Mick Schumacher, Haas, Silverstone, 2022

2022 British Grand Prix driver ratings

2022 British Grand Prix

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The British Grand Prix delivered a first time winner, a podium few would have predicted and plenty of racing action over the course of 52 dramatic laps around Silverstone.

Some drivers put in their best performances of the season over a challenging weekend affected by rain and a frightening accident at the start of the race. Others did not make the best example of themselves during Sunday’s race.

Here are RaceFans’ driver ratings for a memorable British Grand Prix weekend.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, Silverstone, 2022
Hamilton caused headaches for the Ferrari pit wall

Lewis Hamilton – 7

Qualified: 5th (+3 places ahead of team mate)
-0.166s quicker than team mate in Q3
Finished: 3rd

  • Felt there was potential to qualify higher than fifth but final lap battery gamble failed to pay off
  • Lost fifth to Norris at restart after snap of oversteer in The Loop, but gained position back with DRS on lap six
  • Gained fourth for Perez pitting, then third when Verstappen pitted with damage on lap 12
  • Slowly reeled in the Ferraris before inheriting the lead when they pitted ahead of him
  • Maintained strong pace on old mediums to keep gap just under 19 seconds
  • Pitted for hard tyres on lap 33, but slow stop saw him emerge four seconds behind Sainz in third
  • Took advantage of sudden Safety Car to pit for soft tyres, holding his third place ahead of the restart
  • Lost position to Perez at restart, but passed both Perez and Leclerc through Club
  • Fell back to fourth after being repassed by Perez and Leclerc on lap 46
  • Overtook Leclerc for third after lap-long battle against the Ferrari, eventually claiming the final podium place

George Russell – 5

Qualified: 8th (-3 places behind team mate)
+0.166s slower than team mate in Q3
Finished: Retired (Crash – L1)

  • Top five in first two qualifying phases
  • Beaten by Norris and Alonso in Q3 to line up eighth on the grid
  • Started on hard tyres, but clipped by Gasly on run to first corner, pitching him into Zhou and triggering horrifying crash which led to red flag
  • Tried to recover car during accident clear up to take restart but denied, ending his top five finishing streak
Max Verstappen, Red Bull, Silverstone, 2022
Verstappen’s race was compromised by debris

Max Verstappen – 7

Qualified: 2nd (+2 places ahead of team mate)
+0.561s quicker than team mate in Q3
Finished: 7th (-5 places behind team mate)

  • Ahead of team mate in every timed session where they both set lap times
  • Fastest of all in first two qualifying phases but spun through 360 degrees at Vale
  • Qualified second on grid after being hampered by Leclerc spinning on final Q3 lap
  • Lined up second on grid and used soft tyres to beat Sainz into the lead at the start before red flag
  • Opted for mediums for restart and drew alongside Sainz but was rebuffed into Abbey
  • Stuck with Sainz and drew within DRS range of the leader, taking the lead after Sainz went off at Abbey
  • Struck debris at Aintree on lap 12 which affected his floor and downforce
  • Pitted due to suspected puncture and rejoined on mediums in sixth
  • Struggled for pace due to damage and pitted again for hards on lap 23
  • Passed by Ocon but regained the position after the Alpine developed a problem
  • Pitted a third time under Safety Car for soft tyres, lining up ninth for restart
  • Overtook Magnussen for eighth, then Vettel for seventh the following lap
  • Held off Schumacher with aggressive defending on final lap to finish seventh

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Sergio Perez – 7

Qualified: 4th (-2 places behind team mate)
+0.561s slower than team mate in Q3
Finished: 2nd (+5 places ahead of team mate)

  • Claimed he “wasn’t 100% physically” all weekend
  • Behind team mate in every timed session where they both set lap times
  • Qualified fourth after running behind Stroll in final laps of Q3
  • Beat Leclerc off the line at restart but fell to fourth after being hit by the Ferrari at The Loop
  • Suffered front wing damage that caused him to fall back from cars ahead
  • Called into the pits at end of lap five for a front wing change, dropping to the back
  • Gained 16th when Vettel pitted, then passed Tsunoda for 15th
  • Continued to make progress up the field, gaining sixth when team mate pitted
  • Picked up fourth when Alonso and Norris pitted until pitting himself under the Safety Car for softs
  • Restarted from fourth and passed Hamilton for third
  • Battled hard with Hamilton and Leclerc until eventually gaining second and pulling away from Hamilton
  • Finished second, almost four seconds behind Sainz at the chequered flag
Carlos Sainz Jr, Ferrari, Silverstone, 2022
First pole became first win for Sainz

Carlos Sainz Jnr – 7

Qualified: Pole (+2 places ahead of team mate)
-0.315s quicker than team mate in Q3
Finished: Winner (+3 places ahead of team mate)

  • Took first career pole with final Q3 effort
  • Lost lead off the line to Verstappen but given second chance from pole after red flag
  • Held onto lead at restart by aggressively fending off Verstappen into Abbey
  • Led early laps until mistake at Chapel allowed Verstappen through
  • Regained lead after Verstappen pitted with damage, eventually pitting for hard tyres on lap 20
  • Got back ahead of team mate Leclerc after he pitted, but was unable to close gap to Hamilton on used mediums
  • Obeyed team orders to allow Leclerc through into the lead on lap 31, gaining second back when Hamilton pitted
  • Pitted for softs under Safety Car to line up behind Leclerc with fresh tyres for restart
  • Used superior traction to out-drag Leclerc out of The Loop at the restart to take the lead
  • Pulled away from chasing pack and secured maiden grand prix victory

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Charles Leclerc – 6

Qualified: 3rd (-2 places behind team mate)
+0.315s slower than team mate in Q3
Finished: 4th (-3 places behind team mate)

