Ratings | Big difference between Verstappen and Hamilton, Vettel the golden boy

The Grand Prix weekend in Azerbaijan was another one that did not disappoint. There was plenty of action on track on Sunday, and throughout the weekend mechanics were put to the test by their drivers who went just that little bit over the limit. Which drivers excelled in Baku and who came up short?

Perez: 9

Sergio Perez drove superbly this weekend. The Mexican finally proved his worth for Red Bull by driving from P6 to victory after an early flagged qualifying session. Perez drove behind his teammate but kept Hamilton at bay. A strong performance from the Mexican who only really needs to improve his qualifying result. 

Vettel: 10

Sebastian Vettel seems to have regained his old form. At Aston Martin, he is getting the confidence he needs and that makes him the man he is today. After a great fifth place in Monaco he now finished second in Azerbaijan.

Gasly: 9.5

Pierre Gasly took another podium for AlphaTauri, continuing the run he started when he was relegated from Red Bull Racing. The Frenchman is comfortable in his skin and the ideal frontrunner for AlphaTauri.

Leclerc: 9

Charles Leclerc drove a strong weekend in Azerbaijan. The Ferrari didn't have the speed on Sunday to really compete for the win, but Leclerc's pole was again very good, even though he needed another red flag.

Norris: 8.5

Lando Norris has the reins firmly in his hands at McLaren, but couldn't prevent Ferrari from coming alongside in the standings.

Alonso: 9

A strong weekend for Fernando Alonso in Azerbaijan, where for the first time he really managed to get away from Ocon and after the restart had a great series of overtakes that saw him secure sixth place.

Tsunoda: 8

Yuki Tsunoda has had a difficult few weeks but recovered well in Baku. A seventh-place is exactly what AlphaTauri needed from the Rookie in the battle with Aston Martin.

Sainz: 6

Carlos Sainz concluded a difficult weekend in eighth place. The Spaniard drove a fine race until he made a mistake on the hard tyre. On cold tyres, he was a bit too eager and lost a lot of ground.

Ricciardo: 5.5

Daniel Ricciardo takes two points from his Baku adventure, but the crash in qualifying will not have improved his feeling with the MCL35M. Ricciardo looks like he needs a little more than five races.

Raikkonen: 7.5

Kimi Raikkonen scores his first point of 2021, and with that Alfa Romeo scores a point for the second race in a row.

Giovinazzi: 7

Antonio Giovinazzi stayed close to Kimi on Sunday but had to settle for a spot just outside the points.

Bottas: 3

A dramatic weekend for Valtteri Bottas, who couldn't get past P10 on Saturday and even missed out on points on Sunday. Sad, especially considering all the retirements.

Schumacher: 7

Mick Schumacher was faster than his teammate again this weekend, and there doesn't seem to be anything more in it for him. Haas are not getting anywhere near points, even with dropouts by others and Safety Cars.

Mazepin: 5

Nikita Mazepin got in the way of plenty of people again this weekend, and on the straight, he caused a frightening moment with his teammate. This is going to go really wrong for him one day.

Hamilton: 5

Up until the final restart, Hamilton drove a perfect weekend. Mercedes clearly didn't have it this weekend (witness also Bottas' performance), and the fact that Lewis still drove third was already very impressive. At the restart, after Verstappen's crash, he threw everything away by hitting a button which changed his brake balance. A mistake of enormous value. When your rival has so much bad luck you have to take advantage, but Lewis is left empty-handed.

Latifi: 6

Williams didn't have it this weekend, finishing at the back as a result. Latifi finished ahead of Russell, although that was mainly due to the Brit's extra pit stop.

Russell: 6

George Russell had a chance to prove himself this weekend, but had numerous issues with his car. 

Verstappen: 9

Max Verstappen drove a strong and easy race to victory. He passed Leclerc at the right time, kept the pressure on with Hamilton and allowed an overcut to succeed simply through a strong run on the old soft tyre. Unfortunately for the Dutch, fate was not in his favour.

Stroll: 8

Lance Stroll looked set to throw it all away with a mistake on Saturday, but the Canadian drove a great stint on the hard tyre and looked set to drive himself into the points after all. The Pirelli tyre, like Verstappen's, didn't think so though.

Ocon: 6

Esteban Ocon was beaten by Alonso this weekend. He ended with a technical problem and so we will never know how his race would have gone. Ocon will want to strike back at home.