Canadian Grand Prix: Driver Ratings

We were treated to a Canadian Grand Prix to remember, although Lewis Hamilton's victory left a bitter taste in many mouths as it came aided by a penalty for Sebastian Vettel which left many onlookers of the sport up in arms.

Vettel certainly deserved victory for his performance over the weekend, which included a pole position and leading almost the whole race, up to the chequered flag.

Although the fight at the front dominated the headlines, there was plenty to ponder across the grid.

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!

Lando Norris (Qual: 8th - Race: DNF) 5/10

After an impressive qualifying, the McLaren rookie had a nice fight with Max Verstappen, re-passing the Red Bull after getting jumped early on, but his race ended prematurely as his rear suspension was melted by the ferocious heat coming off his brakes.

Alexander Albon (Qual: 14th - Race: DNF) 5/10

Albon's race was run before the end of the first lap after contact with Antonio Giovinazzi cost him his front wing. With no chance of points, Toro Rosso called him into the pits after 59 laps to save engine mileage.

Robert Kubica (Qual: 20th - Race: 18th) 3/10

Qualified seven tenths down on team-mate George Russell and then raced fairly lonely at the back. A two-stop strategy, with hard tyres fitted each time, suggest Williams may have used the Pole to undertake some in-race testing on the beleaguered FW42.

Kevin Magnussen (Qual: 10th - Race: 17th) 4/10

The Dane's weekend was going well until he demolished his car in Q2, necessitating a rebuild and a pit-lane start. Haas' set-up changes then left Magnussen lamenting mid-race: "This is the worst experience I have had in any race car. Ever." Ouch.

George Russell (Qual: 19th - Race: 16th) 6/10

The Formula 2 champion continues to impress, despite Williams' issues, and raced with both Albon and Magnussen, albeit aided by their respective struggles.

Kimi Raikkonen (Qual: 17th - Race: 15th) 4/10

A pretty dismal weekend for the Iceman, who suffered a Q1 elimination for the first time in 80 grands prix. Started on mediums, but pitted after six laps as a tear-off got caught in his brakes, and another stop late on dropped him down the order further.

Romain Grosjean (Qual: 15th - Race: 14th) 4/10

After his Q2 flyer was curtailed by the red flags brought out by Magnussen's crash, Grosjean dropped places while skirting around the Albon shunt on Lap 1, which left part of the Toro Rosso's front wing lodged in the Frenchman's halo. Made little to no progress from there in the race as Haas' Sunday struggles continue.

Antonio Giovinazzi (Qual: 13th - Race: 13th) 4/10

Starting on the hard tyre had major benefits for a few drivers, but Giovinazzi wasn't one of them, finishing exactly where he started to rack up another scoreless outing.

Sergio Perez (Qual: 16th - Race: 12th) 5/10

Pulled off a nice overtake on Grosjean at the start of Lap 32, with a tap of wheels angering the Frenchman, but it will have been scant reward for Perez, as he never really stood a chance of scoring in the absence of chaos up ahead.

Carlos Sainz (Qual: 9th - Race: 11th) 5/10

Sainz had to serve a grid penalty for blocking Albon in Q1 and then had his strategy impacted when, like Raikkonen, a tear-off got caught in his brakes and caused serious overheating. Ran the hard tyre for 64 laps, which was just too many and he dropped out of the top 10 late on.

Daniil Kvyat (Qual: 12th - Race: 10th) 6/10

Nabbed the final point with two laps to go as Sainz's tyres began to fall off the cliff, helping Kvyat pull off a smart overtake at Turn 1. Rich reward for the Russian after the latest in a growing list of composed and mature drives in 2019.

How was Dany’s overtaking in Canada on Sunday? 🔥👌 pic.twitter.com/FUJ9MW4zqK

— Toro Rosso (@ToroRosso) June 12, 2019

Lance Stroll (Qual 18th - Race: 9th) 7/10

Stroll was the biggest place-gainer in the race, getting beyond almost half the field to take a couple of points away from his home race. Brilliantly made the hard tyres last in his opening stint, but an 11th-straight Q1 exit does leave a sense of 'what if?' about Stroll's performance.

Pierre Gasly (Qual: 5th - Race: 8th) 3/10

After recovering from a couple of early-season struggles, this was perhaps the most troubling weekend for Gasly so far. Came in fighting off reports about his future, but qualified behind on Renault, and finished behind them both on pace – not a good look for Red Bull in 2019 for obvious reasons.

Nico Hulkenberg (Qual:7th - Race: 7th) 7/10

Probably would have been the lead Renault if not for team orders being imposed in order to secure a first double points finish of the season. Got 16 laps of life out of soft tyres that few other drivers could get into double figures and was well-rewarded.

Daniel Ricciardo (Qual: 4th - Race: 6th) 8/10

A supreme performance in qualifying that begins to show glimpses of what Renault got for their money. Ricciardo held up Valtteri Bottas for a number of laps with some tough defence, although he still finished a lap down, showing the imbalance in F1 today.

Max Verstappen (Qual: 11th - Race: 5th) 6/10

Caught out by Magnussen's Q2 crash, having tried – and failed – to set a good enough time to start the race on medium tyres. Ended up with free choice of compound after all and made expected progress to fifth, but got no further.

Valtteri Bottas Qual: 6th - Race: 4th) 5/10

Struggled through qualifying and then had hopes of sneaking onto the podium ruined by a pretty dismal opening stint, in which he was stuck behind Hulkenberg after being jumped on the line. Looked a bit gun-shy behind a hard-nosed Ricciardo and is suddenly more than a race win's worth of points behind Hamilton atop the standings, despite a fastest lap here.

Charles Leclerc (Qual: 3rd - Race: 3rd) 6/10

Oddly seemed to get worse through qualifying and dropped off Vettel's time considerably to the end. Again couldn't quite hang onto the fight at the front in the race, but turned down the fastest lap in order to keep the top two in check and might have snuck second place, with Ferrari admitting they "forgot" to inform him of Vettel's penalty ahead.

Sebastian Vettel (Qual: 1st - Race: 2nd) 9/10

Would have been full marks for Vettel without his squirrelly moment into the second chicane which ultimately proved his downfall. His win-robbing penalty caught the headlines, but once again Vettel saw his hopes just slip away with a slight mistake and Ferrari could ill-afford such a slip-up on a weekend they finally showed the SF90s strengths in full.

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

Didn't have the fastest car on the track, but hung in brilliantly with Vettel and his supreme pace after the pit-stops was crucial in forcing Vettel's mistake and ultimately securing the win, whether it came as he would have liked or not. The reigning champion is now 29 points clear in the standings ahead of a period he always enjoys. The two-horse title race may have lost a nag…

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