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Las Vegas GP Driver Ratings
Las Vegas GP Driver Ratings
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About this episode
Matt and Tommy dive into detailed driver ratings from the chaotic Las Vegas Grand Prix, analyzing performances from standout stars like Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz to struggling drivers such as Alex Albon and Yuki Sonoda. They discuss key moments including turn one incidents, strategic calls, and qualifying mishaps, while also reflecting on the impact of McLaren's disqualifications. The hosts highlight impressive drives from rookies like Kimmy Antonelli and debate the challenges faced by veterans like Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. The episode blends sharp insights with fan reactions, capturing the drama and unpredictability of the race weekend.
Topics:
driver ratings
las vegas grand prix
race incidents
qualifying performance
strategy analysis
rookie performances
team disqualifications
max verstappen
carlos sainz
lewis hamilton
Cars:
Dodge Charger
Right then... Two disqualifications, challenging weather conditions and a few crazy crashes should make for a pretty easy Driver Ratings episode!
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Hello everybody and welcome back to the Buon Podcast with Matt and Tommy.
Driver ratings.
Las Vegas.
Are we ready to grade every driver from zero all the way to 10?
After probably using a lot of our mental and brain capacities,
trying to process how on earth that weekend ended the way that it did.
Well, Tommy, I'm ready. I'm so ready.
I've got my numbers locked in.
How about you?
So have I, but yeah, the race, like it was such a weird end to the race
that I still haven't computed it in my brain, I think.
No, no, me neither.
And I couldn't compute either the four-stop strategy that we had at Las Vegas.
Oh wait, no, it was a one-stop and everybody with a one-stop apart from Alex Albon.
It's amazing that Alex Albon is the only one I think to have done a two-stop.
I'm barring maybe Sonoda actually and he didn't even finish the race.
So that just tells you all you need to know about Alex Albon.
But we'll get into all of that because we're going to begin where we always begin.
Gabrielle Bortoletto started the race in 18th, did not finish.
So we're kicking driver ratings off with a reasonably negative outlook
because Gabby Bortoletto had a stinker of a weekend.
I'm giving him a one out of 10.
Poor qualifying, of course it was difficult qualifying
and the fact that he didn't crash is a good thing
because it was very easy to do so.
Albon was the only one to make a mistake in qualifying,
from what I remember at least a big mistake that meant he went into the wall.
And then as for the race, a catastrophic error.
I'm not even really giving him leniency with anything higher than a one
because it was such a bad error that it genuinely put quite a bit of risk into turn one
with how quickly he went barreling in there
and cost a couple of drivers their races, Lance Stroll of course.
And yeah, it was just absolute carnage
and Bortoletto was not the only cause of it, but it was a big cause
and that's why I've gone for a one.
Yeah, I've gone for a one out of 10 for Bortoletto as well.
A shocking weekend again, it has to be said.
Hadn't recovered from a really poor Brazilian Grand Prix
where I think you maybe even maybe got a one as well from us both last time out
and it's going to be a one again from us both again
because yeah, like Paul Quali compared to his teammate.
That was his strong point this year and it seemed to have,
I know it's tricky conditions of course,
but yeah, not on the greatest form of qualifying
and then I wouldn't even call it a rookie mistake.
It was just a massive, massive error to go in that hot.
Very good of him to go up to Stroll afterwards.
I'm sure you've seen the video on social and apologised and everything,
but of course doesn't affect his grade here and it has to be a one.
It certainly does.
His average grade is absolutely tanking after the last two weekends.
So it'd be interesting to see where he stacks up come the end of the year.
The fans also gave Gabby a one.
Nico Holkenberg started the race in 11th, finished 7th
as you will say as well.
Everywhere everyone finishes of course been promoted
due to the two McLarens being disqualified if you hadn't heard the news.
I've gone for an 8 out of 10 for Nico Holkenberg.
Another great result for him.
Really turned his form around after what has to be said
like quite a poor run after his his podium at Silverstone
but qualified brilliantly again start 11th
and of course, yeah, benefited from a couple of places
but even had that not been the case, 9th on the road
still a great result for the car he's driving.
So I've gone for an 8.
I have also gone for an 8 out of 10 for Nico Holkenberg.
