P1 with Matt and Tommy - Emilia Romagna GP Driver Ratings

Episode Date: May 20, 2025

Some drivers having a good race ended up finishing near the back, others having a bad race ended up finishing well... So it can only mean one confusing thing: it's time for Driver Ratings!You can listen to an extended version of every Race Review podcast over on our Patreon! Sign up to also get every P1 episode ad-free, early access to live tickets and merch, and access to our Discord server where you can chat with us and other F1 fans! Click here to sign up now!Follow us on socials! You can find us on Twitter, Instagram, Twitch, YouTube and TikTok. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello everybody and welcome back to the P1 podcast with Matt and Tommy. It's driver ratings. Oh, baby. It's been quite a complex Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, VCs, SCs, and that has made rating your favorite drivers from zero all the way to 10, even more difficult. Isn't that right, Tommy? It sure is. I could be wrong, but I feel like maybe there was a, a comment after we did Miami and the fact that it was a sprint race that we probably would have

said something along the lines of, well, at least it's similar next. So it's basically just rating qualifying. And instead, yeah, VSC's safety cars, some people getting good results, but we're lucky, some people getting bad results, but we're unlucky, and everything in between. So I'm sure we'll all agree with everyone's opinion. Yeah, let's just pop on our like polite seatbelts and get ready for the chaos. And start with Gabrielle Bortoletto. Started the race in 14th, finished 18th. It is going to be a six out of 10 for Gabriel Bortoletto.

I'm doing a little tip of the cap to the fact that he made Q2, although it felt illegal the way that he got there. Justice for Oli Berman is what I would say. But yeah, he had a reasonably good qualified. Of course, the circumstances made that some drivers got screwed, but his teammate Holkenberg made a mistake in those final couple of corners. And the rookie did not. Of course, it was a very mediocre race from Bortoletto.

He pitted early. And then I do like as well as I go through the drivers, some of them saying I got really screwed by the safety cars and others also saying they got screwed. And I'm like looking at it going, some less so than others. You were just on a poor strategy, But yeah, Bortoletto, I've gone for six out of ten.

I've also gone for a six out of ten for Bortolete. It's a shame for him, really, because he had a great start as well. You know, it wasn't just the qualifying. He was running quite high up at the start of the race. I think he was behind Lewis Hamilton, actually, and we were going, oh, my word, this could be a great result here. And then, you know, the pit stops play out, and it just didn't work for him at all.

He struggled with the tire day. which we kind of did see from a few of the rookies. But it wasn't a disaster of a weekend, but maybe a bit of a what might have been. What might have been indeed. The fans gave Bortoletto a five. Nika Holcomberg, start the race in 17th, finish 12th. I've gone for a seven out of ten.

What was it? Between six and seven or seven or eight? Seven and eight, actually. I think, and again, this is going to happen a lot to join these ratings, that some people were kind of flattered by the kind of fact of the VSCs and safety cars working in their favour. But that being said, Holcomburg Steele drove a very respectable race, qualified poorly, but then made the other strategy work.

And he actually passed Alonzo, didn't he at one point, for 10th place, and we're thinking, oh, my word, are they going to. to score points again here, but slip down to 12, but 12th is still a, obviously, a good result for a salber. Certainly is. I am going to lock in an eight out of 10. Screw it. We're given, I was going to go for seven as well, but I felt, I feel more generous. When else am I going to give Holkenberg an eight or above? You know, we only had two DNFs, and Holcomberg, as you say, he did gain from starting on the hard tire than being able to pit at when the VSC came out. But then he continued on on those medium tires all the way through to the end and had a very solid

race. You know, before the VSC came out, he was running in P8, just chilling. Maybe even P9 actually. I've paused it. No, P8, I think, wait, hold on. P9, P8. I'm looking at the highlights right now. He's running quite high up, wasn't you. LeCler's right behind him. I can't remember if LeCler got through. Yes, he did. So it's P9. Just thinking on the spot there. Apologies. Great podcasting. But it's still a very good performance from Hulk. He was up there. It was what's this polar bear doing in meme. So yeah, eight out of ten for Holkenberg. A seven from the fans.

Alex Albon, start the race in seventh. Finish fifth. Ooh. It's got to be a ten. It's got to be a ten out of ten for Alex Albon. Even though it could have been even better. And then what do you give him? At 11, you can't.

