Nobody would argue that the 2025 Belgian Grand Prix was one of Formula 1's classic races.
But Spa is one of F1's classic tracks, and it really did allow some drivers to make the difference last weekend - at least as far as Edd Straw's driver rankings are concerned.
How do the rankings work? The 20 drivers will be ranked in order of performance from best to worst on each grand prix weekend. This will be based on the full range of criteria, ranging from pace and racecraft to consistency and whether they made key mistakes. How close each driver got to delivering on the maximum performance potential of the car will be an essential consideration.
It’s important to note both that this reflects performance across the entire weekend, cognisant of the fact that qualifying is effectively ‘lap 0’ of the race and key to laying the foundations to the race, and that it is not a ranking of the all-round qualities of each driver. It’s simply about how they performed on a given weekend. Therefore, the ranking will fluctuate significantly from weekend to weekend.
And with each of the 10 cars fundamentally having different performance potential and ‘luck’ (ie factors outside of a driver’s control) contributing to the way the weekend plays out, this ranking will also differ significantly from the overall results.
Started: 3rd Finished: 3rd
Was comfortable from the off in the upgraded Ferrari, briefly elevating it to third in the sprint ahead of McLaren's Lando Norris before inevitably falling behind.
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Even taking into account the advantage of the lower wing level, Leclerc overachieved by edging Max Verstappen by three thousandths in qualifying then did a magnificent job in the race to keep him behind.
Holding off the Red Bull early on while struggling for grip in the wet defied the odds, but although it was easier when the track dried it still required avoiding any significant errors with the most incisive overtaker in F1 on his tail.
Verdict: Maximised what was the third-best car.
Started: 10th Finished: 9th
Although his sprint efforts weren't rewarded with a point, qualifying 10th and finishing ninth was an impressive effort in the Sauber, with his SQ2 lap a highlight.
He followed that up with a repeat in the main race, proving emphatically that his pace and tyre management was stronger than team-mate Nico Hulkenberg's despite a similar wing level by pulling away from him after being moved ahead by team orders.
While the Sauber had a decent turn of pace, Bortoleto's good execution made the difference in terms of bagging points.
Verdict: His best weekend yet.
Started: 2nd Finished: 1st
Based on Friday's performance level, where he produced a superb lap to take sprint pole position, Piastri looked destined to sweep the weekend.
While he missed out in the sprint, and made an error (albeit one that was well-corrected) at Stavelot that cost him pole for the main event, he was incisive at the start to seize the lead.
While he at times looked vulnerable on mediums against Norris's hards in the race, the pace he produced late on showed he always had his team-mate covered and the tyres under control.
Verdict: In command, but didn't maximise qualifying and the sprint.
Started: 4th Finished: 4th
Verstappen's performance in the sprint element of the weekend was phenomenal, splitting the McLarens in qualifying then passing Piastri on the first lap. From there, he didn't put a foot wrong to win in the second best car.
However, he couldn't replicate that in the main event. With the caveat that the decision to run a higher wing level for rain made life more difficult for him, you would have expected him to have beaten Leclerc across qualifying and the race so he uncharacteristically left a little on the table. Had the race got going earlier, it could have been very different.
Verdict: Sprint brilliance elevates him.
Started: 5th Finished: 6th
Albon's performance in the sprint part of the weekend must be disregarded owing to an ERS deployment problem that left him down on power in FP1 and qualifying, which meant he was among numerous drivers who made no progress in the sprint race.
But he excelled in the main event, qualifying fifth after flirting with Q2 elimination then, aside from losing a place to the faster Mercedes of George Russell, not putting a foot wrong on his way to sixth.
To do that, he also needed to keep Lewis Hamilton at bay despite running a high downforce level.
Verdict: Got the most out of the Williams in the main event.
Started: 13th Finished: 10th
Gasly continues to wring everything he can out of the Alpine, overachieving to qualify eighth for the sprint before a water leak denied him the chance to start from the grid. After joining two laps down, the sprint was effectively a tyre evaluation exercise.
He continued to run trimmed out in qualifying for the main event, and while he couldn't haul the car into Q3 he called for the early pitstop that moved him up to 11th.
