2019 Season - Rate the Drivers

[Chrill]

Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport:
Lewis Hamilton - 8/10 (In a very Hamiltonian way, he picked up the win when the others failed. This is typical of him. Had nothing on Leclerc, but +1 point for simply outdriving Vettel. Great stuff)
Valtteri Bottas - 6/10 (Was up in P2 at the start, taking both Hamilton and Leclerc, before fading. Still, he maintains the championship lead courtesy of that Australia fast lap)

Scuderia Ferrari:
Sebastian Vettel - 4/10 (Well, this spin was very 2018 of Vettel. Is he already shaken by the fact Leclerc can match him? Maybe, time will tell. Still, a stupid spin saw him lose a certain top two finish)
Charles Leclerc - 10/10 (Wow. Massive gap to everyone in all three qualifying sessions, then regains the lead easily despite a rocky start. Then, his 5-cylinder Ferrari failed to match the 6-cylinder Mercedes. Agonising to watch)

Aston Martin Red Bull Racing:
Pierre Gasly - 3/10 (Horrid performance really. Only just survived into Q2, was nowhere near Q3, and then drove that Red Bull like a Toro Rosso for much of the race. Albon and Kvyat both kept up with him)
Max Verstappen - 7/10 (Best of the rest in qualifying by sheer willpower, and very nearly got a lucky podium. Was harsh with Sainz but drove a clean race overall. More mature than in 2018, and so far very capable of leading the team)

Renault F1 Team:
Daniel Ricciardo - 8/10 (Well that was painful, but they ran best of the rest before that)
Nico Hülkenberg - 8/10 (Well that was painful, but they ran best of the rest before that)

Rich Energy Haas F1 Team:
Romain Grosjean - X/10 (Lost out to Stroll in the start and never found his way back)
Kevin Magnussen - 5/10 (That car was nowhere near as fast on Sunday as it was on Saturday. Big shame, because he could have been challenging for that final podium had his car run well and had Renault not double-DNFed)

McLaren F1 Team:
Lando Norris - 10/10 (You can ask nothing more. Q3, again, followed by some mighty racing. Did you see how he deliberately did not pass before the DRS line into Turn 1, just to get DRS on that second straight? Mature driving, impressive)
Carlos Sainz Jr. - X/10 (My third of the week in MF1! After Saturday, I felt happy. After Sunday, I did not. Shame to see him retire after battling a Red Bull for genuine position)

SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team:
Sergio Perez - 7/10 (Salvaged points with what looks like a car that maybe should not be up there in Bahrain. Decent stuff, kept out of trouble when it hit others around him)
Lance Stroll - 5/10 (Now this was more like the Stroll we remember from Williams. Mediocre and running at the back of the midfield)

Alfa Romeo Racing:
Kimi Räikkönen - 9/10 (So far, he's been a stroke of genius at Sauber. Strong driving, only beaten by Norris in the midfield battle. Easily outclassing his team mate)
Antonio Giovinazzi - 5/10 (Hit Kvyat, then kept himself out of the points. Not a very convincing start to his F1 career. Mind you, it was his 4th GP and by now he should be closer to Raikkonen although perhaps not yet ahead of him)

Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda:
Alexander Albon - 8/10 (Some really nice driving, a couple times very close to other drivers but never over the limit. Well deserved first points of his F1 career, only just behind Gasly in the Red Bull)
Daniil Kvyat - 7/10 (Was snapping on Albon's tail, battling with the young team mate, before being spanked by Big Tony in the Alfauber.

ROKiT Williams Racing:
George Russell - 7/10 (I guess I can rate them today. These guys are in a league of their own, and not in a good way. Kept out of trouble and ran ahead of some drivers at the start. Beat Kubica)
Robert Kubica - 7/10 (I guess I can rate them today. These guys are in a league of their own, and not in a good way. Kept out of trouble and ran ahead of many drivers at the start before dropping behind Russell. Did not beat Kubica, is Kubica)

[Matt]

Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport:
Lewis Hamilton - 8/10
Valtteri Bottas - 7/10

Scuderia Ferrari:
Sebastian Vettel - 4/10
Charles Leclerc - 10/10

Aston Martin Red Bull Racing:
Pierre Gasly - 6/10
Max Verstappen - 8/10

Renault F1 Team:
Daniel Ricciardo - 7/10
Nico Hülkenberg - 7/10

Rich Energy Haas F1 Team:
Romain Grosjean - X/10
Kevin Magnussen - 3/10 (Has there been any explanation for yesterday's lack of pace?)