  • Spun on final Q3 attempt at Chapel, leaving him third on the grid
  • Lost third to Perez at the restart after bogging down off the line
  • Hit Perez while diving to inside of The Loop, causing minor front wing damage but regaining third
  • Inherited second when Verstappen pitted, sitting within DRS range of his leading team mate
  • Took the lead when Sainz pitted on lap 20, before pitting for hard tyres himself on lap 25, rejoining behind team mate
  • Insisted team allowed him by team mate to protect from Hamilton ahead
  • Eventually gained second when Sainz allowed him through down Wellington Straight, immediately going faster
  • Gained lead when Hamilton pitted on lap 33
  • Told to stay out when Safety Car was deployed, leaving him in the lead but on old hard tyres
  • Lost lead to team mate on fresh soft tyres at restart, then battled hard against Perez and Hamilton
  • Eventually fell behind both cars to finish in fourth position
Lando Norris, McLaren, Silverstone, 2022
Norris was comfortably faster than Ricciardo once again

Lando Norris – 8

Qualified: 6th (+8 places ahead of team mate)
-2.534s quicker than team mate in Q2
Finished: 6th (+7 places ahead of team mate)

  • Ahead of team mate in every timed session where they both set lap times
  • Secured ‘best of the rest’ grid slot of sixth despite “messing up” final Q3 attempt
  • Passed Hamilton at restart to take fifth on the opening racing lap
  • Lost fifth place to Hamilton along the Wellington Straight on lap six
  • Ran ahead of Alonso and behind leaders until eventually pitting for hard tyres on lap 34, rejoining fifth
  • Lost one position to Alonso under Safety Car after team called him in to pit too late, having to wait an extra lap
  • Switched to softs to line up behind Alonso in fifth for restart
  • Unable to find a way by the Alpine and had to settle for sixth at finish

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Daniel Ricciardo – 3

Qualified: 14th (-8 places behind team mate)
+2.534s slower than team mate in Q2
Finished: 13th (-7 places behind team mate)

  • Behind team mate in every timed session where they both set lap times
  • Reached Q2 but eliminated in 14th after going off when track was driest
  • Held 12th at the restart, then passed by Bottas into Brooklands on the second racing lap
  • Gained 12th when Perez pitted, then two more places when AlphaTauris collided
  • Ran tenth until pitting for hard tyres on lap 20, dropping to 13th
  • Got within DRS range of Magnussen but could not pass
  • Pitted for softs on lap 32, dropping him to 14th ahead of only Tsunoda
  • Developed a DRS problem leaving him unable to use the device for the final 20 laps
  • Pitted under Safety Car for a second set of softs, unlapping himself to restart 13th
  • Ran close to Stroll, then Latifi after restart but struggled to pass without DRS
  • Eventually finished 13th, second-to-last
Alonso’s long opening stint made his race

Fernando Alonso – 8

Qualified: 7th (+8 places ahead of team mate)
-2.981s quicker than team mate in Q2
Finished: 5th

  • Comfortably reached Q3 but disappointed to start seventh after using up battery prior to final flying lap
  • Took restart on mediums, losing one position to Gasly
  • Used DRS down the Hangar Straight to pass Gasly on lap five and move back up to seventh
  • Gained sixth when Perez pitted and picked up fifth when Verstappen pitted on lap 12
  • Managed his mediums over half distance, eventually pitting for hards on lap 33, dropping one place to sixth
  • Pitted under Safety Car for soft tyres, lining up fifth for restart
  • Held off pressure from Norris in closing laps to finish in fifth

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Esteban Ocon – 6

Qualified: 15th (-8 places behind team mate)
+2.981s slower than team mate in Q2
Finished: Retired (Fuel pump – L38)

  • Lost a small amount of running in second practice after suffering cracked bodywork
  • Reached Q2 but eliminated in 15th after battery cooling problem cost him engine power
  • Hit by spinning Albon at start but managed to recover damaged car to pit lane to take restart in 13th
  • Used softs to gain two places from Ricciardo and Bottas at restart, then passed Latiffi for tenth the next lap
  • Ran behind AlphaTauris until gaining seventh when pair collided on lap 11
  • Held off Latifi until pitting for hards on lap 22, but slow stop saw him rejoin behind the Williams in tenth
  • Passed Latifi for ninth with DRS along the Wellington Straight on lap 29
  • Caught and passed wounded Verstappen for eighth on lap 36
  • Car began juddering under throttle in first sector on lap 38, eventually pulling over into retirement at Copse

Pierre Gasly – 6

Qualified: 11th (+2 places ahead of team mate)
-0.609s quicker than team mate in Q2
Finished: Retired (Rear wing damage – L26)

  • Was “content” with 11th on grid after expecting to struggle at Silverstone
  • Unintentionally triggered violent start crash after being squeezed between Zhou and Russell, but able to take restart in ninth
  • Used softs to dive by Latifi for eighth at Village, then passed Alonso around outside of Brooklands for seventh
  • Lost seventh to Alonso into Stowe on lap five, then came under pressure from team mate Tsunoda
  • Fended off Tsunoda’s challenge at Vale but was hit by team mate at Village, dropping him to 14th
  • Suffered rear wing damage in collision that affected performance
  • Pitted for hard tyres on lap 16, rejoining ahead of only Stroll
  • Ran in 14th before being forced to pit due to black-and-orange mechanical damage flag
  • Race ended in pits after it was determined his car was too damaged to continue
(L to R): Yuki Tsunoda, Pierre Gasly, Silverstone, 2022
Tsunoda was penalised after colliding with his team mate

Yuki Tsunoda – 3

Qualified: 13th (-2 places behind team mate)
+0.609s slower than team mate in Q2
Finished: 14th