I think a very solid weekend of course finished 9th on the road
had better pace than Lewis Hamilton on the same tyres
which I don't think probably may have says more about
Lewis's weekend than it does Nico's
but not to take anything away from him.
He was the star of the Sauber team while his teammate was
poor and qualifying and poor in the race as well
for all of the one corner that he survived
but Nico, yeah, maximised a lot of what I think was available
this weekend, potentially there was a chance to make it
through the Q3 with those changeable conditions
of course missed out only just
but still scored a couple of points
and a very good race from him.
The fans gave him an 8 as well.
Alex Albon, started the race in 16th, did not finish.
Hmm, Alex Albon, absolute rather large stinker as well.
I am going to go for a 2 out of 10.
2 out of 10 for Alex Albon, crashed in qualifying
cost himself a massive opportunity of getting,
I mean, Carlos was 3rd on the grid.
That tells you all you need to know about the potential
that was in that car.
And then the race itself as well was scruffy.
You know, you see it, turn one lap one,
he basically hits Colopinto, I don't know,
I think it's a lenient thing to say that it was a tap.
It was a rather large hit for Colopinto
then was carrying damage for the rest of the race.
Then he drives into the back of Hamilton with this
front wing which I deem to be Alex's fault
similar to how Hamilton did the same thing in Brazil
and we felt the same way there about Louis's responsibility
to not drive into the back of a car.
So overall, then not finishing the race.
Of course he didn't have Team Radio which was, I think,
the primary reason as to why he pulled into the pits
because he didn't want to be a danger to everybody else
but that aside, yeah, a poor weekend for Alex.
A very poor weekend.
Yeah, I've gone for a 2 out of 10 for Alex Albon.
Shocking, qualifying compared to his teammate
of course had the crash, a big error
and then, yeah, in the race continued to, you know,
make a mistake, had, of course, the contact,
did feel very similar to Hamilton's move on Colopinto
where he pulled out too late going for the move
and, yeah, ended up with a damaged front wing.
Really strange moment.
So he's seen it online where he basically came into the pits
and he was trying to get his team to change the front wing
and he was, like, pointing at the front of the car
and obviously they couldn't hear him or know what to do.
So, yeah, a very tough weekend for Alex
and he needs to, yeah, turn his form around
because it's had a fantastic season
but the last kind of few races not gone his way.
It certainly has not.
The fans gave Alex a 3 out of 10.
Carlos Sainz started the race in third, finished fifth.
I have gone for a 10 for Carlos Sainz.
I think he's maximized the whole weekend
and his performance where he could have done with the Williams.
It's close between a nine and a 10.
I think I've given 10 for less this season
which is why I'm going for a 10.
You know, he's qualifying in particular,
absolutely unbelievable
and then got a great result in the race.
Not the best strategy I don't think from Williams
and they were kind of unable to race near the front
with the top cars
but he was 10 seconds clear of the rest of the midfield
and another brilliant job from Carlos.
I have gone for a 10 out of 10 as well for Carlos.
Not really any doubt in my mind over whether it was anything less
because he's put a Williams P3
in an insanely difficult qualifying session
and then he's finished seventh on the road
promoted to fifth after the qualifications
but he was very comfortably there.
It's annoying.
You have the Hülkenbergs and the Sainz
that both put in very good performances
but no teammate to compare it to
because they were both out of contention or out of the race.
It makes it a little bit harder of course
because the teammate is the best comparison
but I have to give him a 10
because I really don't know what more he could have really done
in that scenario.
Yeah, the strategy might well have been a little bit
on the conservative side
but realistically I don't think he's beating
any of those six cars that finished ahead of him on the road.
So yeah, 10 for me.
The fans gave him a nine.
Isaac Hadjar started the race in eighth, finished sixth.
I have gone for...
I'm going to go for an eight out of 10 for Hadjar.
Of course he benefited from...
as did everybody that finished behind the McLaren
gained a couple of positions to finish sixth.
He had some good pace.
He was kind of on his own ahead of Hülkenberg.
Of course, also gained from the fact
of Lawson barreling into turn one a little bit too hot
and hitting piastry
but overall I think it was still a very solid weekend
from Hadjar.
I think Lawson was absolutely on for a phenomenal weekend
had he just got through turn one lap one cleanly
but that didn't happen
and Hadjar took full advantage of that
and I think I have to reflect that with an eight out of 10.
