The Hungarian Grand Prix weekend saw a washed-out first practice session an intensely close qualifying session partly due to a novel tyre rule and a record-breaking victory for Red Bull on Sunday.
With one veteran driver making his return to the series, a few big names starting out of position and some surprising cars starting in the top ten, there were some standout performances through the field – as well as some less impressive ones.Here are the RaceFans driver ratings for the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen – 7/10
Qualified: 2nd (+7 places ahead of team mate, -0.433s)
Start: +1 place
Finished: 1st (+2 places ahead of team mate)
- Beaten to pole by 0.003s by Hamilton
- Jumped ahead of Hamilton at the start to take the lead
- Gradually pulled away from Piastri over first stint, then extended lead over final two stints
- Won by over half a minute from Norris having led every lap of the race
- Took bonus point for fastest lap
It was fitting that Verstappen would seal Red Bull’s record for the longest ever win streak with one of his most dominant wins of 2023. But his frustration at missing out on pole showed he knew there was more speed in his car than he extracted. Besides that one missed opportunity, he stormed into the lead at the start and never looked back. Although the margin of victory he enjoyed showed just how much quicker the Red Bull was than its rivals on the day.
Sergio Perez – 5/10
Start: +1 place
Strategy: Two-stop (H-M-M)
Finished: 3rd (-2 places behind team mate)
- Crashed out of opening practice on his first push lap of the weekend
- Reached Q3 for the first time since Miami but only qualified ninth
- Started on hards and gained only one position from Zhou at the start to run eighth, then passed Alonso
- Pitted for mediums and quickly passed Sainz, then caught Hamilton before second stop
- Successfully undercut Hamilton to take fourth, then overtook Piastri for final podium spot
- Chased down Norris but couldn’t reach him before the finish, taking third place
Red Bull may have won every race this season but they have not always been as dominant as they were on Sunday in Hungary, which means Perez arguably underachieved with third place. But while his crash to start the weekend was embarrassing and his qualifying was underwhelming, he showed he could make good use of his car’s speed in the race to climb up to third with an alternative strategy. He gets credit for that, but should not have been in that position to begin with.
Charles Leclerc – 6/10
Qualified: 6th (+5 places ahead of team mate, -0.123s)
Start: +1 place
Strategy: Two-stop (M-H-H)
Finished: 7th (+1 place ahead of team mate)
- Reached Q3, unlike team mate, to take sixth on the grid between the Alfa Romeos
- Ran race without drink available as tube was too short for helmet
- Gained fifth from Zhou’s poor start until first stop, losing seven seconds with wheelgun problem
- Ran behind team mate but undercut him at second stop to move ahead
- Hit with five second time penalty for breaking pit lane speed limit by 0.7kph
- Caught by Russell in closing laps, finishing ahead but falling behind in results after penalty
A strange weekend for Leclerc where he was once again frustrated by setbacks but, this time, he was also responsible himself. He managed to secure a respectable enough starting position and ran ahead of his team mate in the early laps but a brutal, 9.4-second pit stop meant he emerged from the pit lane behind his team mate and possible even Hamilton too. He lost sixth at the finish due to speeding in the pit lane but he also would have likely held that position had he got those seven seconds from his pit stop back.
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Carlos Sainz Jnr – 5/10
Start: +5 places
Strategy: Two-stop (S-H-H)
Finished: 8th (-1 place behind team mate)
- Slid gently into the wall at turn four in wet opening practice, causing a red flag
- Failed to reach Q3 after being eliminated in 11th place
- Made good use of soft tyres at the start to jump into sixth until pitting for hards
- Gained place on team mate after his pit problem but then lost a place to Perez to sit in sixth
- Dropped behind team mate after second stop, eventually being overtaken by Russell to finish eighth
Not Sainz’s greatest weekend in a Ferrari but also by no means his worst. He claimed he had been the victim of the ATA rules as he had struggled on the mediums that he’d been forced to run on during his Q2 elimination but he had a very good first lap to make up for it. He ran with his team mate for much of the race and finished behind him after being caught and passed by a Mercedes which started seven places lower on the grid.
