P1 with Matt and Tommy - Bahrain GP Driver Ratings

Episode Date: April 15, 2025

We've got quite the selection of grades in this edition of your favourite series on the internet - who's getting a ten? And who massively disappointed? Let's find out!You can listen to an extended version of every Race Review episode 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!Matt's running the London Marathon for the Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity. Click here if you'd like to donate - thanks so much!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. Driver ratings edition. And it's finally not just a qualifying ratings edition like it was last time out in Japan where we had no overtakes and no strategy. In fact, we had a little bit too much strategy and a little bit too many overtakes and a safety car as well. So lots of things to take into account for this Barring Grand Prix edition. Isn't that right, Tom Bellingham? It sure is.

And yeah, yeah, this one's going to be a spicy one. I think because, yes, lots of action and quite a lot of people had very eventful races. So, yes, I'm sure there'll be plenty of disagreements in the comments, but of course... That's what we live for. That's what we live for. Everyone's allowed a different opinion. I look at other people's drive ratings and I don't agree, so I get it. That's so true.

It's so true. Okay, let's get straight into it. Gabriel Bortoletto, started the race in 18th, finished 18th. it is going to be a whopping five out of ten for Gabriel Bortoletto. Are you surprised? No. But I'm not going to give him a four, which I think I would have for anyone other than a rookie for his performance at the Bahrain Grand Prix,

very anonymous, couldn't even attack Stroll, who Stroll has just been driving around on one wheel, just chilling the last couple of races. He, yeah, just obviously wasn't close to Holcomberg in qualifying, I mean, I say I wasn't close. Obviously, Hulk can work had that lap time deleted, which made things a little bit more confusing. But Bortoletto was lacking a little bit of speed compared to Hulk. He ran last on the hard tyres in the middle stint and was just nowhere.

So I'm going to give him a five because he's learning and he's a rookie. I've also gone for a five out of ten for Bortolete. Yes, the Salba looking very much towards the back. now, maybe the worst car again. And Bortoletto as a rookie, it's just had quite a kind of average race. Nothing absolutely awful, but

nothing to shout about either. So yeah, five out of ten. The fans gave Gabriel Bortoletto, unsurprisingly, a five out of ten. Nico Holcomberg, started the race in 16th, finished the race in DSQ, but was P-13 over the line?

I have gone for a six out of ten for Nico. Oh, he's changed that on the fly. I felt that one. Felt that in one of my bones. No, I haven't actually. Oh, you just see my... You just not read the number. No, no, I was just...

I was thinking about changing it. No, six out of ten. Yeah, I think 13th, of course, where he was before the DSQ, is actually a pretty decent result for a salber. But the reason it's not a seven for me, because, you know, again, we say this every single time, but not going to downgrade for a driver's performance based on a slightly worn skid block

because that's not going to, you know, change his ability. I don't think he got 13th on the road because of his skid block. You think he got 13th on the road anyway. He got 15th on the road and then gained from two penalties in front of him. True. But yes, I think his start was poor again, unfortunately, for Nico Holcomburg. Yeah, lost places. and drop straight to the back after an all right qualifying.

So not the best weekend, but better than his teammate. I've gone for a six out of ten for Nika Holkenberg. It's so sad to see this man driving around in this car. And I really hope for his sake the investment of going into Salba. The investment of his time, I mean, and waiting for 2026. And the change of that team will pay some kind of dividends for him. But yeah, you know, 13th after a couple of drivers had penalties, looks pretty good on the score sheet until he got disqualify,

but I'm not going to take anything away from the fact that he had, you know, the technical infringement with his skid block. So, yeah, so six out of ten for me, and the fans, they give him a five. Alex Albon, started the race in 15th, finished 12th. I am going to lock in a six out of 10 for Alex Albon. He was, as he said himself after the race, running in a net P8 until the safety car decided to ruin some drivers' races, one of them being his.

