2023 F1 Dutch GP: Driver ratings

The 2023 F1 Dutch GP is now done and dusted and what a race that was. We had rain at the start, a dry spell in the middle and then once again rain at the end of the race. For a driver, there could not have been a worse challenge (especially if you're making your debut, poor Liam Lawson).

In all of this though, there were still a lot of drivers that passed with flying colors while there were a few that had a shocker of a weekend. How did every driver fare though? Let's take a look at our driver ratings for the 2023 F1 Dutch GP.

Criteria for rating: When we rate the drivers, there are a few things that we take into consideration.

These are:

• Performance in both qualifying and race
• Results achieved compared to the potential of the car
• How many mistakes were made over the weekend
• Relative performance against their teammate

2023 F1 Dutch GP: Rating the drivers

Red Bull

Max Verstappen (Started: 1st, Finished: 1st)

Rating: 10

It was perfection from Max Verstappen from qualifying to the race and whenever there was a moment of doubt or challenge he overcame it quite brilliantly.

Starting with the final lap in qualifying to the early laps in the race, it's just the hallmark of a driver who is almost unbeatable at the moment.

Sergio Perez (Started: 7th, Finished: 4th)

Rating: 6

Except for a moment at the front of the race in the 2023 F1 Dutch GP where the gamble to pit for inters early in the race worked like a charm, Sergio Perez had a weekend to forget. The driver was nowhere close to his teammate in terms of pace, almost half a second slower at times.

Then the mistakes that cost him first a P2 and then a P3, the Mexican needs a better result in the upcoming races if he wants to keep his seat.

Ferrari

Charles Leclerc (Started: 9th, Finished: DNF)

Rating: 4

Charles Leclerc revealed that he was neither pushing too hard nor over the limit when he crashed in qualifying. He also admitted that it was still his mistake that he crashed.

In the race, the first lap contact with Oscar Piastri pretty much ended his race even though he executed a brilliant call himself of pitting for inters. Overall another poor weekend from the driver.

Carlos Sainz (Started: 6th, Finished: 4th)

Rating: 7.5

On paper, a P4 looks great for Carlos Sainz when his teammate scored zilch but in fairness, this does not look good in any way if we watch the race. Getting overtaken by an Alpine and losing a podium because of that was poor in a race where a top 3 result was on a platter for the team.

Overall it was still a strong haul of points but it all looks doom and gloom at Ferrari.

Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton (Started: 13th, Finished: 6th)

Rating: 6.5

Lewis Hamilton said himself that he should have been fighting with Max at the 2023 F1 Dutch GP. Well, he didn't have a poor qualifying meant he started at the back of the grid.

A poor call at the start of the race to not pit meant he was dead last at one stage. It was a great recovery drive and the optics might look good but the result is a P6 which is poor for Mercedes.

George Russell (Started: 3rd, Finished: DNF)

Rating: 6

It was a stunningly impressive drive from George Russell to P3 in qualifying but the 2023 F1 Dutch GP had other ideas for him. A poor call at the start of the race compromised George and then the recovery act later in the race was further compromised by his contact with Lando Norris.

Russell needed a good result in Zandvoort, but he didn't get it, unfortunately.

Alpine

Pierre Gasly (Started: 12th, Finished: 3rd)

Rating: 10

Has Pierre Gasly taken away the entire momentum from Esteban Ocon at Alpine? Looks like it. This was a brilliant weekend where the French driver showed brilliance in so many ways.

He hit the sweet spot with the car this weekend and the kind of speed he showed and his presence of mind helped him get this result.

Esteban Ocon (Started: 16th, Finished: 10th)

Rating: 5

Esteban Ocon is in the worst place possible at Alpine as his teammate struck form in the 2023 F1 Dutch GP while he had a stinker of a weekend.

An overall poor weekend for the French driver who will be hoping to bounce back in Monza.

