F1 Driver Ratings: Russia 2018

Lewis Hamilton led a Mercedes 1-2 in a slightly controversial but eventful Russian Grand Prix. Valtteri Bottas let Hamilton through in a move which has divided F1 fans and had to settle for second.

Sebastian Vettel lost a further 10 points to Hamilton with a 3rd place finish and is now 50 points behind in the championship.

As per usual, the order you see is the finishing order of the race.

2018 Russian Grand Prix – Sochi Autodrom

Lewis Hamilton: 9/10

Valtteri Bottas: 9/10

Sebastian Vettel: 8/10

Kimi Raikkonen: 7/10

Max Verstappen: 9.5/10

Daniel Ricciardo: 7.5/10

Charles Leclerc: 9.5/10

Kevin Magnussen: 8/10

Esteban Ocon: 8/10

Sergio Perez: 7/10

Romain Grosjean: 6.5/10

Nico Hulkenberg: 6.5/10

Marcus Ericsson: 6/10

Fernando Alonso: 6.5/10

Lance Stroll: 4/10

Stoffel Vandoorne: 6/10

Carlos Sainz: 6/10

Sergey Sirotkin: 6.5/10

RETIRED

Pierre Gasly: 6/10

Brendon Hartley: 5/10

This week the highest ratings (9.5) go to Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen.

Leclerc was much better than teammate Ericsson all weekend despite having never driven around the Sochi Autodrom prior to this weekend. He was best of the rest in a car which was arguably not meant to be there (although it must be said the midfield is very close and the order changes every week so the driver makes the final difference). Leclerc’s qualifying lap was also sensational to take 7th place but his race was even better including a superb around overtake around the outside of Kevin Magnussen at the never-ending turn 3.

We don’t know what Max Verstappen would have done in qualifying but if you just look at his race then it was something pretty special. His race pace on the soft tyres was brilliant and he was in the top five after less than a dozen laps. Even with a superior car, it was still amazing as Sochi is a tough track to overtake on and the racecraft you need to overtake two cars every lap (for the first 8-9 laps) must be top notch. It was a wonderful drive and I’m sure we will look back at his race and see it as a standout moment in his career.

At the other end of the scale is Lance Stroll, with a rating of 4.5. The Williams is the worst car but Stroll was three quarters of a second behind teammate Sirotkin. Stroll was only ahead in the race because Sirotkin suffered some misfortune during the opening lap and was a victim to blue flags every time he started to gain time on his rivals. Stroll’s race was “steady” to say the least.