P1 with Matt and Tommy - Our 2024 mid-season F1 Driver Ratings: P10 to P1

Episode Date: August 12, 2024

Here it is, then: our top ten drivers from the first half of the 2024 season. Our line-ups differ and we need to debate some places! How do our grades stack up against yours? Let us know! P1 Live is heading to North America this Fall and tickets are now on sale! Click here to get your tickets, which are already close to selling out!Sign up to our Patreon here! You'll get access to bonus episodes, our classic race series, every P1 episode ad-free and access to our Discord server where you can chat with other F1 fans!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. Today it's the big one, 10th to first in our mid-season F1 driver rankings. Firstly, before we get into it, a shout out to our US tour. Tickets are still available. It's going very quickly. I believe New York is sold out. Others are going, as I say, very fast. Check the link in our social media bios or the description of this podcast if you want to see.

Me and Tommy live in either Canada. Toronto or five venues in America. New York, Chicago, Seattle, L.A., Austin. Wow, beautiful work. All off the top of my head. Let's go to 10th position. And mine is Fernando Alonzo with a 6.6 out of 10. So now we are into the top 10.

This is where it's pretty close between a lot of drivers. My best grades for Fernando. I gave him a nine in Saudi, Japan, Canada and Belgium, and a worst grade of two out of ten in Imola, where he finished 19th and did have an absolute stinker in Imola just throughout the whole weekend. Got a three in Austria, where he crashed into Zhou. And it's been the first glimpse since Alonzo returned, I would say,

of a, oh, Fernando's not having that much fun anymore. And we're seeing a few weekends creep in. now where he's not demolishing stroll, which is confusing in my brain. I know, Tommy, you have your theories as to why perhaps the stroll Alonzo divide is closing, and it's because you think that the car is being more suited to stroll. But either way, Fernando just hasn't been completely and utterly on it, I would say, in this second half of the season, which is why he's been bumped down to 10th, because I'd say in that first half of the season, he was looking like a top three,

top four driver again. but no 10th for me. P10 is also Fernando Alonzo with a 6.6. So despite my bias, Fernando Alonzo grades, we've ended up with the same score. And yeah, it's very similar to exactly what you've said. At the start of the season, it looked like Ashton Martin delivered not as good of a car as last year.

Obviously, he's not been able to get those podiums and really high points finishes, they were in formula A and then they were hanging on to Formula A and now they very much don't feel part of Formula A at all. And ever since that Aston Martin have struggled, it has been Alonzo that has struggled and he's got some very bad grades as well. Like you say, in Imola, in Austria where he had contact with, I think it was show when he dived up the inside. So he's put a few clumsy moves in as well, which maybe think is a bit of desperation and frustration that the car's not where he wants it to be,

particularly when you look at how good that Aston Martin was. And this time last year we were talking about, oh, Fernando Alonso, like, it's going to be great when he gets Win 33, and now that just looks a million miles away. So, oh, it doesn't hurt all. It's very painful, actually. not the best season.

Maxisdapin fan has a slight bit of sporting pain. Cry me a river. Let's go to ninth position then Tommy. So ninth for me is Yuki Saneda with 6.9 average score out of 10. Nice. He has had a very strong season, particularly at the start.

When we mentioned Daniel Ricardo maybe not delivering and Yuki had so many performances where he was finishing best of the rest we say that Formula A is untouchable and Yuki Sanoda was the guy that was always topping Formula B for a good run of races 7th in Austria 10th in Japan 7th in Miami 10th who's scoring points Monaco again he scored points and you can he still has unfortunately those moments which maybe Red Bull think twice about when he bins it into the wall and has a big crash.

And while he's still new, he's not New New New anymore that he can really lean back on that excuse that he's a brand new driver. When you said that, I just had the worst dad joke of you talking about the Telitubbies then. But anyway, it's fine. I know. Nunu was the vacuum, right? Yeah, just came straight to it. Just, you know, give me some of that tubby toast. Don't know what I'm talking about now.

