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Brazil GP Driver Ratings
Brazil GP Driver Ratings
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About this episode
Matt and Tommy dive into detailed driver ratings from the chaotic Brazil Grand Prix sprint weekend, discussing standout performances, rookie mistakes, and strategy debates. Highlights include Lando Norris's flawless weekend and championship lead, Kimi Antonelli's impressive consistency, and Max Verstappen's remarkable recovery drive despite strategic controversy. They also critique underwhelming outings from drivers like Gabriel Bortoletto and Yuki Sonoda, while praising mid-field battles and strategy calls. The hosts engage in lively debates on key moments, especially Verstappen's pit strategy, and look ahead to the upcoming Vegas race with anticipation.
Topics:
driver ratings
brazil grand prix
sprint weekend
lando norris
max verstappen strategy
rookie performances
midfield battles
race strategy
championship standings
driver mistakes
Cars:
Dodge Charger
What's that, one of the most contentious driver ratings of the season? Yep, that'll be Brazil...
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Dodge Charger
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Hello everybody and welcome back to the P1 podcast with Matt and Tommy.
Driver ratings is back in your eyes and ears once again.
And Brazilian Grand Prix, the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, whatever you want to call it,
probably the most difficult one to grade with it being a sprint weekend as well.
Tommy, I have a feeling we're in for a good one, a very controversial one,
probably, and I think that everybody is going to have a great time.
I think it's that they're much more fun when we have a sprint weekend
and it's more chaotic and there's going to be some disagreements
because we all pick the same thing. It would be so boring.
It would be very boring.
Life would be incredibly dull if we all agreed and we all have our own opinions
and that is so wonderful to know and remind everyone, isn't it?
Right, let's get straight into it and begin with Gabriel Bortoletto.
Started the sprint in 14th, did not finish.
Started the main race in 18th, did not finish.
I am really sorry for what I'm about to put down on the board
for Gabriel Bortoletto, but it is a one out of ten.
Gabby, I am sorry.
I'm sure you do not watch or listen to this podcast, although, to be fair,
we thought the same about Alex Albon and then he dropped about the fact
that he may be up and tells everyone the great maybe maybe.
And like the driver briefings,
he stands up and says, here's Matt and Tommy's ratings.
But look, Gabby, he crashed out of both competitive races in the sprint.
It was a massive impact.
I want to echo once again what I've said before, what Tommy said before
that we were so happy that he walked away from that unscathed,
but it was driver error.
You know, he's gone for a move on a slippery track with DRS still open,
which of course makes the rear light and that's the reason why he lost the car.
So that is down to to Gabriel and then you go to the main race
and as much as again, we of course, you know, we want to see him do well.
A lot of people wanted to see him do well at his home race,
but that doesn't mean that we're going to give him any higher of a grade
because of what we wished he could have achieved in Brazil.
And again, DNF because he was very, very optimistic to try and go around
the outside of Lance Troll.
Yes, Lance moves slightly over to the left, but realistically,
Gabby shouldn't be going for that move anyway.
So very much a sad weekend that I'm sure he'll want to forget
and a rookie weekend as well.
Probably his biggest rookie mistake prone weekend we've seen from him.
Definitely I've gone for a one out of 10 as well and will also echo your apology
because it's so disappointing and it's so sad to give him such a poor grade
because, you know, it's his home race he wanted to deliver,
but, you know, it hasn't gone well for him at all.
The crash was his fault in the sprint.
The crash was his fault in the main race as well.
So has to be a one out of 10.
The fans, they felt a little bit sorry for Bortoletto,
gave him a three out of 10, which I think is very lenient.
Nico Holkenberg started the sprint in 10th, finished 15th,
started the main race in 10th, finished 9th.
I have gone for an eight out of 10 for Nico Holkenberg.
He's got a couple of points in the Sauber,
which it feels like the Sauber.
They went through that amazing run in the middle of the season
where they looked like a really good car and it doesn't feel like it.
Maybe more recently, but Holkenberg has done a really good job this weekend,
particularly in qualifying to get into Q3 both times.
So, yeah, an impressive weekend for Holkenberg
and a couple of points to carry on into the season.
I've also gone for an eight out of 10 for Nico, back-to-back Q3 appearances.
Of course, with SQ3 and Q3, which is an awesome job from him.
He has struggled in qualifying this year and then to score a couple of points.
He was very much in the mix, did a brilliant soft stint in the race.
He pitted for softs on lap 36 and did a one-stop strategy.
So, he made something work which not a lot of people thought was possible
and I think he's fully deserving of an eight out of 10.
The fans gave him a seven out of 10.
Alex Albon started the sprint in 12th, finished 17th,
started the main race in 12th, finished 11th.
I've gone for a five out of 10 for Alex Albon,
a reasonably anonymous weekend.
It has to be said the sprint was obviously poor.
Dropped down the order after Bortoletto's crash.
He did pick up some of Bortoletto's wing as well,
which of course was pretty unlucky on his part.
But then again in the race as well, narrowly misses out.
Of course, 11th doesn't look great on paper just missing out
and also how close that midfield pack was.
But Williams have been pretty good and it has to be said
that I expected in a race like that and a sprint weekend like that
for Alex Albon to score points, but he did not.