It's out of ten. But I still believe he is fully deserving of a ten out of ten. this weekend. Great qualifying in Q3, just behind his teammate Carlos, and then had such a strong early phase of the Grand Prix running in third position. And of course, it didn't fully work out for him. It could have easily been a third place

had he got through on LeClaire at the end. I don't put any blame on Albonne for trying. A lovely little move around the outside, which the door was closed as the rules, the wonderfully written rules of racing. Very understandable rules. Yeah, really great rules. But still, an amazing performance all the same,

and Albon once again silencing the critics. Definitely. I have gone for a nine for Alex Albon, which, again, I've said this so many times about Williams, shows how well they're doing that a P5 for a Williams is a nine out of ten. But I do think that car is a lot more competitive. now. We saw that in qualifying. He was slower than Carlos in qualifying, but of course had the better strategy, which he made work. But I can't give a 10 just because I do feel like the end of the

race was maybe a little bit of a missed opportunity on those fresh tires. You know, don't get me wrong. Fantastic drive. It's very close to a 10. But I just can't help feel like what might have been had you stuck that move on Leclair and gone off after Piastri? It's a very close. Pistri himself, you know, in the call-down room was like, if Albin had got past, I think had been a sitting duck from him. I can't downgrade him, though, for the fact of the Leclair move. Like, how can you give him that sort of... It could have passed him somewhere else and got past and just...

Oh, come on, though. He got shoved off and that's coming from a Lecler fan boy. Yeah, I know, but like, there's still kind of, you know, there's... And also there's qualifying as well. I'm also taking into account that he got the preferential strategy. Still a really good drive, but it's close to a 10, but I can't give, I can't give him a 10. Fair enough. It's a great drive, and Alex Albon, you know, how many times we said this,

apologies, because, oh my word, top three driver of the season, without doubt. Absolutely. The fans gave Alex Albon a 10. Carlos Seins, start the race in sixth, finished 8th. I've gone for an 8 out of 10 for Carlos Sainz. I think he was absolutely shafted by a very poor strategy and his pace was really, really good. And I think despite the strategy, you know, I actually saw someone mention this that he was very upset about the two-stop and was kind of saying that a one-stop should have been the option and stuff and he didn't want to basically overturn what the team said. But of course, go back to Ferrari and we were praising Carlos for that, he, he was.

he was the one that would do that, wouldn't he, and basically say, like, no to Ferrari, I need to do this. Maybe it's out of respect for his new team. But had he gone for a one-stop, you know, he's looking very, very quick or weekend, so very unlucky, and to still get P8, despite, you know, a difficult strategy, I think is a good performance from him. I've also gone for an eight out of ten for signs. It's hard. With these drivers that were screwed over by either the virtual safety car or the safety car, but mainly the VSE. That was the big one, wasn't it, for those that had pitted versus the ones that hadn't.

You know, there is a part of my brain that goes, you make your own luck as well in some ways. This is going to be why it's so difficult. It's hard, yeah. Just for a bit of behind the scenes, we are little driver ratings sheet. We have like the information about the race and stuff. And one of them is a quote from each driver. And every single driver that's had been scribed. is like, oh, the safety card didn't work out.

And, you know, it's how much you buy into, did that really happen? Was it legitimately you got screwed? Is it a little bit of racing driver excuse? And that's why these ratings will be so difficult, I think. Yeah, it felt as though there were a lot of knee-jerk reactions to the Charles Lecler undercut that happened. You know, you had a lot of these drivers trying to cover off, or teams trying to cover off the charging Leclair. The lap later, wasn't it?

Russell, also signs came in. But they'd already missed the opportunity. to keep them at bay because the undercut was really strong. So I'm still going to give him an eight because he still finished eighth after all that and was looking pretty strong indeed. The fans gave him an eight as well. Isaac Hadjar started the race in ninth, finished ninth. I am going to go for an eight out of ten for Isaac Hadjar.

A strong performance once again. Definite what-ifs of Hadjar's weekend. in qualifying, making that mistake where he could have easily started P5, and then his race would have been so much easier from there. He still scores a couple of points. Beats Lawson, I would say pretty comprehensively, always looked like the stronger racing balls driver. And yeah, the pace was strong.

So pretty impressed still, once again from Hadjar, but he's going to have one of those seriously breakthrough weekends, I think, in the not too distant future. then he will be demoted, promoted, whatever you want to call it. Those stories will start then. But no, Hajjar, please. Just stay in that seat for the rest of the season, please. I've also gone for an 8 out of 10 for Isaac Hajar. It is completely agree with you what might have been.

My notes here, I'm just kind of, I can't see past that P5, like what might have been without that mistaken. It's absolutely fuming by it. Of course, you know, it's all hindsight, but had he been closer to the, the front and done that the strategy that he did which worked out well could have been an unbelievable result and i do think that will that will happen but he has just been so so impressive this season you know talk about i'm talking we've been talking about kind of other rookies and there's one later that i'll also mention um you know struggling on tires uh when it's when they're

