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Sergio Perez was the star at the 2023 F1 Saudi Arabian GP. The Red Bull driver secured pole position, led the race, and then fended off teammate Max Verstappen to secure his fifth GP win.
The Mexican is now one point behind the reigning double world champion in the standings after two races and will be extremely confident heading into the next race of the 2023 season in Australia.
Having said that, how did every other driver fare in the 2023 F1 Saudi Arabian GP? Well, let's take a look at our driver ratings.
2023 F1 Saudi Arabian GP: Rating the drivers
Red Bull
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Max Verstappen (Started: 15th, Finished: 2nd)
Rating: 8.5
Max Verstappen would most likely have won the 2023 F1 Saudi Arabian GP had he not suffered a driveshaft failure in qualifying. Having said that, the Red Bull driver did have the opportunity to attack Perez on the hard tires but he failed to make it happen.
It was still an impressive weekend from Max but he would not be happy going home with a slender lead in the championship after the second race of the season.
Sergio Perez (Started: 1st, Finished: 1st)
Rating: 10
Sergio Perez did what he had to at the 2023 F1 Saudi Arabian GP. He secured pole position as Verstappen was eliminated in Q2, he secured the lead and then held off the Dutchman after the safety car period. It wasn't a 'lucky' win any which way, as Perez went head-to-head with Verstappen and got the job done admirably.
Ferrari
Charles Leclerc (Started: 12th, Finished: 7th)
Rating: 8
Not the best of weekends for Ferrari and Charles Leclerc. The qualifying lap was a stunner as he continues to impress everyone over a lap. The race pace at the 2023 F1 Saudi Arabian GP was less than desirable. Leclerc made good progress on the soft tires in the first part but once everything settled down in the second part of the race, there wasn't much he could do.
He is still the better driver at Ferrari but is arguably limited by what the machine can deliver on the track.
Carlos Sainz (Started: 4th, Finished: 6th)
Rating: 7
Carlos Sainz is keeping things consistent and plugging away at the lead group. Fortunately for him, unlike last season, he's not chucking it into the wall every race weekend. Unfortunately, the gap to Leclerc is as pronounced as it was last season.
The 2023 F1 Saudi Arabian GP was no different as once again the Spaniard trailed his teammate in terms of pace. Getting jumped first by Lane Stroll and then by Lewis Hamilton would not have felt great either.
Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton (Started: 7th, Finished: 5th)
Rating: 6.5
On paper, the 2023 F1 Saudi Arabian GP weekend does not look as bad for Lewis Hamilton, but the reality is somewhat different. The Mercedes driver struggled to keep up with his teammate in qualifying and struggled in the race early on with hard tires.
The safety car neutralized things and shuffled Hamilton up the order as he pulled off an impressive pass over Sainz. Having said that, the pace was just not there to do much else as Lewis trailed his teammates home in P5.
George Russell (Started: 3rd, Finished: 4th)
Rating: 9.5
A very impressive race weekend put together by George Russell. The Briton put together an impressive lap that helped him qualify in the second row. What followed was a 2023 F1 Saudi Arabian GP where Russell extracted every bit of performance from the Mercedes.
Alpine
Pierre Gasly (Started: 9th, Finished: 9th)
Rating: 7
Decent weekend for Pierre Gasly as he finished the 2023 F1 Saudi Arabian GP trailing his teammate on the track. There were some low points, though, as Gasly continued to struggle when it came to extracting the most out of the car over a single lap. Getting out-qualified by teammate Esteban Ocon on Saturday and outraced on Sunday is probably not the best for the French driver but it is still early days in the season.
Esteban Ocon (Started: 6th, Finished: 8th)
Rating: 8.5
Ocon extracted the maximum that he could from the car. Outqualifying a Mercedes was very impressive and showed that Alpine is an outside contender in the top four battle. Having said that, reality struck in the race when Ocon did not have the pace to compete with the Mercedes or Ferrari drivers.
P8 was the best that Ocon could do in that car as he secured his first points of the season.
