2023 Japanese Grand Prix weekend F1 driver ratings

The Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka saw Red Bull clinch this year’s constructors’ championship in emphatic fashion with Max Verstappen producing one of his most commanding wins in a season where he has regularly won with ease.

But while Verstappen re-established Red Bull as the undisputed team to beat in Suzuka after their defeat in Singapore, his team mate, Sergio Perez had a very different kind of weekend.

Here are the RaceFans driver ratings for the Japanese Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen – 8/10

Qualified: Pole (+4 places ahead of team mate, -0.773s)
Start: Held position
Strategy: Two-stop (M-M-H)
Finished: Winner

• Fastest of all in all three practice sessions
• Stormed to pole position by over half a second
• Held off both McLarens to keep the lead at the start, then pulled gradually away from Norris
• Pitted for second set of mediums and passed Russell to reclaim lead
• Switched to hard tyres for final stop and retained lead, setting fastest lap
• Continued to pull away from Norris to claim a comfortable win

Verstappen’s 12th victory of 2023 was perhaps his most emphatic. He was untouchable from the very beginning of the weekend and never looked in danger of being challenged. His pole margin was remarkable and his race pace was as metronomic as ever. However, his fastest lap being over a second quicker than Norris’s suggested how much he was likely cruising, so it’s difficult to put this win in the same tier as his Spa triumph.

Sergio Perez – 3/10

Qualified: 5th (-4 places behind team mate, +0.773s)
Start: -2 places
Strategy: Four-stop (M-H-S-S-S)
Finished: Retired (Damage – L16)

• Took fifth on the grid in qualifying, seven tenths slower than team mate
• Suffered damage in the squeeze at the start, pitting for repairs on lap two
• Earned five second time penalty for passing Alonso before Safety Car line
• Restarted in 18th and passed Albon and Zhou to run behind Ocon
• Crashed into Magnussen at the hairpin, damaging front wing
• Pitted for new front wing, serving penalty, then pulling into garage next lap
• Rejoined race 41 minutes later to serve second penalty for Magnussen, then retired

Perez’s performance could hardly have contrasted more to his team mate. He was slower at every stage than Verstappen and was out-qualified by two McLarens and a Ferrari. After clumsily clattering into Albon in Singapore, Perez’s move on Magnussen was even worse, ending his own race and ruining his rival’s. Having to return to the race to serve a penalty was a particularly humiliating spectacle.

Charles Leclerc – 8/10

Qualified: 4th (+2 places ahead of team mate, -0.308s)
Start: Held position
Strategy: Two-stop (M-M-H)
Finished: 4th (+2 places ahead of team mate)

• Fastest of all in Q2 then delivered Q3 lap good enough to beat Perez to fourth
• Held fourth over the opening laps before pitting for second set of mediums
• Passed Alonso and Ocon on the same lap and ran in fourth until second stop for hards
• Caught and passed Russell for fourth and finished there, five seconds ahead of Hamilton

Leclerc was one of the best performers over the Suzuka weekend and it’s difficult to see what more Ferrari could have asked from him. He out-qualified a Red Bull and did his best to try and keep pace with the McLarens ahead and got around Russell when he needed to. He was faster than Sainz throughout the weekend and only the limitations of his car prevented him from challenging for a podium.

Carlos Sainz Jnr – 6/10

Qualified: 6th (-2 places behind team mate, +0.308s)
Start: +1 place
Strategy: Two-stop (M-M-H)
Finished: 6th (-2 places behind team mate)

• Qualified in sixth, admitting to struggling with his set-up
• Gained one place over damaged Perez at the start, then ran behind team mate in fifth
• Pitted latest of front runners for second set of mediums, passing Alonso and Ocon to sit sixth
• Gained fifth when Russell pitted, then made second stop for hards
• Rejoined in seventh and caught Hamilton, then passed Russell for sixth
• Pressured Hamilton but could not challenge him, finishing fifth

