2020 Season - Rate the Drivers

[Penfold]

Ahh, so there is someone else who shares my view of the Kimi/Russell incident.  Everybody seems convinced the penalty was well deserved, including C4 pundit David Coulthard who later railed against Albon's lesser punishment for stupidly driving into Kvyat.  Talking of Albon, much like Kimi he lost control under braking into turn 1 when looking to make a move, but because his intended victim (Latifi, I think) veered off track there was no collision - there was also no criticism by DC of this out-of-control moment.  Not even a "he was lucky to get away with that" type of remark.

[Penfold]

Germany:

Merc:
Hammy - 7
Val - 7

Ferrari:
Seb - 4
'It is I' - 8

Red Bull:
Blur - 3
Max - 8

McLaren:
Chuck Norris - 8
Rally Guy's Son - 7

Renault:
Ricky Hairdo - 9
Ocon - 7

Boris Johnson (aka Alpha Tory):
Greasy Peril - 7
The Torpedo - 6

Received Pronunciation:
Perez - 9
Nico 'Super Sub' Hulkenberg - 9

Alfauber:
Kimi - 7
Adam Ant - 8

Haas:
Big Jean - 9
Son of Magnus - 4

Williams:
Latifi - 5
Jack Russell - X

[Chrill]

Let's rate Portugal! Beautiful country, visited in 2016. Loved it. The race? Ah, pretty damn cool too

Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team:
Lewis Hamilton - 8/10 (Horrid start, just failed to switch the mediums on completely and lost out to Bottas and Sainz. Well, was definitely the faster Merc once they got going)
Valtteri Bottas - 6/10 (Better start than Lewis, but still lost out to Sainz before letting Lewis pass too. Safe P2)

Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow:
Sebastian Vettel - 6/10 (Hard to rate him when his team mate scored 11 points more, but still. P15 to P10 is always better than going backwards)
Charles Leclerc - 9/10 (Qualifying 4th was impressive, and suffered much like Mercedes at the start but fought back and easily outpaced everyone in the midfield. Actually the last driver not lapped)

Aston Martin Red Bull Racing:
Alexander Albon - 3/10 (No. Just no)
Max Verstappen - 8/10 (Messy start, but found his way back pretty darn well)

McLaren F1 Team:
Lando Norris - 6/10 (Ran well before suffering a puncture, forcing him to pit)
Carlos Sainz Jr. - 8/10 (Great start, but couldn't keep his softs alive and slipped back ever so slightly. Found his way back past Perez near the end, but could not catch Gasly)

Renault DP World F1 Team:
Daniel Ricciardo - 7/10 (Pretty invisible race really, but ran a proper stint on those mediums. Lingered near the lower points all race)
Esteban Ocon - 8/10 (Start behind team mate, finish ahead of them? Always a good race, then)

Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda:
Pierre Gasly - 9/10 (Well, if Renault does want to pick him up I'm sure he'd do well there. AlphaTauri is a waste of his capacity)
Daniil Kvyat - 3/10 (Heh)

BWT Racing Point F1 Team:
Sergio Perez - 9/10 (There we go. Race incident with Verstappen, dead last, then fought back to finish 7th. 5th was on for a bit too!)
Lance Stroll - 4/10 (This weekend just did not work. Sorry, Lance)

Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN:
Kimi Räikkönen - 9/10 (Iceman or Rocketman? Ran 6th after the first lap despite exiting turn 1 in 16th. Failed to score points, only just, but ran a great race)
Antonio Giovinazzi - 5/10 (He had nothing on his Finnish friend)

Haas F1 Team:
Romain Grosjean - 4/10 (Last Ferrari engined car out there, due in part to not driving on the road very often)
Kevin Magnussen - 5/10 (Last Ferrari engined car out there, until his team mate was penalised for not knowing where the road was)

Williams Racing:
Nicholas Latifi - 5/10 (Classic Latifi performance. Beat only Kvyat)
George Russell - 8/10 (If indeed Williams lets him go, let's hope he still has a future at Mercedes. He deserves a go)

Driver of the race? Well, Perez and Leclerc both spring to mind. So too does Kimi and Pierre.

[Penfold]

I can't score Portimao. Too furious with what DRS did to the race.  To see the guys like Kimi who nailed the first lap then just get driven past without any chance of a fight, well that's not any sort of racing that interests me.  Any of the other races likely to have a massively over-powered DRS zone are going to be a pass from me now on.  I don't see the point of watching them.  Congratulations F1, it took you over three decades to wear me down but you've finally done it.