Hence why I've gone for a six and no lower. At the same time, obviously messed up qualifying. He was unable to fight for points despite the safety car coming out. It was very much stuck in that sort of 12th position on the mediums. So yeah, I've gone for a six. I've gone for a seven for Alex Albin. and I think you tried to flop in that is absolutely

yes because he didn't make of course he got knocked out in Q3 but then didn't and wasn't allowed to partake Q3 Q1 why do I always say that I love your relationship with numbers don't start again it's fine that was absolutely fine don't worry I love that

it's every number that Tommy says it's the opposite how long have we had the knockout format and I still always call Q1 Q3. I don't know why. It's because it's 321. What happens if you're not that in Q3? 321. In my head it's 321 and it always will be and I cannot lock it in my brain. It's really annoying. But yes, of course the error from the stewards meant that he couldn't do Q2. And he actually made good progress through the field and like you say, he was on for a pretty good result before

the safety car. I think he kind of made his way through the field quite well. But yeah, unlucky with the safety car. So a decent drive better than, that's what I've gone better than a six. The fans gave Alex a six out of ten. Carlos Sines started the race in eighth and sadly did not finish. I have gone for a six out of ten for Carlos Sites. It's a real case of what might have been for Carlos Sites. We saw in qualifying, basically we saw where we thought he was going to

be this season. Putting that Williams where it shouldn't be, he outqualified Lewis Hamilton, the guy that replaced him at Ferrari and was racing at the front, but yeah, didn't work out for him. His, of course, unlucky to get hit by Sonoda, but then Sainz himself got a penalty for kind of a very audacious move on Antonelli. And of course, retirement wasn't his fault, but after such a good it all kind of went downhill for science. I've also gone for a six out of ten for Carlos. He was running in a phenomenal position at the beginning of that race. Sadly for him just got a little bit caught up in some battles and fell away.

I think Sonoda grabbed a position from him when he was fighting Hamilton, I believe. And it just seemed like his race fell away from there. But it was a phenomenal qualifying as well, P8 on the grid. And I genuinely thought he might well have finished. finished best of the rest, but sadly for him, it unraveled. I'm not fully blaming him for that, but of course also got that penalty, as you mentioned, for Kimmy Antonelli. But a better weekend, overall, I'd say, a more promising one for signs as we head into the next race in Jeddah. The fans gave him a five. Isaac Hajar, start the race in 12th, finished 13th.

I've gone for a five out of ten for Isaac Hadjar. Probably the most anonymous weekend he's had in his Formula One career so far. Australia, obviously he crashed out in the formation lap, but that was not anonymous in the sense of we all noticed it, whereas this one was just a kind of slow weekend for RB just overall. He missed out on Q3, which is something we have come to expect from Hajar nowadays. This is one lap pace being lightning.

And then he lost four positions at the start of the race as well. So he said to himself, I think, that they needed to analyze what went on with that. but overall speed wasn't great a very yeah five out of ten performance I've also gone for a five out of ten I think I've also written down anonymous which I think perfectly summarises his race

after how well he did in Suzuki this was just barely even noticed him and we didn't see that RBs had particularly great pace and yeah he was just barely there at all wasn't a bad race I'm not going to give him any lower but just straight down the middle for a five. The fans gave Isaac Hadjar a five out of ten as well. Liam Lawson started the race in 17th, finished 16th.

I have gone for a three out of ten for Liam Lawson. His form is absolutely awful. You know, spoiler a little already. I think he was the worst driver of the Grand Prix. and he crashed into, you know, he's qualifying incredibly poorly, he's crashed into two people and got two penalties during the race. And we've seen other drivers get demoted to their old family, if you like, in the kind of lesser Red Bull team.

And really, Sean. And Liam Lawson is not doing that at all. It's, I think, his poor form. at Red Bull has completely continued into RB and he's clearly lacking confidence and yeah his

his form is absolutely shocking at the moment. It is. I've gone for three out of ten for Lawson as well. I will obviously give him the slight benefit of the doubt of him being thrown around teams and not having had preseason testing with this specific

car prior to obviously jumping over to back to RB. So you'd have to say he's also unsettled at the moment. But this is certainly the worst phase of his Formula One, of a short Formula One career, but in terms of actual performances, it's not looked good since he went back to RB. Mentally, I can only imagine the turmoil he's been through, his dream to obviously race for Red Ball and then it being shattered and taken away from him almost immediately. How do you pick yourself up from that so quickly? Only a certain few probably can. And we're seeing that in his performances at the moment. He needs to do what Albon,

Ghazley and the like before him did. And Albon, I think, said himself after it happened that it's a great opportunity for him to rebuild. And it's happened before. And to be honest with you, we've not really seen the, a non-resurgence, let's say, from like, you know, Gassley, Albon, being a few examples of being knocked away from the Red Bull team and then going to a Williams or going to the second Red Bull team, they were able to pick up their speed and performance. And we go, oh, they're actually really good drivers. We've not seen this so far.

