F1 Driver Power Rankings Round 6
Here’s how the pecking order stands following Round Six of the 2021 F1 Season
The Formula One calendar is a mess at the moment, with the cancellation of Singapore this week throwing further question marks over just how many races we have left in this 2021 season.
However, we do know that we’ve managed to get through the opening six races of the season and there is now a two week break before the first triple header of the season.
That means it’s the perfect time to re-evaluate and update the Unofficial Definitive Driver Power Rankings of F1 Drivers 2021 (UDDPR F1 2021 for short, obviously).
The top 10 has seen quite the shake up in the last three races as the drivers who switched teams all began to get more accustomed to their new cars over the last three Grands Prix.
Plus, there’s been an unexpected winner, an unexpected pole sitter and more than a few upset podium winners.
10. Daniel Ricciardo (-3)
The Australian is struggling more than any driver who swapped teams from 2020. While his teammate has earned two podiums this season, Ricciardo has been toiling away in the lower points positions or even battling for 12th.
Monaco saw one of the lowest points of his F1 career as he was lapped by Lando Norris.
However, despite still obviously struggling to get to grips with the car he has still managed a decent overall points haul. The 31-year old earned a few points amid all the chaos of the final few laps in Baku and even managed to out-score Norris in Spain, coming sixth.
The next three races will be a good opportunity to finally start getting into a rhythm with the MCL35M, especially given the double header in Austria.
If he is still well off the pace compared to his teammate by then there will be major reason for concern, but for now Ricciardo has done more than enough to earn some benefit of the doubt.
9. Esteban Ocon (-1)
Esteban Ocon has gone under the radar at the start of this season. His teammate has taken a lot of the spotlight — which is only natural when that’s Fernando Alonso — but the Frenchman has been doing a very solid job for Alpine.
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend was difficult for Ocon. He couldn’t get a second run in during Q2 due to red flags, which meant he qualified in 12th and then a mechanical failure ended his race on lap one.
However, two solid point scoring positions in Spain and Monaco were enough to keep him in the top 10.
The Alpine clearly struggled in the tight streets of Monaco, with Alonso way down in 14th for the majority of the race. Despite that, Ocon managed to secure two points for the team, coming home in ninth place.
Ocon also managed a ninth place finish in Spain. This was impressive again as the Alpine strategy to attempt a one-stop when everyone else two-stopped left both their drivers as sitting ducks in the final handful of laps.
The car had good pace during that entire weekend and a commitment to a two-stop strategy might’ve brought more points home for the team. But Ocon managed to still bring home two more even as his car rapidly fell off the pace by the chequered flag.
8. Sebastian Vettel (New!)
Spain was a difficult weekend for the four time world champion, but the performances from Sebastian Vettel in Monaco and Baku were just what the German needed to recapture the spark that had looked lost.
Vettel’s form had fallen off a cliff by the end of his time at Ferrari and he was struggling with adaptation to the new Aston Martin car for the start of 2021. But these last two races have shown us just how good Vettel can be.
He was unlucky to be 11th on the grid in Azerbaijan, but he expertly managed his fresher soft tyres to get a massive overcut on multiple cars to set himself up in seventh before Lance Stroll’s tyre exploded on lap 31.
The bunched up field from the ensuing Safety Car allowed Vettel to take advantage of his fresher rubber to get ahead of his former Ferrari teammate, Charles Leclerc, and Pierre Gasly.
It was a hard fought podium finish by the time the chaotic race in Baku finished. Coming from 11th to second earned him a deserved Driver of the Day award, too.
Vettel’s performance in Monaco followed a similar story, with an overcut strategy working perfectly to come home with his first points with his new team in a very respectable fifth place.
If Vettel can keep this form up then he will be one of the key figures to watch for the rest of this season.
7. Carlos Sainz (-1)
Dependable Carlos Sainz has maintained his reputation despite the difficulties that come with joining Ferrari.
A mistake at Turn Eight cost him points in Baku, but he’s been otherwise flawless over the last three race weekends.
The Spaniard has shown the pace and determination that drew Ferrari towards him when looking for a Vettel replacement. Seventh place in Spain was a solid result for the team and ninth in Baku helped keep the team ahead of McLaren in the battle for third in the Constructors Championship.
But most importantly was his pace in Monaco.
When Leclerc was unable to start the race due to a driveshaft issue, Sainz was Ferrari’s only hope for a successful weekend. The 26-year old delivered the team its first podium of the season with a fantastic second place finish.
If it wasn’t for Leclerc’s crash causing a premature end to Q3 in Monaco then perhaps he could’ve even put his Ferrari on pole, which surely would’ve given him a great opportunity to earn his first F1 win.
6. Pierre Gasly (+3)
Pierre Gasly’s biggest mistake over the last three races was quite amateurish but he has more than made up for it with his last three performances.
At the start of the Spanish Grand Prix, Gasly misjudged his start box and earned a silly five-second penalty. However, he recovered from his mistake to take home the final points scoring position.
