P1 with Matt and Tommy - Australian GP Driver Ratings

Episode Date: March 17, 2025

It's time for the return of The Most Controversial Series in Motorsport™. That's right, F1 Driver Ratings is back! We round off every race weekend by assessing the performance of every driver on the grid and hear your ratings too!The chaotic Australian conditions mean we give out perhaps the starkest mix of good and bad grades in a long time, so make sure you join us! You can listen to an extended version of every 2025 Race Review podcast over on our Patreon! You'll also get every P1 episode ad-free, early access to live tickets and merch, and access to our Discord server where you can chat with us and other F1 fans! Click here to sign up now!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 P1 podcast with Matt and Tommy. We are here for your favourite series in the entire world where we attribute numbers to drivers out of 10 to grade their performance over the course of the Australian Grand Prix weekend. Tommy, how excited are you that F1 driver ratings is back? I'm hyped and the fact that we've got the yeah a crazy race to start the season means that it's going to be a good one I think oh yeah we've got a lot of drivers to get through so shall we start it

let's do it when I ask you shall we start it usually I thought you were going to go and let's start with no no I literally thought that was you ting and driver fair enough okay good stuff we're so in sync Nico Holcomberg

started 17th, finished 7th. It's a 10 out of 10. It's a 10 out of 10. Nico Holcomburg has finished 7th in a wheelie bin. Like there is no two ways about this. That is like Tommy running round the circuit and getting points. I'm sorry. I'm not sorry.

I'm not sorry in the slightest. We're starting the season with a perfect score from Nico Holcombberg. Yes, it's qualifying wasn't that great. but that's like a sprinkle, okay? That's like a half a point off, and then he gets 10 and a half for the race because he finished ahead of both Ferraris in a Saaba.

There you go, 10. I've gone for a nine out of ten. Crazy, absolutely sacrilegious. If that was Bortlett, it would be 25. Exactly, because he's a rookie. Yeah, the qualifying was a little sprinkling of disappointment and a very good drive from him, of course. And yeah, to get points already when I thought it was going to be 20th in the championship,

sure proved me wrong. So a great job from Nico Holcombberg. Not good enough, though. Well, it's not perfection, is it? No, it's a good drive. Very good drive. He's crafted that wheelie bin around that circuit beautifully. The fans gave Nico a nine.

Gabrielle Bortoletto started the race in 15th, did not finish. finish. I've gone for a five out of ten for Gabriel Bortoletto. Very disappointing way to end his race because I think he's doing a very solid job, of course. One of the stars of qualifying, think, because of how he made Q2 in that wheelie bin. And then, yeah, very disappointing to kind of spin off and have that crash. I know there's a lot of people kind of questioning whether it was his fault because of the kind of unusual way the suspension kind of broke as he was going backwards into the wall. But it was resulting from, you know, him spinning out, which was drive for error. But of course, you know, so many rookies and drivers crashed out.

But it was still a fairly decent job. Just a shame the way it ended. So, yeah, come for a five. Okay, I've gone for a four purely because he did crash out. So I don't think I can be putting it down the minimum. middle for Gabriel as much as he is a rookie difficult conditions downgrade him slightly because of because of the error of course got deep into the race and so we kind of have to give him some props for that but it's it was such a weird crazy race where almost surviving was seen as a minor

achievement probably even a major achievement for some some of the drivers out there but yeah four out 10 for me he was obviously noted for an unsafe release as well given a five second penalty crashed on lap 47 but yeah it just wasn't the first race I think that the Bortoleto would have wanted but qualifying was reasonably exciting

for him to beat Nico is no mean feat the fans gave Gabrielle a five Alex Albon started the race and sixth finished fifth it's 10 out 10 we're throwing tens out here like there's no tomorrow

but I feel as though the drivers that really excelled deserve it. Alex Albon was absolutely one of them. He was just in the mix the whole time. Of course, Carlos signs he isn't going to be receiving an extra point in his driver rating because of the fact that, no, well, well, you know he's not getting a 10. So that's about all that's spoiled. Oh, that's crazy from you.

Because as the point I was making is that Carlos, of course, said that he helped with the strategy. So he doesn't get a point for that. But Alex Albon was, yeah, very, very on point with the strategic calls. He, of course, did finish P5 on the road. So funny after the race that he said, yeah, I don't know. He was like, well, I kind of wish we didn't just come out the blocks and get a P4. Like, you have a bad season and then you get a great result.

You kind of get noticed more. And I found that quite a funny comment. Because it's true. You have to have the struggle in order for them people to go, oh my God, that's amazing. but we are saying, oh my God, it's amazing now, Alex. You've done a great job, 10 out of 10. We sure are, because it's 10 out of 10 from me as well. An absolutely brilliant race from Alex.

And his race was amazing, but also his qualifying to beat Carlos when everyone was expecting Carlos to be, you know, potentially even completely thrashing him this year, of course. and for Alex to get to that first race, beat Carlos in qualifying, and then deliver an absolutely sensational race in tough conditions. Such a good drive for him and an amazing result to be P5 in the end as it was. I think it was their best finish, wasn't it, since George Russell's fortunate podium at Spa that year, but still a really, really great result for Williams.