And we thought that would happen and it hasn't. Exactly. Let's see. Let's see how Jeddah and the next few races go for Lawson, but right now it's not looking great for him. The fans gave him a three. Ollie Berman, started the race in 20th. finished 10th.

What a difficult man to grade. I have gone for a nine out of 10 for Olly Behrman. Of course, his qualifying is what lets him down here. Started literally last. He had problems with his breaking performance. The team admitted that they should have given him three runs in Q1. But he was phenomenal in the race. That's where he score points.

And to gain 10 positions is a brilliant. brilliant job from him. His strategy was soft, hard and then, to be fair, yeah, the safety car came at a decent point for him, where he could then go on some fresh softs, and he made it work for himself as well. So not to take anything away from him with the fact the safety car came out at a good point, but he made it work for him, and that's why I've gone for a nine. I've also gone for a nine for Ollie Bearman. Yeah, terrible qualifying for him to qualify last. There was definitely more in the car there, but, you know, he made up for it in the race. His start was absolutely sensational to kind of make up positions. And then, yeah, just had a great race to climb all

the way up to get points, thanks to another great strategy from Hass as well. So, yes, another impressive performance from Behrman. The fans gave Olli Beerman and Nine as well. Estaban Ockon started the race in 14th, finished 8th. I've gone for a 9 out of 10 for EstabanoCon. Very similar to his teammate, actually. That, you know, he's had a poor qualifying. Qualified better than his teammate, of course, but crashed out. And then did an unbelievable strategy, amazing job from Hass again on the strategy,

to get him into the position that he was. You know, he was running in, I think it was about sixth place and seemed like he was ahead of a step in the whole race, it felt like. and it took kind of a while to almost realize that he was there on Merri. I really did think he hadn't pitted yet and then was like, oh, no, he has actually pitted. And of course, the safety car allowed that strategy to work out brilliantly. And it's more great points for Ocon after, you know, he had such a poor race at Suzuki. He has bounced back with another really strong points, all for Hass.

Yeah, his strategy is an interesting one because both him and Gassley didn't pit despite the safety car coming out because they'd just gone on to the hard tires maybe three, four laps prior. So it's interesting that that actually worked out for them that they decided to keep track position and just go for that longer hard stint, considering the hard tires weren't particularly good, were they for a lot of people. I've gone four eight, nine out of ten for Esteban Okon as well. it's not a perfect weekend because he crashed as we know but apart from that to again a double points finish for Hass a great performance from Ocon again it's such a topsy-turvy season for O'Con so far but he's putting points on the board so Hass I think will be very happy

with that and yeah that's welcome for a nine the fans gave him a nine as well Jack Dewan started the race an 11th finished 14th. Oh, Jack. I'm pretty sure he was running in ninth for a lot of the race and then ended up in 14th. So six out of ten for Jack Dewan.

Positively promising, again in some areas of the weekend. For example, the first half of qualifying, he was looking great. Then he got knocked out in Q2, starts 11th. Then in the race, running in ninth after an early pit stop, he then just fell away towards the end of the race because he couldn't keep control of his rear tire temperatures and he fell like a stone after that.

So a six is probably about right for me in my head. But I think for Alpine, look, there are small glimmers of hope that maybe he'll keep this seat for a little while longer. And he's definitely shown more potential, I think, than anyone, including Mr Marco, thought he would bring to the table so early on in his Formula One career. I have gone for a six out of ten for Jack Dewin as well.

Not on his teammates level this weekend, but he didn't look too bad, but I do think that points could have been there for him. And yeah, he had a lot more promising signs, but for him. but 14th, a bit of a disappointing result in the end for him. But I think he has looked a lot better than we all thought, and I do think points will be on the way for him. The fans gave Jet Duhin a six out of ten as well. Off to his teammate, Pierre Gasley, started the race in fourth, finish seventh.

