F1 Driver Power Rankings - Round 11
Summer Break Time
It’s only been two race weekends since the Rankings were last updated but quite a lot happened in that time. For starters, a whole new weekend format was trialed at Silverstone. And more importantly, we have a new Championship Leader in Lewis Hamilton!
The Summer Break is now in session and with the Belgian Grand Prix another four weeks away, it’s time to update the Unofficial Definitive Driver Power Rankings (UDDPR) to complete the first half of the 2021 Formula One season.
10. Pierre Gasly (-1)
The Frenchman’s qualifying standards have been very high this season and his fifth place Saturday result in Hungary was another exceptional lap in what was a very close session.
With Vettel’s disqualification, Gasly was promoted to fifth in the final race result and he even earned the fastest lap point, to boot.
Gasly’s overall first half of 2021 has been quite impressive as he has asserted himself as Alpha Tauri’s team leader.
While the route to Red Bull looks like a burned bridge at this point, if he can continue to perform this well into the second half of the season then they’ll have no choice but to stand up and notice the 25-year old.
9. Sergio Perez (-4)
Everything was looking up for Perez following his win in Baku and subsequent podium in France that also helped teammate Max Verstappen to race victory. However, since then everything has gone from bad to worse.
The Mexican was robbed of a podium in Austria round one due to a poor pit stop and a collision with Lando Norris in Austria round two ruined any chance he had of a one-two finish with his teammate.
Perez’s misfortune continued into Silverstone when a mistake in the Sprint Qualifying session sent him to the back of the grid. Poor strategy and DRS trains cost him any chance at points in the race.
So, when he qualified fourth in Hungary and jumped Valtteri Bottas in the rundown to Turn One on the opening lap, everything was looking up once again.
8. Esteban Ocon (New!)
The man of the moment following his victory in Hungary. Ocon has found some magnificent form following a tricky few weekends immediately following his contract extension with Alpine.
At Silverstone he found himself back in the points after the gamble to start the Sprint Qualifying session on the Soft tyres yielded a gain of three places.
Despite being behind Fernando Alonso all weekend in Hungary, the Frenchman hooked up the car in Q3 to start the race ahead of the birthday boy. This meant he was the man in the exact place at the right time to reap the benefits of the chaotic opening lap of the race.
But, to manage the lead of the Grand Prix from there, with a four time world champion hunting him down for all of 65 laps, was incredible.
It was as epic a first win in F1 as he could’ve asked for. If he can continue to drive like that then surely there will be many more victories to come.
7. Carlos Sainz (-2)
Sainz had a troublesome Silverstone weekend where everything seemingly went against him. The collision with George Russell during the Sprint Qualifying meant he started the race further back than he should have.
A poor pit stop cost him the chance to fight for a podium at a race where his teammate led almost every lap of the race. The pace was clearly there in the Ferrari but the Spaniard was unable to extract the most out of it, largely through circumstances out of his control.
Sainz managed a provisional podium result in Hungary, the fourth of his F1 career. This was despite an error in qualifying meant he started in 15th. That ended up being an ideal starting position due to the collisions at the front.
However, getting stuck in the train behind Nicholas Latifi in the first stint potentially cost him the chance to fight for the race victory. It was a frustrating couple of races for Sainz, but he does now lead his teammate in the standings going into the Summer Break.
6. George Russell (+1)
Russell’s final qualifying run in Silverstone was one of the highlights of that weekend. In front of a packed home crowd, he pushed his Williams to eighth on the grid with a stunning lap.
But a grid penalty and poor race pace in the car meant he had to keep waiting for his first points with the team.
Those points finally came in Hungary, finishing the race in ninth place. It had to be that kind of chaotic race where Russell and Williams took advantage and he did.
While he finished behind Latifi, Russell is at the stage of his career where it was all about the conclusion to this three year long journey with the team to finding some success.
His emotions after the race said it all. This was a huge moment for the team after the downtrodden years they’ve suffered.
