P1 with Matt and Tommy - Abu Dhabi GP Driver Ratings: F1-to-10

Episode Date: December 10, 2024

Here it is, then... Brace yourselves for the final Driver Ratings of the season. Can Zhou Guanyu end his F1 career with a 10? Let's find out. Our End of Season live tour starts this week! There are still some tickets available for London, Manchester, Birmingham and Bristol, so get them right here!Sign up to our Patreon here! You'll get access to bonus episodes, our classic race podcast series, every P1 episode ad-free, early access to live tickets and merch, and access to our Discord server where you can chat with other F1 fans!Follow us on socials! You can find us on Twitter, Instagram, Twitch, YouTube and TikTok. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello everybody and welcome back to the B1 podcast with Matt and Tommy, the final driver ratings of the year. Well, at least in terms of an individual Grand Prix, of course we will be going through our averages across the entire season in a later podcast. But for this one, Tommy, it's the final time we're giving Shoguan you agree. I don't know how I'm going to just carry on, to be honest. Yeah, I can really feel the emotion behind that. And also Bottas as well, how will we ever cope about not having to rate a Sauber performance?

It's really quite devastating. Now, before we dive into everything, this is your final warning. The P1 live shows are literally this week and next, depending on whether you're coming to Bristol. On Thursday this week. Friday, London. Monday is Edinburgh, but that's sold out. Sorry. Tuesday is Birmingham.

and Wednesday is Manchester. There is a link in the description. Come along. The vibes are unbelievable. It is our final thing of the year. And also, we're not doing another UK one until literally the end of next year. We're only doing one a year from here on in.

So get your tickets and come and see me and Tommy and lots of passionate, wonderful, happy F1 fans. Okay, let's get into Driver Ratings. And start with Kevin Magnuson, started the race in 4. 14th, finished in 16th. A race of what could have been, I think, for KMAG. He actually said after the race that he basically wanted to do something crazy on lap 1s.

That could have ended in a completely different way. I've gone for a 6 out of 10 for KMAG. Now that might seem quite high, considering he finished 16th. But Valtrey Bottas sent him into the shadow realm on lap 30. And he was having an all right race up until that point. He had a very slow stop as well, where his right. rear didn't come off and it wasn't the cleanest of races for KMAG but I'm going to air on the side of you know what he had a good start it was up into P7 at the beginning and started 14th

but it all kind of unraveled from there some of it obviously not his fault so six out of ten I'm going to go for a seven out of ten for Kevin Magnuson he was very very unlucky indeed his start was absolutely brilliant um of course goes under the radar because of a certain someone else that's also got a brilliant start. But K-Mag start very, very good indeed. And he was running not too far behind his teammate when it all went wrong with his pit stop, then tumbled down the order, and then, of course, yeated by Bottas, which wasn't his fault. So a shame for Kevin Magnuson to probably end, seeming that way his Formula One career,

the way it did, because I think he could have got points for sure. he absolutely could have the fans gave KMAG a six out of ten Nika Holcomberg started the race from seventh after being penalised three places for not following the race directs instructions and finished the race in eighth I've gone for an eight out of ten for Nika Holcomberg

it's another good drive from him Hasse being Hasse and the way we've seen them kind of being in the lower parts of the points in a lot of races this year very unlucky well, unfortunate, I'd say rather than unlucky that he got the penalty. Of course, he didn't follow the race director's notes.

Nauty boy. Nauty boy, yeah, exactly. It's his own fault for that, of course. So could have started much higher, but eighth is still a great result, but didn't quite do enough, of course, to dethrone Alpine in that battle. Absolutely not. I've gone for an eight out of ten as well. For Nico, what could have been maybe as well for him?

him with the fact that starting fourth might well have allowed him to fight the likes of Ghazli up ahead where he finished around fourish seconds behind him. So, yeah, it was still a very, very promising drive once again for Nika Holkenberg. And he's probably going to be thinking in his head, am I going to a team that's improving? Has the car always been good? And Joanne Bottas have finally learned how to drive it? Or is this just kind of a one or two off with Qatar and Abu Dhabi? But either way, I think Nico's probably in for a difficult season next year, but he's done a phenomenally good job over a lot of this year. And let's see what he can achieve next year. The fans gave Nico an eight as well. Joe Guan Yu started the race in 15th, finished 13th. Oh, Joe,

what am I going to give you, sir? It's going to be, if your final grade, I can't do it. I can't give him a five. I really want to in every fibre of my being. It's his last race. And he's had a couple of great races. This wasn't great. I don't know why I said great. I'm still tired from Abu Dhabi. But I'm giving him a six,

he didn't finish last. Well done, Joe. Well done. Honestly, don't even care. It's probably the most stone cold five out of ten I've ever seen in my life. But Joe's getting a six because he finished 13th. So that is with four DNFs as well. I'm literally talking myself out of a five out of ten.

