With the 2015 Belgian Grand Prix resulting in Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and Roman Grosjean finishing on the podium and some great racing throughout the field. Here is how we rated each of the drivers and their performances at Spa-Francorchamps.
Lewis Hamilton – 9
A supreme drive from the reigning world champion ensured he extended his world championship lead over teammate Nico Rosberg.
Roman Grosjean – 9
With a new front wing on his Lotus, he was able to get his team and himself their first podium since 2013 after a difficult couple of years for Lotus. He was perhaps lucky Sebastian Vettel had a right rear tyre failure which allowed him to grab 3rd but who is to say he wouldn’t have overtaken him anyway? A great drive today from Grosjean. Our driver of the weekend.
Nico Rosberg – 8
After an initial poor start which resulted in him dropping down to fifth, he fought his way back through the field to the position in which he started. However, he could not trouble his Mercedes teammate and only championship rival as Hamilton maintained a constant gap throughout.
Danii Kyvat – 8
A good afternoon for Red Bull’s latest young driver as Kyvat managed to weave his way throughout the field after starting 12th. He will now hope to build on his latest result after second in Hungary.
Sergio Perez – 8
He qualified in 5th and finished in 5th. However, that does not tell the story of Sergio Perez’s race, as he got as high as second at the start thanks to Nico Rosberg falling back. He was soon passed by the quicker cars and finished where he started. A decent haul of points for the Mexican.
Max Verstappen – 7
After 4th in Hungary, he might be slightly disappointed not to have finished higher, however, he gave the more experienced Kimi Raikkonen a run for his money and managed to grab himself some important championship points. An outstanding move around the outside of Felipe Nasr at Blanchimont as the highlight for the Dutchman.
Felipe Massa – 6
Another solid performance from the experienced Felipe Massa. Managed to make one place up on his qualifying position in a quiet race for him. Lacked the straight-line speed in the second half of the race to overtake Perez for fifth.
Kimi Raikkonen – 6
A decent recovery drive from the Ferrari driver. Did well to keep Verstappen behind in the latter stages of the race in what was a disappointing weekend for the Italian team.
Valtteri Bottas – 6
An eventful race for Bottas saw him slip from his qualifying position of 3rd to 9th after a comical error from his pit crew fitted two different compounds at the same time. Struggled for pace in the second half of the race.
Marcus Ericsson – 6
A solid weekend from Marcus Ericsson. He out-qualified teammate Nasr and came home with one point.
Sebastian Vettel – 6
Vettel made a mistake in qualifying which meant he lined up eighth on the grid. However, Running in third with two laps to go, Vettel would have expected to be on the podium however after his right rear tyre exploded thus his chances went and he did his best to drive his car back round to the pits. It was unfortunate for Vettel as he had been driving well throughout the race after his dominant display in Hungary.
Fernando Alonso – 6
A fantastic start from Fernando Alonso saw him go from 20th to 12th on the opening lap. He finished well ahead of teammate Button and eventually finished 13th.
Jenson Button – 6
Button out-qualified Alonso – mainly due to the latter missing majority of third practice, however, could not match the pace of Alonso on Sunday.
Felipe Nasr – 5
A quiet weekend for the Brazilian. Struggled for pace and was beaten by teammate Ericsson in both qualifying and the race.
Roberto Merhi – 5
A tight battle with teammate Stevens. Was out-qualified by Stevens once again but had the upper hand in the race.
Will Stevens – 5
A long first stint cost him a position to Merhi. Very close with his teammate throughout but finished behind him in the end.
Carlos Sainz, Daniel Riccardo, Pastor Maldonado, Nico Hulkenberg all failed to finish, so will not receive a rating.
