F1 Driver POWER Rankings- Saudi Arabia Edition

Welcome to the twenty first edition of my F1 driver POWER rankings list. I hope you enjoyed my previous edition after the Qatar Grand Prix but if you didn’t get around to reading it and don’t want any spoilers, you can find it here.

We have what we deserve! The two title rivals going into the final race of the season level on points. This is the first time it has happened in F1 since 1974 when Fittipaldi and Regazzoni were vying for the crown. Like the pundits and drivers alike, I don’t really know where to start with the events of one of the craziest races we have witnessed, and not always for good reasons. Let me start with the host country. I wasn’t happy when it was announced that Saudi Arabia would host a Grand Prix, I think sport holds ethical values of sportsmanship, fairness, and meritocracy but what does it say about this sport’s values if they are happy to promote countries with less than suspect human rights records and inequalities present in exchange for a large cheque? I don’t think there is any country in the world that is innocent, in particular my home country of England, but the way Saudi Arabian and Qatari authorities use immigrant workers with essentially no rights or pay to build their sporting infrastructure with cost to human life and then promote themselves on the world stage in a certain way is something I wholly disagree with. Unfortunately, money talks in the world of the 21^st century and sport can be used as a distraction to the real picture. Ok, I have said my bit, on to the racing.

This Jeddah track was advertised as the fastest street circuit ever and I think they got that right. While the track has 27 corners, most of them are high speed, if not full throttle. The first sector is the most technical with a couple chicanes and twisty bits but then it’s mainly long straights and a nice, banked corner. One thing that was noticeable immediately was that this track is narrow and the walls very close. This would be key to the weekend with virtual safety, safety cars, yellow flags and even red flags appearing. Over the weekend we had multiple heavy crashes, in particular one that ended the F2 race early and put two drivers in hospital. This chaos would translate into the F1 race with one safety car, two red flags and three virtual safety cars.

I think the only way to truly understand this crazy, chaotic race is putting the events in context so I will be highlighting the flash points and events that changed the face of it as it progressed and hopefully piece together a timeline to get us to the end. Hold on to your hats, this could get messy.

Lap 1 – The Mercedes duo get away cleanly to lead 1-2 from Verstappen. All cars make it through the first corners safe.

Lap 10 – Schumacher crashes heavily into the barriers at Turn 22, bringing out the Safety Car. Both Mercedes pit for hard tyres, Verstappen doesn’t pit and inherits the lead but is still required to pit. Seemingly advantage Mercedes. Most of the top 10 also pit for fresh tyres.

Lap 13 – The red flag comes out due to barrier damage. Everyone is now able to put on fresh tyres, Max gains those places gained during the Safety Car and takes the outright lead because of it. Mercedes, Perez, Norris and Alonso are the main losers.

Lap 15 – The race is restarted after the red flag with a standing start. Hamilton gets the better start from second to lead into the first corner, however, Max tries sticking it out around the outside but runs out of space and cuts the second corner to retake the lead. As a result, Ocon gets ahead of Hamilton as he has to avoid the Red Bull coming back on track. Perez is tagged and spun by Leclerc as three cars try to go into a space for two and retires. Mazipin hits Russell heavily from behind as everyone slows to avoid Perez. Both Mazipin and Russell retire on the spot. This brings out the second red flag immediately.

During the red flag break, Michel Masi (Race Director) and Red Bull negotiate that if Max doesn’t start behind Lewis at the restart, he will get a penalty, so they move behind the Mercedes. Ocon starts on pole as a result.

Lap 17 – Third standing start of the race. Ocon, Hamilton, Verstappen are the top three. Hamilton gets alongside Ocon off the line, but Max makes even better start and dives down the inside to pass them both into Turn 1. Absolutely nothing wrong with that, it was brave, executed well and most importantly he made the corner under control. Hamilton is sandwiched and makes contact with Ocon on the outside but sustains no damage. Max leads from Ocon, Hamilton, Ricciardo, Bottas. Shoutout to Tsunoda, who makes great move around the outside of Leclerc at banked Turn 13.

