United States GP Driver Ratings

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Hello everybody and welcome back to the P1 podcast with Matt and Tommy. We have returned

to the United Kingdom. Our bodies have not returned to the United Kingdom in terms of our

body clock because I think there's some sassy Tommy coming out today in driver ratings. We love it

when Tommy's tired. Particularly because Frank's just tired. Barking the second you said hello.

Here we go. Chaos is ensuing in the Bellingham household. He is slamming the door as I speak.

So yeah, I'm looking forward to this one. Obviously great to be back. Was in Austin and had time to,

well not a lot of time, but some time to digest what's gone on and we are ready to give some

driver ratings aren't we? We sure are. And yeah, just to throw the extra curveball in the mix,

it's a sprint. And some people had amazing sprints and then crashed in the race and all

sorts. So it should be an interesting one. So we will try and factor it in the sprint,

qualifying and of course at the main race as well. Now, as we wrap up the United States Grand Prix

content, it's worth mentioning the P1 Live Delusion Tour. We are coming to America, North

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Okay, let's begin and start with Gabrielle Bortoletto. Started the sprint in 20th,

finished it in 11th and started the main race in 16th, finished 18th.

I am going to give Gabrielle Bortoletto a 4 out of 10. Underwhelming weekend for Gabrielle

Bortoletto, Nico Hülkenberg taking absolutely all the plaudits, all the highlights, all the limelight,

some lowlights in fact for Nico, but we'll get on to that very shortly. But for Gabrielle,

very anonymous. It has to be said, qualifying has been his strong point this year in comparison

to Nico, didn't really shine there, didn't even set a lap time for the sprint

quali. And yeah, it just was a weekend to forget for Bortoletto. Of course, he was in the mix

with the Alpine right at the end. That's the only time we really ever saw him, but it's going to

be a 4. Yeah, I've gone for a 4 as well and I'd like to apologise to Bortoletto for going

for a good surprise because he just really wasn't there all weekend compared to his teammate,

a disappointing one for sure. So yeah, I've gone for a 4 as well.

The fans gave him a 4 as well. Nico Hülkenberg started the sprint in 4th, finished 13th,

started the main race in 11th, finished 8th. I have gone

for a 9 out of 10 for Nico Hülkenberg. Say it confidently next time, Tommy.

Yeah, I've gone for a 9. It's between an 8 and a 9, but I am going to give him a 9.

The sprint, looking back at it, he was amazing in qualifying. I caught up in that turn 1 chaos

and it wasn't his fault majoritably. He obviously played his part, but I think

really small. Oh, I'm loving Tommy Jeff like majoritably is right that way.

But the fact that he was just so much quicker than his teammate all weekend,

I don't think actually Salba were that good. I think it was more that just Nico Hülkenberg

was really, really good. So that's why I'm going for a 9.

Okay, I am going to give Nico Hülkenberg a 9 out of 10 as well.

Past me, immediate reaction me of course said that Nico had a part to play in that turn

1 sprint. I think the only part he really played was being there. When you look at the aerial

view of that sprint start, it is absolutely almost entirely on Oscar Piastri. So for those of you

that didn't see the fact that we retracted, or at least I heavily retracted the statement that

I've made in the sprint, just to clarify that is what I'm doing here. And that's why I'm

giving him a 9 out of 10 because as well in the main race, he scored a solid amount of points,

showed that the Salba did have pace, at least at the hands of Nico Hülkenberg,

and he can be very proud of scoring some good points. It could have been a lot more,

but yeah, the sprint did not go his way. The fans gave him an 8 out of 10.

Alex Albon started the sprint in ninth, finished sixth, started the main race in 18th, finished

14th. I am going to go for a 6 out of 10 for Alex Albon. He did gain a little bit from

the sprint, just purely from the absolute chaos, but a reasonable effort and to score three points

from the sprint can't be ignored. Of course, the main race did not go his way. He was involved in

another incident, feels like he's involved in quite a bit recently, of course, causing him to spin.

So it wasn't the best of races by any stretch. So I probably would have given him a 5 had it

not been for the decent sprint result. So yeah, I'm going for a 6 and just say well done for putting

some points on the board for Williams. I have gone for a 5 out of 10 for Alex Albon.

It's close between a 5 and a 6. I think the reason I thought it might be a 6 is because,

yeah, he's got obviously the sprint points on the board, but I think a lot has been left

on the table for Williams this weekend. If you look at how well they did in the sprint and

how well science qualified and where he was until his incident, which we'll get on to later

when we talk about him, Alex had a really disappointing race, obviously having the track

limits in qualifying, which meant he started way down the order and then having the contact at

the start, which is unfortunate, but I think it's just you always put yourself in that position

when you're near the back of the pack and racing those kind of cars. So

yeah, a missed opportunity I think for Williams to grab some really, really good points. I know they

did grab some points in the sprint, but it could have been a lot more than I've gone for a 5.

