Ratings | Leclerc passes Verstappen three times, Perez disappoints
- GPblog.com
The Austrian Grand Prix always provides action at the Red Bull Ring and so the duelling skills of the F1 drivers are tested. At the end of the weekend, GPblog will once again give grades to all the drivers for their performance over the weekend in Spielberg.
Leclerc: 10
Charles Leclerc had a strong weekend and finally took another victory. He passed Verstappen three times and had to do all sorts of tricks with his accelerator in the final phase to get to the finish. The Monegasque deserves a lot of credit for that.
Verstappen: 9
Max Verstappen did everything he could, but on Sunday the RB18 simply wasn't fast enough. With victory in the sprint race and the point for the fastest lap, Verstappen minimised the damage.
Hamilton: 9
Lewis Hamilton was back on the podium, but he made a lesser impression in the duels this weekend. Mick Schumacher outsmarted him on a number of occasions and the Brit was also caught out by some mistakes.
Russell: 8
George Russell fell back due to the incident with Sergio Perez, but to blame him for that is too easy. You simply can't overtake outside in that corner, not least because it slopes downhill. Russell recovered with a fourth place finish.
Ocon: 9
Esteban Ocon had a strong weekend, once again outperforming his teammate.
Schumacher: 9
After scoring his first points in Formula 1 a week ago, confidence is now splashing from Mick Schumacher's face. It is also translating into good performances on the track and that is good to see.
Norris: 8
Lando Norris drove a solid weekend and scored important points for his team.
Magnussen: 8
Kevin Magnussen was faster than his teammate on Friday and Saturday, but on Sunday he had problems keeping up with Mick.
Ricciardo: 6.5
Daniel Ricciardo was close to his teammate this weekend and that is an achievement in itself. The Australian is also finally scoring points again.
Alonso: 8
Fernand Alonso fought his way to a point in an exciting race. His problems on Saturday were always going to make it a tough weekend for Alonso, but you can give him that kind of task.
Bottas: 6
Valtteri Bottas falls just outside the points in a race where Alfa Romeo's car simply seemed to lack pace.
Albon: 7
Alexander Albon was close to sniffing out points, but in the closing stages of the race his FW44 simply fell short. The Thai was by far the best Williams on the track all weekend.
Stroll: 5
Lance Stroll performed well on behalf of Aston Martin and had a quieter weekend than his teammate.
Zhou: 5.5
Guanyu Zhou did not have the pace to stay close to his Finnish teammate this weekend.
Gasly: 5.5
Pierre Gasly had a messy performance at the Red Bull Ring. It started with a silly mistake at the start of the sprint race and he was involved in more incidents and penalties throughout the rest of the weekend.
Tsunoda: 5.5
The fact that Yuki Tsunoda managed to finish behind his teammate despite a bad weekend says it all about the Japanese driver's lack of pace.
Vettel: 4.5
Sebastian Vettel complained about everything and everyone, but the German seems to have not learnt that you are vulnerable on the outside of a bend. Again, this was fatal to him on a couple of occasions, so he never got a good grip on the race.
Sainz: 8
Carlos Sainz was perhaps a little too eager on Saturday during the sprint race, but on Sunday he seemed to be on his way to a second place in Spielberg. However, an exploding engine put an end to his race and possibly his championship hopes.
Latifi: 4.5
Nicholas Latifi was not having it this weekend. After his spectacular weekend at Silverstone, he is back on the ground.
Perez: 7
Sergio Perez threw away qualifying by exceeding track limits and then took too much risk in the race. Alexander Albon made the mistake of trying to go outside and Perez has not learnt from it. Russell got the penalty, but you can blame the Mexican for taking so much risk with such a fast car.