2020 Season - Rate the Drivers

[Penfold]

I'll add my Spa ones later today.  Just below these words.

Just below those words:

Merc:
Hammy - 8
Val - 7

Ferrari:
Seb - 7
'It is I' - 6

Red Bull:
Blur - 5
Max - 7

McLaren:
Chuck Norris - 7
Rally Guy's Son - X

Renault:
Ricky Hairdo - 8
Ocon - 7

Boris Johnson (aka Alpha Tory):
Greasy Peril - 9
The Torpedo - 6

Received Pronunciation:
Perez - 7
The Stroller - 6

Alfauber:
Kimi - 9
Adam Ant - 2

Haas:
Big Jean - 7
Son of Magnus - 5

Williams:
Latifi - 6
Jack Russell - X

[Chrill]

While we wait for you to do Spa, I will do Monza.

Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team:
Lewis Hamilton - 6/10 (Deducting two for pitting under closed pits, a mistake 18 drivers managed to avoid. Still, he was the fastest and would have won easily without all the struggles)
Valtteri Bottas - 4/10 (Awful start, and an engine setting that simply wouldn't let him attack. Had to pull out of the slip stream and failed to overtake when a lot of other drivers made overtakes stick)

Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow:
Sebastian Vettel - X/10 (Retired too early to judge)
Charles Leclerc - 6/10 (Looked hot post-Magnussen, perhaps not podium hot but definitely Top 5 hot. Then he did the thing and made this race come true)

Aston Martin Red Bull Racing:
Alexander Albon - 3/10 (I mean...)
Max Verstappen - 4/10 (...where they even in this race?)

McLaren F1 Team:
Lando Norris - 8/10 (Couldn't quite match Sainz, but was still on genuine pace ahead of Red Bull and Mercedes)
Carlos Sainz Jr. - 10/10 (Well. Ran P2 on merit alone, before being caught out by fortunate drivers ahead of him. One lap more, he would have won. He was very close at the finish, and would easily have passed on that lap)

Renault DP World F1 Team:
Daniel Ricciardo - 8/10 (Didn't quite make that tattoo podium happen, but hounded Bottas throughout the race. Bottas, who had DRS on Norris but avoided the slip stream, was too fast down a straight line)
Esteban Ocon - 6/10 (Decent race for sure, but couldn't keep up with Ricciardo)

Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda:
Pierre Gasly - 9/10 (He won the race. How is this not a 10? Well, it could easily be a 10, but his race was a 6 before getting lucky with the SC and subsequent red flag. The bonus 3 points come from building a gap to the cars behind, then managing said gap all the way to the end without making a single mistake. Very mature drive)
Daniil Kvyat - 5/10 (If your team mate wins and you're 9th, that's not good enough. Considering his starting position and the drivers retiring or suffering issues, he actually lost places)

BWT Racing Point F1 Team:
Sergio Perez - 6/10 (A butchered pit stop under SC dropped him behind his rivals, then I think he must've hit somebody because he lacked stability all throughout the second half of the race)
Lance Stroll - 8/10 (Got lucky, for sure, and a made a poor getaway under the restart. Could have won. Still, he ensured Norris never managed to catch him, and secured a solid podium finish)

Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN:
Kimi Räikkönen - 8/10 (Those softs couldn't take it, but Alfa had to try something different and go aggressive on tyres. Did his best to defend without losing time. Very clean drive, a flash back to the Kimi we know and love)
Antonio Giovinazzi - 4/10 (Did what Lewis did, but obviously didn't have the car to catch anyone)

Haas F1 Team:
Romain Grosjean - 7/10 (The winner of most anonymous race? Surely. P12 looks decent to me)
Kevin Magnussen - X/10 (Retired too early to judge)

Williams Racing:
Nicholas Latifi - 8/10 (Well now! Took the restart 9th, I think, and only dropped two places thanks to passing Räikkönen near the end. Strong drive, really strong drive. I'm impressed, for the first time!)
George Russell - 6/10 (You know, this time it was Russell who failed to match Latifi. That's unusual. I'm expecting a return to form in Mugello, but this weekend he failed to catch his Canadian buddy)

Driver of the day? Well, Sainz. Honorable mention to Gasly, Latifi, and Norris.

[Penfold]

Mmmonza!

Merc:
Hammy - 6 - Buggered himself by missing those flashing red lights.
Val - 4 - Buggered himself with a terrible start and then made zero progress.

Ferrari:
Seb - X - Brake failure at an incredibly early stage of the race.  I assume damage caused the over-heating,
'It is I' - 4 - Crashed all by himself.

