F1 Driver Ratings from the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix

Here’s how we rated each driver in F1’s Bahrain Grand Prix…

Lewis Hamilton (Qualified 1st, finished 1st) - 10 

An exemplary drive amid the chaos from Hamilton. The Mercedes driver dominated all weekend long, storming to a comfortable pole position before keeping Verstappen’s Red Bull at bay to claim his 11th win from 15 races this season. 

Max Verstappen (Qualified 3rd, finished 2nd) - 9 

Another brilliant performance from Verstappen who once again extracted every ounce of lap time out of his Red Bull. Was oh so close to splitting the Mercedes in qualifying and took advantage of Bottas’ poor start to move into second, which he held throughout. Was left wishing Red Bull had been more aggressive with its strategy as he felt the win was possible. 

Alex Albon (Qualified 4th, finished 3rd) - 7

With the pressure to perform as high as ever, Albon turned in a much-needed solid weekend that ended with his second podium in F1. Despite being some way off the pace of his teammate, Albon took a strong fourth in qualifying as Red Bull locked out the second row, before inheriting a rather fortuitous third when Perez’s engine conked out late on. Nevertheless, the Thai’s race was well-executed and featured some nice overtakes. 

Lando Norris (Qualified 9th, finished 4th) - 9

A starring drive from Norris who recovered strongly from only qualifying ninth fastest to take fourth place in the race. Had luck on his side as the red flag stoppage allowed McLaren to fix his damaged front wing but being quick off the line in both the second standing start and Safety Car restart helped him on his rise to P4.

Carlos Sainz (Qualified 15th, finished 5th) - 10 

Started 15th through no fault of his own after suffering a brake failure in Q2, but Sainz battled his way through the pack in what was a sublime recovery effort. Sensational pace on Softs at the start was key to his journey to fifth as he vaulted past the Renaults to finish just 10 seconds off Norris ahead. 

Pierre Gasly (Qualified 8th, finished 6th) - 9

Gasly was one of just two drivers - the other being Norris - to roll the dice on a one-stop strategy and make it work thanks to some brilliant tyre management against the odds. Had a slice of good fortune along the way to finish sixth after Perez’s failure moved him up a position and the resulting Safety Car ensured he stayed ahead of Ricciardo, but his great work did not go unnoticed. 

Daniel Ricciardo (Qualified 6th, finished 7th) - 8

Ricciardo was once again the quicker Renault driver in Bahrain as he battled his teammate and came out on top on his way to a solid seventh. Lost some time squabbling with Ocon and will have been frustrated that a late Safety Car denied him the chance to launch a late attack on Gasly to score a better result. 

Valtteri Bottas (Qualified 2nd, finished 8th) - 6 

Bottas overcame not one but two punctures to finish inside the top 10 but while neither tyre failure was his fault, he was certainly to blame for making a hash of the initial start which saw him drop as low as seventh. Lined up fourth for the restart but picked up a puncture on the first full racing lap that dropped him to the back and forced him into a recovery drive. Never looked likely to beat Hamilton throughout another ultimately disappointing weekend. 

Esteban Ocon (Qualified 7th, finished 9th) - 7

Finished a frustrating 0.002s slower than Ricciardo in qualifying as Ocon came close to getting a rare Saturday win over his teammate. Engaged in some brilliant battles throughout and his defence against Leclerc at Turn 4 was particularly impressive, but he faded towards the end on a set of new Hards.

Charles Leclerc (Qualified 12th, finished 10th) - 8

Was the slower of the two Ferraris in qualifying for just the fourth time this year amid the Scuderia’s Q2 exit, but Leclerc made up for his Saturday disappointing with a really strong race, which was kicked off with an aggressive start that angered Vettel. A good effort to take the final point on offer despite Ferrari’s poor pace.

Daniil Kvyat (Qualified 10th, finished 11th) - 6

Kvyat may have been something of a passenger in his light tangle with Grosjean that he could do little to avoid, but he was certainly at fault for launching Stroll’s Racing Point into the Bahrain night sky. The Russian did well to still finish 11th despite a 10-second time penalty, but his clumsy error sees him lose a mark. 

George Russell (Qualified 14th, finished 12th) - 8 

F1’s ‘Mr Saturday’ turned in his latest stunning qualifying lap to progress to Q2 for the ninth time in 15 races this year, but an awful getaway threw much of his hard work away. Still came out on top in the battle at the back of the midfield despite this with a strong drive to 12th, ahead of Vettel’s Ferrari, his teammate, both Alfa Romeos and Magnussen.

Sebastian Vettel (Qualified 11th, finished 13th) - 7 

Vettel boasted a rare qualifying advantage over Leclerc on Saturday but was left annoyed by his teammate’s rude move into Turn 1 at the start, which caused him to back out and lose further places. Was running solidly until suffering a bizarre spin all by himself. A good effort considering his Ferrari was “underivable”.  

Nicholas Latifi (Qualified 20th, finished 14th) - 6

For the fifth time this year, Latifi found himself anchored to the back of the grid with the slowest time of all while his teammate once again starred in qualifying. The Canadian had a better showing in the race as he leapfrogged the Haas and Alfas to finish 14th, two places behind Russell in what was a decent race drive. 

Kimi Raikkonen (Qualified 17th, finished 15th) - 7

Slower than Giovinazzi in qualifying, but Raikkonen turned in another seasoned performance in the race despite picking up damage to his car at both starts, including a clash with his teammate which broke part of his front wing. 

Antonio Giovinazzi (Qualified 16th, finished 16th) - 7 

Giovinazzi just missed out on making it into the second segment of qualifying, though he did outpace teammate Raikkonen for the seventh time in 2020 on Saturday. Some typical strong starts and a solid drive kept Giovinazzi in the fight with Russell, though he lost out when Alfa decided to stop him under the Safety Car.

Kevin Magnussen (Qualified 18th, finished 17th) - 6 

Contact with Vettel’s Ferrari - who was trying to avoid Stroll’s upside down Racing Point - caused Magnussen to suffer front wing damage that dropped him to the rear of the field. From here a recovery was almost impossible considering the pace of the Haas as he came home 17th.

After what happened today, you really put everything into perspective. For me, one podium more, one podium less. It doesn’t matter. The most important thing of the day is that @RGrosjean is with us! pic.twitter.com/HnokqHfEzX

— Sergio Pérez (@SChecoPerez) November 29, 2020

Sergio Perez (Qualified 5th, DNF) - 10 

An agonising end to what should have been another deserved appearance on the podium. Perez claimed an excellent fifth in qualifying and was sensational in the race, picking off the slow-starting Bottas and Albon to move into third for the second restart. Drove impeccably to keep Albon’s faster Red Bull behind and looked destined for P3 until his heartbreaking engine problem.

Lance Stroll (Qualified 13th, DNF) - 6

Stroll suffered an early race drop out when he was sent flipping upside down by an over-ambitious Kvyat at the restart into Turn 8. His qualifying result of only P13 was poor but the Canadian put his lack of pace down to a team error which meant he had conducted his flying lap on a used set of Mediums. 

Romain Grosjean (Qualified 19th, DNF) - N/A

Given his first lap accident, we are not scoring Grosjean in what might end up being his final start in F1. Prior to his meticulous escape, the Frenchman had given it everything in qualifying but that was only good enough for 19th and behind his teammate.