Tag: Racing

F1 Driver POWER Rankings – Sao Paolo Edition

Welcome to the nineteenth edition of my F1 driver POWER rankings list. Sorry this is late again, my bad but life has got in the way. I hope you enjoyed my previous edition after the Mexican Grand Prix but if you didn’t get around to reading it and don’t want any spoilers, you can find it here.

I essentially said that the Sao Paola Grand Prix would be a must win for Hamilton to keep his title hopes on track and boy did he go above and beyond to do that. This was another classic, drama filled championship weekend at the atmospheric fishbowl that is the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace in the neighbourhood of Interlagos. There is so much to unpack from the Sao Paolo weekend which was the host of the third and final Sprint format of the year and each one of those weekend has had significant championship moments. Without the extra racing session, it would have been even harder for Hamilton to finish ahead of Max. The drama ensued before the weekend started when Mercedes announced that Hamilton would be taking a 5 place grid penalty for an extra Internal Combustion Engine (ICE), already putting him on the back foot. The drama continued on Friday after Hamilton had taken a commanding pole position when the FIA, after a tip off by Red Bull, investigated the DRS activation elements of Hamilton’s rear wing. The regulations state that when activated, the gap in the rear wing must be between 10mm and 85mm when a force of 10N (newtons) is imposed on it. The inner section of Hamilton’s wing failed this test and he was subsequently disqualified from qualifying. The FIA did state that this was a part failure and not a deliberate attempt to circumvent the regulations to create an advantage.

This took away Hamilton’s good work and the opportunity to take maximum points from the weekend. What he did do was remind us what the best can do with the tools given to them. He went from 20th to 5th in 24 Sprint laps to give himself a chance in the feature race but that earlier 5 place penalty set him back to 10th. His overtaking was tidy and decisive but for me the part of Hamilton’s game that is above the rest is his ability to drive both quickly and kindly to his tyres. I think this allows him to have these sustained fight backs through the field, compared to when Valtteri fights back, he does seem to fall off or get caught behind cars in the dirty air. Hamilton is able to stay in the dirty air and still be able to use the advantage his car gives, that’s another difference between great and the best.

Hamilton may have saved his best work for Sunday however. We knew he would be able to get past the first five cars in front but it was when he got to the Red Bulls when the real work would start. He got a small helping hand from the Safety Car as it put him onto the back of his rivals after Yuki Tsonoda came together with Lance Stroll and spewed carbon fibre at Turn 1. Once the Safety Car came in, Hamilton set after Perez and had to overtake him twice around the outside of Turn 1 as the Mexican returned the favour at Turn 4 after the first attempt. Once all the other drivers had been dispatched, it was just Verstappen left to catch and he had 52 laps to do it. He slowly whittled down the Dutchman’s 3.8 second lead but was unable to get close enough to attempt a pass until Lap 48 when the title rivals had another flash point. Hamilton had DRS on the main straight up the hill into Turn 1 and for the first time in my memory, a dummy from Lewis got Max moving in the braking zone and put him slightly off line through the Senna S section of 1/2/3 and Hamilton picked up DRS again into Turn 4. Max defended the inside line and Hamilton got ahead into the braking zone on the outside. Both braked as late as they could but Max definitely braked too late, pushing him wide and off the track. With Hamilton on the outside, memories of Austria 2016 surfaced when Rosberg refused to turn into the corner and the teammates collided (Rosberg got a penalty that day *cough cough*). Luckily this time, they didn’t touch but Hamilton was unable to take the corner as he appeared to have the ability to do so without Max being in the way. Inexplicitly, the stewards didn’t investigate the incident after not seeing much wrong, without a crucial bit of evidence – Max Verstappen’s onboard camera. The onboard showed, for me, that Max could have made more of an attempt to make the corner – there wasn’t a lockup indicating excessive braking, and he didn’t put as much steering angle as previous laps when logic dictates that he should have been inputting more steering angle if he was truly trying to take the corner. I have to say that he did force another driver off the track, which has definitely been penalised this year quite regularly with a 5 second time penalty, and would have put him behind Bottas and lost him 3 valuable points. Now, it is very easy to say that post race but its very hard to say that Bottas would still have finished within 5 seconds if Max had been penalised in-race. Actually, I am pretty sure he wouldn’t have, no way Max would have let that happen. So its all a bit of a mute point for me but I do think the stewards are less likely to penalize Max Verstappen because of this notion he is a ‘hard racer’ and the challenger to the ‘Empire’. There I said it. All that matters for Hamilton is that he gained that crucial momentum and reduced the gap to Verstappen before it’s too late while producing a performance that will live long in the memory.

Behind the title fight, Ferrari once again had a great weekend in the constructors, taking a 32 point lead over McLaren for third, Gasly had another impressive weekend for Alpha Tauri and Alpine got two drivers in the points for the first time in a while to draw level them level with Alpha Tauri once again. Ok, lets get into the rankings.

After Sao Paolo Grand Prix (19 of 22)

1. Max Verstappen (-+)

Max keeps the lead on this list but it is a close thing with the momentum swinging towards Mercedes with this new found engine advantage that they have found. Verstappen did everything that was required of him in Brazil and probably got the maximum he would have expected going into the weekend apart from probably three points and pole position for Sunday. He was cheeky on Lap 48 and I am sure he knew what he was doing when he went wide and I am also sure he doesn’t think that warranted a penalty as well. He defended hard against an opponent he was fighting a losing battle to keep behind so can’t blame him for trying. He moves on to Qatar hoping the track suits his car more and he can regain that momentum.

2. Lewis Hamilton (-+)

This was definitely up there with one of Hamilton’s best drives in a Mercedes. He had to overcome 25 places worth of penalties over two races – 20 of them after having taken pole position on Friday so to overcome that and perform as he did in Saturday’s Sprint shows both his physical ability and mental strength. Hamilton was decisive and accurate with his car placement in the Sprint to take pretty much every opportunity and finished only 2 seconds back from Sainz in third. This set him up nicely for the race, starting in tenth, to be able to get through the midfield without losing too much time to the leaders. He dispatched of said midfield very quickly (see pass on Gasly on Lap 1) and then performed two great overtakes to get past the Red Bulls. This drive showcased lots of Hamilton’s traits that have made him a 7 time world champion: speed, consistency, relentlessness, overtaking, tyre preservation to name a few. Brazil was exactly what the doctor ordered for Hamilton and Mercedes in this title fight. On to Qatar.

