Tag: Bahrain Grand Prix

Bahrain Grand Prix Driver Ratings

There we go, that’s much better! The Bahrain Grand Prix extinguished any memories of last weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix to put on a show in the desert; showcasing the best of Formula One.

Oscar Piastri made it look easy at the front with a commanding victory from pole position, however, behind him was pure entertainment. Several competing strategies meant a mixed up order throughout with overtaking all over the track, and a safety car to bunch the field, giving us action all the way to the end. Lando Norris managed to climb back up to third after a poor qualifying session. The Ferraris looked quick, and Lewis Hamilton appeared to be getting on top of his car, while the Red Bulls still seemed a step behind.

A shout-out to the rookies, in particular Ollie Bearman, who came from last to earn points—a great drive from the young Brit. There were solid performances all around; Antonelli had a great race even though he didn’t score any points, and so did Jack Doohan, but strategy decisions derailed their races.

Overall, it was a great race, exactly what we needed and a timely reinforcement for my next article on why Formula One should enforce each car to use all three dry tyre compounds per race. Look out for that shortly.

Right, into the ratings.

Oscar Piastri

Oscar dominated the weekend, securing a commanding victory from pole position. He led from start to finish, easing into the race during the first stint before pulling away in the second and third. The safety car briefly brought the pack closer, but Piastri remained untroubled, showing great speed and consistency.

8.8/10

George Russell

George Russell had another strong weekend, qualifying second but starting third due to a strange team penalty for instructing their drivers to leave the garage before the pit lane opened in Q2 after Ocon’s crash. He made a great start, taking second in the opening laps and holding his position throughout the race. His strategy of soft-medium-soft worked perfectly, and he held off Lando Norris in the closing stages to secure second place.

8.8/10

Lando Norris

Lando had a scruffy weekend in Bahrain which started in qualifying, leaving him sixth on the grid, and then a five-second penalty for being out of his grid box at the start cost him valuable time in the race. Despite this, he fought back to finish third, but more points dropped. In a tight title battle, he needs to be more consistent.

7.8/10

Charles Leclerc

The Monegasque driver outperformed his car, qualifying third and starting second after Russell’s penalty. Ferrari’s alternate strategy of starting on mediums saw him lose positions early, but he fought back with strong overtakes when he had the tyre advantage later on. A late switch to hards cost him some pace, but he held off Norris for a long time before finishing fourth.

8.2/10

Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time champ had a better weekend, though qualifying remains an area he must improve upon, which is crazy to write. Starting ninth, he delivered a solid recovery drive, running medium-medium-hard, like his teammate. He showed strong pace in the middle stint, briefly climbing to fourth before settling for fifth. Progress with the car is evident, and he’ll look to build on this in Jeddah.


7.8/10

Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen struggled with a twitchy Red Bull, qualifying seventh and finishing sixth. Brake issues hampered his ability to attack, and team operational problems in the pits cost him time. Despite these challenges, you’ve got to expect he extracted the most from his car, and did show great speed in bursts.


7.8/10

Pierre Gasly

Pierre was a standout performer in Bahrain, qualifying fifth and finishing seventh. He showed great pace throughout the weekend, battling with the top teams and narrowly losing out to Verstappen on the final lap. His consistency and aggression were impressive, making him my driver of the weekend.


9.1/10

Esteban Ocon

Ocon delivered a strong race, starting 14th after his Q2 shunt but finished seventh. An aggressive strategy of pitting early for fresh tires gave him a great undercut, and he maximized his pace in the Haas. This continues the team’s strong turnaround after a worrying start to the season in Australia.

8.5/10

Yuki Tsunoda

Yuki Tsunoda had a better weekend, qualifying tenth and finishing ninth. He was involved in battles throughout the race, including a collision with Carlos Sainz that ended the Ferrari driver’s race. Despite some setbacks, Tsunoda showed improved pace and consistency.