But no, this is my parting gift to you, Joe, six out of ten. Bless him. I've gone for a five out of ten for Joe Guan Yu because it was the most five out of ten race. Show some heart. Show some heart. Give him some love. And yeah, the fact that Bottas delivered what he did in qualifying shows

there was potential from the Saaba. But unlike last, the previous race, Joe couldn't do that. And it was a bit of an anonymous finish to what looks like to be his F1 career, which is a shame. But there we go. Yeah, I'm giving him a five. I can't even. Honestly, the generosity was there,

but then he even got a noted for a full start where he got a five second penalty. So yeah, it is going to be a five out of ten for me for Joe. The generosity quickly swept away after I saw Tommy give him a five. The fans gave him a five as well. Valtry Bottas, start the race in ninth, did not finish.

I've gone for a two out of ten for Valtry Bottas, despite his fantastic qualifying a sensational qualifying to be P9 shocking start punts Perez and then punt someone else in the race a really poor way to end

once again might be his final race of his career that's the third driver I've said that about now but yeah really poor race he said that everything went wrong

but of course it was on him for the mistakes that he made and that's why he's getting a two out of 10 from me. Tommy, with his savage hat on, that's absolutely fair enough. I've gone for a three out of 10 for Bottas because I'm going to be a little bit more lenient

on the Perez tap. It was chaos down there at the hairpin and it was a little bit of a love tap and it sent Perez spinning round. That being said, KMAG, goodness gracious me, he has misjudged that phenomenally badly. That's not even the right sentence really, is it? but it was a terrible mistake from Bottas.

That was his opportunity to score points, thrust himself up the championship. But instead, a really poor performance to end on. It's a shame, actually, because if that is to be Bottas' last race, I'm sure that's not how he would have liked to have ended his Formula One career. But let's see, he might come back in some guys.

But yeah, three out of ten from me, the fans gave him a five. And that probably is more towards the fact he made it into the QS. but swiftly ruined all of that on Sunday. Yuki Sanoda started the race in 11th, finished 12th. This one's a little bit of a difficult one as it all unfolded for him in a terrible way from the start where he dropped down to the back.

I'm going to give him a six out of 10 for Yuki Sonoda. I mean with the strategy as well, he was questioning that about the fact that he was being told to stay out. I think he went all the way through to like lap 22, 23, something like that, before he pitted. But it was a decent, I guess, recovery drive and the fact that he did start, oh, not start last, but was last, after that problem that he is 99% sure the clutch was stuck and it wasn't his fault. So yeah, I've gone for a six out of ten for Yuki because still 12th was reasonably respectable. I've gone for a six out of ten for Yuki Snager as well. What might have been, of course, I backed him as biggest good surprise. it's a track that he's so good at

and I'm gutted with the performance because I felt like that could have been a race to show RBVCab, racing bulls, as I seem to be going to be called next year finally what they kind of are going to be missing out because it seems like Lawson is going to get that drive it appears if Paris goes.

But yeah, it's such a shame for Yuki because he had good pace but the mistake cost him And I think he also had a really good, I think it was Q2. He was running quite high on the first run. So she showed that there was potential to potentially even get into Q3, but sadly not. So disappointing, really. I love the additional detail you bring to Yuki Sonoda.

You like his lawyer. I love it. Just showcasing every bit of performance and potential that Yuki Snowda brings to the table. I love it. It's brilliant. Okay. The fans gave Yuki Sanoda a six as well. Liam Lawson started the race 12th, was classified 17th.

but obviously conked out right at the end of the race. I've gone for a five out of ten for Liam Lawson. He's actually a very difficult driver to judge because he had an unlucky race, was running reasonably high up towards the start and doing a decent job, but outqualified by Yuki Snoda, of course. And then it wasn't his own fault,

it wasn't his fault that he kind of left the pits in an unsafe condition from his team and then car broke down again. But I'm sure he won't care if he does indeed become Vastappan's teammates. I've seen a lot of amusing videos actually of him basically not being able to contain his smile when being spoken about it. I don't know if you saw that video, but he was, which could have just be legitimately because people love to overanalyze everything. Oh yeah, for sure.

