POWER RANKINGS: Who will make it into the top 10 after a tough Spanish Grand Prix? | Formula 1®
Max Verstappen claimed a comfortable win at this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix and tops the leaderboard again this week, but who else caught the judges’ attention? The results come from Barcelona.
How it works
• Our five-person jury evaluates each driver after each Grand Prix and gives them a maximum of 10 points according to their performance over the weekend – without any machines
• Our experts’ results are then averaged to determine a race result. These results are then aggregated across the season in our overall power rankings (bottom of page).
Verstappen was at his best all weekend, leading all practice sessions, qualifying on pole and leading every lap of the race en route to a dominant win. He also set the fastest lap to flex his muscles and extended his lead at the top of the drivers’ standings to 53 points. Just beautiful.
READ MORE: ‘We have to keep working’ – Verstappen vows not to let up after fifth win in 2023 as he prepares for Mercedes challenge
After the fifth qualifying session, Hamilton said his plan was to claim victory in his W14. He may not have gotten the win he was craving, but he certainly drove the wheels of his car and managed some impressive passes on the likes of Lance Stroll and Carlos Sainz to finish second.
READ MORE: Hamilton hails ‘really mega’ progress for Mercedes after double podium in Spain
The main point of discussion at Zhou’s race was the stewards’ decision to give Yuki Tsunoda a five-second time penalty for pushing the Alfa Romeo driver off the track, which allowed him to gain a place. But if you only talked about this incident, you would be doing Zhou’s race a disservice.
Starting 13th, Zhou fought his way through the field and displayed impressive tire management skills and passing skills to break into the top 10 and score his first points for Alfa Romeo since Melbourne.
READ MORE: 5 winners and 5 losers of the Spanish Grand Prix – who shone in Spain?
It’s been quite a weekend for Russell as he could have been forgiven for feeling a bit depressed after retiring in Q2 whilst oddly merging with his teammate on the main straight in qualifying. But we got to see the best of the Brit on Sunday during the race.
After a brilliant start and a series of special overtaking manoeuvres, he finished third ahead of Sergio Perez. This means Russell became the first rider this season to beat a Red Bull after starting behind him – Russell started 12th, behind Perez in 11th.
READ MORE: ‘We have our sights set on victory’ – Russell wants more after superbly finishing third from P12
After his podium in Monaco and a sixth place start in Spain, finishing eighth doesn’t seem like the best result for Ocon. But it was once again the understated yet professional performance we’ve come to expect from the Frenchman from his Alpine days. He continues to deliver performance for the team and is helping it cement fifth place in the championship.
READ MORE: Ocon says Alpine took a “huge step forward” and insists they can continue the progress
Tsunoda has had a number of heartbreaking moments this season and was dismayed to learn that the five-second penalty he received for the Zhou incident had knocked him down from ninth to twelfth place.
But it was another strong ride for the AlphaTauri racer who continues to push the team in the battle for points. It will be difficult for him to miss the points but if he continues to ride like he has been doing all season he will be no stranger to the top 10.
READ MORE: Tsunoda upset with ‘tough’ penalty while De Vries makes further ‘good progress’ at Barcelona
Stroll arrived in Spain after scoring some poor results in Miami and Monaco where he failed to score. But the Canadian put in a much more confident performance this weekend, qualifying sixth and managing an impressive early-stage pass on Lewis Hamilton to take third.
Unfortunately, he and Aston Martin just didn’t have the pace to challenge for the podium this weekend, but sixth place is a welcome return to form for Stroll.
READ MORE: Alonso explains why he didn’t attack teammate Stroll, who finished sixth, in the final laps of the Spanish GP
Sainz may not have gotten that podium at home that he would have dreamed of, but it wasn’t for lack of effort. After an excellent qualifying, he started the race from second, but unfortunately he just didn’t have the pace to keep up with the Red Bulls and the Mercedes. But it was still one of his stronger weekends and one to be proud of.
READ MORE: “I did my best,” says Sainz. He is “disappointed” when he doesn’t make it onto the podium at home
It’s fair to say that Saturday didn’t go as planned for Perez as he came close to being eliminated in the first quarter before exiting the second quarter session. However, he was in much better form on Sunday and used the pace of the RB19 to fight his way through the field.
Unfortunately he just didn’t have enough time to put Russell in third place but after a tough performance in Monaco and his difficulties in qualifying it was the kind of drive on Sunday that will give the Mexican confidence going forward.
READ MORE: ‘It is what it is’ – Perez regrets costly performance in Spain qualifying but wants to reset and ‘come back strong’
Gasly would have hoped to do better after qualifying fourth on Saturday, but a six-place drop on the grid for handicapping Sainz and then Verstappen dashed his hopes of a first podium with Alpine as he was forced to withdraw from the grid tenth place to start.
The situation got worse after a poor start and he went through the grass on the exit of Turn 2 and fell back in the order. But he fought his way through with some great maneuvers and finished 11th before also benefiting from Tsunoda’s penalty and taking a single point.
Miss
Fernando Alonso misses out on the top 10 for the first time this season after finishing the Spanish Grand Prix in seventh place, while Alex Albon also falls just short of the finish line after ending up in a Williams that has been struggling all weekend crossed the checkered flag in 16th place.