Ratings | Verstappen, Hamilton & Alonso again old-fashioned best in America

Verstappen: 9

Max Verstappen had to fight for it, but won the US GP for the second year in a row. In qualifying, Verstappen came up just short and in the race the challenge was increased by the failed pit stop. Verstappen's reaction was a bit over the top, but he repaired the damage perfectly.

Hamilton: 9

Lewis Hamilton drove a strong weekend in which he once again outclassed his younger teammate. Hamilton smelt victory but just couldn't hold on to it. The complaining afterwards over the team radio does not deserve the beauty prize.

Leclerc: 7

Charles Leclerc was behind at Ferrari this weekend. In qualifying, the Monegasque came up short and in the race, he ultimately couldn't match Hamilton or Verstappen either. He had to come from a long way, but a safety car really gave him a good chance of a better result.

Perez: 6

Sergio Perez scored the points needed for Red Bull Racing to become world champion, but when you see what Verstappen was able to do at the Circuit of the Americas with the RB18, you do wonder why Perez could not get past Leclerc and Hamilton. Perhaps the damage to his car was an explanation for that, but Perez had caused that damage himself by wanting to pass Valtteri Bottas too wildly in the early stages of the race.

Russell: 5

George Russell had a poor weekend in America. He lost the qualifying duel to his teammate, braking at the first corner with dire consequences. 'Luckily' for Russell, he hit Sainz and not his teammate, as it would have been a different discussion.

Norris: 9

Lando Norris drove another great race in the background. McLaren's car really didn't seem that competitive in Austin, but the young Brit squeezed everything out of it to still finish sixth.

Vettel: 8

Sebastian Vettel actually drove a poor weekend until the safety car, in which Lance Stroll had been faster up to that point. On new mediums, however, Vettel passed his teammate and even a dramatic pit stop could not prevent Vettel from stealing the show. The German showed great overtaking and still drove to seventh place. However, that makes you wonder why Vettel cannot show that more often and consistently?

Magnussen: 9

A strong race for Kevin Magnussen who, with a P8, is again the one scoring points for Haas. This time a bold one-stop strategy was the best move, but it was Magnussen who managed to execute the bold strategy.

Tsunoda: 7

Yuki Tsunoda was slower than his teammate on Saturday but still snuck into the points on Sunday. The Japanese had good race pace to contend with.

Ocon: 5

Esteban Ocon was again outclassed by his teammate this weekend. In qualifying, the Frenchman crashed out in Q1 and had to watch idly as his teammate finished ahead of him even after a heavy crash on the track. However, a penalty for Fernando still earned Ocon a point.

Zhou: 6

Guanyu Zhou drove an invisible weekend in which he was less fast than his teammate but managed to keep his car on track, unlike the Finn. Points did not result, however.

Albon: 8

Alexander Albon drove in the points for a long time, but this time a good strategy did not earn the Thai any points for Williams. The competition was simply too fast.

Gasly: 5

Pierre Gasly was faster than his teammate all weekend, but things went wrong again on Sunday. His complaining on the team radio is also starting to get annoying, especially given his declining performance, these are not exactly on point.

Schumacher: 5

Mick Schumacher needs to score points to keep his seat, but again it was his Danish colleague who took the points for Haas. Schumacher wasted his final run in Q1 due to a spin at the first corner and his pace was not too strong in the race either.

Alonso: 10

Fernando Alonso drove another one of his famous races and it is a shame the stewards took that final result away from him. After a rock-solid weekend in which he looked the best behind the top three teams, a crash with Stroll seemed to kill him. However, Alonso kept the rickety Alpine alive and still drove to the points. It is sad that the FIA penalises such a race these days.

Ricciardo: 3

Daniel Ricciardo arrived at the paddock on horseback, but perhaps the Australian should focus on racing. After all, he was nowhere to be seen this weekend. McLaren's decision to buy out his contract seems increasingly logical.

Latifi: 4

Nicholas Latifi did not have the pace this weekend and was once again caught out on multiple errors.

Stroll: 2

Lance Stroll had a great weekend until his crash with Alonso. However, in a fit of insanity, he thought it was a good idea to change direction at the last minute above 300 kilometres per hour. Fortunately, the damage to both drivers was not too bad, but it is still extraordinary that such a driver can still say after the race that the crash was not his fault.

Bottas: 3

Valtteri Bottas drove a neat weekend in Texas but made another of his well-known mistakes in the race. He lost control of his car in a clumsy way and thus ended his race in the gravel trap.

Sainz: 8

Carlos Sainz had a strong weekend with pole position on Saturday. His start was not great, but if Russell had just hit the corner normally, Sainz could have still raked in a nice result. However, one could also argue that Sainz himself could have entered the corner a bit differently. He did go back in very sharply and in the first corner you know that sometimes you have to take a bit more margin.