Qatar driver ratings: Three drivers star as Perez delivers sackable performance
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Max Verstappen – 10A crowning weekend for Verstappen as he secured his third drivers’ title. The Dutchman secured pole position, the race win and fastest lap. Dominant again.Oscar Piastri – 10Piastri enjoyed his best F1 weekend to date as he out-qualified teammate Norris in both qualifying sessions. He won the sprint race and converted that into a podium on Sunday. He still has work to do in terms of race pace but there’s no doubt that he’s the real deal.
Lando Norris – 8Even though Norris finished on the podium twice, it was one of his weaker weekends of F1 2023. He threw away a P2 grid spot with a track limits violation. Similarly, he lost pole for the sprint after an enforced error at the final corner. Unlike in previous seasons, Norris’ mistakes are now being punished by his teammate.George Russell – 10Russell was brilliant all weekend. He was completely faultless for the Lap 1 contact with his teammate. From that point, his recovery was spectacular. There’s not much more Russell could have done in Qatar.Charles Leclerc – 8.5Ferrari struggled in Qatar with their high-speed, high-load weakness coming to the fore. Leclerc got the most out of it, finishing fifth. Fernando Alonso – 8.5Alonso was mighty in Qatar, other than that one off in the middle of the race which probably cost him a position to Leclerc.Esteban Ocon – 9Ocon enjoyed a great Sunday to come away with seventh. He even had to deal with getting sick while driving on Lap 15.
Valtteri Bottas – 9 There was a rare Q3 appearance for Bottas as he qualified ninth in the Alfa Romeo. The Finn converted a smart strategy to come away with eighth – his best result of the year.Zhou Guanyu – 7.5Zhou struggled relative to Bottas in raw pace terms but executed a tidy race to finish ninth.Related Verstappen demands changes to “way too hot” Qatar: “It’s a bit silly…” Leclerc: Qatar conditions “on the limit” | “Hardest race of our careers”Sergio Perez – 1An absolute shocker for Perez in Qatar. No pace, combined with three separate time penalties. A performance worthy of being replaced for 2024.Lance Stroll – 4Another subpar weekend from Stroll as he failed to make it out of Q1 in both qualifying sessions. He threw away a chance of points when he picked up a late penalty.Pierre Gasly – 5Like Stroll, Gasly threw away a chance of points with a penalty of his own. A step behind Ocon, particularly on Sunday.
Alex Albon – 7Albon was another driver who was hit with a penalty for track limits. His highlight of the weekend came in the sprint, finishing a superb seventh. Kevin Magnussen – 5Magnussen’s qualifying struggles continued in Qatar – 1.1s was the gap in Q1 on Friday. He enjoyed a tidy race where points were never on the cards for Haas.Yuki Tsunoda – 6Tsunoda fought hard to no avail in Qatar. AlphaTauri didn’t seem to have the pace for points.Nico Hulkenberg – 6Incredible in qualifying once again, the race didn’t quite go to plan after picking up a 10-second time penalty for a Lap 1 infringement. Liam Lawson – 5.5Probably Lawson’s weakest weekend since his F1 debut. But that’s probably not too surprising given there was just one practice session on his first visit to Qatar.Logan Sargeant – 5One of Sargeant’s better weekends in terms of pace but still not enough to get ahead of Albon. He retired early after complaining of nausea. Lewis Hamilton – 3Hamilton struggled for outright pace in Qatar as he was comprehensively beaten by Russell. He was then to blame for their Lap 1 contact.Carlos Sainz – N/ASainz was unable to start the race after a technical issue ahead of the race. Thus, it would be unfair to award him a rating given that the race has the biggest influence on the overall mark.”4
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