Ratings | Alonso revives old times, Verstappen recovers his mistake
- GPblog.com
The Qatar Grand Prix was exciting with a few punctures at the end, but the Middle East race was not a great spectacle. So it is important to look at the individual performances of the drivers. Who got more out of his car and who failed? These are the ratings from GPblog.
Hamilton: 10
Lewis Hamilton made no mistakes this weekend and is truly in top form. With two wins in a row, the Brit is doing everything he can to secure his eighth world title.
Verstappen: 8.5
Max Verstappen made one mistake and that was driving on during the double yellow flag in qualifying. It didn't bring him a place, so Verstappen should have taken his foot off the gas. Other than that, Verstappen was flawless and quickly put things right on Sunday by driving to P2 and setting the fastest lap yet.
Alonso: 9.5
Fernando Alonso is back on the podium! He wanted to take the lead at the start, but had to settle for P2. He gave that to Verstappen, but P3 he did not give away anymore. Sergio Perez came close, but where Red Bull did not dare to gamble on a single stop, Alonso managed to do so.
Perez: 7.5
Sergio Perez drove a dramatic qualifying session, failing to get out of Q2. A big disappointment, but mistakes and problems for Bottas meant Perez did a great service to his team with P4, after a strong race on Sunday.
Ocon: 8
Normally, Esteban Ocon would have signed for fifth place, but being driven by your teammate in qualifying and the race at such a distance is not a pleasant result. Still, P5 is a good result for Alpine.
Stroll: 8
Lance Stroll crashed out of Q2, but drove a strong race. He managed to hold off both Ferrari drivers and moved up to sixth place.
Sainz: 8
Carlos Sainz is in good form, again beating his teammate in qualifying and the race.
Leclerc: 7.5
Charles Leclerc is struggling with Sainz in the closing stages of the season, but he does stay close. He will be critical of himself after this weekend though.
Norris: 7
After a great qualifying session, it looked like there was more in it for Lando Norris, but he too had to pit in the closing stages. He made it back to P10 and has to make do with just one point.
Vettel: 7
Sebastian Vettel actually drove a strong weekend, but his good performance in Q2 cost him. He did make it to Q3 but had to start on old tyres on Sunday. He was in the points for a long time, but in the end, just missed out on a point.
Gasly: 5.5
Pierre Gasly wondered what went wrong. AlphaTauri went for a two-stop, while rival Alpine opted for a single stop. The fact that Alonso and Ocon finished on P3 and P5 must have hurt Gasly after starting from the front row.
Ricciardo: 4.5
Daniel Ricciardo had another one of his lesser weekends. He didn't get anywhere near Norris and still doesn't know how to get the most out of his McLaren.
Tsunoda: 5
Yuki Tsunoda finished outside the points, but given Gasly's setback you have to wonder if the pace was there at all on Sunday for the team. The Japanese driver did well on Saturday to finish Q3, but on Sunday he simply didn't have the car to make the grade.
Raikkonen: 6
Kimi Raikkonen takes control of Alfa Romeo in his final races in Formula 1. It doesn't result in any points, but it is remarkable that the Finn is suddenly faster than his teammate again.
Giovinazzi: 6
Antonio Giovinazzi seems to have thrown in the towel. After a whole year of being faster than Kimi in qualifying, it's been slipping out of his hands in the last few races. Could it be due to losing his seat?
Schumacher: 6
Mick Schumacher finished ahead of Russell, though that was mostly due to the Brit's puncture. Still, Schumacher finished within a few seconds of Giovinazzi and was also by far faster than his teammate, but that shouldn't come as a surprise.
Russell: 4.5
George Russell ended the race on the back foot due to a puncture, but he wouldn't have finished much higher otherwise. He did what he had to do though and beat his teammate again on Saturday and Sunday.
Mazepin: 4.5
Nikita Mazepin didn't manage to move up a spot despite a puncture from Russell. Of course, Mazepin had to sit out a session due to a new chassis, but the gap to his teammate of over two seconds in qualifying and almost a minute and a half in the race is inexplicable.
Latifi: 4
Nicholas Latifi had a lacklustre race until his tyre went. On Saturday he had already performed poorly and was beaten by George and Kimi.
Bottas: 3
Valtteri Bottas threw away a perfect starting position for Mercedes on Saturday by continuing to drive at a yellow flag. As a result, he lost places, started on the dirty side and had a lousy start. From the midfield, it took Valtteri too long to get going. His opposite number at Red Bull had already risen to the top while Bottas was still stuck. He eventually made his way to the front but suffered a puncture at the worst possible moment. It wasn't easy for the Finn, but before that he hadn't been performing great himself either.