Australian GP Driver Ratings
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Concept
Formula One
Formula One is a type of car racing with very fast and special cars driven by the best drivers in the world.
Term
battery
The battery in these race cars stores electricity that helps the car go faster when needed.
Term
harvesting
Harvesting means collecting energy when the car slows down so it can be used later to help the car go faster.
Term
derating
Derating means the car's engine is made to produce less power to keep it safe and avoid damage during the race.
Term
DNF
DNF means the driver couldn't finish the race because something went wrong, like a crash or car problem.
Term
stop Go Penalty
A stop Go Penalty means the driver has to stop their car in the pits for a short time as a punishment during the race.
Term
wheel-to-wheel action
Wheel-to-wheel action means two cars are racing very close next to each other, trying to pass or block.
Term
front wing
The front wing is a part at the front of a race car that helps it stick to the track better when turning.
Term
two-stop strategy
Two-stop strategy means the driver will stop two times during the race to change tires or fix the car.
Term
Q3
Q3 is the last part of qualifying in Formula 1 where the fastest drivers try to get the best starting spots for the race.
Term
NA (Not Applicable)
NA means we don't give a score to a driver if they didn't start the race because it wasn't their fault.
Term
pit lane
The pit lane is like a special garage area during a race where cars stop to get new tires or fix things quickly so they can keep racing fast.
Term
soft tyres
Soft tyres are special racing tires that stick better to the track, helping cars go faster, but they don't last as long.
Term
rookie tax
Rookie tax means that new drivers usually make some mistakes or have a harder time when they start racing at a high level. It's normal and part of learning.
Term
Grand Prix
A Grand Prix is one race in the big Formula One racing season. Drivers race at different places, and each race counts toward who wins the whole championship.
Term
intervals
Intervals are the time differences between cars during a race, showing who is ahead and by how much.
Concept
qualifying
Qualifying is like a time trial where drivers try to be the fastest to decide who starts the race in front.
Term
P12
P12 means the driver finished the race in 12th place out of all the racers.
Term
mechanical issue
A mechanical issue means something in the car broke or stopped working properly, which can make the car slower or stop it from finishing the race.
Term
burnout
A burnout is when a car's wheels spin fast but the car doesn't move much, making smoke and noise. Drivers sometimes do this when they are upset or celebrating.
Term
VSC
VSC means Virtual Safety Car. In races, when there's a problem on the track, instead of sending a real safety car, they use VSC to slow all cars down safely.
Term
exit curb
The exit curb is a small raised edge on the outside of a turn on a race track. If a driver hits it, it can make the car bounce or lose grip, which can cause accidents.
Concept
customer teams
Customer teams are race teams that buy engines from big companies like Mercedes instead of making their own engines.
LIVE
Hello, everybody, and welcome back to the B1 podcast with Matt and Tommy. Driver ratings
is officially back. I know you've all been just absolutely chomping at the bit to come
and disagree with us with whatever we grade every single 22 of the Formula One drivers
out of 10. Tommy, how excited are you that this series is back and I think it might well
be more difficult than ever?
I think it's the most difficult one I've ever done. We'll learn a bit more as we go
throughout the season like everyone is going to in these regulations. But yes, it's certainly
going to be difficult, but that also means disagreements and differing opinions, which
is what makes this series fun.
And a lot of variables as well. At this point, it is hard to know what all of the drivers
have gone through.
What's a driver? What's a battery?
What's a harvesting?
So take the ratings as always with a pinch of salt and we'll get into the news, shall
we? So let's begin with a different driver to normal. Of course, we have 22 and we're
my grade for Sergio Perez is a six out of 10.
I think it's it perfectly reflects a better than straight down the middle performance
this weekend. He outqualified Bottas, albeit here we go. Variable number one of 3,000 is
that Bottas had some problems in qualifying with shock the battery, which cost him a lot
of time. But still, I have to say that Perez finished the race in a Cadillac. He battled
Liam Lawson. I saw some great quotes already between Lawson and Perez, absolutely phenomenal
back and forth already. Lawson basically saying, I don't know why we're fighting like it's
for the World Championship when it's for 16th and Perez was like, well, I just kind of wanted
to fight.
So I'm kind of more with Perez on this one in the fact that it's a race and if they're
fighting for a position, then fight for position. So yeah, I mean, look, you can't really do
much more with Cadillac right now. But a six out of 10, I feel quite comfortable with.
That's what I'm going for.
I have gone for a six out of 10 as well for Sergio Perez. I completely agree with you.
You have to go for more than straight down the middle of Sergio Perez because the fact
that he's had a good qualifying, he's finished the race. The fact that he's battling anyone
in a car like that, albeit the fact that Lawson obviously had the problem at the start, which
is why he was further back. But the fact that he's able to be racing other cars, he's got
it to the finish, I think a six out of 10 is definitely what it should be.
We need more Perez Lawson head to head. That's what I'll say. I need every single race we
can because it is so, so good. I think Lawson also said something about the fact that Perez
isn't over it, which I think is just crazy. Okay, the beef continues. The fans gave Perez
a five out of 10. Valtteri Bottas, qualified 19th, did not finish.
I've gone for a five out of 10 for Valtteri Bottas. I feel like Cadillac could be getting
a lot of fives. Because they're on their own, essentially. It's a new car. They're learning
a lot. It feels like the car is falling apart a lot of the time. Both of them had their
mirrors fall off in practice. Bits falling off here and there.
To be fair, I was going to joke that they don't need them because there's no one behind
them. But I guess when they're being laughed at.
Oh, yeah, true. They need it for the blue flags. But yeah, Bottas, it's hard to give
him. You can't give him any worse because the car's not there at the moment. He had
problems in qualifying, obviously broke down in the race as well.
He did indeed. I've gone for a five out of 10 for Bottas as well. Again, plagued with
problems qualifying, as I mentioned, on the Perez grade. He experienced basically derating.
