Ratings | Verstappen shows class above Perez with near-perfect race weekend

The Australian Grand Prix was won by Max Verstappen. The Dutchman equalled Ayrton Senna's number of podiums (80) in a weekend in which Verstappen was near perfect. Nico Hulkenberg also gets top marks, but there are also many low ratings after the chaos in Melbourne. You can read all GPblog's ratings here.

Verstappen: 10

Max Verstappen took revenge for all the bad luck in Saudi Arabia with a rock-solid weekend. The Dutchman did make two mistakes at the penultimate corner, but nothing to worry the Red Bull garage. The Red Bull driver cannot be blamed for the poor starts he entailed either, with the RB19 struggling in these areas due to the car being so soft on the tyres, resulting in the tyres not warming up as quickly. Perez also suffered from this in Jeddah. However, Verstappen stayed calm and was able to take back the positions he lost off the start line with ease. In fact, when it really mattered on the last restart, Verstappen did get off the mark. He always performs when he really has to.

Hamilton: 8

Lewis Hamilton drove a strong race on the Albert Park circuit, but for the third time in a row, he was beaten by his team-mate George Russell in qualifying. In the race, however, that fell away in front of him due to an early pit stop at the wrong time (where Hamilton still complained that it was precisely he who was disadvantaged), followed by Russell dropping out altogether due to engine problems. Hamilton cleverly kept Alonso behind throughout, but clearly needs to find some more pace in the qualifying duel with Russell.

Alonso: 9

Fernando Alonso had a strong weekend in Australia. Again, you wonder if there was more in the Aston Martin on Saturday as he qualified 4th. But in the race, Alonso made it extremely difficult for his rivals, and constantly chased down Hamilton in front, but could not find the pace to move in second. At the end, Alonso was almost out of the race as Carlos Sainz spun him around after the second restart from the red flag, but the fact that the order from before the restart was used as the final result ensured Alonso's third podium in a row.

Stroll: 6

Like Alonso, Lance Stroll was also saved by the FIA's decision to reverse the order. During that restart, Stroll broke too late while in third place and shot into the gravel pit. It was typical of the Canadian's weekend, who was beaten for the third time in qualifying and did not have the pace compared to the drivers in front of him in the race either. By all accounts, Stroll finished fourth, but that does disguise a difficult performance in Melbourne.

Perez: 5

The Grand Prix weekend in Australia was typical for Sergio Perez. After the Saudi Arabia GP, The Mexican tweeted that he was going for the world championship. The tweet was quickly deleted, but it shows how Perez thinks. He often blows too high from the tower after success, only for it all to go wrong a race weekend later. That was the case again. Perez then also did not take the blame for the blunder in qualifying, throwing away a certain P2. In the race, he then had a lot of trouble overtaking drivers and was lucky to finish fifth due to all the crashes. With that, he 'only' loses eight points on the expected P2, but eight points that he threw away all by himself. It shows the difference between good drivers like Perez and champions like Verstappen. Perez can drive one race weekend very well, Verstappen can do it every week.

Norris: 9

Lando Norris by his own admission did not drive a perfect qualifying, but was faster than his teammate again this weekend. On Sunday, a lot was along and the Briton stayed out of trouble. In doing so, he picked up his first points this season. In particular, his overtaking move on Hulkenberg was a clever piece of racing.

Hulkenberg: 10

Nico Hulkenberg has been out of Formula 1 for three years, but he drives as if he never left. No, it's no Verstappen or Hamilton, but Hulkenberg has been underrated for years. In three qualifying sessions, he has already knocked Magnussen around the ears. This weekend, the difference in Q2 was more than seven-tenths. Hulkenberg is proving Guenther Steiner right to get him instead of Mick Schumacher. The accident continues to haunt Hulkenberg, though. Indeed, after the final restart, Hulkenberg was fourth behind Carlos Sainz who would later receive a penalty. Unfortunately for The Hulk, the FIA chose the order from before the restart. However, seventh place is also a very nice result for the German.

Piastri: 7

Oscar Piastri lost the duel with his teammate in his home race, but was continuously very close in the race. The Australian was perhaps a little too cautious at times, but of course, you don't want to crash at home either. With that tactic, the McLaren driver was eventually rewarded with his first F1 points. Not an optimal weekend for Piastri, but the champagne will taste just as goof because of it.

