The Spanish Grand Prix may not have been an all-time classic, but it still provided an enthralling, strategic battle for the win between two very evenly matched drivers in surprisingly evenly-matched cars.
However, while those two fought each other for the race win, their respective team mates were missing in action at the front of the field.Throughout the field, there were some drivers who put in solid efforts which went relatively unnoticed and unrewarded, while others were lucky that they escaped without more serious punishment for some unpleasant behaviour.
These are the RaceFans driver ratings for the Spanish Grand Prix.
A guide to RaceFans’ driver ratings system
RaceFans’ driver ratings system assesses driver performance across all three days of a grand prix weekend. Naturally, performances during competitive sessions – qualifying, sprint races and grands prix – will carry the most weight to their rating.
However, practice performance can affect a driver’s weekend rating in the event of a major mistake, such as a crash, consistent errors throughout practice sessions or if a driver shows a notably impressive speed throughout all free practice sessions relative to their team mate.
The system attempts to take into account the relative performance of each driver’s car and the expected results from that, meaning that a driver who wins a race in a car clearly superior to the rest of the field may not necessarily score as highly as a driver who claims a low points finish in a midfield car.
Ratings also attempt to take into account mitigating factors outside of a driver’s control. If a driver is forced to miss considerable track time due to car problems, is the victim of being blocked in qualifying, finishes far lower than expected because of a heavily botched pit stop or suffers any other misfortune they cannot be reasonably expected to control, their rating should not be penalised.
RaceFans rates each driver’s weekend performance on a scale of 0 to 10, where ‘5’ is considered to be a typically average weekend performance from a typically average Formula 1 driver.
Here is a rough guide to each possible score:
N/A – Not applicable – No rating is given as the driver did not sufficiently participate in the competitive sessions
0 – Disqualified – Only in the most extreme instance where a driver’s conduct disqualifies them from participation
1 – Appalling – An appalling display that brings a driver’s competency under immediate question
2 – Awful – A very, very poor performance of repeated errors with almost no redeeming qualities
3 – Very bad – Far more negatives than positives across the weekend which a driver should be very disappointed with
4 – Underperformance – Driver failed to achieve the base level expected for a Formula 1 driver
5 – Acceptable – The standard level of performance that should be expected from an F1 driver
6 – Good – A decent overall performance across the weekend, but not one of the best
7 – Very good – A strong performance across the weekend that any driver should be very pleased with
8 – Brilliant – A truly great weekend where the driver stood out as one of the very best of the field
9 – Exceptional – An outstanding performance that ranks as one of the best, if not the very best, of the entire season
10 – Legendary – One of the few all-time greatest performances by a driver in the history of Formula 1
Max Verstappen – 8/10
Start: Held position
Strategy: Two-stop (S-M-S)
Finished: Winner (+7 places ahead of team mate)
▲ Just missed out on pole position by 0.020s to line up on front row
▲ Overtook Norris at the start, then passed Russell for lead on lap three
▶ Pitted for mediums, then continued to lead before pitting for second set of softs
▶ Assumed the lead again when Norris pitted, then pushed to stay ahead
▲ Kept out of reach of Norris to win by two seconds
As Red Bull’s rivals continue to close in on the world champions, Verstappen’s ability to keep winning races becomes all the more impressive for it. He was very likely not in the best car in Barcelona but it did not matter. He almost beat Norris to pole and managed to pick off Russell at a critical point early in the race to help set himself up for his seventh victory of the season.
It’s hard to argue that anyone extracted more from their car in Spain than Verstappen, especially when Norris could very realistically have beaten him had he just gotten a better start. But having missed out on pole and been passed by Russell at the start, this doesn’t quite reach the threshold of his greatest wins of his career.
Sergio Perez – 4/10
Qualified: 8th (-6 places behind team mate, +0.658s)
Grid: 11th (-9 places behind team mate)
Start: Held position
Strategy: Three-stop (S-S-M-S)
Finished: 8th (-7 places behind team mate)
▼ Reached Q3 for the first time four rounds but only qualified eighth
▶ Dropped to 11th due to penalty from Canada
▶ Ran 11th behind Hulkenberg before pitting for second set of softs
▶ Made second stop for mediums, then a third for hards
▲ Passed Ocon and then Gasly on the final lap to finish eighth
Yet again, Perez underperformed relative to the potential of his Red Bull and finished a minute behind his team mate, who won. This weekend, it was not a major error that limited his result, but a poor Q3, a three-stop-strategy and an inability to deal with other cars ahead of him despite the strength of his Red Bull.
