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

Episode Date: March 5, 2024

Never mind all the chaos happening off track, it's time for some driver ratings. Join us as we judge every driver on the grid and their expectations/performance/vibes. Plus, we're including your ratings too! Tickets for our live shows in April have almost sold out - get yours right here! You can sign up to our Patreon here! You'll get access to exclusive episodes you won't hear anywhere else, every P1 episode ad-free, full driver interview videos, early access to tickets and more!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.

Ready, Tommy? Oh yeah, I can't wait. Hello everybody and welcome back to the P1 podcast. With Matt and Tommy, we are here for our final bit of analysis for the first race of the season. And driver ratings returns. The one where everybody agrees with each other with the exact same number for every driver on the grid. Isn't that right, Tommy? How excited are you to see driver ratings back?

Exactly. Look, I mean, F1 is an absolute pandemonium at the moment. And I'm sure that with Maxa Stepan going to Mercedes, the FAA president under investigation, all this drama at Red Bull, people really want to just hear what we grow to Kevin Magnuson. They certainly will. And before we get into it,

I do need to mention that there is one additional factor to this year's driver ratings. And that is your ratings. That's correct. So after every single race, we will post on social media, and also on YouTube community, essentially a link for you to then go and grade every single driver

so you can give your two pennies. And then when you say that our ratings are washed and yours aren't, will then tell you that actually the majority was whatever it is out of 10. So look forward to that. It's going to be great. Right. Before we get into it, P1 live show tickets are available. We'd love to see you there.

Cambridge, Bath, London, the 11th, 12th and 14th of April. Tickets are still available. Link in social media slash on, YouTube slash everywhere. So see you there. Right, let's start. And it's not with Logan Sargent. It's with Kevin Magnerson, because we are in reverse championship order for teams, right? For teams, yeah. Yeah. Because I was going to say, Logan was like, Logan was 21st. I was like, wait, Logan was 21st. Surely he should go first. But we'll start with Kevin Magnuson. Okay. He qualified 15th, started 15th, and finished 12th. So I'm going to go with a 7 out of 10 for Kevin Magnuson. Because

I think he had a rather, rather good race for KMAG, I would say. Whether that is the Hasse genuinely being better in the race, we don't know just yet. And of course, Nika Holcomburg got caught up in a little bit shenanigans at lap one, turn one. But KMAG did a good job. Finished 12th just outside the points. The race pace did seem better than usual.

So yeah, he gets a decent grade. I've gone for a 7 out of 10 as well for KMAG. If you'd have said that he would have finished 12th in the first race, I would not have believed you. But fair play Hass and fair play to Kevin Magnuson avoided the chaos at the start. And then it was just sort of, you were just waiting, really,

that when he was up there in kind of 11th, 12th, you were just waiting for the usual has downfall where they can't look after their tyres. And it never happened. So fingers crossed for Hass, it saw it. But yeah, a solid result. for KMAG. And so before we move over to Nika Holkenberg, we have the fan vote in which 25% of you went for 8 out of 10. That was the majority decision for KMAG. We've got the KMAG

hype train over at the P1 listeners and watchers. Nika Holcomberg now qualified 10th, started 10th and finished 16th. I have gone for a 3 out of 10 for Nika Holkenberg, which may sound quite savage, But essentially he was the only driver that made a mistake in the whole Grand Prix. And what a mistake it was, all his qualifying heroics to get up into 10th. Would a point have been possible? It's a stretch, but then Stroll took a while to get through. But then I guess it was Nika that punted him out in the first place. But that being said, he just ruined his race from the very start.

And it was completely his fault. So I've got to be quite harsh on him. certainly i've gone for a four out of ten for nika holkenberg i think it was it was a clumsy collision it was quite unlucky it was the tiniest of touches and then round went stroll so i'm not going to be ridiculously harsh on him but at the same time i do have to downgrade him due to causing that collision and also getting i believe a bit of damage from that as well which he then had to pit for a new front wing which changed his strategy and then just put him on the on the back foot really and then you just can't really do much from there especially in a has i don't think points

were probably possible, but I definitely think an 11th place for Nika Holkenberg would have been on the cards. So yes, a 4 out of 10 from me. And the fans have given Nika Holkenberg a 6 out of 10. That is wild. Very generous.

