2017 Season - Rate the Drivers

[Chrill]

Also COLOUR CODING OF THE MF1 DRIVER RATINGS GOOGLE SPREADSHEETS DOCUMENT. Penfold is yellow, Chrill is green, and if none of us is true then it's all blue.

This was required because when entering Perez's results for Japan, we both ended up rating him at exactly 7.333 but the document claimed you rated him higher because the formula looks for you first. I've changed it now, so whenever the difference is 0.000, it will say Both. Whenever it isn't, it will then look to who rates the driver highest. YAY FOR ME.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1dnPSeVbYFM6KP0SW2SPGzJch7KAiLuaUvD4hpSWSHek/edit?usp=sharing

[Penfold]

Classic Lotus racing colours... good choice.  My Suzuka scores tomorrow morn.

[Penfold]

Japan:

Merc:
Hammy - 9 - Great lap for pole got him close to his goal; win never in doubt once Sebby was out.   
Val - 7 - Rest of explanations to follow.

Red Bull
Dan - 8 -
Max - 9 -

Ferrari:
Seb - X - Bugger.
Kimi - 7 -

Force India:
Perez - 7 -
Ocon - 9 -

Williams
Baby - 6 -
Stroll - 7 -

McHonda
Alonso - 7 -
Van Door - 7 -

Toro Rosso:
Sainz - 3 - Heavy deduction for crash.
Gasly - 5 -

Haas:
Big Jean - 8 -
Son of Magnus - 9 -

Renault:
Hulk - 7 -
Palmer - 6 -

Sauber:
Chrill's mate Marcus - 5 - Points off for crash but he was still better than Pascal.
Blaise - 4 - I bet Force India is gutted they have Ocon rather than this guy.

[Chrill]

Thank you. Stats added to the document.

[Penfold]

Seems likely Palmer grabs the 2017 wooden spoon in my standings, but he's neck-and-neck with Kvyat in yours.

[Chrill]

The Circuit of the Americas, the Grand Prix of USA!

Mercedes:
Lewis Hamilton – 9/10 (Lost the start, then drove amazingly and recovered easily)
Valtteri Bottas – 5/10 (Not good enough. Come on, Bottman)

Red Bull:
Daniel Ricciardo – 8/10 (Was really giving Ferrari and Bottas a run for it before being let down by MACHINERY)
Max Verstappen – 10/10 (Well, P16 to P4 is simply very good. His overtake on Raikkonen was correctly deemed illegal, but I still give a +1 for it)

Ferrari:
Sebastian Vettel – 8/10 (Won the start, ran an alternative strategy. Simply not capable of more today)
Kimi Räikkönen – 7/10 (Definitely gave Vettel a run for it here, probably would have finished ahead had it not been near the end of season with Vettel technically still in it)

Force India:
Sergio Perez – 7/10 (Was close to Ocon for a long while but couldn't keep up the entire race. Decent run)
Esteban Ocon – 9/10 (Supposedly a very sick boy this weekend. He didn't show it on track though. Great weekend for him)

Williams:
Felipe Massa – 8/10 (The Williams car is quickly falling down the order compared to other cars. Salvaging points is good)
Lance Stroll – 6/10 (Not as good really. Came together toward the end and finished just outside the points)

McLaren:
Fernando Alonso – 8/10 (Ran OK before retiring, definitely above what the McLaren should be able to)
Stoffel Vandoorne – 5/10 (Really quite a poor weekend, only just edging out the likes of Ericsson and rookie Hartley)

Toro Rosso:
Brendon Hartley – 7/10 (Speaking of! With so little F1 experience, this was more than an acceptable debut. I hope he gets to do the last few races of this season, he will surely pick up the pace)
Daniil Kvyat – 7/10 (The angry torpedo actually had a decent race, running in points and finishing there. More than acceptable, actually quite good!

Haas:
Romain Grosjean – 5/10 (Nyeh. Not good enough)
Kevin Magnussen – 3/10 (Really very slow this weekend. Qualified last, on genuine pace, before finishing last)

Renault:
Nico Hülkenberg – X/10 (Unfair to rate the poor boy this weekend)
Carlos Sainz Jr – 9/10 (Hello! This was a debut to remember. P7 in quali, finished there too in the race. He lost a position to Verstappen but gained one from Ricciardo. Strong)

Sauber:
Marcus Ericsson – 9/10 (The Sauber should not be racing with other cars. It should not be good enough. Why was it good enough? Impressive. That Magnussen move was very brave and very skillful. Magnussen caused the crash. Yes I am Swedish. Magnussen still caused the crash)
Pascal Wehrlein – X/10 (Was far slower than Ericsson in quali and at the start of the race. Was shunted by, guess who, Magnussen! He ended up retiring with damage. Cannot be rated)

Driver of the race? Verstappen. Honorables? Ocon, Hamilton, Ericsson, Sainz.

