F1 Driver Ratings: China 2019

Lewis Hamilton led yet another Mercedes 1-2 in what was a rather lacklustre 1000th World Championship race. With the race win, Hamilton also takes the championship lead. Valtteri Bottas finished 2nd after losing out at the start to his teammate.

Sebastian Vettel took his first podium of the year but Ferrari were way off the pace and were unable to challenge the mighty Mercedes. Max Verstappen split the Ferraris in 4th as Charles Leclerc was given a poor strategy.

Below are the Driver Ratings, as usual the order you see below is the finishing order of the Grand Prix.

2019 Chinese Grand Prix – Shanghai International Circuit

Lewis Hamilton: 8.5/10

Valtteri Bottas: 8/10

Sebastian Vettel: 7.5/10

Max Verstappen: 8/10

Charles Leclerc: 7/10

Pierre Gasly: 6/10

Daniel Ricciardo: 8.5/10

Sergio Perez: 9/10

Kimi Raikkonen: 8/10

Alexander Albon: 6/10

Romain Grosjean: 7/10

Lance Stroll: 5/10

Kevin Magnussen: 6.5/10

Carlos Sainz: 7/10

Antonio Giovinazzi: 5/10

George Russell: 7.5/10

Robert Kubica: 7/10

RETIRED

Lando Norris: 6/10

Daniil Kvyat: 6/10

Nico Hulkenberg: 7.5/10

The highest rating this week goes to Sergio Perez. I don’t think many people spotted how good a race he had. His Racing Point is arguably the 7th or 8th best car yet he dragged it into 12th place. On Sunday, the Mexican had an exceptional start, overtaking Daniil Kvyat into turn one, then going around both of the Haas drivers through turns two and three and outbraking Nico Hulkenberg into turn six. Probably the best bit of racecraft I saw during the whole Grand Prix. He also made the one stop work and took a very good 8th place.

There wasn’t really a worst driver from the weekend. Many may say Kvyat for “causing a collision” as he touched Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris at turn six on the opening lap. The Russian received a drive-through penalty for the incident which I thought was completely unfair. It was a racing incident and a simple three into one doesn’t go situation but I can see why the penalty was given – personally I would not have given anything.

Alexander Albon’s drive was perhaps overrated. Remember, he crashed in FP3 at the final corner and could not compete in qualifying due to the damage he sustained. His 10th place was good considering he started last but he should have got some more points had he not crashed in practice. I remember giving Max Verstappen a low score and a bit of a slamming last year when he crashed in Monaco last year during FP3, and like Albon having to start from the back.

Then, there were a few drivers who simply lacked pace compared to their teammates – Antonio Giovinazzi, Lance Stroll and Pierre Gasly. All three need to get much closer to their respective teammates.