like the softer compound and and had jar doesn't seem to have that problem he's he's done absolutely brilliantly since he's come in. So well done. Isaac Hadjar. Well done indeed. Yeah. I think it's something that doesn't get spoken about enough. As much as there's the pace, there's the quali pace. But the Pirelli tyres are such a difficult beat. It's so different to F2 in the junior series as well. You know, look at Piafri how well he's driving now. He had this problem, didn't he? He really struggled in race trim in the first couple of season, or at least first maybe season and a half. But Hagear, yeah, he's, again, he doesn't have the best comparable teammate to go up against. He's also up with another rookie. That racing

balls might well be just as quick as Max Verstappen and the Red Bull. We don't know. But yeah, great performance from Hajar once again. The fans gave him an eight. Liam Lawson, start the race in 15th, finish 14th. I've gone for a five out of ten for Liam Lawson. It's a difficult one because it's a disappointing result when you look at how he's done to his teammate. He is one of the drivers that got, you know, screwed over in that, that strategy as well. But also qualifying, he was very unfortunate, you know, he wasn't that far off. And the red flag timing really, really screwed him over. So I'm not going to give him like a three or something just based on, you know, because

of that, because I don't think that was his fault. It wasn't a horrendous performance. I'm going to go for a five out of ten as well for Lawson. I'm really interested. If we didn't have a safety car or anything to give free uh free uh pit stops uh what these early pitters would have actually been able to do two stoppers would have been so fascinating because obviously lecler for example we'll get onto him he he pitted on lap 10 went on the charge and just before the vc came out he was right behind hamilton but the the the question mark was or how much longer is he going to be able to go on those tires and we also know that he only had a fresh set of softs left so what were they planning on doing was LeCler going to eke out a hard tire all the way to the end and still do a one-stop.

It's a shame that we couldn't get those answers because I was thoroughly intrigued by them. But back to Lawson, he was another one to pit really early and just an anonymous race, to be honest with you. As he said, he got caught out by the VSCs and safety cars today. And unfortunately, that's what put us down the back. Well, also, his qualifying was pretty poor and, you know, went on an aggressive strategy. it didn't work out. So yeah, five out of ten for me. The fans gave him a four. Ollie Beerman, start the race 19th, finished 17th. My biggest good surprise of the weekend.

I'm going to give him a five out of ten. I think Hass were absolutely abysmal this weekend. It's such a shame to see how topsy-turvy this team can be when it comes to their overall speed. Of course, he started 19th. Ockon started 18th. Olly Behrman, justice for him once again. I will shout that out once more. He should have been into Q2. But as some red light, red flag non-synchrony across the track is what kind of caught him out, which is absolutely insane in this modern day of Formula One that red flags thrown are not at the same time as when the light panels come on. But yeah, apart from that, you know, he tried to make it work. He was lapped, of course, under the safety car because he had a massive issue in the pit stop, which forced him to then

stop again and it's the 30 second pit stop so cheers take care i'll go for a six rolly bearman i think he was robbed in qualifying still don't know how that that happened because i'd be asking i'd i'd have been asking a lot more questions and kicking off about it if i was has because he was literally knocked out and starting 19th when he would have been into into q2 and we all know how difficult it is to pass around Dimler. And then he was actually running quite well and going to do a one-stop, which we know was the better strategy, but that pit stop screwed him over, of course, for them not fitting the wheel properly.

So I don't think the actual P-17 finish reflects on what he probably would have done this weekend with the pace he had. Fans gave Ollie Behrman a five. Esther Bannock on, start the race, an 18th did not finish. I've gone for a five out of ten for Estabanocon

pork Qualley anonymous in the race and just retired he actually tried to do kind of one strategy I don't know if he's practicing

the the Bernie Collins special for Monaco of pitting really early and hoping to catch the pack I'm pretty sure yeah he pitted on lap one

yeah he did so maybe it's a practice for Monaco and yeah I very odd strategy but didn't work out tried something different and retired so hard to judge but has kind of went back to being that nowhere team they only are either 10th or 19th and 20th it seems this this season and nothing in between I have gone for a four out of 10th for Esteban knock on wasn't a good weekend from him no we're comparing him up against ollie bearman here And in my opinion, Ocon as a race winner should be, in theory, on paper,

maybe doing a little bit better than what Behrman's able to put down. I can't believe he agreed to that strategy, to be honest with you. The whole narrative of this weekend was, well, we're going a step softer. We're going to try and force a two-stop here. And Hass and O'Con went, lap one. We'll pit on lap one and try and do 62 laps on the hards. It was never going to work O'Conn, I think, said after the race

that it sort of caught him out that, well, the degradation was a lot higher for him, which was unexpected. So, hey-ho, went for something a bit different and it did not work. The fans gave him a five. Franco Colapinto, started the race in 16th, finished 16th.

Hmm. Take into account this year. Yes, okay. I'm going for a five out of ten for Franco Colopinto. So yes, he did destroy the car. I'm not denying that in qualifying. However, I'm also taken into account the fact that he's been plonked in this car and had shown some pretty good speed, especially in qualifying.