Well, I guess super clipping is bad. So if it's like a, I'm not even going to try and
come up with a word for it, but for Bottas, yeah, it's very hard to grade. Of course,
he DNF'd as well. But I'm going to go for a five because I don't feel like I should
give him any lower than that just purely because he was having problems throughout the entire
weekend at the fans. They agree. They've gone for a five as well. Franco Colopinto, qualified
16th, finished 14th. Now, I know some of you might well have gone for a 10 out of 10 for
Franco for avoiding Liam Lawson, which is reactions very much catlike. I have gone for
actually grade him higher because he missed Liam Lawson. I'm going to give him a six out of
10 for Franco Colopinto. It was going to be a five, but let's give a nod to the fact that he
showed unbelievable reactions to avoid Liam Lawson, which then, of course, put him on the
back foot because he essentially smashed into the wall a little bit trying to avoid Liam. I
wouldn't say it's the best weekend for Franco overall, considering the hype around Alpine
coming into this season. But his teammate still managed to get a point, so I can't go any higher
than that. He of course got outqualified by him as well, but I feel like he also had some problems
in qualifying shock. But I'm going to give him a six because there has to be a nod for the lap one.
I have gone for a five out of 10 for Franco Colopinto. No, not from Tommy. No. We do have to
take into account, just to clear up some confusion, that his Colopinto and Go Penalty,
which was, of course, a stop Go Penalty, wasn't anything to do with that start that we saw,
where he made that amazing save. It was because someone was on the
decoration. It was to do with the start, but just not the actual day. Because I think what was
confusing was we saw that, but we never heard about the incident. And then we saw that incredible
footage and thought, is it something to do with that? But it wasn't. But that save was absolutely
incredible, amazing reactions to avoid it. And unfortunately for him, his Penalty, that wasn't
his fault for the mechanic being working on his car just before the start, has undone
a chance of anything really in the race. But he was off his teammate, Gasly, in qualifying
and the race. So I'll go straight down the middle with a five.
Okay, the fans gave Franco a five out of ten as well. Pierre Gasly, qualified 14th, finished 10th.
I've gone for a seven out of ten for Pierre Gasly. It's a good result for Gasly, but they
struggled a bit more than I expected, and maybe I expected more from Gasly this weekend.
I know the Alpine didn't look as good as we thought, but it is a much better car. I'm also
amazed he did not get a penalty for the Ocon collision. That seemed like quite the move
with quite big contact, which he got damage from and floor damage. But you can argue it was kind
of his own doing with quite an aggressive move. But he got away with it and got a point for Alpine,
which I think is a good result considering after qualifying, they were much further down than we
expected. Yeah, I am going to go for an eight out of ten for Pierre Gasly at scoring a point
in a pretty chaotic race in a car that perhaps didn't deserve to be there. Of course, there are
DNFs and things that have occurred with other drivers, but at this stage of the season, you've
got to kind of give the plaudits to drivers that have done pretty well in what I would say Alpine
is maybe the seventh, eighth fastest car at the moment. So I've gone for an eight out of ten. He
fought Ocon really hard, really hard indeed. Don't know whether it was penalty worthy. It was very
much on the line. It could have gone either way. He got away with that. He still had damage to his
front wing and was able to hold off Ocon after that little wheel-to-wheel action. So yeah, I think
scoring a point in the first race of the season is a very good performance from Gasly. The fans
gave him an eight as well. Gabrielle Bortoletto, qualified tenth, finished ninth. Bortoletto
is receiving an eight out of ten from me as well. I think the Audi, you know, I look at the results,
I think I feel like Bortoletto could have finished seventh with the pace in the car of the Audi.
They went for a two-stop strategy, which was an aggressive one. But at the same time, I do genuinely
put the car performance of Audi up in that sort of best of the rest area, maybe slightly behind
V-Carbo over one lap. But still, a really great start to the season for Bortoletto, qualifying
in P10, you know, making Q3 and then having that problem with the car, of course, but then still
had a very solid race and just missed out behind Limblad in the end. I have gone for an eight out
of ten for Gabrielle Bortoletto. Of course, the difficulty to judge here is that his teammate
didn't do the race. But the fact that he managed to, you know, Gabrielle managed a great qualifying
to get into Q3, even though his car then broke down itself, and a good result as well, but could
have even been higher at the end. But a great start for Audi, and he's delivered a strong
point finish. So I've gone for an eight out of ten. The fans also gave Gabrielle Bortoletto an eight
out of ten. Nico Holkenberg qualified 11th, did not start. This one, I think, has to be a NA,
because he can't be rated. He was closer to me in qualifying and didn't start due to
basically a car fault that was not his fault. I disagree. I'm giving him a 10. No, I'm not.
But I think that to clear things up to make sure everybody's clear of what we're going to do with
this. Yeah, if a driver does not start due to their own doing, then they'll get a not applicable
and NA because I think that's the best way to not skew the averages across the whole season.
And that being said, it's not as clear cut as it sometimes. I think if I look back to,
was it Verstappen in Austria, where he got yeeted at turn three? At what point do we,
where do you think the line will be, Tommy, when it comes to NA's? Or are we going to have to do
this as we go? I don't think it's a black and white thing, is it? Because you have a situation.
Fans were jumping to the comment section about, oh, well, it's nice Verstappen. And I was one
of those people talking and I'm kidding. I'm not. But we're just trying to... Well, I think at the
end of the day, if I'm trying to think of, let me just single out one random driver and say,
if Lance Stroll qualifies... Of course you've singled out Lance Stroll. Qualifies poll in an
Aston Martin and then breaks down, you kind of almost feel like it's unfair to give him
a non applicable grade because he's got poll in Aston Martin. Well, when you say breaks down,
can we be clear on that as well? Does it mean breaks down during the race or before the race?
His car. Well, no, because breaking down halfway through the race is still a
gradable thing. We're talking about pre-race. Yeah, obviously, like at the start of the race.
Let's be very... Because the terms of conditions here, Tommy, people care very much about the
driver. I know and I don't really understand why, because it's all just like a case by case basis.
It's like we say with penalties, no two incidents is the same. We have to have our
way to the ground, Tommy. But anyway, so we're going to go with an NA for...
It's definitely an NA. I don't know how you can argue that.
And whenever Max Verstappen has a bad race, we'll also give him an MA.
