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

Episode Date: November 7, 2023

Contracts dangle while DNF's flatter many of the pack - let's review some drivers! Tickets for our UK live tour are selling fast! You can purchase them right HERE!We're now on Patreon! Sign up HERE for early access to our December tour tickets, ad-free episodes, bonus content, and loads 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.

everybody and welcome back to the P1 podcast. With Matt and Tommy, we are here today to go through every single driver's performances at the Brazilian Grand Prix from 1 all the way to 10 and maybe zero if they do terribly. Is it 1 to 10 or is it 0 to 10 Tommy? I think we've given a 0. Pretty sure we have. There has been some drivers washed enough performances to warrant a 0. So basically we're just stinking liars calling it F1 to 10 really, aren't we?

Yeah, we just make things up as we go along. Now, before we dive into this, we did read some of your comments from the previous one. And fair enough, we put our hands up. Maybe some things were a little bit too savage. Some things we should have maybe researched a little bit more. So we have put in place more research and more beautiful opinions ready for you with factual evidence to go alongside it. So, yeah, just wanted to say that.

We now speak about a five-star review, because if you want yours to be read out, please leave us a five-star review. Let's know why you love this podcast. This one comes in from Hamilton Fan, 44 from the United Kingdom. This podcast is great, thumbs up emoji. It's a great way to catch up with F1 News. I love listening to Wild Predictions, Reactions, and Driver Ratings from 1 to 10. We just discussed that, and maybe it was zero. When I'm bored, I know exactly what to do.

Listen to the best podcast in F1 history. This podcast is my key way to beat my dad with my will knowledge. Oh, wow. I tried to watch racist live. not I just listen to this awesome podcast. Amazing. You're actually using our opinions and our wheel knowledge against your own father. Fair play. Love it. Love the reviews. You can come in. Please do. Right. Let's start where we always start home. Logan's Sergeant. Logie Bear. He started the sprint in 20th, finished 20th, started the race in 19th, finished 11th.

I have gone for a six out of ten for Logan's sergeant this weekend. Of course, we have difficulties now because we don't have sprint weekends every single weekend. So how much lean, you know, how much do you lean towards a sprint? Well, you know, dying 20th and finishing 20th, you have to kind of take into account. But his race was pretty good. He wasn't too slow. We had a very unique strategy of medium and then three soft stints at, Williams were like, no, we are not touching the medium tires and we're definitely not

touching the hards, although they did touch the hards to begin with and then change to softs after the red flag. He was, you know, we thought at one point Tommy, we were like, oh, 14 seconds to Russell, he's closing in a little bit here. Of course, the performance is flattered slightly by the amount of DNFs, but 17 seconds off a point. I can't give him any lower than the six. I can. I've gone for a five out of ten for Legen Sajon. Yeah, like you say, he finished 11th, which seems good on paper, but then he's actually finished ahead of one car on the road. His sprint wasn't great at all.

And I think maybe I'm a little bit more harsh just because... Actually two, Tommy, just want to say two, Oscar and Daniel, you know? No, sorry, I was thinking, well, I wasn't even counting them. I was counting the house, actually, yeah. but yeah the fact that for me with Logan it's obviously great that he's now you know we've gone a few races where he's not made silly errors because that was the thing we were saying that that was really affecting him but I thought there'd be some kind of improvement now in terms of pace you know he's still four-tenths off album in qualifying and getting whitewashed by him

and he's not you know we're quite a way into the season now and you think there'll be some improvement on pace rather than his only improvement being that he's not crashing in every race or making mistakes. So yeah, I think he's still a bit of work to do, which is why I imagine they're not confirming him and still humming and aering about that decision,

which kind of feels weird to say because it doesn't feel like there's still one place on the grid, but of course he's still not confirmed yet. You would think that by this point, they would have made some sort of decision. decision like you know we've only got a couple of races to go Vegas and Abu Dhabi what are Williams waiting for

are they waiting for Logan Sargent the beast to be awoken the ancient one or whatever that meme is and and to really sort of put in an amazing performance and then and then they go yeah okay cool there's your contract Logan but until then you're not getting it it does feel like they could even drag this on into the off season it genuinely feels

like Williams but then Williams have that luxury I suppose it's not really a luxury but they have that it's not like Logan all go, we'll make a decision or I'll go elsewhere. He's very much hamstrung into Williams or nothing. So Williams are taking their time and we'll see what they decide. Alex Albon started the sprint in 19th, finished 15th, started the race in 13th and did not finish. Got for a six out of ten for Alex Albon.

Probably one of his worst weekends. Of course, he was unlucky to be involved in that crash, which was very much a racing incident. We've seen it a lot in the midfield this year where three. very wide what they are now, Formula One cars, on a thin old school track, trying to go into term one, ends up in a crash. But the reason, I think, you know, the sprint,

it wasn't ideal, the fact that his qualifying wasn't great. And then, of course, in the main qualifying as well, another track limits thing, like how many more of them is he going to get? So in a great season that Album's had, I think this is one of his weaker, weaker weekends. A bit of a mouth or that.

Right, that one down. I've gone for a six out of ten as well for Alex. I was dilly dally between a five and a six because it's very difficult to really judge a race that he hasn't taken part in. But putting four tents on your team, mate, he was incredibly lucky to be involved in that crash. So I feel like we have to put a little bit of a nod to the fact that he was still, doing a lot better in that car than than Logan was.

