Max Verstappen, Red Bull, Yas Marina, 2022

2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix driver ratings

2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

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The final race weekend of the 2022 season saw Max Verstappen extend his own record of wins in a season by chalking up victory number 15 of the season, from another pole position.

But while Verstappen produced a peerless performance, there were some other impressive drives over the weekend from other drivers throughout the field. Although not all of them were quite as handsomely rewarded.

For the final time in 2022, here are the RaceFans’ grand prix driver ratings.

(L to R): Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes; Carlos Sainz Jr, Ferrari; Yas Marina, 2022
Hamilton had a scrappy end to the year

Lewis Hamilton – 4

Qualified: 5th (+1 place ahead of team mate)
-0.003s quicker than team mate in Q3
Classified: 18th (-13 places behind team mate)

  • Quickest in first practice
  • Investigated but cleared of driving too fast under red flag
  • Only just beat team mate to fifth on the grid but likely would have been higher without mistake on final Q3 lap
  • Earned a fine for pit lane speeding on reconnaissance lap
  • Passed Sainz at the start but illegally held his position at turn six, cutting the chicane and damaging his floor on the kerbing
  • Returned fourth to Sainz under orders, then took it back a lap later before losing two places to Sainz and Russell
  • Pitted for hard tyres on lap 18 and ran in sixth behind team mate, catching him before Russell pitted
  • Committed to one-stop strategy and was caught and passed by Perez, dropping to fourth
  • Received a black-and-white warning flag for three track limits infringements
  • Reported gear shift problem with just under five laps remaining, told to retire car due to hydraulic problem
  • Classified as a finisher in 18th place

George Russell – 5

Qualified: 6th (-1 place behind team mate)
+0.003s slower than team mate in Q3
Finished: 5th (+13 places ahead of team mate)

  • Had to settle for sixth on the grid after being out-qualified by team mate by just three-thousandths of a second
  • Lost one place at the start to Norris, passing him to retake sixth on lap five
  • Overtook team mate to move into fifth before following Perez into the pits on lap 15
  • Switched to hard tyres but wheel delay led to him being released in front of Norris, earning a five second time penalty
  • Overtook Ricciardo and Vettel to move back to fifth, then kept pace with Sainz ahead
  • Committed to two stops by following Sainz into pits to switch to mediums on lap 39, dropping to sixth
  • Gained a place when Hamilton retired late, eventually finishing fifth
Max Verstappen, Red Bull, Yas Marina, 2022
Verstappen’s 15th win never looked in doubt

Max Verstappen – 8

Qualified: Pole (+1 place ahead of team mate)
-0.228s quicker than team mate in Q3
Finished: Winner (+2 places ahead of team mate)

  • Missed first practice to allow Lawson to run in his car
  • Quickest in second practice
  • Secured pole position by two tenths over team mate
  • Held onto lead at the start, then gradually increased lead to Perez behind
  • Pitted for hard tyres on lap 20, regaining the lead a lap later when Leclerc pitted
  • Maintained lead of less than three seconds to Perez, then managed gap to Leclerc after team mate pitted
  • Managed his tyres in case of a late Safety Car, but eventually grew lead slightly in closing laps
  • Crossed the line to win 15th race of the season by 8.7 seconds

Sergio Perez – 6

Qualified: 2nd (-1 place behind team mate)
+0.228s slower than team mate in Q3
Finished: 3rd (-2 places behind team mate)

  • Quickest in final practice
  • Secured second on the grid, two tenths slower than team mate
  • Maintained second position at the start and staying with five seconds of his leading team mate until being the first front runner to pit
  • Fitted hard tyres on lap 15, moving back up to second place and staying within three seconds of Verstappen
  • Was caught by Leclerc, pitting for a second set of hard tyres on lap 33 and rejoining in fifth position
  • Gained two places when Sainz and Russell pitted, then passed Hamilton for third after two laps in DRS range
  • Pushed hard to catch Leclerc but ran out of laps, finishing third 1.2 seconds behind the Ferrari at the finish

Carlos Sainz Jnr – 5

Qualified: 4th (-1 place behind team mate)
+0.15s slower than team mate in Q3
Finished: 4th (-2 places behind team mate)

