2019 Season - Rate the Drivers

[Chrill]

Thank you. That gives us the following results.

Change at the top: Bottas moves from P2 to P1, overtaking Verstappen who slips to second.
Biggest climb: Carlos Sainz, 17 -> 11 (+6)
Biggest fall: Daniel Ricciardo, 19 -> 9 (-10)

Kimi sits 3rd now, Giovinazzi 20th. Easily the biggest gap to a team mate? Well, the biggest but not easily. Verstappen, 2nd, is a solid 16 places ahead of Gasly in 18th.

As per usual, all the stats are here.

[Chrill]

I've also added a sexy little feature comparing their score to their final average of 2018. That way we can see if drivers are performing better or worse than last season. Check it out.

[Penfold]

That is a sexy little feature.  I see that only two guys give a green block for me on the 'driver comparison' page: Chuck Norris and Carly Sainz.  What a co-incidence that they both happen to drive for McLaren....

[Chrill]

Oh yes, but that's an old feature. The reds and greens under our own names highlight the highest and lowest rating across us 4 for this season. Column H, "CURRENT COMPARED TO 2018", is the one I was referring to!

[Penfold]

Yeah, I was calling your new 'Column H' feature sexy.  The rest of my post was an entirely separate thought - my fault for that not being clear.

[Chrill]

Alright then. You are forgiven.

[Matt]

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

Scuderia Ferrari: Given that both drivers seem to always have the exact same pace, they seem to be getting everything from the car.
Sebastian Vettel - 7/10
Charles Leclerc - 7/10

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

Renault F1 Team:
Daniel Ricciardo - 6/10
Nico Hülkenberg - 6/10

Rich Energy Haas F1 Team:
Romain Grosjean - 8/10
Kevin Magnussen - 8/10 (Finished ahead of Grosjean, but under dubious circumstances)

McLaren F1 Team:
Lando Norris - 3/10
Carlos Sainz Jr. - 8/10

SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team:
Sergio Perez - 6/10
Lance Stroll - 3/10

Alfa Romeo Racing:
Kimi Räikkönen - 6/10 (Drove off the track and still beat his teammate)
Antonio Giovinazzi - 4/10

Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda: Bad safety car execution cost both drivers multiple spots.
Alexander Albon - 7/10
Daniil Kvyat - 8/10

ROKiT Williams Racing:
George Russell - 7/10
Robert Kubica - 6/10 (Race pace actually wasn't bad, then seemed to lose a ton of time around the pit stop).

[Matt]

What alternate universe are we living in where I'm the only one who has done this?

[Chrill]

It was just such a mind numbingly boring race. I will get to it.

[Penfold]

... and I'm always this slow.  Or slower.

Barcelona:

Merc:
Hammy - 9 - Clean start and then controlled from the front.  Able to ease away from Bottas.
Val - 8 - Clutch issue cost him off the grid, couldn't challenge Lewis after that.

Ferrari:
Seb - 7 - We need more from Ferrari.  Several tenths/lap quicker would do nicely.
'It is I' - 7 -  That was all the car had.

Red Bull:
Greasy Peril - 7 - Couldn't beat either Ferrari on either day.
Max - 9 - Beat one Ferrari on Saturday and both of them on Sunday.

Renault:
Ricky Hairdo - 7 - Car ain't much to write home about, but at least he kept it clean.
Hulk - 6 - Scratched it up in qualifying, all that gravel must've ruined the paintwork.

Haas:
Big Jean - 7 - Great, all Haas needs is for every race to be at Barcelona.
Son of Magnus - 8 - Tough defending against Grosjean, but only the same treatment he'd give to any other driver.

McLaren:
Chuck Norris - 4 - Optimistic move on Stroll.
Rally Guy's Son - 7 - Not his best Saturday and on Sunday gained from Toro Rosso's pit woes, but points is points.

Racing Point:
Perez - 6 - Drove around.  That was about it.  Car clearly needs more aero development.
The Stroller - 4 - Slower than Perez, just for a change.

Alfauber:
Kimi - 6 - Another car struggling on an aero track.
Adam Ant - 4 - So much slower than Kimi in Q1, and then in the race.

