2021 Season - Rate the Drivers

[Chrill]

Thaaanks!

This has created some big movements between Imola and Portugal:

1. Kimi has dropped from 6th to 17th due to causing a collision which we all blamed him for. He scored 0.333 in Portugal, dropping his average to 5.2 for this season
2. Lando Norris overhauls Max for first, with an absolutely absurd but deserved 9.2 average score.
3. Giovinazzi is 16th best this year with 5.4 as his average, which is still 0.6 better than his 2020 average of 4.8.
4. Nikita Mazepin's average is now 2.3. I don't know if we've ever seen such a low average after 3 races, but we do hope he'll improve. His teammate Schumacher is 13th with an average score of 6.1

As always, this and more here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1PGqNyT0O6eH1NZd0hC-e9zJ0wzLDMYPkST0BvU0PxBU/edit?usp=sharing

[Chrill]

Let's visit Barcelona.

Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team:
Lewis Hamilton - 10/10 | Winning from pole is one thing. OVERTAKING IN BARCELONA to win with an extra stop? That's something else. Incredible.
Valtteri Bottas - 7/10 | Poor getaway, but decent recovery. In the end, he was just 10 seconds off Verstappen which means he matched the front runners pace once he disposed of Charles Leclerc. Still, should've been there from the start to even more strongly support Lewis Hamilton.

Red Bull Racing Honda:
Sergio Pérez - 7/10 | Once again good race pace, but lacking on Saturdays. Had he qualified in the top four, this race could have gone very differently.
Max Verstappen - 9/10 | Got caught out by the superior strategists operating out of Brackley, and didn't have the final oomph in his tyres.

McLaren F1 Team:
Daniel Ricciardo - 8/10 | Definitely had the upper hand on Norris, for the first time this year. Qualified ahead, raced ahead, and finished ahead quite clearly.
Lando Norris - 6/10 | Not up to his absurdly high standards so far in 2021. He was lapped for the first time this year, despite the pack getting bunched up after Tsunoda's engine shut off some 5-10 laps into this race.

Aston Martin Cognizant F1 Team:
Sebastian Vettel - 6/10 | Very mediocre race, once again outpaced by his "pay driver" team mate despite running the same updates package.
Lance Stroll - 7/10 | Only slipped out of the points after trying to find his way past Alonso and going wide into turn 1. Decent, if not great.

Alpine F1 Team:
Fernando Alonso - 7/10 | Tried to make a one-stop strategy work but his tyres absolutely collapsed. Could not keep the guys behind, at one point holding Russell up who was also on that risky one-stopper.
Esteban Ocon - 8/10 | Great qualifying followed by a pretty darn strong race. Impressive. Maybe Alonso does have a proper challenge here, if Ocon keeps this up.

Scuderia Mission Winnow Ferrari:
Charles Leclerc - 10/10 | The Ferrari boys are at it. This could have been a podium, had he been able to pit before Bottas and force him to run long. Easily the fastest midfield car, having a full pit stop in hand over all of the others. Stunning drive.
Carlos Sainz Jr. - 8/10 | The last driver not lapped. Only his team mate, Ricciardo, and the top two teams avoided lapping. That's enough to put him on a pretty high score. The Ferraris are currently the third strongest team

Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda:
Pierre Gasly - 7/10 | Salvaged a point, which is nice, but the AlphaTauri is not all it looked to be at pre-season.
Yuki Tsunoda - X/10 | On Saturday, he implied his car wasn't working as intended compared to Gasly. On Sunday, it broke down after 6 laps. So that's unfortunate.

Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen:
Kimi Räikkönen - 8/10 | Clearly the Alfa Romeo, much like the Alfa Taureo, isn't as fast as we though it could be. Beating a bunch of other cars was still impressive, and he was in that hunt for the final point
Antonio Giovinazzi - 6/10 | Well I picked him as my weekly, of course his pit stop was going to go badly. Sort of never recovered.

Uralkali Haas F1 Team:
Nikita Mazepin - 5/10 | Still half a minute off Schumacher, but not nearly as bad as some other races.
Mick Schumacher - 7/10 | Battled valiantly with other cars at the start, but his pace dropped him down the order. In the end, he was the only one alongside Mazepin to be lapped twice.

Williams Racing:
Nicholas Latifi - 6/10 | Beat Alonso, but only because Alonso's tyres dropped off.
George Russell - 8/10 | Qualified a bit worse than in Portugal, but definitely raced better. Ran 11th for a long time, pushing Alonso for that P10 spot. The Williams cars will surely score a point or two this season if they keep this up. We'll have races of attrition, we'll have freak weather, or something else that helps Russell or Latifi reach P10.


