F1 Austrian Grand Prix: Driver Ratings - Amazing Alonso, Verstappen silences his critics and more

TOPSHOT-AUTO-F1-PRIX-AUSTRIA
It was Verstappen and Red Bull's day in Austria

The ninth race of the 2018 Formula 1 championship season produced another twist to this unpredictable campaign.

Max Verstappen sealed his first win of the season at Red Bull's home circuit the Red Bull Ring.

Mercedes had a dreadful day as both Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas both retired with technical issues allowing Sebastian Vettel and Scuderia Ferrari to now top both the driver's and constructors' championship.

It is becoming a season where you just cannot write a script for it.

But for now let's take a look at Sportskeeda's driver ratings for the Austrian Grand Prix, shall we...


#10 Williams Mercedes

F1 Grand Prix of Austria
The Williams team endured another weekend of disappointment

Lance Stroll - 13th

Again the Williams Mercedes team had another difficult weekend but there were little improvements here and there.

At some stages of the race, Lance Stroll had glimpses of actually racing against his rivals but that instead ended with himself and his teammate Sergey Sirotkin finishing in the bottom two due to the amount of retirements from Sunday's race.

Rating: 3/10

Sergey Sirotkin - 14th

Just like Lance Stroll, Sergey Sirotkin had a long weekend once again in a Williams car.

Despite six cars going out of the race, Williams could not prove that they can compete with their rivals on the same field.

The 2018 season is nearly at the halfway point and the signs of Williams improving look to be very slim.

The Williams crew might be wanting their summer break a lot earlier than planned.

Rating: 2/10


#9 Sauber Ferrari

F1 Grand Prix of Austria - Practice
A good weekend for these two

Charles Leclerc - 9th

It is becoming a normal and regular thing now, Charles Leclerc finished in the points yet again in Austria on Sunday.

This marks his fifth occasion of finishing in the top 10 which will just impress the bosses at Scuderia Ferrari even more and might just be a step closer to that contract the media has been talking about over the last few weeks.

Rating: 6/10

Marcus Ericsson - 10th

It was double delight for Sauber Ferrari when Marcus Ericsson crossed the finish line in 10th just behind his teammate Leclerc.

One point may not sound a lot but every little helps for the little teams of Formula 1 and with Williams missing out on the points again, it now puts Sauber 12 points ahead of Williams Mercedes in the constructors' championship.

12 points is quite a gap for the bottom two teams.

Ericsson may feel a little relieved after Sunday's race especially when Leclerc has been bringing home all the points recently.

Rating: 6/10

#8 Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda

F1 Grand Prix of Austria
It was a DNF for Hartley

Pierre Gasly - 11th

The Frenchman will be left a little frustrated after the Austrian Grand Prix by missing out on the points for his team, Toro Rosso.

Pierre Gasly has so far displayed some fine racing this year by mixing in with the top drivers and gathering some points for Red Bull's sister team.

And with it being Red Bull's home Grand Prix at the weekend, Gasly would have wanted a point or two just to have something for the Red Bull owners to shout about along with Max Verstappen's victory.

Rating: 4/10

Brendon Hartley - DNF

It just seems Brendon Hartley is getting all the bad luck this year and it continued on Sunday when the New Zealander's Toro Rosso had reliability issues and had to retire from the race on lap 54.

Hartley did qualify second from last on Saturday making Sunday's race a long one.

Rating: 1/10

#7 Force India Mercedes

F1 Grand Prix of Austria
Force India improved their chances of catching up to Renault in the constructor's championship

Sergio Perez - 7th

Sergio Perez may have his teammate Esteban Ocon to thank for letting the Mexican pass through him in the final laps of the race.

But then Ocon got his place back after some discussions on the team radio.

Perez had a good start to the race by moving up from 15th to 13th in the first few laps and then went on to finish in the points along with his French colleague.

Rating: 6/10

Esteban Ocon - 6th

Sixth place is one that Ocon must be getting used to by now.

Himself and Perez's top 10 finish secured Force India's first double points in 2018 and has certainly improved their chances of catching up with Renault in the constructors' championship.

Ocon is now only four points behind Perez in 12th in the driver's championship.

Rating: 6/10

#6 McLaren Renault

F1 Grand Prix of Austria
It was another points finish for Alonso

Fernando Alonso - 8th

It was a rollercoaster race for Fernando Alonso.

The opening laps saw Alonso and his teammate Stoffel Vandoorne hang about as the bottom two drivers.

We heard Alonso complain to his colleagues on the team radio and it was along the lines of... "I am not racing for 71 laps at the back!"

But Alonso's luck began to turn as he made his way through the pack to finish in the top 10 for the first time since the Spanish Grand Prix.

Rating: 7/10

Stoffel Vandoorne - DNF

It was another race day to forget for McLaren's Stoffel Vandoorne as the Dutchman had no real racing on the Red Bull Ring track.