I have gone for a nine out of ten for Pierre Gasley. is a great result, best of the rest. His qualifying was pretty unbelievable, actually. I know it's Maxus Tappan that he's been passed by on the last lap, but we know that the Red Bull wasn't there. And I think had he held on to that place, I probably would have given him a 10. But to lose a position on the last lap is always disappointing,

but it doesn't take away too much from what is a brilliant. drive from Gassley again. And this is what we thought would happen at the start of the season with Alpine and what we saw at the back end of last year, that he could put the car best of the rest and challenge in Q3. And yeah, he's done a great job there. It's a whopping 10 out of 10 from me for Pierre Gassley. It was a brilliant weekend from him,

a car that has not scored a singular point coming into Bahrain, and he whops it, waps it, waps it. Waps it. Waps it straight to fifth on the grid, and then takes advantage of a little grid penalty as well. I think he drove phenomenally well. There is clear signs that this car does have windows of pace that it can deliver. And with Gassley that we know is brilliant and has been brilliant in the midfield for many years, it's great to see that he's got those signs of maybe coming back to the form. So 10 out of 10 from me, the fans gave him a 9. Lance Stroll!

Start the race in 19th, finished 17th. Oh, you know what? It's a 4 out of 10 for Lance Stroll, which is a decently high grade for Lance Stroll, considering what happened in Japan. I know that people love to give him twos and threes and zeros in our fans. rating poll, but I'm going to give him a four because that Aston Martin is absolutely diabolical. And we've seen that with Fernando Alonzo.

And Lance wasn't absolutely horrific that I'm going to slander him too much here. So gone for a four. I've also gone for a four for Lance Stroll. We're kind of seeing the old Lance Stroll again really, who performs abysmally in qualifying, which has always been one of his weaker points. And I know the Ashton Martin isn't there, but should he be 19th on the grid, I'm not sure. And then, yeah, as we'll get on to his teammate next,

but qualifies poorly, and then as the race kind of goes on, kind of gets near at the back of his teammate in the race, I just think that Astor Martin is just woeful at the moment. you know, I think a lot of people that maybe didn't know, maybe hadn't read into more of the headlines and just saw on a piece of paper, Adrian Newey is now Aston Martin,

maybe thought that they were going to be quite good this year and they are a minute off the lead in 16th and 18th. It's not looking good, is it? Hopefully they'll be able to turn this around in 2026, but... It's almost like they want more winter on time. Yeah, it's almost like. they genuinely don't care about this year at all. And Adrian's like, finish 10th in the championship, please.

Stroll, why are you getting 10 points? They're running on like 10% engine mode to make sure they get no points. Come on. Four races in, you did not expect Lance Stroll to be having those 10 points. Adrian's like, what are you doing? Yeah, calm down. I thought Lance wouldn't score any points. What's going on?

But yes, Lance Stroll gets a three out of 10 from you wonderful people. Fernando Alonzo, start the race and 13th, finished 15th. I've gone for a six out of ten for Fernando Alonso. Basically, the same as we kind of saw last year when the Astor Mayan was terrible, Alonso puts it higher than it should be, which is very depressing to think high than it should be is 13th, but obviously that's quite a way ahead of his teammate. And then can't really do anything with it in the race.

And yeah, Astor Martin is looking awful. Okay. I've gone for a five out of ten for Alonzo. I don't think it's anything particularly special this weekend from him. I know that you've given him a six just purely because of the qualifying start, but from the race, he was about as anonymous as Stroll was. So I'll give him a little nudge up to a five, but it's shocking from Aston Martin and Fernando.

I'm surprised we haven't heard more sassy team radios from him. That's usually what we tend to focus on, or I say we, F1, tend to focus on when Alonzo starts dropping that. but maybe he's content with just, he's basically just having like a year-long holiday this year where he drives a fast car for fun. You don't really need to try because the car is terrible and it will be the whole year.

There's literally no point in upgrading it. And I'm sure Adrian Nui is probably promising Fernando Alonzo the world from 2026 onwards. So we shall see. The fans gave Alonzo a five as well. Kimmy Antonelli started the race in fifth, finished 11th. Oh, this is a difficult grading.

But I'm going to go for a 7 out of 10 for Kimmy Antonelli. I know he didn't score any points. I've got to question why on earth Mercedes gambled to put him on soft tires with over 30 laps to go. I don't know how he was planning to get to the end. Russell said it was a stretch when the safety car came out and Antonelli had been on those tires. Let me have a look. I've got the graphic right here. He was on those tyres from lap 27,

and Russell went on lap 32. So that's an extra five laps, and then he changed the tyres anyway, so that screwed him again with the safety. A bizarre strategy from Mercedes, in my opinion. But the reason I've gone for a seven is because I've seen some really good, promising attributes that Kimmy Anson has been showing,

the moves that he was making. You don't see that from all the drivers out there. The down the inside on signs was brilliant to watch and it's great to see the confidence there. I just feel as though the strategy really didn't really didn't fall into his hands and the safety car as well. But I feel like I need to give him his props. That's why I've gone for a seven. I have gone for a six out of ten for Kimmy Antonelli. Qualified fifth.