So, it's a five.
I've gone for a seven out of 10 for Alex Albon.
I think five is an incredibly harsh personally.
He was running in the top 10 in the sprint,
missed out obviously until that collision with Bortoletto,
which wasn't his fault and then missed out on points
by the tiniest margin when it was a very closely contested midfield.
So I feel like he deserves some credit for that
because I don't think Williams were particularly great this weekend.
Okay, interesting.
There are no points for top 10 in the sprint, but there you go.
No, but five is incredibly harsh.
It's Williams.
This isn't a salber.
The Williams is a pretty good car in my opinion,
but clearly not in Tommy's.
The fans gave Alex Albon a five out of 10.
Carlos Sainz started from the pit lane for the sprint and finished 14th,
started the main race from 15th, finished 13th.
I've gone for a five out of 10 for Carlos Sainz.
I do think this was just a pretty average performance from Sainz.
Obviously got contact at the start of the main race of Lewis Hamilton.
So it wasn't going to go well from there, but yeah,
one to forget for Carlos Sainz after he's had a much better run of form recently.
I've gone for a five out of 10 as well for Carlos.
Can't really separate Albon and him too much.
Of course, Carlos started from the pit lane in the sprint,
so it was pretty much done and dusted for him.
And then in the main race, couldn't really do much about Hamilton.
And then, of course, picked up damage, which put him on the back foot,
had a slow pit stop as well.
So it was just an absolute disaster for the pair of the Williams.
And it's not really performances we expect from a team that has been on the
resurgence this year.
The fans gave Carlos a five as well.
Isaac Hadjar started the sprint in ninth, finished the sprint in tenth,
started the main race in fifth and finished eighth.
I've gone for a seven out of 10 for Isaac Hadjar.
I think it was kind of a missed opportunity in some ways.
Of course, he started the main race from fifth.
He said he was sleeping in that first stint and clearly wasn't very happy
with his performance in that and then was very much just caught up
in the massive Liam Lawson train.
It was pretty chaotic for sure in that.
The sprint was reasonably good, of course, finishing tenth,
but there was a bit of chaos around him.
The V-Carb maybe not as good as it's weird.
It's such a strange weekend for V-Carb where you kind of thought,
oh, maybe they're not that quick.
Oh, actually, they've qualified really well for the main race.
It was just a bizarre one.
But yeah, I think seven out of 10 accurately represents a good weekend
for Hadjar, scoring some points.
But I also feel like there was more in the table
and he'd also believed that after starting fifth for the main one.
I've gone for an eight out of 10 for Hadjar.
I think he did have more on the table,
but I also think it's a very solid weekend from him.
Two great qualifying sessions, particularly in the main race.
And obviously he didn't finish ahead of Liam Lawson.
He was doing an absolutely crazy strategy,
which we'll talk about next.
But I think it's a pretty solid and decent race from weekend or all round from Hadjar.
Yep, solid weekend for Isaac,
a seven out of 10 from the fans as well for him.
Liam Lawson started the sprint in 17th, finished 16th,
started the main race in 7th, finished 7th.
I've gone for an eight out of 10 for Liam Lawson.
Obviously the sprint was poor.
You know, poor qualifying had that collision with Bearman,
which I will continue to say I think was harsh for him to get the penalty.
Not that he made any difference anyway.
He wasn't going to score a point, but in the main race, my word,
him doing that strategy was absolutely insane to go 52 laps
and keep the entire field basically all the way down to stroll in 16th.
Behind him in one enormous DRS train,
probably one of the biggest DRS trains we've ever seen.
And yeah, I think Lawson can be very happy with his drive
and some good points for V-Cub.
Okay, yeah, I was deliberating whether it'd be a seven or an eight,
but you've convinced me with the fact that he's pulled a ridiculous strategy
out the hat to score some good points.
So I'll give Liam Lawson an eight out of 10.
The reason why I was maybe thinking a seven was the sprint
was of course not particularly great
and a little bit scruffy from both himself and Oli Bearman's part.
But the main race, yeah, he's pulled off a miracle strategy there
and to hold them back is pretty mad.
He wasn't able to do that in the sprint.
I remember he lost quite a few positions,
of course, had a bit of damage, I think, as well after the contact.
But in the main race, yeah, everyone wrote off like,
oh, can Max hold off Lando and things like that?
And Lawson was holding off about eight different cars
and had the most ridiculous train behind him.
So, well done, Lawson, a very good drive from you
and the fans gave him an eight as well.
Oli Bearman started the sprint in 15th, finished 12th,
started the main race in eighth, finished sixth.
Hmm, this one is difficult,
but I am going to go for a nine out of 10 for Oli Bearman this weekend.
If it was just the Sunday race, I would say for sure
that is a 10 out of 10 drive,
but I kind of have to document a tiny bit
just due to what happened in the sprint,
squeezing Liam Lawson onto the grass, of course,
picking up a penalty point
and it's not exactly a flawless weekend.
However, his Sunday drive was brilliant
and not to take anything away from him for that
and yet the absolute beast that Oli Bearman is becoming,
I'm very excited to see.
It narrowly misses out on a 10, it's a nine from me.
