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

Episode Date: December 3, 2024

As the penultimate race of the season draws to a close, the drivers and teams can only be waiting on one thing: our driver ratings. And someone is in for a historic grading – let’s dive in!Our End of Season live tour starts next week! There are still some tickets available for London, Manchester, Birmingham and Bristol, so get them right here!Sign up to our Patreon here! You'll get access to bonus episodes, our classic race podcast series, every P1 episode ad-free, early access to live tickets and merch, 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 with Matt and Tommy. Today, it's the Qatar Grand Prix F1 driver ratings, our numbers from zero all the way to 10. I mean, 10 out of 10. And we've analysed it. We've assessed it, Tommy, haven't we? And we're ready to grade the 20 drivers on their performances. Exactly. I think this is going to be the ultimate drive ratings.

It's got everything that the people want. It's got the sprint and how you toss up between those two. the sprint and the actual race. You've got Joe Guan, you being the goat. You've got a contentious land in an ice drive rating. It's all that we've ticked all the boxes, really, haven't we? We really have. If we could grade the FIA, I think we all know exactly what number we would be popping for them,

but we haven't included them. Now, before we dive into everything, just want to say P1 Live show is less than two weeks away. So get your tickets if you haven't already. The link is in the description. It's everywhere. Tommy, give people three. words why they should come to the P1 live show just before Christmas in the UK. Matt Tommy Live.

No. Phenomenal. Did I expect any more than that? Banta laughter. Fun banter laughter. That's almost as bad as Matt Tommy Live. But anyway, let's get into the driver. Okay, mine off.

Sensationally hilarious. Bellingham. Lovely. Well, that was perfect. Let's get into the driver ratings and start with Kevin Magnuson. Start the sprint in 15th, finished 10th, started the main race in 10th, finish 9th. I am giving Kevin Magnuson a whopping 9 out of 10. He was having a very good weekend.

And it's a case of a little bit of what could have been. The sprint was, of course, no points, but still finishing the top 10. Not much to write home about. But the main race, he got absolutely shafted by the FIA and, competence because he was actually running ahead of Gassley at the time he pitted a bit earlier and in that window between him pitting and Gassley not pitting the safety card came out and all of that chaos unfolded so I feel a little bit sorry for him he still scored a couple of points but KMAG was was properly putting in a performance until then so I'm still going to give a nod

to that and give him a nine out of ten I've gone for an eight out of ten for Kevin Magnuson I nearly gave him a seven but he did get a a little bit screwed over. What about after my explanation? Yeah, yeah. I think for me, Hasse, now you have to rate them

as if that car is very good and I'm convinced that that car is very competent and able to score points every single weekend now. So I think he left a bit on the table in the sprint,

of course, when his teammate did very well and yeah, he was unlucky came back through the field but maybe took a bit longer to pass people than expected, but it's still a good performance. And it's a great turnaround for KMAG.

I'm glad he is ending the year in this way, because it feels like forever ago now, but of course he was getting absolutely slated in this driver ratings every single weekend, of course, with how poor his performances were, but now he's doing a much better job. Yeah, the race band man seems a very, very long time ago, but it was, in fact, this season, which is ridiculous to think about.

The fans gave KMAG an 8 out of 10. Nika Holcomberg started the sprint in 9th, finished 7th, started the main race in 18th, did not finish. I have gone for a 5 out of 10 for Nika Holcomberg. He, of course, had a great sprint, but his race was absolutely atrocious, and that's where the big points are scored. Terrible qualifying, so many incidents, I can't believe he didn't get a penalty on lap 1. I don't think that was an excuse to just say it was a lap 1 incident because he took two people out of the race. cannot believe that was But Tommy we're not supposed to look at what happens after the event

But then later on which we'll get too later that someone else had a lap one incident and got a penalty which I think was way way less extreme and shouldn't have been so yeah Holcombberg disappointing weekend could have been a lot more points on the board and it could of course cost Hass in that championship fight with Alpine because I think that could

could well. They've got the car to do it, I think, but they did not deliver. I'm maybe slightly below you in the sense of where I believe the Hasse car is. And of course, it's not a championship winning car. I'm not saying it.

I'm not saying it is. No, I know you're not. I'm just saying that I'm not as convinced. I think they're just doing a brilliant job. Hulk and Bogues done an amazing job this season. But definitely not this time. I've gone for a six out of ten. because again, I've kind of given a little bit of a appreciation for the sprint

because it was a phenomenal job from him. He literally beat Max Verstappen on track. Had an absolute stinker of a race, still has scored two points for Hass, which continues to help their tally. Of course, Alpine scored better, but I think that was more also down to Gasly's phenomenal performance. So I've gone for a six out of ten for Nico because, yeah, a couple of points is not the worst thing,

but it could have been so much more. The fans gave Nico a five. Hold on everybody. Strap your seat belts on. It's time. Joe Guan Yu started the sprint in 18th. Finished the sprint in 19th. Started the main race in 12th.

Finished eighth. Joe Guan Yu. It's a 10 out of 10. Goodness gracious me, where did that come from? It was a flawless race from Joe. I saw an absolutely hilarious comment on our main race review podcast, Tommy, that says that we owe Joe an apology.

Why would we apologize for one great race? And look, we've said this was an amazing performance. It doesn't mean you ignore the entire rest of the season that we've seen. And I think he was rightly criticized. Oh, sorry, no, you do. That's a way of work. Oh, he's going to do last race. Yeah, sorry, I should have.