A decent enough weekend for Sainz who could hardly have been expected to emulate his incredible race-winning performance from the previous weekend in Singapore. Not on the same level as his team mate over the three days, Sainz at least out-qualified the two Mercedes. His relatively late pit stops allowed him to be undercut by Hamilton, but he at least picked off Russell near the end to secure a top six finish

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George Russell – 6/10

Qualified: 8th (-1 place behind team mate, +0.311s)
Start: -1 place
Strategy: One-stop (M-H)
Finished: 7th (-2 places behind team mate)

• Qualified eighth, one place but three tenths behind team mate
• Lost a place to Alonso at the start and got ahead of team mate at restart for a single corner
• Stayed out on mediums as rivals ahead pitted to rise up to second before pitting for hards
• Rejoined seventh and gained places as cars ahead pitted before being passed by Norris
• Overtaken by Piastri and Leclerc before being asked to let team mate by
• Lost a further position to Sainz to finish in seventh

Mercedes were not in contention for victory like they were last weekend and Russell was forced to work hard for his seventh place finish. Although he warned that a one-stop race was looking very unlikely before Sunday, he was the only one of the front running drivers to attempt it. He battled Hamilton early in the race and allowed him through in the closing laps but couldn’t keep Sainz behind. Still, he put in a valiant effort.

Lewis Hamilton – 6/10

Qualified: 7th (+1 place ahead of team mate, -0.311s)
Start: -1 place
Strategy: Two-stop (M-H-H)
Finished: 5th (+2 places ahead of team mate)

• Qualified ahead of team mate in seventh
• Suffered contact with Perez in squeeze at the start but appeared to be undamaged
• Overtaken by team mate but immediately repassed him into turn one
• Noted for forcing Russell off track at Spoon but had no action taken
• Pitted for hards and passed Alonso and Ocon to move back up to sixth
• Made second stop for hards, dropped to seventh, then gained sixth when Sainz stopped
• Caught team mate in closing laps and was allowed through into fifth where he would finish

Hamilton may have qualified and finished ahead of his team mate in Suzuka, but it was difficult to know whether or not he was truly the quickest Mercedes driver over the Japanese weekend. He had to fight hard to keep Russell behind him in the opening stint and then was allowed through late in the race before absorbing pressure from Sainz in the closing laps. But Mercedes were not at their strongest around Suzuka which limited the impact he could have.

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Esteban Ocon – 7/10

Qualified: 14th (-2 places behind team mate, +0.077s)
Start: -5 places
Strategy: Two-stop (M-H-H)
Finished: 9th (+1 place ahead of team mate)

• Eliminated from Q2 in 14th, less than a tenth of a second behind his team mate
• Inadvertently triggered contact with Bottas by drifting into him at start, suffering puncture
• Pitted for repairs and restarted from 15th on hards, passing Magnussen
• Ran long middle stint and pitted for second set of hards on lap 28
• Ran ninth behind Alonso until caught by team mate and asked to let him by
• Allowed Gasly through until being handed place back on final lap to finish ninth

Ocon climbed out of his car satisfied with his result from Suzuka and he deserved to be. Although being out-qualified by his team mate, he at least kept his car out of the wall and even if he drifted into Bottas at the start, it was not an egregious move by any means. After pitting for repairs, he effectively ran a one-stop race when tyre wear was of real concern. He might have been handed ninth back by his team mate, it was only fair for him being a team player beforehand.