Yeah, I'm going for a nine as well.
I think it's definitely a nine out of 10.
The sprint was obviously disappointing.
He picked up another penalty point as well,
which is obviously a difficult one for him.
And then the main qualifying,
I think he had a little bit more in him,
which is crazy to think about Ocon qualified
and to think he's perhaps an eighth,
but I do think there was generally even more pace in that car
and what he's managed to do this weekend.
But I don't want to end on a bad note
because my word, his race was absolutely brilliant.
He was so far clear of all the other midfielders
and boy, is he just driving so well at the moment
and understandably getting and well deserved praise as well.
Well done, Oli Bearman.
The fans gave him a nine out of 10 as well.
Esteban Ocon started the sprint in 18th, finished 11th,
started the main race from the pit lane and finished 12th.
I've gone for a six out of 10 for Esteban Ocon.
He had a very unlucky puncture just before the safety car came in,
which you never know may have gotten points
because of course he finished 12th.
He of course wasn't on Oli Bearman's pace,
particularly, you know, really struggling and qualifying again.
But he had a good race and was quite unfortunate.
So that's why I've gone for a six.
I've also gone for a six out of 10 for Esteban Ocon.
I completely echo what you were saying
that he got unlucky with the puncture.
Of course Max was able to take advantage of the fact
that the VSC was out there to get a cheaper pit stop.
But for Ocon, yeah, it didn't work out for him.
He lost 10 or so seconds he said after the race
and I mean, you just saw how close it was at the end
with all those midfielders.
So it definitely cost him points.
Still not close to Oli Bearman.
Oli Bearman was a very comfortable P6,
but Ocon should have in theory
scored some points without that bad luck.
So it's a six out of 10 for me.
The fans gave him a five.
Franco Colapinto started the sprint in 16th,
did not finish, started the main race in 16th,
finished 15th.
I'm going to lock in a four out of 10 for Franco Colapinto.
Of course, made that mistake in the sprint.
You know, you have to factor in the other drivers
also made a mistake on exactly the same lap
and Colapinto is a rookie.
But then also in the main race and just main weekend,
absolutely nowhere near Gasly.
And that's the reason why I'm giving him a four
as opposed to anything higher or an anonymous five
as we like to give because Gasly was by no means
anonymous and showing that for whatever reason,
Gasly was like, OK, I can now drive this dustbin.
Whereas Franco Colapinto was kind of almost doing
exactly what we've seen for most of this season
with the Alpine.
So I've gone for a four.
I've gone for a four as well for Franco Colapinto.
We saw, you know, what Gasly could do in that Alpine
and I do think he's overachieved in that,
but you didn't have much pace Colapinto
and of course had, you know, crashed out.
I'm not making excuses for him, but you do wonder
in a similar vein to
Portoletto, you know, I know it's not exactly his home,
Grand Prix, but he has a lot of fans there
from the neighbouring Argentina.
And I wonder if, you know, maybe a bit too
eager to impress over driving the car, perhaps.
And so, yeah, it's a poor weekend for Colapinto
after, you know, he got his contract
for next year and I think well deserved
but this weekend was not good to him.
No, it certainly was not.
The fans gave Franco a five out of 10.
Pierre Gasly started the sprint in 13th, finished 8th,
started the main race in 9th, finished 10th.
I've gone for a nine out of 10 for Pierre Gasly.
It's not like a 10 out of 10 absolute worldly drive
because I think the Alpine didn't look this weekend
even in Colapinto's hands who I know did poorly,
but it didn't look like a Mexico or something
where they were like an F2 car
and they're absolutely miles behind.
But that being said,
Gasly has delivered points, which is so hard to come by,
particularly for Alpine in both the sprint
and the race.
So he deserves a huge amount of credit for it.
So that's welcome for a nine.
I've also gone for a nine out of 10 for Pierre Gasly.
I couldn't give him a 10 as much as I think he
that there was definitely a 10 performance in him
this weekend.
Just maybe missing out on the Sunday race.
Of course, he was fighting Hajar quite a lot.
Hajar kept getting him back.
So there was an opportunity for some more points.
Had he finished maybe another eighth place in the main race,
he probably would have got a 10 out of 10 for me
because that Alpine has been utterly dire this year.
But it's great to see Pierre right up there
and nine out of 10.
Let us remind you is still a very, very, very good grade.
It's not a five out of 10.
It's a nine out of 10.
So well done to Pierre Gasly.
I hope to see more performances like that
because it's been far too long
since we've seen him fighting for the points.
The fans gave him an eight out of 10.
Lance Stroll started the sprint in seventh,
finished ninth, started the main race in 14th,
finished 16th.
I have gone for a whopping five out of 10 for Lance Stroll.
Just missed out on points,
but Alonso was chefing in the sprint.
It has to be said.
So Aston, for whatever reason,
were really good at the blocks.
Within the minute everybody opened up Park Fermet
and could change the car,
Aston Martin said,
We're not going to improve it.
I'm really sorry.
And everybody else got a lot quicker
for the Sunday section of the Brazilian Grand Prix.
And then of course just a very mediocre race.
Of course got hit by Yuki,
which sent him backwards.