I'm really struggling with this one.
It's between an eight and a nine.
Nine does feel a little bit maybe too generous
now I'm looking at his race time.
I'll go for an eight.
Mainly I think because I've given Hülkenberg an eight as well
and I think they're kind of similar...
finished similarly
and I do think the racing board is obviously quite a decent car
and Lawson obviously did a better job in qualifying.
So yeah, I'll go for an eight out of 10 for Hadjar.
Back to decent form though.
Yes, he got beaten by his teammate
but a great result of course benefited from the McLaren again
but many more points to add to Hadjar's impressive tally this year.
Very impressive. Absolutely.
The fans gave Isaac an eight out of 10 as well.
Liam Lawson started the race in sixth, finished 14th.
I've gone for a four out of 10 for Liam Lawson.
It's such a shame it's a what might have been
because absolutely brilliant qualifying again to put his car P6
was one of the starts of quality again
and unfortunately for him an error into turn one
I'd say fortunate for him that it wasn't as bad as Portoletto
but of course he actually was the one that came out worse of it
because of his front wing and then it all went wrong from there.
So yeah, a very disappointing result for Liam after a great qualifying.
You've convinced me to go for a four rather than a five.
I was deliberating between the two
but at the end of the day it was his mistake.
He admitted it himself after the race as well.
He just didn't expect the field to check up so much at turn one.
He wasn't trying to overtake but it's still his responsibility
to not cause a collision and that's what he did
and Oscar Piastri was very lucky to still have all four wheels
attached to his car with how large of a hit it was.
Such a shame as you say.
Had a brilliant qualifying
and I genuinely think he had the match for Hadja this weekend
but yeah, just overcooked it and after that his race was completely done
and he finished 16th on the road and only ahead of Collopinto.
The fans gave him a five.
Oli Bearman started the race in 14th, finished 10th.
I'm going to go for
a six out of 10 for Oli Bearman.
In comparison to his teammate,
actually not as shining as we've seen.
Esti Besti has stepped it up this weekend for sure
but Oli had a poor qualifying.
He gained a lot of positions
but then from there on after lap one
where I think he was up in something ridiculous like seventh
or after everything that had gone on
then he fell away from there
and then to finish behind your teammate after all of that was a bit surprising.
So I'm going to go for a six
because of course without the qualifications
he wasn't going to score any points
and I can't give him higher than that.
I am going to go for a seven for Oli Bearman.
I think he scored a point.
I do think there was more on the table.
It's close between a six and a seven after what you've said.
I do agree with obviously the qualifying didn't go to plan
either at that moment
where he was kind of a passenger waving his arms
in the areas he was going into the wall of course.
But yeah, I think still fortunate to come away with a point
and a decent job overall
but certainly not his best weekend
based on how well he's been doing recently.
The fans gave Oli a seven out of ten.
Esteban Ocon started the race in 13th, finished ninth.
I'm going to go for an eighth for Esteban Ocon.
I think that he's finished 10 seconds clear of his teammate.
I know in terms of like his experience
we kind of think he should be
but I'm giving him credit for doing that
because he has struggled as of late.
P9 is a great finish in a house
that I didn't think was all that this weekend.
And yeah, gone for an eight for Esteban.
If the McLaren's weren't disqualified, Tommy,
are you giving Esteban Ocon an eight for an 11th?
It's difficult, isn't it?
But I was...
No, probably not.
Probably it would be...
That's why I went for a six for Oli
because it gave me room to give a seven out of ten
for Esteban Ocon, which is what I've gone for.
Yeah, it's easy to look at the overall finish
and go, oh, ninth place, but he didn't finish ninth.
He finished 11th and then there's qualifications happened.
Of course, some people go,
yeah, but that McLaren with that 0.12 millimeter
plank width over the limit,
that's making him a second lap faster.
It was not, spoiler alert.
But I'm going to go for a seven out of ten for Ocon
because I do believe that he deserves
a higher grade than Oli.
I agree with you on that one, Tommy.
He outqualified him ever so slightly
and then finished ahead of him by,
yeah, nearly 10 seconds or 10 seconds.
So for Esteban, a much better weekend.
Love to see it from him
because he has been on the struggle train.
