Two particularly-timed mid-race interruptions - in addition to the C6 being non-viable as a race tyre - meant the finishing order in the Imola Grand Prix was hardly representative of which drivers actually put together the best weekends.
So while one stellar Formula 1 weekend was rewarded with a win, some others fell apart by strategy and circumstance.
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: 2nd Finished: 1st
After one of Red Bull’s trademark recoveries from a tricky Friday, Verstappen came close to denying McLaren pole position, then grabbed the lead with an incisive attack around the outside of Piastri into Tamburello.
Once on top, his pace was strong and, aided by Piastri’s early stop and the VSC timing, that translated into a huge lead. However, he was also fastest in race conditions, as he underlined by pulling away after a superbly-executed final restart.
Verdict: Tamburello pass allowed him to dominate.
Started: 6th Finished: 8th
Sainz justifiably felt hard done by both in qualifying and the race.
Traffic problems in Q3 meant he didn’t even match a pacesetting Q2 lap he described as his best yet in a Williams. The race started well, holding sixth, but he was frustrated at Williams calling him into the pits early.
That plus the VSC timing forced him onto a recovery drive, taking eighth. But he knew it should have been better given he was the stronger Williams driver.
Verdict: Appeared very much on top of the car.
Started: 5th Finished: 11th
On his way to a third 11th place of the year, Alonso lamented he was “the unluckiest driver in the world”.
He had a point given he ran fifth early on, having qualified superbly using the medium Pirellis, although the pace - and tyre treatment - of the Aston Martins meant he was always likely to slip back, albeit still able to score points with a normal race.
Verdict: Fast but unfortunate.
Started: 1st Finished: 3rd
Piastri had good reason to rue misjudging the threat of Verstappen when he braked for the Tambruello chicane on the opening lap, although at the time would have expected to come back at the Red Bull.
But the pace wasn’t there and the early pitstop after reacting to others stopping and the tyres temporarily dropping off meant time lost in traffic. That allowed Norris to jump him, and although Piastri retook the position by gambling on staying out under the later safety car, he was always likely to be a sitting duck.
Verdict: Fast but outraced by Verstappen.
Started: 11th Finished: 6th
Sixth after letting Albon past to insulate against the risk of a penalty that would have cost multiple positions, Leclerc was the stronger Ferrari driver - albeit not by a huge margin.
He was 0.161s quicker in qualifying as both Ferraris struggled to get fresh C6s working, then suffered double misfortune in the race with both safety cars, on the second occasion because after eventually persuading Ferrari to let him pit for softs he rejected the stop as he didn’t want to be stacked behind Hamilton.
Verdict: Unfortunate in the race.
Started: 19th Finished: 17th
On paper, this was a terrible weekend. In reality, it was a strong one in terms of his personal performance.
He was eliminated in Q1 only because the red flag was called seconds before he crossed the line to complete a lap that put him comfortably into Q2. A strong first stint after starting on hards, with strong pace once clear of traffic, allowed him to benefit from the timing of the VSC, re-emerging 10th and ahead of Russell. However, the right-front wheel wasn’t properly attached, forcing him to pit again immediately and drop to the back.
Verdict: Had the pace for points, but not the luck.
Started: 3rd Finished: 7th
Qualified strongly, and he could perhaps have done even better but for the start of his lap being compromised by having to let traffic through, meaning he was in first gear as he launched the lap off Rivazza 2.
Tyre troubles in the race, combined with the bad timing of the first safety car, made for a tough Sunday afternoon as he battled to seventh while struggling with what he felt was a car problem at the rear that meant “even in a straight line, the car was moving around”.
Verdict: Race slide down to car, not driver.
Started: 4th Finished: 2nd
As has become the pattern, Norris struggled with the car come the business end of Q3 and “made a lot of mistakes”.
His race performance was stronger, passing George Russell in the first stint and staying out as others, including Piastri, stopped. His first pitstop was ill-timed, coming a lap before the VSC hit, but he held second through that phase, only to drop behind Piastri when he stopped under the safety car proper. With a tyre advantage, passing Piastri proved straightforward and he reclaimed second - but didn’t have the pace to threaten Verstappen.
Verdict: Qualifying struggles continue to limit him.
Started: 7th Finished: 5th
Albon wasn’t quite as comfortable with the Williams as Sainz appeared to be and he was perhaps slightly flattered by qualifying so close to him. But he executed the race well, with the VSC timed to perfection for him and briefly helping him to run third.
His race pace was excellent, although he was by his own admission a little rash in the way he tried to pass Leclerc, leading him to go off and drop behind Hamilton.
Fifth was a good result, but he could have been fourth and, given Piastri's struggles, maybe had an outside shot of grabbing third.
Verdict: A fraction off Sainz despite result.
Started: 12th Finished: 4th
Hamilton’s best grand prix result yet for Ferrari owed a little to luck with the timing of the safety cars, but also a well-executed race drive - particularly once he’d got past the Mercedes of Antonelli, who had overtaken him into Tamburello on the first lap, following the VSC.
