 spring to mind, But I went for this because it was seriously impressive. Actually driving away from Kovalainen's Mclaren... I couldn't really believe what I was seeing at the time.

Leclerc - Bahrain 2019. Hard to choose between this and Monza, but I went for Bahrain as it was a really dominant performance spoiled in the end by a technical issue. Overtaking and driving away from Vettel in only his second race for Ferrari was a real watershed moment.

 

Verstappen - Austria 2019. It's amazing there are already so many to choose from, including his fantastic performance in Brazil in 2016, but I went for Austria as he did make one small mistake in Brazil that cost him a chance of a win. But Austria was brilliant - relentless pace, fantastic overtakes. His remorseless, merciless rise through the field reminded me of some of Michael Schumache's drives in the early 2000s. High praise from a big Schumacher stan like me.

Albon - Brazil 2019. There aren't too many to choose from, of course, and since his promotion to Red Bull he's generally been pretty far off Verstappen's pace. That was the case in Brazil, too, but it was the first time we've seen him mixing it at the front and he pulled off a superb overtake on Vettel at the SC restart. Really deserved a podium that day.

 

Sainz - Hungary 2019. I think he was driving better last season than at any prior point in his career, in a stealthy sort of way. There were a few to choose from but I went for one where he managed to keep Gasly behind him to the flag, on this occasion being rewarded with an excellent 5th place.

Norris - USA 2019. Not too many to choose from, but here he beat Sainz fair and square. Wasn't paying too much attention to him last year if I'm honest.

 

Ricciardo - Belgium 2014 - this may be a slightly left-field choice but I was really impressed with the way in which he matched Rosberg's pace at the end of this race. The Mercedes was overwhelmingly superior and Ricciardo's pace was very impressive. I also really liked China 2018. probably my favourite barnstorming Ricciardo drive.

Ocon - Monza 2017 - qualified third on the grid and a strong run in the points. I think he's very fast so I'm looking forward to seeing more of the same this year.

 

Gasly - Bahrain 2018. Very impressive - qualified fifth, finished fourth. His teammate was nowhere near the pace so I think this has to rank as Gasly's best performance so far, moreso than his slightly fortuitous podium last year.

Kvyat - Mexico 2015. I found this one very tricky. Picked this race because he beat Ricciardo in both qualifying and the race, but there were several that I could have gone for instead. I He looked quicker in Austin this year as well before he crashed. 

 

Raikkonen - Belgium 2004. OK, I really picked this to be a contrarian because Suzuka 2005 was amazing, but I think this one is overlooked as he didn't really have the car to win that day and yet climbed from tenth on the grid to do so. The Mclaren was (mostly) uncompetitive that year so I was really impressed with this one.

Giovinazzi - Brazil 2019 - Probably the highlight of a largely unimpressive debut season, he kept his nose clean and did well to bring it home in fifth.

 

Perez - Malaysia 2012. He should have won this race hands down, he blew it with a crucial error. But it was still a very strong performance and the pace he showed was extremely impressive. He's turned up on the podium on several unlikely occasions over the years so there are quite a few good performances to choose from.

Stroll - Azerbaijan 2017. I think it has to be this one because he drove well, beat his teammate and kept his nose clean. I did think of Hockenheim last year where an inspired tyre choice put him briefly into the lead, but I do think he could and should have finished on the podium in that race. So Baku it is.

 

Grosjean - Valencia 2012. I genuinely think he would have won this race if the car hadn't broke. Quickest man in the field after Vettel dropped out and closing in on Alonso before the car broke. Desperately unlucky.

Magnussen - Australia 2014. Had to go with this one I think. He beat Button and managed an excellent second place on his debut. Sadly I don't think he's hit those heights since.

 

Russell - Brazil 2019. Really hard as I confess I wasn't paying a lot of attention. Went for this one solely because it was his best result.

Latifi - 2020 Virtual Monaco GP (I'm joking). Looking forward to seeing his debut in Austria.

 

I think it's easy to remember spectacular or breakthrough performances over more routine wins. Probably, for example, some of Hamilton's dominant performances for Merc were just as good as Fuji '07,  but because he was dominant they're not memorable. Whatever, that's my list.

[HeadFirst]

Lewis .... Canada 2007 was pretty amazing, and not only for the win. Also for how fast he was right out of the box, on a track he had never driven.

[messy]

Hamilton - Monaco 2019, heroically holding off a (penalized) Verstappen on tyres so shredded that he could apparently barely keep hold of the car in a straight line, and absolutely not moaning about it at all. Hero.

I jest, I jest, there’s like 50 races to choose from. Personally I’ve always thought Silverstone 2008 was ever so slightly overrated as a “great drive” and Fuji 2007 was slightly marred by the controversy over him causing Webber and Vettel’s crash. So I’ll go with Bahrain 2014. A brilliant fight between the pair of the Mercedes drivers, but Lewis had it won until the safety car put Rosberg up behind him on much newer tyres with what, ten laps till the end? It was absolutely, in this DRS era, Rosberg’s race - but Hamilton drove brilliantly to fend him off.

