Welcome to the fifteenth edition of my F1 driver POWER rankings list. I hope you enjoyed my previous edition after the Italian Grand Prix but if you didn’t get around to reading it and don’t want any spoilers, you can find it here. I am sorry that this has come out after the next race. It’s poor from me but sometimes life gets in the way. Better late than never.
What a second half to the season we have been treated to. Since the restart of the season, only Zandvoort has been without major incident or talking point. Russia did not let the side down in that respect, however, for British fans it probably wasn’t the talking point they were seeking. McLaren’s resurgence has been well documented over the last three years and it was looking like Norris was about to rubber stamp their return with back-to-back wins for the team, the first since Hamilton and Button drove for them, but heartbreakingly he missed out by three laps. Norris did everything right all weekend, took a fantastic pole in the wet and drove a really mature race to be in prime position with six laps to go. Then the rain came. I love rain in F1 but I was doing my anti-rain dance like nobody’s business on Sunday, but obviously the F1 Gods had different plans. The Russian Grand Prix showed just how much of a team effort it takes to win in Formula 1. Mercedes had the information, guts, decisiveness, whatever you want to call it to bring Hamilton in for intermediate tyres and that won them the race, the 100th career victory for Sir Lewis Hamilton. I have had the pleasure of watching every single one of those victories and I still can’t quite believe he has made it. When Schumacher retired, I was convinced his records would stand the test of time, but as he left, his equal showed up right away and announced himself from the very first corner of his career. Hamilton isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but what he has achieved is truly unique, quite like himself. When the dust settles on humankind, he will be seen as the King of F1, I am convinced of it. All he needs to do now is get that eighth title, but against a formidable Max Verstappen, it will be no easy feat. At least people won’t be able to say it’s just the car. It never has been that way with Lewis; he has just been good enough to find himself in those cars. As Martin Brundle says “The best drivers find their way into the best cars”.
Now, on to the rest of the race. Rain once again caused chaos on Saturday with lots of the sessions cancelled. A gap in the weather was found for Qualifying to go ahead and it once again caused an entertaining and interesting grid. Verstappen was always going to start at the back with his engine penalty taken, but he was suddenly joined there by Leclerc and Bottas, who took penalties themselves. We got a glimpse into the future at the front with Norris, Sainz and Russell occupying the first three slots on the grid and the start did not disappoint, with slipstreaming and maneuvering going on all down the grid at the run down to Turn 2, the first real corner of the lap. Sainz and Norris were able to move ahead with Russell creating a DRS train behind him for the first stint. This did split the pack into groups, but the action didn’t stop. It does, again, spark thoughts in my head about the pros of a reserve grid, as a mixed-up grid almost guarantees action, see Hungary, Italy and Russia for that. Once the dust had settled after the first round of stops, Hamilton and Verstappen still had some work to do to get through the field, which they did do to differing extents but the threat of rain always loomed. It started coming down with about eight laps to go, in the Turn 4/5 area but the rest of the track was dry, probably the hardest conditions to call in F1. This is where the driver and team must both be on form and make the correct decisions. It was clear that the rain was causing issues but enough to risk pitting for inters? Some thought yes and some thought no. Hell, Lance Stroll spun into the barriers two seconds after telling his team it wasn’t ready for inters yet. Fortunately for Hamilton and Verstappen, they and their teams made the right call and McLaren did not. The radio communication did sound more panicked than that of Mercedes, but this will be a learning moment for the team and I am sure they wont make the same mistake twice. With the top two title protagonists finishing in those spots, the fight for the crown is now right back on with only two points separating them with seven races to go. It will go down to Abu Dhabi, I can feel it. What a season this has been. Now, enough rambling from me, onto the power rankings.