But yeah, very difficult to really judge past that because the sprint's just that, the sprint, it's not too much, but starting 19th, did not help his fortunes in that race either. Daniel Ricardo, started the sprint in 8th, finished 9th, started the race in 17th, finished 13th.

Oh, this is so difficult to grade. But I've gone for a 6 out of 10 for Daniel. I don't know why him and Oscar were a lap down. I still don't understand it. I don't get it. It makes absolutely no sense to me why they were a lap down

and there was no effort from the FIA to make that change or to enable them to unlap themselves because they were incredibly unlucky. The red flag was flown and for whatever quirk in the rulebook, that was it. Their whole race was done at the beginning.

They were praying for a safety car. It never came. but from what you could see, Daniel seemed like he had good pace and it's weird to think that, yeah, he was literally just racing against Piastri. It was like Formula 1.5 quite literally where it was a two-car race against Piaastri. Difficult to obviously judge because Piastri had damage and also was being a bit of a scapegoat for scapegoat. Is that the one?

Guinea pig. Guinea pig. That's the one, not scapegoat. I knew it was some sort of animal. Yeah, so guinea pig for Norris. Yeah, I'm going to give him a six out of ten because he had a very solid qualifying for the sprint and just missed out on a point there.

So I'm going to give him a six. I've also gone for a six out of ten for Daniel Riccardo. Yeah, extremely unlucky because his pace was actually good. He's running behind Yuki at one point. And they looked similar on pace. So you've got to think that if he'd have been allowed to race and not had that contact, he might have gone through the field as well that Yuki did, which we'll never know.

I guess the reason it's not a seven or anything for me is I do think the sprint, it maybe lacked a bit of something that I think in his heyday and maybe will come with more experience because he still obviously just come back. It's maybe lacked a bit of the racecraft, which is normally his strong point. And I know he was very frustrated on the radio

and in interviews talking about, oh, the DRS is a joke. because I just got repassed, but it's like, well, try something different then, you know, because he keep getting repassed by science, maybe wait and then try and go into turn four or something. So, which we saw other drivers do. So I think it was a missed opportunity to maybe

could have got a point in the sprint as well. But God, it does feel like a what might have been weekend for Ricardo as well, because they did actually have some very good pace. And if Ricardo was in the mix as well, and they didn't have the problems. They could be right up there with Williams now in the constructors. Certainly could. It feels almost like a little bit of a missed opportunity for Daniel Ricardo

and maybe could have picked up a point or two in the sprint. And of course, the race, you know, incredibly unlucky with the stray wheel that just smashed his rear wing off. But yeah, still reasonably promising moving forward. Yuki Sanoda started the sprint in sixth, finished sixth. Started the race in 16th, finish ninth. I've gone for a nine out of ten for Ikeesnoda. I think it was a brilliant, a brilliant set of results, really.

You know, massive for a team like Al-Fa-Tauri that haven't scored many points. The main race, the reason it's not a 10 for me is because he didn't qualify great, but he came through the field and did a good job. And his sprint in particular was absolutely superb. I mean, an Al-Fa-Tauri to start six and finish six, I thought he'd fall back through the field. but he was of course you know had the luxury of using that new soft tire but he was mixing up with the ferraris and the the Mercedes which was very impressive so a very very good drive from yuki and like said earlier like alfutari they're they're coming for williams they certainly are that is the fight that we'll see the graphic for the fight for yes i do yeah as at the start of the season oh i hope we get a three way team fight for the driver's Championship, as at the end,

of the battle for seventh in the constructors. Hey, there's still a battle of P2, Ferrari are coming. I've gone for a nine out of ten for Yuki Sonoda. I thought it was a sensational weekend for him. There were a few mistakes in there. Of course, you know, knocked out in Q1 on Friday. He, of course, had a great sprint qualifying, the great sprint race.

He made a mistake in the race as well, which gave a position to Bottas, lost about five seconds, I think. with that and that actually might have been the difference between him fighting Hamilton at the end had he not made that made that mistake so um you know if spots and maybe's but i can't give a 10 uh due to those little small small areas but a nine still a fantastic job and you can can be very very proud of himself and yeah alphotauri have mounted an absolutely unseen unheard un predicted uh comeback in the in the constructors championships are well done to them

Nika Holkenberg started the sprint in 12th, finished 18th, started the race in 11th, finished 12th. I've gone for a 6 out of 10 for Nika Holkenberg. Has, I mean, it's control C, control V, copy and paste. That has, oh my God, like, what are they doing? They're 10th in the constructors. They have no race pace. Their new car hasn't done anything, really. It hasn't had that leap forward that we were all sort of hoping for for their sake.

The strategy for Nico was soft, medium, soft, soft, soft, soft, which is an interesting strategy. But the soft tires obviously were the thing that all the teams were wanting to be on at all times, which is something we haven't really seen that often this year. His qualifying was great, as it always is. You know, pretty much utilising most of what that has can offer. Did get a bit of sandwich, to be fair. To get a bit of damage after being sandwich.

It was sandwich. Yes, it wasn't his fault. If I got to a portion blame, it was his teammate that sort of caused it a little bit, but it was more unlucky than anything. But yeah, it's just, I'd love to give him more than a six because I'm sure he's driving a great race. Yeah, I've also gone for a six out of ten. Hasso just so frustrating.

