F1 Driver Power Rankings Round 9
Where does everyone stack up after an intense triple header?
The Summer Break is around the corner, with only Silverstone and Hungary coming up between now and the four week pause in the middle of the season.
The last three races saw the first triple header for 2021. Two Grands Prix at the Red Bull Ring in Austria were preceded by a thrilling race at Paul Ricard. Proof that anything is possible.
The Championship lead was extended by both Max Verstappen and Red Bull, meaning there is no change at the top of the Unofficial Definitive Driver Power Rankings.
However, there was a lot of action over those three races and with it plenty of changes to the latest Power Rankings!
10. Valtteri Bottas (New!)
The pressure to deliver at Mercedes is exceedingly high. In particular, racing directly against Lewis Hamilton is as tough a test as any driver can get. At times, Bottas has looked lost within the team and devoid of any potential to fight the seven time champion.
However, despite intense rumours that George Russell will be replacing him in the seat for 2022, Bottas’ form has picked up.
The French Grand Prix was a solid showing that was wrecked by his own team’s strategy.
“Why the fuck did nobody listen to me when I said it was a two-stopper? Fucking hel!” exclaimed the Finn moments after being passed for third place by Sergio Perez.
Bottas rightly called the race-winning strategy early in the race but was left hung out to dry by the team. He had the pace to match Hamilton and Verstappen throughout the race but ended up fourth on severely worn tyres.
The two races in Austria, where Bottas has excelled in the past, were a continuation of this improved form.
The three-place grid penalty caused by spinning in the pit lane on Friday practice was another example of the team using him as a guinea pig to test out new ideas and it was costly.
However, he did manage to finish ahead of Hamilton that Saturday and he earned himself a podium in the race. The following week was a more disappointing qualifying performance, starting fifth on merit this time, but a second place finish was about the best he could’ve hoped for given the pace of the Red Bulls.
9. Pierre Gasly (-3)
The Alpha Tauri driver picked up eight points from the triple header. While Gasly’s qualifying pace was consistently good — he qualified sixth at each race — the race pace wasn’t quite there.
The Frenchman was unlucky to have his race ended on lap one after an incident caused by Charles Leclerc at the Styrian Grand Prix. Gasly also suffered the consequence of qualifying into Q3 on the Soft tyres during the second Austrian race and fell back to ninth.
France was a good showing for Gasly. While he dropped to seventh in his home race, he enjoyed some good on-track battles with Lando Norris and the other midfield cars to take home some points while still outclassing his rookie teammate.
8. Fernando Alonso (New!)
The 39-year old claimed that “from France a new championship hopefully starts for me,” after he struggled to keep the pace with teammate Esteban Ocon in the opening five races.
The Frenchman led Alonso 12–5 on points before Baku, but has now out-qualified and out-scored Ocon at each race since to lead 12–20.
Alonso also made Q3 at France and the first Austrian race, while Ocon qualified 11th and 17th. The Spaniard was also blocked during a Q2 lap that could’ve put him into Q3 in the second Austrian race, while Ocon was again knocked out in Q1, placing 17th.
Alonso managed a points finish regardless, enjoying an exciting and clean battle with Russell in the dying stages over 10th place. Alonso also earned an eighth place in France and a ninth in the Styrian Grand Prix.
7. George Russell (New!)
Russell’s quest for a points scoring finish in the Williams rages on, but during the triple header he came as close as ever. A 12th place finish on merit in France was a superb effort, but then both Austrian races were the most heartbreaking finishes yet for the Briton.
Russell was sitting in the points, as high as eighth place, before the first round of pit stops during Austria round one, but then a mechanical issue ended his race prematurely. In round two, that late battle with Alonso went the Spaniard’s way and so Russell was consigned to 11th.
“In a way, when I saw it was George, I felt a bit sad that the battle had to be with him,” said Alonso following the race.
Russell has never been closer to a points scoring finish, while his teammate Nicholas Latifi is still racing against Mick Schumacher.
The impression is that the moment is coming, and perhaps too the moment is coming for his chance to drive for Mercedes, and given this form it is obvious why he is a key part of the future of the reigning champions.
6. Charles Leclerc (-4)
It was a tricky triple header for Leclerc. The change to tyre pressures brought in during the French Grand Prix left Ferrari struggling with degradation. The 16th place finish was the worst result on merit of his Formula One career.
