Yahoo News F1 driver ratings after four rounds: Who has begun the 2021 season in fine form?
Six weeks and four rounds down and what a season it has been. At every race Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen have gone head-to-head on the track at the very front. Further down the pack there is a monumental fight for third in the constructors’ standings, with a resurgent Ferrari taking on an impressive McLaren. Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc have impressed greatly.
With a decent amount of action done, it is fair for us to assess who are the standout performers – and those who have not done quite so well – in the 2021 F1 season.
As with the past two years, our rankings and ratings are calculated using a performance model that measures a variety of factors from a driver over their season.
The model considers their performances in qualifying and the race, their results relative to the strength of their machinery and how much they out-perform their team-mate by. A subjective rating is also factored in, with each aspect weighted differently. From this they get a points total per race and then a combined overall rating.
There is also a separate "value added" rating, which can be positive or negative and is purely a measure of how much a driver has out-performed his team-mate or car. Although naturally those in better cars have a little less opportunity to exceed its limitations, we still believe it is a good and fair measure of performance.
20. Nikita Mazepin, Haas (Rating: 51) – Looks out of place in F1
It is hard to say much about the Russian other than he looks totally out of his depth and is being thoroughly outclassed by team-mate Mick Schumacher. Does not do terribly in the value added rating, though that is largely as a quirk of the Haas being so poor.
I guess the progress is that he has stopped spinning quite so often as he did in the opening two races but he also seems to be struggling with paying attention to blue flags too often. Nearly crashing into leader Sergio Pérez in Portugal would have been a lot more unforgivable than just being plain slow.
Qualifying record: 0-4
Total championship points: 0 (20th)
Value added rating: -4 (13th)
19. Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri (Rating: 53) – A bright start but three poor rounds in a row
I have no doubt that once the 21-year-old Japanese driver gets things going he will be a great watch and worthy of his place in F1. After a brilliant points-scoring debut in Bahrain he has overdriven into mistakes and has been a little petulant in his comments, too. He is clearly very talented and it should get easier. At the moment, he desperately needs to knuckle down and start to work with his team and focus on the job at hand. A lot more patience required.
Qualifying record: 0-4
Total championship points: 2 (13th)
Value added rating: -19 (=18th)
18. Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin (Rating: 54) – One half-decent weekend but still struggling
A new team, but what has changed for the four-time champion? Very little, it seems, though he does appear to be a fair bit happier away from Ferrari. In Bahrain he started the year where he left the last one, by making a rookie error and crashing into the back of Esteban Ocon.
The Aston Martin is clearly a little problematic, but it is impossible to say that he is getting anything close to the best out of it. A top-10 start in Portugal aside, Vettel is a clear second best at the moment to Lance Stroll. How long will he have to wait for his first point of 2021?
Qualifying record: 1-3
Total championship points: 0 (16th)
Value added rating: -19 (=18th)
17. Nicholas Latifi, Williams (Rating: 60) – No closer to Russell than he was in 2020
Nobody would expect the Canadian to beat George Russell this year overall (or even that often) but the one thing he absolutely needed to do was get closer to him. After a career highlight of making it out of first qualifying in Imola (where his race ended in a crash that was not his fault), he followed it up with two rough and scruffy weekends. All hope is not lost, but his season has started with more concern than encouragement.
Qualifying record: 0-4
Total championship points: 0 (19th)
Value added rating: -6 (15th)
16. Fernando Alonso, Alpine (Rating: 70) – Glimpses of what he can do, but on the whole underwhelming
There have been moments where the old Fernando Alonso has been present – notably his charge to the points in Portugal – but on the whole it looks as if two years out of F1 has had a price. Esteban Ocon has been the more impressive of the two Alpine drivers so far and qualifying and points show that. Before his departure from F1 in 2019 he had only been beaten by a team-mate once in 17 seasons. The Spaniard’s headline figures are a little deceptive but there is still room for improvement, especially on his one-lap pace.
Qualifying record: 1-3
Total championship points: 5 (12th)
Value added rating: -17 (17th)
15. Sergio Pérez, Red Bull (Rating: 74) – An improvement on Albon but needs to be closer to Verstappen
In fairness to Pérez, he is not the only driver struggling in a new team. Four races in his form should not be a massive concern for Red Bull, but like Alonso it seems to be a matter of stringing together a whole weekend.
Out-qualifying Verstappen at Imola was more than Alexander Albon or Pierre Gasly managed alongside the Dutchman, but he followed it up with an error-laden Sunday as his team-mate won. After getting stuck behind Lando Norris’s McLaren in Portugal he showed comparable race pace to Verstappen. More distant again in Spain, Red Bull need him closer to the front and soon. There is something there but it has been a frustrating start and nobody fares worse in the value added rating, which demonstrates the gap to his team-mate.
Qualifying record: 1-3
Total championship points: 32 (6th)
Value added rating: -23 (20th)
=13. Carlos Sainz, Ferrari (Rating: 88) – A solid start to life at Ferrari
Sainz’s relatively lowly ranking of equal 13th here seems a little harsh but the field from him up to 10th is congested and separated by only six points. Again, he is still getting up to speed and has at least had the better of Charles Leclerc once in the opening for qualifying sessions. Races have been more of a struggle, but his Monegasque team-mate is performing exceptionally.
