2020 Season - Rate the Drivers

[Chrill]

With Austria underway, I have prepared a document for us to rate drivers this season! I'll have to add/remove races as we go on, and I'm not fully sure which abbreviation to use for the second race of a country (perhaps just AUT1 and AUT2), but here we are!

Link to doc: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1fILMrPMu3i4eSzHIR_ZN7mJCZ9HZX9hsFf5HTSQpzTM/edit?usp=sharing

Template? Template!

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

Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow:
Sebastian Vettel - /10
Charles Leclerc - /10

Aston Martin Red Bull Racing:
Alexander Albon - /10
Max Verstappen - /10

McLaren F1 Team:
Lando Norris - /10
Carlos Sainz Jr. - /10

Renault DP World F1 Team:
Daniel Ricciardo - /10
Esteban Ocon - /10

Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda:
Pierre Gasly - /10
Daniil Kvyat - /10

BWT Racing Point F1 Team:
Sergio Perez - /10
Lance Stroll - /10

Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN:
Kimi Räikkönen - /10
Antonio Giovinazzi - /10

Haas F1 Team:
Romain Grosjean - /10
Kevin Magnussen - /10

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


---

Now, either let me know and I'll add you, or as soon as you post your first ratings I will include you. 

[Penfold]

You know I'll do this.  Any opportunity to look an idiot and I'm there.

And yeah, AUT1 & AUT2 seems appropriate, at least for Austria.

[Chrill]

Feel free to browse the document. I'm adding some touches, especially related to making new events easy to add. I've also revisited the flags and found some lovely circular ones. I've added a lot of potential race flags such as the EU, San Marino, and Portugal, but also outsiders like Luxembourg, Basque Country, Andorra, the Vatican, Turkey, etc. (they're all in the sheet called Data Sheet, which I'll hide when we get going)

[Penfold]

All looking very smart, as I've come to expect.  Now just to wait impatiently for the racing to begin....

[Chrill]

FINALLY I get to complain about the driving of some of the 20 greatest drivers alive. It's been a while, no?



Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team:
Lewis Hamilton - 7/10 (Disposed of Norris and Albon cleanly at the start, hunted Bottas down, forced to back off when the cars got gearbox sensor issues. At blame for Albon spinning yet again)
Valtteri Bottas - 9/10 (Kept his cool at no less than 3 SC restarts, and led from start to finish. Never really had to defend his lead though, which makes it 9 instead of 10)

Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow:
Sebastian Vettel - 3/10 (He's back, the man that spins. Wow. Out of 11 cars, he was 10th. And he wasn't even close to P9. 3/10 may be too generous)
Charles Leclerc - 10/10 (He really did what he could with this car, and he proved Ferrari right in their driver priorities. P3 on the road, P2 after Hamilton's penalty. Great overtaking when it mattered, really aggressive but well measured drive)

Aston Martin Red Bull Racing:
Alexander Albon - 9/10 (Made the absolute right tyre call for the end, pitting for hot softs. Easily would have passed Bottas if only he had survived Hamilton. Still waiting for that podium, but I don't think he'll wait for long)
Max Verstappen - 6/10 (Started P2, ran in P2 when the car died. Wasn't ready to attack Bottas yet, but the strategy would have come to him)

McLaren F1 Team:
Lando Norris - 10/10 (For his last 3 laps alone he deserves a 10. Kept Sainz behind, just, before barging past Perez and smacking Hamilton across the face with a fastest lap. In the end, he finished around 4.8 seconds behind Lewis which moved him up to the podium. Great stuff, and it was not gifted to him. No, it came thanks to a brilliant qualifying and a great race)
Carlos Sainz Jr. - 8/10 (The only reason he isn't on the podium instead of Norris is his starting position. Sainz made some overtakes, including on a lovely red little car)

Renault DP World F1 Team:
Daniel Ricciardo - 7/10 (The last on the grid with softs, he was in a difficult position. He kept Vettel at bay for a long time, but his car didn't like racing today)
Esteban Ocon - 5/10 (Not good enough, not at all. He scored decent points in a race of attrition, but he was far slower than his team mate. Needs to improve fast)

Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda:
Pierre Gasly - 7/10 (Decent race, but most importantly stayed away from issues. Finished behind Perez because he was unable to get within 5 seconds of the RP driver despite fresher tyres)
Daniil Kvyat - 4/10 (Was he even running in the points when his car gave up? I don't think he was. The AlphaTauri looks faster than what Kvyat made it look)

BWT Racing Point F1 Team:
Sergio Perez - 8/10 (Very impressive to keep his extremely old mediums alive all the way. Deducting one point for his silly speeding in the pit lane)
Lance Stroll - 6/10 (Didn't quite keep up with Perez today, but had decent pace I guess. DNFed, like most people did)

Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN:
Kimi Räikkönen - 7/10 (Clearly the faster of the Alfa Romeos, but the car was just slow in itself. And even though wheels are heavy, dropping one don't make you faster)
Antonio Giovinazzi - 4/10 (Scored two points, did not deserve them. Outqualified Kimi, sure, but ran behind the Williams cars before they started DNFing)

Haas F1 Team:
Romain Grosjean - 6/10 (Looked OK, but no more. Then he lost the brakes, and well that's never good)
Kevin Magnussen - 7/10 (Looked pretty good, actually. And then he lost the brakes, and well that's never good)

Williams Racing:
Nicholas Latifi - 3/10 (Had higher hopes for Latifi since he was fairly good in F2, but this was worrying. A lot of spins, and a crash, even before qualifying. Come race day, well he finished, but dead last and nowhere near the limping Ferrari despite a late safety car)
George Russell - 8/10 (Looked on course for points for a while. This guy deserves a faster car. His problem is that both drivers at Mercedes deserve a fast car too)

[Penfold]

Austria 1.

Merc:
Hammy - 8 - To my mind the Albon collision was a racing incident, so no points off.
Val - 9 - No alarms and no surprises.

Ferrari:
Seb - 3 - Idioteque.
'It is I' - 9 - Might be his best finish for some time....

Red Bull:
Blur - 8 - That's the risk of passing round the outside.
Max - X - Out too early.

McLaren:
Chuck Norris - 10 - Blistering performance.
Rally Guy's Son - 8

Renault:
Ricky Hairdo - 7
Ocon - 4

Boris Johnson (aka Alpha Tory):
Greasy Peril - 7
The Torpedo - 4

Received Pronunciation:
Perez - 8 - Team should've pitted him, he should've driven slower in the pitlane.
The Stroller - 6 - Reasonable.

Alfauber:
Kimi - 6
Adam Ant - 4

Haas:
Big Jean - 4 - Spun, warned about track limits multiple times, car died.
Son of Magnus - 6

Williams:
Latifi - 4 - One more retirement and this sluggish performance would've netted him a point... debut so being generous with the score.
Jack Russell - 8 - Only a tenth off making Q2.  Ran well and all those DNFs meant points were on the table, unfortunately he was also one of the retirees.


Shame Max dropped out but still plenty of action throughout the field, can't say I enjoyed the race that much but that's a separate issue.

[Chrill]

Thank you! Numbers added to document, some various calculations edited, and now we've got ourselves a table.

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

We agree that Norris deserves a 10. Really, we agree on most drivers. Except for Verstappen (whom you chose to award a blank due to early retirement), we agreed on 11/19 drivers, and only one driver was off by 2 points (Grosjean got 6 from me, 4 from you).

Matt, feel free to join us!

Also, I was bored so I produced a round Styria flag and a round 70th Anniversary GP flag. Lovely stuff.

[Penfold]

I just thought 11 laps was a tad short to rate Maxy.  I was a bit iffy on whether to score Danny Boy, but he was so near to the quarter-distance mark (my unofficial cut-off point) that I figured a rating was due.

Poor Grosjean starting off 2020 with a four... I'd like to say the only way is up (even though it puts that annoying Yazz song in my head), but he could just as easily flatline at this level.

[Chrill]

I will post ratings this evening. Please hold.

[Penfold]

I will post ratings tomorrow (probably).

[Chrill]

And I'm back, thank you very much for holding!

For the first and likely only time, here are my Styrian ratings.

Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team:
Lewis Hamilton - 9/10 (Like Bottas last weekend, win from pole and never really had to defend his position)
Valtteri Bottas - 8/10 (Solid. He struggled a bit with traffic at the start, but once free he easily caught up to Verstappen and forced the Dutchman to pit early. After some brave defending from Verstappen, Bottas found his way into P2)

Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow:
Sebastian Vettel - X/10 (Not a very long race)
Charles Leclerc - 2/10 (I really like Charles, but I pin this one on him. Tried to carry on, but could not)

Aston Martin Red Bull Racing:
Alexander Albon - 6/10 (Not nearly as fast as Verstappen this time around, even struggling at times to keep McLaren behind and only just kept Perez at bay)
Max Verstappen - 8/10 (A lot faster than Albon, but just unable to bring it to Mercedes with their current car and the damage he had picked up. Went for FL at the end, didn't make it)