Yeah, the way I've leaned more to a 6 is just the benefit that doubts slightly from a driver's

perspective, even though of course he has a part to play with the fact that he started on

the hard tyres, which I believe were honestly, you may as well just not put any tyres on for

that particular race because I think it was Ocon, it was Hajar and Albon.

Yeah, the guys that had qualifying just risked it, didn't they?

Yeah, and then they were like, oh god, there is literally no grip on the tyres.

Yeah, this doesn't work.

The fans gave Alex Albon a 6 out of 10. Carlos Sainz started the sprint in 7th,

finished 3rd, started the main race in 9th, did not finish.

I have gone for a 7 out of 10 for Carlos Sainz. Brilliant, brilliant sprint result,

of course, getting another trophy, but in the main race, a great result. Again, in qualifying and

looking like he could get some big points, he made that great move on Batman, looking like he

was going to move up the order and had some pace to be able to fight Antonelli and look

like he was going to move up again, but made contact. We'd saw a few incidents in that

corner and it wasn't the most malicious thing in the world, but it was his fault for sure.

But I've gone for a 7 because obviously scored those big points in the sprint.

I've also gone for a 7 out of 10 for Carlos. The sprint was obviously a 10 out of 10 performance

getting on the podium, navigating the chaos incredibly well. But yeah, the main race

was his fault. Kimmy tried to give him a little bit of room, but it wasn't enough because

he snatched his brake. And at the end of the day, it was a misjudgment from Carlos.

It's happened before at that corner. It will happen again. But yeah, of course,

that's where he's taken a large hit for his grade because apart from that, as you say,

Tommy, it was a fantastic weekend once again for Carlos. The fans gave him a 7 also.

Isaac Hadjar started the sprint in 12th, finished 12th, started the main race in 20th, finished 16th.

I've gone for a 4 out of 10 for Isaac Hadjar. Similar to Portoletto, a very anonymous

poor weekend. It has to be said for Isaac, just failed to set a lap time in qualifying.

It was all the way, only managed to get up to 16th come the end. Of course, he started on the

hards as well. But realistically, not a Hadjar performance, it has to be said. And that was

all undone in qualifying because yeah, you're screwed if you don't manage to get out of Q1.

We know how much of a qualifying championship this is. And then the sprint, of course, was

considering the chaos that happened. He wasn't able to take any advantage from that as well.

It's a 4 from me. It's a 4 from me as well. Isaac Hadjar ruined his whole

race from qualifying with that big error. And then as soon as he started on the hards,

it was all downhill from there really. So I don't think racing bulls had the pace

particularly this weekend. They didn't look particularly strong. But that being said,

have to downgrade him a lot for the big qualifying error.

Absolutely. The fans gave him a 4 out of 10. Liam Lawson started the sprint in 15th,

finished 9th, started the main race in 12th, finished 11th.

I have gone for a 7 out of 10 for Liam Lawson. I think it's a very...

I think it's actually a pretty solid weekend in a pretty meh V-Cub, to be honest. I think

he's unlucky not to get a points finish. Arguably the worst place he can finish

is 9th in the sprint and 11th in the Grand Prix. And unfortunately for Liam,

he finished there in both of those. So I think he delivered more than what the V-Cub had.

He's done a good job and unlucky not to get points. It's difficult to score points these

days with how many drivers are in the mix in the midfield and the reliability. So yeah,

I think it's actually a pretty solid result, even though he's obviously left the whole Grand Prix

weekend empty-handed. I'm in complete agreement. Tommy, I've gone for a 7 out of 10 as well for

Liam Lawson, which may well have gone under the radar for some people watching. But yeah,

a 9th and an 11th in a sprint weekend is... Yeah, that's very much got Yuki Snowden,

a P11 from that meme that he had, and two Fethy Olly Bearman and a P11 as well

meme from this year. Yeah, it was... Considering the V-Cub has been known to be quite a

quick car throughout most of this season. They would definitely lack luster this weekend and

I think Lawson extracted a pretty good amount out of that car, but sadly didn't come away with

anything. The fans gave him a 6. Olly Bearman started this sprint in 16th, finished 15th,

started the main race in 8th, finished 9th. Oh dear, this is difficult one to grade,

Mr. Olly Bearman, because you could easily have been banned for next race. I have gone for a 7 out of

10 for Olly Bearman. Weirdly sat here thinking what could have been again, shock, because that's

just Olly Bearman in a nutshell, but I think he genuinely could have finished 7th this weekend

in the main race. The move, I've got to say, look, I'm a big fan of Olly Bearman. I think

he's got a huge amount of potential, as you will know if you listen to this podcast.

His take after the race was pretty wild and I really don't... I think it did not match

what Sonoda did in the car. Sonoda covered that first part of the left-hander as he's allowed.

