The first grand prix back following the summer break saw fans enjoy a real race at Spa-Francorchamps once again following last year’s wash-out.
With over a third of the field taking grid penalties, some drivers fought against adversity while others took advantage of an opportunity to start much further ahead than they normally would.
Here are the RaceFans’ driver ratings for the Belgian Grand Prix:
Lewis Hamilton – 4
Qualified: 7th (+1 place ahead of team mate)
-0.273s quicker than team mate in Q3
Finished: Retired (Crash damage – L1)
- Qualified seventh ahead of team mate but was mystified by lack of pace relative to rivals ahead
- Started fourth on the grid and beat Perez off the line to take third behind Alonso
- Tried to overtake Alonso around the outside of Les Combes but did not leave enough space, resulting in contact
- Fortunate not to be penalised by stewards but damage from collision left his car leaking fluid, leading to his retirement
George Russell – 6
Qualified: 8th (-1 place behind team mate)+0.273s slower than team mate in Q3
Finished: 4th
- Disappointed to have qualified eighth, two tenths slower than team mate
- Started from fifth on the grid and dived inside of Perez into turn one to take fourth, before losing it at Les Combes
- Gained third after Alonso and Hamilton clashed and ran there until passed by Verstappen
- Battled with Leclerc after pitting for mediums, moving back up to fourth
- Remained in fourth over the rest of the race, gradually closing on Sainz but unable to catch him
Max Verstappen – 9
Qualified: 1st (+2 places ahead of team mate)
-0.797s quicker than team mate in Q3
Finished: Winner (+1 place ahead of team mate)
- Quickest by eight tenths on Friday
- Hit with ‘back of the grid’ penalty after exceeding his allocation of power unit components, as several other drivers did
- Set fastest time in Q3 by sixth tenths, earning him 14th on the grid with Tsunoda’s penalty
- Passed Bottas and Latifi off the line, dived inside Magnussen at turn one then passed Stroll at Bus Stop
- Sat in eighth behind Safety Car, then passed Albon, Ricciardo, Vettel, Alonso and Russell over four laps to move into third
- Passed team mate on lap 12, then overtook Sainz for lead on lap 18
- Comfortably pulled ahead of team mate over remaining laps, taking fastest lap on fresh mediums
- Won by almost 18 seconds ahead of team mate despite starting 12 grid slots behind
Sergio Perez – 5
Qualified: 3rd (-2 places behind team mate)
+0.797s slower than team mate in Q3
Finished: 2nd (-1 place behind team mate)
- Suffered a rear wing problem in second practice which limited his running
- Substantially slower than team mate in qualifying and missed out on pole claiming he had a “little damage” to his car floor
- Lost two places off the line after bogging down then passed by Russell into turn one before taking the place back
- Ran second behind Safety Car after Alonso and Hamilton collided, but was unable to challenge for the lead at restart
- Caught and passed by Verstappen before pitting for second set of mediums
- Crept up to Sainz and passed him for second on lap 21
- Gradually fell back from his team mate to finish second, almost 18 seconds behind at the chequered flag
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Carlos Sainz Jnr – 6
Qualified: 2nd (+2 places ahead of team mate)
-0.256s quicker than team mate in Q3
Finished: 3rd (+3 places ahead of team mate)
- Quickest in first practice
- Took pole position despite poor final run in Q3, but was sixth tenths slower than Verstappen’s best
- Used soft tyres effectively at the start to jump out into the lead but was hampered by early Safety Car
- Led the early laps until pitting for mediums on lap 11
- Regained the lead after the Red Bulls pitted, but was quickly caught and passed by Verstappen
- Lost second place after being overtaken by Perez on lap 21, then pitted for hard tyres
- Ran in third for the remainder of the race, eventually finishing nine seconds behind Perez
Charles Leclerc – 6
Qualified: 4th (-2 places behind team mate)
+0.256s slower than team mate in Q3
Finished: 6th (-3 places behind team mate)
- Spun into the barrier at Fagnes in third practice but suffered only minor damage
- Required to start race from back of the grid after multiple power unit penalties
- Qualified fourth after prioritising tow for team mate in Q3
- Started 15th on the grid, passing Bottas and Latifi on run to Eau Rouge, then gained a place from Magnussen