The fans gave Alex Albon a 10 as well And of course I'm a big fan Because I'm wearing Williams merch We move to Carlos Sines Started the race in 10th, did not finish I've gone for a two out of 10 for Carlos Sites I think it was a Really poor weekend

Of course outqualified by his teammate Which you can forgive Because it was still decent to be P10 But then to crash so early on Behind the safety car we of course saw it with quite a few rookies and things but he's a veteran of the sport and a race winner and such a disappointing kind of start to his Williams career because you know when Carlos joined Williams they'd have we all know what happened last year with Williams and the amount of

crashes they had and they think with a safe pair of hands like Carlos it's not going to happen anymore but unfortunately for them it did in the very first race so yeah a really poor start to Carlos Sites is William's career, but I don't think it's going to continue. The bad form. It won't continue. Of course, he made Q3, so that was pretty good. I have gone for a three out of ten. So slightly more lenient.

And the only reason I am is because they were quite, or Carlos was a little bit, it wasn't clear what really went on. So what we've got as a quote was we've looked at the data and could quickly spot what happened. So this leaves me calmer about the situation. It's related to the upshifts when in safety car mode. So from what I understand there, it's just Carlos not being used to the power unit in the back of that Williams. And he made an error. So there is an element of, okay, fair enough, you are still getting to know the team.

But then there's also a, you still crashed the car. So it's a hard one. And it's hard with some of these drivers, for sure, because it was just a ridiculous race. But I've gone for a three for Carlos, and I am in agreement with you that he will bounce back. I probably should have even, you know, backed him for China maybe. But alas, Carlos right now, three out of ten. The fans gave him a four. Yuki Sonoda started the race in fifth, finished 12th.

These are the points, Tommy, where I'm like, we should give Team Crum. grades because racing balls would get a zero. I have gone for a nine out of ten for Yuki Sonoda. I have. I have because it was just completely screwed. I am a Yuki fanboy right now. I am defending him almightyly. He qualified fifth and then racing balls were like, stay out. Just stay out. we're going to be fine. Who be the other team that's staying out? Ferrari. Now, yeah, we're all good. Ferrari know what they're doing.

They always get it right. Yeah, they always get the strategy right. I just, I think Sunoda did so many things right that he deserves a high grade. As much as the 12th doesn't even begin to tell the story. Yeah, I'm sticking with it. It's a nine out of ten. I'm going for it.

I've gone. for a nine out of ten and I thought it was going to be a hot take but there we are agreeing I think this is the epitome of driver ratings that it is your rating the driver's race and not just their result

because Yuki Sanoda put in an absolutely sensational qualifying to be P5 and then in the race he was there he stayed there he was he was kind of you know he was fighting the the Ferraris ahead of the Ferraris

he was best of the rest ahead of Alex Albon who of course we gave we've given a 10 out of 10 and he's just so unlucky because it would have been an absolutely fantastic result and they played that

they played that little gamble which is fair enough on the first kind of incident maybe go an extra lap okay they're in P2 but classic racing balls or Alphatari

or whatever they've been and this seems to happen so much they just go for glory so often

when they they don't need to and Yuki was literally like had absolutely no grip at all and they're going

on the radio going stay out stay out stay out it's like are you joking so that I can't

I can't you know can't just give him like a six or a seven because he's finished 12 because he drove

such a good race and just really unlucky with the conditions. Well, you know who could give him a seven? The fans. Ridiculous. Now it's our turn, actually. We get enough stick from you lot about our bloody numbers. It's right back at you.

A seven out of ten. Do you even watch the race? Do you tune in? Yeah, exactly. Do you know we'll? Yeah, exactly. Do you? Have some of that back.

We get it all season. There you go. Maybe this is the way we do driver ratings. We just attack our audience. Yeah. We get involved. in the outrage as well. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, but the fans went for a seven for Yuki Sonoda.

Isaac Hajjar is up next, started the race in 11th and did not start. I've gone for a two out of ten for Hadjar. It's gutting to give him that grade, but he did a great job. He was best of the rookies in qualifying. And I think he's going to have a good season, I think. But I can't, you can't get away from the fact that he did crash before the race even started. Two feels, two feels like there's some emotion attached to that, Tommy. I'm not going to lie to you.

I thought, yeah. That's a bit of a decent job in qualifying, but you've gone off in extremely tricky conditions. Yeah, it's going. So, yeah, gone for a two. Okay. I thought I was being generous by giving him a one out of ten. because he literally crashed before the race even begun. Of course, he did great in qualifying,

but I can't, like, the race, the lights hadn't even gone out. Like, I have to be reasonably objective here. I do feel incredibly sorry for him, and it is really tough to watch, but at the same time, it happened, and that's what we're grading, grading them on. So I've gone for a one, a little nod to qualifying. I feel like he will bounce back,

if he ignores certain people that want to say silly things about him and that's that really what more can we reflect on because he literally didn't have a race the fans gave him a zero Esteban Ocon started the race in 19th

finished 13th I think Hass are the Hass of old where you don't see Hass and then you're like huh I I'm going to to go for a five out of ten for Esteban Ocon. I want to give the