George Russell – 5/10
Qualified: 18th (-17 places behind team mate, +0.45s)
Start: +4 places
Strategy: Two-stop (H-M-M)
Finished: 6th (-2 places behind team mate)
- Eliminated from Q1 in 18th, complaining about traffic before starting final push lap
- Started on hards, picking up four places in the melee at turn one, then passed Magnussen for 13th
- Complained of battery overheating warnings during the first stint but rose to fifth before pitting
- Passed Hulkenberg, Tsunoda and Bottas to sit ninth before second stop
- Moved ahead of Alonso to rejoin in eighth, then hunted down Sainz
- Overtook Sainz to gain seventh where he would finish, gaining one place after Leclerc’s penalty
After the race was over, Mercedes’ team principal Toto Wolff claimed his team had the second fastest car over the weekend. If that was indeed the case, then sixth was ultimately an underachievement for Russell. However, he did manage to gain eight places between the second lap and the finish, which was a decent enough comeback. But he only had to do so because of being eliminated in Q1, while his team mate took pole. Traffic was a weak excuse when many others managed to improve and he was also gifted a place by Leclerc. But overall, he did a fair job of making up for his poor Saturday.
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Lewis Hamilton – 6/10
Start: -3 places
Strategy: Two-stop (M-H-M)
Finished: 4th (+2 places ahead of team mate)
- Quickest of all in final practice
- Snatched first pole position since 2021 by just three-thousandths of a second
- Dropped to fourth at the start, running there before first stop
- Caught and undercut by Perez to drop to fifth but overtook Piastri to regain fourth
- Finished under two seconds behind Perez in fourth
Hamilton ended a 33-race pole drought with a thrilling final effort on Saturday to set up a blockbuster battle with Verstappen for the start. He promptly lost that battle and then two more places to the McLarens.
While he did eventually pass Piastri, he was denied a podium by the recovering Perez. It was a solid enough result, but it is difficult not to wonder how he might have fared had he held the lead at the start.
Esteban Ocon – 5/10
Start: -7 places
Finished: Retired (Crash damage – L2)
- Missed out on Q3 in 12th place but started ahead of team mate
- Hit by Ricciardo as a result of Zhou contact at first corner, which sent him into his team mate
- Suffered severe damage that forced team to call him in to retire
Poor Ocon’s Hungarian Grand Prix weekend was one to forget. Alpine did not appear to have the pace they have enjoyed at other rounds, demonstrated by both cars being knocked out of Q2. He was taken out of the race at turn one through no fault of his own and it was fortunate he wasn’t hurt in the impact that broke his race seat.
Pierre Gasly – 5/10
Qualified: 15th (-3 places behind team mate, +0.376s)
Start: -5 places
Finished: Retired (Crash damage – L1)
- Eliminated from Q2 in 15th, over three tenths slower than team mate
- Hit by team mate at turn one as a result of Zhou behind, causing terminal damage
- Pulled in to the pit lane to retire at the end of the first lap
A weekend to forget for Gasly whose race ended in the first corner as the second innocent victim of an accident out of his control. He could have done better in qualifying but never got the chance to try and improve on Sunday.
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Lando Norris – 8/10
Start: Held position
Strategy: Two-stop (M-H-M)
Finished: 2nd (+3 places ahead of team mate)
- Lined up third on the grid less than a tenth off pole but felt lap should’ve been better
- Got ahead of Hamilton at the start but fell behind team mate to run third in opening stint
- Undercut team mate to take second place, pulling away from him but unable to keep up with the leader
- Managed his pace over the final stint to keep out of reach of Perez behind, finishing second
Being the first driver to finish behind Max Verstappen is almost as good as any driver could hope to get at present and Norris secured his second successive trip to the podium to consolidate McLaren’s leap in performance. He felt he could have been in contention for pole and he lost out to Piastri at the start, but once he cleared his team mate in the first pit cycle he looked controlled and assured. There was nothing he could do to challenge Verstappen ahead and did well to keep Perez at bay in the closing laps.
Oscar Piastri – 6/10
Qualified: 4th (-1 place behind team mate, +0.211s)
Start: +2 places
Strategy: Two-stop (M-H-M)
Finished: 5th (-3 places behind team mate)
- Lost some running in FP2 after slightly damaging floor by running wide
- Lined up on second row behind team mate but admitted lap “wasn’t my best”
- Skilfully took second at the start, spending the first 17 laps behind the leader
- Undercut by team mate to fall to third before second stop for mediums
- Claimed to have suffered floor damage, falling away from team mate over final two stints
- Received black-and-white warning flag for three track limits strikes
- Passed by Perez and Hamilton to finish fifth, half a minute behind team mate
Another impressive showing from the clear rookie of the season so far, although not as strong as his last performance in Silverstone. He backed up his team mate in qualifying again and showed excellent awareness to take second at the start, but he couldn’t keep up after his first stop and faded, later claiming to have suffered floor damage. Fifth was still a decent result, but given the performance level of the McLaren, he does not earn a higher grade.
