Ratings | Verstappen not flawless, little difference between Mercedes duo

Verstappen: 8.5

Max Verstappen drove almost a flawless weekend, until he lost control of his car in an unexpected gust of wind. The Dutchman himself described it as a personal mistake, but was helped to victory by his team and teammate with a strong strategy, which the Red Bull driver himself had to execute to perfection.

Perez: 8.5

Sergio Perez drove an almost flawless weekend in one where he already started with a deficit due to the abandonment of FP1. That deficit broke him up in qualifying where he finished fifth. In the race he recovered that and even seemed to be on his way to victory. Verstappen's strategy, however, worked out better and within the Red Bull team the proportions have once again become clear. Perez does appear to be the ultimate team player.

Russell: 9

George Russell drove a perfect weekend in Spain. On Saturday he squeezed more out of the car than his teammate and on Sunday he did everything in his power to keep Verstappen and Perez behind him. They ultimately proved too fast in the RB18, but the Brit did show why Mercedes brought him in.

Sainz: 6.5

On a weekend when your front-runner drops out with an engine problem, as a team you hope that the number two manages to take the win. Carlos Sainz went off even harder than Verstappen due to a gust of wind, damaged his car and came no further than fourth place. He himself remains focused on the world title, but perhaps he should take a step back and help his team(s) first.

Hamilton: 8.5

Lewis Hamilton drove from the back of the grid back to sixth place, but his weekend had not gone well up to that point. In qualifying, he was nonetheless once again driven at a distance by his young teammate, and the first lap showed that Lewis is not quite used to opening the race in the middle anymore. He hadn't expected Magnussen there and understeer made the race a lot harder for Hamilton. His question over the radio as to whether they wouldn't be better off throwing in the towel could be used against him afterwards. But still, his fight through the field was impressive and he had strong pace. 

Bottas: 9

Valtteri Bottas scored points again for Alfa Romeo. The Finn perhaps let Sainz and Hamilton pass a little too easily, but a sixth-place is also a profit for Frederic Vasseur's team.

Ocon: 8

Esteban Ocon drove a solid weekend in which he showed he can lead Alpine. Under the radar, it's a handsome performance from the Frenchman.

Norris: 7.5

Even a sick Lando Norris finishes ahead of his teammate in the race. It wasn't an ideal weekend for the Briton who suffered a lot, but under the guidance of his team was still the only one to score points for McLaren.

Alonso: 7.5

Fernando Alonso fell short of his teammate on Saturday, but with a new engine in the back of the car, he still scored two points for Alpine. A nice catch-up race for the Spaniard.

Tsunoda: 7.5

Yuki Tsunoda is increasingly emerging as a competitive driver for AlphaTauri in 2022. Whereas in 2022 he was dominated bby Pierre Gasly on a weekly basis and didn't take the sport very seriously either, he is once again grabbing points and moving further away from his teammate.

Vettel: 6.5

With the 'green Red Bull' Sebastian Vettel came close to scoring points this weekend. It was one of his better weekend's in recent memory but failing to escape Q1 properly cost him points. In Vettel's hands, the improved Aston Martin no longer seemed to be the rearguard car it used to be, whereas his teammate still struggled mightily with it.

Ricciardo: 4

Of course, when your teammate is sick and you qualify ahead of him, you can never end up finishing behind him in the race. Daniel Ricciardo is again not scoring points for McLaren and that is starting to become an increasingly difficult situation for him.

Gasly: 5.5

Pierre Gasly is having a much harder time with his teammate this year and in Spain he was again beaten by the Japanese driver. The Frenchman is shouting from the rooftops that he deserves the seat at a top team, but the way he is performing now he is not going to get it anywhere.

Schumacher: 6

Mick Schumacher was again significantly slower than his teammate on Saturday and on Sunday, after a strong start, he quickly fell outside the points. With the early loss of Kevin Magnussen, we'll never know if there would have been more in it for the German.

Stroll: 4.5

Lance Stroll did not come close to Vettel this weekend. Afterwards he joked that the 'green Red Bull' didn't copy so well after all, but if he had driven as well as his teammate, he would have at least been a bit further forward.

Latifi: 5

Nicholas Latifi started this weekend poorly with a first free practice in which the 'rookie' Nyck de Vries was faster in a similar run on the red tire. On Saturday, the Canadian was again slower than Alexander Albon, but on Sunday he did finish ahead of his teammate. However, with P16 as his final result, he will not be celebrating.

Magnussen: 5

Kevin Magnussen made things particularly difficult for himself in the opening stages of the race. On the outside of a corner like that, you normally lie down. You can try, but in a duel with a Mercedes like driver from Haas, that might be an error of judgement. Especially when you see what the pace was of the Dane on Saturday.

Albon: 3.5

Alexander Albon drove his worst weekend for Williams so far. The Thai was still convincingly faster than Latifi in qualifying, but on Sunday he didn't get anywhere and finished in eighteenth place.

Zhou: 4.5

Guanyu Zhou's performance is beginning to pale somewhat in comparison to that of his teammate. Where Bottas is racing just behind the top teams, Zhou rarely gets out of Q2 and the gap to his teammate is too big. On Sunday he was unlucky due to an engine problem, but the Chinese's performance should improve soon.

Leclerc: 9

Charles Leclerc did little wrong during his weekend in Spain. He was a little too eager in his first run in Q3, but other than that spin, the Monegasque had every right to a good result. After two Verstappen retirements, however, he was now the one to suffer.