He's allowed to go slow. He's allowed to break early if he wants to to make sure he covers it.

He then sort of reacts a little bit more to the inside. Yes, that's Yuki Sonoda I'm talking

about, but again, I think he's well within his rights to do that. There was not enough space down

the inside in the first place. There was no move on Olly Bearman. The context with his

quote as well. I love giving context. I was about to say yes. So he said,

regarding the incident with Yuki, I felt like what he did was very dangerous against the

spirit of the regulations and against the spirit of going racing actually. This is not how we

grow up racing. This is not how we race at this level. Not the way we want to teach people watching

young kids watching and how we should be racing because you should not move in reaction to other

cars and that's what I felt that he did. I've got a heavily disagree with that quote. I don't

think Yuki's done anything near to that level. I'm sure he's allowed to criticize and go,

well Yuki jolted a little bit to the left, but if you just watched the replay that

you should be down there anyway. That's my thoughts.

Yeah. I've gone for a seven for Olly Bearman as well. He's a really difficult one to grade because

I think he had amazing pace and I think he could have easily got really good finishes in both these

races. He was running in the points of course in the sprint race and then ran wide and

gained an advantage from track limits, didn't give the place back and then got a 10 second penalty

and then to go into the race where again he was looking very, very quick, could have got a fantastic

result and did still get a solid result, which is why he's getting a seven, but it's so risky when

you are so close to being banned to just be having these incidents where you're getting

penalties here and penalties there and I don't really agree with his kind of crash out. It

seems extreme for what actually happened and maybe it is a bit of frustration from the fact that

he could have got a really, really good result, but it's another weekend where he shows that once

he cuts out those mistakes, boy is he going to be a really special driver.

Yeah and it can also be sort of excused by the fact that he's a rookie.

So yeah, you almost forget because these are rookie experience because he's had these

standings, but technically this is his rookie season. The fans gave Oli Bearman a seven as well.

Esteban Ocon started the sprint in 19th, did not finish, started the main race in 17th,

finished 15th. I've gone for a four for Ocon. He is in struggle town at the moment,

particularly in qualifying. I think at the start of the season,

it was probably one of the most underrated drivers where he was just occasionally

putting the house into places where it didn't belong and he'd got the odd P5 and stuff here

and there, which has boosted his points massively. But I don't know if what is going on at the

moment and if he's just trying new things or whatever, but he just looks nowhere compared

to his teammate, particularly in qualifying. And yeah, it feels like a long time since we've

seen really anything at all from Ocon. I've also gone for a four out of 10 for Ocon.

It's, I think, a deserving grade, sadly, just purely because of what Oli Bearman,

his rookie teammate, was showing this weekend. I was looking back at his results and he scored

a point in the Netherlands, in Zandvoort. But the other seven races around it, so the four

we've just had no points, the three before, Zandvoort no points. But then you look at the

first half of the season, he's scoring a fifth in China, an eighth in Bahrain,

a seventh in Monaco, a ninth in Canada and a tenth in Austria.

And he got a good sprint result as well. I think it was a spar, I think he got a P5 in that as

well, so. Yeah, so in terms of his position in the championship, he's 15th now. So I think he

is falling down from where he was after the first half of the season. But yeah,

he's very much in a slump at the moment and something I hope he is able to turn around.

The fans gave him a four as well.

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Franco Collapinto started the sprint in 17th, finished 14th,

started the main race in 15th, finished 17th.

For Franco, I am going to lock in a six out of 10.

It is, again, a very good performance when you compare it to Pierre Gasly,

which is literally the only thing we can still do

because that Alpine is absolute garbage.

I also want to say that I think Alpine were completely out of order

for trying to stop Franco going through on his teammates.

The absolute normal situation, especially when there's another team behind you,

is to let the faster car through.

Whether there's some weird tension there, a message from someone

at the top of Alpine to say, no, don't let Franco through

because it looks bad on Pierre, I don't know what it is

because there's only a few things in my head that make sense

for why they would have tried that.

For me, Franco, all he needs to do is be his teammate.

He's done that and I firmly believe he is very much deserving

of that seat for next year.

I have gone for a five out of 10 for Franco Collapinto.

Another solid weekend from him, not amazing.

I think last race particularly good from him.

This one, it's really impressive how he's managing

to consistently match Gasly now.

I completely agree that I think he's shown enough now.

He seems to have touched wood.

The mistakes are being cut out.

I think if he just has a solid end to the year

without any mistakes, he will get the seat.

There's obviously a few question marks of,

was it the right thing to do to disobey team orders

when you're trying to get a drive from them?

But I think it's completely unfair how Alpine put him

in that position in the first place,

so I can't really blame him for going for the move

when he had such a tire advantage.