And yeah, I can't give Oli and Esteban the same grade.
So that's what I have gone for.
The fans gave Estee Bestie a seven out of ten.
Franco Collapinto started the race in 15th.
Finished 15th.
For Franco, I have gone for a five out of ten.
I know he's finished last,
but he has received an Alex Albon front wing
up his rear end on lap one, turn one.
And from there on, just struggling for grip.
Once you lose that kind of downforce,
you're in big trouble.
So I can't downgrade him anymore
just because he's finished seven seconds
off the back of Lawson in 16th,
which eventually turned 14th.
So yeah, it's a five out of ten for Franco.
It's a shame.
Yeah, I've also gone for a five for Franco.
Can't be too harsh on him
because it wasn't his fault with the damage, of course.
And as we've seen many times this season,
once you get that damage,
it's kind of game over right from the start.
Unfortunately, with these era of cars,
it's not the case that you can just change something
and you quicker again, it's kind of game over.
Yeah, I've gone for a five.
The fans gave Franco a five as well.
Pierre Gasly started the race in 10th, finished 13th.
I've gone for a six out of ten for Pierre Gasly.
It's a big shame because I think it could have been
a really great race from Pierre Gasly.
He's very good around here.
That's why I went for the good surprise in the first place.
Obviously he got the Alpine into Q3,
which deserves a big amount of credit,
but he got caught up in the Bortoletto dive bomb, of course,
spun around, damaged his car,
and then it's the case of what might have been.
And I know in my head, he deserves more,
but equally he's not barely done the race.
I can't give him a seven just because he qualified well.
So I've gone for a six for Gasly.
I really wanted to give him a seven,
but I'm going to give him a six out of ten as well.
A nod to the qualifying.
But, I mean, literally Alpine's race was over
by lap one, turn one for both drivers.
They both picked up quite a bit of damage.
Ten points of downforce loss was what Pierre Gasly was carrying.
And it is a shame.
I think he would have been absolutely fighting
around the sort of 10th place mark.
But sadly, Bortoletto just missed his breaking point
and that was that for Pierre Gasly's race.
The fans gave him a five.
Lance Stroll started the race in 12th, did not finish.
It's going to be a five out of ten for Lance Stroll.
Can't give him any higher.
I know he's got wiped out by,
literally on lap one by Bortoletto.
Didn't put any kind of qualifying performance
which actually was on the table this weekend.
Didn't put anything like that down
because of the intermediate's decision.
So it's a five.
It's a shame for Lance, of course.
He didn't seem all that bothered old Lance.
Sometimes it happens, this was it is.
Off I go to my yacht.
Yeah, I've gone for a five for Lance Stroll as well.
A weekend to forget.
He was looking so good in that wet qualifying
and the decision to go for Intas was absolutely crazy.
Yeah, as you said, he's kind of...
It feels like he's checked out this year
hoping that next year with that Adrian Newey performance
he might enjoy things a bit more
because yeah, we even saw him qualifying, didn't we?
He was basically like,
I don't really care about getting blocked by Carlos,
you're fine.
And obviously Carlos didn't end up getting that penalty
which we thought was slam dunk.
But yeah, it was all over for Stroll.
On lap one, turn one.
It was another driver's race ruined on lap one.
The fans gave Lance a five.
Fernando Alonso started the race in seventh,
finished eleventh.
I've gone for a six out of ten for Fernando Alonso.
He qualified well
but didn't really work out for him
in the race,
dropped kind of down the order.
He was actually racing, you know,
nearest the front of the start
and looking quite, quite racy, but kind of
tumbled back and it didn't go his way.
So I've gone for a six.
I've also gone for a six out of ten for Fernando.
He almost got a zero.
After watching the lap one replay,
I didn't realise until, you know,
after doing my grades and having a look at each driver,
Alonso nearly wipes out Charlotte Clair.
I've so nearly wiped out.
I don't really, I think Fernando has reacted
to what's in front of him.
He nearly got your first ever minus grade.
The aerial doesn't look like Fernando
is going to make any kind of contact with the car ahead.
He sort of jolts away and then
that's caught Charlotte Clair by surprise
and yeah, very close
to another impact in turn one.
