Verstappen perfect and Antonelli hugely mature – driver ratings

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Verstappen perfect and Antonelli hugely mature – driver ratings

ByHarry Benjamin

BBC Radio 5 Live F1 commentator
  • Published

Max Verstappen took his second win in a row with victory from pole position at the Singapore Grand Prix.

The Dutchman also won the final sprint event of the campaign at Marina Bay and has moved up two places in the drivers’ standings from sixth to fourth.

Championship leader Kimi Antonelli finished third and has extended his title advantage over Mercedes team-mate George Russell, who was ninth, to 102 points.

Here are my ratings for how the drivers performed across the whole weekend in Singapore.

Max Verstappen – 10/10

Pretty much the definition of a perfect weekend. Pole and victory in both the sprint race and grand prix, and once George Russell crashed out of the sprint on Saturday there was barely a moment where Red Bull’s Verstappen looked like losing control of either race.

Charles Leclerc- 9/10

Consistently Verstappen’s closest challenger and took two podiums from the weekend. Third in the sprint followed by second in the grand prix was about as much as Ferrari could realistically have asked for.

Kimi Antonelli – 8.5/10

Another hugely mature weekend from Mercedes’ championship leader. Fourth in the sprint and fourth in qualifying before fighting his way on to the grand prix podium late on, despite dealing with brake concerns and flirting a little too often with track limits.

Lando Norris – 6.5/10

Sunday was solid enough, with fourth probably the maximum McLaren had on outright pace. But his collision with team-mate Oscar Piastri in the sprint cost both drivers heavily, and prevents this from being rated as a particularly strong weekend.

Oscar Piastri – 7/10

The victim rather than the instigator of McLaren’s sprint collision and recovered with a decent Sunday performance. A slow puncture forced an extra stop but he still chased down and passed Lewis Hamilton for fifth, although seventh in qualifying left him with plenty of work to do.

Lewis Hamilton – 7.5/10

His Saturday was excellent – a brilliant start helped turn sixth into second in the sprint before he qualified third for the main race. Ran in the podium places for much of Sunday too, but his decision to stay out on worn tyres backfired badly and eventually dropped him to sixth.

Liam Lawson – 8.5/10

A really impressive weekend for Racing Bulls’ Lawson. Fifth in the sprint, ninth on the grand prix grid and seventh on Sunday meant points in both races and another reminder of just how strong his recent form has become.

Nico Hulkenberg – 8/10

Another very useful weekend for Audi. Took points with seventh in the sprint, narrowly missed Q3 and then finished eighth in the grand prix, holding Russell behind late on in the process.

George Russell – 7/10

The pace deserved a much higher score. Fastest in practice, second in sprint qualifying and sensational off the line to take the sprint lead. However, throwing it into the wall at the end of lap one was a major mistake. Recovering from 19th on the grand prix grid to ninth was an excellent response from the Mercedes driver.

Isack Hadjar – 8/10

Almost everything that went wrong before Sunday was outside of his control. Mechanical trouble on his Red Bull ended his sprint and reliability problems meant he couldn’t set a qualifying time, so recovering from the pit lane to score a point was an excellent drive.

Pierre Gasly – 7/10

Eighth in qualifying was one of the stronger midfield performances of Saturday. Just missed the points in both races and comfortably led Alpine’s challenge across the weekend, even if there wasn’t quite enough race pace to convert it.

Oliver Bearman – 7.5/10

A particularly good sprint where he produced a smart move on Gasly and came home sixth. He qualified P12 and the grand prix was less spectacular, but scoring three sprint points still made this a useful weekend for Haas’ Bearman.

Esteban Ocon – 6/10

Finished 10th in the sprint and 13th in the grand prix without ever really looking like threatening Haas team-mate Bearman’s points haul. A fairly anonymous weekend in which Briton Bearman had the upper hand.

Carlos Sainz – 5.5/10

Starting the sprint from the pit lane immediately made life difficult and there was little improvement afterwards. Qualified in 14th and finished there, making this another frustrating weekend for Williams.

Arvid Lindblad – 5.5/10

There was obvious pace in qualifying, where he reached Q3, but the rest of the weekend was a lot messier for the Racing Bulls driver. Spinning to the back in the sprint and then slipping from 10th to 15th on Sunday meant the potential never really translated into a result.

Fernando Alonso – 5/10

Aston Martin had hoped Singapore would suit the car but it never materialised. Alonso was only 17th in qualifying and finished there on Sunday after an equally quiet sprint.

Sergio Perez – 4.5/10

Another difficult weekend for Cadillac. His sprint ended almost immediately after contact with Lance Stroll, and 20th in qualifying left him with little chance of recovering on Sunday, eventually finishing 17th.

Alex Albon – 4/10

A messy sprint included the three-car incident with Gabriel Bortoleto and Valtteri Bottas before the Williams driver eventually retired. Qualifying 17th didn’t offer much encouragement either, and another retirement late in the grand prix completed a poor weekend.

Valtteri Bottas – 4/10

Caught up in the sprint collision involving Albon and Bortoleto, before qualifying 21st for the grand prix in his Cadillac. Reaching the finish on Sunday was about the only positive, three laps behind the winner.

Lance Stroll – 4.5/10

His sprint was over on the opening lap after the collision with Perez, for which neither driver was penalised. Qualified 19th before a clutch problem ended his race midway through.

Franco Colapinto – 5/10

Not much chance to build any momentum across the weekend. Retired early from the sprint, hit the wall on his final qualifying lap and then suffered a suspected driveline or gearbox-related technical issue on his Alpine in the grand prix.

Gabriel Bortoleto – 5/10

His sprint retirement came in the three-car accident with Albon and Bottas, so there wasn’t much he could do about that. P15 in qualifying was less impressive, before another early retirement on Sunday brought a frustrating weekend to an end for the Audi man.

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