7.5/10

Ollie Bearman

Ollie Bearman was another star of the race, starting last after a poor qualifying but finishing tenth to score points. His overtakes and tyre management were exceptional, showcasing his potential as a rookie. This performance will boost his confidence moving forward.


8.9/10

Kimi Antonelli

Kimi Antonelli was another standout rookie, qualifying fifth and showing great pace throughout the race. Mercedes’ strategy cost him track position, but he fought back from 14th to finish 11th. His aggression and precision were impressive, even if he missed out on points.


8.1/10

Alex Albon

Alex Albon was unlucky to finish 12th after a strong race. He was on course for eighth before the safety car came out just after he pitted, dropping him down the order. Despite the setback, he showed good pace and made significant progress from 15th on the grid.


7.6/10

Nico Hulkenberg

Nico Hulkenberg finished 13th in what is likely the slowest car on the grid. He took advantage of the chaos and safety car to move up the order, but there’s little more he could have done given the car’s limitations.


8.2/10

Isack Hadjar

Hadjar had a tougher weekend, qualifying 12th and finishing 14th. A slow start and aggressive strategy didn’t pay off, and he struggled to keep up with the pack after the safety car. It was a decent performance but not up to his recent standard.


7.3/10

Jack Doohan

Jack was unfortunate to finish 15th after running in the points for much of the race. A poorly timed pit stop before the safety car cost him track position, but he showed good pace and progress after a slow and, accident heavy, start to his F1 career.


7.4/10

Fernando Alonso

Alonso had a quiet race, qualifying 13th and finishing 16th. Aston Martin’s struggles continued, and there was little Alonso could do to make an impact. They are quickly becoming the forgotten team in 2025.


7.1/10

Liam Lawson

Lawson finished 17th after a race filled with battles and penalties. A ten-second penalty for a collision with Bortoleto summed up a difficult weekend for the man from Auckland. He is being shown up by the other rookies and needs to put in a performance quickly, before Helmut Marko gets another bout of itchy fingers.

6.2/10

Lance Stroll

Lance Stroll qualified 19th and finished 18th, reflecting Aston Martin’s struggles. He was largely invisible during the race, and there’s little to say about his performance. Again, sums Aston Martin up at the moment.


3.5/10

Gabriel Bortoleto

Gabriel Bortoleto finished 19th after being involved in a collision with Lawson. He struggled to make an impression really and made up the backmarkers throughout the race.


5.5/10

Carlos Sainz

Carlos Sainz was unfortunate to retire after a collision with Tsunoda damaged his sidepod. He had a strong weekend, outqualifying his teammate and running in the points before the incident.


7.6/10

P.S.

Nico Hulkenberg was disqualified post-race for excessive plank wear, but his performance remains unchanged in the ratings.

Red Bull Lay Down a Big Marker

Max Verstappen won the Bahrain Grand Prix in emphatic fashion on Sunday with a performance that should really scare the rest of the F1 grid. Once he navigated the first couple of corners without incident he just disappeared into the distance. Even Charles Leclerc on fresh soft tyres couldn’t get anywhere near him. 

It was an opening race performance that reminded me of Sebastian Vettel in his prime Red Bull years but this time, Verstappen had the reliability to finish the job. His teammate would recover from losing positions at the start to take an easy 2nd place as well. Both Red Bull’s finished 26 seconds ahead of anyone else despite turning their engines down for the last 10 laps. Max must have wondered where everyone else was at points as he sauntered around the Sakhir International Circuit. 

Behind the two Red Bull’s this race was all about tyre management as Ferrari, Aston Martin and Mercedes traded superiority throughout their stints. All three ran pretty close to each other throughout the race which bodes well for future races to see who will get that final podium place behind Red Bull. Ferrari are the second fastest car on pure speed but have much more tyre wear than both Aston and Mercedes. Mercedes really just lack overall downforce to maintain the pace of Ferrari and Aston. On a highly abrasive track surface like in Bahrain they were always going to use more of their tyres to keep up. This showed as Alonso was able to stay out a couple of laps more in both stints to create a tyre delta to attack Hamilton and Sainz late on after losing places at the start. It would have been really interesting to see what Alonso could do against the Red Bulls if he gained positions at the start rather than losing them. He would have at least been able to mix it with Leclerc before he retired with engine issues. 