But yeah, six out of ten,
a great qualifying from Fernando
but sadly, you know, the car
is just not good enough for him to really
do much too slow on the straights
and yeah, they just
couldn't really fight
although yeah, we will see
where that Aston Martin is next year.
The fans gave Fernando a six
out of ten.
Kimmy Antonelli started
the race in 17th,
finished third.
I'm
I'm in a predicament here, Tommy
because I gave Max Verstappen
a nine out of ten in Brazil.
You did, I was going to mention that.
So I have to give Kimmy Antonelli
a nine out of ten.
Qualifying absolutely
cost him a chance of potentially fighting
for the victory. We don't know.
That's a question mark whether the strategy
worked out really well for him just with the way
he was forced to push the hard tyres.
Maybe he just had a great feeling with them, whatever it was
the strategy that he pulled off was
amazing.
But I have to downgrade him a point
because he was knocked out in Q1
and we are left wondering
what could have been and if we're wondering
what could have been through something that Kimmy
could have made a difference
around, I have to reflect
that in my score. So it is
an amazing drive. I'm not giving Kimmy
Antonelli a five out of ten. I'm giving him
a nine because it wasn't perfect
but it was pretty close.
I've gone for a nine for Kimmy Antonelli.
I'm very confident with this grade
that's a nine.
As much as I think this was
another race for Kimmy Antonelli
where he showed
what a special driver he's becoming
it can't be a ten
because of the poor
qualifying that's let him
go down the order. Of course
the jumpstart as well
was his fault
rolling forward slightly
and you look at
had the McLarens of course not been disqualified
he's fifth on the road
and I generally think he had the pace
and showed the pace to be second
so that's not him executing
what the car could do.
So it has to be a nine
but Kimmy Antonelli
what a brilliant
brilliant drive again in the race
for a rookie
to be able to do that strategy
and be able to
bring those hard tires
back in something his teammate was struggling with
his very experience and
very very very good teammate
he's really starting to show
now why he was so backed
by Toto Wolf and these last couple of races
we are seeing the
Kimmy Antonelli hype train
Chew Chewing.
And I hope it continues to steam along
because it's brilliant to watch. The fans
gave Kimmy Antonelli a ten
out of ten.
George Russell started the race in fourth
finished second.
I've gone for a nine out of ten for George Russell
same grade as his teammate
it would kind of
he made a
great move on Landau
obviously picked up the pieces from him
but it's still a brave move to go around the outside
but unfortunately for him he struggled quite a bit
on his tires but still a great result
to be
P3 on the road which ended up being promoted
to P2. So another
very respectable and good
drive from George to bag
some more points for his
championship tally.
I have also gone for a
nine out of ten for George. Mercedes
weren't as good or at least
maybe in the hands of George
than what we were expecting coming to Vegas from last year
where Mercedes secured a one two
but I have to give George a nine
because he finished in a
really good position but also he was managing
steering problem from lap
five and
yeah he wasn't, I don't know
whether the steering problem was directly linked to how he was managing
his tires because we know just how fragile
they are but either way
despite those sort of drop-offs that he had in both stints
he was still able to
to bring home a podium finish and
yeah it's just another George Russell performance
where he just spawns on the podium
and we all go why didn't we put him in our
predictions. It's standard
stuff although you did
was it Katie did
Katie did it and then got
promoted to P2 wasn't it? I did as well
you did as well but then that was one
was it one two low? No I had it in a second
he did. Cool I'm in a complete fever dream
to film 50 minutes, still got a couple more days to do
still thinking about Mickey Mouse doing the
did you see that was fake by the way?
