P1 with Matt and Tommy - Chinese GP Driver Ratings

Episode Date: March 25, 2025

Even as some disqualifications threaten to blur the lines, we get stuck into some more driver ratings after busy sprint weekend! Who's impressed us and who continues to struggle? Let's find out...You can listen to an extended version of this episode over on our Patreon! Sign up to get every P1 episode ad-free, extended versions of every race review podcast, early access to live tickets and merch, and access to our Discord server where you can chat with us and other F1 fans! Click here to sign up now!Follow us on socials! You can find us on Twitter, Instagram, Twitch, YouTube and TikTok. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello everybody and welcome back to the B1 podcast with Matt and Tommy. It's driver ratings time where we will grade each and every one of the drivers from zero all the way to 10. For the weekend, not just for one, two sessions, the whole thing, mainly weighted towards the races. I know there's been an influx of new wonderful P1 listeners and watchers. So welcome in. We're very excited to have you. and this is if you're looking for a non-device

really on the fence kind of series this is the one you want to tune into because this is like a it's like an agreement circle that we've kind of got isn't it Tommy everyone agrees on what grades each driver should get exactly

no everyone perfectly agrees with literally everything but joking aside we always love a sarcastic intro to drive ratings this is the beauty of drive rates beauty of drive ratings and it's another sprint weekend where how do you weigh things because you know some drivers had you can sometimes have a terrible sprint really good race but sometimes

the race can be so good that it doesn't matter and there's so many it's just how you weigh it up really isn't it it certainly is let's get into it and start with nico holcomberg started the sprint from the pit lane finished 19th started the main race from 12th and finished 15th Now, it's worth mentioning, of course, as well. We are including the finish as the finish, as in, after all the disqualifications, this is where they are classified. You've got it's qualified? Just remind everyone?

I was about to say, if you have been living under a rock, the drivers that were disqualified were Ghazley, Hamilton and LeCler. Cool. Thanks. Thank you for making me spell that one out. Fulika Holkenberg, I have gone for a whopping, five out of ten. Straight down the middle. Thank you very much, Nico Holkenberg.

It could have been so much better for Nico as well. However, he decided to lose seven places at the start where he went wide in turn one and turn three, went off the track, through the gravel, caused damage to his floor, and essentially just undid all the amazing work that he did in qualifying, started in 12th,

there was a chance of something crazy. There wasn't really. It was a boring race. But he just undid everything, so that's why I'm going straight back to a full. five. Had he finished like, well, I know he's finished 15th, but realistically, it wasn't 15th. He might have got a six, but sadly, it didn't happen. Interesting, because I, do you not agree, I've gone for a four out of ten for Nico

Hockenberg, and I was actually weighing up a three as well. I think he's had an awful weekend. I can't believe that people are going straight down the middle with this one, because he has had a really poor weekend. He messed up in the sprint qualifying, qualified 19th, got out qualified by his rookie teammate, finished dead last in the sprint, and then in the main race he actually had a good Grand Prix qualifying and bottled it immediately at the first corner and damaged his car and then finished behind his rookie teammate again. So I think it's a poor weekend for Nikolkberg. Well, thank you. Welcome to my TED Talk. I'm liking it, Tommy.

Just before we started recording, you did say, I'm tired, which usually means sassy Tommy comes out, and it's come out in the first grading. And you know what? You've convinced me. I'm going to go for a four. No, thank you. This is what happens sometimes. The argument is offered, and I accept that.

I'm not even going to argue it. I think that is a very good shout. They're just so anonymous that sometimes they slip through the cracks. but Nick Holkenberg, we both go for a four for that one, which makes sense because I think when we grade the next teammate, it will be a little bit fairer for him. The fans gave Nika Holkenberg a five. Gabriel Bortoletto started the sprint in 14th, finished the sprint in 18th, started the race in 19th, finished 14th.

I've gone for a six out of 10 for Gabriel Bortoletto. He had, you know, at the end of the day, he is driving the worst car on the grid. I think we saw that again. It looked like steak were very much at the back again. And I can't just go straight down the middle, a bit like Nico Hockenberg here, when it's very easy to just go, oh, five for both of them because they're at the back and it's a stake.

But the guy has basically beaten his very experienced teammate in both the sprint and the main race. He finished 10 seconds clear of him. he had a great sprint qualifying where he made it into SQ2 and yeah it's unfortunately he had that spin at the start like his teammate but he kind of recovered and made it back ahead of him in the end and he's he is showing a bit of a bit of promise I think it's no mean feat to jump in as a rookie straight alongside Nika Holkenberg

and essentially outrace him and qualify very well against him as well so I've gone for a six. Wow, Tommy is feeling very fruity when it comes to the rookies. I can go straight down the line because I am going to go for a five out of ten for Gabriel Bortoletto. And that's why I think it reflects better. You know, in terms of his weekend, it was a better weekend than Niko Holcomberg over the course of when you think of, especially as well. Like we grade taking into account the drivers and their current career paths and statuses and things like that. It's very hard to grade the Saubers because they are so far back.