Driver of the race? Oh. Leclerc. But Hamilton is a 10/10 too.

[Penfold]

Spain:

Merc:
Hammy - 9 - Victory was inevitable the moment he made pit stop no. 2 - was always going to catch Max, was always going to then ease past him.
Val - 7 - You know, it was okay for a second driver.

Red Bull:
Surger - 6 - Screwed up his race on Saturday afternoon.
Max - 9 - Not enough pace to beat a Merc. in Hamilton's hands.  Needed track position to slow Lewis, so couldn't risk diving into the pits for an early second stop.

McLaren:
Ricky Hairdo - 9
Chuck Norris - 6

A team called Aston Martin:
My Fault Again - 6
Speedy Stroller - 7

Alpine:
Alonso - 6
OffOn - 8

Ferrari:
'It is I' - 9
Rally Guy's Son - 7

Boris Johnson (aka Alpha Tory):
Greasy Peril - 7
Tsunoda - X

Alfauber:
Kimi - 7
Adam Ant - 7

Haas:
Massivespin - 5
Mickey Boy - 7

Williams:
Latifi - 6
Jack Russell - 8


More of my inane ramblings to be added later....

[eurobrun]

Spain scores.
Really regret picking Alonso for his home race.  That backfired!

Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team:
Lewis Hamilton - 10/10
Valtteri Bottas - 6/10

Red Bull Racing Honda:
Sergio Pérez - 6/10
Max Verstappen - 9/10

McLaren F1 Team:
Daniel Ricciardo - 9/10
Lando Norris - 7/10

Aston Martin Cognizant F1 Team:
Sebastian Vettel - 6/10
Lance Stroll - 6/10

Alpine F1 Team:
Fernando Alonso - 6/10
Esteban Ocon - 9/10

Scuderia Mission Winnow Ferrari:
Charles Leclerc - 10/10
Carlos Sainz Jr. - 9/10

Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda:
Pierre Gasly - 6/10
Yuki Tsunoda - 4/10

Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen:
Kimi Räikkönen - 7/10
Antonio Giovinazzi - 6/10

Haas F1 Team:
Nikita Mazepin - 3/10
Mick Schumacher - 7/10

Williams Racing:
Nicholas Latifi - 6/10
George Russell - 7/10

[Chrill]

Former Yugoslovian Republic of Monaco - Douze Points!

Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team:
Lewis Hamilton - 5/10 | Well now that wasn't... great was it. Poor in qualifying, and lost two places in the race too. Nope, not good enough. Simply not. Stuck behind Gasly, but passed by others in the pits. He did secure a FL so that's one point back.
Valtteri Bottas - 8/10 | Heartbreak! With Leclerc gone, Bottas had a safe P2 and could have gone P1 if he had played the tactics game right. And then, his pit stop turned into a retirement when the wheel simply refused to come loose. It's still on the car as we speak!

Red Bull Racing Honda:
Sergio Pérez - 9/10 | In the race, he was clearly fast enough for a podium. Reaching the podium from 9th on the grid in Monaco is Olivier Panis levels of challenging, but P4 was good too. By extending his first stint, he easily overcut the guys inbetween. With Lec and Bot gone, he found another 2 spots.
Max Verstappen - 8/10 | Had absolutely zero rivals once Bottas left, and could therefore drive with a big margin and save on both car and tyres. Which he did. Easiest Monaco win he'll ever have, for sure.

McLaren F1 Team:
Daniel Ricciardo - 5/10 | No.... Nooooo. Daniel. You were lapped. By your team mate. That's a big no-no. P12 sounds decent-ish if you fail to reach Q3, but it's not good enough.
Lando Norris - 9/10 | Someone is back in form! You'd think finishing 3rd in Monaco in a McLaren is a 10/10? He defended from Perez too? He was only 20s behind the winner? Yeah, but he also didn't actually have to pass anyone to get there. He was 5th, and "lucked" into 3rd by Bottas and Leclerc not finishing.

Aston Martin Cognizant F1 Team:
Sebastian Vettel - 9/10 | Someone is back in form! Whereas Lando's form dipped for a race, Vettel's dipped for two years. I really hope this is the catalyst he and the team needed.
Lance Stroll - 9/10 | Overcut, just like Vettel, but from further back. Really very impressive to keep lapping faster than Ocon and Giovinazzi despite running such old hard tyres.

Alpine F1 Team:
Fernando Alonso - 6/10 | IF your team mate scores, so should you. Oh you went out in Q1? Don't.
Esteban Ocon - 7/10 | Essentially held on to his position on the grid by passing Giovinazzi and losing Stroll. Boosted into the points courtesy of Lec+Bot.