So it's a strange position for them to put him in,

but he's driving so much better to think

what a slump he was in at the start of the year

and all the kind of talk of how he's not impressed

and he's having all these incidents.

So yeah, he's doing a good job.

The fans gave Franco a 5 out of 10.

Pierre Gasly started the sprint in 13th, finished 10th,

started the main race in 14th, finished 19th.

I have gone for a 5 out of 10 for Pierre Gasly,

gone for the same for two Alpenes.

I think Gasly impressed more in qualifying and the sprint,

but of course Franco has beaten him in the race.

I think it's quite close between the two of them.

I think Gasly in that race in particular

looked like he had some really good pace in qualifying.

So could it have been one of those races

where they bagged a point, particularly after the sprint chaos?

It's so rare now for them to get points.

It's been so long, but alas, no,

and they were trundling around at the back.

For Pierre, I've gone for a 5 out of 10.

The sprint was definitely better,

but of course, a huge amount of chaos

and a lot of positions gained that way.

And then in the main race, finishing 19th,

for his experience for what he's been able to achieve,

Franco is impressing more at this point at Alpenes.

So I can't give him the same grade,

just purely because he's been beaten by his rookie teammate.

Still technically a rookie, he hasn't had a full season.

So yeah, Pierre Gasly, it's a 5 out of 10 for me.

The fans gave him a 5 as well.

Lance Stroll started the sprint in 14th,

did not finish, shock, we can talk about that.

And then in the main race, started 19th,

have to be penalised 5 places and finished 12th.

Lance Stroll is going to receive a 4 out of 10.

4 out of 10 for Lance Stroll, absolutely diabolical move in the sprint.

He went for something that I'm sorry to say,

but his talent does not match up to those kinds of moves.

And he tried it, he locked up,

and he yeeted Ocon into another dimension.

And then in the main race, I think Alonso was trying to help him.

Was he not? I'm pretty sure Alonso was backing up the pack

to try and get Stroll in a good position.

And he still wasn't able to do that.

So probably would have been a 5,

had it been just the normal Grand Prix,

but I've got to take into account the sprint, so it's a 4.

I've gone for a 4 as well for Lance Stroll, yeah.

His result in the end of a B12 isn't that bad reading,

but I have to take into account his qualifying performance

or weekend competitive teammate was poor,

but I guess we expect it now.

I think it's 30 consecutive beaten by your teammate

in qualifying, which is insane.

And then the sprint move was ridiculous,

which of course puts him on the back foot for the race,

although it doesn't matter when you qualify poorly anyway.

So yeah, one to forget for Stroll.

The fans gave Lance a 4 out of 10.

Fernando Alonso started the sprint in 6th, did not finish,

started the main race in 10th, finished 10th.

I have gone for an 8 out of 10 for Fernando Alonso.

His result in the Grand Prix, I don't think Aston looked

particularly quick these days and he bagged a point

and a decent qualifying.

I think in the sprint, I've got to kind of give him credit there

like I did for Hülkenberg that he was on

for a really, really, really good result

and of course ended up in the chaos and getting taken out.

And as he said, has no luck at all,

so I think would have bagged a really strong finish there as well.

So that's why I've gone for an 8.

I have gone for a 7 out of 10 for Fernando Alonso.

I think it's very close between a 7 and an 8, of course, yeah.

Qualified well for the sprint, didn't finish,

and then in the main race, it's alright, it's a point, isn't it?

I did read you as I mentioned with Lance,

I believe he was trying to help his teammate.

He was, they were slow in the race with Aston Martin

and Alonso couldn't make any progress from P10.

7 is not a bad grade, I don't know if I can give him an 8.

Obviously, with the benefit of the doubt of the sprint,

you could weigh either way, but it's a 7 from me.

The fans also gave him a 7 out of 10.

How dare you?

God, yes, you just get so angry about the Alonso grades, don't you?

He's just, what a guy.

No, the fans just don't like him.

Oh, get like Tommy.

Remember, we're biased, Tommy, not the fans.

Yeah, yeah, of course.

Who don't have favourite drivers.

Kimmy Antonelli started the sprint in 11th,

finished 8th, started the main race in 7th,

finished 13th.

Kimmy Antonelli is going to receive a 6 out of 10.

Unlucky, of course, to be taken out in the main race

with Carlos, he did give him a little bit of room,

whether more experienced drivers would have seen that coming

and just kind of almost driven off the circuit

to make sure he didn't get hit.

I don't know, that's not for me to potentially judge,

but it's definitely a thought in my head.

That being said, it's not his fault.

He was just literally just driving around

and Carlos went for an audacious move and hit him

and it's Carlos' prerogative to not hit Kimmy.

In the sprint, of course, he scored a point,

but realistically not the greatest of weekends for Kimmy,

but also not like he was completely and utterly off the pace

and deserves anything lower than a 6 in my opinion.

