Nobody can match Verstappen: not even Perez a real challenger

Ratings after the Japanese Grand Prix

Verstappen: 9

Max Verstappen did not drive a perfect qualifying session and consequently saw his teammate come very close. However, the Dutchman sorted it out in the race and was never in any danger. In addition to victory, Max also earned the point for fastest lap of the race.

Perez: 8

Sergio Perez did what he had to do in Japan. The Mexican was very close behind Verstappen in qualifying and drove to second place in the race with some clever overtaking. Still, you would hope he would be a bit closer to his teammate in the race too.

Sainz: 8

Another strong weekend for Carlos Sainz who continues his good form in Japan. Qualifying was not top-notch for Ferrari, but the Spaniard got the maximum result on Sunday.

Leclerc: 7

Charles Leclerc disappointed on Saturday with an eighth place in qualifying. The Monegasque recovered that on Sunday with a good race, in which he was one of the few to get a one-stop strategy working.

Norris: 8

Lando Norris drove a strong qualifying, but was no match for the two Ferraris in the race.

Alonso: 8

Fernando Alonso showed at Suzuka what was possible with the AMR24. Alonso drove a good qualifying and defended his sixth spot with verve against Piastri.

Russell: 7

George Russell was slower than his teammate in qualifying for the first time this year, but clearly possessed more race pace. Aided by a team order, he passed Lewis and also Piastri in the closing stages.

Piastri: 5

A disappointing performance by Oscar Piastri in Japan. The Australian drove an inferior qualifying session and also failed to make an appearance in the race. Behind Alonso, who was very slow on the straight, Piastri found no way to pass the Spaniard. In the closing stages, he also made a mistake that saw him pass Russell for P7.

Hamilton: 6

Lewis Hamilton was finally faster than his younger teammate again on Saturday, but had a disappointing Sunday. Hamilton nota bene suggested himself to let Russell get ahead and was only heard complaining over the board radio afterwards.

Tsunoda: 8

A rock-solid weekend for Yuki Tsunoda in front of his own crowd. Under great pressure, the Japanese beat his teammate in qualifying and in the race, helped by a great pit stop by the team, he drove to his seventh point this season.

Hulkenberg: 7

Nico Hulkenberg narrowly missed out on points in Japan. The German had a lousy start, but fought his way back to almost the points with an alternative strategy.

Stroll: 4

A sad weekend for Lance Stroll. The Canadian pointed to his car's top speed, but his teammate showed what was possible with the Aston Martin this weekend. The difference is glaring, especially for a team with ambitions to come out on top.

Magnussen: 5

Kevin Magnussen was again the lesser of the two Haas drivers on Saturday and Sunday this weekend.

Bottas: 7

Valtteri Bottas was driving in 10th place ahead of his pit stop which Tsunoda eventually achieved. However, on exiting the pits, the Finn was behind the four cars with whom he had dived into the pit lane together. So it was certainly not down to the speed of the ten-time race winner that Stake F1 could not score their first points of the season.

Ocon: 6

Esteban Ocon was faster than his teammate, but did make the mistake of squeezing inside at the second start. Gasly had no way to move with a car to his right, damaging both drivers for the rest of the race.

Gasly: 5

Pierre Gasly was again beaten in qualifying by his teammate this weekend and hardly featured in the race, partly due to the aforementioned incident.

Sargeant: 5

Logan Sargeant was still within two tenths of Albon in qualifying and drove a reasonable race. However, things went wrong again and the American shot straight ahead. Lucky for him that he didn't hit the wall, but that he, out of all everyone, was in the gravel again was no coincidence.

Guanyu Zhou, Daniel Ricciardo and Alexander Albon did not get a grade due to their dropouts in the race. In Ricciardo's case, the editors hesitated because it seemed the crash was his fault. This, however, followed the stewards' judgement that it would be a racing incident.

GPblog Rankings after Japan