F1 Driver Ratings: Hungary 2019

It was another classic race in Formula One, a race full on intensity and Lewis Hamilton came out on top against an equally impressive Max Verstappen.

Hamilton now leads the championship by 62 points ahead of Valtteri Bottas who finished down in 8th position.

With Hamilton and Verstappen in a league of their own, the Ferrari drivers finished over a minute behind with Sebastian Vettel making a late race overtake to take the final step of the podium ahead of Charles Leclerc.

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

2019 Hungarian Grand Prix – Hungaroring

Lewis Hamilton: 9.5/10

Max Verstappen: 9.5/10

Sebastian Vettel: 8/10

Charles Leclerc: 8/10

Carlos Sainz: 9/10

Pierre Gasly: 3/10

Kimi Raikkonen: 9.5/10

Valtteri Bottas: 6.5/10

Lando Norris: 8/10

Alexander Albon: 7/10

Sergio Perez: 6.5/10

Nico Hulkenberg: 7/10

Kevin Magnussen: 6/10

Daniel Ricciardo: 6/10

Daniil Kvyat: 6/10

George Russell: 9/10

Lance Stroll: 4/10

Antonio Giovinazzi: 3.5/10

Robert Kubica: 3.5/10

RETIRED

Romain Grosjean: 6.5/10

Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen both have scored 9.5s for their incredible performance during the race, neither quite getting the perfect 10 due to Hamilton being outqualified and Verstappen possibly could have managed his tyres a little better to pick up the win.

But I am being picky and more on the sensational battle in this week’s F1 Talk.

A word in Kimi Raikkonen who I have given the same score as the top two. He didn’t put a foot wrong all weekend and remarkably got into Q3 with a fantastic lap in the Alfa Romeo. The 2007 world champion is having a great season and his performance in Hungary was one of his best so far.

In the race, he had a very good first lap (something he regularly struggled with in 2017 and 2018) and kept the pressure on the McLaren drivers in what I believe is a car that is not as good as McLaren at the moment.

Later on, he kept Bottas at bay despite Bottas being on fresher tyres and of course the fastest car. It was a really good drive and very impressive for someone who I have to admit thought had his time with F1.

Unfortunately, it’s the usual drivers getting the low ratings. Pierre Gasly was lapped by his teammate and one second off the pace in qualifying, unable to get in the mix despite Verstappen putting the car on pole position. Not much else to say as it speaks for itself.

I will say that had he been up there, he may have been able to cause problems for Hamilton and helped Verstappen in the race. Imagine if there was a Red Bull within 20 seconds of Hamilton throughout the race, Mercedes would likely not pit for a second time and if they did then Gasly would have been able to hold him up for a few, crucial laps.

Instead, he is racing in the midfield in a top car.

Antonio Giovinazzi didn’t have the best of weekend’s too but at least he has had some very good performances this year but his pace was not good enough in Hungary and Robert Kubica was just as poor.

George Russell was excellent and pulled out a lap from the gods with Kubica trailing by over a second. It’s the same old story unfortunately for Kubica.