Formula 1 returned from its summer break with a bang at the Dutch Grand Prix - though some drivers looked a little more race-sharp than others after four weeks off.
Here's how Edd Straw assessed the field at Zandvoort:
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: 4th Finished: 3rd
Hadjar was on course for top spot in this ranking even before he picked up his first podium when Landon Norris retired.
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That's because he nailed a brilliant qualifying lap in tricky conditions, something his overjoyed reaction after crossing the line at the end of Q3 underscored, then didn't put a foot wrong in the race. Holding onto fourth despite attacks from both George Russell and Charles Leclerc in quicker cars was exceptional, particularly before the Mercedes and Ferrari drivers hit trouble (and each other).
Yes, the car was good - "on rails", as he put it - but Hadjar also did his part to take a well-deserved first podium finish in F1.
Verdict: Impossible to do any more.
Started: 1st Finished: 1st
As Piastri put it after his victory, "it was looking like a difficult Zandvoort again" based on practice having struggled relative to Norris, just as he did last year.
But having had a small but potentially decisive pace disadvantage initially, he chipped away and was still making tweaks to his approach during qualifying. Quicker by the narrowest of margins on both Q3 runs, including the crucial first one on which Hadjar gave him a slight tow, that earned him the pole position that set up a vital victory.
He had to weather three safety-car restarts to hold onto that lead, acing the first in particular, to lead from start to finish. Not for the first time this year, he emerged from a weekend that was difficult at times to win.
Verdict: As Andrea Stella said, "a very Oscar-like weekend".
Started: 3rd Finished: 2nd
This was back to the template weekend for Verstappen and Red Bull (FP1 off, after his practice start thanks to an incorrect brake bias setting, aside) with a difficult Friday to the point where he suggested it might be difficult even to make the top five of the grid.
But after "struggling for grip and balance" even in FP3, things came together in qualifying and he was much happier with the car, putting it third behind the untouchable McLarens.
He did everything he could to be a nuisance in the race, getting ahead of Norris on the first lap after starting on softs, controlling a sideways moment through Turn 2 brilliantly, but was powerless to hold on to the position. Safety cars let him threaten at restarts, but realistically being the best non-McLaren was as good as a win given they were, in his words, "in a different league".
Verdict: Bounced back after Hungaroring troubles.
Started: 2nd Finished: DNF
Norris hit the ground running on Friday and appeared to have the legs of Piastri, albeit only by a slender margin, heading into qualifying. But come Q3, he lost out by 0.012s.
While Norris might have been on pole but for Piastri getting a slight tow from Hadjar on the run to the line, it has to go down as an opportunity missed as there was a little time left on the table.
He drove a good race, despite losing ground to Piastri early on while stuck behind Verstappen before dispatching him efficiently with a good move around the outside of Turn 1, but despite threatening pace there was no sign of him seriously challenging Piastri before he ground to a halt with what The Race understands was a minor part failure that caused an oil leak and ultimately caused his engine to shut down.
Verdict: A narrow defeat even before retirement.
Started: 6th Finished: DNF
Leclerc found the inconsistency of the car through practice and qualifying frustrating, but admitted that "I didn't do a good job in qualifying, especially in Q3 I didn't put my lap together". That said, it wasn’t a bad qualifying performance and it's possible he could have finished on the podium having run fifth in the first stint but for two slices of misfortune.
The first was pitting just before Hamilton crashed and led to the deployment of the safety car, nullifying his undercut and dropping him to sixth behind Russell (which Leclerc rectified by ambushing Russell and muscling his way past).
He couldn't get ahead of Hadjar, but was brought into the pits for a second time in response to Kimi Antonelli behind stopping. After Leclerc emerged ahead, Antonelli's rash move into Turn 3 led to the contact that put the innocent Leclerc into the wall.
Verdict: Unlucky, but drove decently in tricky Ferrari.
Started: 5th Finished: 4th
With the Mercedes generally struggling a little for grip, and proving a little too wind-sensitive, Russell couldn't get the most out of it in qualifying. That was thanks to slides on both of his Q3 laps that caused tyre trouble, but even so he still put the Mercedes in the ballpark of where it should be with a third-row start.
He chased Leclerc in the first stint, moving ahead of him thanks to the timing of the first safety car after the Ferrari had pitted. His race turned into one of damage limitation after contact with Leclerc when he later lost a position to the Ferrari, an opportunity that arose after Russell struggled with cold rears at the VSC restart.
Finishing fourth, aided by the Leclerc/Antonelli collision, was a bonus in the circumstances.
Verdict: Good considering the car wasn't at its best.
Started: 18th Finished: 10th
Ocon looked to be struggling to match team-mate Ollie Bearman's peak pace, but ultimately he did a better job on the final Q1 runs and outpaced his team-mate by 0.065s. He wasn't happy with qualifying either, feeling that making Q2 was possible with a better start to the lap.