You know, at the end of the day, they're a racing team and that's why they're there. but it really does feel like why do they even bother at the moment? Because, you know, they're finishing, you mentioned it earlier about this, but in my opinion, I'm almost like counting Oscar Piastri and Ricardo in their own separate race.

So I'm calling it like last on the road for Holcomburg in a race of, you know, attrition, still not getting a point. They're just absolutely awful. And Holkenberg can do whatever he, likes in qualifying, do amazing things, but it's just going to be absolutely nowhere in the race, and that's exactly what happened again. So six out of ten. Kevin Magnerson, started the sprint in 11th, finished 16th, started the race in 12th, did not finish. Gone for a five out of 10 for

KMAG, just one lower than his teammate. I do think it was a racing incident. If I had to blame anyone, like you say, I think it is Magnuson for moving over. But it was. It was a racing incident. It was It wasn't the usual kind of moving over craziness where he's made a huge move. He maybe should have just been a little bit more aware that there's people to the side of him in his mirrors. But it's not absolutely awful. So it's quite hard to judge him really. So I've gone for five out of ten, the old classic Haskell of what are they even doing? I don't know.

But literally, I've gone for five out of ten as well for KMAG. just a little bit worse than Hulk over the parts that we saw. But yeah, I mean, he did technically beat him in the sprint, but I mean, 16th over 18th. It's not really too much to really write home about and then not being able to take part in the race. It's difficult. And yeah, I think if we are going to apportion a slight tiny bit of blame,

it will be to KMAG, but very much a racing incident. So yeah, five out of ten for me. Lance Droll now. Started the sprint in 17th, finished 12th, started the race in third, I have gone for a whopping nine out of ten for Lance Stroll this weekend. Look, the sprint, whatever, not great, but he did a fantastic job in qualifying

on Friday for the Sunday race. And to finish fifth, to not be that far off Alonzo either, I think is, and I'm taking a little bit into consideration here of Lance Stroll's previous performances, it's not just a flat out one specific moment in time. anyway, this is how I grade. And he's been on a horrendous run of form. And to secure fifth place for Aston Martin to leap back the way they have,

I've been incredibly impressed with Lance Stroll as well. And you can't take that away from him. Alonzo did Alonzo things. I'm sure he'll get a 15 out of 10. But Lance deserves a 9 this weekend. I've gone for an 8 out of 10 for Lance Stroll. I was so boardlined between an 8 and a 9. The reason I've gone for an 8 is because we saw,

or essentially the race where he was maybe even his best performance of the season and then the sprint was very much the old stroll where he's getting knocked out in the first part of qualifying. Yeah, he came through the pack and did all right but there was maybe another opportunity given what pace we saw that they could have got points and I don't really know why he was 17th

but his qualifying was brilliant to be third and then obviously dropped behind for now. Fernando at the start. And in that little battle of Alonzo and Perez, he caught them back up and not very far behind Alonzo, which is exactly what he should be doing. You know, we wouldn't, we wouldn't be slandering him if he was behind Fernando Alonzo,

particularly me who thinks he's, you know, the goat. But it's exactly what he should be doing. So I'm glad he's kind of turned that around and it's a good performance from Stroll. Yeah, very. good. Well done Lance. Fernando Alonzo started the sprint in 15th, finished 11th, started the race in fourth, finished third.

You'll be amazed. I've gone for a 10 out of 10 for Fernando Alonzo. The sprint, he was unlucky with the Ocon crash and may have ended up with more points had he been able to actually take part in that because he did come through the field was making moves in that, which was quite nice. Maybe we'll get into it with the Ocon thing,

but I personally don't think Alonzo was to blame for that despite some people taking a screenshot of Alonzo turning left and trying to explain an entire move on a screenshot which is always a bad take in my opinion. It's similar to a screenshot of where like I can't remember if it's like Ferrari or Mercedes or whatever like people have screenshot it'd say a driver turning left the wheels going straight and then they're yeah they're like why is this happening yeah exactly like you can't just take a screenshot and go this is. is this is factual evidence. It's like Alonzo is moving over quickly to get on the other side of

the grid because someone else was coming behind him and that's why he was doing that. But let's talk about his amazing race again because I'll never get sick of it. Just amazing. I think the best bit about it was normally in the older age of drivers, they still have those fundamental bits there but maybe lose certain aspects. But I think we saw. the fact that Alonzo is still good in pretty much every area. It wasn't just... It's at the superlative you're going to use for Fernando Alonzo? Goated in every area.

Yeah. The fact that, you know, still might even be a 10 or maybe a 9 if he'd just done the defensive driving, but the fact that he then also went on the attack and showed how good his racecraft is still, catching Hamilton napping at the star. Little moments like that

just shows that he can still absolutely mix it with the very best despite being 42. The man just is driving like he's in his peak still. It's absolutely insane. And it was just superb. So good. I have also gone for a 10 out of 10 for Fernando Alonzo. No surprises there if I've given Lance a 9.

So unbelievably impressed. I mean, it could have, I mean, just the defensive driving at the end was something that everybody that wants to be a Formula One driver or a Carty or whatever just needed to write down. Just take notes. The master was in session. It's like when a coach is teaching you something in sport or whatever and then they start doing it and you're like, wow, that's how it's done. That was literally Fernando Alonzo. My God, it just makes me smile thinking about how he kept Perez at bay. and then to get him back on the last lap was just icing on the cake.

