Aston Martin is a Formula 1 constructor/team, and “Aston Martins” refers to the cars driven by its drivers. When a host compares a driver to “the Aston Martins,” they’re benchmarking performance against that team’s typical pace and results.
In F1 ratings, comparing a driver to their teammate is a common way to judge performance because both cars share similar development direction and race-day constraints. If one driver consistently outperforms the teammate, it often suggests better racecraft, setup feedback, or execution.
This is another qualifying-vs-race comparison: starting 20th and finishing 19th suggests only a small net gain. In F1 analysis, that kind of result often leads to discussion about race pace, overtaking opportunities, and whether strategy worked as expected.
A “safety car” (the transcript says “safety card”) is deployed when there’s danger on track, and it neutralizes the race by reducing speed and bunching cars up. This can dramatically change strategy because it effectively pauses time and can make pit stops more efficient.
Term
faint to the left
A “faint” is a quick fake move to one side. People are debating whether it was normal driving or whether it contributed to the incident that brought out the safety car.
A “penalty” in F1 is an official sanction for rule-breaking, such as causing a collision, unsafe driving, or failing to follow race control instructions. Whether a penalty is applied can heavily influence how fans and analysts judge a driver’s actions.
Qualifying is like a timed practice that decides where everyone starts the race. If you qualify well, you usually have an easier path to a good finish.
DRS is a system in F1 that helps cars go faster in a straight line to make passing easier. It’s not always available—there are rules about when you can use it.
“Best of the rest” is a common F1 phrase for the fastest driver/team outside the top group. In this context, it suggests Gasly maximized his results relative to the midfield rather than directly challenging the very front.
F2 is a lower series that feeds into F1. Saying someone was driving “like an F2 car” means their car wasn’t as strong as the best F1 cars, so it’s harder to get great results.
“Midfield” describes the group of cars running in the middle of the pack, where drivers often fight for position but may not be in contention for podiums. The speaker says Audi ends up in the tight midfield after early issues, limiting what they can do in the race.
“Starts” are crucial in racing because the first few seconds can determine track position before traffic and strategy take over. The speaker argues Audi’s starts are costing them points, implying poor launch performance or early-lap execution.
“Holding off” means defending your position and preventing another driver from overtaking. In F1, this often involves careful line choice, braking timing, and managing power/energy use to stay ahead.
Term
P9
“P9” just means the driver finished in 9th place. In F1, that can still be important because points are awarded by finishing position.
“Time left on the table” means the driver could have been faster but didn’t extract it—due to mistakes, setup limitations, traffic, or not pushing enough. It’s a common way analysts describe missed performance potential.
“Fast down the straights” refers to straight-line speed, which depends heavily on engine/power unit output, aerodynamic efficiency, and how much drag the car is carrying. If a car is strong in corners but weak on straights, it often suggests a setup or power/energy limitation.
“Stuck behind” describes being unable to pass the car in front, often due to aerodynamic turbulence (“dirty air”) and limited traction/visibility. In F1, this can make a driver feel “anonymous” because they can’t build momentum or set up overtakes.
A chicane is a twisty section of the track that makes cars slow down and change direction. It’s important because it’s a common place to defend or try to pass.
Track position is where a car sits relative to others on the circuit, especially important when overtaking is difficult. The host argues it was “key against the Mercedes,” meaning staying in front (rather than getting stuck in traffic) mattered for pace and strategy.
Max Verstappen is one of the biggest names in Formula 1. Talking about “where he’s going to end up” usually means which team he might race for next.
LIVE
Hello, everybody, and welcome back to the P1 Podcast with Matt and Tsoami. Driver ratings
for one final time of five weeks. Driver ratings, and then another three weeks off after Miami.
No, we're not going to talk about it. I just did. But who are here to analyze what went on
in a lovely, glorious one-stop race where some drivers got screwed over and some drivers
didn't? How are we feeling, Tommy? I'm looking forward to it, as always. These ones, yeah,
a more normal race from a sprint weekend, but still a lot to dive into and probably some
interesting opinions and, yeah, looking forward to diving into it. I'm personally excited to see
how he rated Alex Albon's six-stop race. Right, let's get into the grades and begin with Sergio
Perez, who qualified 19th and finished 17th. I've gone for a 7 out of 10 for Sergio Perez,
which is quite a whopping grade for a 17th physician. However, at the end of the day,
you can only compare him to his teammate and probably the Aston Martins, and he put 30 seconds
on Alonzo and 45 seconds on Bota. So I think it's a very, very strong drive indeed,
good qualifying as well. And the two Cadillac teammates have been very, very close all year.
But on this one, Perez... I'm enjoying it all year, as if we've had half a season.