- Collected Verstappen’s tear-off in his right-front brake duct, which forced him to pit behind the Safety Car
- Restarted from 17th place and made his way gradually up the order to fourth, before being passed by Russell
- Pitted for mediums and passed Ocon and Vettel to move back to fifth, almost 20 seconds behind Russell
- Called in to pit for softs two laps from the end for fastest lap attempt, despite not wanting to risk his position
- Broke the pit lane speed limit, earning a five second time penalty
- Rejoined behind Alonso, having to catch and pass the Alpine on the final lap
- Failed to take fastest lap from Verstappen, then fell behind Alonso to sixth after penalty applied
Lando Norris – 6
Qualified: 10th (+1 place ahead of team mate)
-0.164s quicker than team mate in Q2
Finished: 12th (+3 places ahead of team mate)
- Sent to the back of the grid for taking fourth power unit on Friday
- Reached Q3 unlike team mate but could not match Q2 lap on used tyres
- Started from 17th on the grid, holding his position on the opening lap
- Restarted in 12th after Safety Car, gaining a position over Magnussen on lap nine
- Passed by Stroll in his second stint, then stuck in the train behind Albon in 13th
- Overtook Zhou after final stop, then caught behind Stroll in the train until he eventually finished 12th
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Daniel Ricciardo – 4
Qualified: 11th (-1 place behind team mate)
+0.164s slower than team mate in Q2
Finished: 15th (-3 places behind team mate)
Fernando Alonso – 6
Qualified: 6th (-1 place behind team mate)
+0.188s slower than team mate in Q3
Finished: 5th (+2 places ahead of team mate)
- Slower than team mate in all three qualifying phases
- Secured sixth in qualifying behind team mate which translated to third on the grid after penalties
- Beat Perez off the line to jump into second, then fell to fourth behind Russell after contact with Hamilton
- Suffered visible front wing damage but not severe enough to require a change
- Restarted in fourth but lost a place to Verstappen soon after, running sixth after his first stop
- Pitted for hards on lap 24 and passed Zhou, Norris and Ricciardo before moving back up to sixth
- Had late battle with Leclerc after Ferrari pitted on penultimate lap, but was passed for sixth on final lap
- Promoted to fifth after Leclerc’s time penalty was applied
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Esteban Ocon – 8
Qualified: 5th (+1 place ahead of team mate)
-0.188s quicker than team mate in Q3
Finished: 7th (-2 places behind team mate)
- Affected by driveshaft problem early in first practice
- Condemned to a back of the grid start after taking fourth power unit
- Quicker than team mate in every qualifying phase to end up fifth fastest
- Started 16th on the grid and passed Bottas at Les Combes for 14th
- Almost clipped by Latifi after running side by side into Les Combes, gaining 12th when Williams spun
- Passed Magnussen on lap seven, then pitted for hards on lap 12
- Passed Ricciardo and Albon to move into eighth before pitting for mediums
- Pulled off stunning double pass on Vettel and Gasly into Les Combes to take seventh
- Finished 2.4 seconds behind team mate at the finish
Pierre Gasly – 7
Qualified: 12th (+7 places ahead of team mate)
-0.509s quicker than team mate in Q1
Finished: 9th (+4 places ahead of team mate)
- Sat out first practice to hand car over to Liam Lawson
- Comfortably reached Q2 unlike team mate, then eliminated in 12th to line up eighth on the grid
- Forced to start from the pit lane due to electrical problem, starting behind team mate
- Passed Tsunoda into Les Combes but loss of power cost him the position later in the lap
- Overtook Schumacher after the restart, then pitted early for hards on lap ten
- Moved ahead of rivals as they pitted, running behind Ricciardo in 12th before being passed by Stroll
- Made his second stop on lap 24 and undercut Albon to move clear of the train behind the Williams
- Lost eighth to Ocon but held onto ninth for the final stint to claim his team’s first points since Baku
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Yuki Tsunoda – 4
Qualified: 19th (-7 places behind team mate)
+0.509s slower than team mate in Q1
Finished: 13th (-4 places behind team mate)
- Was “really disappointed” to be eliminated 19th in Q1 after error-filled final lap
- Sent to start from the pit lane for taking new power unit after qualifying
- Started from the pit lane, passed by Gasly into Les Combes before overtaking his team mate out of Stavelot