As Perez did not make any major mistakes or hit anyone over the weekend, he cannot be graded as harshly as he has been at times this season. Instead, a ‘four’ suits his general lack of speed across the weekend.
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Lewis Hamilton – 7/10
Start: -1 place
Strategy: Two-stop (S-M-S)
Finished: 3rd (+1 place ahead of team mate)
▲ Qualified third, only 0.002s ahead of his team mate
▶ Jumped by team mate off the line to run fourth, then pitted for mediums
▶ Ran behind team mate, then extended stint before pitting for softs
▲ Passed Sainz, then team mate with his soft tyres to gain third
▶ Took first grand prix podium of the season, five seconds ahead of team mate
Hamilton secured his first podium appearance in a grand prix this season with a consistently solid performance over the Barcelona weekend. He and his team mate Russell were very evenly matched throughout the weekend, but Hamilton managed to just pip him in qualifying and had the superior strategy to get ahead on Sunday, even if he had to fight for it on track.
Although the Mercedes is clearly catching up to Red Bull and McLaren ahead, Hamilton still had to work for his first podium of the year. The only negative point would be losing out to Russell at the start, but Hamilton wasn’t the only one he passed into turn one. All considered, his performance feels worthy of a ‘seven’.
George Russell – 7/10
Qualified: 4th (-1 place behind team mate, +0.002s)
Start: +3 places
Strategy: Two-stop (S-M-H)
Finished: 4th (-1 place behind team mate)
▶ Posted almost identical Q3 time to team mate to line up behind him in fourth
▲ Leapt from fourth to storm into the lead at turn one
▶ Lost lead to Verstappen on lap three, then pitted for mediums but suffered slow stop
▶ Passed by Norris on fresher tyres then pitted for hards
▶ Lost position to team mate in final stint to run fourth
▶ Finished one place and five seconds behind team mate in fourth
Russell may not have returned to the podium for the second successive weekend in Spain, but he could be satisfied with the performance he put in. His start was one of the highlights of his Formula 1 career as he swept around both Verstappen and Norris into the lead, but he did not have the pace to stay there. Although he lost out to his team mate later on, he did have the disadvantage of older tyres.
Russell may not have reached the podium, but his speed over the weekend, his brilliant start and his race pace despite being made to run the far from ideal hard tyres for his final stint makes him worthy of the same grade as his team mate.
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Charles Leclerc – 5/10
Start: Held position
Strategy: Two-stop (S-M-S)
Finished: 5th (+1 place ahead of team mate)
▼ Escaped with only a reprimand for driving into Norris in final practice
▶ Secured top five starting position, just milliseconds ahead of team mate
▶ Conserved tyres early but suffered minor front wing damage in clash with team mate
▲ Ran longest opening stint of any on softs, then made late switch to hards
▶ Allowed through by team mate in later laps to pursue Russell
▶ Got within DRS range of Russell ahead but ultimately finished fifth
On a weekend where Ferrari were not close to being as fast as they would have wanted to be, Leclerc appeared to let his frustrations get the better of him. His incident with Norris in practice deserved a grid drop, not a reprimand, but he perhaps managed to get the most out of his Ferrari in qualifying and the race.
Although his performance across the weekend would typically have earned him a ‘six’, he deserves to lose credit for his road rage incident in final practice that has no place in modern Formula 1 and probably should have earned a race-altering penalty. As such, he drops a mark.
Carlos Sainz Jnr – 6/10
Qualified: 6th (-1 place behind team mate, +0.005s)
Start: Held position
Strategy: Two-stop (S-M-H)
Finished: 6th (-1 place behind team mate)
▶ Set near-identical Q3 time to team mate to line up just behind him in fifth
▶ Clashed with team mate at lap one when attempting to pass but with no damage
▶ Had further contact with Hamilton at turn one while battling over fourth
▶ Allowed team mate through to pass him with fresher tyres in final stint
▶ Finished sixth, eight seconds behind team mate
Although Sainz was the second of the two Ferraris in the two competitive sessions on Saturday and Sunday, he was pretty much on an even keel with his team mate throughout. He was out-qualified by milliseconds in qualifying and although he got ahead of Leclerc in the race, his strategy did not work out as well and he graciously allowed his team mate to overtake him late.
Given Ferrari were probably the fourth-fastest team in Spain, sixth was a perfectly acceptable result even if he would have wanted more. Although he finished behind his team mate, the proximity he had to Leclerc makes this a rare occasion where he probably deserves the same grading as his team mate. The only reason he scores higher is because of Leclerc’s actions in final practice.
Lando Norris – 7/10
Start: -2 places
Strategy: Two-stop (S-M-S)
Finished: 2nd (+5 places ahead of team mate)
▲ Snatched second career pole by just 0.020s
▼ Dropped to third after passed by Russell and Verstappen at the start
▲ Extended opening stint on softs before pitting, passing Sainz, Hamilton and Russell
▶ Switched back onto softs for final stint and chased down Verstappen
▶ Unable to catch Verstappen, finishing second, two seconds behind winner
As far as Norris was concerned, this should have been his second grand prix victory as well as his second in the last five rounds. He believes that all that prevented him from the win was his start – and it is hard to disagree with this view. But after beating Verstappen to pole and making him work to keep the lead in the final stint, Norris still deserves credit for what he was able to do.
Norris certainly does not deserve a very high mark having missed out on an achievable victory, but he was still one of the most outstanding drivers of the weekend. For that, a ‘seven’ seems like a just reward for his performance.
Oscar Piastri – 4/10
Qualified: 10th (-9 places behind team mate, +0.139s)
Grid: 9th (-8 places behind team mate)
Start: +1 place
Strategy: Two-stop (S-M-S)
Finished: 7th (-5 places behind team mate)
▼ Reached Q3 but failed to set a lap time after mistake on sole flying lap
▶ Ran long opening stint on softs behind Gasly before overtaking him on lap 34
▶ Rejoined seventh after second stop and remained there over final stint
▼ Finished seventh, half a minute behind team mate
One of the more underwhelming weekends of Piastri’s still-young F1 career so far. While Norris was fighting for the win and likely should have won, Piastri was never a factor. He set himself up for trouble with an error on the most important weekend of the season and in the race, he wasn’t close to his team mate’s pace despite having the same tyre situation over the final stint.
Due to the expected position Piastri could be deemed to have aimed for with the car that was in contention for victory, seventh falls below an ‘average’ performance to a clear underperformance. For that, he earns a ‘four’.
Fernando Alonso – 6/10
Qualified: 11th (+3 places ahead of team mate, -0.244s)
Grid: 10th (+4 places ahead of team mate)
Start: -2 places
Strategy: Two-stop (S-M-H)
Finished: 12th (+2 places ahead of team mate)
▶ Just missed out on Q3 in 11th
▼ Overtaken by team mate on lap six, then Bottas a lap later
▶ Made late first stop for mediums, then pitted later than most for hards
▲ Caught and passed Zhou for 12th where he would finish, 15s ahead of team mate
Aston Martin were simply not quick around the Circuit de Catalunya this weekend, but Alonso still gave him and his team the best chance of a positive result as he could. He lost two places over the race to Perez and Hulkenberg, who both had quicker cars on the day, but was again the better performing Aston Martin driver of the weekend.
Although Alonso did not have the fastest car, he also did not manage to pull out any magic tricks that we have seen him do many times before in inferior machinery. So a ‘six’ feels like a just reward for his efforts.
Lance Stroll – 4/10
Start: +1 place
Strategy: Two-stop (S-M-H)
Finished: 14th (-2 places behind team mate)
▼ Reprimanded for driving into Hamilton in final practice
▶ Knocked out of Q2, two tenths slower than team mate
▶ Passed team mate early to run 13th
▶ Pitted for hards with 29 laps remaining, rejoining 17th
▶ Passed Bottas but lost position to Zhou to run in 14th where he would finish
Like his team mate, Stroll was hamstrung by his car simply lacking the pace of many of its rivals around the Barcelona circuit. He put in a decent, clean performance on both Saturday and Sunday, but the end result was fairly reflective of his team’s level around the Circuit de Catalunya this weekend.
Usually, this would be about as close to the textbook example of a ‘five’ as it is possible to get. Stroll’s performance was unremarkable and his end result was largely in line with where an average driver would be expected to finish with his car. However, his behaviour in final practice, driving into Hamilton, deserved a harsher punishment than just a reprimand and harms his rating here.
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Pierre Gasly – 7/10
Start: Held position
Strategy: Two-stop (S-M-H)
Finished: 9th (+1 place ahead of team mate)
▶ Raced with slightly heavier chassis over weekend
▲ Scored best qualifying result of the season so far in seventh
▶ Held position through early laps but lost roughly four seconds with slow first stop
▶ Passed team mate and maintained solid race pace on mediums and hards
▶ Overtaken by Perez on final lap to fall to ninth but equalled best finish of season
Gasly put in another strong performance over the Barcelona weekend, delivering on the potential pace of his Alpine at all points to earn two more points for his team’s tally, Gasly looked confident and comfortable with his car and could have even beaten Perez to the flag had it not been for the seconds he lost with his slow pit stop.
After beating his team mate over the weekend and not setting a foot wrong on Sunday, Gasly’s performance elevates beyond ‘good’ to ‘very good’. That’s why he earns a ‘seven’ for this weekend.
Esteban Ocon – 6/10
Qualified: 9th (-2 places behind team mate, +0.268s)
Grid: 8th (-1 place behind team mate)
Start: -1 place
Strategy: Two-stop (S-M-H)
Finished: 10th (-1 place behind team mate)
▶ Had lighter chassis for weekend compared to team mate
▲ Followed team mate into Q3 to line up ninth after Perez’s penalty
▶ Ran behind Piastri in first stint, then behind team mate over bulk of the race
▶ Passed by Perez in final stint on hards, then kept out of reach of Hulkenberg behind
▲ Secured final point in tenth, ten seconds behind team mate
Now that Alpine have appeared to cement their place as being regular points scorers, Ocon ensured that he delivered on the potential of their car by picking up his third top ten finish in the last five rounds. He lost two places compared to his starting position, but given that it was to Perez and Piastri in much faster cars, that cannot be held against him.
Ocon did not quite seem to have the same pace as his team mate throughout the weekend, but backed him up well and ensured he stayed out of reach from Hulkenberg pursuing him behind. Overall, a ‘six’ feels like a fair grade.
Alexander Albon – 6/10
Qualified: 19th (+1 place ahead of team mate, -0.356s)
Grid: 20th (-1 place behind team mate)
Start: Held position
Strategy: Two-stop (M-S-S)
Finished: 18th (+2 places ahead of team mate)
▶ Eliminated from Q1 in 19th but comfortably ahead of team mate
▶ Forced to start from pit lane after changing energy store and control electronics
▶ Ran long first stint on mediums, then did 25-lap middle stint on softs
▼ Lost time with off at turn four due to 17kph gust of wind
▶ Equalled worst finish of the season in 18th, but 25s ahead of team mate
A very disappointing weekend for Albon and Williams where the FW46 suffered greatly around the long Catalunya corners compared to many of their rivals. That limited Albon’s performance through the weekend, but he was still able to put in a respectable showing even despite starting from the pit lane.
Although he finished down in 18th, Albon was unsurprisingly the better Williams driver over the weekend. Even his bizarre off at turn four was later excused by a gust of wind while he wasn’t pushing the limits, so that does not impact his rating.
Logan Sargeant – 5/10
Grid: 19th (+1 place ahead of team mate)
Start: +1 place
Strategy: Two-stop (S-M-H)
Finished: 20th (-2 places behind team mate)
▼ Knocked out slowest in Q1, three tenths off team mate
▶ Hit with three-place grid penalty for impeding Stroll in Q1
▶ Passed Ricciardo at start but overtaken on lap two, then let team mate by
▶ Fell to rear of field after second stop for hards
▶ Gained a place with Tsunoda’s third stop but was overtaken, finishing last
Another weekend where Sargeant was the slowest in the field, but at least this time he could rightfully blame his car for it. The Williams was the weakest car on track, but even so, Sargeant could not match his team mate’s pace even though he had parity with his car for the first time in several rounds.
Sargeant did not make any major mistakes over the weekend – his penalty was his team’s fault – and ran a clean race. He was just slower than his team mate. All considered, he has probably had far worse showings than he had in Barcelona.
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Yuki Tsunoda – 4/10
Start: +2 places
Strategy: Three-stop (S-M-H-S)
Finished: 19th (-4 places behind team mate)
▶ Knocked out of Q1 but ahead of team mate
▶ Gained two places on lap one but passed by Magnussen and Zhou before pitting
▶ Struggled with balance and his tyres, making three stops
▼ Hit with five second time penalty for speeding in the pitlane
▶ Emerged last after final stop for softs but overtook Sargeant to finish 19th
After such a solid start to the season, Tsunoda struggled in Barcelona. He was not helped at all by RB’s upgrades package for the weekend, but managed to out-qualify his team mate despite being knocked out of Q1. In the race, however, he had a tough time, sliding down to 19th after making three stops for a very underwhelming result.
While RB were likely the second-slowest team over the weekend, Tsunoda was clearly struggling and admitted as much. While a ‘five’ would feel fair to him, a silly penalty for speeding in the pit lane isn’t acceptable at this level and, combined with poor race pace, drops him to a ‘four’.
Daniel Ricciardo – 6/10
Qualified: 18th (-1 place behind team mate, +0.09s)
Start: -1 place
Strategy: Two-stop (S-M-H)
Finished: 15th (+4 places ahead of team mate)
▶ Eliminated from Q1 but less than a tenth slower than team mate
▶ Lost place to Sargeant at the start but reclaimed a place on second lap
▶ Ran long middle stint on mediums before pitting for hards and rejoining 17th
▲ Passed Magnussen and Bottas over final stint to finish 15th
Ricciardo’s weekend was limited by RB’s significant upgrade package failing to provide any kind of immediate boost to the team’s performance, but he still put in an respectable showing. He made progress up the order through the race, pulling off multiple on-track passes to finish far away from the points but still in a good position, all considered.
Ricciardo was on a similar level to his team mate across the weekend but had the better strategy which went a long way towards how he finished ahead. A good but not great performance makes a ‘six’ feel appropriate.
Valtteri Bottas – 5/10
Qualified: 12th (+3 places ahead of team mate, -0.511s)
Start: -2 places
Strategy: Two-stop (S-S-H)
Finished: 16th (-3 places behind team mate)
▲ Reached Q2 for first time since China to line up solid 12th on grid
▼ Dropped behind Hulkenberg and Stroll at the start then pitted for second set of softs
▶ Forced to stop earlier than planned for hard tyres on lap 28
▲ Ran 37-lap stint on hards, longest of any driver, but held off pressure from Magnussen
▶ Overtaken by Ricciardo late to finish 16th
Bottas headed into Sunday with genuine hopes that he might be able to snatch his team’s first points of the championship if things went his way. Unfortunately they did not, although this was more to do with his strategy than anything else. Running two soft tyre stints did not pay off as he had to make his second stop earlier than planned and ran a very long final stint on hards which limited his pace late on.
Although Bottas finished well behind his team mate despite starting ahead, he should be excused for his aggressive strategy simply not being the better option compared to the conventional one his team mate ran. Given his superior speed to his team mate across the rest of the weekend, his efforts deserve recognition with a five.
Zhou Guanyu – 6/10
Start: -2 places
Strategy: Two-stop (S-M-H)
Finished: 13th (+3 places ahead of team mate)
▲ Reached Q2 for the first time in 2024, but half a second slower than team mate
▼ Dropped behind Magnussen and Tsunoda at the start, then was first to pit for mediums
▶ Ran lengthy middle stint before pitting for hards and emerging 14th
▲ Could not keep Alonso behind but finished 13th, half a minute ahead of team mate
Zhou has not had his best start to a season in his F1 career in 2024, but he was one of the better performers on Sunday in Spain that probably flew under the radar. Although he had not been on his team mate’s level across the weekend, his race pace was strong, especially over his long middle stint on mediums, and he finished two places higher than he started in a race without any Safety Cars in what has been the worst car in the field up to now.
Although Zhou’s Sunday was very solid, his Q2 deficit to his team mate and unremarkable start prevent him from earning a higher grade.
Nico Hulkenberg – 6/10
Qualified: 13th (+3 places ahead of team mate, -0.229s)
Start: +3 places
Strategy: Two-stop (S-M-H)
Finished: 11th (+6 places ahead of team mate)
▶ Sat out first practice, replaced by Bearman
▲ Reached Q2 and knocked out in 13th
▲ Picked up three places at the start and held off Perez’s Red Bull early
▼ Earned five second penalty for speeding in pit lane
▶ Pursued Ocon for bulk of race but could not catch him, finishing 2s behind
▶ Held onto 11th place even after penalty to just miss out on points
Once again, Hulkenberg put on the kind of performance in Barcelona that shows why Audi consider him a valuable and reliable driver to enter Formula 1. He was consistently just outside the top ten in all the sessions he participated in and made Magnussen look like he was driving a different car, only just missing out on points in 11th for the fifth time in the last seven grands prix.
Although Hulkenberg can and should be satisfied with his weekend’s work, a veteran like him cannot afford silly and avoidable errors like being caught speeding in the pit lane when such fine margins separate teams in the midfield. Although this did not cost him a point in the end, it easily could have and so this prevents him from scoring higher.
Kevin Magnussen – 4/10
Start: Held position
Strategy: Two-stop (S-M-H)
Finished: 17th (-6 places behind team mate)
▼ Failed to follow team mate into Q2, complaining about traffic
▼ Hit with five second penalty for false start
▶ Passed Tsunoda but overtaken by Ricciardo on fresher tyres to fall to 17th
▼ Finished 17th, six places and a minute behind team mate
Magnussen should be disappointed with his Barcelona weekend, one that was defined by traffic. He blamed traffic – once again – for an underwhelming qualifying result on Saturday, then did not seem to enjoy the mediums in his middle stint behind other cars. But even when he had clearer air in his final stint, he remained slower than his team mate ahead.
Although Magnussen was relatively slow and committed a false start, he at least avoided any serious penalties and kept his car in one piece over the weekend. For that, he only falls to a four.
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2024 Spanish Grand Prix
- Russell ensures Norris has still never kept his lead from pole position
- Williams repeatedly switch floors in search for Sargeant’s missing downforce
- “Why’s he not defending?”: How Russell sank to fourth after stunning start
- What radio calls reveal about Verstappen’s controlled pace and Perez’s struggles
- 2024 Spanish Grand Prix weekend F1 driver ratings
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
25th June 2024, 7:43
The last sentence in the bottas section states that “his efforts deserve recognition with a six.”
However, he gets a 5.
Although I think a 6 would be too high anyway. Despite going very long on the hards, I concider it pretty poor that he lost nearly 40 seconds to Zhou in well under 40 laps. That said, I do think Zhou was pretty strong this race, but they shouldn’t both get a 6
RBAlonso (@rbalonso)
25th June 2024, 8:32
I’m not sure I agree with a 5 for Leclerc in the context of the Mercedes and Sainz scores. If we assume Mercedes were the 3rd fastest car and Ferrari fourth, why does Russell – beaten by his team-mate in both quali and the race -get a 7 when he finished 4 tenths ahead of Leclerc, who beat his team-mate twice, gets a 5? The dropping of a point for moral reasons aside, why are Mercedes both 7s and Ferrari both 6? Charles should be a point ahead of Carlos in my mind, who had an untidy race both in terms of strategy but also racecraft, moving over for a much faster team-mate doesn’t offset that.
F1statsfan (@f1statsfan)
25th June 2024, 8:58
For sure the brilliant start should give Russell a bonus point :-)
Also Leclerc only got close as Mercedes put George on hards and unlike the Ferrari drivers and Lewis – Russell had a clean race without bumping into other cars.
Do agree with you that 2 point gap is too much but certainly Russell did a better job that Leclerc.
RBAlonso (@rbalonso)
25th June 2024, 9:23
Russell, much like Sainz, need to own the hard strategy. They were both super aggressive in the first stint which inflated their performance. Leclerc’s last stint was identical to Max’s, albeit on slightly younger tyres so I think that should be commended too.
I think that Russell set up to try to win the race once he was in the lead, and finishing 22s behind from that position is poor race management. Leclerc and Hamilton were both able to do much longer stints and having had a 5s advantage in his first stint finished only half a second ahead of Leclerc, and lost the same amount of time to Hamilton, strikes me as a light glory run. I think 3rd was possible for George had he driven differently.
Hotbottoms (@hotbottoms)
25th June 2024, 8:51
Wasn’t Russell forced to pit early and take the hard tyres because his tyres were too worn for a longer stint? He was just about to be overtaken by the much faster Hamilton before his last pit stop. Trying to execute the same strategy as Hamilton would probably have cost him a lot more.
F1statsfan (@f1statsfan)
25th June 2024, 9:04
“But having missed out on pole and been passed by Russell at the start, this doesn’t quite reach the threshold of his greatest wins of his career.”
Interesting how perceived failure (missing pole – not having lead after turn 1) is actually why most people rated Max higher in Spain than they did in 2023 or early 2024. This because he did overtake Norris at the start despite being pushed on the grass and he did make that brilliant overtake on Russell at the start of lap 3 the first opportunity he had.
If Max would have gotten pole and stayed ahead of Russell (no double tow) and won the race likely most people/websites would have called it another boring win of Verstappen and rated Verstappen’s performance equal or less.
So doing better doesn’t allows give you higher rating as unable to overtake people (as leading from the start) is not often considered a quality of a driver but boring.
Moi
25th June 2024, 10:48
I think the point here is that it was more obviously the driver rather than the car.
Races like in 2023 where he could have lapped the field from pole (or come first by over 10s starting from 14th..) always call into question how much of it is the car. It could still have been the best drive ever, but we cannot really tell.
However, when you do not start on pole, do not have the fastest lap, have a race pace deficit most laps and your teammate is down in the bottom of the points somewhere, it is no longer really in question that the driver drove brilliantly.
Isaac
25th June 2024, 9:34
Once again, it’s amazing how Russell is overrated in these ratings compared to Hamilton. He was outqualified and outraced by Hamilton and still scored the same. In previous races, every time Hamilton was outqualified and outraced, he would be at least 1 point lower than Russell (despite his race being better most of the time, such as Canada). His good start meant nearly nothing he was unable to build on it to secure a good result.
melanos
25th June 2024, 11:08
Well, clearly #44 is losing key abilities in their dotage. There is a trick they always did supremely well , the fake oversteer after divebombing which ineluctably resulted in wrecking the competitor’s car without getting any damage themselves (and of course never a penalty which would be a slam dunk for any other driver). Well this time the victim was Carlos but it did not work. Although he lost position, he was able to go on with his race and salvage a few points. When there’s only one thing you could do well and suddenly you cannot, it is time for the pink slip.
grat
25th June 2024, 14:18
Can you show us on the doll where Lewis Hamilton’s F1 career touched you?
melanos
25th June 2024, 14:44
They would need to have a “F1 career” first
sam
25th June 2024, 22:57
He’s a 7 time Champion and you live in your mothers basement. Job done
melanos
27th June 2024, 1:36
You might be right, a seven times F1 World Champion, let’s review the 7 titles:
-W0rst Ch34t3r ever in F1
-D1rt13st Driver ever in F1
-W0rst Team Player in F1 ever
-W0rst L14r ever in F1 (and the only one so far to have been DQ for that)
-Outright W0rst F1 Driver ever (Sorry, Nikita, you still can apply for runner-up)
-Most All-round 0bn0x10us Individual in F1 ever (Sorry, Flavio)
-And of course (drumroll…) Best (and only) F1 Crane Rider ever. (As a bonus, we already had seven titles)
Also, be thankful I am not commenting on where YOU live, you do not want the world to know.
Mayrton
26th June 2024, 5:45
Well he does have a point about Lewis’ signature move. Its famous around the globe. And whilst he remains one of the better drivers F1 has seen, we have learned by now his tally is hugely flattered by the complete dominance of an entire regulatory period by Mercedes. He is not a Schumacher nor a Senna. Had Alonso made the move to Mercedes back then it is fair to say Lewis would have 1 WDC at this point in time and Alonso 8 or 9 (depending on whether he would have let Ros steal one away from him).
MadMax (@madmax)
26th June 2024, 7:02
lol – HAM in his first season already did beat ALO. But dont let facts interfere with your bias.
HerbertSteward (@madlewis)
26th June 2024, 13:41
McLaren did favour Hamilton over Alonso tho.
Edvaldo
26th June 2024, 14:29
but they did that because Alonso tried to sabotage the whole operation to give him leadership, because on track he was trailing Hamilton.
MadMax (@madmax)
25th June 2024, 15:51
someones brain made some black skip obviously
Jim from US (@jimfromus)
26th June 2024, 1:33
The interaction between SAI and HAM was more about SAI than HAM. If you look at the entire race, SAI was passed in that DRS zone at least 3 times, I’m thinking more, and the only driver he moved far right on was HAM and SAI did it in 2 moves. All of the other times, he moved right once, and only to the middle to defend. I have to believe it is more about HAM leaving Mercedes and costing SAI his seat at Ferrari than it is about the racing.
Coventry Climax
25th June 2024, 11:10
I’m pretty sure some drivers suffered from the strategy the team chose. Sure, the drivers likely participate in the choice, but they also largely have to work with the data the team provides them as well. If it’s a driver weekend rating, team performance shouldn’t be taken into account.
