Driver Ratings - Hungarian Grand Prix

After some first corner chaos, the Hungarian Grand Prix turned into one of the most entertaining races in recent seasons!

Esteban Ocon - 10

Esteban Ocon is a Formula 1 race-winner, and it was a well deserved victory to boot. After a strong Saturday, the Frenchman did well to keep out of trouble before holding off the pressure from Sebastian Vettel in the slightly faster Aston Martin. He's had a dip in form recently, but has proven that Ocon is one of the best young drivers on the grid, and deserves his new contract with Alpine.

Lewis Hamilton - 8

The wait for win number 100 goes on, but he should be very happy with a P2 after a strange start to his race. Mercedes' decision to keep him on inters left Hamilton with a lot of work to, and he delivered a fantastic recovery drive which included an amazing battle with Fernando Alonso.

Carlos Sainz - 9

Carlos Sainz was driver of the day for me. He gained 12 places on his starting position and stuck with the leaders to pick up another postponed podium. I've said it many times on the podcast, and I'll say it again, Carlos Sainz deserves more respect from F1 and fans alike.

Fernando Alonso - 10

Considered by many to be one of the best wheel-to-wheel racers of all time, Fernando Alonso showed the world he's still got it. Running long in the first stint, he executed Alpine's strategy to perfection, before holding off the much faster Lewis Hamilton for multiple laps, ensuring his team mate could take victory.

Pierre Gasly - 9

After the race Gasly appeared to be disappointed with his result, which is understandable considering he started ahead of the drivers that beat him. But despite this he scored some very valuable points for Alpha Tauri in what will be a very tight battle for P5 in the championship.

Yuki Tsunoda - 8

Tsunoda needed this result more than anyone, especially after the questions starting to be asked about his performance in a very fast car. He binned it in FP1 before being knocked out in Q1, but had a mature drive to build a gap ahead of the chasing Williams drivers. I do wonder if another season in F2 would have been good for the young Japanese driver, but he can only improve from here.

Nicholas Latifi - 9

Latifi running in P3 might be my highlight of the season so far. The Canadian driver had a flawless race and showed just what he can do in F1. He wasn't able to hold on due to being in a slower car, but he has done more than enough to ensure he is in that seat for another season, and I hope we see more from him in 2022. George Russell - 8

Two years. George Russell has been waiting to score points for Williams for so so long, and it was well worth the wait. The Brit had an ok start, but his highlights came when he brilliantly held off faster cars after the restart, also telling the team to compromise his race to ensure the team could score as many points as possible with Latifi. Although this wasn't needed, a P8 finish is huge for the team, and will secure them some much needed money at the end of the season.

Max Verstappen - 8

While only scoring two points may seem like a disaster for the Red Bull driver, it actually isn't a bad result when you look at the condition of his car. He now needs to bounce back in Spa and continue his charge for the title.

Kimi Raikkonen - 7

Kimi had the chance to score some big points, but didn't manage to make the most of this golden opportunity. He mad a mega start, but another silly team mistake gave him a penalty, leaving him with with a lot to do, and an eventual P11 (upgraded to P10) finish.

Daniel Ricciardo - 5

A bit of a race to forget for Ricciardo. He got caught up in the first corner carnage and wasn't able to recover with the damage to his car.

Mick Schumacher - 8

For a few laps, it looked like Schumacher could have scored his first points in F1. It wasn't to be though, but he should still be very happy with his performance. The Haas driver defended well, and had good enough pace to finish ahead of an Alfa Romeo.

Antonio Giovinazzi - 4

Any hopes of a potential point was lost when Giovinazzi got a penalty for speeding in the puts, a silly mistake that could have a huge effect on the final few places in the constructors standings.

Did not finish/Disqualified

Sebastian Vettel - 9

He may have been disqualified, but that doesn't take away from his fantastic performance. If there was any doubt that Vettel still 'has it' then this race was the one to silence those still asking. To be honest, he made an awful start, but he avoided the worst of the chaos and then drove a smart and hard race to grab a provisional podium. Nikita Mazepin - N/A

The Haas driver was forced to retire in the first corner incident, so there’s no rating to give.

Lando Norris - N/A

Lando’s points-scoring streak is over thanks to the first corner carnage, which will hurt even more after getting a great start.

Valtteri Bottas - N/A

He should be getting a minus rating after what can only be described as an amateurish start.

Sergio Perez - N/A

Caught up in the carnage, will hope for better next time.

Lance Stroll - N/A

Has been very fortunate that all of the attention has been on Bottas, Lance was also causing chaos without much care for the result in the post race interviews.

Charles Leclerc - N/A

I've run out of things to say about a first corner incident, on to Spa for Charles.