3. Charles Leclerc (-+)

These sort of weekends are now expected for this Ferrari package in this ever evolving development race. When I say ‘these sorts of weekends’ I mean a double points finish while threatening the fun of the championship teams. This is of course not where Ferrari feel they belong but this is very encouraging signs for the team. Charles’ teammate beat him in the Sprint but Charles took honours when more points were on offer. Charles dropped back one spot from his 6th place from qualifying but got ahead of his teammate again and Lando Norris at the start of the race proper and didn’t really look back. He has had a couple of boring but impressive races in a row now so not much to report apart from some great first lap car placement and bravery to get himself into position to score highly in 5th.

4. Lando Norris (-+)

It was looking like Lando Norris had put together a really nice Sprint weekend, after ‘qualifying’ 7th he got ahead of Gasly and Leclerc in the Sprint to gain 5th place on the grid for the race on Sunday. He got a good start and was getting past the slow starting Sainz for third but misjudged his positioning, he must have thought he was already past the Ferrari, and moved over too early, contact was made between tyres and Lando came off worse with a left rear puncture. The beautifully crafted weekend was shattered in an instant. He dropped waaaay back but an early Safety Car put him on the back of the pack and he started his fight back. Solid pace and some good overtakes got him a reward – a singular point but it was well deserved. Annoyingly it should have been many more.

5. Carlos Sainz (-+)

It was Carlos’ turn to be the car that was interfering in the front runners race during the Sprint on Saturday as he used his red soft tyres to move up from 5th to 3rd but he was unable to hold on to that advantage and podium spot. He crossed the line 6th behind his teammate which will be a disappointment for him. This is just another weekend showing of how strong a driver Sainz is. He needs to be given lots of credit for his overall Ferrari performance this year, he really hasn’t missed a beat and has helped push this team back forward.

6. Pierre Gasly (-+)

There are only so many times I can say what a strong weekend Gasly has had without sounding like a broken record but I am going to say it again. Qualifying 4th in Brazil was the 16th time in 19 races he has qualified in Q3 which is a phenomenal record for the Alpha Tauri driver. Unfortunately he lost places in the Sprint and race to finish 7th at the flag but once again brought home much needed points in their fight with Alpine in the Constructors. They are still tied for 5th thanks to him after he passed both of their rival cars in the closing laps.

7. Sergio Perez (-+)

Sergio was around but never really in the fight for the win in Sao Paolo. He qualified 3rd but got caught behind Sainz’s Ferrari for the entirety of the Sprint and did his best when Hamilton came up behind in the race but wasn’t quick enough to keep him behind. He shouldn’t feel too bad, no one was in Brazil. He was able to get ahead of the Ferrari’s and the midfield to collect decent points for the team in 4th in what was seen as damage limitation in response to Mercedes’ new found speed.

8. George Russell (-+)

George keeps his place in 8th mainly through sheer will power from me and the juicy potential he brings to next years Mercedes line-up. I am adamant he will be a step up from Valtteri Bottas so it is hard to put an up and coming star in potentially the best car anywhere lower than 10th. He is also still quietly getting the job done and finishing in front of faster cars in the race, this time Giovinazzi and Tsunoda. He is battling cars but it is clear this Williams is a step off. He finished 13th in Brazil for those wondering.

9. Fernando Alonso (+1)

A dogged performance for Alonso in Brazil where he was eventually rewarded with a singular point. He qualified 9th but was caught out in the Sprint by those around him starting on the red soft tyre compared to his yellow medium. He could have easily not finished the Sprint but narrowly avoided being sandwiched by the Alfa Romeo’s before they came together themselves. He dropped back to twelfth for the race proper but battled back into the points to help Alpine remain level with Alpha Tauri in the Constructors.

10. Daniel Ricciardo (-1)

Ricciardo was close to Norris on one lap pace; they were separated by less than a tenth in qualifying and lined up 7th and 8th for the Sprint but when it came to racing, Daniel was a step behind. To make things worse, he dropped out of the race on Lap 49 with power loss caused by a crack in his chassis. Monza is starting to feel quite a long time ago now.

11. Valtteri Bottas (-+)

Valtteri did the team job in Brazil but didn’t do it very well. He got ahead of Verstappen at the start of the Sprint and secured pole position to at least take one point from Max. However, he was beaten into Turn 1 in classic Bottas style by Max and then went wide at Turn 4 to let Perez through. He at least let Hamilton past without any problems and got back ahead of Perez because of a cheap stop during the virtual safety car to make the podium and help close the gap in the Constructors.

12. Sebastian Vettel (-+)

Another weekend where Sebastian was the best Aston Martin but not exactly a rewarding one as he was always just behind the points. He qualified 11th and got up to 9th for the grid due to Hamilton’s grid penalty but then dropped out of the points again by the flag, getting pipped at the last by a recovered Norris.

13. Esteban Ocon (+1)

A return to the points for Esteban Ocon in Brazil as he beat his teammate in qualifying and the race to lead the lead the team home in 8th. After disappearing in Mexico he was in the action in Brazil and took advantage of the virtual safety car to go for the one stop strategy and used it to great effect. I am sure we wished he could have kept Gasly home but the tyre advantage was too much to defend against.

14. Lance Stroll (-+)

Lance had a bit of a nightmare in Sao Paolo. He was knocked out in Q1 and then started next to Yuki Tsunoda in the race which would not end well when Yuki went for an audacious effort at Turn 1. This would cause Lance a lot of damage which would end his race on Lap 47 but would also effect the overall race as some body work came flying off, bringing out the virtual safety car.

15. Yuki Tsunoda (-+)

A pretty shocking performance from Yuki as his rookie season doesn’t get any better. He did show some one lap pace once again to nearly get into Q3 but once the racing got going, he looked lost. He was barking up the wrong tree with his complaints at Stroll for his part in the Lap 5 incident as Yuki went for a lunge that was a day late and a dollar short, breaking his front wing and causing a Safety Car. That was all the action Yuki would see on Sunday.

16. Nicolas Latifi (-+)

Another driver waiting for the year to end and the hopeful possibility of a better car next year with the regulation changes. He was in no man’s land for most of the weekend, trying to hang on to the end of battles but not quite joining them. Nowhere near the points.

17. Mick Schumacher (-+)

After Mick mentioned that he hoped he could have more on-track action with Kimi Raikkonen, he probably didn’t mean to get as close as he did, causing his front wing to break off and pour even more debris over the track. He was nowhere after that after losing over a minute coming back to the pits.

18. Kimi Raikkonen (-+)

Kimi had quite the ordeal in Sao Paolo, first getting spun in the Sprint by his teammate, but that could be seen as a racing incident as Kimi could have left more room on the inside of Turn 1. He then made the aforementioned contact with Mick Schumacher but that wasn’t his fault as Mick oversteered into him and came out worse. He tried a late pitstop but it didn’t help get him into the points, finishing 12th.

