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The 2022 F1 French GP featured some great performances all weekend. Max Verstappen did not make many mistakes, Lewis Hamilton maximized the result keeping in mind the package he had under him, and George Russell made it two Mercedes' on the podium.
The midfield had stellar drives from Fernando Alonso and Lando Norris as the two drivers went hammer and tongs against each other for most of the race. So, how did each of these drivers fare in the 2022 F1 French GP? Let's find out!
2022 F1 French GP: Rating the drivers!
Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton (Started: 4th, Finished: 2nd)
Rating: 9
Lewis Hamilton is back to his best now and the race weekend for him is all about maximizing everything. He maximized the qualifying by securing a P4. He maximized the race by securing a P2. This is the seven-time world champion we've all grown accustomed to.
George Russell (Started: 6th, Finished: 3rd)
Rating: 8
Another strong result for Russell as he is more or less there or thereabouts in terms of speed. The fact that he did get out-qualified by Lando Norris in a McLaren will raise a few eyebrows, albeit not too many. The driver is positioning himself well at Mercedes, although a 4-race losing streak against Hamilton might concern him a little.
Red Bull
Max Verstappen (Started: 2nd, Finished: 1st)
Rating: 9.5
Except for the second qualifying lap where he had two yellow sectors, Max Verstappen was rather faultless for the entirety of the 2022 F1 French GP. A well-deserved win, 25 points, and a 63-point lead in the bag for the Red Bull driver now.
Sergio Perez (Started: 3rd, Finished: 4th)
Rating: 6
Overall, a poor weekend for Sergio Perez. If you're driving a Red Bull, you just cannot afford to finish behind both the Mercedes cars. The Mexican driver was rather off-color for the entirety of the race weekend. He struggled with tire wear and ended up finishing 4th in a race where his teammate cruised to a win.
Ferrari
Charles Leclerc (Started: 1st, Finished: DNF)
Rating: 4
You just cannot crash the car in a race when you're fighting for the championship against a force of nature like Max Verstappen. A key aspect of Verstappen's racing is his ability to not make mistakes. Charles Leclerc, however, has made two big ones this season (Imola and France).
The 2022 F1 French GP featured excellence from the Ferrari driver on Saturday but then showcased a new low for Leclerc when he binned the car while leading the race.
Carlos Sainz (Started: 19th, Finished: 5th)
Rating: 9.5
That was a sensational driver from the Spaniard! He should have scored a podium with the kind of race that he had. Had it not been for the penalty, he would have even been in contention for a race win. Overall, a very high-level performance by the Spaniard.
McLaren
Lando Norris (Started: 5th, Finished: 7th)
Rating: 8
That P5 in the 2022 F1 French GP qualifying was sensational! The race was always going to feature Lando Norris vs the Alpines and as it turns out, Fernando Alonso got the better of him at the start and never looked back. Regardless, it was another strong performance where Norris extracted the most from the car.
Daniel Ricciardo (Started: 9th, Finished: 9th)
Rating: 7
A decent race for Daniel Ricciardo. He lacked maybe a tenth or two to Lando Norris and that was the reason behind his Q2 elimination. Ricciardo shadowed Norris in the race for a large part, only to lose out in the end to Alpine's Esteban Ocon. A P9 finish is still a decent momentum-building one for the Australian.
Alpine
Fernando Alonso (Started: 7th, Finished: 6th)
Rating: 8.5
Fernando Alonso showed once again at the 2022 F1 French GP that if he does not encounter these reliability issues or strategic debacles, there is no stopping him. It was always going to be Alonso vs Norris for the honors of the top midfield driver and the Spaniard settled the debate on Lap 1 itself.
Esteban Ocon (Started: 10th, Finished: 8th)
Rating: 7
This was the first time Esteban Ocon scored points at the 2022 F1 French GP! It was a decent outcome for the French driver considering everything. He is, however, risking a slow but steady fall into the shadow of Alonso unless he picks up the pace in the next few races.
Alpha Tauri
Pierre Gasly (Started: 14th, Finished: 12th)
Rating: 5
Another poor weekend for Pierre Gasly on this one. The French driver could not live up to the expectations of the 2022 F1 French GP and completely fell away despite showing glimpses of form in the Free Practice sessions. Another pointless weekend for the French driver who is slowly starting to become the forgotten man on the grid.
Yuki Tsunoda (Started: 8th, Finished: DNF)
Rating: 6
The 2022 F1 French GP qualifying yielded a Q3 spot and a P8 starting position to Yuki Tsunoda but it all turned to bust when he was punted off the track by Ocon on the first lap of the race. The Japanese driver tried to recover but ultimately ended up retiring from the race.
Aston Martin
Sebastian Vettel (Started: 12th, Finished: 11th)
Rating: 7
Come to think of it, Vettel would be disappointed by the outcome of the race. He had the speed to score points but he could not make it work. To add to this, losing out to his teammate is not a nice look either. The German will be looking to set the record straight in Hungary before the summer break.
Lance Stroll (Started: 15th, Finished: 10th)
Rating: 7.5
It was a rather rude move by Lance Stroll on Sebastian Vettel at the start of the race but ultimately that's what set the tone. This was a good showing by the Canadian as he picked up another points finish for himself.
Alfa Romeo
Valtteri Bottas (Started: 11th, Finished: 14th)
Rating: 6
A rather anonymous race from Bottas. The car's performance has nose-dived in the last few races and with it has the results for Alfa Romeo. A P14 finish is not what Bottas would have hoped for when he turned up for the 2022 F1 French GP.
Guanyu Zhou (Started: 16th, Finished: DNF)
Rating: 5
Not much to say for the Chinese driver either as the race once again showed that Zhou still needs to get on top of things in the sport. The incident with Mick Schumacher was not a pleasant sight either.
Haas F1
Kevin Magnussen (Started: 20th, Finished: DNF)
Rating: 5
The 2022 F1 French GP looked quite promising at one stage for Magnussen when he made a whole lot of places on the opening lap. Strategy, however, proved to be the Achilles heel as the safety car worked against Magnussen and left him stranded at the back. The incident with Nicholas Latifi was not pretty and ultimately ended Magnussen's race as well.
Mick Schumacher (Started: 17th, Finished: 15th)
Rating: 4
This race was Mick Schumacher falling back to his old habits where the pace just disappeared for him. The Haas driver was almost half a second slower than his teammate in the 2022 F1 French GP and would be desperate to get back on form in Hungary.
Williams
Alex Albon (Started: 13th, Finished: 13th)
Rating: 7
Alex Albon did Alex Albon things as he extracted the most from his Williams and outperformed his teammate. This was another weekend where the former Red Bull driver showed that another haul of points is surely possible with the team this season.
Nicholas Latifi (Started 18th, Finished: DNF)
Rating: 4
The only highlight for Latifi's French GP was getting bullied off the track by Kevin Magnussen. It does appear that Williams is weighing the options for Latifi's seat and these results will surely not help.