McLaren F1 Team:
Lando Norris - 9/10 (Another brilliant performance from him, in the end being the only one who found his way past Perez. Finished in P5, but only 1.5 seconds ahead of the driver in P8)
Carlos Sainz Jr. - 7/10 (FL! Great! But he dropped off after starting up the front, suffering a poor pit stop which sent him behind the Racing Points and Ricciardo/Norris. Starting P3 and finishing P9 is hard to rate higher than 7)

Renault DP World F1 Team:
Daniel Ricciardo - 8/10 (Feisty! Punted off the track by Stroll, and lost out to both him and Norris. Still, a good race saw him finish ahead of a McLaren and scored some decent points)
Esteban Ocon - 7/10 (A bit difficult to rate. 6? 7? 8? He was fast but struggled to pass Sainz in the opening stages, before retiring with what I guess was a really hot car)

Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda:
Pierre Gasly - 5/10 (Silly strategy, that what is it right? He went for a two-stopper but the tyres could do one stop, so he dropped way back. Could not make up for it with raw pace, and finished far down)
Daniil Kvyat - 7/10 (The AlphaTauri car seems to be fairly OK, perhaps near the rear of the new 2nd tier midfield with Ferrari and Renault, and when others around him fell away he scored a point)

BWT Racing Point F1 Team:
Sergio Perez - 10/10 (I mean... P17 to P5? Great. Going for P4 against what should be the second fastest car? Awesome. Losing your front wing but still only dropping one place? Badass)
Lance Stroll - 8/10 (His racecraft is not on the level of Perez, he's too cautious and does not really know when to go for it. It showed, because even though he started five places ahead of Perez he finished behind. Still, he showed decent pace whenever the track was clear, and he did go battling with Ricciardo at the end which earned him a P7)

Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN:
Kimi Räikkönen - 8/10 (Clearly the faster Alfa this weekend too. Nearly in the points with what appears to be a really bad car, despite dropping to the very back since two red cars in front of him got into trouble)
Antonio Giovinazzi - 5/10 (Didn't keep up with Kimi at all, although he ran ahead of the Finn for the first half of the race)

Haas F1 Team:
Romain Grosjean - 7/10 (Starting in the pit lane, he quickly caught up to his Häagen-Dazs-Haas friend. Battled it out with Kevin all race long)
Kevin Magnussen - 6/10 (Like RoGro, but started P15 and should perhaps have finished a bit closer to Kimi. Or in front of him, ideally)

Williams Racing:
Nicholas Latifi - 6/10 (Kept out of trouble again but finished dead last)
George Russell - 7/10 (Started in P11! Hot! Then he went off, and his car's race pace just doesn't allow him to beat others quite yet. He did beat Latifi. They're closer than in 2019, so we'll see. Points could come their way this season)

[Penfold]

It's now officially tomorrow (providing you accept yesterday as being today) so here be my ratings/rantings.

Austria 2.

Merc:
Hammy - 9 - No alarms and no surprises.  Great qualifying lap.
Val - 7 - Poor qualifying, reasonable race pace.

Ferrari:
Seb - X - Race somewhat curtailed...
'It is I' - 2 - ... by this guy.  Oops.

Red Bull:
Blur - 5 - Quite slow.  More than 30 seconds off Max before the Dutchman's late pit stop for Speedy Gonzales tyres.
Max - 8 - Kept near(ish) to Hammy until one too many kerbs walloped meant a damaged front wing.

McLaren:
Chuck Norris - 8 - Great race performance, and I feel a little mean not awarding a 9, but silly error in practice and not so great quali. is why he had to fight so hard.
Rally Guy's Son - 8 - Super qualifying, race compromised by dodgy pit stop but also didn't seem to quite have Lando's pace.

Renault:
Ricky Hairdo - 7 - Started & finished in 8th, and that was with three guys he started behind having issues: Ocon retired, Gasly damaged his car, and Sainz endured a McLaren special in the pits.
Ocon - 7 - Faster than Dan on Saturday and he seemed at least his equal on Sunday.

Boris Johnson (aka Alpha Tory):
Greasy Peril - 6 - Picked up floor damage early doors and then team stuck him on a set of hards.  Christ knows why.
The Torpedo - 6 - Middling.

Received Pronunciation:
Perez - 9 - Charged it through the field but should not have been starting so far back.
The Stroller - 7 - Car was tremendous in the dry, with the pace to beat Albon, so not terrific to end the race battling with a Renault having been overtaken by a McLaren and a team mate who started in 17th. 

Alfauber:
Kimi - 8 - So much better than the car.
Adam Ant - 5 - About right for the car.

Haas:
Big Jean - 7
Son of Magnus - 6

Williams:
Latifi - 6
Jack Russell - 7 - Plus one for tremendous effort in qualifying, minus one for going off the track on Sunday.

