Ratings | Verstappen gets maximum points, Leclerc and Gasly not far behind

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6 September 2021 at 07:49
  • GPblog.com

Max Verstappen has won his first home Grand Prix at Zandvoort. The Dutchman was the master of his own country but had to fight for it. GPblog again rates all drivers based on their entire weekend at the Dutch Grand Prix.

Verstappen: 10

Max Verstappen was flawless during the Dutch GP, and that is a small miracle. There was a lot of pressure on the Dutchman's shoulders, who obviously didn't want to disappoint all his fans. He didn't disappoint his fans, but the fact that he was also very emotional after the race says it all.

Hamilton: 8.5

Lewis Hamilton couldn't have done much better, and the Mercedes choice to pit him into traffic didn't give him an undercut attempt the second time around. Despite a problem in FP2, he was right on Verstappen's heels. But he didn't get the best getaway off the line. Unlike at Silverstone, Verstappen was already far ahead after two turns. 

Bottas: 7

Valtteri Bottas is doing what Sergio Perez is still failing to do, and that is to stay close to Hamilton and Verstappen to play a role. That role was particularly small though, as he couldn't keep Verstappen behind him for long.

Gasly: 9

Best of the rest this weekend was Pierre Gasly. The Frenchman will be wondering what on earth he needs to do to get that seat back at Red Bull Racing. He's consistent, he's very fast and he's carrying AlphaTauri on his own. You can hardly ask more of him.

Leclerc: 9

Charles Leclerc drove another great race and finished in fifth place. The Ferrari is still not a top of the bill car, but the Monegasque is delivering top performances every week.

Alonso: 8.5

Fernando Alonso showed everyone at Zandvoort that age has nothing to do with performance. On Saturday he may have lost some speed, but on Sunday he is still as sharp as in his prime. Overtaking on the outside in the Hugenholtz corner is something we could only expect from this man.

Sainz: 7.5

Carlos Sainz is close to Leclerc, but still let Alonso pass him at the end of the race. The gap to his teammate was also too big, so there is still work to be done for the Spaniard.

Perez: 7.5

A dramatic Saturday was followed up by a blunder in the first few laps of the race, with Perez ruining a hard tyre and having to come in for a pit stop. The Mexican recovered and still finished in eighth place, but Verstappen desperately needs him upfront. Perez's biggest disappointment came in qualifying, but he was virtually the only driver overtaking in the race. 

Ocon: 6.5

For the winner of the Hungarian GP it was an empty weekend in the Netherlands. Esteban Ocon was slightly faster than his teammate on Saturday but was never able to impress on Sunday. He did keep the McLaren's at bay.

Norris: 7

Lando Norris had a difficult weekend. On Saturday he was surprised by the red flag and dropped out of Q3. His teammate made more of an impression, but Norris recovered on Sunday by driving to tenth place.

Ricciardo: 6

On Saturday it seemed like a lot for Daniel Ricciardo, but everything seemed to go wrong for the Australian on Sunday. He didn't have the pace and ended up having to get ahead of his teammate and missed out on points as a result.

Stroll: 4.5

A quiet weekend for Lance Stroll who at least once again managed to qualify and finish ahead of his teammate, and that at such a drivers' circuit as Zandvoort.

Vettel: 4

Sebastian Vettel was not in top form when he arrived at Zandvoort. The German was already not very fast on Saturday, and on Sunday he went into a 'Vettel spin' at the Hugenholtz corner. In that respect, it was a weekend to forget.

Giovinazzi: 5.5

The hero of Saturday became the villain of Sunday. Antonio Giovinazzi had qualified so well on seventh place, but in the race it all went wrong. Of course, the Italian had some bad luck with a flat tyre, but he didn't have the pace to stay in the top ten.

Kubica: 6.5

Robert Kubica was a good replacement for Kimi Raikkonen this weekend. The Pole only had the third free practice session to practice, and in qualifying, he kept the two Haas drivers behind him. In the race he also managed to keep Nicholas Latifi behind him to finish fifteenth. A good performance, but nothing special.

Latifi: 5

Nicholas Latifi suffered a massive crash in qualifying that resulted in him writing his car off, and he never got anywhere near a good result in the race.

Russell: 5

George Russell did well on Saturday but took too much risk in the final corner. He was able to start from eleventh place but simply didn't have the pace to attack the top ten.

Schumacher: 5

Mick Schumacher had his hands full with his teammate this weekend, but on Saturday and Sunday, he still managed to win the race. That's all the young German can do at the moment.

Tsunoda: 4

Many a Red Bull talent has been kicked out of training for less, but for now AlphaTauri is sticking with the young Japanese. In Zandvoort, Yuki Tsunoda was also considerably slower than his teammate, and that's starting to become a worrying situation after halfway through the season.

Mazepin: 4

Nikita Mazepin is still being defended by Günther Steiner when he makes another nasty move on the track, but you can't imagine this is going to last much longer. Now the duels are only with his teammate, but as the Haas gets faster, he'll be racing other drivers too. The stunts he's pulling now don't belong in F1.