  • Sat out first practice session for Shwartzman
  • Qualified fourth on the grid, just 0.15s slower than team mate
  • Lost fourth to Hamilton into turn one but should have earned it back with late but legal lunge into turn six
  • Eventually received the place back from Hamilton on lap four but lost it again a lap later
  • Kept with Hamilton to eventually pass him for good on lap eight, then was first Ferrari to pit for hard tyres on lap 17
  • Rejoined behind Vettel but quickly overtook him to move back to fourth
  • Made two visits to the pits, fitting hards on his second visit on lap 39, rejoining behind Hamilton in fifth
  • Rapidly caught Hamilton but was gifted fourth when the Mercedes driver retired
  • Finished fourth, 14 seconds behind Perez

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Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Yas Marina, 2022
Leclerc worked hard to make his one-stop work

Charles Leclerc – 8

Qualified: 3rd (+1 place ahead of team mate)
-0.15s quicker than team mate in Q3
Finished: 2nd (+2 places ahead of team mate)

  • Secured third on the grid ahead of team mate, half a tenth behind Perez’s Red Bull
  • Held onto third and kept in touch with Perez ahead over first stint
  • Extended his first stint, pitting from the lead on lap 21 for hard tyres, rejoining in third
  • Gained six seconds on Perez over ten laps, inheriting second when Perez pitted
  • Made a single stop and maintained a consistent pace over final stint to preserve tyres
  • Gradually fell away from Verstappen ahead but kept a high enough pace to ensure Perez never caught him
  • Crossed the line eight seconds behind Verstappen and 1.2 seconds ahead of Perez to secure second place in the championship
Lando Norris, McLaren, Yas Marina, 2022
Norris secured his ‘best of the rest’ status

Lando Norris – 8

Qualified: 7th (+3 places ahead of team mate)
-0.276s quicker than team mate in Q3
Started: 7th (+6 places ahead of team mate)
Finished: 6th (+3 places ahead of team mate)

  • Replaced by O’Ward during opening practice session
  • Comfortably reached Q3 then secured ‘best of the rest’ grid slot in seventh
  • Picked up one place from Russell on opening lap but was passed on lap five
  • Ran in seventh until pitting for hard tyres on lap 15
  • Rejoined in 12th, passing Bottas, Magnussen and Vettel to move back up to seventh
  • Gained one place from Russell’s stop, then pitted a second time on lap 42 for second set of mediums, rejoining in seventh
  • Gradually fell back into Ocon over the final stint, but picked up sixth with Hamilton’s retirement
  • Held onto sixth by just over a second from Ocon at the finish
  • Took bonus point for setting fastest lap of the race

Daniel Ricciardo – 6

Qualified: 10th (-3 places behind team mate)
+0.276s slower than team mate in Q3
Started: 13th (-6 places behind team mate)
Finished: 9th (-3 places behind team mate)

  • Just squeezed through into Q3 in tenth and qualified there, a quarter-of-a-second slower than team mate
  • Dropped to 13th on the grid as penalty for crash with Magnussen in Interlagos
  • Lost one place to Stroll on the opening lap, but gained 13th back by passing Schumacher on lap two
  • Extended his opening stint before pitting for hard tyres on lap 19, falling to 18th place
  • Passed Schumacher, Magnussen, Bottas and Zhou to gradually move up to eighth place
  • Committed to a one-stop strategy and was passed by Ocon, then Stroll to fall to tenth place
  • Came under pressure from Vettel over the final eight laps but kept the Aston Martin behind him
  • Picked up ninth from Hamilton retiring, then absorbed pressure over the final lap to secure two points in ninth

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Fernando Alonso – 5

Qualified: 11th (-3 places behind team mate)
+0.089s slower than team mate in Q2
Started: 10th (-2 places behind team mate)
Finished: Retired (Water leak – L28)

  • Sat out the opening practice session for Doohan
  • Just missed out on Q3 berth by half a tenth, eliminated in 11th place
  • Maintained his position at the start, then ran behind Vettel, later admitting he was unwilling to attack his retiring rival
  • Extended his opening stint slightly before pitting for hards on lap 19
  • Dropped down to 14th place but passed Magnussen, Bottas and Tsunoda in quick succession
  • Was running behind Stroll in tenth before being brought in to retire on lap 28 with a suspected water leak
Ocon out-performed Alonso in their final race together

Esteban Ocon – 7

Qualified: 8th (+3 places ahead of team mate)
-0.089s quicker than team mate in Q2
Started: 8th (+2 places ahead of team mate)
Finished: 7th

