Originally Posted by BTCC frog
My ratings:
Lewis Hamilton - 9
I didn't give out any tens today, but Lewis came closest, so I voted for him. In the second fastest car, he just managed to resist Verstappen to score an impressive win. It wasn't a perfect drive, but it was better than the other 19. Maybe if Max had won it would have been a different story.
Valtteri Bottas - 7
The final gap isn't really representative, but he wasn't on the level of the other two today. I hope he can make this a three-way title battle.
Max Verstappen - 9
Not a perfect drive because he could have won the race, but very impressive all weekend. As the results showed, Hamilton was just that tiny bit better. It looks like he will be a title contender this year, and it is good that he did the decent thing and let Hamilton past. The old Max would have ignored that instruction.
Sergio Perez - 7
He can't score higher than this because he did finish a very long way behind Verstappen, and he didn't make Q3. But already he looks like an improvement on Albon, and should challenge for the podium next time out.
Daniel Ricciardo - 7
He outqualified Norris, but was generally off Lando's pace all weekend. Scored some decent points on his McLaren debut and beat Sainz, but he will have better days with McLaren.
Lando Norris - 9
Misses out on a perfect ten because he was outqualified by his teammate, but won the midfield battle convincingly and did a great job all weekend.
Lance Stroll - 8
A really impressive drive from Lance, getting that Aston Martin into Q3 and then scoring points as well. Loses a point for being passed by Tsunoda, but still totally outclassed his teammate.
Sebastian Vettel - 4
Oh dear. I was really looking forward to seeing Vettel back at his best this year, but that really was a shocking weekend from him. Miles off Stroll's pace in qualifying and the race, and then had that silly collision with Ocon. And had the cheek to blame Ocon for it!
Fernando Alonso - 8
Difficult to rate as we don't know when the brake problem started to affect him, but was very impressive in qualifying and would likely have scored points in his first race back without the problem.
Esteban Ocon - 6
Quite disappointing, but he was unlucky in qualifying and was only a few seconds behind when Alonso retired. Still looks like a totally different driver to the one that was so evenly matched with Perez at Force India.
Charles Leclerc - 9
Excellent, as usual. He is quite possibly the fastest driver on the grid over a single lap, and if he cuts out the incidents he could be on a similar level to Hamilton and Verstappen this year. But with a perfect race he could have beaten Norris.
Carlos Sainz - 7
I was expecting him to be a long way off Leclerc this weekend, and to score no points at all. But he did a great job and fully deserved that points finish. The Ferrari battle could be closer than I had anticipated this year!
Pierre Gasly - 8
What a shame! I thought he looked on for a fourth place finish after qualifying and maybe even threatening the podium. But he messed it up by driving into the back of the McLaren, and the car seemed damaged from there on in. Still much faster than Tsunoda in qualifying, though.
Yuki Tsunoda - 7
Well done to him for that first points finish, but he was not on Gasly's level this weekend, and that Alpha Tauri was capable of mixing it with McLaren and Ferrari. Gets a point back for passing Stroll at the end.
Kimi Raikkonen - 7
Not sure how good the Alfas are, but Kimi Raikkonen delivered a decent result. I am glad they look to be back in the midfield fight after last year's horror show.
Antonio Giovinazzi - 7
He finished around 12 seconds off Raikkonen, but a lot of that was down to a slow pitstop early on, and he comfortably beat him in qualifying, so the two Alfas get the same score.
Mick Schumacher - 6
The fact that both drivers spun shows how difficult that car is to drive, but Mick did a decent job this weekend, far better than his teammate. I didn't see whether he would have beaten Latifi without Latifi's late retirement, but I think it was close.
Nikita Mazepin - 3
What a shocking debut from Mazepin, with multiple spins in qualifying and then an unforced error leading to a crash in the race. But in fairness, Schumacher did the same, so the car is difficult to drive. Still not good enough.
George Russell - 8
Russell is in for a lonely season. The Williams and the Haas are at a similar level; and possibly the Haas is slightly quicker, but Russell is clearly a far superior driver to his three rivals, so should beat them comfortably every weekend. But his car just won't allow him to challenge the midfield. Did a great job to be in Q2.
Nicholas Latifi - 6
Retired late on when close to Schumacher. As Latifi is probably a better driver at the moment (but likely not for long), I thing the Haas is the slightly better car. Schumacher should be his main rival this year.
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