Ratings after Portugal | Norris again perfect, messy weekend for Verstappen

Like last year, the Portuguese Grand Prix wasn't a huge spectacle, but there were several drivers who put themselves in the spotlight. Lewis Hamilton won the race, but doesn't get the highest marks after the GP in Portimao.

Hamilton: 9

Lewis Hamilton has secured his second win of 2021, but it wasn't flawless. In qualifying, the Brit was beaten by Valtteri Bottas and in the race, he was surprised by Max Verstappen on the restart. But he kept his cool and was a master of his tyres. An excellent race from the seven-time world champion.

Verstappen: 8

Max Verstappen experienced a messy weekend in Portugal. In qualifying his lap was taken away by Track Limits, in the race he made a mistake allowing Hamilton to pass him again and in the last lap, he exceeded the Track Limits again, missing out on the point for the fastest lap. Fortunately, the damage was limited with P2.

Bottas: 7

He was once again smiling for the camera on Saturday, but just like in 2020, Valtteri Bottas failed to manage his tyres like Hamilton and Verstappen in 2021. By finishing ahead of Sergio Perez and keeping Verstappen behind for a long time, however, he did a fine job as second fiddle.

Perez: 6.5

Sergio Perez qualified in the spot where Red Bull Racing wants him, right behind Verstappen. Perez lost ground at the start, however, and was unable to play a major role in the rest of the race. Hamilton will have been briefly affected by his dirty air, but that was all there was to it.

Norris: 10

Another perfect weekend for Lando Norris, who has come out in the 2021 season in fantastic form. Where everyone had high hopes for Daniel Ricciardo, it was Lando who guided the team to third place. In all three races, he has finished right behind the Red Bull and Mercedes drivers, which has earned him third place in the standings.

Leclerc: 8.5

Behind Norris, Charles Leclerc is also getting more out of his Ferrari than his teammate. On Saturday, however, Leclerc disappointed in Q3, but his strong lap in Q2 on the yellow tyre put him in an excellent position for the race, and he drove handsomely to P6.

Ocon: 9

Esteban Ocon has the upper hand within the Alpine team in the first three races. Fernando Alonso came close at the end, but a strong qualifying and a solid race brought the Frenchman a neat seventh place. He will be disappointed that he could not convert his fifth place on the grid into the same result.

Alonso: 8

Fernando Alonso ruined a better result on Saturday, where he lost out in Q2. The Spaniard still needs to work on his qualifying, but in the race, you can still see what he is capable of.

Ricciardo: 6

Daniel Ricciardo is still in the shadow of Lando Norris. The Australian lost out in Q1, came back well in the race, but is still a long way behind his teammate. It says something about the performance of Norris, but Ricciardo will also have to look in the mirror.

Gasly: 7.5

AlphaTauri didn't have it this weekend, and in a weekend where big brother Red Bull Racing didn't have it either, that's perhaps not so surprising. That Pierre Gasly still managed to score a point is something to be proud of.

Sainz: 7.5

Carlos Sainz finally seemed at one with his Ferrari on Saturday. A P6 for the Spaniard and a big gap to Leclerc. In the race, however, he fell far back, and eventually even outside the points. He needs to do better next weekend.

Giovinazzi: 8

Antonio Giovinazzi was already increasingly taking over the lead within Alfa Romeo last year but is doing so even more so this year. In qualifying, the Italian was again faster than Raikkonen and in the race, he couldn't help but let Raikkonen overtake him. They need a couple of dropouts in the races and the Italian will have some points.

Vettel: 8

Sebastian Vettel finally managed to get back into Q3 in Portugal. A mediocre race due to a poorly chosen strategy caused Vettel to fall way back in the race.

Stroll: 6.5

Lance Stroll had to give up to Vettel this weekend, where he had been so strong in the previous weekends. He ended up finishing right behind his German teammate, but we didn't see much of the Canadian.

Tsunoda: 6

A colourless weekend for Yuki Tsunoda who, after his dramatic performance in Imola.

Russell: 8

George Russell was phenomenal again on Saturday, but what a drop in performance he had on Sunday. Is it all down to the car, or is Russell not so strong on Sunday either?

Schumacher: 7.5

Mick Schumacher managed to finish ahead of Nicholas Latifi with the worst car on the grid. On top of that, Mick has been a class above Nikita Mazepin every weekend, but whether that says much.....

Latifi: 5

Nicholas Latifi looked to be closing in on Russell for a while but was eventually run down by Schumacher. A weekend to forget.

Mazepin: 3

Nikita Mazepin was incredibly slow again. He almost touched the race leader, Sergio Perez, and in qualifying, he was a nuisance to many other drivers. At one point, Mazepin was over a minute behind his teammate. 

Raikkonen: 3

Kimi Raikkonen came up short on Saturday compared to Giovinazzi but usually makes up for it on Sunday. This time Kimi was a bit sleepy and crashed into his teammate. End of the race for Kimi, and he is lucky that his teammate could continue the race.