This really was the worst start for Leclerc’s season. Ferrari had to replace his energy story component before the race as a precaution but it was the replacement part that failed which caused him to retire. This means Charles has already used his whole allotment for that part for the season, without completing a race distance. The Ferrari is quick but seems to have a very tight window when it’s able to deploy that performance. They will hope the next race in Jeddah doesn’t highlight their tyre wear issues as much as Bahrain. 

Behind the ‘Top 4’ fight there were some performances that went under the radar. Pierre Gasly climbed from the back of the grid to take a comfortable 9th on his Alpine debut, just behind Bottas who used the undercut to great effect to jump from 12th to 8th by the flag. The midfield does look very close and I would imagine that the balance of power will shift race to race as it doesn’t seem like there are any ‘backmarkers’ this year. The whole grid can arguably fight for points. 

This is because Williams have made great strides, in Bahrain at least, to join the fight and Alex Albon even got points in 10th place. His teammate Logan Sargent had the best debut out of all the rookies in 12th and finished under 10 seconds behind his much more experienced teammate. That is a great performance and one that should give him and the team great confidence. 

But Bahrain wasn’t rainbows and smiles for all the competitors. McLaren had one of the worst opening races that I can remember. Norris qualified 11th which was much higher than the team expected with his teammate being knocked out in Q1. But that was where the ‘positives’ ended really. Piastri did make up some places from 18th but was forced to retire after 13 laps as an electrical issue in the steering column meant his steering wheel shut down and Norris had to pit 6 times after his car developed a pneumatic pressure leak so had to come in every 10 laps to get its air topped up. He finished 2 laps down in the end. The only sliver of good news is that the car did show more pace than the team was expecting before retiring. They must do better so let’s hope the major upgrade planned for Baku really works. 

But at least the race went better for McLaren than it did for Esteban Ocon. He was penalised three times that all stemmed from one issue. He was initially penalised 5 seconds for being incorrectly positioned on the starting grid: he rolled a little too far into his slot and was JUST in front of his grid box. He was able to take this time penalty at his first stop BUT Alpine started working on his car before the 5 second penalty had been served, so he got another time penalty – 10 seconds this time. When he came in to serve the 10 second penalty at his next stop, he approached a bit too quickly and sped in the pitlane by 0.1 mph, receiving another 5 second penalty. Alpine ended his nightmare on Lap 41 when they retired the car. So McLaren, it could be worse!

Overall, it was an interesting first race of the season, mainly because of Aston Martin’s jump into the fight at the front. But it is worrying to see that Red Bull have only extended their advantage over their traditional rivals but only time will tell how close Aston Martin really are in a straight fight. 

23 to go but at this rate, it will be Max Verstappen 3 time World Champion by the summer break. Happy New Year!

F1 Driver POWER Rankings – Portugal Edition

Hello and welcome to the third edition of my F1 driver power rankings list. I hope you enjoyed my previous edition of it after the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix but if you didn’t get around to reading it and don’t want any spoilers, you can find it here.

The 2021 Portuguese Grand Prix around the beautifully undulating and picturesque Autódromo Internacional do Algarve in Portimao was not a classic, but for the avid F1 fan, it was an interesting and quite telling event. The roller coaster-like nature of the track, high winds and a surface that was reluctant to give out much grip made life hard for our beloved drivers from Friday morning right until the chequered flag on Sunday. On the surface the result may sound quite ordinary – a Lewis Hamilton win – but delving deeper will reveal exactly why HE, and not THE CAR, won this race emphatically.

