Formula 1's Driver Power Rankings After 2014 Japanese Grand Prix
As the Japanese Grand Prix came to an end, no one in the Formula One world cared who had won. All thoughts were, and for a large number of us probably still are, with Marussia's Jules Bianchi.
At the time of writing, the Frenchman remains in the hospital, having sustained serious head injuries. The team requests patience, and updates will be provided in due course.
In the race, a number of drivers—given the conditions, one could even say the whole field—drove beautifully. Lewis Hamilton took his eighth victory of the year, while Sebastian Vettel recorded his second consecutive podium.
Here are the latest driver power rankings.
Note on Power Rankings
These rankings should not be confused with the actual championship table.
Rather than looking solely at points, they also take into account race results, qualifying, overall performance of each driver and how they stack up against their team-mates. The relative pace of each driver's car is factored in.
Only performance at the last six races is considered.
The previous rankings, based on the six races up to and including the Singapore Grand Prix, are here. All position changes are relative to positions in that article.
Honourable Mentions
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Jean-Eric Vergne drops out of the rankings, despite driving a good race. It's not that he doesn't deserve a spot, it's that there aren't enough spots to go around.
Esteban Gutierrez also put in a solid display but wasn't near the top 10 to start with.
Likewise for Marcus Ericsson, another name which doesn't often feature around these parts.
10. Jenson Button
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New Entry
Jenson Button's career is under threat amid rumours he'll be the one to go if McLaren sign Fernando Alonso. He needed a big performance in Japan.
His weekend didn't get off to the best of starts. Button qualified eighth, one place behind team-mate Kevin Magnussen. The gap was less than one-tenth of a second.
The safety car start gave him no opportunities to move up the field, but the Brit thrives in changeable weather conditions and saw an opening to make up some places. As the safety car came in, he took an educated gamble on a switch to intermediates.
The cars he was racing remained out on the full wets for two laps, and Button's gamble paid off. Four laps after the restart, he was up to third.
For long periods he matched the Mercedes, and even went quicker than Nico Rosberg at times. But the Red Bulls behind were quicker still, and closing fast.
Button lost a place to Vettel at the second round of stops, then another to Daniel Ricciardo after a great battle. That left him fifth, where he remained to the end.
He proved he still has what it takes, and is a new entry at 10th.
9. Nico Hulkenberg
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Down One
Nico Hulkenberg has been on a poor run of form and also needed a good performance. On Saturday's showing, it didn't look likely.
A mistake at the final chicane in Q2 left him with only the 14th-fastest time. Team-mate Sergio Perez out-qualified him for the third time in four races, with the 11th-best time.
But Hulkenberg proved more adept at taming the treacherous conditions in the race. After everyone had made their switch to intermediates and the order had settled down, the German found himself in eighth.
His pace was more than good enough to remain there, and he quickly reeled in the two Williamses before a very early second stop. He started to catch them again, but there wasn't enough time left.
Hulkenberg and the Williamses pitted once more each towards the end, and the FW36s remained ahead.
It was a very good display from the Force India man, but he actually drops a spot because someone behind did even better.
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8. Daniil Kvyat
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Down One
Daniil Kvyat's weekend got off to the best possible start with the news he was being promoted to fill Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull seat for 2015.
But he took the shine off things by qualifying 13th. It was his worst result since Canada, and to make matters worse, team-mate Jean-Eric Vergne was 11th.
Can too much happiness slow a driver down?
Vergne was dumped down to 20th by a grid penalty, so Kvyat started 12th.
The first round of stops elevated the Russian to 10th, and he grabbed another place by passing Kimi Raikkonen when both visited the pits for a second time.
It looked like this was where he'd finish, but events unfolded which were beyond his control.
Kvyat stopped on Lap 39 and dropped down to 13th. His timing was unfortunate, and with some cars that passed him not stopping before the race was red-flagged, Kvyat ended up outside the points despite looking for all the world worthy of a top-10 finish.
He drops a spot to eighth.
7. Sebastian Vettel
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Up Two
Sebastian Vettel rocked the F1 world on Friday night with the announcement he was set to leave Red Bull. Though he most likely made his mind up a while ago, this was the first weekend of his career as an "outsider" in the Red Bull family.
His response was, initially, disappointing. Running a wet setup with the next day's race in mind, Vettel qualified ninth. Team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, also on a wet setup, was sixth—a whopping four-tenths of a second faster.
But in the race, it was a different story.
Stopping a lap later than many rivals bumped Vettel up to sixth. He then passed both Williamses with little difficulty and set about trying to catch Jenson Button.
Eventually he did, passing during their second set of stops. Ricciardo stayed out longer but eventually came in, promoting Vettel back up to third.
Vettel looked to be catching Nico Rosberg a little, but blew his chance with a trip across the gravel in the Esses and briefly fell back into the clutches of Button.
The German pitted again and lost third as the rain intensified, but was restored to the position on countback when the race was red-flagged to score his second podium in a row.
