A sensational performance by Lewis Hamilton is out shadowed by Romain Grosjean’s tremendous shunt. The Haas driver suffered a horrific accident on the opening lap and can consider himself extremely lucky to be alive.
For the full race report click here.
Lewis Hamilton – 10
Simply untouchable. This is the correct definition for the Briton this weekend, as he displayed another superb lights-to-flag performance. Picking up his 98th pole after he was fastest in qualifying, impeccable at the start, where he shot away from the field, and great race management. A very composed 95th Grand Prix win.
Max Verstappen – 9
The Dutchman gave his best this weekend to try and beat Hamilton, but it wasn’t enough. He was once again the fastest Red Bull on track and gave Hamilton a run for his money, by attempting various strategy calls and setting the fastest lap. Verstappen is doing a wonderful job this season and keeps closing in the gap to Bottas with his 10th podium of 2020.
Alexander Albon – 7
Finally, he was there to pick up the pieces. He was fourth with a few laps to go and got his piece of fortune when Sergio Perez retired, allowing Albon to get his second career podium. The Red Bull driver was faster than usual, opening a gap on the midfield pack and running in that position for most of the race. However, his gap from Verstappen remained massive and the podium may still not be enough for a place in 2021.
Lando Norris – 8
Fourth place for the McLaren driver, who completed an excellent race after starting from P9. He was quick at the start and managed to get ahead of Esteban Ocon, allowing him to set the pace and settle in a great position. It was a smooth and trouble-free performance that massively helps his team’s charge up the constructors’s standings.
Carlos Sainz – 8
His race was a must-watch. Starting in P15 due to a failure in qualifying may have hurt his mood, but the Spaniard was on the ball since the start. He recovered some positions on the opening lap, but it was his subsequent overtakes on the Renaults and Pierre Gasly which showed he had the pace today. At one point, he appeared capable of catching his teammate, but a slow pit-stop limited him only to a very dignified fifth.
Pierre Gasly – 7.5
Superb tyre management allowed him to only stop once and thus finish in front of the Renaults and Valtteri Bottas. He didn’t make the best of his promising grid slot, but a good switch on hard tyres during the red flag pause allowed him to focus on his pace and finishing a strong sixth.
Daniel Ricciardo – 7
He didn’t seem comfortable at the start, dropping down to P9, but was able to recover with decent pace which put him ahead of Esteban Ocon. The Renault today seemed slower than the McLaren, so ending with a seventh-place was the best he could do.
Valtteri Bottas – 4
Bottas appeared to struggle more than usual this weekend, but his race was really poor. The start was his chance to get in front of Hamilton, but instead he lost multiple places, until an unfortunate puncture that forced him to pit. However, despite being quite unlucky, his pace was slower than his teammate’s, and he was very timid when attempting to overtake. Finishing eighth in a Mercedes and struggling to pass Renaults and McLarens is simply unacceptable.
Esteban Ocon – 6
He was quick in qualifying and off the start, hinting that this could be a good occasion for the Frenchman, but his pace quickly dropped after a rapid first stint. It was a good show, giving his best in a wheel-to-wheel battle with Ricciardo, but he dropped some distance, only managing ninth.
Charles Leclerc – 7
A point is a small reward for another performance in which he outperformed his machine. Leclerc was very aggressive at the start, recovering multiple places, but as the laps went by he started to lose positions, a scenario witnessed already at Spa and Mugello. Nevertheless, he did his job, soundly beating Sebastian Vettel and limiting the gap from faster cars.
Daniil Kvyat – 5.5
He started in the top 10, but lost places at both starts, finally touching with Lance Stroll and being penalised with a 10 seconds penalty. This hurt his race, as he dropped back after his stop, while he was close behind Gasly on the opening laps. The Russian failed to recover and finished P11 and no points.
George Russell – 6.5
An error-free performance in which he would have deserved getting away with more. Finally, he made no mistakes and had a positive start, establishing as one of the leading cars from the back and chasing Antonio Giovinazzi all the way. Finishing as low as P12 is all due to car performance rather than driving errors.
Sebastian Vettel – 5
Qualifying gave the impression that the German could add to his good performance in Turkey, but after turn one, Vettel struggled massively. He lost multiple places at the start, and another spin condemned him to last place. Recovering to P13 is not sufficient, particularly when looking at his teammate’s performance.
Nicholas Latifi – 4.5
Very anonymous weekend from the Canadian, who qualified last and appeared as if he never featured. The gap from Russell remains massive, as he once again fails to start in front of him, but was also well beaten in the race.
Kimi Raikkonen – 5.5
The Finnish driver won’t look back at this performance and consider it one of his best. He was largely anonymous, qualifying poorly and making a few mistakes here and there that cost him places.
Antonio Giovinazzi – 6.5
The only reason he finished so far back is that Alfa Romeo took a gamble when the safety car came out with two laps to go, but even considering he was in P11, he would have had no points to his name. The Italian drove pretty well, emerging from the back of the pack as the fastest driver.
Kevin Magnussen – 5
The Haas was arguably the slowest car in Bahrain and Magnussen struggled all weekend. There was probably not much more he could do, coming home with last-place of the non-DNFs.
Sergio Perez – 9.5
Lady luck cruelly turned her back to the Mexican with only a few laps to go, as Perez was in a strong third place. An engine failure does not cancel his great performance, soundly beating Lance Stroll in qualifying and settling to P3 ever since the opening lap of the race. His pace was phenomenal, a lot quicker than Albon and Norris, and he was one of the best drivers today.
Lance Stroll – 4.5
Eliminated straight away with a crash on the restart and, although the marshals blamed Kvyat, he seems to have some large responsibility in it. The rest of his weekend was also very poor, only obtaining P13 in qualifying and appearing to be miles off Perez.
Romain Grosjean – N/A
As for today, he can consider himself as blessed for surviving that horrific crash. Let’s hope Romain gets well soon.
For more Overtime sport content click here and for more Formula 1 content click here.
You can also check out our driver ratings from last week by clicking here.
1 thought on “F1 Bahrain GP – DRIVER RATINGS”