But the spin at the start has sort of ruined any chances of him making a massive name for himself. Both the Salbers were out of contention pretty much immediately. Gabriel was forced into a pit stop right at the beginning and then just had to wing it on the hard tires for a couple of stints. So yeah, it's, I don't think it's difficult. I'm trying to figure out whether it is Nika Holcombode just performing really badly slash not really caring because he knows he's driving a dustbin. or Gabrielle's doing quite well against him because Nico is one of the most highly rated midfield drivers let's not say most highly rated drivers

I don't think that's fair because he isn't compared to some of the drivers on the grid but he is a very consistent midfield runner perhaps it just doesn't switch on in his brain because he's like well the car's not not a P7 so can't be bothered a lot of excuses for Nico I'll come back there I'm not buying it

wow Jesus Anyway, Borteleta gets a five from me and a five from the fans as well. On to Alex Albon, started the sprint in ninth, finished 11th, started the main race in 10th, finished seventh. I am going to go four. An eight out of 10 for Alexander Albon.

I thought he was well on the way to a nine or a 10 at some point, especially when he came down the team radio and basically just sounded like he was the big dog. And I really enjoyed that for Alex. That was a big dog radio message, wasn't it? I know what, basically, leave me alone,

I know what I'm doing, but in a lot longer and a bit more of a confident vibe. And I've never really heard that from Alex Album before, and I want more of it. So it was still a really good performance,

don't get me wrong. Obviously, ended up finishing seventh with the disqualifications, a good haul of points for Williams. But yeah, I think eight kind of reflects his whole weekend.

Yeah, I've gone for an eight as well for Alex Albon. It's another good performance from him, maybe could have got a bit more out of the car, particularly in the sprint, because we know that, well, himself was shown the pace in it.

And we're kind of are thinking of Williams now as being able to deliver in that midfield. But a very respectable and good weekend all round for Alex again. And he's having a great start to the year. Certainly is the fans gave Alex Albon an eight. Carlos Seines. Start the sprint in 13th, finish 17th, started the main race and 15th, finish 10th. I've gone for a 5 out of 10 for Carlos Sites.

I expected a lot more from him. I know he's learning, but again, a bit of an anonymous weekend. Didn't qualify well in both sessions, obviously the sprint. He had a problem and had to box, which is why he finished so far down the order. But just not up to pace with Alex Albin just yet, so I've gone for a 5. I've also gone for a five out of ten for Carlos. Anonymous race for somewhat of his calibre. Surprised, I think is one of the words, for a full dry race,

nothing as chaotic or crazy as we saw in Australia. And he was just the slower driver in comparison to Alex Albon. He himself said post-race that he's a bit puzzled because since he jumped in the car in testing in Abu Dhabi and Bahrain, he was quick straight away, but he doesn't know where the pace and that feeling with the car has gone, which doesn't bode particularly well,

does it for Carlos, but it's very much a five out of ten performance, and I really hope for his sake he can pick it up in the coming races. The fans gave him a six. Yuki Sanoda started the sprint in eighth, finished sixth, and started the main race in ninth, finished 16th. I have gone four.

an eight out of 10 for Yuki Sanoda. He was doing almost everything right. The sprint was brilliant. The start of the main weekend was great in terms of the main qualifying session into Q3 again. Made a mistake on his final lap, which meant that Hadjar outqualified him. But then he had a very good start, got ahead of Hadjar at the beginning. And you're thinking, all right, all right, racing balls. have you got up your sleeve?

Turns out they had no sleeves and went for two stops and they just completely threw it away. I do think in some, like I'm not blaming Yuki Snowda at all. I think this is definitely down to R.B. in the strategy department. But Yuki, I think, needs to take a little bit more of a stranglehold on what is a good strategy and what isn't because clearly RB make more mistakes than I think any team on the grid when it comes to strategy. He said post-raise. He said post-raise a very kind of PR-friendly-ish kind of. The strategy is the thing that probably we have to improve. No, no, you do.

You really do. So what I'd love to see from Yuki is, no, no, no, no, no way are we doing a two-stop strategy. That will just put us in the pack. It's difficult to overtake. So that's why I've gone for an eight and no hire. Or at least asking the question, yeah. I've gone for an eight out of ten for Yuki Snowder as well. Even the fanboy in me was trying to justify a nine.

