Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Albert Park, 2022

2022 Australian Grand Prix driver ratings

2022 Australian Grand Prix

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The Australian Grand Prix saw a comfortable victory for one Ferrari driver and a bitterly disappointing retirement for the other.

Further down the field, one Williams driver struggled to make an impact, while the other secured the team’s best result of the young season. While at Aston Martin, it proved to be a weekend to forget for everyone in the team.

Here are RaceFans’ driver ratings for the Australian Grand Prix:

George Russell, Mercedes, Albert Park, 2022
Russell took this first Mercedes podium

Lewis Hamilton – 6

Qualified: 5th (+1 above team mate)
Finished: 4th (-1 below team mate)

  • Frustrated to be so far off the pace despite “decent laps” in practice
  • Secured fifth on the grid ahead of team mate in final Q3 effort
  • Jumped to third at the start before being passed by Perez
  • Dropped behind Russell under Safety Car as he had already pitted
  • Overheating issues forced him to lift-and-coast, preventing him from challenging Russell

George Russell – 6

Qualified: 6th (-1 below team mate)
Finished: 3rd (+1 above team mate)

  • Just out-qualified by Hamilton by only a tenth
  • Passed Norris at start and ran within two seconds of Hamilton in early phase
  • Perfectly timed Safety Car allowed him to pit and keep third
  • Lost third to Perez after being told to prioritise his tyres over track position
  • Inherited a podium after Verstappen’s retirement and led home an overheating Hamilton to finish third

Max Verstappen – 7

Qualified: 2nd (+1 above team mate)
Finished: Retired (Fuel system – L39)

  • Struggled with balance in high speed throughout practice
  • Qualified second, almost three tenths behind Leclerc
  • Graining mediums frustrated his efforts to chase Leclerc
  • Put Leclerc under pressure at second restart but could not find a way past
  • Forced to stop after a fuel system problem on lap 39

Sergio Perez – 6

Qualified: 3rd (-1 below team mate)
Finished: 2nd

  • Quicker than Verstappen in two of the three practice sessions
  • Qualified third, less than a tenth behind team mate
  • Dropped to fourth behind Hamilton on lap one
  • Small mistake at turn 13 on lap 50 cost him two seconds
  • Finished a lonely second after his team mate’s retirement
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Albert Park, 2022
Leclerc took a comfortable win

Carlos Sainz Jnr – 3

Qualified: 9th (-8 below team mate)
Finished: Retired (Spun off – L2)

  • Fastest in first practice and generally kept pace with team mate in practice and first two qualifying sessions
  • Lost his first Q3 lap due to red flag, then delayed by starter problem allowing him only one Q3 effort
  • Mistake in turn ten left him ninth on the grid
  • Steering wheel issue before race led to anti-stall at start, dropping him to 14th
  • Spun out at turn ten trying too hard to make back places

Charles Leclerc – 8

Qualified: Pole (+8 above team mate)
Finished: Winner

  • Consistently in the top three in practice and qualifying
  • Took pole by almost three tenths
  • Held onto lead at start and fended off Verstappen on second Safety Car restart
  • Controlled the race from the front
  • Took a dominant win after leading every lap with the fastest lap

Lando Norris – 7

Qualified: 4th (+3 above team mate)
Finished: 5th (+1 above team mate)

  • Quickest in final practice
  • Qualified fourth as ‘best of the rest’, three tenths quicker than team mate
  • Fell to sixth at start
  • Passed Magnussen after Safety Car and led Ricciardo home even after managing late fuel scare
  • Finished every single session of weekend faster than team mate

Daniel Ricciardo – 6

Qualified: 7th (-3 below team mate)
Finished: 6th (-1 below team mate)

  • Slower than Norris in all practice and qualifying sessions
  • Qualified three tenths and three places behind his team mate in seventh
  • Spent almost every lap directly behind team mate and followed him by Magnussen
  • Respected team’s orders not to pressure Norris in final three laps
  • Finished sixth to secure best result of season
Fernando Alonso, Alpine, Albert Park, 2022
Alonso’s qualifying crash compromised his weekend