All three races we've had. All three before this, including a sprint, I guess. But I'm
qualifying and everything else. But, yeah, Perez drove a great race, but could not be
rewarded for any more than 17th for his great drive. I have given Sergio Perez a 7 out of 10 as
well. Don't sound so surprised when you said 7 out of 10, Tommy, because I'm in complete agreement
with you. Because he had a very strong weekend, qualified well, even though on paper 19th, if
you have no idea about Formula 1 and just look at a piece of paper, you wouldn't expect that to
be of a higher grade. But I think in terms of what he did in that Cadillac was pretty good,
pretty strong. And as I echo your analysis against Bottas, I think he was definitely the
better Cadillac driver this weekend. And I think that grade should reflect it. The fans gave Perez
a 6 out of 10. Valtteri Bottas, qualified 20th, finished 19th. My grade for Valtteri Bottas is
going to be a whopping 5 out of 10. Very underwhelming for Valtteri Bottas this weekend. As underwhelming
as a Cadillac drive can be, I think Perez, as I mentioned, outshone him. Bottas, I mean, look,
he was on a different strategy, which was not the correct strategy, because he was the only one
that started on the hard tyres, wanted to try something different. And yeah, he was just
not really anywhere. So I'm going to give him a 5 out of 10.
I've gone for a 4 out of 10 for Bottas, which I think is fair considering how far he was
behind. Yeah, he was obviously on it. Yeah, when he unlapped himself. It didn't work for him,
of course, on the different strategy at the start, but then there was a safety card to
neutralise things, but then still fell back quite a large amount. So yeah, 4 out of 10,
I think, reflects it, even though it's hard to grade these drivers when there's only one person
they're up against. But that far off your teammate, we've given worse upgrades before.
OK, Tommy really diving into that. I mean, the Bottas slander, no surprise,
Tommy's jumping straight on the line. I mean, it's 45 seconds off your teammate. If it was Perez,
you'd be giving him a 3. Hey, that is not true because I have very much an open mind when it
comes to Cadillac and the problems that he consistently have. So I think at this stage
of the season, and I've said this many, many times, I think this driver ratings is the most
difficult thing to do because it is not like for like hardly at all throughout any of the weekends
we've seen so far because everyone has issues at some point. Deployment issues.
Yes, so I'm back in Valtteri to have had at least 12 problems, so leave him alone.
The fans gave Bottas a 5 out of 10 as well. Franco Collapinto, qualified 15th, finished 16th.
I've gone for a 5 out of 10 for Franco Collapinto. He was far off his teammate, particularly in
qualifying, although to give him some credit, he was shafted by the safety car. He was behind
Liam Lawson before that safety car came out. Of course, some would argue he helped cause that
safety car with a slight faint to the left. I've seen a lot of people. Someone argue.
Well, I think a lot of people are arguing, well, because he didn't get a penalty or anything,
did he? They decided not, which I think is very interesting. But yeah, he obviously the
new regulations had their part to play, but I think he had a part to play as well. But yeah,
a long way off his teammate, particularly in qualifying, but without pitting early,
it might have been a better race for him.
Yeah, it's interesting. I'm deliberating between two grades.
I am going to give him the benefit that I'm giving him a 5 out of 10 for Franco Collapinto.
You could easily grade him worse depending on how much of the fault you think he had
in the in the Oli Berman incident. He was looking pretty strong at the start. Sadly,
his little undercut strategy was what cost him because he then lost a lot of time to some of
his other points, potential finishes around him. As you mentioned, Lawson, he finished behind
Verstappen in the end. So yeah, but then I can't grade him any higher than that because
I do think there was a role that Franco played. I don't think it's as big as people
suggest. I think it's more that the closing speeds are so insane. It's so insane that he
would have seen him last minute and I'm not surprised in some ways that a driver would
react like that. You always try to react to defend your position. It was too late. He reacted too
late and that's what you're born to defend your position. You can't really blame a driver for
wanting it. And yeah, we've seen some questionable moves. We've seen some questionable moves before
with DRS and things, but it is in the driver's nature to want to try and stop someone overtaking
them. It's just unfortunately for him. As Martin Brundle would say a day later in a dollar short,
his famous catchphrase. There it is. Great one. So I've gone for a five. The fans have gone for a
four out of 10 for Franco. Pierre Gasly qualified seventh finished seventh. This is a Stone Cold
10 out of 10 for Pierre Gasly. I don't think he could have done much more this weekend. I think
he was absolutely phenomenal. It's not as if he just gained from the safety car and that was it.
It's not like he got a lucky P7. He qualified seventh and yes, he was able to pit the same
lap as when the safety car came out, which of course would benefit him when you think about
the drivers he's racing against. But the same drivers behind Verstappen and Lawson also had
exactly the same strategy and Gasly still ended up beating Max Verstappen on the road. So how can
I not give him a 10 out of 10 just purely because I can be smug to Tom Bellingham about
his favourite driver. So I don't think there's much to downgrade Gasly on this weekend. So I've
gone for a 10. I've also gone for a 10 for Pierre Gasly. Couldn't have done any more brilliant
qualifying, maximised, you know, best of the rest in both sessions. He kept Verstappen behind who I
do believe probably did have a quicker car even though of course it is incredibly hard to overtake
and the whole, you know, we heard Lando's comments of like, why do you even try and overtake when
you lose battery to get past and it seemed like they did swap positions a few times. But Gasly
maximised his weekend brilliantly. Even though he did pit by the safety car, you know, he was
going to probably finish there anyway. His race was with Verstappen and behind the top six.