Pierre Gasly – 6/10

Qualified: 12th (+2 places ahead of team mate, -0.077s)
Start: -2 places
Strategy: Two-stop (M-H-H)
Finished: 10th (-1 place behind team mate)

• Crashed at Degner 2 at end of FP2, causing major front damage
• Breezed into Q2 but was knocked out in 12th, just ahead of team mate
• Dropped two places at the start but gained positions as rivals pitted before late first stop
• Fitted hard tyres and resumed 15th, passing Zhou, Lawson and Tsunoda to run eighth
• Made second stop for hards and fell to 11th, passed Hulkenberg, then caught team mate
• Was allowed through to attack Alonso but could not catch the Aston Martin
• Told to let Ocon by on final lap and begrudgingly obliged to finish tenth

Gasly scored another points finish after a decent performance across the weekend. His small error at the end of second practice caused big damage, but it happened at the right time to minimise problems. He did well on Saturday and his pace was decent in the race but it’s difficult to sympathise with his displeasure at being told to allow Ocon through at the finish given how he couldn’t catch Alonso in time.

Lando Norris – 8/10

Qualified: 3rd (-1 place behind team mate, +0.035s)
Start: +1 place
Strategy: Two-stop (M-H-H)
Finished: 2nd (+1 place ahead of team mate)

• Just beaten by team mate to the front row, taking third on the grid
• Got ahead of Piastri and Verstappen at the start but had to settle into second at turn two
• Led one lap when Verstappen pitted before making his first stop for hards
• Emerged behind team mate and was allowed through into second
• Made second stop for hards and quickly passed Russell
• Couldn’t catch Verstappen but pulled away from team mate to finish second

Norris made it back-to-back podiums in Suzuka and secured what was certainly the best result he could have hoped for with Verstappen clear out front. While he was beaten in qualifying by his team mate, it was by less than half a tenth and he jumped almost ahead of both cars ahead at the start. For the rest of the race, his pace was very strong and he grew almost as big a gap to Piastri as he had to the winner.

Oscar Piastri – 7/10

Qualified: 2nd (+1 place ahead of team mate, -0.035s)
Start: -1 place
Strategy: Two-stop (M-H-H)
Finished: 3rd (-1 place behind team mate)

• First time at Suzuka, ran with team’s latest aero update for the first time
• Pipped team mate to secure first ever front row start
• Attacked Verstappen off the line but had to settle for third place into turn one
• Pitted just before VSC, undercutting Norris for second but then told to let team mate through
• Made second stop for hard tyres and passed Russell to regain third
• Fell away from team mate but maintained advantage over Leclerc to take first career podium

Welcome, Oscar Piastri, to the exclusive club of drivers to reach the podium in their rookie season. Ever since first getting his hands on McLaren’s major upgrades in Silverstone, Piastri has threatened to score a top-three finish and thanks to their latest parts in Suzuka, he did. He did very well to out-qualify his team mate and start from the front row, but Norris got the better start. Piastri admitted he didn’t have the pace of his team mate in the race but looked very confident throughout the race and took a well-deserved first podium.

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Valtteri Bottas – 6/10

Qualified: 16th (+3 places ahead of team mate, -0.349s)
Start: -4 places
Strategy: Two-stop (S-S-H)
Finished: Retired (Damage – L8)

• Only just eliminate from Q1 in 16th but admitted he had not extracted the full potential from his car
• Caught up in the squeeze on the run to turn one, leaving him with damaged car
• Fell to rear after pitting for repairs, restarting last
• Hit by Sargeant at the hairpin on restart lap, forcing him back to the pits for repairs
• Emerged on hard tyres but pulled into the pits to retire next lap

A frustrating weekend for Bottas who was in the wars throughout the opening laps on Sunday. He almost escaped Q1 and had a decent start to draw level with Ocon and Albon ahead, but he suffered damage in the melee and dropped to the rear. When the race restarted, he was hit by Sargeant through no fault of his own, which ended his race. At least he had been quicker than his team mate until that point.

