Belgian GP F1 driver ratings: Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc impress the most at Spa

Lewis Hamilton - 9.5

The seven-time world champion delivered another masterclass at Spa-Francorchamps as he clinched the 105th victory of his illustrious career. Why not the perfect 10 rating? He didn’t overtake teammate Russell on track.

Oscar Piastri - 8.5

Another impressive weekend from Piastri, who continues to show a great combination of pace and maturity. After starring in Q1 and Q2, it seemed like Piastri underperformed when it mattered in qualifying. He was on the attack during the race, challenging the two Mercedes drivers late on.

Charles Leclerc - 9.5

Leclerc simply got the most out of the Ferrari at Spa-Francorchamps. His lap for second - effectively pole position - was stunning, particularly given Ferrari’s high-speed woes. It was inevitable that he would fall back on race day, which he did. However, still kept Verstappen and Norris behind.

Max Verstappen - 8.5

Verstappen delivered a clinic in qualifying to top the timesheets by well over 0.5s His 10-place grid penalty put him on the backfoot, and with Red Bull lacking their unusual straight-line speed advantage, on top of dirty air being more severe, he struggled to make significant progress.

Lando Norris - 7

With Verstappen starting in 11th, Norris had the perfect opportunity to reduce the reigning world champion’s lead. Norris made a rookie mistake at the start, running wide into the gravel at La Source on Lap 1 for no reason. This put him on the backfoot. His recovery from there wasn’t aided by his strategy nor his inability to get past Verstappen even with McLaren’s straight-line speed advantage.

Carlos Sainz - 7

A distinctly average weekend for Sainz as he was comprehensively out-performed by teammate Leclerc. While the decision to start on the hard tyres looked like a good one, he was put out of contention when he stopped later for the less durable medium tyre.

Sergio Perez - 6.5

Perez’s Saturday performance was back to where it should be as a Red Bull driver, securing second on the grid behind Leclerc after Verstappen’s penalty. His race day performance was underwhelming, falling through the field as he struggled for pace.

Fernando Alonso - 8.5

Alonso was one of the other drivers to adopt a one-stop strategy. It paid off as he was propelled into the points, eventually finishing eighth following Russell’s disqualification. A tidy weekend on the whole.

Esteban Ocon - 9

Ocon put in a starring drive in the midfield to come away ninth. While he was very frustrated by Alpine’s strategy, Ocon was one of the few drivers able to overtake on Sunday. His pass on Bottas at Les Combes was opportunistic. A great weekend for the recently-announced Haas driver.

Daniel Ricciardo - 8

With Tsunoda’s 60-place grid penalty, the onus was on Ricciardo to perform, particularly with Red Bull holding talks about Perez’s future this week. He was on course to finish ninth before losing out to Ocon in the closing laps, who was on much fresher tyres.

Lance Stroll - 6.5

Like Alonso, Stroll attempted the one-stop strategy. Unfortunately, he lost out to Ocon and Ricciardo as he lamented a lack of straight-line speed in the Aston Martin.

Alex Albon - 7.5

A typical Albon weekend. Much quicker than his teammate before contending in the midfield, in and around the top 10. It didn’t quite work out as he missed out on a points finish.

Pierre Gasly - 6.5

Ocon had a decisive edge at Spa over Gasly. While Gasly did get track position over his teammate through the pit stop phase, he was overtaken into La Source.

Kevin Magnussen - 6.5

Magnussen was one of the other midfield runners to attempt a one-stop strategy. It fared quite well as he finished 14th. The Dane conceded afterwards that Haas simply didn’t have the pace for fight for points.

Valtteri Bottas - 7

Bottas was a whopping 2.2s quicker than Zhou in Q1 as his impressive qualifying form in 2024 continued. After making a good start, Bottas looked like he was trying a one-stop strategy before a late stop for the mediums dropped him down the order.

Yuki Tsunoda - 6.5

It’s hard to truly examine Tsunoda’s weekend given his 60-place engine penalty.

Nico Hulkenberg - 6.5

An early pit stop for Hulkenberg didn’t work out as he struggled for overall pace relative to Magnussen during the race.

Logan Sargeant - 6

Sargeant struggled for race pace on the mediums, while he was also forced to play the team game to aid Albon’s chances in the middle-part of the race.

Zhou Guanyu - 6

Zhou’s race ended prematurely after suffering a hydraulic issue. Still, he was well off the pace in qualifying.

George Russell - 9

An inspired strategy from Russell put him in the race lead ahead of Hamilton. He resisted the seven-time world champion before taking the win on track. It was an impressive strategy call - and one that warranted the victory.