It's a shame he ruined it by crashing. But I have to treat him as the newest rookie of the lot by being just plonked in the car out of nowhere and been told to perform at a high level. So I think a straight down the middle five respects that, but also knocks him down obviously slightly because of the fact he crashed in qualifying. So there you go. I completely agree.

I've also given Colopinto a five. Crash was, of course, a low point. And it was disappointing for him because I think had he just not done that and even just finished, it'd already kind of gotten through as well. I think the position he would have been in would have been actually a decent performance in qualifying. Still struggled in the race a bit anonymous,

but certainly wasn't a bad weekend, and you do have to give him, he's got a bit of kind of credit in the bank that he's basically been plonked into that car, like you say, with no preseason testing, no other racing, a lot of pressure as well.

So it's, I think right down the middle is fair, because it's not absolutely awful, but equally it's not great either. No, and... We'll see what you can. He eked out a pretty decent medium tire stint, but pitted seven laps before the VSC came out. So he got royally screwed, I would say, by going then.

And his fate was written. Add that to the list of drivers. Yeah. Add that to the list. He was screwed by the VSC. I think it's more screwed for Franco because he was closer to when the VSC came out, whereas like, the lack 10, I'm like, guys, were you really going to go to the end of the race and still be quick? Yeah, yeah.

It's a bit more hindsight, is it. Including my favourite drivers, we'll get on to that shortly. So yeah, the fans gave Franco a call up into a four. Not happy at all. Pierre Gasley, started the race in 10th, finish 13th.

I've gone for a 6 out of 10 for Pierre Gasly. I think he qualified pretty decent. I didn't think, I didn't expect the Alpines to be very good around here, despite my daughter, Grace's prediction, of course. But, yeah, he was very

anonymous race, made a mistake. battling with Leclair as well. I think maybe giving far too much room to his buddy and not wanting to collide with him and going completely off the road. I just want to forget for Gassley, I think. I've gone for a five out of ten for Gassley. Yeah, he had decent qualifying starting 10th, but yet that mistake was costly for him because he dropped down to P14 after that battle on lap three. So I have to downgrade him for that because after that it's, I'm sure he's probably running a little bit of floor damage because he was bouncing over the gravel. And yeah, he still wasn't able to get points despite the fact there was a VSC and also a safety car as well.

And ding, ding, ding, luck was not on his side either. There's a quote for that because the late safety car gave drivers ahead of him a free pit stop. But not the best weekend for Gassley. Yeah, that mistake was not something we expect from him. The fans gave him a six. L'Rourne. Start the race in eighth. finished 15th.

Oh, this is, this is literally a tale of two halves. I'm going to go for a six out of ten for Lance stroll. Well done. Nice qualifying. The race went really bad. It couldn't have gone much worse for Stroll with how it all ended up. His teammate Alonzo was fighting to the very end. But for Stroll, of course, he pitted just a bit later than the initial undercut

warriors of the Lecler and so on and then didn't pit during the VSC but then pit during the full safety car to go on some used mediums. Some of these teams were proper struggling out there. They were like, guys, we've got no tires left. What do we do at this point? Because Aston, of course, don't forget,

we're just chucking mediums on for fun in qualifying as well. So they really were using all of their allocation and some. But yeah, I've gone for a six because, well on stroll, we got to key three. I have gone for a... This one's difficult. Six out of ten. I think his qualifying was good.

He wasn't a million miles off Fernando Alonso. I was tempted for a seven just because like Alonzo, his pace was pretty decent, got shafted. But looking kind of back at where they finished. and the drivers in between them could have done better so I will go for a six and yeah

Aston a massive missed opportunity a rare race this year where it's a bit crazy and stuff happens and stroll actually doesn't benefit massively from it and end up reaping the rewards but this time was not the case

it certainly was not the fans gave Lance a six Fernando Alonzo started the race in fifth finished 11th I've gone for an out of 10 for Fernando Alonso. He was fighting

Russell and Norris at the start. And oh my word, that radio message from him cut as deep as Brazil 2012 of him staring into the abyss because it is so accurate of what does he have to do this year

to get a point because this season, you know, despite some Formula One fans that just kind of look at the results and look at the championship standings and based the whole narrative on that. It's not been a bad season. He's been faster than stroll and done well.

He's just not had the luck. And this is the worst luck that he's had of the lot because he could have had an absolutely brilliant result. And as if the race that it finally comes together and he has a great qualifying, they run out of blamintyres just gutting for him. The fact that he was even, of all that happening, The fact that he was even seven-tenths still from scoring a point and almost, you know, got Sonoda, the Red Bull, shows what a great race it was from him.

