F1 Driver Power Rankings Round 17
It’s all coming together with only five races left to go!
After a series of really quite absurd and chaotic races, the last two at Turkey and Austin were relatively straightforward. Sure, there’s been penalties to front-runners, but there haven’t been any major crashes, late weather storms or even a two-lap event.
Max Verstappen’s lead in the championship is now 12 points, with five races to go, and with a triple header coming up now is as good a time as any to update the power rankings.
There are battles still well and truly alive up and down the paddock — except at Haas. The next five races will be unpredictable and exciting. The 2021 season will go down in memory as one of, if not the, best of the hybrid era.
But, when we look back on this year, we’ll need to know one thing: who performed well in Turkey and in the USA. Well, wonder no further for these are the Unofficial Definitive Driver Power Rankings for F1 2021 Round 16.
10. Fernando Alonso (-5)
Despite qualifying fifth in Turkey, a very impressive result, it’s been a rough couple of races for the Spaniard. A first lap incident with Pierre Gasly spun the two-time champion to the back of the field.
Alonso went on to bump into Mick Schumacher to receive the first penalty points on his licence since returning to the sport, an incident he apologised to the young Haas driver for.
His race stalled from there, from which he finished well outside the points.
At the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, he took an engine penalty that sent him to the back of the grid. Alonso did battle his way back into contention for a points finish, but scrappy fights with Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi won’t be making the highlight reel anytime soon.
Alonso eventually retired from the race with a cracked rear wing, his second DNF of the season, to finish an underwhelming run of form.
9. George Russell (-5)
The last two Grands Prix has been a case of Russell being brought back down to earth. The Briton almost made Q3 in a hectic and drying Turkish qualifying session, but a mistake on his final Q2 run cost him that opportunity.
An engine penalty in Austin also sent the future Mercedes driver to the very back of the grid, and the pace of the Williams just couldn’t keep up with the likes of Sebastian Vettel and Alonso, who also took penalties.
Russell did have an exceptional first lap in Austin, gaining six places. But he wouldn’t go much further than that, as Russell hit the limitations of his machinery.
8. Daniel Ricciardo (-2)
It’s been a mixed set of performances for the Australian. Ricciardo failed to get out of Q1 in Turkey, which led to him taking an engine penalty that put him in last place for the race.
He started at the back alongside Carlos Sainz, who managed to get back into the points position with a confident drive, but Ricciardo floundered outside the points and never looked like reaching the top 10.
It was good to see the team take a gamble with strategy by pitting earlier than everyone else but it simply didn’t work.
However, the eight-time race winner did perform quite well at COTA — his spiritual second home race — where he was much quicker than his teammate throughout the race.
Ricciardo did well to hold back Sainz to finish inside the top five, even if the Spaniard thought he was on the edge of acceptability in terms of defensive driving!
7. Valtteri Bottas (+3)
The Finn put to bed the question of whether he could get one final win for the Mercedes team. He may yet still win again this season, but a second winless campaign with such dominant machinery would’ve been a very underwhelming exit.
Bottas was comfortable in Turkey, even if he was helped by Lewis Hamilton taking a 10-place grid penalty. It was one of his best performances in Formula One, just 12 months on from his worst ever drive at the same venue.
A sixth Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) of the season sent Bottas to ninth place on the grid in COTA, which wasn’t particularly his fault. But, to qualify fourth with the new part was certainly not his best Saturday performance.
Bottas battled back to sixth place, but again was fortuitous in that Sainz’s damage most definitely cost him that position.
These two races showcased just how Bottas has really lacked consistency this year. He’s had one too many weak weekends — and COTA wasn’t his worst, by any means — but he can’t afford any more grid penalties if he is to finish third in the drivers standings.
6. Sergio Perez (+4)
Perez has had a difficult season, but back to back podiums in Istanbul and Texas were just what the doctor ordered. If not for some drops of rain during the final runs in Q3 then the Mexican might have even earned his first ever pole position.
His defence of Hamilton midway through the Grand Prix in Turkey was exactly what Red Bull needed, as it likely cost his teammate’s biggest rival a few points in their championship battle.
Despite feeling unwell and dehydrated, Perez also drove a solid race in Austin to earn a comfortable third place.
“I struggled massively, you know. Since lap one, I ran out of water. I couldn’t drink at all,” said Perez, post-race at COTA.
“I think by the middle of my second stint it was starting to get pretty difficult you know, losing strength. I think my toughest race ever, physically.”
So, while it looked like an insignificant drive from the outside, Perez did actually quite well to even finish that race and it was ultimately a deserved podium.
More performances like this and the battle for third in the standings might yet still be alive.
5. Carlos Sainz (+3)
These two races were quite good for Sainz even if his results don’t quite match that idea on paper. An eighth place finish from the back of the grid in Turkey was a very respectable result. It was also a deserved first ever driver of the day win.
His performance in COTA was also quite good. A mix-up from Ferrari meant the Spaniard started the race on Softs despite the Mediums being the preferred option.
Even so, he hung on with the softer tyres in the race and had a great chance to finish in the top five before the damage to the car from the incident with Ricciardo.
4. Lando Norris (-3)
Norris has had an exceptional season, but these last two races were oddly quiet from the young Briton. Perhaps the fallout of the Russian heartbreak has been a reason for this drop off in form, but he has still managed consistent points finishes.
The McLaren seemed to lack the pace to really fight at the front in Turkey, but Austin was one of the first times all season where he was visibly off the pace in comparison to his teammate.
With the Ferraris picking up pace in recent weeks, Norris will surely have to pick back up his form if he is to stay ahead of the prancing horses in the standings.
3. Lewis Hamilton
It was a difficult couple of races for the defending champion. Hamilton surely would have won the Turkish Grand Prix from pole but for a 10-place grid penalty.
But a failure to come in when first requested likely cost him a potential podium position. If he’d had his way and not pitted at all then he could’ve even failed to finish based on how Esteban Ocon’s pace dropped off a cliff.
In such a tight championship battle, Hamilton can barely afford to finish fifth at any venue — let alone one where Mercedes looked so quick.
Hamilton gave it everything to get ahead of Verstappen at COTA, but he just couldn’t quite get ahead despite being so close.
The 12-point gap is still salvageable if Hamilton is to win an eighth title, but he is running out of races to do so.
2. Charles Leclerc
The Ferrari driver has had a frustrating season, he has struggled for consistent clean weekends, but with two in a row in Turkey and COTA he made his pace plain to see for everyone.
The Monégasque did well to keep pace with the Mercedes and Red Bulls at Istanbul Park and was gaining on Perez in the final laps of COTA to almost snatch a podium.
Two fourth place finishes made for valuable points for the team and helped close the gap to Norris in the drivers standings. If he can keep this up over the last five races then there is every chance he can jump the McLaren driver to take fifth in the championship.
1. Max Verstappen
Verstappen took great advantage of Hamilton’s penalty in Turkey to take a comfortable second place. It was obvious that Red Bull couldn’t quite match the pace of the Mercedes but Verstappen still managed a solid haul of points to retake the championship lead.
At COTA the team opted for an aggressive two-stop strategy, which meant pitting earlier than expected. This put the Dutchman under an immense amount of pressure to manage his tyres to the end of the race while also fending off his championship rival.
That he did this without making a mistake, without wilting under that pressure, was very impressive and it’s given him a deserved no. 1 spot on these rankings.
It wasn’t the flashiest drive of his career, but it might just be one of the most important. The 14-point swing of winning that race instead of Hamilton could prove to be crucial.
Images courtesy of formula1.com