Welcome to the seventeenth edition of my F1 driver POWER rankings list. I hope you enjoyed my previous edition after the Turkish Grand Prix but if you didn’t get around to reading it and don’t want any spoilers, you can find it here.
We may look back on the USA Grand Prix of 2021 as a defining moment in this year’s title race. The win was always going to be between Max and Lewis, excluding any crazy scenarios playing out. The win for either would have significant consequences – for Max, it would give him a double digit lead going into Mexico and Brazil, two races where the Red Bull has been the quickest car the last couple of years, without being that during those said years (While Mercedes have particularly struggled in Mexico due to its altitude’s effect on their cooling). This would put him in a very strong position going into the final three races of the year. For Lewis, a win would give him back the lead in the championship and help build some momentum going into a potentially tricky fortnight. As it would go, the two cars were separated by 1.3 seconds at the flag, with the Dutchman taking it in first place and the twenty five points. The reason this could be seen as a defining moment is that it felt like Red Bull have become the strongest overall team, with their bold strategy, and were helped by their driver’s brilliant drive, at just the right time. Meanwhile, Mercedes are having to take more grid penalties and relying more on the talent of Hamilton to make up for their passive decision making. Red Bull took the initiative with their early stop to gain track position and it always felt like they weren’t going to let it go. In the meantime, they were able to turn around a one second deficit from Practice 1 to take pole by two tenths and the race win, hurting Mercedes’ momentum and left them looking a bit flat on Sunday evening. Not to mention, Verstappen extended his lead in the championship in fine fashion to hold the largest lead since the season restarted. If Max gets the better of Lewis over the next two races, the title race could be over. However, as I write this, Murray Walker’s voice is shouting at me “anything can happen in Formula 1, and it usually does”. One retirement or issue for Max in a race and Lewis is right back in it, if not on top. I hope this championship goes down to the final race, it’s what it deserves.
The race behind the leading battle had some good battles, especially between two former World Champions in Alonso and Raikkonen which did spark a track limits debate. It’s an annoying subject as it seems to change at every track. I think we should just stick to the white lines as the edge of the track and be done with it. You just have to have a tyre on that white line to be classed as on-track. We just need consistency there so all drives know the score.
The McLaren-Ferrari battle seems to have swung towards Ferrari in the last couple of races with Leclerc stretching away from the pack this time but McLaren still lead the battle for third by three and a half points.
A few quick shout outs before I get into the rankings. A much needed result for Yuki Tsunoda and a stronger weekend all round. Great effort from Sergio Perez, whose drinks bottle failed on the way to the grid and had to pass under the Heineken sign fifty six times reminding him that he ‘shouldn’t drink and drive’ – that’s just rubbing it in. It is hard to imagine the heat of a sunny Texas day with three layers of fire proof overalls, a balaclava and a helmet on, while driving a fighter jet for a hundred minutes. The fitness of these modern F1 drivers is truly elite.
After USA Grand Prix (17 of 22)
1. Max Verstappen (-+)
The USA Grand Prix was a prime example of the development of Max Verstappen into arguably the best driver in the world. He didn’t panic when he lost the lead at the start but shadowed Hamilton in the first stint, staying within undercut range so that Red Bull could pull off their new strategy. Once Red Bull pulled the trigger on the early two stop strategy, Max used his tyres up perfectly, especially in the third stint when he could have come out, pushed the tyres to gain an advantage but he would have run out at the end. However, he eeked them out, being two to three tenths a lap quicker than Hamilton so when the Brit pitted, he closed quickly but Max had enough tyre life to keep him at arms length and he wasn’t able to overtake. This could be the most important win of his career so far.
2. Lewis Hamilton (-+)
Hamilton gave it his best shot on Sunday in Austin but it wasn’t quite enough. I think Mercedes should have pitted him a couple laps earlier for his second stop as they let the gap to Max get a bit too big. That isn’t just hindsight, I thought so at the time – they needed to keep Max within seven seconds, but let it get above eight. This just gave him a bit too much to do, but without Mick Schumacher giving Max DRS on the penultimate lap, he may have pulled it off. He needs a win in Mexico to close that gap before it’s too late.
3. Charles Leclerc (+1)
Charles deserves this boost in ranking for the form he has been in during the last month of F1 racing. He tailed the leaders in Turkey, flirting with winning and then was in a race/class of his own for fourth in Austin. He finished over twenty seconds ahead of his closest rivals. While Norris has had some off weeks, Charles has taken up the challenge to snatch the last step on this particular podium.
4. Lando Norris (-1)
Lando has been quiet since his near-win in Russia. I don’t know if its a bit of a hangover, which is understandable, but McLaren need him at his best to hold on to third in the Constructors Championship. He was always in between battles after the first lap scrap between the McLaren and Ferrari drivers. He nearly took them all out at the hairpin of Turn 12 but was able to get on the brakes enough to keep out of trouble. From there he didn’t really have the pace to trouble those in front and he came home in eighth.
5. Carlos Sainz (-+)
Carlos qualified right behind his teammate and had a great battle with Ricciardo that started on the first lap and lasted the whole race. Carlos pulled off a great move to stay ahead of Ricciardo through the twisty first sector on Lap 1 but he would have to let him through again as he was deemed to have overtaken off the track at Turn 12. This cost him a lot of time as he was stuck behind the McLaren for the rest of the race. He was also overtaken by Bottas at the death to come home in seventh in a frustrating race for the Spaniard as he watched his car’s potential disappear down the road.