Very generous. They clearly don't mind Lance Stroll getting spun around at the start. Jo Guanyu now, qualified 17th, started 17th and finished 11th. I am giving Zhugean Yu a whopping nine out of ten.

I think it was a brilliant drive from Jo. Again, had very little expectations for Stakef wanting Kixalba. And show had a brilliant race. He gained, I think, four positions at the start. And then had a really strong race. He pitted quite early. And sort of stayed there. Very difficult to score points.

Had you had one of the top five teams conking out, Lance Stroll getting a bit of suspension damage, show Guan Yu's getting points in his first race with stake a 14 kicks outba and that's going to get old very quickly but yeah I think it was a very very good drive from Joe and I don't think he could have done much more I've also gone for a nine out of ten for Joe

because yeah it's a great performance it's really hard to say what more he could have done really his qualifying wasn't spectacular but then he was one thousandths of a second off his teammate Bottas who we all know is good in qualifying so

they didn't have much pace and quality but yeah in the race he did a did a solid job avoided the carnage at term one and made a lot of places up at the start and then I thought he would drop back but but no 11th place is really literally the best he could have possibly got in well we would even call it Formula 1.5 now because that's just anyone but Red Bull but whatever whatever the non-top teams are now he essentially topped that but a shame that he doesn't get any points but that's a debate for another day

on where everyone's finishing should we start handing out more points we've already kind of had it before oh don't open that can of worms again Tommy we've done it once we don't we do it again and the fan vote gave an 8 out of 10 for Zhoguanu so not as impressed as we were Valtteri Bottas now

qualified 16th started 16th and finished 19th gone for a 5 out of 10 for Valtry Bottas it was you know he wasn't having the greatest race

but he was it was unfortunate that he got through no fault of his own essentially stuck behind the the chaos

with Strullden Holcomberg and just allowed everyone to go around the outside of him and then a throwback to his Monaco pit stop

to make things even worse but it's not it's not really his fault so I've gone straight down the middle with a five yeah I've gone

straight down the middle as well It just really wasn't his day. Qualifying, as you say, was very, very close between him and his teammate, but still showcasing that there isn't much speed in that state car. And then Bottas doing botass things with a 52.4 second pit stop was really unlucky with that turn one incident as well. And it just wasn't his day.

And, you know, Bahrain, he's been quite good over the last few years around here and sort of got some headlines. But this year he will definitely want to forget. And the fan vote also gave him a five out of ten as well. So we're all in agreement. Look at that. So exciting. Yuki Sonoda now, qualified 11th, started 11th and finished 14th.

I've gone for a six out of 10 for Yuki Sonoda because I think he was actually genuinely quite unlucky. But that just seems to be the running trend of Yuki Sonoda and his time at Alpha Tauri slash RB where he's running in the points and then he isn't anymore. due to, and I think even he was surprised about his own strategy as well. And I think he said in the post-ray's interview, you know, I was running in a good place and then I just fell back. So I think it was a decent-ish drive for UK. There is a slight bit of, obviously, taking into account the whole him and his teammate shenanigans that went on right at the end, which I don't even know really why that all happened,

but it did. But yeah, I think UK should have potentially beaten Stroll. in the end, but didn't and ended up finishing 14th. So yeah, six out of ten. I've also gone for a six out of ten for Yuki Saneda. It's a shame because, yeah, he was on for a good result. And it's hard to work out what happened. And I think he's felt the same way that what is going on,

that he's running in a really good position. And then by the end of it, you know, it all goes wrong. And then all that stuff with Daniel Ricardo just gets even worse for him. Not heard too much about it yet, but that's going to be one interesting team dynamic for the rest of the year now. It certainly is. And the fans gave Yuki Sanoda a 5 out of 10. So not as impressed. Daniel Ricardo now, qualified 14th, started 14th, finished 13th.