Has strategic pit wall a minus seven. But for Ocon, he survived the race in the worst car on the grid, didn't make any, didn't get any points. Still utterly bizarre why they went off the intermediate tires when it was about to rain. But as for Ocon's performance, gained six positions, didn't crash into the wall, still no one the points five out of ten. I'm going to go for how's it going to be the new kind of salber aren't they where we go has he put in the greatest performance of his life I don't think he has but but where can he go and I'm going to go for a five as well yeah it's just such a difficult one because he's driving maybe is this is it the

Nus Saba, like we say, is it the worst car in the field now? He's had a clean weekend. No, actually, no, you know what, I'm going to go for a six. I'm going to go for a six because he's driving a terrible, and I need to give him more props than the weekend that his teammate has had. So I'm going to go for a six. Okay, and also, just quickly, on Ocon, we were talking about how his move to Hass looked like a pretty good thing.

I know, savage. And look what's happened. You've got flipping Nico Holcomberg that we thought would be finishing in 19th every race or 20th for you because you thought Bordletter would be him he's finished 7th in the first race of the season Ockon's what is going on so yeah just wanted to mention that

the fans gave Ocon a 5 Oliver Berman started from the pit lane and finished the race in 14th I've gone for a four out of 10 Farley Berman a shocking weekend has to be said for him. I know he's a rookie, but of course he has done three races beforehand,

which... Plenty of experience now. But even still, with a few races to... In the dry sessions, you know, to have those offs, them to fix the car and then go off again, completely put him on the back foot. And then even in the race, C.

was kind of had a few wobbles and things. I saw a clip as well where... God forbid he has a wobble in tricky conditions. I know. I know, but he did. So it's a four out of ten. I've also gone for a four out ten for Oliver. It's...

I can't give him any higher than that just because it was a disaster of a weekend even before qualifying. You know, to crash in FP1, to beach in FP3. Obviously, he had problems in qualifying that. that wasn't his fault with the gearbox. So it was all against him anyway and then was just kind of trundling around at the back. I mean, after the race, he said he was quite happy with this performance.

It felt like he executed pretty well. There was a few things where they lost a bit of time. I'm pretty sure one of them was quite an extravagant one where he obviously nearly wobbles into Vastappen. Didn't he have a spin as well? He spun off, yeah. The team were like, be careful at 10.13, it's really wet. Yeah, and then he just went straight off.

Yeah. So I wouldn't say it was. probably the best race for Olly Behrman and of course, after we saw him in Brazil, struggle massively as well. It is a big learning curve, a steep one to get up to speed in these cars in tricky conditions.

The fans gave Olly a five. Pierre Gasley started the race in ninth, finished 11th. Going to go for a six out of ten Pierre Gasley. It was so close to points and they just basically

fell short a little bit with the strategy, I think. Of course, he was, as I say, kind of around the sort of Antonelli mark towards the end of the race. And then, yeah, the strategy just wasn't there on lap 46. So he himself said that it was a lottery out there. And I think that's very true, because from our perspective as well, it seemed like a lottery. And Ferrari did not win a penny.

But back to Pierre Gasly, yeah, six out ten. I got for a success out of term for Gassley as well. It's running in the points at the end, of course, and then went off onto the grass to lose a couple of positions, which, yeah, is a tough mistake to make when you kind of, it's really hard to overtake, and he kind of found himself in a pretty good position to gain points at the end. So it's an error on his part to kind of lose points for the team.

and a disappointing one for Alpine when I kind of thought going into this season you know they were and you saw like what happened at the end of last season of Gasley being kind of best of the rest and really thought in a race like this he'd be the one like Alex Albums

that was up there kind of scoring kind of P5 and P6 but no, didn't even get a point in the end. Sad times. Sad times for Pierre Gasley a six out of ten from the fans as well. Jack Dewan started the race in 14th, did not finish. I've gone for four out of ten. No, I've gone for a three. You saw my facial expression.

They are really difficult to grade these kind of rookies and people crashing. Because you're trying to be not too harsh on them, aren't you? You've got to think about how other drivers that went off. and their kind of experience. But I think in a weird way, it is crazy to think that Dewan kind of surprised us, but then I kind of can't get it out of my mind that he did crash on literally lap one.

Yeah, that should be in the fourth one of your mind. Yeah, yeah. That's quite a big point in the situation really, isn't it? So, yeah, I've gone for a three out of ten. Okay, I've gone for a two out of ten for Jack Dewan. because he made it round one lap, therefore he gets an extra point compared to Hadjar.

Oh my God, try and say that quickly. Yeah, two out of ten for Jack doing. A lot of potential there. You know, this isn't a slanderous too. He was screwed over in qualifying with Hamilton and that spin. Otherwise, may well have had a shot of Q3.

But what we are having to grade him on is a one-lap race where he crashed. And, you know, these rookies are learning very quickly that they can't just completely send it. in a race and they need to learn steadily. And Kimmy Antonelli, of course, he learned very early and free practice won around Monza. And he's kind of stepped it back from there

and look what he's managed to do. So yeah, really tricky conditions, but sadly for doing out in Lap 1 is not the best look for him. But I am a lot more hopeful for him if he can actually take that sort of speed that we saw, glimpses of into China and beyond, that perhaps he will have a shout. fighting off Colopinto for a little while.