Red Bull:
Blur - 3 - Christ alive!
Max - 5 - Car not likey this tracky.  Then it got too hot and gave up the ghost.

McLaren:
Chuck Norris - 9 - Would've been a podium but for people being allowed to make their mandatory tyre change under red flags.
Rally Guy's Son - 10 - Deserved to win this one.  Hope he enjoys his time at Ferrari.

Renault:
Ricky Hairdo - 8 - Kept Valerie honest all race.
Ocon - 6 - Can't keep up with Danny boy.

Boris Johnson (aka Alpha Tory):
Greasy Peril - 9 - Fortune got him to the front, calm & controlled driving kept him there.
The Torpedo - 6 - Sort of ran okay at the start, right up on Gasly's tail, but ended up with his normal middling performance.

Received Pronunciation:
Perez - 6 - Poor pit-stop, rest of the race not much better.
The Stroller - 7 - So lucky to make his only stop under red flags. 

Alfauber:
Kimi - 8 - Needed another safety car. Those poor softs must've been begging for mercy by the end.
Adam Ant - 5 - Missed the red lights.

Haas:
Big Jean - 7 - Reasonable.
Son of Magnus - X - Car says no.

Williams - Farewell to one of the greatest teams in F1 history:
Latifi - 8 - His strongest showing thus far.
Jack Russell - 6 - One of his weaker efforts.

[Chrill]

Cheers. I hadn't updated the stats since the 70th Anniversary GP, so these numbers reflect the last three races.

Biggest climb:
Pierre Gasly, +6 (P11 -> P5)
Kimi Räikkönen, +5 (P12 -> P7)
Lance Stroll, +3 (P14 -> P11)

Biggest drop:
Valtteri Bottas, -7 (P5 -> P12)
Kevin Magnussen, -4 (P10 -> P14)
Alexander Albon, -3 (P15 -> P18)

We most strongly disagree on the performance of Alexander Albon, with a difference of 0.875 (Me 6.125, you 5.250). Ruling out the 1-timer Hulkenberg, we most closely align on Lando Norris (Me 7.500, you 7.375).

Lewis Hamilton (8.000) is the best driver so far, with Max Verstappen (7.867) and Carlos Sainz (7.714) rounding out the podium. Sebastian Vettel has left the bottom position, which is now occupied by Antonio Giovinazzi (4.688), -0.503 below his 2019 average.

The driver most improved from 2019 to 2020 is Max Verstappen (+1.438). The driver with the worst result compared to 2019 is Charles Leclerc (-1.288). The driver most closely matching their 2019 result is Carlos Sainz (+0.028).

All this and more:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1fILMrPMu3i4eSzHIR_ZN7mJCZ9HZX9hsFf5HTSQpzTM/edit?usp=sharing

[Penfold]

Poor 'It is I', a couple of particularly bad showings have dragged down his average; actually a similar situation for Vettel only his best races have not been as strong as Leclerc's.  Now the Ant man deserves that bottom rung, one uninspiring effort after another.

Thanks for the update, I do enjoy poring over our scoring stats.  Those tables are a work of art which deserve a wider audience, they really do.

[Chrill]

Thanks for the update, I do enjoy poring over our scoring stats.  Those tables are a work of art which deserve a wider audience, they really do.

Thank you for saying this! I use Sheets in my daily work, but it's fun to utilise those skills for something outside work too.

I've actually considered building a sharing a form and then let Google Sheets compile the stats for me instead. Of course, if we would get more people rating regularly, that would remove the possibility to manage a tab per person (instead doing a tab per race) which would make it more difficult to see what every individual rated over the season.

I am part of a Swedish F1 fan group on Facebook, and I sometimes share the totals there. The consensus is that our ratings are fair, but somewhat fail to account for car performance. I think that's true so some extent, but we rate Russell over Bottas despite Bottas scoring a few points more than the Brit.

[Penfold]

I'm sure they have a point re: our ratings not always adjusting perfectly for car performance.  It's not the easiest thing to do, especially when cars vary so much depending on track characteristics - unless you're in a Mercedes!  Quite a chunk of it has to go on team-mate comparison, but that has its obvious limitations, particularly if the team-mate in question is inconsistent and/or new to F1 and so an unknown quantity.

Edit: I will say though, that not only do we rate Bottas lower than both Russell and Stroll, but we've got Albon sandwiched between Kvyat and Latifi.  Clearly not getting much of a boost from being in the second best car!

