After an entertaining Belgian Grand Prix, here's a look at how the drivers performed on the track at Spa.
LEWIS HAMILTON: 9/10
Hamilton’s weekend started in quiet fashion as Rosberg set the pace on Friday, but he exuded a quiet confidence and found another level on Saturday to take pole position by a hugely impressive margin. Unflappable in the race, Hamilton ensured there was no repeat of Hungary with a solid start and then led from the front, displaying just how much pace in hand he had by responding to Rosberg’s lap times at will.
NICO ROSBERG: 7/10
At a circuit where he had been strong in 2014, Rosberg appeared set to be a real threat to Hamilton as he topped both Friday practice sessions despite reliability issues and his spectacular tyre blowout. However, Hamilton stepped up a gear and Rosberg couldn’t respond, being comfortably outqualified, making a mess of the start and then never getting close enough to his team-mate to attack.
ROMAIN GROSJEAN: 910
The Frenchman admits he still thinks back to the start crash he caused in 2012 whenever he comes to Spa – an incident which earned him a race ban – but he was pretty much faultless this weekend. Having missed FP1, Grosjean was immediately quick in FP2 and then excellently qualified in fourth place. A grid penalty demoted him to ninth but Grosjean had the pace to work his way back up to fourth and was putting pressure on Sebastian Vettel when the Ferrari’s right rear tyre failed.
DANIIL KVYAT: 8/10
Kvyat’s race display helped save a weekend which had threatened to get away from him. Red Bull looked strong in practice, so it was somewhat of a surprise when Kvyat dropped out in Q2 but he made a strong start and was clinical when overtaking. Consistent race pace and a good strategy left him on fresher tyres late in the race and Kvyat pulled some strong moves – including a particularly robust one on Felipe Massa – to climb up to fourth place.
SERGIO PEREZ: 8/10
A fantastic qualifying display was backed up by good race pace from Perez, who incredibly led at the end of the first sector. Granted, he only had a nose ahead of Hamilton and the Mercedes held the inside line to regain the lead, but Perez had made an excellent start to challenge. The pace on the soft was not as strong as hoped, but Perez was sensible in picking his fights to maximise the result having started from the second row.
FELIPE MASSA: 7/10
Qualifying was a missed opportunity as Massa found himself starting sixth behind Perez and Daniel Ricciardo when he expected to team-mate Valtteri Bottas on the second row. There was little Massa did wrong in the early part of the race, and he remained in the gaggle of cars battling for fourth until Kvyat came charging through. He held the higher ground in the exchange but lost out at Les Combes; perhaps he could have held the Red Bull off on that occasion but ultimately Williams lacked the expected race pace.
KIMI RAIKKONEN: 7.5/10
Raikkonen doesn’t always bounce back from a tough qualifying, but starting from 16th he performed well to rise to seventh place. For once it wasn’t a problem of his own making which hurt his grid position as he stopped in Q2, but a strong start got him in the hunt for points immediately. Steady progress was halted when he reached Massa as the Williams was getting DRS off the very quick Force India ahead, making overtaking almost impossible for Raikkonen.
MAZ VERSTAPPEN: 9/10
Some stunning overtaking manoeuvres punctuated a very impressive recovery drive from Verstappen. Having been hit with a power unit penalty, Verstappen started from 18th place and had a lot of ground to make up in a Renault-powered car. His move on Felipe Nasr in to the chicane – having lined him up around the outside of Blanchimont – was a standout moment of the race, and he so nearly had Raikkonen for seventh place late on which would have capped an excellent performance.
VALTTERI BOTTAS: 7.5/10
Tough to judge Bottas after his race chances were effectively ruined by his team. He maximised qualifying to line up in third place but then slipped back in the race after not capitalising at the start. His car was not as competitive as hoped, especially on the soft tyre, but Bottas was relegated out of the fight for the podium by a bizarre pit stop error which saw three softs and a medium fitted at his first stop. Still managed two points despite a drive through penalty.
MARCUS ERICSSON: 7.5/10
Ericsson seems to be getting more and more comfortable with his car and displayed that with a second consecutive points finish. Qualifying was a boost for his confidence as he again beat Felipe Nasr, and he stayed out of trouble in a race which saw Sauber receive the upgraded power unit for the first time. Finding good consistency at the moment which meant he stayed in contention when he had debris stuck to the floor during his opening stint.
FELIPE NASR: 6/10
Not Nasr’s finest weekend but he was hardly helped by reliability issues at Sauber. Unhappy with the car’s handling as he dropped out in Q1, the team later found some suspension anomalies which had hurt his pace. Nasr also struggled in the race with brake issues, but should be commended for his part in going wheel-to-wheel with Verstappen through Blanchimont.
SEBASTIAN VETTEL: 7.5/10
Vettel made an error on his qualifying lap which left him languishing in ninth place on Saturday evening, though he started eighth courtesy of Grosjean’s grid penalty. A strong race drive was set to be rewarded with a podium after making ground at the start, but Ferrari was asking too much of the Pirelli tyres in attempting to one-stop. All those around Vettel went for two, and with Grosjean closing in a right rear failure ended his race on the penultimate lap. His outburst towards Pirelli afterwards made for good headlines but he may have been better served biting his tongue.
FERNANDO ALONSO: 7/10
McLaren attempted to keep expectations in check ahead of the race weekend after Honda talked up its power unit upgrade, and it’s a good job the team did as it struggled massively. Hard to judge the drivers as a result, with Alonso missing FP3 which hurt his qualifying performance. The Spaniard was typically tenacious in the race as he fought with any car near him, though they were few and far between despite the car running without issue.
JENSON BUTTON: 7.5/10
Button was pleased with his qualifying lap which saw him outqualify Alonso, saying it was as good a lap as the one with which he took pole position in 2012. Sadly, he couldn’t attempt to continue that form in the race as an ERS deployment issue saw him down 30% early on and later 50%, resulting in Button taking the Kemmel Straight without any ERS as it cut out each lap.
ROBERTO MERHI: 7.5/10
Merhi continued his good form by beating team-mate Will Stevens once again. The Spaniard was outqualified but is developing a knack of getting ahead early in races which helps strategy and keeps blue flags at bay for a while longer. Impressive consistency which is exactly what Manor needs.
WILL STEVENS: 7/10
Having got the better of Merhi in qualifying, Stevens was looking forward to a close fight with his team-mate in the race but was hampered by contact at the start having been squeezed between two cars exiting La Source. With Merhi ahead, slight damage from the contact meant Stevens struggled to close the gap.
CARLOS SAINZ: 7/10
Impressive to get in to Q3 on Saturday, Sainz was immediately hit by a power unit issue before the start of the race and pulled in to the pits at the end of the second formation lap. Starting late, his race pace showed he’d have been eyeing points but for the issue, and he retired late on having been two laps down.
DANIEL RICCIARDO: 8/10
Last year’s race winner clearly likes Spa, as Ricciardo performed well in qualifying and ran as high as second place for a spell before his power unit shut down exiting the final chicane.
PASTOR MALDONADO: 5/10
Started the weekend with a crash in FP1 but recovered to qualify in the top ten. However, his retirement was due to him clouting the kerb at Eau Rouge, causing a clutch issue which forced him out of the race early on. A costly error judging by Grosjean’s performance.
NICO HULKENBURG: N/A
Not the greatest qualifying performance as he dropped out in Q2 while Perez eventually started from fourth place, but he didn’t take the start due to turbo issues which had also plagued him on Saturday.