5. Charles Leclerc (+1)
When Hamilton and Verstappen collided at Copse in Silverstone, Leclerc was there to sneak past the Mercedes to take the lead of the race. This was a lead he held onto until three laps to the end.
Everybody expected Hamilton to gobble up the Ferrari once the race restarted, but Leclerc held his own in the slower car to maintain the gap throughout the first stint.
Unfortunately for him, the Ferrari’s pace on the Hard tyres and the engine cuts he suffered in the early stages meant he couldn’t hold on to what would’ve been a massive result for the team.
However, it was still a richly deserved podium.
Leclerc looked set to take advantage of the Turn One pile-up in Hungary before Lance Stroll had other ideas and wiped out the 23-year old.
4. Lando Norris (-2)
Norris was the epicentre for all the chaos at Turn One in Hungary. His lightning start saw him jump ahead of Bottas, despite the Finn starting four places higher on the grid. It was his car that was used as a bowling ball that took out both Red Bulls.
There was nothing the Briton could’ve done to get out of this situation.
But fortunately for him none of his immediate championship rivals survived the opening lap and thus he retained his third place in the Driver’s Standings.
Norris was unfortunate not to be in podium contention at his home Grand Prix. A poor pit stop meant he was too far back to take on Bottas despite his good pace.
3. Fernando Alonso (+5)
The Spaniard celebrated his 40th birthday during the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend and he was the star of the show at both of the last two races.
During the Sprint Qualifying, we saw the very best of Alonso as he gained six places in nine corners to move from 11th to fifth. The gamble to start on the Soft compound paid off massively, as he later earned a seventh place finish in the race.
In Hungary, he showed great pace to stick with the quicker Ferrari of Sainz and stay in the hunt for a podium position.
The fight with Hamilton was the highlight of the race. Alonso fended off the seven time champion, in a story reminiscent of Imola 2005. The racing was tough, but fair and it ultimately was crucial in his teammate getting the win.
This was a timely reminder of Alonso’s greatness and hopefully there will be more to come in the second half of 2021.
2. Lewis Hamilton (+1)
Hamilton now leads the championship by eight points (or six, pending on Aston Martin’s appeal of the Hungary result). However, he has taken the lead due to a mix of some very good fortune and some really good driving.
The stewards deemed the incident at Copse to be his fault, but the 10s penalty was somewhat lenient and certainly didn’t make much impact on his final race result. Bottas let him through to take second, before a stunning set of laps meant he caught Leclerc with three laps to go.
His pole lap in Hungary was perhaps his best of the season, but both Red Bulls were taken out of the race by his teammate which gave him a free run at the race win.
A poor strategy decision meant Hamilton ended up last after the race restart. This was a total own goal move from Mercedes and surely cost them the victory.
However, Hamilton will take whatever lead he can get considering he went into Silverstone 32 points behind his rival.
With 12 races remaining it’s impossible to predict who will come out on top, but there will be many twists and turns to come yet.
1. Max Verstappen (+/-)
Verstappen missed out on the best qualifying time in Silverstone, but he took the first ever win of a Sprint Qualifying session by taking Hamilton’s lead into Turn One on the opening lap.
From there, the Dutchman’s luck has gone completely downhill. He suffered a 51g accident in the aftermath of the collision with Hamilton.
Poor qualifying strategy also meant he was at the mercy of Hamilton during the final runs of Q3 in Hungary, where it was apparent that Verstappen hadn’t found the ideal window for his tyres as he failed to improve on his third place result.
The fight back to get inside the points position with essentially only half a car was an outstanding drive and enough to retain top spot on this list for now.
The 23-year old is behind in the championship but he has hardly put a foot wrong and will be wondering just how that 32 point lead slipped so quickly through no fault of his own.
The next 12 races will define his championship credentials. We know he’s a capable race winner, but now it’s time to find out if he is a champion.