Ratings | Unsatisfactory for 'messy' Verstappen, Perez steals the show

The Singapore Grand Prix was won by Sergio Perez who was in world-class form. The Mexican showed himself as the best driver in difficult conditions, but how did the other drivers perform at the Marina Bay Street Circuit? GPblog gives marks to the drivers based on the entire weekend in Singapore.

Perez: 10

Sergio Perez was the best in Singapore. On Saturday, he drove a perfect qualifying session for his efforts and fell just short of pole, but on Sunday he grabbed the lead at the start and did not relinquish it. Perez hardly made any mistakes in Singapore and under great pressure he managed his tyres far better than anyone else.

Leclerc: 8

Charles Leclerc drove an excellent lap to pole, but on Sunday could do little about the lack of grip on his side of the grid. After that, the Monegasque never managed to really attack Perez and also smoked up his tyres in the closing stages of the race, allowing Perez to run away the necessary five seconds. Perhaps he could've dropped off earlier to cool his tyres down before mounting another attack in the final few minutes as we've seen Hamilton do in years gone by. 

Sainz: 6.5

Carlos Sainz finished in a neat third place, but the Spaniard totally lacked pace this weekend. Despite several safety cars, the Ferrari driver could not catch up with the leading duo and was instead battling Lewis Hamilton.

Norris: 9.5

Lando Norris drove an excellent weekend in Singapore. The Briton drove a perfect qualifying session and made no mistakes in the race. It must have been a lonely race, but P4 then is a nice reward for the young Briton though he got a little bit lucky with the pitstops. 

Ricciardo: 8

Somewhat helped by a safety car at a good time, Ricciardo climbed to the points and a nice fifth place. This was what the Australian needed after his down period. The fact remains that he flew out in Q1, while his teammate qualified sixth.

Stroll: 9

Lance Stroll was again strong in the difficult conditions this weekend. The Canadian outclassed his teammate and Aston Martin was also able to take advantage of the safety car with both cars unstopped. It earned valuable points for both drivers and the team.

Verstappen: 5

Max Verstappen had a messy weekend in Singapore. Most will point to the lack of fuel in the car on Saturday, but that does not take away from the fact that you saw Verstappen make many mistakes this weekend. Again on Sunday, where the Dutchman was in a good position to push into the top four after a safety car. Instead, he made an (old-fashioned) Verstappen move that you actually already knew wouldn't work. It's just that Verstappen already has the title all but secured, otherwise, he really wasted precious points here.

Vettel: 7.5

Sebastian Vettel loves Singapore and, as a record winner, drove another strong weekend in the streets of Marina Bay. He was slower than his Canadian teammate, though.

Hamilton: 5

Lewis Hamilton drove an excellent qualifying session resulting in a third starting spot, but got frustrated as he was stuck behind Carlos Sainz, and the Briton went wrong. As in 2021 in Imola, Hamilton hit the wall but was able to continue on his way. That he made the same error of judgement behind Vettel later in the race showed his impatience this weekend. A better result was on the cards for Hamilton had he not hit the wall. 

Gasly: 7

Pierre Gasly did not see a strong Saturday for AlphaTauri rewarded with many points on Sunday. It was not down to Gasly himself. He hardly made any mistakes but was unlucky that the McLarens and Aston Martins were able to take advantage of a late safety car when he had already been inside.

Bottas: 7

Valtteri Bottas drove in the points for a long time, but Max Verstappen's renewed advance put an end to his points dream. From P15, it was still a handsome result, but that the Finn was again beaten by Guanyu Zhou in qualifying gives food for thought.

Magnussen: 7

Kevin Magnussen was again clearly better than his teammate this weekend, but a ninth place on the grid proved not enough to bring in the points on Sunday as well.

Schumacher: 6

Mick Schumacher again qualified a lot less than his teammate and could not make up for it in the race either. He was not helped by a duel with George Russell, who simply steered into him on the straight.

Russell: 3

George Russell had a poor weekend in Singapore. The Briton was too slow to get into Q3 in qualifying and, with a new engine from the pit lane, he couldn't make a go of it on Sunday either. His crash with Schumacher didn't exactly help his catch-up race either. Indeed, it earned Russell a puncture.

Tsunoda: 3

Not for the first time, Yuki Tsunoda found himself in a tyre wall at the end of the race. The Japanese driver was pretty quick this weekend, but if he keeps making mistakes like this so often, his speed won't earn him many points.

Ocon: 5

Esteban Ocon crashed out in Q1 while his teammate qualified in fifth place. In the race, he was moving up a bit, but an engine problem ended the Frenchman's race.

Albon: 3.5

It was great that Alexander Albon got behind the wheel again after suffering appendicitis, but the Marina Bay circuit showed that the Thai is not quite in good shape yet. On Saturday his qualifying was already not too good and on Sunday he ended his race in the wall.

Alonso: 9

Not for the first time this year, Fernando Alonso saw a good result go up in smoke due to retirement. Alonso qualified handsomely in fifth and was driving sixth when disaster struck again. The Spaniard's engine gave out and so he was able to pose for another meme next to the track.

Latifi: 1

Nicholas Latifi is leaving F1 and for good reason. Having already fought with Zhou for a lap, he 'didn't know' that Zhou was next to him at that corner. By not looking closely in his mirrors and not thinking, he ended Zhou's race and his own.

Zhou: 7

Guanyu Zhou was faster than Bottas again on Saturday and despite a poor start, he had hoped for a nice result here. However, the Chinese driver was clumsily thrown out of the race by Latifi.