Team ratings: Red Bull and Aston Martin excel, Mercedes inadequate

We take a look at the teams after the French Grand Prix won by Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing. Which teams stood out and which were disappointing?

Red Bull Racing - 9.5

Red Bull were wise to the undercut at Paul Ricard. Max Verstappen was three seconds behind Lewis Hamilton entering pit lane, but a few minutes later the Mercedes driver's advantage was gone. The call to let Sergio Perez drive a longer first stint earned the Mexican a podium finish, while Verstappen's second pit stop also proved to be worth its weight in gold: it brought the Dutchman victory.

Mercedes - 4.5

The German formation blundered. Toto Wolff has already indicated that Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas are not to blame so much, so the team around James Vowles should be the main culprit. The Mercedes car was a close match for Red Bull's, so Hamilton should never have relinquished his lead at turn one. Bottas said on the radio that he was not happy with the strategy and so he gave the Mercedes men a fail.

McLaren - 9.0

McLaren saw a very strong Ferrari during the last two Grands Prix in Monaco and Baku and so it was up to the formation from Woking to take over the momentum. McLaren succeeded in this task for one hundred percent, because Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo got access to a very competitive car and managed to seize the places 5 and 6. This made the team the best of the rest and put them sixteen points behind Ferrari in the World Championship.

Ferrari - 6.0

Ferrari knew it would be difficult to repeat the performance of the previous two GP's, but P11 and P16 are simply disappointing. The speed was not there at all on the hard tyre and so Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc slipped through the field, where qualifying looked promising. There's work to be done because a weekend like this is not something Ferrari can afford to repeat in the battle for third in the Constructors' standings when we travel to Austria for a double-header next week.

AlphaTauri - 8.0

AlphaTauri's car was good again, it was just a shame that Yuki Tsunoda had to start from the last row of the grid. Pierre Gasly showed what the AT02 was capable of and ended the French GP in a neat seventh place. As soon as the Japanese rookie actually starts scoring points, it seems clear that AlphaTauri will finish fifth amongst the constructors this year.

Aston Martin - 9.0

Aston Martin were strategically strong in Monaco and Baku and the same scenario played out in the south of France. Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll both had to start from outside the top ten, but by the end of Sunday afternoon, Lawrence Stroll's team was still three points richer after a P9 and P10. Had the race been any longer, Vettel could have finished eighth if he had passed Fernando Alonso. In terms of strategy, Aston Martin is top of the bill, but in terms of pure speed, they still need to step up a gear for the remainder of the season.

Alpine - 7.5

It was another solid race, but it's clear that Alpine has had to take a step back from 2020. Podium places are out of the question, the French now have to be happy with a points finish. Fernando Alonso took care of that by finishing eighth, but otherwise, it's all pretty colourless what Alonso and Esteban Ocon can show in their Alpine this season.

Alfa Romeo Racing - 6.0

Speaking of colourless, it wasn't Alfa Romeo Racing's weekend either. The stable is in a bit of a no man's land. Alpine and Aston Martin are too fast and Williams and Haas F1 are normally no match for them on Sunday. Alfa Romeo seems to be setting its sights on 2022 though, so points will be the exception rather than the rule.

Williams - 7.0

Williams delivered a nice car in terms of race pace, or was it just George Russell who stood out above his car? Either way, it was one of Williams' better performances. It didn't score any points, but P12 in a race with no stoppages is not bad at all.

Haas F1 - 5.0

Well, what can we say? Not much to say. It's been a year of learning and failing for Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin.