The temperatures may have been cool in Las Vegas over the weekend, but the racing action could hardly have been hotter around the Las Vegas Strip Circuit.
The unusual conditions shook up the order at the front of the field yet again, but while Mercedes secured their first one-two in over two years, their drivers got there in very different ways.But while Max Verstappen secured the world championship in very un-Verstappen fashion, there’s no surprise who the true stand-out of the weekend was. These are the RaceFans driver ratings for the Las Vegas 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 – 6/10
Start: Held position
Strategy: Two-stop (M-H-H)
Finished: 5th (+5 places ahead of team mate)
▲ Qualified ahead of championship rival in fifth
▲ Passed Gasly, then overtook Leclerc for third
▶ Pitted for hard tyres, running in second behind Russell
▶ Caught and overtaken by Leclerc, then made second stop for hards
▶ Unable to keep Hamilton behind, falling to third
▶ Caught and passed by both Ferraris
▶ Finished fifth to secure fourth world championship title
This was not Verstappen’s best weekend of the season by any means – but he did not need it to be. Instead, he was more than happy to stay within himself as the main priority was to finish ahead of Norris and seal the title. He achieved exactly that, neither fighting Hamilton or the two Ferraris over the final stint which he surely would have done in most other circumstances. But even him driving within himself is far superior to his team mate.
Sergio Perez – 4/10
Qualified: 16th (-11 places behind team mate, +0.856s)
Grid: 15th (-10 places behind team mate)
Start: -2 places
Strategy: Two-stop (H-M-H)
Finished: 10th (-5 places behind team mate)
▼ Failed to progress from Q1 for sixth time in 2024
▶ Started on hard tyres and dropped two places at start
▶ Overtook Albon, Magnussen, Lawson and Hulkenberg before pitting for mediums
▶ Rejoined 14th and caught up to Norris before second stop for hard tyres
▲ Passed Magnussen and Lawson in a single corner
▶ Overtook Ocon and Alonso to gain tenth
▶ Caught Tsunoda but unable to overtake him, finishing tenth
‘Deja-vu’ describes the peculiar sensation of feeling as if you have already experienced the current moment you are living through. On the face of it, Perez’s drive into the points on a weekend when Red Bull were again not in race-winning contention was not a terrible recovery from his lowly starting position. But Perez should not be being beaten by an RB and a Haas and it once again comes down to him underperforming relative to the quality of his machinery. It is the same old story yet again.
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Lewis Hamilton – 7/10
Qualified: 10th (-9 places behind team mate, +15.794s)
Start: Held position
Strategy: Two-stop (M-H-H)
Finished: 2nd (-1 place behind team mate)
▶ Quickest in both Friday practice sessions
▼ Reached Q3 but double errors on fast laps left him tenth
▶ Passed Hulkenberg, Piastri and Tsunoda before pitting for hards
▲ Overtook Norris, then caught Leclerc before second stop for hards
▲ Undercut both Ferraris, then passed Verstappen for second place
▲ Tried to chase down team mate ahead but had to settle for second
Although he gained eight places from his starting position to complete the Mercedes one-two, Hamilton was perhaps the most frustrated driver of all after he threw away a golden opportunity for a likely final win with his team before the season’s end. Despite his underperformance in qualifying, he made the very best of his car’s potential in the race and looked like the Lewis Hamilton who has achieved so much with the Silver Arrows as he charged up to second. Yes, the Mercedes was the best car over the weekend, but he still needed to make up most of those positions on track. But he should have started much higher than he did.
George Russell – 8/10
Start: Held position
Strategy: Two-stop (M-H-H)
Finished: Winner (+1 place ahead of team mate)
▲ Took third pole position of the season by a tenth
▲ Held the lead and defended from Leclerc’s early challenge
▶ Pitted for hard tyres and regained the lead
▶ Pulled away from Verstappen behind
▶ Pitted for second set of hards and rejoined still in the lead
▲ Managed his lead over final third of race to win by seven seconds
For the first time since his first win in Brazil 2022, Russell finally got to experience what it is like to take a commanding victory. Aside from the opening four laps when he had Leclerc breathing down his neck, Russell looked in charge and in control of the Las Vegas Grand Prix. Although the Mercedes was clearly best suited to the conditions and the circuit of all cars in the field, Russell took the opportunity presented to him and ran with it. A brilliantly earned win.
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Charles Leclerc – 6/10
Qualified: 4th (-2 places behind team mate, +0.373s)
Start: +2 places
Strategy: Two-stop (M-H-H)
Finished: 4th (-1 place behind team mate)
▶ Qualified fourth on the grid, behind team mate
▲ Passed Gasly and team mate for second at the start
▶ Could not pass Russell, then allowed team mate by, before graining mediums
▶ Passed by Verstappen, pitted for hard tyres, then held off Hamilton
▶ Made second stop for hard tyres, then overtaken by team mate
▲ Followed team mate through by Verstappen to take fourth place where he finished
Leclerc was filthy after taking the chequered flag at the weekend, upset at what he perceived as his team mate’s “disrespect” for being told Sainz would not pass him, only for him to sail by moments later into turn four. In truth, finishing just behind Sainz was probably a fair result given their respective performances over the weekend. Although he tried hard to get ahead of Russell at the start, the Ferraris struggled with tyre graining in the race and were never genuinely in the fight for victory. Fourth place was probably what he deserved.
Carlos Sainz Jnr – 7/10
Start: -1 place
Strategy: Two-stop (M-H-H)
Finished: 3rd (+1 place ahead of team mate)
▲ Just missed out on pole by less than a tenth
▼ Lost second place at start to team mate
▶ Allowed through by team mate before pitting for hard tyres
▶ Unable to keep up with Verstappen, then allowed team mate through before second stop
▶ Encouraged not to pressure Leclerc out of pits but passed him for fourth
▲ Caught and overtook Verstappen for third where he would finish
Sainz is determined to make the most of his final three rounds as a Ferrari driver. So much so, he does not seem concerned about whether he upsets his team mate in the process. His cheeky pass on Leclerc coming out of the pits riled up him up, but it ultimately ensured that he finished on the podium and not off it. Given the pace of the Mercedes this weekend, it would have taken something special to keep ahead of Hamilton, but at least he got ahead of Verstappen in the later stages.
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Lando Norris – 6/10
Start: Held position
Strategy: Three-stop (M-H-H-S)
Finished: 6th (+1 place ahead of team mate)
▶ Qualified sixth, behind Verstappen
▶ Ran sixth in early laps, then passed Gasly
▶ Pitted for hard tyres, then overtaken by Hamilton
▶ Ran behind Hamilton until second stop for hard tyres
▶ Ran sixth but pitted late for soft tyres
▶ Finished sixth with fastest lap
On a weekend when Norris’s faint championship hopes were finally eclipsed for good, he just never had the car underneath him to be able to offer a fight to Verstappen. He was good, not great, but his pace over his third stint was particularly strong. But by that point, it was already too late for him to do anything about Verstappen ahead him. He was comfortably ahead of his team mate, however.
Oscar Piastri – 5/10
Qualified: 8th (-2 places behind team mate, +0.025s)
Start: Held position
Strategy: Two-stop (M-H-H)
Finished: 7th (-1 place behind team mate)
▶ Qualified eighth behind team mate and Tsunoda
▶ Passed by Hulkenberg on lap two but overtook him back on lap five
▶ Passed by Hamilton, then pitted for hard tyres
▶ Chased down Tsunoda and then pitted for second set of hards
▶ Overtook Lawson, Octon and Zhou, undercutting Tsunoda
▶ Remained behind team mate until finish
Not a bad weekend from Piastri, but hardly an especially strong one either. While the McLaren was clearly not at its best in Las Vegas, Piastri did not quite have the same pace as his team mate and would likely have finished more than 25 seconds behind him had Norris not pitted in the closing laps. A fairly average showing.
Fernando Alonso – 6/10
Qualified: 17th (+3 places ahead of team mate, -0.226s)
Grid: 16th (+2 places ahead of team mate)
Start: +1 place
Strategy: Two-stop (S-H-H)
Finished: 11th (+4 places ahead of team mate)
▶ Knocked out of Q1 in 17th
▶ Started on soft tyres but pitted on lap four for hard tyres
▶ Overtaken by several drivers on fresher tyres before second stop for hards
▶ Rejoined 17th and passed rivals who pitted
▲ Overtook Lawson and Ocon to move into tenth
▶ Passed by Perez in closing laps to finish out of points in 11th
Given where he started and where he finished, 11th was a very solid result for Alonso. Especially after he had been the only driver to try starting on soft tyres – a strategy the team abandoned very soon into the race. Despite that, Alonso managed to make his way through the field steadily and was in a points paying position with under ten laps to go until he was caught by Perez’s Red Bull. A respectable performance.
Lance Stroll – 6/10
Grid: 18th (2 places behind team mate)
Start: Held position
Strategy: Two-stop (M-H-H)
Finished: 15th (-4 places behind team mate)
▶ Suffered ERS failure in final practice
▶ Knocked out Q1 after only getting single push lap
▶ Lost team radio at the start for the entire race
▶ Ran behind Albon in early laps then pitted for hard tyres
▶ Lost around 20 seconds with team unprepared for him to arrive
▶ Ran behind Ocon before second stop for hard tyres
▶ Rejoined last, then ran behind Zhou
▶ Gained 15th when Ocon pitted late where he would finish
A driver who had the most challenging weekend in the field. Stroll only had a single push lap right at the end of Q1 after a car problem in practice, meaning it would be harsh to hold P20 against him. Stroll’s grand prix was compromised by having no radio for the whole 50 laps. That contributed to losing almost an extra pit stop’s worth of time when he arrived into the pits to find his team were not expecting him. All considered, there was no shame in 15th place when Stroll would likely have finished much higher without circumstances going against him.
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Pierre Gasly – 6/10
Start: -1 place
Strategy: One-stop (M-H)
Finished: 20th (-3 places behind team mate)
▲ Scored stunning top three grid position with exceptional Q3 lap
▶ Dropped to fourth at start, then passed by Verstappen and Norris
▶ Pitted for hard tyres and rejoined behind Tsunoda
▶ Forced to retire with power unit problem
Gasly put in one of the best qualifying performances of the entire season in Las Vegas, beating several faster cars in dry conditions to put his car third on the grid. Although his race pace in the early laps suggested he would struggle to remain towards the front over the course of the race, it was just a shame he did not get the full opportunity to try.
Esteban Ocon – 5/10
Qualified: 11th (-8 places behind team mate, +0.342s)
Start: Held position
Strategy: Two-stop (M-H-S)
Finished: 17th (+3 places ahead of team mate)
▶ Just failed to follow team mate through into Q3
▶ Ran 11th in early laps then lost 13 seconds with botched pit call
▶ Pitted next lap for hards and rejoined 19th
▲ Caught and overtook Lawson, then slid down order with long stint
▶ Forced to stop for soft tyres with four laps remaining
▶ Finished second-to-last in 17th
On the face of it, Ocon starting so far behind his team mate and finishing well down the order does not reflect well on him. But who knows what he might have been capable of in Q3 had he only just been able to improve his final Q2 lap slightly. In the race, his biggest problem was his own team. Alpine called him in for his first stop but were not ready to receive him, then his attempted one-stop did not work out for him. It’s hard to hold those against him, but it’s also difficult to justify a higher grade either.
Alexander Albon – 5/10
Qualified: 18th (-4 places behind team mate, +0.679s)
Grid: 17th (+3 places ahead of team mate)
Start: +1 place
Strategy: One-stop (M-H)
Finished: 19th (-5 places behind team mate)
▼ Knocked out in Q1, unable to follow team mate through
▶ Ran 16th in the early laps and pitted early for hard tyres
▶ Passed Alonso, then overtaken by Hulkenberg
▶ Forced to retire after struck by power unit problem
Another weekend that left Albon wanting to just leave the paddock and turn his attention to the next round. He failed to get the best out of the car in qualifying and should have followed his team mate into Q2, but he at least was able to be make up for that with strong race pace, particularly after making an early switch onto hard tyres. But he never got the chance to see where he might have ended up.
Franco Colapinto – 4/10
Grid: 20th (-3 places behind team mate)
Start: Held position
Strategy: Two-stop (H-M-H)
Finished: 14th (+5 places ahead of team mate)
▼ Crashed heavily in Q2, destroying car
▼ Forced to start from pit lane after repairs to car
▶ Started on hards and ran behind Bottas until pitting for mediums
▶ Ran short middle stint before second stop for hard tyres
▶ Rejoined last and passed Bottas and Ocon
▶ Ran 13th but overtaken by Zhou on the final lap to finish 14th
Not the best advert for Colapinto as his weekend will be remembered best for his hefty shunt in qualifying that saw him wreck his Williams for the third time over his last three days in an F1 car. While Verstappen defended his mistake as being easier to make than many realise, the fact is that he is the only driver to have committed such an error over two Las Vegas GP weekends. He did well enough to gain the positions he did in the grand prix, but he should have started much higher than he did to begin with and only had himself to blame.
