GPFans F1 Driver Ratings: Who's top in 2019's summer break?

As Formula 1 clocks off for the summer, and the silly season begins to clank into gear, judging drivers' performances against the campaign as a whole has come into focus.

GPFans has scored driver ratings at every race so far this season, put into the context of the team's expectations, with some surprising averages thrown out as a result.

Matt Scott has been running the rule over all 20 drivers so far. Let us know if you agree, or not, with the scores on Facebook and Twitter!

20. Robert Kubica

Ave: 4.3
High: 6 (Bahrain, Germany)
Low: 3 (Azerbaijan, Canada, Austria)

Kubica has finished last on track at the majority of races so far, so his lowly standing is perhaps no surprise. The Pole's F1 return has not gone as he would have hoped and he has been outqualified by rookie team-mate George Russell in every race so far, although he does have William's sole point of the season from a chaotic German GP.

19. Antonio Giovinazzi

Ave: 4.5
High: 6 (Austria, Germany)
Low: 3 (Monaco)

The Italian is improving as his time in F1 goes on and he has begun to bring the fight to Kimi Raikkonen in recent races, but vast under-performance compared to the Finn in the earlier stages of the campaign leaves him with a lowly ranking.

18. Romain Grosjean

Ave: 4.8
High: 7 (Germany)
Low: 3 (Great Britain)

Grosjean has started the season even more sluggishly than he did 2018, with Haas' inability to get a grip on their car's bizarre performance swings hampering the Frenchman even further. Reports are beginning to circulate that he may not keep hold of his seat much longer.

17. Pierre Gasly

Ave: 4.8
High: 7 (Great Britain)
Low: 3 (Australia, Canada, Germany)

A strong showing at Silverstone was a false dawn for Gasly, who has lost his Red Bull seat for the remainder of 2019. It remains to be seen whether he can hold onto his spot on the F1 grid beyond the end of the season.

16. Kevin Magnussen

Ave: 5.3
High: 7 (Australia, Spain)
Low: 3 (Great Britain)

K-Mag has generally outperformed Grosjean, although his greatest successes have come in qualifying and Haas' issues with the VF-19 have often seen him fall back through the field, and even outside the points from positions of apparent strength.

15. Lance Stroll

Ave: 5.4
High: 8 (Australia, Germany)
Low: 4 (Spain, Monaco, Austria, Great Britain, Hungary)

Has made it through Q1 just once this season in a bizarre sequence of Saturday struggles, but the requirement to always fight through the field has helped Stroll show some neat racing. How much better could he be if he can crack the single-lap performance?

14. Daniel Ricciardo

Ave: 5.6
High: 8 (Canada)
Low: 4 (Germany, Hungary)

Ricciardo's gamble on ditching Red Bull to Renault has not had an immediate payoff, although not many people involved in the deal expected it to. The French team's up-and-down campaign is reflected in Ricciardo's scores, but back-to-back stinkers before the break have hampered him.

13. Nico Hulkenberg

Ave: 5.7
High: 8 (Australia, Bahrain)
Low: 4 (Azerbaijan, Spain)

The German started the season in hot form, but has struggled since and scored a solitary point in the four races before the summer break – far from optimal form for a driver looking to convince his paymasters that he deserves a new contract, with his deal only lasting to the end of the year.

12. George Russell

Ave: 5.8
High: 8 (Hungary)
Low: 5 (China, Spain, France, Great Britain, Germany)

The Formula 2 champion perhaps gains a few places by dint of having only really having had his team-mate to race so far this season. However, he has taken to that superbly and has generally had the wood over Kubica all year, and has had fingertips on the coattails of those ahead in recent weeks, including a superb Hungarian GP, which almost saw him make Q2.

11. Sergio Perez

Ave: 5.8
High: 8 (China, Azerbaijan)
Low: 5 (Australia, Spain, Monaco, Canada, France, Austria, Great Britain, Germany)

No driver has been given a single score more times this year than Perez has a middle-of-the-road 5/10. One of the great overachievers of recent years in F1 has been hamstrung a touch by Racing Point's continued journey to put last year's woes behind them.

