Mexican Grand Prix: Driver Ratings

Mexican GP

Mexican Grand Prix: Driver Ratings

Who got top marks?

Matthew Scott

Monday 28 October 2019 08:30

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Mexican GP Driver Ratings Part 2

Nico Hulkenberg (Qual: 12th - Race: 10th) 6/10

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The Hulk would have finished ninth of not for the late intervention from Kvyat, which left the German in the barriers and missing a rear wing. A point will likely be scant consolation.

Pierre Gasly (Qual: 10th - Race: 9th) 7/10

The Gas Man was true to his nickname by all accounts over a weekend which saw the Frenchman upset by tummy trouble. Gasly and Kvyat were in the unenviable position of having to utilise two-stop strategies while many behind them could make up time by stopping just once. For Gasly to take a couple of points away was a mighty performance.

Daniel Ricciardo (Qual: 13th - Race: 8th) 7/10

Ricciardo made hard tyres last for a mammoth 51 laps to make progress from 13th on the grid and might have finished seventh had the postman been around to deliver after he licked the stamp and sent one up the inside of Sergio Perez late on.

Sergio Perez (Qual: 11th - Race: 7th) 8/10

Ricciardo's failed move was met with jubilation in the grandstands as the local man maintained seventh place to match his best result on home soil. Like Ricciardo, Perez had a whopping opening stint to thank for making up places from the grid. His excitement at qualifying 11th was well-founded, as he easily made it through those who had qualified faster than him on soft tyres.

Max Verstappen (Qual: 4th - Race: 6th) 5/10

Max was awarded Driver of the Day for his comeback through the field, but it's a very different take here. The Dutchman only had himself to blame for losing pole position after a superb qualifying performance and was perhaps again his own worst enemy as he tried a huge gamble up the inside of Valtteri Bottas at the hairpin in the stadium. There's a reason people don't try to pass there, and a lap with a punctured tyre saw any hopes Verstappen had of a big result go out the window. In a year that has seen Verstappen's maturity rightly praised, this was a regression.