The fans gave Jack Duhin a four. Lance Stroll. Started the race in 13th. Finished sixth. Bloch just rolled in and just popped a little P6 in. I've gone for an nine out of ten. I have to.

I can't not. Aster Martin are pretty rubbish. They're like middle of the road. Kind of hoping for a point maybe. And Lance Stroll just, got the strategy right and just drove around. We didn't really see him. And then he just came over the line and finished six.

So yeah, he did a great job. I can't fall to him. So that's why I've gone for a nine. Because, yeah, P6 is very impressive. I've gone for a, I've gone for an eight for Lance Strong. You're out there, mate. Were you getting a bit emotional? I know he said P8.

I've gone for a P8, Philan, and Fernando Alonzo's in the wall and you're just very emotional aren't you made? I know. No, I've gone for an 8 for Lance Roll. I can't give him a 9 based on how far he was

behind Alonzo. Oh, behave. You can't be 14 seconds behind your teammate in the conditions and then Who ended up in the wall who didn't? Alonzo's,

spoiler alert Alonzo is not getting a 9. But, yeah, Lans just did a good job. It's a good score. It is a good score. I know, it's funny, like one difference. I know. You sound just like the comments.

The comments, I do, I do, I certainly do. The fans gave Lance Drol an eight as well. Fernando Alonzo. I'm looking forward to this one. Started 12th, did not finish. Over to you, Tommy. I've gone for a 7 out of 10 because he was 14 seconds. No, I've gone for a 3 out of 10 for Fernando Alonzo.

Of course, the most veteran driver to crash. I've seen some things online. I know this would be jumped on of like, oh, of course he's trying to defend Fernando Alonto. But he does get, if you actually watch his line through there, and I noticed that David Cuthard said this as well, that there's nothing actually unusual about the way he kind of takes that corner. There's a massive amount of gravel on the track,

and I think it's Ghazly just ahead of him, kicks an enormous amount of gravel up just before Alonto goes off. So Ghazly just popped a banana skin down basically. Exactly, yeah. But even though that's the case and he kind of has a bit of an excuse, he's still gone off and crashed. So I can't be too generous as much as I want to be like, it's all Gasly's fault. Three out of ten for Gasly and nine out of ten for Alonzo, he's the goat. I would say that four out of ten is generous in the fact that he did end up in the wall.

I've also gone for a four out of ten because I am of a similar opinion that, yeah, there is nothing different about the way he took that corner, he just lost it out of nowhere and it makes perfect sense about the gravel being there. You don't really expect it necessarily, although the drivers, of course, do go off there. But the drivers can't change the way they drive that corner for the fact that there might be gravel on the curb. And it was unlucky for Alonzo for sure. You don't tend to see those kind of mistakes from him. So that's why I've gone for a four.

And the fans also gave him a four. Kimmy Antonelli started 16th. finished fourth. It's a 10. It has to be a 10. What a drive. Qualifying was absolute rubbish. But the race in those conditions...

Had a spin as well. I know. Somebody like, he can't possibly be a 10, Matt. He had a 360 spin. He finished fourth in his debut race in changeable conditions. Yes, he got a little bit lucky with that.

If he'd hit the wall. Yes, if. But he didn't. So therefore, he carried on. Got, of course, safety cars brought everyone back into play at some point, but he finished fourth from 16th on the grid. Horrific conditions out there. And I think it is deserving of a 10.

And that is not Tom Bellingham saying it. It is me. I've gone for an 11 out of 10. I've gone for a 10 out of 10 is the easiest 10 out of 10 for Kimmy Antonelli. It's literally the guy's first race. all the other rookies are sliding off and crashing into the wall and he is finished yes fortunate with the safety car but he's finished under two seconds off Russell by the end of the race

in his very first race there's kind of weird thing in the race where they kind of missed everything apart from his spin and now kind of F1 classic kind of Formula One socials have discovered all these amazing things that he's done. He made an unbelievable save. His move on stroll was insane. He came from so far back.

That's kind of one that's not really been shown at all. The album move is absolutely sensational when everyone else was struggling to overtake. And he didn't even need to do it. You could argue that he could have just settled for P5 and just thought, I'm in a great position. Set up for P5. but no, he put a daring pass on Alburn and oh my word, like what a debut.

It's got to be one of the best debuts we've seen because he's finished fourth. Insane. So yes, we've both gone for a 10, very easy there. The fans have gone for a 9. I need to run now. Go on top. You know what?

I'm going to pop off. I'm going to sit back. Now, I'm going to mute my microphone. You go. Kimmy Antonelli, to give him a 9 is absolutely outrageous. He is a rookie in unbelievably tricky conditions and he's finished fourth.

It is the fourth best result from a rookie in the history of Formula One. And I'm actually going to call out British bias here because we, Olli Bearman got an easy 10 for finishing 7th in a Ferrari and to give Kimi Antonelli a nine is absolutely outrageous when he's finished fourth and 1.5 seconds off George Russell

has done like 100 races so yeah, outrageous to give him a 9 I can't believe anyone would consider giving him a 9 or less than a 10. Wow, I thoroughly enjoyed all of that. More to come where we fight back. How about those apples? You didn't expect that, did you?

