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POWER RANKINGS: One driver scores a perfect 10 as the judges scores come in from the Canadian GP
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The judges scores are in from a pulsating Canadian Grand Prix – where Max Verstappen took his sixth win of the season. But who comes out on top in this week’s Power Rankings? Scroll down below to this see this week's leaderboard…
How it works
• Our five-judge panel assess each driver after every Grand Prix and score them out of 10 according to their performance across the weekend – taking machinery out of the equation
• Our experts’ scores are then averaged out to produce a race score – with those scores then tallied up across the season on our overall Power Rankings Leaderboard (at the bottom of the page)
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It’s a perfect score for Albon after another one of his heroic one-stop drives en route to finishing in a season-high seventh place – sealing Williams’ highest finish since George Russell’s second place at Spa in 2021.
However, it was not just his battling performance on Sunday that caught the eye, it was his brave call to switch to the soft tyres first in Q2. That decision set him up to start higher up the grid, and he absolutely made it count, in truly impressive fashion.
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Verstappen took the 41st win of his career – tying Ayrton Senna for fifth in the all-time F1 wins list. But the question must be if he continues to drive “out of his skin” like his boss Christian Horner says, how high could he go on this list by the end of the year?
Yet again, it was another weekend where he looked untouchable, especially in qualifying, mastering his way through the wet to take a dominant pole. And on Sunday, he rarely looked troubled, taking a commanding sixth victory of the year.
READ MORE: Verstappen hails ‘incredible’ milestone as he helps Red Bull hit a century of F1 wins
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After a season-low P7 finish at his home race in Barcelona, Alonso declared that he would not be off the podium again. And so far, he has proven to be nothing but truthful, as the Aston Martin driver yet again delivered a stunning drive to the podium.
Alonso did lose P2 to Lewis Hamilton at the start, but later took it back from his old rival. The Spaniard also had to contend with brake issues in the latter stages of the race, while holding off the charging Hamilton, to seal a well-earned second.
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Hamilton continues to deliver for Mercedes, qualifying fourth in the wet – before gaining a place due to Nico Hulkenberg’s three-place grid drop. A brilliant start took him to second, but ultimately, he did not have the pace to keep Alonso behind.
Yet still, it was a third podium of the season for Hamilton in the ever-improving W14. It was a 10th trip to the Montreal rostrum for the Briton, but most importantly for him and Mercedes, it was a successful outing at a track where they expected to struggle.
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After all the drama from Saturday’s drenched qualifying, it became lost in all the noise that Ocon qualified sixth for Alpine – ahead of both Ferraris, Sergio Perez in the Red Bull, as well as home favourite and Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll.
Unfortunately for him, he lost out in the first round of pit stops and ended up down the order. As he looked to make his charge back up the order he encountered the slippery Williams of Albon, leaving him finishing eighth. While he was slightly disappointed post-race, it was yet another solid points-scoring outing from Ocon.
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After a disappointing qualifying that saw him knocked out in Q2, Leclerc was left frustrated that his demands to switch to the soft tyre earlier were not accepted. But whatever frustrations he had, he channelled it and used it on Sunday.
Thanks to a good start, impressive overtaking, and a brilliant one-stop strategy call from Ferrari, Leclerc found himself in fourth. While he did not have the pace to reel in Hamilton ahead, it is a result he will gladly take, as Ferrari look to get back on track.
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While his team mate missed out on Q3, Sainz actually made it into the top-10, qualifying eighth. However, his work was undone when he was given a three-place grid penalty for impeding Pierre Gasly – dropping him to 11th place.
He did not get the start that his team mate got but did battle back past Sergio Perez to get to 10th on the first lap. Sainz also benefited from Ferrari’s one-stop strategy call, taking the chequered flag in fifth, in what he deemed an encouraging performance.
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It had been a tricky run of races for Bottas – who had not finished in the top-10 since the season-opener in Bahrain where he finished eighth – but many around the paddock felt he had hit the reset button in a bid to return to his best form.
And return to form he did, with a fighting drive to take the final top-10 spot. He was running in eighth and would have been disappointed to lose out to Lando Norris late, and Stroll at the finish line. However, this return to the points would have left him satisfied.
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It could have been a return to the points for Norris had it not been for the five-second penalty he was given for “unsportsmanlike behaviour”. But he should take solace from the fact that it was a much-improved race day showing from him and McLaren.
He lost out to his team mate Oscar Piastri at the start dropping him down to P8. But at the Safety Car restart, a switch was turned on, as he dived down the inside of Piastri at the hairpin. And in a bid to make sure that penalty had no effect, he continued to fight through the field, but ultimately, he ended up stuck in the Albon-led DRS train.
EXPLAINED: 'Unsportsmanlike behaviour'? Why Lando Norris was handed a 5-second penalty in Montreal
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It was another fine performance from the rookie, who continues to improve each and every time he drives a Formula 1 car. It was not the best of starts, as he crashed out in qualifying – although he was able to start the race next to Norris in eighth.
He made a fast start, jumping ahead of Norris and Hulkenberg, and was at one stage running in sixth, before a couple of costly mistakes dropped him down the order. However, while he leaves with no points, there were plenty of signs of the talent the Australian possess, and the improvements McLaren are making.
Missing out
Pierre Gasly, Yuki Tsunoda, and Nico Hulkenberg all finished outside the top-10 in the race, and are the three drivers to miss out on a place in this week's rankings. All three showed glimpses of their pace – Hulkenberg especially qualifying in second – but ultimately they did not have enough to finish higher this weekend.
Leaderboard
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