After Russian Grand Prix (15 of 23)
1. Max Verstappen (-+)
I think if you had offered Max a second place before the race, he would have bitten your hand off. This was the perfect damage limitation weekend as they expected Hamilton to win the race and they minimized the points lose to him. Max was making solid if not spectacular progress by the time the rain came down. He was sitting in the 6/7/8th range for quite a while. However, he and the team made the right call and, in the end, he came home a comfortable second place. There really isn’t a flaw in Max Verstappen’s performance anymore, (apart from his lack of ability to know when to give up a corner but we have been over that) so that means that mistakes or retirements can not be counted on by his opponents. He is only two points behind Hamilton in the championship with more ‘Red Bull’ circuits coming up so it is still all to play for and you probably have to say he is the favourite, ever so slightly.
2. Lewis Hamilton (-+)
Hamilton achieved something this weekend that no other human in history has, to win 100 Formula 1 races, and he went back to the top of the championship table. If Max hadn’t had such a strong result, he would be on top of this list. He and Mercedes had a messy qualifying session so he lined up fourth, which probably cost him an easy run to victory, such was the pace advantage he seemingly had over the rest of the field. When Hamilton was in clear air during the race, he was a second a lap quicker than everyone else. He fought his way back up to second and then the team helped him complete the comeback to win his fifth Russian Grand Prix. I never want to wish away time, but I wish I could watch the run in to this season on back-to-back days, a full week of mayhem. It is going to be that good as the two best drivers of their generations go head-to-head. Lewis isn’t ready to give up his crown just yet, who knows if he ever will be.
3. Lando Norris (-+)
It’s been a week since that Sunday in Sochi and it still pains me that I am not writing that Lando momentously won his first Grand Prix in Russia. He did everything right but win. He showed off his wet weather skills once again, to take a convincing pole over Sainz and Russell as he was up the sharp end for all of qualifying, it wasn’t just a fabulous individual lap. Even though he got a good start from pole, the slipstream was so strong that he was passed by Sainz into Turn 2 but he did not panic or take to re-overtake him in the braking zone. No, he sat behind, biding his time, and got past before the first round of pitstops using the back straight DRS zone. He went long and then pitted into lots of space once he had got away from Sainz but still had the fast-incoming Hamilton to deal with. Once Hamilton had caught him, Norris showed that mental steel to not make any mistakes (on track anyway) and was looking very likely to win the race. Then the race came. This will be a learning moment for both Norris and McLaren, most of the team were not around during McLaren’s last stretch in the winning column. The slightly panicked and emotional radio messages were contrasted with Hamilton and Mercedes’ calm, been-there-done-that messages, showing the benefits of experience in this high intensity fights. What I would have wanted to see from McLaren’s pit wall was more conviction, there was too many questions about the weather, rather than telling Norris. They had lots more information than he did, but Norris’ explanation that their forecast showed the rain would not get heavier does help explain their conceding of the decision to the driver on track. They will heavily review and improve because of this which I am sure will lead to the right decision next time.
4. Charles Leclerc (-+)
Charles started at the back in Sochi after an engine change penalty which skews his result slightly against his teammate’ podium finish. Like Norris, he tried to stay out in the rain and it backfired. His race started promisingly after a fantastic first lap, rising to twelfth from nineteenth and was driving in the points until, like Norris, decided to stick it out in the rain and it backfired. He crossed the line in fifteenth to get nothing from his hard work.
5. George Russell (+1)
After two and half years of no points, George Russell is now making it a habit. Another weekend where George showed how brightly his star is shining at the moment. He qualified third on the grid in wet conditions, with his teammate unable to get out of Q2. He was able to hold on to his position on the first lap and kept the pack behind him until the first round of stops as the team decided to go long and he lost out to the undercut. With the chaos that the rain caused, George was able to bring the car home in tenth and fulfilled the team’s pre-race expectations of points. Even though the team is definitely on the up and the car is improving, George is outperforming it for sure. The decision made by Mercedes just keeps looking better and better for them.
6. Carlos Sainz (+1)
If Carlos hadn’t already won ‘newcomer of the year’ as a driver who moved team over the winter, this performance put his name on that trophy. He has been so impressive for Ferrari this year and stretches his lead in the intra-team podium battle to 3:1 over Leclerc. He qualified on the front row in tricky conditions and used the two to take the lead on the first lap. He lost the lead to Norris but had a good gap behind with a podium looking likely. He lost second to Verstappen in the switch to inters stage but got his well deserved podium. That’s already more than he had during his two years at McLaren.