Zhou Guanyu – 5/10

Qualified: 19th (-3 places behind team mate, +0.349s)
Start: +1 place
Strategy: Three-stop (S-S-S-H)
Finished: 13th

• Suffered brake problems in FP2 that limited running
• Knocked out 19th in Q1, complaining of traffic and a mistake at Degner 2
• Started on softs but was hit by debris at the start, having to pit for lap one repairs
• Restarted 16th on new softs, then passed by Perez before second stop for softs
• Ran ahead of Haas drivers and eventually made third stop for hard tyres on lap 29
• Fell to last but moved ahead of Haas drivers in pit cycle to finish 13th

A textbook average performance for Zhou who neither did anything particularly impressive, nor made any notable errors. His qualifying performance was no worse than underwhelming but he made a decent enough start. He was unlucky to strike a large chunk of debris from a clash he wasn’t involved with, but even once the race restarted he didn’t exactly set the circuit alight with his pace.

Lance Stroll – 4/10

Qualified: 17th (-7 places behind team mate, +0.21s)
Start: +5 places
Strategy: One-stop (S-M)
Finished: Retired (Rear wing failure – L21)

• Behind team mate in every session
• Failed to follow team mate into Q2, eliminated in 17th
• Picked up five places through the chaos of the start to sit in 11th before pitting for mediums
• Dropped to 14th and passed Hulkenberg for 13th place
• Forced to retire after rear wing was deemed unsafely loose

Yet another subpar performance from Stroll in which, despite the Aston Martin being a car worthy of a top ten finish, he didn’t look like delivering one. He never seemed on the same pace as his team mate and while he made no errors of note in the race, he spent the race gradually falling back from Alonso. His retirement was not his fault, with Aston Martin making the right call to retire the car.

Fernando Alonso – 7/10

Qualified: 10th (+7 places ahead of team mate, -0.21s)
Start: +4 places
Strategy: Two-stop (S-H-H)
Finished: 8th

• Only just reached Q3 in tenth and eventually qualified there after failing to improve on Q2 time
• Started on softs, gaining four places on first lap to run sixth until pitting for hards
• Undercut Ferraris and Hamilton but was soon overtaken by all three
• Pitted for second set of hards and passes Zhou and Tsunoda to climb up to eighth
• Ran lonely final stint in eighth where he would finish

Although he was hardly a major player throughout the weekend, Alonso again achieved likely the maximum result he could have taken, especially with no Perez in the top eight positions. He said he was “very proud” to reach Q3 but should really have out qualified Tsunoda on paper, but he gained four places at the start to run in the top six. He couldn’t keep the faster cars behind him and fell to eighth, but that was more reflective of his car than his own driving.

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Kevin Magnussen – 6/10

Qualified: 15th (+3 places ahead of team mate, -0.323s)
Start: Held position
Strategy: Two-stop (M-H-H)
Finished: 15th (-1 place behind team mate)

• Just reached Q2 in 15th but was eliminated that same position in Q2
• Held position at the start and was passed by Ocon before being punted by Perez
• Fell to 17th after pitting for hard tyres and repairs, then let team mate though for 13th
• Ran at the back for the final stint, finishing a lap down in 15th

Over another difficult weekend for Haas, Magnussen did decent enough job, being quicker than his team mate in qualifying. Unfortunately, his race was ruined after just 12 laps when Perez clattered into him at the hairpin. Because of that he fell behind his team mate and ultimately dropped off in the back of the field as he tried to make his hard tyres reach the end in a car that eats its tyres like no other.

Nico Hulkenberg – 6/10

Qualified: 18th (-3 places behind team mate, +0.323s)
Start: +5 places
Strategy: Three-stop (S-M-H-M)
Finished: 14th (+1 place ahead of team mate)

• Lost his first qualifying lap for track limits, then knocked out of Q1 in 18th
• Jumped up to 13th at the start through the chaos ahead but pitted very early for mediums
• Passed by Stroll before pitting for hards, passing team mate to run 11th before third stop
• Emerged ahead of team mate in 14th where he would finish

On a race weekend where high tyre degradation looked set to compound Haas’ weaknesses from the beginning, there was little shame in finishing down in 14th for Hulkenberg. His performance on Saturday likely should have been better, but he kept his nose clean at the start and did his best to make his three-stop strategy work, but his car was never going to be in contention for points without a lot more cars being eliminated from the running.