Raikkonen - Suzuka 2005. He’s done some good stuff over the years but winning possibly the greatest Grand Prix in the last twenty years? With a last lap pass into turn one at Suzuka? How do you top that, really.

Vettel - Singapore 2013. Always thought Seb was at his absolute best on the track, his great lap in qualifying setting up an amazing win here. Didn’t he pull out something like a 25 second lead in ten laps after the safety car? The absolute peak of his Red Bull dominance.

Bottas - Australia 2019, dominant, beat Hamilton fair and square all weekend, the whole ‘Bottas 2.0’ thing looked quite convincing for like a week.

Ricciardo - China 2018, overtaking his way up from sixth to the lead at the end like he was playing on the PlayStation.

[ARTGP]

Kubica is relatively current    - 2010 Monaco GP. Put that Renault where it had absolutely No right to be. Almost got pole. Raced to P3.

[noikeee]

I'd answer if I had enough memories from all the races from the last 10 years. Not sure if my brains are scrambled, if I'm getting old, or if F1 just became much more uninteresting and indistinguishable from one race to another.

[Doren]

What about Nurburgring 2013 for Vettel?

 

I remember watching it and believing he won twice that day, one race before the SC and the other after. And after the SC the Renaults split strategies to pressure him and it still didn't work.

 

Yes, Vettel and the home race.

[Anderis]

I'd answer if I had enough memories from all the races from the last 10 years. Not sure if my brains are scrambled, if I'm getting old, or if F1 just became much more uninteresting and indistinguishable from one race to another.

I feel the same.

 

6 or 7 years ago a list like that would be no problem for me but as for now- I can barely recall ONE outstanding race (let alone claim it was the best) for almost half of the grid. Carlos Sainz for example- without having a look at F1 websites or thinking about it for long minutes, I can't recall what any single race during his entire career went for him like. It's almost terrifying to find that out.

[Collombin]

I'd answer if I had enough memories from all the races from the last 10 years. Not sure if my brains are scrambled, if I'm getting old, or if F1 just became much more uninteresting and indistinguishable from one race to another.

Probably all the above. But don't worry, it happened to me in about 1994. This board is full of detailed discussions and analysis from the late 1990s about which I can remember bugger all.

[noikeee]

Amusingly I recall Sainz's best. It was the last one!!

[Touchdown]

Hamilton - Monaco 2019, heroically holding off a (penalized) Verstappen on tyres so shredded that he could apparently barely keep hold of the car in a straight line, and absolutely not moaning about it at all. Hero.

I jest, I jest, there’s like 50 races to choose from. Personally I’ve always thought Silverstone 2008 was ever so slightly overrated as a “great drive” and Fuji 2007 was slightly marred by the controversy over him causing Webber and Vettel’s crash. So I’ll go with Bahrain 2014. A brilliant fight between the pair of the Mercedes drivers, but Lewis had it won until the safety car put Rosberg up behind him on much newer tyres with what, ten laps till the end? It was absolutely, in this DRS era, Rosberg’s race - but Hamilton drove brilliantly to fend him off.

Raikkonen - Suzuka 2005. He’s done some good stuff over the years but winning possibly the greatest Grand Prix in the last twenty years? With a last lap pass into turn one at Suzuka? How do you top that, really.

Vettel - Singapore 2013. Always thought Seb was at his absolute best on the track, his great lap in qualifying setting up an amazing win here. Didn’t he pull out something like a 25 second lead in ten laps after the safety car? The absolute peak of his Red Bull dominance.

Bottas - Australia 2019, dominant, beat Hamilton fair and square all weekend, the whole ‘Bottas 2.0’ thing looked quite convincing for like a week.

Ricciardo - China 2018, overtaking his way up from sixth to the lead at the end like he was playing on the PlayStation.

Great shout - Vettel absolutely annihilated the field that day.

[Anderis]

Amusingly I recall Sainz's best. It was the last one!!

Hmmm. I was just able to recall that he was on the podium- but it was the second last one.

 

Weird that it took me that much to recall the race with the most surprising podium in the last few years- unless I'm forgetting about an even more surprising one while writing this post!

[P123]

I feel the same.

 

6 or 7 years ago a list like that would be no problem for me but as for now- I can barely recall ONE outstanding race (let alone claim it was the best) for almost half of the grid. Carlos Sainz for example- without having a look at F1 websites or thinking about it for long minutes, I can't recall what any single race during his entire career went for him like. It's almost terrifying to find that out.

 

Way to rub it in to Sainz Jr given he's had a few complaints at the lack of TV coverage he and the midfield receives

 

For him, Singapore, whatever year he finished in 4th for Toro Rosso.

[ArrowsLivery]

Indy 2007 for Hamilton. People forget about this race, but he held off Alonso’s pressure brilliantly.

[Atreiu]

I always felt like Montreal 2010 felt like a more heroic drive of triumph under chaos. There’s a lot to chose from for Hamilton.