  • Was happy to progress through to Q2 but was eliminated in 13th over half a second slower than team mate
  • Involved in secondary collision at start but had car repaired under red flag to take restart from 11th place
  • Passed Bottas for tenth at restart, then snatched ninth from Latifi into Becketts
  • Ran within DRS range of team mate Gasly in early laps, almost passing him at the inside of Stowe on lap ten
  • Tried to attack Gasly into Village but lost control under braking and spun into him, dropping him to 15th
  • Handed a five second time penalty by stewards for being responsible for collision
  • Sustained damage from contact which compromised race pace
  • Lost 15th when passed by recovering Perez, then pitted for hards on lap 18, falling to last
  • Pitted just before Safety Car for softs but failed to catch up to pack in time for restart after unlapping himself
  • Finished a lonely 14th, the last car running

Sebastian Vettel – 5

Qualified: 18th (+2 places ahead of team mate)
-0.764s quicker than team mate in Q1
Finished: 9th (+2 places ahead of team mate)

  • Very disappointed by Q1 elimination in 18th after struggling to find pace on intermediates
  • Hit Albon in chaos of the intial start but able to take the restart
  • Beat Magnussen off the line at restart, then had to fight through opening lap to stay ahead
  • Pitted very early at the end of lap six for mediums, rejoining just behind Perez
  • Ran at the rear of the field until Stroll and Gasly pitted
  • Remained on his mediums to progress up to seventh place
  • Had just started a lap when Safety Car was deployed on lap 39, pitting for another set of mediums to hold onto seventh
  • Lost eighth to Verstappen at the restart, then overtaken by Schumacher the following lap
  • Could not stick with Schumacher’s soft tyres and eventually crossed the line in ninth place

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Lance Stroll – 4

Qualified: 20th (-2 places behind team mate)
+0.764s slower than team mate in Q1
Finished: 11th (-2 places behind team mate)

  • Eliminated in last place from Q1 after only a single push lap on new intermediates at the end of the session
  • Passed Schumacher for 16th at restart after Haas driver’s mistake at Village
  • Lost position to Schumacher at Copse on the second racing lap, dropping to last
  • Ran behind Gasly after his collision with Tsunoda until pitting for hard tyres on lap 15
  • Gained one position when Tsunoda pitted and ran within DRS range of Gasly until he retired
  • Moved ahead of Ricciardo into 13th when McLaren driver pitted on lap 32
  • Pitted for mediums under Safety Car to restart from 12th
  • Overtook Latifi with four laps to go to finish out of the points in 11th
Nicholas Latifi, Williams, Silverstone, 2022
Latifi secured his first Q3 appearance in qualifying

Nicholas Latifi – 6

Qualified: 10th (+6 places ahead of team mate)
-0.08s quicker than team mate in Q1
Finished: 12th

  • Missed out on running major new Williams upgrade package for the weekend
  • Progressed to Q2 for the first time this season, then beat the rain to reach Q3 and tenth on the grid
  • Took restart from eighth on soft tyres but lost a place to Gasly, then passed by Tsunoda into Becketts
  • Lost ninth to Ocon at Village on second racing lap
  • Kept within DRS range of Ocon until soft tyres began degrading on lap 16
  • Pitted for mediums on lap 19, eventually passing Ocon after a slow stop for the Alpine
  • Led DRS train of four cars, pleading with his team to let him push rather than manage his tyres
  • Lost ninth to Ocon along Wellington Straight on lap 29, then passed by both Haas cars a few laps later
  • Pitted for new softs under late Safety Car to sit 11th for restart
  • Used fresh tyres to stick to Magnussen’s Haas but could not find a way past
  • Overtaken by Stroll at Vale on lap 49, eventually taking the chequered flag in 12th

Alexander Albon – 4

Qualified: 16th (-6 places behind team mate)
+0.08s slower than team mate in Q1
Finished: Retired (Crash – L1)

  • Only Williams driver to run major new upgrade package due to better championship position
  • Ahead of team mate in both practice sessions where the pair set lap times
  • Frustrated to be eliminated in Q1 after cool down lap strategy backfired
  • Hit by Vettel in the start line melee, sending him into the inside wall and out of the race

Valtteri Bottas – 4

Qualified: 12th (-3 places behind team mate)
+1.592s slower than team mate in Q2
Finished: Retired (Gearbox – L20)

  • Fastest in wet opening practice session, ahead of team mate in all three practice sessions
  • Slower than team mate in Q1 and Q2, eliminated in 12th after struggling for tyre temperature with intermediates
  • Dropped three places at the restart after running wide into The Loop
  • Overtook Ricciardo for 12th around the outside of Brooklands on the second racing lap
  • Ran behind soft-shod Latifi in 12th, gaining two places when AlphaTauris collided
  • Could not find a way past Latifi until the Williams pitted at end of lap 19
  • Developed gear shift problems on lap 20 and was called in to retire

Zhou Guanyu – 6

Qualified: 9th (+3 places ahead of team mate)
-1.592s quicker than team mate in Q2
Finished: Retired (Crash – L1)

  • Behind team mate in all three practice sessions
  • Quicker than Bottas in Q1 and Q2 to secure best ever grid position of ninth in wet qualifying session
  • Race ended by horrifying start line crash after being clipped by Gasly and Russell
Mick Schumacher, Haas, Silverstone, 2022
Schumacher pulled off five overtakes to claim his first points

Mick Schumacher – 7

Qualified: 19th (-2 places behind team mate)
+0.549s slower than team mate in Q1
Finished: 8th (+2 places ahead of team mate)

  • Eliminated in Q1 after steering problem left his wheel ten degrees out of alignment
  • Dropped to back of field at restart after snap of oversteer into Village allowed Stroll through
  • Passed Stroll for 16th on run to Copse on the second lap, then ran behind team mate Magnussen
  • Asked team to allow him by team mate, but then drove clean around the outside of Magnussen at Luffield instead
  • Successfully undercut Ricciardo by pitting a lap earlier for hard tyres to move into 11th
  • Caught in DRS train behind Ocon and Latifi, but passed the Williams for tenth down the Wellington Straight on lap 32
  • Pitted under Safety Car for softs, sitting tenth behind Verstappen at restart
  • Followed Verstappen through Magnussen for ninth along old pit straight, then overtook Vettel for eighth into Brooklands on lap 45
  • Fought hard to pass Verstappen on final lap but was aggressively rebuffed by the Red Bull at Brooklands
  • Failed to beat Verstappen over the line but claimed first ever F1 points with eighth at finish