19. Antonio Giovinazzi (-+)

It has finally been announced that Giovinazzi will be replaced by Chinese driver Guanyu Zhou for 2022 to partner Valtteri Bottas. It has been a strange and unfulfilling ride watching him in F1 since he first arrived in 2017, so I can’t imagine what it has been like for him, probably even more unfulfilling. He has shown speed and put together great performances but they have been too few and far between for him to keep his seat. I think it is the right decision, Zhou deserves a seat.

20. Nikita Mazipin (-+)

Nikita Mazipin finished behind his teammate in both qualifying sessions but took advantage of Schumacher’s mistakes to take a point in their intra-team battle but he must be quite far behind anyway.

F1 Driver POWER Rankings – Mexico City Edition

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

Max Verstappen took control of the Mexican Grand Prix at Turn 1 and took control of the 2021 Drivers Championship by the flag. He boasts a nineteen point lead with four races to go and one hundred and four points up for grabs. This might not seem a big advantage but in a season where Max and Lewis have basically finished first and second constantly, we are getting dangerously close to Max not having to win anymore races and still end up champion. For Hamilton to have any chance of winning an unprecedented eighth title, Bottas is going to have to interfere, which does not fill me with hope. After taking a surprising front row lockout on Saturday, it was imperative for Mercedes that they completed Lap 1 with the lead of the race. However, Bottas decided to give Verstappen his slipstream and then leave the racing line wide open down the kilometer run to the first corner for Max to break late around the outside and take the lead. Granted, it was a brave and well executed move from Verstappen, who then disappeared into the distance. This passiveness in battling has been Valtteri’s biggest weakness in a Mercedes and another reason why he didn’t retain his seat for next year. I’m doing my best to keep calm but it was just a complete waste of the advantage they worked for on Saturday and ruined the race for the neutral (or slightly bias Hamilton fans). Look at Perez’s firm defense of Hamilton in Turkey, tell me the last time Bottas did anything close to that to Verstappen – it will be hard to find because it doesn’t exist. Behind the championship battle, nothing really happened after the first lap incidents. With thin air, cooling issues and reduced effectiveness of the DRS it meant it was a mainly processional race. To compound issues, the field spread was crazy. After five laps of full speed racing, George Russell in tenth was twenty two seconds behind the leader and was nearing forty by ten laps.

In the other championship battles, Ferrari took third place in the Constructors from McLaren with a strong weekend’s work while the Woking team had a shocker. Alpine and Alpha Tauri are level on points in the battle for fifth place and bragging rights to a couple more millions of prize dollars. Finally, a couple shout outs before the rankings start: Gasly can’t seem to get any airtime, even when he is in a class of one for fourth place and Vettel for a great seventh place, which was really needed for Aston Martin.

After Mexican Grand Prix (18 of 22)

1. Max Verstappen (-+)

That was a champions drive from Max and it wasn’t the first one he has driven this season. This performance was imperious and as soon as he took the lead at Turn 1, it felt like the fight was over. Max and Red Bull have been very quick in Mexico over the last couple of years and practice showed their advantage hadn’t disappeared. They somehow messed up Q3 to lose pole position but if anything, that helped them get the slipstream into Turn 1 they needed. Otherwise, they would have been vulnerable to the Mercedes. The race proved practice form right and Max took full advantage. His move around the outside was beautiful and decisive, typical of Max Verstappen and something we have become used to. He moved nineteen points clear and his hands are now inching towards that championship trophy.

2. Lewis Hamilton (-+)

Hamilton gave it his best shot but the Red Bull’s were too quick in Mexico. If anything, he got too good a start to pull alongside Bottas, and not behind him into the slipstream. He was pinched to the inside which cost him the lead and a potential chance to win. From there it was a lonely and frustrating race as he watched his championship rival disappear down the road. He was able to stay in second in front of Perez to minimise the damage done. Lewis needs to win in Brazil or it could be over very quickly.

3. Charles Leclerc (-+)

Another good weekend for Ferrari in their battle with McLaren and another pretty quiet race for Charles. He started eighth and was up to fifth by the end of the first lap. He would stay a couple of seconds ahead of his teammate in the first stint but couldn’t keep up with Gasly in front. Leclerc really struggled on his hard tyres so the team let his teammate go to hunt down Gasly but he was unsuccessful. They switched them around before the flag for Charles to finish fifth.

4. Lando Norris (-+)

Tenth place would indicate another problematic weekend for Norris and McLaren. However, he started in eighteenth and did well to progress into the points on a track where it is actually quite hard to overtake, despite the kilometer and a half main straight. The pace just hasn’t quite been there since Russia with the McLaren not suiting the tracks as well as their rivals but his teammate is starting to become the quicker driver.

5. Carlos Sainz (-+)

More points for Sainz in Mexico. He went long in the first stint to try and create at tyre advantage to attack Gasly but unfortunately he wasn’t able to close enough to challenge. He dutifully let Leclerc take back his fifth spot in what was a pretty quiet race.

6. Pierre Gasly (+2)

Pierre Gasly must get another opportunity in a big team at some point. I just doubt it will be in a Red Bull, which is a shame. Gasly has shown speed, maturity, consistency and race craft this year but only needed the speed and consistency in Mexico. He started a fantastic fifth and took advantage of Bottas’ spin to take fourth and ran away with it. He was in a class of one and was barely seen on TV because of it.

7. Sergio Perez (-+)

Sergio is inserting himself into this title fight and really helping Red Bull take control of both championships. He threatened pole position until an errant Tsunoda distracted him and he had to settle for fourth. He pressurized Hamilton all race and become the first Mexican to stand on their home podium. Not a bad weekend.

8. George Russell (-2)

Not much George can do at the moment as it seems that the car’s mid-year renaissance has simmered. He started and finished sixteenth and that is all I know about his Mexican Grand Prix. He stays here because of the reasons I mentioned previously, I am sure he can’t wait to get going with Mercedes.

9. Daniel Ricciardo (-+)

A misjudgment by Daniel going into Turn 1 ruined both his and Valtteri Bottas’ races. He locked up on the inside line, spun Bottas around and lost his front wing. This put him at the back and with damage to the underside of the car, he was losing a second a lap in aero performance. He came home in twelfth but he should have got points.

10. Fernando Alonso (-+)

A disappointing qualifying session for Fernando as he didn’t get out of Q1 but was helped by engine penalties to move up to twelfth on the grid. He went long in the first stint and made up spots to come home in ninth and get some key points for Alpine in the race for fifth in the championship. They are currently level on 106. He also pulled off a great move around the outside of Russell on the way to points.