I apologize, Joe. You are the best. But yeah, it's a 10 out of 10. At 8th. I'm still not over it. It's an 8th. And I love it. I love that he said.

You know how a lot of drivers, very PR trained, like to thank the team? Edis goes, it's been such difficult season. I'm so happy for myself. I love that. He does, of course, go on to thank the team as well. But I just love that line. It's so brilliant. So, yeah, very happy for show.

Well done. 10 out of 10. A fantastic performance. I've gone for a 10 out of 10 as well. Disappointing in the sprint. but he made up for it more than enough in the main Grand Prix and I think when he got up into eighth we all expected him to drop back

and it was a case of canny hang on to a P10 and actually get a stake their first points and of course he brilliantly holds on to P8 and has outscored Sergio Perez in the last five races now so what a go. Impressive, impressive, a slight bit of nod to Checo there in a bad way. Yes, no surprise, the fans gave Joe Guan Yu a 10 out of 10 as well.

Valtry Bottas, start the sprint in 13th, finished 12th, starting the main race in 13th, finished 11th. Hmm, Bottas is a very difficult one. I've gone for, and I'm between two grades, but I'm going to go for an 8 out of 10. It's close to a 7. I was, I'm going to an Rang. I haven't literally just changed it last second to an 8. I think he was very unlucky. I know he wrote a post about how unlucky he was.

and essentially he became a bit of a scapegoat for Zhugei new strategy with the hard tires of him putting them on. Very unlucky not to get points. He had a brilliant sprint as well, but of course he was never going to score points in that in the car that he's in. I'm very unlucky not to score points, but the reason I can't give him higher than an eight and of almost giving him a seven is I do think the end of the race

we saw the kind of side to Valtry, which I think has been a bit, you know, he's a fantastically quick driver, but in wheel to wheel combat, more often than not, he lets himself down a little bit. And I think he took far too long to get past Albon and made a bit of a meal of it

when that was his big chance to get past, and maybe it could have covered in with Norris. I know Norris was flying, and in the end it looks like he just completely kind of destroyed his tires and dropped way back anyway. So yeah, not the way Bottas would have wanted to end the season. Maybe there's a chance of points in Abu Dhabi, but you could tell the way he wrote that kind of thing on his Instagram,

he was incredibly gutted that he didn't also grab points. Clearly, beating Logan Sargent in the championship was not enough for him. No, because he has gone ahead of Logie Bear now, hasn't he? He has. He has. He has. He has. He has.

But no, still very much upset with himself. gone for a seven out of ten for Bottas. It was very much a, that was the race. We saw it with Joe. That was the race that Bottas should have scored points as well. He's been better than Joe for the majority of this season. But when it counted,

Joe was the one to turn up and put in one of the best drives of his career. Bottas, of course, yeah, he did get involved with Lawson, wasn't it? Who he actually fully just outed, isn't it? outed him in that Instagram story and was like,

yeah, race was ruined when, uh, came together with Lawson. He's mentioned that he was on the support strategy afterwards and, he was on the run over the wing as well, yeah. Uh,

yeah, he, he, he, he didn't have the best of races. A seven's still like, a good race, but still 11th when there were so many DNFs as well.

Uh, sadly, it just didn't work out for Botas. Uh, the fans also gave Botas a seven. Yuki Sunoda started the sprint in 16th, finished 17th, started the main,

racing 14th, finished 13th. So five out of ten for Yuki Sonoda. Pretty lackluster in terms of pace. He himself was pretty surprised that of the lack of pace. Maybe he was so concerned about the fact there might have been a beaver on the track that he was maybe missing his breaking zone slightly. For those of you that don't know the context of that, he misheard the team radio saying there was a mirror on track and thought that

they'd said beaver, which is a really impressive thing to get in Qatar, I believe. But back to Yuki, I think it's a five. The RB is really struggling. I think we saw that that with both drivers. But you didn't really get involved in anything silly. Was just slow. Indeed. I've gone for a five as well for Yuki Sonoda.

It's so forgotten about that he had that brilliant start to the race, of course, and he was right up there, made up a lot of places and was battling the likes of of Gazley and stuff at the start, but he just fell back and no pace disappointing for for RB. I think that car is really struggling, but it's really disappointing for Yuki because with with Perez's struggles, of course, it's a great chance for the two RB drivers, which are now looking like either one of them has a chance. It's their big opportunity to kind of step up and and show what they can do and whether that's the car or them,

I think it's maybe a little bit of both, couldn't deliver in that race weekend. So yeah, gone for a five. Yuki Snowda also got a fan rating of five. Let's go to Liam Lawson now. Start the sprint in 10th, finished 16th, finished 16th, finished 16th.

I've gone for a three out of 10 for Liam Lawson. I think it was a very poor weekend for him. Mistakes, kind of drop. way down in the sprint after having a good qualifying and then poor qualifying in the main race and of course had the spin as well which surprised he got a 10 second penalty for i'll be honest because there was no actual contact there and botus did manage to avoid it guess it did ruin botus is raised to a point but um it's still poor from lorson and i'd maybe even say he's been

one of the most underwhelming drivers this season really i don't know why i'm losing my voice. Too much, too much emotional. But also the fact is he's still seemingly the hottest candidate for the Red Bull seat. Which is absolutely insane. Ridiculous, isn't it? I genuinely think