She was four. He did. That's unbelievable. You're not going to give him a seven. Well, he finished 11. He finished 30 seconds. behind George. I think it was... Can we talk about the fact that he was pitted into... I can't believe you're the one trying to convince me of seven. He was pitted into the pack by Mercedes? True. I do think the strategy was terrible and maybe that's what I'm... I feel like he struggled a lot on his tyres, but I did love his moves, but is that enough to push it to

a seven? I mean, you're convincing me and I don't need to kind of have a second chance to say... He's a rookie. Qualified fourth. Got a point. penalty because of Mercedes. He then was screwed over a little bit by Mercedes. The strategy, actually, yeah. Why they put him on softs with 30 laps to go is just insane to me. I thought you were giving him a 10. No, no.

Triv him a 10. No, maybe I'm just, maybe I was just a little disappointed because he's had such a strong start to the season. But yeah, I do think you've got to consider the strategy as well, actually. So yeah, I'll go for a seven for Antonelli. His moves were very good indeed. I'm glad we got to see the kind of side to him that I've wanted to see all year where he's putting in, you know, daring moves.

He did a switch back on Max Verstappen, like, how many times do you see a drive, and never mind a rookie, put a move on Max so easily. I know the car wasn't there for Max. So, yeah, the more I was speaking of it, the more I'm thinking it is a 7 and wasn't his fault and I have to judge qualifying as well where he was great so we've swapped bodies for a moment there

Kimmy Antonelli 7 The fans gave Kimmy a 7 as well George Russell start the race and third, finish second I have gone for a 10 out of 10 for George Russell he was absolutely brilliant this weekend I've said that

George's had a great start to the season, no doubt. But maybe the only thing you can say is that he's maybe not over-delivered what his car can do. He's just kind of, because I think the Mercedes is probably second best, and George is just bagging podiums. The fact that he put that great qualifying lap in, you know, should have started P2 without the Mercedes mistake. And then he has beaten the McLaren, which is no mean feat because, you know, the McLaren should be winning, finishing 1-2, by a mile. And, yeah, George did a brilliant job even when his car was basically falling apart at the end.

And the fact that he also just another thing, he managed to take the soft tires and look very strong on them all the way to the end when he himself said it was quite audacious, of course. So, yeah, what a performance from George really, really, really. really good performance. It's a 10 out of 10 from me as well for George, the easiest 10 that I've probably had to give this entire season, not just purely because of his P2, but the fact that he had break by wire problems. He had his brake pedal going long, going short, constantly changing lap by lap. And that's something that is not easy in any world to have to deal with,

especially around a track like Bahrain, which is, you know, you can give someone. an opportunity to pass. And he had Lando all over the back of him in those last few laps. So it's a brilliant performance from George. And he absolutely is an outside shot for the championship. It is a long shot, for sure. But he's constantly there. And he's ready to pounce on any mistakes from the McLaren's.

Lando having a poor qualifying. George has ended up beating him in the race. That shouldn't be possible in that Mercedes compared to what we've seen. seen with the McLaren. But yeah, it's brilliant from George. If Mercedes can bring an upgrade or two to push them a little bit closer to McLaren, then my goodness me, it will be game on, especially with Antonelli as well, getting more and more comfortable with that car as he turns each and every lap.

So, yep, 10 out of 10 from me, and the fans gave him a 10 as well. Yuki Sanoda started the race in 10th, finished 9th. I've gone for a 7 out of 10 for Yuki Sonoda. decent weekend. And that is not something we would think would be said about a Red Bull in 2025 after the last few years. But it's true. Vastappen struggled immensely with that car. And I'm not saying Yuki was on Max's pace because he wasn't, but he scored points.

He didn't have a nightmare. Nearly did with signs, but he didn't. And yeah, I think this is a great step in the right direction. for Yuki around a track that I obviously thought coming into this he would do better at, you know, there's less pressure. Suzuki was the most ridiculous, immense pressure for him to jump into the Red Bull seat. This one, as he said himself, I think, it was a quieter weekend, he can just kind of settle into it. And I think we saw that.