After Portuguese Grand Prix (3 of 23)

1. Lewis Hamilton (-+)

Toto Wolff put it best when he said “He just drove an immaculate race…it makes no sense to talk about these exceptional performances because they have become quiet regular now. It’s his standard now.” We have become desensitized to this type of performance from Hamilton and some hide behind the ‘its just the car’ argument – which is just pure laziness. His ability to harass and stay close to the car in front despite the dirty air effect stands him above the rest. This gives him opportunities to overtake that others don’t get, and his ability to take those opportunities makes winning races like Sunday’s look easy. He now also knows how to do it all while keeping his tyres alive. When he was in a McLaren, these abilities are what made him challenge and win but in a Mercedes it has made him dominate. He overtook both championship rivals at Turn 1 – one inside and one outside – to then control the race from the front for win number 97, and we take it for granted.

2. Max Verstappen (-+)

However you feel about track limits, Max has been making mistakes when it matters at the start of this season. Red Bull claim Max has lost a race win, a fastest lap and a pole due to track limits violations but only the fastest lap I have issues with. Sounds like classic F1 blame tactics. Max had a time good enough for pole deleted in Qualifying 3 but he did go further than the kerb limit and the performance was in the car, he just didn’t quite deliver. A nice move around the outside of Hamilton at the Lap 7 restart gave his fans hope, but an oversteer moment at the final corner a couple laps later gave Hamilton his opportunity back, and from there Max just couldn’t quite match the Brit. A late pit-stop for new tyres to attempt the fastest lap elongated the time difference but once Hamilton was ahead he didn’t look troubled. 2-1 to Hamilton.

3. Lando Norris (-+)

These type of performances are what we are coming to expect from Lando Norris. A solid 7th on the grid was a nice surprise after he didn’t show much pace throughout Friday or Saturday practice but found it when it mattered. Is this just a sign of his confidence and comfortability that he doesn’t need to push the car until necessary? While his qualifying pace has been really solid, it’s his race craft and execution which impresses me the most. It is now 2 races in a row where has had to take softer tyres than those around him for a longer final stint to secure points. He did without making any mistakes and, apart from Hamilton, he didn’t look under real pressure from those behind. Another cherry on top for this weekend was a beautiful overtake around the outside of Ocon on Lap 1. I see shades of Hamilton and Schumacher in Norris’ ability to find overtakes others wouldn’t think of or have the talent to pull off.

4. Charles Leclerc (-+)

Out-qualified by his teammate, and for the first time in a long while Charles didn’t maximise his Saturday. He started 8th in Portugal and made up a spot over Ocon at the Lap 7 restart. He really played second fiddle to his teammate Sainz until the pit stops when he put the hard tyre on, which turned out to the right decision. He was able to finish 6th while Sainz dropped out of the points altogether as his medium tyres lost performance. This strategy was born on Saturday as Leclerc was quick enough to get into Q3 using the slower mediums to set him up nicely for a more durable Sunday, which secured him his 6th place.

5. Sergio Perez (+1)

Perez had a quiet but encouraging weekend in Portugal. He finished qualifying a place, and a tenth and a half behind Verstappen to line up 4th on the grid. He was also on the leading pace in the race when in clean air, but he lost 10 seconds to the leaders behind Norris after the safety car restart and wasn’t able to close once he got ahead again. He and Red Bull will take that result and progress.

6. Lance Stroll (-1)

A thoroughly anonymous weekend for Stroll in Portugal. He was knocked out in Qualifying 1, only above Haas and Williams who are currently fighting over 2nd last in F1 to not doing anything noteworthy on Sunday. For his form this season we have to give him the benefit of the doubt this time around so he only drops one place on this list.

7. Pierre Gasly (+1)

Gasly always felt a little bit behind the action on Sunday, was overtaken by the man he is replacing on this list – Daniel Ricciardo – and finished behind him in the race. However, he climbs to 7th because he is getting more from his respective package and being the team leader Alpha Tauri need him to be while his younger teammate finds his feet. The now-usual Q3 appearance for the Frenchman was converted into a point to keep the scoreboard ticking over for the Italian team.