I didn't notice, I thought it was pre-recorded
pre-recorded sorry yeah fake is a very
different word then. Well okay
they pre-recorded it yes
because there was a video of someone on
talk where they like panned to the window
Yeah they were in the hotel
in a hotel nearby and panned to the fountain
and nothing was going on
but no Tommy Mickey Mouse is real
like come on sorry sorry
those kind of slanderous things. The fans gave George Russell
a 9 out of 10
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Yuki Sonoda
started the race from the pit lane
finished 12th
this is a difficult grade
because
helmet Marco actually
apologized to Yuki
Sonoda
for whatever they did wrong
in qualifying something to do with tire pressures
or something that they did
on Yuki's car meant that he couldn't
do anything in qualifying
he's only ended up 14th
on the road and finished obviously 12th
with the disqualifications
his teammate has won the race by 20 seconds
it's a 4 out of 10
it's a 4 out of 10 for Yuki
like I can't give him
any higher than that it is still pouring
in comparison to his teammate Max
I have to judge him on what the red bull is possible
with it is a shame about
quali for sure but like
my cynical brain is going
realistically how much higher was he actually going to qualify though
like that's what I'm thinking
those were very difficult conditions
and it's something you don't know right
you either believe that he was going to qualify
in the top 10 or you don't and I just don't think
that judging by what we've seen
for the majority of this year
Yuki just doesn't have a handle
of that car sadly and no one does
so yeah made
a bit of progress but
was very much just stuck in
midfield battles where he didn't want to be
I've gone for a
3 out of 10 for Yuki Sonoda
I know like
you know
driver rating bingo of
you don't know what it's really like
but as you say I have to judge him as we did
with Liam Lawson
as we did with Sergio Perez
I have to judge
in comparison to his teammate
and yes he's been
shafted by the sound of it
in qualifying where he's tied from the pit lane
but then equally
Kimi Antonelli
has started way down
the order and made it
through
Lewis Hamilton made it through to points and
Yuki Sonoda
has not really done anything
to be 12th in a Grand Prix
he makes one the race and both McLarens
have been disqualified and you're still
not close to the points
it's unfortunately just
not good enough and it's going to be a
sad end
to Yuki Sonoda's F1 career
I think it seems
it does seem that way doesn't it
the fans gave Yuki a 4 out of 10
Max Verstappen
started the race in second
finished first
I have gone for a 10 out of 10 for Max Verstappen
shock
what?
brilliant drive
managed it at the front
had quite a bit of pressure from Russell at the start
but weathered the storm
and
comfortably won the race
after that moment from Landau where he locked up
seized the opportunity
and
took victory
and of course as we know with this qualification
a very very important victory
to kind of thrust him back into
a championship
contention which is making me very nervous
did that make you feel unwell saying that out loud?
yeah it does
yeah it's mad isn't it
I still can't get over that
it's not real it can't be
this must all be a joke
we're just being filmed
I have gone for a 10 out of 10 for Max Verstappen
as well unsurprisingly
he
looked like he was covered off by Landau
going into turn 1
Landau then of course
we all know what happened went really wide and then after that
Max looked
I'd say after the sort of
first phase of the first stint unstoppable
George was on the back of him
and we were thinking
ah this is a George Russell victory all day long
but Max was able to keep
his tyres in a phenomenal shape
and then started to drive
away from George and it was comfortable from then
so pretty perfect
from Max barring obviously not getting pole position
but he still very much deserves the 10
front row of the grid to P1
well done Max Verstappen
the fans gave him a 10 as well
Lewis Hamilton
started the race in 19th
finished 8th
I am going to go for a
5 out of 10 for Lewis Hamilton
and it can't be any higher
I know he scored 4 points
but I tried to say he was good surprise
but that was banter
it was a poor weekend once again for Hamilton
it would have been 10th without those McLarens being disqualified
one point when
you know Charle-Claire
did pretty good things
and also as well Hamilton was in a
decent spot after lap 1
the chaos had ensued
and he was on
he was in a pretty brilliant position
but sadly for him
there were mistakes out there
we saw him running wide occasionally
and couldn't make it through
cars that we expect him to
sort of not breeze by
but make the moves maybe a little bit sooner
I genuinely thought Hamilton
was on for a really good result
especially when he came in from the hards on to the mediums
turns out the medium was actually a worse tyre
than the hards for the race
but still
he literally qualified last
he qualified last, he drove over the bollard
on an out lap
well I'm absolutely mystified watching that
and also as well I'm downgrading
downgrading him for the fact that