It is difficult. because his sprint was absolutely sensational. You know, he beat a McLaren in the sprint, which was amazing. And then in the main race, until the V-cut, until basically that second pit stop, he was running ahead of Antonelli and Ockon. So if they'd done the one-stop, you never know, and this is why it's an eight,

because, you know, his tyres might have fallen off. You can't just say he would have finished there. but that's where he was at that point and if he had finished there he's finishing P5 and we're probably giving him a 10 out of 10 but he's just so unfortunate with the strategy obviously the wing wasn't his fault I did panic when I saw it thinking

oh no is he kind of clipped the back of someone when trying to get back through an overtake but wasn't his fault but it's just so disappointing to see how many points he has scored and yeah we now find out whether is it going to be in that the big team in the next race for Japan there's a lot of rumours now about it so we'll see that's the murmurs isn't it for his home race gets to go in the Red Bull

is that going to be a blessing or a curse we will have to wait and see the fans gave Yuki an eight Isaac Hadjar started the sprint in 15th finished 13th start the main race in 6th 7th finished 11th. I've gone for a 7 out of 10 for Hajjar, much more solid job. His highlight was, you know, the qualifying, amazing job to qualify 7th. And he was running well in the race behind Ocon and Antonelli before, of course, that doomed V-Carb strategy.

And very unlucky not to get points because one V-Carb. definitely should be and I don't think Hajjar drove a bad race at all and yeah he's is actually showing some some good promise I'm looking forward to seeing what he can do for the rest of the year actually I'm in complete agreement and also with your grade as well I've gone for a seven out of ten the sprint was nothing to write home about but he showed glimmers of hope with a sensational qualifying the hype of him starting right behind his idol Lewis Hamilton and thankfully for him he didn't go spearing into the back of the Ferrari either, so that was a very good thing for him.

And yeah, just fell foul to RB's strategy. Also dropped back a little bit in comparison to Sonoda. Just, you know, maybe lack of experience on, well, I mean, literally was technically his first race, I guess, in terms of wheel-to-wheel combat in Formula One because he didn't actually make it to the Australian race, as we all know. So yeah, I think seven out of ten. Too soon, did you say?

Yeah, it is sad. But he's bounced back, I think, well enough that we start to see a bit of his potential. That is a brilliant qualifying again. And he might well end up being a one lap specialist. And he's even got Max Verstappen questioning whether he could be winning the world title in this racing bull's car. So very interesting. The fans gave Isaac a seven. Estaban Ocon started the sprint in 18th, finished 16th, started the main race in 11th and finished fifth. It is a 10 out of 10 for Esteban O'Con. and I will not hear anything else than a straight stone-cold 10 out the top of the freezer drawer.

That was unbelievable in so many ways. Of course, it was seventh on the road, then two Ferraris got disqualified in front of him. To go from where they were in Australia to here, and even in the sprint, for Ocon to deliver that kind of performance, is an absolute worldy. it really is and they've clearly taken a step forward of Hass we thought they were the 10th fastest team and then Ocon just what just gets 10 points

from the Chinese Grand Prix beats Antonelli Tommy's goat and it's a phenomenal performance from Ocon so anything other than the 10 and also driver of the day what on earth I know Antonelli Antonelli's wonderfully wholesome radio

of being just as surprised as we were that he got driver of the day but Ockon was robbed I've gone for a 10 out of 10 of course I have yeah I was about to get sassy on you no no chance

and anyone that gives him anything lower than a 10 is just delusional it's not a popularity contest and people just underrate Ocon just because people for some reason don't like him and just because he's had a few crashes with teammates

it was a fantastic drive the star of the race yes a sprint was wasn't great. But the main race is the one you want to deliver in. And boy, did he deliver. He's finished fifth in a house. His move on Antonelli as well was incredibly bullsy to go on the grass and make that move

stick when Antonelli covered the inside. It's an absolutely amazing performance from Ocon. And I don't know how you can just kind of think it's anything other than sensational. Obviously the reason why we are sort of saying, you can't give him anything other than the 10, it's because the fans gave him a 9. That's our turn to be outraged out of one difference in a grade. Tommy, I need you to load up the percentages right now between 9 and a 10. I need to know how far away we were from a 10 from the fans.

Like, I know it's a bit of fun, isn't it? The amount of times people will poke fun at us and say, wow, how could you possibly give blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Well, in 2025, it's time for myself and Tommy to fight back. Okay, we've taken far too much abuse over these last couple of seasons. It's time for us to man the swords and fight back. So can you have you load up the soldiers? Esther Banach on, it was pretty close. So 27% gave him a 10, 29%, 30% actually rounded up gave him a 9.