The Frenchman then followed up that result by bagging plenty of points for Alpha Tauri. He managed to keep seven time world champion Lewis Hamilton at bay in Monaco for the entirety of that race.
Two weeks later, Gasly earned the third podium of his F1 career. A fantastic drive saw him convert his excellent Saturday pace into a Sunday result.
He will want to deliver at his home Grand Prix in the next race, and on the basis of this form then he has every chance of doing so.
5. Lando Norris (-2)
Lando Norris has been the breakout star of the season so far. His performances alongside Carlos Sainz from 2019–2020 indicated the young Briton was a talented driver, but his start to 2021 has shown that he maybe has the potential to even become a world champion.
Norris’ form in the last three races has been fine, if not spectacular. However, a podium in Monaco is without a doubt the highlight. McLaren were not expecting to be as close to the front-runners as they ended up being, and Norris did superbly to take advantage of the situation to take a second podium of the season.
Despite some good fortune in front of him, Norris did superbly to hold off the late charge of Sergio Perez to stay in third at the chequered flag.
His performances in Spain and Baku were more subdued but still very solid. Norris is also the only driver to earn points at each of the six races so far this season.
That level of consistency is key to becoming a great driver and if Norris can keep that up then it’ll be a big asset for McLaren in the battle against Ferrari.
4. Lewis Hamilton (-3)
Lewis Hamilton has just had three of the toughest races of his Mercedes tenure. The seven time world champion had to work hard to win in Spain, opting for an early second pit stop. He managed to close a 22-second gap within 20 laps to take his second win of the season.
However, the Mercedes has struggled on the two street circuits and Hamilton has conceded the lead in the championship battle. He will feel both fortunate and hard done by following Baku.
The opportunity was there to take a massive 21 point lead over Verstappen following his DNF, but he was also lucky not to find himself 15 points down, if the Dutchman had finished the race.
Paul Ricard should see Hamilton and Mercedes back on form and back in sync. The 36-year old can simply never be written off, but this was a poor couple of races that showed some cracks in the armour we hadn’t seen before.
In particular, the mistake on the restart at lap 50 in Baku was very uncharacteristic. It was not helped by Hamilton himself commenting that it was a “marathon, not a sprint,” mere moments before the race got back underway.
3. Sergio Perez (+2)
Qualifying pace has still been a problem for the Mexican, but his race pace has come on leaps and bounds over the last three Grands Prix. This culminated in his second ever F1 race victory in Baku — his first for Red Bull.
The win in Azerbaijan came with a slice of luck, given Verstappen’s tyre failure, but he deservedly was in position to inherit the win once the 23-year old crashed out of the race.
To hold back Hamilton for almost 40 laps took supreme skill and complete nerve. Not many drivers could’ve held back the reigning champion for so long without even the slightest mistake.
On top of that, Perez was nursing an issue with the car that could’ve ended his race.
This performance was exactly the kind that Red Bull have missed since the departure of Ricciardo in 2018. Gasly and Alexander Albon lacked the experience of Perez and we’re now seeing how much that is worth to the team.
When the season began, Perez claimed it would take five races to become acclimated to the car and it was in the sixth race that he got the win. More of that and Red Bull will surely be favourites to take the Constructors Championship.
2. Charles Leclerc (+2)
Everyone knew Leclerc had phenomenal one-lap pace but in the last two race weekends the Monegasque showed that he might just have the best qualifying pace of any driver on the grid.
Monaco was heartbreaking for Leclerc, to not even start his home race was such a disappointment — and yes, it was ultimately his mistake that cost him that chance — but to put the Ferrari on pole in consecutive weekends took two great laps.
Qualifying was disrupted by red flags in both Monaco and Azerbaijan. Perhaps with undisturbed runs maybe someone else wins pole position but we will never know now.
His performance in the race in Spain was also a great drive. He kept back the much quicker Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas for the entire first stint and then was comfortably fourth by the end of the Grand Prix.
He was unlucky not to win a podium in Baku. He couldn’t quite convert the last lap pass of Gasly into Turn One, but fourth again was still a very credible finish for the team.
1. Max Verstappen (+1)
Verstappen’s results so far this season have been superb. Second, first, second, second, first and DNF. He was leading the race in Baku with only five laps to go before his tyre blew up and ended his race.
A victory would’ve capped off a near-perfect start to the season for the Dutchman and it would’ve been a deserved victory too as he drove a fantastic race on the tough street circuit.
He too controlled the Monaco Grand Prix from start to finish to earn his first ever victory in the principality.
Beating Hamilton to a championship takes everything. Nico Rosberg was so drained by the experience that he retired from the sport. It isn’t easy to beat the Briton at all, but Verstappen has shown in the opening six races that he has what it takes to bring the fight.
No single race wins a championship, it is the consistency to deliver every time that decides the closest battles.
There was nothing he could do about crashing out in Baku, but everything he has controlled so far has been fantastic to watch and shown a great maturity. If ever there was someone who could step up and fight Hamilton, Verstappen is showing that he is the man to do it.