he, my understanding right
of this quali you know bailing on the last lap
is that he didn't actually realise
where the lap time
ended and begun
because he said there was red lights on the gantry
but the split second where he goes
over the line there was no red lights
because the red lights was further down
the straight so Hamilton
has just made it an error
and thought that the quali session was over
when it wasn't and he could have made it through
Q1 quite easily and then you never know
what happens so it's a 5
I've gone for a 5 for Liz Hamilton as well
it's a
yeah a poor weekend
to qualify last
you know he's had some bad
qualifing this year and some terrible moments
but I think that the headline
of you know being the first Ferrari driver
since 2009
to qualify dead last on pace
is
shocking and another kind of
no it's a drank on our physical actually
I wasn't
I feel like I'm doing a challenge
and
the fact that
Hamilton had a really poor qualifing
but then made up for it
of course
potentially there was some damage there from
Albin's move that's maybe cost him a little bit
in the race
but you'd think maybe you'd push Hülkenberg
more despite this and
the way he was so like dejected
after the race and qualifying
just looks like
a broken man and it's
really sad to see because this is not
what I was so excited to see Hamilton
at Ferrari
it was such an exciting thing
you know to see
one of the most
you know statistical
goat of Formula 1
drive for the most legendary team
and it's been an absolute disaster
so yeah it's such a shame
it has been a disaster
and I echo your thoughts
I was so excited as well you would have seen it
at the start of the year when we were waiting for
Hamilton in red and all this sort of stuff
and yet the worst season
he's ever put down and I don't think
it's going to change in the last two races
the fans gave Lewis a 6
Charlotte Clair started the race
in 9th finished 4th
I've gone for an 8 out of 10
for Charlotte Clair
another strong drive from him
add this to the
many many many drivers
of using this phrase of what might have been
because had it been a dry
qualifying I think this is a completely
different story I think Charlotte Clair
has you know got the pace to do it
and I just want to talk
about something with this Ferrari wet weather
thing that we've said a few times now
this is the first time I've seen
Clair really outspoken and actually
like you know speak about
this whole wet weather thing
and after the race he said that
the wet weather pace was
effing embarrassing
and he basically went on to say that
like ever since I've joined Ferrari
we just can't drive in the wet
and it's crazy because
there was I saw a thing about
Carlos Sainz
and how he's had really poor
performances in wet weather
people questioning like is he a decent
driver and stuff like that
he's now in a Williams and he's put it third on the grid
in a wet
session and someone was
and I've had the same thoughts with Charlotte Clair
like is he you know is he not
a pretty good wet weather driver
and someone shared like a clip when he was at
Sauber and put in a brilliant qualifying in Brazil
and it's just it's just crazy
that Ferrari just can't
as soon as rain Ferrari
just like absolutely useless
and so I think the fact that he's actually
managed P4 of course he benefited
a couple of McLaren disqualifications
but
it's actually not a bad result in the end
but I think had it been a dry qualifying
we genuinely could have seen Charlotte Clair
fighting at the front I
truly believe that
I am
torn
between a 7
and an 8 for Charlotte Clair
I mean he qualified ninth
and there were mistakes in there yes the Ferrari
is a disaster but
he gave himself a lot of work to do
putting some good moves which put him back
in contention but he finished sixth on the road
like we are
maybe getting slightly ahead of ourselves
with these disqualifications
if he finishes sixth then we're giving him an 8 out of 10
I don't know
I am going to give
Charlotte Clair a 7
it's close to an 8
but it's got to be a 7
because it's not that good of a weekend
and I guess he has been hampered
quite a lot by the car
he said I'm pushing like an animal that's why I wanted to give him an 8
because he's clearly putting
quality laps every single time he said that himself
but it's not been
the greatest of weekends
for Charlotte
had he qualified better I think I would have easily
put that up to
maybe where it's acceptable
but maybe it's also coming from
a place of sadness that I've come into Vegas
expecting Charlotte Clair to
potentially win
and he's qualified ninth and finished sixth on the road
and had to benefit from two disqualifications
so that's where it's coming from
it's sad that 7 is at Ferrari
not Charlotte I know you're trying
and you know we love you dearly
but I'm just
sad to see that this was our last
attempt at a win and this is what
transpired the fans gave Charlotte an 8
Oscar Piastri
started the race in fifth
and was disqualified
well here we go
so I'm going to say first and foremost
I am not downgrading either driver for being disqualified
millimetres on the plank
0.1 of a millimetre on a plank
is a team thing
no they would have been 20th