Yuki Tsunoda – 6/10

Qualified: 9th (+2 places ahead of team mate, -0.304s)
Start: -2 places
Strategy: Two-stop (S-M-H)
Finished: 12th (-1 place behind team mate)

• Reached Q3 in seventh before beating Alonso to ninth on the grid
• Dropped two places at the start, ran behind team mate, then pitted for mediums on lap nine
• Undercut team mate before being undercut himself when pitting for hards
• Closed to within a second of team mate but complained of being “stuck” with dirty air
• Followed his team mate home to finish in 12th

On a special weekend for Tsunoda, only his second home grand prix, the racing gods were kind enough to let him complete the race after two rounds where he hadn’t finished the opening lap. He did very well to get through into Q3 and out-qualify Alonso, but he got caught out by the melee ahead of him at the start and dropped behind Lawson. The pair traded places in the pit stop cycle and he just couldn’t get by in the final stint, but he still could be happy with his efforts.

Liam Lawson – 6/10

Qualified: 11th (-2 places behind team mate, +0.304s)
Start: +1 place
Strategy: Two-stop (S-M-H)
Finished: 11th (+1 place ahead of team mate)

• Failed to follow team mate through into Q3 by half a tenth
• Started on softs, moved ahead of team mate at the start then pitted early for mediums
• Ran behind team mate after being undercut, then was passed by Gasly
• Undercut team mate at second stop for hards and passed Magnussen
• Ran just ahead of team mate for the final stint of the race, finishing just outside the points

At a circuit that he knows well from Super Formula, Lawson delivered another solid, mistake-free performance over the Suzuka weekend. He lost the battle against Tsunoda in qualifying but managed to turn the tables on Sunday. There was little he could do about the Alpines ahead but he managed to get ahead of his more experienced team mate with his race pace and keep him there to end another impressive weekend.

Alexander Albon – 6/10

Qualified: 13th (+7 places ahead of team mate)
Start: -4 places
Strategy: Two-stop (M-M-S)
Finished: Retired (Damage – L26)

• Reached Q2 but was eliminated in 13th
• Suffered damage in collision with Bottas at start, pitting for repairs on lap one
• Passed by Perez and ran at the back ahead of team mate
• Pulled in to retire due to damage midway through the race

Suzuka was never going to be Williams’ best race of the season, but Albon still put himself in a decent position for the start of the race by qualifying 13th between the two Alpines. His launch off the line was not the best but he was a victim of circumstance, being hit by Bottas which bumped him into the air. Eventually the damage proved too much and he was forced to retire, an unfortunate end to his weekend.

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Logan Sargeant – 2/10

Qualified: 20th (-7 places behind team mate)
Start: +4 places
Strategy: Three-stop (M-M-M-H)
Finished: Retired (Damage – L22)

• First time racing at Suzuka
• Crashed out of Q1 in final corner, wrecking his car
• Forced to start from pit lane with 10s time penalty after parc ferme modifications
• Gained four places through the chaos at the start, then pitted to serve penalty on lap two
• Locked up into hairpin and hit Bottas at restart, damaging wing and earning 5s penalty
• Pitted for repairs and ran last, pitted to serve penalty before retiring the next lap

If Sargeant is fighting to try and convince Williams he is worthy of that final available seat on the grid in 2024, he couldn’t have chosen a more sensitive time to have one of his worst weekends of the season. Up until qualifying, Sargeant was having a competent start to the weekend. Then he threw his car into the wall with a silly error that left his mechanics with another repair job. Then, just 60 seconds into his first true green flag lap of racing, Sargeant wrecked his race by clumsily crashing into Bottas, eventually being brought in to retire. A poor, poor performance.

Over to you

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