- Overtook Schumacher after Safety Car restart and ran as high as seventh before pitting for mediums
- Fell behind team mate but passed Schumacher and Magnussen before pitting for second set of mediums
- Chased Zhou down for 13th, eventually winning a multi-lap battle on the final lap to take the position
Sebastian Vettel – 7
Qualified: 16th (-2 places behind team mate)
+0.088s slower than team mate in Q1
Finished: 8th (+3 places ahead of team mate)
- Was eighth in final practice, but frustrated to be knocked out in Q1 by 0.002s
- Started from tenth and beat Albon and team mate for seventh into first corner
- Held off Stroll at Les Combes by pushing team mate out wide, then passed Ricciardo getting around Hamilton
- Restarted fifth after Safety Car but quickly lost the place to Verstappen
- Ran in seventh after pitting for hards, then moved back onto mediums for final stint
- Passed Gasly but was overtaken by Ocon in three-wide battle along Kemmel straight
- Pulled away from Gasly to finish eighth
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Lance Stroll – 5
Qualified: 14th (+2 places ahead of team mate)
-0.088s quicker than team mate in Q1
Finished: 11th (-3 places behind team mate)
- Had benefit of low downforce wing upgrades for weekend
- In the top five in both Friday practice sessions
- Progressed to Q2 despite mistake at La Source on final lap, but eliminated in 14th to line up ninth on the grid
- Passed by team mate into first corner, then pushed wide by Vettel at Les Combes, falling behind Albon
- Lost eighth to Verstappen at the Bus Stop, then overtaken by Leclerc before Safety Car deployed
- Ran behind Ricciardo before pitting on lap 15, then overtook Norris and Gasly to sit 11th
- Pitted for hards on lap 29 and caught up to Albon
- Could not find way past Albon despite 12 laps in DRS range, finishing 11th
Nicholas Latifi – 3
Qualified: 17th (-8 places behind team mate)
+0.729s slower than team mate in Q1
Finished: 18th (-8 places behind team mate)
- Failed to progress through Q1 after “worst lap of the weekend” on final effort
- Lined up 11th on the grid but lost two places off the line, then passed by Leclerc on run to Eau Rouge
- Understeered off track at Les Combes defending from Ocon, spinning into Bottas but continuing
- Pitted for new front wing under Safety Car, then passed Schumacher on lap six to take 17th
- Fell to the back of the field after pitting for hards, then softs in the final laps
- Finished last in 18th, eight places behind his team mate
Alexander Albon – 8
Qualified: 9th (+8 places ahead of team mate)
-0.729s quicker than team mate in Q1
Finished: 10th (+8 places ahead of team mate)
- Finished Friday just outside the top ten in practice
- Easily progressed to Q2 in sixth, then squeezed into Q3 for the first time in tenth, qualifying ninth
- Started in sixth on the grid but lost three places off the line with poor start
- Gained eighth from Stroll being pushed wide at Les Combes, then seventh from Hamilton’s damaged car
- Lost a place to Verstappen after restart, but gained another passing Ricciardo a lap later
- Pitted on lap ten for hards and ran in eighth before being passed by Ocon
- Passed Schumacher after pitting for mediums on lap 26, then gained tenth as rivals pitted
- Spent 14 laps leading a train of five cars behind him to hold onto the final point in tenth at the finish
Valtteri Bottas – 5
Qualified: 20th (-7 places behind team mate)
+1.688s slower than team mate in Q1
Finished: Retired (Spun out – L2)
- Failed to set a lap in first practice due to hydraulic leak
- Took a 15-place power unit penalty, then five-place gearbox penalty which kept him ahead of other penalised drivers
- Gave team mate a tow in Q1 but eliminated in 20th after not setting a genuine lap time
- Started 13th on the grid but lost places to Leclerc and Ocon on opening lap
- Clipped into the gravel by spinning Latifi on second lap, ending his race
Zhou Guanyu – 5
Qualified: 13th (+7 places ahead of team mate)-1.688s quicker than team mate in Q1
Finished: 14th
- Easily reached Q2 thanks to tow from team mate but eliminated in 13th after lock-up at La Source
- Demoted to 18th on the grid after power united penalties
- Beat Norris off the line but fell back to 18th after taking the outside line into first corner
- Restarted 13th after Safety Car but was later passed by recovering Leclerc
- Pitted for second set of mediums to drop to 17th, but quickly passed Magnussen
