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The 2023 F1 Las Vegas GP ended with Max Verstappen winning the race from a valiant Charles Leclerc. The race was fun and had a lot of elements that made the event memorable.
Having said that, this piece is not about the race that happened. It's about the biggest superstars of the event, the drivers. How did the drivers fare at the 2023 F1 Las Vegas GP? Let's take a look at our driver ratings for the race.
Criteria for rating: When we rate the drivers, there are a few things that we take into consideration.
These are:
- Performance in both qualifying and race
- Results achieved compared to the potential of the car
- How many mistakes were made over the weekend
- Relative performance against their teammate
2023 F1 Las Vegas GP: Rating the drivers
Red Bull
Max Verstappen (Started: 2nd, Finished: 1st)
Rating: 9
It wasn't his flawless best but it was good enough. Max Verstappen was struggling at one moment and it did appear that he would not win the race.
However, he turned things around with the safety car working in his favor. Win No. 18 for the Dutchman in challenging conditions.
Sergio Perez (Started: 11th, Finished: 3rd)
Rating: 7
Getting eliminated in Q2 was unfortunate and should not be happening. Losing P2 to Charles Leclerc was more or less on the same lines as well.
A podium is a welcome result for Sergio Perez but one can't help but feel there was maybe something more on the table.
Ferrari
Charles Leclerc (Started: 1st, Finished: 2nd)
Rating: 10
Arguably the driver of the F1 Las Vegas GP. Charles Leclerc's qualifying was perfect as he got pole and his race was brilliant as well as he did whatever was in his control. The lack of a win would hurt but he did whatever he could during the weekend.
Carlos Sainz (Started: 12th, Finished: 6th)
Rating: 7.5
An impressive weekend from Carlos Sainz who was an unfortunate victim of the 10-place penalty for taking a new power unit. The Ferrari driver had a strong pace and a P6 result in the end does not look as bad.
Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton (Started: 10th, Finished: 7th)
Rating: 7
A somewhat underwhelming weekend for Lewis Hamilton. A poor qualifying session compromised him early and then the first lap chaos cost him as well. He did make decent progress to finish P7 but maybe a better result was on the table for him.
George Russell (Started: 3rd, Finished: 8th)
Rating: 7
Highly likely that the contact with Max Verstappen cost George Russell another podium this season. His qualifying for the 2023 F1 Las Vegas GP was brilliant and he had a decent start to the race.
From that point onwards, Russell's collision damaged the car and gave him a five-second penalty which ended his podium charge.
Alpine
Pierre Gasly (Started: 4th, Finished: 11th)
Rating: 7
A strong qualifying and a poor race for the French driver. Gasly didn't have the pace of his teammate in the first half as well but things were exacerbated in the second half which meant his tire wear and some power unit issues cost him big time.
Esteban Ocon (Started: 16th, Finished: 4th)
Rating: 8.5
A great response from Esteban Ocon after being almost bullied out of qualifying by Max Verstappen. The Alpine driver had a strong pace in the first stint and then carried it through in the next stint as well which saw him overtake Pierre Gasly as well. A strong P4 for the French driver.
McLaren
Lando Norris (Started: 15th, Finished: DNF)
Rating: 4
One of the rare bad weekends for Lando Norris as he was ousted in Q1 in the 2023 F1 Las Vegas GP. The race was cut short due to a terminal error that caused a crash and ended his day.
Oscar Piastri (Started: 18th, Finished: 10th)
Rating: 6
A solid performance compromised the strategy. Oscar Piastri had a strong race pace and it showed during the race. The late pitstop to take on the alternative tire cost him but it was still an impressive day of racing overall.
Alfa Romeo
Valtteri Bottas (Started: 7th, Finished: 17th)
Rating: 7
A strong qualifying set Valtteri Bottas up for a strong result at the 2023 F1 Las Vegas GP. However, the first lap pile-up cost him big time. The Finnish driver will end the race last but he could have done a lot more.
Guanyu Zhou (Started: 17th, Finished: 15th)
Rating: 6.5
Guanyu Zhou was once again a tad slower as compared to his teammate and ended the race outside of points.
Aston Martin
Fernando Alonso (Started: 9th, Finished: 9th)
Rating: 5
A rare bad weekend for Fernando Alonso in a race where he should have ideally scored a podium. A poor qualifying made worse by a poor start was surprising as the Spaniard had a less-than-ideal F1 Las Vegas GP.
Lance Stroll (Started: 19th, Finished: 5th)
Rating: 8
An impressive weekend once again from Lance Stroll as he bagged a P5 finish. The Canadian did a brilliant job of making his way through the field to score valuable points.
Haas F1
Kevin Magnussen (Started: 8th, Finished: 13th)
Rating: 7
Kevin Magnussen had a better qualifying session than his teammate but beyond that, it was just the same story all over again as he fell down the order.
Nico Hulkenberg (Started: 13th, Finished: DNF)
Rating: 6
Nico Hulkenberg's race had a similar template to what happens every race for Haas. The F1 Las Vegas GP saw the driver's qualifying being the highlight of his weekend before a premature retirement in the race.
AlphaTauri
Daniel Ricciardo (Started: 14th, Finished: 14th)
Rating: 7
Daniel Ricciardo is doing whatever he can with the package under him. The Australian outqualified Yuki Tsunoda and while he did hope for a stronger F1 Las Vegas GP it never materialised.
Yuki Tsunoda (Started: 20th, Finished: 18th)
Rating: 6
Yuki Tsunoda was out-qualified by Daniel Ricciardo on Saturday. His race and Ricciardo's could not be judged with the same lens as the Japanese driver had gambled with a start on soft tires. An overall underwhelming performance for the driver and the team.
Williams
Alex Albon (Started: 5th, Finished: 12th)
Rating: 7
Alex Albon will be disappointed after the F1 Las Vegas GP as the third-row start didn't yield any points. The driver struggled for pace early in the race and just didn't have anything to contend for points this time around.
Logan Sargeant (Started: 6th, Finished: 16th)
Rating: 6.5
An overall positive weekend for Logan Sargeant as he showed a marked improvement in qualifying. The American had decent pace compared to his teammate but the car just didn't have enough latent pace to make it work this time around.