8. Carlos Sainz (+1)

Another man that Daniel Ricciardo beat to the chequered flag in Portugal but drops below of in my take-no-prisoners POWER rankings. The reason this time is that Sainz feels closer to Leclerc’s pace than Ricciardo to Norris. The Spaniard qualified a brilliant best-of-the-rest 5th place but was undone by Ferrari’s strategy. He was asked to take the mediums longer than pretty much everyone else when the tyre of the day was the hards. He eventually ran out of grip to fall back to 11th. Despite the result, more evolution in the Sainz-Ferrari partnership.

9. Daniel Ricciardo (-2)

Ricciardo made life harder for himself failing to progress out of Q1, so he started 16th. This meant his weekend became more about damage limitation than true performance. He did have a nice fightback in the race to come home in 9th after running long in the first stint, but didn’t progress as expected afterwards and only moved forward due to Sainz’s tyre issues. Still lots to be done before he starts to threaten Norris’ superiority.

10. Fernando Alonso (-+)

Fernando stays put for now after a much more promising weekend for Alpine all round. He stays 10th because despite a nice flurry of overtakes to finish 8th in the race from 13th on the grid, he was outperformed by his teammate all weekend. He was also helped by much younger and better suited tyres than those around him to climb that high in the second half of the race.

11. Esteban Ocon (+3)

The standout performance of the weekend has Ocon jumping the most in this edition of the driver POWER rankings. A seemingly much improved Alpine gave the Frenchman this opportunity and he pretty much maxed out. He was never lower than 6th, his starting position, in all three qualifying sessions and drove a patient race to finish 7th to pick up his biggest points haul of the season. This weekend should have really boosted Ocon’s confidence going into his teammate’s home race – a good time to find some form.

12. George Russell (-1)

‘Mr Saturday’ really lived up to this name in Portugal. He battled that Williams to within six one hundredths of a second of a first Q3 appearance for the legendary team. He reported that once the wind picked up on Sunday, the car became quite undrivable and he fell down the field to 16th. He still blew his teammate out of the water and is the only reason Williams are relevant at the moment so he maintains his mid table position.

13. Kimi Raikkonen (-1)

A strange mistake from Kimi at the end of Lap 1 ended his race prematurely and could have easily ended his teammates as well. Kimi was changing switches on his steering wheel when he drifted into the back of his teammate, broke off his front wing, which got stuck under his front tyre and ended up in the gravel trap rather unceremoniously. He only drops one place because the drivers below all had meh weekends.

14. Yuki Tsunoda (-1)

Yuki was half a second off his teammate to line up 14th on the grid and then went backwards in the race to finish 15th. Portimao is a tricky circuit for a rookie meeting it for the first time so these sort of weekends are expected. His pre-season hype is yet to fully flourish into race results but Spain is a familiarity to all F1 drivers due to its mainstay on the Motorsport calendar, so I am expecting more from him there.

15. Valtteri Bottas (-+)

This again feels harsh having Bottas down at this end of the table despite a pole position and a podium finish for the Finn in Portugal. The reason he is here is because, not for one moment from him claiming pole to finishing the race did I ever think we was going to win it. He got away well and smartly restarted the race after the safety car, but then was boldly overtaken around the outside of Turn 1 by Hamilton to take the lead, and then was overtaken by Verstappen after the first round of pit stops. A slow Mercedes stop did put him under pressure from the Dutchman but Bottas barely put up a fight when Verstappen eased through up the inside into Turn 5 – resigned to his fate almost. It looked like Bottas only realised Verstappen was there until they were mid corner. He’s now got rumours of Russell replacing him mid season to deal with.

16. Sebastian Vettel (+1)

A much better event for Seb Vettel isn’t properly reflected by his position on this list but definitely a step in the right direction. It was hard to get worse to be fair. His first Q3 appearance in literally years should do him a world of good and he beat his teammate to the flag for the first time this season as well, albeit out of the points in 13th. You must learn to walk before you can run.