Miles ahead. I'm just looking at like, let's say lap 19 as an example. You know, Gasly is 15 seconds
off the lead. The next driver that you would consider fighting him is 29 seconds behind,
that's Ocon. He was in like Formula 1.25. Yeah, yeah. So Gasly's made the most of that car,
which his teammate isn't, you know, able to do at the moment, particularly in qualifying and
Gasly's maximised his results. So an amazing drive from Gasly and I think he even said after the
race, it's the best car he's ever driven, which must feel very nice after the pain that he's endured
for the last year in particular driving what is essentially an F2 car. Absolutely. Now the fans
come from 9 out of 10 for Pierre Gasly. They wanted him to beat at least Lewis Hamilton.
Should have beaten the top teams, really, to be fair. Crazy behaviour.
Right, let's now head to Gabrielle Bortoletto, qualified ninth and finished the race in 13th.
I've gone for a 5 out of 10 for Bortoletto. Not a great weekend for Audi. I think they did have
the pace. Bortoletto obviously qualified well, but the bad start dropped him down the order and then
even with the safety car being a bit of a lifeline for him because it worked out he hadn't pitted,
so he was able to pit behind the safety car, put him in a points position, but then he dropped back.
So disappointing weekend for Audi when it looked like, particularly in, you know,
I know you can't take anything from practice, but they were looking strong and competitive,
but no points again. No points for Audi at all, no. It's a missed opportunity, it felt like.
I've gone for a 6 out of 10 for Bortoletto. The nod from a 5 to a 6 is purely down to his qualifying.
I think that was a great effort from him to qualify up in P9. The Audi is just seemingly
terrible to get off the line. You know, the Mercedes, of course, are the ones that take the
limelight, but Audi also seemed to be having quite big issues when it comes to that first lap.
So after that, you know, they're in a tight midfield and not really able to do much. And
yeah, I agree. He was given a lifeline with the safety car and gaining from that, but still didn't
really have the race pace to be able to hold on. But still a good qualifying. That's why I've gone
for a 6. The fans have also given Bortoletto a 6 out of 10. Nico Holkenberg, qualified 13th, finished
11th. I am going to give Nico Holkenberg a 6 out of 10 as well. I think that it was actually a
reasonably decent recovery drive after, I think he fell to almost the back of the back of the field
at the start, which again, like Audi, my guys, come on. Mercedes, it's all fun and games because
it gives us a great race. Audi, come on, we need you to lock in for these starts because
it's clearly costing you big points. But there is potential in the car. They've got two great drivers
and as much as qualifying didn't work out also well for Holkenberg, to finish 11th wasn't too bad.
I've gone for a 5 out of 10 for Nico Holkenberg. Same as teammate, I think. His teammates had
a great qualifying and a worse race. Nico's had a worse qualifying and a decent race. But again,
not able to maximize the kind of position that he got put in with the nice safety car
and disappointing for Audi, really, when they showed so much promise.
The fans gave Nico a 6 out of 10. Esteban Ocon, qualified 12th, finished 10th.
I'm going to go for a 9 out of 10 for Esteban Ocon. He was the quicker house driver this weekend.
He actually had his race compromised by the safety car, which normally we have these conversations
out where we go, oh, what might have been. But then he still managed to get back
past some of the runners that leapfrogged him in those positions. So much better performance
from Ocon when he's been struggling as of late compared to his teammate.
It's a very fair point. I think I am also going to match your grade of a 9 out of 10, because he
was the top finisher, of course, not the top four or the Piastri Leclerc and Norris's that got
affected as well. But Ocon was the next runner that was affected by the safety car's deployment,
and he was convinced that he could have fought Gasly and Verstappen, but of course that didn't
necessarily unfold that way. I'm not convinced that he would have been fighting them, but I think he
would have beaten Lawson at the very least. So yeah, it's a very strong weekend from Ocon. It's
exactly what the doctor ordered. What we've been saying is, look, come on. We know that the talent's
there. Don't let Oli Bearman take every single bit of limelight, and I think this was a really
strong weekend, although maybe it goes under the radar ever so slightly. I think it's maybe not
something that's got the attention it deserves, because it was a very strong performance from Ocon.
So yeah, 9 out of 10 from me. The fans, 7. 7 out of 10 for us to ban Ocon.
All righty then. Cool. No, we're not going to pop off. We're not going to do it.