It's the same as someone having lunch with someone else and then it'd be like, Well, they're signing something, aren't they? But yes, I've gone for a five out of ten for Liam Lawson, mainly because, again, similar to you, it is very difficult to judge because he had quite a poor race and the fact that he came into the pits and then the tire wasn't on properly and it was just basically completely out of sync with everyone else.

And he claimed himself that he had really, really good pace in the race and clearly he's still sort of trying to add things to his CV, even if he is completely off the back of the pack. So yeah, he's trying to showcase what he can do, which is the right thing to do. Lawson knows that he's fighting for this Red Bull seat or perhaps has got it. Yeah, whether he will have that smile

come the end of next year, seeing, no disrespect to Liam Lawson here, but seeing what we've had in the last three Max Fostappan teammates at Red Bull, how he will enjoy next year. If he does get the Red Bull seat, is an unknown. But for now, I'm sure he is quite happy. if he has been offered it. The fans have given Liam Lawson a five as well.

Franco Colapinto started the race in 20th and did not finish. Colapinto, my goodness gracious me, the hype train has well and truly derailed for him, hasn't it? Of course, not his fault with the fact that Piastri on lap three just drove into the back of him and caused him to have a puncture as well as diffuser damage. So that was kind of his race run at that point, but then DNFed anyway. anyway, as he had a power unit problem. So it is very much a five where you don't really know what he could have achieved, sadly. Obviously, his teammate, which we'll get on to, had a pretty strong race.

But Colopinto, from where he started to where he is now, it's kind of two completely different worlds of motivation and hype for him, isn't there? Sure, as I've gone for a five out of turn for Colopinto as well, very difficult driver to grade. of course he started at the back but he um that was through obviously a change of his car he was only a tenth off album in qualifying which isn't uh too bad but then the race we don't know how it have done because of what happened with piastri and it is such a shame uh a big shame the way it's kind of fizzled out because it was such a a good story for formula one when when he came in and all the the good energy and everything around him

and the fan base that he brings, but not gone to plan since then. And I think some of it has been his own doing with the couple of the crashes, but I also believe that he has been quite unlucky in the last couple of races where he literally hasn't been able to show what he could do. Of course, Qatar, he got yeated into as well in the first corner.

So what such a sad way to end his final two? a race his way, literally had nothing he could do at all. So, big shame. Exactly. I fully expect him to be on the grid in 2026, if not something crazy happening for next year. He's still, I think, yeah, when I say the hype, it's more around his performances and the whole of Formula One noticing, don't get me wrong, he's got an entire country backing him and they will fight for his every possible opportunity for Colopinto.

And yeah, I think 26 will be the year that we do see him return to Formula One. the fans gave Franco a five. Alex Albon started the race in 18th, finished 11th. I'm going for an eight out of ten for Alexander Alburn. I think it was a... Full names, my goodness, gracious me. Sounds like he's in trouble. Alexander Albon.

A very respectable drive from Alburn to end the year. He qualified pretty decently. The Williams been nowhere near what it was. was compared to the last few races, whether that's because they're just, like, it's pieced together from anything they could find in the factory with all the accidents they've had.

But to be a few seconds off a point when, you know, you only got beaten just at the end by Piastro, who is in a car capable of winning the race and has just won the Constructors' Championship. So an incredibly fast car. So P11 is a good result for Albon, although I'm sure he'll be gutted that didn't get to bag a point, but it was a good race from him, in my opinion.

Yeah, I mean, I will say that a few seconds, I believe his tyres just completely and utterly destroyed by the end because he finished 15 seconds behind Piaastri after he was overtaken right at the end of the race and nearly fell foul to stroll behind. So Albon was very much on the limit there. I've gone for an eight out of ten as well for Albon. I think he did a great job to hope that Williams might get a point after having that run where we're like, okay, Williams, just turning up every week and getting points to then having all those crashes and then really being on the back foot. It would have been awesome for the team if Albon had finished 10th. And of course, if Oscar's race had been ended by Max, then perhaps that would have been the door open for Albon. But 11th is still a strong race from him.

And yeah, I think an 8 out of 10 per year. perfectly summarises that. The fans gave Alex a seven. Jack Dewan started the race in 17th, finished 15th. I think it's fair to say we hardly saw Jack Dewan throughout most of the race, but it was essentially a test session for him with some cars around him and get a feel for Formula One. I've gone for a six out of ten because he didn't crash. He got out of his teammate. Like, he literally looked like he got scared off the road how far he went to the side to let Gassley through when they were on different strategies, which is absolutely the right

thing to do for doing. Yeah, they're like nine seconds off the back of show. I think it was at the end. He had a good time. Five would have been making some lockups and mistakes, but we didn't really see that from what I can remember. So I've gone for a six, a nothing special, but consistent performance. I've also gone for a six out of ten for Jack doing. I think it's normally, it would kind of be that normal five out of ten drive, if you like, but you have to take into account that he's a rookie, he's jumped in very, very, very last minute. I don't think you'd have been expecting to do this race until fairly late on.

