There are three drivers this weekend that have been scored equally top, see below for how I rate each driver’s performance this weekend.
Hamilton – 9
The defending champion made an excellent start and put a bold move on Rosberg into turns one and two to grab the lead. Hamilton controlled the race out front, he lead every lap and his only mistake of the weekend was on his qualifying lap.
Hulkenberg – 9
The German may have had a disappointing qualifying and compounded with his three place grid penalty for his collision with Massa at Singapore. However, Hulkenberg made a great start and gained five positions on the opening lap before steadily progressing up to sixth place through the pit-stops.
Verstappen – 9
Verstappen had a dismal Saturday but once again showed pure talent by rising through the field after starting 17th to finish in the points and ahead of his teammate in ninth. The young Dutch driver made some great overtaking manoeuvres and also managed to preserve his tyres better than Sainz.
Alonso – 8
The Spaniard described the Honda engine as a GP2 specification, but Alonso impressively drove the ailing McLaren to 11th place and just outside the points. Alonso was largely helped by Ericsson holding the faster three-stop drivers up but still finished five places clear of his teammate.
Vettel – 7
Sebastian Vettel did well to qualify amongst the Williams on Saturday and made a good start and took advantage of Rosberg being forced wide by Hamilton to be second by the turn three. Vettel kept Rosberg honest throughout the race and only lost out on second place because of Mercedes using the undercut to get Rosberg ahead after the second pit-stops.
Bottas – 7
Williams struggled for race pace in comparison to Mercedes and Ferrari but Bottas drove a solid race to finish fifth having lost out at the pit-stops to first Rosberg and then Raikkonen.
Grosjean – 7
A good drive from Grosjean and hardly featured in the race but saw the Frenchman finish in seventh place for the struggling Lotus team. Grosjean made a good start and gained positions as a result of the incident between Ricciardo and Massa.
Maldanado – 7
Like his teammate, Maldanado had a relatively quiet race after starting 11th. The Venezuelan had solid pace in comparison to Grosjean and will be delighted to have scored points for eighth.
Kvyat – 7
The Russian driver started from the pit-lane but drove a great race to finish 13th despite enduring reliability concerns on his engine and brakes throughout.
Ericsson – 7
Sauber may have struggled in this race with tyre wear and outright pace, but Ericsson delivered a strong defensive display to keep faster cars at bay throughout the 53-lap race. Ericsson may have made one mistake when he spun at Spoon curve early on but recovered well to a respectable 14th place in the race.
Rosberg – 6
The German driver had a poor start and as such provided Hamilton with the opportunity to get past on the inside into turns one and two. Rosberg eventually ran out of road which dropped him to fourth place but he managed to recover to finish second behind his teammate. However, having started on pole this was a golden chance for Rosberg to win and close the championship lead to Hamilton.
Raikkonen – 6
Raikkonen had a fairly quiet race and although he finished higher than his grid position, the Finn was comparatively slower than his Ferrari teammate in the race.
Sainz – 6
The Spaniard will be disappointed to have started and finished 10th but even more so because his teammate finished ahead in ninth. Sainz appeared to struggle with tyre wear and he let Verstappen through relatively easy as a result. An incident with Perez at the start and later the pit-lane entry bollard cost the Spaniard dearly.
Perez – 6
The Force India driver had a poor race having started inside the top ten but could only manage 12th in the race. A combination of an incident at the start and then being unable to regain lost positions meant a lacklustre Sunday for the Mexican.
Button – 6
The 2009 World Champion didn’t have a great race but as has been common this year, struggled due to the Honda engine lacking sufficient battery power to compete on the straights.
Rossi – 6
n only his second race, the American once again beat his teammate but this time was more fortunate following Stevens’ spin at 130R. Rossi showed solid pace which was comparable to his more experienced Manor Marussia colleague and will be pleased with two race finishes without incident.
Ricciardo – 6
The Red Bull driver had a chance to compete with the Williams and Ferrari but unfortunately, went for a narrow gap at the start and his rear wheel punctured after contact with Felipe Massa. The rest of the race was spent trying to recover lost positions but eventually had to settle for 15th place.
As with Ricciardo, the first lap contact cost Massa dear and with no safety car he was unable to regain the lost ground and finished two laps down in 17th.
Nasr – 5
The only retirement of the race, although 20th on the race classification, Nasr was outperformed by Ericsson in qualifying and the race.
Stevens – 4
The British driver was beaten by his teammate at Suzuka following his mid-race spin and a penalty for speeding in the pit-lane and as such is the lowest rated driver this weekend.
