F1 driver reviews from the Spanish Grand Prix 2021 | F1

Each driver receives a rating of ten, with the rating heavily weighted on their performance on the day of the race. The qualification performance has less weight in the decision on the ratings

Lewis Hamilton (Qualified 1st, 1st Place) – 10th

While Mercedes had the fastest car in Barcelona, ​​it was an exemplary performance by the man and team. Hamilton’s lackluster start at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya meant we had a race in our hands when Max Verstappens later lunge gave him the lead. Hamilton’s superior pace advantage became apparent pretty quickly when he was able to run so close to Verstappen’s Red Bull. His ability to put pressure on Verstappen pitted the Dutchman early, and from then on, Hamilton and Mercedes held all the aces. A second stop on lap 42 meant it was a repeat of Hungary 2019 – where Hamilton had to chase Verstappen with fresh tires and overtake him – and that’s exactly what he did. The faster car won on Sunday, but Hamilton and the team performed perfectly.

Max Verstappen (qualified 2nd, 2nd place) – 10th

Verstappen deserves a lot of credit for his daring failure by Hamilton at Turn 1. If Hamilton had led into Turn 1, the race would likely have been a boring precession. Instead, Verstappen ran at the front of the field while blocking the faster one and attacking Hamilton. As mentioned earlier, Mercedes and Hamilton held the aces given the pace they had on race day. The Dutchman couldn’t do much more than resisted Hamilton. He gave us a race when there really shouldn’t be a race.

Valtteri Bottas (Qualified 3rd, 3rd Place) – 7th

It was another case in which Bottas did not make life easy for himself when he was spectacularly overtaken by Charles Leclerc on the first lap outside Turn 3. The Finn’s race was negatively affected as he was behind the Ferrari driver until lap 23 when he made his first stop. His pace was consistently comparable to Verstappen, so that he has to regret another bad opening round. He didn’t make things easy for Hamilton as he stormed through after his second stop, but left plenty of room at Turn 10 as the seven-time champion continued his quest for Verstappen.

Charles Leclerc (Qualified 4th, 4th Place) – 10th

Leclerc got the most out of the SF21 on the weekend of the Spanish GP when he qualified fourth and finished fourth – far from midfield. Leclerc’s overtaking maneuver outside Bottas in Turn 3 was breathtaking and he was able to keep the Mercedes driver in check for a total of 23 laps. He was fifth over nine seconds ahead of Perez and fourth just under 20 seconds ahead of Ricciardo. There isn’t much more Leclerc could have done.

Sergio Perez (Qualified 8th, 5th Place) – 6th

Overall, a disappointing weekend for Perez as he never looked good at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. A spin on his first lap in the third quarter meant he could only finish eighth in qualifying and later blamed a shoulder problem for his underperformance. Perez showed, as he usually does, a better racing pace to advance to sixth place in the early stages. He got stuck behind Daniel Ricciardo’s McLaren for the last few laps before finishing a comfortable fifth, nine seconds behind Leclerc in fourth.

On the subject of matching items

Daniel Ricciardo (7th qualification, 6th place) – 8th

Ricciardo enjoyed his best weekend as a McLaren driver as he outperformed teammate Lando Norris in qualifying and on race day. He made an impressive start, moving up to fifth ahead of Perez and Carlos Sainz. The Australian managed to hold Perez in check until lap 42 before holding Sainz back until the end of the race. While McLaren wasn’t at the pace it had shown in the last three laps, he managed to beat one of Ferraris and teammates Norris on an encouraging weekend for Ricciardo.

Carlos Sainz (Qualified 6th, 7th Place) – 7th

Sainz’s slow start ultimately proved crucial as he was unable to overtake Ricciardo in sixth. The Spaniard got used to life at Ferrari faster than expected, which is underscored by another solid qualification when he left his team-mate Leclerc behind by a little more than a tenth on Saturday. Fine margins on race day, but Sainz’s pace was better than the end result.

Lando Norris (Qualified 9th, 8th Place) – 7th

Qualifying proved crucial in Norris’ lackluster weekend as the traffic in the first quarter meant he was forced to consume another set of softs, which meant he had one less for the third quarter. In ninth place, Norris had to stop working because of the difficulties overtaking at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. A two-stop strategy enabled him to easily break through the one stopper and gain a position behind Esteban Ocon, who was fighting for speed in the final laps.

