Annotations will appear as you listen
0:00
52:32
Place
Red Bull Ring
A famous, fast race track located in the scenic mountains of Austria. It is owned by the Red Bull energy drink company and hosts the Austrian Grand Prix.
Place
Silverstone
A legendary race track in England where the very first Formula 1 race was held in 1950. It is known for being incredibly fast and windy.
Term
VSC
A digital speed limit system used during races when there is a minor hazard on the track. Instead of a real car leading the pack, drivers must slow down to a safe speed shown on their steering wheel screens.
Term
lift and coast
A trick drivers use where they take their foot off the gas pedal a bit early before hitting the brakes for a turn. It helps save fuel and keeps the car's brakes and engine from getting too hot.
Concept
team orders
When a racing team tells its two drivers over the radio to stop fighting each other or to let one pass the other to help the team get more points.
Concept
silly season
The time of year when everyone in racing starts gossiping and making deals about which drivers will switch to different teams for the next season.
Part
power units
The incredibly advanced hybrid engine systems used in modern Formula 1 cars, combining a traditional gas engine with powerful electric motors.
Person
Lewis Hamilton
One of the most famous and successful race car drivers in history, having won seven Formula 1 world championships.
Term
double-waved yellow
A warning flag waved by track workers meaning there is a major hazard ahead. Drivers must slow down a lot and be ready to stop if necessary.
Person
Max Verstappen
A dominant Dutch Formula 1 driver who races for Red Bull and has won multiple world championships with his incredibly fast and aggressive driving.
Person
Kimi Antonelli
A young, highly talented Italian racing driver who was signed by the Mercedes Formula 1 team at a very young age due to his incredible speed.
Person
George Russell
A fast British Formula 1 driver who races for the Mercedes team and is known for his precise driving style.
LIVE
Hello, everybody, and welcome back to the P1 podcast with Matt and Tommy, driver ratings,
Austrian Grand Prix edition. That's right. We've got our grades from zero all the way
to 10 for all of the 22 drivers that we saw race around the Red Bull Ring. Tommy, you're
in a lovely top that you can wear on sort of like a movie set because it's very stroby,
but in the driver ratings, no, no, I'm saying in like, you know, you know, like if you're doing
like a proper interview somewhere that you don't don't wear stripes. No, no, here in the P1 podcast,
we allow it. All right, we enjoy the stroby. Right, let's get into driver ratings and begin
with Sergio Perez, who started in P19 and did not finish. This is the most bog standard straight
down the middle five out of 10 I've ever seen in my entire life for, I mean, Cadillac, I would give
a team grade. I know people have been screaming, oh, you need to do team grades. We're not doing it
right now. But if I was to give Cadillac a team grade, it'd be zero because they could not put
those upgrades on the car without them breaking almost immediately. What I will say is that
there were glimmers of pace across the weekend when Perez's car actually worked. But I can't give
anything more than a five because we saw very little of him, but I also don't want to give
him a no grade. So five down the middle. There you go, Perez. I have gone for a five as well.
Very hard to judge. It was a very bog standard Cadillac race where they were the slowest car
other than Aston Martin. Yeah, they, we've seen races haven't we, where Perez in particular
has sometimes overdriven the like done a better job in the Cadillac than where it probably should be.
Unfortunately for Cadillac, this was just one of those races where they were sat
at the back of the grid other than Aston Martin. And yeah, it's a five all day long.
Well, yeah, they couldn't do really enough running to do any much better than that. So
hopefully for Silverstone, they will have a working functioning car with the upgrade package. The
fans, they agree. They've given Checo a five out of 10. Valtteri Bottas started 20th, also did not finish.
I've gone for a five for Valtteri Bottas. I think this, he's, what we've seen before with Bottas,
he's much closer now. He's not had anywhere near as bad of a run recently as he kind of did towards
the start of the season where it was very worrying. But he was there or thereabouts with Perez this
race. But it still just couldn't show anything with how short their race was. So gone for a five.
Yeah, qualifying wasn't disastrous for Bottas. It has been this season, but I can't downgrade him.
I mean, he again only did not even a handful, like genuinely a smidge of laps before his car broke
as well. And Cadillac were done for the day. So I'm going to give back with Bottas a five as well,
because, you know, glimmers of hope for my, for my goat that perhaps one lap pace is not completely
gone. Just occasionally this season, it has been dreadful, but I can't say that this time. So five
out of 10, the fans gave him a five. Now on to cars that actually did things and stayed in the race
for longer than a few laps, sort of. Franco Collapinto started 16th and finished 15th.
My grade for Franco Collapinto is a five out of 10. Even though, yes, very different sort of set of
adventure for Collapinto compared to the Cadillacs, nothing to really write home about when it comes
to Collapinto's weekend. Now he's, he was a long way behind gasoline qualifying, although, you know,
he made a mistake on his final lap. So realistically, you can't, it looks worse than it actually is,
but also he made the mistake and therefore that's what it ended up being. And then as for the race,
he was kind of just stuck after his, his poor qualifying, didn't have the pace of
gasoline. And so I'm going to go for a five out of 10. I am also going for a five out of 10 for,
for Collapinto. There will be other greats than fives. We started with some drivers that have
had very uneventful races other than I guess the Cadillacs, but not for the right reasons.
But Collapinto, Alpine, they were just not anywhere near what we've maybe seen
them like it in certain races this season where, you know,
Gasly's obviously had a really good season and been scoring consistent points. Collapinto's had a
good run of races as well, but the Alpine just didn't look particularly great around here,
maybe just the fact that some other midfield cars were superior. So I'm going for a five.