Yuki could win in Abu Dhabi and they're still ignoring. Yeah, unbelievable. I was going to go for a four but you've convinced me to downgrade that to a three out of ten for Liam Lawson. Yeah, he had a mistake where he got the 10 second penalty. So that

was pretty harsh. It was a strange thing considering. Was it, did it, was the actual wording of it causing a collision because it wasn't a collision? Or was it just, I'd love to know what the actual wording of course. I mean, you don't get a penalty for just spinning. So I imagine it would be for causing a collision. Perhaps you could just fact check that whilst I'm talking. But yeah, he went wide into the gravel on lap 5 as well, which caused the collision with Bottas.

and he did have a slow 14 second stop, but then again, it all got sort of put together again with the safety car. Just really not fast, making mistakes out there. Such a shame as well, because he looked fast in sprint quality and managed to get through to SQ3, and I was thinking, hello, here we go,

biggest good surprise, we are on for something. But from there on, it was really poor. I think he lost like six positions at the start, didn't he? It was in the sprint as well. He was 10th, and then you clicked your fingers, and he was right back with Sonoda. So Paul from Lawson, the fans gave him a four.

Can you add anything to this, Tommy? Have you found anything? Yeah, so the stewarding report is Car 30 caused a collision with Car 77 at turn 1, which he caused an incident. He didn't cause a collision because they didn't collide, but technicalities. Very intriguing.

Let's move on now to Franco Collar Pinto, who started the sprint from the pit lane. Finished the sprint in 18th, started the race in 19th, started the race in 19th and did not finish. I'm going to go for a five out of ten for Franco, mainly because I am convinced the car that he was running was made of paper mashay.

I genuinely do not believe Colapinto had a car that was meant to, well, they're literally just picking up pieces and putting it together at Williams because of how many crashes they've had. So I think it would be quite harsh to downgrade him, especially when he gets wiped out at turn one through no fault of his own. So I'm just going to go straight down the middle with a five.

It's a shame for Colopinto to have this momentum very much stop after making such a headline of himself. I've been reading that he's now out of the running for a Red Bull seat as well. Obviously, that being in the either R.B. or Red Bull. He's out of the running there, which surprises me slightly. I wonder if there is this crash happiness, perhaps. that they've seen, not from this weekend, but of course, from previous weekends recently.

But yeah, a shame for Colopinto because he started so, so quickly when he first joined. I've gone for a 4 out of 10 for Colopinto. Really disappointing weekend for him, but I don't think it's all his fault with the car he's got underneath him, but of course, qualified 20th.

Couldn't really do much in the sprint and then another disappointing qualifying. unlucky to be caught in that Holkenberg incident, but overall another weekend to forget, and I really hope he has a good race in Abu Dhabi because it would be a shame for him to kind of have that unbelievable start and then just fizzle out like this. It's such a shame.

Completely agree. The fans gave Franco a five out of ten. Alex Albon started the sprint in 12th, finished 15th, started the main race in 16th, finished 15th. I've gone for a five out of 10 for Alex Albin. I think he was unfortunate for the incidents that had, of course, got collided into by Stroll. And they took a bit of a risk at the end by going for the soft switch, of course, helped him move up the field and almost get to point. But then the tyres were never going to last.

And he had to pit at the end, didn't he say? not disappointed for Williams again for all that. It feels so long ago Williams had that point of the season where we were kind of like, Williams have a really decent car underneath them and they could score points all the time and now it's really looking a long way off. It certainly is.

I've gone for a five for Alex Albon just a really anonymous weekend. As you say, Tommy, they've kind of fallen away but it's probably because they genuinely look not they've not got the same car as what they had before all these crashes and and Williams really need to sort of just have a practice session in Abu Dhabi and end the season that's kind of how I think they would be hoping for the final weekend to pan out they're not fighting anyone in the constructors let's just have a clean weekend end the season let the mechanics go home and rest and then focus on 2025 so but yeah albon you know

finished miles off in the end so a five for me and the fans also gave him a five. Esteban Ocon started the sprint in 17th, finished 14th, started the main race in 20th, and did not finish. I mean, look, I've given Colopinto a five, so I kind of have to give Ocon a five as well. He's been very, obviously, anonymous in the sense of in qualifying, been some big queries over why there's this, why there'd been this massive discrepancy between Ghazli and O'Con in qualifying. but then in the main race once again

wiped out by Holcomberg no idea how Nico got away with no penalty there and yeah such a shame for Ocon for his final race in Alpine which none of us knew and it was just announced after the weekend

and I still feel I've been reading all of this he had to go because then he can do the test for Hass after the season like what do you mean Ferrari of science do it drivers have all

drivers finish with a team and then then go and race for the other team during the postseason test? They can and can't. Some drivers can, some drivers can't. But other teams have shown that out of goodwill and courtesy, they allow their driver to do it. Like, you know, Alonzo did it when he left Alpine, I believe,

was allowed to do it. So I feel like it's a bit of an excuse from Alpine side just to kind of cover their backs that they've dropped him, a little bit in my opinion. And it kind of puts it a positive. I know it's a mutual agreement that is gone, well, if you do that, but I don't think they needed to hold Ocon back

to give him that opportunity. They could have just let him do that if they wanted to and let him race, in my opinion, because other teams have done that. I want to throw a little conspiracy theory here. Alping a fighting Hass in the Constructors championship, Ocon's been performing rather terribly.

I've also seen people, saying that he's unfollowed the whole of Alpine immediately after leaving. You do wonder if there's a slight bit of animosity there. Things haven't worked out the way that they all hoped and the relationships broken down. Ocon's not been performing. Maybe he's, you know,

was very much clocked out. Perhaps that's a part of it as well. I know he didn't have the front nose and Gasly was running that. But you do wonder whether Alpine actually made this decision because they felt as they're doing and would genuinely have more of a chance if Ocon's clocked out

and not wanting to potentially try to his absolute limit. It's an interesting theory. It's one I've literally just come up with, but it is Alpine versus Hasse in that Constructors fight. Yeah, you do wonder whether they'd want the wind tunnel time versus the money. I guess Hasse would probably want the money as a team. They all want the money at that level, surely. Probably, yeah, yeah.