So 43% gave him less than a 9? Yeah. Quick maths. Crazy. That, okay. All right, everybody. Yeah, 23% of people thought, Estabat O'Nocon finishing fifth in a house was an eight out of ten. Get in the bin. Oh my God. Now he needs to win the race, Tommy. The hash is actually a quick star. If Max Verstappen was in the house, he would have won the championship by now. Anyway, the fans, as we said, gave him a nine. Ollie Bearman, started the sprint in 12th, finished 15th. Start in the main race in 17th, finished 8th. I've gone for a nine out of ten for Olly Behrman. I know he's obviously finished behind his teammate,

but I think it was a great recovery drive from what has to be said, a poor qualifying. And that's what let him down, because I think without that, he may have been able to kind of be with Ocon finishing like maybe a P6. But it's a great performance, a lot of nice overtakes. I know he's had three races last year. year, but you have to remember he's still a rookie and a kind of, excuse me, and still kind of

having, you know, very early in his career. Shame he couldn't maximize what was a really good sprint qualifying as well. But a good, good drive from Bairman and kind of showing glimpses of a bit more what we expected from him after a really poor Australian Grand Prix as well, The fact that he's kind of completely got over that straight away and delivered a great performance and been making lots of overtakes and things is very impressive. Yeah, I was tossing and turning between an eight and a nine. I don't know why I'm saying. I haven't slept since the race because it's literally the same day. And I've gone for a nine out of ten for Ollie Bearman.

I think the thing is that you don't really see him as a rookie. I don't know, it's a weird thing because he's driven for Ferrari and Saudi and he's had a couple of other races where he stepped in. and he's been part of a few free practices and done very well. I don't know. And maybe from my side as well, I have a huge amount of expectation for him as a driver. But no, I think he's fully deserving of a nine out of ten, considering his experience that he currently has.

An eighth in the end, obviously 10th on the road, was a great performance and he wasn't scared to make overtakes, lovely up and unders, chow here, chow there. Yeah, nine out of ten from me. The fans gave him an eight. Pierre Gasley started the sprint in 17th, finished 12th, started the main race in 16th, disqualified, but finished 11th on track. Let me give him a 6 out of 10, Pierre Gasley.

I think that the Alpine is actually, they've gone backwards. They've gone backwards since last year. Are they the first ones to throw the towel in and gone straight to 26? Do they genuinely believe, you know, with Flavre? Fibriotori there whipping away at that team trying to get them

to be winners forget 25 we're off to 26 either whatever it is they're not that quick so Gazzley to be right on the outskirts of the points in P11

obviously gets disqualified for being underweight it's a yeah it's a six out of ten Pierre Gassley I've gone for a six out of ten as well such a shame to see

Alpine where they are the cast seems rubbish. Gassie did a decent job. 11th on the road is pretty good, but nothing insanely kind of special, particularly as Duhin wasn't a million miles from him as well, the inexperience of Jack Duhin, who thought Gassley would comfortably, you know, beat him and be really, really strong. And I do think, even though the Alpine doesn't look that good, there is a chance in the midfield when it's also close and a really good performance can bump you up quite a lot of places but just didn't work out for Gazley this weekend. The fans gave Pierre Gasley a 5. Jack Dewan

start the sprint in 16th, finished 20th, got a 10 second post-race time penalty for causing a collision and then in the main race started 18th, finished 13th and also got a 10 second penalty for forcing Hajar off. I've gone for a four out of 10 for Jack Dewan and it's a a disappointing four out of ten of kind of bit of sadness because I think he's actually shown some pretty good potential when he's not making headlines for the wrong reasons of you know punting portoletto off for absolutely no reason at the end of the sprint and maybe being a bit too aggressive with hadjar when he's not not a million miles off gasly and sometimes even beating him so if he just had a clean race I think he would impress a lot of people

but again it was a messy weekend from him and he's just getting an incidence that he doesn't need to be in. Yeah, the qualifying in particular is pretty impressive when you compare him to Pierre Gasley. Of course, he outqualified him in the sprint. And I think that if he's able to tidy up his races a little bit, maybe he does have a shout of completing the season, which feels really harsh to say.

But like that's kind of what we've been coming into the season and expecting us that he will lose his seat to Colopinto because Alpine want him in. But Dewan perhaps has surprised a few people that he has got some potential locked in there. The races is clearly where he falters a little bit more. The wheel-to-wheel combat, and it definitely needs polishing,

very late defensive moves, obviously getting a couple of penalties along the way for collisions and not driving fairly. So yeah, four out of ten for me, I can't remember if you've had said four out of ten if I just went straight into it but I've gone for a four out of ten as well for Jack Dewin.

So there you go. The fans gave Jack Dewan a four as well. Lance Strull. Start the sprint in 10th, finished ninth. Start the main race in 14th. Finish ninth. Seven out of ten for Lance Stroll.

Being the number one Aston Martin Driver has a lot of it bears down on some people but not Lance Stroll. Fernando Alonzo's down there in 20th in the championship. Lance can barely see it. him. I can barely see him all the way down there. And Lance scoring points again. It's a decent job.