Vandoorne was six laps shy of finishing the race after he headed to the pits and then decided to retire and received the dreaded DNF.

It's another race where Alonso looks to be dragging the team along.

Rating: 1/10

#5 Haas Ferrari

AUTO-F1-PRIX-AUSTRIA
It was a different Grosjean on Sunday

Romain Grosjean - 4th

Romain Grosjean has had to go through some stick throughout most of the season so far but was able to answer his critics on Sunday by finishing just outside the podium places.

It may have been a little help from Mercedes having both of their cars retired from the race but the team and Grosjean will remember the race result a lot more.

Rating: 7/10

Kevin Magnussen - 5th

Kevin Magnussen made it an even more enjoyable weekend for the bosses at Haas by finishing right behind his teammate Grosjean.

The Danish's finish in fifth place is his joint top finish record of 2018 along with his scintillating drive at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Rating: 7/10

#4 Renault

F1 Grand Prix of Austria
It was a whoopsie weekend for Hulkenberg

Carlos Sainz Jnr - 12th

The first part of the weekend was looking good for Renault as both Carlos Sainz Jr and Nico Hulkenberg had reached Q3 and would start the race in 9th and 10th position.

But then the second part on Sunday arrived and it would prove to be a downfall for the French team.

Sainz dropped down three places and struggled to compete with Pierre Gasly up ahead.

Rating: 4/10

Nico Hulkenberg - DNF

Nico Hulkenberg suffered his third retirement of the season after an engine blow on lap 11.

It would be the start of a disastrous weekend for Renault as they were looking to stretch their gap in fourth spot in the constructors' championship.

And with Force India, Haas and McLaren getting points on Sunday, the bosses at Renault will feel a little frustrated.

Renault are currently 13 points ahead of Haas going into this weekend's British Grand Prix.

Rating: 1/10

#3 Red Bull Racing

F1 Grand Prix of Austria
A delightful win for Red Bull

Max Verstappen - 1st

Ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix last month, a journalist asked Max Verstappen at a driver's press conference why he kept crashing.

Verstappen replied by telling all members of the media that he would headbutt someone if asked a similar question.

A few weeks later, Verstappen silenced his critics by winning the Austrian Grand Prix and marked Red Bull Racing's first race win in Austria since the circuit returned to the F1 calendar in 2014.

Rating: 8/10

Daniel Ricciardo - DNF

It may have been a race victory for the team but it could have been a double podium finish if it wasn't for Daniel Ricciardo's retirement on lap 53.

The Australian revealed on the team radio that he had gear stick problems just moments before he parked his car and retired from his team's home race.

Sunday was also Ricciardo's birthday but at least his teammate and friend went on and won the race.

Rating: 1/10

#2 Mercedes

A w
A weekend to forget for the silver arrows

Lewis Hamilton - DNF

The Austrian Grand Prix looks to be a certainty for Mercedes to win another race in Spielberg.

The Red Bull Ring has been dominated by the silver arrows since Austria returned to Formula 1 in 2014 but not in 2018.

And that is no thanks to their unreliability issues.

Lewis Hamilton retired on lap 62, his first DNF since the 2016 Malaysian Grand Prix. It's been a long time coming for the Briton.

Rating: 1/10

Valtteri Bottas - DNF

When is Valtteri Bottas going to win his first race of 2018?

The question still remains after Bottas retired early on Sunday with similar issues as what his teammate Hamilton suffered with.

Bottas sealed pole position on Saturday ahead of Hamilton but lost the lead before the opening lap was completed.

The Fin will to wait at least another week to get his hands on a 1st place trophy.

Rating: 1/10

#1 Ferrari

Third place finisher Sebastian Vettel of Germany and Ferrari...
Third place finisher Sebastian Vettel of Germany and Ferrari...

Sebastian Vettel - 3rd

You do forget now that before Sunday's race was lights out, Sebastian Vettel was given a three-place penalty making his championship bid look weak as the German was trailing Hamilton by 14 points.

Vettel received the penalty for impeding Renault's Carlos Sainz Jnr during the second segment of qualifying on Saturday.

But thanks to the luck of Mercedes' mechanical errors, Vettel sealed podium and rewarded 15 points to now go a single ahead of Hamilton.

Rating: 6/10

Kimi Raikkonen - 2nd

It is a very rare sight to see Kimi Raikkonen ahead of his teammate on the podium and even though the driver's championship is a lot more important for Vettel right now, it was good for the fans to see the Fin not have to give up his spot for the German.

There were moments at the start of the race that Raikkonen was fighting for first place but once the race started to settle, Raikkonen's five-year drought of not winning a Grand Prix would continue.

Rating: 6/10


Do you agree with our driver ratings for the Austrian GP? Sound off your opinions in the comments section below!

Quick Links

App download animated image Get the free App now