Little experience. And for him to be mistake free and just have a mistake free when others have had contact here and there and things like that, is a decent job of course he wasn't quick compared to his teammate but as we mentioned in our race review you can't take too much and be like oh Alpina are going to regret this and all this kind of stuff

he's literally he's jumped in for one Grand Prix so learning experience he's not made mistakes so a six out of ten for me okay the fans gave Jack Dewan a five Pierre Gazley started the race in fifth finished seventh

I've gone for a nine out of ten for Pierre Gasly. What an unbelievable end to the year that Pierre Gasly has had. Absolutely. Just seems so confident in that car now. He's popping it in qualifying amongst those top teams that we always say there's so hard to break into and then finished best of the rest. This is the Gasly of old, right? This is the, when he was at R.B. or Toroso or whatever they were called at the time.

Alphartari. the one. There's so many name changes. Cycling through them to get it right. But yeah, this is the Gasly of then, isn't it, that we expect him to stick something incredible in qualifying and then have a solid race. Yeah. So yeah, nine out of ten for Gasly. Brilliant performance. And of course, has rocketed Al Pian up in the in the championship with the amazing run that he's had. He certainly has. I've gone for a nine out of ten as well for Gasly. It was bordering on a ten, but I think something slightly more special, perhaps, was where that 10 was, but still a very, very solid drive and best of the rest for Gassley.

This was unheard of not that long ago for Alpine. They've clearly got things right with their upgrades. And yeah, what an end to the season. Gazzley can be very proud of himself. And it's great as well for him as a driver to start getting those headlines again, start getting people to talk about you because does Gassie want to end his career at Alpine or does he want to go back to one of the top? for probably the latter.

So this is really good for Gasly, I would say, and hopefully you can keep up that momentum next year as well before we get into the regulation changes. The fans gave Gazley a nine as well. Lance Stroll started the race in 13th, finished 14th. It's a five out of ten. It's a five out of ten. It's a five.

Lance just, do we see anything? Yeah, he just literally goes out there, has a Sunday drive and then goes home. There's nothing special about this drive whatsoever. How far did he finish behind Alonzo about 20 seconds? Yeah, I think that's more on Alonzo. It's a five. Just gets a penalty for track limits, I believe it was.

Loses a couple of positions at the end. Is that worthy of a four? Hmm. No, I'll go with a five for now. So enthused by. You can tell I'm so fed up with just great. grading strong full stop. It's just so boring.

Lance Roller-Olegone for a five out of ten as well. Just the definition of a mediocre race and mid, yeah. Nothing special at all. Track limit penalty. Surprise you was the only one, to be fair, to get a track limit penalty after we had the conversation and a few getting caught out in qualifying. But Lance was the only one to have it done multiple times.

You got the black and white flag on lap 17. Bro was just literally like me on the F1 game. Oh no, I've only got one one joker left yet. Hanging on, but not so great performance, but I agree with you that I think the gap is more that Alonzo's over delivered, but we'll get into him next. Oh, we will. The fans gave Lance Stroll a five out of ten as well.

Fernando Alonzo started the race in eighth, finished ninth. I've gone for an eight out of ten for Fernando. another very good performance. I can't believe on Friday he was saying this is the worst car or whatever which I've heard many times from Fernando Alonso. I think he's forgotten.

I did some people sort of cottoned onto that and were like, it feels as though every car you've ever driven Alonzo has been the worst car. The worst car of all time. Is it perhaps the driver? What are you going to say to those people, Tommy? I will say

that I don't disagree with the fact that maybe the development of Alonzo in terms of developing a car is not always been his strongest point. It's over delivering an S-box. And it's hard to disagree that there's been a trend in his career where cars don't seem to be better and whether that is his own sort of downfall from being able to deliver so much in a bad car.

And it probably also, we've had this conversation before, doesn't help when you're trying to develop a car for Project Stroll, who is a very inconsistent driver. And then Alonzo's end of last year, for example, getting podiums when Lance Stroll's nowhere. And then how do you work out if a car's good or not? Do you think that's why Alonzo has jumped teams is the fact that... So many times, yeah.