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Valtteri Bottas – 6/10
Qualified: 7th (-2 places behind team mate, +0.063s)
Start: -5 places
Strategy: Two-stop (M-H-H)
Finished: 12th (+4 places ahead of team mate)
- Easily reached Q3 in fourth, then took season-best grid position of seventh
- Was bullied out of five positions on opening lap but appeared to have been passed illegally by Stroll
- Ran in 12th before early stop, climbing to tenth before second and final stop
- Caught up to Albon in 12th but spent more than 20 laps unable to get by the Williams in DRS range
- Finished less than a second behind Albon in 12th
Given such a strong starting position after the Alfa Romeo was one of the stories of qualifying, missing out on points was a disappointing result for Bottas. However, their qualifying pace simply did not translate in the race. He had to avoid his team mate at the start and gave away too many places on lap one, but at least managed to gain some of those back over the race. He was the latest driver left frustrated by Albon’s defending but he at least had much better pace than his team mate.
Zhou Guanyu – 5/10
Start: -11 places
Strategy: Two-stop (M-H-H)
Finished: 16th (-4 places behind team mate)
- Secured career-best grid position of fifth despite having three times deleted in qualifying
- Suffered bizarre fault at start that saw him swallowed up by the pack, then triggered turn one crash
- Ran 16th before first stop, serving five second penalty, then ran in 15th place
- Dropped to 17th behind Tsunoda after second stop for hard tyres
- Picked up 16th after Sargeant’s late spin, finishing there half a minute behind team mate
It had all looked so promising for Zhou after he was one of the standouts of qualifying, taking a career best grid position of fifth and out-qualifying Leclerc and his team mate too. But all that good work fell away in the opening seconds of the race. He was so unlucky to be struck by a system error at the start, but he had little excuse for hitting Ricciardo and taking out the Alpines. From there, his race never really recovered and all that promise was unfulfilled.
Lance Stroll – 5/10
Start: +4 places
Strategy: Two-stop (S-H-H)
Finished: 10th (-1 place behind team mate)
- Failed to follow team mate into Q3, eliminated in 14th after having fastest time deleted for track limits
- Started on softs, benefitting from the messy start and appeared to pass Bottas outside of track limits
- Ran tenth until early first stop, undercutting team mate before allowing him by
- Regained tenth after second pit stop cycle but drifted away from team mate
- Took final point in tenth, the first lapped finisher
Just a month or so ago, tenth place in an Aston Martin would have been deserving of a harsher rating. But based on the performance level of Aston Martin at Hungary, tenth place was probably a par score for Stroll. He underperformed in qualifying but at least managed to make progress up the field to take the final point behind his team mate – although he was lucky his move on Bottas at turn four stood.
Fernando Alonso – 6/10
Qualified: 8th (+6 places ahead of team mate, -0.443s)
Start: +1 place
Strategy: Two-stop (M-H-H)
Finished: 9th (+1 place ahead of team mate)
- Reached Q3, unlike team mate, lining up eighth on the grid
- Ran in seventh in early laps but passed by Perez, running in eighth over middle stint
- Lost a couple of seconds when he did not fully stop his rear wheels in the pit stop
- Overcut by Russell to drop to ninth where he would pull away from team mate behind
- Eventually crossed the line ninth, the last car on the lead lap at the finish
Alonso considered ninth place as a fair reflection on Aston Martin’s performance at the Hungaroring and if that’s to be taken at face value than that means it was not his best performance of the season as he only delivered what was to be expected. Still, he had a solid weekend where, as ever, he was the better of the two Aston Martin drivers, finishing 25 seconds ahead of Stroll by the finish.
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Kevin Magnussen – 3/10
Start: +6 places
Strategy: Two-stop (M-H-H)
Finished: 17th (-3 places behind team mate)
- Behind team mate in every session
- Failed to progress out of Q1, eliminated in 19th
- Picked up six places at the start thanks to turn one shunt but then passed by Russell on lap two
- Ran in 16th under pressure from Sargeant until second stop, dropping to the rear
- Was last car running until Sargeant spun in final laps, finishing 17th
As the 2023 season progresses, the difference in performance between the Haas drivers increasingly feels like Magnussen is underperforming more than his team mate is overachieving. Being half a second slower than Hulkenberg in Q1 was a huge margin with such a close field and while the Haas has poor race pace, he fell more than half a minute behind his team mate by the chequered flag. His score reflects just how far off the pace he was in the two most important sessions.