McLaren

Lando Norris (Started: 2nd, Finished: 7th)

Rating: 6.5

A brilliant qualifying and a poor race. Not much to say for Lando Norris as this was entirely a race compromised by poor overall execution.

The team is still not entirely ready to be a consistent frontrunner and it showed.

Oscar Piastri (Started: 9th, Finished: 8th)

Rating: 6

A poor qualifying but a somewhat decent race should sum up Oscar Piastri's weekend.

The driver is still not on the level of his teammate and lacks the finer intricacies. The raw pace is there and it is certainly impressive.

Alfa Romeo

Valtteri Bottas (Started: 18th, Finished: 15th)

Rating: 5

Another anonymous weekend for Valtteri Bottas. Alfa Romeo doesn't love the wet weather and Bottas himself has never been a fan of it either.

A 'point-less' 2023 F1 Dutch GP adds to a list of quite a few races this season.

Guanyu Zhou (Started: 15th, Finished: DNF)

Rating: 5.5

There were flashes where Guanyu Zhou made his way into the top 10 with an impressive strategy. In all of this though, the crash at the end of the 2023 F1 Dutch GP still sticks out.

There are rumors of Sauber looking for options beyond Zhou and this result certainly didn't quell them in any way.

Aston Martin

Fernando Alonso (Started: 5th, Finished: 2nd)

Rating: 10

A better Aston Martin meant Fernando Alonso worked his magic once again. Some of his overtakes at the banking were sensational and there's no other way to explain them.

This was vintage Alonso and one could say it's only the car that separates him and Max in these weekends.

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

Rating: 4

When your teammate secures podiums and you don't even score a point in the same car then that shows where the fault lies.

The rumors of Lance Stroll pursuing Tennis were foolish, what's worse is him being the dead weight at Aston Martin.

Haas F1

Kevin Magnussen (Started: Pitlane, Finished: 14th)

Rating: 5.5

A poor qualifying where he could not get the maximum out of the car and then a chaotic race where the car just didn't have the pace to make an impression has become a template for a Kevin Magnussen race weekend. The 2023 F1 Dutch GP was no different.

Nico Hulkenberg (Started: 14th, Finished: 12th)

Rating: 7

A P14 was the maximum that Haas could get in qualifying and Nico Hulkenberg got that done. In the race as well you could see how limited the German was with the car when the red flag restart saw him not hounding an Aston Martin in wet conditions.

With Sergio Perez's fading reputation at Red Bull, Hulkenberg might be thinking he signed the Haas extension too early.

AlphaTauri

Liam Lawson(Started: 19th, Finished: 13th)

Rating: 7

The best part of Liam Lawson's weekend was that he didn't crash during the 2023 F1 Dutch GP. With the kind of variables thrown at the New Zealander, he did a good job by keeping the car on the black stuff.

Yuki Tsunoda (Started: 17th, Finished: 16th)

Rating: 6

The impending penalty for Yuki Tsunoda was hard to understand but what wasn't that hard was how his drive. He kept a level head when the team decided to not pit him again for a fresh set of tires.

The contact with George Russell was just clumsy and maybe Yuki should have been more angry about the impeding penalty than this one.

Williams

Alex Albon (Started: 4th, Finished: 8th)

Rating: 8.5

The best part about the 2023 F1 Dutch GP for Alex Albon was that he kept it on the road while Logan Sargeant went ahead and crashed his Williams whenever he got a chance.

A brilliant weekend for Albon as he continues to grow his reputation.

Logan Sargeant (Started: 10th, Finished: DNF)

Rating: 3

The 2023 F1 Dutch GP was the perfect showcase for Logan Sargeant and once again he failed. The driver needed to keep the car on the track and the results would have come to him. He didn't do that and now he risks losing his seat.

The 2023 F1 Dutch GP was the first and Monza in the coming weekend will be the second and arguably last opportunity to save his seat for Logan. It will be interesting to see how he responds.