Kevin Magnussen – 6

Qualified: 17th (+2 places ahead of team mate)
-0.549s quicker than team mate in Q1
Finished: 10th (-2 places behind team mate)

  • Struggled for balance in practice
  • Eliminated in Q1 in the wet after wearing out left-front tyre
  • Lost a place to Vettel at restart after back-and-forth battle through the opening lap
  • Ran close to Ricciardo in DRS train in 11th during opening stint
  • Lost 11th to team mate Schumacher around the outside of Luffield on lap 15, then passed by recovering Perez
  • Pitted for a second set of mediums on lap 22, rejoining just ahead of Ricciardo in 12th
  • Resisted Ricciardo’s DRS and caught up to team mate in train behind Latifi, passing the Williams for 11th on lap 33
  • Opted to stay out under Safety Car, restarting in eighth on used mediums
  • Lost eighth to aggressive move by Verstappen into Brooklands, then passed by Schumacher into Copse
  • Resisted pressure from Latifi, then Stroll in closing laps to claim final point in tenth

2022 British Grand Prix

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Author information

Will Wood
Will has been a RaceFans contributor since 2012 during which time he has covered F1 test sessions, launch events and interviewed drivers. He mainly...

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90 comments on “2022 British Grand Prix driver ratings”

  1. Gasly did not trigger the crash, Russell did

    1. Gasly definitely triggered the crash, that is not to say that Russell was also definitely who hit zhou and he could had been less aggressive. Racing incident to me but Gasly did realise what was about to happen but too late.

    2. Gasly put the nose of this car into the place where it shouldn’t be. He had 0 chance to gain a position. Zhou and Russell are expected to move to the left to prepare for the corner.
      What Gasly did was infinitely dumb, reminiscent of the move made Grosjean on Hamilton in Belgium 2012. Some guys don’t think when they drive.

      1. @Sviat:
        I know you’re joking because you referenced Grosjean and Hamilton there. Maybe you need to look that one up and check who was pinching who… Grosjean was squeezing Hamilton. And Russell squeezed Gasly. Grosjeans move was way worse of course since he was coming from behind and squeezed a car trapped besides the wall. While Russell was merely clumsy.

      2. Dam ankle biters.

        Let’s say for argument sake that Gasly had started ahead ofRussel, its not as though he would have kept that place for very long. So why even try for that place?

        They all know the start is the most hazard part of any race so why make those risky moves. It was totally reckless with no hope of any lasting gain, unless his intentions was to take a bite out of one of the leader cars just for the sake of that momentary kudos.

    3. Russell was tipped by contact from Gasly, and spun into Zhou. Gasly was diving into a disappearing wedge, and it didn’t work out.

      1. He just saw goatifi blast through that gap unscathed and that would take some will power to forgo your own attempt. But Russell, seeing that he just got passed by the Williams like he was chained to a post should have known any sudden moves might bring a car over his rear wing though. Both Gasly and Russell were imprudent.

    4. Absolutely, George moved way to quickly without checking his mirrors.

  2. 5 for vettel? without the sc he would have finished 7th with almost the worst car on grid

    these ratings are getting more and more ridiculous :)

    1. 5 for Vettel, 6 for Magnussen… that’s odd indeed!

    2. Even with the SC he could’ve arguably held to 7th if they had chosen to go for softs. I agree he did a solid job and deserves a higher score.

    3. What I find funny is how he elaborates the rating:
      – Very disappointed by Q1 elimination in 18th after struggling to find pace on intermediates.
      This could well be written also as:
      – Beat his teammate by 7 tenths in Q1, but not enough to progress to Q2

      Then we have this:
      – Remained on his mediums to progress up to seventh place
      while for e.g. Hamilton in similar situation he comments this:
      – Maintained strong pace on old mediums to keep gap just under 19 seconds

      Vettel started 18th and was on course to finish 7th had it not been for the SC, even with SC if AM had not wrongly judged that medium was a better choice. Ridiculous rating

      1. I also wonder about some of these ratings today; Vettel, what is pointed out; but also not quite clear what Norris and Alonso did so much better than Verstappen, Hamilton, Sainz and Perez (and Perez even had the worse quali, which usually seems to give a point off, but yes, he was in the right place at the right time to fight for the podium), or even Schumacher.

        And for Albon, what is there to judge he did badly, apart from combined team effort not working to get him beyond Q2 and his attempts to avoid all cars, after I might note, a very good getaway, in the start crash scuppered by being in the middle of it but not for lack of trying.

  3. Jelle van der Meer (@)
    5th July 2022, 8:48

    Russell:
    “Started on hard tyres, but clipped by Gasly on run to first corner, pitching him into Zhou and triggering horrifying crash which led to red flag”

    Gasly:
    “Unintentionally triggered violent start crash after being squeezed between Zhou and Russell, but able to take restart in ninth”

    Gasly did nothing wrong, Russell kept moving to the left while there was no space. Russell is the cause of the crash, not Gasly, Gasly even tried to avoid it but Russell was too aggressive and too eager to avoid more drivers overtaking him after his poor start.

    Russell qualified bad and started bad – he should not get a 5 as rating.

    1. Was Gasly side by side with Russell? No. Was he close enough to be even considered side by side? No. What’s there to think?
      Gasly should’ve been banned for a race for the dumb attempt to gain a position when there’s no space or time to try to squeeze between two drivers before an imminent corner.

      People, you’re unbelievable.

      1. I agree Gasly makes these kind of errors way too much. RB continues to make a good call in not promoting him. It is like Peter Windsor said: he practices before the race in catching falling juggling balls. That creates a reactive approach rather than the proactive one he needs to do his job. Start juggling, not catching Pierre!