So for him, I believe he is going to get quicker and quicker as the races go by. So that's why I've gone for a seven. I've also gone for a seven out of ten for Yuki Sonoda. I think a very respectable race from him. I think his own, you know, of course, the, the science contact, I think, was a difficult, you know, and what downgrades him a bit. I can't believe he didn't get a penalty, by the way, for that. Very amazed that that was the case. But what term one?

Yeah, didn't get a penalty. I think it was. Is it because he slid? It was together. They both came together. They both lost car control at exactly the same time and sort of conveys. So that's probably why I think it was just seen as a racing incident, which I think it was. Yeah, interesting.

So, yeah, I think Yuki's done a very good job. We were led to believe that the second Red Bull car was being sabotaged and undriveable and all this kind of stuff. And Yuki Snowda is... It's the second thing. Yeah. And yeah, I think I read online that it's basically like nearly 200 days since the second Red Bull Driver has done a performance that close to Max basically. It's been a long time since we've seen two Red Bulls on the timing tower close to each other.

And yeah, I think on another day he could have done even better as well. So very positive signs for Yuki, I think. I like the way he did that. It just spoke about signs and then he said positive signs. I love that. Honestly, Tommy is a wordsmith. It's crazy. The fans gave Yuki a 7 as well.

Max Verstappen started the race and seventh, finish sixth I have gone for an eight out of ten for Max de Stappan not his best race and a very difficult race

but I think it's very Max Verstappen that he has finished P6 his move on Gasly at the end was a nice move and it's great damage

limitation to be P6 maybe people are shouting going oh Max Verstappen six, you know, you should be getting a six or a seven, but this car, you can't be judging it on the car that we saw last year, or even the end of last year. Or the car we literally saw last race. Exactly. The way I'm looking at it is, has Max Astappen been beaten by anyone in that race that shouldn't have beaten him? No. So it's an eight for me. And it's an eight for me,

as well for the exact same reasoning. You have to take into account what we saw from Max and his car. Max is the best driver on the grid. And when I'm riding on board with him and I see him at a 45 degree angle for 90% of the lap, I have to think this car is not very good around this circuit. So you have to take that into account. Obviously, he lost a place at the start to signs. He didn't have the cleanest qualifying either.

but yeah, it's still worthy of an 8 out of 10 in my opinion. The fans gave him a 7. Lewis Hamilton started the race in 9th, finished 5th. Let's not forget, driver of the day. The driver of the day for me gets 7 out of 10. I don't think it was deserving of driver of the day, but it's been a bit of a weird one, hasn't it, the last few races and definite trolling happening there.

It was obviously a poor qualifying. He was apologising to the team conference. constantly in the race, better, obviously. Hamilton is better in the race. But he still wasn't on Charles's pace. Even in clean air, he was still lapping 10th or two a lap slower. And I was keeping an eye on it throughout most of the race until the entire live timing melted.

So, yeah, it was an all right performance from Hamilton. Finishing fifth is still decent points in a car, Ferrari car that's the third fastest, in my opinion. But he definitely wasn't as competitive on the hard rubber at the end either and dropped back. And you know, you look before the safety car, he was sort of 10 odd seconds behind the Clare. And then even at the end of the race, he was eight odd seconds behind Charles. So that's why I've gone for a seven out of ten. I've gone for a seven out of ten as well for Liz Hamilton.

Quali let him down, of course, really poor in qualifying. but did look more promising in the car, not on Charles's level. But a good result. Not on Charles's level this weekend, but P5 is still a good result for that Ferrari. And yeah, signs of progress, I think. The fans gave Hamilton an eight. Charlotte Clare, start the race and second, finish fourth. I've gone for an eight out of ten for Charlotte Clare.

I think he had another good, it was another good weekend from him. You know, he started on the front row. Obviously, fortunate with the Russell thing, but still a great qualifying. And he's very, he is very unlucky because I would have loved to have seen what they could have done with a normal race without the safety car and seen what they could have done on that strategy. But we will never know. He put up a great fight against Norris, despite a much inferior car, but couldn't make those. hard tyres last at the end which is maybe why I've not gone

for a nine but much more positive from from Charles this weekend it's the biggest nine out of ten I've ever seen in my entire life from Charles LeCler he got completely screwed by the strategy he was on form Ferrari we questioned it when they started on the mediums

he lost a couple of positions because everyone with the soft rubber was able to attack in that first lap but he made it work and then he started coming back at the drivers ahead of him he got past Lando he was right behind Russell when the safety car came out. He was going to be able to go longer on those mediums and then go potentially on an attack at the end on the softs.