17. Antonio Giovinazzi (-1)

Another good weekend for the Italian as he qualified and finished 12th. He survived the contact with his teammate to have a rather unassuming race and be the last car to be lapped. He is slowly but surely coming good in that Alfa Romeo and putting more and more weekends like this together will give the team a harder time when picking their driver line up for next year – they will have options.

18. Mick Schumacher (-+)

We had a proper Haas sighting on Sunday in Portimao as Mick finished ahead of a Williams after passing him on track in the closing stages of the race, which us viewers were lucky enough to witness. He also finished a minute and a half ahead of his teammate to do a George-Russell style teammate smackdown on Mazipin.

19. Nicolas Latifi (-+)

Latifi was the Williams being overtaken by Schumacher if you hadn’t already worked that out. He was probably just grateful for the company and attention as he does a lot of driving around minding his own business at the back. Another quiet and unimpressive weekend for the Canadian after showing some sign of progress in Imola.

20. Nikita Mazipin (-+)

Mazipin looked out of his depth driving around this tidal wave of a circuit. He qualified last by more than half a second and then finished a minute behind anyone else in the race. What can you say to that? He didn’t seem to spin as much this weekend but I could have just not noticed.

F1 Driver POWER Rankings – Bahrain Edition

Welcome to my F1 driver power rankings. This will be a continuous series throughout the year where I will rank the current F1 drivers after every race to determine who truly holds all the power in the F1 paddock.

I hear you asking — How are you determining what power means? For me it is driver form, reputation, car performance, relative position within their team and record against teammate. All these will be taken into account when making my decisions.

These are my personal opinions and no one else’s.

The grid below is the power rankings before the season began. Underneath it is my first update after the Bahrain Grand Prix. I hope you enjoy, and please let me know if you think differently about the rankings in the comments section. However remember – “Extraordinary claims must be backed up by extraordinary evidence” (Lance Armstrong – when he was definitely cheating)

1. Lewis Hamilton 2. Max Verstappen
3. Charles Leclerc 4. Sergio Perez
5. Lando Norris 6. Daniel Ricciardo
7. Lance Stroll 8. Fernando Alonso
9. Pierre Gasly 10. George Russell
11. Kimi Raikkonen 12. Sebastian Vettel
13. Carlos Sainz 14. Valtteri Bottas
15. Esteban Ocon 16. Yuki Tsunoda
17. Antonio Giovinazzi 18. Nikita Mazipin
19. Mick Schumacher 20. Nicolas Latifi
Preseason Standings

After Bahrain Grand Prix (1 of 23)

1.       Lewis Hamilton (-+)

Hamilton won the Bahrain Grand Prix with the lesser car and held on beautifully with Max Verstappen bearing down on him in the later stages. His monster 3rd stint on the hard compound showed off his tyre preservation skills that have become a trademark. Finishing well ahead of his teammate showed that Hamilton just gets more from the car in all departments and that speed proved the decisive factor in the end.

2.       Max Verstappen (-+)

Verstappen should have won the Bahrain Grand Prix, make no mistake. Once again, some impatience from the Dutchman proved to be fatal when he overtook Hamilton off the track at the first opportunity when he could have waited and made an easier pass down the main straight, he had the car and tyre advantage to do so. This is something Hamilton has learnt over time and I fully expect Max to not make the same mistake again. A differential issue did affect his pace but it’s a team sport and the formula has be perfect. These two drivers are still the elite of F1 and Bahrain just confirmed that we have a hell of a fight on our hands for the title this year.

3.     Charles Leclerc (-+)

Charles keeps his place on this podium with a fantastic 4th place in Qualifying and solid 6th in the race. His qualifying pace is quickly becoming a trademark after he routinely stuck last year’s Ferrari where it didn’t belong on the grid and that form has continued. Beaten by a consistent Norris and resurgent Perez on Sunday can’t really be argued with in an improved but not yet front running Ferrari. 