Fernando Alonso – 7

Qualified: 10th (-2 below team mate)
Finished: 17th (-10 below team mate)

  • Showed exceptional pace from Friday afternoon onwards
  • Crashed in Q3 after a hydraulic problem, leaving him tenth on the grid
  • Started on the hard tyre to run long opening stint where he kept pace with team mate Ocon
  • Frustrated by two Safety Cars allowing rivals to pit with reduced time loss
  • Pitted under VSC but had to pit again after medium tyres degraded in the midfield train, finishing 17th

Esteban Ocon – 5

Qualified: 8th (+2 above team mate)
Finished: 7th (+10 above team mate)

  • Qualified 8th after admitting he had not had the “smoothest” of sessions
  • Ran eighth in the early laps, building up a train behind him
  • Could not find a way by Albon’s Williams for second half the race despite much fresher hard tyres
  • Inherited seventh after Albon pitted on final lap

Pierre Gasly – 5

Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri, Albert Park, 2022
Gasly’s slip-up let Bottas by
Qualified: 11th (+2 above team mate)
Finished: 9th (+6 above team mate)

  • Missed out on Q3 by a tenth of a second
  • Moved up two places to ninth at the start
  • Ran behind Ocon until pitting just before Safety Car, dropping to 13th
  • Rose to ninth after VSC and spent nine laps behind Stroll before passing him on lap 50
  • Lost ninth to Bottas after running off at turn 13, but gained it back when Albon pitted on final lap

Yuki Tsunoda – 4

Qualified: 13th (-2 below team mate)
Finished: 15th (-6 below team mate)

  • Reprimanded for impeding Sainz in second practice
  • Apologised for compromising team mate’s Q2 lap after going off at turn 11, qualifying 13th
  • Gained two places at start and ran 11th until pitting on lap 18
  • Lost places to Schumacher and Zhou after Safety Car restart, then passed by Magnussen
  • Struggled for pace on hard tyres and finished 15th

Sebastian Vettel – 2

Qualified: 18th
Finished: Retired (Crashed – L23)

  • Pulled off track with power unit problem in first practice session of the season, preventing him from taking part in second practice
  • Crashed during his first timed lap on Saturday morning, almost preventing his participation in qualifying
  • Qualified 18th with last minute lap attempt
  • Dropped to last after running off onto gravel at turn 11 on lap 10
  • Crashed out of the race after losing control at turn four on lap 23
Lance Stroll, Aston Martin, Albert Park, 2022
Stroll picked up multiple penalty points over the weekend

Lance Stroll – 2

Qualified: No time set
Finished: 12th

  • Investigated twice for impeding in practice but cleared
  • Crashed at turn 11 at end of third practice
  • Failed to set a time in Q1 after hitting Latifi, handed three place grid drop
  • Ran last in early laps after pitting twice to satisfy two-compound requirement
  • Passed Albon and Bottas either side of pitting under Safety Car
  • Given five second time penalty for weaving in defence of 14th from Bottas, then appeared to push him off track at turn three, but not investigated
  • Passed three times in final ten laps to finish 12th

Nicholas Latifi – 4

Qualified: 19th (-3 below team mate)
Finished: 16th (-6 below team mate)

  • Slower than Albon in all three practice sessions
  • Qualifying ended early after collision with Stroll, deemed not at fault
  • Ran ahead of team mate in early laps before early pit stop
  • Pitted again under second Safety Car from last
  • Ran last almost the whole race after struggling with graining before crossing line 16th
Alex Albon, Williams, Albert Park, 2022
Albon made excellent use of his strategy

Alexander Albon – 8

Qualified: 16th (+3 above team mate)
Finished: 10th (+6 above team mate)

  • Consistently quicker than team mate Latifi in practice and qualifying
  • Missed out on Q2 by half a tenth
  • Would have started 19th with grid penalty but was disqualified from qualifying for fuel sample issue
  • Ran 18th at start but gained places as drivers pitted ahead of him
  • Maintained impressive pace on hard tyres for entire race before pitting on final lap
  • Emerged just in front of Zhou and pulled away to claim first point in tenth

