Is Hamilton enjoying the new Merc upgrade more than Russell?

Max Verstappen - 10

It was another perfect weekend for Verstappen as he matched Senna’s win tally of 41. He didn’t put a foot wrong hence another perfect score. 

Fernando Alonso - 9

Alonso was bullish about Aston Martin’s chances of beating Ferrari and Mercedes in Montreal after a disappointing Spanish Grand Prix. He was proved correct with Aston having the second-fastest car again despite nursing an issue in the closing laps.

Lewis Hamilton - 9

If there were any doubts that Hamilton was past his best following a subpar 2022 campaign - there are no doubts now. Hamilton extracted the most from his Mercedes to put it on the podium again. Another fine drive as he continues to assert his dominance over Russell at Mercedes - is he enjoying this new upgrade more?

Charles Leclerc - 7.5

After another poor qualifying showing, Leclerc did well to recover to finish fourth from his lowly grid position. Ferrari deserve credit for giving both of their drivers a great strategy to get up the order following the Safety Car.

Carlos Sainz - 7

Sainz’s race with his teammate was hampered by the fact he picked up a grid penalty for blocking Gasly. He did well to keep Perez behind on Lap 1 before applying pressure on his teammate later in the race. A solid drive.

Sergio Perez - 4

What is going on with Perez? A third consecutive race he failed to make Q3 in a car that has won all of the races in F1 2023. He was anonymous in the race as he finished sixth - never getting close to the Ferraris ahead.

Alex Albon - 10

The star of the race. Making the most of an inspired strategy from Williams, Albon drove beautifully on worn hard tyre to keep a host of midfield cars behind.

Esteban Ocon - 8

Another strong, dependable midfield drive to come away with a decent points haul for Alpine.

Lance Stroll - 4

Like Perez, Stroll’s stale form continued in Canada. Given how well his teammate performed - finishing second - it was another abysmal weekend despite being able to pick up a couple of points, overtaking Bottas on the last lap.

Valtteri Bottas - 7.5

It looked like Bottas was back on form in Canada. While he wasn’t able to get the most out of the Alfa Romeo in wet conditions in qualifying, his race came alive following the Safety Car when he stayed out. An early switch to the mediums - his only stop of the afternoon - left him vulnerable in the closing laps. Still, an impressive weekend in Canada.

Oscar Piastri - 7

Piastri would have been disappointed to miss out on the points. After a strong opening stint, he was overtaken by teammate Norris into the hairpin. He then lost ground through the next pit stop phase, never quite recovering. Pace-wise, he was very close to Norris, which is very encouraging.

Pierre Gasly - 5.5

A messy weekend overall for Gasly. It ultimately all went wrong in qualifying when he was knocked out in Q1 after being blocked by Sainz. The strategy didn’t quite work out meaning he couldn’t finish in the points in the race.

Lando Norris - 6.5

Norris was feisty during the race in Canada but his good work was undone by a Safety Car infringement, picking up a five-second time penalty as a result. This cost him ninth in the end.

Yuki Tsunoda - 6.5

AlphaTauri didn’t seem to have the pace in Canada, with Tsunoda having a very quiet weekend. 

Nico Hulkenberg - 7

Hulkenberg was the star of qualifying, securing second. He dropped three places on the grid for a red flag infringement. Fast forward to the race, it was a similar story for Haas with high tyre degradation putting the German on the backfoot.

Zhou Guanyu - 5

Zhou was never on Bottas’ level in Canada - often 0.5s to 1.0s off his teammate’s pace.

Kevin Magnussen - 4

Magnussen was a step behind Hulkenberg in qualifying, who has a history of performing well in wet conditions. With de Vries, he provided the funniest moment of the season at Turn 3.

Nyck de Vries - 4

With AlphaTauri lacking outright pace in Canada, it’s hard to be too harsh on de Vries. As previously mentioned, the Dutchman was involved in a very comical moment with Magnussen.

George Russell - 3.5

Russell threw away a potential top four finish by an uncharacteristic mistake early on in the race. He probably could have scored points, even with the crash, but was forced out of the race with a brake issue.

Logan Sargeant - 4

Nowhere near Albon’s level again, Sargeant was the first retirement of the day.