The fans gave Franco a five out of 10 as well. Pierre Gasly started 11th, finished 13th.
I've gone for a six for Pierre Gasly. I'm giving him that extra nod because his qualifying,
I think he probably over delivered what that Alpine could do. And he was unlucky at the start
to lose places with probably a deployment issue or something that wasn't his fault basically,
where he didn't have the power that was expected. So Gasly so used to him scoring
really solid points every single race. But I don't think I can be too harsh just because
the Alpine just did not look anywhere near the car it was. Interesting. I've gone for a seven out
of 10 for Pierre Gasly because as much as Gasly has been one of the top performers in the midfield,
Alpine, as you sort of mentioned, looked to be off the pace generally from car performance side.
And I think he deserves more than one grade above Collapinto, you know, finished 26 odd
seconds ahead of him and qualified really well as well. You know, he was very close to knocking
out Max Verstappen, fortunately for Max that he just about squeezed through. But for Gasly,
yeah, you know, 13th right behind Holkenberg on a different strategy. And yeah, I've gone for a seven
because I think it was a performance that perhaps people didn't really notice. The fans gave him
a five. No, and went up here at all with Gasly's performance. I think it's not p seven.
Then it's a five. Gabrielle Bortoletto started p 12 and finished p 11. I have gone for
eight out of 10 for Bortoletto. I think it was actually a very solid weekend from him.
It was better than Holkenberg throughout. I would say that the Audi
is not a car that should be excelling around here. And to finish once again, one position away
from the points is just standard Audi things this year. You know, I know we joke about it,
but it's also tough for the team, drivers to constantly be falling one position
short. Of course, Bortoletto has scored points this year, but not many and Holkenberg scored
zero. But considering there were no retirements in front of him, I was thinking like, ah, maybe if,
you know, a Hadjar or a Leclerc or whoever it might be, had they DNF'd and Bortoletto got p 10,
would I have given him an eight out of 10? Yes, I think I would have. So that's what I'm going for.
I've also gone for an eight out of 10 for Gabrielle Bortoletto. I think it's probably quite an
underrated drive. But unfortunately, his problem lies where unfortunately, it's been a race where
all the top finishes, the top cars have not retired. And equally, racing bulls was just
too, too strong as the kind of best of the rest. So he's finished exactly where he should. And he
was comfortably quicker than Holkenberg and qualifying and ahead of him in the race as well.
So deserve some props. So I've gone for a P eight and just very unlucky. P eight. Sorry,
a P eight. I wish it was P eight. He deserves some points. Tommy, honestly, if I had to choose,
like my favorite things about you and doing things from podcasts, it's numbers. Numbers are,
at least there's not, you know, much emphasis on numbers in Formula One. Yeah, I know. I'm
disappointed there's not the 2020 and the 2022 hasn't come up. That's when I really like this.
Come on, Grace. Hurry up, Sarah. You can replace me. Get older.
Wow. Tommy does love his job and just want to. I meant well that I'm washed and deserve to be
fired. You're not what I want. Darling, don't be silly. That is not true. You are perfect,
apart from numbers. Okay. So the fans gave Portoletto a seven out of 10.
Nico Holkenberg started 14th, finished 12th. I've gone for a seven for Nico Holkenberg.
Not quite the level of his teammate, but he did finish right behind him on the road.
So a decent job for Audi, but again, Audi just so unfortunate not to get any points because
everyone in those top teams decided this week we're all going to finish even though it was
absolutely boiling hot and we thought all the cars were going to explode. So Audi continued their
run of finishing 11th and 12th when about 20 cars retire and even when, you know, no cars retire,
they're just having a shocker and can't seem to catch a break.
Indeed. I deliberated between a six and a seven because this qualifying was pretty scruffy,
but I'm going to go for a seven. He finished eight seconds. I think it was behind Portoletto,
which is not too insane considering he finished or sorry, he started three positions,
two positions behind him. So yeah, it was an okay weekend for Holkenberg, but again,
it's that there are good things to talk about in terms of Audi and their reliability, of course,
and generally both of the drivers, I think, doing a solid job, but no points to show for it.
The fans gave Holkenberg a six. Esteban Ocon started 15th, finished 16th.
I've gone for a...
I've gone for a four out of ten for Ocon. I was going to go for a five. I think it
maybe deserves a four. I've been looking at his race and I really don't understand
where his time went. I think his strategy wasn't great, but his pace on the hard tire at the end
was really nothing to write home about at all in comparison to Bearman. I'm only a handful of
seconds behind him when that last didn't occur. Of course, Bearman did gain a little bit under
the VSC in the initial stop, but he's finished 36 odd seconds behind Bearman come the end, which
I know the Haas is a bad car currently when you compare it to the start of the year,
but also you can only be judged against your teammate. I don't think Bearman had particularly
a good race either. So I've gone for a four. Ocon needs to step it up and it's sad to watch at the
moment. It certainly is. I've gone for a four as well for Esteban Ocon. Another struggle where
he's actually had no pace just about scraped through into Q2. He was in 11th as well at the
start of the race. He was. He made a great start and then just fell away. There's talk that
the two Haas' aren't the same. He kind of talked about this and the team has now admitted that
there are parts that are slightly inconsistent. Whatever that means. But you still expect Ocon
as a veteran, a Formula One now to be much closer to Oli Bearman and he's not having a good time
at all at the moment. So yeah, I've gone for a four for Ocon.
The fans gave Ocon a five out of 10. Oli Bearman started 13th, finished 14th.
Gone for a six for Oli Bearman. This is one of those races where some midfielders might have had
the best race of their life and you just have no idea because it very much felt like
everyone kind of had quite normal-ish races and there wasn't too much craziness going on.