11. Valtteri Bottas (+1)

Valtteri produced a great lap to take pole but that was the best his weekend would go. He let Max have a clean run down into Turn 1 and then was clipped by Ricciardo. One was his fault and the other wasn’t. He did make pretty good progress once he had clear air but Mercedes pitted him twice late on to help take away Max’s fastest lap point.

12. Sebastian Vettel (+1)

A really solid weekend for Seb while his teammate faltered. He made Q3, qualifying ninth and then had a quiet but quick race to finish seventh. It probably wasn’t the race Seb falls back in love with F1 but a good result for the team.

13. Lance Stroll (-2)

Not a good weekend for Stroll, he crashed early in Q1 as he got too wide at the final corner, got onto the marbles and went straight to the scene of the accident. He started at the back and had a couple of silly offs, one with Ricciardo trying to overtake into the high speed section in the middle sector. A scrappy weekend but as we all know this will be water off a ducks back for Lance, he will get another chance to make amends.

14. Esteban Ocon (-+)

I forget about Ocon quite a lot when thinking back on the races and this one was another where he didn’t really show. His main TV exposure was being used to show the chaos of the first corners but the contact he sustained may have caused him damage. He was another driver taking engine penalties so started nineteenth and made it up to thirteenth by the flag. His fastest lap was six tenths slower than his teammates which probably best illustrates Ocon’s struggles in the race.

15. Yuki Tsunoda (-+)

Yuki made it a hattrick of Q3 appearances in Mexico. This is confidence boosting progress as his one lap pace has really lacked recently. He wasn’t able to show off this new found pace as he was one side of an Ocon sandwich, was pitched onto the curb and bollard at the apex of Turn 2, which shut the engine off and ended his race. A shame for him but it looks like his performance is going in the right direction, just a bit slowly.

16. Nicolas Latifi (-+)

Nicolas was not able to get out of Q1 but did start thirteenth with the engine penalties. However, he was not able to move any further up the field and finished seventeenth. There really isn’t much else to say.

17. Mick Schumacher (-+)

Mick was caught up in the first lap contact as he was the other side of the Ocon sandwich, which caused rear suspension failure and ended his race as well. Weirdly, only the filling of the Ocon sandwich didn’t sustain damage while the bread was broken. That’s enough sandwich based analogies for one day.

18. Kimi Raikkonen (-+)

There is the old Kimi Raikkonen that we know and love. He started tenth with the engine penalties and moved up to eighth by the end of the race. He kept good pace with Vettel throughout to collect some much needed points after Alfa Romeo have just missed out recently.

19. Antonio Giovinazzi (-+)

Despite a quick meeting with the barriers in Q2, Antonio was able to separate but missed out on Q3 anyway. He took advantage of the lap 1 chaos to move up to sixth but was screwed by Alpha’s suspect strategy that pitted him really early and he had to nurse his tyres to the end, losing touch and championship points, finishing eleventh.

20. Nikita Mazipin (-+)

Another weekend, another last place for Nikita Mazipin. He was the only one to end up three laps down but his fastest lap was quicker than Latifi’s. I am really trying to find positives and interesting to say about him but keep failing.

F1 Driver POWER Rankings – USA Edition

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.

F1 Driver POWER Rankings – Turkey Edition

Welcome to the sixteenth edition of my F1 driver POWER rankings list. I hope you enjoyed my previous edition after the Russian Grand Prix but if you didn’t get around to reading it and don’t want any spoilers, you can find it here. A quick admin note as well, I have just realised that I have been putting the wrong total of races on all my posts – it’s not 23, but actually 22. My bad. Call myself an F1 fan.

For the second year in a row the weather played a major part in the outcome of the weekend at Istanbul Park. The changeable and windy conditions caused the drivers problems all weekend with the rain only threatening qualifying but came for the race. We knew before the weekend that Lewis Hamilton had a 10-place grid penalty for taking his fourth internal combustion engine for the year, so would start highest eleventh and do his best to limit the damage done by Verstappen in the championship fight. Hamilton duly took pole but was demoted to eleventh but his teammate Bottas was able to at least keep Verstappen behind. The race didn’t quite live up to expectations but there was some good action and brave driving. It felt like a constant wait for the conditions to improve enough for dry tyres but never really came, which Vettel found out and Hamilton and Leclerc really hoped for. The main talking point post race was Mercedes and Hamilton’s back and forth about whether they could go to the end without pitting. Hamilton questioned the team’s call to pit but was eventually overruled, losing two positions in the process with only eight laps to go. He lost five points to Verstappen in the championship and in such a close run-in, all the points changes are going to be heavily scrutinized as the finale draws close. Well done to Valtteri Bottas who drove a commanding and calm race to win for the first time in over a year and to exorcise the demons of Turkey 2020.

After Turkish Grand Prix (16 of 22)

1. Max Verstappen (-+)

The Red Bull didn’t have the speed of the Mercedes all weekend so Max perfectly played the long game and picked up seventeen points and probably the max he was expecting from the Grand Prix. Of course, he wants to win every race but Bottas drove well enough to win. He extended his lead in the championship to six points after getting all his spins out of the way when it didn’t matter. A double podium finish for the team as well helped close the gap to Mercedes in the other championship. Max will now try and defend his lead in Austin.

2. Lewis Hamilton (-+)

Annoyingly for Hamilton, without the engine penalty, it looks like he would have won the Turkish Grand Prix from pole and extended his lead in the championship. However, Mercedes found irregular noises coming from the engine so decided it best to be safe rather than risk a DNF. He made decent progress from his eleventh place grid slot to find himself fifth after fifteen laps but was a fair way off the leaders. He caught Perez but couldn’t get past so when the others started pitted for their second set of inters, Hamilton decided to stay out. It really was a knife edge decision and a year after Lewis won the race because he stayed out, I think it was the wrong decision this year and may have cost him a chance at getting past Perez and Leclerc in front for a podium. If he had stayed out, I think he would have been powerless to defend if they caught him while risking a tyre blowout and no points at all. He came home fifth and lives to fight another day because this title fight is far from over.

3. Lando Norris (-+)

A quieter weekend in Turkey for Norris after the rollercoaster that was the Russian Grand Prix. The McLaren is very track sensitive and the long, medium speed corners of Istanbul Park don’t really suit the papaya-mobile. However, he qualified and finished seventh which isn’t bad for a so-called quiet weekend for the young Brit. It shows the ways this team has come since Norris first drove for them in 2019.

