2022 F1 British GP: Driver Ratings

The 2022 F1 British GP was a bit of a weird one. In between all the drama, the stoppages, and whatnot were some impressive drives up and down the grid. Sure, Carlos Sainz stands out as the driver that takes home 25 points when all is said and done, but how did all other drivers fare at the 2022 F1 British GP? Let's find out in the drivers' rating!

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2022 F1 British GP: Rating the drivers!

Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton (Started: 5th, Finished: 3rd)

Rating: 8

Lewis Hamilton is starting to gain confidence in the car and is building momentum with two consecutive points. Having said that, while this was a strong drive, it lacked the finishing touches. For once, Hamilton was losing out to his fellow drivers in wheel-to-wheel battles. Losing out to Lando Norris at the start of the race and then getting hustled mercilessly by both Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc was not expected. He'd still take a podium at the British GP any day.

George Russell (Started: 8th, Finished: DNF)

Rating: 3

The 2022 F1 British GP went down as the first off-weekend for George Russell. The Mercedes driver had a pretty average qualifying as he could only be 8th fastest. His race did not last beyond the first turn despite his best efforts to take part in the restart.

Red Bull

Max Verstappen (Started: 2nd, Finished: 7th)

Rating: 8

After all is said and done, Max Verstappen will not be too disheartened by the 2022 F1 British GP. Before the damage to his car, it did appear as if he was destined for the seventh win of the season. Now, that didn't happen, but even then, in a bad race for the Dutch driver, he was still able to score a 7th and execute a damage limitation drive the best he could.

Sergio Perez (Started: 4th, Finished: 2nd)

Rating: 9

That was a mega drive by Sergio Perez and considering the fact that he was last after his early wing change, a P2 finish was a fantastic one. His overtakes on both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were a thing of beauty as he sneaked up on both of them during the SC restart.

Ferrari

Charles Leclerc (Started: 3rd, Finished: 4th)

Rating: 9.5

No driver on the grid deserved a win more than Charles Leclerc. The Monegasque driver was sensational in his defense late in the race and to add to that, the speed shown by him with a broken front wing was very impressive as well. Overall, Leclerc showed that he belongs in the top tier of F1. His team, however, didn't.

Carlos Sainz (Started: 1st, Finished: 1st)

Rating: 9

Carlos Sainz proved once again this season how race-aware he is and how much of an influence he has within the team. The Spaniard was defiant when it came to the team orders of letting Charles Leclerc through. Sainz also made it clear he was not going to play the support act when Ferrari asked him to back off and help Leclerc during the safety car restart.

McLaren

Lando Norris (Started: 6th, Finished: 6th)

Rating: 8

Lando Norris has made it a point to put together a strong weekend whenever McLaren is competitive. The 2022 F1 British GP was no different as once it became clear that McLaren could be a contender early in the week, Norris extracted every ounce of performance from the car. If it wasn't for McLaren's slow reactions when it came to pitstops, Norris would have been 5th but he will take the 6th position for now for the team.

Daniel Ricciardo (Started: 14th, Finished: 13th)

Rating: 4

This was a shocker from Daniel Ricciardo. Woefully off the pace of his teammate and fighting outside of points while his teammate is in the lead group is not just "disappointing" anymore.

For a driver that bags home close to $20mn every season, that's not the kind of drive that McLaren expects. Ricciardo needs to sort this out soon or else risk losing his seat at McLaren.

Alpine

Fernando Alonso (Started: 7th, Finished: 5th)

Rating: 8

Fernando Alonso is starting to have fun in F1 again. Why? Because after a horrible run at the start of the season, he's starting to put things together. The 2022 F1 British GP was the drive of a top-quality driver that Alonso is and the results reflect that.

Esteban Ocon (Started: 15th, Finished: DNF)

Rating: 7

In hindsight, Esteban Ocon was never destined to do well at the 2022 F1 British GP. He was caught in ill-timed rain on Saturday. He was then a passenger in the first-lap collision with Alex Albon that destroyed his front left.

In the race, Ocon was close to a second per lap down from his teammate's pace and a lot of it could be put down to the damage incurred on the first lap. Regardless, after fending off the likes of Nicholas Latifi and others, Ocon was 7th behind his teammate in the standings when the final knockout blow hit him. The power unit failure-induced DNF will be painful, but it caps off a weekend where Ocon was once again playing catch-up with his teammate.