6. George Russell (-+)
A weekend more reminiscent of George Russell’s first two years in F1 in Austin. He started at the back after more engine penalties, finished ahead of people he would expect to beat while not really being quick enough to join the midfield fight. His main action was battling faster cars on fresher tyres after they had pitted and he finished in fourteenth thanks to some retirees. He keeps his place on this list due to his upcoming career move and the fact that he has shown without doubt he deserves to be at this end of the grid, despite the car he drives.
7. Sergio Perez (+1)
Sergio is really finding some form and consistency with this Red Bull. Christian Horner has put it down to the team & Sergio finding a set up that he is comfortable with and it could not have come at a better time for them. He was a thirteen hundredth of a second from securing an All-Red Bull front row but just missed out to Hamilton to start third. His water bottle broke on the way to the grid which is no laughing matter on a hot Autumn day in Texas while driving a Formula 1 car. The cockpit can get up to 50 degrees and without hydration, you can lose consciousness. Perez talked of losing strength in his hands and arms at the end of the race but luckily for him, his pace was strong enough that he didn’t have to get into direct combat with others. A second podium in a row for the Mexican as he goes into his home race in the best form of his Red Bull career. Would Red Bull let him win his home race if he puts himself in position to do so but Max is directly behind him…? Probably not.
8. Pierre Gasly (-1)
Another Q3 appearance for Pierre Gasly, this time accompanied by his teammate, for ninth on the grid. This was as good as his weekend was going to get as a sensor issue had to be fixed on the grid and he lost a couple positions at the start. To make things worse, his car developed a suspension failure early on that got progressively worse until he had to retire on Lap 16. After a really good result last weekend, Gasly was not able to build on that with reliability hitting once again.
9. Daniel Ricciardo (-+)
Daniel’s inconsistency continues, but luckily it was the good weekend’s turn for Ricciardo in Austin. He outqualified his teammate for sixth on the grid and was the main McLaren interfering with Ferrari’s attempt to snatch away third in the Constructors Championship in the race. He side-by-side display with Sainz on the first lap through the twisty first sector was a thing of beauty – even if he did come out behind. He got the position back and set out to annoy the Spaniard behind for the rest of the race, showing some great defensive driving to keep the faster car behind. He was even able to keep the fast approaching Bottas behind to secure fifth place for the Woking based team.
10. Fernando Alonso (-+)
Fernando gave us our money’s worth with aggression on-track and over the radio. His and the team’s annoyance at Raikkonen’s overtake around the outside of Turn 1 , which they deemed to be out of bounds, directly led to some more juicy action with Raikkonen’s teammate as he attempted the mother of all divebombs at the hairpin which he rightfully had to give immediately back, ironically for track limits. He gave it another good go a couple laps later but was also unsuccessful. All of this was for non points scoring positions and Alonso would retire late on, alongside his teammate. It feels like Alonso is giving much more to F1 than it is giving back at the moment.
11. Lance Stroll (-+)
Lance was spun at the first corner by Nicolas Latifi who was being sandwiched into an ever closing hole himself, and that basically ruined his race. He battled back up to twelfth, surpassing his starting position of thirteenth but he probably thought points were on the cards as his teammate got them from eighteenth.
12. Valtteri Bottas (-+)
Bottas had to take a second engine penalty in three races which put him in the pack, starting ninth. It took him twenty laps to get past Tsunoda for eighth and by that time he had fallen quite back from the cars in front. He was, however, able to reel them in and got ahead of a McLaren and Ferrari to finish sixth.
13. Sebastian Vettel (+1)
A spirited drive from Vettel from eighteenth on the grid to get a point. He made some places up at the start and then had good pace to get ahead of the lower midfield. His moment of the day was overtaking Russell around the outside at the multi-left hander 16-17-18 complex, which was a confident move that was well worked to position his car and Russell’s to create the opportunity.
14. Esteban Ocon (-1)
Ocon had to change his front wing on the first lap after contact with an Alfa Romeo that pretty much settled his fate. It put him way behind the pack and out of sequence. He tried making the hard tyre go long again but the team decided to retire the car late one while he was running in seventeenth.
15. Yuki Tsunoda (+2)
For the second weekend in a row, Tsunoda made it into Q3 and held up a Mercedes in the race. This time he held up the Mercedes for much longer and was able to hold on to his points scoring spot. He was the last person lapped by the leading two to cross the line in ninth and take two points back to Italy.
16. Nicolas Latifi (-1)
Seemed to be a quiet race for Latifi, who was in a race of his own by the looks of it. He started fourteenth but got quickly overtaken by his teammate and then drove by himself to finish fifteenth. He was the last non-Haas finisher.
17. Mick Schumacher (-1)
Another weekend of dominance from Schumacher over his teammate but his teammate did have headrest issues. His fastest lap was 1.5 seconds quicker than his Russian counterpart. I bet he can’t wait for 2022 and to see if all this pain has been worth it.
18. Kimi Raikkonen (-+)
Some bullish driving from Kimi to keep at it around the outside of Alonso at Turn 1 paid off and set him up nicely around the points. However, he couldn’t keep his tyres together as well as others and he dropped to thirteenth at the flag after a spin in the first sector.
19. Antonio Giovinazzi (-+)
Antonio just missed out on points, finishing eleventh on what was a better performance by himself and the team. He got ahead of his teammate because of a mistake but you got to keep it on the track. It looks increasingly likely that we are counting down the races of Gio’s F1 career.
20. Nikita Mazipin (-+)
His headrest became lose at Turn 2, which would have restricted his vision and ability to look into the mirrors but hopefully would have been fixed at his first stop. He did his usual concrete bollard impression to get in the way of lapping cars but apart from that, it was a lonely drive at the back once again.
The Perfect Formula 