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Yuki Tsunoda – 7/10
Start: Held position
Strategy: Two-stop (M-H-H)
Finished: 9th (+7 places ahead of team mate)
▲ Qualified ‘best of the rest’ in seventh, ahead of Piastri
▶ Held seventh until passed by Hamilton, then pitted for hard tyres
▲ Passed Colapinto, Bottas and Magnussen to move back up to seventh
▶ Made second stop for hard tyres and rejoined 13th
▲ Overtook Lawson and Ocon to sit in ninth place
▶ Could not hold off Hulkenberg, falling to ninth
▲ Resisted Perez for final four laps to score two points with ninth
Tsunoda came into Las Vegas having made the very bold claim that he “destroys” the team mates that he has been put up against at Red Bull’s second team. But there was no denying who was the team’s strongest driver last weekend. A very strong qualifying on Friday, he follows that up with a strong race performance to secure vital points for his team and beat a Red Bull on merit.
Liam Lawson – 5/10
Qualified: 15th (-8 places behind team mate, +1.168s)
Grid: 14th (-7 places behind team mate)
Start: +1 place
Strategy: Two-stop (M-H-H)
Finished: 16th (-7 places behind team mate)
▼ Reached Q2 but eliminated slowest in 15th
▶ Got ahead of Magnussen at the start to tun 13th early on
▶ Pitted for hard tyres and continued to run behind Zhou
▶ Passed by Ocon, allowed team mate by and pitted for second set of hards
▶ Rejoined in 17th place and gained 16th when Ocon pitted late
▶ Finished 16th, 30s behind team mate
Unlike his brief stint in 2023, Lawson is not quite making the same impression as he would have wanted over his time in the RB so far. But aside from an underwhelming qualifying, his race in Saturday was probably better than it appeared to be. The length of his middle stint compared to the competition around him was likely the reason why he finished as low as he did.
Valtteri Bottas – 5/10
Qualified: 19th (-6 places behind team mate, +0.351s)
Start: Held position
Strategy: Two-stop (H-M-H)
Finished: 18th (-5 places behind team mate)
▶ Hit with five-place grid penalty for fourth energy store
▶ Started on hard tyres and ran ahead of Colapinto
▶ Pitted for mediums on lap 17 but fell to the rear
▶ Fell to the back after second stop for hard tyres, finishing 30s behind team mate
On a weekend where Sauber were probably stronger than they will be at any point over this final triple header, Bottas’s prospects were hurt by his grid penalty that was out of his control. He did not have the pace of his team mate in the grand prix and did what he could to try and frustrate the cars around Zhou to benefit the team, but from that point on there was not much he could do without a Safety Car or other intervention.
Zhou Guanyu – 7/10
Start: +1 place
Strategy: Two-stop (M-H-H)
Finished: 13th (+5 places ahead of team mate)
▲ Secured excellent 13th on the grid
▶ Picked up a place on Magnussen on lap one, then ran behind Ocon
▶ Pitted for hard tyres and dropped to 18th, then overtook Alonso
▶ Made second stop for hard tyres and rejoined 16th
▲ Passed Ocon and then Colapinto on final lap to finish 13th
Possibly the best weekend performance Zhou has had for many months, perhaps his best of the 2024 season. Zhou was not close enough to scoring that elusive first point, but he certainly gave it everything he had as he finished a very respectable 13th place. Passing Colapinto on the last lap earns him a ‘very good’ score.
Nico Hulkenberg – 7/10
Start: Held position
Strategy: Two-stop (M-H-H)
Finished: 8th (+4 places ahead of team mate)
▲ Reached Q3 to qualify ninth on the grid
▶ Overtook Piastri on second lap but then dropped behind him and Hamilton
▶ Pitted latest of top ten starters to rejoin 15th
▲ Passed Alonso and Albon to move back up to ninth before second stop
▲ Overtook Ocon, then caught and passed Tsunoda to take eighth
▶ Finished in eighth place as ‘best of the rest’
After Haas lost sixth in the constructors’ championship to Alpine in the previous round, Hulkenberg made sure his team was able to take it right back again with a very strong performance. He finished in as good a position as Haas could have hoped for, but after admitting he left perhaps half a tenth on the table in qualifying, he misses out on an even higher grade.