10. Kimi Raikkonen

Ave: 6.0
High: 8 (Bahrain)
Low: 4 (Monaco, Canada)

Raikkonen's campaign perhaps lacks the highlights of some other midfield drivers, but only Carlos Sainz sits above him in the drivers' championship outside of the top three teams (barring Gasly, of course), speaking to the veteran's unshakeable consistency – which has been crucial for Alfa as Giovinazzi has gotten up to speed.

9. Sebastian Vettel

Ave: 6.0
High: 9 (Canada)
Low: 2 (Great Britain)

A disappointing second half of 2018 has largely spilled over into this campaign, with Vettel dropping points through several errors yet again to sit almost 100 points behind Lewis Hamilton in the standings. The Silverstone rear-ending of Max Verstappen was a new, clumsy low for the four-time world champion.

8. Lando Norris

Ave: 6.0
High: 9 (Bahrain)
Low: 4 (Germany)

Has led Sainz in qualifying eight times in 12 races and he has been 'best of the rest' at the chequered flag twice so far this season. Having taken to F1 like a duck to water, McLaren have already seen enough to give him a deal for 2020 and his racing with some of the bigger boys this season shows the junior hype may well have been justified.

7. Alexander Albon

Ave: 6.2
High: 9 (China, Germany)
Low: 4 (France, Austria)

Put against the context of pre-season expectations, perhaps no driver has been as successful as Albon so far in 2019. His drive through half the field for 10th place in China was a supreme performance and becomes all the more impressive when you consider the Thai driver had not driven F1 machinery before the first morning of pre-season testing in February. Will he prove to be the answer to Red Bull's problems?

6. Daniil Kvyat

Ave: 6.3
High: 9 (Germany)
Low: 4 (Austria)

Any sniggering that accompanied the news that Kvyat would return to Toro Rosso for a third stint quickly subsided when the Russian kept Gasly out of the points in Australia. Kvyat may well prove to be the Frenchman's replacement long-term. Remember, Red Bull have all the data they need on the Russian, likely explaining the decision to promote Albon instead.

5. Charles Leclerc

Ave: 6.4
High: 10 (Bahrain)
Low: 4 (Germany)

Leclerc remains just behind Vettel in the standings, with the German rediscovering form just before the break, and his performances in Bahrain and Austria perhaps deserved better, while it was his own error in Azerbaijan that hindered another potential victory. Recent racing with Max Verstappen has given us a tantalising display of what may be to come for years in F1.

4. Valtteri Bottas

Ave: 6.7
High: 10 (Australia)
Low: 3 (Hungary)

Started the season brilliantly, but has dropped off Hamilton's pace as the season enters a period the Brit always begins to excel in. Although he has fixed many of the issues that left him winless in 2018, a pair of dreadful performances in Germany and Hungary have left huge question marks hanging over him heading into the summer.

3. Carlos Sainz

Ave: 7.0
High: 9 (Austria)
Low: 5 (Australia, Canada)

After a difficult start to life with McLaren due to poor reliability, Sainz has been the man to beat in the 'B championship' and he is a distance clear in seventh place at this point. Best of the rest in four of the last seven races, you have to wonder if Red Bull regret overlooking him…

2. Max Verstappen

Ave: 8.1
High: 10 (Austria, Germany, Hungary)
Low: 6 (Azerbaijan, Canada)

Verstappen entered the break with three 10/10 performances in four races, after mesmeric performances in Austria, Germany and Hungary. Had he held on to win in Budapest, the Dutchman would be an outside shot to challenge Hamilton for the title. As it is, he seems to just have too much to do, but a second-place finish should be on the cards.

1. Lewis Hamilton

Ave: 8.2
High: 10 (France, Hungary)
Low: 5 (Germany)

Consider that this is the best first half to a campaign that the five-time champion has enjoyed and the scale of his and Mercedes' performances comes into a true light. Hamilton is 62 points clear of Bottas in the standings and the second half of the season is generally 'Hammertime'. More of Michael Schumacher's records have hurtled into view this year and could fall before 2019 is done.

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