OCON, GASLY SHINE BUT CAN’T MATCH STELLAR VERSTAPPEN

The sole maximum score from Spa reflects the reigning world champion’s brilliance across a weekend that was also a highlight for F1’s Frenchmen

LEWIS HAMILTON

Started 4th ------------------------- Result R Hard to judge qualifying given Mercedes was so poor. While the stewards declared a first-lap racing incident, the onboards plainly show Hamilton didn’t leave Alonso enough room on the inside, even if the

Brit was sufficiently alongside by the letter of the law. A weekend to forget.

DANIEL RICCIARDO

Started 7th ---------- Result 15th Started nine places ahead of Norris, who underwhelmed. Yet was still classified three places behind because he was all-round slow once again. That’s why, even without a major error, he’s joint bottom. Also, running off at Turn 9 at the start of qualifying left him to play it somewhat safe in Q2.

GEORGE RUSSELL

Started 5th --------------- Result 4th Was a contender for a nine to reflect finishing ahead of both quicker Alpines and a Ferrari as Mercedes endured a shocker. Dealt a difficult hand, but was three tenths adrift of Hamilton on Saturday to slip to an eight here. It was then another comparatively lonely race as Merc took a marked step back.

LANDO NORRIS

Started 16th ---- Result 12th

In addition to expectedly besting Ricciardo in qualifying, Norris saved a set of tyres in Q3 by staying put in the garage for the climax as a grid drop loomed. But score suffers for not mounting the same kind of stellar recoveries in the race that were completed by Gasly and Ocon.

MAX VERSTAPPEN

Started 13th ----------- Result 1st 10

Very easy to award this 10. The RB18 has a weight issue that hampers it in qualifying most at all. To top the session by 0.6 seconds, doing the heavy lifting in the twisty second sector, reflected a stunning lap. His rise from 13th was incredible, the tyre management brilliant, and not one mistake.

FERNANDO ALONSO

Started 3rd -------------- Result 5th Didn’t look as though he could have done much more to avoid first-lap contact with Hamilton at Les Combes. The tangle cost Alonso a place to Russell, but his drive thereafter was otherwise top drawer. Ocon having qualifying bragging rights does, however, deny a higher mark.

SERGIO PEREZ

Started 2nd ----------- Result 2nd A seven only because he got nowhere near the maximum of the car, even if he satisfied expectations by beating both slower Ferraris. Score is hurt by lapping 0.8s slower than Verstappen in Q3 to allow Sainz to split the pair, damaging the floor after running wide and a poor launch.

ESTEBAN OCON

Started 15th --------- Result 7th Comfortably the best outing of a sound but unremarkable campaign. Faster than Alonso by a couple of tenths in Q3 and saved his tyres well for the

GP. From a back-ofthe-grid penalty, he diced beautifully plus enjoyed noticeably faster race pace than Alonso to bag decent points.

CHARLES LECLERC

Started 14th --------- Result 6th Oversteer out of Bus Stop chicane to stymy sole Q3 lap before it had even started played a part in running 0.256s adrift of Sainz. While the Ferrari wasn’t a patch on the Red Bull and there was nothing he could do to avoid a visor tear-off or make up for Ferrari’s late pitstop, still wasn’t as effective as team-mate.

PIERRE GASLY

Started 20th --------- Result 9th Brilliant way to mark century of F1 races. Aboard the uninspiring Alphatauri, threatened to make Q3 and annihilated Tsunoda. From an unfortunate pitlane start, initial stint was dogged by lack of grip. But mastery of medium tyres after a second stop helped return unlikely points.

CARLOS SAINZ

Started 1st ---------------- Result 3rd A nine was considered for how he bettered

Leclerc overall. But we must settle for giving him an eight after notching a result that reflected the car’s pace, but no more.

Was messy in Q3 yet promoted to pole, and had no answer for the quicker Red Bulls in the race.

YUKI TSUNODA

Started 19th ---- Result 13th It’s a harsh five but there was a big error and he finished well behind pointsscoring team-mate. Before copping a grid penalty, was clear underperformer in qualifying. Was hurt by a slow pitstop but otherwise raced well. Still, not enough to entirely salvage his score.