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The 2023 F1 Qatar GP had somewhat harrowing pictures of exhausted drivers out of their cars after extremely challenging conditions took their toll on them. Looking at the conditions and how there was only one driver who retired due to fatigue, we should give every driver a rating of 10 for the way they tackled the conditions.
Well, we're not doing that (maybe we should?). Having said that, let's take a look at the driver ratings for the 2023 F1 Qatar GP.
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 Qatar GP: Rating the drivers
Red Bull
Max Verstappen
Sprint (Started: 2nd, Finished: 2nd)
GP (Started: 1st, Finished: 1st)
Rating: 9
Not the perfect weekend as Max Verstappen lost out in the sprint but overall another impressive weekend as he picked up win number 14 for the season.
Sergio Perez
Sprint (Started: 8th, Finished: DNF)
GP (Started: Pits, Finished: 10th)
Rating: 4
Sergio Perez needs a strong result soon because if this is how he performs in the last five races, he will lose his seat at Red Bull.
Ferrari
Charles Leclerc
Sprint (Started: 6th, Finished: 12th)
GP (Started: 5th, Finished: 5th )
Rating: 8
A solid weekend overall. Ferrari lacked the pace to compete with either Mercedes or McLaren. The sprint was a bit compromised but Charles Leclerc brought the car home in the race on Sunday.
Carlos Sainz
Sprint (Started: 5th, Finished: 6th)
GP (Started: DNS, Finished: DNS)
Rating: 6.5
Carlos Sainz did a decent defensive job to bring the car home on Saturday. Unfortunately, the Spaniard will miss the 2023 F1 Qatar GP on Sunday in which he was going to start outside the top 10.
Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton
Sprint (Started: 12th, Finished: 5th)
GP (Started: 3rd, Finished: DNF)
Rating: 5
Lewis Hamilton had a decent recovery in the sprint after a poor qualifying session. The Brit's 2023 F1 Qatar GP journey was cut short after an error that ended his race.
George Russell
Sprint (Started: 4th, Finished: 4th)
GP (Started: 2nd, Finished: 4th)
Rating: 8.5
A strong weekend for George Russell overall. A P4 in both races showed where Mercedes was in terms of pace. Maybe a podium was possible in the 2023 F1 Qatar GP but we'll never know now.
Alpine
Pierre Gasly
Sprint (Started: 11th, Finished: 9th)
GP (Started: 7th, Finished: 12th)
Rating: 6.5
Pierre Gasly had the pace to be competitive with his teammate during the 2023 F1 Qatar GP but small mistakes cost him overall. The French driver should have scored points but had nothing to show at the end of the race.
Esteban Ocon
Sprint (Started: 10th, Finished: DNF)
GP (Started: 8th, Finished: 7th)
Rating: 8
It was a surprise when F1 analyst Albert Fagregas placed Alpine at the bottom of the pecking order in his pre-race simulation. That wasn't the case in the 2023 F1 Qatar GP. Esteban Ocon didn't have a great sprint where the soft tire gamble failed woefully, especially with the three-car collision. The race on Sunday was impressive as he brought the car home in P7.
McLaren
Lando Norris
Sprint (Started: 3rd, Finished: 3rd)
GP (Started: 10th, Finished: 3rd)
Rating: 7.5
A weekend where Lando Norris was beaten by his teammate in both races. It was a bit error-strewn and that's where Norris needs to work for the future.
Oscar Piastri
Sprint (Started: 1st, Finished: 1st)
GP (Started: 6th, Finished: 2nd)
Rating: 9
A perception-changing weekend for Oscar Piastri. He's won his first-ever F1 race (even though it was just a sprint). The Australian is almost there in terms of being a consistent frontrunner.
Alfa Romeo
Valtteri Bottas
Sprint (Started: 13th, Finished: 10th)
GP (Started: 9th, Finished: 8th)
Rating: 8
The old Valtteri Bottas showed up at the 2023 F1 Qatar GP. Points in the race on Sunday and a decent result in the sprint as well. Good showing by the Finn.
Guanyu Zhou
Sprint (Started: 15th, Finished: 14th)
GP (Started: 18th, Finished: 9th)
Rating: 7.5
A decent race where Guanyu Zhou was able to make his way through the field and finish inside points. The driver will be hoping to build on this momentum in the coming races.
Aston Martin
Fernando Alonso
Sprint (Started: 9th, Finished: 8th)
GP (Started: 4th, Finished: 6th)
Rating: 7.5
Another strong overall weekend from Fernando Alonso. Arguably the only error he made was the moment he went off the track and should have been penalized for that. Another weekend he dominated teammate Lance Stroll who continues to struggle.
Lance Stroll
Sprint (Started: 16th, Finished: 15th)
GP (Started: 15th, Finished: 11th)
Rating: 3
Being a second slower than your teammate is no endorsement of how good a weekend was for the Canadian. The 2023 F1 Qatar GP showed the first instance of where Lance Stroll was losing his cool. He needs to do better because Aston Martin seems to be getting more and more compromised.
Haas F1
Kevin Magnussen
Sprint (Started: 19th, Finished: 13th)
GP (Started: 17th, Finished: 14th)
Rating: 5
Not many takeaways for Kevin Magnussen as he struggled in qualifying against Hulkenberg and could not get much onboard in the race either.
Nico Hulkenberg
Sprint (Started: 7th, Finished: DNF)
GP (Started: 13th, Finished: 16th)
Rating: 7
Strong in qualifying of both the sprint and the race, Nico Hulkenberg would have hoped for a better run in the races as the sprint ended with a racing incident and the 2023 F1 Qatar GP saw the Haas have no pace to compete.
AlphaTauri
Liam Lawson
Sprint (Started: 14th, Finished: DNF)
GP (Started: 16th, Finished: 17th)
Rating: 5
An off weekend for Liam Lawson. spun off in the sprint. He was last in the 2023 F1 Qatar GP and could not do much overall.
Yuki Tsunoda
Sprint (Started: 18th, Finished: 11th)
GP (Started: 11th, Finished: 15th)
Rating: 7
A strong weekend for Yuki Tsunoda. Except for the sprint qualifying where he missed out, the Japanese driver had a strong 2023 F1 Qatar GP as he got one over Liam Lawson before the Kiwi was replaced by Daniel Ricciardo.
Williams
Alex Albon
Sprint (Started: 17th, Finished: 7th)
GP (Started: 12th, Finished: 13th)
Rating: 7.5
The sprint race was impressive from Alex Albon, who scored a couple of points for Williams. The 2023 F1 Qatar GP was not as fruitful as he could not get anything for the team.
Logan Sargeant
Sprint (Started: 20th, Finished: DNF)
GP (Started: 14th, Finished: DNF )
Rating: 3.5
Logan Sargeant beached the car in the sprint and retired from the race due to fatigue. Not a weekend to remember in any which way for the American.