It's a seven out of ten. It's nothing crazy. People genuinely were saying that he was the driver of the day because he hadn't stopped and was running in seventh. Then Pitt for fresh mediums. And then didn't really make that much progress after doing that. And everyone was, oh, what about Lance Stroll, guys? What about Lance Stroll? He literally finished in 12th without the disqualifications. However, that being said, he's doing all right. In the sprint, he was finishing in ninth. Of course, he still picked up a couple of points after his qualifications as well in the race. So yeah, it's nothing crazy. We're not talking tens, but it's a seven,

and I'm respecting the fact he's the only driver scoring points at Aston Martin right now. I've gone for a seven out of ten for Lance Roll. No bite at all, Tommy? No bite at all. Because I know for new viewers, they might be like, what, Matt, why are you saying it like that? It's because Tommy is a final.

the Alonzo Stan and I've got to get my own back somehow. Fair, fair. Yeah, Lance, a seven out of ten I've gone four. I'm actually more impressed by his sprint than his main race. I know people are like, oh my God, his main race was amazing. He finished behind Gasly on the road, who we've just given a six. So it was a decent drive, but I think he's just kind of finished where the Aston Martin should be anyway, to be honest. And he was behind Alonzo when Alonzo, when Alonzo retired. I think Lance Stroll actually knew that the qualifications were coming didn't bother to overtake Ghazley. Big brain. He actually could see that it was underway. That's how much racing knowledge is just he's just the goat this year, isn't he? But his sprint was very good. And actually,

you know, he held up Norris. He was the one that Lando couldn't get past. So yeah, Lance is doing, he's done, done, had a great season and scored a lot of points. Well, his teammate has had, poor luck. and would be ahead in the championship, but it's not because of a pollock. There we go. There we go. I'm good now. Hold on, we got a big one.

Yeah. Love it. The fans gave Lance Stroll a seven as well. Fernando Alonzo, start the sprint in 11th, finished 10th, started the main race in 13th, did not finish.

I've gone for a five out of 10 for Fernando Alonzo, difficult driver to rate, behind stroll in the sprint, of course, but was ahead of, him before he retired but I mean he was ahead of him in four laps but yeah very very unlucky this year to have had two DNFs disastrous start to to the season for for Alonso I think people I know you you were baiting me but I hope you'd have a little bit of that it's all jest and when we actually

talk about some proper wheel knowledge that it's not you know Alonzo being terrible because he was ahead of Stroll in Melbourne and he was ahead again. I think it's maybe being a bit overplayed of like, and maybe it is a little bit tongue in cheek and joking, but I think it is a bit overplayed that's like, oh my God, Strauss having this absolutely amazing season and there's Alonso finish and he's too old and stuff. I don't think that's the case at all. He's just had two very unfortunate retirements.

Neither do I, mate. I don't actually think that I think Fernando is still one of the best, most wildest. foxes on the grid and I'd love to see him fighting at the top but look I'm lashing out I've had both Ferraris disqualify just let me have this so for me Fernando Alonzo gets a five out of ten as well just he just hasn't had a clean start to the season it's as simple as that as soon as he gets we'll get to Japan or Bahrain or wherever it might be and he'll pop it and finish seventh and everyone will go oh he's back he didn't leave he just needed a clean weekend where his car didn't break or there wasn't a massive

amount of gravel just on the racing line from the car ahead. It will come. I'm very, very certain of that for Fernando. And Aston Mine aren't that horrendous that they can't score some points. So I just need 51 from Alonso in Stroll this year. That's all I need. Tommy, there it is, there it is, it's dropped. No, the funniest thing is, I was actually getting the driver's championship up and to think that like literally Lance and the first two races, has got them one fifth of the way there already. Oh, we love that from last. Thank you very much. Fernando's got 40 points in him easily over the rest of the season.

The fans gave Fernando Alonzo a 5 out of 10. Kimmy Antonelli. Start the sprint in 7th, finish 7th, start the main race and 8th. Finished 6th, which would have actually been 8th. It would have been beautiful reading to see 7-7-88. But either all, he finished 6th. I'm sure he's more happy with that. I've gone for a 7 out of 10 for Kimmy Antonelli.

I was thinking 6-7, whereabouts is that for him. But since learning that he suffered floor damage on lap 1 after hitting some debris that affected the performance quite heavily. Yeah, probably actually. Sorry, Kimmy, on behalf of Shaal, if it was indeed, Shal. But yeah, he finished quite a long way behind George. I don't think it was the most impressive weekend for Kimmy Antonelli. Australia obviously was incredible for him to navigate those crazy conditions in such a great way.