It certainly was. I've gone for an eight out of ten as well for Fernando Alonzo. I was absolutely convinced he was going to score points after starting the race in fifth around Dimela. Alas, the emotions he showed when he was fighting Yuki Sonoda, if you haven't seen the clip, he was trying to get through at the end and slammed his steering wheel with both hands. as he was still racing. So was not happy in the slightest. It just didn't work out for him. I think the pace of the Aston Martin on the hard tires

was shocking anyway. But of course, they stayed out. And as we saw later on as well with Lecler and how he was saying about the tyres not being able to be fired up, the Aston's had that same problem as well after the VSC. And they could never recover any sort of pace after that.

But that being said, as you said at the beginning, it was great to see him in that Russell train, getting involved and how he's not scored points, I will never know. But it's still an 8 out of 10. So well done, Fernando. I'm sure that will give him some solace knowing that he got an 8 out of 10 in the P1 podcast driver ratings. I bet it weren't.

The fans gave him a 7. Kimmy Antonelli started to race in 13th and did not finish. I have gone for a 5 out of 10 for Kimmy Antonelli. I think it was a pretty anonymous weekend. if you compare it to what Miami was like. Of course, qualified P-13, out-qualified by the eighth fastest car Ferrari, both of which out-qualifying him. So pretty poor.

But it was just, he had too much to do after that point. Of course, he kept Hamilton at bay for a lot of the initial stint, because he was also following, who was he following, Hajjar? So I think a little bit of distant slipstream helped Hamilton be kept at bay. But after that, of course, DNF'd. So there's the shoulda would have could as ifs, buts and maybes. But I'm going to go for a middle of the, middle of the ground, five out of ten. Yeah, I've also gone for a five for Kimmy Antonelli.

Qualifying was very poor based on, you know, what happened in Miami and how well he did there. Would have been gutted for it to happen, you know, at its home race doesn't live too far from Imola. But to be 13th, when your team meets third is poor, of course. and then in the race some people might look at it and go oh well you know he when he retired

he was there or thereabouts with some people that ended up scoring points and he may have ended up getting a point or something but I think he really struggled with the tyre tyre management this weekend and didn't quite quite work for him so

yeah I've gone four to five it's also really hard as well when a driver has a mechanical issue to know just when it's kicked in to affect his race as well. Like, at what point do you go, ah, this was the moment in which he was losing power? Yeah, I mean, he said after the race, I started to lose power on the streets and every lap it was getting worse before we had to retire the car. It's like, well, how many laps was it?

But either or, you know, he was still lacking pace in comparison to his teammate Russell. As much as I wanted to go, oh, he was actually racing Hamilton for the whole race. He finished fourth, so it should be a 10 because he would have finished a third. That's right. It was a five. Absolutely not. The fans agree. They went for a five out of ten as well.

George Russell, start the race in third, finish seventh. And I've gone for a seven. It's not a great weekend from George. Still decent enough. Qualified brilliantly, but he could not make those tyres work at the start of the race and was really struggling. And of course, his struggles is what I feel like created that massive knock-on effect

obviously Charlerclair was the one that pitted and kind of made everyone one do it. But yeah, George's pace and creating that train was the thing that really so early on as well in the race made people go, okay, this may be a two-stop after all. And yeah, just didn't really work for him, didn't have his usual pace. And yeah, ended up finishing behind the eighth faster team Ferrari, like you're saying. Yeah, I've also gone for a seven out of ten. great qualifying and yeah he was suffering I think even on the laps to the grid saying that the rear was stepping out and I think he said after the race that they were suffering from overheating on the rear axle and this in fact the first competitive

session of the entire year where he's not been in the top five if you take into account every single competitive session obviously not practice but qualifying sprint qualifying is everything so that just shows the kind of season that Russell is having but I think Mercedes was lacking anyway, but he still managed to haul that car to P7. The fans gave him a seven as well. Yuki Sonoda started the race from the bit lane. Finished 10th.

I have gone for a 5 out of 10 for Yuki Sonoda. Now, some people will go, Matt, start from the pit lane. You've got a point. Yes. staff from the pit lane because he had a catastrophic incident. So I have to downgrade him for that. And I was thinking like, okay, if I take away the crash in qualifying, what would I give a driver driving the Red Bull that's just won the race and finishing P10?

Probably a six at best, taking into account just Yuki Snowder's situation. Then you downgrade it by a point because of the crash in quality, and that's where I've come to a five out of ten. Still at a point to have gained, which is great for him. but is it good enough? Are we just chilling now? Are we like Yuki? So he just gets a free pass.

It's a weird situation that we're currently in. But that being said, he's just not quick enough, really, in the Red Bull still. And how much longer this will take if there is a point, a light at the end of the tunnel for Yuki? I hope so. Because I'd love to see him do well. But it's really not that good because I think he gained as well. He gained under the sort of stoppages that we had. If we have a look at his, yeah, so he started on the hard tyres.

