British Grand Prix: Driver Ratings

Records fell at the British Grand Prix as Lewis Hamilton took victory for Mercedes, but we may have also seen the passing of the torch at rivals Ferrari.

Sebastian Vettel's season sunk to new lows, but Charles Leclerc gave us another glimpse of his amazing future in an epic battle with Max Verstappen, whose race was ultimately ruined by Vettel.

Matt Scott has run the rule over all 20 drivers in action. Let us know if you agree, or not, with the scores on Facebook and Twitter!

Kevin Magnussen (Qual: 16th - Race: DNF) 3/10

Magnussen suffered his first Q1 elimination of the season, and was clearly out to make amends, but he retired after just six laps following a collision with…

Romain Grosjean (Qual: 14th - Race: DNF) 3/10

… yep. Grosjean reverted to Melbourne-spec as Haas look to get an understanding on their car, but then crashed into the pit-lane wall venturing out for FP1, in quite possibly the most bizarre start to a grand prix weekend ever. Lasted just three laps longer than Magnussen after their coming-together on lap one.

Antonio Giovinazzi (Qual: 11th - Race: DNF) 4/10

Might have followed team-mate Kimi Raikkonen into the points, but suffered a mechanical failure which left him sating into the gravel, bringing out a safety car which would change many drivers' races.

Sergio Perez (Qual: 15th - Race: 17th) 5/10

Luckless race for Perez, whose strategy was done over by the safety car period following almost immediately afterwards, before his whole race was wrecked in a collision with Nico Hulkenberg at the restart which cost the Mexican his front wing. Only the Williams pair have a longer run of scoreless races than Perez's six now.

Sebastian Vettel (Qual: 6th - Race: 16th) 2/10

Even in a 12-month period of lacklustre displays for Vettel, this may be the all-round worst, and could be the costliest long-term, when compared to Charles Leclerc's. Vettel admitted he simply didn't have the pace in a qualifying session in which Leclerc was less than a tenth off pole and could once again only look at himself after clumsily rear-ending Verstappen, losing a potential podium that had fallen into his lap at the safety car.

Robert Kubica (Qual: 20th - Race: 15th) 4/10

Kubica was not the last man to see the chequered flag for just the second time this season, although this was more down to Perez's poor fortune, of course.

George Russell (Qual: 19th - Race: 14th) 5/10

Half a second up on Kubica in qualifying shows the rookie still can extract performance from the FW42, although we're none the wiser as to whether the car itself will improve.

Lance Stroll (Qual 18th - Race: 13th) 4/10

Typically undid a Q1 exit on lap one of the race by gaining several positions, but picked up some debris to alter his strategy and then was unable to make the most of soft tyres at the end of the race.

Alexander Albon (Qual: 9th - Race: 12th) 6/10

A brilliant effort to make Q3 was undone late in the race when Toro Rosso were advised that a second pit-stop was unsafe due to a high-voltage issue and he was subsequently left on-track with shot tyres, dropping out of the points on the very last lap.

Lando Norris (Qual: 8th - Race: 11th) 6/10

Got the better of Daniel Ricciardo in a brilliant lap-one battle, but was back behind the Australian after being undercut at a pit-stop which soon became even more ruinous at the safety car. McLaren persisted with the two-stop strategy, but it only served to drop him from the top 10.

Nico Hulkenberg (Qual: 10th - Race: 10th) 6/10

Made places at the start and was going for a one-stopper, which was negated a bit by the safety car and then impacted further by contact with Perez at the restart, but the Hulk fought back and capitalised on Albon's misfortune at the end to seal double points for Renault.

Daniil Kvyat (Qual: 17th - Race: 9th) 7/10

Kvyat had been shown the way by Albon in qualifying, but more than made up for it with another sensational race, aided by the safety car, which allowed him to jump several places.

Kimi Raikkonen (Qual: 12th - Race: 8th) 6/10

Managed to end up in the top 10 and keep the faster Toro Rosso of Kvyat behind in the later stages to maintain his fine scoring form and move Alfa a little clearer in sixth in the constructors' championship.

Daniel Ricciardo (Qual: 7th - Race: 7th) 6/10

Like team-mate Hulkenberg, Ricciardo ended where he started, but that didn't tell much of the story. After losing out to Norris and then getting back ahead, Ricciardo would have been on for sixth if not for the safety car falling perfectly for Norris' team-mate.

Carlos Sainz (Qual: 13th - Race: 6th) 7/10

Put himself at the front of the queue to benefit from the safety car by making early moves and duly cashed in McLaren's fourth 'best of the rest' in the last five races by widening his MCL34 in the closing stages to keep Ricciardo at bay. Carlos is lucky we're not docking points for the post-race celebrations, mind…

P6 finish and a solid attempt at becoming @F1 karaoke champion 2019. 🎤👌 Good weekend all round for @Carlossainz55.pic.twitter.com/OIQ7NfzzyP

— McLaren (@McLarenF1) July 15, 2019

Max Verstappen (Qual: 4th - Race: 5th) 8/10

Verstappen finished lower than his qualifying position for the first time in 2019, but only after keeping up his heroics from a fortnight earlier in Austria. Piling the pressure on Charles Leclerc before the safety car and then doggedly holding off the charging Monegasque when they were swapped after it was a heartier taste of what's to come from them. Pulled off the overtake of the race on Vettel at Stowe, only to have his race ruined a few hundred metres later.

Pierre Gasly (Qual: 5th - Race: 4th) 7/10

Hugely positive weekend for Gasly, who topped his first F1 session in FP1 and looked the more comfortable of the Red Bull drivers coming into the weekend. Qualifying ahead of the Vettel's Ferrari and then duelling with both Scuderia cars will have boosted confidence immeasurably, and more weekends like this may well convince Red bull, and F1 as a whole, that he belongs at this level.

Charles Leclerc (Qual: 3rd - Race: 3rd) 8/10

Leclerc made good on his promise to fight harder in Silverstone than he had done in Spielberg. Came off second best in the epic duel with Verstappen, but made sure Max knows there's another like him on the grid now. Ultimately secured a fourth straight podium finish with a picture-perfect around the outside of Gasly for good measure.

Valtteri Bottas Qual: 1st - Race: 2nd) 9/10

Bottas may well have come away from Silverstone wondering how he did not win, but this was a performance that keeps up hope of a title challenge to come over the rest of the year. After pipping Hamilton to pole, the Finn had his elbows at 90 degrees off the line in thrilling combat with his team-mate and then showed real tenacity to fight back immediately when he had lost P1 to Hamilton to snatch it back at the first opportunity. Had pitted when the safety car was called, and his two-stop strategy was suddenly no good. In truth, he could have lost out by more if not for the Vettel-Verstappen crash, but he deserved this good haul.

Lewis Hamilton (Qual: 2nd - Race: 1st) 9/10

A record-breaking win for Hamilton as he became the first driver to win this race six times. They will go down synonymously in history together for sure. The safety car certainly eased Hamilton's route to victory, but he would have piled the pressure on Bottas regardless had he been on the one-stop strategy from the off, as he later suggested was the case. To take fastest lap, and an extra point, on hard tyres with 32 laps of racing in them is another file of evidence in Hamilton being at the very peak of his powers.

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