[Penfold]

USA:

Merc:
Hammy - 9 - With Ferrari too slow & Red Bull out of contention for other reasons, this was an easy one-two for Merc.   
Val - 5 - Except this guy came home fifth, which would've been sixth had Dan's car not died.

Red Bull
Dan - 8 - Imagine if each car had ten power units per season so they didn't have to be stressed beyond their limits.  How many quality races have we lost with DNFs...
Max - 9 - ... or with competitors relegated to the back of the grid.  Thank fuck they didn't have this nonsense when I started watching in the days of Prost & Senna. Minus one for being a dick towards the stewards after the race.

Ferrari:
Seb - 8 - Limited by car.  Seemed a top effort.
Kimi - 8 - As did this.  Great battle with Bottas.

Force India:
Perez - 7 - Outpaced by the young upstart.  Probably not a very happy Sergio.
Ocon - 9 - Was unwell and yet out-drove his far more experienced rival (team-mate).

Williams
Baby - 7 - Good job to grab some points although needed retirements ahead to do so.  Hope Pat Symonds can boost Williams in 2018.
Stroll - 5 - Just about okay.  Good job he has a wealthy patron....

McHonda
Alonso - 8 - Seventh place looked possible but of course the car died.  Fortunately McLaren is moving to the ultra-reliable Renault engines next year....
Van Door - 6 - Started at the back and didn't get much further; mind you, tough to overtake with the slowest car in a straight line.

Toro Rosso:
J.R. - 7 - Got stuck behind Stroll but was fast when in clear air.  Impressive debut.
Kvyat - 8 - Best performance for some time.  Decent way to bow out from F1.

Haas:
Big Jean - 5 - Cars are obviously struggling and so, it seems, are the drivers.
Son of Magnus - 4 - Just struggling that bit more than Grosjean.

Renault:
Hulk - X - Balls.
Sainz - 9 - Great balls of fire!  I'm sure familiarity with Renault engine helped, but still what a result after jumping into a new car.

Sauber:
Chrill's mate Marcus - 7 - Ran well, out-qualified teamy (again), hope Sauber can provide a better machine next year.
Blaise - X - Out-qualified by Eric's son but shunted off too early in race to score.

[Chrill]

Brilliant. The Verstappen difference is now 0.775 which is still high but not as high as before. Smallest difference is for Fernando Alonso, only 0.032 separate your rating from mine.

Others with big differences are:

Pierre Gasly (1.0) - only raced twice!
Daniil Kvyat (0.462) - you rate him more highly!
Marcus Ericsson (0.445) - Swedish!
Pascal Wehrlein (0.417) - I rate him more highly than you!

[Penfold]

What???  How dare you rate Alonso a lowly 7.583, the man is clearly worth at least a 7.6....

Erm, I can't explain my (relative) munificence towards Kvyat.  Got me well and truly baffled.

[Chrill]

Mejjjicooo!!!

Mercedes:
Lewis Hamilton - 4/10 (Yes. He's world champion. However, he took 20 laps to pass Sainz. He completely failed to switch on his softs, because the speed was there once he moved to supers. Poor way to be WC, lapped by his team mate and others)
Valtteri Bottas - 8/10 (Ran a pretty good race, just couldn't challenge Red Bull today)

Red Bull:
Daniel Ricciardo - 7/10 (Looked on course to reach the podium from way back before retiring with the issue "Renault engine". Here's looking at you, Alonso, for 2018.)
Max Verstappen - 9/10 (Took the start through a great aggressive move. Never looked back. Great win.)

