Hungarian Grand Prix- Driver Ratings

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes. 6th

This was undoubtedly Hamilton’s worst race performance of the season, despite him showing dominant form on Friday and Saturday.

Mercedes seem to have an issue at the start, where Hamilton fell back to fourth from first, before he mis-read Rosberg’s line going into the chicane and ran wide.

He was in the midst of a fine recovery drive before he stupidly crashed with Daniel Ricciardo at the re-start.

He still extended his championship lead, and that’s what is most important.

5/10.

Nico Rosberg, Mercedes. 8th

Rosberg had a stinker in Hungary as he was completely outpaced by Hamilton and, rather surprisingly, the Ferrari pair of Vettel and Raikkonen.

The German was too far behind Hamilton in qualifying, and his lack of pace for large points of the race was mystifying.

It looked like a bad weekend was going to turn into a great one when Hamilton fell out of the points, but he paid for an awful tyre strategy by colliding with Daniel Ricciardo.

He’s now 21 points behind Hamilton, and as each chance of closing the gap goes begging  so do his chances of a maiden F1 title.

2/10.

Sebastian Vettel wins the 2015 Hungarian F1 GP

Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari. 1st

Was Vettel outstanding? Or was he made to look good by the ineptitude of Rosberg? Probably a bit of both.

Either way, the Italian driver claimed his second win of the season in breathless style. No one doubts Vettel’s class anymore. He is continuing to prove himself to be a true great, and this display underlined that fact once again.

At the start, he was ruthless in moving past both Hamilton and Rosberg, and from there we should have known the rest was a formality.

Vettel is one of F1’s great race leaders and he managed this one superbly. He can consider himself to be lucky that Daniel Ricciardo didn’t breath down his neck at the end, but his win was well-deserved.

10/10

Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari. Retired

The heart has to go out to Kimi Raikkonen, who thoroughly deserved the podium which was stolen from him by his broken Ferrari car.

The Finn, like his team-mate, was excellent on race day as he easily kept Nico Rosberg behind and  even built a commanding advantage.

At the start of the race he made a terrific start, and he matched Vettel’s pace throughout.

Second will surely have been his, had his car not failed at the end. Let’s hope that’s not a symbol of his career.

8/10.

Felipe Massa

Felipe Massa, Williams- 12th

Like many drivers, this was a strange race for Felipe Massa, who has a knack of throwing in a below-par performance once in a while.

Williams isn’t suited to Hungary, and that showed in qualifying, but the Brazilian committed an F1 sin by failing to line up for the grid properly.

His race performance was ugly, as he struggled with pace, tyre usage and staying out of trouble.

3/10.

Valtteri Bottas, Williams-  13th

Bottas put in a good display in Hungary, but contact in the closing stages cost him some deserved points.

He has the advantage of the latest front wing, and he put it to good use in qualifying.

On race day he should impressive pace to keep up with the Red Bull’s, yet Max Verstappen ended any chance of him scoring points.

7/10.

Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull RB11

Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull- 3rd

There is no denying that Ricciardo gave his all in Hungary, but in truth he may feel that this was an opportunity lost.

Red Bull was perfectly suited to the Hungaroring, and the Aussie was blisteringly quick on race day, but he was too aggressive and lucky to finish the race.

Valtteri Bottas, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg were among his victims, but his whole-hearted approach should, ultimately, be celebrated.

8/10.

Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull- 2nd

Kvyat suffered emotionally in the build-up to the race as F1 mourned the death of Jules Bianchi, and that showed as his first few laps were scruffy.

However, he did well to bounce back as he kept out of trouble to score his first ever podium.

7/10.

Fernando Alonso in the garage

Fernando Alonso, McLaren- 5th

Anyone who doubts Alonso’s commitment to the McLaren cause should look at his reaction to finishing fifth after a brilliant race by the Spaniard.

On race day, he as exceptional as he weaved through the carnage, showed good speed with his updated car, and scored some excellent points for his team.

10/10.

Jenson Button, McLaren- 9th

McLaren must have been cursing the heavens on Saturday as an ERS failure cost Button the chance to progress to the top 10 shoot-out, which he thought was possible.

On race day, he stayed close behind Alonso but lacked the pace of the soft tyre at the end.

8/10.

Sergio Pérez (MEX) Sahara Force India F1 VJM08.
Chinese Grand Prix, Friday 10th April 2015. Shanghai, China.

Sergio Pérez, Force India- Retired

It was a dismal weekend for Force India and Perez, which started on Friday when a suspension failure catapulted him into the air.

They pulled out of running in FP2, which cost them critical track time ahead of qualifying.

On race day, he ran into Maldonado, who was having one of his more erratic races, and their collision at the first corner damaged his car beyond repair.

6/10.

Nico Hulkenberg, Force India- Retired

Hulkenberg has more reason to be frustrated than Perez, as he was running solidly in the points before his front wing failed spectacularly.

His pace was strong throughout the weekend, and on race day he was excellent as he made a tremendous start to fight with Bottas.

8/10.

Max Verstappen & Carlos Sainz Jr.

Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso- 4th

Nothing seems to faze Verstappen, who was outstanding in qualifying after he missed some of free practice through technical issues.

On race day, he made an awful start and plummeted down the field but he stuck to his task, drove quickly and benefited from everyone else’s foolishness.

8/10.

Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso- Retired

Sainz is in the midst of an awful run of luck on race day, as an engine problem cost him probable points.

He was firmly in the shadow of Verstappen this weekend though, as he struggled in qualifying and was fortunate not to crash out in Q1.

6/10.

Romain Grosjean, Lotus F1 E21

Romain Grosjean, Lotus- 7th

Solid but not spectacular from Grosjean, who is clearly frustrated with the financial issues at the team.

He did well in qualifying to reach the top 10, but his race pace was less impressive. Seventh was a flattering result.

7/10.

Pastor Maldonado, Lotus- 14th

Maldonado gave a typical Maldonado performance. Quick, erratic and inconsistent.

In qualifying, he threatened to do something great until he messed up in Q2, while on race day he somehow managed to accumulate three separate penalties.

The crash with Perez was very ugly indeed.

3/10.

Marcus Ericsson

Marcus Ericsson, Sauber- 10th

Ericsson was in need of a positive weekend, and he finally delivered a polished and consistent display.

The Swede was faster than the impressive Felipe Nasr all weekend, and he capitalised on others misfortune to snatch a point.

7/10.

Felipe Nasr, Sauber- 11th

Nasr was firmly in the shadow of Ericsson in Budapest, as he languished behind him in both qualifying and the race.

He cut a frustrated figure as Ericsson stayed marginally ahead in the race, but the Brazilian was second best all weekend.

6/10.

Will Stevens, Marussia- Retired

Stevens will be disappointed with his efforts this weekend, especially as he qualified over half a second behind his team-mate.

In the race, he was stronger but ultimately a long way back from Merhi.

4/10.

Roberto Merhi, Manor MR03

Roberto Merhi, Marussia-  15th

Merhi’s impressive form continued in Hungary, as he put in a storming performance in qualifying to finish 0.6s ahead of Stevens.

His race was compromised early on by an early stop, but he still managed to finish in a solid 15^th.

7/10.

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