Valtteri Bottas – 6

Qualified: 12th (+2 above team mate)
Finished: 8th (+3 above team mate)

  • Missed out on Q3, ending 103 race streak of reaching the final phase, qualifying 12th
  • Ran 12th before passing Tsunoda before pitting the lap before the second Safety Car
  • Fell to 13th after being passed by Stroll before eventually passing him on lap 51
  • Gained ninth from Gasly’s turn 13 error, then took eighth after Albon’s late pit stop

Zhou Guanyu – 5

Qualified: 14th (-2 below team mate)
Finished: 11th (-3 below team mate)

  • Slower than Bottas in every practice and qualifying session
  • Lost place to Schumacher at the start, gained it back following mistake
  • Passed by Magnussen for 12th before pit stop, then lost places under Safety Car, putting him almost last
  • Passed Tsunoda, gained 13th after passing Schumacher, then passed struggling Alonso for 12th
  • Came close to passing Albon out of the pit lane but could not find traction at turn two, missing out on a point

Mick Schumacher – 4

Mick Schumacher, Haas, Albert Park, 2022
Neither of the Haas drivers scored points
Qualified: 15th (+2 above team mate)
Finished: 13th (+1 above team mate)

  • Reached Q2 a tenth-and-a-half ahead of team mate
  • Gained two places at the start, but lost them after a mistake at turn 11
  • Nearly hit Tsunoda during a Safety Car period, then passed him after it
  • Overtaken by Alonso, then ran wide at turn one trying to repass the Alpine, losing two places
  • Passed team mate Magnussen in closing laps to secure 14th

Kevin Magnussen – 4

Qualified: 17th (-2 below team mate)
Finished: 14th (-1 below team mate)

  • Felt unwell on Friday but put in a full programme
  • Eliminated in Q1 for first time in 2022
  • Passed Zhou but lost the position after mistake at turn nine attacking Tsunoda
  • Fell to rear after pitting under Virtual Safety Car, passed Latifi, Tsunoda, Schumacher and Alonso to run 12th
  • Passed by team mate in closing laps, finishing 14th

Over to you

Vote for the driver who impressed you most last weekend and find out whether other RaceFans share your view here:

2022 Australian Grand Prix

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Author information

Will Wood
Will has been a RaceFans contributor since 2012 during which time he has covered F1 test sessions, launch events and interviewed drivers. He mainly...

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47 comments on “2022 Australian Grand Prix driver ratings”

  1. Leclerc & Albon deservedly are the only highest score ones.

  2. I’d rate Perez a point higher for his LSD overtake on Hamilton.

    Alonso is a difficult one; exceptional during quali and on the hard tyres, but disappointing on the mediums.

    1. @jff What do you mean by LSD? I checked what this acronym stands for, which has nothing to do with racing (or driving & cars generally, for that matter), so I don’t quite get the reference.

      1. @jerejj LSD definitely exists in the context of cars, Limited Slip Differential.

        Still, I don’t understand the reference myself πŸ™‚

        1. @mattds OK, fitting.

      2. LSD = Lakeside Dr.,
        the β€˜curvy straight’ between turns 6 and 13.

        1. @jff In all the years that F1 has been racing at Albert Park (and I’ve watched them all since 1996), I have never once heard anyone refer to Lakeside Drive as LSD.

  3. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
    12th April 2022, 8:05

    I think Alonso is seriously overrated here. He pitted for new tyres and while most others managed these tyres fine in the first stint, he failed badly in the 2nd stint. Magnussen was on the same tyres and managed to overtake him in this stint. I guess the rankings do include the whole weekend, but even Stroll got by Alonso and he gets a 2 compared to a 7 for Alonso? Alonso was literally about to get passed by Tsunoda who was 2nd to last before he pitted, then he finished dead last, which likely will have been the case even if he didn’t pit. It is his fault that he wrecked his tyres.

    He was unlucky in qualifying, but including everything that happened on race day, it was in the end really poor. a ranking this high doesn’t add up. Finishing last in the end was his own fault as Magnussen proved that from his position, you could manage more than that with these tyres and yet he apparently had a better weekend than Hamilton, Russell, Perez, Ricciardo, Ocon and many others.