  • Ahead of Alonso in every session
  • Beat team mate by less than a tenth in Q2 to secure passage to Q3, then qualified eighth
  • Held position at the start, then was one of the first to pit for hard tyres, dropping to 14th
  • Passed Magnussen and Bottas, moving back up to ninth before gaining eighth when Vettel pitted
  • Opted for a two-stop strategy by pitting on lap 41, dropping one place to Ricciardo but passing him soon after
  • Gradually caught up to Norris over final stint but never got within DRS range
  • Picked up seventh when Hamilton retired and finished there, one second behind Norris at the chequered flag

Pierre Gasly – 5

Qualified: 17th (-5 places behind team mate)
+0.229s slower than team mate in Q1
Started: 17th (-6 places behind team mate)
Finished: 14th (-3 places behind team mate)

  • Failed to follow team mate through into Q2, eliminated in 17th
  • Started on soft tyres but lost one place at the start to Albon
  • Passed Magnussen on lap three, running 17th before pitting on lap 14 for hard tyres
  • Pitted once, passing Magnussen a second time and gaining places when Bottas and Schumacher stopped
  • Ran as high as 13th but was asked to allow team mate through on lap 43, deliberately waiting to give him DRS boost
  • Lost a place to Albon, then passed by Zhou on penultimate lap to sit in 14th
  • Had front-row seat for Albon-Zhou scrap, skipping turn six chicane and finishing 14th, less than a second behind Albon

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Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri, Yas Marina, 2022
Tsunoda fared better than his team mate

Yuki Tsunoda – 6

Qualified: 12th (+5 places ahead of team mate)
-0.229s quicker than team mate in Q1
Started: 11th (+6 places ahead of team mate)
Finished: 11th (+3 places ahead of team mate)

  • Beat team mate in qualifying by comfortably reaching Q2 in tenth, then knocked out in 12th position
  • Held position at the start, remaining 11th until pitting for hard tyres on lap 14
  • Was undercut by Stroll but overtook Magnussen and Bottas to catch up to the Aston Martin
  • Gained tenth when Alonso retired, then committed to a two-stop strategy by switching to soft tyres on lap 38
  • Rejoined 14th, then overtook team mate to sit in 12th
  • Struggled with fading tyres, catching Vettel before falling away in the final laps
  • Inherited 11th place when Hamilton retired and finished just outside of the points
Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin, Yas Marina, 2022
Vettel’s strategy let him down in his final race

Sebastian Vettel – 7

Qualified: 9th (+5 places ahead of team mate)
-0.385s quicker than team mate in Q2
Finished: 10th (-2 places behind team mate)

  • Ahead of team mate in every practice and qualifying session
  • Reached Q3 in eighth place despite coming across Perez at the final corner three times, then qualified ninth
  • Maintained position at the start, running ninth in the early laps
  • Extended first stint longer than anyone else on mediums, losing masses of time to rivals around him as tyres faded
  • Pitted on lap 25 for hard tyres, falling to 19th position
  • Made his way through the field, passing Magnussen, Gasly and Zhou to move up to tenth place
  • Caught back of Ricciardo but asked to allow team mate on fresher tyres passed him, falling to 11th
  • Pressured Ricciardo over final ten laps, gaining tenth when Hamilton retired
  • Had to overtake Ricciardo to secure sixth place for team but could not find a way by, settling for final point in final grand prix

Lance Stroll – 6

Qualified: 14th (-5 places behind team mate)
+0.385s slower than team mate in Q2
Finished: 8th (+2 places ahead of team mate)

  • Missed first practice to allow Drugovich to drive his car
  • Behind team mate in every practice and qualifying session
  • Progressed into Q2 but was knocked out in 14th place
  • Gained two places from Schumacher and Ricciardo at the start to run in 12th right behind Tsunoda
  • Pitted early for hards on lap 18, rejoining 19th before passing Magnussen to move into ninth after team mate’s stop
  • Looked comfortable in ninth before making second stop for mediums on lap 40
  • Rejoined in 12th and was allowed by team mate before overtaking Ricciardo to move back up to ninth place
  • Gained eighth when Hamilton retired and finished there, seven seconds ahead of Ricciardo

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Nicholas Latifi, Williams, Yas Marina, 2022
Latifi was slowest in every session

Nicholas Latifi – 4

Qualified: 20th (-1 place behind team mate)
+0.026s slower than team mate in Q1
Classified: 19th (-6 places behind team mate)

  • Replaced by Sargeant for first practice
  • Behind team mate in every session
  • Slowest in every session he participated in
  • Eliminated slowest from Q1 despite better out lap position than team mate on final run
  • Gained one position from Bottas at the start but was overtaken on lap nine, falling to last
  • Pitted for medium tyres on lap 15 and rejoined last
  • Picked up two places when Magnussen and Bottas pitted but was spun by Schumacher at the hairpin
  • Pitted for mediums and rejoined in last place, remaining there for the rest of his race
  • Retired with an electrical problem in final laps but was classified as a finisher