He kind of just goes, well, this car's rubbish. Off to the next. Let's see if this one's better. Yeah, it wouldn't surprise me. But again, he has overdelivered in a poor car, which is very much a trend in his career. Oh, it certainly is. I've gone for an 8 out of 10 for Alonzo as well.

Just about beat Piastri at the end. And I think it was, yeah, a solid drive. Great to get into Q3. And these are the kind of performances we need to keep seeing from Fernando. And I know for a fact that the overall, only thing that probably keeping him in Formula 1 right now

is the thought of Adrian Nui sketching up something and then potentially Aston Martin joining the front of the grid which would be utterly awesome

wouldn't it if we had the four teams we currently have and then Aston and a cheeky Fernando Alonzo trying to win another world title at the tender age of 74 years old would be quite something to watch.

Yes, I would obviously love to see Fernando be at the front again and win race. and it would be the kind of the polar opposite of seeing Lance Stroll at the front, which I think would want to be one of the worst things to happen, Formula One, if he's given a championship winning car. But that's just how it works.

I don't disagree. You don't disagree with yourself. I'm not surprised. Can you tell we're only tired? We are so tired. It's crazy. And it makes for a delirious podcast, and I'm sure people are enjoying it. The fans gave Alonzo an eight as well.

Oscar Piastri, started the race in second and finished 10th. This one's a difficult one to grade, for sure. I am going to go with a six out of 10 for Oscar Piastri. He had a brilliant qualifying. On the front row of the grid, we thought McLaren, Signs, sealed, Delivered Constructors Championship, thank you very much. Then, I would say, obviously, the majority, if not the entire fault, lives with Max Verstappen.

But when I watch it, I'm thinking perhaps Oscar hasn't really seen Max there. And should he have just given a bit wider of, gone a little bit wider to at least try and avoid a Max Verstappen diving up the inside? I'm not saying it's Oscar's fault at all. But I'm trying to think of ways in which he could have stayed in second place. And obviously in the benefit of hindsight, that's something he could have maybe done. But the majority of the reason why I've given him a six is because, of the incident he had with Colopinto.

That was avoidable, obviously. Perhaps Oscar's driving with a little bit of anger and passion with the fact that he's been taken out of a potentially race winning position. And that really did undo his race completely because not only did he pick up a bit of wing damage, he had to pit and also he got a 10 second penalty for that as well. So that's what undid at Oscar's race.

Because I think without that, he's finishing sixth, I imagine. and he would have got a much larger amount of points. So that's why I've gone for a six. I've also gone for a six for Oscar Piastri. Can't blame him for the Vestappin incident, but the fact that he's then made a mistake himself straight afterwards, and then even though he had that penalty,

I'm surprised that he didn't get through the field quicker when his teammate is at the front, you know, and winning the race. So an unlucky way for Piastri to end the year because he had a few not, I guess they weren't his usual performances. And this weekend he did look and much more in terms of like speed on it with with Lando. But all kind of went went wrong for him after the Vestappen contact. Certainly did. The fans gave Oscar a seven.

Landau Norris start the race and first, finished first. It's a 10 out of 10 for Lando Norris, and it is a comfortable 10. It is the best drive of Lando Norris's career, in my opinion. I think people always, it's always more interesting when you see drives of people flying through the field and more exciting and kind of driving in adversity. so a lot of people kind of just maybe don't rate it as highly, but Lando, brilliant weekend, pole position, never really had any threat, just drove a great race to bring it home for McLaren,

despite the pressure of it essentially all coming down to him and making sure he stayed ahead of the Ferrari of Science. So great drive from Lando and what a way to end the year for him after difficult moments has to be said. It's the perfect way to end to go into confidence for next year. And while you can tell he was confident because he said on the radio next year's mind. So maybe he's going to gee himself up a bit more and maybe we'll see that side from Lando maybe. I hope so. I really do.

I'm sure he's got he's learned a lot from this year. I've also gone for a 10 out of 10. no surprise there. I agree. Best race of his career. Full stop. No mistakes. He just checked out from the start,

got a brilliant getaway, which I think a lot of people may not have noticed because of Max Verstappen's antics into term one, taking Oscar Piastri out. But Lando got a brilliant start and managed the entire team's pressure

in the sense of the McLaren Constructors championship title was on him. he had to deliver, he had to win. There were two Ferraris behind him. And he dealt with it incredibly well. And these are the kind of drives that we know Lando can do. And perhaps with that different level of pressure, I don't know.