Let's get into my ninth as well because it is also Yuki Sanoda with a 6.9. Nice. Best grades were for me tens in Australia where he finished seventh and then Japan where he finished 10th. The worst grades I gave him were fours in China,

Canada and Spain. I also gave him nine out of tens in Miami, Monaco and Hungary. I think Yuki's been fantastic this year. As you've mentioned, Tommy, I think he has had moments that sadly haven't been erased from his game yet.

if we just constantly saw a Yuki Sonoda topping Formula B, I don't think that Red Bull would be able to come up with an excuse to not give him at least a shot. They wouldn't even need an excuse, right? It seems like right now, as you constantly say, every time on the race podcast, that Christian Horn is never looking when Yuki Snowder is in the top 10, but as soon as he is, he's awake and he's seeing everything.

I think that, I don't know, there's something that just doesn't feel as though Red Bull will ever go for Yuki Sonoda, and that's why he's been tipped at Aster Martin in the few. future and stuff like that. And perhaps that door will close. We don't know. But Yuki's been great. And to be ninth, I can't remember where he finished

last year for us, but he's been very good. I just hope he can continue on this run of form. He's 10 points ahead of Daniel Ricardo at the moment. And yeah, I'd say that's a very fair ninth position for Yuki. Eighth place. For me, Nico Holcomburg, with a 7.3 out of 10. Hulk has been brilliant this year

he really has he's also got 22 points the same as Yuki and you compare that to his teammate Magnuson who's got five he's had some stellar stellar performances in the likes of Austria

Silverstone consecutive P6s it's just he's just been really good for a lot of the year and this is where the whole I've never had a podium stuff

just needs to be it's just not even relevant because he's showing in this car. And perhaps right, there's another conversation about when he gets a great car, can he actually delivering that? But when he's in an underperforming or something that doesn't have as much pressure on his shoulders, he does extract everything.

And he is one of the best midfield drivers that we've seen in Formula One, I would say, because he's always there, whether it was with Renault or whoever force India, whatever. So yeah. Yeah, the names you're saying is never, he's never had a race winning car

it's all right going oh but the fact is that when he's bottled podiums it's because he was absolutely somehow running first in a force India so it's not like he's got a red ball drive and then been terrible

and so Nigo Hulkenberg is also P8 for me with a 7.1 maybe hasn't had as good of those unbelievable qualifying things but what's great is that he can now deliver in the races

and that's what we love to see like he has been good in qualifying but last year he would always drop back down whereas now he's able to actually stay there and you actually look at where he's finished even when he's not not been in the points one, two, three, four, five

five of those are P-11. So he does get a good amount from that car, delivered some amazing results. I mean, his two back-to-back sixth in a house is actually phenomenal. It's unbelievable, to be honest, with the state that the state is maybe unfair,

but like the gap between Formula A and Formula B and how we say so many times that there's not many points and offer you don't have a chance for him to get two back-to-back P6s is absolutely incredible. So yes, we'll see how he continues on, but he's had a great season, definitely. He certainly has. Let's go to seventh place. Seventh place for me is George Russell. I think it's going to be very close between a lot of these kind of,

drivers now and can go either way. I think we might see a bit of a mixed order. And it's very close like here, George Russell, maybe look at seventh and go, oh, that's a bit harsh, but, you know, he has been close. He is close to the others. Austria, brilliant drive has to be said.

And I know he inherited a win. and of course gave him a 10 as well for for spa despite the disqualification which was very unfortunate but a fair grade still has had the odd moment of madness I think that he did a dive bomb for I remember on piastri in Japan that was a bit like chill out and maybe not not the best and it's interesting the way he started the season he didn't get the credit it he deserved for how much he was putting over Lewis Hamilton. You know, it's not, maybe not the case now, but at the start of the season, he was very impressive and maybe he didn't get the credit he deserved for just how impressive he was and