Like his team-mate, he started on hards and ran long in the hope of something intervening to help him get into points contention, and like his team-mate, he executed his drive well. However, unlike Bearman, he stopped just before the late safety car, which meant that he wasn't helped by it to the same extent. But his strategy allowed him to nab a point thanks to Antonelli's penalty, with the two Haas drivers working together well along the way.
Verdict: Was marginally the more rounded Haas driver.
Started: 20th (pits) Finished: 6th
Bearman's response over the radio after setting the slowest laptime in Q1 said it all: "Oh my god, that was awful."
He showed plenty of flashes of the speed needed to get into Q2, but Haas struggled to maximise the peak of the grip of the fresh softs consistently and Bearman was frustrated by "a very different feeling" on his crucial final Q1 run, meaning he was shuffled back to 19th, slowest of those who set a time. That lap started to go wrong with a lock-up into Turn 1, and although he improved it wasn't by enough.
Starting from the pits, doing something different strategically was the only option and he ran ultra-long, then fluked a safety car that allowed him to finish sixth. However, for that slice of good fortune to come his way also required a well-executed race drive, holding position when he needed to, making passes when necessary and managing the long stint on hards well.
Verdict: Another erratic weekend.
Started: 15th Finished: 5th
Albon seemed destined to be in Q3 along with team-mate Carlos Sainz, but losing tyre temperature thanks to the pitlane queue and getting caught out by cars completing slower outlaps meant he had no grip by the time he got to Turn 1 on his final Q2 lap. While the driver has an influence on tyre warm-up, it was clear there was little he could have done to avoid that. That meant elimination.
However, Bortoleto’s dire start gifted him a place immediately, going round Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda into Turn 1 then Fernando Alonso and Antonelli through Turn 2 into Turn 3. That meant he latched onto the back of Sainz immediately in 10th place.
He gained places to Hamilton's crash, then his team-mate and Liam Lawson colliding, with the Leclerc/Antonelli collision letting him pick up two more places.
Verdict: Recovered well from qualifying troubles.
Started: 9th Finished: 13th
It seemed Sainz had got the second half of the season off to the perfect start, putting the Williams roughly where it could be in qualifying and then holding ninth in the first stint. He pitted under the first safety car having gained a place to Hamilton's crash, but his attempt to pass Lawson ultimately ruined his race.
While the stewards held Sainz accountable on account of the racing guidelines, he was right to be furious with the penalty. However, you can also argue that given he was dealing with Lawson there was an element of risk in his move that means he has to take some responsibility.
Either way, it cost what would have been a good result.
Verdict: Strong but risk assessment could be improved.
Started: 14th Finished: 17th
Setting the eight-fastest time in Q1 flattered the Alpine, although Gasly didn't take quite as big a pace step in Q2 as he should have. Had he done so, he would at least have picked up a couple of places.
He temporarily fell behind team-mate Franco Colapinto in the first stint after a small moment in the penultimate corner that led to a Turn 1 overtake, and later pitted under the first safety car, but was left out on hards under the second and third safety cars as a gamble.
That didn't pay off; although it left him 10th for the final restart, he had no chance of holding on and slipping to the back was the consequence of the lack of tyre grip rather than anything he did wrong.
Verdict: Better than it looked in a limited Alpine.
Started: 16th Finished: 11th
Colapinto looked set to join Gasly in Q2, but just missed out by six hundredths having lost time to traffic. That meant the two-tenth deficit to his team-mate in Q1 was exaggerated.
After starting on softs, he ran 15th, which became 14th when Gasly had a moment in the penultimate corner and allowed Colapinto to attack into Turn 1. That became 15th again later in the stint when Alpine ordered Gasly, then on quicker mediums, past again. Stopping before the first safety car cost him, although he at least avoided losses at the second safety car.
He was 14th when the final safety car was deployed, meaning a gamble on a switch to softs for the four-lap sprint to the flag in which he climbed to 11th and came within a few tenths of passing Ocon for the final point - and might well have done so but for the Haas driver getting some temporary breathing space when Colapinto was briefly stuck behind Gasly before they got to the pre-arranged position-swap at Turn 1.
Verdict: Strongest weekend of 2025 yet.
Started: 10th Finished: 8th
Friday was enormously promising for Aston Martin, and although there was perhaps a hint of overachievement Alonso had the pace to be at least a row further up the grid but for struggling a little with the gusty conditions in Q3.
Although he held 10th at the start, he was jumped by Albon and Antonelli into Turn 3, then Tsunoda at the exit to run 13th. Those losses were in his hands, less so the disadvantage of stopping before the safety car thanks to the plan to make the most of having two sets of hards.
A second stop allowed him to attack rather than being bogged down in traffic, coming home eighth.