More confusing than the points awarded here though, is this:
+3 places ahead of teammate
That’s correct math, although the + sign is redundant
-3 places behind teammate
Mathematically, that means means 3 places ahead of teammate. (But clearly not the case/what is meant.)
Either keep the ‘ahead’ and ‘behind’ and ditch the + and -, or keep the + and -, but ditch the ‘ahead’ and ‘behind’ in favour of ‘compared to‘ teammate.
notagrumpyfan
25th June 2024, 11:36
I don’t think I disagree that you are not mistaken.
Coventry Climax
25th June 2024, 15:02
;-)
SteveP
25th June 2024, 20:27
Oh +1
:)
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
26th June 2024, 9:29
-1 behind you.
I don’t not agree with this system wording needing a change too ;)
GeeMac (@geemac)
25th June 2024, 12:20
I’m not entirely sure what more you think Gasly could have done to deserve an 8, the de facto top mark in these ratings. He was a quarter of a second ahead of his teammate in quali, he out raced him as well and did so in the heavier chassis. He made no glaring errors and the only negative mentioned in his summary, the slow stop, wasn’t his fault. Yet he gets the same mark as a driver who blew his chance of winning the race in what looked like the fastest car on race day after having taken pole.
Keithedin
25th June 2024, 12:55
@geemac I tend to agree that Gasly looked good this weekend, but is the heavier chassis comment the right way round? I thought I had read that it was the other way and Ocon had the heavier chassis, in which case I can see a justification for not giving Gasly an 8 (though still difficult to know without knowing the exact weight and performance difference).
Keithedin
25th June 2024, 12:59
Never mind, I’m wrong. Ocon was in the lighter chassis, so yeah Gasly definitely seems a bit underrated both here and in the DoTW votes.
ludewig
25th June 2024, 22:05
Will judges drivers by the quality of the car and thus underrates drivers that do well with poor cars.
Edvaldo
25th June 2024, 14:01
Russell’s race was a bit poor after the start to deserve this.
Finished the first lap leading and by a matter of second didnt finish 5th?
He put on the hards some 5 or 6 laps before Hamilton went in for softs because his mediums were shot.
So he would need to do 6 more laps on softs than Hamilton did had he also received the ‘optimal strategy’.
And given how Hamilton had to slow down to make that work, Russell wouldve needed to slow even more. Hards were the best choice for his race.
It wouldnt be the case if his stint with mediums was better.
Leo B
25th June 2024, 14:56
Sergeant higher than Piastri? That’s viciously harsh.
David (@nvherman)
25th June 2024, 19:27
I think that needs to be taken in context of a) their cars’ relative performance, and b) their performances relative to their teammates.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
25th June 2024, 21:47
I’m absolutely always very critical of sargeant, but as albon shows here, williams was really horrible, it was most likely the worst car, while mclaren was probably as good as red bull, give or take, so piastri’s performance was very bad for what could’ve been achieved, while sargeant’s wasn’t much worse than the car’s potential.
Mooa42
26th June 2024, 2:08
Still harsh on Piastri, Perez and Piastri both ranked 4, maybe Perez should have been 3 or Piastri 5.
His only real mistake was one corner of Q3, and given the relative pace of the cars in front it was going to take a safety car for him to make any real progress. He finished 7th, 30sec in front of the car in 8th, Perez, and 30 sec behind Lando in 2nd, and less than 2 sec from Sainz in 6th which gives some indication as to how close 1st to 7th was.
Harsh on Piastri and too lenient on Perez
wsrgo (@wsrgo)
25th June 2024, 18:08
Russell didn’t get bad luck with his tyre choice. He made his own bed by pushing too hard too soon in both his stints meaning he had to pit with nearly half the race remaining. Same thing with Sainz.
SteveP
25th June 2024, 20:31
Sadly, I think you find that applies to pretty much every race he’s done at Mercedes. Not the totality, but a very large part.
SteveP
25th June 2024, 20:34
* you will find
MadMax (@madmax)
25th June 2024, 20:50
Yep, he tends to a bit less tire mgmt, than appropriate. Sometimes it pays off, but in total he lost more than gained.
Lets hope this tire mgmt focus will be reduced with future rules. F1 should neither be centered by tire- or fuel-saving driving, but by pushing the cars limits.
Nick T.
26th June 2024, 5:21
These rankings should also include how many seconds a teammate finishes behind or ahead of their teammate, not just places.