[Chrill]

Albon may be driving the 2nd fastest car, but not the 2nd best car when considering how narrow an operating window he has, and how on-edge the car is. In the case of Albon and Bottas, they probably suffer from driving championship contender cars.

[Penfold]

... and Vettel's in a car that doesn't suit his driving style.  Get everything out of the car you've got or be ready to find a new berth.

Been disappointed with Bottas this year, seems further off Hammy than in 2019... or is that my imagination?

Edit: Then he goes and beats Lewis in practice. 

[Chrill]

Remember Silverstone. If only Hamilton's tyres had gone one lap earlier, and Bottas one lap later, this would still be a tight championship battle.

Bottas seems to lose motivation when he sees the championship slip. That's why he is usually strong in the early parts of the season (winning the opener both this year and last). Once Hamilton catches up, Bottas drops back.

[Chrill]

Looks like we forgot Mugello.

[Penfold]

Memorable race but with 8 DNFs not a great one for scoring. Let's get back into it with Russia.

[Chrill]

Looks like we forgot Sochi.

[Penfold]

Let's get back into it with Germany...?

[Chrill]

Yes.

Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team:
Lewis Hamilton - 7/10 (Was slower than Bottas, but Bottas locked up and then the Finn's engine said good night)
Valtteri Bottas - 8/10 (Had the edge, fought back hard out of turn 1 in an uncharacteristic and impressive way. Then locked up, then went bye bye)

Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow:
Sebastian Vettel - 3/10 (P11, first person to choose tyres. Lots and lots of DNFs, still finished P11. What? Bad. Baaaaad. BAAD)
Charles Leclerc - 8/10 (Made his tyres last well, but was slightly unfortunate with the Safety Car timing. Still, solid points)

Aston Martin Red Bull Racing:
Alexander Albon - 3/10 (Really not a great race. Deducting one for literally crashing into Kvyat)
Max Verstappen - 8/10 (Did what he could, easily outpaced his team mate and the rest of the midfield in a near unprecedented way. Still, didn't match the Mercedes cars in pure race pace)

McLaren F1 Team:
Lando Norris - 8/10 (Battled Perez and Ricciardo for that podium position. And then like, sort of, stopped, sort of)
Carlos Sainz Jr. - 8/10 (Found his way past Gasly and Leclerc after the SC period, and was actually not far behind Ric and Per for that P3 battle)

Renault DP World F1 Team:
Daniel Ricciardo - 10/10 (Despite a dodgy strategy, he kept it alive until the safety car. Bonus point for Arbiteboul tattoo)
Esteban Ocon - 7/10 (He was decent, and then his car did a Bottas/Norris thing)

Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda:
Pierre Gasly - 8/10 (I wasn't really sure he did a good race. And then he came alive with the SC, and finished sixth. Nice)
Daniil Kvyat - 6/10 (I mean, he suffered a lot from Albon running over the front wing. Like, a lot. So it's OK he finished last, I suppose)

BWT Racing Point F1 Team:
Sergio Perez - 8/10 (Ah, come on guys. This just makes my document even more messy, Perez v Hulkenberg? Oh well. Great stuff, not quite enough for the podium)
Nico Hülkenberg - 9/10 (Maybe I should just rate him a 10? Maybe, yeah. I'm not going to, though. The fact is, he actually didn't pass any cars he should be able to. The slow Ferrari of Vettel was no match, but the faster Ferrari of Leclerc was. Despite Leclerc's older harder tyres)

Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN:
Kimi Räikkönen - 6/10 (Very unfairly punished in that Russel incident. Lost his downforce behind Vettel, tried to catch the car, Russell was there. I disagree with the 10s penalty. Couldn't hold on to points from there)
Antonio Giovinazzi - 8/10 (Actually pretty good stuff from Toni! P14 to P10, but really he did lose out to some people he should not have lost out too, such as RoGro. Still, credit where it's due, he outscored Kimi)

Haas F1 Team:
Romain Grosjean - 9/10 (Haas gambled on letting Romain stay out with hard tyres. That looked like a stupid idea. Romain was like "I got this". And scored two points. Bold strategy, he pulled it off. Great!)
Kevin Magnussen - 4/10 (He's literally only ahead of Latifi and the stricken AlphaTauri of Kvyat. Even lost out to penalised Kimi. Boo)

Williams Racing:
Nicholas Latifi - 6/10 (Well, he battled hard with Kvyat at the end and came out on top. Must've been the most exciting moments in his short F1 career)
George Russell - X/10 (Did he retire too early to rate? Maybe not. He perhaps deserves a rating)