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2021 Emilia Romagna GP - Drivers Ranked




LEWIS HAMILTON - MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS


QUALI: 1st

RACE: 2nd


B


Superb qualifying but a poor race by the x7 World Champions standards. He was passed and out-muscled by Max Verstappen into T1 on the opening lap (Not often you see Hamilton coming out worse in 1v1 combat). Lewis then did well to keep with Max until the 1st pitstops but after that he made a major error at T6 which destroyed any chance of winning. Hamilton was then incredibly lucky that a red flag came out to save him from being a lap down. Then multiple drivers spinning meant he had 6 cars to overtake in the second half of the race to get back to his previous position before the restart. Which he did showcasing that it 'is' possible to overtake at Imola. Lewis has miraculously left Imola still leading the championship.


VALTTERI BOTTAS - MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS


QUALI: 8th

RACE: DNF


F


A disastrous weekend for Bottas. Terrible qualifying, Terrible Race, Terrible all around. Half a second of his teammate in qualifying and zero pace in the race. His race performance reminded me of how he was at last seasons Turkish GP, but plus a bad qualifying performance. He looked like he had forgotten how to drive in the wet and was lapped by both Verstappen and Hamilton. His race came to an end after tangling with potential future replacement George Russell, which could soon become the reality instead of potential if Valtteri continues performing like this.





MAX VERSTAPPEN - RED BULL RACING


QUALI: 3rd

RACE: 1st


A+


A disappointing qualifying by Max's high standards. The first time he has been beaten by his teammate in Qualifying since Daniel Ricciardo in 2018 and even he admitted to making a critical mistake on his final lap. But he seriously made up for it in the race with a stunning opening lap and controlled the rest of the race bar a small half spin at the Safety Car restart. After that Safety Car restart, Verstappen stepped it up even more and destroyed the rest of the pack by 20 seconds at the end.


SERGIO PEREZ - RED BULL RACING


QUALI: 2nd

RACE: 11th


E+


Fantastic Qualifying, Terrible Race. Not many can say they have outqualified Max Verstappen, in the same team, and that's just what Sergio did. You would imagine he could've smelt victory before the race start, but unfortunately a poor opening lap and a spin under the safety car made his chances of winning incredibly unlikely. But Sergio was still in the points, that is until the final restart of the race where Perez dropped the car at T4 sinking the car into the gravel trap. This removed any chance of points and a big opportunity wasted for Red Bull to gain on Mercedes.





LANDO NORRIS - MCLAREN F1


QUALI: 7th

RACE: 3rd


A


Back to back super drives from Lando Norris. It really does seem like the 'jokey Lando' has been dropped by him and he is now here to win. He made a small error with big ramifications in qualifying by invalidating his lap sending him from a potential 3rd to 7th. But a classy drive with very little mistakes allowed him to be in the mix for the podium come the second half of the race and he was able to hold off the Ferrari's. Very mature drive.


DANIEL RICCIARDO - MCLAREN F1


QUALI: 6th

RACE: 6th


C


This drive confirmed to me that it may take at least 5 races for Daniel to get to grips with this car. He was told to let Lando past and was well off the pace compared to his teammate which both will be tough to take for him. But he got a solid 6th place and scored points once again. That's all he needs to do at the moment.





LANCE STROLL - ASTON MARTIN RACING


QUALI: 10th

RACE: 8th


B+


Lance is really impressing me at the moment. He was tipped to be destroyed by his teammate Sebastian Vettel, but currently, its the other way round. Without his avoidable 5 second penalty (team error lead to the penalty) he would've been 7th ahead of Gasly. If he keeps this up, it won't be long until he is the Team Leader at Aston Martin.


SEBASTAIN VETTEL - ASTON MARTIN RACING


QUALI: 13th

RACE: 15th (DNF)


D


The poor start to Vettel's Aston Martin career continues. In fairness, he is still settling in so I have to go easy on him. But another poor qualifying and beaten easily by his teammate and no real signs of improvement. The former x4 World Champion needs a good race next time in Portugal.





ESTEBAN OCON - ALPINE


QUALI: 9th

RACE: 9th


B+


This is the result Ocon needed. Already after Bahrain there was a lot of people saying Alonso was going to destroy Esteban, which over the course of the season I think will happen. But it was Ocon who looked like the leader at Alpine in Imola. Comfortably beat his teammate and was in the mix for points throughout, this is what Alpine need.


FERNANDO ALONSO - ALPINE


QUALI: 15th

RACE: 10th


E+


This was a poor weekend by Fernando's high standards. He was very much out of character. Usually you would see a race like that as a perfect opportunity for him to pick up good points. But he seemed a shadow of himself and lucked into the points in the end due to penalties.





