Max Verstappen reigned in Spain again on Sunday with his third successive Formula 1 Grand Prix victory at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, but how did the rest of the field fare in the 2024 F1 Spanish GP?
“Well, it wasn’t straightforward,” Verstappen said after the race. That could be attributed to all 20 runners with narratives unfolding throughout the Formula 1 field that affected each driver’s standing and our rating.
Max Verstappen: 9
Grid Position: P2, Race Finish: P1
Verstappen has repeatedly reiterated that Red Bull’s Formula 1 rivals had closed the gap to the championship leaders on pure pace and that was proved when Lando Norris pipped the Dutchman to pole position. No matter, for anyone questioning whether Verstappen could cope with no longer having a dominant car, the answer came emphatically. After losing ground to George Russell at lights out, Verstappen recovered to take the lead into Turn 1 on Lap 3 and controlled proceedings from there. 61 wins and counting are proof that you don’t just need a quick F1 car to beat the reigning champion, but you need to be perfect all weekend long.
Sergio Perez: 3
Grid Position: P11, Race Finish: P8
Publicly, Christian Horner remarked that Perez’s recovery drive from 11th to eighth would be a confidence boost for the Mexican, but privately his performances of late will be raising eyebrows. Perez has retained the coveted second Red Bull seat for a further two years, but has only scored eight points across the last four Formula 1 race weekends. His lowly starting position was in part caused by a three-place grid penalty carried over from Canada, but when your F1 team-mate is fighting for pole positions and race victories amid an ever-tightening pecking order, you cannot afford to be scrapping in the bottom half of the points-paying positions with Alpine.
Lando Norris: 8.5
Grid Position: P1, Race Finish: P2
Norris’ sensational pole position, just the second of his Formula 1 career had fans wishing for a fight – salivating at the prospect of another Verstappen/Norris duel. Alas, a lacklustre start saw him drop down to third and immediately McLaren went into recovery mode. Norris was the fastest man on track for the majority of the race, but just one slip-up cost him the chance to add a second F1 win to his tally. He was understandably pessimistic after crossing the line, but he has truly emerged as Verstappen’s greatest threat.
Oscar Piastri: 6
Grid Position: P10, Race Finish: P7
With Norris fighting for the pole and the race win, Oscar Piastri was instead fighting his own car. For the first time since McLaren introduced its updated spec MCL38, the Australian driver was ill at ease with his Formula 1 machine across the entire Spanish GP weekend. Complaining the car didn’t feel “natural” pushed Piastri into overdriving in qualifying and the gravel trap on his final Q3 run and he had to start the race from 10th. Still, being able to leapfrog both Alpines and Perez provided a moderate tonic to what Piastri hopes will be a minor speed bump in what has otherwise been a competitive second F1 campaign.
Lewis Hamilton: 8.5
Grid Position: P3, Race Finish: P3
You can’t keep a good driver down, especially not a record-busting all-time Formula 1 great and Lewis Hamilton emerged from his doldrums to put together his best weekend of the year so far. First in qualifying Hamilton appeared to shake his Saturday curse by out-pacing his team-mate to secure third on the grid and just three-tenths off of pole position. A minor setback at lights out saw him lose position to Charles Leclerc and Russell, but he quickly recovered to pass the former coming out of Turn 1. From there, Hamilton’s improved pace and more manageable tyre wear saw him receive preference from Mercedes team strategy, helping to elevate him above his team-mate in the final order to clinch third, his record-extending 198th F1 podium.
George Russell: 8
Grid Position: P4, Race Finish: P4
Despite being out-qualified by his Mercedes Formula 1 team-mate Hamilton for just the second time this season – albeit by just two-thousandths of second – Russell put together another strong weekend to back up both his and the Mercedes squad’s near-victory charge in Canada last time out. The Briton evoked Fernando Alonso with a sweeping move from fourth to first at lights out at Turn 1, but he quickly fell behind Verstappen once DRS was enabled, nor could he match Norris’ pace over a race distance, despite hanging on to the McLaren in an exciting wheel-to-wheel battle early on. Instead, Russell’s true fight was with Hamilton, but a difficult middle stint struggling on the medium tyre prompted a switch to hards for the final stint with no fresh softs left available. With Hamilton on softs for his final stint – which Mercedes helped offset its two drivers to protect P3 and P4 – Russell was destined to finish just outside the podium places. Still, it was an overwhelmingly positive weekend for the driver hailing King’s Lynn.