I mean, he's fighting Yuki Snowder anyway,
which kind of shows you exactly
where he was sort of fighting for.
So there was nothing really to have note for Lance
even up until that point.
I have gone for a five out of 10 for Lance Stroll as well.
He's finished the sprint.
Okay.
Obviously didn't get a point.
You'd think, you know,
the be able to get a point in the sprint
based on where he started, of course,
and he lost out to Gasly on literally the final
like right near the end.
I think it was a couple of laps to go.
And he sort of mentioned that it was because
his soft tyres were gone,
but of course Gasly was on the soft tyre anyway.
So yeah, he in the main race,
of course Aston looked a lot,
lot poorer.
They could not continue that pace
at all going into the main race.
And but I can't,
I can't downgrade Stroll.
I don't think it's like a disastrous weekend
because, you know,
he's been punted by Yuki Snowder
and finished on the back
of that absolutely enormous train.
So six seconds away from a point,
but in sixteenth,
there's quite a bizarre situation.
It was six seconds away from seventh wasn't he?
Sorry, seven.
Yeah, let me say a point that was closer than that.
The fans gave Lance Stroll a five out of ten.
Fernando Alonso started the sprint in fifth,
finished sixth,
started the main race in eleventh,
finished fourteenth.
I have gone for a seven out of ten for Fernando Alonso.
I think his race, of course,
was certainly not great.
He didn't do all that.
Aston Martin looked like they struggled a lot more.
But the reason it's a seven is because
he's had a brilliant sprint race.
One of the stars of the sprint, actually.
And while the sprint doesn't, of course,
you know, depends how much you put into the sprint,
if you take it as a whole weekend,
he's scored three points for Aston Martin, which,
you know,
there's a difficult car
and they've not really scored a huge amount of points this season.
So that's why I've gone for a seven for Alonso.
I've also gone for a seven out of ten.
It was close to a six, but I've gone for a seven.
His Sunday was pretty dreadful.
Started on the hard tyres,
wasn't able to make that work.
Yeah, it's it's weird, isn't it?
How we sometimes weight driver ratings in terms of the sprint.
And I think it's when the midfield cars,
the ones that maybe you don't expect to score many points
are able to pull out something in the sprint race.
We don't tend to usually put too much focus on the sprint
unless something amazing happens.
You know, it's it's the way you see it, right?
And it's the beauty of how we we go about these these grades
is that some people will understand them.
Some people won't.
But I think that, you know, qualifying fifth for the sprint
and finishing sixth is a phenomenal drive from Fernando
and sadly for him, of course, nowhere near on the Sunday.
But you have to give a nod to that.
And it feels as though six is too harsh for the fact
that he scored three points.
So I get it, Tommy.
You're not just you can't give him one higher than than stroll.
You know, he didn't get points in the sprint and finished behind him.
Yeah.
But unless you're the fans, of course, there you go.
The fans, the fans gave Fernando Alonso as six out of ten.
Kimi Antonelli started the sprint in second, finished second,
started the main race in second, finished second.
I have gone for a ten out of ten, a very easy ten out of ten
for Kimi Antonelli this weekend.
Didn't get pole in anything.
Didn't win anything.
But my goodness gracious me, the consistency of Kimi Antonelli
this weekend was truly astonishing.
We've seen glimmers of the Antonelli that Toto Wolf sees
in the future this season.
And this was absolutely the best weekend from Kimi Antonelli.
Yes, we've had sprint poles in Miami and things like this,
but in terms of just every single session turning up,
that is what Antonelli did.
He outperformed George Russell,
which is not something we've seen all too often this year.
And it's the easiest ten I can possibly give.
Agreed.
I've gone for a ten out of ten for Kimi Antonelli as well.
Absolutely brilliant weekend from him.
His best weekend in F1 comfortably.
The fact that he managed to deliver it in a sprint on a circuit
he's not driven at before.
And you know, Lando was unstoppable this weekend and won everything.
And if you take him out of the equation,
the best of the rest in every single session was Kimi Antonelli.
You know, front row of the grid, finishing second in both the sprint
and the main race.
And I think the most impressive thing is that, you know,
he has just looked so comfortably quicker than George Russell all weekend.
And I think that's why he deserves a huge amount of credit
because, you know, it's not something he's been able to do.
There's obviously talk about, you know, the rookies
and obviously he's got an incredibly difficult teammate in George Russell
and a very highly rated teammate that I'm so impressed by Antonelli.
Long may continue and long may he continue to smash it in countries
with the food coloring in there that he loves, that makes him amazing.
I love that we keep mentioning that.
And then some people have absolutely no idea what we're talking about.
They will know it's everywhere.
I've seen it everywhere.
Now the fact that it's continued.
The fans, unsurprisingly, have gone for a 10 out of 10 for Kimi Antonelli as well.
George Russell started the sprint in fourth, finished third,
started the main race in sixth, finished fourth.
I have gone four.
I am literally about to change it on the fly
to an eight out of 10.
I think it's between a seven and an eight.
But I do think I may be more inclined to give him a seven
because it's George Russell and he's been beaten by Antonelli.
But when I look at his actual results of a third and fourth,
it's certainly not not bad at all.
You know, George, if that's a bad weekend for George,
he's doing very, very well this year, isn't he?