And also a lot of obviously the top cars finishing and everything as well. So
Oli's done a solid job and beaten his teammate by 30 seconds but equally
it's hard to go for anything higher than a six when he finished 14th.
Even when you factor in the fact that Haas are just not really anywhere near the heights that
they were at the start of the season, which is a massive shame because someone like Oli Bearman
is not able to share what he can do. And yeah, not good for Oli but a decent, a good performance
despite his lack of machinery. I've gone for a six out of 10 for Oli Bearman. I think he was
just in no man's land when it comes to the Haas performance and what he can do. And yeah,
the learnings that we've had when we had Alex Albon on the podcast and he said,
you have the race of your life and then you tune into Matt and Tommy's driver ratings and
they've given you a four. This could be an Oli Bearman performance. It could be many of these
drivers' performances but what we can judge it on is our own brains and what we've seen.
And so yeah, I've gone for a six because it's slightly better than others potentially around
him but also it's just, you know, he's 23 odd seconds behind Gasly in 13th and
he's finished lower than where he started. It's tough to measure at the moment because
Haas have dropped off significantly since we saw those stunning Bearman performances at the start.
So a six from me. The fans gave him a five. Not really sure how you're giving Ocon and
Bearman the same grade. Can we lock in? Lance Stroll started 22nd. Did not finish.
Ah, Aston Martin. I love how, because obviously we do this in Constructor's Championship order,
don't we? I love how high these guys are in terms of where we grade them and yet it's always, wow,
how do we grade this diabolical weekend? It's a five for Lance Stroll because
he was okay. He didn't outqualify Fernando Alonso, of course, but I just, I don't know.
What is there to say about Aston Martin? It's ridiculous.
You can't, you know, Stroll doesn't finish. He didn't crash into the barrier. Congratulations.
Woped by Alonso. Yeah, I've gone for a five as well for Lance Stroll. It's a case where
he has circulated in the worst car by a mile on the grid. He's not been whipped by Fernando Alonso.
Like maybe he hasn't in the past and Alonso's equally not done anything insanely special.
Like maybe we've seen it in the past as well. So it's got to be a five for Lance Stroll and
they'll just be praying that their B car can at least make them fight the Cadillacs maybe so we
can give them a seven out of 10 when they finish 19th. Yeah, I think we should just have a blanket
five. We don't talk about them until they bring upgrades. We don't even mention them in driver
ratings because it's just horrible to talk about really. It's a torrid, torrid time.
The fans gave Lance Stroll a five out of 10, unsurprisingly. Fernando Alonso started 21st,
finished 18th. I've gone for a five. Fernando Alonso just raced on his own. I'm sure he will say,
as he always does, that it was the best race in his career. But we will never know because the car
is so awful and it's not even close to Cadillac now. So please, Aston Martin, just do something.
Sort your lives out, please. As the meme is with the poking of the stick. Just do something.
Yeah, those upgrades need to be a serious overhaul. I have unsurprisingly gone for a five out of 10.
I can't give him any higher than that because he finished three laps down, 53 seconds behind Albon.
As we said in the live stream, he almost got lapped by the car he was trying to chase down.
That's how far Aston Martin are off, dreadful. I'm so intrigued to see when they do finally
bring their first batch of upgrades how much time they gain because it needs to be literal seconds
per lap. How can they do that mid-season? We will find out.
And I can't think of, as much as I'm the biggest Fernando Alonso stan, I can't think of two
probably worse drivers to be in that situation to help push a team and develop them forward.
Because Fernando's probably just done and can't be asked anymore and is just sick to death of
how bad it's gone. And equally, Lance Stroll, he's never, never one to care too much either.
So you don't feel like Alonso is more probably just miffed at the fact that
his career is going to end in a really poor way and absolutely gutted. I can't see it being a
situation where both of them working tirelessly behind the scenes. Let's turn this around,
guys, because Alonso knows he's going to be retiring in probably next year or the year
after and equally Lance Stroll is Lance Stroll. Yeah, I mean, I would potentially counteract
the Alonso point and think that, one, we've not really seen him speak out against the team,
which, yeah. But we say that, right? Yeah. Fernando has said it's been very vocal
his entire career if a car's been terrible. So for me, like,
there probably is a part of him that goes, well, I don't want to speak out too much,
because if I do, then they'll just get rid of me because I, you know, I'm very much at
the end of my career. But also, I would like to think that Fernando is probably working hard,
because this is the last chance that he has to, he has to work with the team to fix the car if he
wants any kind of result over the next couple of seasons. So yes, he's going to be miffed.
Yes, he's going to be really probably down in the dumps about where Aston Martin are,
but you would like to think Fernando as who he is will be trying to push the team forward,
because otherwise he might have regrets when he does finally hang up his racing gloves and boots.
So I'm giving him a benefit. When Aston win the title as soon as he lives.
Yeah, exactly. But fingers crossed, he can stay around for a little bit longer and get some
performance. And also, you know, I saw a little social clip of you on another podcast saying you
are convinced that he's going to Alpine. I think that's a little BS. I don't think, no, because
I'm sure he's talking. discussing, but why would he leave to go to another midfield
team that Alpine are never going to win a race in the next two years? No, but neither are Aston
Martin. But Aston Martin, I think there would be that like miracle ceiling, you know, really potential
jump, whereas the whole team wasn't just a mess. Yeah.
All right. Well, we'll leave it there. The fans gave Fernando Alonso a 5 out of 10.
Arvid Lindblad started P10, finished P10. I am going to go for an 8 out of 10 for Arvid Lindblad.
