Canadian Grand Prix- Driving ratings
Lewis Hamilton wrestled back the momentum on Sunday as he stormed to victory at the Canadian Grand Prix.
The Englishman was, once again, the stand out performer despite a difficult start to his weekend, and managed to convincingly beat Nico Rosberg once again.
Here are the driver ratings from Montreal, and there are some interesting team-mate comparisons to note.
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes- 1st
Hamilton loves racing in Montreal and started the weekend on top in first practice.
However, he crashed in a wet free practice two and was messy on Saturday morning which made Rosberg favourite ahead of qualifying.
But in true Hamilton style, he mastered his qualifying lap to take pole and cruised home to take his fourth win of the season.
Rosberg pushed him hard, but the 30-year-old was in a class of his own.
9/10.
Nico Rosberg, Mercedes. 2nd.
Nico Rosberg, Mercedes W06
It was a familiar story for Rosberg this weekend. He carried confidence into qualifying but, once again, fell a few tenths short of Hamilton at his best.
He made a perfect get away and may have taken the lead if he had a longer straight to work with, but his race virtually ended there. He stayed close to Hamilton but couldn’t apply too much pressure due to brake saving.
7/10.
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari. 5th.
Sebastian Vettel provided the majority of the excitement on race day with his daring overtakes and ambitious race plan.
However, he must be ruing his major error in third practice when he was handed a five-place grid penalty for overtaking under red flags.
That, combined with an engine issue, dropped him down to 18th on the grid for the race, but he surged into the top five with a fine recovery.
Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari. 4th
Kimi Raikkonen
Like Vettel, this was an opportunity missed for Raikkonen who failed to fully capitalise on his team-mates mis-fortune.
Raikkonen qualified well for the first time this season, but whether he would have beaten Vettel is a mystery.
His pace on race day was disappointing, and a silly spin cost him a podium.
7/10.
Felipe Massa, Williams- 6th
Luck was not on Massa’s side this weekend and he fell 10 points behind his team-mate in the drivers’ standings.
Engine issues ruined his qualifying and he was forced to start alongside Vettel in 19th. However, an outstanding recovery drive saw him claim some valuable points and re-emphasise his improved speed this year.
9/10.
Valtteri Bottas, Williams- 3rd
Valterri Bottas
Bottas was gifted third in Montreal by the absence of Vettel and Massa at the front and Kimi Raikkonen’s costly spin.
But he still showed consistent pace all weekend and stayed close enough to Raikkonen to take full advantage of his incident.
After their Monaco disaster, this was a timely podium for Williams.
8/10.
Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull- 13th
How much difference a year makes…This time last year, Ricciardo was celebrating his first ever win in Formula 1, but this year even he couldn’t force a smile.
The Aussie did a solid job in qualifying by coming ninth, but he fell a long way adrift of his team-mate and finished a long way out of the points.
4/10.
Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull- 9th
Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull RB11
Kvyat coped with the ailing Red Bull far better than his team-mate all weekend.
He qualified one place ahead of him, and managed to eek more out of the car on race day to secure some well-earned points.
7/10.
Fernando Alonso, McLaren- Retired
Alonso’s smile has completely faded after another tough weekend which saw him retire once again.
An engine problem forced him to miss most of Saturday morning, which left him undercooked for qualifying.
Still, he managed to start 13th but excessive fuel-saving made life hard. Retirement summed up another weekend.
6/10.
Jenson Button, McLaren- Retired
Jenson Button.
McLaren expected to make progress this weekend after they used some of their engine tokens to give their power-unit a much needed boost.
However, a problem meant that Button missed qualifying again and started towards the back of the pack.
A non-descript race ended with exhaust failure, but he was going nowhere up to that point.
5/10.
Sergio Pérez, Force India- 11th
Perez was left frustrated at the end of the race after he finished outside of the points and was soundly beaten by his team-mate for the first time in a while.
The Mexican finished almost 0.8s down on Nico Hulkenberg in qualifying, while Kvyat’s defensive display ended any chances he had of breaking into the points.
5/10.
Nico Hulkenberg, Force India- 8th
Nico Hulkenberg
Hulkenberg returned to form with four valuable points to close the gap between him and Perez in the drivers’ standings.
The German was excellent in qualifying as he finished ahead of both Red Bulls. He was powerless to stop both Vettel and Massa going past, but an aggressive move on Maldonado showed he still has plenty to offer this season.
8/10.
Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso- 15th
It was a weekend to forget for Verstappen, who was battered by his fellow drivers for refusing to accept the blame for crashing into Romain Grosjean in Monaco.
He was handed a five-place grid penalty for that incident, and an engine change saw him start 19th on the grid.
Tyre and brake conservation meant that he couldn’t come through the field as much as he would have liked and a time penalty saw him eventually finish 15th.
4/10.
Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso- 12th
Carlos Sainz jr.
Renualt’s engine suffered badly in Canada, which meant that points were an unrealistic target for Toro Rosso.
Sainz could have knocked Ricciardo out on the top 10 shoot-out in qualifying, but he didn’t string all his laps together. In the race he was consistent, but not quick enough.
6/10.
Romain Grosjean, Lotus- 10th
Race day was frustrating for Grosjean, who will feel that he should have scored some good points.
A good qualifying performance saw him line up fifth, and he was on course for seventh before a stupid crash with Roberto Merhi.
6/10.
Pastor Maldonado, Lotus- 7th
Pastor Maldonado, Lotus E23 Mercedes
At last, there was some joy for Pastor Maldonado who netted his best ever finish for Lotus.
The Venezuelan was slightly off the pace of Grosjean in qualifying, but he stayed out of trouble and completed an impressive 53-lap stint on the soft tyre.
8/10.
Marcus Ericsson, Sauber- 14th
Ericsson outshone his team-mate all weekend, but still finished a long way from the points showing how much of a gap Sauber have to bridge.
The Swede was targeting points after starting 12th on the grid, but with Massa and Vettel behind that was always unlikely.
6/10.
Felipe Nasr (BRA) Sauber at the paddock
Felipe Nasr, Sauber- 16th
A heavy crash in final practice set Nasr back massively and he could only manage 14th on the gird, two places behind Ericsson.
It was a poor race too, as he struggled to keep brake temperatures down.
4/10.
Will Stevens, Marussia- 17th
Stevens is no longer the stand-out performer at Marussia, and found himself behind Merhi once again in qualifying.
A fast start saw him leap past his team-mate, but a slow stop put him back behind. Merhi’s retirement gifted him 17th, but he will be concerned that the gap between them has closed.
6/10.
Roberto Merhi, Manor MR03
Roberto Merhi, Marussia- Retired
Mehri is finally showing his worth to Marussia after another composed weekend.
The Spaniard beat Stevens in qualifying, and was running comfortably ahead when he was being lapped by Grosjean.
The Frenchman cruelly swiped across the front of his car and put him into retirement, but he will still leave Montreal happy.
7/10.
✅ Check out more posts with related topics:
LAST 3 F1 Fan COMMENTS