Las Vegas GP Driver Ratings

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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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Las Vegas GP Driver Ratings

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