Let's now go to Oli Bearman, qualified 18th and did not finish. This is going to be a 5 out of 10
performance for Oli Bearman this weekend, a disappointing one in qualifying. He had some
kind of glitch or switch problem in his, I think his first run, and then the last run he just wasn't
able to put it together as far as what I've seen. But that being said, still P18, not where the car
should be. And then, of course, the incident with Colopinto kind of ended any comeback drive he was
attempting. Yeah, I don't know if he would have finished in the points had he been able to pull
off that move on Colopinto, because he went quite early, didn't he, as well? Yeah, he went even earlier
than Colopinto a lap earlier to go onto the hard tyres. So yeah, a weekend to forget for Bearman,
because yeah, it wasn't just a case of the crash, but also a slightly scruffier weekend compared to
the others. Yeah, I've gone for a 5 for Oli Bearman as well. The crash can't really blame him for it
was a crazy closing speed and got caught out by Colopinto. But he had a chance to redeem himself
in qualifying. I know he had issues at the start, but didn't go well for him getting knocked out
when we know the potential of that house, mainly because Oli Bearman has been so brilliant this
year. So a weekend to forget for sure, but just very, very glad he is okay, all things considered,
because a very, very scary crash. Absolutely. The fans gave Oli Bearman a 5 out of 10 as well.
Lance Stroll, qualified 22nd, did not finish. I've gone for a 6 out of 10 for Lance Stroll.
Qualifying was bad as always for Lance Stroll. He actually got ahead of Alonso in the race
in the Aston Martin Championship, which he called it. And he was actually ahead of Alonso when he
retired from the race. So probably unfair to go straight down the middle. So I've gone for a 6.
Complete agreement. Yeah, your go for Alonso got scalded by Lance Stroll. No, I'm kidding. Not
that much. But yeah, baby as well. Yeah. 6 out of 10 for Lance Stroll as well,
as much as, I mean, there's not really much more grade, I think, that can be on the table
for an Aston Martin that is very much in sort of F4 at the moment in terms of its pace.
But they had a fantastic battle of Stroll and Alonso and Stroll was actually winning out for
once. It's a shame that it was for the last positions. And it also maybe makes me think
that Fernando Alonso was just waiting for it to be over. But there you go. A 6 out of 10 for
Lance. I think it was a better weekend when you compare it to his teammate. The fans gave him
a 5. No, not happy at all. Fernando Alonso qualified 21st and finished 18th. I'm going to go for a
6 out of 10 for Fernando Alonso as well. He finished the race. So I cannot give him a 5.
That is a, as much as Stroll was right on his pace for whatever reason,
the fact that Fernando Alonso went through the clear pain and vibration of that car
and got it to the end, I have to give him a 6. Not much more to say and obviously congratulations
for being a daddy missed out on FP1. Maybe that was the reason Lance was then on his pace,
whatever it might be. But still, the fact that Aston got to the end is great.
It is. I've gone for a 6 as well for Fernando Alonso. Good job to finish the race and it is
an achievement, of course. He flew that morning, which is crazy, to do FP2, which is quite an
insane thing to think about, to fly all that way and then jump into Formula 1 car. And then,
yeah, finished the race, had his battle with his teammate, but you do have to give him some credit
for finishing the race. But I can't give him too much more, obviously, because his teammate was
ahead, of course, during their little fight. And one thing I do want to mention is the scores for
Fernando Alonso are actually quite hilarious from the fans, because 13% of the vote gave him a 10.
So they're obviously very happy with the fact that Aston Martin, you know, was able to finish a
race, which is an incredible thing, but I can't give him more than a 6.
No, not quite. The fans gave Fernando Alonso a 6 out of 10. Let's now go to Arvid Lindblad,
qualified P10 and finished the race in 14th. I've gone for a 7 out of 10 for Arvid Lindblad.
He was great in qualifying, of course, took the headlines, knocking out
Max Verstappen, which I was thrilled about, yeah. And he was quicker than his teammate Liam Lawson,
but unfortunately for him, he got shafted by the safety car in the race. And he was doing a good
job holding off Hadjar. Hadjar was very, very angry about some of Lindblad's defending, but
he wasn't there just to let the Red Bull through. And he was battling for position and doing a good
job. But unfortunately for him, the safety car really cost him. So I'm going to give him a 7
because of his brilliant qualifying and what might have been.
That's very fair. I'm going to give him a 6 out of 10. I think that it was, of course, a shame for
him that he was on the wrong end of the safety car coming out. He was pretty open with the fact
that he felt he could have done more in the battles, I think, with Verstappen and Ocon and
the way in which he used his battery defensively. And then, of course, after the safety car,
wasn't really able to make much progress after that. Just was kind of stuck in P14,
I think it was until pretty much the end. So a shame for him because it did look like he was on
for maybe a point. But yeah, it just didn't work out for him and not really any scintillating pace
to write home about at the end of the race. The fans gave Arvid a 5 out of 10.