I think that those two teams definitely at that level, yeah. So, yeah, maybe it's something that they're, thought of, but I still think they could have, or at least should have announced it before the race and maybe announced that this was going to be his last race because the guy won for them, for goodness sake. I know, yeah. On that side of things, the emotional side, for sure. But we've already seen this year that Formula One is not fair and teams have been rather

savage this year with certain drivers. Who are you, what are you going for for Ocon? Oh, sorry, we're not even, I've not even given my grade. I've gone for a five out of ten as well. I just maybe there's a little bit of, I can't believe it's all as it seems as a five because you look at how he's done compared to his teammate and it's absolutely dreadful, but I don't think I can give him a four because he never really got to do the race. and in the sprint it wasn't, you know,

there's only five places behind Gassi, which I know is a lot, but I think there's a big, I think there's a big discrepancy between the two cars at the moment with the, you know, with what's been happening. So, yeah, I've gone for a five. Okay, the fans also gave Ocon a five out of ten.

Pierre Gadsley started the sprint in eighth, finished ninth, started the main race, an 11th, finished fifth. I've gone for a 10 out of 10 for. Gazley, it's got to be a 10 out of 10. I think there was more to be had in the sprint, maybe, with how good that car's been and how well he's done, and maybe could have done better in qualifying as well.

He was gutted to miss out, but of course got the break that he needed when everything shook out with the safety car, and for him to hold on and keep a Ferrari behind him for the rest of the race is absolutely sensational. So yeah, what a drive from Gazley, and he's picking up big points for Alpine at the end of the season. Yeah, I'm so happy to see Ghazley performing the way he is at the moment.

I've gone for a 10 out of 10 as well, no surprise. A perfect display of just making the most of a crazy race. And Gasly's there once again. And I'm so relieved to see Ghazly be able to show some of his potential and performance that we've seen in years gone by in a car that is clearly improving, on one side of the garage at least. I'm not sure who, what Jack. Duhin's going to get when he gets in the car in Abu Dhabi this weekend, but we will very much

have to wait and see. But for Gassley, he was aggressive. He made the right calls. Of course, got slightly fortunate in his battle with Magnuson in terms of timings of safety cars and whatnot, but he was still very much in the hunt for a huge amount of points. And to finish fifth is massive and as thrust, I mean, Alpine since Brazil, goodness gracious me, they have completely flown up the constructors' standing. So congrats to them and congrats to Gadsley. The fans also gave him a 10. Lance Stroll started the sprint in 14th, finished 13th. Start the main race in 15th did not finish.

I've gone for a four out of 10 for Lance Stroll. I think that, of course, any time Stroll makes a mistake, everyone jumps on him. Oh my God, it's Lance Stroll. How he's so terrible, blah, blah, blah. And yes, he has had moments where he's very much deserved that. Brazil being one that absolutely comes to mind immediately. for this one, I'm looking at the Albon incident. It's almost racing incident territory, in my opinion. He understeers slightly.

It is more on Stroll, obviously, but it's a really tight part of the track. And this is one that, yes, is stroll's more at full. Albon's just trying to race him. But it's not like a ridiculous error that I think deserves the Lantz Stroll treatment that he's had in previous races gone by. But I've still obviously downgraded him and giving them a four.

I've gone for a three out of ten for Lance Roll. I think that the sprint, again, it's usual kind of poor qualifying and not quite there. In the race, they didn't know like Aston could do anything, but then they did look a lot better when they came to the race and the main qualifying.

And they did a decent job there, but again, Lance is qualifying let him down as per normal. But the actual incident itself, watching back the on board, while I, and I know this is probably what Albin is kind of saying when he goes on the radio and goes, oh, I knew he'd do that. But I guess, yeah, Albin is kind of, it's risky. I think it is more of a racing incident.

If anything, I'd give Holkenberg the 10 second penalty, and this to me is a racing incident. because I really don't think it's bad. It's not a huge mistake. Album's risked it around the outside and he's done a good move, but it is risky. And he's got just enough room on the outside to make it happen and Lance Stroll's understood slightly into him

and not giving him enough room. So it's still a mistake from Stroll, but it's not the absolute, oh my God, what are you doing, Lance Stroll? This is ridiculous. which I know the fans believe because the fan rating backs up, but it doesn't seem anywhere near as bad as I think. It's more his reputation, I think, is the thing that's beating him up there over it.

So you might be wondering what the fan rating is. It's a zero. Unbelievable. That is definitely not worthy of a zero, but here we are. Okay, moving on. Fernando Alonzo, started the sprint in 11th, finished 11th, started the main race in 8th, finished 7th. gone for a nine out of ten for Fernando Alonso

I don't think that Aston Martin should be anywhere near a P7 finish so for him to do that is absolutely incredible he's Aston has fallen off so badly this season and it really did feel like he was never going to score points again so to be ahead of

you know the cars that he's finished ahead Joe I mean the Hasse is in my opinion the Hasse is a much better card than the Aston Martin now and Alonzo putting it in P7 is a fantastic job. And even in the sprint, when it was a bit of a disaster, still managed 11th and finished 11th, which you feel like is him getting a decent result from not a particularly great car, but massively over-delivered in the main race. I agree.