Right, there's going to Esteban Ocon, qualified 13th, finished 11th,
my grade for Esteban Ocon is a 6 out of 10. It may feel slightly harsh, but then again,
he finished 11th. I think this one, probably one of the performances where I'm going,
wow, how has he finished out of the points? Because he had a phenomenal start,
you know, qualifying, of course, outqualified by Bearman. But his start, he got up to about
eighth, didn't he? He was the head of Bearman, wasn't he? And he was the head of Bearman.
And then ended up finishing near on 25, if not more seconds behind Bearman come the end.
And the most crazy thing to me was listening to his post-race interview where he said that
himself and Bearman don't have the same car. And then went on to describe that there's
issues with his car and issues with Bearman's car that don't match up in terms of how they're
feeling it. But I found that wild, like drivers never say unless they genuinely believe it,
that their car is any different to their teammates. So I still gone for a 6 because it was a good
performance, but to not score any points when he was running so high in a haste that clearly had
potential to score big. It was a missed opportunity.
Yeah, I've gone for a 6 out of 10 for Espanolcon as well.
Was, yeah, ahead of Bearman before the VSC, obviously he stopped in the earlier VSC,
but there's still kind of no excuse that his pace towards the end compared to his teammate. And he
really could not do what his teammate managed. And it's slightly concerning, not really sure
what is going on with Espanolcon at the moment, because he himself said, you know,
it feels like the same as last year. And that's what we were kind of seeing with
Ocon towards the end of last year where he didn't see him on his teammate's pace. So
we will, it's going to be a very interesting one to watch, I think, that and how that dynamic
continues. Because, yeah, maybe the first sign of a bit of frustration from Ocon there post-race.
For sure. I hope for his sake he's able to bounce back. A big fan of Estee Bestie, as we all know.
So fingers crossed for him. He can sort out these problems, but he'll need to do it quick.
Otherwise, there'll start to be a bit of pressure on him, I think, come later parts of the season.
The fans gave Estaban a 6 out of 10 as well. Oli Bearman, qualified 12th, finished 7th.
I've gone for a 9 out of 10 for Oli Bearman. A fantastic result to start the season.
I think after qualifying, when he was 12th, I'd have been very surprised if he'd finished the
race in 7th. This is the kind of pace we were expecting from Haas, but they didn't really show
it in qualifying. And then in the race, yes, he was one of those that managed to jump in the pits
with a few other drivers before they closed that pit lane for the Bottas incident. But it doesn't
take anything away from the fact that his pace was great at the end and he was, you know,
so rapid towards the end that he got all the way back up and to finish, basically,
best of the rest. So a really good start for Oli Bearman to the season and big points on the board
for Haas. Absolutely. I was deliberating between two numbers here, but I'm going to go with a 9
out of 10. I think that qualifying, there was a little bit left on the table potentially.
Then again, all teams and drivers are... So an 8 and a 9, not a 9 or a 10?
9 or a 10. 9 or a 10. Oh, really? Wow, a 10.
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, he comprehensively won the midfield battle. So what more could he possibly
have done is my question on a Sunday. Finish 7 seconds clear of Lindblad.
What would you downgrade him on then to potentially even put him down to an 8?
It's just not a 10 drive, is it? Like, it's a great drive, but it's not...
We're talking 10 out of 10 drives. I didn't see that at all.
I deliberated it and then I said, no. Yeah. Well, no, I just can't see a 10 there at all,
personally. But that's fine.
That's the beauty of drive ratings. We all have our opinion.
Exactly. And if I look back to other driver ratings previously, we've given
10s to top of the midfield performances. And yeah, I think that Haas came into this race as
the sixth fastest team behind VCarb. And Oli Bearman has managed to beat Lindblad pretty,
as I say, comprehensively. But I've gone for a 9 because Saturday there was a little bit left on
the table. And yeah, if I'd given a 10, apparently Tommy would have stopped the podcast.
My downgrade as well. I mean, his start, like you mentioned, like Ocon was well clear at the
start. He dropped down. You could argue that Bearman had the better strategy and being able
to stop later than Ocon. You know, that's why I wouldn't give it a 10, but...
That's fine. But you haven't said... Last time I checked, it was my grade.
Well, you asked me. Oh, a whole new season of this.
Love it. I love the biggest debate of the whole, like of every driver is Oli Bearman.
This is the most heated debate. But the fans gave him a 9 as well. Amazing how we agreed on that
grade and yet fought loads over. That's two fights already this season. One about Charlotte
Claude, good surprise. Now, Oli, is this the year of just us going at it? I hope so. I really
hope so. I've made drive rakes for fun, doesn't it? Yeah. As long as you cuddle me at night,
that's what I care about. Right, let's move to the next driver, Lance Stroll.
He started when he said he didn't actually qualify and then he didn't finish.
This is the hardest team to grade because we're grading them.
Give an NA for someone that did like 60 laps. Well, yeah, he literally technically
crossed the finish line at the end. He moved 15 laps down or 12 laps down. I think it wasn't the...
I don't think it was 15. I know it was 15. It was 15 because I saw that it's the first
driver to finish 15 laps down since the 60s. 10 out of 10. So I've gone for a 5 because I'm
grading free practice 4 for them. This is like if we did driver ratings for genuine Friday running.
This is what this feels like for Aston Martin. At least for Lance Stroll. We'll get on to
Fernando Alonso shortly. I've gone for a 5 because well done. You actually drove round.
The funniest thing about that is Lance Stroll's quote after the weekend was, racing is a strong
word. We circulated. I mean, that is the perfect explanation. So it's a 5 out of 10 for his circulation.
It's a well done one on Lance. Yeah, I've gone for a 5 out of 10 for Lance Stroll as well.
Very hard to grade as he didn't do qualifying and he just ran his own race, but he didn't do anything
offensive or crazy. Well, he didn't. I also didn't do anything epic like his two mates.
He's going to get a 10 for his heroic. Here comes the next 5. I'm looking forward to it.
So yeah, it's a 5 for Lance Stroll. The fans agree they've gone for a 5 out of 10.
Hopefully we'll actually be able to grade Aston Martin on taking part in the race and not just
practicing. Fernando Alonso, qualified 17th, did not finish. I've gone for a 6 out of 10 for
Fernando Alonso. I really wanted to give him a 7, but maybe that's a bit too much for...