I've gone for a 5 out of 10 for Daniel Ricardo. I think he was a very disappointing qualifying session. I know R.B were hyped to the hills by everyone, and we were a victim of that as well. But even still, you think a more experienced driver would beat Yuki Snowda, but Sonoda qualified three places higher. And I think he drove, Danny Rick drove a worse race than Sonoda as well and was fortunate that he got the team orders,

and then all that chaos happened. But yeah, a bit of a, Not the greatest start with Daniel Ricardo, especially if he's meant to be fighting and putting pressure on Paris for this Red Bulls seat. It was a bit of a meh weekend, really, to say the least. I have gone for a six out of ten for Daniel Ricardo. I don't feel like you can particularly separate the two. I know Yuki fell back a little bit at the end,

but Danny Rick did catch up to him on a slightly different strategy. He did soft, hard, soft, and Yuki did soft hard, hard. So yeah, I don't think there was much between them. Obviously qualifying went Yuki's way, but in the end, Danny Rick did better in the race. So, yeah, I'm going to give a six out of ten. Well, I mean, they were on the same part of the track, so it's not like Yuki, they wouldn't have had that problem

if Yuki was 10 seconds down the road. So the fans gave Danny Rick a 5 out of 10 as well. So both fives for the RBs. Logan Sargent now, qualified 18. started 18th and finished 20th. Gone for a five out of 10 for Logan Sargent. I don't think he was having the worst race of his life until the steering wheel issue happened.

For some reason, Williams were having problems with both of their steering wheels after upgrading to, it's not even like they're upgrading to some like really new modern technology. They were just catching up to the rest of the teams that have had it for about, I don't even know how many years. Years now, yeah. Yeah, exactly. So I do feel a little bit sorry for Logan

But yeah, it's just straight down the middle After that, obviously he's completely out of the running He's miles behind everybody else But yeah, five out of ten I've also gone for a five out of ten I found him quite difficult to grade actually Because qualifying I was very disappointing qualifying

Because he didn't look like He was going to have those struggles again And 18th when Albon was up in 13th Is not great indeed but when he was actually running before he had the issue that wasn't his fault, he was actually doing a very decent job and up in 14th

and not actually that far behind Alburn. So it's a shame for him really because it would have been good to see over a full race if he'd close that deficit to Albin that we'd been seeing. And it looked like he might have done, but unfortunately, the steering will issue cost him and we'll never know.

We will not. The fans, gave Logan a four out of 10. Wow, I thought I was the hater. Alex Albon now, qualified 13th, started 13th and finished 15th. Gone for a six out of 10 for Alex Albin. I think it was a very just a quiet race for Albin after last year's kind of brilliance that he had quite a lot of the time.

and it kind of felt more like a normal Williams of old where he's done a decent job but can't really and he wasn't anywhere near the points in the end and nothing really huge to shout out about. No, completely agree. I've gone for a six out of ten for Alex as well. The car just wasn't there.

I think Williams were quite open about that as well in the fact that they didn't expect much from Bahrain. Alex had a great start, climbing up to P-11 at the beginning, but just fell back and couldn't even trouble the sort of top five teams. And I think they will be hoping for that at some points during the year, Monza being the one they completely and utterly go for, and they'll be going for the win for that.

And also, I think that they were struggling with some high power unit temperatures during the race. But then I think quite a few teams were. It's actually insane that there were that many issues out on track and nobody retired, which is just Formula 1 in 2024. The fans also went for a six out of ten for Alex Albon. Esteban Ocon now, qualified 19th, started 19th, finished 17th. I am locking in a four out of 10 for Esteban Ocon. My goodness gracious me, it is falling apart at the seams for Alpine at the moment.

I can't give them any higher. It's like, I know the car's rubbish, but they were so rubbish. Like it just, there was nothing there. Anytime they moved even slightly forward, they were just getting overtaken again. Like when they were being overtained by the RBs, you're like, what is happening here? And yet, they just, they had no speed.

I think that it was also testament as well. Like qualifying was, I mean, the entire field was separated by a second in Q1. So it's not like their has from a few years ago. They just need to make some incremental gains, and I'm sure they'll start to sort of trouble the bottom end of Q2 and that sort of stuff. So it's not the absolute end of the world,

but the amount of dismissals and, you know, resigning that's going on, I don't hold out too much hope for them. But yeah, Ocon's race, did we really see him? No. I've gone for a five out of ten for Estabana Ocon, the benefit of the doubt that the car is absolutely woeful.