CHARLES LECLERC - SCUDERIA FERRARI


QUALI: 4th

RACE: 4th


B+


Another good performance from Charles Leclerc. He is becoming a qualifying expert and 2 races in a row now he has out performed the car. He ran in the podium positions for most of the race and the only reason he wasn't on the podium was due to being mugged at the red flag restart by Lando Norris on the softer tyres, and also an unstoppable Lewis Hamilton at the end of the race.


CARLOS SAINZ - SCUDERIA FERRARI


QUALI: 11th

RACE: 5th


B


How on earth did Carlos finish 5th? A poor qualifying and multiple spins in the race but somehow the Spaniard managed to be in the right place at the right time and picked up a very impressive 5th place beating Ricciardo comfortably and was with his teammate on pace in the later stages of the race.





PIERRE GASLY - ALPHA TAURI


QUALI: 5th

RACE: 7th


B


Superb qualifying from Pierre beating both McLaren's but unfortunately that was as good as it got for the Frenchman. A major strategy error from the team meant he started the race on the wet tyres and there failure to react meant he fell right to the back of the pack. This was totally not Pierre's fault and he did well to recover to finish in the points.


YUKI TSUNODA - ALPHA TAURI


QUALI: 20th

RACE: 12th


E


Oh dear Yuki. Talk about a 'fall back down to earth' weekend. He impressed many in Bahrain, but then reminded many in Imola that he is a rookie. A big crash in Q1 destroyed the rear end of the car and set himself up for a tough race, but he struggled in the wet conditions and never really got going. Then a spin at the Red Flag restart gave him zero chance of points and completed a disappointing GP for Yuki.





KIMI RAIKKONEN - ALFA ROMEO


QUALI: 16th

RACE: 13th


A


If you look at that race result, you would think it was a pretty bang average race for Kimi, but this was not the case. A ridiculously harsh post-race 30 second time penalty resulted in Kimi dropping from 9th to 13th which could be a massive loss for Alfa Romeo this season with points looking a rarity. He was in 9th for most of the race and it really was a vintage 'wet race' Kimi performance, that unfortunately wasn't rewarded.


ANTONIO GIOVINAZZI - ALFA ROMEO


QUALI: 17th

RACE: 14th


E+


I think most people would have forgotten Antonio was in the race. Unlike his teammate, he didn't move forward all race and just was a passenger. A crazy mixed conditions race like this is the perfect opportunity for a driver like him to pick up rare points.





MICK SCHUMACHER - HAAS F1


QUALI: 18th

RACE: 16th


D


Big error under the first safety car breaking his front wing but recovered well to comfortably beat his teammate, Job done for Mick.


NIKITA MAZEPIN - HAAS F1


QUALI: 19th

RACE: 17th


D


Much better from Nikita. He was caught up in a crash with Latifi on the opening lap which was completely not his fault but after that there was no major incidents to report. Far better than his disastrous debut in Bahrain.





GEORGE RUSSELL - WILLIAMS RACING


QUALI: 12th

RACE: DNF


D+


Well, well, well. You would have to say this was a missed opportunity for George to score his first points in the Williams. A superb qualifying and a solid first half to the race put him in the perfect position. But in hindsight, the overtake on Bottas was an avoidable one and with patience he could've got the Mercedes driver in the next few laps. Very much a learning weekend for George and one of missed opportunity.


NICHOLAS LATIFI - WILLIAMS RACING


QUALI: 14th

RACE: DNF


F+


Good qualifying. But awful race and completely took himself out when he rejoined the track on lap 1 after a spin and collided with Mazepin due to a serious lack of awareness. Amateur mistake


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RANKING STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 2


MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS

Lewis Hamilton: A, B,

Valtteri Bottas: C, F,


RED BULL RACING

Max Verstappen: A, A+,

Sergio Perez: A, E+,


MCLAREN F1

Lando Norris: A+, A,

Daniel Ricciardo: C+, C,


ASTON MARTIN RACING

Lance Stroll: B, B+,

Sebastian Vettel: E, D,


ALPINE

Esteban Ocon: E, B+,

Fernando Alonso: B+, E,


SCUDERIA FERRARI

Charles Leclerc: B+, B+,

Carlos Sainz: C+, B,


ALPHA TAURI

Pierre Gasly: D+, B,

Yuki Tsunoda: B, E,


ALFA ROMEO

Kimi Raikkonen: C, A,

Antonio Giovinazzi: C, E+,


HAAS F1

Mick Schumacher: D+, D,

Nikita Mazepin: Z, D,


WILLIAMS RACING

George Russell: C, D+,

Nicholas Latifi: D, F+,


Driver/s of the Season so far: Max Verstappen and Lando Norris


By Cameron Hall



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