It was incredible to watch. And yet, to get a podium after what Aston Martin have been doing for the last how many races trying to upgrade their car and it's actually been a downgrade, they went backwards and it actually went forwards in terms of what they've been doing with the car for the Brazilian Grand Prix weekend. And yeah, I'm so happy to see him right back where he belongs

because that's where we want to see him. That's where we want to be able to witness Alonzo D'Kiwold. doing these things because when he's in the midfield, he might still be doing these things, but we don't get to see it as much because we don't see it on the cameras. So well done, Fernando. Amazing, amazing performance. And hopefully they're back for the next two Grand Prix as well. Bautry Bottas now, start the sprint at 14th, finished 19th and started the race in 18th and

did not finish. I mean, he flexed on his team, mate, quite aggressively in qualifying. But, I mean, that was 18th over 20th. I've gone for a five out of 10 for Valtry. It's a difficult weekend. Of course, DNFing at the end. He was running in 12th before having that problem, which I'm not actually sure if it was ever said what that was.

A poor weekend for Alpha Romeo as a whole. And yeah, five out of ten, it's just, my goodness me, I just want them to do better, especially with the other side of the garage with Joe Guan Yu. He's got a lot of potential. But Alpha Romeo just seemed to turn up once in every blue moon. So yeah, five out of ten. for Valtrey.

I've gone for a, oh, I nearly was going to give him a seven, but I don't know if that's too high. Seven! Well, he's put a lot of, he's put a lot on his teammate, and then he was going to potentially get in the points. Let me just check why I've given another driver who was in the mix. No, it's a six. I was looking compared to that and then was like, no, actually. Yeah, six out of ten for Bottas.

You may have got a point if it wasn't for the technical problem, but then of course there's not been many finishers. I do think it is a case of, I do think it's very similar to Hasse in the sense that like, you never know like a Holkenberg. We'd be giving six all the time and whatever and being like, oh, this could be an amazing drive, but we'll never know.

Like they have fallen off so badly. And they do look genuinely like a not even midfield now, just a back marker for them to, yeah, be qualifying 18th is so bad, but obviously put quite a bit on his teammate. So for that, it's a six out of 10. Okay. Joe Gwangu, start the sprint in 18th, finish 17th, start the race in 20th, did not finish. I've gone for a four out of 10 for Joe Gwanyu. I think, yeah, his qualifying has been really poor recently, and that's what I think's let him down the most. to be that far behind Botas

who could say is maybe in the twilight of his career and then yeah that it's so hard to know with Alfa Romeo but I just after some kind of there's moments where Joe Guan knew was starting to sort of show glimpses of something really good and it almost feels like since they signed him again he's kind of just not really showing that spark again.

It's a sign of curse, isn't it? Yeah, maybe it is. But yeah, you shouldn't really be qualifying dead last in an Alpha Romeo. I know it's bad, but it's not a great look. So I've gone for a four. I've also gone for a four out of ten for Joe Guan Yu. Yeah, what more is there to say?

Qualifying dead last is not what you want to be doing. And you make a very good point, Tommy, about the Bottas and Twilight of his career because, you know, we would have compared a few years ago, say Kimi Rik and Antonio Jovanazzi. It's a very similar sort of comparison to be made. I'm not saying Bottas is some sort of old age pensioner, but he is much further into his career.

And as a young driver like Jo Guanyu, he needs to be beating Bottas every single race weekend, I would say, if he's going to start to be called up for the bigger teams, which is, of course, what all drivers dream of. But I'm not particularly impressed by Joe Guanyu's performance this weekend. And Alfa Romeo in general, very, very difficult to judge.

But yeah, I'm going to lock in a four. Oscar Piastri, started the sprint in 10th, finished 10th, started the race in 10th, finished 14th. Oh, Oscar, what's going on? Now, I've gone for a 5 out of 10 for Oscar this weekend. Difficult, of course, qualifying on Friday because of the mistake he made, difficult track conditions.

Very easy to make that mistake. but of course that drops him down to 10th so makes him a bit of a target when it comes to chaos on Sunday, which is what we saw. And then in the sprint as well, he qualified 10th and Lando's on pole. And that's a massive, massive difference.

You know, three tenths of a second, you might think, ah, it's not too bad, but it's Brazil. We've made this point before. It's actually a larger deficit in terms of impact. Three tenths is big around Brazil. And it just kind of put him on the back foot. If he hadn't, I mean, McLaren, of course, made that mistake anyway of not sending him out earlier.

And also, I guess, you know, there were other teams that made that mistake as well, Perez being another one. But I saw that Perez was actually still on for third place in that qualifying session, had it not been that yellow flag that Oscar Piastri had caused. So there was still grip out there and Oscar obviously made that mistake. And then stuck a lap down, which I still don't agree with. I think it's a load of absolute BS, that those two were left stranded, doing nothing for the whole race. And, yeah, had damage for the whole of it.

Five out of ten. I can't say it was any better than that as a weekend. Yeah, I've gone for a six out of ten for Oscar Piastri. I think he's, of course, very unlucky at the start. But where, yeah, where has that pace gone? Maybe it's just the expectation is too much, you know, the fact that because his highs have been so, good in places like Qatar.

You know, maybe maybe if he'd been like this all season, we'd have been going, oh, he's actually doing pretty well for a rookie. But the fact that he went through that little stage where there was so much hype around him, he was beating Lando occasionally in qualifying, and then he had that amazing thing in Qatar. And it's like, Oscar Piaastri has arrived.

