Belgian GP team ratings: Good marks for Ferrari but failure for McLaren?

In a tragic weekend for the world of motorsport, it's fair to say that all teams performed admirably in the circumstances following Anthoine Hubert's tragic death, but it's time for the teams' on track grades. It was a good weekend for Ferrari, taking their first victory of the season, whilst Mercedes continued their great season with a double podium. However, it wasn't so good for McLaren, Alfa Romeo and Haas (again).

Mercedes - 8/10

They came into this weekend knowing that they probably weren't going to be the quickest car as they have been for much of the season, but they still limited the damage and very nearly took the win. Qualifying on the second row, they took the fight to Ferrari on raceday and almost came out on top. Just a few more laps and Lewis Hamilton could have easily stolen the victory from Charles Leclerc. Valtteri Bottas ran a more quiet race to finish P3 as the Silver Arrows march on to a sixth consecutive constructors' title.

Ferrari - 9/10

By far the best weekend of the season so far. The Italian team have been guilty of strategic mistakes this season, but on Sunday they got it spot on. Knowing that Mercedes had the race pace to match them, Sebastian Vettel sacrificed his race to delay Hamilton, allowing Leclerc to come home for his maiden F1 victory. The win was much needed for Ferrari, who have another great chance to please their home crowd this coming weekend at the Italian Grand Prix, another race they should be strong at.

Red Bull - 5/10

Max Verstappen's aggression has been a feature of his brilliant 2019 so far, but his move on Kimi Raikkonen into the first corner was not a very intelligent one, and he can only blame himself for his early finish. As for Alex Albon, he performed terrifically to make his way up to P5 from 17th on the grid on his F1 debut, showing already what a talent he can be in that car.

McLaren - 2/10

Oh dear, McLaren. Carlos Sainz had a penalty and their car wasn't particularly suited to the track so qualifying wasn't so bad, but to lose Carlos Sainz so early in the race and for Lando Norris to stop so late must have been awful for them. Norris was running so comfortably in fifth before the last lap engine failure cost him ten vital points for his championship standing. A race McLaren will want to forget as soon as they can.

Toro Rosso - 8/10

Toro Rosso are quickly proving that their position in the constructors' standings is not just down to their freakish result in Germany, with another double points finish in Belgium extending their gap over Renault to eight points with their third double top ten finish of the season. Both Daniil Kvyat and the returning Pierre Gasly raced well to take P7 and P9 respectively. After a double exit in Q1, both drivers and the team performed very well to take home eight valuable points.

Renault - 6/10

Nico Hulkenberg did well to rescue P8 after first lap contact, but the team's strategy on Daniel Ricciardo's side created more questions than answers. Pitting on lap one, the Aussie was put onto the hard tyres and left out for the entire race, leading to him falling away and out of the points in the latter stages, costing them more points in their battle with Toro Rosso.

Racing Point - 8/10

With Lance Stroll's fourth placed finish in Germany the team's only points in five races, Racing Point will be pleased to see their upgrades worked well in Belgium, securing their first double points finish since Azerbaijan. Sergio Perez scored his first points since Baku with a brilliant sixth placed finish, whilst Lance Stroll put in a great effort to score a point from 16th on the grid.

Alfa Romeo - 4/10

Alfa Romeo could have been on for a decent points haul in Spa but they will leave empty handed after two driver mistakes, one out of their control and one leading to Antonio Giovinazzi losing control. Firstly, Raikkonen was a passenger as Verstappen went for a gap that didn't exist into turn one, ruining his race completely before Giovinazzi hit the barriers at Pouhon following a strange spin, costing him valuable points in his attempt to earn another contract with the team.

Haas - 4/10

Another case of what could've been for Haas. They again could not control the tyres on raceday and after both Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen started in the top ten and ran sixth and seventh early in the race, they plummeted through the field. They had no defence to the charge of the Racing Points, Toro Rossos etc, and eventually both finished well outside the points, another disappointing race for the Americans.

Williams - 5/10

Both drivers finished again and that's just about all that can be said really. After promising in Hungary with George Russell's impressive qualifying, it was back to the back for Williams as they qualified and finished last, with just the struggling Kimi Raikkonen for company.

What do you make of our ratings? Anything you would change? Let us know in the comments!