It still wasn't the Vettel that Ferrari are gambling will show up next season, but his form in recent races has certainly been better.
He rises two spots to seventh.
6. Sergio Perez
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No Change
Sergio Perez continued his good qualifying form, out-pacing team-mate Nico Hulkenberg for the third time in four races. He started 11th, with Hulkenberg 14th.
But their fortunes took an about-turn during the race.
Perez made his switch to intermediates a lap earlier than Hulkenberg, and when everything calmed after the stops he found himself 11th, three places down on his team-mate.
At the second round of stops, Perez gained a place from Kimi Raikkonen, and when Daniil Kvyat stopped a few laps before the end he moved up to ninth.
At this point, the red flag worked in his favour. Perez pitted and dropped back to 10th, but was awarded ninth because, in line with the red flag rules, the final standings were determined by the race order at the end of Lap 44.
Perez remains sixth, just.
5. Nico Rosberg
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No Change
Nico Rosberg got his Japanese Grand Prix off to the best possible start. He hadn't looked quicker in practice, but when it mattered the German pulled a huge lap out of the bag for pole.
Team-mate and title rival Lewis Hamilton was two-tenths behind, and started second.
The pair held those positions for the early part of the race, never far apart, but it soon became clear Rosberg was struggling in the wet conditions. He complained on the team radio of massive oversteer, and Hamilton was soon on his gearbox.
Though he managed to defend his line into Turn 1 for a few laps, the Brit was too quick. Rosberg went defensive down the pit straight for the inside line into the first corner, and Hamilton swept by on the outside.
From there it was a race to maintain second place, which Rosberg managed with relative ease after Sebastian Vettel's error.
Rosberg stood on the second step of the podium for the eighth time this year.
He remains fifth.
4. Valtteri Bottas
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No Change
Valtteri Bottas was perhaps the star of qualifying, putting in a lap just six-tenths shy of Nico Rosberg's pole. His Williams isn't a bad car by any means, but his team-mate, Felipe Massa, was four-tenths further back.
But with rain on the horizon, no one at Williams expected a great race. Their car doesn't suit wet conditions, and it showed within a few laps of the restart. Bottas lost a place to Jenson Button in the stops, and was then passed on the track by the two Red Bulls.
Sixth looked like the best he could hope for, and from this point he had a quite lonely race.
Unable to keep up with the cars ahead and comfortably able to maintain his place, Bottas probably didn't see a car he was racing against for most of the afternoon.
He came home sixth, and remains fourth.
3. Fernando Alonso
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No Change
Fernando Alonso's departure from Ferrari next season was all but confirmed in Japan, but he didn't let it get in the way of a good qualifying. He set the fifth-fastest time, behind the Mercedes and Williamses.
But that was about as far as he got.
The Spaniard's Ferrari cut out on the third lap behind the safety car, coasting to a halt on an uphill section of the Esses.
No mechanical failures since 2010 and now he gets two in three races?
Either the law of averages is catching up on him, or his F14 T is upset at being abandoned and has taken to lashing out for attention.
Alonso remains third.
2. Daniel Ricciardo
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Down One
Daniel Ricciardo could have been forgiven for having an even bigger smile than usual on his face after Sebastian Vettel's announcement he was leaving Red Bull.
Or would the news of Daniil Kvyat's promotion have given him cause for concern?
Either way, he was happy enough after qualifying sixth, a huge four-tenths clear of team-mate Vettel.
But perhaps there was a grimace after 11 laps. Ricciardo stopped first of the Red Bulls, with everyone convinced the intermediate tyre was quicker than the full wet.
The decision backfired.
Vettel lapped quicker on the full wets and emerged one lap later from his own stop ahead of Ricciardo. It would remain that way for the whole race.
But Ricciardo did at least manage to showcase his excellent overtaking skills. His move around the outside of Valtteri Bottas through the Esses would grace any Pass of the Season list.
He didn't do a lot wrong, but drops one spot to second.
1. Lewis Hamilton
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Up One
Lewis Hamilton went into Saturday as the favourite for pole; it didn't quite work out that way. He crashed in the closing stages of third practice, damaging the left-front of his car, and needed some lightning-fast work from his mechanics to be ready for qualifying.
But even with his car back in one piece, Hamilton didn't quite have the pace. Team-mate Nico Rosberg put in a blistering lap of one minute, 32.506 seconds—Hamilton was two-tenths slower, and started second.
The opening part of the race was spent in start formation, even after the safety car had come in, but it soon became apparent Hamilton was significantly quicker of the two Mercedes.
He closed up behind Rosberg and, after several laps of not quite getting close enough, took a different line through the final chicane.
It was more akin to the line taken by a driver preparing for a hot lap in qualifying and gave him the little boost of speed on the pit straight that he needed.
Rosberg defended the inside line, but Hamilton went to the outside and swept by into the lead. From then on he pulled clear with ease and had a healthy lead when the safety car came out again.
Hamilton won his eighth race of the year and moves up one spot to first place.
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