Another round of F1 in the books which means it’s time to get into the latest driver power rankings.
Of course by now, you know the drill. These are subjective and based purely on opinion mixed with results.
Are these 100 per cent accurate? Inside my mind, yes! Outside of it, no. But it’s a nice way to spark some discussion, showcase some form and allow a conversation that brings F1 fans closer together – and maybe also further apart at the same time.
Fun, right? Always!
Rather than rank all 20 drivers on the grid, I have made it more streamlined and easier by simply bringing the top 10 drivers.
As always this means that some drivers drop out, and a couple have jumped in after my last rankings.
You can also check out my team power rankings too for a similar analysis.
Let’s get to it.
10. Esteban Ocon (-)
Got a couple of points from the sprint race. Other than that nothing more to report, outside of the fact that he broke the record for most penalties incurred in a single Grand Prix with five. Congrats Esteban!
9. Lando Norris (new)
Feel like he could be higher on this list, but a solid weekend from Lando who will take the form from Austria and hope it comes again at his home race this weekend.
8. Sergio Perez (-2)
Feel a little harsh putting Sergio this low but his form is worrying. Since he took pole in Miami, he hasn’t made it into Q3. That is a big concern, particularly given how well he was doing at that point in the season. Drove a great race on Sunday to work his way up to the podium, but never really looked like challenging for second with Leclerc. Needs to improve rapidly if he is to get second in the Championship and also have any hope of challenging his teammate.
7. Lance Stroll (-2)
Another driver I feel harsh dropping as he didn’t do anything wrong all weekend, it more comes down to other drivers going up around him. Out qualified his teammate for only the second time this season, held him off during the sprint race and bore the brunt of an unlucky strategy call in the main race. He then drove the wheels of his Aston Martin to finish 10th on the track and ninth in the final standings. A solid weekend.
(Photo by PlanetF1)
6. George Russell (-2)
Bit of a nothing weekend by George. Was outpaced by his teammate, struggled in all qualifying sessions and didn’t really look like doing much outside of that. Will look to improve at home this weekend.
5. Lewis Hamilton (-2)
Similar to his teammate, Hamilton had a bit of an off weekend. Spent most of the race complaining about his penalty and wondering why others weren’t getting them (they were Lewis) and just didn’t bring it home the way he usually does. Still he got points, so that’s good at least.
4. Fernando Alonso (-2)
Another off weekend for Alonso who didn’t look remotely close to a podium weekend. A rare weekend in which it looked as though his teammate had the better of him too. With Ferrari improving as much as they did, he’ll be hoping that the form and pace can return at Silverstone this weekend.
3. Carlos Sainz Jr (+5)
A great weekend from Carlos as finally the pace came in the Ferrari. A sprint podium on Saturday and unlucky to miss out on a main race podium on Sunday. Had a good battle with Perez on the Sunday, although the ‘intimidating me’ quotes won’t age well in the weeks to come, and you also have to feel for him given he had to remain behind his teammate early on when clearly he had more pace. With all that aside, it’s a much needed weekend for the Spaniard.
2. Charles Leclerc (+5)
Everything said above with Sainz and more. While his sprint race wasn’t anything to sing home about, drove a great race on the Sunday with some real ballsy challenging moments against Verstappen at the start. Maintained his pace and never looked challenged for second place. A confidence booster for him for sure.
1. Max Verstappen (-)
Have to drop him at least 0.000001% for not leading every lap of the race for the first time in about 2000 years. Terrible right? I mean two poles and two wins, he should be doing better clearly…
(Photo by Reuters)
What do you think of these rankings? Do you agree with the positions? Let me know what you think in the comments below.