So yeah, a decent, decent result that I expected more from him.
But it's a good result to be third and fourth and still plenty of points.
But sadly for him, he's no longer in the title race.
He is no longer in the title race.
Was he ever in the title race mathematically now out of it?
I've gone for an eight out of 10.
I would have questioned you, Tommy.
Had you given him a seven because yes,
he was a little bit mystified as to why he was seven point six.
No, no, no, no, no, put your decimal places in the bin.
Look, yes, he was outperformed by Kimi Antonelli,
but sometimes you just have to give props to a driver.
And I think Antonelli just just locked in this weekend
and you just have to give him a 10 out of 10.
That doesn't necessarily mean George deserves a six
because he got beaten by his rookie teammate.
George finishing third and fourth, still being somewhere nearby.
It's not like he finished 30 seconds behind his teammate
in any of the of the sessions.
So yeah, it's an eight out of 10 for George.
He'll be scratching his head a little bit,
but look, we're coming up to Vegas next
where Mercedes will have, I think, be very strong once again
and he'll look to bounce back there.
The fans gave George a seven out of 10.
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Yuki Sonoda started the sprint from the pit lane,
finished 13th, started the main race in 17th,
finished 17th.
It's always fun, isn't it?
Great Yuki Sonoda.
I'm going to go for a 3 out of 10 for Yuki Sonoda.
It feels harsh and horrible every time I say it,
but he was 17th.
Plum Last had a fight with Lance Strowman lost
and punted him round.
The only reason it's not lower than the 3
because it is another disaster weekend
while his teammate is romping through the field
from the pit lane to finish on the podium
is the fact that there were no major changes
that were made on Yuki Sonoda's car
as opposed to Max's going into Sunday.
They've clearly learned something.
They've clearly figured something out.
Red Bull to help Max's car,
but Yuki was sort of stuck with the disaster
set up from the beginning of the weekend.
And yeah, I do feel very sorry for him
because he had the same set up as what happened
when they were both knocked out in Q1
for the main race.
So it's still not great.
It's still a 3 out of 10, but I bet he's just
kind of wanting the season to be over at this point.
I can't imagine Yuki's having much fun.
Probably not wanting the season to be over
because it means he's probably going to be at a Formula 1.
But I know what you mean in terms of just
it's gone so bad for him.
I've gone for a 2 out of 10 for Yuki Sonoda.
It's a tough one.
It's disappointing.
I really, really wanted him to succeed.
I was so excited that he was going to be in the Red Bull.
I wanted him to be in that seat from the start of the year.
But now I'm really wishing
he'd have just stayed in the V-Cub
and we could have seen the talent that he has,
which is a lot better than what we're seeing here.
But his pace was absolutely horrendous.
I know the car was incredibly tricky this weekend,
but qualified dead last
in the main race, of course.
And then the reason it's a 2 for me
is it's another clumsy crash where you'd almost
I know it's only going to be a 3 or a 4
when he's got no pace,
but the fact that he's made another kind of error
just kind of makes it more sort of
embarrassingly bad to have these clumsy errors.
And I'm not downgrading him for obviously like the fact
that he had to keep serving his penalty
because that was on Red Bull
that were too eager to work on his car, I believe.
That was the case.
The fans gave Yuki a 3 out of 10.
Max Verstappen started the sprint in 6th, finished 4th,
started the main race from the pit lane, finished 3rd.
I've gone for a 10 out of 10 for Max Verstappen,
but it was actually surprisingly quite difficult
to pick between a 9 and a 10
because his sprint was
okay,
you know, compared to what we've seen from Max Verstappen.
And of course his qualifying was horrendous.
You think that, you know, the Red Bull
has struggled and it's hard to compare to his teammate
because his teammate is always nowhere.
So the fact that the pace that he had,
I think it's one of those,
the reason why it's difficult was because the other sessions
weren't good,
but then he's put one of the greatest drives in ever,
which means in my personal opinion,
I can't give him any less than a 10,
even though I don't understand why people would.
Because he has just put in this unbelievable drive
that I think only Max Verstappen can do.
You know, it's only the second time in history
that someone's gone from the podium.
I'm sorry, the pit lane to the podium
and I will die on the hill forever
that he should have stayed out
and would have gotten even better result
at the very least P2.
You know, he probably wouldn't have been able
to hold Lando off,
but you have to go for it in that situation.
I know everyone has seemed to
a lot of comments I've seen on our posts
and I was chatting about it saying,
it's absolutely ridiculous.
It was never on.
You know, Liam Lawson
and saying like he's going to get a puncture
as tires going to explode.
Liam Lawson did 52 laps on the mediums
and managed to hold a train
of the entire field behind him.
So, yeah, I will die on that hill forever
that he should have stayed out
for the rest of the race
and at the very least back to P2.
Oh, that's very interesting.
Oh, this I have honestly been
thinking about what grade I'm going to give Max
for absolutely ages
because it's a sprint weekend
where three of the four sessions
he has not performed
to the level of which, yeah, and some,
you know, of course it's the car as well,
but, you know, sixth in the sprint quality
fourth in the sprint race
gets knocked out of Q1.
