F1 Driver Ratings - Midfield stars steal the limelight at the Eifel GP

Lewis Hamilton matched a piece of Formula 1 history in Sunday’s Eifel Grand Prix as he drew level with Michael Schumacher’s all-time wins record in Germany.

There were some eye-catching performers in the midfield, while some endured a total nightmare. Here’s how we rated each driver in F1’s Eifel Grand Prix…

Lewis Hamilton (Qualified 2nd, finished 1st) – 8

While Hamilton tasted the winners’ champagne for a record-equalling 91st time in F1, this was not one of the Briton’s vintage drives. Beaten to pole position by a quarter of a second, Hamilton was caught by surprise by Bottas’ dive up the inside at Turn 2 as the Mercedes duo went wheel-to-wheel at the start. Bottas looked to be in control until he dropped the ball, opening the door for Hamilton to capitalise and take a deserved record-equalling win.

Max Verstappen (Qualified 3nd, finished 2nd) – 9

Verstappen getting everything out of his car is becoming something of a theme in 2020. The Dutchman once again starred by coming the closest anyone has to inflicting a qualifying defeat on Mercedes on Saturday, before he maximised his returns with a strong second place behind Hamilton on Sunday. Missed the chance to challenge for lead when he was caught napping at the Safety Car restart but snatched the fastest lap bonus point away on the final lap.

Daniel Ricciardo (Qualified 6th, finished 3rd) – 10

An exemplary drive from Ricciardo to land his first podium since 2018 and Renault’s first rostrum appearance in nine years. Bagged a strong sixth in qualifying and was able to convert that into a podium after Bottas dropped out of contention. Early moves on Albon and Leclerc were important, and gaining a free pit-stop under the full Safety Car helped him maintain position over Perez and win his podium bet with Renault chief Cyril Abiteboul.

Sergio Perez (Qualified 9th, finished 4th) – 9

Another excellent drive and result for Perez, who continues to show just why he deserves a place on the F1 grid next year by notching up his second fourth-place finish in a row. Looked set to catch Ricciardo but his electric pace was negated by the timing of the Safety Car. He may be disappointed not to have beaten Ricciardo to the podium, but he will come away from Germany feeling satisfied by his sublime form of late.

Carlos Sainz (Qualified 10th, finished 5th) – 8

Sainz said he endured 60 laps of “suffering” in the Eifel GP as he struggled all weekend long to get comfortable with the handling characteristics of McLaren’s new aero package, ultimately feeling it had cost him a shot at fighting for the podium. Despite what he believes was a missed opportunity for McLaren, Sainz fought hard on his way to a solid fifth from 10th on the grid.

Pierre Gasly (Qualified 12th, finished 6th) – 9

Gasly continued his fine season at the Nuburgring with another strong drive to sixth. Starting 12th, the AlphaTauri driver charged through the field, passing a number of drivers including both Ferraris, while his stern defence from Albon’s Red Bull was equally impressive. Got the most out of his weekend.

Charles Leclerc (Qualified 4th, finished 7th) – 8

How times have changed that we can now classify finishing seventh in a works’ Ferrari as a good result, but that is the measure of how badly the Scuderia’s 2020 has been. Leclerc starred in qualifying to grab an excellent P4 starting position thanks to his last-gasp heroics in Q3 and did well to hold onto that place for much of the opening stint. Ultimately, Leclerc’s Ferrari was no match for its midfield rivals as he slipped to seventh at the flag.

Nico Hulkenberg (Qualified 20th, finished 8th) – 10

Despite finding out he’d be deputising for an unwell Stroll just hours before qualifying, Hulkenberg delivered a remarkable performance. Against little expectation given the lateness of his call-up, the German made a great start to gain three positions on the opening lap from P20 and continued to battle through the order, eventually finding himself in an unexpected P8. A faultless race highlighted his credentials as he looks to secure a full-time return to the grid in 2021.