Liam Lawson, qualified 14th, finished the race in ninth. I'm going to give Liam Lawson an 8 out of
10. I think it was a very good drive from Liam. Of course, we've mentioned that he gained from
the safety car, but then also was able to really fight Ocon for P9 and hold him off in,
you might well argue the Haas is a slightly better car, depends where you sit on that one.
But I think the defensive drive that Lawson put down was very strong. And once again,
continuing on his good run of form at the start of this year.
I've also gone for an 8 for Liam Lawson. His qualifying was disappointing for sure, but
and yeah, he got a little bit fortunate in the race to have that safety car, but he made the most
opportunity and a really strong finish again for V-Cub. He's got a good amount of points so far
this season. And yeah, he's having a very good season there. I am a little bit gutted that
his transponder issue was making him fly up and down the order because I was hoping that I'd have
about 800 points from Liam Lawson because I have him in my FANTY team, but we'll find out.
But yeah, he had very much glitching up and down the order, but his actual racing was very good.
Certainly was. The fans gave Liam an 8 out of 10 as well.
Carlos Sainz, qualified 16th, finished 15th.
I've gone for a 6 for Carlos Sainz, which is depressing that 15th for Williams
gets you higher than just an average, but he did make Q2 and also held off an Alpine at the end,
which is a much quicker car. So a little nod of credit there, but not where Williams should be
at all really disappointing. And something we'll go into when we do our podcast about the
new regulations. Big respect to him really speaking out about the new regs in his
very ranty interview afterwards. It was very interesting to hear and you could tell
he was very passionate about what he was saying. And that was the last time we saw Carlos Sainz
on track because of those comments. I have gone for a 6 out of 10 as well for Carlos. I was maybe
going to give him a 7, but I think it's hard to shift our brains away from where Williams maybe
truly lies. He was set off the race. It was basically an unbelievable perfect race and
things like that. This is very much, if you've seen our Alex Albon interview where we give him
a 5 or a 6 and it was actually a 10 out of 10 drive, this might well be it. So I'm sorry Carlos,
if you're listening, but I'm going to have to go with a 6 out of 10 for this one as much as it might
will have been the best drive of your career. The fans gave him a 5. So have a go at them
more than us please. Thank you very much. Alex Albon qualified P17 and finished the race in P20.
I have gone for a 5 out of 10 for Alex Albon. For some reason Williams turned him into a test
session. He did in fact do I think 6 stops. Yeah, fair enough. Not too many steps away from what
Aston Martin were currently doing. So it kind of just shows the difficulty of Williams right now.
In terms of before it was turned into a test session, Alex was kind of within a couple of
seconds of Carlos. They were running 15th and 16th. It wasn't much to sort of separate the two.
We heard Albon's comments after qualifying as well insinuating that something other than the
chassis and the corners were affecting his performance. I wonder what that might be
right between the lines. But that being said, slightly better from Carlos. So I've gone for
one lower for Alex a 5. I've also gone for a 5 for Alex Albon. He was not that far off
science in the race in particular. He was running relatively close to his teammate and his result
isn't reflected of what he actually managed to achieve because he was just pitting for Banta of
and trying lots of different things and new tyres and seeing what they could do.
And it just became into a test session, which is why he finished last no fault of his own.
So gone for a 5. The fans, I think it is, is 4 out of 10 for Alex. You should have finished 19
with that 6th stop. Yeah, he should have flamed through the field on those softs. Should have
Right, let's now go to Lewis Hamilton, qualified 6th, finished 6th.
I've gone for a 7 for Lewis Hamilton. He was essentially worst of the best, if that makes
sense. You know, that top three were leaps and bounds ahead of everyone. Kind of felt like the
Formula A of old. And those top three teams of Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes were well clear.
Hamilton seemed to have problems with power deployment and all that good stuff that we
absolutely love nowadays. But it's hard to know, and I can only judge on what we kind of see in
terms of racing. He was given a lifeline as well with the safety cast up, but still managed to
drop back into 6th. So disappointing weekend after, you know, a brilliant race in China.
I am going to give Lewis Hamilton,
I think it's a 6 out of 10. I think it's a 6 out of 10 for Hamilton. If I'm looking at what
other drivers are getting in my list, Hamilton, and the reason I'm downgrading him from, you know,
seven performance, which you could say, fine, P6, P6, whatever, is that lifeline? Because
he gained from the safety car massively, and he still ended up P6 at the end. Now,
you know, we talk about deployment, you know, he was saying he was lacking power.
You know, but then we also see team radio transcripts of like, you need to lift more
through this corner in order to get more power. That's the formula that we're currently experiencing.
I was really surprised to see Hamilton fall back. And I think that's why that's my main reason for
the 6 out of 10, because he had fresher tyres. Charlotte Clair managed to get through, so did
Russell, so did Norris at the end. So despite the fast starting Ferrari is getting in the mix again,
and all that sort of stuff, I just don't think it was a great weekend for Hamilton. When he has been,
I think brilliant in the last few weekends, but just a slightly disappointing one for him.
