F1 Spanish GP - Driver Ratings

Looking back on a busy Spanish Grand Prix weekend, Crash.net brings you its full Formula 1 driver ratings as we see our first perfect 10 of the season.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - 10

It's our first perfect 10 score of the season, and richly deserved for Lewis Hamilton. His qualifying prowess shone through as he blasted to pole on Saturday before then delivering a crushing performance in the race, running in a league of his own to eventually finish more than 20 seconds clear at the chequered flag. A faultless weekend for Hamilton. 

Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes - 7

It was an impressive weekend from Valtteri Bottas as he picked up his third P2 finish of the season. Just 0.04 seconds separated him from Hamilton in qualifying, only for him to slip behind Sebastian Vettel off the line. He was lurking to retake second before being handed it by Vettel after Ferrari moved onto a two-stop strategy. The 20-second gap to Hamilton was slightly damning, though.

Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari - 7

A decent enough weekend for Vettel that saw him battle tyre struggles throughout, seemingly as a result of the harder selection from Pirelli and the reduction of the tyre tread by 0.4 mm. He was looking set to fight closely with Bottas for second before asking to come in for a second stop, struggling with his rear tyres. Even with a fresh set of boots, he couldn't recover P3 from Max Verstappen, leaving him a disappointed fourth at the line.

Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari - 6

Raikkonen wasn't a million miles away from Vettel once again in Barcelona, qualifying fourth and running P4 behind his teammate and Bottas through the opening stint. Engine issues blighted the Finn in both FP2 and the race, eventually forcing him to retire and costing Ferrari some decent points. He may have lacked Vettel's edge, but Raikkonen wasn't a world away.

Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull - 6

This was an odd race for Red Bull, as it went from possible contender for victory to third-fastest team pretty quickly. Daniel Ricciardo struggled to match teammate Max Verstappen through qualifying and was edging back in the race, before a spin at slow speed under the Virtual Safety Car caused him to drop far back to a lonely fifth.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull - 7

Verstappen needed this result in Spain. Struggles across the course of the opening four races meant he arrived without a podium to his name, although he was somewhat fortunate to end this drought. He lacked the pace of Vettel or Raikkonen, yet was able to trail home the Mercedes drivers, albeit not without running into the back of Lance Stroll's Williams at the end of the VSC, damaging his front wing in the process.

Sergio Perez, Force India - 7

Force India's impressive Baku form seemed to be a flash-in-the-pan as they struggled to fight at the very front of the midfield in Barcelona. Perez qualified a lowly 15th, yet was able to make a two-stop strategy work well to put himself on fresh tyres in the closing stages, allowing him to pass Charles Leclerc and grab two points for ninth.

Esteban Ocon, Force India - 5

A weekend of 'what could have been' for Esteban Ocon. Like Perez, he also dropped out in Q2, but made a good start to run as high as seventh at one stage before an engine failure forced him to retire from the race. A decent opportunity that went begging.

Lance Stroll, Williams - 6

Stroll had another race where he was struggling to do much with the tools at his disposal, having been knocked out in Q1 on Saturday. He dodged the chaos at the start to move up to 12th, where he remained through the first stint, but he was powerless to do much catching of the cars running further up the order, meaning he was 11th at the flag. 

Sergey Sirotkin, Williams - 5

Like Stroll, Sergey Sirotkin had a tough time of it in Barcelona as Williams' early-season woes continued. But his plight was deepened by an issue with his seat that left him in a "painful" position. He was the last classified finisher in 14th, and spent an hour after the race having a new seat fitting completed for Monaco in two weeks.

Nico Hulkenberg, Renault - 6

Hulkenberg's race weekend was largely kiboshed by issues outside of his control that ultimately resigned him to a second straight DNF. A gearbox issue in qualifying meant Hulkenberg got just one run, dropping out in Q1 as a result, and he was then tagged by the spinning Romain Grosjean in the Turn 3 crash. Hard luck more than anything.

Carlos Sainz Jr., Renault - 7

Carlos Sainz Jr. was the top home driver in Spain, finishing a position ahead of his childhood hero, Fernando Alonso. Sainz outqualified teammate Hulkenberg for the first time this season before enjoying a decent race, the flashpoint being an intense wheel-to-wheel fight with the off-strategy Marcus Ericsson. A decent enough job from Sainz in Spain.

Pierre Gasly, Toro Rosso - 6

Pierre Gasly looked to stand a decent chance of adding to his points haul from Bahrain after qualifying an impressive 12th, only for his hopes to dissipate at Turn 3 when he ran into Grosjean's wrecked Haas, forcing him to retire. A tough break for Gasly, who was once again head and shoulders the better of the two Toro Rosso drivers.

Brendon Hartley, Toro Rosso - 3

Is the pressure starting to build on Brendon Hartley at Toro Rosso? His weekend was ruined by a big crash at Turn 9 towards the end of FP3, forcing him to miss qualifying and leaving him in need of a brand new power unit, putting him at the limit of his season allocation after just five races. His race itself was pretty uneventful, rising up the order as cars ahead dropped out, leaving him 12th overall at the finish.

Romain Grosjean, Haas - 5

Romain Grosjean has now made his worst ever start to a full F1 season, standing as one of only two drivers yet to score a point in 2018 (the other being Sirotkin). Grosjean qualified well, but the one-tenth gap to teammate Kevin Magnussen cost him three spots on the grid. He made a decent getaway before losing control at Turn 3, spearing into the oncoming pack. Despite saying he couldn't do anything different, Grosjean nevertheless picked up a three-place grid penalty for Monaco for the incident.

Kevin Magnussen, Haas - 9

Kevin Magnussen said after the race he felt he was in the best form of his F1 career, and it's hard to contest that claim. He was in a league of his own in the midfield fight, seamlessly running to sixth and maximising his possible points. He really didn't put a foot wrong all weekend.

Fernando Alonso, McLaren - 8

It might be a bit of a running joke (or 'yoke') about Fernando Alonso producing amazing drives this year, but his display in Spain was pretty impressive. A messy first lap saw him fall out of the top 10 after reaching Q3 for the first time this season, but he was able to fight his way back up before eventually passing Charles Leclerc at the VSC restart, making his experience tell to grab eighth.

Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren - 6

Another weekend where Vandoorne failed to have the same kind of edge as Alonso in their intra-team fight, qualifying 11th before dropping back at the start. A penalty for not staying to the left of the bollard at Turn 2 was a further setback before his race was brought to an end by a suspected gearbox issue while running 13th.

Marcus Ericsson, Sauber - 6

There was a point in Spain where Marcus Ericsson looked to be in contention for more points with a similar strategy to the one which worked so well in Bahrain, making a long first stint work to rise up into the points. His defence against Carlos Sainz Jr. was mightily impressive, but he faded through the second half of the race to ultimately finish a lowly P13.

Charles Leclerc, Sauber - 8

Something has really clicked for Charles Leclerc since China. Following his stunning charge to sixth in Baku, the Sauber driver reached Q2 once again before making a super start, picking through the madness ahead to sit ninth. He held onto the place valiantly ahead of the lurking Alonso, only losing out in the second stint under the VSC on restart. Perez got through late on thanks to his fresh set of tyres, but it didn't stop Leclerc from recording Sauber's first back-to-back scores since Sochi and Austin in 2015.