how much ahead of Hamilton he was and his qualifying score particular against Lewis Hamilton. my seventh position is lewis hamilton with a 7.4 out of 10 and i think it's worth mentioning that my sixth is 7.5 my fifth is 7.6 my fourth is also 7.6 so it's very close in this span from fourth to seventh but look i think that this reflects for me you know this point one point two difference that i've got with hamilton now down in seventh compared to maybe being in fourth is the start of the year where George Russell was doing a great job and beating Hamilton in some of those races. Like, for example, a bad grade came from me, I say bad, four out of ten in Australia, ADNF, so it was difficult to really judge much from that, but he did qualify P11. And then the best

grades, the things that have really brought up his score, of course, Silverstone, Belgium, gave him 10 out tens. It's been an upward trajectory. I mean, his results, you know, the last five races have been third, fourth, first, third, first. And I think that, You know, as a reminder, this is a whole season perspective. And I think this might be the one where people go, what do you mean? Hamilton's been incredible this year. Not over the course of the whole season.

Yeah, read his first ones. Exactly. So what did he have? 7th, 9th, 9th, retired, 9th, 9th, with a second in the sprint for China, 6th, 7th. So that's, you know, a lot of sort of decent points, but, well, not even decent points. Three of them were 9th. So, yeah, that's why I've got Hamilton at 7.4. and he's actually finished in the top four in every race since Canada,

which is, yeah, quite a, quite a stat. And that's what's, and he's been much, much better. And I fully expect this to be the Hamilton that we see in the second half of the season as well. And probably will thrust his way higher than seventh when we do this at the end of the year. Sixth position. I have got Carlos Sines with a 7.5. Carlos at the start of the year was incredible. Of course, you've got a 10 in Australia after coming back.

with his appendicitis, of course, Saudi Arabia, where we didn't give him a score at all, did we? So it didn't affect his averages. And then it's been a decent season for Carlos. He's picked up, what, one, two, three, four, five podiums. And yeah, it's just been a, he's been a bit of a, was it, come a cropper of the Ferrari, just getting a little bit slower.

And he's scored some very solid points. And he's not been far off Lecler, sometimes been faster than him, especially at the start of the year. So yeah, sixth place for me, 7.5. A decent grade, and I can't believe he's going to Williams next year. Carlos is sixth for me with a 7.6. For me, his worst result was Canada,

where, you know, a clumsy collision, poor in qualifying as well, although obviously his teammate was out as well in that session. You didn't need to bring that up. But his form at the start of the year was incredible. His win in Australia put him on the talk of like, oh, he is the, you know, the man that everyone's going to want. And instead, he's at Williams next year, which is quite shocking, but it's all just circumstances. And I think I've said this many times with Carlos when I've given him the great.

grades that he has. He doesn't really have many low lows. Canada, of course, he had that moment, but you look at essentially his, other than that retirement, his worst finish is a P6. And you look where that Ferrari is now and think it's pretty like, he is a very,

I think he's like that, that perfect driver for like a team that wants to just bag as many. constructors and points as possible because even on his off days he delivers a very strong result even if he maybe doesn't have these like unbelievable highs and gets like pole positions and things he he just is a really consistently quick driver and that's shown with his results like looking at looking at that actually the fact that yeah he's not been outside the top six. It's very impressive. Fifth position. So in fifth place I have Lewis Hamilton with 7.6 which is exactly, well, which is the same as Sites, but he's got two tens, which I gave

him. And it's funny that, yeah, George Russell for me is 7th Hamilton, 5th, so two grades higher, but it's only 0.1 out of 10, which shows how maybe evenly matched over the whole season they actually have been but for me Hamilton's second it's not even second half it's just he's been so good in the last like five races I think you know maybe arguably from the second half of the Canadian Grand Prix he has been absolutely sensational and delivered the maximum out of his car every time getting two wins in in three races is something we never thought was going to happen when he was finishing P9 and like seventh and ninth every race. So I very much expect like you that Lewis Hamilton,

which for all Lewis Hamilton's accomplishments, I think the one he's most will be most proud of is if he goes up the driver ratings of Matt and Tommy's. Easily. It wouldn't surprise me if he goes up to like a second maybe as a stretch, second or third maybe, if he continues this form based on how he was at the end of the, before the summer break, it's definitely possible. My fifth place is Charles LeCler with a 7.6 and I note that Tommy has not yet said