Alexander Albon – 6

Qualified: 19th (+1 place ahead of team mate)
-0.026s quicker than team mate in Q1
Finished: 13th (+6 places ahead of team mate)

  • Ahead of team mate in every session
  • Disappointed to be eliminated 19th in Q1 after caught in traffic on final out-lap
  • Picked up two positions on the opening lap, overtook Magnussen for 16th on lap two, then passed Schumacher on lap five
  • First driver to pit on lap 12, fitting hard tyres and dropping to the rear of the field
  • Caught and passed Magnussen and Bottas still yet to stop, then ran in 11th before making second stop for mediums
  • Rejoined in 15th, catching and passing Gasly to take 13th place after Zhou pitted late
  • Picked up 12th when Hamilton retired, then came under heavy pressure from Zhou behind on penultimate lap
  • Fought hard to repass Zhou after being overtaken into turn six on final lap, but was overtaken around the outside of turn nine
  • Crossed the line to finish in 13th place

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Valtteri Bottas – 4

Qualified: 18th (-3 places behind team mate)
+0.298s slower than team mate in Q1
Finished: 15th (-3 places behind team mate)

  • Failed to follow team mate through to Q2, eliminated in 18th place
  • Started on hard tyres and dropped to the back of the field at the start, running in last before passing Latifi on lap nine
  • Gained places while others ahead pitted, but caught and passed Magnussen at turn nine
  • Fell back down the order to 15th before finally pitting for mediums on lap 30, rejoining in 18th
  • Gained two positions when Schumacher spun Latifi before being overtaken by Schumacher soon after
  • Kept in touch with Schumacher and eventually overtook him with five laps remaining
  • Crossed the line 15th, just over ten seconds behind team mate
Guanyu Zhou, Alfa Romeo, Yas Marina, 2022
Zhou passed Albon with a great final lap move

Zhou Guanyu – 6

Qualified: 15th (+3 places ahead of team mate)
-0.298s quicker than team mate in Q1
Finished: 12th (+3 places ahead of team mate)

  • Sat out opening practice session to allow Kubica to drive his car
  • Beat team mate by three tenths in Q1 to reach Q2, but eliminated slowest in 15th
  • Held position at the start, then passed Schumacher for 14th on lap four
  • Pitted for hard tyres on lap 15, passing Magnussen before being allowed by team mate for 13th
  • Overtaken by Ricciardo before trying to hold off rival Vettel before losing tenth place
  • Switched to a two stop strategy by pitting for soft tyres with 15 laps remaining, rejoining in 16th place
  • Used soft tyres to catch and pass Schumacher for 15th, then gained another place when Hamilton retired
  • Overtook Gasly for 13th on penultimate lap, then battled Albon on final lap, passing him around the outside of turn nine
  • Crossed the line 12th, the first finisher to be lapped
Mick Schumacher, Haas, Yas Marina, 2022
A clash with Latifi spoiled Schumacher’s race

Mick Schumacher – 4

Qualified: 13th (+3 places ahead of team mate)
-0.123s quicker than team mate in Q1
Started: 12th (+4 places ahead of team mate)
Finished: 16th (+1 place ahead of team mate)

  • Missed first practice for Fittipaldi to receive a run in his car
  • Reached Q2 unlike team mate and eliminated in a respectable 13th
  • Lost one place to Stroll on the opening lap, then overtaken by Ricciardo on lap two
  • Overtaken by Zhou and Albon before pitting for hard tyres on lap 14, committing to a two-stop strategy
  • Undercut Ricciardo but was soon passed by the McLaren, but was allowed to pass team mate on one-stop
  • Overtook Bottas to sit 14th before making second stop for mediums
  • Clumsily ran into Latifi at the turn five hairpin and spun, losing six seconds and earning a five second penalty
  • Re-passed Bottas as he recovered but was overtaken by the Alfa Romeo in the closing laps
  • Crossed the line 16th and remained there after five second penalty was applied

Kevin Magnussen – 4

Qualified: 16th (-3 places behind team mate)
+0.123s slower than team mate in Q1
Started: 16th (-4 places behind team mate)
Finished: 17th (-1 place behind team mate)

  • Blamed having to queue in the final sector for cold tyres for a disappointing last lap in Q1 that left him eliminated in 16th
  • Started on hard tyres and held position at the start but was passed by Albon on lap two, then Gasly on lap three
  • Used a one-stop strategy
  • Rose up to tenth as cars ahead pitted, then overtaken by nine cars before pitting for mediums on lap 28
  • Fell to the very back of the field, gaining a position only when Latifi pitted a second time
  • Finished last of the drivers running in 17th, ten seconds behind team mate before penalty applied

Over to you

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2022 Abu Dhabi 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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31 comments on “2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix driver ratings”

  1. Once again Lewis outdrove his teammate, held up Perez (karma, baby) and retired due to kerbing they wouldn’t dare use with MotoGP.