McLaren F1 Team:
Lando Norris - 8/10
Carlos Sainz Jr. - 6/10 (Personally, I blame him for the incident. Was doing well until then.)

SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team:
Sergio Perez - 6/10
Lance Stroll - 5/10

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

Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda:
Alexander Albon - 8/10
Daniil Kvyat - 7/10

ROKiT Williams Racing:
George Russell - 7/10
Robert Kubica - 7/10

[Chrill]

Carlos Sainz Jr. - 6/10 (Personally, I blame him for the incident. Was doing well until then.)

I'm not sure I agree. It's just one of those things, the decision to not assign blame was correct in my eyes.

[Penfold]

'Twas a racing incident but I'd say caused more by Sainz than Verstappen.  I know how good the Red Bulls are on their brakes, absolutely everyone knows what a determined little bugger is Max, so why on earth did Carlos sweep across on the normal racing line?  Of course Maxi would be right there on the inside of the corner making life as difficult as possible for Carly S.

Scores later today.

[Chrill]

Is it later today yet?

[Penfold]

Does this answer your question...

Bahrain:

Merc:
Hammy - 8 - Is he going to be bested by Bottas in 2019... no chance.
Val - 6 - Good drive for a no. 2.

Ferrari:
Seb - 4 - Poor drive for a no. 2; just terrible for the supposed no. 1.
'It is I' - 10 - Iffy start, nice move on Seb to recover the lead, flawless drive thereafter. 

Red Bull:
Greasy Peril - 4 - Must do better.  Hopefully he'll get dialled into the car before too long.
Max - 8 - Always dialled in.

Renault:
The Pie Man - 7 - Double failure on same lap, not something you see every day.
Hulk - 8 - Had the edge on Dan in the race.

Haas:
Big Jean - X - Screwed his weekend with silly mistake in qualifying.  Hit by Stroll in a race, by no means an exclusive club.
Son of Magnus - 4 - Fast Saturday, slow Sunday.  Don't know why.

McLaren:
Chuck Norris - 9 - Very strong rookie effort, and delightful to see McLaren with a decent car.
Rally Guy's Son - 5 - Good quali and first bit of race; clipped Max, suffered a puncture, didn't bother to finish.

Racing Point:
Perez - 7 - Car seems middling, he did okay with it.
The Stroller - 4 - Needlessly hit Grosjean and was slower than Perez.  Apart from that a great weekend....

Alfauber:
Kimi - 8 - This chaps not that bad.
Adam Ant - 5 - This chaps not that good (at least at the moment).

Toro Rosso:
Blur - 8 - One for the rookie over the returnee.
The Torpedo - 7 - Eclipsed by the Blur, clipped by the Ant.





Williams: (Hopefully they can close this gap to the other teams)
Jack - 6 - Circulated without fanfare or incident.
One-Armed Bandit - 6 - Likewise.

[Chrill]

Spectacular. With that settled, here are our standings after Round 2. M4A1, feel free to join in and I'll happily update.

Code Select Expand

Valtteri Bottas 1 1 0 8.429 0.000
Max Verstappen 2 2 0 8.429 0.000
Charles Leclerc 3 7 +4 8.429 0.000
Lando Norris 4 9 +5 7.857 0.571
Daniil Kvyat 5 4 -1 7.714 0.714
Nico Hülkenberg 6 6 0 7.714 0.714
Kimi Räikkönen 7 7 0 7.714 0.714
Alexander Albon 8 13 +5 7.000 1.429
Lewis Hamilton 9 13 +4 7.000 1.429
George Russell 10 9 -1 6.750 1.679
Daniel Ricciardo 11 18 +7 6.750 1.679
Kevin Magnussen 12 3 -9 6.714 1.714
Romain Grosjean 13 11 -2 6.667 1.762
Robert Kubica 14 12 -2 6.600 1.829
Lance Stroll 15 5 -10 6.571 1.857
Sergio Perez 16 16 0 6.286 2.143
Carlos Sainz Jr. 17 17 0 5.500 2.929
Sebastian Vettel 18 13 -5 5.286 3.143
Pierre Gasly 19 19 0 4.571 3.857
Antonio Giovinazzi 20 20 0 4.429 4.000

Biggest climb: Daniel Ricciardo, 18 -> 10
Biggest fall: Lance Stroll, 5 -> 15
Biggest rating difference (disregarding M4A1): Pierre Gasly, 6.0 (Matt) - 3.5 (Chrill)

Verstappen and Leclerc both tie Bottas for the top spot after 2 races.

