Formula 1's Driver Power Rankings After 2015 Canadian Grand Prix
Lewis Hamilton returned to winning ways at 2015's Canadian Grand Prix. The reigning Formula One drivers' champion led every lap bar one to record his fourth victory of the season, beating team-mate Nico Rosberg by a little over two seconds.
It marked the end of Rosberg's winning streak, and we also saw the end of Ferrari's run of six consecutive podium finishes. While the incident that cost him third wasn't his fault, Kimi Raikkonen will have no doubt left Montreal feeling like he could have done more.
Valtteri Bottas, on the other hand, will head home to Europe knowing he got the best possible result out of his Canadian weekend.
Sebastian Vettel, Felipe Massa and Daniil Kvyat also put in first-rate displays. On the other side of the coin, Daniel Ricciardo, Sergio Perez and Romain Grosjean failed to live up to expectations.
Here's how they and their fellow drivers currently rank.
Note on Power Rankings
These rankings should not be confused with the championship table.
Rather than looking solely at how many points each driver has, these rankings take into account race results, qualifying, the overall performance of each driver and how drivers stack up against their team-mates. The relative pace of each driver's car is factored in, as is the identity and ability of his team-mate.
For each race, every driver who took part is awarded a score out of 10. The sum of these scores across the previous six races is given on each driver's slide and determines the driver's ranking.
As we're now more than six races into the season, drivers will start dropping points from races earlier in the year; this, coupled with a very tight field, may result in large fluctuations.
All position changes are relative to where the driver was in the previous set of rankings, published after the Monaco Grand Prix and available here.
Honourable Mentions
1 of 11
Felipe Nasr drops out of the rankings after a difficult weekend. A silly error (video) in free practice saw him hit the wall after accidentally deploying DRS while weaving on a straight. The Brazilian never really recovered from it.
Daniel Ricciardo also slips out of the top 10 after a disappointing outing.
Nico Hulkenberg drove a good race, Sebastian Vettel-induced spin notwithstanding, and Pastor Maldonado finally scored the points he has deserved for some time now. Roberto Merhi and Daniil Kvyat also put in admirable shifts.
10. Sergio Perez
2 of 11
No Change
Sergio Perez had a poor weekend on a track at which he usually excels.
He qualified 10th after struggling to get temperature into his tyres during Q3. Per the Force India website, his best time in that part of qualifying—one minute, 16.338 seconds—was almost four-tenths slower than his best in Q2 and seven-tenths down on team-mate Nico Hulkenberg's quickest lap.
At the start, he held onto 10th place and passed Daniel Ricciardo after eight laps. This put him behind Daniil Kvyat's Red Bull, but though he possessed much better straight-line speed, Perez was unable to get by.
He pitted from ninth on Lap 24 and fell to 15th; by the time everyone had made at least one stop and the order had shaken out, Perez was outside the points in 11th.
The Mexican briefly rose to 10th following Romain Grosjean's collision with Will Stevens, but the Lotus man recovered and took the place back 15 laps from the end. Perez was left to trail home 11th, struggling with his tyres and barely holding off Carlos Sainz's Toro Rosso—three places and 30 seconds down on Hulkenberg.
Perez later complained his car's balance wasn't right, with significant understeer. As well as being forced to save his brakes and fuel, tyre management was also an issue—an area in which he is usually one of the best in the field.
He remains 10th.
Rating: 6
Cumulative: 44
9. Fernando Alonso
3 of 11
New Entry
Fernando Alonso was again forced to retire after a spirited effort in his underpowered McLaren.
He made it through to Q2 due to technical problems for two quicker rivals, but once there he produced a very respectable lap to take 14th. He was less than three-tenths shy of making it through to Q3 and, though painfully slow in the "power" parts of the lap, sixth-quickest in Sector 1.
Alonso was up to 11th after a good opening lap but was never likely to stay there. Lacking decent straight-line speed, he was a sitting duck as a string of cars sped by using DRS on the long back straight.
But he did at least manage one defence, which gave McLaren fans a bit of cheer. Alonso resolutely refused to give way as Sebastian Vettel attacked on Lap 20, forcing his Ferrari replacement across the kerbs at the final chicane. He held the German off again at the same place on the next lap, only to lose out on the start-finish straight.
That was the last positive part of his afternoon. Shortly after the Vettel defence he was asked to save fuel and angrily responded on the team radio (h/t BBC Sport), "I don't want. I don't want. Already I have big problems now. Driving with this and looking like amateurs. So I'd like to race and then I concentrate on the fuel."
In the end it didn't matter. Alonso was forced to retire after 44 laps with an exhaust problem—a sorry end to a frustrating afternoon.