And it is very difficult because, and especially the first one of the year, you don't know the performance of the car. cars yet so it's quite difficult to know but i've gone straight down the middle with a five out of ten because yeah it was just a very quiet race at the back uh from arkon and i cannot believe that that theory that alpine uh were going to be the worst team has actually come true in barrain and it would be fascinating to see uh if it will continue and based on the fact that uh they're going through uh employees incredibly quickly uh and firing everyone uh

Yeah, it's going to be an interesting season to say the least. Alpine. So the fan vote was for a five out of ten for Esteban Ockon as well. Pierre Gazley, qualified 20th, started 20th, finished 18th. Gone for a four out of 10 for Pierre Gazley, literally just won one Lester Knock-on because he finished behind him. I know it was extremely close. I think that was probably the fact that he did that soft tie gamble at the end.

The way Gazley did that soft tire gamble, I guess Ockon had nothing to play for and was backing off and how quickly he caught and nearly got him and was taking huge chunks out of it. It made me kind of wish that maybe we'd seen more of the grid just do something a little interesting and try it as well and maybe someone seen what they could have do if they started going three seconds a lap quicker

because the gap between the soft and the hard tires was enormous. But yeah, Gazley was the only just, but the worse of the two Alpines. And you can only measure it against your teammate, really. Very true. Yeah, I've gone for a four out of ten as well because it was very, very marginal between the pair of them. But yeah, I would have liked to have seen one more lap

to see if Gassley would have sent a dive bomb on Ockon into term one and potentially both of them lost their wheels or something because, yeah, that's not like the first time that has happened. The fan vote was a five out of ten as well for Pierre Gassley. Lance Stroll, qualified 12th, started 12th, finished 10th. But I don't think that really tells the whole story of Lance Strull's race after being punted by Holkenberg, spun around and was essentially last. I've given him an eight out of ten, because I think it was a very lovely comeback drive for Lance. I think that it helped that the sort of, well, I say help.

It's not great for them, but you've got the top four teams, then slightly lagging behind Adasso Martin. And then you've got this kind of quite large gap then to the other five. teams and Lance Stroll did a great job coming back through the field and then finished I think 19, 20 seconds behind his teammate Fernando in the end. So yeah, I think he can be very happy with his drive. It's one of those Lance things where you blink and you're like, oh wow, he's scored a point. That's amazing. So yeah, I think it needs to be commended for that with an 8 out of 10. I've gone for a 7 out of 10 for Lance Stroll, close to an 8, but I think qualifying down in 12th, that's the thing that still sadly let him down, which is a long way by.

behind Fernando Onzo and of course he caught up to him in the race and did a very good job in the race but you do put yourself at risk when you're in that mid-pack not saying it was his fault getting punted of course but that's why I've not gone for an eight out of ten but it was a good recovery drive and if he carries on doing this sort of thing then you know we won't need to have that constant conversation we did last year about why he's still in that seat because he's still in that seat because he's It was a solid and decent drive. He's only one point behind your goat, mate. So, you know, just remember that at this stage. The fan vote was an 8 out of 10 for Lance Stroll. Fernando Alonzo now, qualified 6th, started 6th, finished 9th. Gone for a 7 out of 10 for Fernando Alonzo, same as Stroll. You know, in the race, he's dropped back.

It seems Aston Martin are the worst of the best. if that makes sense in terms of the teams. I think more him dropping back is just that he qualified exceptionally well and probably shouldn't have been up in P6 and maybe the McLaren's didn't qualify as well as they should have and Lewis Hamilton. Yeah, it could be annoyingly. I hope I'm wrong, but a bit of a lonely season for Aston Martin

if they are in this no man's land behind McLaren, but fingers crossed not. fingers crossed not for Fernando Alonzo I have gone for a seven out of ten and some people are like I'm probably thinking how have you gone for Lance for an eight and for nine for a seven but I feel as though some of the ratings you sort of have the expectation of what that driver can do and Fernando you know there wasn't really anything special and Lance did a great comeback drive but yeah Fernando he just felt like a bit of a sitting duck

which is a shame of course one year ago he was pulling an amazing move on Lewis Hamilton into turn 10 and this year Hamilton I think Breezed passed him twice through slightly different timings of the strategy but it's still a decent enough job

God knows Fernando might have had the greatest race of his life but we will never know because he was on his own the entire time and that's not what we want to see we want Aston Martin to be in that mix with the front four and I think even

Landon Norris said that he was surprised that they weren't in that mix so we'll see maybe Saudi Arabia would be better The fan vote gave him a seven out of ten as well. So look at that. Wow, such agreement. Oscar Piastri.