Nico Hulkenberg – 6/10
Qualified: 10th (+9 places ahead of team mate, -0.511s)
Start: +1 place
Strategy: Two-stop (M-H-H)
Finished: 14th (+3 places ahead of team mate)
- In the top ten in every timed session, ahead of team mate in every session
- Reached Q3 in seventh but qualified in tenth
- Ran ninth during opening stint, then dropped to 14th after first stop
- Lost more places during the second pit stop cycle and eventually regained 14th
- Caught by Sargeant in closing laps but held him off to finish 14th a lap down
Hungary followed a familiar pattern for Hulkenberg. He appeared to out-perform his car in qualifying to reach Q3 once again, but in the race he drifted down the order as his rivals enjoyed better race pace and tyre performance than he did. But that is more a reflection on his car than on his own driving as he was once again in a different league than his team mate and probably finished higher than he would have expected heading into the weekend.
Yuki Tsunoda – 4/10
Qualified: 17th (-4 places behind team mate, +0.013s)Start: +6 places
Strategy: Two-stop (S-H-M)
Finished: 15th (-2 places behind team mate)
- Lost benefit of new front wing after damaging it in practice
- Failed to follow his new team mate into Q2, eliminated in 17th place
- Gained six places on softs navigating through the chaos of turn one, then nailing Bottas at the chicane
- Pitted early before running long middle stint on hards, emerging in 16th after final stop
- Gained one place in final laps when Sargeant spun to finish 15th
At his first attempt to demonstrate his abilities when compared directly to returning team mate Ricciardo, Tsunoda did little to impress across the weekend. He damaged his upgraded front wing in practice, was out-qualified by his team mate and then finished 15 seconds behind him in the race despite being well ahead in the early laps. Racing in such a tight midfield isn’t easy, but he should definitely not have been outperformed by his new team mate at the first attempt.
Daniel Ricciardo – 7/10
Start: -5 places
Strategy: Two-stop (M-H-M)
Finished: 13th (+2 places ahead of team mate)
- First event since 2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and first time driving new car
- Reached Q2, unlike team mate, eventually taking 13th on the grid
- Hit by Zhou at start which led to collision with Alpines, falling to back but without serious damage
- Ran last after second stop for mediums but passed Magnussen and gained places when others pitted
- Finished in 13th, one lap down but 15 seconds ahead of team mate
A very solid effort from Ricciardo after jumping back into a grand prix for the first time in half a year. Despite his lack of experience with the AT04, he out qualified team mate Tsunoda. He was unlucky to be caught up in the turn one melee but grinded at the back until his final stint when he picked up places to finish in a very respectable 13th and immediately vindicate Red Bull’s decision to give him the seat. Earns extra credit for this weekend due to his lack of time in the car.
Alexander Albon – 7/10
Start: +1 place
Strategy: Two-stop (M-H-H)
Finished: 11th (+7 places ahead of team mate)
- Just missed out on Q2 by one-hundredth of a second to line up 16th on the grid
- Picked up a place from Zhou’s poor start then pitted first of all drivers for hard tyres
- Took advantage of clear air to move up to 12th before second stop, undercutting Bottas to gain 11th
- Spent over 20 laps with Bottas within DRS but held him off to finish 11th
Given that the Hungaroring was never supposed to suit his Williams, Albon did a very good job to be first placed out of the bottom five teams. He was close to getting out of Q1 and had an OK start, but he executed his team’s aggressive strategy brilliantly, wringing pace out of his well used tyres over long stints. He once again spent the final laps of the race with a car filling his mirrors without losing his nerve and only the fact the top five teams monopolised the top ten ultimately denied him a point.
Logan Sargeant – 4/10
Qualified: 20th (-4 places behind team mate, +0.331s)
Start: +3 places
Strategy: Two-stop (M-H-H)
Classified: 18th (-7 places behind team mate)
- Eliminated slowest in Q1 to line up 20th and last on the grid after “messy” lap
- Gained three places from first corner melee to run 17th
- Slow first stop denied him chance to overcut Zhou but undercut Magnussen at second stop
- Ran in 15th behind Hulkenberg but spun at chicane under pressure from Tsunoda
- Called into the pits to retire, classified as a finisher in 18th
On a weekend that was never likely to offer a great result for Sargeant, he still underperformed as he failed to deliver when it mattered most. Being eliminated in Q1 was to be expected, but he admitted his final lap could have been better. He actually showed decent race pace compared to his team mate in the two stints, but seemed to struggle with his tyres late in the race before spinning at the chicane.
Over to you
Vote for the driver who impressed you most last weekend and find out whether other RaceFans share your view here:
2023 Hungarian Grand Prix
- Was F1’s Alternative Tyre Allocation test successful? Drivers and teams have their say
- How far can McLaren climb with car rivals now say is the second-fastest in F1?