  4. Good ratings. +1

  5. I try not comment on this series of articles because I honestly can’t understand how are these ratings arrived (These driver ratings are like the double points / elimination qualifying of racefansdotnet).

    But can’t resist commenting on this one.

    All the top 4 and Verstappen had imperfect weekends. Sainz had no race pace inspite of an undamaged car, Perez, Leclerc and Verstappen damaged their own cars, Hamilton couldn’t capitalize on his last set of new softs.

    Yet it is Leclerc who is given 6 and everyone else 7. Qualifying spin aside, he did not put one foot wrong. His defence on the old hards was absolutely amazing. If he wasn’t there, the last 10 laps of exhilarating racing that we all enjoyed would have been nothing.
    He deserves a 7, if not more.

    1. for me, Leclerc was driver of the weekend

    2. I think this was one of the best races Charles had, with broken wing destroying his teammate, then on old hards who needs ages to warm up, fight equally with top guys on softs, braking later or equally was outstanding, positioning the car for attack or defending was MASTERCLASS!

    3. Qualifying spin aside, he did not put one foot wrong.

      I have to disagree on that one. He also lost positions in both starts and caused his own front wing damage with what can be argued to be an overly optimistic attempt. 100% agree on his defense and racecraft after the SC restart, but his race was far from perfect.

      1. caused his own front wing damage with what can be argued to be an overly optimistic attempt.

        No, he didn’t. PER caused it. PER should be careful with what’s going on around him.

        1. LOL man, you’re hilarious.

          LeClerc dive bombed the inside of a corner making it 3 wide with zero chance of slowing down to ensure a clean exit. Charles is 100% at fault.

      2. He also lost positions in both starts

        As Kravitz mentioned, they had a critical ECU issue on the car before the race start that contributed to this.

  6. Will Wood, will you ever listen to your readers constant begging? Make these ratings out of a bigger number or to one decimal place to avoid 7’s all round, every week.

    Time to listen to the fans and give up on this format.

    1. The question is, will we ever get a 9 under this format this season?

  7. Luke S (@joeypropane)
    5th July 2022, 9:06

    I feel like Perez is being hard done by here – of all the top runners, his race impressed me the most. Yes he lost out in qualifying to Max and the Ferrari’s, but that’s hardly a surprise when the red cars are clearly the best on Saturday’s and Max is a better qualifier than everyone bar Leclerc and Lewis.

    The fact his initial contact wasn’t even his fault, but still put him dead last, should also only INCREASE the value of his final finishing position. How Norris can be an 8, when he had basically zero threat from behind after Alonso passed him and very little to do but hold position, but Perez the “Racefans 7” is beyond me. I feel like Norris is being flattered by Ricciardo’s especially poor form, kinda like Mick was when he was being compared to Mazepin every weekend…

    1. I don’t agree with the 8 for Norris but the counter point to the Ricciardo flattering Norris argument is that it’s actually the reverse in that Norris is making Ricciardo look very poor. To be fair Norris made Sainz look pretty average at times too, I think he is just really that good.

    2. Andy (@andyfromsandy)
      5th July 2022, 11:09

      Although the guy has to drive the car like all drivers he is in a very good car that overall is at least 2 seconds faster than most of the grid. It really was a slam dunk he would make progress. That doesn’t earn him driver of the day, IMO.

  8. Very bad ratings.
    Gasly did nothing wrong and did not caused any crash. It was Russell that caused the crash he moved to where Gasly car was.

    Leclerc did a great race. His only fault was in qualifying. Sainz had a non damaged car and could not even be that fast.
    Lattifi had a great race and deserves more than 6.
    So Leclerc and Lattifi has same points as Ocon!?

    This whole exercise seems to be only to give 8 points to Norris and in praise of conservative drivers that risk nothing.

  9. I’d argue actually that Perez could have done more to not damage his car resulting in his tumble down the pack which ultimately could have cost him a podium if not for him lucking into a safety car. I’d have given him a 6 at best too.

    Leclerc did indeed damage his own car and spent most of the race unable to overtake hi supposedly much slower teammate which I personally doubt he was that much slower having seen similar conversations from Leclerc this year already. He arguably had the fastest car and finished 4th, a 6 is fair enough.

    Verstappen getting a 7 is arguably too high as ultimately how “unmissable” the debris was is debatable and he did drive over it and damage his own car which ruined his race.

    Hamilton beat 2 faster cars (albeit one wounded) and was in the mix to win on merit before the safety car as he’d driven some outstanding laps on deteriorating tyres to give him a huge tyre offset. All that excellent driving was nullified by the safety car giving Sainz a free stop and putting Perez on his back with a car that is notoriously slower to warm up tyres meaning he was a sitting duck at the safety car restart. 7 seems harsh when judged next to his peers that race.

    Sainz did seem to get a bit lucky in the race but there have been occasions in the past where he’s had some serious bad luck when in with a chance to win. I think a 7 was fair, he didn’t make any major mistakes and ultimately he made the right calls to defend his own race against the urges of his team.

    I do not understand how you can rate Alonso and Norris above Hamilton this weekend.

    1. Verstappen getting a 7 is arguably too high as ultimately how “unmissable” the debris was is debatable

      I haven’t seen any footage/quotes/stories that made me doubt Verstappen’s observations about the debris being unmissable, but I’d love to hear it.

      1. I’d agree with Ruben, and I guess you too @slowmo that Verstappen maybe deserving less is indeed quite arguable since I too don’t really see much evidence he could have avoided it; apart from that, interesting points.

    2. @slowmo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4FKXq_Ljx8

      0:07 exit of turn 6 you can hear a thumb.

      1. @slowmo As is being pointed out, pure armchair speculation on your part wrt Max and the debris he hit that was on the racing line. He said he had no way of avoiding it and so tried to hit it dead on in hopes of minimizing the damage it might cause, but that obviously didn’t matter and it got lodged under the car for the rest of the race.