So I know there's a little bit of ifsbutts and maybes there, but from the picture that was painted, Shah was doing a brilliant job and then just got slightly screwed. So I am not going to downgrade him for that, and I'm giving him a nine. And just absolutely beautiful man. So there you go, nine out of ten. the fans gave him an eight

screw all of you no I'm just kidding please please keep listening and lots of love Oscar Piastri started the race in first finished first I mean

I've actually seen genuine sort of publications not give Piastri a 10 out of 10 I've seen an 8 out of 10 absolutely outrageous it is a 10 out of 10 the perfect weekend

for Oscar Piestri how can you possibly downgrade him for leading the race the entire way through apart from obviously when it was a Ferrari 1-2 and it was the greatest time

to be alive and getting pole position as well it was a flawless weekend from Oscar he had to manage a safety car restart and he did that beautifully just brilliant it's a 10 out of 10

there's no more to say about it he was just not making any mistakes and he's now very much in the championship hunt it's a 10 out of 10 it has to be of course we know the McLaren is a rocket ship and should be winning the race

but you can't give him less than a 10 when he did not lap the whole field but he didn't put a foot wrong I can almost understand even when a driver wins to go four and nine if maybe it was a difficult weekend or he didn't qualify well and he's just made up where he has

when the car's really good but it never looked in doubt at all you know it was so good They didn't even show him on the main feed crossing the line because they forgot about him. Ridiculous. Yeah. Water drive drove like a champion and a big statement drive from Piastri. The fans gave Oscar Piastri a 10 out of 10.

Landon Horace started the race in sixth, finished third. Here we go. Yeah, the best of last. We're back. We're back on there. What do we give Landon Horace? I've gone for a six out of ten for Landon Horace. is six harsh for P3

some people will say yes but he is driving a car that's won the race by nearly 20 seconds with a you know a mid-race safety car he himself after qualifying said you know Oscar's going to lap the whole field and I just you know should make it to be too and you know qualified incredibly poorly

put a load of pressure on himself sixth is really poor for a McLaren based on their pace. And then he made that great start and then we find out that he's made a mistake being out of position. But even from there, P2 should have been so easy that the five second penalty didn't really do much because he had the pace on the people that were around him. So it should have been an easy P2. It had so many laps to get that done. but then on the safety car restart

he lost a place to Hamilton then you know whilst trying to pass Leclair then he illegally passes Hamilton so he has to give that back you know he takes ages passing Lecler when he shouldn't really have done he locked up a few times

couldn't get past Russell when Russell's car was falling apart and he himself knows it's a poor weekend and the reason I've gone for a six is when I look back at the end of these driver ratings and think where, like, Lando appears in the table on drives. I can't put him higher than certain people that I've given a seven,

because I know it's P3, but you just have to grade him like, for me anyway, and it's just my opinion, and we're all allowed it. Some people can give him higher. You have to grade it like he is driving, like, last year's Red Bull, because that is how good that car is now, and they should be finishing one to every race, and he's had such a poor weekend, I think. Okay, I have also gone for a six out of ten. I was deliberating between a six and a seven.

But yeah, it was by his own admission, a messy weekend. You've kind of pointed out a lot of the things that went on. Yeah, not just the big mistakes, like the grid box thing, which almost immediately put him out of contention to beat Oscar in the race after, you know, we were lording him for a phenomenal start. But also just, yeah, the overtakes or lack of, especially on, I think it was Charlerc, they're shaping for the moves. He locked up at one point, went really wide at term one, lost a lot of time there.