[Chrill]

Thank you!

Drivers:
Biggest climber:
Lewis Hamilton (P8 -> P4)

Biggest drop:
Charles Leclerc (P2 -> P9)

Teams:
Biggest climber:
Renault (P5 -> P7)
Alfa Romeo (P10 -> P8)

Biggest drop:
Ferrari (P5 -> P10)



The biggest difference in our ratings is just the single point, which applies to:
Max Verstappen (Chrill: 7.0, Penfold: 8.0)
Alexander Albon (Chrill: 7.5, Penfold: 6.5)
Romain Grosjean (Chrill: 6.5, Penfold: 5.5)

The smallest difference in our ratings is 0, which applies to:
George Russell (7.5)
Antonio Giovinazzi (4.5)
Sebastian Vettel (3.5)

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

[Chrill]

Welcome! It's time for yet another round of... RATE. THOSE. DRIVERS!! (imagine this in a Ty Pennington voice)

Hungary

Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team:
Lewis Hamilton - 10/10 (I don't like giving 10/10 to drivers who win from pole unchallenged because they never had to defend or overtake. Still, this was just a masterclass. Had a pit stop on everyone, lapped all but four other drivers. Wow)
Valtteri Bottas - 6/10 (Silly mistake on the start, reacting to a light in the car rather than those five lights above the car. Fought back but lacked those final 2% needed to find his way back into P2)

Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow:
Sebastian Vettel - 8/10 (Looking at the Ferrari, P6 is the best they can do. Clean race, but he was still lapped. A Ferrari lapped, rated 8. That's unheard of!)
Charles Leclerc - 4/10 (Another bad race. Poor getaway, worse strategy call, in the end literally not fast enough for points)

Aston Martin Red Bull Racing:
Alexander Albon - 5/10 (A full minute behind his own team mate? Yup, not good enough)
Max Verstappen - 9/10 (His car clearly isn't fast enough to challenge Mercedes. Still kept one behind him though. Nice)

McLaren F1 Team:
Lando Norris - 5/10 (Race to forget. Got caught out in the opening shuffle for dry tyres, and never found his way back)
Carlos Sainz Jr. - 7/10 (Like Lando but did find his way back)

Renault DP World F1 Team:
Daniel Ricciardo - 8/10 (Pretty decent race. Clearly slower than cars around him such as McLaren and Racing Point, but held on to score some decent points)
Esteban Ocon - 4/10 (Keeps proving he does not have what it takes to match Ricciardo just yet. How long can we put it down to a year on the sidelines?)

Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda:
Pierre Gasly - X/10 (Well, my 3rd driver pick of the week. Of course he wasn't supposed to finish)
Daniil Kvyat - 6/10 (Perhaps the most anonymous race in his career. I am honestly not sure he was actually in Hungary for this race)

BWT Racing Point F1 Team:
Sergio Perez - 5/10 (4th to 7th? That's just not good enough. Poor race start, and did not quite seem to have the speed shown on Saturday)
Lance Stroll - 8/10 (Now this is what Stroll needed. He beat Perez in quali, and was only kept away from a podium thanks to the excellent drive Verstappen put in. He'll be in the top 3 sometime soon)

Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN:
Kimi Räikkönen - 8/10 (Started last on pure merit, but ended up ahead of several drivers included one clever Frenchman who pitted for slicks and ran P4 for a bit!)
Antonio Giovinazzi - 6/10 (Only beat the Williams cars, who lack race pace, but was not THAT far off his great-grandfather team mate)

Haas F1 Team:
Romain Grosjean - 6/10 (Clever strategy, but in the end he pretty much finished where he started. Could not make it last as well as...)
Kevin Magnussen - 9/10 (...as this guy! Temped to go for a 10, but would probably have had to hold on to 1 or 2 more positions. Demoted to P10 for being told to pit during the formation lap, but I'll count this is as a P9 because that's the dumbest rule I've heard)

Williams Racing:
Nicholas Latifi - 2/10 (By far his worst race. FOUR LAPS BEHIND HIS TEAM MATE! Spun a couple of times, got sent out when Sainz was in the fast lane in the pits. Just an altogether horrible race. Latifi has spun every weekend)
George Russell - 6/10 (Great qualifying once more, poor race once more. The Williams car seems to have unlocked some decent one-lap pace but is unable to keep it together on the Sunday)

[Chrill]

You're already falling behind, Penfold!

And with all these new races coming in, I may just have to add a few columns. That's slightly cumbersome.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1fILMrPMu3i4eSzHIR_ZN7mJCZ9HZX9hsFf5HTSQpzTM/edit?usp=sharing