        In terms of pure performance, Max was set for pole but was scuppered when Leclerc caused a flag that ended up favouring Sainz. In terms of pure performance, debris aside, Max had huge potential to win Silverstone. I think at least a 7 is warranted which obviously by the ratings explanations has also to do with things like heading one’s teammate in quali and the race etc etc.

        1. @robbie I happen to think finishing 7th in the fastest car on the grid doesn’t warrant a 7. I certainly don’t see how you can rate him equivalent to the race winner and pole sitter or Hamilton given the result. Yes it is speculation but without a front facing camera to prove either way the rear facing camera doesn’t provide conclusive proof either. It’s my opinion, you’re more than welcome to take Verstappen at his word.

          1. https://www.instagram.com/p/CfmoWt1PbDa/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

            I guess this isn’t ideal to get/have underneath your car. These guys put in a lot of designing effort to get the car at top notch level. As Mercedes shows (or showed at the beginning of the season) every single detail matters for performance. I feel Max delivered a top notch performance considering this.

          2. I think managing to finish 7 with that kind of damage actually warrants high score. Others would not have finished that high with damaged car like that. He managed to minimize the damage and only lose 6 pt to Leclerc. I thought he had a great drive all considered.

        2. @slowmo Of course you are entitled to your opinion but when it is based on skewed armchair drivel expect to be called out for it. You give away your bias when you suggest Max still had the fastest car after hitting debris and it lodging underneath his car. He obviously didn’t. Of course I will take Max’s word over yours and of course there is no evidence to suggest other than what Max has said. This is just you trying to shade Max baselessly.

          1. @robbie You’re the one on a crusade. I don’t think finishing 7th in the fastest car warrants the rating he was given and I stipulated my reasons why. And it has nothing to do with my bias for or against Verstappen. Also he clearly did have the fastest car as he has had most of the year, that’s just a fact.

          2. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
            5th July 2022, 17:51

            he lost a whole lot of downforce due to the damage. His car was no longer anywhere close to being the fastest.

            He would have got pole if it wasn’t for the yellow flags, he passed sainz instantly in the race, then passed him again after the 2nd restart, then had bad luck. His weekend was very good and a 7 is certainly accurate. He deserved to win.

          3. @slowmo Talk about crusades. He clearly no longer had a fast car let alone the fastest, after unavoidably hitting debris. We all saw what effect that had on Max’s car. You trying to make it sound like Max had the fastest car and still only finished 7th has nothing to do with facts as you have failed to acknowledge the facts other than to try to baselessly blame Max. You have only stipulated nonsense in the way of reasons. You trying to make it sound like Max finished 7th in a healthy and fastest car is just plain disingenuous and you’re not convincing anyone. And you’re claiming nothing to do with bias for or against Max but yet are likely the only one within and without F1 that is trying to blame Max for hitting debris.

          4. I still disagree with the rating, go crusade elsewhere.

  10. I don’t think anyone watching that race would agree the standout performers head and shoulders above the rest were Norris and Alonso (the latter consistently rated high on here).

    These whole ratings are fraught with inconsistencies and oversights.

    1. I’d rate the performance of Hamilton and Verstappen (even taking the IMO overly aggressive defending at the end) above those of Norris and Alonso.
      I would even rate Mick’s level with Norris and Alonso (good race, and impressive how he kept it clean when Verstappen drove him off track).

      And Sainz’ 7 seems a bit flattering as he was clearly slower than (broken wing) Leclerc when on similar tyres, and even Hamilton in a Mercedes was able to set faster lap times.

    2. I watching that race and I agree with the standout performers head and shoulders above the rest were Norris and Alonso.

      1. Alonso and Norris drove smart races.
        They look at the big picture.
        All of those in front of them were careless at times and could have had DNF’s.

  11. YTD average based on @WillWood‘s ratings:
    Max Verstappen: 7.3
    Charles Leclerc: 7.0
    Lando Norris: 6.6
    Fernando Alonso: 6.5 ↑
    George Russell: 6.4
    Sergio Perez: 6.2
    Lewis Hamilton: 6.0 ↑
    Valtteri Bottas: 5.9 ↓
    Pierre Gasly: 5.7
    Kevin Magnussen: 5.5
    Alexander Albon: 5.4
    Sebastian Vettel: 5.4
    Esteban Ocon: 5.4
    Carlos Sainz Jnr: 5.3 ↑
    Nico Hulkenberg: 5.0
    Zhou Guanyu: 5.0 ↑
    Yuki Tsunoda: 4.9 ↓
    Daniel Ricciardo: 4.5
    Lance Stroll: 4.4
    Mick Schumacher: 4.2 ↑
    Nicholas Latifi: 3.9 ↑

  12. Sorry, but I think Leclerc deserves 8-9, and Hamilton as well. I’d probably rate them as follows

    9.0 – Lec
    8.5 – Ham
    8.0 – Ver
    7.5 – Per
    7.0 – Sai

    Leclerc was muscling his damaged car to P1, he fought like a lion and deserved the victory on pure driving. Hamilton was close behind, maximising his Mercedes package, and was on course to having a shot at victory without SC. He did a great job looking after the tyres while keeping up with the front-runners. Verstappen and Perez had the fastest race cars in their hands. Verstappen was easily going to win that race under normal circumstances. Perez would have finished in the podium. He lucked out with the SC. Sainz lucked out with the victory. On sheer performance he would have been out of the podium under normal circumstances.

    1. “Leclerc deserves 8-9” only if you disregard his spin in quali (when it counted), poor (re)start, and his role in his clash with Perez.

      1. Yeah, I agree with jff that oversells Leclerc, and I think Sainz keeping it together and, with some luck, abreast of tactics in a way that neither Leclerc nor Ferrari seemingly were, does deserve some merit (even it it ultimately might serve to harm his standing in the team as he still doesn’t seem their best candidate to challenge Verstappen for the WDC, it still should serve as a wakeup for the team).