Charles LeClair, so I will not have anyone saying I am blinded by fanboyism when I have given him a lower average score of a whopping 0.1. But it's fine. It's still, still me in fifth place with child of Claire. It's been a season, I mean, he's still driving really well. He's still getting a lot of great results. His worst race was obviously Silverstone. But I mean, he just had that run where I don't really feel like it was his fault what was going on or at least, I mean, there were some parts to play where maybe he could have done better, Silverstone being one of them, hence why I gave him a four, was because, you know, he'd cooked his tires and he came in and then obviously changed onto the inters. and that wasn't the right way to go.

And you know, you blinked and then he'd been lapped, I think, in three of the four races more recently. So that aside, he's still there getting some great results. Best race, and of course the 10 out of 10 was his win in Monaco, but mostly given him eights and nines, because he has been, I would say, extracting the most out of that Ferrari where he can, barring those three or four terrible races.

but I think that's what has brought him down a little bit for me and is in fifth. But still not a terrible season by any stretch of the imagination. And I hope for it to improve in the second half. Fourth position, I have got George Russell. He's tied with LeCler on 7.6, but is higher due to 2 10 out of 10s. So the worst grade I gave George Russell was a 5 in Australia. but the best grades were 10 out of 10s in Austria and Belgium where of course we've Tommy's already mentioned those

and just pretty decent grades throughout most of the season of course he's beat Hamilton by 0.2 for me of course as I say more recently Hamilton has been incredible but let's not take anything away from George Russell either I think he's had a great season I do he's had a consistently great season even if the Mercedes wasn't very good in that first half of the year where Hamilton was floundering a little bit.

George was still getting decent results. You know, you look at, he gets a fifth in Bahrain, Hamilton got seventh, Russell gets a sixth in Saudi, Hamilton ninth. Then you've got seventh and ninth in Japan in George Russell's favour, sixth and ninth, China. So there was some,

George was on a good run of form. Of course, he's got a little bit unlucky towards the end, although not in our ratings for Belgium, even though he got to qualify, we both gave him a 10, because we felt like it was worthy of that. But yeah, of course, he retired in Great Britain as well

and we're not sure where of course he would have ended up there but still I think fourth place a very lovely performance from George Russell. Fourth for me is Charlotte Claire with a 7.7 Fanboy. I know I am obviously the resident Charlotte Claire fan boy of this podcast

and yeah he got tens from me in Monaco and also spa where I feel like he delivered everything despite of course dropping back but you look at his start of the year and it is funny how despite Carlos

having a sensational run Charlotte Clare up until Monaco was getting the maximum out of that Ferrari every single weekend with podiums and picking up points which was

obviously enough for us to talk about them potentially winning the Constructors Championship it's not gone to plan since then of course after Monaco but even with the way the car has not been as quick it seems and they're looking like they're the fourth fastest car now.

Lecler has still put in some good performances particularly Belgium I think where he had no right to be on pole position in that car in my opinion and yeah I delivered a very strong race as well and didn't fly back back through the pack as much as I thought he would. So yeah, it's been a it's a good season for Shal

but again a lot of these drivers it all comes and this is why I like that we've done it through averages because it's very easy to forget runs that certain drivers had at the start of the season and stuff and LeClauze was absolutely brilliant.

Third place. Third for me is Lando Norris which is a big surprise I must admit when put these averages together with an 8.1 of course his teammate

has not been said yet which is why it's a big surprise for me generally high grades for Lando for me Lando's season has it's funny that I think this is a bit like

an ockon for me where I graded him quite harshly. Some would say in Belgium, I think he massively underdelivered. He was you know, himself, not himself and made quite a few errors during the race.

His best grade did come at Miami. Is that it's only 10 that I've given him? It is. And Lando for me has maybe underdelivered what that McClough is capable of, but equally at the same time, I think he's unfairly got a bit of a reputation of being like, I mean, it's classic internet that you can never just be like rational and say he's done a good job.

