Ratings | Verstappen and Hamilton stand out in a class of their own

The United States Grand Prix was exciting until the final few meters. Max Verstappen barely managed to keep Lewis Hamilton at bay and drove a phenomenal weekend. Which grade Verstappen and all other drivers get from GPblog after the United States Grand Prix?

Verstappen: 10

According to data from Amazon, Verstappen's reaction time at the start was 0.03s slower than that of Lewis Hamilton. Red Bull Racing, however, has already revealed that there was something wrong with the clutch, which meant the start was not perfect. Verstappen himself was perfect this weekend, with a world-class qualifying session in which he impressed mainly in the final sector despite the presence of a few raindrops. On Sunday, he kept his tyres alive just enough to keep Hamilton off him, making a bold strategy successful.

Hamilton: 9.5

Lewis Hamilton did little wrong this weekend in America and his post-race attitude is therefore understandable. Once again his Mercedes was strategically beaten by Red Bull Racing, after looking so great on Friday. With Mexico and Brazil ahead, Hamilton knows it will be about damage limitation.

Perez: 8.5

Despite a failing water system, Sergio Perez managed his second podium in a row after a strong qualifying session on Saturday. The Mexican is feeling more and more at home in the RB16B and seems to be peaking at the right time for Red Bull Racing.

Leclerc: 9

Charles Leclerc is on a good run with another fourth-place finish. The Monegasque was best of the rest in Turkey and did the same again this weekend. You can't really expect more from the Ferrari driver.

Ricciardo: 8

He had a difficult start of the season, but Daniel Ricciardo is starting to feel more comfortable with McLaren. The Australian was faster than Lando Norris in America this weekend and that will do him good.

Bottas: 6.5

Valtteri Bottas had the perfect weekend in Turkey with a pole and victory, but in America, he was vulnerable again. The Finn struggled to pass drivers in the midfield and was unable to take advantage of Perez's lesser Sunday.

Sainz: 7.5

Carlos Sainz basically threw away his race on Saturday during Q2, where he failed to set a time on his first set of medium tyres. Ferrari went for safe and put him on the red tyre, but that didn't help the Spaniard on Sunday. He fought a losing battle but did finish ahead of Norris.

Norris: 6.5

Lando Norris will want to forget the weekend in Austin quickly, as the Briton was not very competitive here. Norris also lost fourth place in the standings to Perez, but that's only logical considering the Mexican has a much faster car at Red Bull.

Tsunoda: 7.5

Yuki Tsunoda was still not as fast as Pierre Gasly on Saturday, but the Japanese driver finally scored some points again after already ending up in Q3 on Saturday. Yuki seems to be rewarding Red Bull's confidence, although there is still a long way to go.

Vettel: 7.5

Sebastian Vettel drove a great Grand Prix of the United States. From P18 the German drove to tenth place, although he got that last spot very easily due to a mistake by Kimi Raikkonen. Vettel did a great job though and especially made his teammate look bad.

Giovinazzi: 6

Antonio Giovinazzi kept his car on the track and finished eleventh, but unlike Kimi, he never really came close to scoring points. Despite a strong qualifying run, he still drove behind his older teammate again for much of the race.

Stroll: 6

Lance Stroll didn't make it out of Q1 but still started the race from P13 due to all the grid penalties around him, including for his teammate. The fact that it was Vettel who managed to score a point for Aston Martin and not Stroll, says it all. He simply wasn't competitive enough.

Raikkonen: 5.5

Kimi Raikkonen had a poor qualifying but drove superbly in America on Sunday. The former world champion seemed to be on his way to a point but threw away a good result by losing control of the rear of his car.

Russell: 6

George Russell has fortunately secured his seat with Mercedes because in recent races he has not really been able to excel in his Williams. The car seems a little less competitive and from the back, it was always going to be a difficult weekend for Russell. Still, he finished ahead of his teammate despite the grid penalty.

Latifi: 5

Nicholas Latifi was again finished after Q1 on Saturday and didn't manage to keep his teammate behind him on Sunday either. It will be interesting in 2022 to see if the gap to his new teammate(Alexander Albon) is as large. The question will then be whether Russell has really been that good this year or whether Latifi is simply not fast enough.

Schumacher: 6.5

Mick Schumacher perhaps drove a little too long in front of Max Verstappen, but otherwise drove a decent weekend. Of course, it's still at the back, but with over a minute's lead on his teammate.

Mazepin: 4

Nikita Mazepin didn't make any notable blunders this weekend but also didn't have the speed to stay close to his teammate.

Alonso: 5.5

Fernando Alonso was determined to fight his way back to the front of the grid with a heroic race after a grid penalty but was preoccupied with the stewards during that catch-up race. He ostentatiously pushed Raikkonen off the track and then asked why Kimi was allowed to overtake outside the track. When he didn't get an answer, he passed Giovinazzi in a childish way by braking completely late but using the run-off to pass the Italian. He also pushed Giovinazzi off the track, but this time the stewards gave in and Gio had to give the spot back.

Ocon: 5

Esteban Ocon wasn't very fast this weekend, but that wouldn't matter in the end as Alpine saw both cars finish in the garage. Reliability is still a long way off for the French team.

Gasly: 5.5

Pierre Gasly drove a strong qualifying session, but after problems were already detected on the way to the grid, the race ultimately proved short-lived for the Frenchman. A problem with his rear suspension resulted in his fourth retirement of the season.