Yeah, gone for a 6 as well.

It's very much kind of not terrible,

but also not particularly a great weekend.

Obviously, the results, I think,

could have had a really decent points finish.

Looked like he was maybe potentially going to finish

behind his teammate, although who knows,

because it was so early in the race, of course, he got hit,

but he was running there after a much better qualifying,

but the sprint start where he started and the sprint was poor

and who knows, had he been further up,

we of course saw the chaos at the start

and that's how people ended up with really fantastic results.

So yeah, it's just a case of, I think for him,

if this is a bad weekend,

I think that's a much better bad threshold

than what he was having earlier, so he'll take it.

Yeah, he's upped that bad weekend line, hasn't he,

which is very important for him.

The fans gave him a 6 as well.

George Russell started the sprint in fifth,

finished second, started the main race in fourth, finished sixth.

Oh, this one's a difficult one.

I'm going to go for an 8 out of 10 for George Russell,

close between a 7 and an 8,

but I do think he got a good amount

of what he could with his car this weekend.

Of course, sprint result was his highlight.

Looked like he had a good amount of pace

and at the start looking like he was, of course,

challenging max for the victory,

didn't have that same pace in the main race,

and it very much looked like Mercedes were kind of fourth best.

So I've gone for an 8 though,

because I think it's a good amount of points from a weekend

where I don't think Mercedes were particularly great.

I've gone for a 7 out of 10 for George.

He lost two positions at the start of the main race,

which sometimes is a little bit of luck of the draw in turn one,

but also you have to position your car as well as you can.

That outside swooping line is what paid dividends for Oscar

and for Lewis coming through on George.

He said the qualifying was obviously so important

and that first lap after the race

and had he stayed in fourth,

he said he would have finished fourth

if he'd got up to P3, he probably would have finished third.

So to finish sixth in the main race,

when there was definitely more on the table,

means I'm going to go for a 7.

Of course, the sprint was very good.

Finished second there and took advantage

of the absolute carnage that unfolded in front of him.

So the fans gave him a 7 out of 10.

Yuki Sonoda started the sprint in 18th, finished 7th,

started the main race in 13th, finished 7th.

Might be an unpopular one,

but I'm going to go for a 6 out of 10 for Yuki Sonoda.

Yes, he has finished in two 7th places,

but he's absolute light years behind Max Verstappen

who has dominated the entire sprint weekend.

It would be a disservice to Sergio Perez

and those that have gone before him

to give him any higher than a 6 out of 10.

Yes, he struggled with the car.

How do you then incorporate that in your grades?

I genuinely think sixth is a very fair grade for Yuki.

He finished, what was it?

I'm looking now, I'm just doing the math.

It's over 40 seconds behind Max Verstappen.

He was 52 seconds.

52, yeah.

So I was just looking at the board and adding them all together.

52 seconds behind Max.

His qualifying was poor in both of the sessions this weekend,

course did well in the races to score some points,

but he is driving the race-winning car, so it's a 6.

I have gone for a 6 out of 10 for Yuki Sonoda

and I was actually earning between a 5 and a 6.

Yeah, he's such a difficult one because on paper you're like 7th and 7th,

perfect, this is what Red Bull needs to be doing.

But Red Bull, and I know it's so different

because we all know the second car and it's all very different

and they are a unique team to judge,

but Red Bull aren't, certainly in Max's hands,

the fourth best car anymore.

You can argue that they're even the best car now

or very much at least on par with McLaren now in Max's hands.

So Yuki is, I mean, 52 seconds is so far off.

No one else is that far behind their teammate.

Almost a second or lap.

Yeah, exactly.

And even the sprint finish, I'm not trying to discredit

what he's done to get a 7th place,

but of course he qualified 18th

and it was almost like Estaba knock-on,

hungry situation where the seed just parted for him.

I will just argue and say that Red Bull did not do him any favours

in that final part of sprint qualifying as well.

No, where he got blocked, of course,

but he didn't have any particular pace in qualifying

anyway before that.

He was down at 14th.

So yeah, I just, I can't give him a higher grade

for being that far off.

There you go then.

Let us know your thoughts.

I'm sure you already have.

The fans have given him a 7 out of 10.

Same as Fernando Alonso, crazy.

You know, but I'm biased.

Please like the video if you enjoyed

and we will see you next week.

Max Verstappen started the sprint in first,

finished first, started the main race in first, finished first.

I've gone for a 10 out of 10 for Max Verstappen.

It's the perfect weekend.

The fact that he just dominated,

I don't think, you know, that the Red Bull has improved a lot.

I don't think it certainly wasn't

light years ahead of the McLaren this weekend.

He just delivered the perfect weekend

to top all the sessions, sprint weekend,

when it's how you see it, isn't it?

Like, is the pressure on or is the pressure off?