Here he is. And then ever since then, yeah, his pace has kind of dropped off a bit. Lando's gone up another gear and Oscar seems to have been left behind a little bit so of course he was a guinea pig in the race but I really hope we get to see that

Piestri pace again because it's been missing for the last few races. Bit of alliteration. Enjoyed that, Tommy. Piastri pace. Keep it up. I know you love it. Lando Norris started the sprint in first,

finished second, started the race in sixth, finish second. I have gone for a big fat whopping 10 out of 10 for Lando Norris because, well, his sprint was sensational, did the best he could, of course, getting on pole. Maybe he could have challenged Max at the start, but then with Max's pace,

he got to think that he was never going to beat him anyway. And then, of course, the race, he was first in Q1, I believe, and Q2 and was looking set to challenge for poll. And then it's McLaren's blunder that's kind of made him start way down the order. And then he's literally made up for the blunder in like a split second with a brilliant, like an incredibly brave but calculated move

to get into second place from six on the grid. I know, of course, Charlotte Clare was missing. So he had that gap to go into. But it's still. Oh, shall be a part of that? Just I'd remind you of that. But, yeah, you know,

and even Challenge Max at one point, yes, it was for one lap, but Lando is driving absolutely superbly at the moment. It's hard. The start of this season, we of course mentioned that, you know, Vestappan,

Hamilton and Alonzo were like the three stars of this season. And Norris is definitely like in that, in that, chat now because of how well he's been doing. So yeah, 10 out of 10 for Lando so, so good. I've also gone for a 10 out of 10 for Lando Norris. What an amazing weekend he had and showing that there is still very much innate raw speed in that McLaren and with the Lando Norris combination in particular. An amazing start, as you say, just to make up the problem that McLaren caused him in one corner is unbelievable. I was looking at the data

and the fact that he started on scrubbed or used set of soft tires to some degree in that first start, managed to gain four positions, and you're thinking, okay, cool. And then started on fresh softs for the restart and had a worse start

than when he, yeah, I don't know. I'm sure there's physics to explain that. So maybe, just maybe Sholoklo couldn't have got Maxfuss to happen into term one because Lando had a bit more of a poor start. I was having to defend from Hamilton.

But overall, to grab the sprint pole and then sat there going, Why? It just shows he could have got a double pole this weekend just gone. And maybe, he could have maybe, thought Max Verstappen had he had track position because it wasn't a massive pace difference between the two of them. If Max is behind, at least we're going to get maybe some sort of fight.

We saw with Alonzo. Alonzo had a lot less speed than Perez and he managed to somehow keep him at bay, although I'm sure keeping Max Verstappen at bay is a much more difficult. prospect but still Lando it's a 10 out of 10 and very very impressive once again. Pierre Gassley started the sprint in 13th, finished 13th, started the race in 15th, finish seventh. Pierre Gassley, like just a quiet little worldly that he's had. I've gone for an eight out of 10 for Pierre Gassley.

You know, he outqualified, he was outqualified by his teammate to start 13th for the main race, sorry for the sprint race and then in the main race started 15th oh no he qualified 13th then got a two-place grid penalty sorry that that was for his impeding in Friday qualifying and then yeah he managed to gain a few positions at the restart he was looking aggressive

like catching Hamilton passing him we're like what world are we in using those fresh softs to his advantage in that final stint to pass Hamilton and score some solid points for Alpine and realistically yeah a better weekend than his teammate Ocon had, especially after what happened to O'Con in that sprint qualifying as well.

But it just seems like it's chopping and changing between O'Conn and Gassley. It's like one weekend, O'Con has a good weekend, and the other weekend, Gassley. And I'd say that they're quite finely matched in a lot of ways, these two as a teammate pairing. And you have to say it's quite impressive from Gassley, seeing as he's the newbie to the team. Yeah, I've gone for a nine out of ten for Gassley.

I think he's quietly becoming maybe the most under, a rated driver of the year potentially in terms of just it's not really spoken about that this is maybe what the third or fourth race where he's put the alpine into a really good position and yeah there's another another very good drive particularly compared to his teammate that wasn't having the best of times and yeah he finished half a minute clear of ocon in the end i know o'con was on a different strategy of course but um yeah very very good from from and he's certainly making, well, it was mine and yours prediction of biggest flop of the year look very, very washed because he's done a very good and quiet job of that.

And I think he looks like he's going to finish ahead of Ocon in the championship as well. To clarify, our biggest flop of the year was at the start of the year, and it wasn't due to his skill or his innate talent. It was vibes. really brother vibes and also the fact that we thought he might struggle getting up to speed

with Alpine versus Ocon that was potentially his arch nemesis but yes he's done a very very good job Espan Ocon now started the sprint in 16th finished 14th started the race in 14th finished 10th