- Why Ricciardo says McLaren’s car “speaks Lando’s language” – but Norris disagrees
- Mercedes reveal cooling error behind loss of pace in Hungarian GP
- Perez answered critics in Hungary but needs to qualify better – Horner
Jere (@jerejj)
25th July 2023, 7:27
Most impressed: VER & NOR
Most disappointing: LEC & TSU
MacLeod (@macleod)
25th July 2023, 7:59
Yes I agree only why VER got a 7 while the car was terrible the whole weekend (except on Sunday) and still almost got the pole. And Why NOR get a 8 as he breaks a trofee by acting not professional on the podium (for the second time), but ending more the 30 seconds behind the first driver.
I was even suprised that VER got second place on Qualifly as he was really struggeling a lot with the car.
James Bond (@jamesbond)
25th July 2023, 8:16
Agreed
d0senbrot (@d0senbrot)
25th July 2023, 8:44
Even though I don’t approve of Norris’ behavior on the podium and afterwards, the rating should be based solely on his performance on the track.
Why he got a higher rating is probably once again because the author estimates his performance higher relative to the material. The usual coffee grounds reading.
Coventry Climax
25th July 2023, 9:53
No it’s not: According to this article, it’s a jury sports show. Best pirouette, most spectacular blowup of either power unit or tyre, highest jump, best lap in reverse, most disgusting act on the podium while exhibiting the widest smile, biggest whine, prettiest hairdo and jewellery; all that scores points with the jury. And when there’s insufficient of these elements available during a weekend, the jury can always resort to -very inclusive- looks and nationality.
More seriously, this is by nature a jury article, as there’s no measurable indicators to go by. If there were, they wouldn’t need explaining.
But: If this is supposed to be a driver report, I don’t get why Verstappen is to blame for still getting second in qualifying with a car the team set up such that he is, at that moment, not happy with it.
I don’t understand that reasoning, even if I coudn’t care less as to the ‘points’ associated with it.
Dantera
25th July 2023, 15:37
Fully agree with Coventry Climax. Max was absolutely perfect this weekend. The fact he almost snatched pole position in a car that was clearly not good on saturday is a testament to his level. Total joke to think Lando drove better than him in any shape or form.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
25th July 2023, 18:27
Is this a joke, dantera? Red bull was the best car even saturday, check the sector times, verstappen was a quarter of a second off his optimal laptime, hamilton half a tenth off his own.
Carl Parker (@mysticarl)
25th July 2023, 8:48
Max did a good job on race day but he made mistakes in quali and should have had pole by a few tenths. Goodness knows how you justify saying the RB is terrible, there are some cars on the grid that could sometimes be called terrible but the RB isn’t one of them.
osnola
25th July 2023, 11:09
The rb19 was fitted with essential new parts without any knowledge about the exact setup. So the balance was sub par to say the least. Hence the multitude of small corrections Verstappen had to make influencing the result.
Dantera
25th July 2023, 15:37
Fully agree with Coventry Climax. Max was absolutely perfect this weekend. The fact he almost snatched pole position in a car that was clearly not good on saturday is a testament to his level. Total joke to think Lando drove better than him in any shape or form.
What mistake did he make there, Carl?
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
25th July 2023, 18:28
He was a quarter of a second off the possible best time combining the sectors in quali, the sector times say this quickly.
David (@davidjwest)
25th July 2023, 15:22
He should have been on pole, didn’t go quicker in his final Q3 run unlike most other front runners.
The Edge (@the-edge)
25th July 2023, 23:01
Really @macleod ? They should build a proper podium that doesn’t shake when you hit a glass bottle on it. Nothing wrong with the way Norris opened his bottle
elchinero (@elchinero)
25th July 2023, 17:56
Max: 30-second win => “7th”
Lew: Pole to 4th => “6th”
Antz (@antznz)
25th July 2023, 8:36
That average driver rating chart with Danny 2nd..
Matthijs (@matthijs)
25th July 2023, 11:59
@antznz Last year De Vries had the overall best rating… and now he’s last.
Jimmy Cliff
25th July 2023, 8:46
“But his frustration at missing out on pole showed he knew there was more speed in his car than he extracted.”
Verstappen get knocked down a point despite nearly a grand slam. Max ultimate lap time shows a gap but that is down to him pushing his 2nd lap in 2nd sector causing his tires to be less good in 3rd sector than on 1st run. It is a trade off so impossible to have both 2nd lap 2nd sector and 1st lap 3rd sector. Still he almost got pole in a car that was not set-up for qualifying and to his liking and on a track that doesn’t play to the car strengths.
On Sunday when it matters most he got a brilliant start, maximized points once again and gave a masterclass in tire management while going blistering fast and that is not all due to the car.