Alpha Tauri

Pierre Gasly (Started: 11th, Finished: DNF)

Rating: 5

Pierre Gasly did his best to make the most of the good start he had. Once the race started unraveling, however, it became clear that he had nothing against the Alpines or even his teammate chasing him. The spin was Yuki Tsunoda's fault, but Gasly too should have been more sensible while fighting his teammate.

Yuki Tsunoda (Started: 13th, Finished: 14th)

Rating: 5

The Yuki Tsunoda of old returned to the 2022 F1 British GP once again as the Japanese driver's opportunistic attempt on his teammate led to tears for the entire team. Tsunoda has shown this season that he has speed, a lot of it! There's, however, still that final polish that his skills need, which was evident during the race.

Aston Martin

Sebastian Vettel (Started: 18th, Finished: 9th)

Rating: 8

Sebastian Vettel is driving as well as some of the better drivers this season and he's done that a bit away from the spotlight. It was a smart strategy to pit Vettel early in the race and let him do a long second stint in the clear air.

What wasn't smart was putting Sebastian Vettel on medium tires for the Safety car restart as the German was in a similar predicament to Charles Leclerc at the front, defending the position from the cars with fresh soft tires on them. To think about it, Vettel could have been 7th after starting from 18th shows how impressive, the German was.

Lance Stroll (Started: 20th, Finished: 11th)

Rating: 5

This was another race where Lance Stroll's result at the end of the race flattered his overall performance. The Canadian driver has been significantly slower than his teammate all season and the 2022 F1 British GP was no different. The P11, in the end, might not look as bad as compared to Sebastian Vettel's P9, but Vettel was destined for P7 and more than a pitstop ahead when the Safety Car neutralized everything.

The narrative is against Lance Stroll at the moment. It will be interesting to see if he can change it.

Alfa Romeo

Valtteri Bottas (Started: 12th, Finished: DNF)

Rating: 6

It was a somewhat anonymous 2022 F1 British GP weekend for Valtteri Bottas as he was once again out-qualified by his teammate. The race was unfolding quite promisingly from Bottas before the DNF and maybe a points-scoring opportunity was there as well. Regardless, not one of the better ones for the Finn.

Guanyu Zhou (Started: 9th, Finished: DNF)

Rating: 7

Before the horrible crash at the start of the 2022 F1 British GP, Guanyu Zhou had put together another impressive result as he out-qualified his teammate once again. The accident was unfortunate and maybe an investigation should have taken place into what happened. Regardless, Zhou is starting to put together some strong results within the team and Bottas might need to start looking over his shoulder.

Haas F1

Kevin Magnussen (Started: 17th, Finished: 10th)

Rating: 7.5

Benefitting from the first-lap chaos, Magnussen was able to climb a few spots early on. From that point onwards, it was all about pace management that the Haas driver did perfectly. 17th to 10th is very impressive from the driver and the team as well.

Mick Schumacher (Started: 19th, Finished: 8th)

Rating: 8.5

This was a much-needed points finish for the German and hopefully the first of many that he scores this season. At the same time, though, kudos need to be given to Mick for his ability to bounce back after the kind of criticism he's had to deal with.

This was a high-level performance as he was the quicker Haas driver and then made use of a strong strategy to get the jump on Sebastian Vettel later in the race. Add more consistency to his game and the youngster would have proved his worth in F1.

Williams

Alex Albon (Started: 16th, Finished: DNF)

Rating: 4

It was a promising British GP that went into the gutter for Albon. He looked strong enough in all sessions leading to Q1 where the team's strategy of doing a cool-off lap before pushing forced his elimination. In the race, we all saw what happened as the outing ended very early for the young driver. For Albon's sake, hope he's doing well as returns to race at the Austrian GP.

Nicholas Latifi (Started 10th, Finished: 12th)

Rating: 7

It was a standout weekend for Nicholas Latifi in the 2022 F1 season. He secured a Q3 slot which was impressive. He made a good start to the race which was also good. After that, though, the car's deficiencies took over as Latifi could only finish 12th. Still, one of the better displays by the Canadian at the 2022 F1 British GP.