I've gone for a 5 out of 10 for Espan Ocon I think he had a bit of a messy weekend the main race of course he's finished like I said half a minute behind his teammate Ghazley

and he's got a point but of course it's a point where only 12 cars finished on the lead lap and the cars behind him is Legan Sajent and a half so

makes it seem a little less impressive and then of course the crash with Alonzo this doesn't affect his grade at all but his comments afterwards

and stuff I felt personally like didn't put him in the light and maybe it needs to kind of own up to just an error a little bit more and I don't think he was flout going

well it was all Fernando's fault but he just you know he got roasted quite a lot online yeah I saw I saw actually in the the Instagram comments people were like I think Jensen Burton was piping and going like how is this Fernando's fault in any way

and then Ocon made a comment about how his lap was looking really good. And Alexander Rossi commented saying, your lap was looking really good, it was turned two. You had the crash. So, like, he's done one corner and been like, well, I was on a really good lap,

and then it's all gone wrong. So, yeah, he just needs to maybe own his mistakes a little bit more. But, yeah, not a great weekend for Ocon compared to Gassley in particular. I've also gone for a five out of ten for Estabana O'Con. Did score a point, as you say, bit, well, very much flatter.

by the fact that it was a race of attrition. Just a, yeah, a poor weekend overall. As you say, the comments that he made, you just say, look, yeah, I think the thing is, he just kind of said, well, I didn't really lose the car. You know, everyone's losing the car there. So, you know, it was just because if Fernando wasn't there, we wouldn't have crashed.

But you could also argue, well, if you didn't have a swapper, you also wouldn't have crashed. And yes, Alonzo did veer slightly over to the left, but Alonzo's also not expecting him to be sideways coming out. No logic. It's literally like Roman Groson at Spa 2012 being like, well, if all the drivers went in front of me, I wouldn't have crashed because it would have just gone on the runoff.

Yes, yeah. It wasn't his finest hour for Esteban because, I mean, what's he got to gain to be kind of saying that he didn't lose the car and this, that and the other? Like, you just got to put your hands up and say, yeah, it's a racing incident, just unfortunate. I lost the car a little bit. Alonzo was there.

Boom, that's it. You know, I saw the amount of memes of, you know, that typical golden retriever. or whatever dog it is looking into the corner of the room and then it just says he thinks we can't see him when it's talking about like our con and the fact that he didn't lose the car and stuff like that. But yeah, I wasn't a massive fan of how he did that.

But hey, he still managed to score a point even if his performance wasn't great over the course of the weekend. Lewis Hamilton started the sprint in fifth, finished seventh, started the race in fifth, finished eighth. I have gone for a six out of ten for Lewis Hamilton for this weekend. I mean, one of the worst weekends Mercedes as a team have had for quite some time. They just got it plain and simply wrong because both him and Russell were struggling, suffering with tire wear, slow on the straits. Almost everything you don't want around Brazil, they had.

They got their estimations wrong. It wasn't like it was bad driving from Hamilton. I was a bit critical, I'd say, for leaving the door open for Alonzo. Not that he would have been able to keep Fernando at bay anyway, but he doesn't know at that point. I think leaving that car's width on the inside was a bit of a mistake for Hamilton as well. And then, yeah, he was very much looking in his mirrors the entire time, the entire weekend, both in the sprint where we thought,

oh, well, you know, they were forced into a strategy they didn't really want. But then actually it turned out to be a strategy of 24, 25 laps on the softs that translated into the race as well because the soft tires were the best thing for most of the teams. So he was saying he wanted hard tires, which I think he would have regretted massively. But yeah, six out of ten. It's one of those. I think none of us expected Hamilton to have that kind of weekend at Brazil especially. No, definitely not.

I've gone for a seven out of ten for Lewis Hamilton. I think he's done a decent enough job to get some points when considering how bad that car, how bad that car was. and I think it is down to set up and of course, you know, you can argue that the drivers contribute to that setup in that practice session but it's quite clear that the Mercedes was just very, very washed

but still had moments where, yeah, maybe his, we saw kind of the best and worst of Hamilton really of like, like you say, like leaving the door open for Alonzo, but then he made a brilliant start and then, you know, drop back in the sprint, print, but, you know, still kind of getting a good amount of points to say that it was quite frankly an atrocious weekend for Mercedes and the car was really bad. To pick up a seventh and eighth is actually not all that bad considering how horrific it was.

Would you say, though, that again, flattered by race of attrition if we've been saying it for others? Yes, but I'm not going to give him the same grade I gave someone like Daniel Ricardo or something. thing for, you know, he's still beating his teammate and stuff. Fair. All right. George Russell started the sprint in fourth, finished fourth, started the race in eighth, did not finish. I've gone for a seven out of ten for George as well. It's a lower seven than Hamilton.

I think the reason it is good is because I think his sprint was very good considering. And actually like a uno reverse card of what we expected. that after Mexico that George would be the one to lose time. I think he was unlucky in the main race that he looked like he could potentially have taken the fight to Hamilton. It's obviously very hard to pass. And then I don't think it's a surprise at all that his car just overheated because he was stuck behind Hamilton for so long.

And I'm amazed that Mercedes didn't at least try a switch and then maybe switched it back at the end because his pace looked pretty decent. but yeah. And it might also have helped us overreating issues because that's what he was... Well, exactly, yeah, who was stuck behind.

So in a way, Mercedes have, by not making an assertive decision of just letting George have a go and go past and see if he's better and if not swap him back, they've essentially maybe even cost them a DNF

and of course them battling meant they lost to science as well and yeah, just not great. Not great indeed. I've also gone for a six out of ten. So the same as Lewis Hamilton, for me here, for George Russell as well, had a great sprint, really showed some brilliant promise. But then in the race, obviously, it didn't go his way as much.

