Ratings Qatar GP | Verstappen rock solid, Perez and Hamilton blunder

Max Verstappen - 10

With the exception of a mistake in the Sprint Shootout, which caused him to miss out on pole position for the sprint race, Verstappen was once again flawless. The Red Bull Racing driver steered wisely around the chaos at the start of the sprint race and was already rewarded with his third world title on Saturday. On Sunday, he completed the party by driving a perfect race in which he relinquished the lead only once due to a mandatory pit stop. He crowned his title with pole position, victory and the fastest lap of the race.

Oscar Piastri - 9.5

Piastri experienced his best Formula 1 weekend to date. On both Saturday and Sunday, the McLaren rookie was faster than his more experienced team-mate Lando Norris by winning the sprint race from pole and finishing second behind Verstappen on Sunday, despite a sixth starting position.

Lando Norris - 8

Norris drove a strong race, finishing on the podium in both the Sprint and Grand Prix, but possibly there could have been more in it for the Briton. He held a place on the front row of the grid next to Verstappen but threw it away due to track limits. From tenth on the grid, he did manage to recover superbly afterwards.

George Russell - 7.5

The weekend started promisingly for Mercedes, which saw Russell and Hamilton start in second and third place. However, it was mostly Russell who impressed by taking the lead in the sprint race after a strong start on the softs, although the rubber did not last until the end. After being tapped off the track by his teammate at the start of the main race, he drove a handsome catch-up race in which P4 was the maximum result.

Lewis Hamilton - 3

It was not Hamilton's weekend in Qatar. He saw his teammate finish ahead in all sessions and had to come from far away in the sprint race, in which he recovered just fine. On Sunday, Mercedes had plenty of chances for a good result, but this was thrown in the bin by Hamilton single-handedly by a far too eager overtaking attempt at the start of the race.

Sergio Perez - 1

Another disastrous weekend for Perez. Things already went wrong in qualifying on Friday for the Mexican, who was stranded in Q2 for the umpteenth time this year. The downward spiral continued on Saturday when he was tapped off the track in the sprint race through no fault of his own. On Sunday, the drama was complete: due to extensive repairs, he had to start from the pit lane. While he initially managed to move forward nicely during the race, he received no less than three-time penalties due to track limits. Russell made it back through the field...

Charles Leclerc - 7

The Losail International Circuit did not favour Ferrari. Sainz could not even start the race, but Leclerc managed to make the best of it by taking fifth place in the Qatar GP.

Fernando Alonso - 6

An unusually low mark for Alonso. The Aston Martin driver was clearly uncomfortable in his car because of his red-hot seat. During the race, he made a rare mistake by sliding into the gravel trap and coming back onto the track in an unsafe manner, costing him a position. Despite this, he once again stayed miles ahead of teammate Stroll.

Esteban Ocon - 7

Ocon made a big mistake during the sprint race, to which Perez and Hulkenberg fall victim. During the race, however, he showed his strongest side by holding on to seventh place despite being sick in the car. Like several other drivers, he became unwell due to dehydration and even threw up in his helmet, but despite this, he drove well.

Carlos Sainz - 5

The GP weekend in Qatar was never going to be Ferrari's, but on Saturday, Sainz made the most of it with a strong result in the Sprint Shootout and sixth place in the sprint race. In qualifying on Friday, he was stranded in Q2 but ultimately could not show if he could come back from that. The Spaniard could not start the race due to a technical problem.

Valtteri Bottas - 8

Bottas qualified in the top ten for the Qatar GP, a rarity for Alfa Romeo these days. During the race, the Finn even managed to gain another place.

Guanyu Zhou - 7.5

Zhou did not set a best qualifying result but managed to work his way to the front during the race. Helped by several time penalties, he was rewarded with ninth place.

Lance Stroll - 3

Another underwhelming weekend from Stroll, who did not progress beyond Q1 in both qualifying sessions. Moreover, he again went wrong in Sunday's race by exceeding the track limits too often, resulting in a penalty - and zero points.

Pierre Gasly - 5

Like Stroll, Gasly threw away his chance for points with not one, but two time penalties. He could not match his teammate Ocon this weekend.

Alex Albon - 6

Albon, who has impressed throughout the season with his handsome results, did not have a successful race in Qatar. In the sprint race, he maximised as we have come to expect from him with a seventh-place finish, but in the main race, he was unable to live up to it.

Kevin Magnussen - 5

A mediocre weekend for Magnussen. The Haas driver was outclassed by his Haas teammate in both the Sprint and race, but finished ahead of him by avoiding on-track problems.

Yuki Tsunoda - 5

AlphaTauri did not have the pace in Qatar. Tsunoda finished no further than 11th in both the sprint and main race and thus took home no points.

Nico Hulkenberg - 4

Hulkenberg was strong on Saturday until he was thrown off the track by Ocon. He himself went wrong at the start of the race by going into Sainz's empty starting spot. The 10-second time penalty left him hopeless in the race.

Liam Lawson - 4

Probably Lawson's weakest weekend since his F1 debut. But that is probably not so surprising, given that there was only one practice during his first visit to Qatar. In the sprint race he did not reach the finish line and in the race he finished last. A disappointing weekend for the New Zealander, who has probably ended his substitution duties for Daniel Ricciardo.

Logan Sargeant - 5

In terms of pace, one of Sargeant's better weekends this year, but Albon's pace remains too fast. During the race he held his own for a long time, but he wisely retired with dehydration symptoms.