He pitted under the virtual safety car and then went mediums all the way to the end. So it definitely was a gain for him, a net gain under the VSC. And yeah, score a point. I've gone for a five out of ten. I was opening an hour in between a four and a five, to be honest. I think it's a poor weekend and I think you hit the nail on the head that, I've seen some people going Oh, that was a really good drive from from Yuki

And you know As much as I love Yuki and want him to do well I can't sit here even with a fanboy hat on And say that was a good drive from Yuki Sonoda You know, the reason he started last was because he crashed Which was his own fault And then the drive through the field You know, his teammate won the race

And whatever you say about that second Red Bull You know I know he's new to the field. the team but sticks Sergio Perez in this exact situation and you know we're calling absolute like a ridiculous race so um yeah not not good from meuki uh needs to do better and i do think there is a potential and maybe what might have been if you've been able to get into into you're so triggered by that word now aren't you just like uh uh um i do think there is there is there they i think looking at what yuki's done so far bar rain i

was like, this is absolutely the right decision. He will get like a P5, a P6 at some point. And he just hasn't got anywhere near since really. So, yeah, not great from Yuki. It has to be said. The fans gave Yuki a six. Max Verstappen started the race in second, finished first. It's a 10 out of 10 for Max Verstappen, you know,

despite Oscar Piastri breaking so early that it, you just gifted Max the win and of course the Red Bull being the rocket ship that it is sarcasm. Yes, it was amazing from Max, missed out on pole by the tiniest margin. And whether you think that the Red Bull is good now and better than a lot of people is, I'm not going to sit here and pretend it's a tractor and rubbish. But even if it is the second best car, he's still turned up, with the second best car and won the race. And when the two McLarence finished.

So his turn move won was absolutely sensational. We've lauded that, you know, enough and mentioned it so many times. But it was just incredible and that won him the race. I don't think, I don't think for a second that had we had VSCs, of course he got fortunate with it, take that all out of the equation. I think he wins easily anyway. I don't think it was in doubt. So just superb from Max to win the race that we said before,

he has to win these kind of races. And he did. He did indeed. I have also gone for a 10 out of 10 for Max Verstappen. I don't think you can give him any other grade. I genuinely don't. The movie made at the start, simply lovely. It was.

It really was. You can't take anything away from him, had a poor start and still managed to come out in the lead, come turn one. And then he was comfortable. He did the right strategy, which I am not surprised in the slightest. Max is like, I'm not giving up the lead.

I'm not going to cover off undercuts. I'm just going to carry on. And the pace was great. Same for Lando. They both stayed out there and it was the right decision. They managed to keep their tyres in a really good window, which showed that the one stop

was probably very possible for at least certain drivers out there. But yeah, it was. an almost perfect drive, to be honest with you, on Sunday. So it's a 10 out of 10 from me. The fans gave me a 10 as well. Lewis Hamilton started the race in 12th, finished fourth. Oh, we're into who gained and who didn't gain from the safety cars. I have gone for an 8 out of 10 for Lewis Hamilton.

I think it was a very solid drive on Sunday, of course, qualifying was a disaster for both of them. He was stuck behind Antonelli for a very long time, but he was decisive with his moves when he had the tyres underneath him. So it was really good. It has to be said in that sort of second phase of the race, I will obviously caveat the fact that he gained from both the virtual safety car and the safety car to be able to plonk on a fresh set of boots for both of those phases. So it gave him the best opportunity to go on the attack and he and he did you know so I can't I can't say that the only reason he got forth was because he just gained in the safety card because no he he did take advantage of the

situation that was put in front of him but I've gone for an eight because I don't think I can get greater many higher than that considering everything that happened during the amelia Romani Grand Prix I've also gone for an eight to have done for Lewis Hamilton of course you know a good slice of fortune for everything that happened but you have to be there and in it to capitalise. And that's exactly what Hamilton's done. And so many of the great drivers throughout history, we kind of go, oh, they get their good fortune and stuff. But when they get presented with good fortune, they make the most of it.

That's exactly what Hamilton did. He had a pretty, I wouldn't say poor race, but just, yeah, it was stuck behind a lot of people, pretty anonymous. Looks like it was going to be nothing special. and then he was presented with an opportunity at the end and absolutely took it and a couple more laps maybe who would have even been on the podium which would have been an absolutely incredible story

to happen at Imala but run out of laps but still an impressive drive from Hamilton and he looked absolutely buzzing at the end of the race for that to happen essentially in front of the Defoece because I think he was really kind of just even after the poor qualifying he was just

just like drinking it all in. And I think even had it not been a good result, I think the crowd, he always feeds off the crowd anyway, doesn't he? And I think it was a bit of a realization of like, this is why I joined this team. Even if it's painful sometimes, look at that crowd. This is everything. So yeah.