    Max drove the fastest car.

    Somebody generated random numbers for a web page.

    1. outdrove his teammate

      Believing is seeing. A 4 is way too generous for such an abysmal drive. In a class with Badoer and Inoue

    2. Indeed, where did this 4 come from? It wasn’t Hamilton’s best race, but I don’t quite see what he did bad. His second stint on the hards was excellent. If anything, his mistake was to have left the door open for Sainz, like he did for Verstappen last year. Sainz didn’t leave space and he cut the chicane to avoid touching. Yeah, I know, he tried to use the rules to his advantage to stay ahead, but then that sausage curb should have been there. Why does the driver taking evasive action need to be sent airborne? But anyway, these ratings are made just to generate discussion. It’s just a bait.

  2. Please be careful. Better idea would be to name it ‘car ratings’ as it cant of course be Max’ skillset that put him on top this year. Surely it must be the car.

    1. petebaldwin (@)
      22nd November 2022, 12:22

      I find it hilarious how Team LH are now using the “it’s the car” argument. If they’re saying that wins in a dominant car are not impressive, that means Lewis’ records suddenly look very different. A bunch of unimpressive Championships and wins?

      Of course, those who are fans of F1 and have some knowledge of how the sport actually works appreciate that a fast car doesn’t automatically win races on it’s own. You have to be faultless and you have lock into a groove where you effectively become unbeatable. Lots of drivers have driven dominant cars and haven’t had anything like the sort of dominant success that Max and Lewis have had.

      1. It is also true that journeymen like Phil Hill got their WDC while a supremely gifted Stirling Moss had to scrape a couple extremely hard fought wins and finish titleless. Make no mistake, the Fezza Sharknose did it, it pretty much drove itself to victory. And again, no mistake, if the RBR has been overall the best car this season it has not been remotely a dominant car like the Sharknose was.

        1. True, I think even with mathematical models, the 1961 ferrari came out to be the most dominant car of all time, they just had pretty meh drivers, obviously it hasn’t been updated with the last few years, but it’s pretty easy to see this year’s red bull had competition for a big part of the season, which didn’t happen with the most dominant cars.

      2. The people who are of the opinion that both Verstappen and Hamilton (and Schumacher, Vettel, Alonso, Senna, Prost etc. for that matter) are both great drivers with their own strengths, their own bad moments and good moments, in terms of recing and behaviour, seem to be increasingly rare.

        All of the most succesful drivers in F1 had at some points in their career the car to put the spotlight on them, to show what they are capable of. Yet in the back of the field and in lower categories they showed why the people who decide who drives that great car, want them in it. In F1 it is mostly the car, but the last few percents do come from the driver, and that’s where the greats like Hamilton and Verstappen show their talent.

        Yet it seems heresy to some that one could acknowledge both of their performances and achievements.

        And to think of the fact that, at the end of the day, we are getting worked up over some millionaires game, who are all evading the taxes, which could really help improve things for most of us, makes it even more bizarre.

      3. Andy (@andyfromsandy)
        22nd November 2022, 15:58

        Accepting it is the car mostly means that both camps have to acknowledge the same. Verstappen has made it pretty clear in some interviews where he says give me a competitive car …

        All drivers have the same wish don’t they?