Yeah, the setup again, very wrong. Of course, the drivers have some sort of input to the setup as well. It's not like Mercedes just go, here we go, plonk that on the car. Good luck. So they both got it wrong in free practice. and George looked great in the sprint, of course, made up a couple of positions, but then obviously fell back with all the problems that that car's been having. But still a very solid fourth.

But yeah, the race didn't look like it was going to go particularly well. And then DNFed near the end on lap 57. So I'm sure Mercedes will want to delete the Brazilian Grand Prix from their memories. Carlos Seines started the sprint in ninth, finished eighth, started the race in seventh, finished sixth. I've gone for a seven out of ten for Carlos Seins. quite a quiet weekend, I would say. Of course, had a difficult qualifying being sent out late

and then just slipping and sliding around, which caused for quite a difficult race for him as well. Yeah, just a few points picked up. Came back through, obviously, past both Mercedes, which was lovely to see from my perspective. Of course, you know, keeping the fight in that second place in the constructors going for the next couple of races. and yeah, it wasn't like a particularly exciting weekend for Carlos Science,

but I think he executed from the positions he was in to a pretty good standard. Yeah, gone for a seven out of ten as well. I think he hit the nail on the head, really. I think Science's Drive was solid but not spectacular. You know, he's not challenging LeClair on pace, but of course he was unlucky as well in the actual qualifying. and then it's just picked up some decent points and not it's not done anything particularly incredible

but I think one of scientists' strength is he has kind of recently just kind of done these even when he's not got the pace it's had like solid drives where he just picks up what the car should be doing and what he can out of the car so yeah good but not great shoulder clear Start the sprint in seventh, finished fifth,

start the race in second, did not start. Gone for an eight out of ten for Charlotte Claire. Of course, so unlucky, it's a what might have been. It's very difficult because I think I'd almost want to give him a nine, but then I feel like a nine is too high

when he's not done the race. You never know what would happen in the race. Obviously, a sprint was brilliant. very surprising actually how we did manage to hold on and do well and tireware didn't seem to be that much of a problem and then of course he would have started in second so you never know my I think if I'd have guessed I'd have been behind perors maybe or even in that fight with with those two but we will never know

so for that reason I can only grade kind of what he what he's done which is very good but not not too high so I've gone for an eight out of of 10. I have also gone for an 8 out of 10 for Charles LeCler. I don't even, I don't know anymore. I don't understand. I don't get why this guy is so unlucky. And why, you know, I know why I started supporting him.

But it's like the interstellar meme. I'm smashing on the window trying to tell myself not to pick Ferrari and Charles LeCler and Michael Schumacher maybe. Well, Michael Schumack had a good career. But yes, an 8 out of 10 for Shal. It was a solid enough sprint, but, you know, they were sacrificing. Ferrari were literally sacrificing the sprint for the race. They qualified on used set of soft tires.

They were saving everything for the push in the race. And the race was ended in the barrier on the formation lap for Charlotte Claire. That being said, his qualifying was brilliant. And he was looking like he was going to have a very good weekend. And I feel like I can't give him anything lower than a Nate, even if maybe I was going to say my fanboyism is showing but you've given him an eight so that that sort of locks me in as a fair grade Sergio Perez started the sprint in third, finished third,

started the race in ninth, finished fourth. I've gone for a seven out of ten for Sergio Perez this weekend. I think it was unlucky for him again in qualifying. He was looking like he was pretty good on Friday and he was going to be somewhere towards the front of the field had it not been for Oscar Piastri going off. So that was actually a really impressive lap that Perez was on until that yellow flank, because everyone around him was struggling,

and yet Perez was actually delivering to a level of which we would have all been very, very impressed had he been able to finish that lap. So that put him on the back foot, but he still came through, was fighting Alonzo. Would have obviously been, I think, an eight had he finished third. But like it was, it was a decent-ish weekend for Perez. There was glimpses of that old. kind of form, especially in qualifying

where he's lacked so much. So I'm not going to be too harsh on him this weekend. So yeah, seven out of ten. Also gone for a seven out of ten. It was a drive and a weekend really where we saw kind of he should have been in Fernando because he's driving a Red Bull, but also I think he was so much more impressive

than he has been. And his pace looked so much better that this is exactly what he should be doing. I think if he'd done this kind of weekend, every Grand Prix, yes, he's finished a long way behind Max, he's not even been on the podium, but he's qualifying, it's been decent, can't really mention his qualifying for the main race

because it was so unlucky. There would be absolutely no talk of replacing him at all if he was just doing this every single weekend, because he doesn't need to be close to Max. Like Max is winning the world title and he's Red Bulls Golden Boy and they want him to, you know, and you have that problem

if you have two drivers too close to each other that they could trip over each other and stuff. But if he was doing these kind of performances every week, I don't think there'd be any talk at all because it's like, yeah, he's doing a decent job. Like it's not amazing, but he doesn't need to be amazing. so yeah it's a it's a kind of a good a good but not great again i'd say max for stab and start

the sprinting second finish first start the racing first finished first it's another 10 out of 10 for max it's hard to really talk about this one because it was him just making it look like very easy um you know he's not even we we saw moments uh i think where we saw one moment i think where we saw One moment where he wasn't in the lead all weekend was him starting second. And he just did that Max Stepan thing of going a little bit deeper into the apex, just making a hundred percent sure that you're not coming through. And some people don't like that driving about Maxx, but it's something he's built up his whole career.

