Ratings after Imola | Verstappen almost perfect, Bottas and Russell failing

Rain and a drying track are a guarantee for a spectacular race, and that was the case at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. In the rain, you can really see who the best drivers are, and which drivers fall through the ice. Here are GPblog's ratings for the drivers after the GP weekend in Imola.

Verstappen: 9.5

Max Verstappen made a mistake during qualifying on Saturday and had to start from P3, while a pole would have been obvious. During the race, however, the Dutchman more than made up for this with a great start and strong race. Verstappen's Sunday was flawless.

Hamilton: 8

Lewis Hamilton was perfect on Saturday, but the same cannot be said of his Sunday. In the end, he did an exceptional job of limiting the damage with a P2, but his mistake did give rival Verstappen a clear run to victory.

Norris: 10

Lando Norris was chosen as Driver of the Day for a reason. The Brit was very disappointed with his lost time in qualifying but drove a spectacular race to third place. His second podium in F1. Will he continue his good start this year?

Leclerc: 9.5

Charles Leclerc also drove a fantastic race and should have been on the podium. However, due to a lack of radio communication, he didn't know they were going to do a rolling start, so he lost his place to Norris on the restart. Unfortunately, that just made the difference between P3 and P4.

Sainz: 7

Carlos Sainz continues his strong run. His qualifying was poor, but in the race, he made up a lot of ground. In the rain, Sainz was a bit restless and made a lot of mistakes. Luckily it didn't cost him a place.

Ricciardo: 6.5

Daniel Ricciardo didn't have the pace of Norris all weekend, but on a circuit like Imola, that's perhaps not so bad for a new team. At McLaren, Ricciardo also needed some time to adjust, so we have to be patient.

Gasly: 9

Pierre Gasly drove an excellent weekend but was unlucky that his team opted for the Full Wets at the start. Of course, he's one of them, but being the only one in the top 8 on full wets makes you wonder what possessed AlphaTauri to take P5 on the grid. The Frenchman recovered nicely though with an eventual P7.

Stroll: 8

That P7 was returned to Gasly after the race after Lance Stroll overtook him off-track. The FIA didn't seem to be going to do anything about it, but still brought both of them to the room. Stroll had to settle for P8, which was another neat result for the Canadian.

Ocon: 9

Esteban Ocon managed to finish in the points despite a start at Full Wets and was much stronger than Fernando Alonso all weekend. It's not the first time Ocon has performed well in the rain. Last year he was also strong against Ricciardo in the rain in Austria.

Alonso: 6

Fernando Alonso got another point for his performance in Imola due to a penalty for Kimi Raikkonen. It's a blessing to see the Alpine car not make any headway.

Perez: 5

Sergio Perez was so strong on Saturday, but oh so weak on Sunday. The Mexican was restless, perhaps a little too eager and then it often goes wrong. A good lesson for Perez, who lost valuable points here for Red Bull Racing.

Tsunoda: 4

Yuki Tsunoda learned a hard lesson in Imola after his debut in Bahrain was so good. During practice, Yuki kept cursing the onboard radio, on Saturday he found himself in the wall and on Sunday he went wrong again after fighting his way back into the points. The Japanese is fast, but the rough edges still need to come off.

Raikkonen: 7

It's unclear exactly what Kimi Raikkonen was penalised for. The Finn has been reinstated and therefore lost valuable points for the team, after a strong race.

Giovinazzi: 7

Antonio Giovinazzi completed the problem for Alfa Romeo, who briefly had two cars in the points, but problems with the rear brakes put an end to this fairytale.

Vettel: 6

Sebastian Vettel has yet to show any real speed with Aston Martin, but everything has been against him this weekend. On to Portimao he should think.

Schumacher: 5

Nikita Mazepin is often laughed at, but when Mick Schumacher spins it can happen. No, Schumacher's spin was also just a big mistake, although it probably didn't make much of a difference to the result.

Mazepin: 5

It was remarkable that Nikita Mazepin finished behind Schumacher despite a spin from his teammate. The Russian is still far from happy at Haas. The car of the American team is not fast, but the gap to Schumacher is far too big.

Bottas: 3

Valtteri Bottas showed again in Imola why so many people have question marks over him. He's not to blame for the crash, but the fact that he was overtaken by a Williams is too painful for words.es Russell shouldn't have said it, but it don't make it any less true: Bottas, you are unworthy of Mercedes.

Russell: 4

Once again, George Russell has missed out on an opportunity to score points for Williams. The Brit was so good on the road but took just too much risk in the duel with Bottas. His reaction afterwards doesn't really help his campaign to get a chance at Mercedes.

Latifi: 5

Nicholas Latifi drove a neat qualifying by ending up in Q2, but a blunder in the race soon ended his aspirations. He failed to see Mazepin alongside him, thus writing off his Williams. A careless and costly mistake for the Canadian on a weekend where Williams looked very strong.