Obviously, going up against Max is probably the hardest thing a driver can do. But of course, he had signs behind. Perhaps he had a little bit more confidence in himself as well, that the McLaren did seem the faster car. But whatever it is, it's a brilliant thing for Lando to have ended this. way and go into next season with a 10 out of 10, with a victory and a pole position as well to boot. So well done, Lando, awesome drive. And the fans, of course, gave him a 10 out of 10 as well. Carlos Sines started the race in third, finished second. Now, I've gone for a 10 out of 10 for

Carlos Sines because I genuinely don't know what more he could have done. And this is also based on what I'm grading the next driver as well. And I can't, for the life of. me grade, they are graded so differently with what they've had as their races. It's, it's, uh, it's very difficult to be able to explain why you've gone for what grade. But I've gone for a 10 out of 10 for Carlos because he pushed Lando the entire way. I'm convinced that Ferrari was not as quick as the McLaren, but he still put a level of pressure that no other driver did. He finished 25 seconds ahead of LeClaire in the end. He was faster than Charles, even when Charles was in clean air.

So for me, I don't think Carlos could have done any more with what the weekend gave him. He qualified behind the McLaren's and then finished second. So it's a 10 from me for Carlos. Oh, lovely. I've got for a 9 out of 10 for Carlos Sites. It was a great drive from him, of course. I think the only reason it's not a 10 for me, maybe if he got a better. start and could have capitalised, then maybe he could have been up there with Landau.

I think he's got a better start, mate. He's getting Max for Stappen in his side pod. I don't know what you're on about. True. You know, 10 tends for me are delivering the absolute maximum or even over that. And I do think it was very difficult that I don't think Ferrari had the pace to win. But there's always an opportunity to do more for a perfect turn for me. so a great way for Carlos Sites to end.

A great way for Carlos Sites to end his Ferrari career, of course, and yeah, a brilliant, a really, really good drive as well. So I've gone for a nine. Okay, the fans gave Carlos a nine out of ten. Charlotte Clare started the race in 19th, finished third. I've gone for an eight out of ten for Charlotte Clare. And I thought those eyes would appear. I'm going to drop some facts now that a lot of people won't like.

But basically, Charler-Claire, I'll get to the good bits, and that was his first lap. And what a first lap. You know, I think... You can use a better superlative than good, by the way. Phenomenal first lap. I think the first lap is a great example of what I've said many times. on this podcast. I think Charler LeCler is one of if not the best in wheel to wheel racing

and the fact that he placed his car perfectly to do it cleanly and pass everyone is, yeah, absolutely unbelievable. It was an incredible start to the race. But the reason it's an eight out of ten is because he's finished 25 seconds behind his teammate and he's made an error in Q2. there was his own fault. And I think the grid penalty that he got is almost like disguised the fact that he would have started 14th anyway and been at the back. So for me, to give Charles a 10 out of 10 for finishing 25 seconds behind his teammate and having a Q2 error and being slur in the race when he actually got through the pack is quite insane to be honest.

So I do not. I can't believe people would give him a 10 out of 10. I just, I think if you're giving him a 10 out of 10, we might as well rename it, uh, basically the drive ratings for lap one of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, because it's, uh, it's not a 10. Oh dear. Okay. Uh, so I'm going to go with a nine in that case. Uh, because he types on the keyboard to change, which I've just changed it.

But look, you make a very valid point. I was tossing and turning between a nine and a 10, 10 because, you know, he did an unbelievable job. One of the best first laps we've seen in a very. long time. How did you gain 11 places in one lap? That in itself needs a commendation in itself. But what I will say as well in his defence that finishing 25 seconds behind signs, 20 of that was him getting through the field. So he's lost five to Carlos. Why was he behind? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. He's made a little mistake. Wips a da daisy. Yeah, all right. By one millimeter. All right. You know, I'm saying. Like, you know, relax. Don't come for Shaul. Honestly, at the end of

the season, lack of sleep, Tommy. I'll drive to your house and I'll give you a hug. I still think it's a brilliant drive from Shal. That's why I gave Carlos a 10 because I genuinely don't think what more he could have done and he was slightly quicker than Shal. Shal had his own reasons for getting that 9 out of 10. Of course, he did have a 10-placed grid penalty

coming into it as well. It's not predominantly the only reason he started at the back was because of his error. So, yeah, I'm going to stick with a 9. I'm glad you took me slightly out of my fanboyism by not giving him a perfect grade because it wasn't a perfect weekend for Shal. that being said the fans gave him a 10

that's outrageous he did get driver of the day and I do understand why people want to feel like yeah that was a 10 drive he went from 19th to third but I guess the our driver ratings does include it does include everything it does but I will completely disagree and think that

you know if Perez makes a Q2 error and finishes 20 25 seconds behind his teammate is getting a 4 out of 10. So I can't believe people are giving him higher than Carlos. But there we go. Well, I've not given higher than Carlos because Carlos was a 10. We've actually both given lower than Carlos. Yeah, I think Carlos deserves the praise for this one in particular.