So yeah, there you go. The fans gave Hamilton a 7 out of 10.
Charlotte Clair, qualified fourth, finished third.
I'm going to give Charlotte Clair...
I'm going to give him...
No, what do I do, Tommy? What do I do? Because I can't give it. It can't be too gargantuanly
different to Lewis Hamilton. But I've downgraded him for reasons that I'd stand on.
I'm going to give Charlotte Clair a 9 out of 10. I think it was a very strong weekend from Charlotte.
Qualifying, I think, is the only part where you can downgrade him fully, because I think
there was definitely more time left on the table. That being said, he just said he basically hated
qualifying and that he was faster in all the corners and wasn't fast down the straights.
But in terms of the race, I think, again, like Ferrari in general, Hamilton's 6 out of 10 aside,
they have carried this entire season. With their fast starts, with their wheel-to-wheel battles,
they have carried this season by an absolute mile. So I just want to put some respect on
both of those drivers for that. Thank you so much. But for Charles, yeah, he kept
George Russell at bay at the end, which I think was a very difficult thing to achieve.
Very clever, I think, in terms of how he was deploying his energy. And I'm going to give him a 9.
I'm also going to give Charlotte Clair a 9. Not 1% of me wants to give him an 8.
I think it was a very, very good drive. Yeah, 9 out of 10 for Charles once again,
you know, used a car that I don't think is as good as the Mercedes to kind of outsmart
Russell again in wheel-to-wheel combat. Or as the straights have been calling him George Duracell.
Yeah, that's a wild name. That was absolutely mad. Yeah, did you also see, I saw something on
Charlotte Clair Twitter that people were loving that was a clip from the F1 Kids broadcast where
Charlotte Clair was basically like dancing as he passed Russell. Yeah, and yeah, there's another
great kind of wheel-to-wheel battle with his teammate, even though obviously Hamilton,
like I say, had that advantage where he got the good fortune with the safety car,
Charlotte Clair still managed to get back through. And it's very impressive to beat a Mercedes in
any kind of scenario these days because they're so strong. So 9 out of 10 for Charles.
The fans gave Charlotte Clair a 9 out of 10 as well. Isaac Hadjar, qualified 8th, finished 12th.
I've gone for a 5 out of 10 for Isaac Hadjar, started off so well with obviously out qualifying
Max, which was the highlight of his weekend. But the race, really quite poor from him, very
anonymous, stuck behind. Lin Blad got overtaken by Max almost immediately despite qualifying
ahead of him. And yeah, a disappointing weekend for Hadjar when he should have been riding that high
of beating the Stappen in qualifying, which is something that we rarely see in many a year.
But his race was quite poor. I've gone for a 5 out of 10 as well for Hadjar. I wanted to give him
a little bit more because of the qualifying and it's something that shouldn't be taken lightly
because out qualifying Max for Stappen is unheard of. That being said, the race was poor for sure.
I completely agree that he fell back from obviously starting P8 all the way down to I think it was
11th. And then Safety Car came out and that screwed him a little bit. But even then couldn't really
make much of an impact passing an Audi. And then that was it really. So no points for Hadjar.
And it's a shame because I know we're joking about the Red Bull being an absolute s-box,
but for Stappen very nearly finished best of the rest, which again is mad to say out loud
that for Stappen is trying to finish best of the rest. Sorry, Tommy. I'm in the smug mode again.
The fans gave Hadjar a 5 out of 10. Max for Stappen, qualified 11th, finished 8th.
I'm going to give Max for Stappen a 7 out of 10. I think it was a, by the car standards,
a good weekend. I don't think I'd give any more superlatives than that.
Yet he wasn't happy with the car and qualifying, but also we don't ever see him be outqualified.
And I think, you know, as much as we think he's bulletproof, we think that he's unfazed by everything.
I can't imagine we are seeing Prime Max for Stappen right now, this weekend just gone,
when he is full of emotion about how bad these cars are. Like I just can't sit
on no emotion. He's still human. Well, yeah, yeah. Either or, yeah.
But like, he's still human. And I think that we maybe saw, we saw a little bit of that. I don't
know. I mean, this is kind of my perspective of it is he's not a robot. And yeah, he wasn't able
to beat Gazdi. I think he should have beaten Gazdi on the road. But the battery issues were
something that he couldn't see around. And he was waving to Gazdi down the straight once he got
through. Not to take anything away from Gazdi's race. I think that that was a 10 out of 10,
still a drive. But I think Max should have beaten him.