I think it was a very solid weekend that he put down. He got into Q3, finished behind his
teammate. The reason why I've not given him a 9 is because he's a naughty boy.
Get out my head. I've written in my notes, naughty boy. Slap on the wrists for Lindblad.
Not that we saw it, not that we saw any of this little debacle in the broadcast, because
we were probably watching the back of a man's head. Even though we saw the timing towers
switching constantly between the three of them. And I've searched for this clip and I can't find it.
Oh, I found it. You found it. Okay. All right. Okay. Where was this?
It was at turn three. So that's not correct, because I've seen that clip. But from what I've
read, it was Lindblad passing Lawson in turn four, and there was no, because there was no one else
to fight or something. And Lindblad was saying that. So I think that's a different time. Oh, okay.
Because when Lawson comes out the pits, which is what you're seeing, Lindblad's passing there.
And I'm not going to slap him on the wrist for that, because there was a hash of bearmen, I think,
in the fight as well. Oh, sorry. Yeah. Okay. It's a different man. So I get that, right? Like,
I get that Lindblad there has put on a move on Lawson because he's fighting another car as well.
But from my understanding, there is a separate incident where they were fighting,
and it was turn four, and Lindblad's gone through. While Liam was basically lifting and
coasting and just managing his brakes, everything, they were just strict instructions from the team.
Do not pass Lawson. Lindblad went, well, you know, it was an easy 9-10. It's an easy 9-10 finish.
Done bag points. Don't need to do anything silly. Yeah. So I believe it was a separate
incident. Eight out of 10 for me for Lindblad. I've gone for a seven out of 10 for Lindblad.
Yes, agreed that he is a, would have been an eight, but a very naughty boy indeed. And I don't think
stuff like that is going to help your career and just seems entirely pointless to be
racing your teammate and probably getting in the bad books of your team over a ninth place finish
just seems a little bit ridiculous. So a little bit of an experience coming through there. And I
get that, you know, all, that's the other side of the coin where, you know, sometimes we're like,
drivers need to be ruthless and stuff, but there's a time and a place and P9 at Austria,
the team's home race, fighting your, you know, your, your teammate when you just, he's just
cruising home to a great result for the team and solid points again. It just didn't need to happen.
Okay. The fans, can you explain this? Because you've got written down 7.5.
Because they were exactly, oh, let me have a look.
Yeah, let's, let's check. Because surely someone would have put a vote in since you've written
this. Yeah, they were, they were identical. Yeah, but we've got to have one or the other.
We can't be having 7.5s because we'd never have that ever. No, I think that's why.
Has it changed? Sure. Yes, it has changed by two votes. Okay. Okay. The fans gave
Arvid Limblad an eight out of 10. Liam Lawson started ninth, finished ninth.
I've gone for an eight out of 10 for Liam Lawson. Another very strong drive from Liam Lawson got the
best out of a car, which was the class of the midfield has to be said. I'm very interested
to see when we do our average grades at the mid season point where Lawson's going to be in this
kind of as we do the averages. Because it feels like Liam Lawson is getting really good
grades every single week in driver ratings and having a really consistently good season. And
it's another, another drive, another, you know, point, more points for the team. And yeah,
maybe just a little bit unfortunate that didn't get a slice of luck with maybe some of the top
teams retiring like they normally do and getting an even better result. But I've gone for an eight
for Lawson. Interesting. I've gone for a nine out of 10 for Liam Lawson. And I think he deserves
no less than that because he's finished best of the rest. I do agree with a lot of people in the
sense that V-Carb is the fastest car. However, I think he's executed almost perfectly. The reason
I haven't gone for a 10 is because, you know, he hasn't put 15 seconds on Limblad. I think then
maybe there's, there's, there's, you know, cause for a 10 there. So I've gone for a nine because
I think V-Carb, apart from the, the naughty teammate incident, a team orders incident,
sorry. I don't know what more they could have really done in both qualifying and the race. So
I've gone for a nine for Lawson. And yes, I think he is going to be probably top five
in the averages because, and I think that's very fair. He has turned up every single weekend so
far this year. Let me have a look at his results because it's been so consistent from him. I'm
looking at his results. So Australia was a bit of a P-13, but in China, seventh and then seventh
in the sprint, Japan ninth, Miami he retired, and then he's been on a seventh, sixth, eighth,
ninth. So he scored points in every single one of the last four races. And I think he's been
really, really impressive and quietly going under the radar. So yeah, a nine out of 10 for me for
Lawson. The fans gave him an eight. Carlos Sainz started 17th, did not finish. I've gone for a
six out of 10 for Carlos Sainz. He was doing a reasonable job in a car that is rather dreadful.
He was running I think around 13th-ish when his car went kaput, which was a shame for him. So
not much he can really do in terms of massive big performances. But I think he deserves a nod
in the sense that he was running pretty well before he retired.
Indeed. I've gone for a six out of 10 as well for Carlos Sainz. A good, good qualifying lap
to kind of put it where probably as good as he could really almost got Ocon. I think Williams
is just so disappointing to see based on what happened last year. And we saw both Alex and
Carlos when that Williams was good, able to do amazing things. But they just a bit like other
teams on the grid. They just don't have a hope at the moment to deliver anything special because
their car is just not quite there. And do you wonder what Carlos Sainz is thinking as he's
walking back to the pits after driving a car that's not competitive and also unreliable?
And yes, it's going to be a very interesting, silly season for sure when all that kicks off.
Indeed. And you have not as per the aduo results, but as per most of people with a brain,
the best engine on the grid. Power units, yes.
Yeah, power units. So he's probably wondering, how do we turn this around?