Qualified eighth, started eighth, finished eighth. Just loves an eighth. I've gone for a seven though, unfortunately, for Oscar Piastri. Yeah, he was, I think, better in the race than perhaps we've come to know in comparison to his teammate. So I think that's definitely some good things that he can take away from Bahrain. I believe he finished less than 10 seconds behind Lando in the end. And he was aggressive at the start, as he always is. Tried a little move on Lando.

It was a bit cheeky like that from Oscar. He's not scared to make a move on lap one. But yeah, again, it was quite a quiet race for the McLaren's, I would say, but a quietly good race because they haven't scored any points the last two times they turned up to Bahrain. So having 12 coming away from this one is quite good for McLaren. I've also gone for a 7 out of 10 for Oscar Piastri. it was a yeah a good solid drive not hugely spectacular but I think he's he's done a good job

alongside lando who I think towards the end of the season lando was a lot stronger in race pace and it didn't look like it was that usual deficit which oscar can sort of be very pleased about if that's going to be a trend because we know how quick he can be in qualifying and if he's not going to be, not have those problems in the race base, if he puts in some crazy heroics again where he gets some amazing qualifying results, he could be in for some amazing performances,

but McLaren just weren't there, but they've even said that it's not their favourite circuit. Yep, they will be back. The fans gave Oscar Piastri a seven out of ten as well. Lando Norris now, qualified seventh, started seventh, finished sixth. I have gone for a seven out of ten as well for Lando Norris. Same as his teammate. They were very closely matched.

Same in qualifying, I think. I expected more from Landa. I think he even said it himself. I know Bahrain doesn't suit them a lot, but we've seen how good he is. And I think he maybe left a bit on the table in qualifying. Should have at least been ahead of Fernando Alonzo. So gone for a seven out of ten.

I've also gone for a seven out of ten for Lando. Yeah, that was so. closely contested in that in qualifying. And I think he said, you know, it was a couple of tents and he would have been on the front row. And, yeah, Lando, I think felt maybe he had left a little bit, as you say, begging there. But a quiet, good race for McLaren. And that's why it's a seven. He got past Alonzo early on and then later again as well.

And then ended up finishing P6. So I think they can build from that, right? It's not a disaster for McLaren. So let's see what happens in the coming races. The fans also gave Lando a 7 out of 10. Almost forgot to say that part. Carlos Sines now qualified fourth, started fourth, finished third. I've gone for a 9 out of 10 for Carlos Sines.

I will not hear any disrespect about Carlos's race. It's hard to compare him with Charles LeClaire because Charles was running a break problem. But what we can see is Carlos's moves that he made. They were decisive. They were of a man that does not. care anymore in terms of sending it. And that's kind of just seems to be the way when the contract comes up or it expires or they don't have a seat, drivers just get a little bit more tenacious.

And I felt that with Carlos. He did a great move on George Russell as well as teammate twice. And yeah, he was quick. He was, you know, a few seconds off of Sergio Perez. So what more can you really ask for Carlos? It does seem as though Charles would have potentially, you know, finished in P2, had he not had those break problems, but this is ifs, buts and maybe is what we're looking at right now is absolutes. And Carlos did a great drive, so nine out of ten. I've also gone for a nine out of ten.

I think the actual race itself is probably a ten out of ten performance, but of course he's qualified behind his teammate. But in the race, yeah, a brilliant job to get through the field. I know Leclair had issues, but his overtakes were not. nice he was aggressive but kind of aggressive but in a sort of fair way if you like i think he's him and le clare in particular are so good at that like inch perfect racing um which is really good to see and yeah carlos drove a really good race and um definitely feels like he was maybe fired up with everything that's that's going on in in silly season and of course him as of yet not having a drive

and what a time to deliver a really, really good race. The fan vote for Carlos was also a nine out of ten. Charlotte Clare now, qualified second, started second, finished fourth. I've gone for an eight out of ten. I was going to give him a seven, but reading into more of the break problems that he had, it did look quite dramatic. So to actually bring the car home in fourth place is a decent result.