    1. Agree it’s strange, I liked alonso this weekend but indeed the last stint was bad, I also liked the merc drivers, so I find it strange he got higher than them.

    2. Alonso IS seriously overrated. Much too much!

    3. Agree. For him to be 2 full points ahead of Ocon is excessive, who did a quiet and effective race

    4. Agreed. Not sure how Alonso gets a 7. Sure he put in a decent qualifying lap, and it wasn’t his fault he couldn’t complete it. But his race was pretty average, and then ended in a mess when he ruined his tyres thereby becoming the only guy to need an extra stop.

  4. I wonder if Vettel should have been driving this weekend? He put in a very ordinary performance, which makes me wonder if he has fully recovered his health after Covid.

    1. I’m shocked someone thought Sainz jr did better than Vettel and Bottas. Magnussen and Mick looked like 2 rookies but by far the worse performance, Sainz jr, things did not go his way but he almost caused a massive pile-up, so dangerous. He should have been given a reprimand for that.
      Vettel was a disaster but so where his circumstances.
      I don’t like billionaires but Stroll did a fine job, he always gives 100% behind the wheel, he makes it look like he has no power steering. The latifi crash is largely born out of Latifi’s erratic behaviour. Frankly, both got enough of a penalty, though most definitely Latify hit Stroll, Stroll was driving much slower. Stroll then made a late defensive lunge during the race, perhaps it was mistimed or misjudged. He put up a decent race.

      1. Stroll did a fine job, if you don’t count the crash in practice after getting in the way repeatedly, the penalty for hitting Latifi in practice, the penalty for weaving in the race (which he should have gotten twice), and finally running Bottas off the track. He is a godsend to the sport and I cannot see why Mercedes didn’t hire him instead of Russell this year. I guess Stroll is just that loyal to his team that he decided to stay. Of course, I am being completely facetious.

        1. You’ll be offered a large discount on a new Aston Martin for your kind words. Ha, ha.lol

        2. @ferrox-glideh why are you repeating what I said?

          1. So you also think Stroll is a terrible driver who doesn’t belong if F1? Because that’s what I was implying.

  5. I think Stroll’s ranking is too harsh. Yes, his mistake in qualifying was poor but it was understandable given he had just passed Latifi and wouldn’t have expected him to come steaming back through. Stroll was predominantly to blame for not looking in his mirrors, but Latifi was not blameless either. And in the race, the weaving was just one small thing and Stroll generally kept pace well with his rivals and defended solidly. I would also say that’s a little harsh on Gasly and a little generous to Alonso, but generally I agree with these ratings. For reference, my ratings are here: https://f1frogblog.wordpress.com/2022/04/10/f1-2022-australian-gp/ but I use a more generous scoring system to racefans.

  6. My Driver Ratings:

    Charles Leclerc – 9. A grand-slam, and an almost perfect performance, but as I have decided to make 10s harder to come by this year he falls short due to the small mistake on the restart which allowed Verstappen a chance to pass him. Now looks to be the championship favourite, after a dominant win.

    Sergio Perez – 7. His best result of the season, but not his best race as Verstappen was ahead of him before his retirement and he also was involved too much with the Mercedes drivers. Perhaps it is the new cars, but he appears to have made a major step forward compared to last year, in terms of the gap to Verstappen.

    George Russell – 8. A first real podium of his career, and although he was fortunate to beat Hamilton he had been very close to his teammate on pace before and held him off after the safety car gifted him the place. Mercedes are making progress.

    Lewis Hamilton – 8. Perhaps a little harsh and would be an 8.5 as he was the stronger of the two Mercedes drivers and made the great move on Perez at the start, but after dropping behind Russell he was unable to make his way back ahead.

    Lando Norris – 9. After the problems that McLaren had had in the first two races, to qualify fourth was remarkable, and showed the progress the team had made. Had a solid drive to fifth after a bad start, just holding off his teammate, and finished best of the rest.