Essentially, it's just the fact that basically there's nothing he can do. We talk about Lance
Stroll saying he can't race. He circulated. Well, Fernando Alonso did race. All he could do was
stick on some soft tyres and show that in his opinion, and mine, he's better than everyone else
and could just breeze past everyone and then go, I've had 25 years of experience, I'm the goat,
and then DNF and then come back in the race for banter. And look, at the end of the day, he has
shown... He's still managed to show and the great drivers can do that. We've seen this with many
drivers up and down the grid. Maxine, Tarosso, Charlotte, Clarence, Alba. As much as we go,
oh, there's nothing you can do in those cars, the great drivers still shine through. And the fact
that Alonso almost somehow got it into Q2, yes, from a lot of fortune as well, with drivers not
starting. I'm happy to lord his lap one, Chaneligans, but to say you almost got into Q2 in three
drivers... But it's a factual bit of information. If Charlotte Clair was driving that Aston, you'd
have been like, oh my God, wow, it's amazing. It's factual, but it's not impressive because he
only beat the Cadillacs and everybody else didn't take part. Yeah, but he set a good lap compared
to his teammate for the weekend. His teammate didn't set a lap. I said, most of the weekend.
So, practice results now. Wow, god. He's given a six. Yeah, okay, fair enough. It's funny that
you deliberated whether it was a six or a seven because I've gone for a seven out of ten for
Fernando Alonso. I've changed it to seven, yeah, yeah. No, no, no, don't you dare. You sit with
your six and you lock that in. Who is the fanboy of Alonso in this podcast? I've gone for a seven
because his first part of that race was absolutely brilliant. The first couple of laps was awesome
to watch. Alonso putting himself in P10 is ridiculous. There's part of me, no evidence to
suggest this whatsoever, that he has got half a fuel tank in there and just he knows he's going
to come into the pits at some point. So, he's just gone full send. I'm going to try and make some
headlines and I'll come into the pits. Maybe that's what it was. It was secret refuelling in
the garage when he came back into the race. Yeah, it could well have been. No, I'm sure that's just
a silly thought of mine, but it was so great to see. He was not scared in the slightest. He shoved
his nose wherever he wanted to and that's the Fernando Alonso that we all miss actually seeing
up at the front. So, I've gone for a seven because that was a standout cool thing to do. So, there
you go. I thought you're going to interject with... No, you may want to give him a seven now, but
even I'm like, it's like a 6.5 but we're not doing halves. This is our first half grade of the year.
Yeah, I mean, it's going to be... There's not going to be many things he can do in that car this year
probably. So, let's go seven. You give me a free first. The first editor rage inducing moment
where we change our grades halfway through. The fans, they didn't care. 5 out of 10. Fernando Alonso.
The same as Lance Stroll. Disgusting. You're all washed. Okay, Tommy, let's not start arguing
with our fans. Come on. Let's not do it. Let's now go to Arvid Lindblad, qualified P9, finished the race
in eighth. This is very intriguing. What do we do?
I'm going to give him a 10 out of 10. Arvid Lindblad's getting a 10. Straight up. Straight
out the blocks. Lock it in. It's beautiful. It's wonderful. I'm factoring in here that is literally
his first race. That is his first race in his F1 career. This is the beauty of our driver ratings.
It's the beauty of us all having an opinion is that some people will just look at a driver's
race no matter what their background is and give them a grade. I think what we do is try and factor
in external things as well, like experience, whatever it might be. And that's what I'm doing
with this because I think if it was any other driver, it's a 9 out of 10 great performance,
great start to the season. I think for Lindblad, he put himself up to third place at the start of
the race. To be fair, before that, it's worth mentioning great qualifying, missed out on the
final run, but ultimately still got into Q3 in his first F1 race. And then to be completely and
utterly fearless to get stuck in with the top drivers, yes, he fell back. Of course, he's going
to fall back. Ultimately got beaten by Berman, but I've been so impressed by his first weekend
Formula One that I have to give him a 10 out of 10. So if you disagree, I respect your opinion,
but I don't care. I don't. It has to be a 10 out of 10. I've gone for a 10 for Lindblad.
Easily a 10. I think, yes, there is a bit of rookie tax on there. It's not even rookie tax,
it's first race tax. The guy has never done a Grand Prix start before and he made it into
third on the first lap. How many rookies have we seen take their front wing off or
do silly things at the start of races? We saw it last year and it was wet, so it's different
circumstances, but these are crazy difficult cars with so much going on. Drivers having issues here
there, not having their batteries charged, not being able to do it. There's a lot there. And
yes, he's come in and maybe it helps him, the fact that he's not had the other cars to learn
and it's a new way of driving. He could just go straight in and this is what Formula One is to
him, but you can't take anything away from the fact that it's an 18 year old making his very
first race. He's got to third at the start, had an unbelievable race, finished eighth. Yes, it's
disappointing that he got picked by bad men at the end, but it's an absolutely brilliant drive,
really, really good. When you say about not taking anything away from him, the fans did,
nine out of ten. There you go, nine out of ten for first drive of his career. Let's go to Liam
Lawson, qualified eighth, finished thirteenth. I've gone for a five out of ten for Liam Lawson.
It's tough because all his work was undone by the slow start, which again,
is it the driver that's stalling? Is it the cars with the battery issues and stuff? I looked into
this and there's no kind of clear explanation of if it was him or the car, the team haven't mentioned
anything. So it's tough. It's a tough way to start the season because the V-Car has looked strong
and the fact that he's managed to, despite looking on the back foot compared to his teammate,
did out qualify him, but then he's just had a race to forget down in thirteenth when his
teammate is the one that's really shone and put in an impressive result. So I've gone for a five
for Lawson. Okay, I'm going to give Liam Lawson the benefit of the doubt and I'm going to give him
a six out of ten for his performance. A great qualifying similar to his teammate. Obviously,
out qualified him and Vlad had a few problems, but still, again, nothing to take away from Lawson.
Then as for the start, I'm not going to downgrade him for that. I think it's at least in my opinion.