And I think what might have been, maybe he could have fought Peres for P2, as we know how quick of a drive there. He can be, but alas, we saw about 8,000 lockups during the race, which wasn't great for him. Yes, we did. It wasn't great for me or my mental health either, Tommy. I've gone for an eight out of ten as well for Charlotte Claire. I think he deserves at least that because of the problems he was managing. I've read that he was supposedly losing up to six tenths per lap in the sort of opening 20 laps of the Grand Prix. Take that with as much or as little pinch of sort as you'd like.

But these are the things that are floating around. And it was quite clear to see that he was less confident on the brakes. You know, for Carlos to just send out the inside and also Charles still lock up. I think that was visible proof that he was having problems with his brakes that Carlos was able to outbreak him, not lock up, Shal went sailing on a little bit into turn one and still locked up. And, you know, if you didn't want any more visible proof of the fact that there was potentially more than a hundred degrees split between the right front and the left front,

left front brakes, that's not something that is very easily managed. So, yeah, a decent drive from Shal. And please, I just want to see, I just want to see his car not, not. not have these problems, you know, just day one, lap one. Come on, like, please, give me a break. The fans gave Charles LeCler a 7 out of 10. Disgusting. George Russell now, qualified third, started third, finished fifth. I've gone for an 8 out of 10 for George Russell. I think it was an impressive weekend for him. Qualifying was brilliant to get up there in P3. And then he was managing issues similarly to Charles LeCler in the sense of

things that were holding him back. He was overheating, I believe, with his car, and genuinely just seemed like he was really struggling for pace in the race, but still managed to finish fifth, which is a decent start to the season, and was very, I mean, the movie made on Charlotte Clow was brilliant into turn four. And yeah, I think George had a good weekend, so eight out of ten. George Russell is another driver.

I was going to give a seven out of ten, but it looks like he was managing a lot of problems, So I've gone for an 8 out of 10. I heard that Mercedes might even be losing half a second a lap near the end due to their issues again. That's what they say. We'll never know exactly. But it was clear that they had a big problem.

So it would have been good to see what George could have done actually in the race because he qualified superbly well. And it's no mean feat to be so far ahead of having. Hamilton, although that being said it was two-tenths, but a lot of spots on the grid to get up into P3 and did a very good job as well. So, yeah, I've gone for an eight out of ten. The fans gave George Russell a seven out of ten. They didn't care about the overheating. Lewis Hamilton, qualified ninth, started ninth, finished seventh.

Gone for a six out of ten for Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton. Yeah, disappointing qualifying. I expected him to do better. I know he had that seat issue. I've not heard too much more of how extreme that was and how much that was costing him. But in terms of qualifying, I expected more from him and then to not make as much progress as I thought he was going to was a bit disappointing because normally it's the race where Lewis comes alive. So when you know how good he is in the race, I personally found it a bit of a disappointing race from Lewis Hamilton. It certainly was. I have gone for a seven out of ten for Lewis Hamilton. It is close between a six and a seven. I just need to also note that he didn't finish all too far behind George Russell

and was having the same issues and had a broken seat. So I would, yeah, it was a disappointing qualifying. It was marginal, as we say. That was, someone had to come out of the wrong end of that. And he was just stuck in that train for much longer than I anticipated or thought that Hamilton would. But then showed some strong pace towards the end. And yeah, I think a 7 out of 10 is reasonably fair for him. The fans gave him a 6 out of 10.

Sergio Perez, qualified 5th, started, 5th, finished 2nd. I have gone for an 8 out of 10 for Sergio Perez. Not the greatest of qualifiers ever, but still in the mix, made it through the Q3, got himself in fifth place. That's, that's, you can build from that, right? And he did. He finished second. He's on the podium. It's a Red Bull 1-2.

Nowhere near Max, but we're not expecting that. That's fine for Perez. An 8 out of 10, decent performance. What more can you really ask for Perez? I don't think we're expecting anymore, especially around Bahrain. Maybe when we get to street tracks when the Ministry of Defense comes out. but right now I'm happy with that

for Perez at 8 out of 10 I've gone for a 7 out of 10 for Sergio Perez Slander! I know These, they're all so difficult to rate because now

Bro finish second come on, give him an 8. I also want to change my nose Hamilton grade because I forgot if it was only four seconds behind Russell.