[Chrill]

Felt like doing some more ratings, now.

Turkey? Turturkeykey? Yup, that's it.

Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team:
Lewis Hamilton - 10/10 (What else can you ask than for a driver to start 6th and end up winning with a full pit stop's margin? Those intermedislicks looked tired (eeeeh!) at the end. 7-time world champ)
Valtteri Bottas - 2/10 (That was the polar opposite of a World Champion drive. Ugh)

Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow:
Sebastian Vettel - 9/10 (Huzzah! Welcome back to the podium, Seb. We didn't expect it this season)
Charles Leclerc - 8/10 (On course for a 9 or 10, but a single move at the end moved him from P2 to P4. Ah well, still a great race for Ferrari especially considering their Saturday)

Aston Martin Red Bull Racing:
Alexander Albon - 7/10 (I'm sure he spun once or twice, but especially during the mid-part of the race he looked able to battle for the win. Got slightly lost in strategy)
Max Verstappen - 5/10 (Spun many many times. Starting from the front, he failed to start and just never really got back. Way too agressive driving saw him spun multiple times on his way to a mediocre P6)

McLaren F1 Team:
Lando Norris - 7/10 (Drove a fairly unassuming race for 80%, but in the latter stages lapped two seconds faster than anyone. All it did was move him ahead of Stroll and into no mans land, never able to catch those in front)
Carlos Sainz Jr. - 9/10 (Definitely would be on for a podium if the race was just a single lap longer)

Renault DP World F1 Team:
Daniel Ricciardo - 6/10 (Points! I can barely remember seeing him this race, except when he spun his team mate to avoid crashing with Hamilton)
Esteban Ocon - X/10 (This seems a harsh X, but he was never given a fair chance after being hit twice in the very first lap)

Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda:
Pierre Gasly - 4/10 (I guess the AlphaTauri doesn't work when it's raining)
Daniil Kvyat - 5/10 (Like Gasly, but one place closer to the front)

BWT Racing Point F1 Team:
Sergio Perez - 10/10 (He did what Hamilton did, and made sure his intermedislicks lasted the distance. Just. Came under immense pressure, but kept his cool and let Leclerc lose it. Even when his replacement drives his best race this season, the Mexican stays ahead. Good, great, awesome drive)
Lance Stroll - 8/10 (Definitely a race of two halves. First 50% was easily 10/10, 2nd half was more like 5/10. That averages out to 7.5, and is rounded up to eight)

Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN:
Kimi Räikkönen - 5/10 (I guess the Alfa Romeo, much like the Alfa Tory, doesn't work when it's raining)
Antonio Giovinazzi - 2/10 (Back to basics for Antonio, making himself look absolutely unworthy of a drive in F1)

Haas F1 Team:
Romain Grosjean - 3/10 (I guess the Haas, much like the Alfa and the Alpha, doesn't work when it's raining)
Kevin Magnussen - 5/10 (Like Grosjean, but without a late DNF and a shirtload of spins)

Williams Racing:
Nicholas Latifi - 1/10 (We thought Giovinazzi was the worst driver in this race. We were mistaken)
George Russell - 7/10 (From the pit lane, he found his way past the Alfas at least. That's something)

Driver of the race? Well, Perez and Hamilton both spring to mind here. Becoming a 7-time WC, I guess I have to hand the coveted "Chrill's driver of the race award" to Lewis.

[Penfold]

I'll do mine in a day or two.

Watching it on extended highlights as you know, so whenever they cut to Valerie he was just about to spin or at least slither off the track. Quite funny really, whenever he popped up on screen I'd say "oh, not again!"... and then he'd do a little pirouette!

[Chrill]

"Why don't you come on over, Valerie?"
"Wait where are you? I can't see you"

I figure that's what happened. He was looking for Amy Winehouse. Or, well, the Zutons.

[Penfold]

Turkey - Going to be good scores for anyone who kept it together in those conditions:

Merc:
Hammy - 10 - Do I need to explain why?
Val - 2 - Ditto.

Ferrari:
Seb - 9
'It is I' - 8

Red Bull:
Blur - 6
Max - 5

McLaren:
Chuck Norris - 7
Rally Guy's Son - 9

Renault:
Ricky Hairdo - 6
Ocon - X - Agree on this, impossible to score fairly.

Boris Johnson (aka Alpha Tory):
Greasy Peril - 5
The Torpedo - 6

Received Pronunciation:
Perez - 10
Stroller - 8 - Wing damage took the wind out of his sails but otherwise an impressive weekend.