- Ran behind Norris for several laps before pitting for softs for final stint
- Undercut Norris but was quickly passed by the McLaren after his final stop
- Spent several more laps in the Albon train, then lost a multi-lap battle with Tsunoda on the final lap to finish 14th
Mick Schumacher – 5
Qualified: 15th (+3 places ahead of team mate)
-0.215s quicker than team mate in Q1
Finished: 17th (-1 place behind team mate)
- Slowest on Friday and in final practice
- Surprised to progress through to Q2 and qualify 15th, which became 19th on the grid
- Gained no positions off the start but inherited 18th after both AlphaTauris started from pit lane
- Lined up 14th for Safety Car restart but passed by Tsunoda, then Gasly on lap five
- Dropped to back of the field when Leclerc and Latifi overtook him on lap six
- Used hards to undercut Latifi, Tsunoda and Gasly but passed by both AlphaTauris to fall to 17th
- Dropped to 18th after final stop but gained it back when Latifi pitted
- Finished 17th, three seconds behind team mate
Kevin Magnussen – 5
Qualified: 18th (-3 places behind team mate)
+0.215s slower than team mate in Q1
Finished: 16th (+1 place ahead of team mate)
- Stopped on track near end of first practice with mechanical problem
- Eliminated from Q1 in 18th after “bad lap”, but lined up 12th on the grid
- Beat Latifi off the line but passed by Verstappen into La Source
- Ran tenth after Safety Car restart but passed by Ocon and Norris before pitting
- Overtaken by Zhou and Tsunoda to fall to 16th, one place ahead of team mate
- Crossed the line one lap down, three seconds ahead of team mate
Over to you
Vote for the driver who impressed you most last weekend and find out whether other RaceFans share your view here:
2022 Belgian Grand Prix
- How many victory chances did Hamilton have in his first winless F1 season?
- Sainz doesn’t believe Red Bull’s huge Spa advantage is here to stay
- Alonso: Hamilton’s nationality explains “huge” media reaction to radio comment
- “Big question marks” remain over policing of Formula 1’s budget cap – Ferrari
- Williams: Points-scoring Belgian GP pace not just due to straight line speed
Situs (@situs)
30th August 2022, 7:28
Fernando Alonso only 6?! No.
BasCB (@bascb)
30th August 2022, 7:39
Well he was outqualified by Ocon, and after that fight with Hamilton he didn’t really do much. Was fortunate to gain a spot from Leclerc/Ferrari mess with the Pitstop
Situs (@situs)
30th August 2022, 7:54
Still best of the rest, no mistakes and a bonus with Leclerc. 5th place is great. You couldn’t get anything more there, NOTHING.
G
30th August 2022, 18:20
I think he had damage and lost places from the Hamilton shunt too.
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
30th August 2022, 8:23
@situs
Ocon was effected by issues in practice and was also looking quicker than Alonso throughout all of qualifying. He then started way down the order, and also looked a lot quicker than alonso in the race. He caught up to only being around 2 seconds behind at the finish line, which is really impressive.
Even Alonso stated that the damage didn’t effect him. I believe it must have a little, but even if this is the case, there is no question that Ocon deserves an 8 as he clearly had better pace this weekend, plus his race looked more impressive. A 6 is fair I’d say, but wouldn’t be against a 7.
Ponaitis
30th August 2022, 18:36
he had NEW engine, full power in SPA . Should i detail more ???
Dex
30th August 2022, 11:20
I guess Alonso got at least -1 in these ratings because of that voice message (pretty ugly and bitter one, I must say) aimed at Hamilton. Definitely not what he deserved though, even though Ocon seemed to impress even more (but he had to push, while Alonso was pretty much in no man’s land, he didn’t have to impress with overtaking as he was already in front). But then, I’m neutral, coming from a country that never had an F1 driver, so I’m used to seeing bias all the time, especially from the British media (and of course the Dutch, ever since Max’ first season). On the other hand, we’re all people and these ratings are only subjective and personal. If I played with rating drivers after each race, I’d probably avoid giving any rating to Bottas for example, or any driver who didn’t do more than a couple of laps in a race, due to someone else’s fault. He’s a 5, but based purely on qualy and practise (which is irrelevant performance-wise, we don’t even know what they do in those sessions).