4. Lando Norris (+1)

An assured and decisive drive from Norris topped an altogether solid start to the season for the young Brit. Beaten by his teammate on Saturday by half a tenth to 6th and 7th on the grid but he got ahead on lap 1 with what is becoming a trademark move – around the outside at Turn 4 –  and again on Gasly at the lap 4 safety car restart. He pulled away steadily from the crowd behind through the pit stops to finish 6 seconds ahead of Perez but more relatively 20 seconds ahead of the sister McLaren.  

5. Sergio Perez (-1)

A shock exit in Qualifying 2 having not being quick enough on the medium tyre did look reminiscent of the struggles previous Red Bull drivers not called Max Verstappen have had in recent years. However, this was equaled out by some calm thinking to manually restart his car after a power cut on the formation lap to save his race, albeit starting from the back. Arguably showing Red Bull’s decision to go with experience in the 2nd seat was a correct one. Consistent pace and some clinical overtaking got him to 5th. He drops just because of that unfortunate qualifying. 

6. Lance Stroll (+1)

A quietly solid weekend for the Canadian driver combined with a slow, mistake ridden weekend for his teammate means he rises one place on this list. A Qualifying 3 appearance in this apparently much affected Aston Martin was a positive, followed by a P10 finish on Sunday after being overtaken by Yuki Tsonoda on the final lap. He had a good scrap with Alonso and Sainz but was always just slightly off the leading midfield runners. That is probably the maximum this team can expect at the moment. Despite the forever lingering knowledge that his Dad owns the team, Lance is starting to steadily prove that he deserves that seat on merit alone. 

7. Daniel Ricciardo (-1)

We have since discovered that rear floor damage caused from contact with Gasly was costing Daniel performance throughout Bahrain’s race which does help explain the 20 second gap to his teammate ahead. This combined with beating Norris to 6th on the grid does make you wonder why I have dropped him down one place in the power rankings, but he was beaten in wheel to wheel combat by Norris before the damage occurred and Stroll’s relative position in his own team dealt this blow to Ricciardo. It’s a long season so lots of time to improve but a really solid start from the McLaren boys and girls. 

8. Fernando Alonso (+-)

Fernando stays 8th in the power rankings following an expected and thoroughly Alonso-ey weekend. He comes back after 2 years away as a 40 year old, gets into Q3 (his teammate started 13th) and was solidly running into the points until a stray sandwich bag got caught in his brakes, causing them to overheat and forcing him to retire. His on-track performance was as if he never left. His retirement is the only reason he isn’t higher as a pointless weekend for the French team wasn’t the way they wanted to start 2021.

9. George Russell (+1)

Russell continued his Williams-teammate-qualifying-competition whitewash and beat an Alpine on Saturday, to then follow that up on Sunday by beating Vettel to the flag in another confidence building weekend. He had a nice tussle with Raikkonen during the race but the car still has a bit to go to get into that midfield battle. All George can do at this moment in his career is lead this team forward and outperform the car. I believe he is doing both excellently. 

10. Pierre Gasly (-1) 

A clumsy mistake trying to make up lost ground at the safety car restart ruined Gasly’s race in the short term and ended it in the long term. This was a disappointing end to a weekend that started so beautifully with a 5th place start on the grid. This Alpha Tauri is quick which was proved by both teammates in qualifying so this will feel like a missed opportunity to get solid points in what is going to be a monumental fight in the midfield this year. Gasly should be slightly anxious about that teammate of his as well.

11. Kimi Raikkonen (+-)

The Ice Man starts 2021 with a characteristic drive to maximise his car and minimise his race time to beat his teammate to the flag by 12 seconds after being beaten by him in qualifying. This Alfa Romeo looks like an improvement on last years to become a part of the midfield battle, which should give him opportunities to grab points with his seemingly endless supply of race pace in the latter stages of his career. I hope he never retires. Kimi for President. 

12. Carlos Sainz (+1)

A solid opening weekend for Sainz for the Red Team with an 8th place finish in the race and only finishing 7 seconds behind Leclerc. I think the 6 tenths difference in qualifying says more about Leclerc’s confidence than Sainz’s lack of pace. I am sure Ferrari would have taken a double Qualifying 3 appearance on this power track after their recent struggles in that department. I think Sainz can be happy with his work in Bahrain. 