And he's now kind of reaping the rewards from it, the fact that drivers almost feel a little bit intimidated by him and scared to race him sometimes, because they know he's going to be super aggressive and it's sometimes easier just to get out of the way. So I'm not saying you do anything absolutely outrageous. It's just there's always that moment where Max comes up the inside

that you probably drive us be a little bit more cautious and don't race him as hard because they know he's not going to give you an inch. So yeah, just controlled the race. And I can't believe, I can't believe how many races he's won this year. it's absolutely insane. It's at 21 now, if you include the sprints as well,

is absolutely bonkers. It certainly is. I've also gone for a 10 out of 10 for Max for Stappen. 17 wins, 21 if you include sprints, as you say, Tommy. We are on course if he wins Vegas and Abu Dhabi for him to have had more wins than we've had Grand Prix weekends, which is an absolutely petrifying stat as we move into next year. He is, I genuinely feel like it.

the same thing every single week, but that's because we see the same thing every single week of almost perfection. All he did, running, the confidence of the man to literally just run one set of hard tires in practice for pretty much,

I think the whole practice session and then still was able to be just as quick as we ever see him. They managed to nail clearly the setup, unlike teams like Mercedes. If you think back to last year, Red Ball were on the back foot. They weren't,

quick. And yet with one practice session, they've managed to nail it and get right back to where they belong, which is right at the front of the field. So you have to commend them for that as well and to learn from last year and what they made or where they made mistakes. And yet, as you say, taking the lead into term one, that's no easy feat. We saw second place on the grid getting pretty poor starts. Lando on the restart didn't get a great getaway.

And Hamilton was challenging him to term one. But Stappen, nah, don't care, mate. don't care about the fact I'm not on the racing line. I'm still going to get a great start. I'm going to bleed off the brakes a little bit. I'm going to take the lead. And then to fend off any sort of challenge after that, what more can you give than a 10 out of 10?

So well done, Max. Congratulations. Once again, your 17th victory of the year. Right. Who is our P1? I wonder who our P1 is. Because my P1 is Fernando. Well done, Fernando.

So I'm getting in before Tommy can start sweating about him a bit more. But yes, Fernando, so so impressive. I think a very close second comes Lando Norris. But yes, Fernando Alonzo for me, just stunning, giving us memories as Formula One fans that we all love to have and we will look back on that Grand Prix fondly as to the old master teaching the youngans how to do it. You need to unmute yourself, sir,

if you want to talk to me about your 10 out of 10, how P1. I think it's the universe basically being just, shut up about Alonzo. We've already heard it. Yeah. I'm actually muted you. Yeah. No, it's very close between Lando and Fernando.

Lando and Fernando. But I've gone for Fernando Alonzo because just, yeah, the driving, I've said everything he'd say, really, just the fact that he showed it all, really, with the racecraft and the defensive driving. And the fact that he's just such a, he's not only got amazing pace he's just got one of if not the best racing brain out there to do things you know we've mentioned other drivers maybe in in dRS not not working out maybe doing the same

thing over and over again or or or things like that or i need to cover here like he's always thinking he's like well i'm going to run wide here so i get a slingshot and then i'm going to dummy into turn one so perres takes the inside line so i can cut back. And it's moments like that that just to show that he's still got it. And yeah, it's lovely to see because I've missed it. He still got it. Yeah, you've missed it.

I've missed it. Fernando Alonzo at the front of the field is where he belongs. And we need it more for the next few seasons, please. And that is it. Thank you, everybody, for watching and listening to this very long F1 driver ratings for the Brazilian Grand Prix. I hope you enjoyed it. We also need to let you know before we go that our second.

P1 live show date has sold out. London has gone. The only date left now is Manchester on the 3rd of December. So if you want to come along and see me and Tommy in the flesh talking Formula 1 Waffle, then get your tickets

because they are going. We did tell you, all right? We told you. We can't say, because I've already had messages going, oh, oh, oh, I really wanted to come to Glasgow. I'm like, well, why don't you get a ticket then? But anyway, we'll of course do more P1 live shows in the future.

But as of right now, if you want to come to Manchester, please do. Tommy, what are your final thoughts? My final thoughts are, I hate you for stealing my final thoughts because that was exactly what I was going to say. So I have to come up with something else now. And it is that I haven't processed that we'll be flying to America this week. And the unorganized person that I am hasn't. My brain hasn't processed that I actually need to think about it and get ready and pack and do all that good stuff.

But yeah, super exciting. The fact that there's a new track as well doesn't feel real because I can't visualize it. Like we have no idea what it's going to look like. And yeah, super exciting. Well, we do know kind of what it's going to look like. Because of the phone game, yeah. But yes, it's going to be very, very exciting. And yeah, we've got lots of cool stuff coming out on our socials.

When we go out to America, we've got a lot. amazing road trip going on with poker stars, which my God, like, I literally cannot believe it's going to happen. So stay tuned to that. Stay tuned to the P1 socials, to mine and Tommy's socials as well. And yeah, we'll see you very soon. Thank you, everybody. Lots of love. Bye. Bye. Bye. A Brazilian wig. It's been a pleasure. I've really enjoyed, I've really enjoyed the

innings. We will remember you. We will remember the Brazilian wig to go in the closet. I hope you've got a eagle hat and cape for an ex-U.S. race, yeah? Yeah. To support Logi. Good stuff. Come on, Loki.

P1 is a Stack production and part of the Acast's creator network.