Saudi Arabian GP driver ratings: One F1 driver shines with 10/10 display

Max Verstappen - 9.5

Another dominant display from Verstappen to take his ninth consecutive victory. While the gap over Red Bull teammate Perez wasn’t as great as it was in Bahrain, nor did he take the fastest lap, it was still another mighty performance from Verstappen.

Sergio Perez - 7.5

As far as weekends go for Perez, it was a very smooth one. He qualified third and quickly dispatched Leclerc for second. His race pace, generally, wasn’t far off Verstappen’s once he got into clean air.

Charles Leclerc - 9

Ferrari have the second-fastest car in F1 currently - and Leclerc is getting the most out of it. He overperformed in qualifying, as he typically does, to secure yet another front-row start.

Oscar Piastri - 8.5

A fine weekend from Piastri who had the edge over teammate Norris. The only blemish on his race was his inability to overtake Hamilton. Granted, if he got past sooner, it wouldn’t have changed his end result.

Fernando Alonso - 9

Alonso continues to carry Aston Martin after teammate Stroll crashed out of the race in the early stages.

George Russell - 8.5

Russell continues to have the edge on teammate Hamilton in 2024. Qualifying should have been better after he failed to improve on his final Q3 run.

Oliver Bearman - 10

The star of the weekend. Given he was drafted in last minute with just one practice session under his belt, Bearman deserves significant praise for how he performed, particularly as he managed to beat Norris and Hamilton.

Lando Norris - 7

A step behind Piastri in overall pace terms in Saudi Arabia. Norris did show some glimpses of performance in clean air when he stayed out under the Safety Car though.

Lewis Hamilton - 7

Like Norris, Hamilton wasn’t quite at his teammate’s level this weekend. Staying out under the Safety Car didn’t quite work out, but still a mediocre weekend overall.

Nico Hulkenberg - 7.5

Hulkenberg was unfortunate in qualifying to be hit with a fuel system issue, leaving him 15th on the grid. The decision to stay out under the Safety Car was crucial to his race result, allowing him to drive in clean air. His drive to the points was aided by Magnussen’s tactical drive to hold back their midfield rivals. Even without that, his pace on Saturday was impressive.

Alex Albon - 7

A solid weekend from Albon. Points were never on the table for Williams, while his race was compromised by contact with Magnussen earlier in the race.

Kevin Magnussen - 5

Two 10-second time penalties cost Magnussen a realistic shot of finishing tenth. However, he did make amends for his driving by holding back a host of midfield cars to help teammate Hulkenberg.

Esteban Ocon - 7

Given Alpine have the slowest car on the grid, Ocon got the most out of it. He was in the mix with the likes of Albon and Tsunoda - so a solid race overall.

Yuki Tsunoda - 7

A frustrating weekend for Tsunoda. He was brilliant in qualifying to make Q3, beating teammate Ricciardo by 0.5s. His race fell apart when Magnussen overtook him illegally and then he wasn’t able to get back past.

Logan Sargeant - 5.5

An anonymous weekend from Sargeant. Missing most of FP3 did compromise his qualifying but still it was an underwhelming weekend.

Daniel Ricciardo - 5

A weekend to forget from Ricciardo. He was nowhere near Tsunoda in qualifying and that carried over to the race. He had an embarrassing spin in the latter stages.

Valtteri Bottas - 5.5

Like Sargeant, it was a fairly anonymous weekend from Bottas. After he stopped under the Safety Car, he struggled for pace on the hard tyre.

Zhou Guanyu - 5.5

Zhou looked like he had the edge on Bottas in practice but threw it away with a shunt in FP3 which meant he couldn’t compete in qualifying.

Lance Stroll - 3

Stroll was once again out-classed by teammate Alonso in qualifying. Strol then crashed out on Lap 7 following a clumsy shunt at Turn 13.

Pierre Gasly - N/A

Gasly retired early on with a gearbox-related issue.