But it's still a good enough performance. He's settling into Mercedes really well, and he's not crashing like we expected, potentially, after his Monza FP1 outing. So yeah, seven out of ten. I've also gone for a seven out of ten for Kimmy Antonelli. Yeah, long way off Russell, of course, had the damage, but yeah, it's not a special drive,

but it's his first sprint weekend, his, you know, only his second Grand Prix. And I think when other rookies have been making errors and spinning off and, you know, causing collisions and things, I think it's a respectable result. Don't get me wrong. It's not, oh, my word, this is absolutely incredible. But he's delivered points again and it's hard to say that's not probably at this stage what Mercedes would want from him. you know, he's fifth in the championship after two races and a sprint. I think that's, they have absolutely taken that at the start of the year when, you know, I know it's a complete different situation, but you look at how bad like Liam Lawson is doing.

We know about the problems with Red Bull, but he's doing a solid job, staying out of trouble. Yes, he's occasion getting beaten by a midfielder, but he's still kind of learning the ropes. and yeah, it's done a solid job and just bagging points for Mercedes in the Constructors' Championship. The fans gave Kimmy Antonelli a 7 as well. George Russell started to Britain 5th, finished 4th, started the main race, and second, finished 3rd. I've gone for a 9 out of 10 for George Russell.

Another great drive from him. Got the most out of his car again, I believe. maybe not in the sprint but the main race did a great job to be battling Lando even getting ahead of him at one point of course out qualifying him as well and George is just having a really great season from those first two races and you have to have to applaud it because you know there's a lot of questions still a lot of questions about you know is he the team leader there and will he if they want to sign a new driver,

can Russell kind of take that number one status at Mercedes? And so far, he's doing a fantastic job and can't really fault him. Yeah, for sure. I've gone for a nine out of ten as well. It wasn't far away from a ten, but maybe a slightly better result in the sprint would have leaned me towards a perfect score.

But he's doing an incredible job at the moment, is George qualifying. The fact that he split the McLaren's and was less than the tenth off pole was quite frankly shocking, surprising. It literally surprised us so much when we were watching it live. And then back-to-back podiums now, we're starting to talk about,

okay, if George can keep this up, if Mercedes can keep the performance, can he somehow sneak a championship if things start to get chaotic with McLaren or perhaps they fall off slightly with performance? These are questions yet to be answered. But right now, George is answering the question that you sort of pose there, Tommy,

of can he be the number one at Mercedes? is yes he can absolutely there I don't think there's any denying that now and and to be honest coming into this season I didn't think there was any denying it either so George Russell nine out of ten the fans gave him a nine as well max for stoppen start the sprint in second finished third starting the main race and fourth finished fourth it's an eight out of ten for max for step and from me he's doing what seems to be a great job in that car you compare to his teammate who was trundling around at the back. Max is doing things that we expect.

Max Verstappen to do. Just lacked pace in the race. He came back towards the end. I think he said that, yeah, the second half phase seemed a bit more competitive, which was a bit more promising at least for them and for Max. But yeah, I can't really give them any higher than an eight for this weekend. I got for a nine out of ten for Max Lestappen. I think his sprint was very impressive to end up in the top three,

deliver somehow almost get pole position. And I think the pace in that car, particularly in the race, was pretty poor, particularly at the start. So I think P4 would almost feel like a win for him based on kind of how it was looking at the start where we very much thought he's hoping for P6, obviously the Ferrari's got disqualified anyway and he would have just inherited it.

But he did beat them on the road anyway and putting that move on on Charles. So yeah, they come for a nine. Charlotte with a broken front wing. The fans gave... Should a crush in Tampton. I thought you're going to say he should have been underweight but that one was easy, wasn't it?

Max got an eight from the fans. Liam Lawson, start the sprinting 19th, finished 14th, started the main race from the pit lane, finished 12th. after all that 12th. I've gone for a one out of 10. It's so difficult because he is a capable driver and I will keep saying this.

It's clearly not all down to Lawson's ability, but you have to adapt, and he's been given the opportunity at Red Bull. So whatever you say about the car and how it's clearly not just the driver. driver, he's still the one that's qualifying P20 in both sessions. He's the one in the car turning the steering wheel. He's the one racing a

sailboat and making absolutely no progress in the race. And it's just so poor, like no pace at all, miles off max every single lap. And even in a race where three people have been disqualified is absolutely nowhere near the points. Yeah, shocking. I have also gone for a one out of ten for Lawson.

It's tough to watch. As you say, we know he is a driver that can produce results. The Racing Bulls team probably looks like the Red Bull team now to Lawson in the sense of, please, I might actually just go there. That would be great. If you wouldn't mind, just let me go. Can I go back? Is that possible?