Alfauber:
Kimi - 6
Adam Ant - 2

Haas:
Big Jean - 4
Son of Magnus - 5

Williams:
Latifi - 1 - Sorely tempted to go for zero....
Jack Russell - 7


Not entirely happy with my scoring of the smaller guys, but it was hard to keep track of them on C4's partial coverage.

[Chrill]

Do we rate Romain 0 for causing a collision, or 10 for surviving it?

[Penfold]

Think I'll go with an X

[Chrill]

We didn't rate Bahrain. Fatigue from the insane frequency of races, for my part. I'll try doing Sakhir though.

[Chrill]

Sakhir! Let's mess about with the driver lineups, woohoo.

Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team:
Valtteri Bottas - 5/10 (Can't be blamed for the tyre mixup, and was brought back out on his old hard which had, by then, cooled down for half a minute and totally lost all grip and temperature. Hopeless position from there)
George Russell - 10/10 (Obviously a 10. Obviously. That overtake on Bottas was 10 on its own, but taking the lead at the start and fighting back twice to still score points? Amazing drive)

Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow:
Sebastian Vettel - 6/10 (The Ferrari wasn't great here...)
Charles Leclerc - 2/10 (...but missing your braking point so badly? That's worse than not great)

Aston Martin Red Bull Racing:
Alexander Albon - 6/10 (Not good enough, Alex. Your closest rival for that seat won, and should have finished on the podium three times in a row by now)
Max Verstappen - X/10 (I mean, must not have known there was a gravel trap beyond turn 4. Went past the Leclerc-Perez incident way too fast)

McLaren F1 Team:
Lando Norris - 6/10 (Was looking real good for a while, despite starting 19th. Sort of dropped off with the safety cars, perhaps the timing did not suit him?)
Carlos Sainz Jr. - 8/10 (P4! Sure, should have been P6 with the Mercs, but still)

Renault DP World F1 Team:
Daniel Ricciardo - 7/10 (Good pace, but not quite able to match his team mate)
Esteban Ocon - 9/10 (Even without Mercedes messing up, this was a P4 when Verstappen disappeared. Really solid drive, kept his tyres alive well)

Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda:
Pierre Gasly - 5/10 (Got caught out like Norris? I guess so. Should have scored points)
Daniil Kvyat - 8/10 (Also got caught out with SC, but his raw pace was good. At one point looked able to challenge the Astons and Alpines for that bronze medal before everything happened)

BWT Racing Point F1 Team:
Sergio Perez - 11/10 (I'm going to Spinal Tap this one, turn it up to 11. He was dead last, and must have suffered some damage to the tray with that shunt from Leclerc. He should not have found his way up to P3, and then with Mercedes messing up he should not have built a TEN SECOND GAP to the rest of the field. He won by over ten seconds. Come on Horner, come on Marko. Sign this guy!)
Lance Stroll - 8/10 (Like the rest of the top 3 he enjoyed the Safety Car very much. Still, he kept Carlos Sainz behind and made Racing Point the 4th team of the current engine era to get two drivers on the podium. Does that mean they're no longer a midfield team? Vettel should enjoy this car next year)

Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN:
Kimi Räikkönen - 4/10 (Spun around at the start, and I guess got damaged. Battled Aitken and Fittipaldi most of the race)
Antonio Giovinazzi - 6/10 (Was faster than Kimi all weekend, but unable to show it with the SC)

Haas F1 Team:
Pietro Fittipaldi - 8/10 (A pretty damn solid start to what I assume will only be a 2-race career in Formula 1)
Kevin Magnussen - 5/10 (Fairly invisible all race, ahead of only the rookies by the end)

Williams Racing:
Nicholas Latifi - 5/10 (Barely able to keep ahead of Aitken, not at all impressive)
Jack Aitken - 7/10 (Looked real good until he did that thing with the front wing and all. Still, a solid debut. If Russell gets a second go at Mercedes, Aitken will be a threat to Latifi)



Driver of the day? Russell did the second best drive of anyone this year. It's just a shame Perez did the best drive in the very same race.

Please use this layout next season, or at least alternate between them every year.

