Japanese GP driver ratings: Aston Martin should take note of this midfield star

Max Verstappen - 9.5

It was another Suzuka masterclass from the reigning world champion. A perfect 10 rating escapes Verstappen due to a relatively small margin over Perez in qualifying. Harsh, perhaps, but let's save our best score for mesmerising weekends. 

Sergio Perez - 8

After a nightmare weekend in Japan last year, Perez hit back with a strong display. To be around a tenth off Verstappen was impressive in qualifying, while he put together a strong race day performance to come away with second.

Carlos Sainz - 8.5

Sainz put together a fine weekend in Japan. He out-qualified teammate Leclerc again before converting that into a podium.

Charles Leclerc - 8

Leclerc will be left to rue another underwhelming qualifying performance, like in Australia. No faults with his race display though, converting a one-stop strategy into fourth ahead of Norris.

Lando Norris - 8.5

It’s hard to fault Norris’ performance in Japan given he extracted the maximum from the car in qualifying to secure third. McLaren seemed to be simply slower than Ferrari in the race, while their strategy was also questionable. 

Fernando Alonso - 9

Alonso was brilliant at Suzuka, and probably out-performed his machinery given he beat both Mercedes drivers and one McLaren. His margin over teammate Stroll was also mighty.

George Russell - 8

After a lacklustre qualifying, Russell appeared to have an edge on Hamilton in the race. He got past Piastri on the final lap to secure a decent result. 

Oscar Piastri - 7

An underwhelming weekend from Piastri overall. He lacked race pace as he was stuck behind Alonso before making a crucial mistake late on to allow Russell to get past. 

Lewis Hamilton - 7

Hamilton’s poor start to the 2024 F1 season continued with a P9 in Japan. It looked like he suggested to Mercedes to deploy team orders to get Russell ahead as well which was unusual. That sums up his mentality - and motivation currently. 

Yuki Tsunoda - 8.5

Tsunoda’s stock as a driver continues to rise as he put together a fine drive on home soil. Q3 appearance and points - he couldn’t have done much more. 

Lance Stroll - 5.5

A disappointing weekend from Stroll. It started with his Q1 knockout, and despite a good start after the red flag, but couldn’t convert into a top 10 finish.

Nico Hulkenberg - 6.5

A slow start after the red flag cost Hulkenberg a realistic chance of finishing tenth. He did well to recover from the back to secure 11th in the end.

Kevin Magnussen - 6.5

A step behind teammate Hulkenberg in raw pace terms, Magnussen fended Bottas off for much of the race.

Valtteri Bottas - 7

Bottas looked on course to be a strong contender for a points finish, running ahead of Tsunoda for the first half of the race. However, a slow pit stop - when four other midfield cars stopped - dropped him down the order.

Esteban Ocon - 7

Ocon was brilliant in qualifying, making it into Q2 again in the slowest car on the grid. Inevitably he fell backwards as Alpine struggled with race pace.

Pierre Gasly - 6

Gasly was out-classed by Ocon again in Japan, meaning he’s 4-0 down in the qualifying head-to-head. His teammate also had the edge in the race. 

Logan Sargeant - 5.5

A crash in FP1 put Sargeant on the back foot for the remainder of the weekend. While points were never on the table for Williams at Suzuka, to go off into the gravel trap in the race was another avoidable error.

Zhou Guanyu - 5

Zhou was off the pace of teammate Bottas before retiring due to a gearbox issue.

Alex Albon - 6.5

Albon’s race was ruined on the opening lap following a misjudgement from Ricciardo.

Daniel Ricciardo - 3

Another poor weekend from Ricciardo, who was entirely to blame for his Lap 1 contact with Albon.