    Daniel Ricciardo – 8. In his home Grand Prix, Ricciardo had his best drive for some time, qualfiying seventh, shadowing Norris all race and finishing an excellent sixth. Hopefully this is the start of his revival after an awful season in 2021.

    Esteban Ocon – 7. A very anonymous race weekend for the Alpine driver who is racking up the points with another strong result in seventh, but Fernando Alonso showed that there was a lot more pace in the car so he could have beaten the McLarens.

    Valtteri Bottas – 7. Maybe a slightly harsh rating as eighth was probably the best result he could have got, but qualifying was disappointing as he missed Q3, and then was caught napping by Stroll on the VSC restart which made him fight much harder for that position.

    Pierre Gasly – 8. The Alpha Tauri does not look among the most competitive in the midfield, but Gasly dragged another points finish out of it with some good progress through the field, although he might have beaten Bottas without a mistake at the final corner caused by worn tyres.

    Alexander Albon – 9. The best drive of Albon’s career so far to take a point for Williams. After starting last he moved up to seventh by not pitting and then somehow managed to keep at the McLarens pace despite the old tyres and only dropped back to tenth with the stop on the final lap. Like Mercedes and McLaren, Williams appear to be making progress.

    Zhou Guanyu – 6. A slightly anonymous race from the Alfa Romeo rookie, as he is still a little slower than Bottas, but a strong end to the race saw him finish just outside the points. But the Alfa Romeo is a quick car so he could have beaten Gasly and Albon.

    Lance Stroll – 6. A silly mistake in qualifying as he drove into the side of Latifi put him at the back of the grid but Aston Martin’s great strategy got him into the points, as unlike Alonso and Magnussen he was able to pit again for hards under the safety car. Stroll kept good pace but was penalised for weaving and eventually dropped back.

    Mick Schumacher – 6. Outqualified Magnussen for the first time but the Haas was less competitive. Looked like he might have a chance of a point but made a few little mistakes and missed out, although he did beat his teammate.

    Kevin Magnussen – 6. Went out in Q1, but was having a better race despite a little excursion across the chicane. He was disadvantaged by the safety car as he had started on hard tyres so didn’t pit, and wasn’t able to get back to the points.

    Yuki Tsunoda – 6. In qualifying and the early part of the race he was very close to Pierre Gasly and looked more competitive than last year, but fell away after the safety car and didn’t get points.

    Nicholas Latifi – 4. Another disappointing weekend as Latifi was someway off Albon’s pace even before the crash in qualifying which he has to take some share of the blame for. In the race, while Albon scored points, he fell away and was a distant last before Alonso’s late stop.

    Fernando Alonso – 7. A weekend of what might have been as he looked set for fifth on the grid before crashing in qualifying, due to a hydraulics issue, then showed pace in the race but was unlucky with the safety car and then was unable to fight back through the traffic as he had tyre problems causing him to pit again.

    Max Verstappen – 8. His title hopes took a significant blow after the retirement, but was the closest threat to Leclerc this weekend as he outperformed Perez and deserved to finish second, although he only really challenged the Ferrari on the second restart.

    Sebastian Vettel – 3. Yes, it was difficult for Vettel as he had a significant lack of running before the race due to problems in practice and missing the first two rounds, but it was still his mistake to first go wide and drop to the back and then spin on the kerb and crash.

    Carlos Sainz – 3. Incredibly unlucky to lose his fastest qualifying lap to the red flag, but despite tyre warmup issues you would expect him to do better than ninth on his second run. Then botched the start to drop back and spun at the chicane to cap off an utterly miserable Grand Prix weekend.

    Team of the Grand Prix – Aston Martin. The team that repaired two damaged cars in qualifying and then pulled off a brilliant strategy to almost get points.

    1. I’ll go along with that.

    2. Yeah, I’d go along with that as well, well put together set @f1frog

  7. The Alonso/Ocon scores are hilarious. The guy sank like a stone because he didn’t manage his tyres. But hey, let’s reward him for fast practice laps!!!!!

  8. Leclerc should have been 9 imo.
    The boy controlled the whole weekend and no one was clearly sure until the last lap of Q3 that Ferrari has an edge over RBR. A Grand slam without an ultra dominant car should have been rewarded more.

