2022 F1 Brazilian GP: Driver Ratings

The 2022 Brazilian GP ended with a Mercedes 1-2 and George Russell winning his first F1 race.

The race weekend featured some impressive drives up and down the grid. There were, however, ones that left a lot to be desired. So, how did each driver fare? Let's find out as we share our driver ratings for the 2022 Brazilian GP.

2022 F1 Brazilian GP: Rating the drivers

Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton (Started: 3th, Finished: 2nd) Rating: 8.5

This Team. 💛💙 https://t.co/gajovOkLpg

It was a strong weekend for Hamilton, with another P2 finish showing that the seven-time world champion is still a threat. However, this was a weekend where he was arguably second-best to his teammate, and that might sting a bit.

George Russell (Started: 1st, Finished: 1st) Rating: 10

The second half of the season had not been as fruitful as the first for Russell, and in essence, he needed the win at the 2022 Brazilian GP. The Mercedes driver was flawless as he ticked off another box in his career.

Red Bull

Max Verstappen (Started: 3rd, Finished: 6th) Rating: 7.5

A tricky day today. We’ll analyze overnight and give it all to move up during Sunday’s race @redbullracing 👊

#KeepPushing #BrazilGP #F1Sprint https://t.co/3igTkgitFO

In terms of driving, Verstappen did the best he could at the 2022 Brazilian GP, in terms of antics, it was bad. Verstappen is a fierce character, and he would not have left the weekend feeling too good about himself.

Sergio Perez (Started: 5th, Finished: 7th) Rating: 8

Perez got a rude awakening at the 2022 Brazilian GP, as the Mexican realised that that his relationship with Verstappen was not really quid pro quo. Perez might end up securing P2 in the championship but what happened at the Brazilian GP is going to sting for some time, as his teammate defied team orders and didn't allow him to pass.

Ferrari

Charles Leclerc (Started: 6th, Finished: 4th) Rating: 8

From into the wall to 4th.
See you in Abu Dhabi 🙃 https://t.co/3PfxTfzcoq

Leclerc did the best that he could on a weekend where possibly a podium was possible for him. A good outing for the Ferrari driver. Maybe the demand for a position swap was a bit much, though.

Carlos Sainz (Started: 7th, Finished: 3rd) Rating: 8

Sainz has stayed true to form and has started catching up with Leclerc lately. The Spaniard scored a strong podium finish in Brazil, one he should be proud of.

McLaren

Lando Norris (Started: 7th, Finished: DNF) Rating: 5

Every driver has an off-weekend. The Brazilian GP was one such for Norris, who was not in his element.

The contact with Leclerc was unfortunate and so was the pace of the McLaren. Maybe the pre-race weekend food poisoning had a role to play, but this was not one of the better weekends for Norris.

Daniel Ricciardo (Started: 11th, Finished: DNF) Rating: 3

An overall below-par weekend for the Australian who was outperformed by his teammate throughout the Brazilian GP weekend and was also involved in a silly incident with Magnussen.

Alpine

Fernando Alonso (Started: 17th, Finished: 5th) Rating: 7.5

2022 👍 twitter.com/wearetherace/s…

Majestic on Sunday, below-par on Saturday. If there is one thing that's obvious about Alonso, it's his ability to still perform at a very high level, which was evident at the 2022 Brazilian GP. Before that, what happened on Saturday was just not good enough for someone of his caliber.

Esteban Ocon (Started: 16th, Finished: 8th) Rating: 7.5

The thing about Ocon that has become evident is that while he finds it difficult to reach the peaks attained by his teammate, his median performances are very strong.

It was another solid drive from the French driver who has fallen out with another teammate. It will be interesting to see if Ocon holds the 5-point advantage over Alonso when the season comes to a close this weekend in Abu Dhabi.

AlphaTauri

Pierre Gasly (Started: 10th, Finished: 14th) Rating: 7

It's difficult to fault Pierre Gasly when the car is just not capable enough of fighting in the midfield.

The AlphaTauri driver tried his best during the Brazilian GP, but there's only so much he could do. There's one more race to go for the French driver before he jumps to what seems like an upgrade in Alpine.

Yuki Tsunoda (Started: Pitlane, Finished: 17th) Rating: 4

A disappointing weekend for Tsunoda, as he once again failed to match Gasly over the weekend. AlphaTauri should be worried for next season as the team fields an erratic driver in Tsunoda with an unproven commodity in Nyck de Vries.

Aston Martin

Sebastian Vettel (Started: 9th, Finished: 11th) Rating: 9

One of #F1’s greatest.

Prepare yourselves, it’s going to be emotional.

#DankeSeb https://t.co/nDIEiWTWpc

Vettel deserved more at the 2022 Brazilian GP weekend. The German was on fire in both races, and on Sunday he was in P5 at one stage.

That he finished outside the points from there is a reflection of how poorly Aston Martin executed that race. One race left for the German in his illustrious F1 career, but it's safe to say that Vettel has not taken his foot off the pedal.

Lance Stroll (Started: 17th, Finished: 10th) Rating: 5

The drive to points for Lance Stroll was somewhat fortuitous with the late-race safety car. His drive on Sunday was quite good considering his starting position as well.

What was, however, not as good was the disaster of a drive from the Aston Martin driver on Saturday. Arguably, Stroll got away with much less than he should have because the driving during the Brazilian GP sprint was just not up to the mark.

Alfa Romeo

Valtteri Bottas (Started: 14th, Finished: 9th) Rating: 8

It was surprising to see Bottas fall away at the end of the race. It probably had to do with the Alfa Romeo driver having the used set of softs in his last stint. Nevertheless, it was still a strong drive from Bottas, and the points were definitely a bonus for him.

Guanyu Zhou (Started: 13th, Finished: 12th) Rating: 5

With Bottas back in the groove, Zhou has started to get more and more exposed at Alfa Romeo. The Chinese driver might be counting the lucky stars that he has a contract signed already because his recent performances have been far from ideal.

Haas F1

Kevin Magnussen (Started: 8th, Finished: DNF) Rating: 9

A disappointing premature end to K-Mag's 100th race with the team, with it ending on the opening lap.

#HaasF1 #BrazilGP https://t.co/MdXLCfaORq

For a driver who didn't have a prayer of a return back to the F1 grid, Magnussen making his way and scoring his first pole should count as something special.

The races might not have panned out well for Magnussen, but that pole position in a Haas is surely one worth remembering.

Mick Schumacher (Started: 12th, Finished: 13th) Rating: 6

Schumacher had comparatively decent speed throughout the weekend. His Brazilian GP weekend, though, was set in stone already when he messed up his qualifying lap on slicks on Friday.

In all probability, Schumacher is looking at his last race in F1 for a while when he competes in Abu Dhabi this weekend. He will hope to put on a better show there.

Williams

Alex Albon (Started: 19th, Finished: 15th) Rating: 6

Albon will be craving for a better teammate alongside him at Williams next season. With his current teammate so far off, it does make things tough when it comes to judging how good or bad Albon is during a weekend.

The 2022 Brazilian GP was another such occasion where an uncompetitive Williams left Albon with not much of an opportunity to show what he could do.

Nicholas Latifi (Started: 19th, Finished: 16th) Rating: 3

The penultimate weekend of Latifi's career was not much of a divergence from the rest of the season. The 2022 Brazilian GP saw Latifi trailing his teammate with not much to show for once again.