      2. Leclerc is such a good driver, that he can “afford” to spin in qualifying and get front wing damage, and still outperform his rivals in the race and get himself in the position to win. That’s why 9 out 10.

    2. Totally agree with both your assessments.

  13. Russell obviously the one caused the crash. Ask anyone neutral, they will tell you the same. Gasly can’t really do anything at that point. There was a big gap there before Russell decided to not see Gasly and swiped to the left. Some might suggest Gasly to jam the brake… well, look what happened with Albon.

    Looking at where others are rated, I give Russell a 3. Looked slower all weekend vs Hamilton, poor race craft during the start. Although showing a good gesture, but undone it by wanting to be included in the restart knowing that the regulation is black and white regarding to that.

    I don’t hate Russell, but I’m just sad to see that some people blaming Gasly for that.

    1. ‘Decided not to see Gasly”

      Unlike Gasly, who I’m sure didn’t see Russell?

    2. I think you could argue that all 3 took some blame for the incident with arguably the most being levelled at Gasly for putting his front end in a disappearing gap. I don’t think the accident covered any of them in glory.

    3. I just watched that incident about 15 times on loop, and started with “I don’t see why everyone is blaming Gasly”, and ended with “Gasly needs his gap assessment meter recalibrated”.

  14. I can agree Ricciardo should have a low mark for this weekend. It wasn’t good (again) but having the DRS problem when it mattered hurt him. I fail to see why Russell should have 2 full points more than him though.

  15. HAM LEC MSC underrated.
    VER NOR PER overrated.
    Rating drivers Zhou or Russell doesn’t make sense.

  16. Sainz got 7 and Leclerc got 6. What a joke.

    1. Pole and the win versus broke his own car and finished 4th. Doesn’t seem that far off.

      1. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
        5th July 2022, 17:58

        @slowmo do you just look at the statistics or something. Verstappen would have got pole if he didn’t have to lift for yellow flags. Then verstappen got passed sainz instantly at the start, then sainz made a mistake after the 2nd restart and verstappen passed again and then got his car damaged by some debris. Then sainz was far slower than leclerc and then Ferrari pitted sainz under the safety car which gave him fresh tyres while leclerc was on older ttyres than everyone who overtook him in the final stint.

        Simply put, verstappen deserved to win this race, then the next most deserving driver was leclerc. Sainz was incredibly lucky with this win. had neither Verstappen or Ocon retired, The finishing order likely would have been Verstappen, Leclerc/hamilton with sainz in 4th off the podium. His race pace wasn’t even close to leclerc.

        I think his rating being higher than leclerc is just wrong.

        1. And yet Sainz won despite being the worst driver in the world. Your fantasy outcome isn’t what happened in reality, Sainz won and he had pole position. Verstappen wasn’t mentioned so no idea why you brought him into a discussion about Leclerc and Sainz.

          You’re seriously arguing that the driver who qualified behind his teammate, fluffed his first lap and damaged his car and then went on to finish a distant 4th after a late safety car deserved a higher ranking. Okay then…

          1. I wonder if one with a comment like this even watches races? I don’t see anything in this comment that indicates you watched, do you think leclerc despite broken front wing would’ve finished first without SC? Or won perhaps, which is why we’re arguing the opposite?

          2. Meant fourth without SC*

  17. Yeah like others I struggle with these rankings. Sometimes free prac and qual seem to contribute too much into the rankings, other times they don’t figure at all.

    Verstappen demolished Perez this weekend and likely would have won without his misfortune (which could have happened to anyone).

    Leclerc had more pace than Charles all weekend and would have continued to victory if not for the safety car. He messed up qual but I wouldn’t score him below Charles.

    Hamilton was on it all weekend and deserves more than a 7.

    Alonso and Norris were solid but I can’t see a tangible reason why they scored 8’s over Hamilton or Verstappen.

    Riccardo scoring a 3 is both sad… and fair :(

    1. Leclerc had more pace than Charles all weekend and would have continued to victory if not for the safety car. He messed up qual but I wouldn’t score him below Charles.

      A bit confusing when you translate ‘Carlos’ into English :P

      1. Lol yes. Where’s that edit button !

  18. I feel this is overly kind to Sainz and Pérez and a little harsh on Leclerc.
    Leclerc was quicker in Q1+2 and would’ve beaten Sainz on fis final run in Q3 if he hadn’t spun the car at the exit of Chapel. Had Charles not damaged his front wing at the restart, he wouldn’t have even needed team orders to pass Sainz. I mean, he was 0.5 a lap faster than Carlos with a damaged front wing.
    The only positive I saw from Sainz this weekend was him not messing up his final Q3 lap. Apart from that, Carlos was pretty mediocre, lacked the race pace to win on merit (especially on the hards) and made a big mistake to allow Verstappen to pass him. It was pure luck (& Ferrari’s questionable strategy) that handed him the win, but certainly not his pace.
    Charles on the other hand was a couple of tenths faster and defended very well against Hamilton (him re-overtaking Lewis around the outside at Copse was brilliant). His fastest lap was also just 0.4 sec slower than Sainz’s, despite being on 14-laps older and two steps harder tyres.
    Pérez might’ve been less to blame for the first lap incident between himself and Leclerc, but he also nearly drove into Leclerc after a desperate overtaking move at Vale, with all four wheels outside the white line. Checo was lucky Leclerc avoided the collision that time around. Plus he was outpaced by Verstappen the whole weekend.
    Surely Sainz and Pérez don’t deserve to be rated as highly as their teammates this time. For me it was a 10/10 for Verstappen, 8/10 for Leclerc (-2 for the spin in Q3 and the first lap), 7.5/10 for Pérez (-2.5 for his lack of pace in qualifying and clumsy move on Leclerc after the SC restart towards the end of the race) and a 6.5/10 from Sainz (-3.5 for his lack of pace in qualifying and the race, plus the unnecessary mistake at Chapel that lost him the lead to Verstappen).

