F1 Driver Ratings: Russia 2020

A slightly controversial Russian Grand Prix saw Valtteri Bottas win his second race of the 2020 Formula 1 season.

Bottas and Max Verstappen who finished second benefitted from two time penalties for Lewis Hamilton who was penalised for not doing his practice starts in the designated area on the way to the grid.

Hamilton still managed to make the podium but his championship lead has been trimmed to 44 points over Bottas

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

2020 Russian Grand Prix – Sochi

Valtteri Bottas: 8.5/10

Max Verstappen: 9.5/10

Lewis Hamilton: 6.5/10

Sergio Perez: 9/10

Daniel Ricciardo: 8/10

Charles Leclerc: 8/10

Esteban Ocon: 6.5/10

Daniil Kvyat: 8/10

Pierre Gasly: 7/10

Alexander Albon: 3/10

Antonio Giovinazzi: 7.5/10

Kevin Magnussen: 7.5/10

Sebastian Vettel: 3/10

Kimi Raikkonen: 7/10

Lando Norris: 7/10

Nicholas Latifi: 6/10

Romain Grosjean: 6.5/10

George Russell: 4.5/10

RETIRED

Carlos Sainz: 3.5/10

Lance Stroll: 6/10

Max Verstappen was a class act after a difficult few weekends in the Red Bull. His lap to qualify second ahead of Valtteri Bottas was outstanding and his pace versus teammate Alexander Albon all weekend was mighty to say the least.

Other than the start and turn two, Verstappen was faultless on a track Red Bull did not expect to do so well at. This bodes well for the rest of the season.

Albon meanwhile is just underperforming far too much now. Sochi was his worst weekend of the year and that says a lot given how much he has struggled at other grand prix.

Mugello could have been a turning point for Albon but it looks like it may have been a relatively average performance again, we just did not notice because Verstappen was unable to compete in the race.

Half a second between teammates is huge in Formula 1 so a gap of over a second is just unacceptable and I do not see how Albon can keep the seat for 2021. If I was Red Bull I would have dropped him a few races ago.

Carlos Sainz’s brain fade cost McLaren in a tough weekend for the team. The pace has not been there recently but Sainz has twice made a pivotal error at the start of the race in the last two weeks.

Sebastian Vettel was poor too and even if his motivation is not quite there and he is not on top of his game, it is not good enough for a world champion never mind a four-time champion.

A big shunt in qualifying caused by a mistake from Vettel coupled with race pace that is not on the level of Charles Leclerc does make you question whether Aston Marin have done the right thing.

This year feels similar to 2014 for Vettel and he will be hoping that he has a great season next year just like he did in 2015.