- The F1 Republic
2021 Portuguese GP - Drivers Ranked
LEWIS HAMILTON - MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS
QUALI: 2nd
RACE: 1st
A
It was another win for Lewis Hamilton and another class drive. After being surprisingly beaten in qualifying by his teammate, he bounced back in the race to take his 97th career victory. The only fault from Hamilton in the race was a lackluster safety car restart at the beginning of the race where he was dropped by race leader Bottas and jumped by Red Bulls Max Verstappen. He then showed his skill and pace for the next quarter of the race by hunting down both Verstappen and Bottas to charge to another win in 2021. But for the safety car error early on, this would've been an A+. Lewis now leads the Championship going into Round 4 with the small margin of 8 points.
VALTTERI BOTTAS - MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS
QUALI: 1st
RACE: 3rd
C+
I cant be too brutal on Valtteri here, as his qualifying was very impressive. But in terms of the race, he showed he just hasn't got the ability to compete with the two titans of Hamilton and Verstappen. He gave the impression of a 'cork in the bottle' for the first half of the race. Once Hamilton and Verstappen found a way past, they completely left him behind. A strong qualifying will provide confidence for Bottas but another race victory passes him by and it is now 20 races since his last win. Ouch
MAX VERSTAPPEN - RED BULL RACING
QUALI: 3rd
RACE: 2nd
B
A missed opportunity for Max Verstappen. I cannot give him anything lower than a 'B' but we started to see quite a few cracks in the armor of Verstappen in Portugal. He should've been on Pole and he threw it away after invalidating his fastest lap, and he should've had the fastest lap point in the race, but again he invalidated his lap by running too wide. Those two errors cost him more points in Portugal and those mistakes will be music to Hamilton's ears. He did pull off two good moves on Lewis (Safety Car restart) and Valtteri during the race which showed he was on it, but not quite enough by his very high standards.
SERGIO PEREZ - RED BULL RACING
QUALI: 4th
RACE: 4th
B
This was better from Sergio. This is exactly what Red Bull will want from him week in week out, top 4 finishes. The main thing for him now is to add consistency and to stick with the two Mercedes, plus Max, throughout the race to pick up the crucial points for the constructors. A poor start prevented him from doing this in Portugal.
LANDO NORRIS - MCLAREN F1
QUALI: 7th
RACE: 5th
B+
Lando continues to impress. He got the best possible result he could get in Portugal, the McLaren had no chance against the top two teams in Mercedes and Red Bull. He is seriously stamping his authority at McLaren and this season really could be a breakthrough moment for him.
DANIEL RICCIARDO - MCLAREN F1
QUALI: 16th
RACE: 9th
E
Not great at all. Awful qualifying and a lackluster race. I know Daniel is new to the car but you can't get knocked out, on pace, in Q1 when you are in the 4th quickest car on the grid. He did well to recover to the points but struggled to get past others that were in much slower cars. Big improvement needed in Spain, if this keeps up. Daniel's career at the very top could be at stake if he gets badly beaten by Norris.
LANCE STROLL - ASTON MARTIN RACING
QUALI: 17th
RACE: 14th
D+
A bit of a mediocre race from Lance. The car was well off the pace but he was also well outqualified by his teammate. Not much to report but certainly his worst GP of the season at of the first three.
SEBASTAIN VETTEL - ASTON MARTIN RACING
QUALI: 10th
RACE: 13th
C
This was better from Seb Vettel. Carried the car to Q3 where it didn't belong and as expected, went backwards in the race. But some decent battles along the way and no errors to report, this was a big improvement compared to the first two rounds. He just needs a solid car now and the Aston is looking anything but that.
ESTEBAN OCON - ALPINE
QUALI: 6th
RACE: 7th
A
Ocon is seriously performing this season. After a lackluster opening race in Bahrain, he is really is picking up the points now for Alpine. He beat Alonso in both the race and qualifying once again and is seriously in-form at the perfect time. He is already 3-0 up against Alonso in the races this season. If he managed to hold onto his P6 then he would've been my driver of the day.
FERNANDO ALONSO - ALPINE
QUALI: 13th
RACE: 8th
A
I don't think there was any standout performers in Portugal, but I agree with the TFR Fans who voted Fernando Alonso as the Driver of the Day. I can't give him an 'A+' as he was beaten by his teammate due to his poor qualifying. But in the race, it was a return of the old Alonso with plenty of fantastic overtakes to pick up much needed points for Alpine.