He either has to be, he's massively overrated or he's really underrated because he got hyped up massively and, you know, people saying that, oh, if he has the car, he will deliver. and I don't think unfortunately he has delivered to what I thought he might with a car that good but it's no way near as bad as what certain people are saying like that he's like absolutely awful and way off he deserves credit for delivering a good season and having the points tally he has yes it should be more and sometimes that's through McLaren sometimes that's through his own fault but we'll see how he he does in the second half of the year. I think it's going to be a really big moment in Landosur,

I think the second half of the season and how he performs. Third place for me is Oscar Piastri with an 8.1, which I'm not surprised about because I feel as though, yeah, Oscar Piastri, of course, has had an amazing season. He is one and a half seasons into Formula One. and he's just growing with confidence and getting stronger by the day. And I do think that another season under his belt, and we could well see Piastrian Norris very close.

Can Oscar even get past and faster than Lando? That's a question on a lot of people's lips. But I think Oscar, over the course of the whole season, has been great. I think his worst grade for me was in Spain with a six out of ten. best rating of course 10 out of 10 in Hungary and he's had a lot of very strong performances I don't think he's been as good as Lando Norris over the course of the whole year

more recently of course we've you know you of course get recently bias into that and say of course he's been great in the last three or four races where he's finished second fourth first second and yes he has been amazing hence why he's got an 8.1 average grade this is you know what you were saying Tommy

it isn't a case of Piestri being worse than Norris. It's that he hasn't had just by a minute amount as strong a season over the course of the last, well, from Bahrain to Belgium. But yeah, I think Piaastri can be very proud of the season he's put in so far. And I'm excited to see if he can continue on with this momentum into the second half. Because, yeah, he's been great. And an 8.1 is a very strong grade indeed.

Let's go to second place then. No surprise. it is Lando Norris for me with an 8.3. It's that final percent that Lando's been missing. Of course, I think McLaren in general come into this season with a bit of a bit of underdog mentality, not just within their team, which we've discussed before, but from fans' perspective as well,

oh my God, you know, McLaren can challenge Red Bull? This is amazing. And I'm sure some of the grades, for example, Lando getting a nine out of 10 in Australia for a third place. It does shift the way our expectations as we go through the season and McLaren are quicker and quicker and quicker. So Lando has had a great season.

He's just been missing that final percent of challenging Max for Stappen. Max is so far clear in our average grades that that's where the difference is. I don't think he deserves a seven out of ten average grade or anything like that because he's had so many brilliant drives over the course this year. but the highlights, the ones that we all remember, are him not being able to convert pole position because they're in the limelight, they're in the spotlight, and this is what's brought up.

And of course, we're going to discuss it because we'd love to see a fight with Lando and Oscar and McLaren against Max Verstappen in Red Bull. But I still think Lando is deserving of that second place because he's done a great job, just been missing that final percent. So P2 for me is Oscar Piastri with 8.4, which is quite a bit higher than Lando, a surprising amount. Wapping.

Yes, I would say whopping, but it is, I think Lando's... 8.3 is a whopping amount in these driver rankings. Yeah, I was surprised by it, but when I looked back on the season, I do think that it is actually a lot tougher to call between the two of them. you look at Miami as an example I gave Oscar a 10 out of 10 he was ahead of Lando until obviously

you know not taking anything away from Lando's victory it was a sensational win and I'm incredibly glad that he got that victory but Oscar was ahead of him before the like good fortune which he finally deserved because he's had a lot of bad fortune as well and then Oscar's form you know we've shared

graphics and things that since McLaren got good in those last few races it's been a lot closer I think since since Miami Oscar has outscored Lando which is another big surprise and yeah

it's going to be a really fascinating second half of the season to see how those two stack up against each other because I very much expected it to be very similar to and it and it maybe did in the first couple of races perhaps that we're going to get this similar situation where Lando's much quicker further ahead. Oscar has his moments but Oscar is right is right there now and it's going to be really interesting to see how um I think genuinely like

it sounds we've banted about this last year the fight for P2 being exciting but uh Max is obviously very far gone. It's a lot more exciting this year because people are different people are winning and stuff. But you look at that fight for second with Landon 199, Charlott on 177, Oscar on 167, Carls 162, Hamilton on 150. I think it will change again. And yeah, very excited to see how the two of them do in the next half of the season. First place. It is. Max for staff then.