“Lined up third on the grid less than a tenth off pole but felt lap should’ve been better”
Norris gets maximum score despite also not maximizing his qualifying lap, had a good start but not as good as his team mate. Did better job at tire management than his rookie teammate and finished 2nd as Hamilton screwed up turn1 & 2 and out lap after first pitstop
Not giving a driver a 8 because he didn’t score a grand slam isn’t a proper metrics – there is very little Max could have done more in Hungary than he did – he was closer to the maximum of the car than Norris – certainly on Race day. So either both should have gotten an 8 or neither.
osnola
25th July 2023, 11:11
Completely agree here.
But in line with earlier scores, Norris wins a point extra for being…..
Ver a point less as punishment for his car …
Cronies
25th July 2023, 11:42
Think you nailed it. This rating system is based on entertainment value. To get a good rating you need start, or end up out of position (perferably through no fault of your own) and then deliver a.storming drive. Great driving alone cannot get you a 9 or 10. And then there is the mandatory -1 if you in the best car.
But there exceptions to every rule, holding position (well with the help of.others sliding off) at Monaco earns you a 9….
These rating are similar to “driver of the day”, look to other sources for a analysis on actual driving r
Mack41
25th July 2023, 15:07
These ratings are absolutely useless. The season long average chart shows that, every driver within a 2 point spread is silly. If there’s 10 points available use them. Deducting points from VER but giving points to NOR for the same reason is ridiculous and happens consistently. The entire piece is a farce and waste of server space. Only exists to generate gripes in the comments (great work there!)
Hans Herrmann (@twentyseven)
25th July 2023, 16:47
I always enjoy these ratings and I think actually reflect the reality of differentiating between a drivers’ performance through the fog of a million variables. Unless you really shine or absolutely fail you get absorbed into the fog. Anything else would be a contrived difference. Also if you look at the ranking according to these ratings so far this year I would say it’s spot on (with the exception of Riccardo where more data is required!)
Mack41
25th July 2023, 17:14
I agree the rankings are spot on but a 10 point scale allows for more granularity than is being used here. May as well be out of 5. The season Max has been having and he’s only 1.5 on average above an underperforming Bottas? Seems silly when taken from a high level view point.
Todfod (@todfod)
25th July 2023, 9:00
I think Ricciardo is slightly flattered in these ratings. He was better than Yuki but not at a 7-4 level. I think these are hype train ratings. Norris deserves to be an 8, as he was the only standout driver this weekend. I’d put both Max and Lewis at 7.
slowmo (@slowmo)
25th July 2023, 9:12
Yeah when you consider Lewis put arguably the third fastest car on pole and his only mistake was at the first corner all weekend a 6 seems harsh compared to Leclerc also on 6 who was poor on pace all weekend and compounded his own race result by speeding in the pit lane. Also Ricciardo getting a higher score for just turning up and beating Tsunoda is crazy. Same thinking with Albon too, did absolutely nothing worth awarding a score of 7.
I’m fine with Norris getting a 8, he delivered all weekend with no major errors and got the most out of his package in terms of points in the end.
Cronies
25th July 2023, 11:43
He admitted to messing up his quali run.
Facts&Stats
25th July 2023, 9:18
If I compare Ricciardo HUN23 to De Vries ITA22, then Ricciardo certainly wasn’t an 8 (and even De Vries last year was sentimentally inflated).
Matthijs (@matthijs)
25th July 2023, 12:01
@todfod I think it is fair to flatter Ricciardo’s results by 1 point (or so), because it was his first time in the car. If this race had been his 7th for Alpha Tauri, then a 6 would be better.
Erkr
25th July 2023, 13:20
The author also failed to mention Yuki’s 7.4 sec pit stop and being left out on hards just to drop 100 places
Retired (@jeff1s)
25th July 2023, 10:07
Author has to pass the article to another writer, he’s off more than not, his mark is 1/10
Roth Man (@rdotquestionmark)
25th July 2023, 11:47
Crazy to think that the reviewer thinks there was still another 30% improvement that could have been achieved on Max’s weekend. And another 20% performance left on the table by Lando. Lewis left 40% potential on the table.
Matthijs (@matthijs)
25th July 2023, 12:03
@rdotquestionmark A 30% improvement compared to all-time greatest drives, for instance Senna Monaco ’84 and Donington ’93, or Schumachers Spain 1996.
If you were to rate this race by Verstappen a 9, how would you rate his Spain 2016 or Brazil 2016 race?