Oh! Editor, sorry, Hamilton 7 and Perez I will give him the benefit of the doubt and he can have an eight for now. But it's so difficult because no one else finished 22 seconds behind their teammate,

but then he's doing everything you ask of him. So it's such a difficult one to balance for Perez because he's in such a unique position that no other driver is. And until it happens, if it happens, we'll never know how anyone else will do in that situation because, and you can argue that Albin and Gassley were also 20 seconds every race off max. So yeah, we'll go for an 8 out of 10 because he has finished second on the road, which is what he is there to do essentially. Mexican fans, you can breathe a sigh of relief. Tommy's given him an 8 out of 10. And the fans also gave Sergei Perez an 8 out of 10.

Finally, Max Vestappen, qualified first, started first, finished first. Now, I wanted this year to basically be a bit more strict with grading. So like 10 out of 10 would have to be the perfect race because otherwise Max is going to get 10 out of 10 every week. So I've gone for a 10 out of 10 because he had the perfect weekend. Yeah, essentially, I know the Red Bull's really good, but how can you give anything less than 10 when he's absolutely smashed the field he's got pole he's led every single lap he's got fastest lap you just can't he just can't

give him anything other than a 10 and i do think yeah later in the year it's not always going to be a 10 if he wins just because if that car is that far ahead um but this weekend um and you can argue maybe with this will never affect max with all the noise of red bull as well that he's just delivered a race like that. He's just too good and ice cold, isn't he? He's just Max Verstappen, isn't he? I've also gone for a 10 out of 10. Max just starting 2024, as he means to go on.

And on he will go, I predict with, yeah, it was an absolute masterclass from Max. The way he pulled away from the field so quickly was a man that does not care about headlines or entertainment or anything like that, he is here to win 24 races this year and let's see if he can do it. And yeah, a 10 out of 10 is fully, fully deserved. And the fans also gave him a 10

and it is the most unanimous vote of anyone. I think the highest in terms of majority was maybe like 40, 45% for all the other drivers. 88% of people have voted for Max Verstappen at a 10 out of 10. So that just shows you the dominance that he displayed. Finally, who is our P1? Well, there's only one 10 out of 10 that I've given,

and same for you, Tommy. So it is Max Verstappen, isn't it? Bro has been stunned into silence that he decided to mute and then not speak anymore. Did you think that that was it? No, I was actually singing the Dutch national anthem and then realised I was on mute, which is probably a blessing for everyone.

That's a really good thing. Thank you so much. Your brain must have thought, I'm going to do a terrible joke here, and then muted without you thinking. King. So that's good. But yes, yours is also Max Verstappen, right? Of course, yeah, the only one that got a 10 out of 10, but shout out for Shoganyan Yon, Carla Sites. Who were the only others that got nines? Absolutely. And that is it. The end of the first episode of the 2024 season for

Formula One driver ratings. Tommy, what are your final thoughts? My thoughts are... Oh, just thoughts. My final thoughts. There we go. I hope stuff happens in Saudi Arabia because it makes the drive ratings more interesting when people actually have interesting things in the race because everyone at the moment we have no idea how good each car is until we've seen a few races and not really anything happened to anyone minus about four drivers.

So come on Saudi. start giving us some if the on track stuff was even just 1% as good as all the drama going off it would be in for a banger It would be 20-21 all over again Yeah So yeah we will see what Saudi has to offer

Surely that track should breed chaos So we're looking forward to it Thank you everybody once and for all Once and for all that's crazy That sounds like we're never doing an episode ever again One and all Either or either of all Yeah God love it

Yeah one episode done and done in the locker. See you next year. But yet, P1 Live Show tickets are still available. So go and check them out. We'd love to see you in the middle of April. And that is it. Lots of love. Take care. Bye. Do, do. Do, do, do, do, do, do. Shut up. Goodbye. Bye. Make sure you follow us on all of our socials. We're Matt P1 Tommy on Twitter, TikTok, Twitch and Instagram. You can also sign up to our Patreon at the link in the episode notes for ad-free episodes, full video interviews and extra bonus episodes for as little as $5 a month. Finally, make sure you're following us on Spotify.

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