4. Charles Leclerc (-+)

A classically gutsy and fast drive from Charles Leclerc that started at third on the grid, shadowed the leaders for the majority of the race, tried to brave it out on inters but was forced to pit and came home in fourth, four seconds off a podium. At one point I thought he genuinely had a chance of winning the race while staying out but his rear tyres failed him. While Carlos is getting the plaudits for getting up to speed quickly in his new car, Leclerc is consistently performing to a high standard and isn’t wilting under the pressure of leading the Scuderia.

5. Carlos Sainz (+1)

Carlos won his first driver of the day award in Turkey and it was a great drive from the back of the grid. He was the main form of entertainment as he came through the field and seemingly overtook a car a lap into the final sector and only his overtake on Vettel had a small love tap which didn’t cause any issues. He did get stuck behind Stroll and Gasly which slightly dented his progress but eighth is a good result from the back.

6. George Russell (-1)

A quieter weekend on paper for George Russell but I am sure he will look back at a missed opportunity. He hit the loud pedal a bit too early at the exit of the last corner on his final run in Q2, had to correct the slide and lost all of his good work. His good work looked good enough to be in Q3 but instead he started thirteenth, lost two positions early and never recovered his losses. He apparently had a good scrap with Alonso and Ricciardo but the TV cameras did not pick that up.

7. Pierre Gasly (-+)

A much needed weekend for Pierre Gasly and Alpha Tauri as he was quick in both dry and wet conditions to start fourth on the grid. He only lost positions to the quickest cars on the grid and I thought he was hard done by with his five second time penalty at the first corner. Perez came late onto his inside and he did not have much room to maneuver with Alonso on his outside which resulted in him making contact with the Spaniard. From there, he was quick enough that the penalty didn’t effect his race and he came home relatively unchallenged in sixth ahead of Lando Norris.

8. Sergio Perez (+2)

This was a big result for Perez to re-introduce himself to the title fight. He isn’t going to win the fight but Turkey felt like the first instance in a while where he actively helped Red Bull in said fight. He started sixth but his aggression at the start, to the detriment of Gasly and Alonso, got him into the leading bunch. He also held his own when called upon to keep Hamilton behind as he quickly caught on Lap thirty-seven, with some great car positioning and bravery on the brakes. He completed the hat-trick as his pace on new inters forced Mercedes to pit Hamilton from third and cost him six valuable points in the championship.

9. Daniel Ricciardo (-+)

Unfortunately for Ricciardo, this weekend was more in line with how his season has gone. He was knocked out in Q1 so the team decided to take a new engine and he dropped to the back of the grid. He made some progress up to thirteenth at the flag but never got anywhere near to the points that his team need him to consistently score in their battle with Ferrari in the Constructors.

10. Fernando Alonso (-+)

Alonso was the innocent victim of the Turn 1 clash after qualifying a quality sixth place. He would have been a good bet for some great points and maybe even that podium in those tricky conditions but instead was stuck in traffic after dropping to the back. He also got a five second penalty, but rightly so, for clumsily spinning Mick Schumacher at Turn 4 trying to recover his race. He finished in sixteenth place which was definitely not what he hoped for from his Sunday.

11. Lance Stroll (+1)

Lance was once again the fastest Aston Martin in Turkey. A year after he lead for most of the race in the last edition of the Turkish Grand Prix, he showed consistant pace to bring home some points for his team – two in fact. This Aston Martin seems to be the fifth or sixth fastest car so back end of the points are probably the best you can expect at the moment.

12. Valtteri Bottas (+2)

It was a commanding performance from Bottas once he inherited pole position due to his teammate’s engine penalty. He was able to create a gap to Verstappen in the first stint and never felt opposed until he had to overtake Leclerc trying to go to the end without pitting, but even that was straightforward and calmly done by the Finn. Once Leclerc was dispatched, he coasted to victory. This could be due to the security and ease a multi-year contract gives you, and it seems to be suiting him. He has scored the most amount of points since he signed that contract, helping to prove my point.

13. Esteban Ocon (-1)

Ocon didn’t have the pace of his teammate in Turkey but was able to finish ahead of him and collect the final championship point. He was able to do that because he did not make a pit stop, becoming the first driver since Olivier Panis in 1997 to do so. In wet conditions the drivers aren’t obliged to use two compounds of tyre, like in the dry, so it was worth someone trying it and luckily for Ocon it paid off this time.

14. Sebastian Vettel (-1)

Sebastian was in contention for some points in Turkey before he made the wrong decision to put medium slick tyres on Lap 38 when the track was not ready for it. This cost him dearly as his lap took about three minutes and dropped him to nineteenth. He was only able to recover past Mick Schumacher to finish eighteenth. He gambled and this time he lost.

15. Nicolas Latifi (-+)

A quiet weekend for the second Williams as well. He was able to get through into Q2, like his teammate but that was the highlight of his weekend as he went backwards in the race to finish seventeenth.

16. Mick Schumacher (+1)

Mick made it out of Q1 for the first time in his career and showed that he possesses some of that Schumacher wet weather magic. He outqualified his teammate by a whopping 2.9 seconds, which is unheard of in modern F1, even in wet conditions. Its the first time proper that we have seen the gulf in the two Haas drivers and I’m not going to use this to bash Mazipin, well not in this paragraph anyway, but if you ever needed proof which driver deserves to be in F1, you now have it. This is the difference the driver can make. Mick was unlucky to be spun by Alonso early on, who was penalized, but may have struggled to keep up. His best lap was a second off the midfield pace.

17. Yuki Tsunoda (-1)

The weekend was looking up for Yuki, as he got into Q3 and qualified ninth but he just didn’t have any pace in the race to trouble the points. He held up Hamilton for about six laps at the start but that was the notable action for him. Everyone was expecting more from the Japanese driver in his rookie season so lets hope for his sake that his second season is better.

18. Kimi Raikkonen (-+)

The two Alfa Romeo’s started next to each other on the grid and they finished the race together. This time it was Kimi behind Giovinazzi in eleventh and twelfth after starting in sixteenth and seventeenth. I don’t think we saw the Alfa’s on screen at all on Sunday so there isn’t much else to analyse. Unfortunately for the Ice Man, his career is just fizzling out in a slow vehicle.

19. Antonio Giovinazzi (-+)

More rumours swirl of potential replacements for Giovinazzi’s drive and it is looking increasingly likely that he wont be in F1 next year but he isn’t really doing enough to prove otherwise. A decent result in Turkey but nothing to prove he deserves to stay in the sport.