Hey, didn't expect that? We didn't either. We didn't plan to fight. and now here we are doing rants at everybody that's very kindly putting in their ratings so we can give an average.

Well, that's the beauty. I know we're joking aside but this series would be very boring if we all agreed. All agreed, yeah, exactly. Exactly. So we now move to George Russell,

started fourth, finished third. I've gone for a nine out of ten for George Russell. Of course, he drove a great race, very, very solid. the reason it can't be a 10, even though he's driven a good race, is that, you know, you've got to give some kind of leeway that he's an experienced driver, and he's driving the Mercedes

when, you know, a driver like Max, who's probably in a similar car has been battling the McLarence for victory. And George did a solid job, no doubt, but, you know, if you're going to give him a 10 for finishing third in a Merck, where's the kind of leeway when he puts his job, that ultra kind of brilliant performance, which we know he can do, where he steps up even more and outperforms his car. So I think he's just done like a solid, consistent job, which, you know, it's certainly not a bad nine. I think it's a great drive from George and one that is kind of in a crazy race

where some people have really kind of underperformed and stuff. He's kind of been rewarded by just keeping his nose clean and just, knowing where his car could finish and just nothing too crazy and just picking up a podium. Yep, I'm in complete agreement. I've gone for a nine out of ten as well for George Russell. Of course there are grades out there right now where we're taking into account that they're rookies. It's not that we're judging every driver on, you know, a set to performance because then I just don't think the grades would work that well. We're taking a lot of factors into account.

and nine is by no stretch of the imagination a bad grade. It's near perfect. And I think that sums up George's race, the fact that he finished on the podium. And yeah, as you say, an anonymous race because he stayed out of trouble and just drove around and made the most of the car that he had underneath him.

So yeah, nine out of ten from me and the fans gave him a nine as well. Max Vestappen started third, finished second. It's a 10. It's a 10 for Max. It is. No, I don't, I can't believe I'm actually going to have to explain this to some people that might say that he ran wide onto the curb and gave up the position to Piastri. I am fully of the opinion that Max Verstappen is out driving that car by an absolute mile in that race. He was going three seconds a lap quicker than Liam Lawson. Now I know Lawson, he's having his own problems. but you still have to say that Max is going three seconds a lap quicker in the same car. He is fighting the McLaren's. Of course he fell off, his tyres degraded.

The McLaren's were very good on their tyres, scarily good on their tyres, it has to be said. But Max gave us a fight for the win and made a minor mistake, but that was it across the Grand Prix. So I can't downgrade him any lower than that because I do genuinely think he, he got absolutely everything out of that car. So 10. Yeah, it's an easy 10 from me as well. An amazing drive from Maxisdap and just showing why, even when he's not got the best car,

why he's the best driver in the sport to finish less than a second from winning the race when he had that much of a deficit in car performance to the McLaren's is amazing in those conditions. and yeah, you saw in the dry even kind of how far he was dropping back a little bit and you're kind of going, okay, the McLaren's are insanely, insanely quick, but when the rain came down and, you know, as much as he could, he delivered the performance and fought all the way to the end. You know, a track, a track that's maybe easier to overtake,

he might have won that race with the with the with the DRS that he got from from from Lando and he I don't know you can say what what you like about that car and the the second thing is so hard to judge the Red Bull because of course Max does amazing things and we know we've already spoken so many times about the second seat second see and how it is and stuff but to be that that close to winning the race in that car is insane certainly is and how times have changed but literally this time last year

the Red Bull was unbelievable and now look at us the fans gave Max a 9 over to you Tommy no it's all right I'll let you have this one oh I've already popped off and I said there's no way you can not give 9's outrageous like how can you

how can you give Max a 9 and he's locked up Tommy everything it's crazy he didn't win the race and he's Maxx was stabping He's a multiple world champion. We move on to his teammate, Liam Lawson. Started the race from the pit lane.

Did not finish. I've gone for a two out of ten for Liam Lawson. It's a shocking weekend. I know the car is a handful, and we've seen drivers struggle in it. But it couldn't have gone any worse, really. shocking qualifying already made the headlines of

oh he's meant to be better than Perez they've got rid of Perez and here we are Lawson qualifying 18th then we get to the race could the tricky conditions be a level and no quite the opposite

and sometimes was lapping three seconds a lap slower than the Stapper which is utterly insane and then he even kind of got some good fortune where he was he was lapped by the McLaren's and then even got some good fortune where somehow found himself not only back in the race but running high up in the points because of the way you know the safety cars and and things have played out and then he stuck in the wall

so just absolute shocker for Lawson and such a such a difficult way to start the Red Bull career because we know how much pressure there is and how these drivers can spiral and get worse, but it's almost kind of thinking how can it get any worse than that? Surely you can't have a worse race than that, really. No, and that's why I have also gone for a two, and it's a lenient two. It is a first race of the season. You're in a car that's very, very difficult, in very, very difficult conditions, kind of two. In any other world, that's a zero in a lot of ways.

if you've had a season in the car and he put that in performance in, there was nothing to write home about for Liam Lawson's performance this weekend. Of course, he missed some running in FP3 and things were not looking his way, but she didn't have pace. Just didn't have the pace at all.