As always, full ratings and stats here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-Rxe6H3eT-KVxM4PhgIm6tqr3KmT7clMTWRI7jdBsec/edit?usp=sharing

[Chrill]

Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport:
Lewis Hamilton - 9/10 (Back to normal. Took the start, never looked back, victory never in doubt)
Valtteri Bottas - 7/10 (Lost the start, but kept P2 safe from the Ferraris)

Scuderia Ferrari:
Sebastian Vettel - 7/10 (Battled nicely with Verstappen to defend P3, and ended up where he started ahead of his team mate)
Charles Leclerc - 6/10 (Got handed a poor strategy and could not make it work)

Aston Martin Red Bull Racing:
Pierre Gasly - 7/10 (Considering he's still way behind Verstappen, at least this was a step in the right direction. Bonus point for fastest lap)
Max Verstappen - 8/10 (Battled with the Ferraris but never too harshly. Nicely judged)

Renault F1 Team:
Daniel Ricciardo - 8/10 (He was virtually unseen throughout the race, which I suppose is the hallmark of a good race for a midfield driver. Best of the rest)
Nico Hülkenberg - 6/10 (EDIT: oops I forgot to rate Nico. Guess he was just that uninspiring here)

Rich Energy Haas F1 Team:
Romain Grosjean - 5/10 (Not good enough. The Haas car seems to work well only in Australia. Shame)
Kevin Magnussen - 4/10 (Like Roro but weaker)

McLaren F1 Team:
Lando Norris - X/10 (Torpedoed by the Torpedo)
Carlos Sainz Jr. - X/10 (Torpedoed by the Torpedo)

SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team:
Sergio Perez - 8/10 (Considering that the car does not look very strong, this was a powerful drive. He can be happy with that)
Lance Stroll - 6/10 (More like what we can expect from the Force Racing Poindiant)

Alfa Romeo Racing:
Kimi Räikkönen - 8/10 (He keeps getting more out of the Alfa than he should. Or maybe it actually is a good car, and his team mate is just bad)
Antonio Giovinazzi - 4/10 (Starting to become a worrying trend now. Three races in, this was when Leclerc caught Ericsson. Sure, Ericsson is no Kimi, but as it seems Giovinazzi is no Leclerc either)

Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda:
Alexander Albon - 10/10 (From the pits to the points? Good work. He made some spaces up early on, got into the groove, and simply got revenge for his crash in FP3)
Daniil Kvyat - 6/10 (A penalty I consider unfair demoted him to the back of the race, and he was chanceless)

ROKiT Williams Racing:
George Russell - 8/10 (Ran pretty high up front for a while, staying out of trouble. Ended up beating Kubica despite an extra pit stop)
Robert Kubica - 5/10 (Really lacks race pace, but at least he qualifies as strongly as Russell now. Hope to see him improve going forward)

[Matt]

Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport:
Lewis Hamilton - 9/10
Valtteri Bottas - 8/10

Scuderia Ferrari:
Sebastian Vettel - 7/10
Charles Leclerc - 7/10 (I think the two were pretty even on pace, which is why the switch didn't work. After that Leclerc was in a no-win position with Max's undercut).

Aston Martin Red Bull Racing:
Pierre Gasly - 7/10
Max Verstappen - 9/10 (Maximized his position and raced smart against Vettel).

Renault F1 Team:
Daniel Ricciardo - 8/10
Nico Hülkenberg - X/10

Rich Energy Haas F1 Team: Car just doesn't seem that good.
Romain Grosjean - 7/10
Kevin Magnussen - 6/10

McLaren F1 Team: Compromised by the Russians. We know the feeling.
Lando Norris - X/10
Carlos Sainz Jr. - X/10

SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team:
Sergio Perez - 8/10
Lance Stroll - 5/10

Alfa Romeo Racing:
Kimi Räikkönen - 8/10
Antonio Giovinazzi - 5/10

Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda:
Alexander Albon - 9/10 (Can't give him a 10 since he was only in a position for that drive by destroying the car in practice).
Daniil Kvyat - 5/10 (I disagree with Chrill, the penalty was correct).

ROKiT Williams Racing:
George Russell - 7/10
Robert Kubica - 7/10 (TV said he had a problem on a stop. Wasn't actually far behind Russell and was very close in qualifying).