He needs to be perfect, but the pressure is off

in the sense that like, he's the underdog

so that he's kind of thriving from that.

But also at the same time, it is a huge amount of pressure

because he literally can't put a foot wrong

if he wants to stay in this title.

And he didn't.

First in everything, just amazing, amazing weekend.

And yeah, it piles that pressure onto McLaren now.

I've gone for a 10 out of 10 as well,

unsurprisingly for Max Verstappen.

What a good surprise prediction, honestly.

What, just clean sweep the whole weekend.

Come on, that's unbelievable.

Anyway, sorry, back to the drive ratings.

Yes, I do believe, yeah,

that he was not that far ahead in terms of the pace.

Charles Clair did him a massive favour

in the main race to give him that buffer

because I think Lando, once in clean air,

showed that he was at least on par

with Max Verstappen's race pace.

I go back to your point, Tommy, about pressure.

I personally believe that Max is feeling no pressure whatsoever.

I feel like he is so ingrained in Formula 1 anyway.

He's been in championship fights many, many seasons,

sometimes just only fighting himself in 2023, for example.

And it was interesting, there was an interview

that he did, I believe it was after the race,

where he kind of just, I think the question was,

you know, you're feeling the pressure

and stuff like that and things like that.

And he just sort of turns it around into,

well, it's an opportunity.

You kind of sense that he was not feeling the pressure.

And I personally think he is absolutely relishing

the fact that he's the underdog.

It just is such an exciting thing for him

that he was probably losing interest halfway through this season

with his car being absolutely nowhere compared to McLaren.

It's now not losing interest in terms of not trying,

but you get slightly distracted.

You think about GT racing and things like that.

But now he's absolutely locked in.

He firmly believes he can win this championship

and it is going to be a very scary Max Verstappen,

I think, between now and the end of the season.

If I'm Oscar Piastri, I know that he said

after this weekend, I'd rather be in my position

than the other twos, I'd be shaking.

I would, and this is why I'm not a Formula 1 driver,

I would be absolutely shaking my bones

that Max is 40 points behind with five races

and two sprints to go.

Because anything can happen

and we're going to be there every step of the way.

The fans gave Max a 10 as well.

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Lewis Hamilton started the sprint in eighth, finished fourth,

started the main race in fifth, finished fourth.

I have gone for an eight out of 10 for Lewis Hamilton this weekend.

I think it was a very good one from him.

Very unfortunate to not, not unfortunate,

but just so tantalizingly close to getting another podium,

at least in that first phase of the race.

He didn't, he wasn't able to really utilize the soft tires

in that second stint.

I think he had a puncture scare as well towards the end,

which allowed Oscar to really close up at the end.

But when you compare Lewis and Charles,

Lewis was better in the sprint.

Charles made that mistake in the main race.

Of course, Charles really excelled,

but I think Lewis,

even though he finished 13 seconds behind his teammate,

I don't think that truly represents what a good weekend it has been for Lewis

when you consider the season he has had.

Yeah, I've gone for an eight out of 10 for Lewis Hamilton as well.

A much more solid performance from him this weekend.

Two fourth places.

Still obviously, of course, tantalizingly close in results,

at least to that podium that, you know,

he's still not achieved at Ferrari yet,

but this is exactly kind of what we expected more from Hamilton,

that even if he's not beating Charles Leclerc at the moment,

this is more kind of, you know, along the lines of the Lewis Hamilton.

We know, of course, still in a new team,

still learning his new environment,

and if this is the kind of more of the baseline,

then it's much more impressive from Hamilton.

Yeah, a good weekend and good points for Ferrari in the fight for second place.

It's interesting when you look at the head-to-head stats between Leclerc and Hamilton.

There's a couple of annulled results due to the Chinese Grand Prix

where they both disqualified and Dutch GP where they both retired,

but in qualifying, Leclerc leads 14-5 over Hamilton.

In the sprint, it's two-all.

In the main race, it's 14-3 to Leclerc

with those two taken out of the disqualification and the retirement,

but in the sprint races, Hamilton leads 3-1.

So clearly, one practice session is exactly what Hamilton needs in that Ferrari.

Yeah, clearly.

Because of the amount of times we hear as well of like,

oh, the car felt good on Friday and then we changed something

and now it's absolutely horrendous.

Yes, he says that a lot.

So this is what Hamilton needs is just lock it in in free practice one

and just stick with that car.

The fans gave Lewis Hamilton an eight as well.

Charles Leclerc started the sprint in 10th, finished fifth,

started the main race in third, finished third.

I have gone four and nine out of 10 for Charles Leclerc.

I think his race in particular was very, very good.

I don't think Ferrari had the pace to challenge.

Obviously, he made that kind of gamble, if you like.

Well, they didn't turn out to be too much for gamble in the end

when we saw that the hard tyres didn't work at all, of course.