After holding everyone up for the rest of the race, that became 10th thanks to Hulkenberg's second pitstop.
Verdict: Single-handedly giving Alpine respectability.
Started: 6th Finished: 5th
Given the Mercedes was firmly the fourth-best car at Spa, and Antonelli’s struggles with the car’s instability, Russell's unobtrusive weekend was a good one.
Although the sprint was rendered pointless by his team-mate's off, which led to Russell picking up costly floor damage - or "gravel rash", as the team put it - Russell did what he could in the main event.
Aside from the fact he should have beaten Albon in qualifying, something he put right with a pass on the Kemmel Straight on the second racing lap, he couldn't have done more.
Verdict: A quietly accomplished weekend.
Started: 1st Finished: 2nd
It's to Norris's credit that he chipped away at Piastri's advantage as the weekend progressed, following up his solid but unspectacular run to third in the sprint with pole position. While his Q3 performance was far from perfect, failing to improve on his last run, it was a good turnaround even if it always seemed Piastri's underlying single-lap pace was a little better.
With McLaren confirming both drivers had battery anomalies when the race went green, Norris losing the lead was partly down to him not nailing the rolling start and dropping Piastri.
The hard tyre gamble was a good one and he showed good pace on the unfancied race tyre, but ultimately there was never a chance to turn the tables even if he hadn't lost a few seconds to some minor mistakes.
Verdict: Quick, but second-best at McLaren.
Started: 8th Finished: 20th
While Hadjar was the stronger of the Racing Bulls drivers in qualifying it was by a narrow margin, and he felt there was more he could have done to maximise the single-lap pace.
Having converted ninth on the grid to eighth in the sprint (after Gasly's pitlane start), the main event started similarly as he held eighth place ahead of Lawson. However, a combination of stopping late and, more significantly, a power unit problem meant he lacked pace, made a second stop, and faded to last.
Verdict: Race bad luck spoiled a good weekend.
Started: 9th Finished: 8th
While he was the second-best Racing bulls driver in terms of performance, it was by the tiniest of margins.
A small error at the chicane in SQ2 effectively cost Lawson the chance of points in the processional sprint, but he put that right with a good qualifying performance and a rock-solid race drive to eighth - not having the pace to threaten Hamilton ahead but keeping Bortoleto well-covered behind.
Verdict: Good but fractionally off Hadjar.
Started: 11th Finished: 15th
Aced the sprint element of the weekend by qualifying and finishing fifth and thriving with the low-downforce package.
While Ocon couldn't get the most out of it in qualifying proper, ending up 11th, he was initially on target for points but letting Bearman past before the stops contributed to him pitting too late and dropping to the back. Combined with taking used mediums, rather than fresh ones, that meant his points hopes had evaporated by one-third distance.
Verdict: Mighty in the sprint, unfortunate in the main event.
Started: 12th Finished: 11th
Although he didn't match Ocon in sprint qualifying, ending up two places and three tenths behind his team-mate after losing time later in the lap, Bearman converted that into a good seventh place in the sprint race.
He had good pace when it came to the main event despite running with more downforce in anticipation of rain, missing out on a Q2 place thanks to time lost early on due to tyre prep being compromised by traffic.
He was destined for a point at least in the race, but for a loss of power after his pitstops that dropped him behind Gasly, Tsunoda and Alonso. That meant a fourth consecutive 11th place.
Verdict: Merited a top-10 in the grand prix.
Started: 17th (pits) Finished: 18th
Had a strong sprint, banking his best finish for Williams with sixth place, but was baffled by his pace struggles in Q2. He later referred to some discoveries on the car that needed rectifying, which led to a pitlane start and a switch to a higher-downforce configuration to tackle the wet conditions.
Sainz couldn't make much progress from there, opting to gamble on a second pitstop for hards to be in a position to take advantage if the mediums fell away - but that didn't pay off.
Verdict: Sprint showed what he was capable of.
Started: 20th (pits) Finished: 17th
The Aston Martin's poor efficiency made it impossible to get a good balance between straightline speed and corner grip, although Alonso could still have got into SQ3 but for time lost at Malmedy and the chicane on his final Q2 lap.