Scuderia Mission Winnow Ferrari:
Charles Leclerc - X/10 | That hurt. That hurt real bad.
Carlos Sainz Jr. - 8/10 | With Bottas and Leclerc gone, Sainz was the only one even remotely capable of challenging Verstappen. Which he ended up not doing, his tyres blistered and he had to drop back. The P2 was never in risk though. Solid.

Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda:
Pierre Gasly - 7/10 | Driving an AlphaTauri from start to finish with Mercedes up your butt? That sounds nasty. Hamilton was nowhere to be found though, but Perez and Vettel (only just) squeezed by to bring Gasly down to 6th. For that, he does not score higher.
Yuki Tsunoda - 5/10 | Tsunoda better return to his Bahrain form, or Marko will promote somebody else next year. Albon, Vips, Lawson, and others are all waiting to be promoted.

Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen:
Kimi Räikkönen - 7/10 | Solid but not spectacular. Found his way past Ricciardo with a superior strategy, but not close enough to grab a point off his team mate.
Antonio Giovinazzi - 7/10 | Started 10th, finished 10th. Clearly faster than Ocon ahead, but this circuit does not allow overtaking so he remained behind.

Uralkali Haas F1 Team:
Nikita Mazepin - 7/10 | That was not bad at all. Kept it clean all weekend long, not even a little brush or an off moment. Kept the same up in the race, but had atrocious pace. Passed Schumacher after losing out to him on Lap 1.
Mick Schumacher - 7/10 | Snuck past Mazepin into the hairpin, cheeky move. Then had some sort of issue which cost him almost a minute, but was eventually solved and he recovered to finish right behind Mazepin.

Williams Racing:
Nicholas Latifi - 6/10 | Eventless race. Got past Tsunoda, but that's about it
George Russell - 6/10 | Like his team mate, but just ahead, and without the Tsunoda thing because he started ahead of Tsunoda.


Driver of the race? Oh, maybe Vettel or Perez.
Driver of the weekend? Honestly, maybe Bottas. That Mercedes did not belong in the top 3 on Saturday, and he wasn't far behind Verstappen before pitting.

[Penfold]

Always a somewhat tricky race to score.  Seems the only major difference between us will be Leclerc - I'm going to award him a low score as reward for crashing in qualifying....

[Chrill]

Seems the only major difference between us will be Leclerc - I'm going to award him a low score as reward for crashing in qualifying....

Fair enough! I try to rate the Sunday only, but there's no reason why we can't include the performance across the weekend. Mind you, he was the fastest when crashing

[Chrill]

eurobrun and Penfold, step up. We're fast approaching Baku!

[Penfold]

I was waiting for your hurry up

Mine will be along tomorrow morn!

[Penfold]

Monaco:

Merc:
Hammy - 5 
Val - 8

Red Bull:
Surger - 8
Max - 8

McLaren:
Ricky Hairdo - 4
Chuck Norris - 9

A team called Aston Martin:
My Fault Again - 9
Speedy Stroller - 8

Alpine:
Alonso - 5
OffOn - 7

Ferrari:
'It is I' - 4
Rally Guy's Son - 7

Boris Johnson (aka Alpha Tory):
Greasy Peril - 8
Tsunoda - 5

Alfauber:
Kimi - 7
Adam Ant - 8

Haas:
Massivespin - 6
Mickey Boy - 6

Williams:
Latifi - 6
Jack Russell - 6

[Chrill]

I'm glad you viewed Bottas the same way I did, he really was much stronger than Lewis Hamilton in Monaco. And Baku is a circuit the Bott enjoys, except for that one little boomboomwheel.

[eurobrun]

Monaco.  Better late than never?
Typically I picked Leclerc, so that's fun.  If anyone else picked Perez for Baku, maybe reconsider given my recent luck!

Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team:
Lewis Hamilton - 4/10
Valtteri Bottas - 8/10

Red Bull Racing Honda:
Sergio Pérez - 9/10
Max Verstappen - 10/10

McLaren F1 Team:
Daniel Ricciardo - 2/10
Lando Norris - 9/10

Aston Martin Cognizant F1 Team:
Sebastian Vettel - 10/10
Lance Stroll - 7/10

Alpine F1 Team:
Fernando Alonso - 5/10
Esteban Ocon - 7/10

Scuderia Mission Winnow Ferrari:
Charles Leclerc - 2/10
Carlos Sainz Jr. - 9/10

Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda:
Pierre Gasly - 8/10
Yuki Tsunoda - 2/10

Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen:
Kimi Räikkönen - 6/10
Antonio Giovinazzi - 8/10

Haas F1 Team:
Nikita Mazepin - 5/10
Mick Schumacher - 4/10

Williams Racing:
Nicholas Latifi - 5/10
George Russell - 6/10

[Chrill]

Thank you all. With two weeks until France, I hope we can get some ratings in for Baku. Matt, are you on too?