[Chrill]

We clearly lost interest in this, but let's compare our ratings to those of racefans.net:

Code Select Expand


Racefans                    Our Ratings
20. Nicholas Latifi         20. Antonio Giovinazzi (-4)
19. Sebastian Vettel        19. Nicholas Latifi (+1)
18. Alexander Albon         18. Alexander Albon (+0)
17. Romain Grosjean         17. Sebastian Vettel (+2)
16. Antonio Giovinazzi      16. Kevin Magnussen (TBD)
15. TBD                     15. Daniil Kvyat (TBD)
14. TBD                     14. Romain Grosjean (+3)
13. TBD                     13. Valtteri Bottas (TBD)
12. TBD                     12. Esteban Ocon (TBD)
11. TBD                     11. Charles Leclerc (TBD)
10. TBD                     10. Lance Stroll (TBD)
09. TBD                     09. Kimi Räikkönen (TBD)
08. TBD                     08. George Russell (TBD)
07. TBD                     07. Pierre Gasly (TBD)
06. TBD                     06. Daniel Ricciardo (TBD)
05. TBD                     05. Lando Norris (TBD)
04. TBD                     04. Max Verstappen (TBD)
03. TBD                     03. Sergio Pérez (TBD)
02. TBD                     02. Carlos Sainz Jr. (TBD)
01. TBD                     01. Lewis Hamilton (TBD)

I have excluded Nico Hülkenberg since he only did 2 races. Same for Fittipaldi and Aitken.

Personally, I feel like Carlos Sainz, Lando Norris, and Daniel Ricciardo are rated too highly. I feel like Leclerc and Kvyat are rated too low. Perhaps that depends on our skewing toward earlier races, where said drivers under or overperformed.

I'd agree that Max is behind Perez, and that Perez is perhaps 2nd only to Lewis Hamilton, so if we'd just move Sainz to 4th with Gasly 5th I'd be happy.

Hey, let's do my post-season opinions!

1. Lewis Hamilton
2. Sergio Pérez
3. Max Verstappen
4. Carlos Sainz
5. Pierre Gasly
6. Lando Norris
7. George Russell
8. Daniel Ricciardo
9. Charles Leclerc
10. Lance Stroll
11. Kimi Räikkönen
12. Esteban Ocon
13. Valtteri Bottas
14. Daniil Kvyat
15. Kevin Magnussen
16. Antonio Giovinazzi
17. Romain Grosjean
18. Alexander Albon
19. Sebastian Vettel
20. Nicholas Latifi

I'll update that top table as Racefans announce more of their ratings.

[Matt]

1. Hamilton
2. Verstappen
3. Perez

I don't think any driver was truly bad. Vettel, Giovinazzi, Latifi, and Albon are my bottom four (not in order) because they were convincingly beaten by their teammates. Pretty much everyone else falls somewhere in the middle. Ricciardo would be ahead of Ocon and Gasly ahead of Kvyat. I don't see much of a separation between Norris and Sainz or Magnussen and Grosjean.

Perez is my favorite driver and he did a great job, but I don't think he should be ahead of Max. Max absolutely destroyed his teammate and was an easy third (or better) almost every race he didn't have problems. He also didn't make many mistakes. Perez came on strong at the end of the season, but Stroll was competitive with him fairly often and the early season was a bunch of missed opportunities.

[Chrill]

Some more drivers revealed.

Code Select Expand


Racefans                    Our Ratings
20. Nicholas Latifi         20. Antonio Giovinazzi (-4)
19. Sebastian Vettel        19. Nicholas Latifi (+1)
18. Alexander Albon         18. Alexander Albon (+0)
17. Romain Grosjean         17. Sebastian Vettel (+2)
16. Antonio Giovinazzi      16. Kevin Magnussen (TBD)
15. Lance Stroll            15. Daniil Kvyat (-2)
14. Esteban Ocon            14. Romain Grosjean (+3)
13. Daniil Kvyat            13. Valtteri Bottas (TBD)
12. TBD                     12. Esteban Ocon (+2)
11. TBD                     11. Charles Leclerc (TBD)
10. TBD                     10. Lance Stroll (+5)
09. TBD                     09. Kimi Räikkönen (TBD)
08. TBD                     08. George Russell (TBD)
07. TBD                     07. Pierre Gasly (TBD)
06. TBD                     06. Daniel Ricciardo (TBD)
05. TBD                     05. Lando Norris (TBD)
04. TBD                     04. Max Verstappen (TBD)
03. TBD                     03. Sergio Pérez (TBD)
02. TBD                     02. Carlos Sainz Jr. (TBD)
01. TBD                     01. Lewis Hamilton (TBD)

So, clearly we have been much too harsh to K-Mag. Racefans seem to think he's top 12, we put him 16th. We are also much too kind to Lance Stroll, it appears. He's our P10, but he's 15th on Racefans.