But starting on the soft, just got ahead of Landau,

managed to hold him up for a long time,

which I think was a mixture of Charles' great defensive driving

but also a little bit of Landau and probably being in championship mode

as well and managing the kind of risk there.

So, yeah, a really good result.

Can't be a 10, I think, because of obviously the sprint

and being beaten by Hamilton there,

but a really, really good weekend from Charles

and just a reminder that he's had a few times this year

where, you know, if he gets the car as well,

he can also be fighting these drivers like

Piastri and Aris for Stappen, everyone as well.

So, yeah, a good performance.

I've gone for a nine out of 10 for Charles Leclerc.

It's fully deserving.

I think the main race, the main weekend,

not much more he could have really done in the sprint.

Of course, he had a poor qualifying,

but his first lap in the sprint was genuinely like Mario Karch

just avoiding all of the carnage, the debris and everything else.

Made that small mistake in the sprint,

of course, which put Hamilton through,

but yeah, it was an unbelievable display on Sunday,

so I think a nine is very deserving.

The fans gave Charles a nine as well.

Oscar Piastri started the sprint in third, did not finish,

started the main race in sixth, finished fifth.

Well, well, well.

Here we are at one of the most controversial grades,

I'd imagine, and most divisive grades.

For me, I am going to lock in.

Drum roll, please, whilst I think between two numbers.

I am going to go for a five out of 10 for Oscar Piastri.

Close between even downgrading in one more,

but I'm going to lock in a five.

His qualifying was okay for the sprint,

then it was absolutely his fault what happened at turn one.

It's not the same move as in my head, right?

The way I'm trying to sort of grade this,

it's not the same move as locking up and doing a launch

roll and just yeeting someone into non-existence.

What I would put that down to is in experience

and tunnel visioning towards Lando Norris,

of course the grade is still low anyway at five out of 10,

but it was his fault.

Had he been more sensible and not forgotten

about the other cars behind him,

that incident wouldn't have happened.

And then in the main race, again, qualifying was poor.

P6, when your teammate is up in the front row,

and then he was very anonymous during the race.

He still finished fifth,

he didn't get beaten by George Russell.

It's still points for Oscar Piastri,

but I cannot in any realm give him any higher

than a five out of 10 because it was a weekend.

Another weekend now, not as bad as Baku,

but another weekend where the championship leader

does not look untouchable by any means.

I can't give him a five, I will give him a four out of 10.

I think it's a really poor weekend from Oscar Piastri.

I think what's most concerning is just the pace.

All weekend was really poor from him.

The sprint move, of course, in a weird way,

it's not a four because I think he deserved a penalty

and his sprint move was outrageous.

It was incredibly risky and that is part

of the downgrading here,

but the reason I'm giving him a four

is just how slow he looked at all weekend.

He just wasn't able to find anything.

He was three-tenths off-lander and qualifying in the sprint.

He was almost three-tenths again behind Lando in qualifying,

which is a massive margin, and then in the race,

he was 22 seconds off-lander.

These are huge margins,

and we know that Piastri is not that driver

because he's been really, really, really good this year.

That's wisely in the world championship,

but yeah, he's just had no pace this weekend.

He was not delivering compared to his teammate,

and it's just such a shocking time for him to do it

when the pressure is really ramping up as well.

So it's probably worth sort of,

because I feel like there will be people listening

that question our grades.

I mean, it literally happens every single weekend.

Really?

Yeah, but I think maybe we just go into a little bit more

about how we can give Oscar Piastri a four out of 10,

for example. He said 22 seconds off his teammate,

but Yuki Sonoda, who finished 52 seconds behind his teammate,

and it's a six out of 10.

So maybe explain, because obviously I've given a five,

it's slightly less harsh, what you're thinking is there,

why does he deserve so much lower than a Yuki in this example?

Because that also takes into grade what their teammate got.

Spoiler alert, Lando's not getting a 10.

And also the fact that you do grade a little bit

on what you expect of a driver in Oscar Piastri's

leading the World Championships had a brilliant season.

Particularly, first half of the season,

I think he was comfortably quicker than Lando Norris,

so we know he's much quicker.

So for him to be, this is the only race I can remember

all season where he's just not looked anywhere

compared to his teammate,

and that's why it's such a poor grade for me.

Yep, there you go, just explaining,

because everybody has their own grades

and whatever they decide to give is totally a personal thing.

Also, just to mention, downvoting the YouTube video

is not meant for when you disagree with our grades.

It's usually you just comment and go,

oh, I don't agree with that grade.

Just thought I'd let you know about that one.

The fans gave Oscar Piastri a five out of 10.

So if you like Drive Ratings, give it a like.

Yeah, and that's a great thing to say.

If you like the series, if you like the fact we don't agree,

give us a little thumbs up.

Let us know you enjoy the series.