He's a new entry in ninth.
Rating: 8
Cumulative: 44
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
8. Max Verstappen
4 of 11
Down Three
Max Verstappen was on the back foot before a wheel was turned and surprised no one by finishing outside the points.
Already carrying a five-place grid penalty for causing a collision in Monaco, the youngster was slapped with another 10-place drop for taking his fifth internal combustion engine of the season. He qualified 12th, two-tenths of a second slower than team-mate Carlos Sainz Jr.—then came the pain.
As he could only drop eight places on the grid, Verstappen was given an additional 10-second time penalty, to be served during the race, to ensure he was properly punished for Renault's poor reliability.
He quickly passed the two Manors at the start but found further progress difficult due to poor straight-line speed. By staying out longer than anyone else he ran as high as 10th—but his long stop, during which he served his 10-second penalty, dropped him down to 16th.
Though he gained one place due to Fernando Alonso's retirement, he got stuck behind the Sauber of Marcus Ericsson and remained there until the end.
It wasn't Verstappen's best race but nor was it his worst. He falls three places to eighth.
Rating: 7
Cumulative: 44
7. Kimi Raikkonen
5 of 11
Down Three
Kimi Raikkonen's podium hopes were shattered by a bizarre recurrence of a problem he also encountered 12 months ago.
He qualified third, impressively close to the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg. Raikkonen's lap of 1:15.014 was just three-tenths down on the German's best, and it gave him his best starting position of 2015.
Raikkonen got a good start and was able to have a look down the inside of Rosberg into Turn 1. He tried to hang on around the outside of Turn 2, but there was no way through—the Finn had to settle for third.
Though unable to match the Mercedes cars for raw pace, Raikkonen hung on throughout the first stint on the super-soft tyres. He was six seconds down on Rosberg when he made his one and only stop on Lap 25 and looked set for a comfortable podium—until he reached the Turn 10 hairpin on his out-lap.
As he attempted to exit the corner, he lost the rear of the car and spun. It could almost have been a replay from last year's race—Raikkonen spun here twice in 2014, and Autosport reported at the time that problems with his Ferrari's engine settings were to blame.
Per Motorsport.com's Jonathan Noble, the 2015 edition wasn't Raikkonen's fault either—again, it was down to engine mapping. It cost him a lot of time, and Valtteri Bottas took over third place.
Raikkonen made a second stop and had fresher tyres than Bottas toward the end, but he couldn't quite catch his countryman and had to settle for fourth.
He drops three spots to seventh.
Rating: 7
Cumulative: 44
6. Carlos Sainz Jr.
6 of 11
Up Two
Carlos Sainz Jr. scored no points in Montreal, but he did at least claim one famous scalp.
He qualified in 11th, missing out on a spot in Q3 by just a few hundredths of a second. He was two-tenths quicker than team-mate Max Verstappen—the score in qualifying in now 5-2 in Sainz's favour.
It was always going to be tough to hang onto his position with his Toro Rosso lacking straight-line speed, and a poor getaway didn't help—Sainz was down to 14th after just one lap and 15th after three.
But he got settled and began to claw his way back through the field. Fernando Alonso was a fairly easy victim, and Marcus Ericsson fell when Sainz pitted a lap earlier.
The Spaniard had very good pace on the soft tyres in the second half of the race and gave himself the opportunity to overtake the ultimate target for a Toro Rosso racer—a grown-up Red Bull. Daniel Ricciardo was caught, and on Lap 53, Sainz blasted through to take 12th.
He then closed up to the rear of Sergio Perez, but passing the Mercedes-engined Force India was beyond the Toro Rosso-Renault. Sainz finished 12th, just a few hundredths of a second behind.
After another strong qualifying display and a good recovery in the race, Sainz is up two spots to sixth.
Rating: 8
Cumulative: 44
5. Nico Rosberg
7 of 11
Down Two
Nico Rosberg's bid to win three consecutive races came to a halt in Canada.
He qualified second on the grid for the fourth time in 2015. His time of 1:14.702 was just over three-tenths down on team-mate Lewis Hamilton's best and slower than the quickest lap he achieved in Q2. He later complained of a lack of grip.
Rosberg made a similar start to Hamilton, but Kimi Raikkonen got away slightly better and was able to challenge down the inside into Turn 1. The German held off the Finn with little difficulty but was unable to stay within three seconds of his team-mate throughout the opening stint.
Then something changed at the pit stops, and Rosberg, despite stopping a lap later, was suddenly much closer to Hamilton. He pushed as much as he was able, but having to save his brakes and fuel meant he never truly put his team-mate under any pressure.