Lap 36/37 – The two title rivals disappear up the road with Hamilton close behind Verstappen. Hamilton gets within DRS range coming onto the pit straight and looks to overtake into Turn 1 and is marginally ahead going into the braking zone. Like Brazil, Max breaks very late, gets oversteer mid corner and has to take to the runoff to get through the complex. From the overhead shot, it is clear that Hamilton would have been able to properly make the corner if Max wasn’t on the inside, trying to keep control of his car. This is the difference between this incident and the overtake on Lap 17 which was legitimate from Max. Race Director Michael Masi orders Red Bull to give Hamilton the place which they subsequently relay to Max. He decides to let Hamilton through on the back straight just before the DRS line for the pit straight. Meanwhile, Masi goes to Ron Meadows, Mercedes Sporting Director, to inform him that Red Bull will let Hamilton by. However, there isn’t enough time for the message to get to Hamilton before and confusion ensues. Max keeps backing off, Hamilton slows behind, probably confused about what is going on or doesn’t want to give Max the DRS for the main straight/lining him up for the main straight. The radio messages from driver to team would indicate Hamilton was in the dark about Max letting him through. They get closer and closer until Max slows once more, Hamilton can’t react in time, and they run into each other. Hamilton’s right front wing connects with Max’s left rear tyre. What I don’t quite get is Max driving off quickly as soon as the contact happens. It had a ‘job done’ air to it. Max would be given a 10 second time penalty post-race as it was found his “erratic” braking made him “predominantly at fault” for the contact.

Lap 42 – Max has been told again to let Hamilton through after some heated exchanges between Masi and Meadows about the sequence of events. He does this once again on the back straight before the last corner. This time he keeps more to the right and Hamilton knows what is happening so passes without incident. However, as soon as he does this, Max dives back down the inside to retake the lead before the corner arrives. Something I have seen Hamilton do in the past and got penalised for (circa Spa 2008).

Lap 43 – As they cross the line for Lap 43, it is announced that Max gets a 5 second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage from the original Lap 37 (Turn 1) incident. Later on in the lap, Max gives up the position once again before the final corner, but this time Hamilton isn’t taking any chances and crowds out Verstappen’s attempt to retake the position around the outside. Max’s race engineer comes on radio to say they didn’t need to do that. This would indicate that Max felt he had to give up the position to avoid further penalty from the previous lap’s antics.

Lap 50 – Hamilton crosses the line to take victory and the fastest lap at the inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Championship is tied. Max is unable to pit and go for fastest lap due to Ocon within his pitstop window.

What a crazy, chaotic, confusing race that was in Jeddah. The main talking point I can take away from this race is that there needs to be consistency in the stewards’ room so the drivers know what they can and can’t get away with when in wheel-to-wheel combat. I can see why Max would be annoyed as his defensive move in Brazil was arguably worse than his one in Jeddah, yet he was penalised for the latter and not the former. These decisions set precedents but then they immediately go against that precedent the next week. It is a big job, but consistency will only be secured if there is a team of 4 stewards that follow the circus around to every race. The rules are also quite vague and open to interpretation, which is a cause of this war of words between the two title fighting teams. More practical, specific rules with a consistent stewardship wouldn’t give teams the opportunity to challenge every single decision being made and hopefully sorting out the nonsense we saw in Jeddah, where it felt that Max was under investigation for 10 laps and the audience not having the state of play being played out on track but instead in a small room away from the cameras. Don’t get me wrong, we need rules to moderate the action and keep the drivers safe, but at the moment they are too vague and enforced too inconsistently for them to do the sport justice.

There is so much to talk about in the title battle that I am sorry that I won’t get around the rest of the teams until the driver rankings. Hopefully you can appreciate the importance of this title fight and I am not neglecting the rest of the grid, there just isn’t enough time in this section.

Quick update on the Constructors however – Ferrari have virtually secured third in the championship; McLaren need to outscore them by 38.5 points to take it back so basically a 1-2 in Abu Dhabi which I don’t see happening. Alpine have also secured fifth in the constructors over Alpha Tauri with a very strong last two events. They hold a 29-point advantage over the Faenza team.

After Saudi Arabian Grand Prix (21 of 22)

1. Lewis Hamilton (-+)

Hamilton secured his third win in a row, drew level with Verstappen on points and I think took the moral high ground in his wheel-to-wheel battles with the Dutchman as some of the Red Bull’s moves felt a little desperate. He took pole due to Max’s mistake at the last corner when he clipped the wall and damaged his tyre when over 0.25 seconds up. This was looking like a crucial error in the early stages as both Mercs were ahead of him but then the red flag came out and turned the race on its head. However, Lewis kept his cool through multiple setbacks and battles with the Red Bull that resulted in contact but even without the Race Director’s intervention, Red Bull conceded they would have struggled to stay ahead of Hamilton. He now goes to a track where he has won a highly tense championship before, so I am sure he is full of confidence to take his 8^th World Title.