And he fainted to the inside so many times. But it's just kind of, it's giving me a little bit of the impression that he doesn't have the confidence to just send one, which is going to be really important for him if he does struggling qualifying like we saw here. he has to be able to make it up like we see Max Verstappen do sometimes when he's had a poor qualifying or to be fair not a poor qualifying when he's had a grid penalty we've seen him come through and make decisive moves we even saw Kimmy Antonelli do a move that I was and this is on this was literally on charles Lando and I was like just send one on charl like if I'm just thinking about how Lando's going

to get through on charl it's sending one to the inside and just claiming that apex And a driver like Charlotte Claire is not Max for Stappen and it's not, I don't know if he's been scarred by Max with overtakes. Like, Charles's not going to punt him off the road, is he, when trying to go for the move? So I am surprised, yeah, he didn't just dive bomb Charles. Should have been quite easy, I think. Yeah, so that was a little bit frustrating to watch, but then also not, because obviously I want Charle to get a podium. And then, you know, going off the track and when he passed Hamilton, which was close, but again, that should be deemed as a small mistake because he then had to give the position back. So yeah, it was a scruffy weekend from Lando.

For his saving races, finishing third is not the end of the world. He's still leading the world championship. But he needs to just figure out qualifying. If it's on the front row of the grid, I don't think he'll have half of these problems. And we will see the Lando of old where he starts winning races again. He just needs to get on top of those sort of quali last Q3 laps that we've seen mistakes a few too many times now. The fans gave Lando Norris a seven. And that is it.

Who is our P1, Tom Bellingham? My P1 is George Russell. It has to be, mainly because he's the only one I've given a 10 to. So George Russell gets... You give him 310. Oh no, that is a lie. I just scrolled really quickly, and that's so true, because I give Piastri and Gassley as well. My eyes aren't working right now.

But yes, it's still going to be George Russell, because his car was turning. off. He had no dash. He had no break by wire. He had nothing left. Ian Beale-style. That's a niche reference. And then, you know, he still managed to finish P2. So George Russell's my Opie one. Oh, it's easily George Russell. I know Pastery put in that statement drive and led from the front and kind of really put like a marker down on his championship ambitions. But George Russell was the star of the show for me to beat a McLaren when a McLaren when a McLaren. shouldn't really have been beaten, even to beat a McLaren in a car that was literally falling apart as well.

And he's actually done so well that there are now a lot of rumours that he's actually going to get a contract extension and maybe Toto might stop flirting with Max Verstappen now and just say, you know what, George is proving himself and I think he has. And then the minute Max Verstapp and then text Toto to say, do you have a room at the inn, he'll go, yeah, through the Shredder it goes. Which would be the most unfair move in F1 history

because George is doing such a brilliant job. But that's a conversation for another day. We have to take what we're seeing right now and that's George doing a great job in that Mercedes. And that is it. Thank you, everybody, for tuning in and watching and listening to these F1 driver ratings. We know with these kind of ones, there will be discussion

and I look forward to reading your wonderfully crafted comments. Tommy, what are your final thoughts, sir? My final thoughts are, I enjoyed that one. There's a lot to dive into. And yeah, let's keep it respectful. But, you know, I understand why some people want to give people higher grades and lower grades. And yeah, it's a good, good race to look back on, I think. I love the way you say keep it respectful.

Like, it's about to be a boxing match. Right, guys, keep it clean. Keep it respectful. I know there are two drivers that will be. And this is the thing. We joked earlier about seeing Oscar Piaastri, some people giving him an 8 out of 10. So I get it. I look at other drive ratings and I've seen people give like Landon Norris a 4 out of 10.

And then I've seen people give him an 8 out of 10. It's just opinion in how you see it. And also like the scale, the scale will never be the same for anyone. Your 8 could be my 6. It genuinely is as difficult. That is Formula 1. We will never know. because they all have different cars and it is how you weigh the car versus the driver and where they should be.

And everyone does it differently because that's the beauty. Exactly. And you all love it because you keep tuning and you keep listening and it's one of our best series. So thank you everybody. We'll see you soon. Lots of love. Take care. Adios.

Bye. Bye. My chore right now. Okay. Chaw gang. Speaking of positivity and share, you know, we're saying about being respectful and whatnot. Have you given us a five-star review yet? Because if you haven't, my chore is to just pop that lovely little five stars and let us know why,

because it helps us a lot. That would be really awesome. And then just my actual chore, because that's like a mini chore, because that takes like two seconds and that's not a chore, really, is it? Is to send one positive message to someone, anyone. Doesn't have to be us. It can be us. But it doesn't need to be us.

And just make someone's day that little bit brighter. I know. That's crazy, isn't it? Like that Yeah All right Tommy Bye

Bye Bye Bye It'd be funny If you'd be funny if you just Tommy And then bleep Just bleep that out Oh my word

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