[Penfold]

China:

Merc:
Hammy - 8 - Is he going to be bested by Bottas in 2019... no chance.
Val - 7 - Good drive for a no. 2.

Ferrari:
Seb - 7 - We need more from Ferrari.  Just a couple of tenths/lap would do nicely.
'It is I' - 7 -  Odd timing from Ferrari for his stops, but likely made no difference to his final position.

Red Bull:
Greasy Peril - 6 - Well, it was better than Bahrain, but he's still so far off this next chap.
Max - 8 - Another strong effort.  No mistakes. 

Renault:
The Pie Man - 7 - Okay.  Much more competitive with Hulk this weekend.
Hulk - X - Picked him as weekly on the thinking that his new Renault bits wouldn't die....

Haas:
Big Jean - 6 - Cars are piss poor in race trim these days.  At least he beat this guy.
Son of Magnus - 5 - Fast(ish) Saturday, slow Sunday.  Don't know why.

McLaren:
Chuck Norris - X - You know when you've been Kvyat'd.
Rally Guy's Son - 7 - Good race pace.  Close to KMag by end despite dropping 50 seconds behind after lap 1.

Racing Point:
Perez - 8 - Car seems middling, he did well with it.
The Stroller - 5 - Mediocre.

Alfauber:
Kimi - 8 - This chap's not that bad.
Adam Ant - 4 - This chap's not that good (at least at the moment).  Finished behind Sainz!

Toro Rosso:
Blur - 9 - Impressive drive from the pits.
The Torpedo - 3 - When entering a corner on cold tyres with a line of cars on your outside, do you a) ease back so you can run through two abreast, or b) keep your foot in whilst taking a nice, wide line and just wait for the inevitable carnage to unfold as you lose control of your car?  For Kvyat, the answer is always 'b'.




Williams: (Hopefully they can close this gap to the other teams)
Jack - 6 - Circulated without much fanfare or incident.
One-Armed Bandit - 6 - Likewise.

[Chrill]

Thanks, guys!

Compiled stats here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-Rxe6H3eT-KVxM4PhgIm6tqr3KmT7clMTWRI7jdBsec/edit#gid=688805631

Highlights?

Biggest climb: Sergio Perez, +5 (16 -> 11)
Biggest drop: Daniil Kvyat, -6 (5 -> 11)

Sebastian Vettel is 17th so far, Leclerc 3rd. Verstappen has now claimed the number 1 spot solo, after sharing it with Bottas and Leclerc after Bahrain. The biggest gap between team mates is 3.4 for Kimi over Giovinazzi (Kimi 7.8 vs Giovinazzi 4.4). The smallest gap between team mates is 0.133 for Grosjean over Magnussen (Grosjean 6.333 vs Magnussen 6.2).

[Penfold]

Adam Ant needs to stand and deliver some points....

[Chrill]

Let us do the Azerzerbaiajdsjdsan Grand Prix:

Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport:
Lewis Hamilton - 8/10 (Great start, but did not manage to beat Bottas. Kept him honest through the race but honestly Bottas was just stronger)
Valtteri Bottas - 9/10 (Since Bottas was stronger, he also gets a higher rating. Impressive stuff at the start to keep Hamilton behind, and then did what he had to do when Hamilton came knocking at the end)

Scuderia Ferrari:
Sebastian Vettel - 8/10 (Salvaged what he could and finished quite close to the two Silver Arrows)
Charles Leclerc - 8/10 (Considering where he started, through all fault of his own, this was a good race. I would have hoped for him to beat Verstappen but it wasn't to be. Perhaps switching to hards, and doing so earlier, would have been a better strategy)

Aston Martin Red Bull Racing:
Pierre Gasly - 8/10 (Good stuff, Pierre! Well, until you retired anyway. Pit lane to P5, and not a horribly long way behind Verstappen)
Max Verstappen - 7/10 (Should have been able to challenge Vettel, but also kept Leclerc way behind.)