But Charles also, as we say, had an awesome, awesome drive to recover to third. As I say, the fans gave him a 10. George Russell, started the race in sixth, finished fifth. George Russell gets a seven out of ten from me. It was a George Russell performance, in my opinion, where qualifies well, the Mercedes wasn't great, but then in the race, you look at the comparison between him and Hamilton and where Hamilton started

and he beat him. And this was without any gains through safety cars or anything like that. Hamilton made his way through the field and also passed Russell on the final lap. So for me, if Hamilton hadn't done that, perhaps I'm giving Russell an eight. But I have to downgrade him for that

because there's clearly more pace in that car than what George was able to extract this weekend just gone. It's still an all right, a good race for George. That's well gone for a seven, but no more. Yeah, I've also gone for a seven out of ten for George. Qualified fairly decently, and P5 would normally give you

I'd normally say that's there or thereabouts where Mercedes is, but it's not the fact that Hamilton's beaten him, despite starting way down the pack, is not a great look for George because, of course, said many times that his race pace, I think there's probably a lot of this is more on that Hamilton's race pace is exceptional rather than that George's is bad.

but I think it's something that he does need to deliver more of because you can't fault it's qualifying but he shouldn't be getting beaten by Lewis Hamilton in a race where Hamilton started so far so far down the order so yeah seven out of ten for George the fans gave George a seven as well Lewis Hamilton started the race in 16th finished fourth I've gone for a nine out of ten for Lewis Hamilton. It was an absolutely brilliant way for him to end his Mercedes career. Very, very unlucky to have the incident that he did it in qualifying, where ran over the ballard because he probably would have got through.

So it wasn't his fault where he essentially started the race. And I think a lot of people, even probably himself, thought there was probably going to be a P7 or eight finish or maybe even lower and that would just be a sad way for him to bow out but for him to put in that performance and essentially his last lap in a Mercedes is him doing an unbelievable move around the outside of his teammate is an incredible way to kind of finish off that legacy so you know what a drive from Hamilton and what's been an incredibly difficult year for him but that race was superb It certainly was. I've gone for a nine out of ten as well for Hamilton. It's estimated that he lost around a quarter of a second to three tenths with that bollard under his car, which was the difference between him getting through and not.

Mercedes, of course, leaving it incredibly late with both drivers, and I don't really know why they would have done that. Well, apart from obviously track evolution, which that's track evolution is the case every single weekend. But then there's a measurement there. There's a risk assessment as to how, late you leave it. And I remember, as we said, Tommy, after I think the qualifying wrap-up, just how late we saw Mercedes go out there. It was bizarre. But yeah, Hamilton, a recovery drive to, to remember. It's a shame that he didn't manage to get a podium for his sake, but I still think it was a brilliant drive from him and worthy of a nine out of ten. The fans gave him a nine as well. Sergio Perez, started the race in 10th, didn't finish. It's five out of 10 for Sergio. Perez, he made it through to Q3, yay! And then didn't make it past the first lap, no.

So that's why I've gone for a five. And what more is there to say? Tick the bingo card, but this time genuinely, because we have half a lap to measure. And also, I've tried to find the reason as to why he's retired, and I don't know. I've looked for like quotes or whatever. I know he lost drive again. Why does he keep losing drives the second? Does he just keep like burning the clutch through every time he spins?

because, of course, that was what happened in Qatar after he spun by in the safety car. But it's bizarre because Bottas only touched his rear. I'm like, how is he out of the race after that? It's ridiculous. I'm going for a four out of ten for Sergio Perez. punted out on the first corner, of course, it's not his fault. But I think...

Sorry, turn four. Don't say turn one. I mean lap one. Lap one. Lap one. And, yeah, yeah. the very very unlucky for for perors but his qualifying was not great even though he made it to Q3 which we somehow kind of class as an achievement now it's not it's not a way that

peris would want to end his career if it is indeed or maybe he is just digging his heels and it seems and he's going to stay forever but i can't believe we've not heard anything unless you know you hear an emergency podcast before this and he's just been announced that he's retiring but it's quite an insane end to a career that we're just not hearing anything

about this absolutely at the fans gave Perez a zero that's just a savage that is very savage for this particular grading max for Stappen started the race and fourth

finished sixth I have gone for a five out of ten for Max of Stappen I was nearly going to go for a six but I think my reasoning is that after what he did in the first part of Q3

I think he's left time on the table and you know he was he was fighting for poll whether that's him over delivering in the car you know sometimes he is a vict in these ratings he's a victim of what we expect from Maxostappen. But he was challenging for pole position, and in my opinion he's made an error,

you know, on his final run to not improve. And then the Piastri thing is his fault. It's a deserved penalty and got to say that I think he could have been challenging for a P2, potentially in the race, but instead he's finished six. P2. They had no pace in the race.