Ferrari should be quietly pleased with how well Sainz has settled in and can expect a lot more. His consistency will be crucial in a close fight for third with McLaren.
Qualifying record: 1-3
Total championship points: 20 (8th)
Value added rating: -11 (16th)
=13. Kimi Raikkonen, Alfa Romeo (Rating: 88) – The same as it ever was
There is little to suggest that Raikkonen deserves to be shunted out of F1 just yet. Well, except from driving clean into the back of his team-mate in Portugal, anyway. His advantage over Antonio Giovinazzi – now in their third year together at this team – has dwindled to almost nothing but the Finn is still very much “doing a job” at the Swiss-Italian outfit. Could/should have had points in Imola were it not for a penalty picked up under the Safety Car. Solid as ever.
Qualifying record: 1-3
Total championship points: 0 (14th)
Value added rating: +12 (9th)
12. Antonio Giovinazzi, Alfa Romeo (Rating: 92) – A steady progress continues
The 2021 Alfa Romeo is a definite improvement from last year and the same can be said for Giovinazzi, who has had the better of Raikkonen three times in qualifying so far. After years of being second best to the Finn, the two are now closely matched. The car is not quite good enough to score points and finishes of 12th, 14th, 12th and 15th for the Italian show that. Raikkonen is still getting the best of it on Sundays, though a slow pit stop cost Giovinazzi in Spain when he could have finished ahead.
Qualifying record: 3-1
Total championship points: 0 (15th)
Value added rating: +10 (10th)
11. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes (Rating: 93) – Doing just about enough just about often enough…
With Max Verstappen’s Red Bull now (finally) a genuine match for the Mercedes, we at least have lost the pretence of Bottas being Lewis Hamilton’s closest challenger. Aside from his showing at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, where he qualified well down and got stuck in traffic before his hefty shunt with George Russell, Bottas has been perfectly fine. With Pérez finding his feet at Red Bull and Hamilton with the edge over Verstappen, the Finn is doing for Mercedes exactly what is required... but not a great deal more.
Portugal summed up his lot at the moment: pole position but fading to third in the race. His place in the team looks uncertain if not quite perilous. Should we expect anything more, or less, from him by now?
Qualifying record: 1-3
Total championship points: 47 (3rd)
Value added rating: -5 (14th)
10. Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren (Rating: 94) – A much-needed strong showing in Spain after a troubling couple of races
Another man who is having to adjust to life at a new team, Ricciardo’s form in the first three rounds was lower than what we would have expected. Credit to Lando Norris in the other McLaren, naturally, but by his final few months at Renault (and indeed his entire 2020 season), the Australian was excelling.
Being knocked out in Q1 in Portugal was a huge blow and a little embarrassing but he managed to battle back to ninth. An altogether more solid weekend in Spain will surely make him feel a lot better about his plight. Plenty of ground to make up on Norris but plenty of time in which to do so.
Qualifying record: 3-1
Total championship points: 24 (7th)
Value added rating: -3 (12th)
9. George Russell, Williams (Rating: 99) A star on Saturday and but yet to make the breakthrough in the race
What have we learned about Russell in 2021? Not a great deal. The Williams is a much-improved machine on one-lap pace and Russell is delivering the results we know he can. 11th on the grid in Portugal was arguably a career highlight (in this team) but on race day good results have been harder to come by.
His first points for Williams are getting closer, though, but the FW43B’s aerodynamic volatility in traffic could be a problem. Lashing out at Valtteri Bottas for a crash that was not the Finn’s fault perhaps showed that he knows he needs to get into a better performing team very soon. Latifi still nowhere near, though.
Qualifying record: 4-0
Total championship points: 0 (17th)
Value added rating: +19 (5th)
8. Esteban Ocon, Alpine (Rating: 104) – The season’s surprise performer?
On his return to F1 after a year out in 2020, Ocon spent much of the season being comprehensively outdriven by team-mate Ricciardo. By the final few rounds he was much better and he seems to have continued that path into the 2021 season, where he is getting the better of Fernando Alonso.
Three races now he has qualified and finished ahead of Alonso with 10 points to his name. The Alpine A521’s one-lap pace improved to help Ocon take fifth on the grid in Spain, but the race pace is still some way off McLaren and Ferrari, as slipping back to ninth showed. There is no doubt the Frenchman’s stock has risen greatly in the opening four races after a testing 2020.
Qualifying record: 3-1
Total championship points: 10 (9th)
Value added rating: +10 (10th)
7. Mick Schumacher, Haas (Rating: 109) – One rookie error but plenty of small steps in the right direction
Unlike his troubled team-mate, Schumacher has looked firmly at home in four races in F1 and seems to be solidly improving and learning, hallmarks of his last few years in motorsport. Since he shoved it into the barriers under the Safety Car in Imola his performances have been exemplary.