Renault F1 Team:
Daniel Ricciardo - 3/10 (Well that was clumsy)
Nico Hülkenberg - 4/10 (Well that was slow)

Rich Energy Haas F1 Team:
Romain Grosjean - 5/10 (Car failed on him in the end, maybe that was for the best)
Kevin Magnussen - 6/10 (They just didn't have the pace)

McLaren F1 Team:
Lando Norris - 7/10 (Could not challenge Sainz here, but keeps scoring good points for McLaren)
Carlos Sainz Jr. - 8/10 (Could not beat Perez here, but kept Norris behind in a fine manner)

SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team:
Sergio Perez - 9/10 (The king of Baku does it again. Best of the rest, but when five of the top six guys finish then P6 is what he gets)
Lance Stroll - 8/10 (He's not a very good qualifier, but hey Stroll has not been awful for the pointy racing so far)

Alfa Romeo Racing:
Kimi Räikkönen - 9/10 (Pit lane? To points? Sure, Gasly could in a Red Bull. The Räka (Swedish for prawn) could in an Alfa Romeo. Neato, iceman!)
Antonio Giovinazzi - 6/10 (He has got to start doing better. Sure, he started last but at least he was on the grid unlike the Finn)

Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda:
Alexander Albon - 6/10 (I never quite understood what happened. Ran in the points, then pitted and was last. His team mate pitted and ran P10 after the pit stops. What went wrong? I never did see)
Daniil Kvyat - 7/10 (The unlucky victim of an Aussie not using his rear view mirrors. Ran solidly in the points before then)

ROKiT Williams Racing:
George Russell - 8/10 (Keeps beating Kubica in the races, and that is all we can ask for. Ran high up at the start before fading courtesy of a useless F1 car. Nice comeback from his awful luck at the start of the weekend)
Robert Kubica - 6/10 (Is it the car? Is it him? In races, he lacks something. I hope there will be an improvement for the better)

Driver of the race? Perez, I think, but it's not an easy one to call.

[Matt]

Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport:
Lewis Hamilton - 8/10
Valtteri Bottas - 9/10

Scuderia Ferrari:
Sebastian Vettel - 7/10
Charles Leclerc - 7/10

Aston Martin Red Bull Racing:
Pierre Gasly - 9/10
Max Verstappen - 8/10

Renault F1 Team:
Daniel Ricciardo - 2/10
Nico Hülkenberg - 3/10

Rich Energy Haas F1 Team:
Romain Grosjean - 6/10
Kevin Magnussen - 6/10

McLaren F1 Team: Compromised by the Russians. We know the feeling.
Lando Norris - 8/10
Carlos Sainz Jr. - 8/10

SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team:
Sergio Perez - 9/10
Lance Stroll - 8/10

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

Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda:
Alexander Albon - 7/10
Daniil Kvyat - 7/10

ROKiT Williams Racing:
George Russell - 7/10
Robert Kubica - 7/10

[Penfold]

Ba Coup:

Merc:
Hammy - 8 - Is he going to be bested by Bottas in 2019... he was in this race.
Val - 9 - Tremendous drive for a no. 2.

Ferrari:
Seb - 8 - We need more from Ferrari.  Just a couple of tenths/lap would do nicely.
'It is I' - 7 -  Better to stick him on hards when he had a 12-second lead rather than watch his rivals pass him and ease into the distance.  Point off for qualifying crash.

Red Bull:
Greasy Peril - 8 - Tough for the car to die after such a sterling effort.
Max - 8 - Decent enough

Renault:
Ricky Hairdo - 0 - Wow.  Forgot that all cars don't stop like the Red Bulls, then forgot to check his mirrors before reversing.
Hulk - 4 - That car was slow, and he struggled relative to Ricky Hairdo.  At least he didn't reverse into anybody.

Haas:
Big Jean - 5 - Cars are piss poor in race trim these days, but at Baku it was also slow in qualifying.
Son of Magnus - 6 - Slow(ish) Saturday, even slower Sunday.

McLaren:
Chuck Norris - 8 - Nice/amazing to see both McLarens finish, and both in the points to boot.
Rally Guy's Son - 8 - Finally, a race without incident.

Racing Point:
Perez - 8 - Car improving, he did well with it.
The Stroller - 7 - He did slightly less well with it.

Alfauber:
Kimi - 8 - This chap's not that bad.  Can thank Ricky Hairdo for his top ten position.
Adam Ant - 6 - This chap wasn't too bad, but also not that good.

Toro Rosso:
Blur - 6 - Lost track of him as the highlights jumped from one lap to another.
The Torpedo - 7 - Kvyat blameless in a crash.  That's something I didn't expect to be saying.




Williams: (Hopefully they can close this gap to the other teams)
Jack - 7 - Reasonable in a less than reasonable car.
One-Armed Bandit - 5 - Crashed in qualifying and seemed slower than Russell in the race (didn't really see them in the Channel 4 coverage).