20. Nikita Mazipin (-+)

Here we go: getting outqualified by your teammate by 2.9 seconds is a disgrace, and at the very least highly embarrassing for the Russian pay driver. At least Stroll can drive a car fast even if his Dad did buy the team. His teammate was spun around, lost a whole load of time, but still finished ahead in Turkey. To be honest, Mazipin could win the next race in Austin and that wouldn’t change my mind about him. That is probably bad of me but his presence is an indication of a major flaw in the sport’s infrastructure. Much better drivers aren’t getting opportunities because people like Mazipin can buy their way in. The car better be good next year or what was the point of all this!?

F1 Driver POWER Rankings – Sochi Edition

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.

F1 Driver POWER Rankings – Styria Edition

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

Well that looked pretty ominous. If Mercedes can’t catch up in this development race, and Toto Wolff has already indicated that they wont be bringing any more significant updates to this year’s car – focusing on next years big regulations change – then this championship is Max Verstappen and Red Bull’s to lose. Max never looked in doubt on Sunday as he won in as nearly dominate fashion as modern day f1 allows. It quickly became a two horse race in Austria Part 1, as the championship has, with the usual close midfield battle behind. It was not a classic but a race full of intrigue and some close racing. Lando Norris was my driver of the day as he once again got the most out of that McLaren for a routine fifth place and could have made life much harder for Perez and Bottas. Honourable mention goes to Kimi with a drive to eleventh after starting eighteenth proving the race craft is well and truly still there.

After Stryian Grand Prix (8 of 23)

1. Max Verstappen (-+)

That looked pretty imperious from Max Verstappen. These straight line improvements that Red Bull have made have given them the best overall package in F1 and Max is putting it to good use. This is now 3 wins out of the last 4 and it should really be 4 for 4. He never looked troubled on Sunday and looked the quickest throughout the weekend. He has that feeling about him that Lewis has, you always expect him to go quicker in qualifying when needed and produce. He led from pole and didn’t really look back. Luckily for him, he gets to do it all over again this weekend.

2. Lewis Hamilton (-+)

This is a new feeling for Lewis Hamilton in the turbo hybrid era – he does not have the fastest car. He did however, get the most he could from the weekend with a second place and a fastest lap thanks to a late stop for soft tyres. It is a long season and Hamilton does seem to get better as the season goes on so it is far from over but are Mercedes sacrificing this season for the future?

3. Lando Norris (+1)

I am probably horrendously bias but that was one hell of a drive in Styria for Norris. He seems to love this place – he gained his first podium there last year. He legitimately outqualified a Red Bull to line up third after Bottas’ penalty and was holding off both Perez and Bottas before letting them through to run his own race. Stick a fantastic overtake on Perez into Turn 4 on Lap 1 into the mix and it was a thoroughly impressive weekend, one of many this season.

4. Sergio Perez (-1)

Sergio would be disappointed to miss out on a podium as a slow pitstop, when running in third, meant Bottas was able to get ahead when he made his stop a lap later. He tried the second stop and catch back up on fresher tyres but missed out on the opportunity by about one lap. Perez has now consistently entered the front running battle but his qualifying pace let him down this time.

5. Pierre Gasly (-+)

Pierre keeps his place on this list after getting caught by Leclerc on the way up to Turn 3 on Lap 1, causing a left rear puncture which ripped the rear of his car to pieces and ended his race. He qualified in sixth and only half a tenth off a Red Bull shows that his performance levels have not dropped.

6. Charles Leclerc (-+)

A race of two halves for Charles Leclerc but they happened to be in a 1:70 lap split. It was a clumsy move from Leclerc to cause the contact with Gasly and break his front wing as he tried to get into the Alpha Tauri’s slipstream. He dropped to the back by nineteen seconds but then set to righting his wrong. He climbed back to up to his starting position, seventh, with some great pace and nice overtaking. His strategy seems to have paved the way for the two-stop next week as the tyres are one step softer and he robbed the one stoppers at the edges of the points late on. One point of feedback for Charles moving forward – leave a bit more room when overtaking others, its not worth it.

7. Carlos Sainz (+1)

Carlos had a race to help forget the struggle around Paul Richard last week. He qualified twelfth but drove a really nice race to climb up to sixth by the flag, followed by his teammate. Sainz has turned into a really mature driver who rarely has days when he doesn’t finish ahead of where he started and this Ferrari is a quick car to give him the tools to do it.

8. Sebastian Vettel (-1)

A trickier weekend for Seb Vettel as he missed out on Q3 by just over two tenths of a second to line up fourteenth and didn’t really trouble the points, finishing in twelfth. He doesn’t drop because of the run of results that he has been on and I am trying to not be overly dramatic between these two Austria races.

9. Fernando Alonso (-+)

This is three points scoring finishes in a row for the Spaniard alongside three Q3 appearances. This is the consistent Alonso that F1 fans know and love (well some of them do) and he has shown up his teammate since they signed that long term deal. Another strong drive this weekend rewarded him with two points for ninth and we can expect more of the same at Austria Round 2.

10. Lance Stroll (-+)

Stroll may have pulled off pass of the weekend over Alonso around the outside at Turn 6 on the first lap which was a beauty. This would sum up Stroll’s race as this was all the progress he was going to make, coming home in eighth and collecting four points.

11. George Russell (+2)

As I say I am not going to get overly dramatic about the changes between the Austria double header, I go ahead and promote a driver who didn’t finish the race. Russell missed out on Q3 by 8 thousandths of a second to line up eleventh, outqualifying an Aston Martin, McLaren and Ferrari in the process. He then was running comfortably in eighth, chasing down Alonso before a power unit failure put pay to all his good work. What impressed me the most was that he was in the fight, not just holding people up and actually looking ahead in a Williams which has been the worst car in F1 for three years. He constantly shows up his teammates and surely his first points in a Williams aren’t far away.

12. Daniel Ricciardo (-+)

Despite not qualifying for Q3 again, Daniel Ricciardo was having a good start to the race, finding himself in the points after navigating the first lap but had a power issue that dropped him down to thirteenth and was never able to recover. This was unfortunate as he was making good progress and the result wont look favourably on him but it does not show the whole picture,

13. Esteban Ocon (-2)

Ocon hasn’t been the same driver since he signed that three year contract extension with Alpine. He was knocked out of qualifying in Q1 and was not near the points on Sunday, finishing thirteenth. Alonso is showing that the car is capable of consistant points finishes, Ocon just needs to find that consistency.

14. Valtteri Bottas (-+)

Bottas was the victim of one of the more peculiar penalties in recent times – spinning in the pitlane. This does seem like an incident only Valtteri would get himself in to at the moment. This meant instead of starting second, he started fifth and this kind of ruined his race. He was stuck behind Norris and Perez and watched the front two disappear up the road. He was able to get ahead of both Norris and Perez to take another podium but these small mistakes are still costing Bottas dearly.