Kevin Magnussen – 6/10
Qualified: 12th (-3 places behind team mate, +0.183s)
Start: -2 places
Strategy: One-stop (M-H)
Finished: 12th (-4 places behind team mate)
▶ Missed out on Q3 but took 12th on the grid
▼ Dropped two places at the start, then overtaken by Alonso
▶ Ran very long opening stint on mediums before sole stop for hards
▶ Fell to 18th after pitting, then gained positions as rivals ahead made second stops
▲ Caught and passed Ocon for 12th place on old hard tyres
▶ Avoided need to pit again to finish where he started in 12th
Although he did not match his team mate by scoring points, Magnussen could be proud of the effort he put in in Vegas. On an evening where everyone else who attempted a one-stop strategy had to abandon that approach, Magnussen was the only one to make it work. It probably prevented him from finishing higher, but he delivered what he was asked to do and deserves credit for that.
Over to you
Vote for the driver who impressed you most last weekend and find out whether other RaceFans share your view here:
2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix
- Vowles clarifies Colapinto’s claim he was concussed in Las Vegas crash
- Norris lost title because McLaren weren’t competitive enough early on – Stella
- Ferrari are now in their longest-ever championship drought
- F1 “was trying too hard” in first year at Las Vegas – Sainz
- 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend F1 driver ratings
Depailler
26th November 2024, 7:31
Why not start using decimals next season, or be a bit freer with 9s, 10s, 0s and 1s?
As a marking scheme I’d give RaceFans 0-10 scale a 6/10. Love the site but this system lacks something (0s,1s etc!).
Adam (@adamgoh)
26th November 2024, 8:11
I disagree — 9s and 10s, 0s and 1s are outlier scores. They are reserved for truly outstanding performances (e.g. Max in Sao Paulo) or ghastly performances. If your performance is just slightly above average or slightly below average, you’re going to get scores in the 3-7 range.
Keith Campbell (@keithedin)
26th November 2024, 9:10
@adamgoh True, but when only 3 drivers out of 20 score anything outside of a 5-7 score, it makes the scores very compressed around that midrange value. If the 5-7 range is what you expect from a modern day F1 driver, then by definition that is what the majority of ratings are going to be.
I wouldn’t put in decimal points, as it’s a subjective rating anyway and assigning decimal points seems even more arbitrary, but personally I’d expand the ratings that are given to at least using 2-9 ratings fairly regularly, with 1s and 10s reserved for catastrophes and legendary drives respectively. But, it is just an opinion and a discussion piece, so the author is free to use whatever system they feel fit.
Meint Veldman
26th November 2024, 16:31
I did also notice it , according to these scores, was a mediocre weekend.
Besides, if a driver does exactly what he needs to do, even if this means a lack of spectacle I think a 6 is too low. If I, since I teach, give a 6 it is barely passing.
LosD (@losd)
26th November 2024, 8:51
More numbers to choose from would be silly. If anything, the scores should be narrowed, something like
“0 – Useless, 1 – Bad, 2 – Okay, 3 – Good, 4 – Outstanding, 5 – Legendary”, or maybe even narrower.
Information about car performance or reasons for problems is scarce, attempts at precise scoring will never make sense.
As a bonus, much of the discussion about a marginal score would probably go away.
… Or maybe not. People love complaining.
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
26th November 2024, 8:52
I think a few more 2s/3s and 9s wouldn’t go amiss. Nearly everyone, at every race is slotted in between 3 and 8. Anything outside is very exceptional.
notagrumpyfan
26th November 2024, 9:56
Maybe as part of the bullet points Will can include a score (or school rating) for both quali and the race.
This race for instance it would be interesting to see if he scored for the race Hamilton higher than Russell (I’d say the same, or slight edge for Russell due to how he managed the race), and Perez vs Verstappen (almost the same, Verstappen’s catching and overtaking (one of) the Ferraris just above the double overtake by Perez).
And as a stats fan, I’d love to see a rating for the car (and maybe team) every race as well.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
26th November 2024, 15:55
Yes, I’d like a car rating too.
ludewig
26th November 2024, 9:52
The same old issue with Will scoring the car (and nationality?) as much as the driver. Why does Russell get an 8 when he clearly had the dominant car this weekend, he didn’t make any errors, and he lacked a challenge because his team mate messed up, while Max gets a 6 for an excellent drive, where he overtook drivers early on while still keeping his tires in such a great shape that he could pit late, and got overtaken later on by clearly faster cars that he couldn’t afford to fight against? I saw zero errors in a car that was hampered by the lack of a low-draw wing.
I understand that Max’ drive here is the kind of excellent drive that gets underappreciated by those who lack insight into the fine details, but I expect a bit more from someone who earns the small bucks by writing about the sport professionally.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
26th November 2024, 15:57
He lacked his usual aggression vs the ferraris, I’m ok docking a point for that, and it’s not true he couldn’t afford to fight against them, he could and should: ferraris are chasing their first constructor’s title in 16 years, they couldn’t afford a crash, while verstappen could, as norris is not winning all races and not catching him anyway.