Sviat
30th August 2022, 11:33
@situs
I agree with 6 for Alonso. He was very slow and really lucky to get into top 5. Before the race I expected him to finish 8th or 9th. Well, in the race he finished barely in front of Ocon who had a lot of traffic (and lost at least 10 seconds because of that), plus a mistake from Ferrari/Leclerc. In the end, it’s 7th at best, which is not far from my expectation.
I hope this is not a sign of Alonso’s deterioration in qualification and race, as he was beaten quite substantially by Ocon two races in a row.
ajpennypacker (@ajpennypacker)
30th August 2022, 17:25
I struggle with that Fernando 6, Russell 6, and Sainz 6, Norris 6, Sainz 6, Leclerc 6.
I don’t think I understand the criteria. Maybe they should are using fractional numbers or something. It looks a bit wild to have all of those drivers with a 6. I would hav given this:
– Fernando 7 and only because he got beaten by Ocon in quali. Otherwise 7.5 or 8
– Norris 5 – It was just lackluster. Even if the car was slower
– Sainz – Solid 7 or 7.5. He absolutely maximised what was possible
– Leclerc 6 seems right. Would be less were it not for how well he got through the field in spite of the bad luck with the visor tear-off that force the stop
– Russell should be a solid 7 or 7.5. Nothing flashy about that performance, raced alone just about the whole race. But he was very very close to Ferrari’s pace
Frasier (@frasier)
30th August 2022, 18:35
Agree, these ratings smack of personal preference rather than objectivity
Jere (@jerejj)
30th August 2022, 8:05
Most impressed: VER, ALO, OCO, VET, & ALB
Most disappointing: TSU, RIC, HAM, & Haas
jff
30th August 2022, 8:10
YTD average based on @WillWood‘s ratings:
Max Verstappen: 7.4
Charles Leclerc: 6.7 ↓
Lando Norris: 6.6
Fernando Alonso: 6.5
George Russell: 6.4
Lewis Hamilton: 6.1
Valtteri Bottas: 5.8
Carlos Sainz Jnr: 5.7 ↑
Sergio Perez: 5.7 ↓
Kevin Magnussen: 5.6
Esteban Ocon: 5.6
Alexander Albon: 5.6 ↑
Pierre Gasly: 5.6
Sebastian Vettel: 5.5
Nico Hulkenberg: 5.0
Zhou Guanyu: 4.9 ↓
Lance Stroll: 4.8 ↑
Yuki Tsunoda: 4.8
Mick Schumacher: 4.6
Daniel Ricciardo: 4.4
Nicholas Latifi: 3.9
(arrow denotes trend of three most recent races compared to season)
maarten (@maartenph)
30th August 2022, 8:47
Will’s list illustrates F1’s problem: this year’s grid is in fact a group of rather average drivers.
MattDS (@mattds)
30th August 2022, 9:50
@maartenph or the list illustrates the rating system’s problem: it condenses the driver field way too much. Certainly if 8 is the realistic maximum (this is the first 9 of the season whereas we’ve had flawless weekends before like Max in Imola) then it’s hard to create a lot of difference in there.
maarten (@maartenph)
30th August 2022, 10:46
@mattds Thanks and I have to confess that I considered that myself, but on balance I’m about 8/10 sure that’s not what’s going here.
elchinero (@elchinero)
30th August 2022, 13:30
Move out to one (1) or two (2) decimal places. Expands the precision ….
MichaelN
30th August 2022, 11:08
The list attempts to take an ‘all of F1 history’ view, so in that sense it’s logical that there aren’t many (or any?) 1/10 or 2/10 performances. Some of the shenanigans the pay-drivers from the ’80s and ’90s got up just don’t happen these days. Similarly, reserving the 9/10 and 10/10 ratings for truly exceptional or special performances seems fitting as well, as F1 has seen its fair share of those races.