I've gone for a 9 out of 10 as well. For Fernando, there were definitely points up for grabs, as we saw with Gassley up in fifth and it's great to see Alonzo there despite having some problems with his car with the energy deployment it did make me laugh that his team radio was I'm struggling on the straits it very much gave GP2 engine vibes from many years ago and then we saw a graphic come up that says he was the fastest in the speed trap that did make me laugh just a little bit although of course he said it was more of a problem with the energy deployment and it's saying that it's supposedly in a safety car mode which is not good because it basically means you're not getting any deployment of the energy so to overcome all of those

problems and still finish P7 is brilliant and hopefully just gives him a bit more motivation, happiness going into next year knowing Nui's by his side and he can still get some reasonable results even without Nui touching this rather rubbish car that they're currently in. So, well done, Alonzo. The fans gave him an eight. Oscar Piastri started the sprint in third, finished first, still not over the predictions, and started the main race in fourth and finished third. I've gone for an eight out of ten for Oscar Piastri. It was a very solid sprint. Lando was there to give him a helping hand to maintain that what was P2,

promoted to P1, of course, after Lando's hugely kind gesture to give that back. Had it not been for Lando being there in the sprint, I reckon he's probably finishing third. George Russell was all over the back of him. Yeah, Oscar, he had great one-lap pace, but was just struggling a little bit over the course of the main race as well. He got stuck behind Russell, I think, wasn't it? And then lost a huge gap to Vastappan and Norris.

And just generally, yeah, it was just a little bit off what Vastappan and Norris was putting down. But it was still a solid weekend for Oscar. And yeah, hopefully he can continue on this momentum because he hadn't really had the best run of form recently in comparison to his teammate. I've also gone for an 8th 10 for Oscar Piastri. He had one of those weekends where I think he's done a much more solid job than his form recently because I think he's been not the Oscar Piastri we'd seen in that middle part of the season where he's absolutely amazing. But he was still off his teammate in comparison to, you know, in terms of pace,

obviously he's beaten him actually in the race. and scored more points but due to Orlando's issues of course and Piastri for me he's he's driving a car that could have won the race or at least you know been higher up

but it's still a good performance and he's the one that's bagged a good amount of constructors points for the for the team so yeah an eight out of ten is a much more respectable performance from Piastri and hope he can continue into Abu Dhabi because it's a much more a much more positive performance from him after the form that had really dipped in the last

few races. Well on Oscar, the fans also gave you an 8 out of 10. Landon Norris started the sprint in first, finished second and started the main race in third, finished 10th. I have gone for a 5 out of 10 for Lando Norris, which I know a lot of people will disagree with, but I have to look at the fact that he's driving a car that could have, should have, maybe, maybe not should have, could have won the race.

I know Andrea Stella said he thinks that Lando could have even won the race. But a mistake, however small, has cost him big, cost his team constructors points, cost him a great result. And it's really disappointing because I think it was one of Lando's best weekend. apart from one small, well, it's kind of small but massive error in terms of the consequences of the error to not see the flags.

But his sprint was an absolute masterclass of team play in dragging Oscar Piastri along. And then even in the race, he got a great start, which is something that's let him down quite a lot, went wheel to wheel with Verstappen, pushed him hard, but unfortunately, pushed too hard when the LF legs were out and it was a big, a big error that has cost big and, you know, he looked absolutely dejected after the race and was gutted with the error. He's one of those drivers that really does beat himself up a lot. But yeah, gutting for him because I think other than that one error, it was a fantastic weekend from him. It certainly was. He was very much on his way to a 10 out of 10, but I have given him a

six out of 10. It's a mistake. It's one that I've downgraded him four points for. Is it absolutely like the most horrendous mistake ever? Well, in terms of losing eight positions and finishing 10th, yeah, there's a lot of points lost, but I do have a little bit of sympathy for him because the double-waved yellows came out quite late. Of course, he still had the opportunity to see and should have slowed down. And Max Verstappen, so why he's a four-time world champion,

saw it even without the Blumen graphic on his wheel to tell him that there was a yellow flag out. So that's what, again, is just seriously impressive from Max's side. Lando just was so dialed in, so focused, didn't see the double-waved yellows on the left, and he was punished accordingly. Apart from that, as you say,

the sprint was phenomenal. The way that he played the team game with Oscar Piastri was utterly brilliant. And he did it. It was literally perfect the way he did that because Oscar was very much vulnerable to the cars behind. So Lando not only did that, but did that incredibly generous gesture to let him through to win the sprint.

And then the main race, yeah, he just, just such a shame for him, for McLaren fans, for Lando fans, because it was a really, it was a superb weekend up until that point, but it has to be downgraded because it really did destroy his race massively. So, yeah, he was not obviously very happy with himself either, as you can imagine, and looked very, very upset with himself after the race. The fans gave Lando Norris an eight. So I look forward to reading the comments.

Carlos Sines started the sprint in fourth, finished fourth, started the main race in seventh, finished six. I've gone for an eight out of ten for Carlos Sines. I think it was a solid weekend. He was there with Charlerc the entire weekend. He was decent pace, unlucky with the puncture, which completely screwed him. Of course, there is a part of me that goes, how do we not get through on Gassley at the end?

But also, Qatar is, the more I would actually think about the race that we had, the more I think this race track is really not built for Formula One cars and is very much built for Moto GP because MotoGP, they can go side by side at any point at any part of any corner ever. Formula One, there's one overtaking spot. We saw it with George Russell. He went into the pits, put on new hards and couldn't get past Fernando Alonzo. So there's, of course, a little bit frustration there that signs didn't get through on Gassley, but I still think it was a solid weekend up until the, you know, the puncture, which obviously is not his fault. It's the FIA's fault.

