DRIVER RATINGS: You won’t guess which midfield driver got 10/10…

Charles Leclerc - 10

It’s been long overdue for Leclerc, who claimed his third victory of the season. Remarkably, before today, the Monegasque hadn’t tasted victory since April at the Australian Grand Prix. It was a perfect Sunday for Leclerc, who overtook main title rival Max Verstappen three times. He even had to manage a throttle issue in the closing laps but was able to keep the lead.

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• F1 2022 Austrian Grand Prix - Full Race results from Round 11

Max Verstappen - 9 

Verstappen was at his very best in qualifying and during the sprint, winning outright in both events. Come race day, Ferrari simply had the quickest car so Verstappen had little to resist Leclerc. Overall, Verstappen lost just five points to his main rival in the championship standings - a great weekend on reflection.

Lewis Hamilton - 7

A scrappy weekend for the seven-time F1 champion ended up with a surprise podium finish. Hamilton crashed in Q3 and was timid during the sprint, spending much of it behind Haas duo Magnussen and Schumacher. It was a similar story during the opening laps of the grand prix, dropping behind the German Haas driver after an error into Turn 1. Mercedes’ quicker race pace allowed Hamilton to make progress, benefitting from Sainz’s engine failure to finish on the podium.

George Russell - 7

Like his more experienced teammate, Russell ended Q3 in the barriers after losing control of his car at the final corner. With a lap on the board already, Russell’s grid position was unaffected. After a quiet sprint, he was in the wars on the opening lap, colliding with Perez at Turn 3. Russell was handed a five-second penalty and had to fit a new front wing. With Mercedes’ significant pace advantage over the midfield, he recovered to finish fourth.

Esteban Ocon - 10

A perfect weekend from Ocon at the Red Bull Ring. The Frenchman extracted the maximum from the Alpine to secure fifth in qualifying. His impressive level of performance continued for the rest of the weekend, ultimately securing fifth on grand prix Sunday. An important weekend for Ocon after Alonso’s mighty form recently. 

Mick Schumacher - 9 

Schumacher enjoyed his finest weekend as an F1 driver to date with an impressive Sunday performance. He’s unfortunate to miss out on a 10/10 rating but he was out-qualified by his teammate and dropped out of the points in the sprint despite being quicker than Magnussen. Still, he was incredible on race day to finish sixth - his career-best result.

Lando Norris - 8

Norris continues to get the most out of the McLaren as he out-qualified and out-performed his struggling teammate at the Red Bull Ring. Even with an older engine and a lack of practice in FP1, Norris moved up the order before overtaking Magnussen late on to finish seventh. A fine drive despite a five-second time penalty for track limits.

Kevin Magnussen - 8

Haas enjoyed their best result of the season with sixth and eighth in Austria. Magnussen had the advantage over Schumacher in qualifying and the sprint but got caught out in the grand prix on Sunday. The Dane ran wide in the sweeping corners which allowed Schumacher to get past. Magnussen then lost out to Norris in the closing dozen laps. Haas confirmed afterwards that he had a power unit issue throughout the race.

Daniel Ricciardo - 7

Ricciardo returned to the points after a barron run of results but he still continues to struggle in this year’s McLaren. Even though Norris was running an older engine, Ricciardo didn’t have the pace to compete with his teammate over the 71-lap grand prix. Work to do for the Australian but at least he scored points.

Fernando Alonso - 8

Lady luck is really not on Alonso’s side as an engine issue meant he wasn’t able to compete in the sprint. Starting from the back of the grid, Alonso moved up the order with Alpine looking competitive in the Styrian hills. With the VSC deployed on Lap 57, Alonso made his second stop for mediums, rejoining in ninth. An issue with the pit stop meant he had to pit again, dropping him to 14th before recovering to 10th. A missed opportunity for Alonso but ultimately it wasn’t his fault. Without his second stop, he’d have finished sixth. 

Valtteri Bottas - 7 

Starting from the pit lane, Bottas finished 11th in the end. Alfa Romeo lacked straight-line speed and outright performance relative to Haas and Alpine. Bottas overtook Albon in the closing laps before losing out on 10th to Alonso on Lap 70.

Alex Albon - 7

The Williams upgrade seems to be working with Albon running comfortably in the midfield for the 71-lap race. The Thai driver was 10th after Sainz’s retirement but couldn’t fend off Bottas or Alonso in faster machinery in the closing phase of the race.

Lance Stroll - 6

A battling drive from Stroll in Austria as he out-qualified teammate Vettel for the first time in six events. Aston Martin were never in the hunt for points at the Red Bull Ring so it’s hard to be too harsh against the Canadian. 

Zhou Guanyu - 6

After a couple of strong weekends relative to teammate Bottas, Zhou struggled for pace as he was knocked out in Q1. After that, the Chinese driver wasn’t really a factor in the weekend but Alfa Romeo were certainly less competitive than in recent rounds due to a lack of straight-line speed.

Pierre Gasly - 3

An awful weekend for Gasly overall. The Frenchman was involved in a crash on the opening lap of the sprint which ruined the rest of his weekend. Gasly picked up a couple of penalties for track limits before colliding with Vettel at Turn 3, which resulted in another penalty.

Yuki Tsunoda -  5

Tsunoda described his 2022 Austrian GP as a ‘really tough weekend’ with an underlying issue potentially at the cause of his troubled weekend. The Japanese driver fell down the order and was even on the end of a finger-wag by Alonso after he pushed the two-time champion on the grass.

Sebastian Vettel - 5

A rare off-weekend for Vettel, who qualified last after seeing his final effort in Q1 deleted for track limits. The German spun on his accord in the sprint, meaning he started 18th in the end. A solid race was undone by contact with Gasly at Turn 4, which wasn’t his fault but ensured he ended the race with floor damage.

Carlos Sainz - 8

After gaining momentum in recent rounds, Sainz was a close match for teammate Leclerc and Verstappen throughout the weekend in Austria. He was less than a tenth away from pole position on Friday before duelling with the aforementioned pair in the sprint. He was on course to finish second until his engine went up in flames on Lap 57.

Nicholas Latifi - 5

Without the upgraded parts on his Williams, it was no surprise to see Latifi struggle at the Red Bull Ring. After his impressive Silverstone weekend, it was back to reality for the Canadian driver, who was forced to retire early on with a mechanical issue.

Sergio Perez - 6

Perez recovered from his disappointing qualifying result (13th after his Q3 laps were deleted for track limits in Q2) to secure fifth on the grid. Contact with Russell on the opening lap proved costly as he ended up in the gravel trap with significant damage to his car. While Russell was to blame and rightfully received a penalty, Perez could have been more patient. A serious dent to his season.