F1 Power Rankings - Top 5 Drivers after US Grand Prix

F1 Grand Prix of Mexico - Previews
F1 Grand Prix of Mexico - Previews

The latest Formula One Power Rankings are out after last weekend's United States Grand Prix which was won by Scuderia Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.

The rankings were released on the official F1 website on Wednesday, three days after Sunday's race, and just before the 2018 calendar turns to the Mexican Grand Prix in Mexico City.

The Power Rankings is a system to determine the top 10 current drivers on the F1 grid.

It is the equivalent of the ranking systems we see in other sports like the ATP World Tour, the WTA Tour and the PGA Tour.

FIFA also use a ranking system for the international teams.

Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton was top of the Power Rankings after the Japanese Grand Prix and there was no surprise at the time as the Briton was winning consecutive races and is now just five points away from sealing a 5th world championship.

Here are the top 5 F1 drivers according to the latest Power Rankings...

#5 Daniel Ricciardo

Ricciardo is getting ready for his last three races at Red Bull
Ricciardo is getting ready for his last three races at Red Bull

After the Japanese Grand Prix that took place earlier month, Daniel Ricciardo has in fact gone up one place despite receiving a DNF (Did Not Finish) at last weekend's United States Grand Prix.

Ricciardo collided with Sebastian Vettel at Circuit of the Americas which saw the German spin off the track.

The Australian ended up with a battery problem which eventually forced the Red Bull driver to pull out of the race after just 8 laps.

It has been a frustrating few weeks for Ricciardo at Red Bull with a number of retirements but his performance in Japan when finishing in 4th after starting the race in 15th gives the Aussie belief and a reminder that he is capable of turning races upside down.

Ricciardo makes the top 5 without even finishing a race in the United States of America, smooth move from the future Renault man.

#4 Charles Leclerc

F1 Grand Prix of Mexico - Previews
F1 Grand Prix of Mexico - Previews

The new power rankings has now put Sauber's Charles Leclerc down one spot from third to fourth.

Leclerc's retirement in Sunday's race in Austin was caused from a collision damage that his Sauber picked up from the opening laps.

It wasn't until the race reached 31 laps that the Sauber driver would have to hang up his gloves for the day.

A frustrating moment for the young talent but that's racing.

The future Ferrari star has now faced back to back race retirements. His last race finish was in Sochi for the Russian Grand Prix.

The man from Monaco will be determined to bring the car home in one piece come Sunday's race in Mexico City.

No matter what performances Leclerc will do now until the end of the season in November in Abu Dhabi, the 21-year-old has got a big step ahead by joining Ferrari to work alongside Sebastian Vettel.

#3 Kimi Raikkonen

F1 Grand Prix of Mexico - Previews
F1 Grand Prix of Mexico - Previews

Kimi Raikkonen is now the most successful Finnish F1 driver of all time after overtaking Mika Hakkinen's tally of race wins with 21 Grand Prix victories.

The 39-year-old's win in Austin was his first race victory in F1 since the 2013 Australian Grand Prix.

This was when Raikkonen was in his second season at Lotus before rejoining Ferrari for a second spell the following year in 2014.

Raikkonen is now third in the latest power rankings after shooting up by four places from 7th position.

The only negative Raikkonen could take from last weekend was being out qualified by his team mate Vettel - but everyone will remember his race victory more than his qualifying performance.

Only three races left in Raikkonen's Ferrari contract and he may just have a chance of adding another win before he bows out for the second time at the Italian giants.

#2 Max Verstappen

F1 Grand Prix of Mexico - Previews
F1 Grand Prix of Mexico - Previews

Max Verstappen is no doubt one of the best drivers on the grid right now.

Since the summer break ended in August, Verstappen has come back fresh and has done well to forget his performance in the first half of the season.

Last Sunday saw Verstappen pick up another podium finish by finishing runner-up to Kimi Raikkonen but one place ahead of Lewis Hamilton.

Verstappen had to fight for that second place in the last remaining laps when Hamilton was pushing for his position.

Instead, Hamilton went off the track under no fault of Verstappen's which would prove to be the Briton's last opportunity to overtake the flying Dutchman who really was flying that day.

Verstappen started the race in 18th to go on and finish second place in which his performance was recognised as F1's driver of the day.

You can see why this driver is tipped to one conquer a world championship.

#1 Lewis Hamilton

F1 Grand Prix of USA
F1 Grand Prix of USA

Lewis Hamilton stays at the top of the F1 Power Rankings after the United States Grand Prix.

And can you really blame the people in charge of the F1 Power Rankings? Yeah, we thought you couldn't play the blame game.

Hamilton was hoping to get his hands on a fifth world championship after last Sunday's race but didn't outscore his title rival, Vettel, with enough points.

And now the Briton will have another crack at it this weekend at the Mexican Grand Prix where he only needs to finish 7th or higher to become a 5 time champion.

It was around this time last year that Hamilton had picked up his fourth driver's title at the 2017 edition of the Mexican Grand Prix.

Will history repeat itself for Hamilton?

Do you agree with the latest F1 Power Rankings? Comment below...


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