Because it's more about how they've built the car around the best power unit on the grid,
in my opinion. At the fans, give Carlos a five. Alex Albon, started 18th, finished 17th.
I've gone for a five for Alex Albon. Again, disappointing race for Williams.
Like many runners that we've said in this drive ratings, he can't really show what he can do,
which is a real shame. Williams aren't quite there. They do seem very comfortably that
ninth fastest car, where they are ahead of Cadillac, definitely, and obviously clear of
Aston Martin. But they're kind of like hanging on to the other midfielders that maybe seem to
switch around a little bit more of maybe sometimes Alpine at the best one week,
and then it's racing balls. Whereas unfortunately for Williams, they're still in Struggletown.
So gone for a five for Alex Albon. I've gone for a five as well. Williams are in this really
horrible spot where they are, as you say, ahead of those two teams languishing at the bottom,
but not by much in terms of Cadillac. And then there's a chasm between them and where the actual
points are. So yeah, they're in big Struggletown, Williams. And Albon was, in my opinion, the slower
of the two Williams drivers, not by much, but definitely slower. So I've gone for a five.
The fans gave him a five as well. Lewis Hamilton started third, finished fifth. I've gone for a
seven out of 10 for Lewis Hamilton. Qualifying left a little bit on the table. I would have
fully expected him to outqualify Charles Leclerc in that final Q3 run, but just narrowly missed out.
Also, fifth in the race, it's tough for him. I think that fourth was easily achievable.
He put a good move on Leclerc at the start. And overall, P5 after running in second at the
beginning is somewhat down to the Ferrari car, but also the strategy. He was fully convinced
a three-stop was the way to go. I personally don't think that, especially with the soft
tyre stop during the VSC, was the correct way to go. Hamilton, quite strangely, I think,
after the race was saying, it wasn't really questioning the strategy whatsoever, whereas
I think from us watching it with a bird's eye view, seeing how the race unfolded, I just don't
think that was the right decision in a car that is quite slow on the streets, as we know. So
still a strong performance from Hamilton, and for a Ferrari car that isn't great round here,
a good performance. So a seven. I've gone for a seven as well for Lewis Hamilton.
Yeah, the quicker Ferrari driver, but not at the heights we've seen this year, partly due to the
fact that Ferrari just did not have the pace, but his strategy I do agree with. He would have
surely beaten Piastri with a better strategy, and sadly just faded away during the race. If you
think at the start, he was there hanging on to George Russell at the start, and then had that
battle with Max, who, of course, Max almost ended up winning the race. So, disappointing from Ferrari,
they didn't seem to build on what they had from Barcelona, but you could argue, and I would,
that is probably not a track that was going to suit them, so hopefully better at Silverstone.
The fans gave Lewis Hamilton a seven out of 10 as well.
Charlotte Clair started second, finished eighth. I have gone for a five out of 10 for Charlotte
Clair, really struggled with pace, qualifying. Finally, we're seeing him back to qualifying
well. Puts it on the front row, maybe in another universe. There's a double-waved yellow, and he's
starting on pole position, but even if he had started on pole position, he's slipping all the
way back in the race. I wouldn't even call it a mistake. At the start, just puts his car in
the wrong place, lets Hamilton through, and then just no pace from there on, and just faded away,
and still clearly struggling a lot with that Ferrari.
Okay, so I've gone for a nine out of 10, and I'm kidding. I've gone for a five as well,
actually. We're in agreement city in this driver ratings. For Charlotte Clair, despite
qualifying really well, despite out qualifying Lewis Hamilton, it is a five. He fought really
hard at the start, which I think then just cooked his tyres, and he was just causing a
Le Clair train at the beginning. It's just a really disappointing spell of races for Charlotte.
I thought, here we've seen great performances in the past from him around this circuit,
and yet he just seems a little bit mystified as to where his pace has gone. I don't think,
when you look at it on paper, he's 14 seconds off the back of Norris. That's not the actual
full picture. Of course, they did that stop at the end, but still he was finishing eighth,
and there's no doubt about that, that he was really struggling in that final,
not the final stint, because of course that was his soft, but before he changed onto the softs,
he was falling away, and Hamilton didn't have those same problems. Yes, Le Clair went on an
aggressive strategy, pitted a little bit earlier, so therefore had the worst tyres, but that's because
he wasn't able to keep them in a great window. Really tough once again, but I don't think he
deserves any lower than a five, because there were some good things to talk about, mainly
on the Saturday. The fans gave him a four. That seems harsh. A little bit harsh, I would say,
but I guess not far from what we've graded him. Isaac Hadjar started eighth, finished sixth.
I have gone for a seven out of 10 for Hadjar. Yes, he was quite a way away from Verstappen,
couldn't utilise the pace in the Red Bull. I know that he wasn't far off of Max in qualifying,
but then Max had his own issues with the car on that final run, which maybe looked slightly better
in qualifying when you compare the two, it being like one and a half tenths. I think Max
definitely had more pace in the car, should that rear weird problem that he had not had
rear its ugly head. But for Hadjar, in the race, put on a decent show, a good charge at the end
to come through and finish sixth in the end, ultimately. Still off Max, but not anywhere
near as bad as that second Red Bull seat has been in the past, so a seven.
I've gone for a seven as well for Isaac Hadjar. A decent result for him.