Ferrari:
Sebastian Vettel - 8/10 (Did what he could, fighting back after "accidentally" touching Hamilton at the start to finish 4th at the end)
Kimi R?ikk?nen - 7/10 (Struggled at the start and fell way down, made up for it by passing both Force Indias and a Williams to take a podium)

Force India:
Sergio Perez - 6/10 (His home GP did not live up to expectations. Which is strange saying that, he still finished P7. Would've been P9 though hadn't Lewis and Daniel got into trouble)
Esteban Ocon - 8/10 (Was fighting for podiums for a long while, the VSC didn't really help him out. Still a very strong fifth place, so that's more than just solid)

Williams:
Felipe Massa - 5/10 (Was running in the points for a while but couldn't quite match the.. McLarens? Oh boy. Poor showing)
Lance Stroll - 8/10 (Now this is impressive. He finished P6 after getting real lucky and timing his pit stop perfectly with the VSC. I can't help but feel that he drove his car to a position where he could be lucky. Nice stuff)

McLaren:
Fernando Alonso - 7/10 (From P18, what could we hope for? Points was ambitious. He got there though, but only just)
Stoffel Vandoorne - 6/10 (Slower than daddy Alonso in Mexico, but not by a whole lot. Is really beginning to match the Spaniard, which is nice)

Toro Rosso:
Pierre Gasly - 7/10 (Not a stunning performance, but also not useless. Will start to expect more soon, but bear in mind he had literally no running in practice. Left out in FP1, failures in FP2 and FP3 before not qualifying. Impressive from that view)
Brendon Hartley - 7/10 (Was close to points for a bit before dropping off. Then, hit with the Renault curse of having a Renault engine)

Haas:
Romain Grosjean - 4/10 (Really poor driving here, finished way last. Not approved)
Kevin Magnussen - 9/10 (In comparison, this guy did really well. P8! What annoys me the most is that my dear Swede was running with him in the first half of the race and could have finished behind him)

Renault:
Nico H?lkenberg - 8/10 (Was battling with Ocon for P3 for the longest while, but once again a Renault is a Renault and so he retired)
Carlos Sainz Jr - 4/10 (Nowhere today. Ended up retiring out of mercy rather than anything else really. Poor race)

Sauber:
Marcus Ericsson - 9/10 (I kinda want to rate him 10/10, because a Sauber should not be fighting for P8. Then again, after a great quali + some penalties he started 12th, and Vettel+Hamilton went away quickly so he only really made up two places in the beginning. Pitted to undercut McLaren and remain ahead, but boom goes the VSC and he drops down the field. Retires with a poopoo turbo so probs grid drop for Brazil)
Pascal Wehrlein - 6/10 (Not as strong as Marcus really. It's good for the Swede, looking to 2018. If Sauber does keep one driver from 2017, Marcus is arguing why it should be him)

[Chrill]

I also pimped my document again. It's now got a sexier comparison page.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1dnPSeVbYFM6KP0SW2SPGzJch7KAiLuaUvD4hpSWSHek/edit?usp=sharing

It's sorted by their absolute rating, which is the average of our two ratings.

EDIT: And if you check our ratings pages, I have now added two comparisons for Hulkenberg and Sainz. This is so that we can compare how we rate Toro Rosso-Sainz and Renault-Sainz, as well as to compare how the Hulk does alongside Palmer vs alongside Sainz.

Didn't quite know what to do with Hartley and Gasly, so decided to simply compare them to each other since they will race a couple races in that constellation. I will not filter out their performances against other drivers at Toro Rosso.

[Penfold]

Thumbs up for the tweaked comparison page.

I'll get my Mexico ratings done soon(ish).

[Penfold]

Mexico:

Merc:
Hammy - 4 - That Mercedes obviously hates being in dirty air, but come on, it is still a Mercedes... so slow on first stint.   
Val - 7 - It was okay but get the feeling he would've managed only fifth if not for retirements.

Red Bull
Dan - 6 - Tough to score given early retirement.  Poor in qualifying.
Max - 10 - Great qualifying, great move at turn 1, faultless drive thereafter.

Ferrari:
Seb - 9 - Strong recovery after clipping Lewis, ended a mere 16 seconds off Kimi.
Kimi - 7 - Middling.  Nowhere near Seb's pace.

Force India:
Perez - 7 - Solid but yet again outclassed by his favourite person who races a pink car and is named Esteban.
Ocon - 9 - Continues to impress.  Has scored in every race this season except Monaco.

Williams
Baby - 6 - Early stop for puncture and then most of race on a set of softs.  Probably not the quickest way to run.
Stroll - 8 - Some luck with timing of VSC but drove well to split the Force Indias.

