F1 Driver Ratings: Austria 2019

An incredible Austrian Grand Prix climaxed with Max Verstappen taking his sixth win in Formula One after a superb drive. It was controversial but the stewards deemed his lap 69 incident with Charles Leclerc at turn three, a ‘racing incident’.

Leclerc had to settle from second and missed out yet again to take his maiden win. The Monegasque driver said it ‘hurt more than Bahrain’ but surely the win will come at some point because he drove brilliantly all weekend.

Valtteri Bottas picked up a podium as Mercedes struggled for the first time this year and means they missed out on equalling McLaren’s record of 11 consecutive wins from 1988.

Sebastian Vettel overtook Lewis Hamilton to finish 4th with Hamilton in 5th.

As always, the order below is the finishing order of the Grand Prix.

2019 Austrian Grand Prix – Red Bull Ring

Max Verstappen: 10/10

Charles Leclerc: 9.5/10

Valtteri Bottas: 8/10

Sebastian Vettel: 8/10

Lewis Hamilton: 6.5/10

Lando Norris: 9/10

Pierre Gasly: 3.5/10

Carlos Sainz: 9/10

Kimi Raikkonen: 8.5/10

Antonio Giovinazzi: 7.5/10

Sergio Perez: 7/10

Daniel Ricciardo: 7/10

Nico Hulkenberg: 6.5/10

Lance Stroll: 5.5/10

Alexander Albon: 6/10

Romain Grosjean: 5.5/10

Daniil Kvyat: 5/10

George Russell: 8/10

Kevin Magnussen: 6/10

Robert Kubica: 3.5/10

How can Max Verstappen’s drive not be a 10/10? It was just insane. In my opinion, it was one of the greatest drives in F1 this century. He had no chance of winning after a poor start but he recovered from that problem and more.

He showed great maturity when overtaking Sebastian Vettel as he did not take a risk in the laps before when he had half a chance of getting past the 4-time world champion but when he did get the job done, it was decisive. Verstappen showed great patience to prepare the overtake out of turn three on the run down to turn four.

The same can be said when he overtook Valtteri Bottas. Verstappen was pushing so hard and was driving like a man possessed as he lit up the timing screen and edged closer and closer to Leclerc. You could visibly see Verstappen hustling the car through the middle sector and somehow he managed the tyres perfectly too.

It was simply staggering and I am still in awe of how he did it. It’s probably Verstappen’s best drive in F1, or at least right up there with Brazil 2016. From 15 seconds behind Leclerc, with seven cars between him and the leader to winning the race. How often do you get that in F1?

There were no safety cars to help him as well and it is going to be a contender for drive of the year in any motorsport series this year.

Huge credit to Leclerc as well who topped two of the practice sessions, took pole position, and was consistently 0.2-0.3 quicker than Vettel throughout the weekend. It’s a shame there had to be a loser.

Conversely, Pierre Gasly made another mistake when it mattered in qualifying and was 0.7 slower than teammate Verstappen. On a track that is only 2.6 miles long and is the shortest laptime of the year, this is a massive, massive gap.

Gasly has still not been able to adapt his driving style or get comfortable in the car and it looks like he never will. Then to top things off, he was lapped by Verstappen and was blistering his tyres whilst Verstappen was getting faster and faster and challenging for the win. It’s unacceptable really and he will be lucky to survive the season with Red Bull.

Robert Kubica is underperforming too and Austria was one of his worst races of the year. Teammate George Russell started from the pitlane and lapped Kubica. Russell is doing a superb job but Kubica has been shockingly bad and is only going unnoticed by some because Williams are at the back.

The Kubica story is incredible and he is universally liked but I can’t find a way to defend his lack of pace compared to a rookie.

Gasly and Kubica need something miraculous to stay in F1 next season.