Years gone by, 30 seconds off Max Verstappen can often lead to quite a bad grade. But I think
what we've seen from Hadjar is he's doing what that second Red Bull needs to do. I think a lot
of that time was lost of him just fighting other cars. He was in the mix with, as the kind of
positions shuffled around, he was fighting a lot with Leclerc and Piastri and Hamilton and
things and had those moments where he was fighting. So last time there, I think his most impressive
thing has been qualifying. I know Max obviously had the problem, which meant he didn't do his
second run. But to be just over a tenth off when that's been the thing that the second Red
Bull driver has really struggled with is impressive. And yeah, the moment Hadjar's kind of doing what
he needs to do in that second Red Bull seat to kind of, there's been no talk of the curse
of the second seat when he's just delivering good solid points.
Yeah, I will say on that qualifying point, the track ramped up an insane amount on that final
lap. We saw Russell do a 106-1 with a lift. I think that he was still struggling in comparison to
Max over that one lap. But I think personally, the race was more impressive maybe than what
qualifying on paper was suggest. I meant more generally this year, this year,
of how the place has been to Max in qualifying. I just mentioned the tenth, so I just wanted to
counteract that slightly. Because yeah, I think without that problem with the Max, it would have
been much, much bigger. The fans gave Isaac Hadjar a 7 out of 10 as well. Max Verstappen
started fifth, finished second. I have gone for a 9 out of 10 for Max Verstappen.
Were you deliberating a 10? I was deliberating a 10, but I think I was. Of course I was,
yeah, because I'm a biased fanboy. But yeah, obviously Max has not had the car this year to
be able to fight for a win. It's incredibly impressive to be 1.6 seconds off. Mercedes
who have dominated the season, he put Russell under a lot of pressure and made Russell make a
few mistakes here and there. Had he started higher up, maybe he would have been able to
get the win, who knows. Reason it's not a 10, I think probably lost a bit of time in that battle
with Hamilton. While it was epic to watch, maybe he could have got past Hamilton quicker. Had he
been more strategic, even though I did enjoy him trying to go around the outside of every corner
because it made for exciting racing. So yeah, I've gone for a 9 for Max Verstappen.
I have also gone for a 9 out of 10 for Max Verstappen. I was never going to give him a 10.
I was hoping you would, so I could slam to you. But it was a great weekend from him. Of course,
the problems qualifying, as I've mentioned, not ideal for him. And I'm not downgrading him a tool
for the crash. I'm kind of almost thinking he started third and had he started third with
everything else that went on with Antonelli's mistakes, then yes, I think he could have won.
But yeah, the downgrade for me was the, I don't want to call it racecraft, but kind of with how
he went battling with Hamilton. Had he, and I'm in complete agreement with you, Tommy, had he
gone about it in a slightly more Max Verstappen way, he would have got through Hamilton quicker.
And the reason, what I mean by Max Verstappen way is a more decisive move,
rather than doing something that if Hamilton decides to run you out of road,
you are in trouble. And that's exactly what happened. Max was, he came over the radio,
said it was a clear penalty. It wasn't, of course, it's all said in the heat of the moment,
and things like that. And I really don't think it's that deep than what he was saying.
He didn't say anything after Diddy or about it or anything.
No, and even like, you know, I think he shook Hamilton's hands,
said great battle or whatever it might have been. So, for Max, yeah, that outside maneuver may
have cost him the race come the end. And had he won the race, of course, it would have been a 10.
So a slight downgrade there, but nothing to take away from what is a phenomenal weekend for Max,
and perhaps has revitalized the hopes of Red Bull fans and Tom Bellingham's around the world
that Max could well get a victory this year. The fans gave Max a 9 out of 10 as well. Isn't it
great? We're all just cuddling and being so wonderfully in agreement. And that means all
the comments will all be in agreement with us as well. I can't wait to...
One thing I want to bring up, actually, that we completely missed in the race review, like,
didn't mention, but I've seen kind of strange chatter about it online. And I feel like it's
insane to me, but I am very pessimistic as people being like, well, Max is only less than 100 points
behind in the championship and going to challenge for the championship. And I've seen a lot of people
being like, yeah, Max is coming and he's going to challenge for the title. What do you think on
that? Because I will always be pessimistic and be like, no. Yeah, of course. I mean, look, you last
year, when Max was like 18 points behind, we're like, no, no chance. No other chance. It's so
over. He's never going to win a race ever again. I think it's...
Merca too clear, I think, this year. Not clear, but like, it's a different formula.
We have seen one, maybe two weekends where Red Bull have looked quick. Miami was a time where,
okay, Max, all right, decent. And then he spun. And then here, you need more of a
data set in my opinion to say that Max Verstappen is going to challenge for the world championship.
All we have seen this year is Mercedes are quick everywhere. Red Bull have been quick somewhere.
Ferrari have been quick somewhere and McLaren have been quick somewhere. The only team that's
been consistent is Mercedes. You need to go to Silverstone and the next few races after that.
And if Max is right there challenging, fighting the Mercedes every single time,
then yes, maybe we can talk about that. And if he starts to close that gap to 75 points with a car
that has proved itself, then maybe, but you can't look at last year and go, well, he was over 100
points back last year because he had the fastest car at times and was able to take loads of points
away from the McLarens. Whereas here, he hasn't even won the race. And people are saying, oh,
well, he's taken three points out of Antonelli. Oh, wow. It's coming back on. Yes, it's not.
I'm in your camp right now, Tommy, that Max is not going to win the world championship right now.
He's not even won a race this season. No, how can we say this? But it is good positive signs coming
out of the team that with the best internal combustion engine and big upgrades to the aero
package, they can challenge. And that's what we want to see. Max fighting at the front makes
Formula One a much, much better place. Same with Hamilton. Those two fighting. Yes, please. More
of that. Thank you. So the fans, I don't know if I mentioned it, but Max got a nine from the facts.
Kimi Antonelli started fourth, finished third. My grade for Kimi Antonelli is an eight out of 10.