It's tough, isn't it? Because we're so used to stalling being a driver error, but you just
don't know if that is in these cars that it seems like some people have just not got off the line
and it's a car issue. So I'm kind of grading him on the fact of like he was 19th, I think,
was he at the end of the first lap? So 18th, 19th, towards the back, and then he's managed to get
back up to 13th in a midfield car. So that's why I've gone for a six, because if this happens
every single weekend, then we'll have to maybe talk about it. But for now, it's not been made
clear, exactly, at least unless I've missed it, why that happened at the start and whether it
was drive error or not. So I'm going to lean on the side of caution with this one, because
or error on the side of caution, because these are brand new cars. And I think these drivers
are talented enough to not be doing that kind of stuff, especially like it wasn't a full blown
stall. He was crawling and he had no power. It was bizarre. So the fans, however, disagree.
Gone for a four out of 10 for Liam Lawson. Carlos Sines qualified, well, didn't qualify,
but started 21st and finished the race in 15th. What a painful start to the season again for
Sines. If you think last year, it was bad at the start of his Williams tenure. I don't know why
I've just used that word. I've never said that word before in my life. But for this year again,
not just the race, but he barely was out on track the entire weekend.
And that's sad to see for one of the drivers of the season last year. But I've gone for a five
because he went out there and he didn't crash and he had loads of problems.
Some great circulation again. It quite literally was another Aston Martin circulation,
but then he didn't even hardly circulate for most of the weekend. So I'm going for a five.
I've gone for a five as well for Carlos Sines, another driver that's so difficult to grade and
you can't really punish him for all the issues that he's had because that's not his fault. But
equally, you can't give him an amazing grade because, unfortunately for him-
He circulated really well, nine out of 10.
Yeah, exactly. So they were just so anonymous Williams really this weekend.
And it's hard to say because he also had a front wing problem during the race as well.
And it does remind me, as you said, of last year and how everything just seemed to go wrong for
him. So hopefully that's not the case. And he's got all his gremlins out of the way early.
Now, completely unrelated, but I want to just very quickly talk about this because I know
I'm going to forget to talk about this unless I do it now. And that is-
And we didn't talk about this in the main race podcast. I don't think we actually spoke about
it at all in the watch along unless we might have done it was like 3.15 in the morning when
we started talking. So maybe I've just forgotten. The intervals. Why are they done to one decimal
place all of a sudden? Oh, I've got a controversial opinion on that one. So should we get into it?
Oh, you've got a controversial opinion. Okay. Well, first and foremost, I'm going to say mine
and then we're going to maybe argue again. But I don't like it. I like the thousands
and the hundreds and the other one. So for me, that's the same as what you'd see at a track
where they just go 2.9, 2.5, 2.1, whatever. I like the fact that I don't know. It's weird.
Maybe it's just change. Maybe it's- I actually detest the fact it's only to one decimal place.
I know it's literally a tenth. You can't really tell much from it, but I don't know.
I like the little updates that you get. Maybe it's a low point one or a high point one.
Very, very small criticism, but I just wanted to talk about it because it is a change and
it's something that we've not seen. I don't know. The last time we saw it to one decimal place,
considering all of qualifying is to the normal. Yeah, I saw a lot of people getting very irate
about this. I didn't even really notice it in the race, which probably suggests that I didn't
really care that much and it didn't bother me. In qualifying, you absolutely have to go to those
decimal places because the gaps are a lot closer and it means so much more because every millisecond
counts in qualifying because it can change your position. In a race, I'm fine with the
timing tower looking a lot cleaner and ditching two numbers that don't really mean a lot
when you can still see that someone's 0.7 behind, so they're within the
oh my god, I nearly called it attack mode. We are literally becoming formulary.
Of the overtake mode and the button. I personally, I don't see why this is such a big
issue, particularly with 22 cars now on the timing tower. I think you need to simplify as much as
possible and I'm not against it. I think the two numbers missing by literally three races
will have forgotten it even exists. Disagree, I'm looking at it right now, it's angering me.
So I get the people that are angry that's gone because I know we're saying it's 22
drivers on the grid, but that's long ways that it's wide ways. It is a case of like,
why was it even needed in the first place? Is it because, because when they do the intervals
usually it's just the numbers, right? Even if someone's a lap down, I'm pretty sure they show
the gap. Is it because they think the back markers are going to be so far behind that they're going
to be like hundreds of seconds and it's going to be too big, so they've had to shorten the end?
So like, you know, Cadillac being 204 seconds, because I don't know. I don't mean, yeah,
yeah, I don't know. I don't mind it. I'm looking at it now.
This is the number one thing wrong with that one right now.
Of all you watched in that race and harvesting and super clipping.
Right, let's head to Alex Albon, qualified 15th finished 12th.
I've gone for a 6 out of 10 for Alex Albon. A P12 is very anonymous, but he's delivered
you know, a slightly better than straight down the middle grade like a few people have done this
weekend. And I don't think, correct me if I'm wrong, there's been a more anonymous team this
weekend than Williams. They've just kind of been there. They've not been so awful that it's been
embarrassing, but they've equally not been so good that they've surprised people and they've just kind
of been there and got a 12th and 15th. It's very well, you can say that, but I mean,
slightly embarrassing, probably the fact that signs did the smallest amount of running.
Sunday didn't even get out for qualifying. So it's not gone great for Williams for the
first race of the season. But for Alex Albon, I've gone for a 6 out of 10 as well. I think he
did pretty well to finish P12 absolutely nowhere near 10th and 11th. I think 26 or so seconds
behind them. So it wasn't like he had a chance of points despite there being five drivers out of
the race. But that being said, Williams are one of the slowest cars to finish at 12th. Not a bad,
not a bad effort at all. Ended up beating Lawson. So yeah, a 6 out of 10 from me for Albon. And the
fans gave him, gave them, gave Alex Albon a 6 out of 10. Lewis Hamilton, qualified seventh, finished
fourth. I've gone for an 8 out of 10. I've gone for an 8 out of 10 for Lewis Hamilton. I think it was
a very good, strong weekend from Lewis considering what happened last year. He had a very strong
race, was catching Charlotte the end and I'm of the opinion that as much as the 8 out of 10 reflects
a pretty strong weekend, he could have outqualified and beaten Charle Leclerc from the pace that we
saw. I thought he was going to outqualify Charle the entire way through up until qualifying in Q3.