    1. Yeah same. If that weekend of domination doesn’t give Leclerc a 9 then what would haha.

    2. Also agree. 9 at least for Charles.

  9. Not really a fan of points for driver performances. The points always seem arbitrary yet it seems a waste of time arguing that, say, Russell should be a 7 not a 6. The ‘star performers’ feature with the ‘rest’ and the ‘strugglers’ is easier to engage with.

  10. YTD average based on @WillWood‘s rankings:
    🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒 (7.7) Charles Leclerc
    🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒 (7.3) Max Verstappen
    🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒 (7.0) Valtteri Bottas
    🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒 (6.7) Sergio Perez
    🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒 (6.3) Kevin Magnussen
    🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒 (6.3) Alexander Albon
    🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒 (6.3) Fernando Alonso
    🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒 (6.3) Lando Norris
    🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒 (6.0) Pierre Gasly
    🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒 (6.0) George Russell
    🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒 (5.7) Esteban Ocon
    🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒 (5.7) Lewis Hamilton
    🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒 (5.0) Nico Hulkenberg
    🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒 (5.0) Zhou Guanyu
    🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒 (5.0) Daniel Ricciardo
    🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒 (5.0) Carlos Sainz Jnr
    🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒 (4.5) Yuki Tsunoda
    🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒 (4.0) Mick Schumacher
    🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒 (4.0) Lance Stroll
    🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒🁒 (3.3) Nicholas Latifi
    🁒🁒🁒🁒 (2.0) Sebastian Vettel

    1. This seems very accurate.

      1. yep, with mediocre drivers in the low middle

      2. I find Bottas a bit overrated though

    2. Yep Woods hates Hamilton. Clear as day.

    3. why a 5 on Ric he drove on his teammates gearbox and was told to stay there??

  11. What does LEC need to do more for a 9? Utterly dominant, even Max had no chance this race.

    1. Near perfect, but missed the apex in the restart (cold tyres??) and left the door open for Max, looked like he was going to lose the position.

      even Max had no chance this race

      I kinda disagree, this was Max’s only chance
      And anyway he had it a bit too easy, the Fezza was too dominant and I dislike that. Even though I’m a tiffoso at heart .

    2. The bullet points are completely out of context.

      “[Russell] Lost third to Perez after being told to prioritise his tyres over track position”, yet he went against the team’s instruction.

      “[PΓ©rez] Dropped to fourth behind Hamilton on lap one”, when Verstappen, who had compromised his position at T1, left him no room.

      And then it never mentions that Guanyu largely lost out to Albon being behind Alonso.

  12. So it is a 1-8 scoring system after all. Glad that is finally clear.

    1. Not sure about that. We have seen pretty good performances but none truly exceptional so far.

      Imagina ALO without the hydraulic issue in his quali flying lap, getting pole or front row, not having to start on hards, and finishing in the podium (without a gift from Max retirement). Ok, lotsa coulda woulda shoulda but a podium with LEC, VER and ALO seemed possible for a moment, and that would have been truly exceptional with an Alpine.

  13. I agree with Will in his rankings.
    Guys the 9 are for exceptional perfomance.. to get it at least you need to do 1-2 Ricardo or Kamui passings.
    10 are for God performances and since Senna death we havent seen one yet.

    1. Since watching F1 full-time since 2000, I’d say Schumacher Canada 2003, France 2004, Alonso Hungary 2003, Raikkonen Suzuka 2005, Schumacher China 2006, Raikkonen Australia 2007, Vettel Monza 2008, Singapore 2013, Hamilton Brazil 2020, Verstappen Brazil 2016… quite a few instances…

      1. Brazil 2020, a career-defining performance, best ever, oh wait, was even there a 2020 Brazilian F1 Grand Prix?

  14. What merits a 1? I thought Stroll had that locked up this week. 3 instances of dangerous driving, 1 wreck, team put him on a clever strategy that he couldn’t make work unlike Albon. I don’t see anything redeeming in his drive this entire weekend.

    Do you literally have to kill someone for a 1?