Because this car is not something that Lawson can drive. I think it's as simple as that. And I don't think Red Bull are going to give him the time in order. to learn that. You can't learn on the job in this sport, especially in a top team like Red Bull. It just doesn't work that way. And as hard as the car is, we have to judge him on his performances. And he's being beaten by everyone in qualifying. Everyone in a Red Bull. I know that he can't find the window of balance. And he said it was one lap in the race. Then it was gone again and can't get the tires in the right window, et cetera, et cetera. Yeah, these are reasons, excuses, whatever you

want to call them, but it is still a one out of ten performance, sadly for Lawson. And you can tell it's, see it in the interviews. It's not nice to watch because that Red Bull's second seat just saps the life out of you. So yeah, Lawson, one out of ten. The fans also gave him a one out of ten. Lewis Hamilton started the sprint in first, finished first, started the main race in fifth, and got disqualified. I've gone for an eight out of ten for Lewis Hamilton. The sprint was the most own cold 10 out of 10 you can ever see in your entire life, obviously. Sadly, the weighting of our ratings go more towards the main stuff. And the main stuff, quali was all right, nothing to write home about for either Ferrari, but he was in the mix. And then in the race

just really struggled. He just didn't have the pace. Despite his teammate having a broken front wing, he just couldn't really get close. And of course, went on that two-stop strategy, which turned out not to be the right call either. But overall, I was about to say it was a reasonable weekend. Of course it wasn't. He was disqualified. But we're not factoring in. I think this is worth as a reminder.

We're not going to give Hamilton a two out of ten or a three out of ten or a five out of ten because he was disqualified. That's not his fault that the rear skid plank has worn away by more than half a millimeter that it should be. That's not down to Hamilton in my opinion. and that's why an 8 out of 10, I think, is fair. I've gone for an 8 out of 10 for Lewis Hamilton as well. His sprint, well, his whole sprint,

I think massively over-delivered to put in, you know, pole position in the sprint, particularly against, you know, Charlotte-Clair, who's been so good in qualifying. And then, yes, he had the clean air, but his drive was amazing. And to deliver a win, I know it's a sprint win, but a win for Ferrari in only his second race, as it were,

is really, really impressive and shows that when the car is there, even at his kind of age and everything, he's still got it, absolutely, and we'll be able to deliver no doubt in my mind whatsoever. Main race, a bit more disappointing, of course. Don't think Ferrari had the pace and probably slotted into where they normally were.

And again, like you said, just the fact that he got disqualified is not, you know, if his skid block was the width of a credit card more, he's not suddenly finishing like P9 or something. It doesn't really make that much of a difference. It's just an unfortunate miscalculation and it's driver ratings. So Hamilton is getting an eight from me. that's very fair the fans gave Hamilton an eight as well so they agree tommy it's all good charlaclair started the sprint in fourth finished fifth started the main race in sixth and was disqualified i've gone for a seven out of ten for charlaclair disappointing sprint of course looked much better in the main race and maybe had

the pace compared to hamilton that we expect you know he wasn't miles quicker than hamilton but was the quicker driver, of course, had the damage as well. And we saw more of kind of what we expect from Shal this year, but unfortunately for him disqualified. But again, it's not getting downgraded for all the disqualification. He just had a pretty decent, but not hugely spectacular weekend. I've also gone for a 7 out of 10 for Shal. The contact with Hamilton at the start, I am putting more down to him,

just purely because he was aggressive. eager, wanting to get on the inside, didn't anticipate where Hamilton was going to position his car. Very lucky that we didn't see both Ferraris out of the race, or at least with punctures, or more front wing damage. And then from there, like, it, honestly, it pains me to think or to hear from Charlerclair afterwards that he felt like there was the potential to win the race, which is, I don't even want to think about that. Actually, no, I'm glad. I'm really glad because then he would have won the race. and then been disqualified, and you would have never seen me ever again.

But he said he did some changes to the car, and he was optimistic with today, but they lost 30 points of downforce, which was a big chunk of performance. So Charles had a huge amount left in the tank for today, and sadly, I can't give him any more than the seven for if, Watts, maybe, and everything else in between, because sadly it was slightly self-inflicted from the first lap.

And then in the sprint, of course, as well, he was slower than Hamilton. So seven out of ten And the fans gave Shaal a seven as well Oscar Piastri Start the sprint in third Finish second Start in the main race in first

Finish first 10 out of 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 And this is a very wonderful lovely performance To be putting in so early in the season Don't need any of this ramping up

Don't need to kind of settle yourself into the middle of the season when Oscar performed last year to put in this kind of performance getting pole position being the one to make less mistakes on that side of the garage and then to win the race as well

it shows that if he can put himself in that position against Lando I still think Lando is the overall quicker driver at the moment when he delivers but if Oscar delivers more often

and more consistently to his level it could be very very close if not Oscar having the advantage. So brilliant performance from Oscar, it was a 10. I've also gone for a 10 out of 10 for Oscar Piastri, a brilliant race from Oscar. Perfect race, has to be said.