The first safety car helped him, as did the second as he took a cheap stop for fresh hards, allowing him to climb from seventh to fourth with the assistance of Albon’s off and Leclerc’s lack of fresh tyres.
Verdict: A good weekend, but he was not as quick as Leclerc.
Started: 9th Finished: 9th
Hadjar led the line for Racing Bulls well, avoiding Lawson’s Q1 fate despite the same red flag inconvenience - and then making Q3. He was then so furious with taking too much kerb at Tamburello on his final lap and running wide that he was still hitting the steering wheel by the time he got to Piratella.
He could have qualified higher, but it was still a good showing and he drove a strong race after an iffy first lap, at one stage climbing to fifth thanks to hitting the ideal VSC timing, but finishing roughly where a Racing Bulls car could.
Verdict: Qualifying error is a negative.
Started: 8th Finished: 15th
Stroll ran the Aston Martin upgrades on Friday before they were rolled out on Alonso’s car on Saturday, and showed decent pace - qualifying a tenth and a half behind Alonso, then following him round in the race with a similar kind of deficit. Unfortunately, like Alonso, that also meant he was denied a points shot by the timing of the VSC.
Verdict: Second-best Aston Martin, but not far behind Alonso.
Started: 14th Finished: 18th
Despite an off in FP1, Bortoleto had a decent run through practice and qualifying - reaching Q2, albeit assisted by the timing of the red flag. That was a good effort in the Sauber, and he had a strong early part of the race, too - jumping into the top 10 when Gasly had his trip through the gravel.
Unfortunately, Sauber brought him in for his pitstop a couple of laps too early, which combined with the VSC timing sent him on a path to last.
Verdict: As he put it, “wrong place at the wrong time” in the race.
Started: 17th Finished: 12th
Had a good turn of speed in qualifying and looked set for a Q2 place, only for a wide moment at Rivazza to cost him in a scrappy end to the lap. He ran long and pitted under the VSC, which promoted him into the points with a decent chance of staying there until safety car appeared and made that difficult.
In the end, both Tsunoda and Alonso got ahead in the final phase of the race.
Verdict: Gained and lost from the SC deployments.
Started: 13th Finished: DNF
His first grand prix outing on home soil wasn’t an easy one, struggling with the tyres in qualifying and failing to make Q3 in a car that Russell qualified third.
However, his race performance was stronger, holding off Hamilton for more than half of the race and holding sixth after benefitting from the VSC timing, before falling behind as the throttle problems that would eliminate him set in.
Verdict: A difficult weekend, but a dogged race drive.
Started: 10th Finished: 13th
This was a frustrating weekend for Gasly, who was genuinely quick in the Alpine.
He was undone in Q3 by being stuck in the congestion at the back of the queue, compromising tyre prep.
His race started well, holding ninth place, but after a brush of wheels with Leclerc at Tosa he then tried to hang on around the outside of Piratella, leading to a trip through the gravel, costing him five places. While he was also unfortunate with the VSC, that mistake cost him.
Verdict: Fast but didn’t make the most of the car.
Started: 16th Finished: 16th
Played his way in sensibly, which he felt played a part in his Q1 crash after running wide in the Tamburello chicane given it was the first time he pushed to the limit, having deliberately been under it up to that point.
Inevitably, he didn’t match Gasly’s pace but that was never a realistic target for his first weekend for Alpine - although he didn’t help his cause by picking up a one-place penalty for entering the pitlane earlier than permitted, having misread Alpine’s signal.
His race chances were compromised by being passed by Hulkenberg on the opening lap and the timing of the VSC.
Verdict: Shunt undermined a solid bedding-in weekend.
Started: 20th (pitlane) Finished: 10th
Tsunoda’s weekend was defined by what he called the “stupid” and “unacceptable” crash at the second chicane in Q1. That this was on his first run - the consequence of monstering the kerb and the floor hitting the ground, firing him into the wall - smacked of over-confidence at a track he knows well.
Starting from the pits with a car built around the spare chassis, with some older components, he ran long, pitted under the VSC and that got him into points contention.
Verdict: Qualifying crash torpedoes ranking.
Started: 15th Finished: 14th
Yes, the red flags badly affected Lawson in Q1 and the fact he hit the red flag exiting Tosa on his final run push lap contributed to his exit. However, it’s important to note team-mate Hadjar had the same trouble, the difference being Hadjar's banker lap after the first red flag was quick enough to advance.
Made little impression in the race, not helped by the timing of the VSC.
Verdict: As he put it, “a difficult weekend”.
Started: 18th Finished: DNF
Struggled all weekend and referenced an unspecified car problem he blamed for his lack of pace in qualifying in particular.
The race was coming to him after stopping for hards at the end of lap one and he could well have run in the points once the pitstops played out, only for a power unit problem to force him out.
Verdict: Supposed problem (not the race-ending one) makes ranking difficult.