[Chrill]

Azerbaijan! I'm really glad it's spelt that way in English. The Swedish spelling of the country mirrors the Azeri much too closely: Azerbajdzjan.

Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team:
Lewis Hamilton - 5/10 | Difficult to rate. I'd expect some of you to give him a 2-3, and some an 8-9. Fact is, the car seemed awful and he was running in the top 3 until the very end. A 5 is my compromise, since him flicking the switch to ruin his brake balance was an error, albeit a very unfortunate and random one.
Valtteri Bottas - 1/10 | Sorry. Without any apparent issues, and with 2 of his top rivals out, he still failed to even score points. Horrid.

Red Bull Racing Honda:
Sergio Pérez - 10/10 | Great start brought him from 6th to 3rd quickly, and then he jumped Hamilton in the pits. Then, he kept Hamilton behind, even when the Brit had DRS, for pretty much the entire race. Then, when everything collapsed around him, he kept his cool to secure his 2nd victory in F1. From 6th to win is always a 10, isn't it?
Max Verstappen - 9/10 | Faultless, and surely cannot be blamed for the crash. Deserved to win.

McLaren F1 Team:
Daniel Ricciardo - 7/10 | Decent, but didn't quite switch to aggressive mode at the 2-lap sprint in the end. This put him behind some drivers he could have, and maybe should have, finished ahead of.
Lando Norris - 8/10 | Had a shot at that final podium spot, but came out at the bottom of that 3-way scrap. Still some very solid points to see him safely on top of the "Formula 1.5" leaderboards.

Aston Martin Cognizant F1 Team:
Sebastian Vettel - 10/10 | 11th to 2nd, obviously impressive. Even if Hamilton and Verstappen had finished the race, Vettel was 5th at worst. Definitely benefitted from starting on fresh softs, both at the start and the restart.
Lance Stroll - 6/10 | Ran OK from his bottom-of-the-grid start when the Pirellis said "nah".

Alpine F1 Team:
Fernando Alonso - 9/10 | The old man has got some fire in him still. Always was a specialist at starts and opening laps. Went from 10th to 6th in those final laps alone. Perhaps the confidence boost he needed?
Esteban Ocon - X/10 | DNFed pretty much right away.

Scuderia Mission Winnow Ferrari:
Charles Leclerc - 8/10 | Obviously got P1 gifted to him on Saturday, we knew the car lacked that kind of pace. Finishing 4th was probably far better than Ferrari anticipated going into this weekend.
Carlos Sainz Jr. - 6/10 | With the drivers dropping out around him, he maybe should have been able to finish 1-2 spots further up.

Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda:
Pierre Gasly - 9/10 | Unlike Leclerc, Pierre's P4 wasn't just luck. This guy looked fast all weekend, including in long runs. Failed to keep Vettel behind at the restart, but that was a solid weekend from Gasly.
Yuki Tsunoda - 8/10 | And from Tsunoda! Some intense battling at the end, but even though he lost Alonso he kept another Spaniard behind him. His best race finish yet, and we can hope he will be able to calm down and find his rhythm soon.

Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen:
Kimi Räikkönen - 8/10 | A point is a point. Especially if you earn it by literally being faster than your fellow Finn at Mercedes. His first point of the year I think?
Antonio Giovinazzi - 8/10 | Also a strong race. Started from the bottom, finished just outside the points. Like Kimi, Giovinazzi drove past Bottas due to being faster. Nice.

Uralkali Haas F1 Team:
Nikita Mazepin - 5/10 | Was 1 minute behind Schumacher before unlapping himself during Stroll's SC, and then jumping ahead at the restart. Tried to kill Schumacher on the final lap, but failed.
Mick Schumacher - 8/10 | Ran with the Williams cars, and far far ahead of Mazepin, all race. Was passed at the restart, but found his way back at the final lap to claim 13th and jump ahead of Williams in the championship.

Williams Racing:
Nicholas Latifi - 7/10 | Ran an unremarkable race. We only really saw him when his team shouted "STAY OUT", and then they expected Latifi to interpret that as "THROUGH THE PITS". So I can't really pin the blame on Latifi for that silly mistake.
George Russell - 7/10 | DNFed from an equally unremarkable race. Probably could have finished ahead of the Haas cars, but never had the pace to keep up with Alfa Romeo or Bottas (heh, Bottas).


Driver of the day? See Monaco:

Oh, maybe Vettel or Perez.

[Penfold]

Hmm, I'd been thinking Bottas as driver of the day but maybe Vettel or Perez are more deserving

My scores will amble in tomorrow....