Dantera
25th July 2023, 15:46
9 also, maybe 9.5. Sometimes when all things go well the level of performance a driver is operating at can get obfuscated. The analyst’s job is to shed light on these kind of drives.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
25th July 2023, 18:31
Verstappen wasn’t even the clear best driver in brazil 2016 and won spain because of the merc collision, they were still good races, but they wouldn’t be up there with the greatest.
Matthijs (@matthijs)
25th July 2023, 20:08
@esploratore1 I agree with you. I just wanted to pick two races from Verstappen that I think deserve a higher rating than his rating from Sunday’s race.
Robert Henning
25th July 2023, 20:58
Which fundamentally begs the question:
– What is the judgemental criterion you use for rating drivers?
In Brazil 2016, Hamilton had the better car, outperformed his teammate, and did a standard pole to comfortable win. Did he have to do something exceptional? No. He did the best job, given everything else was perfect for him. So well done.
The same race, Verstappen had to do so much more after the strategy call, in risky, treacherous conditions, given he was driving in the pack.
It comes off as rather disingenuous to not rate a race like Brazil 2016.
Spain 2016 was far more straightforward, except he had to pace himself well to manage his tires in a car he had never driver before that weekend.
I think rating a “driver” should definitely take into account context.
I think 7 for this weekend is fair, however Monaco this year was unfair, given Ocon got a 9 for a mediocre weekend.
Frank
25th July 2023, 15:53
To add to @matthijs:
You have chosen to interpret the scores as a percentage of “maximum” performance, which is clearly not the way they are intended by the reviewer. (The scores are not what they call a ratio variable.)
If they were ratios of maximum performance, then you’d probably have to score all these world class drivers within a 9.0-9.5 range. And there are already plenty of complaints about the current range of the scores.
Matthijs (@matthijs)
25th July 2023, 20:11
I think I interpret the scores close to how the author meant it. I don’t mind if Verstappen gets a 7 or a 8 for this race. In the greater scheme of things this race was not special from Max’ perspective, so not a very high score.
Frank
26th July 2023, 14:38
My comment was not contradicting anything you said, it was adding to it. I agreed with your point.
But I was objecting to the interpretation of the the scores as some “percentage of maximum performance”, as the previous commenter seemed to do.
Matthijs (@matthijs)
27th July 2023, 9:56
I am sorry, I misunderstood you. Thanks for the clarification.
Haas Khan (@haas918)
25th July 2023, 11:48
Hamilton 6/10 and Perez 5/10. It doesn’t seem fair.
melanos
25th July 2023, 15:21
Certainly, 2/10 and 4/10 are more like it
Mayrton
25th July 2023, 12:27
In general I can most of the time agree somewhat with the ratings albeit they be (across the line) somewhat harsh vs the 1-10 scale (it usually looks more like a 1-8 scale). This weekend however I agree with very little of them. It almost seems like the Liberty circusification is catching on in the ratings. It shouldn’t be about the entertainment value but about the athletic/sports performance of the drivers (unless explicitly mentioned it is something else). Max for instance was very close to a grand slam despite having a diva of a car on Saturday (so I would say he is rated rather low). Lewis didn’t capitalise at all (when it matters and the actual racing is done) on this stellar performance on Saturday (so I would say he is rated rather high). More and more politics, personal preference (preference throughout the season goes out to Lewis, Lando and Daniel. Dislike to Max, Checo and George) and entertainment criteria are mixed in. This is the last time I will check in on these ratings articles.
Jim from US (@jimfromus)
25th July 2023, 13:02
I still think BOT deserves and extra point for positioning his car at pit exit every time a racer at the front was coming out of the pits. Sponsors love tv time.
Sonny Crockett (@sonnycrockett)
25th July 2023, 13:06
Quite low ratings for many of the drivers IMHO.
Max was sensational all weekend and his lack of pole reflected RB’s decision to set the car up for the race rather than qualifying. Surely worthy of at least an 8, if not a 9.
Likewise Oscar Piastri who, as a rookie, shouldn’t be scoring a 6 when he was 4th in qualifying and 5th in the race. 7 or 8 would be far more fitting. Probably the latter.
Dusty
25th July 2023, 13:47
Will Would Could but Didn’t 7/10
Writer was off the mark for another weekend, but he managed to drive clicks to his article:
– assumed RBR is a rocket ship and must be 1s faster than the next car in every session under any circumstances. Scored Max’s tire/race management master class as below his season average;
– assumed, for a record breaking 10th time in a single season, Williams is still as slow as 2019 and justifies scoring anything Albon does in that car as +2 above reality;
– ignored car evolution from McLaren to hype Lando’s performance for a second weekend in a row, although his rookie teammate is right up there with him;
– thinks Honda backed Yuki is a real benchmark and believes Ric sitting on the car and driving around is a performance more impressive than Hamilton’s pole position in the worst car of the field;
Another weekend to forget for the writer, 7/10
melanos
25th July 2023, 15:36
Seriously?