Because it'd be a really boring video if we all put the same.

I know, right?

Wouldn't it?

Why don't we all just have the same and live it out?

Could have just been an email, couldn't it,

really, if that was the case?

Lando Norris started the sprint in second,

did not finish, started the main race in second,

finished second.

I've gone for an eight out of 10 for Lando Norris.

I think he had a good solid weekend.

Obviously, I think the reason I'm not giving him a nine

is because I do think that McLaren had good pace.

Obviously, the sprint is not his fault at all.

But in the main race, I think he,

and maybe understandably very cautious at the start,

particularly with not making moves on

Charles and had he got past him earlier,

could he have fought Max Verstappen for the win?

I certainly think so.

Whether he got past him or not is another bet.

But this felt like just a solid, consistent drive

from someone going for the World Championship

and maybe playing that percentage game.

So that's why I've gone for an eight.

I have also gone for an eight out of 10 for Lando Norris.

Very unlucky in the sprint, qualified well for the sprint.

I think the main race, had he finished just second

behind Max and got through on Charles Leclerc early,

probably would have been a nine.

The downgrade is from the cautiousness.

It's not a four.

It's not a five.

It's an eight out of 10.

It's still a strong grade.

But yeah, we kind of came into this weekend saying,

not going to take it away from him

or criticise him for being cautious on Max Verstappen.

But when you're behind Charles Leclerc,

who is, I mean, Charles even said after the race,

basically insinuated that the Ferrari is

not as quick as the McLaren by quite some margin.

But he was still able to hold Lando until what?

Five laps to go.

Of course, Ferrari, I think did a very good strategy

to put Charles in the mix there.

But Lando's cautiousness did affect him

and affect his ability to even put any pressure on Max Verstappen.

Max wouldn't have felt that throughout the entire race.

So it's an eight out of 10 for me for Lando.

It's still a good enough result that he is well within the championship hunt.

I am constantly changing my mind as to who's the favourite.

But I think Lando is being slept on slightly here.

And if Oscar's form continues this way,

Lando can very easily clinch this championship.

So these kind of performances are absolutely fine.

Can't allow Max to win every single one of them.

But if he's finishing seconds consistently...

I mean, they can do if they want. Please, please feel free to.

If he finishes second consistently,

he'll have a very good opportunity to win the championship.

If Oscar beats him a couple of times,

but then Max beats him three other times.

Math's on the spot.

He's probably got a good shot of still winning.

So yeah, good performance from Lando.

The fans gave him an eight as well.

Finally, who is our P1, Max Verstappen?

It has to be Max Verstappen,

because I'm pretty sure he's the only 10 I've given.

But also, even if there were 20 out of 10s here,

it was the absolute definition of a perfect weekend for Max.

Untouchable.

And oh my goodness gracious me, 40 points to go.

Get that tattoo booked, Tommy.

I am going for Max Verstappen.

Yeah, it's...

Wasn't that the only 10 you gave as well?

Yeah, exactly.

Okay, good suspense, enjoyed it.

Yeah, exactly.

It's so clearly Max Verstappen,

I'd probably argue that this might even be the easiest...

Like giving P1, because the fact that he's won literally

everything and no one else has got a 10.

So easy dubs for Max Verstappen.

Easy dubs indeed.

Right, that is it.

Thank you everybody for tuning in to Driver Ratings

for the United States Grand Prix.

We'll be back literally in less than a week

to do another Driver Ratings for the Mexico City Grand Prix.

Will it be another 10 for Max Verstappen?

Will he be closing in?

Will he be within a win, Tommy, come the end of Mexico?

Can you imagine another...

Well, you say I doubt that,

he gained 23 points on Piaz really.

I've been saying every time I've gone,

well, he needs to do this and then we'll do that the next race.

Or is better than what you even say.

So there you go.

Thank you everybody.

We will...

Yeah, thank you as well.

I want to say thank you for bearing with us,

with us being around and slightly slower with everything.

We're back to normal now before we then go,

of course, for the P1 Live Delusion Tour,

to get still available if you want to come and see us.

It's going to be very exciting.

We love going around America, don't we, Tommy?

The energy at the shows are just something

that you just cannot get enough of.

Hence why we're doing another batch of shows.

So we'd love to see you there.

Take care, Tommy.

I forgot to say what your final thoughts.

So give us your jet-lagged final thoughts whilst we wave.

Get those tickets for the show,

because it's going to be good.

And...

And Tommy won't be tired there.

I won't be tired.

But my God, is he sassy.

I'm looking forward to rewriting.

Tommy Dive is something I have to experience,

by the way.

I'm just saying, my God, this man pops off.

Bye.

And not just about Fernando Alanto, it's great.

Oh, Fernando's so great.

Ten out of ten.

Everything he does, the way he breathes.

God, he's actually...

I'm actually excited.

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