He was great in the sprint as well, obviously finishing second. And if he keeps his form up, he's absolutely challenging for the championship 100%, because he's showed that he's got the pace. He's got the race. He's got every is kind of ice cold. He is a proper like ice man when it comes to his driving and his,

his attitude, which I, which I love. And yeah, he, he is impressed so much, even despite the unfortunate race in Melbourne, even impressed there, just got caught out by, you know, one, one corner, though where a lot of people went off. What a start of the season is had. and that race was a proper, I'm here, and I will challenge for this championship, and it's very exciting.

Exactly the weekend he needed after Australia, where a huge amount of points were lost, and he could very much easily be leading the championship at the moment. But he's not, but the fans gave Oscar a 10 as well. Lando Norris, started the sprint in sixth, finished eighth, started the main race in third, finished second. I have gone for an eight out of ten for Lando Norris. It's a high eight, but it's an eight.

The reason for the eight, you know, the main race, he did a great job, of course. Not on his teammates' pace. He didn't ever look like he was really going to win, but got the car over the line despite the issues, bagged a lot of points for the championship, which is great. there was some worrying signs though I think crept in during that weekend again I know the sprint isn't where

the big points scored and he kind of put it behind him for the main race to finish second and that's the one way you want to have the better result but it can't kind of be underplayed that he did go off he made mistakes he messed up

both qualifying sessions it has to be said. In the sprint, stepped behind an Aston, finished behind an R.B. An Antonelli to be eighth when it was a car that should be winning that race and we know

should be kind of finishing one to every race now. And yeah, it's a shame that that happened because it kind of has put a little bit of a question mark again of oh, I thought he'd sort of this out after his mega drive in in Australia but he did turn it around in the in the

main race of course and that's the one way you you get the big points and hopefully it's just one little blip I've also gone for an eight out of ten for Lando it with the downgrades for me come from obviously the sprint finishing eighth making that mistake on lap one just putting himself on the back foot really like it was it was genuinely just drive error. He positioned his car wrong, dipped a wheel in the sort of gravelly, grassy area. And from there on, around China, you can't really make up for your mistakes all that much because it's so difficult to overtake like we saw. And of course, their entire conservation as well, because they couldn't pit. And then also, yeah, the qualifying being behind Russell,

showing his pace, like there is so much raw pace in Lando Norris when it is hooked up. We saw that in Q2 of main qualifying. Oh, so quick. And then he didn't improve into Q3. And that's why he didn't get a pole position. And of course, he was slightly unlucky towards the end of the main race as well with his, where he was unlucky, with his break going long,

because he felt like he could challenge Piastri for the win in the last sort of 10, 15 laps. And I would have loved to have seen if he could genuinely have caught him. But it didn't happen. And that's why I've gone for an 8 out of 10. And the fans have gone for an 8 as well. And that is it. We are done, wrapped up.

driver ratings locked away. I hope you've enjoyed it. Episode 2 in the bag, only 22 to go, and plenty more podcasts coming your way as well. Tommy, what are your final thoughts, please? My final thoughts are for the second week in a row, not put who is our P1 in the sheet, so of course you didn't remember.

That's crazy. My P1, whilst you do that, Tommy, my P1 has to be Esteban Okon, because he was driver of the day, he was robbed of that, and it's the only 10 I've given, so it has to be. No, I gave it to Oscar as well, of course.

But no, it is going to be Esteban Okon, because I do feel like he was robbed of not getting drive of the date. So he's getting P1 of the day from me. I will go for, oh, it's difficult. I think I'm going to go for Piastri just because he delivered in the sprint as well. And it was a proper, I think it was a proper statement weekend from him to be like, I am here to challenge for this world title. Ockon, for me, no doubt, the start of the race, but start of the weekend, I'm going for Piastri.

Okay, wow, there you go. Thank you everybody for watching and listening. As always, I'm sure you've left your comments of why you believe certain drivers have got out of 10 grades, and we look forward to reading them. Leave a like. Don't say that often on the YouTube video if you enjoyed it or on Spotify. Drop us a little five-star rating if you enjoy this podcast. And that is it.

We'll see you very soon. Japan in a couple of weeks Hopefully we get a more exciting race than we saw in China Hopefully we get less excitement after the race In terms of FIA drama And that is it Bye everyone Bye

Bye My chore is to just go to sleep I cannot wait to just Chore myself to sleep Yeah my sleeping pattern has obviously been absolutely destroyed And I cannot wait to just rest Although I'm flying to Sweden tomorrow I'm flying to Sweden tomorrow

I'm flying to Sweden tomorrow for the F1 Sim Racing Championship starts on Tuesday all the way through to Thursday this is not a sponsored chore part of the podcast so yeah not a lot of sleep to be had but Tommy are you going to be sleeping? I will be going to bed immediately

and catching up on some sleep yeah because it's been quite the crazy one sleep schedule wise doesn't it? It certainly has so sweet dreams everybody and if you are listening to this podcast whilst going to bed because you find us soothing and comforting, you're welcome. Sweet dreams.

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