Huh? Max had no pace. Yeah, I know, but I think if he'd have started at the front and he could have just like DRSed behind people and stuff. I think. So if it started and not wiped out Oscar, you think he would have challenged Oscar? I think it'd have challenged for a podium potentially, yeah.

Interesting. Okay. There's a lot big gap for him to slot into in the podiums as well, of course. So I just thought, well, I just think that there was more pace to be had from the Red Bull and it just wasn't a Max Verstappen-esque drive in my opinion. No, it wasn't great. I've gone for a six out of ten for Max Verstappen.

He, yes, destroyed Oscar Piazri with a move that when we first saw it, we thought, my God, that is absolutely ridiculous. It still was his fault and he was worthy of the penalty. I don't think it is as horrendous as some people are making out and I still believe that to be the case that Max did go for a move

that became on with his late-breaking maneuver, but he misjudged it, and he got the penalty and fell down the order because of it. After that, didn't really show a huge amount of pace, to be honest with you. So I don't think I can give him a five for finishing sixth place. But yeah, I'm going to stick with a six for Max. But yes, an off-color end to the season for Vestappen, for sure.

The fans gave Max a six And as well, yes Max does very much suffer from his own success Because usually this is every time a 10 So when we say that he's had a terrible weekend That's kind of where he sits Okay, who is our P1 then? Who is receiving the 10?

The P1 For me, it has to be Lando Norris Ridiculously good weekend Better than good, flawless. It was literally flawless from Lando Norris. And if he can do this on plenty more occasions

next year with a McLarencar that I fully expect to be the favourite to win the championship next year, then we could well be seeing Landon Norris champion of the world by the end of 2025. But he's going to have to up his game

over the course of a season, but I think he's got it within him. He just needs to build that confidence, start saying things like, yeah, it's going to be my year next year, not Max, you're better than me, because that's the sort of mentality you need to take.

Yeah, it's got to be Lando. Well, he's the only driver I've given a tend to. So of course, there's a faultless, brilliant performance. If you could do that next year when the pressure's off, or sorry, the pressure's on next, going into next year with the expectation and stuff, he's got a very good chance. But this was an absolutely superb drive from Lando and the best of his career, in my opinion. Congrats to Lando and that is it.

Driver ratings done and dusted for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and for this season. As I say, we will be reacting to our averages, season averages. We've got a few other recap content coming your way very soon as well. Don't you worry about that. P1 Live show, don't forget that either. It's literally this week. If you want to come along, then we'd love to see you there.

Tommy, what are your final thoughts, please? If you have any left, because we're both insanely tired. I would say, yeah, tune in to our last driver ratings of the year, of course, where we go through and see what the averages are. I'm looking forward to seeing how that turns out because a lot of drivers have had top to bottom season, so I have no idea what order we're going to end up with and whether things differ between the two of us. But despite us kind of bantering and moaning about, oh, you know, people have different opinions and, and whatever with driver ratings, thanks to all the people that do love this series and give it a like and tell us at P1 live shows and things.

And understand that it's us just watching a race and giving our opinions and having a laugh with it and enjoying that. So appreciate everyone that enjoys this series like that. So thank you. Absolutely. I wholeheartedly agree with that as well. So thank you, everybody.

We'll see you soon. Lots of love. Take care. Adios. Bye. So as for chores, no chore this time. Actually, this is a message to all of you that are laying in bed right now listening to the podcast. Because we know that there are plenty of people that are in the gym, maybe they're starting the day.

These are for the people that are laying in bed right now. Okay? I hope you have the most wonderful rest. So take care. Sweet dreams. Hope you didn't fall asleep during show's rating. Because if you did, wind it back and listen to it again because it's a good one. So if they fell asleep, surely they're also a...

asleep right now. They might have woken up. So they woke up for us saying. I was arguing about Charlotte Clair's rating, maybe they wake up. Oh, we'd love to see it. I mean, that's standard me and Tommy arguing over a one point difference of rating. Bye. Bye.

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