I've gone for a seven out of 10 as well for Max Stappen. Disappointing quality made up for it
in the race. But I do agree. I think he should have got past Gazdi still. I think he did have a
quicker car in race trim than the Alpine. But, you know, unfortunately for him,
this yo-yo racing, he couldn't find a way past and he did a couple of times, but then immediately
got re-passed. And his only real opportunity was on that basically final run into the chicane,
because that's where everyone was overtaking, but then would get re- overtaken, but obviously
the way the line was, but Gazdi defended brilliant, just kept it in the middle of the road,
you know, props to Gazdi again. But the Stappen, just I do completely agree, you know, we're
going to do a podcast about his thoughts about retiring and things like that, which we can
dive into a bit more. But at the end of the day, I think he's, it can't help his driving when you're
lacking motivation and you're not enjoying what is, you've got to think, like, it's his job.
And if you don't enjoy your job, you're not going to have fun and you're not going to
perform well. So yeah, he's still a decent result and a good race, which is insane to think an
eighth place is a good race, but that's where the car is. But I think best of the rest was possible
for him in that car. The fans gave Max a seven out of 10 as well. Kimi Antonelli, qualified first,
finished first. A nine out of 10 for Kimi Antonelli, which is another race, I think that's happened
every last week as well, where, you know, he's won the race and is not getting a 10, but I can't
give him a 10 mainly down to his poor start where he dropped back. I think it's overplayed maybe how
lucky he was. I heard on Sky, they said that he was propelled from six to first behind the safety
car, which wasn't true. He was third and closing down on Russell as well. So then he obviously
got his good fortune in getting into the lead, but he had amazing pace anyway, it would have been
fascinating to see what he could have done chasing down Piastri and Russell anyway, because he was
so quick. But it can't be a 10 because he had some good fortune and his start was poor again.
I'm in complete agreement, nine out of 10 for Kimi Antonelli as well. A huge mistake off the start.
He admitted it was something that was his fault. And yeah, he got fortunate. He did. I don't think
I still believe there was a strong chance that Oscar Piastri would have won that race without the
safety car. I think Antonelli would have had a very good shot of beating Russell, but these are
ifs, buts and maybes, right? What we're seeing right now is the downgrade for the start and
everything else was pretty damn good. His race pace was excellent. His feeling with the car was
clearly better than George, who'd made a misstep with his setup. So yeah, it was a really strong
weekend for Antonelli. He deserved the win in terms of like when you look at the pace and stuff that
he had and also he was on pole, but it may have not ended that way. So Kimi will be thanking
his lucky stars for that safety car. The fans gave Antonelli a nine out of 10 as well.
George Russell, qualified second, finished fourth. I'm going to give George Russell a seven out of 10.
I think it was weirdly, he finishes fourth, 0.4 of a second off third, but it is a weekend to
forget. So many things did not go right for him. A misstep in the setup, which was supposed to be
a tiny thing, turned out to be a big thing, and it affected his feeling with the car for the rest
of the weekend, had a poor start as well, which dropped him down to fourth at the beginning.
Then there's the deployment as well, which I hate talking about, but he lost a position to
Hamilton and then Leclerc. He's saying he's at his harvest limit and this, that and the other.
He also, to be fair, did have, he had a lot of things that went wrong with his car that was not
his fault, like just randomly the car going, I don't have any energy, see you later, Charles.
Like that, there's nothing that he's done. Yeah, Tommy, you literally were like, George is out the
race. That's how slowly he was going. Yeah, it was probably similar closing speeds to what
Colin Binto and Bearman was at that time. So I'm not saying that Russell was completely at fault
for everything that happened, but also he just wasn't that fast. And yes, that may have been down
to the setup, but I still think you can't just say a driver's blameless when there's so many
different things that have gone on for Russell. So that's why I've sat on a seven.
I've gone for a seven out of 10 as well for George Russell. He of course was very adamant
that he'd won the race, had it not been for the safety car timing, and it's kind of,
I don't buy that at all personally. I think he was still presented with a very good opportunity.
One, I think Antonelli was catching him and showed that he was the quicker driver before
the safety car. But then even after, you know, Russell was third and only had Piastri and his
teammate ahead of him. And we saw Antonelli get, you know, an absolutely fantastic restart and
drive away, whereas Russell lost a place to Hamilton. Of course, can't blame him in the
Leclerc incident where seemingly, you know, just had no power at all and Leclerc breezed by.
But then, you know, we saw the start of the race, both George and Kimmy were able to pass people.
And I think Leclerc, quite frankly, completely scored Russell with a lot of the passing and
repassing. And yeah, I think even despite all the issues he had, that Mercedes is so strong. And
we saw that in the hands of Antonelli, who maybe it's unfair and this is the new norm, but I think
you normally expect George to be quicker than, didn't even manage to get it on the podium. So
I can't be too kind. So I'd go for a seven. The fans gave George a seven out of 10 as well.
Oscar Piastri, qualified third, finished second. It's an easy 10 out of 10. Absolutely brilliant
drive from Oscar. Absolutely superb, you know, showed that when he actually gets to race,
what an amazing talent he is, I do genuinely think he could have won, maybe would have won
without the poor time safety car, because he looked very quickly comfortable in front,
of course, had that amazing start and stayed there. And he himself said it was probably one of his
best weekends in Formula One. And I tend to agree, I really showed what he can do. And it was just
very nice to see him racing again. Really, really impressive from Oscar Piastri.
