The outer layout of last week’s circuit produced a stunner, leaving some drivers over the moon and others completely gutted.
It is a surprising win by the Mexican Sergio Perez, as the podium is completed by Esteban Ocon and Lance Stroll.
Sergio Perez – 10
There are no words to describe his performance, as Perez gets his maiden win in Formula One after being last on the first lap.
He had a flawless race, catching up to his teammate after a series of overtakes and being the leading car after the Mercedes duo thanks to great tyre management and fast pace. After being cruelly deprived of the podium last week, he gets his share of luck and never puts a foot wrong, leading the field home after the late safety-car.
Embed from Getty ImagesEsteban Ocon – 9
The Frenchman’s first podium comes thanks to a great one stop strategy that enables him to get ahead of all the two-stoppers. He manages to overtake Lance Stroll with the undercut and is also very able at getting the car home whilst being under intense pressure on the final laps. He couldn’t resist Perez, but he was really there when it mattered.
Lance Stroll – 7.5
Considering his teammate was last, 10 seconds down on him at the start of the race, and that he was the first of the one-stoppers, finishing third in this way is quite disappointing.
It is still a great result, especially for Racing Point’s charge in the constructors standings, but he really should have done more, struggling compared to his teammate and coming out worse in the wheel-to-wheel battle with Ocon.
Carlos Sainz – 8.5
Looking back, this race could have been his. Stopping twice didn’t help his cause, as Carlos conducted a great race, settling to P3 at the start and managing to break away from the field. Who knows what could have happened, but the Spaniard was smooth, really extracting the best out of his chances in this race. He only missed out on a podium due to a few tenths.
Daniel Ricciardo – 7.5
The Turn four incident cost him the position over Sainz, but still allowed him to be a good fourth at the start. He was also part of the unlucky group of drivers that stopped twice, which meant he was some positions down on his teammate. His individual performance was actually pretty good, even getting back ahead of Daniil Kvyat after the stop and giving his all until the end.
Alexander Albon – 5
He adds eight points to his tally, but is this really what Albon should aim for? He concedes six tenths to Verstappen in qualifying, starting way down and never recovering in the early stages. Only a late stop and the Mercedes drama prevented him not to finish at the end of the top 10, but he was nowhere near the positions the Red Bull car deserves. With the Mercedes making a mess and Max Verstappen out early, this was an enormous opportunity.
Daniil Kvyat – 7.5
Finally, the Russian gets the better of Pierre Gasly, being quick all weekend and running as high as fourth during the race. The car wasn’t the best on Sunday, but he produced an error-free performance, fighting vigorously, but being penalised by the two-stop strategy.
The only thing he could be faulted is losing the position to Albon on the restart, but he was the best Alpha Tauri this race.
Embed from Getty ImagesValtteri Bottas – 6
After getting pole position by a narrow margin he could head to the race with less of an anxiety, but his start was poor once again, allowing George Russell to slip by. It was a distant battle between the two teammates, where Bottas seemed to be at disadvantage until a late charge in the second stint. However, after the wrong pit stop everything went badly and he was never able to recover from the field, losing multiple places with mistakes and poor pace.
George Russell – 10
Getting in a Mercedes and lapping close to Bottas would have been a success already, but the Briton was just amazing this weekend. First on both Friday sessions, agonizingly close in qualifying, aggressive and decisive at the start, plus commanding when leading. It was such a shame that the unnecessary pit stop under the safety-car lost him places, but he recovered, including a mega overtake on his teammate. A late puncture cruelly denied him a second shot for the win.
Embed from Getty ImagesLando Norris – 5
Just when the team needed him the most, Norris put up one of the worst performances of the season. A mistake in qualifying caused him to exit in Q2 with a 15th place, but after a charging first lap from P19 (grid penalty), he just went backwards. Norris couldn’t resist Albon and Perez, always lapping slower than Sainz. He managed to get a point at the end, but is clearly not enough.
Pierre Gasly – 5.5
Unusual weekend from Gasly, who was beaten by Kvyat in both qualifying and the race. He was in the group lead by Sainz, but a two-stop strategy and a struggling car didn’t help his cause, narrowly missing a point after being overtaken by Russell and Norris in the closing stages.
Sebastian Vettel – 5
His penultimate weekend with Ferrari is another joyless performance, once again being knocked out in Q2, while his teammate qualified fourth. In the race he was off the pace and was never a threat to the point contenders. Not quite what we expect from a four-time world champion.
Antonio Giovinazzi – 6.5
With this layout, the Alfa Romeo was condemned to struggle, but the Italian once again does his job, qualifying a solid P14 and always racing ahead of Kimi Raikkonen. Demanding more from him would have been a big ask.
Kimi Raikkonen – 5.5
Another poor qualifying performance saw him starting from quite far behind and he was also caused to spin on the first corners. He got back and fought to a P14 spot, but it was nothing special from his side.
Kevin Magnussen – 5.5
This weekend was anonymous for him and all the Haas team. The car didn’t suit the track and the Danish did his job without excelling, always featuring towards the bottom of the pecking order.
Jack Aitken – 6.5
A late mistake that caused him to spin and hit the barrier was the sole error of his debut weekend, replacing the departing Russell. He soon seemed to get to grips with the Williams, challenging Nicholas Latifi both in qualifying and in the race, where the two ran close. Considering it was his first feel of the car, it was a very solid show.
Embed from Getty ImagesPietro Fittipaldi – 5.5
A fair rating for taking the car home and having to quickly adapt to Formula 1 after a long time he last drove. He was never close to Magnussen, but featured at times and wasn’t helped by an underperforming car. Should he race in Abu Dhabi, expectations would get higher.
Nicholas Latifi – 6
It is true that Aitken isn’t Russell, but for once he was the leading Williams and also had a run at the Alfa Romeos in the early stages of the race. It was a shame he retired with a technical issue, because he looked promising. Still, only narrowly beating a debutant isn’t too amazing.
Max Verstappen N/A
Being too cautious in turn 4 was actually his misfortune. He backed out of a sandwich between Perez and Bottas only to be forced towards the wall by Leclerc’s divebomb.
A ruined race for Verstappen, who was very quick in qualifying and would have surely been a threat to Mercedes. Considering the German team’s mistakes, this is a wasted opportunity, but he was just a passenger.
Charles Leclerc – 4
His qualifying lap was phenomenal and getting a P4 start was a dream for Leclerc, but his mistake is unacceptable. It is not the first time the Monegasque is involved in a first lap crash and doing it ruining other people’s races and when finding himself so high up is a rookie error.
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