Yeah, he said to drive in front of the Tofosie today, this weekend has been the highlight of the year so far. To have such a strong race and to be moving forward and making ground, it was such a great feeling. To finally have that connection, that synergy with the car today. progressing was a really great feeling. So yeah, Hamilton feeling a lot better after the race. The fans gave him a nine. Charlecler started the race in 11th, finished 6th.

I've gone for an 8 out of 10 for Charleclair. A difficult one to grade because, like his teammate, they've swapped positions. I think Leclair was the quicker driver throughout the whole race and unfortunately it all kind of I wouldn't say went to part of the end but but kind of did the reason it's not a nine

I know some people we're about to find out maybe we'll give him a nine and I think it is also justified because he drove superbly and I think he had amazing pace it's how you judge that that kind of final sequence where you've got a handful of laps left

and I know he's on struggling tires and he did everything in his power to hold off alban to the point where you know even pushing him off the road but i've kind of taken it as well p4 was on if it had just held off with alban and because unfortunately the way uh alban then went off it also gave hamilton the opportunity to attack him which i don't think would have happened if he had kept alban behind so um that's why i've gone for an eight. But yes, like, very much like Fernando Alonto, a

very, very quick drive that hasn't got the reward that it deserves, I think. So, I have gone for an eight out of ten as well, reluctantly actually, because that was a nine out of ten performance all day long.

However, you know, there is a slight movement towards the eight, just purely because of what happened with Alex Albon. I believe he was on tension. I mean, it's so hard to know these days

with the racing rules and whatnot. But, you know, the stewards themselves said, we had not concluded our investigation and then Charlerler gave the position

back so it didn't matter. Ferrari clearly believed that they were about to get a penalty. So you have to kind of steer towards that, I guess, because they would have

analyzed it over and over, you would hope. But Charle was rapid. Absolutely rapid. I believed the moment he, whipped out that undercut.

And yes, he was very unlucky. He, of course, first and foremost had the VSC come out, which, to be honest, I wouldn't say that one is as bad, because I know he pitted on lap 10 to go for the undercut, but that's the whole, like, were they really going to be able to hold on for 53 laps on those hard tires and to maintain decent speed? I'm not convinced.

So I'm trying to be level-headed with this. but the second one, the safety car, that's where he did get massively screwed because you might have heard it. There was a team radio conversation where Shal was saying, I have brand new C-6s, don't I? The soft tires, I can put those on.

And Ferrari, for some reason, are like, Hamilton doesn't want to pit. And Charles was like, yeah, I don't care. I want to talk about my race. And so he eventually gets on to his race thinking that Lewis Hamilton's not going to come in the pits. Then he sees Hamilton go into the pits and he's right behind him, so then he has to carry on,

because I'm not going to double stack and then get overtaken by drivers behind me. So I would say he was more screwed then because then he was just left like a sitting duck on those hard tires that lost all temperature behind the safety car. So I think it was a really good performance from Shal, and it's such a shame that it just didn't work out for him. The fans gave him an eight.

Oscar Piastri started the race and first, finished third. it's going to be an eight out of ten for Oscar Piastri. A very still, solid weekend. Ended up on the podium. I know a lot of people were like, it's a disaster. Oscar Piastri does not know how to race wheel to wheel, yada, yada, yada. He's still finished on the podium and he's still the championship leader. I, you know, I'm sure McLaren will be kicking themselves.

I am questioning why they pitted him so early into traffic. Maybe they read the race wrong. maybe they thought everybody was going to come in. Whatever it was, it was a mistake. From both McLaren and Oscar, I'm saying this is a, they're a team. And the driver can of course make overrides of certain decisions. And clearly Oscar was already in that mindset of, I kind of want to pick guys. So if you could just let me know, because he was saying, I'm not sure about plan A.

And that ultimately cost him potentially a chance at the victory, whether that was the tire management and being forced into that stop or what. it's hard to tell but it's definitely not a perfect weekend from Oscar despite the pole position so that's well come for an eight yeah i've gone for an eight out of ten as well probably his worst race since australia which is saying a lot about what a great season he's had because um yeah the two stop yeah so oscar wasn't his finest moment i think based on what happened in Saudi and is kind of saying how great it is

that he's been able to kind of put one over on Max and then equally fighting Max in Miami and we were kind of saying look Oscar's the driver at McLaren that is the one that can fight Max and stuff and he kind of you know didn't expect him to slingshot around the outside but it is a little bit of a mistake from him of course

and then yeah maybe a little bit of the old Piestri that we saw in his rookie season where struggling a bit more on the tyres and I think you're absolutely right that he got into that mindset of and maybe maybe just baited by

Charle-Claude's strategy which looked like an absolute worldie of a strategy that when we saw Russell and Alonzo basically I think it's Russell actually holding that entire pack-up and that you can slot into a nice gap and it just didn't really work from him

from there of course left him on bad tires compared to his teammate at the end. And I think had Albon got through or Hamilton got through quicker, I think he was actually quite fortunate at the end to be on the podium because they were coming quick at the end of the people on the quicker tyres. Absolutely. The fans gave him an eight as well. Landon Norris, start the race and fourth, finish second. I have gone for an eight out of ten for Landau Norris.