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
25th July 2023, 18:37
7\10 is pretty good for a weekend to forget, here you can be close to perfect if you get 7.
Jogo
25th July 2023, 15:17
It’s funny, why don’t you praise Tsunoda, he’s almost at the same level of speed as multi GP winner Ricciardo. Seems like no one wants poor Japanese guy to win this internal battle.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
25th July 2023, 18:37
It’s indeed a very big difference considering their weekend, there’s definitely a hype or returning bonus for ricciardo in there.
Mooa42
26th July 2023, 2:15
Regardless of finishing positions, if you look at the lap times for Dan from lap 31 to about lap 45 he was doing similar times to the two Mclarens with only RedBulls and Merc setting faster times, he continued that consistent pace up until he pitted around lap 55 with other teams upping their lap times when they switched to new tyres. I think he also deserved credit for asking the team to get him in fresh air, that’s the sort of thinking that makes a difference and it was good to see. I think Dan’s rating was not so bad but Yuki deserved better than a 4 when he really didn’t do anything wrong.
melanos
25th July 2023, 15:32
A six for Fred is harsh. He is not driving any worse that early in the season when he was collecting podiums, it’s the AMR that is getting behind the competition, 2nd to 5th car or thereabouts. Aside from failing to brake properly in the pitstop and losing maybe 2 seconds (with no consequences anyway) I do not see much that Fred could have done better. Ok, an 8 is pretty hard to achieve in these rankings but 7 would have been much more like it. If you can get a 6/10 after you botch your start, and go from P1 to P4 and never recover from there, Fred should get a 12/10.
A M (@amam)
25th July 2023, 16:34
I didn’t see Alonso getting pole in a car that wasn’t quickest? So why should Alonso get more points for beating Stroll than Hamilton gets for beating George? Both made mistakes.
Robert Henning
25th July 2023, 21:03
The reason is simple. Points are given on Sunday, and the car was capable of a P2, if not for botching the start, and therefore the ultimate potential of the car was not fulfilled. Sure, it was a good qualifying, but there needs to be some context there as well, given RB did come out and say they set up the car for race day – the day where most points are awarded, and potentially that also meant that a pole wasn’t as straightforward as it was for Lewis, given the setups of the cars.
Alonso maximized his car, beat his teammate.
Job well done.
melanos
25th July 2023, 22:29
Whoever mentioned beating Lance or George? In the first ten seconds of the race there was a clear LOSER and it was not Fred.
2/10 is extremely generous but I have do not remember 1/10 in this rankings so I’d accept that
A M (@amam)
25th July 2023, 16:39
I’d give Will Wood 3 out of 10 for these ratings. I miss Keith’s ratings. They were far more thorough and knowledgeable.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
25th July 2023, 18:39
I would prefer votes in 1-10 scale: just saying struggler and star left stuff open to interpretation, stuff like hamilton having a really horrible weekend in monaco and not being a struggler.
F1 frog (@f1frog)
25th July 2023, 16:46
Valtteri Bottas is rated far too highly here, in my opinion. The Alfa Romeo was a very quick car, as demonstrated by their qualifying pace on all three types of tyre, and their excellent practice pace, as well as both cars showing great pace just after their stops. Seventh in qualifying looks good because it is his best of the season, but Zhou was fifth and he is no qualifying specialist. There was more pace in the car on that final lap and Bottas could have been on the second row. Then in the race he totally messed up the start because of his usual struggles with racecraft, and later got stuck behind Albon despite being much faster than him. I think Bottas could have finished ninth or even better with a 6/10 drive this weekend, and a Verstappen or Norris level drive could have been rewarded with fifth, but he finished outside the points by some distance.
Bottas was a very underrated driver in his Mercedes years and started his Alfa Romeo career very well, but I feel that since Baku last year he has lost his form and is now past it.
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
25th July 2023, 18:34
Bottas had to lift at the start because of Zhou and even the team admitted this. The situation with albon would have been the same for any other driver in bottas car against the Williams. The difference in straight line speed was insane. Bottas frequently was within 0.4 seconds at the start of the straight behind albon and yet could barely even get his front wing past before the first corner. This is related to the two engines and car setup and not the drivers.
Bottas has also collected damage 4 times this year that has not been his fault and that is making his results look much worse than they are.
James Bond (@jamesbond)
25th July 2023, 17:04
Why not give Nyck de Vries an 8 for giving his seat to dan.