    1. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
      12th April 2022, 21:14

      Stroll made a huge mistake in qualifying and 2 mistakes in the race, but his pace was actually very good, and he did also have some very good overtakes. Albon made his tyres last, but he wasn’t doing the amount of overtaking that stroll did.

      I would say the aston martin was clearly the worst car after williams. Stroll’s race wasn’t good but his pace and result wasn’t bad.

    2. @nanotech Sainz jr was vying for a 1, he almost killed multiple drivers. Vettel did worse than Stroll. Latifi’s crash was not on Stroll. Stroll crashed during practice but that is not that unusual, he weaved late on the straight, kind of dangerous and the move on bottas was actually good. I’d say I have seen far worse.

      1. Sainz jr was vying for a 1, he almost killed multiple drivers

        OK… sure? Are you referring to his crash in the race? I honestly don’t know what you mean there.

        Vettel did worse than Stroll

        Yep, but he was only a danger to himself and innocent scooter-owning marshals. Stroll is in danger of suspension for his driving style.

        Latifi’s crash was not on Stroll.

        The stewards would beg to differ. I don’t recall a penalty for “lack of situational awareness” before. Latifi’s his own disaster, us Canadians shouldn’t be allowed to race in F1 apparently, but Stroll apparently only uses his mirrors to block, leading to…

        he weaved late on the straight, kind of dangerous

        Congrats to Lance for another penalty for dangerous weaving, another potential first in F1 – don’t think even Verstappen has one of those yet.

        the move on bottas was actually good

        It worked, I’ll give you that! :)

        I’d say I have seen far worse.

        Examples? I am looking for what merits a 1. Mazepin’s 2021 season is about a -1 on performance but at least he usually wrecked on his own.

        Still curious what a 1 is under this system

  15. I maybe one-eyed but Norris “led Ricciardo home even after managing late fuel scare” was only because Ricciardo “Respected team’s orders not to pressure Norris in final three laps”. It wasn’t a positive for Norris – there was no “even after” involved.

    Maybe I’m not as one-eyed as our English friend.

  16. 8 Leclerc Very good win wasn’t really stretched only slight error at second restart (a high 8 – not quite a 9)
    7 Hamilton Paced himself very well on medium tyres to challenge Perez but after 2nd safety car losing time to Alonso and technical issues (a high 7)
    7 Verstappen Challenged when he could and better than teammate although did obstruct him at the start and didn’t manage his tyres well
    7 Russell Not quite on Hamilton’s pace gaining more on his VSC stop than the eventual gap to his teammate but made no mistakes
    7 Albon Great result and much faster than teammate and benefitted from great stategy and others behind holding each other up
    7 Norris Great qualifying and ran at good pace at times but got stuck behind slower cars at time
    7 Ricciardo Can’t split the Mclarens. Shadowed his teammate all race and obeyed team orders
    6 Perez Slower than Verstappen and also didn’t manage tures well but very good overtaking
    6 Ocon Solid and unspectacular but maybe there was more speed in the car
    6 Bottas Made fewer mistakes than those behind but caught napping by Stroll
    6 Gasly Threw away 8th place and took for ever to pass a slower Stroll
    5 Stroll Out-performed the car, couple of opportunist overtakes and mostly very good defending, wearing out the tyres of chasing pack. However crashed in FP3 + Quali and got penalty for weaving! Half an 8 performance and half a 2 performance!
    5 Zhou Often in the thick of the action but lost too much time despite making progress in the last stine and missed out on the points the car deserved
    5 Schumacher Beat teamate but qualified and raced in similar position to previous races + made some small errors
    5 Magnussen Regressed to Schumacher’s level and had even worse qualifying + small errors
    4 Tsunoda Had no pace compared to Gasly and and barely beat Latifi
    4 Latifi Lacked pace compared to Albon Q1 crash partly on him
    4 Alonso Even with the compromised strategy there were points on offer, he just had to bide his time and treat the tyres well
    3 Sainz A bit unlucky in qualifying but race was embarassing. Poor start, two botched overtaking attempts with the last one ending with hinm backwards in the gravel. A more measured approach would have delivered points
    3 Vettel Unlucky on Friday but rest of the weekend was a disaster

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