Ratings 2021 | Verstappen and Norris stand head and shoulders above the rest

F1 News

11 June 2021 at 09:39

GPblog.com

After every race weekend, we at GPblog give marks to the drivers for their performance that weekend. After six races it is time to take stock. Which driver has performed best so far, and who is failing?

Verstappen and Norris the best

In Formula 1 it is the car that has the biggest impact on the performance. Without a good car, the best driver can never become world champion. Therefore it is sometimes difficult to compare drivers, but you can do that by comparing them with their teammate, who drives around with the same material.

The best driver of the first six races is also the leader in the championship. Verstappen has scored an average of 9.3 in his first six races this season. His lowest score was an 8 for the race in Portugal, but that is compensated by two 10's from Bahrain and Monaco. Lando Norris is second with an 8.9 average, even though he already scored three 10s for his performances in Imola, Portugal and Monaco.

The excitement in F1's midfield

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc are appropriately close together on the final step of the podium. Both also count as top drivers but have been caught at fault a couple of times in the early part of 2021. However, they still remain ahead of the huge battle in the midfield, where the margins are minimal.

The drivers in the midfield are particularly close to each other. From number 5 Esteban Ocon, to number 13 George Russel, there is only 0.7 difference over the first six races. Ocon scores surprisingly high after his difficult comeback in Formula 1 last year, and Lance Stroll and Antonio Giovinazzi also crawl into the top ten together.

The first real setback is Daniel Ricciardo in place 15. The Australian has been consistently among the top five drivers in recent years, but he shows little of that at McLaren. So far he has scored 6.3.

Bottas the biggest loser

The biggest loser is Valtteri Bottas, who comes in at an 18th place. In Portugal, Spain and Monaco he did what he had to do, and with a 9 in Monaco he also scored a high mark for his strong performance. In too many races, however, it has been nothing at all. In Imola, he crashed out fighting for P9 with George Russell, and in Baku he didn't even score points. An average of 5.7 is not a mark that befits a driver from a top team.

The last two spots are filled by Nicholas Latifi (5.3) and Nikita Mazepin (4.5). Latifi doesn't make many big mistakes, but the gap to Russell is shocking. You'd expect him to get in front at some point anyway. Mazepin is a completely different story. He's much slower than Mick Schumacher but also causes a lot of problems on the track. Everyone knows by now that they shouldn't expect Mazepin to understand the meaning of blue flags, and last Sunday Nikita nearly drove his teammate into the wall at full speed.