F1 Power Rankings | Rookies impress alongside a perfect Verstappen

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F1 Power Rankings Verstappen ten GP Japan 2023
27 September 2023 at 18:06
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  • GPblog.com

After a poor weekend in Singapore, in which Max Verstappen was not even in the top ten, the Dutchman is now confidently back at the top of the F1 Power Rankings after the Japanese Grand Prix. The Red Bull Racing driver scored perfectly, but rookies Oscar Piastri and Liam Lawson also did well once again.

Verstappen grabs P1 again in F1 Power Rankings

Verstappen struck back in Japan and showed he was not lying when he said in Singapore that the bad weekend was just a one-off. With his solid qualifying and race, Verstappen won overwhelmingly in Japan. As a result, Red Bull managed to secure the constructors' title early in the season. F1.com classifies Verstappen at the top of the F1 Power Rankings with a 10 and writes that he already holds his third F1 title with one hand.

Next to him on the podium finished McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. In the Power Rankings, we also find the two at P2 and P3. Norris with a 9.4 and Piastri with an 8.6. It is said of Norris that he showed in Japan that he is a race winner in the future. "Norris qualified third on Saturday, behind Verstappen and his team mate, Oscar Piastri, but turned up on race day a man on a mission."

Rookies impress again

Teammate Piastri gets plenty of awe for getting his first podium in a main race and his first start on the front row for a main race. Piastri finished third after qualifying P2. That he lost a place in the race to his teammate most likely cost him some points in the standings, but with the 8.6 his average goes up again.

Liam Lawson also impressed again in Japan. The New Zealander qualified in a shared fifth spot along with Lewis Hamilton. Both drivers received a 7.6 for their race. F1.com: "It was announced earlier in the weekend that AlphaTauri’s driver line-up for the 2024 season will be Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo. So, if there was a way for Lawson to show AlphaTauri what they will be missing, his performance in Japan was just that."

Lawson does drop one place in the season rankings with his 7.6. Fernando Alonso drops slightly, so he now averages a 7.9 like Hamilton on a shared P2. Lawson is behind him on P4 with an average 7.8.

Top ten F1 Power Rankings GP Japan

  1. Max Verstappen - 10
  2. Lando Norris - 9.4
  3. Oscar Piastri - 8.6
  4. Charles Leclerc - 8
  5. Lewis Hamilton - 7.6
  6. Liam Lawson - 7.6
  7. Esteban Ocon - 7.4
  8. Pierre Gasly - 7.4
  9. Carlos Sainz - 7.2
  10. Yuki Tsunoda - 7