I’d agree with @maartenph that most drivers on the F1 grid aren’t special. They could easily be replaced. Outside of Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton and a (now somewhat diminished) Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso, there aren’t really any stars on the grid. Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris and George Russell have potential but are not on that level yet. Outside of that though, the field is made up of good drivers (all F1 drivers these days are competent) that will never be hired by a top team. Schumacher, Latifi and Stroll (aside from his inexplicable damp-track heroics) most likely wouldn’t have made it to F1 is they’d had different fathers, and Zhou – while doing a decent job alongside Bottas – is there in large part due to his Chinese funding.
maarten (@maartenph)
30th August 2022, 11:39
The ‘all of history view’ might not lend itself for a 10 point scale though. Cruising to victory with a 18second margin from 14th, crushing your teammate who started P2, while taking fastest lap with 6 tenths over second fastest, ding so with about 30 kg worth of fuel on board, surely would merit a 19 out of 20 and 97/100 or something like that. Similarly, Gasly with a mediocre car going from pits to points, merits way more than 7/10.
I actually don’t think this is a mediocre crop of drivers. I think Lewis, George, Daniel, Lando, Max, Pierre, Esteban, Fernando, Carlos, Charles, Alex, Sebastien and Valtteri (13/20) are all really really good. Two or three of them may be among the top 10 of all time when they’re done with F1, but that doesn’t mean the others aren’t really good.
Even the lesser ones such as Lance (still won euro F3), Mick (slow to adapt to new cars, but F3 and F2 wins) and Kevin are really good.
To conclude in all seriousness, this ratings system is a bit of a shambles as there isn’t enough opportunity to be able to distinguish between good (7), great (8), memorable (9) and flippin’ unbelievable (10) drives.
Gasly was great, as was Alex. Max was flippin unbelievable.
MattDS (@mattds)
30th August 2022, 12:08
But that literally goes for every F1 grid ever. I don’t feel this one stands out negatively compared to grids of the past. Sure, 2010_2012 we had 6 WDCs starting the races and you might say that grid kind of stood out, but all in all the current grid is absolutely OK.
@maartenph I just figured out what you actually meant to say in your first post. I needed your above post to realize that, although the “8/10 sure” should have been a dead giveaway. Sorry :)
hyoko
30th August 2022, 12:53
Was Max’s performance worth a 9?. Was it the best of the season (so far) for all drivers? Certainly very good and clean but MV enjoyed an overwhelming superiority, breezed past everybody else and never had to fight a bit. It all seemed way too easy. I’m no fan of Ocon but arguably he did the best driving last Sunday.
Maybe it was because MV managed to stick his used visor in his main opponent’s duct. You wouldn’t be able to do it on purpose in a thousand tries. Lady Luck was in his side too, not that MV needed her.
maarten (@maartenph)
30th August 2022, 14:22
One could say that it’s really quite difficult to make it look easy.
dot_com (@dot_com)
30th August 2022, 21:10
It’s strange that I often disagree with Will’s individual ratings for one reason or another, but then when I look at the YTD averages I completely agree with the order!
jff
30th August 2022, 8:17
Within the Ferrari team I rated Sainz above Leclerc and wouldn’t have awarded identical points to both.
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
30th August 2022, 8:30
I don’t think Vettell should be this much higher than Stroll when he couldn’t even make it out of Q1. Plus, his move on Stroll would have been worthy of a penalty if it wasn’t on the first lap, and it could have ended badly enough that it would have got him one anyway. An example being stroll didn’t have the right to have to drive off track to give vettel space, so if he didn’t, both team mates probably will have retired. Stroll drove off into the gravel and nearly lost control, losing several positions. It is basically down to vettel that Stroll got stuck behind albon who was nearly impossible to overtake.
I also can’t really see why Norris is rated above Stroll, he finished behind and 12th is a very poor result for a mclaren. In my opinion it is clearly a better car than the aston martin.
Andrew
30th August 2022, 9:11
Vettel did to Stroll exactly what Stroll did to him probably north of 5 times this and last season..
MattDS (@mattds)
30th August 2022, 10:00
@thegianthogweed
There’s a difference between being a better car generally, and being a better car on the day. Car performances and thus balances between team can and will switch from track to track, from qualifying pace to race pace, even from tyre compount to tyre compound. And will be impacted by the weather, track condition, etc.
While the McLaren is a better car overall than the AM, Spa was not kind for McLaren – it clearly did not suit them very well while for Aston Martin it seemed to be better than the last few tracks they’ve been. So a large negative swing for McLaren and a slightly positive one for AM.