Leclerc’s qualifying pace dropped off as Ferrari adapted to the changes. Seventh in Austria round one was still good, but 12th in round two was not what we have come to expect from the Monégasque.
The incident with Gasly at that first Austrian race was also quite sloppy. While he did manage to recover the race to finish a creditable seventh place, the potential was there for a better race result with more careful driving.
An eighth place finish was also quite unlucky at Austria round two. He lost time twice due to incidents with Perez, so could have finished sixth or maybe even fifth in that race had he been given the space to fight the Mexican, who was punished for his aggressive racing.
However, Leclerc is starting to lose ground on his teammate, which will need to be rectified soon to re-assert himself as the top dog in Ferrari.
5. Sergio Perez (-2)
Perez earned his second podium in a row by coming third in France. He was one of only two drivers to adequately pull off the one-stop strategy that day and it helped earn the team its first double podium of the season, as well as helping Verstappen to victory.
This was the race that showed how valuable Perez is as a teammate to the Dutchman.
Austria was less straightforward for the 31-year old. He started ahead of Bottas for round one due to the Finn’s grid penalty and stayed ahead of him before a slow pit stop cost him the position.
He was unable to recover the place despite an aggressive second stop, finishing half a second behind the Mercedes driver.
Perez finally out-qualified both Mercedes drivers on merit at Austria round two, but the collision with Norris sent him down to 10th place.
The Mexican had a scrappy race following that incident and earned himself two penalties worth 10 seconds while battling with Leclerc. Despite this, he was within one second of recovering to fifth place, and sixth with a damaged car was still an okay result.
4. Carlos Sainz (+3)
Four drivers switched teams between 2020 and 2021, one legend of the sport returned from the sport and three rookies joined the field. Of these eight drivers, Carlos Sainz has proven himself to be the quickest in their new car.
The other seven are all getting comfortable in their new teams to varying degrees, but Sainz has fit like a glove to Ferrari and these last two races have been a great showcase for that.
France was a difficult weekend for Ferrari, but in Austria Sainz showed the best tyre management of anyone to complete two long stints that meant he had extra rubber to burn at the end of the race. He put those fresh tyres to good use to earn a sixth and fifth place finish for the team.
Sainz now finds himself only two points behind Leclerc after nine races and has out-qualified the 23-year old three times already, despite Leclerc’s experience in the car and his rapid pace over one lap.
This is currently the most intense teammate battle and Sainz has done extremely well to be in that kind of position.
3. Lewis Hamilton (+1)
Hamilton lost 18 points to Verstappen over these three races, but was still as consistent as ever to ensure it wasn’t anymore.
The French Grand Prix was decided with an overtake on the penultimate lap, but it was only because of the Briton’s tyre preservation skills that it took so long for Verstappen to catch up to the race leader.
There was little Hamilton could’ve done to stop the Dutchman once he caught up, but he almost made it on much worse tyres.
Austria is not a track that Hamilton has excelled on in the past, but he was comfortably second in both races there. It was a humbling result to finish so far behind the Red Bull at both races, but he still finished ahead of Perez at both races and damage to the rear of his car prevented him from doing the same to Bottas.
2. Lando Norris (+3)
Norris really asserted himself as the best of the midfield over these three races. Fifth, fifth and third were as good a set of results as he could’ve possibly hoped for.
A superb race in France saw him pull off the one-stop and make several overtaking moves to finish best of the rest.
Meanwhile, great qualifying performances at both Austrian races put him in the best position possible to maximise his points-scoring potential.
Perhaps a five second penalty cost him second in Austria round two, but there are various reasons to argue that actually third was the best possible result for the McLaren driver, and a third podium of the season is not something to be sniffed at.
Norris still leads Bottas in the drivers standings, by nine points, which is a testament to how impressive he has been so far this season. He also remains the only driver to score at every Grand Prix in 2021.
1. Max Verstappen (+/-)
What is left to say about Verstappen? This was the first hat trick of wins by a Honda driver since Aryton Senna in 1991. This was the first time a driver won three races in two weeks in F1 history. This was the weekend where Verstappen became the youngest ever grand slam race winner in F1 history.
France was hard fought, but Austrias races were the most comfortable of his career.
To top it all off, he won the third race of this triple header by leading every lap, getting the fastest lap and finishing 17.9s clear of second despite taking an extra pit stop.
We are witnessing excellence and Verstappen’s championship lead now looks ominous.