And then as for the race, he was right with the leaders right at the start fighting. And then
it wasn't able to capitalize. So yeah, an 8 out of 10. It's not many negatives to talk about because
it's the Hamilton that we want to see. I want to see, yes, even as a Charlotte Leclerc fan,
I want to see Hamilton pushing Leclerc because it's exciting to watch. So yeah, 8 from me.
I have gone for a 9 out of 10 for Lewis Hamilton. I think it was a fantastic result. It was great
to see the old Lewis Hamilton back. I think the way the qualifying was a disappointment and we
thought, oh no, here we go again. Is this going to be a difficult year where he fails to deliver?
But the way his start was incredible and the way he just undid all that difficulty in qualifying
immediately got up to third place. And of course, he got brought into it, thankfully, by the fact
that Leclerc and Russell were fighting so much. But it put him right there with his teammate.
They were kind of like line astern for most of the race. I think he was spot on. I'd maybe argue
even more that he should have been even more forceful and maybe better communication between
him and his team and trust might have meant that he could have dived into the pits and
done that stop under the VSC because he was very adamant. Why didn't we do this? And it was the
absolutely the right call in my opinion. I don't know why he didn't do that.
Still not the Hamilton that we have known at Mercedes though. And there's still clearly
some relationship building that has to happen between him and Ferrari because
back when he was winning and fighting Rosberg. He would have trusted him,
he would have dived into the pits. Yeah, he would have said I'm coming in.
And we've not seen that Ferrari yet. Yeah, true. But yeah, it was a fantastic result,
the fact that he was half a second behind Charlotte at the end. Great to see him back and
hope it continues. The fans gave Lewis an eight out of 10. Charlotte Claire qualified fourth,
finished third. Oh, this is a difficult one. I've gone for a nine out of 10 for Charlotte Claire.
An incredible start, battled for the win. It's not his fault that his team were, you know,
in my opinion, made so far the wrong call. I mean, you had this rant in the podcast about it,
that how the fans, you know, I've just watched a compilation of fans watching along to the race,
and everyone calls it immediately. So how every fan watching at home can go that's the wrong call
and a multimillion pound team with all these facilities and data and everything can't see
that that's the way to go is insane. But shall got, you know, Russell back past had a great battle.
I think his defense of Russell was absolutely fine and was another little showcase of
Charles will to wheel ability. And it's very close to being a 10 and it may well be
is so close to like, knowing the pecking order and how good that that car actually is,
but a really, really good job. And I can't give him a higher grade than Hamilton because
I think they were very, very close. Right, I disagree because I'm giving Charlotte Claire
and nine out of 10 out qualified Hamilton, despite Hamilton looking quick at all weekend.
I know Lewis had some struggles again, you know, there's so many variables to take into account.
But the facts are that shall out qualified and beat Hamilton in the race. Yeah, Lewis, of course,
mounted a phenomenal charge towards him at the end. But you also have to take into account the
battling that Leclerc was doing with Russell for the first 15 laps, which brought Hamilton right
into play. I'm not really sure why Hamilton was so far back at the start. It was like three,
four seconds already after the first lap, maybe it was just because he was fighting. But I think
it was a brilliant weekend for him. I'm disappointed about the strategy as you all know.
But that being said, from a driver's perspective, I think it was very strong, even though he came
out of the weekend saying he basically the setup was wrong with the car, didn't drive
particularly well. So maybe I should be giving him a five, but I'm looking at it through rose
tinted glasses. But still, I think that a really strong weekend from from Charlotte and
he's got some teammate pressure and hopefully it pushes them both forward.
The fans gave Charlotte a nine out of 10.
Isaac Hadjar, qualified third, did not finish. So Hadjar, of course, having problems with his
Red Bull engine, sadly, but we're going to give him a grade because he did a few laps and he,
of course, qualified very well. So I'm going to give him an eight out of 10 for Hadjar.
It's a shame we couldn't have seen more of the race. But we speak about issues. We speak about
drivers having some some some very variables and problems. Hadjar basically said from the get go,
he was having issues with the car because if you watch his onboard at the start of the race,
he gets a phenomenal start. He obviously leaps past Kimmy Antonelli and he is hurtling towards
George Russell. And then all of a sudden his progress stops. And we're talking about, of course,
Russell not having battery either. But Hadjar closing close. Oh, I'm not getting any closer
to Russell. And obviously he was managing issues from the very start. But I have to factor in that
he did a great qualifying course. The unknown is wherever Stappen would have been. But that's
something we will find out at a later date what the advantage is for Max, if any. But for Hadjar,
I think it was a brilliant start to his Red Bull career and something that I think needs to be
applauded despite not many laps in the race. I've gone for an 8 out of 10 for Isaac Hadjar as well.
Brilliant quality, even if we didn't see for Stappen to see where he would have stacked up.
But basically showing that kind of that second Red Bull seat, he's not going to be
just completely kind of useless compared to what we've seen from from all the others. And
yeah, I think he can be very proud of what he's done, even if it was absolutely gutting that
he had that mechanical issue because he was running. Is it is it best of the rest now between
Mercedes and Ferrari? You could maybe argue even that based on how far they those guys were ahead
of everyone by the end. But yeah, a very good job from from Isaac Hadjar and he can be he'll be
gutted with the result. But it's kind of in a weird way, positive, like a really positive step.
Absolutely. The fans gave Hadjar an 8 out of 10 as well.
Max Verstappen, qualified 20th, finished 6th. This one I found incredibly difficult between an 8
and a 9. And I'm going to go for a 9, shock. What a surprise. I think it's a little more preferential
grade for Max Verstappen, surely not. I think it's classic Max that he made essentially going from
20th to especially at the start. I mean, he went from 20th to 8th, like it was nothing.
And I think almost sometimes he makes it look so easy that you just think it's like a nothing thing,
but he's one of those drivers that's only one of few that can do that on the grid.
The reason I almost gave him an 8 was I think 5th was definitely possible,
and could have been, you know, even more. And I think that's about all they were going to
hope for anyway. I don't think they had the, that even if he'd started in the position
where he was, could he have done better? But it was no fault of his for the issue.