McHonda
Alonso - 8 - Dragged the McLaren as far up as possible, giving him an extra point for entertaining battle with Hammy.
Van Door - 6 - Not yet amazing me but at least has improved as season progressed.

Toro Rosso:
Gasly - 6 - Solid, especially given lack of running (as mentioned by that Chrill chap).
J.R. - 6 - Made the rookie mistake of having a Renault engine in his car.  Interested to see how he performs in next two races.

Haas:
Big Jean - 3 - Bad.  Just really, really bad.
Son of Magnus - 9 - The polar opposite.

Renault:
Hulk - 8 - Another of those blessed Renault-powered drivers.  Should've been up there with Ocon.
Sainz - 6 - Like Massa, suffered after needing an early stop (lap 2) and just couldn't recover.

Sauber:
Chrill's mate Marcus - 8 - Yet again out-qualified Pascal and raced well until engine gave up the ghost.
Blaise - 5 - Early stop didn't help but isn't he meant to be some great talent?  Should he be getting beaten on a regular basis by Ericsson?

[Chrill]

Danke. It has been added.

[Chrill]

Let's go Brazil!

Mercedes:
Lewis Hamilton - 9/10 (Not a bad recovery at all, but fact of the matter is we expected him to reach P5 and he did so plus Verstappen. Making the podium would have made this 10/10)
Valtteri Bottas - 9/10 (Stuck it on pole, and hounded Vettel throughout the race. Solid return to form for Bottas, who also edged Hamilton in P3 and therefore maybe could've secured pole even if Hamilton had been in Q3)

Red Bull:
Daniel Ricciardo - 7/10 (Not as strong a recovery as Lewis, but then again he was punted off-track by Vandoorne courtesy of an insane Haas driver)
Max Verstappen - 6/10 (Started 4th, finished 5th. In the end couldn't take it to the top two teams here)

Ferrari:
Sebastian Vettel - 9/10 (Really strong drive here, winning the start which was crucial. Never looked like the fastest guy on track but still secured 25 points)
Kimi R?ikk?nen - 7/10 (As usual struggled to match his team mate, but fended off Hamilton near the end. Decent, nothing more)

Force India:
Sergio Perez - 6/10 (Considering where he started, finishing behind both Massa and Alonso is disappointing. Still, two points is more than 0)
Esteban Ocon - X/10 (Noooooo. His streak of non-DNFs ended by another mad Haas driver. So sad!)

Williams:
Felipe Massa - 9/10 (Great finish to his final Brazilian GP. Solid drive, best of the rest. Utterly dominated Stroll, like he did early in the season)
Lance Stroll - 4/10 (Overtaken by both Saubers, destroyed his front left tyre trying to regain that position. No. Not good)

McLaren:
Fernando Alonso - 8/10 (Hounded Massa for most of the race. Didn't he say something like "I want to destroy Massa's race one last time"? I think he did. Gold)
Stoffel Vandoorne - X/10 (Mad Haas driver hit him too. Oh boy, them Haases are crazy)

Toro Rosso:
Pierre Gasly - 8/10 (Running in the points for very long, before finally falling back toward the end. Maybe the lack of experience with these tyres are the reason. Still, P19 to P12 is really quite impressive)
Brendon Hartley - 6/10 (Didn't impress as much, struggling with the Saubers for most of the race. Once more, lack of experience just like his buddy in the other car)

Haas:
Romain Grosjean - 2/10 (No. Just no. Really awful drive today, P15 behind everyone except the ailing Stroll. Plus you know shunting Ocon off the track)
Kevin Magnussen - 2/10 (Oh holy. Crashed into Vandoorne and it looked like it was on purpose. Vandoorne was shunted into Ricciardo which almost destroyed the Aussie's race too)

Renault:
Nico H?lkenberg - 6/10 (Kind of solid, but only salvaged 1 point despite starting P7)
Carlos Sainz Jr - 6/10 (Kind of solid, but finished just outside the points despite starting P8. Followed Nico the whole race)

Sauber:
Marcus Ericsson - 8/10 (Beat Pascal again, despite being told to let the German pass earlier in the race. Hah, take that Pascal. Very impressive, making up 25 seconds over the last 25 laps before passing Stroll and Pascal within 2 laps)
Pascal Wehrlein - 7/10 (Ran a very solid race but in the end couldn't keep the tyres alive. Lost to Marcus again)


Driver of the race? Maybe Vettel. Maybe Massa.