15. Yuki Tsunoda (+1)

This is the sort of weekend, if not better, that should be expected of Yuki Tsunoda in this car. He just missed out on Q3 but then got himself in the points with tenth after running in the points for most of the race. He was even very close to nabbing Alonso’s ninth place but just ran out of laps.

16. Kimi Raikkonen (-1)

Kimi produced a quality drive that was unfortunately not rewarded with points after he was caught by the charging Charles Leclerc with ten laps to go. He started eighteenth and finished eleventh which I feel Kimi does pretty much every week. They need to sort out their qualifying performance so they don’t have to pull so much back in the race.

17. Antonio Giovinazzi (-+)

Antonio was unlucky to be caught up in the Lap 1 scrap as he was caught and spun by Gasly at Turn 3 which put him to the back and he never really recovered, finishing in his starting spot – fifteenth.

18. Mick Schumacher (-+)

Another race, another commanding performance over his teammate and this time easily finished ahead of Latifi, after his puncture on Lap 1. The Haas is barely visible during the race weekend so we only have the stats to tell us how they went and this went resoundingly to Schumacher.

19. Nicolas Latifi (-+)

Another driver unlucky to be caught up in the Lap 1 incident as Latifi was also clipped by Gasly but given a puncture as well. He limped back to the pits and was only able to beat Mazipin to the line while his teammate continues to shine well up the field.

20. Nikita Mazipin (-+)

Even his team boss is taking the piss out of him in regard to the ‘Mazispin’ memes that are going around. It is good he has a sense of humour about it, but hey, he is a billionaire F1 driver, so not much to be unhappy about in that department.

F1 Driver POWER Rankings – France Edition

Welcome to the seventh edition of my F1 driver POWER rankings list. I hope you enjoyed my previous edition after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix but if you didn’t get around to reading it and don’t want any spoilers, you can find it here. Sorry this edition is a bit late, some birthday celebrations got out of hand…

This was by far the best French Grand Prix since its return in 2018 at Paul Richard. While the others were bore-fests, this edition of the race was packed full of excitement, action, and suspense right to the chequered flag. It was also the biggest sign yet that this year’s championship should have the legs to go the distance and has the potential to be the best in years as this traditional Mercedes stronghold was finally breached by the rampaging Red Bull. The strong and changeable winds caused drivers to change their style from lap to lap and helped the effectiveness of the DRS which is a good combination for on-track action. We saw the four-car fight that we have been waiting for all year between Red Bull and Mercedes with Red Bull finally being able to deploy the second car, in this case Perez, to interfere and outfox the Silver Arrows. You really didn’t know which of them would win the race, it was that close. The usual midfield battle ensued behind with McLaren coming out on top and Ferrari having a race to forget. If there can be a good race in France this year, it bodes well for everywhere else and the double header in Austria next should be another cracker with the simple yet effective layout of the Red Bull ring cooking up lots of action in the last couple of years. Can Red Bull extend their advantage even further on home turf? We only have to wait five days to find out.

After French Grand Prix (7 of 23)

1. Max Verstappen (-+)

A clean sweep of pole position, race win and fastest lap for Max at Paul Richard. The Red Bull looked the best car all weekend, especially with Max Verstappen at the wheel. The only real blip on the CV for this weekend was the loss of control into Turn 1 as he lost the backend, had to correct the slide and missed the turn. This relinquished the lead to Lewis Hamilton, but Max would retake it due to the powerful undercut and a fantastic out lap at the first round of pitstops. Once it was looking like the two-stop strategy was going to be quicker due to higher tyre degradation, Red Bull took the initiative and got Max on the faster mediums, even though they gave up track position. This caused the opposite to Barcelona with Max chasing Lewis this time and he retook the lead on the penultimate lap with a calm, consistent stint to haul the Mercedes back into view. The stint of a champion in waiting.

2. Lewis Hamilton (-+)

Hamilton once again recovered from a tricky Friday to stick his Mercedes on the front row. Him and Bottas switched chassis this weekend which put an end to the theories that Bottas’ car was somehow different, causing his bad form, as Lewis was quicker when it counted. He was given a gift by Verstappen at the first corner and did well to build a small gap of three seconds by the first pitstops. However, Mercedes left him out too long and he lost his lead to Verstappen. Once Max made his second stop, it left Hamilton no choice but to stay out and try to eke out the hard tyre to the end of the race, something he could not quite pull off and he had to settle for second. It was a great effort and his ability to keep the tyres in working range despite lots of wear was on full display in the race but it was just not quite enough to keep the Red Bull of Verstappen at bay.

3. Sergio Perez (-+)

This was another great example of why it was the right decision by Red Bull to hire Checo Perez this season. His different strategy – he went nine laps longer than the others – gave Mercedes two things to think about and it got him ahead of Bottas at the end. It also meant that Mercedes couldn’t perform the undercut without going through him, something that wasn’t a problem in Spain. Expect this four-way fight to happen quite often for the rest of the season as Perez seems to have found his consistent race pace in the Red Bull.

4. Lando Norris (+2)

Norris jumps back up to fourth on this list after a fantastic Sunday for the young Brit. He would have been disappointed to start eighth and then lost places at the start to find himself in tenth by the end of Lap 1. However, he was able to keep his tyres going better than those around him to stretch his first stint ten laps longer before putting on the hard tyre. He then carved his way through the pack with some characteristically opportunistic and brave moves to come home fifth with his teammate right behind to complete a great race for McLaren, on the weekend they commemorate Mansour Ojjeh, a long-time investor in McLaren and a big reason for their historical success.

5. Pierre Gasly (+1)

Another points finish for Gasly at his home race with a seventh place. Like I have said before, Q3 and points for the Frenchman are now the norm and expectation. He was frustrated at the end as he lost out to the undercut in the pitstops, and couldn’t get ahead of Ricciardo at the end but it shows his performance levels that seventh in an Alpha Tauri is a disappointment. The Red Bull Gasly is long in the memory now.

6. Charles Leclerc (-2)

A Sunday to forget for Charles Leclerc as the Ferrari ate through its front tyres and he was forced to make two stops, which dropped him to sixteenth by the finish as everyone but Verstappen did one stop. While both Ferraris qualifying in the Top 10 showed that their pace at the street circuits wasn’t a huge fluke, it was not their natural positioning at the moment. With their straight-line speed issues seemingly fixed, it looks like the next problem to deal with is tyre wear. This could be tricky as we head to Austria twice next which can be a tyre killer if the temperatures are high enough.