Charles Leclerc: 7
Grid Position: P5, Race Finish: P5
After the dust settled following qualifying for Sunday’s Formula 1 Spanish GP it was abundantly clear that Ferrari had the fourth fastest car in Barcelona. Immediately, this put a ceiling on what Leclerc could achieve from fifth on the grid. A brief moment ahead of Hamilton at lights out was undone when necessary avoiding action was required to avoid contact with Norris and Leclerc found himself fifth coming out of Turn 1. The Monegasque driver told media post-race that Ferrari’s plan was to manage the opening stint on the soft tyre, so you can imagine Leclerc was peeved when Sainz came charging around the outside of him at Turn 1 on Lap 3, causing the pair to touch and lose ground. That aside, Leclerc was able to leapfrog his team-mate come the end of the race and finished a hair’s breadth from Russell in fourth in what was the best-possible F1 result Ferrari was capable of in Barcelona.
Carlos Sainz: 6.5
Grid Position: P6, Race Finish: P6
Like Leclerc, Sainz delivered what was possible from his Ferrari Formula 1 package, perhaps to a fractionally lesser degree than his team-mate. The Spaniard’s clumsy overtaking manoeuver on Leclerc in a bid to impress the home fans compromised his race slightly, but he performed suitably enough to ensure he finished ahead of one Red Bull and McLaren respectively, on a weekend when both of those F1 machines were the faster weapon of choice.
Pierre Gasly: 9
Grid Position: P7, Race Result: P9
Alpine Team Principal Bruno Famin predicted a points-scoring result for the Anglo-French squad was out of reach before the Spanish GP weekend commenced, but to the surprise of everyone involved, Pierre Gasly led a double Q3 and points-scoring charge. Gasly qualified a more than respectable seventh and converted it into a ninth-place finish by the chequered flag. He was never likely to finish ahead of Piastri and Perez, who clearly had the faster race package underneath them, but out-qualifying them both put Gasly in the required position to deliver the absolute maximum from a steadily improving Alpine F1 machine.
Esteban Ocon: 7.5
Grid Position: P8, Race Finish: P10
As Gasly soared for Alpine this past weekend, Ocon did his best to complement a positive Grand Prix result for the Anglo-French squad. Qualifying three-tenths back from his Formula 1 team-mate meant Ocon was giving second billing down pit-lane as both he and Gasly raced the same strategy, albeit the #31 driver was a lap later on each stop. Still, converting a surprise Q3 appearance into a 10th-place finish, ensuring Alpine scored a double-point result was a fine way to sign off on the weekend.
Nico Hulkenberg: 8
Grid Position: P13, Race Finish: P11
As it became established that Haas didn’t have the most competitive midfield Formula 1 package at Barcelona, the fight to get out of Q1 was of paramount importance. The ever-reliable Nico Hulkenberg succeded in escaping early elimination Saturday to qualify 13th. Haas marked improvement over last year was proven yet again with the fact the German was able to progress forward on Sunday, finishing ahead of Alonso’s Aston Martin to finish 11th – realistically the best of what could be achieved thanks to Alpine’s improvement of late.
Kevin Magnussen: 4
Grid Position: P16, Race Finish: 17
Haas is losing its better driver at the end of 2025 and Magnussen’s future is by no means secure given the driving talent still available on the driving market. The Dane was lacking his team-mates qualifying pace yet again, resulting in a Q1 exit, albeit, a marginal one. Still, a jump start and the penalty that followed destined Magnussen to a 17th-place race finish that doesn’t stack up well at all with Hulkenberg’s effort this weekend.