CHARLES LECLERC - SCUDERIA FERRARI
QUALI: 8th
RACE: 6th
C+
It was very much a back down to earth GP for Ferrari. They couldn't challenge Norris and only one car was in the points. Not good enough when you compare to there performance in Imola and they'll be hoping for an improved showing in Spain. Leclerc qualified out of position but worked his way back up to probably his correct positioning on pure pace.
CARLOS SAINZ - SCUDERIA FERRARI
QUALI: 5th
RACE: 11th
E
What went wrong here? After a fantastic qualifying for Carlos and a good start when jumping Perez. He then only went backwards, somehow slipping out of the points with no mistakes to report. After a promising start to Sainz's Ferrari career, this was a bad setback.
PIERRE GASLY - ALPHA TAURI
QUALI: 9th
RACE: 10th
C
Not much to report for Gasly. Steady race in a car that clearly didn't suit the windy conditions and he will hope for much better in Spain.
YUKI TSUNODA - ALPHA TAURI
QUALI: 14th
RACE: 15th
E
Yuki really has been off the pace. He never looked like scoring points and his fantastic debut in Bahrain is becoming a distant memory already. He is another driver than just needs a solid race in Barcelona.
KIMI RAIKKONEN - ALFA ROMEO
QUALI: 15th
RACE: DNF
F
Any driver who crashes into their teammate gets a pretty low score from me. Out-qualified by Giovinazzi and then drove into the back of him at the end of lap 1 because he was 'looking at the steering wheel'. For someone of his experience, not good enough.
ANTONIO GIOVINAZZI - ALFA ROMEO
QUALI: 12th
RACE: 12th
B
A solid performance from Gio. Somehow didn't get a puncture on lap 1 when his teammate hit him and then just had a solid race finishing just outside of the points which was where he was expected to finish.
MICK SCHUMACHER - HAAS F1
QUALI: 19th
RACE: 17th
B+
I was actually quite impressed by Mick in Portugal. Finished over a minute ahead of his teammate and he beat the Williams of Latifi on pure pace. His best race so far and showed his pace and consistency in an awful car.
NIKITA MAZEPIN - HAAS F1
QUALI: 20th
RACE: 19th
E
Terrible pace and the only moment he was noticed was when he got in the way of Sergio Perez when being lapped. No spins to report, hence why its not a lower rating.
GEORGE RUSSELL - WILLIAMS RACING
QUALI: 11th
RACE: 16th
D+
Fantastic qualifying from George. He almost got a Williams into Q3 which I find mind boggling. But couldn't carry that pace into the race which he described as "the toughest in my F1 career" for simply just keeping the car on the track. It definitely seems like the windy conditions caused a lot of issues for some cars on the grid.
NICHOLAS LATIFI - WILLIAMS RACING
QUALI: 18th
RACE: 18th
E
And finally, Nicholas Latifi. Very disappointing to be beaten by a Haas and he never showed any threat to a struggling George Russell in the race.
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RANKING STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 3
MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS
Lewis Hamilton: A, B, A
Valtteri Bottas: C, F, C+
RED BULL RACING
Max Verstappen: A, A+, B
Sergio Perez: A, E+, B
MCLAREN F1
Lando Norris: A+, A, B+
Daniel Ricciardo: C+, C, E
ASTON MARTIN RACING
Lance Stroll: B, B+, D+
Sebastian Vettel: E, D, C
ALPINE
Esteban Ocon: E, B+, A
Fernando Alonso: B+, E, A
SCUDERIA FERRARI
Charles Leclerc: B+, B+, C+
Carlos Sainz: C+, B, E
ALPHA TAURI
Pierre Gasly: D+, B, C
Yuki Tsunoda: B, E, E
ALFA ROMEO
Kimi Raikkonen: C, A, F
Antonio Giovinazzi: C, E+, B
HAAS F1
Mick Schumacher: D+, D, B+
Nikita Mazepin: Z, D, E
WILLIAMS RACING
George Russell: C, D+, D+
Nicholas Latifi: D, F+, E
Driver/s of the Season so far: Lando Norris
By Cameron Hall