Belgian GP driver ratings: Ricciardo who? Tsunoda hits back at Spa
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Max Verstappen – 10 Another incredible weekend from Verstappen. Even though he lost pole due to a gearbox penalty, the win was never in doubt at Spa-Francorchamps.Sergio Perez – 6.5Perez admits ‘nothing I could have done’ to stop VerstappenA better weekend for Perez given he was able to finish inside the top two for the first time since Miami. However, given the substantial deficit to Verstappen, it’s hard to give him a higher rating.Charles Leclerc – 9It seems Leclerc just loves sprint weekends. All of his podiums in F1 2023 have come during sprint events – Azerbaijan, Austria and now Belgium. Leclerc was brilliant, with the main blemish on his weekend his performance in the sprint shootout.
Lewis Hamilton – 8.5Another fine weekend from Hamilton, who has closed to within just one-point of Fernando Alonso for third in the drivers’ championship.Fernando Alonso – 8After a recent run of poor races, Alonso was back among the top five at Spa. He did suffer an uncharacteristic mistake in the sprint race, ing out while running behind Nico Hulkenberg.George Russell – 7Russell continues to struggle relative to Hamilton, particularly over one lap. Russell did have the pace during both races but his poor qualifying displays put him on the backfoot. Lando Norris – 7.5Norris: Lack of straight-line speed “painful” | “We got it wrong…”A strange weekend for Norris. His off in conventional qualifying gave him damage, putting him at a severe disadvantage, while he simply didn’t have the pace of Oscar Piastri during the two Saturday sessions. In the main race, he dropped all the way back to 18th as he struggled with a lack of straight-line speed, recovering to finish seventh. A messy weekend on the whole but no doubt, he wasn’t at his usual high level.
Esteban Ocon – 7.5Ocon didn’t quite have Gasly’s pace early in the weekend but the Frenchman came alive midway through the grand prix. He was electric on the softs, overtaking his teammate, Alex Albon and Lance Stroll to finish in the points.Lance Stroll – 6.5A typical Stroll performance at Spa. He was slower than Alonso, ed in the sprint shoot, and then had a busy Sunday – fighting hard in the midfield before picking up a couple of points. Strategy ultimately cost the Canadian.Related Verstappen’s candid response to his F1 domination: ‘I know this will stop…’ Norris: Lack of straight-line speed “painful” | “We got it wrong…” Yuki Tsunoda – 9An amazing Sunday performance from Tsunoda at Spa. He was aggressive and ran as high as seventh at one point. Inevitably, he dropped down the order as he lacked pace relative to Russell, Norris and the Alpine of Ocon.
Pierre Gasly – 8Gasly enjoyed a stunning Saturday, finishing on the podium in the sprint. His one-stop strategy didn’t pay off when it looked like he was the quicker of the two Alpines this weekend, compounded by a slow pit stop.Valtteri Bottas – 7Bottas got the most out of the Alfa Romeo as he out-classed teammate Zhou Guanyu in each of the sessions. 12th was probably the maximum at a circuit that the team didn’t expect to go well at. Zhou Guanyu – 6A step or two behind teammate Bottas all weekend, Zhou was fairly anonymous besides his late-race charge.Alex Albon – 7Albon looked a strong contender for the points, however, it seemed Williams struggled with tyre degradation as both cars were forced into three stops.Kevin Magnussen – 6With teammate Nico Hulkenberg plagued with technical gremlins, it was Magnussen’s chance to shine. He managed to qualify 13th but was hit with a penalty for impeding Leclerc.
Daniel Ricciardo – 6Ricciardo’s weekend was undone by a track limits invalidation in Q1 on Friday. Without that, he’d have likely qualified inside the top 12. He struggled in the race on Sunday.Logan Sargeant – 5Another poor weekend from Sargeant.Nico Hulkenberg – 6Technical issues robbed Hulkenberg of any possible good result at Spa.Carlos Sainz – 7Sainz was not quite at Leclerc’s level, but did well to finish ahead of him in the sprint race. His race was ruined by a clash with Piastri on the opening lap – which was probably a racing incident.Oscar Piastri – 8It was an amazing weekend for Piastri up until the main grand prix. He finished second in the sprint after nearly taking pole in the shootout. Unfortunately, he was involved in an unfortunate racing incident wih Sainz.
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