Now, he was less than two seconds away from winning the race. But I am downgrading him here. Of course,
eight is still a very solid grade. It's a reasonably not good, not even reasonably. It's a great weekend
in a lot of ways. But he fell short in others. One being qualifying. Yes, people were very quick
to jump on. Why is George Russell got pole position? Yada, yada, yada. But it soon transpired that George
Russell read the rules correctly and put it on pole and did exactly what he needed to do as a driver.
Kimi Antonelli misread that. And that was a misjudgment from him. Anthony Davidson did a great
feature on Sky where he showed exactly what the difference is between a panel, the flag panels,
between a single and a double-waved yellow. It is very clear the difference. Antonelli has read
that situation wrong. If anything, he's gone through the corner where he should have slowed
down in a kind of George Russell manner and then lifted off and not done anything after that. So
it was a mistake from him there, but it's still salvageable. But in the race, I think he lost
the chance of winning the race in those first couple of laps because he fell to fifth place.
He lost time to George Russell in that opening stint. And albeit the next two were brilliant
from him. So, so quick, that final stint in particular, he cruised up to the back of both
Max and George, of course, on lap 71, less than two seconds behind. But he finished third, loses 10
points to George Russell, who had a much cleaner weekend. And these are the sort of big sways
in points that Kimmy cannot afford as we head into this, you know, the later stages of the
championship where I firmly believe that George will figure out that car. Kimmy has the pace
advantage. It's clear to see. Finishing third is not good enough and doesn't deserve any higher than
an 8 out of 10. I have gone for a 7 out of 10. You were going to go for an 8 and then you heard
that and you were like, yeah, I'm going for a 7. No, I wasn't going for an 8. I was actually just
thinking, is that is that too harsh? But I don't think it is. It's too many mistakes from
Kimmy. And I think if you want to win the world championship, you need to maximize
every result. And Kimmy was, I think, the fastest driver this weekend. So for him to be third,
not even second on the road, yes, he's very close to George Russell at the end. But a lot of it was
his own doing. Yes, it's really unfortunate. And it's unlucky, the kind of the fact that the yellow
flag came out, but it's his mistake to basically back off and, you know, think that he shouldn't
continue. Whereas George did continue and you can't hate on George for that because he's just
doing what the rules allow. And then in the race, I think the move on Charlotte Clair in particular
was just inexperience. He should have been far more patient. And had he just passed LaClaire,
and then not been under pressure from Max and everyone, he's sat in a nice position to go
after George Russell for the rest of the race. And I think probably would have had the pace to
overtake him because he was so quick in that final stint and did something a bit different. And it
worked very well for him. And he was closing at the end. But just too many errors, sadly.
And I've got to think about, you know, the races where Mercedes are still the class of the field
and particularly around here, they were so, so dominant, particularly in that final sector,
I think. So, yeah, I've gone for a seven for Kimmy Antonelli.
Okay, harsh, harsh from Tom Bellingham, I think. But anyway, the fans have gone for an eight out of
ten for Kimmy. George Russell started first, finished first. I've gone for a nine out of ten
for George Russell. However, controversial, you've got to kind of say that his qualifying lap was a
kind of clutch moment, if you like, the fact that he just delivered and did what he needed to
by the rules, even though it's controversial. He won the race, like he was obviously leading from
from start to finish and got pole position. But I can't give him a 10 because he was maybe
slightly fortunate that had Max Verstappen and Kimmy Antonelli been further up, they probably
would have, he didn't have the pace over them and would have been under a lot of pressure and maybe
even lost out to them and also made quite a few mistakes here and there when Max was
putting pressure on him as well. But it's still an amazing job from George. And as I said in the
main race, when you are not the quickest car, when you're winning from pole position, that
looks very good for your championship fight because those are the kind of results that
when you're the championship, when you're kind of maybe not suited to the car yet and not to your
liking, but you still take home the dub. So I've gone for a nine for George.
Interesting. I am going to go for a 10 out of 10 for George Russell because I think it's harsh to
downgrade him when he's managed the weekend perfectly and Kimmy Antonelli hasn't. Yes,
he had made a couple of lockups I think into turn three, but there were a significant amount of
drivers. If I could give me a seven. Yeah, I mean, that's true. So you've given the same distance?
Same distance, but I also think that giving Kimmy a seven is harsh. But anyway,
this is the beauty of driver ratings. At least we're disagreeing on something.
Yeah, finally. We've been agreeing the entire way through. Just 40 minutes in.
Yeah, finally. If you've stayed in for this amount of time, you're getting your reward.
But I have to give George a 10 because he's qualified on pole with a great lap.
Like, yes, there's the whole controversy around the LFI, but he's done everything
to the tee. And he was on a phenomenal lap up until that point anyway, where he was able to
lift off and still get pole position. So that cannot be understated what a great lap he was
putting on the table. And then as for the race, he had a great start. And yes, his race pace was
slightly slower than Kimmy's and was under pressure from Max. But overall, he won the race.
He didn't make any catastrophic errors. He didn't do a Kimmy Antonelli and lose
the lead at the start. Very easy to do an Austria on lap one, but he managed it really,
really well. So I have to give him a 10 out of 10, George. And yeah, there you go. The fans,
give him a nine. Shocking behaviour. Oscar, no, Oscar Piastri started seventh, finished fourth.
For Oscar Piastri, I am going to give him an eight out of 10. I think it was a very solid weekend
from Oscar. Qualifying a little bit left on the table, in my opinion. He looked like the
faster driver. Of course, Lando had problems, shock. But Oscar throughout the weekend looked
like the marginally faster driver. So to be outqualified by him was maybe a bit of a disappointment
for Oscar. But in the race, so quiet, barely saw him be spawned in P4 and I think really did a
great job there. Of course, nowhere near the front three. But overall, I would say probably one of
his most impressive races in a weird, quiet way for Oscar. So yeah, eight out of 10.