Verdict: Qualifying and lap one cost him even before safety cars did.
Started: 19th Finished: 7th
Stroll's pace in FP1 and FP2 indicated he had the speed to be up there with Alonso in the top 10. However, the promise of the weekend turned to dust in qualifying as Stroll followed up his heavy FP2 crash by spinning and hitting the barrier at Turn 13 after dropping a wheel onto the grass at the entry. Although he made it back to the pits, the damage was too significant to continue.
That careless mistake meant he started at the back, but an early pitstop with a view to a two-stopper - making the most of having two hards available - made for a powerful undercut, albeit one that was mitigated by the timing of the safety car. That left him 10th for the restart, and among the group who stopped under the second safety car.
From there, he would have finished seventh, but the final safety car allowed Bearman to stay ahead of him.
Verdict: Well-executed race drive, but two crashes count against him.
Started: 13th Finished: 15th
Bortoleto wasn't entirely happy with the car during practice and qualifying, describing it as "feeling a bit disconnected", but he still had the edge over Nico Hulkenberg on single-lap pace. It was perhaps possible with perfect execution to sneak into Q3, but realistically mid-Q2 looked to be about where the Sauber should be at Zandvoort.
A dire start, the result of an unspecified clutch issue that appeared to be outside of the control of the driver although wasn't definitively explained, put him on the back foot, and was compounded by an early scrape with Stroll that damaged a front wing endplate and pitting just before the first safety car.
There was realistically no way back into the points from there without a big slice of luck.
Verdict: Decent pace but unfortunate in race.
Started: 12th Finished: 9th
Tsunoda admitted he was expecting more from qualifying than a Q2 exit, given he felt confident and "was able to control the car more than at any other grand prix".
He looked on target to be around three tenths off Verstappen, which would have made him a Q3 marginal, but struggles in the Turn 9/10 vicinity and the chicane meant he ended up half a second down and knocked out in Q2.
He ran 11th early on, but his chances of progressing took a hit when he pitted shortly before the first safety car thanks to his softs ailing. Ultimately, safety-car timings conspired to cost him perhaps two places overall, resulting in ninth place after a well-executed final stint given the throttle problem that gave him no response up to 40%.
Verdict: More signs of progress, but not enough.
Started: 17th Finished: 14th
For reasons he couldn't entirely explain, Hulkenberg struggled compared to Bortoleto in Turn 3 and Turn 13, which was what made the difference between Q1 elimination and joining his team-mate in Q2.
Initially 17th before passing Ocon, he was one of the seven drivers to pit before the first safety car, and after that was always only a long shot to find his way into the points.
However, he came close to passing Ocon at the final restart before losing a place to the aggressive Colapinto at Turn 3, who did force him wide and just off track.
Verdict: Qualifying didn't match race pace.
Started: 8th Finished: 12th
Lawson picked up where he left off after his strong run of form before the August break, although Q3 didn't go as he would have hoped. In gusty conditions, he wasn't able to match Hadjar and that equated to a 0.422s deficit that didn't reflect Lawson's true pace.
He held a solid eighth in the first stint and was among the large group that pitted under the first safety car, taking the restart seventh after picking up a place thanks to Hamilton's crash.
While, as he pointed out, the stewards held Sainz responsible for the crash, it was needlessly belligerent and self-defeating to put himself at risk of that collision, which cost him a sure points finish given he was on a trajectory that could have put him as high as fifth, as being judged in the right by the racing guidelines when you didn't need to have the contact isn't worth much.
Verdict: Quick but self-defeating.
Started: 11th Finished: 16th
Got off to the worst possible start when he locked up and parked it in the Turn 9 gravel on his second flying lap in FP1. What's frustrating is that from there, Antonelli showed decent pace, as although he fell in Q2 the deficit of 0.180s was far closer than it was in the preceding run of races.
He then drove a well-executed race to climb to sixth and pressure Leclerc, having been let past by his damaged team-mate, only to throw it all away with a badly misjudged lunge on Leclerc at Turn 3.
Without the late safety car, he could have salvaged points, but instead the combined total of 15s of penalties for the collision and speeding in the pits consigned him to 16th.
Verdict: Encouraging but plummets owing to rash move on Leclerc.
Started: 7th Finished: DNF
Hamilton appeared refreshed after the break and qualified just half a tenth off Leclerc, talking of a change in his approach.
His pace was good in the race, holding seventh place in the first stint but having to go a lap longer when the rain came. That led to his wide moment at Turn 3, with the rear stepping out on the damp and putting him into the wall. That was a bitter blow given Hamilton felt "we made real progress this weekend".
To make matters worse, an inattentive moment when returning to the pits while on a reconnaissance lap meant he didn't back off sufficiently. That earned him a five-place grid penalty for Monza.
Verdict: Shunt sinks his ranking.