McLaren
Lando Norris (Started: 19th, Finished: 17th)
Rating: 4
One of the worst race weekends from Lando Norris in a long time! The McLaren driver made an uncharacteristic error in qualifying that got him eliminated. The race wasn't much better as early race damage meant there wasn't much he could do. Losing out to teammate Oscar Piastri was the final nail in the proverbial coffin at a disappointing 2023 F1 Saudi Arabian GP.
Oscar Piastri (Started: 9th, Finished: 15th)
Rating: 8
Oscar proved during the 2023 F1 Saudi Arabian GP race weekend that he was the real deal. Dragging McLaren into Q3 was a major surprise for everyone. Early damage in the race was unfortunate but by then Piastri had already shown what kind of impact he could potentially make in an F1 car.
Alfa Romeo
Valtteri Bottas (Started: 14th, Finished: 18th)
Rating: 3
Valtteri Bottas had a horror run in the 2023 F1 Saudi Arabian GP. The Finnish driver was outperformed by his teammate and looked all at sea throughout the weekend. After a strong start in Bahrain, the race in Saudi should come as a surprise for the Alfa Romeo driver.
Guanyu Zhou (Started: 11th, Finished: 13th)
Rating: 7
An impressive weekend for Zhou Guanyu as he completely outclassed Bottas in the other car. Alfa Romeo did not have the pace to compete for points but the Chinese driver showed enough resolve to extract whatever he could from the car.
Aston Martin
Fernando Alonso (Started: 2nd, Finished: 3rd)
Rating: 8.5
If we ignore the error on the starting grid for Fernando Alonso, this was as perfect a weekend he could put together as possible. The Spaniard placed the car where it deserved to be, stayed close to Perez for as long as he could, and then managed his race brilliantly. A fantastic addition to Aston Martin in every way possible.
Lance Stroll (Started: 5th, Finished: DNF)
Rating: 7
Lance has been performing the role of the supporting cast to Fernando Alonso to perfection. The Canadian was on course for a good result in the 2023 F1 Saudi Arabian GP as well if it wasn't for the reliability issue.
Haas F1
Kevin Magnussen (Started: 13th, Finished: 10th)
Rating: 8
A very impressive race weekend for Kevin Magnussen as he secured Haas' first point of the season. The Danish driver showed his gritty side as he jumped Nico Hulkenberg in the pitstops and never looked back after that. The overtake of Yuki Tsunoda was beautiful as well.
Nico Hulkenberg (Started: 10th, Finished: 12th)
Rating: 7
The German still does not completely understand how to manage a race stint by the looks of it. Hulkenberg's single-lap pace is already spectacular as he continues to blitz Magnussen. Having said that, the race pace needs some work.
AlphaTauri
Nyck de Vries (Started: 18th, Finished: 14th)
Rating: 6.5
Nyck de Vries has found it hard to keep up with teammate Yuki Tsunoda in the first few races. It hasn't helped either that Helmut Marko has singled him out already after the first race of the season. De Vries played catch-up to Tsunoda at the 2023 F1 Saudi Arabian GP once again as he finished only the third race of his career.
Yuki Tsunoda (Started: 16th, Finished: 11th)
Rating: 8.5
Yuki is driving the wheels off that AlphaTauri and almost scored points at the 2023 F1 Saudi Arabian GP. The Japanese driver has leveled up this season by the looks of it and has been very impressive in the first two races.
Williams
Alex Albon (Started: 17th, Finished: DNF)
Rating: 6
Alex Albon must have left the 2023 F1 Saudi Arabian GP feeling disappointed as there was certainly more on the table. Williams, with its low downforce setup, was expected to fare much better than it did and Albon too was unable to make the most of the package.
Logan Sargeant (Started: 20th, Finished: 16)
Rating: 7
Logan Sargeant's first lap in Q3 was a thing of beauty but the American lost his head when the lap was deleted due to track limits infringement. The 2023 F1 Saudi Arabian GP was spent fending off the two McLarens but there are already signs that Logan is a major upgrade over Nicholas Latifi.