I have also gone for an eight out of 10 for Oscar Piastri, a really solid drive from him,
a great result given the fact that McLaren on paper should not be bringing home a P4 really.
But he very quietly just drove his own race, got on with it and picked up the pieces when
Ferrari maybe put Hamilton on a bad strategy and same with Charlotte Clair dropping off as well.
So he's done a great job to maximise the result there from McLaren and probably the
quietest, great result of the entire weekend, I would say. Absolutely. The fans gave Oscar an
eight as well. Lando Norris started sixth, finished seventh. Gone for a six out of 10 for Lando,
really disappointing race for him. I know he had lots of struggles again and shock mechanical
issues, but he had a bad start and didn't really have the pace of his teammate, which
we said this last drive ratings, I believe that Lando was comfortably finishing way ahead of Oscar
and we were questioning Oscar Piastri's kind of, how's he going to step up? And I think Piastri
absolutely did that, but Lando on a track that normally he goes so well at just didn't certainly
deliver clearly the pressure of my good surprise was just too much for him. It's a shame for Lando
because expected a lot from this weekend, still points, but not where he wants to be.
Yeah, I've also gone for a six out of 10 for Lando, undid his good working qualifying
on that first lap where Piastri went through and was also making a few mistakes out there. I think
turn three he ran wide also at the turn nine he went off as well and just generally didn't look
seem as comfortable with the car as he has done at other points in the season where he has been
really impressive and we have been shouting his accomplishments very loudly this year in a car
that has been so unreliable for him. Of course, he's had more unreliability issues
that this weekend, but overall, yeah, a weekend to just move on and go to Silverstone and kind of
forget so for Lando six out of 10 and the fans gave him a six as well. So finally, who is our P1?
Well, for me, it has to be George Russox. That is the only 10 out of 10 I have given this weekend
and yeah, I feel pretty confident about that one because he was the best in qualifying
and he won the race for the competition. So yeah, well done, George.
I did not give a single 10. It was grumpy. I'm kidding.
Yeah, nine out of 10 for Georgia Max. I'll go for George. I think it was a solid performance.
A very strange weekend for driver ratings where I don't think anyone really was like
absolutely unbelievable. Oh my God, what a drive and equally no one was horrendous. It was very,
very strange one. I mean, we've got the sprint coming up next at Silverstone where there'll be
no doubt a lot more chaos. But yeah, it was one of those weird driver ratings where I don't feel
like anyone was, do you know what I mean? Like unbelievable performance and equally no one was
like really bad. I mean, who got my worst grade probably Ocon with a four. But yeah, it's not
like he did anything absolutely astronomically bad. It was just he had no pace. So yeah.
Interesting. Okay, so you deliberated a 10 out of 10 for Max Verstappen and you've just given P1
to George Russell. Well, I deliberated, but I went for seven for Kimmy and that's changed it.
Okay. All right. There you go then. Thank you everybody for tuning in.
Finally, some disagreements right at the end of the driver ratings. Thank God. And we love to not
live in harmony. I hope you enjoyed looking forward to Silverstone this coming weekend. We're
going to be there. Remember, we're on the main stage. Frank's losing his mind that we're going
to be on the main stage at 1040 AM on Sunday. If you are there at Silverstone, please come
along to our show. We'd love to have you there. We'll bring the energy prior to lights out and
hopefully get a few of you, including ourselves, very hyped for what we're about to watch.
Tommy, final thoughts please. Final thoughts as Frank is going out seeing that should probably
mention because I didn't mention it in the race review. Yes, he's fine as you can probably tell
based on obviously as you said. My dad won't say anything. Yeah, people need to know because
people have message being like is Frank okay by the way because I didn't actually say anything,
but yes, he is fine. So thanks for all the message. He's all good. And yeah, bring on Silverstone
and the main stage and dry weather for it. Yeah, fingers crossed, fingers crossed. All right,
we'll see you maybe in real life at Silverstone. If not, we'll see you for all the content as
usual. Take care. Lots of love out there. Bye.
you
About this episode
Matt and Tommy break down their driver ratings for the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring, grading the grid from zero to ten. From the struggles of Cadillac teammates Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas to standout midfield performances by Pierre Gasly and Gabrielle Bortoletto, the hosts debate who overdelivered and who fell flat. They also compare their scores with fan ratings, offering a detailed look at the simulated grid's performance, team reliability issues, and standout drives from rookies like Oli Bearman.
Original notes
Oh, so you thought a fairly standard set of results would lead us to having exactly the same Driver Ratings grades with no controversial differences? Think again...
We'll be on the Silverstone main stage on Sunday at 10:40 - we'd love to see you there and we'll do a meet & greet after the show too.
Our brand new live show 'Super Podding' is coming to the UK and Amsterdam this autumn! Get your tickets here: http:/tix.to/p1live
Sign up to our Patreon for just $5 a month! You'll get access to every P1 episode ad-free, extended versions of every 2026 race review (INCLUDING THIS ONE), early access to tickets & merch, and access to our Discord server where you can chat with us and other F1 fans! Click here to sign up now: http://patreon.com/mattp1tommy
Follow us on socials! You can find us on Twitter, Instagram, Twitch, YouTube and TikTok
P1 with Matt and Tommy is the world's biggest F1 podcast. Subscribe for new podcasts around every single race throughout the 2026 Formula 1 season!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
0:00
52:32