What a surprise. Nine out of ten, exactly, which is pretty poor for Max's standards recently. Pretty washed, to be honest. Still a whopping, you know, clear of the others. And it's not been a perfect season from him like we expected. The car we've still given him good grades, because I don't think the car is anywhere near as dominant as it was last year.

But he has had his moments where Monaco didn't go to plan. Austria, Hungary, for example, had moments where he had been colliding and things like that. Max is one of those drivers. I saw a lot of people maybe questioning our grade for him for Belgium, I think it was, and saying they should be higher. Maybe. Sometimes drivers can be a victim of their own success

that because Max has been dominant for so long, you kind of feel like you can't give him a 9 or a 10 out of 10 for a P4. But as we go into the second half of the season, it's quite clear that Red Bull do not have anywhere near the advantage they did. And while I think it is a very, it's going to take an absolute mind of miracle for him not to win the championship with the points lead he's got, it's going to be very interesting by the end of the year,

seeing how he continues, because he's not won since Spain, which was the 23rd of June, which in Max Verstappen's kind of dominance and all the banter about the Dutch national anthem being the F1 outro is a very, very, very long time, even though other drivers would take it every day of the week. Yeah, it's still a really, really good performance.

And the fact that he is 78 points clear in the championship when he has not had a dominant car is incredibly impressive, like beyond incredibly impressive. All right, fanboy. My first position is, of course, Max Verstappen as well, with an 8.9 out of 10. Oh, hater. Yeah, absolutely disgraceful.

Eight out of term, shocking. Yeah, 8.9. Still a 0.6 difference to second place, same as you. So he's clear.

He's the best driver on the grid. He's able to extract everything most of the time. Of course, as we've mentioned, there are a few blips, and it hasn't been a perfect season,

even though we expected it in Bahrain. But there's been still, how many is he won? One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. seven races this season. And there'll be plenty more.

Like Crimea River, only seven races. Yeah. And I'm sure there'll be plenty more in the second half of the year. But yeah, he's still able to extract some great, great results,

even if the Red Ball is now in the pack. So, yeah, there's not, what else you say about Manchester Stampin? It's just unbelievable. And the best driver on the grid at the moment. And that is that. That wraps up our driver rankings for the mid-season.

Interesting. Of course, it wasn't like we've formulated this in terms of grading, like our own opinion of it. This is all averages. This is straight out of the driver rating system. So Tommy, how did you find that? And what are your final thoughts? Final thoughts are that, yeah, it's always interesting to look back on the season so far.

A lot of these races, particularly the early ones do seem like a lifetime ago. it's amazing that it doesn't even feel like the same season when Max was winning by 20 seconds and Perez was finishing second. So I am incredibly hyped for the second half because what a unbelievable run of races we've had. And yes, it's going to be a good one. Good. Is that the superlative you could get?

Tommy's brain cells are just faltering right at the end. Sorry, the just the, just the, the, the sunbed on the yacht was just too much. Oh wait, that was the other podcast. I was going to say that makes absolutely no sense to anyone. But if you want to tune into the P1 Patreon podcast, you can, where Tommy's talking about him being on his yacht. And that is it.

My final thoughts are. I hope you enjoyed that. Of course, it's a whole season, well, mid-season averages. Let's know your thoughts, I know you will. And we will see you. And we will see you for what we're going to do, predictions, aren't we, for the rest of the seasons and creation predictions,

which will be fun and then we'll be back to Zanvort. I hope you'll enjoy in the summer break. Hope you enjoying the Olympics, whatever you're watching, and we'll see you soon. Lots of love. Bye.

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