Toro Rosso:
Blur - 7 - Shambolic scenes during safety car pit-stops, cost both drivers several positions.
The Torpedo - 8 - They both raced well, car was strong, team was pants.  Valuable points wasted.



Williams: (Feel they've fractionally closed the gap to the other teams)
Jack - 7 - Much the quicker driver on Saturday afternoon, faster also on Sunday.
One-Armed Bandit - 5 - I know the car is a dog, but he's also not putting in the performances I'd hoped to see.

[Chrill]

OK then.


Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport:
Lewis Hamilton - 9/10 (Nothing wrong all race. Only lacking in qualifying, but made it up for sure. Lovely stuff)
Valtteri Bottas - 7/10 (Not much to do once he lost the start, but dropped back worryingly far at times)

Scuderia Ferrari:
Sebastian Vettel - 8/10 (Silly flat spot at the start, and did well to recover to P4 when the Ferrari really did not offer much more than that)
Charles Leclerc - 7/10 (Was not at all benefitted by the late Safety Car which completely removed any 1-stop advantage. P5 was the maximum then, was it not?)

Aston Martin Red Bull Racing:
Pierre Gasly - 6/10 (When your team mate is on the podium, starting 6th and finishing 6th is not good enough)
Max Verstappen - 9/10 (This, however, is good enough)

Renault F1 Team:
Daniel Ricciardo - 7/10 (I think this is all Renault could hope for here. Battled nicely though)
Nico Hülkenberg - 6/10 (Like Daniel, just behind him)

Rich Energy Haas F1 Team:
Romain Grosjean - 7/10 (Could not keep it together after the Magnus pushed him very wide. Lucky to escape with P10)
Kevin Magnussen - 8/10 (Roughed his team mate up a little, but that is also why he ended up best of the rest)

McLaren F1 Team:
Lando Norris - 6/10 (Rather optimistic dive on Stroll, but it would have worked against a more solid rival. Stroll definitely let the crash happen, and Lando is at fault for letting Stroll make that decision)
Carlos Sainz Jr. - 8/10 (Kept it clean, although could not take it to the Haases)

SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team:
Sergio Perez - 5/10 (Has maximised the SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team Force India car so far this year, but it was not repeated here. Meh is the best grade he will get)
Lance Stroll - 4/10 (Silly to be that aggressive with Lando, but I agree with the stewards not handing out a penalty to either driver)

Alfa Romeo Racing:
Kimi Räikkönen - 5/10 (Not a strong race, including failing to use the track at the start)
Antonio Giovinazzi - 3/10 (Still lost to Kimi though. How? He is not having a good start to 2019. Not at all. Only beat the Williams cars. That. was. all. he. could)

Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda:
Alexander Albon - 6/10 (Not bad, not bad at all. Still, 0 points in a race where the car was good enough for it even though it was not really his fault. Failed to eat the Grogro when lots of others succeeded)
Daniil Kvyat - 8/10 (Really quite a solid race, but definitely hurt by the Toro Rosso Pitto Stoppo)

ROKiT Williams Racing:
George Russell - 6/10 (Hmm)
Robert Kubica - 5/10 (Meh)

[Chrill]

And with that, stats.

Biggest climb: Kevin Magnussen (16 -> 12, +4)
Biggest drop: Lancer Stroll (12 -> 18, -6)

Max retakes the top spot from Bottas, and Hamilton is looking at joining them. He's climbed from 6th to 3rd after Barcelona. We are all close in our opinion of Hamilton's season, his lowest rating is 7.8 and his highest is 8.0.

Daniel Ricciardo is the one who is doing the worst compared to his 2018 total, he's -1.545 compared to 2018. In comparison, Max is +2.325 so far this year. Mister consistency is Carlos Sainz, who is rated 0.055 better than in 2018.