Eight out of ten. I've gone for a seven out of ten for Carlos Sites. I was, I'm ignoring between a seven and an eight. It's that annoying middle ground, but I'll go for a seven. Round him up. Now I'm going to go for a seven because I think I'm maybe a bit more critical of

him not being able to pass Gasly because I think he had a great opportunity to do it. Very unfortunate with the puncture and looked on, you know, Charles Pace, but had the opportunity to come back through and yeah the fact that they couldn't get past Casal

even though it wasn't like a like a sprint situation where it was a DRS train you know he had DRS and made a few mistakes when trying to pass him but it's still a good performance from science and it keeps

them in the fight of course for the constructors which you never know you never know the fans gave Carlos a 7 Charlotte Claire, start the sprint in fifth, finished fifth, start the main race in fifth, finish second.

I've gone for a nine out of ten for Charlotte Claire. The sprint was a decent performance. Didn't look like they were on the pace of the McLaren's and of course George Russell. But when we got into the main race to finish second, to beat Piastri on the road is incredibly impressive when I don't think that Ferrari was

I don't think it was anywhere near as quick as the McLaren. So to finish second is a great job. And I think Charlerc this season has actually gone completely under the radar of what a fantastic season he's had. Not under my radar, Tommy, I tell you. Well, it has on some people because some people I don't think would even not even consider him kind of top drives. Yeah, exactly, saying that he was not a top three driver this season, which is quite insane when he could start. still finish second in the championship in a inferior car to Landon Norris.

So P2 is a great job. Of course, got a big chunk of points for Ferrari and battle for the constructors. And now LeCleur can go into Abu Dhabi and of course he's going to want Ferrari to win the constructors is also, as we know, very keen to finish second in the driver's championship as well for himself. I think we even saw that happening, was it 2020 or 2023? It feels so long ago when he was going for second in the championship against Paris.

22, yeah. And he was the one that was actually making all these calls and he's like, we're going to do this. And he was tactically dropping back and giving, letting people pass to, give penalties. He's going to really, really, really want that second place in the championship. And this performance gives him a great opportunity to do it. So another great drive from Charlotte Clair. I want it as well, Tommy. I want it more than anything. I'm going to be, well, I'm just going to ignore the Max Verstappen even existed. And that's Charlotte Clare world champion if he beats Landon or Sper more than eight points, I think it is. Looking forward to it. I've gone

for a nine out of ten for Charlotte Clare as well. Phenominal drive in the main race. The sprint, of course, not as much to get excited about, but he was really, really good in the main race. I'm completely in agreement with you, Tommy. I don't think he should have beaten Oscar Piastri with that car. You could tell the Ferrari was just struggling for raw speed compared to the Red Bull and the McLaren and Vastap and Norris in front. So yeah, to finish P2 was massive, you know, the fighting out there.

Any mistake, LeCler lets Piazzi, Piazzi, history through. Ferrari don't probably have a hope in hell going into Abu Dhabi, but he manages to get second and yeah, it was a really good performance from him. So a nine out of ten for me, and the fans gave him a nine as well. George Russell started the sprint in second, finished third, started the main race in first, promoted to P1 after Vastappen's penalty, and finish the race in fourth. Difficult one, this one, George Russell, but I'm going to go with an eight out of 10, I'm still thoroughly impressed for most of this weekend of how George Russell was just right in the thick of it again. In qualifying, he has been sensational and he's just putting

himself in these positions during the race. And of course, he was unlucky with the way the safety car worked out and whatnot. And of course, got stuck behind Alonzo, which I think is somewhat down to the track and also the Mercedes not working on the hard tire either and you just see how much quicker he was than Hamilton this weekend as well. That's not a meet, you know, that's not an easy thing to do. And I feel as though people are just shrugging that off because it's Hamilton, because he has a huge amount of fans that there must be something wrong with Hamilton's car, but you have to also commend what George Russell is doing. So yeah, I've gone for an eight out of ten because disappointing race finishing in fourth, but still needs to be commended in a lot of ways. I've also gone for

for an eight out of ten for Russell. His sprint was great for him to be mixing it with the McLaren's would have finished second if it wasn't for Lando helping Piastri. And then in the actual main race as well, I think it was maybe George Russell, his start let him down, of course, dropped back a few places because I think he had a car to potentially challenge those two at the front. and then it all kind of went downhill from when the safety car and all that craziness

and then he was obviously very unhappy that they put hards on again and things like that but he had the safety car infringement didn't actually cost him anything in the end but I think the reason I can't give him any higher than an eight is because I think a podium was definitely possible for him during the main race as well so it's still an impressive weekend and he's driving superbly. The fans gave George Russell an eight as well.

Lewis Hamilton. Start the sprint in seventh, finish sixth, started the main race in sixth, finished 12th. I have gone for a three out of ten.

Say it with your chest, Tommy. Sounds really confident. Even then I might think it's too generous. Three out of ten. Hamilton, I think because he scored, in the sprint, even if it wasn't an amazing result.

It's kind of saving him a bit here, but in terms of the main race, I'm failing to remember a worse race that I've seen from Lewis Hamilton. He jumped, you know, jumped the lights. He sped in the pit lane. These are rookie mistakes. And I know he's not confident in the car. He was pretty. much ready to rage quit.