However, come qualifying proper there was no hope and even if he had produced a perfect lap, it wouldn't have been worth much.
Although he briefly got himself up to 13th by being one of the first to pit for slicks, there was never a path to points and a second stop ensured he finished well down the order.
Verdict: Did a good but not perfect job in a hopeless cause.
Started: 7th Finished: 13th
After a difficult run in the sprint sessions, Tsunoda was given the latest-spec floor for qualifying proper and produced his best qualifying performance for Red Bull.
The deficit to Verstappen was a very respectable 0.381s, especially considering he lacked the new front wing that meant he was still giving away just over a tenth to car spec.
He held seventh in the first stint, but Red Bull's attempt to double-stack him and Verstappen never happened thanks to Tsunoda being called in too late to dive for the pit entry. That dropped him to 12th and, after spending an eternity stuck behind Gasly's slippery Alpine, he was picked off by Bearman then Hulkenberg late on.
Verdict: Tangible improvement went unrewarded.
Started: 18th (pits) Finished: 7th
Hamilton's pace was better than being eliminated in the first stage of qualifying both on Friday and Saturday suggested.
What was lacking was the execution, as he was caught out by the rears locking in SQ1 thanks to experiencing modified braking material (which Ferrari explicitly dubbed "a mistake"), then a track limits violation in Q1. He also continued to struggle with the rear end, and didn't appear as confident as Leclerc in the upgraded car.
Having made modest progress in the sprint, gaining three places, he made gains on track early in the grand prix before becoming the first to pit from 13th place after being called in after some back-and-forth during which he said he was willing to try slicks if the team wanted. He shook out in seventh, but spent the rest of the race stuck behind Albon.
Verdict: Qualifying blunders ruin his ranking.
Started: 16th Finished: 14th
Like team-mate Alonso, there wasn't much to play for in Aston Martin machinery at Spa.
While Stroll was a little slower than Alonso in terms of outright pace, he drove two solid races to finish ahead of his team-mate on both occasions.
In the sprint, that was thanks to getting ahead at La Source - then keeping Alonso at bay into Les Combes - while in the main event, in which he kept the lower-downforce trim, it was thanks to Alonso making a second stop, albeit while running only just ahead of Stroll.
Verdict: Solid enough in the weakest car.
Started: 14th Finished: 12th
After his Silverstone heroics, Hulkenberg fell back down to earth at Spa as he struggled to match team-mate Bortoleto both for pace and tyre management.
Although he got himself into the position to score a point in the grand prix with an early stop for slicks that he once again called, he didn't feel the mediums would last so made a second stop. Although he climbed back to 12th and was within a second of Gasly by the end, he couldn't quite recover the lost ground.
Verdict: A so-so weekend.
Started: 15th Finished: 19th
Given Gasly's strong form, Colapinto's pace was respectable as he continues to play catch up after his in-season arrival. He was four tenths off Gasly on Friday, then 0.222s off on Saturday, but on both occasions that meant he was eliminated in the first segment of qualifying.
The sprint was a glorified test session given he started from the pitlane after a rear wing change, the only driver to try softs, while in the main event he went well on intermediates but he struggled more once on slicks and ended up making a second stop, resulting in a lowly finish.
Considering he's still battling to make up for missing the first quarter of the season and being benchmarked against a flying Gasly, there are signs of progress.
Verdict: Never a threat for points.
Started: 19th (pits) Finished: 16th
Antonelli was brutally frank about his struggles at Spa, admitting to struggling for confidence and taking "a backwards step" as a result.
He cited his spin at Stavelot on the first flying lap of sprint qualifying, which meant the first half of the weekend was a write-off, as an example of why he's not at ease with the car when pushing.
He was at least one of the few drivers to make an overtake in the sprint, passing Hulkenberg on the Kemmel Straight to take 17th, but any hope of an upturn for the main event was shattered as he struggled with instability and fell in Q1. A pitlane start followed, leading to a quiet but tidy race during which he struggled to pass thanks to switching to a higher-downforce set-up.
Verdict: Lost and low on confidence.