7. Sebastian Vettel (+1)

That is three points scoring finishes in a row now for Vettel after a tricky start to the season to say the least. He started twelfth but on the hard tyre compared to everyone in front who started on the mediums. It seems like Aston Martin are liking the alternate strategy at the moment as a way of finding their car’s strengths. This strategy was also helped by some bold overtaking by Sebastian, in particular a lovely move around the outside of Ocon at the first corner to get into the points. It looks like Vettel has really turned a corner with this car and it shows, not just in his results but also the lack of errors in his game over the last month.

8. Carlos Sainz (-1)

It was both Ferraris eating through their tyres on Sunday in France. While they qualified really well – Sainz in fifth – their pace dramatically dropped off as the tyres wore down during the race. It didn’t seem like they made any overtakes on Sunday but just kept falling back. This is an issue that needs to be fixed quickly but one that seems to have stumped Ferrari as Matteo Binotto revealed that they don’t yet know why they have such high tyre wear. While Sainz started fifth, he finished out of the points altogether by the flag which did scupper Ferrari’s progress in the fight against McLaren this year. Back to the drawing board for the Ferrari boys and girls as when one problem is fixed, another appears.

9. Fernando Alonso (+2)

Fernando kept the momentum going in France with another very solid all-round performance in France, completely outperforming his teammate for the second race running and in this one both of them finished, just emphasising the point. A Q3 appearance and a points finish are what Alonso expects from himself at this point and he seems to have got up to speed with the current regulations and class of car.

10. Lance Stroll (-+)

This was the second weekend in a row where Lance Stroll wasn’t able to get out of Q1 but this time it wasn’t because he crashed. He seemingly wasn’t able to get a lap in during the heavily interrupted qualifying session and lined up nineteenth for the second weekend in a row. However, this time he was able to make good progress up the field to gain a solitary point for his Aston Martin team. This car seems to be gentle on it’s tyres and the team have used that to good effect, going long in France and then having tyres to attack with at the latter stages.

11. Esteban Ocon (-2)

A sub-optimal weekend for Ocon at his, and the team’s, home Grand Prix. He was knocked out of qualifying in Q2 and was not able to trouble the points on Sunday in fourteenth while his teammate was in the game. This is a peculiar turnaround after a strong run of races for the Frenchman compared to Alonso but I guess blips like this can be expected in such a tight midfield battle. It will be interesting to see the battle between the two teammates during the double header at Austria to see who can assert themselves as the top dog moving forward.

12. Daniel Ricciardo (-+)

Daniel was looking more of his punchy best in France, going from ninth on the grid up to sixth at the flag, with some nice overtaking and good use of the undercut to jump Gasly and Sainz at the first stops. The reason I haven’t moved him this week is that I want to see this type of performance repeated by the Aussie in Austria to see if this is now the Daniel Ricciardo to expect, hoping it wasn’t just a one-off in Paul Richard. His performance boost would solidify McLaren as the bonified third best team in F1.

13. George Russell (+1)

This could well have been Russell’s best performance in F1 so far, we just didn’t see any of it. Twelfth in this Williams around a track that requires good aero, balance and mechanical grip is something to talk about. This result was based on nothing but merit as well, there was no safety car or red flag to bunch up the pack, which makes it even more impressive. He was even able to overtake Tsunoda on track, showing that the Williams may have fixed its drag issues that have plagued them in one-to-one battles the last couple of years (when they have been in them). This should be seen as a massive step forward and hopefully they can build on this to get into the midfield battle more regularly.

14. Valtteri Bottas (+2)

On the face of it, it would look like another weekend where Bottas was beaten by his teammate in qualifying and the race, which he was. However, he gains some respect from me due to his forceful telling off of the team on the strategy. Mercedes have been very conscious of not giving one of their drivers an advantage on strategy or tyres while they have been battling themselves for the title but now they have Red Bull to worry about, they need to ease this policy. Bottas was telling them early on that two stops were the way to go in France and he was right. He was ignored and I think Mercedes cost themselves a double podium. They need Bottas firing on all cylinders if they are going to beat Red Bull in both championships this year and it does sometimes feel like Mercedes forget they have two cars in a race, focusing too much on Hamilton. If only Bottas had put up more of a fight against Verstappen when he came up behind, it looked like he wilted under the pressure to be honest.

15. Kimi Raikkonen (-2)

Apart from an action packed first lap where Kimi overtook multiple cars with some excellent car positioning and forward thinking, it was not a happy weekend for him or Alfa Romeo. Kimi started and finished seventeenth and it is hard to think of anything else more to write at this point. After some early season promise, they are lagging behind the midfield and falling towards the Williams.

16. Yuki Tsunoda (-1)

One step forward, two steps back for Tsunoda at the moment. Another rookie error put him in the barriers during qualifying and required him to start at the back due to a different floor having to be put onto the car. He just needs to put together a quiet, smooth weekend to build his confidence and hopefully two attempts at Austria will give him that. The talent is there, no doubt about it, it just needs to be controlled better and maybe only experience and time will bring that. Patience is key. Him moving to Italy and the Alpha Tauri factory was a good first step.

17. Antonio Giovinazzi (-+)

Antonio beat his teammate which, in qualifying at least, has become a pretty regular occurrence this season but unfortunately for the Italian he fell back in the race from his thirteenth place starting position to come home fifteenth. It was probably a frustrating evening as he wasn’t quite able to close the gap to the battle between Ocon, Russell and Tsunoda in front towards the end.

18. Mick Schumacher (-+)

Mick was able to get out of Q1 for the first time in his career but unfortunately for him it was because he crashed and caused a red flag, which ended the session and put Lance Stroll out. His pace was not really there on Sunday and he was beaten handily by his teammate. This would make a difference if Mick hadn’t beaten his teammate at every race this year. You can forgive Mick for having an off weekend after dominating his teammate so far.

19. Nicolas Latifi (-+)

Latifi’s result wouldn’t have looked out of the ordinary in France if not for his teammate’s outstanding result. While Russell seems to get the best out of the car every week, Latifi just looks like a classic pay driver that won’t last as far as his money. I feel harsh saying it every week, but Nicolas Latifi just is not relevant at the moment.

20. Nikita Mazipin (-+)

Mazipin beat his teammate for the second time in three races which is a start. He also seems to have got his elbows out and as a result we are seeing some fighting spirit from him. This isn’t enough to get off the bottom spot on this list as he also feels like a pay driver which is more of a practical solution to keep the team alive rather than being there on merit. He wasn’t even that good in F2.