And it was just, it was just like watching not the same driver. You know, it's like who is in that car because it can't be Lewis Hamilton because he's, it's, he was just had such an awful, awful race.

And I don't think, you know, I know a lot's been made over his comments of, I'm not fast anymore and all this kind of stuff. I do think you'll bounce back with Ferrari. I think it's, I don't, I think it's,

maybe a bit of a wake-up call that it might not be as easy as he thinks to go there. But I think this is just a difficult ending. He's not getting on with this car at all. And I don't think it's going to be any better in Abu Dhabi, the foreign personally. And yeah, what a sad way to bow out at Mercedes with this kind of form, because just absolutely awful race. has to be said, so, so bad, couldn't really have gone any worse. Well, I've also gone for a three out of ten for Hamilton.

I'm in complete agreement. You don't see weekends like this from Hamilton. Jumping the star and also that very bizarre coming into the pits. You're behind a safety car as well. He was behind a safety car, didn't activate the pit limiter properly and sped when they were going through the pits behind the safety car. Like that is, I cannot believe. Maybe he just lost his head at that point.

I don't know, which is very unlike him. I mean, I watched a little on board analysis of it and it might have been a thing where he pressed the plus one on his wheel rather than the pit limiter, but it's still a mistake, one of which he tried to get away with it by slowing down aggressively and hoping that his average speed was still the right amount, but that he didn't get away with that.

Because of course, Lando was straight on the blower saying, Hamilton just definitely sped in the pits. So yeah, it's really sad to see because I'd love to have watched Hamilton bow out at Mercedes in a, even just the way George is driving, right? It doesn't have to continue to win, but just being on the podium. We saw it in Vegas, of course, that he still got it.

But it seems as though this car is just so unreliable in Hamilton's hands at least. George Russell's been driving incredibly well these last few races. But with Hamilton's, it's just not worked. And I see him, after watching him in Formula One for so, so many years, as one of the most versatile, adaptable drivers the sport's ever seen.

He'd won in every single era of Formula One up until 2022, wasn't it? 22 when he didn't win? Yeah. So to watch this now, I'm a little bit baffled as to this fall off from Hamilton and to see these moments because you don't see. weekends like this. So I've gone for a three and I really hope for his sake that he has a good Abu Dhabi or at least a well it has to be better than this one for sure. The fans gave Hamilton a four. Sergio Perez started the sprint from the pit lane finished 20th. Started the main race and ninth

did not finish. Oh my goodness, Czecho. So my great great was going to be a lot higher than this, but I've actually looked into why Perez DNFed and the comments that have been made from Horner. And essentially, he's, he's DNFed because he spun on his own and then burnt the clutch out in third gear. It was not a terminal failure until Perez made that mistake behind the safety car and ruined his entire race. So it is going to be a one out of 10 for Sergio Perez and some people may still believe that it was a terminal issue that was not his fault. But read between the lines. He's saying there was an over-delivery of the engine. That is, I pressed the pedal too hard. I can't see it as anything else than that. When do we ever,

when have we ever heard the engine over-delivering to a driver and then them spinning? It just, it's not the case. So it sounds like it's a PR-friendly answer to me. I'm believing what I'm seeing and watching the onboards, it is very much a high-rev, cold tires spin behind the safety car. It's ruined what was going to be a great weekend. I was going to give him an eight, maybe a nine,

he was up in fifth, but he spins and spins out of a red bull seat as well by the looks of things. And this might well have finally been the final straw for Perez. Yeah, I said, I don't know how it could have, I don't know how Hamilton could have had a worse race.

Well, he could have been Sergio Perez because I've gone for a two, but I'm actually going to change it to a one, but I'm also contemplating a zero. I'll go for a one. I'm going for a one because you got to Q3. But even that, I don't, and I don't even, I don't even think that's an achievement because Max's got it got pole. I'm giving him a one for maybe his fantastic sprint of helping data, maybe. I don't know.

But the sprint, I can't remember so many, how you can have a more embarrassing weekend to have, you know, to go out in SQ1 and then to not even react to the lights, to the point where Christian Horner has defended Sergio Perez like no other to the point where people have constantly been going, what on earth does Perez have to do for Horner to basically say this guy needs to go now.

And even Horner after the sprint, kind of you could tell he was a bit fed up and was kind of like, when the light goes green, you're meant to go, which is clearly him kind of can't even defend him anymore. And then I thought he was having a decent performance as well, made it into Q3,

although that says a lot that that's even an achievement when your teammates on pole position. And then running in a fairly deep, recent position, but now we know the story that he's actually spun off himself. And then even after spinning off himself to then break the car

and also rejoin the track fairly dangerously as well. The guy is just completely lost like everything that he had. And it's actually really sad because he's such a

you know, he's been a fantastic driver. in Formula One and you think only a couple of, well, a few years ago, you go back and think that Sergio Perez was being spoken of a driver that we could absolutely not believe that he wasn't going to get a Formula One drive. He was going to bow out after an amazing season at Racing Point and delivering that incredible win where he was basically last and then ended up winning the race. and I know you can't really think of it like that but if he'd bowed out then

it's such a shame that so many people are going to remember him like this now was almost like a bit of a meme alongside Max Verstappen which is a bit unfair with all the great stuff he's done but it's clear that it's now got so bad that he's almost

that they're going to spin it into this retirement thing rather than it kind of which is going to quite bad after his tweet being like, I'm not leaving and all this kind of stuff, but it's time to go. Yeah, yeah, it is really sad. So yeah, let's hope Perez has one final worldly in Abu Dhabi and wins. The fans gave him a four out of ten. Max Verstappen, started the sprint in sixth, finished eighth, started the main race in second, finished first. I'd gone for a ten out of ten for Max Verstappen, even though his sprint was not

all that. I think the Red Bull was nowhere near what it should have been in that early stage and for him to turn around that kind of negative energy in performance. And also, this is something Ted Kravitz mentioned, that for many drivers could get kind of, have something kind of go wrong for them. Of course, this penalty that it was absolutely fuming about this ridiculous. one place penalty and everything that went on with George Russell.