See here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-Rxe6H3eT-KVxM4PhgIm6tqr3KmT7clMTWRI7jdBsec/edit?usp=sharing

[Chrill]

Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport:
Lewis Hamilton - 10/10 (Well I just don't know what he could ever have done better. Those tyres did not last, and the impressive thing isn't keeping Verstappen behind but keeping himself on track at all)
Valtteri Bottas - 7/10 (Got knocked by Verstappen in the pits, had to re-pit, and obviously could finish no higher than 4th after that)

Scuderia Ferrari:
Sebastian Vettel - 9/10 (Well, starting P4 and finishing P2 is what it is all about. You can't win Monaco from 4th really)
Charles Leclerc - 5/10 (Had to overtake. Did. Too harshly. Crashed. Almost spun. Ruined his tyres. Then his car. Messy desperate drive)

Aston Martin Red Bull Racing:
Pierre Gasly - 8/10 (Strong to get ahead of the midfield considering where he started. Did what Leclerc should have done)
Max Verstappen - 7/10 (Messy race, but I guess Verstappen + Monaco cannot get cleaner than this)

Renault F1 Team:
Daniel Ricciardo - 8/10 (Took the start from K-Mag but could not hold on, still scored himself some points. Ricciardo likes Monaco, and Monaco likes him back)
Nico Hülkenberg - 5/10 (Was he in the race? Oh yeah, Leclerc tried to overtake him once. Other than that? Unsure)

Rich Energy Haas F1 Team:
Romain Grosjean - 7/10 (He was really chasing Danny for that 9th place, but still scored points on a track that would not have suited the Haas car at all just one month ago)
Kevin Magnussen - 6/10 (Deserved penalty for not yielding to Perez, but what was he even doing down there? I did not see the whole race, but I mean he started P5 so should have finished there or thereabouts) EDIT: OK, he got punished by an erroneous pit call during SC. Poor Haas. Adapting his score accordingly.

McLaren F1 Team:
Lando Norris - 6/10 (Carlos is P6. Norris should score points then)
Carlos Sainz Jr. - 9/10 (Norris was P11. Sainz scored lots of points. Good)

SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team:
Sergio Perez - 7/10 (Was on course for a decent result, but got hurt in that there KMag incident. Also, what the hell was up with his pit exit? Those marshals, that video is SCARY)
Lance Stroll - 5/10 (Meh. He just does not like Monaco, and it does not fancy him either. Poor)

Alfa Romeo Racing:
Kimi Räikkönen - 4/10 (300th GP? Well, not one of his 290 best)
Antonio Giovinazzi - 2/10 (Even when Kimi finishes P17, he beats his team mate by a lot. Giovinazzi, this is getting painful. You are lucky there are no reasonable 3rd drivers to bring in, or we would be calling for that by now)

Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda:
Alexander Albon - 8/10 (First time in an F1 around Monaco? No problem! P8, a second behind his more experienced torpedo friend)
Daniil Kvyat - 8/10 (Like Albon, but ahead and also not a rookie. So not really like Albon then)

ROKiT Williams Racing:
George Russell - 8/10 (Despite being spun a little bit, he finished well ahead of Kubica. Strong season for this rookie here, despite that car there being poor)
Robert Kubica - 5/10 (Well, at least his arm got around the Loews hairpin. That's about as good as this gets. It is time Kubica starts shining, or this return to F1 will be remembered as quite a poor one-season comeback)

[Matt]

Kubica got spun, not Russell. Kubica was in 15th until Giovinazzi took him out. Granted, if you were watching the Sky broadcast, you might not have realized that since they misidentified it as Russell at least five times.

Well, I fell asleep for a bit after that, so maybe Russell got spun too. But I don't think so.

[Penfold]

Antonio Giovinazzi - 2/10 (Even when Kimi finishes P17, he beats his team mate by a lot. Giovinazzi, this is getting painful. You are lucky there are no reasonable 3rd drivers to bring in, or we would be calling for that by now)

Much more of this and it will be time for Sauber to get on the blower to Eric and find out how watertight is his lad's IndyCar contract.


My scores will appear at some point.  Frankly, apart from Hammy's sterling effort up front, most of them were just sat stuck behind the guy ahead, hoping not to have their race compromised by a dodgy strategy call when the safety car showed up.  Expect many sixes and sevens from me.