He himself has said in the past that it's the driver's responsibility to adapt to the car. So this excuse can only go so far of getting up to speed in the Red Bull. But this is more down to Red Bull. as well. They have to work with Lawson

to create a car that he can drive. As much as you can argue, do they want to have someone finishing 17th every race? No. So for me, and I've obviously mentioned that we've had four drivers now all prove that that second seat is not good

for drivers. Rebel have to change their way of working. They have to field a two-car team if they want to win, aside from the drivers, the constructors. And they can't function surely for the foreseeable future with just one car. I would actually argue that they can and they will. Just the disappointment, the crazy thing is, and I guess you have to factor in the fact that,

what do they do when Max lives? Now I think in a weird way it is the right strategy that you just back Max all the way. They're not going to be that McLaren in the constructors probably. So just go for Max for the Drivers' Championship and give Max everything to try and get it because that is the big one. But as a team, as a business of Red Bull,

that makes no sense because short-term gain, maybe, long-term disaster. I don't care about the constructors, though. No, but if Max leaves, as you said. Oh, no, that's what I said. But that's what I mean, you're not safeguarding for the future by putting every egg into Max's basket when we go into 2026 when the cars will change

the new regulations will kick in. Lauren Stroll. Redboard doesn't look that good. Lauren Stroll, yeah, goes, how much do you want? Okay, here's a blank check, just write down what you need. Actually, just on that,

just while we're chatting about it, did you hear Max's comment about Zach Brown giving him a ring? Yeah, and then he said about how much it cost and then it basically ended very quickly. Yeah, quite interesting. But yeah, anyway, back to Lawson. It's two out of ten for both of us, and the fans gave him a two as well.

Lewis Hamilton started the race in eighth, finished 10th. Five out of ten for me, for Lewis Hamilton. Partly to do with strategy, partly is luck of the draw a little bit rolling the dice, some weather forecast saying something, some saying others, a bit of Ferrari sprinkled in there as well, communication issues Hamilton getting used to the car I've gone for a five

it really isn't a performance that we're used to seeing from Hamilton in those kind of conditions you know there's been so many incredible drives that Hamilton's put in in those kind of tricky environments

so it's a sad five because I want to see Hamilton up there and not just for 30 seconds leading the race I've gone for a five out of ten to those Hamilton as well I'd even like consider a four but that kind of has to be reserved for the people that have stuck it in the wall so he's kind of fortunate in that. Yeah, he's fortunate in that sense. But it was a poor race from Hamilton and the fact that we know qualifying is not his strong point.

But if you think last, go to last year, the races is where he comes alive. And then also it's a wet race. You think those would be his conditions. I know he's got to get used to the Ferrari and the, the, Ferrari and the last year. way of them kind of working and some of it was you know the the team messing up and things but he was stuck behind Alex Albon for seemingly forever which we saw a lot of because the TV direction was clearly told to follow him as much as possible it felt like as we're kind of seeing him and just a really poor weekend from him in a kind of conditions that you'd

expect him to really excel even in a kind of new team and new environment. So yeah, it just didn't feel like Lewis Hamilton at all. And then, you know, even getting kind of done by Piastri on the final lap and overtaken by Leclair as well. Yeah, just not a very characteristic drive from Lewis Hamilton in wet conditions. The fans gave Hamilton a five as well. Charlotte, LeCleur started seventh, finished eighth. I've gone for a six out of ten for Charlotte Claire.

Disappointing result. I think there was more from him in qualifying, which we know where he normally excels. Then to go backwards in the race, when so many people have tripped up and you're finishing, you know, behind a sourbour. I know the car's not quite there, but you think, you know the talents of Charlotte Claire,

you think that the best drivers, and he's done this in other races, been able to kind of grab that car by the scruff of its neck and like overachieve in it. And it certainly, certainly didn't do that in this race. It was a disappointing way to start the season, you know, when there was so much hype around Ferrari going into this season and whether they could challenge for the World Championship and instead, you know, they're behind Salba. Charlotte, Claire, I have given a 10. No, a 6, a 6.

It's a 6 out of 10 for Shal. Of course, he had that spin, which cost him. On the flip side of that, he had an incredible start and was right in there. He thought he'd secured P5, and then, of course, the weather changed. Ferrari made the wrong decision with staying out, with the fact that they didn't think the rain was going to last that long or be that heavy. But Shah was quicker than Hamilton and I think had an okay race when you consider the conditions. Of course, not great to see the spin, but I still think he deserves a higher rating than Hamilton with all things considered.

The fans gave Shah a six as well. Okay, here we go. Oscar Piastri. Started the race in second, finished ninth. I have gone for a seven out of ten. for Oscar Piastri. I am grading him that because of what happened, of course. It was a mistake and it cost him massively.

