F1 Driver Ratings - Spanish Grand Prix

Here’s how we rated each driver in Formula 1’s Spanish Grand Prix, as Lewis Hamilton stormed to a resounding 88th career win in Barcelona…

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - 10

Hamilton didn’t put a foot wrong all weekend as he stormed to pole position and converted it into a dominant, resounding victory to further extend his championship lead. A masterclass in tyre management was key en route to his 88th career win.

Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes - 6

Bottas was narrowly beaten to pole by Hamilton but instead of applying the pressure to his teammate on the long drag to Turn 1, he paid the price for an awful start that momentarily dropped him to fifth. Recovered to third but took too long passing Stroll and was unable to close in on Verstappen on faster tyres.

Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari - 8

Overruled Ferrari’s indecisive strategy to pull off an ambitious and risky one-stopper as he rose from P11 to finish seventh, scoring the Italian outfit’s only points. Beat Albon’s Red Bull on his way to a seventh place finish that looked unlikely at the start of the day.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari - 8

A slightly underwhelming qualifying by his recent standards was the only disappointing aspect of Leclerc’s performance in Barcelona. The Monegasque looked in contention for a P6 or P7 finish before an electric problem shut down his engine and led to his first mechanical retirement at Ferrari.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull - 10

We didn’t give Verstappen full marks despite winning in Silverstone because he was beaten by a slower car in qualifying, but in Spain the Dutchman returned to his usual P3 starting position and once again extracted everything and more from his Red Bull en route to splitting the Mercedes on a day the only weakness to exploit came from the W11 carrying number 77.

Alex Albon, Red Bull - 6

Another solid drive from Albon on race day, but he was once again well down on the level of performance of his teammate, despite an improved qualifying to grab P6. Ultimately the decision to stop early cost Albon dear as he re-emerged in traffic but he was still beaten to the flag by three slower cars and lapped by Verstappen.

Carlos Sainz, McLaren - 9

Overcame his recent cooling issues with his McLaren package to back up a strong qualifying with an even better performance on race-day. Sixth place was a just reward for Sainz’s efforts on home soil, with the Spaniard only bettered by the Mercedes, Verstappen’s Red Bull, and the two Racing Point cars. Was only 1.5s off fifth at the end.

Lando Norris, McLaren - 6

A poor start cost Norris two spots off the line and meant he had to run in midfield traffic for much of the race. Slipping back to 10th behind the likes of Vettel and the slower AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly was disappointment while his teammate went on to bag sixth. “?:

Daniel Ricciardo, Renault - 6

Unable to replicate his qualifying heroics from Silverstone as both Renaults were eliminated in Q2, with Ricciardo also ending up behind Daniil Kvyat’s AlphaTauri. Drove well to make a one-stopper work as he gained two positions in the race but ultimately missed out on points in 11th.

Esteban Ocon, Renault - 5

Pulled off some entertaining, bold overtakes but that did not take away from the fact Ocon endured a pretty poor weekend overall which included getting out-qualified by Kimi Raikkonen’s Alfa Romeo in Q2. Finished behind teammate Ricciardo and Renault’s main midfield rivals and declared after the race he is seeking a “fresh start” at the next round in Belgium.

Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri - 9

Gasly continues to shine as one of the quiet stars of the 2020 season. Another brilliant qualifying performance saw him make it into Q3 for the fourth time this year, before he turned in a strong drive on Sunday to head Norris’ McLaren and finish just half a second behind his former Red Bull car driven by Albon in ninth.

Daniil Kvyat, AlphaTauri - 6

Failed to follow up a solid qualifying as the Russian finished where he started in Barcelona, a pretty low-key 12th. Was not far behind Ricciardo’s Renault at the end but picked up a clumsy five-second time penalty for ignoring blue flags that sees him lose a mark.

Sergio Perez, Racing Point - 7

A strong return to the F1 grid after being ruled out of two races with COVID-19 as Perez extracted the maximum from his RP20 car. The Mexican excelled in qualifying and converted his P4 start into fourth on the road, but loses marks for getting slapped with a penalty that dropped him to fifth after he failed to allow race-leader Hamilton through fast enough when getting lapped.

Lance Stroll, Racing Point - 8

Stroll claimed an impressive ‘best of the rest’ P4 for Racing Point to match his previous best result so far this season. While he may have been slightly slower than teammate Perez in qualifying and the race, it was still a strong drive from the Canadian who pulled off passes on Bottas and Vettel and moves up to fifth in the championship.

Kimi Raikkonen, Alfa Romeo - 10

Performance-wise, this was arguably the best of Raikkonen’s season to date. It was a really solid showing from the Finn, who advanced to Q2 and outqualifed the quicker Renault of Ocon to land 14th, before finishing well clear of his rivals and teammate in the race. While it may not seem like much to shout about, 14th was the best Raikkonen could have realistically have hoped for given Alfa Romeo’s current competitiveness.

Antonio Giovinazzi, Alfa Romeo - 6

Giovinazzi rose four places from the back of the grid after floor damage hampered his qualifying efforts and left him anchored to the bottom of the timesheets in P20. Pulled off some good overtakes on the Williams and Grosjean’s Haas but finished well down on teammate Raikkonen.

Romain Grosjean, Haas - 4

Suffered a qualifying defeat to Haas teammate Magnussen, before he clashed with Giovinazzi and picked up damage running wide at Turn 1. After a promising Friday inside the top six, Grosjean finished the weekend last after a big spin late on dropped him to the back.

Kevin Magnussen, Haas - 7

Outpaced Grosjean by a comfortable two-tenths in qualifying to overturn Grosjean’s rapid practice pace and went on to finish as the highest-placed Haas driver in P15 thanks to a one-stop strategy that helped him split the Alfa Romeos.

George Russell, Williams - 7

Russell may not have been able to lift his Williams out of Q1 this time, but the Briton nevertheless enjoyed a strong showing in the race as he overtake Grosjean’s Haas early on and enjoyed a ding-dong battle with Raikkonen’s Alfa, ultimately ending up nine seconds behind Giovinazzi at the finish.

Nicholas Latifi, Williams - 5

Latifi showed glimpses of getting closer to Russell throughout practice but ultimately ended up 0.5s off in qualifying. That turned into an eight-second deficit in the race as the Canadian finished two laps down. Loses a point due to rather large gap to Russell.