And it actually fires him up even more. We saw what happened in Brazil. And he kind of did the same here where there was absolutely no way, even if Max got a much worse a start, was he ever letting George Russell being ahead of him into turn one. And he was just fired up. He was brilliant the way he kind of got into the lead, held off Lando when he had that one.

one only real mistake in the race was maybe a slightly slow restart where I put him under a bit of pressure with lander, but then of course held on brilliantly. And another amazing performance from him to win another race when it didn't look like it was going to win any more races with how much the Red Bull seemingly has fallen off from the end of the season is incredibly impressive. So yeah, another brilliant performance from Mac. in a great way to end the year for him. Absolutely.

I've gone for a 10 out of 10 as well for Max. I think that the eighth place just showed that that Red Bull needed a bit more fine tuning because he was complaining about oversteer and you could just see the car was not with him. But then to turn that around is a phenomenal achievement. Everyone wrote him off after the sprint. No one thought Max would have a hope in hell

of winning the main race. But yeah, to, to basically shush the FIA by steaming down the insider George Russell and taking the lead and then winning the race with a huge amount of pressure from Norris that perhaps was the slightly faster driver. He was sat in dirty air for a lot and still was able to be with Max, but he withheld all of that pressure. He was able to have the capacity of mind to not only slow down for the yellow flags that came out last second, but also to be doing his own steward reporting,

it's all part and parcel of why Max Verstappen is one of the best drivers we've ever seen. So it is a 10 out of 10. And the fans also agree, they've given him a 10. Who is our P1? So we've got, I've got a Max Verstappen 10 out of 10. I've got a Pierre Gassley 10 out of 10. And I've got a Joe Guan Yu 10 out of 10.

So it's going to have to be, My P1 is Joe Guan Yu. What a man. What a legend. Has to be huge performance from him. I don't think he's definitely not been our P1 before. So I'm going to crown him that because he deserves it. Well done, Joe. For me, it's got to be the guy that just cemented his legacy, really, with a superb drive at Shia Guan Yu. And just, you're a car. Yeah, it's got to be show.

Great, great performance. Lovely stuff. All right, well, that is it. We are done and dusted here for the penultimate F1 driver ratings of the year. I hope you enjoyed. Let us know your thoughts. I'm sure you have.

Keep it lovely. Keep it calm. Keep it smiley. And we look forward to seeing you for one final driver ratings after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and then we're done for the season. We're going to be out there in Abu Dhabi.

Reminder as well, if you haven't got your P1 live show tickets, go and get them. I know you're like, Matt, you talk about it a lot, but we also want you to come. So go and get your tickets. Tommy, what are your final thoughts?

Final thoughts are that looking forward to doing one final drive ratings of the year in a desert on a camel somewhere maybe. We don't know how we're going to do it. Don't promise that, mate. Don't promise that because then they're all going to be expecting it. We'll record an intro. I've got to see something really inappropriate, but this is not Twitch. So anyway, that is it. Thank you everybody for tuning in.

Lots of love. Take care. Adios. Sweet dreams. Goodbye. Goodbye. so much to do with hums, right in chats. You could, you know, if you've got a camera,

you could just ride me in for the bog. Anyway, that's fine, that was for audio. So I feel like you've got like the YouTube cut, then you've got the slightly, you know, you've got the audio and the chores that people are now listening to. You get a little bit of a taster of what P1 Patreon is like, you know, when we do P1 after dark, which is just complete and utter fill.

And, yeah. So have you thought about your sandwich filling yet? or is it still cheese and tomato? I know. No, I haven't. I've not thought about it. I put me on the spot. I genuinely can't even think of it.

You can't think of a sandwich. That's wild. A fish finger sandwich, actually. Yeah, fish finger sandwich? Yeah. Yeah, what kind of salt? With coleslaw. Yeah.

Interesting. And what sauce? Tata? Oh, I do love tartar sauce, but you probably don't need it with coldslaw, do you really? No, true, actually. Yeah, that's interesting. On some like tiger bread.

Oh, beautiful. Oh, now Tommy's salivating. What about you? What about you? You know what? I'm all about a chicken club sandwich. Like, just talk to me, you know? Like, anything with chicken in, give me it.

Give me it right in my mouth. Right. Anyway, I... And then you'll eat the sandwich. Oh, God's sake, Tommy. Go and do, wait, hold on. A chore. A chore.

That sounds like I'm saying a word. I need to come up with a chore. I know you're all waiting. You're all... There's so many people right now listening, doing something going on, go on, Matt. Say the thing that I'm doing right now. Lady dishwasher. No, we said that before.

Have we? We've definitely said that. I reckon someone is watering the plants right now. Go and hydrate that geranium. That's the only plant that came to my head. Goodbye! You've missed a bit of tinsal on that tree. What do you mean you've missed a bit of tinsal?

Are you dusting the tinsel? No, you can't leave gaps. Good Lord, this has been a long outro. We love you all, goodbye. If you're still here, Jesus Christ, why are you still here? Bye. P1 is a Stack production and part of the Acast's creator network.