Yes, of course, the car was a dog,
but also he gets knocked out of Q1.
Do we give him like leniency
because he because that the red boy is rubbish?
I don't know.
I I have to give him a nine out of ten.
I absolutely do and this may well,
you know, set the comments on fire.
Nine out of ten, by the way, may I remind you once again,
it's not a four out of ten.
It's a nine.
It's a close to perfection,
but can I give him a perfect grade
when yes, he did also gain,
I would say from from the VSC not gain,
but obviously got an advantage from the VSC
when he had that penalty puncture.
And was able to go on to the medium tires
and I firmly believe that the strategy he was then on,
which yet he lost some time,
of course, with that puncture and having to pit again.
That that strategy was was perfect
to have two brand new mediums to go on the full attack.
Red Bull turned that car upside down into
the fastest car, I would say the fastest package,
at least with Max behind the wheel,
not taking anything away from him.
But I can't give him a 10
because of everything else that happened in the weekend
was by no means Max Verstappen level.
Yeah, the Q1 exit as well.
Like, how can I give him a 10?
I get it.
I totally get it from your side as well, Tommy.
And if I was to ignore the sprint
and not give as much weighting
or even ignore everything,
but the race, the race is an 11 out of 10.
It's it's the most difficult grade
I've ever had to give.
But I am going to give a nine
and I'm really sorry, Max.
I'm sure you're listening,
but I'm sure he will get over it
and just remember everyone,
the grades aren't that deep.
The fans gave him a 10.
And also as well,
let's quickly touch upon the fact of the strategy.
I will also die on the hill
that he should have stayed out.
I get it.
I get why people say like,
let's just I want to sit back for a second, Tommy,
because we're sitting forward
and we're very tense.
Let's sit back and just discuss this
because yeah, there's been a lot of comments,
hasn't there on our social media
and on social media in general
about Max's strategy.
And I absolutely understand
where people are coming from
when it comes to
ah, they went on the attack,
they went on the soft tires
and that was the best strategy
to perhaps go on the attack.
However, the reason
why I think both myself and Tommy
are on very similar opinions
on the Max strategy call
is that
it is a win or bin scenario
in my opinion.
It is you're going for the driver's championship.
What does a third or a second?
Yes, it goes down
as one of the best drives ever.
And Red Bull don't care about that.
Max does not care
about records like
who can go from the pit lane
to the highest position.
He wants to win the driver's world championship
and there was enough evidence
in my opinion to suggest
that there was at least a slim chance
of getting his elbows out
and making it difficult for Lando.
There was I think 17 or so laps to go
and he pits from the lead
with a seven second buffer.
I've seen people also say
he's been pushing the mediums
harder than Lando.
It's not just the fact
that you had a seven lap.
It was only seven laps difference
between the tires,
McLaren and better on the tires.
Yada, yada, yada.
I don't care.
I
that was the only way
he won the race
was if he stayed out
and made it difficult for Lando.
Oh, Lando was doing 13.2s
at the end of the race
in clean air.
In clean air.
Look at Lawson's situation
and everyone stuck behind him.
They were much faster.
There were people stuck
stuck behind.
And yes, Lando may have
breezed past him.
But another factor is if
Lando is catching in what
like half a second a lap
then it got to like six tenths.
Even if Lando was
a second a lap quicker
than Max when he got behind him.
We know that that is difficult
to pass this season
with even a second advantage
and Lando with the position
he was in in the championship
and the history
is had with Racing Max
to stop in.
He does not go
for anything other than a move
that is a hundred percent on.
So and people then also say
Oh, yeah, but earlier on
in the race, he flew by.
He was on fresh soft.
Fresh off.
Exactly.
Fresh soft.
So that's completely irrelevant.
And yeah, it all comes
down to the fact
that it was a 14 point swing
from him winning the race
or finishing second.
Obviously it was even worse
because he finished third.
And I don't understand
how I'm just hanging on
to tires that weren't falling off
is better than
when this year
it's so hard to pass
even into Lagos
but most of the passes
were like big tire advantage
and Max, who obviously had DRS
and was flying past
people with a new engine.
So I will
I just think they had
to risk it
because it's literally
if he wins the race
and you know
it was a long shot
but they have to try
and win the race
because then equally
you know, it goes down to
I think it'd be 29 points
with three to go.
But then it flips the other way
and even though it's only
it's only
you know, between first and third
it's massive at this stage
of the season
because it's now put in
basically all the out of it
because it's too big now isn't it?
So look, we get your
your thoughts
and we'll never know
because it never happened
but I do think it was
incredibly close
that I really do think
it would have worked better.
I think it would have been p2.
All right, let's sit forward
sit forward again.
That was a that was nice.
I enjoyed that chat.
The fans gave Max Verstappen
a 10 out of 10.
Please don't hurt me
for giving him a nine.
But that is I would
and on that look
you know
you've you've made some
some grades I've strongly disagree
agreed with that.
I think people would be
expecting me to be like, oh my God
how can you I actually
you know, I get it like
it's close between 10 and 9
based on you know
what else has happened
throughout the rest of the
the sprint weekend.
So I get it.
He gets it.
Let's see if everybody else gets it.