In Spa the AM was just a better car.
MXMXD (@mxmxd)
30th August 2022, 14:08
C’mon now, that first lap incident was racing.
Though indeed 7 feels high for Vettel, and Norris probably should be a 5 too.
Rolfski (@rolfski)
30th August 2022, 9:39
Pretty much a perfect weekend for Max: Very strong in the practices, phenomenal in qualifying and in a completely different league in the race.
SjaakFoo (@sjaakfoo)
30th August 2022, 10:44
Indeed. A well deserved first 9 rating of the season.
Rolfski (@rolfski)
30th August 2022, 15:22
More of a 10 tbh. He didn’t do anything wrong and the difference with the rest of the field, including his teammate, was just ridiculous.
MichaelN
30th August 2022, 10:55
There’s no doubting that Verstappen did very well, but was it really his best performance of the season as the rating suggests? I doubt it, and the comments from the other teams suggest that Red Bull was just far superior this weekend, while Verstappen ‘merely’ put in his usually solid performance. But special? Not really.
From the second he left the pits, he was miles ahead of the rest of the field. Even his teammate, who normally struggles to stay close to the Ferrari’s, was way ahead of them and only missed out on P2 in Q3 because Ferrari played a slipstream team game, something Red Bull tellingly didn’t care to do for Pérez. In the race Pérez could easily pull clear of Sainz and was never under any threat from either Sainz or Russell. Verstappen was no doubt pacing himself, but even so at the finish line he beat Pérez by a ‘only’ handful of tenths per lap, something we’ve seen all year.
MattDS (@mattds)
30th August 2022, 12:14
Depends on what you factor in. I’d say Imola probably was on the same level but he could start from pole which probably makes Spa more impressive. Hungary would be up there without the spin and the error in his first lap in Q3.
What matters most is that he has pretty much been maximizing his points haul all year long and in that respect almost all of his races have been great performances. Only Monaco was an ever so slight dip.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
30th August 2022, 13:28
He also made a quali mistake in hungary, was nowhere near 9 with these harsh ratings, he didn’t even get 8.
Rolfski (@rolfski)
30th August 2022, 15:19
Perez was nowhere against Max in the same car and Perez wasn’t bad. Most of the race, Max was outperforming his teammate by more than a second and the rest of the field even more, which is simply next level. And Max wasn’t even pushing, he was playing it overly safe and still extended his lead. At some point his engineer told him to save his tires and Max responded with: “mate I’ve been doing that the past 5 laps”. If that isn’t a league of his own I don’t know what is.
James Bond (@jamesbond)
30th August 2022, 12:44
Verstappen 9
What do you have to do to get a 10?
Fly to the moon?
hyoko
30th August 2022, 12:55
Maybe having a memorable fight… and win it.
Jelle van der Meer (@)
30th August 2022, 13:18
Do the same as Max did but then in a Haas or Max to be knocked out on lap 1, Max himself repairing the car at side of the track and join 1 lap down and still win the race.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
30th August 2022, 13:32
I’ve been a detractor of these ratings in general, but I agree with the 9 (in the context of the season’s ratings) here, it’s been a very dominant performance, in that case definitely hamilton brazil 2021 would get 9 too, and I can also see why not giving him 10, it was all too easy, also goes for hamilton back then, the only one who tried to mount a serious defense was verstapppen, here literally no one did, there’s been races in the 1950-1960s etc. where drivers like clark or fangio could get a puncture after dominating a race and recover to 3rd or 1st, stuff like that is most likely what is needed for a 10.
Also in the context of the answer given by will recently, it makes sense to give verstappen 9 here cause I think he said it’s stuff that usually happens once a season, while 10s might not happen some seasons.
Pedro (@)
30th August 2022, 13:57
And perez is a 5 why??? Should be 6.
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
30th August 2022, 22:02
@pedrike
Perez was poor. He qualified 8 tenths behind verstappen, and was also behind a ferrari, which was clearly slower this weekend. He had a poor launch and almost instantly lost 2 places, only to then gain them both back due to hamilton turning in on Alonso.