2. Max Verstappen (-+)

Max put his all into the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and overstepped the mark on one occasion, maybe two. He also showed his great speed, decisiveness, and car control (until he clipped the wall on his final Q3 lap, it was an all-time commitment lap). This is the two sides of Max Verstappen that remind me of Michael Schumacher and others of Ayrton Senna. This pushing of the rules to the limit and packaging it as hard racing. Martin Brundle once said of Senna that he would put his car in dangerous positions when overtaking so that the car in front had to get out of the way, or they would crash. This gave Senna a psychological advantage in direct combat. I see this in Verstappen, however, nowadays this sort of thing will get you penalties, while in Senna’s time it got you the position. He must have felt like he jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire with all the penalties and instructions to give positions back in Jeddah, but for better or worse, this is the state of play and drivers have to abide by the rules. I don’t think Verstappen would intentionally crash into anyone, but he will put his car in danger in pursuit of this title – high risk, high reward. He also knows that Lewis can’t afford not to finish the race, otherwise his fight will be over. We go into Abu Dhabi with a winner-takes-all situation, but I believe Max wants to win this fairly and outright, so I don’t see a repeat of Senna Prost in Japan 1990. Whoever wins it will completely deserve it. Bring it on.

3. Charles Leclerc (-+)

Charles split the Red Bulls in qualifying to start 4^th and was running well until the second restart where he got slightly squeezed by Perez, who was in a car sandwich at Turn 3, clipped the Red Bull and had to flat spot his tyres avoiding it. Luckily, the red flag came out immediately and it didn’t ruin his race. After the third start, he dropped back a few spots until he was in a long battle with his teammate that he was lucky to stay ahead of and finished just ahead of Sainz for 7^th. This did help Ferrari essentially secure 3^rd in the Constructors.

4. Lando Norris (-+)

Lando did well to secure a Q3 birth and 7^th on the grid. He moved up at the start and was running high in the points until the red flag came out on Lap 10 and he suffered from the rule that lets everyone change tyres during this period. Lando was one of the cars that pitted while the Safety Car was out pre-red flag so effectively dropped to 15^th after that. He battled back throughout the race to get back into the points for 10^th, but it was more bad luck for the Brit who desperately needs a clean race in Abu Dhabi to take some momentum into the winter. He will hope that McLaren’s focus on next year’s car will pay off handsomely.

5. Pierre Gasly (+1)

All the 6s for Gasly in Saudi Arabia as he qualified and finished 6^th. This time around his qualifying pace translated into the race and he was able to stay out of trouble, as he usually does in chaotic races like this, to bring the car home and secure points for the team but it seems to come too late to overtake Alpine for 5^th in the Championship.  

6. Carlos Sainz (-1)

Carlos could not get the car going in qualifying and made multiple mistakes to not get through Q2 and lined up 15^th on Sunday. However, he got himself together and moved up during the race, keeping out of trouble and taking advantage of others falling by the waist side. He would have argued he was faster than his teammate and should have finished ahead of him, but Charles was able to keep it after some border line defensive moves into Turn 1. As Max got a penalty, I think Charles should have got one as well. Carlos showed his mental fortitude and battling to turn a bad Quali into another good points haul. This is exactly why Ferrari signed him.

7. Fernando Alonso (-+)

A down weekend for Fernando after his podium in Qatar, where it seemed he never got used to the new Jeddah track. He was knocked out in Q2 to start 13^th and finished the race in the same position with a high-speed spin in between. He couldn’t match his teammates pace and was lapped in the end. My highlight for him was his facial expressions watching Verstappen’s final Q3 run, probably wishing he was in that car.

8. Esteban Ocon (+2)

Esteban was about 50 meters short of consecutive podium finishes for Alpine but was passed by Valtteri Bottas at the last. While he started 9^th, he would find himself on pole by the Lap 17 restart. How may you ask? I am not 100% sure but he turned a Tsunoda squeeze into an overtake at Turn 1 and then used the Safety Car/Red Flag period to move up to 4^th. At the first restart, he took advantage of Bottas’ lockup and the fight between the two title rivals to take 2^nd. Once Max’s penalty was issued, this put Ocon on pole which he wasn’t able to hold but looked to have the pace to hold 3^rd until the very last second. He should be proud of his pace and this pace was what kept him out of trouble. While he will be disappointed not to secure the podium, he should take confidence in extracting what he did from his Alpine in Saudi Arabia.