    1. On Sainz @srga91, as I wrote above too, your

      It was pure luck (& Ferrari’s questionable strategy) that handed him the win

      Does point, like it did in his Monaco race, show one thing Sainz seems to have over his Leclerc, and Ferrari, namely a reasonable sense/feeling/overview of strategy, which is very important for a good driver (I agree Sainz lacks pace to be in the top bracket, but Leclerc does seem to have something to learn in this respect).

      1. @bosyber
        You may have a point there. I guess Leclerc trusts his team too much and should instead just do what he feels is right.
        Trusting Ferrari’s strategy department leads to the route of 0 world championships.

  19. Good ratings I think. Particularly for avoiding some of the Leclerc hype that has been around. He really didn’t have a great weekend – messed up his qualifying (and Verstappen’s too), and blundered into Perez with a silly move on the second start, for which he was lucky not to get a penalty. Seemed to spend too much time moaning on the radio – if he was that much quicker than Sainz he should have overtaken him. Indeed, after the swap Sainz stayed in DRS range until being told to save fuel – really don’t think Leclerc was much faster at all, and if the safety car hadn’t happened and Hamilton didn’t threaten Sainz, then I think Ferrari should have swapped them back round again. Leclerc’s defence after the restart was excellent though, but it wasn’t a particularly great weekend for him on the whole. 6 is about right.

    Also, Russell doesn’t deserve as much as 5 – poor qualifying then a big lapse in awareness at the start that caused the accident and ruined his own race as well. He had the entire track free on his right, pretty much…

    1. @tflb, I think one can argue that Leclerc’s tyres were over the best of them by the time Sainz was told to let him past to give your argument a bit more nuance wrt. whether he had more pace in principle, but broadly, I cannot disagree too much with your assessment that Leclerc should really take this weekend as one to learn from and improve.

    2. @tflb
      Sorry, but it’s not true that Leclerc was fully to blame for the first lap collision. Pérez wasn’t a full car length ahead by the apex of T4 as his rear wheels were on the same line as Leclerc’s front wheels, judging by Leclerc’s onboard. I am aware that Charles’ move was a bit too optimistic, but Checo had plenty of space available to avoid that collision and he should’ve known the Ferrari was there on the inside.
      Then on lap 45 it was Checo who was too optimistic, went all four wheels outside the white line at T17 and steered into the Ferrari. Had Charles not reacted and gone wide, they would’ve crashed.
      I don’t know what makes you believe Leclerc wasn’t much faster than Sainz?! After his pit stop Leclerc drove at a pace of 1:32.0 while Sainz didn’t get below a 1:32.4. After Carlos let his teammate by, his own pace improved dramatically to high 1:31s (possibly helped by slipstream and DRS). Why wasn’t he able to do that on his own? Then after Hamilton pitted, Leclerc went faster again into the low to mid 1:31s, while Sainz did low 1:32s (mid 1:32s with fuel saving).
      Carlos was never able to match Charles this weekend on pure pace, that’s a fact.

      1. @srga91 Perez didn’t really have much opportunity to avoid anything, Leclerc came from pretty far back into a gap that was always going to disappear – the blame was totally on Leclerc for trying to win the race on the first lap. He does have something of a track record of that. Just lucky it didn’t wreck anyone’s race really in the long run. I didn’t even mention the later Perez-Leclerc incident so I don’t know why you brought that up, I wasn’t debating that.

        As for the pace vs Sainz, Leclerc looked to have a tenth or two, but was also being towed along by the DRS – once Sainz had the same after being passed and before having to fuel save, he was then able to keep in DRS range too. The reality is that we never really got to see the two Ferraris driving in equal conditions (tyres, fuel saving etc) both in clear air, so it’s hard to tell how much anyone was faster. And as I said – if Leclerc was that much faster he should have overtaken, it is very possible at Silverstone with DRS.

        You don’t deny that Leclerc messed up his qualifying. I think a 6 is fair.

        1. @tflb Leclerc’s race pace could have been even better without the damage to his front wing. It was a scrappy weekend for him, but I felt like he was clearly faster than Sainz in the race.

          1. @neutronstar Part of my reasoning for not rating him very highly for this weekend is that the front wing damage was entirely his own fault.

  20. Why would lec get less than sai since he made up for his quali mistake during the race.

  21. My theory is that the ratings are messed up so more people will leave comments

    1. Possible ;)
      But i give up. It only fuels frustration to see very colored ratings.

    2. Ahah, that’s an interesting one.

  22. For Russel: “Started on hard tyres, but clipped by Gasly on run to first corner, pitching him into Zhou and triggering horrifying crash which led to red flag”.

    I thought that he turned into Gasly, it’s not like I didn’t rewind that moment like ten times. He was watching his left mirror and wanted to defend, miscalculating everything and causing the crash. Happens, but it’s Russel’s fault this time.

  23. It was George who caused the crash not Gasly

    Lando 8 for finishing behind Alonso
    Lewis 7 for finishing behind Leclerc

    1. Lewis didn’t finish behind Leclerc?

  24. 5 is too high for Russell–qualified poorly and didn’t even complete a race lap, being one of the main instigators of the crash. Over generous score

    1. Also, i agree with the many comments (over the various ratings) that Alonso seems to be the one driver given over inflated scores, consistently. Is Will Wood an Alonso fan?

      1. Alonso had a great race and reached the maximum with the Alpine car. No errors, high performance.

        1. Alonso indeed deserved 8 imo, voted him for DOTW too and there was a good 9% for that too, norris had only 1% on the other hand.

  25. Very fair ratings but … 8 for Norris ? Was that a typo ??

  26. 2 Haas in top 10. Both drivers deserve 8s.
    Sainz deserves a 10 for the start strategy and driving on the restart.
    The Gasly crash. Yes. Latifi went through a gap but all cars are moving towards the first turn. The Latifi gap occurred on a different part of the track from where Gasly decided to go through a gap.

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