Ratings | Verstappen on another planet, Perez and Leclerc disappoint

Verstappen: 10

Max Verstappen was unbeatable in Barcelona by anyone. Every free practice session the Dutchman was the fastest, only to also set the fastest time in qualifying and never relinquished the lead in the Grand Prix. The fastest lap was also a winner for Verstappen, who did not leave a crumb behind this weekend.

Hamilton: 9

Lewis Hamilton ends a strong weekend for Mercedes in second place. The Briton was not faultless in qualifying, where he said he threw away two tenths in his final run and thus possibly a better starting spot, but drove to second place in a rock-solid race. Hamilton was a class better than his teammate all this weekend.

Russell: 7

George Russell had a difficult start with a poor qualifying session, in which he also failed to look properly in his mirrors and was partly responsible (along with the team) for the crash with his teammate. In the race, however, Russell recovered handsomely by finishing third.

Perez: 5

For the second weekend in a row, Sergio Perez went wrong during qualifying. Whereas Verstappen dominated with the RB19, Perez did not even get through Q2. In the race, he is then supposed to drive to second place with that equipment, but he does not get that either. It was simply insufficient.

Sainz: 8

A great qualifying session for Carlos Sainz, but in the race he still fell a bit short of pace. Was the SF-23 really that much slower than the Mercedes or could Sainz have got more out of it? In any case, he was much better than his teammate all weekend.

Stroll: 8

Lance Stroll had a good weekend in Spain, where he was better than his teammate for the first time on Saturday and Sunday. The fact that Alonso came from further up the grid to the rear wing of Stroll gives pause for thought about the Canadian's pace in the race, but it was his best weekend so far in 2023.

Alonso: 6

There was seemingly not much more in it for Aston Martin this weekend, but Fernando Alonso was visibly bummed by his mistakes this weekend. In qualifying, the Spaniard misfired, causing damage to his floor. He still got into Q3 handsomely, but did not drive the perfect lap there either.

Ocon: 6

A sufficient for Esteban Ocon, who mainly benefited from mistakes made by his teammate. Indeed, over one lap, Ocon was no faster than Gasly, who came third in qualifying on Saturday, only Gasly was penalised for obstructing other drivers on the track. On Sunday, Ocon drove a solid but otherwise colourless race.

Zhou: 9

This was perhaps the best F1 weekend for Guanyu Zhou so far. The Chinese truly declassified his teammate and provided much-needed points for Alfa Romeo. The only pity was his complaining after the duel with Tsunoda. He himself did take some risks on the outside.

Gasly: 5

Due to a double penalty for interfering with Verstappen and Sainz, Gasly squandered a chance for many points in Spain. With a third time, he showed what was possible in qualifying, but he had ruined it himself with his clumsy performance before that. Tsunoda's penalty gives him one more point.

Leclerc: 5

For Charles Leclerc, these are not yet the best weeks of his F1 career. For Ferrari, it was not yet clear why things went wrong for the Monegasque on Saturday, but on Sunday Leclerc again appeared to lack pace. True, he had to come from far away, but zero points with a Ferrari is still disappointing. Leclerc has a lot of homework to do.

Tsunoda: 7

Yuki Tsunoda drove a mixed weekend in Spain. In qualifying, the Japanese driver was faster over one lap than De Vries, but that time was taken off due to track limits. On Sunday, Tsunoda seemed to put things in order and was even on his way to points. The AlphaTauri driver took risk with his defensive action on Zhou, but no more than Verstappen did on the first lap against Sainz. The stewards' penalty is remarkable and does a disservice to Tsunoda's fine performance.

Piastri: 6

Oscar Piastri drove a good weekend until Q3, but he made a mistake when he had to. On Sunday, the MCL60 did not appear to have the pace to compete for the points, dropping the Australian down to 13th place.

De Vries: 6

Nyck de Vries drove a faster (legal) time in qualifying than his teammate, but on Sunday the Dutchman experienced a poorer start. Where Tsunoda surged forward, De Vries got stuck. He showed some good overtaking and continues the upward trend of recent weeks. Still, he himself will want to be closer to his teammate on Sunday.

Hulkenberg: 8

Nico Hulkenberg was again much better than Magnussen in qualifying and even kicked it up to Q3. In the race, the Haas didn't have the pace, although the German tried everything with his team to pass a lot of people again with an undercut.

Albon: 7

Alexander Albon was better than his teammate again this weekend, but in the Williams, that is hardly noticeable at the moment. Indeed, it is once again the slowest of all F1 cars at the moment.

Norris: 6

Lando Norris drove a phenomenal qualifying, but threw it all away at the first corner. Being just a little too close to Hamilton meant he had no margin for any problems ahead of him. As Hamilton was forced to hold back by Sainz in front of him, Norris had no way to go.

Magnussen: 3

There is little credit to be had with the Haas at the moment, but Kevin Magnussen is also far from making the most of it. Where Hulkenberg at least looked good in qualifying and the race, the Dane was nowhere to be seen. After some good weekends, he failed to come up to scratch this weekend.

Bottas: 4

Valtteri Bottas is used to playing second fiddle, but second fiddle to Zhou is a different story from seven-time world champion Hamilton. Bottas did play second fiddle this weekend. Where his teammate managed to pick up points, Bottas finishes only ahead of Sargeant.

Sargeant: 5

The Williams may be the slowest car on the F1 grid, but Sargeant also manages to do little special with it on a weekly basis. Albon is more experienced, but the gap between the two is still far too big. The rookie still has a lot of steps to make.