Brazilian Grand Prix: Driver Ratings

Brazilian GP Driver Ratings Part 3

Antonio Giovinazzi (Qual: 13th - Race: 5th) 8/10

You can't say much fairer than a career-best result in your first race since having your 2020 future sorted! A fast start was pivotal for the Italian, who jumped into the top 10, ensuring he was well placed to move into the high-paying positions as things went barmy in the latter stages.

Kimi Raikkonen (Qual: 9th - Race: 4th) 8/10

Kimi made Q3 for the first time since Belgium and it paid off big time, with a podium place just falling short as the Finn ran out of laps to get by the McLaren of Carlos Sainz.

Carlos Sainz (Qual: 20th - Race: 3rd) 10/10

Sainz did not even set a time in Q1 before his engine packed in, but perhaps the fresh Renault unit that McLaren fitted had something special in it. In truth, it was Sainz's ability to eke out tyre life across a race in which he was the sole driver to stop only once. Fourth would have been a great enough return, but Hamilton's penalty meant he would celebrate a top-three finish in F1 for the first time. The only shame was that stewards could not make a fairly blatant call quick enough for Sainz to have actually celebrated on the rostrum.

Pierre Gasly (Qual: 7th - Race: 2nd) 9/10

What. A. Season. It's fair to say that 2019 has not gone to plan for Gasly, but it is ending in superb fashion and the Frenchman will have a first F1 podium to show for it after all. After a superb qualifying performance, Gasly ensured that he was always in position to capitalise on any issues among the front-runners ahead of him. When they started dropping like flies, he kept his composure to come home in second – even out-dragging Hamilton for the line to take a deserved P2 at the flag.

My Brazilian beauty.???❤️ pic.twitter.com/U1x83m7tjC

— PIERRE GASLY ?? (@PierreGASLY) November 17, 2019

Max Verstappen (Qual: 1st - Race: 1st) 10/10

There was perhaps just one driver whose race was completely unaffected by the pandemonium developing on-track. Quite simply, Verstappen was too good for it to affect him. Even when it seemed he would once again fall victim to Interlagos' hex – Kubica released into his path at a pit-stop – he undid the damage in the space of a lap to blast past Hamilton and assume a net lead of the race. There was another overtake on the world champion after the first safety car restart and it was all in the Dutchman's hands from there. Even when he's dominating from the front, Max finds a way to show his skills and that's what makes him the box-office performer on the grid.

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