9. Sergio Perez (-1)

An unfortunate early bath for Perez on Sunday in Jeddah. He qualified 5^th and was well within the danger zone going into Turn 1 on the restarts and unfortunately it was second time unlucky for him as he wasn’t able to give Leclerc enough space against the wall at the quick Turn 3, got clipped into the barrier and broke his transmission so was unable to put the car in gear. This ended his race and really put a dent in Red Bull securing the Constructors’ Championship.

10. George Russell (-1)

Another driver with an early bath in Jeddah and one that was directly linked to Perez’s exit at the second restart. While the cars in front slowed to avoid the horizontal Red Bull, Mazipin wasn’t able to react in time and drove into the back of Russell’s Williams for a heavy impact. This destroyed Mazipin’s Haas and broke Russell’s. He complained about the safety of the track and his radio message once retired was essentially ‘I told you so’ to the FIA.

11. Daniel Ricciardo (-+)

Daniel wasn’t able to get into Q3 on Saturday, narrowly missing out in 11^th but made up for it in the race. He also stayed out of trouble and used the red flag rule to his advantage and came home 5^th, just in front of Leclerc. The reason he doesn’t move up on this list is that he can’t be trusted to put in consecutive positive performances at the moment. I also don’t believe he would have got that high up in a straight fight, but he will take it at the moment. Seemingly important points for McLaren but it is too little too late.

12. Valtteri Bottas (+1)

Valtteri was doing the team role in Jeddah until the red flag ruined Mercedes’ advantage and put him out of position. He nearly drove into the back of Verstappen at the second start and then got stuck behind Ocon for pretty much the whole race until he finally got onto the podium on the final lap. The Hamilton, Verstappen, Bottas combination is now the most common in F1 podium history, but he will probably only get one more opportunity to extend that in Abu Dhabi before he moves to Alfa Romeo.

13. Lance Stroll (-1)

Lance was essentially last in qualifying, only starting in front of the Haas’ but, again, stayed out of trouble to nearly find himself in the points, finishing 11^th. I am not sure how he got there as the camera’s followed the battle for the lead. Stroll did well to not get taken out by the Lap 15 incidents, but he got no reward for his troubles in Jeddah.

14. Sebastian Vettel (-+)

Seb was unlucky with collisions on Sunday as he could argue he was driven into twice by Raikkonen and Tsunoda. He was running in the points after starting 17^th until these incidents damaged his car too much to continue and he was forced to retire. This season is fizzling out for Aston Martin who are under big pressure to get things right next year or some culling is going to take place.

15. Yuki Tsunoda (-+)

Yuki showed promising pace in Jeddah, qualifying 8^th and running in the points until contact with Vettel, when he should have really given up the place and lived to fight another day. However, his front wing got stuck underneath his car and he wasn’t able to move for a long time, losing bundles of time and ending his chances of points. He needs to put a result together to go with these turns of speed to convince Red Bull he deserves a spot in F1 beyond next year. His overtake on Leclerc at the banked Turn 13 proves his race ability.

16. Nicolas Latifi (+1)

Latifi gets a bump after finishing on the lead lap and just over 20 seconds off the points, which is a decent effort in this Williams. Unfortunately, we saw very little of him, but he finished ahead of Alonso in a car nearly on the podium. Good effort indeed.

17. Mick Schumacher (-1)

Mick lost the rear of the car at Turn 22 on Lap 9 to head straight to the scene of the accident which brought out the red flag and threatened to have big ramifications on the title fight. As it were, the threat didn’t materialize, but Mick sure felt the heavy impact of the tyre barrier. One more race in this forgettable car and we hope for his and the team’s sake, next year’s Haas is competitive.

18. Kimi Raikkonen (-+)

Kimi came together with his friend Vettel in quite a clumsy collision considering the two share 5 World Championships between them. This was the most notable part of Raikkonen’s race as he laboured home 15^th and last. He has one more chance to thrill F1 fans before heading to retirement but I’m not sure its going to happen, he looks like he has checked out.

19. Antonio Giovinazzi (-+)

Gio showed good pace in the Alpha to secure a Q3 appearance and held on to his 9^th place by the flag to add 2 points to his F1 tally. He also pulled off a great move around the outside of Alonso which showed certain other drivers *cough cough* how to overtake at Turn 1 effectively.

20. Nikita Mazipin (-+)

Finally, an incident I can report on that involves Mazipin where I can say it wasn’t his fault. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time when he found himself at the back of the queue who were slowing to avoid Perez on Lap 15 and he ploughed into the back of Russell as he couldn’t react and slowdown in time in a zone usually meant for full acceleration. The car was absolutely wrecked but it was good to see him get out unharmed from quite a scary crash.