Not renowned as the best qualifier, he has left Mazepin for dust every Saturday. Sundays have been much the same, too. The Haas VF-21 is clearly the slowest and most problematic car on the grid, so his 17th in Portugal was significant moment. In Spain he qualified ahead of a non-Haas car for the first time and battled with the Williams of George Russell for a good chunk of the race but ultimately fell back. Quietly impressive.
Qualifying record: 4-0
Total championship points: 0 (18th)
Value added rating: +17 (7th)
6. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin (Rating: 111) – Clearly the better of the two Aston Martin drivers
Going through the data, it was a little surprising to see Stroll rate quite so highly, but he has performed well – and crucially much better than his team-mate – in a car that is comfortably the seventh quickest in both qualifying and race trim. Looking at his “value added rating” only Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen and Pierre Gasly score better.
10th, 8th, 14th and 11th are his results and, looking at the cars that ended up ahead of him in each of these races, it is hard to say he could have done a great deal more. Finishing well ahead of team-mate Vettel at the end of the year looks a realistic aim for the Canadian.
Qualifying record: 3-1
Total championship points: 5 (11th)
Value added rating: +24 (4th)
5. Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri (Rating: 125) – Excellent since rollercoaster weekend in Bahrain
The AlphaTauri looked a real threat in Bahrain, where Gasly qualified fifth. Sadly, he drove into the back of Ricciardo’s McLaren, losing his front wing, before retiring on lap 52. He could not deliver when the car was at its most competitive, but he has done so since when it has struggled relative to the rest of the midfield.
Seventh at Imola was a great return for the team and 10th in the next two rounds was about as much as could be expected. Is showing team-mate Tsunoda how it’s done: with patience.
Qualifying record: 4-0
Total championship points: 8 (10th)
Value added rating: +29 (2nd)
4. Lando Norris, McLaren (Rating: 140) – Consistent, quick and deserving of his podium
Going through this list you can see by the ratings that there are five clear underperformers, five middling performers and then the remainder are varying degrees of impressive. I would argue that Norris not quite in the same category as the top three here. A little inconsistency in qualifying has cost him but, as ever, his showings on Sundays have been fantastic in a very competitive McLaren.
After fourth, third and fifth in the opening three rounds, eighth – and behind his team-mate – in Spain was the first disappointment of the season though, really, Ferrari had the better package. His podium at Imola was fully deserved. It would not be surprising if he did it again before the season ended. Once Ricciardo beds in at McLaren, it could be an almighty fight for supremacy within the team but Norris looks up to it on current form.
Qualifying record: 1-3
Total championship points: 41 (4th)
Value added rating: +18 (6th)
3. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari (Rating: 151) – Ferrari’s golden boy continues to deliver
With Ferrari edging closer to the front again with a much-improved car, so is Charles Leclerc. He continues to drag every ounce of performance from it, amassing an average of 10 points a race so far.
He was perhaps unlucky not to get a podium at Imola as Hamilton benefited from the red flag but, aside from being out-qualified by Carlos Sainz in Portugal it is hard to find any fault with Leclerc’s season so far. Mercedes and Red Bull are too distant to challenge so beating both McLarens should be his main target for the season.
Qualifying record: 3-1
Total championship points: 40 (5th)
Value added rating: +27 (3rd)
2. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes (Rating: 160) – Rising to the challenge by set down by Verstappen
Once more there is very little to choose between the top handful of drivers in this list. Leclerc, Hamilton and Verstappen have arguably driven as well as each other and Hamilton’s three wins so far have taken varying levels of skill, both defensive and attacking, hunting and being hunted. The Mercedes looks the quicker car in race trim, and it seems that the seven-time champion just about has Verstappen’s number. The Dutchman’s challenge has allowed Hamilton to underline his relentless brilliance – his victories have had to be earned.
Why is Hamilton “only” second then, here? Well, Firstly, his overall rating suffers a little through his individual race rating at Imola (32 points to Verstappen's 49). Yes, he drove excellently to recover to second, but it was after a mistake which should have been more costly. That and Verstappen's greater value added rating are essentially the difference between Hamilton and Verstappen in our ratings over four rounds.
Qualifying record: 3-1
Total championship points: 94 (1st)
Value added rating: +17 (7th)
1. Max Verstappen, Red Bull (Rating: 169) – Neck and neck with Hamilton but the Red Bull is starting to look second best on Sundays
A few tweaks here and there and it could be Verstappen that is leading the drivers’ standings after four rounds. As it is he must settle for top spot in Telegraph Sport’s driver ratings. Small comfort. Honestly, though, Verstappen must be starting to realise how difficult it will be for him to topple Hamilton over the course of an entire season.
The tiny errors that Verstappen has made – exceeding track limits in Bahrain and Portugal – have no doubt cost him a few points, but Hamilton made by far the biggest mistake of either man and paid only a small price. On reflection, Verstappen has driven superbly. It was clear to see that the Mercedes was the better race car in Spain and that may well have been the case in Portugal as well.
His robust starts have got him past Hamilton a few times already this season, but the Mercedes in the Briton’s hands just seems to have too much pace. For his first proper shot at the championship, the young Dutchman is driving beautifully.
Qualifying record: 3-1
Total championship points: 80 (2nd)
Value added rating: +35 (1st)