Let's move to Lewis Hamilton
who started the sprint in 11th
finished 7th
and started the main race in 13th
did not finish.
Oh dear.
I'm going to go for a 4 out of 10
for Lewis Hamilton.
It was a poor weekend
from Lewis didn't make it into Q3
in either qualifying session.
And you know, the biggest mistake
here was just the
just driving into the back of
Colo Pinto like
there was a complete misjudgment
from Lewis and it completely
ruined his race.
It was as if he's crashed into
a wall in my opinion
because his whole car is
is cupboards.
He's lost so much downforce
and then has to retire the car
through a fault that was his.
You know, I don't think
Colo Pinto had
any real part to play there.
It's just Lewis to be pulling
out of his slipstream earlier
to go for the move.
So yeah, not a good weekend
from Lewis and
you know, a couple of points
in the sprint, of course
and had a great sprint start.
But you know, you look at that
as a whole, you're in a Ferrari
where your teammate is
fighting for a podium and then
gets wiped out.
A 4 out of 10, I think is fair.
I've gone for a 3 out of 10,
for Lewis Hamilton.
I think it was
an awful, awful weekend
from from him.
He performed very poorly
in both, you know, qualifying
sessions, a track like Brazil
that you think he would do
so well.
Yes, he got some points
in the sprint race,
but you know, he had to fight
back from a poor qualifying
to only grab a couple of points
and then I cannot believe
the error that he made.
You know, am I watching
Lewis Hamilton,
you know, one of the greatest
of all time
racing?
It is so hard to watch
because we know
how talented he is.
And it's just, you know,
an error that you'd expect
from one of the newbies
to make.
So
it's such a,
it's such a shame because
I do think there's been
races this year where
he's not been
a million miles off
of Charles and it's not been as bad
as everyone says,
but you can understand why
the pressure is being, you know,
ramped up and questions
are being asked
when drives happen like this.
The fans gave Lewis Hamilton
a four out of ten.
Charlotte Kler
started the sprint in eighth,
finished fifth,
started the main race in third,
did not finish.
I've gone for an eight out of ten
for Charlotte Kler.
Points in the sprint, a fifth place.
And then in the main race,
of course, you know,
I think he qualified
absolutely brilliantly.
You know, way ahead of his teammate.
And then in the main race
wasn't his fault at all.
You've said this
many times in the race review
and best reactions as well that,
you know,
it is the most Charlotte Kler thing ever
that he is the one
that's come out worse
than that incident.
I've seen
hilarious, not
if you're a Charlotte Kler fan,
hilarious,
but you know,
people sharing a screenshot
where Kimmy Antonelli
and Oscar Piastri are like
pretty much banging wheels.
Charlotte's nowhere near them.
And it's like,
guess who's the one
that gets put out the race
in this situation?
He has no luck at all.
Yeah, he was
he was basically at that moment
about to sweep around the outside
and go into P2.
And so I think,
yeah,
it's another very unlucky weekend,
but I think he had
great pace
and was looking very impressive
in the race before that.
Okay.
I thought I was
being a fanboy thinking of an eight.
So I'd given a seven initially,
but now the fact you've given an eight
means that I'm flying
through that door
and giving an eight as well.
Charlotte Kler,
you know,
he was on for a podium,
could have even been a P2
after that move had
he not been
removed very aggressively
from the Brazilian Grand Prix.
As we've said many times,
not his faults.
He was
he did absolutely everything
on his part
of going as wide as possible
at turn one
to allow for any shenanigans
and he still
gets wiped out.
So I think he's
fully deserving of that.
Ferrari were not
that quick this weekend
and he was still able to
to do a qualifying performance
for the main race
that was
not far away from being
on the front row again.
And you know,
he had provisional pole for
for a bit
and it was it was brilliant
to watch.
But sadly was not able
to convert into a podium
because he had no front
left tire.
The fans gave him
a seven out of ten.
Oscar Piastri
started the sprint in third
did not finish
started the main race
and fourth finished fifth.
I have gone for a five
out of ten for Oscar Piastri.
You know, a devastating
mistake in the sprint
which cost him a huge
amount of points
to his championship rival
and then in the main race
as well.
He has his part to play.
He gets a penalty.
However you sit on this,
you know, Kimmy
of course, I think
we're all in agreement
had his role as well
in that where
he squeezes Oscar.
However,
Oscar I still believe
is slightly more at fault
for what went down
and he caused that carnage.
He got a 10 second penalty
and wasn't able to recover
any higher than fifth place.
So how can I give him any
higher than a
than a five out of ten
when his teammate
has clean sweeps
the entire weekend.
So it's another
poor weekend from Oscar.
It's sad to see.
I want to see him
fighting at the front.
He's been leading
the championship for so long
and we've been so used
to giving him eights,
nines, tens,
the entire year
but it is just falling off
and his championship hopes
are going with it.
He's he's almost
a race win behind
and I don't see any way
out of it currently.
Yeah, I go on
for a five out of ten
for Oscar Piastri
could, you know,
even be worse.
The fact that
he's spun off on the sprint
on his own
is, you know,
go to that saying
but the last thing
he needed
when it looked like
he'd qualified pretty well
because obviously
that's been
something that he's struggled with recently
and then in the main race, of course,
clumsy again.
I do think it was
was harsh because
I saw it as a racing incident
but you do,
you know,
you're putting that
yourself in that situation
could have very easily,
you know, got damage
or and been out of the race again
and then it really would be,
you know, championship over
his teammates picked up
33 points and done
an absolute clean sweep
and then Oscars
just coming home with a fifth place.
It's absolutely
just not not good enough.
Is it really at all?
And I think one of the most
disappointing things
was the fact that
when he did,
you know,
get through
because of course
he was in second place at one point
and within DRS
on that
kind of restart,
you kind of thought,
okay,
Oscar,
let's see what you can do now.
This is your moment
and he just drop,
drop further and further back
and it's so disappointing
because I want to believe
that we'll see the old Oscar again
based on what we saw
at the start of the season
who is driving so well.
He was
looking like a world champion
in waiting
and I think even just
as we saw like what he
managed to do
when he was second behind Lando just
unfortunately doesn't give me
any confidence
that he's going to be able to
take this fight to Lando
and that is a real,
real shame because
we want to see it.
A huge shame.
We want to see it go down to the wire
and I firmly believe
Lando is going to win
with at least a race to go now.
So that is the way
we're going with the Championship
at the moment.
The fans gave Oscar Piastri
a 6 out of 10.
Lando Norris
started the sprint in first,
finished first,
started the main race in first,
finished first.
I've gone
for a 10
out of 10.
What?
What?
Unbelievable.
Faultless.
I was nearly going to pretend
I was giving him a 9
because obviously, you know,
Max would have won without the
the pitting.
Now I'm joking.
Lando was unbelievable this weekend.
You know, the only era he made
all weekend was
the kind of first run in Q3.
But you know, when the pressure was on
he delivered a brilliant qualifying lap.
His starts were fantastic.
His safety car restarts were fantastic.
Something that we've criticised
a lot on driver ratings before.
And he's just
just easily like, you know,
just on the best form of his life
on his way to the World Championship
now it's unbelievable what he's doing
and just such a good time
in his career to do it.
I have unsurprisingly gone
for a 10 out of 10
as well for Lando.
What a couple of weekends
he has had Mexico
and now this
this is a champion in waiting
for sure.
He is outperforming his teammate
by not even a small margin.
Quite frankly, a country mile
at the moment when it counts.
This could easily be a moment
where both Lando and Oscar
start to get a little bit shaky
with the fact that they are fighting
for their first World Championship
and Lando
who has previously been questioned
how does he deal with pressure
at the most
utmost amount of pressure
there could possibly be
at the end of a season.
He is delivering
to a level with which
we may have never seen.
So in terms of Lando's
not in terms of Lando's
performances,
I think this is the best
he's ever driven.
And yeah,
phenomenal work from Lando
fully deserving of a 10 out of 10.
And if he keeps driving
like this, he will be world champion.
Absolutely.
The fans gave him a 10 as well.
So finally,
who is our P1?
Well, my P1 can't be Max Verstappen
because I gave him a nine,
which is going to go down really well.
I am going to give it to Lando Norris
because Lando Norris
is fully deserving
of that clean sweep
and such a huge weekend from him
to essentially all but claim
the championship
with a 23 point swing
compared to his teammate Oscar.
Yeah, it has to be Lando
being my P1.
Yeah, it has to be Lando as well.
You know, it's over the whole
weekend.
Max drove one of the best races
we've ever seen
in the main race.
Kimmy Antonelli drove the best race
of his career as well.
But Lando,
you know, yes, he's got a great car
underneath him, but he's just delivered
absolutely perfectly
under, you know,
different amounts of pressure
throughout throughout the race
throughout the weekend.
Him leading the championship.
How's it going to go?
And he was just looked
absolutely unstoppable.
So it's got to be Lando.
Congratulations to Lando Norris
who, of course, gets both of our P1s
and may well be P1 in the championship
come the end of the year.
Thank you, everybody
for tuning in to this
very chaotic driver ratings.
Please leave us your love,
your support, your positivity
and why you love
this driver ratings episode.
Leave us a like as well on YouTube.
I'm putting a big old thumb
right on the screen right there.
That's what it looks like.
Okay.
One of those if you enjoy this
and that one is
if you don't like the content,
not if you don't like a particular grade
because you think it's one above or below.
So there you go.
Tommy, what's your final thoughts?
Final thoughts are
roll on Vegas because
I think this one is going to be
yeah, the championship may
all well be wrapped up.
But I think Vegas could surprise with
different results and things.
So I'm really looking forward to that one.
Yeah.
Politions is going to be a busy one.
I think.
Yes, I think so.
Look forward to the Las Vegas Watch Alongs
because it'll be 4 a.m.
local time where we are.
So I'm going to have some coffee in me,
I think for that one.
So look forward to seeing you all there.
Thank you as always for watching and listening
and we'll see you very soon.
Lots of love.
Bye.
Bye.
And we are going to Denver in
the Denver show in 2 hours and
24 minutes from now.
And we've also got other tickets available for
where are we going?
We are going to Dallas and we're going to
Toronto, Chicago, Chicago, New York,
but New York sold out.
Bye.
Bye.
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