I think even despite a poor qualifying, which seems to be is Achilles' heel this year, I do think it was a good race from him. You know, all the criticisms that we've had throughout the year of takes too long to make moves and needs to be more assertive. I think he did do that. Of course, on the two moves that he did, Russell and Piastri, he had better tire life and whatever and an advantage, but he still made it happen.

And I think you do have to also give him credit for making, or at least going with Max, unlike his teammate, and doing that one-stop strategy, which of course then became a two because he could pit at the end. So I don't think you can really separate, in my opinion anyway, Lando and Oscar in how they did in that race. I thought they were very similar. Oscar had a much better qualifying.

I think Lando had a better race, and I think they were very similar. with how they performed. So I've gone for an eight for Lando. Yeah, it evened out. I've also gone for an eight out of ten for Lando. I think that was the best thing of it. And you've mentioned it, Tommy. The overtaking confidence from Lando, it's a hard place to overtake. But to have pulled that move on both Oscar and George, yes, on Quicotire's. But that's the kind of difference you need in order to even be shaping for a move

with the way Formula One is these days. So yeah, I was impressed with Lando in the race, but I think I'm always kind of impressed with Lando in the race. I think more so, obviously, with the overtaking side of things for this particular Grand Prix. But yeah, the qualifying, we don't tend to see these sort of four, five, six, tenth of a second down laps that we've seen occasionally from Lando this year with Oscar.

And he needs to find the confidence in the car to be able to... It always seems to be in Q3 as well, it feels like as well, doesn't it? Yeah, like the last lap or whatever it might be. So if Lando could just, it's the same conversation we have every single time. We can just sort out to qualify and get ahead of Oscar. I think he'll be in the pound seats to beat his teammate and beat his championship rival. But alas, he hasn't been able to do that this time around. Also, you're proud I got Q3 right as well.

Didn't say Q1. Oh, wow. I'm learning. I'm learning about Formula One day by day. You're learning about numbers. Congratulations. The fans gave Lando an eight as well. So who is our P1?

For me, it has to be Max Verstappen because he just, that move will constantly be burned into my brain for the rest of time on lap 1-term 1. The best lap 1 turn 1 move I've ever seen. So Max is getting my P1. Alex, of course, is a honourable mention to this, but Max brings himself back into the championship hunt once again with a flawless Sunday. How can you give it to anyone else?

Yeah, absolutely. Has to be Max Lestappen, only driver have given two. I tend to, of course, as well. Just a superb drive that just was so good that even the Tophosi were chanting do-d-da-da-da-da-machsappan despite, you know, booing him in recent times.

I think it was at one of those moments where they just kind of went, Fair play Max. You are really, really, really good. And also, you're not fighting Ferrari for the championship. So we like you now. Yeah, yeah, it must be. They're just like, yeah, you're cool, Max. We'll be you next year. You can beat McLaren. It's fine. Just not ours. Yeah, literally. The fans gave, what am I talking about? I literally thought we were talking about Max again. The fans did give him a 10. But there you go. Thank you everybody for watching and listening. It's been an absolute pleasure to bring you this driver ratings episode once again. Let us know your thoughts. Oh wait, you already have. And we will see you this time next week for Monaco,

which should be an easier one to grade, but then it's a two-stop. So... I don't think it will be. It could be another absolute carnage where someone's got absolute garbage race base and they somehow win because they pitted really early and then got a lucky PSC. All right. There you go. You heard it here first. I can't wait for it. It's going to be really exciting. So we'll be live, of course, Mapy on Tommy on YouTube and Twitch. for our watchalongs and we will see you very soon. Lots of love. Bye.

Bye. My chore. Well, well, well. Hmm. What's chorey today, Tommy? What are you, what are you churry? What is churry? What is churry you need to do in the house right now?

Well, wash a lot of clothes because, you know, when you get back from holiday, you just need to go to all you. Yeah, you just need to. case which you don't really go through. Yeah, you're just constantly doing loads of washing. Yeah, yeah. I'm in that stage at the moment. So that's my chore. I didn't wash your clothes in that five-star hotel that you're posting on Instagram.

My chore is to actually, I'm exchanging contracts for my new home. So that's my chore is if you have a contract to exchange. I love to what you're taking a mic out of. Matt goes from taking the mic out of me for a five-star hotel. It's like, well, actually, I'm just buying a house right now. It's my first home. I'm excited, okay? Bye.

Congratulations. Thanks, baby cakes. I'll take off you. When do I move in? P1 is a Stack production and part of the Acast's creator network.