POWER RANKINGS: Who makes it into the top 10 after a tough Spanish Grand Prix?

Max Verstappen took a dominant win at this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix and once again sits at the top of this week’s leaderboard, but who else caught the judges' eyes? The scores are in from Barcelona.

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)

Verstappen was at his brilliant best all weekend, leading all practice sessions, qualifying on pole, and leading every lap of the race on his way to a dominant win. He also took the fastest lap to flex his muscle, as he extended his lead at the top of the drivers’ championship to 53 points. Simply lovely.

After qualifying fifth, Hamilton said that his plan was to drive the wheels off his W14 in an attempt to take victory. He may not have got the victory he craves, but he most definitely drove the wheels off his car, pulling off some impressive overtakes on the likes of Lance Stroll and Carlos Sainz to finish second.

The key talking point from Zhou’s race came from the stewards’ decision to penalise Yuki Tsunoda with a five-second time penalty for forcing the Alfa Romeo driver off-track, allowing him to gain a place. But if you only speak of that incident, you would be doing Zhou’s race a disservice.

Starting in 13th, Zhou battled his way through the field, showcasing some impressive tyre management skills and overtaking abilities, to make his way into the top-10, scoring his first points since Melbourne for Alfa Romeo.

It was quite the weekend for Russell, as he would have been forgiven for being a bit down after being knocked out in Q2 while he also bizarrely came together with his team mate down the main straight in qualifying. But we got to see the best of the Briton on Sunday during the race.

A brilliant start and a series of special overtakes saw him finish third ahead of Sergio Perez. This means that Russell became the first driver to beat a Red Bull this season after starting behind them – as Russell started 12th, behind Perez in 11th.

After his podium in Monaco, and a sixth-placed start in Spain, finishing eighth may not feel like the best result for Ocon. But, once again, it was an understated, yet professional, performance that we have become so accustomed to seeing from the Frenchman during his time at Alpine. He continues to deliver for the team, helping them solidify fifth in the championship.

Tsunoda has suffered his fair share of heart-breaking moments this season, and he was distraught after finding out that the five-second penalty he was given for the Zhou incident had dropped him from ninth to 12th.

But, it was another punchy drive for the AlphaTauri racer as he continues to put the team in contention for points. He will feel hard done by to miss out on scoring points, but if he continues to drive the way he has all season, he will be no stranger to the top-10.

Stroll came to Spain on the back of a couple of poor results in Miami and Monaco where he failed to score points. But it was a much more confident performance from the Canadian this weekend, qualifying in sixth, and pulling off a stunning overtake on Lewis Hamilton in the opening stages to go third.

Unfortunately, he and Aston Martin just did not have the pace to challenge for the podium this weekend, but finishing sixth is a welcome return to form for Stroll.

Sainz may have not got the podium at home that he would have dreamt off, but it was not for a lack of effort. An excellent qualifying saw him start the race in second, but unfortunately, he just did not have the pace to match the Red Bulls and the Mercedes. But it was still one of his stronger weekends and one to be proud of.

It is fair to say that Saturday did not go as planned for Perez as he was nearly knocked out in Q1, before then exiting the session in Q2. However, he was in much better form on Sunday, utilising the pace of the RB19 to cut his way through the field.

Unfortunately, he just did not have enough time to catch Russell for third, but after a tough outing in Monaco, and his struggles in qualifying, it was the sort of drive on Sunday that will fill the Mexican with confidence going forward.

Gasly would have had hopes of finishing higher after qualifying in fourth on Saturday, but a six-place grid drop for impeding Sainz and then Verstappen hampered his hopes of a first podium with Alpine, as he was forced to start from 10th.

Things got worse after a poor start saw him go through the grass on the exit of Turn 2, dropping him down the order. But he battled his way through with some splendid moves to finish 11th, before also benefitting from Tsunoda’s penalty to get a solitary point.

Missing out

Fernando Alonso misses out on the top-10 for the first time this season after finishing the Spanish GP in seventh, while Alex Albon also narrowly fails to make the cut after taking the chequered flag in 16th in a Williams that had struggled all weekend.

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POWER RANKINGS: Who makes it into the top 10 after a tough Spanish Grand Prix?

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