He's clearly driving around a lot of frustrations and things of him.
Did you see the burnout at the end of him getting annoyed?
That's something we saw that Fernando Alonso do in testing of how annoyed he was as well.
So yeah, I've gone for a 9 for Max. I have also gone for a 9 out of 10 for Max Verstappen.
20th to 6th, yes, I think it was expected. But as we said, we can't downgrade him for qualifying
because it wasn't his fault. And then to make his way through the field, to be only two seconds off
Norris, come the end of the race, I think is a great performance from Max. So
there's not really much more to say. He carved his way through the midfield, which you would expect.
His mad is just so expected, isn't it? Because that's just who he is and what he does.
Well, yeah, I guess it's who he is, but also the car performance. I'm kind of more
speaking about the car performance here in the chasm between the top four teams and the rest of the
field. So yeah, it's still a great drive for Max. That's why I've gone for a 9.
The fans gave him a 9 out of 10 as well. Kimmy Antonelli, qualified second, finished second.
This one is tough, but I am going to go for a 9 out of 10 for Kimmy Antonelli. It was close to
being an 8, I'll be honest, but I've gone for a 9 because his race drive was really good
after lap one. And to be honest, he was sort of a few seconds, but behind George Russell,
come the end. There was phenomenal race pace there. I can understand how people would go for
8s and 9s for Kimmy, to be honest with you, because of course he crashed in practice,
got away with it because maybe Max Verstappen went off in qualifying and they were able to
repair his car. He goes out there, puts a bit of pressure on himself as well in Q3,
but still manages to deliver and stick it second on the grid. Then he has a bad race start,
bounces back from there and finishes second, only a few seconds behind Russell. So I think that
there are some really strong positives and then a few negatives, as I've mentioned,
but I think the really strong positives outweigh the negatives for me for Antonelli,
who of course is still very, very new to the sport in comparison to some drivers.
And I'm quite excited to see what Antonelli can do. On the flip side of that, not a negative for
his performance, but I'm also slightly concerned that Russell wasn't pushing in the slightest and
there's a lot more in the tank when it comes to George. The fact that he said after the race as
well that he knew he had basically a buffer or a margin with Charlotte Blair, he knew that there
was a margin there, so he didn't really need to push Charlotte too hard when he was trying to get
through on him. So there's things there, I'm going, okay, Antonelli looked really, really good,
but how much was George actually pushing? But still, I have to grade it on what I saw with Kimmy,
so I've gone for a 9 out of 10. I have gone for an 8 out of 10, is close between the two.
I wanted to give him a 9, but when I looked at all the factors of the weekend,
I think the positive is that he was really close to George at the end,
but he really did get away with, it could have been a lot worse. I think his start,
you know, dropping all the way down, he was fortunate that the Ferraris were racing so much
that he could be brought back into play with how bad his start was, going all the way down into
about 7th, I think it was. And then of course, Ferraris VSC Blunder, which I will call it VSC
Blunder because it definitely was, allowed him to easily be catapulted into second. It might
have been a bit tougher for him between the two Ferraris, and I think there had been a lot more
of a race between those two. Between Antonelli and the two Ferraris had Ferraris not made that
strategy call. His pace was great, but yeah, the other things as well, you know, the crash in FP3,
so nearly cost him a chance of even qualifying completely. It was a miracle for the team to
get it ready and him to be able to go out there. And yeah, second and second looks like a great
result on paper, but it doesn't really tell the whole story of his weekend. But the positives are
that if George isn't leaving loads of time on the table, he's looking a lot more comparative
and closer and hopefully can challenge him. The fans gave Kimmy a 9 out of 10. George Russell,
qualified first, finished first. I've gone for a 10 for George. I think his obviously is qualifying.
We expected him to completely blitz this, which he didn't. How much of that was the fact that he was,
he knew what he could do and he was just managing the pace. You do need to give credit to George
for the fact that he has been able to understand all this confusing new battery deployment and
everything and how to drive it. Even if it is not a nice watch watching and qualifying and seeing,
if you saw, I may be a very annoyed watching the ghost car between him and Antonelli,
that George was just powering down the straights. But that's from him basically seeing how to drive
and harvest the energy in the right way. While as pure hardcore Formula One fans, we don't enjoy that
very much. I don't think it's fair to say to George, oh, it's just because he's pressing the throttle
hard. It's still a talent to be able to drive these cars in the fastest way. He deserves credit for
that. That being said, I do wonder if their advantage is as big as it is. We might see a
situation like Max in 2023 where just them always winning isn't necessarily a 10 out of 10
performance. I'm giving him a 10 this time and it's a great start from George.
I'm also giving him a 10 out of 10, a much cleaner, solid weekend for George in comparison to his
teammate. I can't downgrade him and give him the same as what Kimi Antonelli got because he got
pole and he won the race. It's a great performance from George. Of course, had some issues with his
own car and that's why he lost the lead to Charles at the beginning. I think he was very sensible
with his battling with Leclerc. He didn't do anything too crazy that could have popped a front
wing off or cost him the win because he knew that he had the car underneath him. Not the perfect
weekend, but very, very close. I'm still going to give him a 10. As you say, as we understand the
pecking order a little bit more, as we've had a few races under our belt, then we'll know if
winning by 12 seconds over a Ferrari is actually a good or bad performance.
They only won by 12 seconds and didn't lead four out of the elapsed.
But the thing is the pecking order, the advantages and disadvantages will change,
I think, race to race. So it's going to be very hard to judge because it's not going to be a
consistent form, I don't think, throughout the year. The fans gave George a 10 as well.
Now, let's head to the McLarens. Oscar Piastri, qualified fifth, did not start because he crashed
on the way to the grid. I am going to give Oscar Piastri a one out of 10, not giving him a zero,
giving him a one because there were other variables that caused the unexpected surge of power,
the 100 kilowatts more that he didn't expect at that part of the track. The exit curb thing,
obviously, that is him driving. So that's more the driver error side as well as,
like this is literally on the way to the grid. So it is still inexcusable in that sense.