7. Pierre Gasly (-2)
Pierre’s light has dimmed slightly over the last couple of races. He wasn’t able to get into the top 10 in qualifying and his pace in the race wasn’t great. He tried going long but the rain took away any tyre advantage he would have been able to utilise and he finished thirteenth.
8. Daniel Ricciardo (-+)
He didn’t quite get to the levels of his teammate in Sochi but it was a great result for Ricciardo. He qualified in fifth and was in the fight for the podium push until a slow pitstop cost him valuable time. He held off Hamilton for a long time which boded well for his teammate later on in the race, but unlike his teammate, pitted early enough onto inters, and took the advantage to finish in fourth. With his teammate’s woes, Daniel brought home some great points for the team.
9. Fernando Alonso (+1)
Alonso became one of the few people that have overtaken Max Verstappen in a race this year when he passed him on Lap thirty eight. He could have got on the podium if they had pitted a few laps before but, nonetheless, a performance to be proud of to finish sixth. He had a great battle with Perez and Leclerc on dries in intermediate conditions that showed how tricky it was but also the brilliant car control of the gladiators behind the wheels.
10. Sergio Perez (-+)
A weekend where Perez was once again off his teammate’s pace but he did trouble the top places in the race. However, he only collected two points for the team after running as high as fourth when also gambling on dries. He probably deserved a better finish but the pace was at least there.
11. Esteban Ocon (-+)
Esteban’s weekend peaked on Saturday where he qualified ninth but didn’t hit the heights of his teammate. He was slower all weekend and wasn’t threatening the points before the rain and the rain didn’t improve his situation.
12. Lance Stroll (-+)
Lance went for it at Turn 2 after starting seventh and got himself up to fourth with some brave car positioning. He pitted early which probably cost him as he dropped into traffic. He slowed when the race came and had a couple spins, getting a penalty for his one with Gasly and nearly took out his teammate. His emotions seem quite high in the car and I think that might disadvantage him sometimes as he gets trigger happy on the throttle. He ended up not getting any points as Aston Martin washed out in Sochi.
13. Sebastian Vettel (-+)
Sebastian had a quiet weekend in Sochi and was really only threatening the last points scoring positions, running in tenth for quite a while but was caught out by the rain as he stayed out one lap too long and missed out on points, coming home in twelfth.
14. Valtteri Bottas (-+)
Bottas was forced to start at the back after taking engine penalties, some thinking to help keep Max behind during the race. However, when Bottas was required to defend against Max, he just left the door open and the Dutchman waltzed through on the back straight. This lack of fight sums up Bottas’ slow decline out of that Mercedes seat, he just hasn’t shown the fight needed to stay in the battle. He came home fifth in the end which was good points but could have finished in front of Verstappen really.
15. Nicolas Latifi (-+)
Latifi also had an engine penalty in Sochi and that compromised his race compared to his teammate. He wasn’t able to finish the race after spinning in the slippery conditions while on slicks. He was barely shown on the coverage but his recent performances keep him here.
16. Yuki Tsunoda (-+)
Another really tricky weekend for Yuki who wasn’t on the pace again during the race after qualifying in twelfth. He finished seventeenth and only in front of the Haas’s. It is looking a bit desperate for him.
17. Mick Schumacher (-+)
An off weekend for Mick who still qualified in front of his teammate but dropped behind him in the race and eventually had to retire due to technical issues. These things are going to happen from time to time.
18. Kimi Raikkonen (-+)
Kimi comes back to the team and instantly puts Giovinazzi back in his place. He was running in and around the points for the whole race and then gets the tyre decision right to move up to eighth at the finish and some valuable points for the team. I’m going to miss him when he’s gone.
19. Antonio Giovinazzi (-+)
Not good for Gio that Kimi shows what can be done in that car. He was nowhere near the points all race and finished sixteenth. Not much to write home about.
20. Nikita Mazipin (-+)
Mazipin drove around and probably gone in people’s way, not much else I want to say about this. He was having his home race by himself once Mick retired.
The Perfect Formula 