US GP driver ratings: Lewis Hamilton's lowest score of 2024 F1 season

Charles Leclerc - 9

Leclerc put together a brilliant race to take his third F1 victory of the year. He was perfect on the opening lap, moving past three cars to take the lead. From that point onwards, he didn’t look back.

Carlos Sainz - 8.5

One of Sainz’s stronger weekends of the year. His sprint race performance was devastating, pulling off some outstanding manoeuvres on Leclerc and then Norris. Despite an early pit stop, his pace on the hard tyre was fantastic, helping secure another 1-2 for Ferrari.

Max Verstappen - 9.5

Verstappen maximised the RB20 in Austin. He took the sprint race win with ease before finishing on the podium in the grand prix. He then put on a defensive masterclass to keep Norris at bay for a number of laps.

Lando Norris - 8

There’s no doubt that Norris’ speed is incredible, demonstrated by his first lap in Q3 on Saturday. However, mistakes in the sprint and indecision against Verstappen (on Lap 1 and during their later battle) meant he came away from Austin as second best in the title race.

Oscar Piastri - 7

Piastri was never quite at the level required to challenge for the podium in Austin. In his own words, it was a “boring” race for the Australian.

George Russell - 6.5

Russell starred in sprint qualifying to put it on the front row of the grid. But the highs stopped there as Mercedes fell back. Things only got worse for Russell when he crashed in Q3, forcing him into a pit lane start. While he did recover to finish sixth, it was generally a scrappy weekend.

Sergio Perez - 5.5

A typical Perez weekend in 2024: slow and rarely featuring towards the front of the order.

Nico Hulkenberg - 7

Hulkenberg couldn’t capitalise on Haas’ pace in conventional qualifying with two mistakes in Q2. A great strategy and strong race pace made up for a poor Saturday with yet another points finish.

Liam Lawson - 8

Lawson’s true potential in qualifying was masked by his 60-place grid penalty for a new engine. The Kiwi showcased his talent in the race, optimising RB’s clever strategy of going long with the favourable tyre setup.

Franco Colapinto - 8

Colapinto continues to star in the Williams. He outclassed Albon in sprint qualifying before marginally missing out on beating the Thai driver on Saturday. The Argentine revealed afterwards that he pushed Williams to start him on the hards - and that decision proved crucial to finishing inside the top 10.

Kevin Magnussen - 7.5

Magnussen enjoyed one of his better weekends of the season. A rare Q3 appearance, but the two-stop strategy was unfavourable.

Pierre Gasly - 7.5

Gasly was arguably the star in qualifying, securing seventh in the upgraded Alpine. Unfortunately, like Magnussen, strategy let him down.

Fernando Alonso - 7.5

Alonso outperformed the Aston Martin to make Q3 at the Circuit of the Americas. He just went backwards in the race, which wasn’t his fault.

Yuki Tsunoda - 6.5

While Tsunoda was annoyed about the strategy deployed by RB, his spin at Turn 1 threw away any shot of finishing in the points. His speed was there, but it didn’t quite come together.

Lance Stroll - 6

An anonymous weekend for Stroll, who lacked pace relative to Alonso.

Alex Albon - 4

This was perhaps Albon’s worst weekend for Williams. He spun in SQ1 and only narrowly out-qualified rookie teammate Colapinto in conventional qualifying. He was then involved in a Lap 1 collision with Ocon, which resulted in damage.

Valtteri Bottas - 6.5

Bottas continued his impressive streak of out-qualifying teammate Zhou in all but one of the races this year. While the Sauber was still the slowest car, he competed well in the midfield, but it wasn’t enough to contend for the top 10.

Esteban Ocon - 6.5

On the surface, Ocon lagged well behind teammate Gasly in Austin. However, the former Force India driver is running a China-spec version of the car (the Chinese GP was in April). He did pick up the fastest lap.

Zhou Guanyu - 5.5

Zhou was closer to Bottas than usual despite not running all of the upgrades. As Bottas got caught up in the Lap 1 mayhem, Zhou moved up the order. However, his good work was undone by a spin.

Lewis Hamilton - 3

A horrendous weekend for Hamilton. Despite being on course to take pole in sprint qualifying, his weekend effectively fell apart when his lap was ruined by yellow flags. He had no space in the sprint race before getting knocked out in Q1. He then spun in the opening laps of the race.