Romain Grosjean (Qualified 16th, finished 9th) – 10

Scoring points looked impossible for Grosjean after he plummeted to the back of the field with a woeful start and injured his finger when a wayward Raikkonen flicked gravel into his cockpit. But the Haas driver soldiered on and pulled off an ambitious one-stop strategy to rise into the top-10 for the first time in a year.

Antonio Giovinazzi (Qualified 14th, finished 10th) – 9

Giovinazzi got the better of his teammate Raikkonen in qualifying and came away from the Nurburgring with a point in just his second top-10 appearance of the season. Despite much of the pre-race attention being on Mick Schumacher – who has been linked with Giovinazzi’s seat at Alfa for next year – the Italian turned in a fine drive to hold off Vettel’s Ferrari, even if he should have beaten Grosjean.

Sebastian Vettel (Qualified 11th, finished 11th) – 5

A scrappy and disappointing home race for Vettel, who was left to settle with P11 after being unable to find a way past Giovinazzi to claim the final point on offer. Admitted he took “probably too much risk” as he lost control and spun while trying to pass Giovinazzi on Lap 11, a mistake which ruined the four-time world champion’s latest difficult race.

Kimi Raikkonen (Qualified 19th, finished 12th) – 4

Raikkonen may have set a new record for most starts in F1, but it was a race to forget for the Finn. The Alfa Romeo driver made a number of errors in an uncharacteristically scrappy race and was handed a 10-second time penalty and two penalty points on his licence for punting Russell into retirement during their clumsy Turn 1 clash.

Kevin Magnussen (Qualified 15th, finished 13th) – 6

Outpaced his teammate in qualifying but unlike Grosjean, Magnussen did not gamble on running the Hard tyres and ultimately had a pretty low-key run to P13, with the only noteworthy incident coming as he defended aggressively against Vettel before having to yield.

Nicholas Latifi (Qualified 18th, finished 14th) – 6

Once again could not get the upper hand over Russell in qualifying and despite running as high as 12th after the Safety Car period, Latifi and his Williams team were unable to take advantage of an unpredictable race as he finished second-last.

Daniil Kvyat (Qualified 13th, finished 15th) – 7

Kvyat was certain he would have been on for a top-10 finish had his race not been ruined by Albon, who the Russian blasted as “unprofessional” after the Red Bull driver knocked off Kvyat’s front wing while passing him at the final corner, forcing the latter to complete a full lap with an ailing car before he could pit for repairs.

Lando Norris (Qualified 8th, DNF) – 8

Norris was running as high as fourth and appeared to be on course to be Ricciardo’s main rival for the final podium spot until his engine began to fail. The Briton battled on through the issue until his McLaren finally conked out while he was inside of the points.\

Alex Albon (Qualified 5th, DNF) – 3

A terrible day in the office for Albon, who was forced to make an unscheduled early pit stop after flat-spotting a tyre on the first lap as he lost ground. Suffered a further setback when he was penalised for colliding with Kvyat’s AlphaTauri, before his blushes were spared by Red Bull’s decision to retire his car because of a technical problem.

Esteban Ocon (Qualified 7th, DNF) – 7

Ocon looked on course for a solid haul of points had Renault not been forced to retire his car after encountering a suspected hydraulics failure. While he would have been overshadowed by Ricciardo’s brilliance even if he had finished, there were signs of progress in his performance in Germany.

Valtteri Bottas (Qualified 1st, DNF) – 8

At one stage on Sunday it looked like Bottas might be on course to breathe some much-needed life into the 2020 title fight by claiming back-to-back wins for the first time in his career. Having beaten Hamilton to pole with arguably his best lap of the season, Bottas held onto first place with some punchy driving at Turn 1, only to go and drop the ball with a huge lockup into the same corner not long afterwards. Retiring from the race with engine trouble was a cruel sucker punch to what had been shaping up as another promising weekend.

George Russell (Qualified 17th, DNF) - 7

Russell was blameless in the incident that brought his race to a premature conclusion with an almighty thud as he was sent airborne by Raikkonen after the Alfa Romeo clattered into him at Turn 1. Russell was convinced he would have scored his first points in F1 without the tangle.