Driver Ratings - Spanish Grand Prix

I couldn't think of a decent opening statement about the Spanish Grand Prix apart from the fact that it needs to be removed from the calendar completely. Anyway, here are my driver ratings from Barcelona... Lewis Hamilton - 9 Pole position and a win. Hamilton was at the top of his game, especially with Mercedes providing him with a brilliant two stop strategy that allowed him to put the fresh rubber down and show the grid why he's the world champion. Max Verstappen - 9 Max and Red Bull will be very disappointed with P2. They led for a long period of the race and only got outdone by a great pit call after some brliant defensive driving. Max certainly has to also get credit for taking his medium tyres as far as he could, why provoked a scary thought, Max Verstappen could be developing his tyre management skills even more. Valtteri Bottas - 6 I wrote off Bottas ahead of this race, but he came back to surprise everyone with P3 in qualifying before being left for dust on race day. Apart from getting passed and stuck behind Charles Leclerc, the only notable moment was when he ignored team orders, only for Hamilton to blast past him at the end of the second straight. Charles Leclerc - 9 Charles is very under the radar this season so far, and Barcelona was a race that showed why he shouldn't be forgotten about. Qualifying on the second row of the grid was followed by a stunning move around the outside of Bottas before defending the position for the whole of the first stint. The car didn't quite have the pace for a podium, but P4 is nothing to be unhappy about. Sergio Perez - 6 Poor on Saturday but good on Sunday. Something we've seen already from Checo this season, but something he will need to get out of doing if he's going to keep Red Bull happy. Starting in P8, he made up two places at the start before getting stuck behind Ricciardo for 40+ laps. A mixed bag for the Mexican, but something to build on moving forward. Daniel Ricciardo - 8 Watching Danny Ric make moves and drive well was like seeing an old friend, and boy did we all miss him! Faster than Lando on Saturday and he continued to hold the upper hand on the race day. He might have felt like he could have outpaced Perez, but he still needs more time to get settled in the McLaren set-up. Carlos Sainz - 7 A solid weekend for Sainz who is looking more and more comfortable in the Ferrari. He pushed Charles Leclerc hard across both days and had a good battle with Ocon and Ricciardo throughout the race. Once Carlos is more settled, I can see podiums coming his way. Lando Norris - 6 An ok race for the in-form driver. Prior to Barcelona he was the singing star on the grid, but it wasn't to be this weekend. He looked off the pace across the whole weekend and had a tough time against Ocon in the Alpine. Normally P8 wouldn't be a disappointment for him, but it just feels like it is. Esteban Ocon - 8 Starting P5 and finishing P9 may seem like a poor result, but that really wasn't the case. The car had little to no race pace, so being able to stay ahead of the rest is a pretty decent result. Beating Alonso again is also something we've got to pay attention to. Pierre Gasly - 7 I'm not sure how to judge the AlphaTauri driver, as his teammate gave no indication as to its potential pace. But with that being said, going from P12 to P10 through some excellent racing was a great result, just a shame about the silly penalty. Lance Stroll - 6 An odd weekend for Stroll, at times it looked like he had the pace for points, but he just couldn't put it all together when it mattered. A weekend to forget for Aston Martin in a season that is not living up to the hype. Kimi Raikkonen - 7 Out-qualified by Giovinazzi on the Saturday, out-raced Giovinazzi on the Sunday. He didn't quite have the pace for points, but a clean drive allowed him to save his tyres and finish P12. Sebastian Vettel - 5 It looked like Vettel had made steps in Portugal, but that form wasn't carried over to Spain. Slower than his teammate and P13 isn't where a four time world champion will want to be. George Russell - 7 A mixed weekend for Russell. At time it looked like he could pick up points, while at others he was in weaker machinery battling the rest of the midfield. Still, finishing ahead of an Alfa Romeo and Alpine will only help him and the team in both sets of standings. Antonio Giovinazzi - 6 A great Saturday was ruined during his first pit stop when the team realised on of the tyres they were about to fit was punctured this dropped him way out of the points and he didn't have the pace to climb back up the order. Watch him though, I'm predicting a points finish in Monaco. Nicholas Latifi - 6 Latifi has two jobs, beat Mick Schumacher and the other Haas driver. He did exactly that in pretty uninspiring fashion. Fernando Alonso - 6 A strange race for Alonso, on one hand, he was no match for Ocon, on the other, he impressed with his wheel-to-wheel racing and tyre management. Once he gets back up to race pace, he could be a real threat. Mick Schumacher - 6 As it will be for every race this season, Schumacher was aiming to being the car home and did exactly that. A strong start was about all there was for him, bring on Monaco. Nikita Mazepin - 4 Didn't crash, didn't challenge Schumacher. Did not finish Yuki Tsunoda - N/A After a brilliant debut in Bahrain the Japanese driver and his form has gone from bad to worse.