Verstappen caught up to the back of Perez who was stuck behind Sainz in 11 laps. Then Sainz pitted, versteppen passed Perez and pulled away. After their pit stops, they were both behind Sainz and verstappen overtook him easily on lap 18. Yes, perez caught and passed him 3 laps later, but Perez started right behind him. Perez should have got by him in 2 – 3 laps with the pace of that car at the start of the race.
Perez was slow and he finished 18 seconds behind verstappen who started 12 places behind him.
Ankita
31st August 2022, 13:24
Agree. The problem with PER is that he is paired to the best. So, he will always lose out. Most likely, 80% of the grid driving the second RB would be in a situation similar to PER’s. But since this is just speculation, the only thing we know for sure is that PER is doing a poor job when compared to his teammate’s.
Marcel
30th August 2022, 16:39
How can a driver earn a 10? What has he got to do?
Not to critise, genuine question.
Michael
30th August 2022, 18:59
I think Verstappen did all he needed to do but it’s no better a performance than he has done or other drivers have done. His new engine and the superior speed of his car made passing straightforward and the DRS passes slingshot him towards his next target. At least Hamilton in Brazil last year had Verstappen to fight. Verstappen’s closest rival for the season started behind him and he inadvertently damaged his race with his tear off.
He did a good job but he didn’t have to fight anyone so I could not give him more than an 8.
A comparison with a similar situation with a 9 or 10 rating would be Raikkonen in Japan 2005, where he came through the field and took the lead on the last lap.
I slightly rate Ocon’s race higher as he had to fight and his double double overtakes were probably the first in a race since Heidfeld in that wet British grand Prix. However he would still be an 8 because the only non inevitable outcome was beating Vettel while slightly more speed could have taken him ahead of Leclerc and behind Alonso on ageing tyres.
For me the only 9 this season is still Leclerc in Bahrain due to the quality and ingenuity of his defending.
BlueChris (@bluechris)
30th August 2022, 20:04
Ι don’t get it really,. The winner of the race gets a 9 and the second gets a 5? and Hamilton gets 1 less? I don’t have something with Hamilton points but Perez points are wrong imo.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
30th August 2022, 21:57
@bluechris well, it’s relative to Max. He was outqualified but started ahead of Max and still was overtaken and fell well behind. Plus, it’s not a one-off result which may have helped bump Perez’s score.
He’s going to get 5s when the car is a Formula 0 car and he ends up second unless he challenges Verstappen is 1 car lengths behind.
BlueChris (@bluechris)
30th August 2022, 22:53
But its not a RB point system but a overall point system. If the 1st driver is an alien in the team still he gets a 9 and the second is a normal one ok give him a 6 or 7 not only 1 point difference from a Hamilton for example that crashed with a fault of his own.
Nikos (@exeviolthor)
31st August 2022, 6:45
It seems to me that it is very difficult to determine if a great performance is due to the driver or down to the car.
As this rating system intends to be appllied across different years then it would be better if each entry would include the driver along with the car.
In this way Vettel/Reb Bull would be a different entry to Vettel/Ferrari.
After all the Driver’s Championship does not go to the best driver, but to the best driver/car combination.
jhg103 (@joshgeake)
31st August 2022, 8:11
I really like this website but jfc is it unusable with all these ads on mobile.
Señor Sjon
31st August 2022, 12:35
I couldn’t see anything less than a 10 for Verstappen. From the get go, he was one with the track and car.
Used only 2 sets of tires for Q1-Q2-Q3 and schooled the field in Q3 with a ‘mic drop’, not needing to run again.
Started on softs and made them work longer than the medium shod runners. He did this while passing almost everyone on his way to the front. In the meanwhile, he had done a lot of passing before DRS was even active, mostly in the last chicane. He also was a bit unlucky with all the shenanigans in front of him that cost him momentum and time. Stroll went wide in front of him, Hamilton peeled of on the side Verstappen was running, etc.
He also took the fastest lap by a landslide while still needing to do 25% race distance. Even an empty Ferrari on fresh softs and a tow + DRS couldn’t come close to that.
If there ever was a 10 performance, it was this one. Without engine penalties, he would have lapped most of the field and had a Grand Chelem to boot.
What will give a ten then? Starting from pitlane?
Omar
1st September 2022, 15:49
Mate Verstappen only a 9. What more could he have done. He was fastest in every single session BY FAR. Would have been a grand slam if not for the penalties