the car would have been so sad
it's the same group
that said about George Russell
he would have finished 20th in Spa when he won that time
but then got disqualified
I am going to give Oscar Piastri a
6 out of 10
it's an underwhelming performance
yes you look on paper and he's finished
7 seconds behind Lando but Lando was literally
he lost 13
14 seconds in the last four laps
because he was trying to not wear his plank down
so it has to be a 6 for Oscar
because I genuinely believe McLaren could have won that race
of course we'll get on to Lando shortly
but
McLaren had the pace for sure
and Oscar once again
just seeming baffled
as to how to
drive this car now
and almost every single
post race, post quali interview
he doesn't know
and that's the real concern
still
Oscar doesn't know why he's not
making the time up
of course he was unlucky in turn 1
with the Liam Lawson
accidental dive bomb
whatever we want to label it
but even after that
I haven't read anything about Oscar having
damage after that I'm pretty sure it was just wheel to wheel
contact
but yeah it just didn't really have the speed
to make any inroads
he lost out to Antonelli of course
but still was beaten by both Mercedes
on the road so
yeah it's a 6
I have gone for a 6 out of 10
for Oscar Piastri
not on his teammates
the pace again
really disappointing
and yeah you look to the
again as it goes without saying
that the disqualification doesn't affect the grade
of what they achieved anyway
because
that is not making a difference
in terms of how they've performed
and
yeah it's such a shame for Oscar
even watching a guy
who I think
when he was at his most confident best
in the middle point at the season
and near the start of the season when he was driving so well
and looked so good in that McLaren
and was winning all these races
one of if not the best
wheel to wheel driver
and making incredible overtakes
and instead
he sat behind Antonelli lap after lap
and it was quite tough to overtake
but Antonelli had very worn tyres
and we saw that the McLaren
did have decent pace
so yeah a 6 for Oscar Piastri
the fans gave Oscar
a 6 as well
Lando Norris
started the race from first disqualified
but second on the road
oh this one's tough
I'm going to go for an 8 out of 10
it's between an 8 and a 9
again I don't think
downgrading him in terms of like
the
skid wear issue
but he should have won the race
in my opinion and it all went wrong
at the start they have to downgrade him before
it was a big mistake
not his finest moment
when he's been driving superbly
well and actually his starts
have been really really impressive
but it was a big mistake to lose two positions
and it meant that
you know
I think it cost him
the victory even though it had been disqualified anyway
which is an odd thing
to kind of be talking about in drive ratings
but that's why I've gone for an 8 for Lando
I'm going to go for a
what am I going for
it's a 9 out of 10 for Lando
qualifying was absolutely sensational from him
and
yes he made a mistake in that last sector
everybody was making mistakes by the way
in qualifying everybody
was
an absolutely brilliant lap
in that final moment in Q3
where all the pressure on his shoulders
and then he delivered a pole position
despite the mistake
so I think that deserves its commendation
and then as for the start
I
commended him in the post-face podcast
I'll do it again that I like the fact that he
went really aggressive on max
he made a mistake that's why it's not a 10
am I going to downgrade him two points
for a small error into turn 1
which he then managed to get one of the positions
back anyway and
I think it did cost him a chance at the victory
I reckon
he probably would have been the favourite
to win had he stayed ahead of max
out of turn 1
but I think it would have been very close
so yeah I'm downgrading him for that
but I feel it's a bit harsh to do it two points
because it's close
but I think I'm more comfortable
with a 9 out of 10 for Lando
but for this weekend the fans
gave him an 8
so finally who is our
P1
my P1
is going to be Carlos
signs I think he genuinely
executed
the entire weekend flawlessly
Max Verstappen didn't get pole position
otherwise he's probably getting my P1
so I'm going to give it to Carlos
because I'm just happy to see him thriving
I
yeah
the only two I've given a 10 for is Carlos
and Max I think it's very close
between them both drove
excellent races but it's
if we're looking at the
qualifying as well
it's got to be Carlos
the qualifying is one of the best of the year
for sure
and yeah
absolutely sensational qualifying and an excellent result
for Carlos
P1
alright then that is it
thank you everybody for tuning in
to this episode of driver ratings
we'll be back literally next week
because Qatar and then Abu Dhabi the following week
after to finish this F1 season
it's frantic can't wait for it
it's going to be exciting
tell me what your final thoughts
my final thoughts are
well done Vegas
enjoyed the
the light show
see you next year
Tommy's brain is powering down everybody
we've seen it live
thank you everybody we'll see you soon
bye
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