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Ratings | Bottas perfect, rookie mistake made by Vettel

Ratings | Bottas perfect, rookie mistake made by Vettel

11-10-2021 08:22
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GPblog.com

On a wet track the men are normally separated from the boys, but during the Turkish Grand Prix it never became a real spectacle as we are used to from rain races. Conditions remained pretty much the same throughout the race, so it was mainly a matter of choosing the right strategy. GPblog again gives ratings for the performance of the drivers in the Turkish Grand Prix.

Bottas: 10

Valtteri Bottas drove an almost perfect weekend. He didn't take pole on Saturday but got the first starting spot because of his teammate's grid penalty. In the race the Finn was unapproachable and took the 25 points for the victory and the extra point for the fastest lap. Crucially for Hamilton, he didn't allow Verstappen to increase his  World Championship advantage further.

Verstappen: 9

Max Verstappen couldn't have done much better at the Intercity Istanbul Park. The Dutchman was allowed to start from the front row but was never able to attack Bottas. Red Bull Racing simply didn't have the car to really compete for victory this weekend.

Perez: 9

Sergio Perez needs to work on his speed in qualifying, but on Sunday he showed he is a real racer. The highlight was his defensive action against Hamilton, but the overtaking of Leclerc was also worthwhile.

Leclerc: 9

Charles Leclerc once again managed to get everything out of his Ferrari. He qualified in a great fourth spot and seemed to be on his way to the podium for a long time. However, his team waited too long before making a pit stop, so he came under pressure from Perez and lost his podium position.

Hamilton: 7

Lewis Hamilton was not happy with his team after the race and that's understandable. Starting from eleventh on the grid, the Brit seemed to be on his way to the podium to limit his loss to Verstappen. Mercedes brought Lewis in for a new set of Inters. With hindsight, it's always difficult to determine if he really wouldn't have made it. The Brit did well to work his way through the field, but struggled with Tsunoda which could've taken too much life out of the tyres.

Gasly: 7

Pierre Gasly was very fast again this weekend, but mistakes still remain a recurring problem for the Frenchman. He said he was in a 'sandwich', but there was clearly room in the first corner to avoid contact with Fernando Alonso. Alonso's race was ruined by Gasly, who was given a five-second penalty.

Norris: 6

Lando Norris was battling for victory in Russia, but on Sunday he found himself on his own on the Istanbul circuit. There was simply not much more to the McLaren, especially if you compare it to his teammate.

Sainz: 9

Carlos Sainz started from the back of the grid and drove an impressive race to P8. On Sunday, the Spaniard is always a consistent driver and he showed that again this weekend.

Stroll: 7

Lance Stroll was also fairly invisible this weekend, but in the difficult conditions, he was able to beat his teammate with four world titles. In the rain, the Canadian always proves he can race a bit.

Ocon: 7

Esteban Ocon was the only driver to finish the race on one set of tyres. The intermediates would not have lasted much longer, but the Frenchman drove to a neat tenth place. Compared to Alonso, however, Ocon was nowhere to be seen all weekend, although the Spaniard's spin has now disguised that.

Giovinazzi: 6

Just no points for Antonio Giovinazzi who was the better driver for Alfa Romeo this weekend in Turkey. The Italian isn't taking anything away from his teammate though.

Raikkonen: 6

Kimi Raikkonen had a slightly lesser weekend in Turkey but stayed close to his younger teammate.

Ricciardo: 6

After strong performances in Italy and Russia Ricciardo has his feet back on the ground. In Turkey, he dropped out after Q1 in qualifying and on Sunday he never came close to the points.

Tsunoda: 5

Yuki Tsunoda drove a strong qualifying session and started the race superbly with a nice duel against Hamilton. However, the race lasted longer than a few laps. The Japanese driver spun and threw away a points finish. He was fast all weekend, but the points will be distributed on Sunday.

Russell: 4

No heroic performances from Russell this time in the rain. The Brit had to make do with a thirteenth starting spot and eventually a fifteenth place in the final results.

Alonso: 4

Fernando Alonso drove to a phenomenal fifth place on the grid in qualifying, but a mistake by Gasly saw the Spaniard fall back in the race. Alonso then, possibly out of frustration, made a major error with Mick Schumacher not long after, earning Fernando a five-second penalty. He never really made any gains or impressions from the back of the grid. 

Latifi: 4

Nicholas Latifi spun remarkably often during the weekend and seemed to have little control over his car. Russell didn't do much better, but that doesn't make the Canadian's performance any better.

Vettel: 4

Where everyone knew it was too wet for dry tyres, you'd expect a four-time world champion not to make the mistake of driving on slicks anyway. Yet Vettel made that mistake, which meant the end of his race. A shame, because up until that moment he was close to scoring points.

Schumacher: 5

Mick Schumacher reached Q2 for the first time, but couldn't enjoy it for long on Sunday. He was clipped by Alonso and had to start from the back again. The fact that he still managed to finish ahead of Nikita Mazepin says it all.

Mazepin: 5

Nikita Mazepin was by far the slowest driver on Saturday and almost three seconds slower than his teammate. On Sunday, that difference was painfully clear again, when Schumacher managed to overtake his teammate despite an earlier spin.