A seven out of ten is still not horrible of a grade, but I don't think I can give him an eight or a nine or a ten. Everything up until that point was a ten out of ten from Oscar Piaastry. I think that it was a brilliant drive from him. He put pressure on Lando. There was, of course, this team radio thing, which I will sort of mention now that we kind of said in the podcast. and it's completely my fault that I just misheard

in the fact that it was really early in the morning around the fact that I'd heard it be that they were holding position until they transitioned. Yeah, but I also misheard slightly about the fact that they were holding position until they transitioned to dries. That wasn't the case.

It was the fact that they were essentially holding position whilst they got through the back markers and then they were free to race again but then Oscar had made a couple of mistakes which then put him three seconds back. So, apart from that really promising. It was such a promising drive from Oscar. But that mistake that he made, Lando, of course, was able to scrub off more speed,

which I am going to put down to Lando actually having fantastic car control as well. It's not just a case of complete luck at that stage. Once you hit the grass, which is what Oscar was on, then you are a little bit of a passenger. But that was because he had more speed and I don't know. It just, it worked out very, a tiny bit different between the two drivers, but it was enough to make a massive difference. So that's why I've gone for a seven for Oscar, but he should be very, very proud of his performance. And I think he's going to bounce back massively in China. I've gone for an eight out of ten for Oscar Piastri.

I think this is one of the most difficult grades to give because essentially one corner, different. and it could have been a win and some people will see that and give him maybe a nine or higher and think it's a great result and I understand why some people would give him a lot lower because essentially he's finished ninth in comfortably the best car in the field

but the reason I'm giving him an eight is because he was really, really good at start the race drove amazingly well caught up his teammate put on the pressure and it made and he was there

and I watched a fan cam from the kind of rear facing shot and he is so unfortunate because him and Lando go off almost identically

at the same part of the track and he's the one that's just kind of you know had an unfortunate luck and spun round and as we said

in the main podcast you don't expect to get beached in a gravel, sorry, in a, in grass. Like that just doesn't happen in Formula One. Normally you could just easily get back, back on. Of course, lost loads of time and dropped all the way back. But for him to then get back in the race, his move on Hamilton,

such a shame because, yeah, it's still a bad result for him, but I'd be amazed if we saw a better move all season than that. It was absolutely sensational. I forgot about the Hamilton move, put an eight, put an eight down. I can't believe I've said a seven. That is fair enough. Like you know what, Tommy. Yeah, the Oscar Piestri defense club that you've just put up there.

I was torn between a seven and an eight and it was the never give up because, yeah, as well. And something that I mentioned in Best Reactions, which again, I've kind of misplaced in my brain until now was the fact that had he not got going and had he just given up, that would have been a safety car or a VSC, which would have given Max a pit stop. potentially Max would have won the race. There's also two points to the championship, and he might challenge us here. You never know. McLaren are very quick, and based on his performance in Australia, he will challenge for Lando for the championship, because they look very close, and he is a very quick driver.

So you never know that those points could make a big difference. So despite, you know, a gutting mistake, he can hold his head up very high after that race, I think. Oh, he certainly can. certainly can. I'm excited to see what Oscar can bring to the table because we may well be relying on him to have some kind of championship fight. So a pair of eights from us. The fans make it a triple. That makes sense, doesn't it? The fan rate was an eight. Yeah. Cool. I tried to be fun with it. Lando Norris. Started the race and first, finish first. I've gone for a 10 out of 10 for Lando Norris. It's the best race of his career. I've criticized Lando when he's done badly, and I've praised him when he's done well. Shoot me.

To the point where people think I'm a hater or a fanboy. But Lando... That's when you're doing something right. Exactly when you get both comments. Lando must be the only driver in the sport who could have his teammate spin-off and finish ninth, and he wins the race, and people are hating on him saying it's overrated,

he's terrible, what a rubbish drive, this is outrageous. He rightly got the criticised for not winning the championship last year or at least getting a lot closer because he made a lot of mistakes. That race threw everything at him when he was going in as the championship favourite, yes he's got the best car underneath him. But the race threw everything at him and we saw what happened to his teammate. yes, we've mentioned Oscar and he's done a fantastic job all things considered. But Landau did keep it on the road.

He resisted the pressure from Max at the end. Yes, Max is in an inferior car, but he's also the best driver in the sport, the best driver in those conditions. And it's Max Verstappen, who many other people, you know, wouldn't be able to keep behind. It's a brilliant race from Lando to resist all that pressure. to have so many curveballs, to have constant safety cars

when he's built up a lead, things like that. It's a great drive. And I can't believe you'd give him anything other than a 10. And I can't believe people are criticizing. It's just a case of like people will just criticize anything.

For the sake of criticising. For the sake of criticising at that point, you are just hating for no reason. And it's amazing. You know, people are hating on these performances when they're just sat on their sofas and they have no idea what it's like to drive in those conditions.

They just think, rocket ship car equals easy win. And that's it. If he does not have easy win and wins by a minute, then it's a four out of ten. I've gone for a ten out of ten as well for Lando Norris,

because it was a sensational drive. It was. The way that he managed the pressure, some people, of course, throwing around fact that there was team orders. The team orders lasted a very small amount of time. Of course, we were all up in arms

when we heard it. Oh my God, team orders. I can't believe it. But it was Oscar that actually made those minor mistakes, which caused the gap. And McLaren were being sensible. On reflection of this, McLaren were being sensible by the fact that they were back markers coming up, and they don't want to have a silly three-wide zonter at spa moment, where you're putting that one-two at risk.

Philando, he had safety car restarts to deal with. He had strategy. I was even impressed by the McLaren team communication. Perhaps there was a little bit too much of it. But I think a lot better and they've learned a lot since Russia. I do think that Will Joseph at some points

doesn't need to be talking about the dry tires with Lando when it's literally still like spray. And even Lando was like, just put the dry tires away, mate, like relax. Like we don't need to talk about that right now. Yeah. But Lando, there was a lot of pressure on him. I think Abu Dhabi last year

was a really impressive drive from him. And I think this was in a completely different environment, a really impressive drive. yes he made a mistake. Some people may consider that lucky that he didn't have the same fate as Oscar, but he is the lead car. That is something that I don't think

many people are quite processing is that that is the most difficult thing to do. And exactly, he's the first driver to hit that point. He's the first driver to make a decision about when to change tyres. Because the drivers behind are going to throw, you know, roll the dice.

They're going to go, I'm going to pit this lap. I'm going to do something different to Lando. The fact Lando led from start to finish, of course, with a few laps of max leading or whatever, but realistically, Lando was in the lead the whole time, that is a 10 out of 10 performance. It is. I'm taking off your point for three different leaders after you said that from the production. No, it was still technically, technically three leaders. So thank you very much.

The fans gave Lando Norris a 10 and it is well deserved. And there we go. Breathe a sigh of relief. Oh, sorry, I didn't write who's our P1. Oh, yeah. Wow. Yeah, read the side of relief because we're going into our P1. My P1 for the Australian Grand Prix is Nico Holcombberg.

No, it's not. It's not. Nico did a great job and I'm kind of regretting giving him a 10 now. But I am still locking that in because I don't think he's ever going to finish seventh ever again in the salver. My 10 out of 10 has to be Lando Norris. It does. My P1 is 100% Lando. For all the reasons I've just said, I don't need to go into it any more than that.

Lando should be, there should be a lot. lot of confidence coming out of that. It is not a rocket ship in those conditions. And look, as well, as much as it's, oh, Max is keeping up with the McLaurans and McClanes and rubbish are in a rocket ship. The top three were so clear of the rest of the field that I think we should just appreciate that Norris, Vastappen and Piastri were just driving brilliantly as well. There is part of that involved. So anyway, yeah, Land is maybe one. Oh, I can't decide. and you'll never guess which two drivers I'm deciding between.

Yeah, it's definitely between those two for me easily. Or maybe Alburn as well, actually. Okay, yeah, who are you going to go for, mate? We're live on the podcast right now. I'm going to go for Antonelli because to do that on debut is amazing, even though the fans gave me a nine, and I'm still not over that. A lot of tens as well. A lot of 10s been handed out.

We're feeling very generous. It's one of those races, though, where... It deserves a 10. You're rewarded for basically making it to the end and getting a good result because so many people went off. Yeah, I'm going for Antonelli. It was one of the best debuts ever. Lovely stuff. Well on, Antonelli.

And well on to all of you for making it to the end of this driver ratings. I'm sure you've already commented the fact that of the reasons why Kimmy Antonoli should get a 9 out of 10. I look forward to reading those. Thank you as always. Remember, we can all be very nice and calm and polite. If we disagree with people, it's because we are human. our own right to have our own opinions. It's actually quite mad, isn't it, Tommy, that we all have our own brains.

What are your final thoughts, please, sir? I'll continue those thoughts of, yeah, the fact that, you know, we can all have an opinion, and that's the beauty of this, the series that we can all kind of, you know, what makes a great race, particularly in those kind of conditions, and drivers kind of being fortunate and some over the level, delivering in their car and how much you put car performance, you know, that's the beauty of this series and why there'll be disagreements, but just, you know, don't take it to

stay respectful about it. And we can all enjoy people's opinions. Unless you gave Antenelier 9 and then you wash it. It's not that deep. There you go. Thank you, everybody. We'll see you soon. Lots of love.

Take care. Bye. Chaw time. My chore for you, because only the best, only the best of live. listeners. Watch Antoninnelli's race and change your grade. That, but also, my chore for you, if you do genuinely really enjoy driver ratings, okay, is that you pop on YouTube, because you're probably listening to this, you're

probably on Spotify or something, pop on YouTube and let us know why. Let's know what. I like the video. Or comment just on your audio platform, so I know you can comment on Spotify and things like that. Let us know that you like this series, because we love to hear it. Because then it kind of balances out the people that say that we have agendas for every single one of the drivers on the grids. We hate and love every driver.

And also leave us a firestire of you if you haven't already on audio platforms. Okay. All right. Sweet dreams. Take care. Adios. Goodbye. Good night.

Tommy. I'm giving you a two out of ten. Goodbye. I'll take your clothes off. P1 is a stack production and part of the ACAST creator network.