On the subject of matching items

Esteban Ocon (Qualified 5th, 9th Place) – 8th

Ocon played the main role in qualifying when he put his Alpine fifth on the grid and narrowly missed fourth place by less than a tenth. Alpine’s one-stop strategy allowed him to stay one step ahead of Ricciardo, Sainz and Norris before giving up those positions as soon as his tires deteriorated. Ocon was able to hold Gasly back in ninth place, despite losing 20 seconds in the last five laps.

Pierre Gasly (Qualified 12th, 10th Place) – 6th

The overshooting of his lattice box at the beginning gave Gasly a five-second penalty and immediately put the AlphaTauri driver on the back foot. The Frenchman showed an impressive race pace when he overtook Vettel, Russell, Raikkonen, Stroll and Alonso in a strong final. Crucial for overtaking should it be higher than tenth for Gasly in Barcelona.

Lance Stroll (Qualified 11th, 11th Place) – 6th

For Stroll in Barcelona there were points on the table if he could have cleared Alonso earlier. The Canadian was unable to make a decisive move for the two-time champion when he was forced into the drainage area of ​​Turn 2 when the pair was brushing the wheels, allowing Gasly to pass. No points for Stroll, but he was again the leading Aston Martin driver.

Kimi Raikkonen (Qualified 17th, 12th Place) – 6th

Raikkonen was the only driver in the 20-car segment to start on the media. A move to the softs on lap 37 put him on the train behind Alonso and the battle for tenth place. The 2007 world champion couldn’t make too much progress when Gasly got through while benefiting from Alonso’s late stop for fresh rubber to ensure he finished 12th.

Sebastian Vettel (13th qualification, 13th place) – 5th

Another sad weekend for the four-time world champion when he was beaten by Aston Martin team-mate Stroll in qualifying and on race day. Vettel never threatened the top ten of his two-stop strategy and lost a position to Raikkonen after the German’s second stop. Work to ensure that it hasn’t hit the mark in 2021.

George Russell (Qualified 15th, 14th Place) – 7th

Williams stayed under the early safety car because of Yuki Tsunoda’s ailing AlphaTauri and put Russell on an effective one-stop strategy. Russell ran into 10th place right behind Alonso before dropping to 14th when his tires fell off. A strong performance on race day by Russell.

Antonio Giovinazzi (Qualified 14th, 15th Place) – 7th

Giovinazzi was again the leading Alfa Romeo in qualifying. Had his problem not occurred while stopping under the safety car, the Italian would probably have been fighting for points, even though he would have been fighting for tire wear at the end of the race. When Giovinazzi stopped under the safety car, the new medium-sized tire that was about to be fitted had already been deflated, hence the considerable delay in his pit stop.

Nicholas Latifi (Qualified 19th, 16th Place) – 4th

Latifi was nowhere in qualifying when he was beaten by the Haas by Schumacher, while teammate Russell was back through the second quarter. Like Russell, Latifi was put on an effective one-stop strategy with a stop under the safety car. The Canadian could not stay with his teammate and fell back to 16th place.

Fernando Alonso (Qualified 10th, 17th Place) – 6th

Alonso struggled again in qualifying but an aggressive one-stop strategy allowed him to run within the points for most of the race. The Spaniard did his best to keep Stroll, Gasly and Raikkonen in tenth place but struggled with tire wear when he was forced to make a late second stop for new rubber. An entertaining race for Alonso, despite lacking the pace of team-mate Ocon.

Mick Schumacher (qualified 18th, 18th place) – 6th

Schumacher celebrated a small victory in qualifying when he beat Latifi’s Williams. The German didn’t have the pace in the race to keep Williams in check and finished a lonely 18th place under the checkered flag, more than a minute ahead of teammate Nikita Mazepin.

Nikita Mazepin (Qualified 19th, 19th) – 3rd

Another tricky weekend for the Russian when he was comprehensively beaten by team-mate Schumacher. He received a penalty that ultimately didn’t matter for blocking Norris in the first quarter and then faced complaints from Mercedes’ Toto Wolff during the race.

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