Zhou: 8

Guanyu Zhou was again faster than his teammate this weekend, so it is deserved that he takes the points in Australia. Alfa Romeo do not have much pace, but the Chinese driver seems to be getting more out of it than his more experienced teammate at the moment and that is to be commended.

Tsunoda: 8

Yuki Tsunoda again maximised what he can do with his AT04, and this time it does deliver a point. For the third time in a row, the Japanese driver crossed the line in 11th place, but due to Sainz's penalty, this time it did deliver a point. That is well deserved for the man who so far seems to be doing everything right at AlphaTauri.

Bottas: 5

Valtteri Bottas drove a poor weekend. The Finn could not match his younger teammate and therefore finished outside the points. Bottas lost the duel for the second weekend in a row and will need to show more as Alfa Romeo's experienced front-runner.

Sainz: 6

Carlos Sainz did everything right until the final restart. The Spaniard was once faster in qualifying than his teammate and looked to be on his way to P4 in the race. More was not in the cards, but Sainz tried anyway on the final restart. On cold tyres, he braked too late at the first corner and almost messed up Alonso's race. He can be angry with the stewards, but Sainz should be angry with himself. It was his own fault and the penalty. It was harsh, but justified.

Gasly: 5

Pierre Gasly drove a perfect weekend and until the restart seemed to be on his way to fifth place in the Australian Grand Prix. A great result for Alpine, but Gasly spoiled it by braking in the first corner on cold tyres on the restart, only to drive into the wall along with his teammate on coming up the track. Zero points for Alpine was the end result.

Ocon: 6

Esteban Ocon was slower than his teammate in qualifying and the race this weekend, but still seemed to get a fine result by fighting his way back into the points. However, his teammate's blunder meant the race was over a few laps before the end. Ocon could not do anything about that himself.

De Vries: 5

For Nyck de Vries, things went well until Q2, where he was still beaten again by over two-tenths by his teammate in qualifying at the key moment. This is now for the third time in a row. Things did not fare much better in the race, as things went wrong for De Vries after the first restart when he forgot that Ocon was still on his outside. The Dutchman kept steering to the outside, while Ocon could not move. De Vries himself suffered the most, although it was still a miracle he was able to continue at all after his moment through the air. However, the AlphaTauri driver drove a chanceless race and was nearly 10 seconds behind backmarker Bottas before the final restart. There, De Vries could have made up some spots, but points like his teammate could no longer be scored anyway. In the end, his race was ended early by a silly move by Logan Sargeant.

Sargeant: 3

Logan Sargeant shows at times he really is fast, but at the moment he is making too many and too big mistakes. The American flew out of Q1 after he again (as in Jeddah) had a spin on his first lap. Whereas Albon eventually got through to Q3, Sargeant was over five-tenths slower than his teammate in Q1 and stuck there. In the race, things did not go much better for Sargeant, who ended his race and that of De Vries by completely braking at the first corner after the restart.

Magnussen: 3

Kevin Magnussen already lost three qualifying duels to his new teammate and drove a chance-less race. The Dane then failed to maintain his concentration and sent his car into the wall. As a result, the Haas driver caused the final red flag and restart, after which his teammate was able to cheerfully drag in six points for the team.

Russell: 9

George Russell drove a very strong weekend, but as he said himself: 'When things are bad, everything is really bad.' The Briton won the qualifying duel from Hamilton for the third time and went straight past Verstappen with a strong start. Russell was then brought in too early, but unlike his teammate, he did not get angry with the team. He understood the team's choice, and fought his way back to P4, but then was unlucky again. His engine gave up on him, ending his weekend. Bad luck for Russell in a weekend where he was very strong.

Albon: 5

Alexander Albon drove a great weekend. The Thai steered his FW45 to eighth place in qualifying, a fantastic result, but things went wrong in the race. Albon went all by himself and lost control of his car. In Bahrain you have exit lanes, in Australia you just end up in the wall. An expensive lesson for the Williams drivers.

Leclerc: 5

It was not the weekend of Charles Leclerc, who was slower than Sainz in qualifying and then went wrong himself in the race. Leclerc himself thought it was a racing incident, but from his position he could see that Stroll was next to Alonso and therefore could not turn in. So why turn in himself anyway and take so much risk on the first lap? It already happened to Leclerc once in Bahrain when he took Verstappen with such a mistake. Now he himself was the only victim.