Rosberg crossed the line in second to maintain his 100 percent podium record but lost ground in the title hunt. He falls two spots to fifth.
Rating: 7
Cumulative: 45
4. Felipe Massa
8 of 11
Up Three
Felipe Massa made the best of a bad situation to score useful points from 15th on the grid.
The Brazilian's qualifying efforts were hampered by a loss of power during Q1. His straight-line speed and acceleration badly compromised, Massa could only manage the 17th-quickest time. This became 15th on the grid after other drivers received penalties.
Fortunately for him, the problem was resolved in time for the race and Massa, starting on the slower soft compound tyres, made up two places on the opening lap. With Mercedes power and DRS, it was often too easy—but Marcus Ericsson put up a great fight, and his duel with Massa was one of the highlights of the race.
After a few laps of trying, Massa finally got a good run at Ericsson down the pit straight and moved to the outside into Turn 1. The pair remained side-by-side through this corner and the second, both driving beautifully, inches apart.
Massa prevailed and picked off further rivals to move up to sixth by the time he made his only stop of the race. Rejoining in ninth, he was 59 seconds down on the leader; by the end of the race, the gap was 56 seconds.
He had the quicker super-soft tyres at this stage, but the stint was 33 laps long. Massa finished a fine sixth and goes up three places to fourth.
Rating: 9
Cumulative: 45
3. Valtteri Bottas
9 of 11
New Entry
Valtteri Bottas banished the painful memories of Monaco and scored his first podium of the season.
The Finn qualified fourth on the grid—13 places higher than he managed in Monte Carlo. Team-mate Felipe Massa did not set a representative time, but Bottas was just seven-tenths shy of pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton.
He made a reasonable start to hold fourth into Turn 1 and appeared set for an uneventful race. Ahead, Kimi Raikkonen slowly pulled clear; behind, Romain Grosjean more rapidly fell away.
Bottas made what was planned to be the first of two stops on Lap 27, but when he emerged in third—ahead of Raikkonen, who had spun on his out-lap—the team reassessed his options. The driver felt like he could keep the tyres alive, so the pit wall switched him to a one-stop strategy.
Raikkonen closed up and tried to pressure his countryman, but Bottas held firm. Ferrari tried a two-stopper for their man, but despite having fresher rubber, the 2007 world champion could not catch the Williams.
Bottas crossed the line 40 seconds down on the race leader to score his and his team's first podium of the season.
He was equal 10th (but officially unranked) last week; dropping his low Australian score and replacing it with a high one from Canada shoots him right back into the rankings.
Rating: 9
Cumulative: 46
2. Sebastian Vettel
10 of 11
No Change
Sebastian Vettel made a great recovery after problems in both practice and qualifying.
The practice incident—passing Roberto Merhi under red flags, as reported by Sky Sports—cost him a couple of places on the grid, but his qualifying troubles were what really set him back. Suffering from a lack of hybrid power, Vettel could only set the 16th-fastest time.
This became 18th after he and others took their grid penalties.
But the German had no intention of giving up and immediately began tearing through the field. After four laps, he had risen to 13th and attempted to attack the Williams of Felipe Massa—also starting at the back following qualifying troubles.
Unable to pass, Vettel opted for a very early pit stop. He fell to last but again scythed through the back-markers and midfield. He was up to seventh when he made his second stop on Lap 34, and by the time the chequered flag fell he was fifth—less than five seconds behind team-mate Kimi Raikkonen, who had started third.
It was a hugely impressive recovery drive that ensured the very silly red flag practice pass will soon be forgotten.
Vettel remains in second place.
Rating: 9
Cumulative: 50
1. Lewis Hamilton
11 of 11
No Change
Lewis Hamilton recovered from a shaky practice to return to winning ways.
He qualified on pole for the sixth time in seven races with a lap of 1:14.393. It was more than three-tenths quicker than team-mate Nico Rosberg's best.
Having angled his car aggressively on the grid, Hamilton closed off any potential attack from Rosberg and led into Turn 1. The gap was more than a second after the opening lap and the defending champion had a fairly easy cruise to his one and only stop.
Rosberg closed up during the pit stops, and occasionally reeled Hamilton in a little thereafter. The gap between the pair was less than two seconds for most of the second half of the race, but the German never really looked dangerous.
Hamilton always had a little bit in reserve and pulled out a small lead at the end before taking the chequered flag for his fourth win of 2015.
He stays on top.
Rating: 9
Cumulative: 53
Session and lap time information used throughout sourced from the official F1 website, the FIA and F1 Fanatic's lap charts.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