Stone Cold 10 out of 10 from me as well for Oscar. Brilliant to watch. Forgot what it was
like to see him racing on a Sunday. And we shouldn't forget because he's brilliant. And
to take the lead at the start, when everyone was looking to show Leclerc, but he got as good a start
as the Ferrari, which is concerning moving forward. But that being said, Oscar was doing
everything he needed to do until the safety car screwed him over ever so slightly. Because, yeah,
I think that track position was key against the Mercedes. And Piastri would have had a really
good shot. So still, he still finished second. It's a 10 out of 10 performance. No notes. Well
done, Oscar. The fans gave him a 10 as well. Lando Norris, qualified fifth, finished fifth.
I am going to give Lando Norris, people might think this is reasonably high, an eight out of 10.
Because this man has basically not driven the car, it feels like for most of the year.
McLaren just don't know how to keep this man's car in good working condition.
FP2 and FP3, he had problems. And yes, Piastri has beaten him and beaten him reasonably
comprehensively in qualifying and also in the race. I still think it was a reasonably strong
performance for Lando considering these factors. That's why I'm giving him an eight rather than
what you'd maybe consider a seven for a P5. So I'm just taking in factors right now that have been
very much out of his hands. And I firmly believe that he will get closer to Piastri as he's actually
able to do three practice sessions and learn the car. I thought we were going to disagree there,
but I have also gone for an eight out of 10 for Lando Norris. The reason for an eight,
of course, yeah, he didn't reach the highs of Piastri, but I can't give him three grades lower
than Oscar when he's beaten a Ferrari. He's not miles off Oscar at the checkered flag.
And also, yeah, his weekend has been hugely compromised by issues his whole year, in fact.
But looking at the fact that he had no long run experience at all through the practice sessions,
so he's still done a very good job. And I think his move on Russell at turn two in particular
was absolutely excellent and something that didn't really get the credit it deserves. So
I'm going to go for an eight for Lando. The fans gave Lando a seven out of 10. And finally,
it was superb. He was absolutely brilliant to watch. I think he pretty much extracted everything
he could out of that McLaren that is not Mercedes level and the fact that he could have actually
taken a win away from Mercedes this year needs to be commended. He himself said that it was
probably one of his best weekends. And I don't doubt that. So he's my P1.
Yeah, the only two we've both believe, given the 10 floor is Piastri and Gasly. But I am
going to go for Oscar Piastri as an absolutely brilliant drive, really unlucky not to won the race
due to that poorly timed safety car. I think anyone that gets anywhere near a Mercedes or
even to winning a race this year against those Mercedes deserves a huge amount of credit.
And yeah, what a drive from Piastri. Okay, that is it. Thank you, everybody, for tuning
into this driver ratings, we will be back in five weeks time. Well, not well, I mean, like
whenever I say it's the driver ratings, the driver ratings, rather than, you know,
like us as these driver ratings people will be back in five weeks.
Yes, but we'll be much sooner for other chats. We're going to get, as Tommy mentioned earlier
on, we're going to be chatting all about Max Verstappen and where we think he's going to end up
and what he's going to do, because it is a pretty big story and formal one. And something
already a nerve over. But that doesn't surprise me in the slightest. And yeah, looking forward to it.
Tommy, not looking forward to retiring, potentially looking forward to chatting about it.
Yes. What are your final thoughts? Final thoughts. Yeah, another fun drive ratings
gutted that it's going to be a long time till we do it again, but lots to talk about
over these coming weeks. And also, you know, really, really hyped up for the Australian
live show been looking into, you know, it's so soon now that kind of looking into all our,
well booked our flights and all that kind of stuff. And oh my God, it's, it feels very real now.
Not too long away. Yeah, I had to re book my flights because of everything going on in the world.
So thankfully, fingers crossed, we are going to make it there one way or another. But yes,
it's going to be such fun. So get your P1 live show tickets for Australia if you haven't already.
And we will see you very soon. Lots of love. Bye. Goodbye.
About this episode
Matt and Tommy hand out driver ratings from a Japanese GP sprint-weekend-style race, debating who got the best of strategy, safety cars, and execution. Sergio Perez earns a 7 for a strong recovery to 17th, while Valtteri Bottas gets slammed (4–5 range) for an underwhelming hard-tyre strategy. Pierre Gasly dominates with a rare 10, and Esteban Ocon also scores high (9) for maximizing a compromised race. Kimi Antonelli and Oscar Piastri take top marks (9–10), with safety-car timing shaping outcomes. Audi and Williams struggle, and Max Verstappen’s “best of the rest” 7 sparks talk about motivation and battery issues.
Here it is then, our final driver ratings for FIVE WEEKS... Let's bring the curtain down on the series (for now) by evaluating a host of drivers we aren't quite sure how to properly analyse.
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