British Grand Prix- Driver Ratings
Lewis Hamilton claims that his call to come into the pits during the wet weather was the best of his career, and he’s probably right. However, his iffy start costs him points in this week’s driver ratings.
In fact, no driver scores above eight this weekend, in what proved to be strange old afternoon in the Northamptonshire countryside.
Read on to see how all drivers fared at the British Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes. 1st
Hamilton found the British spirit in his home country as he roared back to win his fifth race of the season.
The Englishman struggled with the ride height on Friday, but he battled back to claim another impressive pole position.
A woeful start saw him drop behind Felipe Massa’s Williams, and he was too eager at the re-start and made a silly error by going wide and falling behind Valtteri Bottas.
However, a proactive pitstop saw him take the lead, and an inspired, if not fortunate, tactical decision to switch to intermediates saw him hold off the charging Nico Rosberg to win.
8/10.
Nico Rosberg, Merce11des. 2nd
NIco Rosberg
Qualifying has become a real problem for Nico Rosberg, and there is no doubt that it cost him the win again this weekend.
The German dominated Friday, but still finished 0.1s behind Hamilton on Saturday. Like his team-mate, he got off to a poor start, but he exceptional in the wet conditions and would probably have won had Hamilton not made a desperate pitstop.
The German’s face was full of regret afterwards, and it’s understandable seeing that this race was there for the taking.
8/10.
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari. 3rd
Vettel and Ferrari looked stunned when they found Williams easily trumped them in qualifying, while the former world champion limped to sixth behind Kimi Raikkonen.
On race day, Vettel was surprisingly quiet in the dry as Raikkonen had a pace advantage, but he came alive in the wet and made a brilliant pitstop decision.
It allowed him to score yet another podium in his debut season with the Italian giants.
8/10
Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari. 8th.
Kimi Raikkonen
One bad decision ruined what was shaping up to be a good weekend for Raikkonen, who has hopefully turned a corner this season.
The Finn outqualified Vettel on Saturday, and raced competitively in fifth before the rain came. Then, Vettel made his move and snatched the place, which forced Kimi to go into the pits for intermediates.
That was ultimately his downfall as it was nowhere near wet enough to merit such a decision, and he found himself quickly going backwards.
He’s now behind Bottas in the championship and Massa is lurking too, but hopefully he can take positives from the weekend.
7/10.
Felipe Massa, Williams- 4th
Massa has the edge on Bottas in qualifying as he sneaked ahead for the sixth time this season, while he got off the line superbly to take the lead.
His pace wasn’t quite good enough in the dry, and he fell behind Hamilton after the first round of stops.
However, he came alive once again as the rain rolled in and would have finished third had Vettel not timed his switch to inters to perfection.
8/10.
Valtteri Bottas, Williams- 5th
Valterri Bottas
Bottas’s qualifying form is affecting him this season, as he once again lined up behind Felipe Massa.
He got a good start and climbed to second, but he was too timid in wheel-to-wheel combat with Lewis Hamilton and conceded the position.
He was right to fight Massa at the front, but he lacked the ruthlessness to get past. In the rain, he really struggled as Rosberg drove effortlessly past and Massa disappeared into the distance.
All in all, a frustrating weekend.
6/10.
Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull- Retired
There was more misery for Ricciardo, as Red Bull failed to find the pace he thought they’d have.
He sneaked into Q3, but couldn’t improve on 10th, and he made poor start to the race. He later retired with an electrical issue to round off a weekend to forget.
4/10.
Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull- 6th
Kvyat has the wood on Ricciardo right now as he comfortably outdid him in qualifying yet again.
The Russian was excellent early on in the race as he battled with Sebastian Vettel, and will be happy to claim sixth as he continues to close in on Ricciardo in the championship.
7/10.
Fernando Alonso in the garage
Fernando Alonso, McLaren- 10th
Despite barging into his team-mate and taking him out of the race on the first lap, this was good weekend for Fernando Alonso who finally scored his first point of the season.
The McLaren still looks horrible to drive, but Alonso used all his knowledge of wet conditions to time his pitstop to perfection.
7/10.
Jenson Button, McLaren- Retired
As per usual it was a British Grand Prix to forget for Jenson Button, who lasted all of three corners n race day and struggled throughout Friday and Saturday.
The Englishman was given the new updates to try out this weekend, but he said the car felt horrible to drive on Friday, while he qualified behind Alonso on Saturday.
He was helpless as Alonso barged into him during the race, ending what could be his last British Grand Prix.
5/10.
Sergio Pérez
Sergio Pérez, Force India- 9th
Perez has become a solid performer this season, with two more points to add to the tally.
This was the first weekend we saw Force India’s b-spec car, and the Mexican was underwhelming in qualifying as he started 11th.
He benefited from other’s mis-fortune on race day, but it’s nonetheless a good start with the new car for him.
6/10.
Nico Hulkenberg, Force India- 7th
It was another excellent weekend for Hulkenberg, who now looks emphatically back to his best.
He described his start as the best of his career, but a slow pitstop cost him more points on race day.
If he continues like this, he may just be too good to turn for the top teams.
9/10.
Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso- Retired
Max Verstappen & Carlos Sainz Jr.
Yet again Toro Rosso promised so much but delivered so little as Verstappen spun out of the race in the early stages.
The Dutchman was mightily fast on Friday, and believed that they could have been pushing for a spot near the front of the grid in qualifying.
However, mechanical issues dropped him to 13th, and he spun out of the race early on.
6/10.
Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso- Retired
Unlike his team-mate, Sainz was allowed to deliver in qualifying as he stuck the car in eighth.
He was well on course for a good haul of points before his car packed up just before the rain arrived, leaving both he and the team frustrated.
6/10.
Romain Grosjean, Lotus- Retired
Romain Grosjean, Lotus F1 E21
It was a miserable weekend for Grosjean, who struggled from Friday all the way through to race day.
In practice, he slid off into the gravel after an aerodynamic problem, while more problems in qualifying restricted him to 12th.
In the race he was unlucky to crash into his team-mate, but it rather summed up his weekend.
5/10.
Pastor Maldonado, Lotus- Retired
Lotus’s miserable weekend continued through Maldonado, who struggled with mechanical issues on Friday was almost dropped out of qualifying at the first hurdle.
He was part of the multiple-car crash at Turn 3, and was forced into retirement.
5/10.
Marcus Ericsson, Sauber- 11th
Marcus Ericsson, Bahrain 2015.
Ericsson reminded the team of his potential when he qualified two tenth quicker than the impressive Felipe Nasr, and he was sold enough in the race.
He will feel that he should have challenged Alonso for the final point, but he messed up his tyre strategy in the wet and retired three times.
5/10.
Felipe Nasr, Sauber- 11th
Nasr was arguably the star of the show in qualifying as he wrestled the car into a brilliant ninth place.
However, brake problems on race day saw him start to fall backwards over time and he struggled to hang on to a point.
4/10.
Will Stevens, Manor MR03
Will Stevens, Marussia- 13th
Stevens was livid with the team when they messed up his tyre strategy in the wet on race day, and then they weren’t there to fit his tyres when he did eventually make it into the pits.
The end of the race cost the Englishman, as he later spun and hit the wall when fighting with Roberto Merhi.
Up to that point, Stevens looked back to huis early-season form as he dominated his team-mate over the weekend.
7/10.
Roberto Merhi, Marussia- 12th
Merhi may have finished ahead of Stevens, but in truth he was way off his pace all weekend.
In qualifying, he finished over half a second back, while in the race he limped a long way behind until Stevens stuffed it in the wall.
5/10.
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