Fernando Alonso: 7
Grid Position: P10, Race Finish: P12
Aston Martin’s permanent slip in performance has thus far failed to show little cracks in Fernando Alonso’s positive attitude toward his current Formula 1 employers. However, with the AMR24 failing to give the Spaniard the platform to make it into Q3 (with Perez’s penalty granting him a P10 grid position) Alonso was on damage limitation from the off as he fought from the outside looking in during an unsuccessful points-winning bid. Furthermore, slipping to 12th behind the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg was cause for greater concern. Alonso’s continued talent and commitment cannot be questioned, but post-race the Spaniard said the time is now to fix its issues.
Lance Stroll: 6
Grid Position: P14, Race Finish: P14
With Alonso failing to make headway in his Aston Martin, Stroll couldn’t fare better and scraped through into Q2 by just half a tenth of a second. The Canadian driver had no hope of progressing further and he was resigned to a P14 starting berth. With Aston Martin continuing to struggle, points were not on the cars and Stroll was destined to finish where he started.
Valtteri Bottas: 7.5
Grid Position: P12, Race Finish: P16
Sauber is the only pointless Formula 1 team thus far in the 2024 season, but Valtteri Bottas’ remarkable qualifying effort saw him secure 12th on the grid for Sunday’s race, missing out on a Q3 appearance by just two-tenths of a second. Sadly, a poorly conceived soft, soft, hard tyre strategy from Sauber compromised the Finn’s race entirely. The middle stint in particular saw Bottas struggle with degradation allowing Zhou Guanyu to leapfrog him, prompting a conservative final stint on the hard Pirelli rubber.
Zhou Guanyu: 6
Grid Position: P15, Race Finish: P13
Zhou’s confidence this season has been at an all-time low, prompting him to revert to his old Sauber chassis last used in Miami back in May. Immediately, the Chinese driver looked in better form and delivered his first Q2 appearance of the season. Benefitting from a preferable strategy compared to his Sauber team-mate, Zhou converted 15th on the grid to 13th in the final race result, capping off his strongest weekend of 2024 so far.
Daniel Ricciardo: 6
Grid Position: P18, Race Finish: P15
RB introduced a substantial upgrade package in Barcelona but was unable to build on its recent encouraging results as both drivers dropped out in Q1. Although Ricciardo qualified behind Yuki Tsunoda, the Australian led RB’s glorified testing run in the race to maximise his prospects and come home in a distant 15th place.
Yuki Tsunoda: 6
Grid Position: P17, Race Finish: P19
Tsunoda held a slight advantage over his more experienced team-mate once again last weekend, but he was perplexed with his lacklustre pace in the race as he dropped to second last. The Japanese driver, who has renewed his deal with the Faenza-based squad, will be hoping that RB can get back on track in Austria to return to its recent heights.
Alex Albon: 5
Grid Position: P19, Race Finish: P18
Albon had expressed earlier in the week that Williams would not be in a position to match the heights he achieved in Monaco and Canada and it transpired in that manner. The Anglo-Thai driver managed to have the edge over a hampered Sargeant as the team locked out the back row and that prompted his car to be reverted to a pit lane start to change engine parts.
Achieving a positive result without a mid-race interruption or retirements was a tall order and Albon having a trip through the gravel at Turn 4 due to a gust of wind compounded his woes.
Logan Sargeant: 3
Grid Position: P20, Race Finish: P20
Sargeant headed into the weekend hopeful that being on the same specification as team-mate Albon would deliver a marked upturn in competitiveness. However, the American qualified as the slowest car amid Williams’ struggles and later revealed that his floor was not delivering the downforce anticipated.
The race was going to be an uphill task and so it proved as Sargeant came home last, despite Albon’s adventure through the gravel and Tsunoda’s problems.
No ratings for the Haas drivers?
Is this a serious F1 website? You completely missed the Haas drivers. And Zhou actually finished 11th in Bahrain this season. I’d say that was his best race so far this season.