  3. Full year average of @WillWood‘s ratings (1st half – 2nd half):
    Max Verstappen: 7.3 (7.2 – 7.4)
    Lando Norris: 6.7 (6.6 – 6.8)
    Charles Leclerc: 6.6 (6.8 – 6.3)
    Fernando Alonso: 6.5 (6.5 – 6.3)
    George Russell: 6.0 (6.4 – 5.6)
    Lewis Hamilton: 6.0 (6.2 – 5.7)
    Sebastian Vettel: 5.8 (5.4 – 6.3)
    Esteban Ocon: 5.8 (5.5 – 6.2)
    Carlos Sainz Jnr: 5.7 (5.7 – 5.8)
    Sergio Perez: 5.6 (5.8 – 5.4)
    Valtteri Bottas: 5.6 (5.8 – 5.2)
    Kevin Magnussen: 5.5 (5.7 – 5.3)
    Alexander Albon: 5.5 (5.4 – 5.8)
    Pierre Gasly: 5.5 (5.5 – 5.4)
    Lance Stroll: 5.0 (4.8 – 5.4)
    Zhou Guanyu: 5.0 (4.8 – 5.1)
    Yuki Tsunoda: 5.0 (4.8 – 5.1)
    Mick Schumacher: 4.7 (4.5 – 5.0)
    Daniel Ricciardo: 4.6 (4.5 – 4.8)
    Nicholas Latifi: 3.9 (4.0 – 3.7)

    memo: drivers with <5 races
    Nyck de Vries: 8 (1 race)
    Nico Hulkenberg: 5-5 (2 races)

    1. I was waiting for this post :-)

    2. Fine,let’s give the WDC to Nyck =]

    3. It’s interesting how reasonable this list seems as a summary for the season, given how much people like to complain about Will’s ratings each weekend.

      1. I agree it looks somewhat random after many of the races but the final standings are mostly reasonable. Still, there is a bit of machinery bias.

      2. With the exception of Alonso who got free passes for his own mistakes and never marked down for car failures than others it’s pretty good as a reflection of performance. I think Norris really was that good this year.

      3. @harrydymond The issue with the ratings is that it’s not out of 10. Verstappen is at 73%, just 27% ahead of Ricciardo. The ratings are way too condensed. Also there’s artificial condensation additionally because of the lack of 0.5 ratings, which means the variation in scores is lower than it should be. That’s why you end up with so many 5.5 and 5.0 averages.

  4. I think Albon had a great race, worthy of more than a 6. He passed a lot of cars, unseen by the cameras, and was up there battling for 11th for most of the race after qualifying 19th.

  5. Teams overall rating if I’m counting correctly:
    Red Bull 286
    Ferrari 271
    Alpine 267
    Mercedes 265
    Mclaren 248
    Aston 237
    Alfa Romeo 233
    Haas 226
    Alpha Tauri 224 (In Jeddah, Yuki had 0 points for not attending quali nor race)
    Williams 209

    1. Interesting, but sounds a bit misleading because these are driver’s ratings, supposedly independent of the car/team effect

      So maybe this should be expressed more clearly as 1) Drivers of the Red Bull Team, 2) Fezza Drivers, etc

    2. Agree they’re a bit too similar to the strength of the cars, which means the one who hinted at machinery bias is probably right.

      1. Or the strongest teams have best drivers, which is what we all want, right?

  6. Most impressed: VER, NOR, & OCO
    Most disappointed: MSC

    1. OCO? Why? It’s not as if his teammate didn’t lose many points due to unreliability.

  7. I’m surprised Verstappen got a 8, given Will’s scale. It didn’t look difficult from the outside, maybe in qualy but it was just a walk in the park on sunday.

    I don’t want to sound salty, just that we didn’t see a lot of his race. He was just cruising in the lead with a few radio call here and there. Pérez had a more eventful race.

    1. He’s had quite a few of them this year where his performance was skewed hugely by a dominant package but even so I find it hard to justify giving a race winner less than 7 as a minimum (unless they lucked into it) and he won 15 races. As such it makes little difference on the year as a whole and taking everything into account its hard to male a case for him not being the driver who got the most out of his package.

      1. I totally get your points @slowmo. I think Verstappen’s results in other races are irrelevant as this is a rating for the Abu Dhabi GP.
        I probably would have been less surprised with a 7, as I understand it, it means “good but not exceptional” in Will’s scale. An 8 is more a “very good race”, which it didn’t look from the outside.

        On a side note, I’m really happy we can discuss this subject peacefully. :)

    2. Could it be that Max just makes it look all so easy?

      1. That’s possible Bojangles. Hard to tell from outside of the team.

  8. Good. We endured this drivel during the entire season. Now scrap it. Please. I cannot believe this is the same site F1fanatic once was.

    1. a feature to forget.

    2. Imo rating this stuff with marks from 1 to 10 has merit, but that’s the point: 1 to 10, not, generally speaking, 3 to 8, and on top of that it could be done less controversially, I think there was less controversy when there was the star and struggler system, but I didn’t like that because some cases were borderline, and you only had 3 “marks” to give them; we need more marks to distinguish performances, not less.

Comments are closed.