My heart goes out to him and to all the Australian fans that were at the race and also,
of course, watching at home. But he himself said that there was certainly a big element of it that
was me. So had McLaren come out and said completely car error, we'd be having a different conversation
right now and it would be an NA. But Oscar has admitted a large amount of it being his fault.
So I'm going to give him a one because he outqualified his teammate and there was small
things that caught him out. Yeah, I've gone for exactly the same a one out of 10 for Piastri,
for the very same reasons that outpaced Lando in qualifying, albeit by a tiny margin and we'll
get on to Lando's qualifying anyway in a bit because his front wing was hanging off.
And yeah, the fact that yes, it's unfortunate that he's had this surprise of power delivery,
but he himself has admitted that it's more on him that he's caught the kerb.
Do you need to be pushing that much? It's all hindsight, of course, isn't it?
Going, oh, why didn't I do that? Because of course, in hindsight, you'd go, oh, well,
don't don't use that exit kerb because I watched a fan video that someone caught where you could
see all the other cars going round and some of them were going very tentatively through it.
Oscar, yeah, caught the kerb, flung into the wall and it's just devastating,
really gutting for all the people that will have bought their merch, paid a lot of money to go,
watched the Australian Grand Prix, have all their Piastri merch on and flags and everything,
and then they don't even get to see him to race. It's gutting, but it has to be a one for Oscar
Piastri. It does, unless you're the fans, give him a zero for Oscar Piastri, so no such sympathy
there. Let's go to Lando Norris, qualified sixth, finished fifth. I've gone for an eight out of 10
for Lando Norris. I think he's a difficult one to grade as well because, of course,
his teammate wasn't in the race. However, qualifying, yes, he was outqualified by Piastri,
but his front wing, of course, he was the one that hit that piece of Antonelli's car.
They duct taped it back together and you can actually watch his on board where you can see that
and also him coming out the final corner where the front wing is scraping along the ground.
It's not going to lose him seconds, but it's still something that's going to affect him.
In the race, I think P5 is the best he could have hoped for. He did well to hold off Max
to Stappen at the end, despite McLaren being nowhere. This is such a surprise of how far
McLaren are off to be with about 50 seconds behind a car with the same engine, a team that won the
world championship, both world championships last year, the two-time reigning constructors champions,
like one of the last two years. Absolutely crazy how far they're behind, but I don't think that's
on Lando, so I've given him an 8 out of 10. Okay. For Lando, I'm going to give him a 7 out of 10.
I think that a decent weekend, considering where McLaren appear to be, outqualified by Oscar,
but as you mentioned, the front wing dragging along the ground for his final lap
would not have helped him in the slightest. Obviously, that damage was picked up due to
Kimmy Antonelli putting out some banana skins, which I still can't believe was just a fine.
Hey, Hope, that's what that is. Then you mentioned about the Mercedes engine and stuff.
Of course, interestingly, I think today, as of recording, Andrea Stella has come out and
essentially questioned the lack of information they're getting from Mercedes, which sort of
matches up to my questioning of how the hell are Mercedes so far clear in a supposed engine
formula with exactly the same engine as other customer teams. That's a question that I'm
sure will continue to go on and on, but the fact that he's sort of gone public with this
could mean that the relationship there might well get a little bit strained. But back to
Lando Norris' performance, it's a good drive. He scored some solid points, nowhere near the front
four. It's a quiet one. I don't think I can give him quite an 8. I can see why he's gone for it,
but I've gone for a 7 instead, which is not a bad performance, but it's nothing sensational either.
The fans gave him a 7. So finally, who was our P1? Well, I only gave one 10 out of 10,
and that was to Harvard. I did give two. You didn't give Georgia nine, did you?
I did. Sorry, I did give Georgia 10. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Cool. Sorry. George was just chilling out
front. I forgot I gave him a 10, but it's still going to be Harvard Limblad. So there you go.
George, I'm sorry, but Limblad's performance was brilliant as a rookie. As a first race
of his Formula One career, there's nobody else that I could go for. And sorry, George,
for forgetting I gave you a 10. Yeah, I had to give that up at Limblad as well.
Definitely P1, an amazing result. Yeah, it has to be a 10 the way he drove on his debut
with all that pressure on him. So much pressure. So much pressure on him.
And delivered. Brilliant job. Lovely stuff. Well, that is driver ratings done and dusted.
I hope you enjoyed this series being back. We look forward to reading your grades and who you
would have put where. Very difficult. Found this one very tough to get right. Well, there isn't
it's not right or wrong. He's judging apart from everybody. So there you go. Hope you enjoyed
it. We will be back literally next week for the next driver ratings. Well, this week, sorry.
No, next week, technically, because China is this weekend will be live on across
Twitch, YouTube and Dream 11. And that is it. Tommy, final thoughts, please.
Final thoughts. Yeah, that was an incredibly difficult one to do as we are basically in one
race of a new regulations. I think the pecking order is going to change consistently as well
from race to race, which is going to make it even more confusing about knowing who's where.
You know, last year, we had the luxury of essentially seeing multiple seasons and racing
races of knowing kind of who's where and how good each car is. But even at this stage,
it's still a bit of a guessing game sometimes. But yeah, it was a lot of fun and enjoyed it. So
bring on the next one. Well, bring on predictions, actually, which is going to be even more difficult.
Exactly 23 more races to go, maybe a few less if there are some cancellations on the way,
but we'll have to wait and see with that one. But yeah, we'll see you very soon.
Let's not take care. Bye. Bye.
About this episode
Matt and Tommy dive into their driver ratings for the Australian GP, tackling the challenges of assessing performances amid new regulations and technical issues. They discuss standout moments like Sergio Perez's gritty battle in a struggling Cadillac, Franco Colapinto's impressive reactions avoiding a crash, and Pierre Gasly's strong points finish despite Alpine's struggles. The hosts debate how to fairly grade drivers affected by car failures or penalties, emphasizing the complexity of rating drivers in a season full of variables. Fan ratings often align with their assessments, adding another layer to the discussion.
Original notes
The most controversial series in F1 podcasting™ is back! Join us as we base some definitive, not-to-be-argued-with ratings for each of the 22 drivers, based off almost zero information.
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