13. Yuki Tsunoda (+3)

The hype continued from preseason into Bahrain as the young Japanese driver showed speed, aggression, creativity and consistency in his first F1 race weekend. Quite the combination to now back up. The highs of P2 in Qualifying 1 transformed quickly to lows with P13 in Qualifying 2 trying to get through on the medium tyre, showing the confidence of this Alpha Tauri team but backfiring on this occasion. He rose in the race to finish 9th with some brave late-braking moves, his pass on Alonso a particular highlight, while he experienced a race with F1 levels of dirty air and tyre degradation for the first time. His physical stature may deceive you, he is looking like a wolf in sheep’s clothing. 

14. Valtteri Bottas (-+)

I may be being a bit mean to Valtteri with his placing on this list. He does drive a Mercedes and is quick enough on his day but it just feels like he is as far away from the title as he’s ever been. Hamilton’s status in the sport continues to rise and the Bahrain Grand Prix just highlighted the gap between them. Bottas once again faded in the race before a slow pit stop late really put the nail in the coffin. He can get on pole every now and then against Hamilton, but his consistent race pace is not good enough to challenge for the title seriously and that is the only objective if you drive the Silver Arrow in this hybrid era. George Russell coming in for one race last year and showing him up really didn’t help his cause. The reason Valtteri is this low is that I feel he has the least leverage in all of F1 to keep his race seat for 2022 and until proven otherwise he will stay here. 

15. Sebastian Vettel (-3)

Seb suffered a tricky opening weekend in British racing green. He didn’t look comfortable as he got to grips with his new machine after only 2 days running during testing and practice. He was knocked out in Qualifying 1 to line up 18th until a 5 place penalty for not slowing sufficiently for yellow flags relegated him to last. He didn’t show much pace in the race either and had another clumsy accident, this time with Ocon at Turn 1. This collision was his 17th in 53 races, not the form of a 4 time World Champion. Crossing the line 2nd last in 15th place means it can only go up from here. Fingers crossed for him because it would be a sad decline for the German if this continues. 

16. Esteban Ocon (-1)

Ocon got shown up by Alonso in Bahrain. Getting knocked out in Qualifying 1 to start 16th and then being in no-mans-land behind the midfield battle during the race was only saved by Alonso’s retirement. This means they are still level on points and Ocon can save some face. He is going to have to fix up and look sharp, and do it quickly.

17. Antonio Giovinazzi (-+)

Ghosts of Giovinazzi’s past mean that he starts low on this list for me. He has speed but loves an unforced error. He has been less mistake ridden since the 2nd half of last season but like Bottas he doesn’t have much leverage for me. Ferrari have some very promising youngsters coming through and two young stars in the works team so seats will be at a premium. Gio hasn’t shown enough yet to prove he deserves one. He needs to start beating Kim on Sundays to start getting in the conversation. 

18. Mick Schumacher (+1)

Mick looked much the more assured Haas rookie in Bahrain. The car looks very slow and twitchy which is not a productive combination, but Mick unqualified his teammate by 8 tenths and was the only Haas to finish the race so it was a productive weekend for him. This car is looking so bad the main competition will be themselves this year so important to get that advantage early and get the team building around him. 

19. Nicolas Latifi (+1)

Latifi continues to be overshadowed by his teammate with little fightback from the Canadian. He has yet to show me anything more than being a pay driver for this Williams team during his F1 career. The only reason he is 19th is because of how bad Mazipin’s weekend went. 

20. Nikita Mazipin (-1)

He was spinning all weekend as he struggled to find the balance in his car. He spun in Qualifying 1 to bring out the yellow flags, that caught out Vettel, to be easily beaten by his teammate. Following that he had one of the shortest F1 debuts in history as he lost control of the car on the exit of Turn 3 to go straight to the scene of the accident and the end of an unconvincing weekend to say the least.