Ludewig
27th November 2024, 1:05
@esploratore1
He had major degradation issues with the car and preventing overtakes is very hard here anyway.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
26th November 2024, 15:58
He ofc had a good race for the car he had, until he lacked said aggression.
GechiChan (@gechichan)
26th November 2024, 10:35
6 for Max is a bit low I think, the car chew on its tires quite badly compared to Merc & Ferrari. So finishing 5th and ahead of Norris was probably the best outcome. Granted, he didn’t do anything extraordinary either, so a clear 7 for Max imo
Moi
26th November 2024, 11:45
Agreed. 6 also seems low for Gasly, he retired through no fault of his own, and that qualifying alone merits a 7 imo
An Sionnach
26th November 2024, 16:36
Yes, I’d agree about Max. I’d also like to mark Lewis up for his performance in the race, but seeing as George put it all together, there should be daylight between them. I’m speculating, but I think Lewis may have been much faster in the race, even if George turned things all the way up.
Gasly is perhaps a fairer mark seeing as he wasn’t around for much of the race. It wasn’t his fault he was out, but if give each driver a 5/10 to start with and then add or dock points based on what they show, he didn’t get the chance to get to 7/10. It was a remarkable performance in qualifying, though.
I was surprised at Alonso’s position and disappointed he couldn’t get that last point. It’s hard to rate the performance of the car and the two drivers at the moment, even if this appeared to be a good drive.
Well done, Zhou. He hasn’t done enough to stay in F1 but it’s nice to see a solid weekend from him, even if it is on an u challenging track.
Frank
26th November 2024, 11:20
A general response to the omnipresent complaints about the ratings.
I am guessing many people compare them to scores that you can get at all types of knowledge and logic tests. In such a test, a score (out of 10) of 5 or 6 does not correspond with:
5 – Acceptable
6 – Good
However, this is nota flaw in the system. It just might not correspond with the merit that you attribute to a 5 or a 6.
As a stats/data fan, I would love to see a scoring system that is a bit more objective, structured and deterministic. F.e. with verifiable criteria for each grade. This is the only thing that would improve the rating system imho. Tinkering with the labels or the levels is just optics.
ludewig
26th November 2024, 11:44
@Frank
That is not what people tend to complain the most about. The main complaints are about consistency, and that almost all drivers get a (rounded) score from 4-7, which allows for very little differentiation.
Frank
26th November 2024, 12:39
This is a complaint about not having objective criteria for getting a grade.
And this is a complaint about the levels.
ludewig
26th November 2024, 13:09
Yes, and neither are a comparison with other grading systems, as you allege.
Frank
26th November 2024, 15:24
Not sure if you can claim that people who prefer alternative grading systems are not comparing them to each other.
If you say a 5 is too low for a decent drive, you are comparing it to another grading system.
If you say 4-7 is not enough to categorize mundane driver performances, you are comparing them to another grading system.
You may not explicitly compare them to scores on a test, but that was just one of the possible explanations why people do not prefer this grading system.
Hotbottoms (@hotbottoms)
26th November 2024, 14:15
I see your point from a statistical perspective, but I believe the system is flawed in this context (a news website for racing fans) if most readers find it counterintuitive and scoring to have too little differentiation between drivers.
I could be wrong about the ‘most readers’ part, though. Even though complaints are constant, it could be just that people who are unhappy with the system (myself included) are the loudest.
Given how RaceFans often asks for readers’ opinions on various topics, I would love to see a poll with the question of whether RaceFans’ rating system should be changed :) The article could include statistics on how many times each score has been given and what the averages have been at the end of the season for each driver.
Also, I understand that everything that generates comments is good for a news site, including discussions on the rating system. However, I think these articles would generate even more engagement if there were more differentiation between drivers’ ratings.
Jere (@jerejj)
26th November 2024, 13:07
Most impressed: RUS, GAS, HUL, TSU, & ZHO
Most disappointing: PER, COL, LAW, & BOT
Stephen Taylor
26th November 2024, 17:25
6 for Pierre? You have done him dirty there Will.
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
27th November 2024, 9:01
It isn’t that unusual for lack of running to lower scores as you would just have to guess how well he may have done in the race. I think it is very likely that Zhou would get a reduced score if he had retired on lap 3, as well as a number of other drivers.