POWER RANKINGS: Who impressed our judges in a spectacular Silverstone extravaganza?

An eventful, historic and emotional British Grand Prix weekend saw Lewis Hamilton seal a record-breaking victory – 945 days after he last stood on the top step of a podium – as the Mercedes driver held off the likes of Lando Norris and Max Verstappen for the win. But who else shone in a thrilling race that had it all? The Power Rankings scores are in…

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)

After 945 days without tasting a Grand Prix victory, Lewis Hamilton’s 104th win – and ninth at Silverstone – was worth the wait. You won’t often see a triumph as emotional as this, but that also shouldn’t take away from his on-track expertise as he held off the challenge from Norris and Verstappen. Our judges were suitably impressed by what they saw, as were the Silverstone crowd.

After securing Haas’s strongest qualifying performance of the year, Hulkenberg took a remarkable P6 in the British Grand Prix meaning it is now back-to-back sixth places for the German. That result looked even more impressive after he initially lost out at the race start, slipping down to ninth. But he managed to recover back up the order to seal more incredibly valuable points for Haas who are now just four behind sixth-placed RB in the constructors’ championship.

Runner-up might not match the lofty Verstappen heights we have been used to but this was still a very accomplished race from both him and his team. After charging down Norris for P2 late on the race, Verstappen rightly hailed Red Bull’s strategy calls – made at the right time – for lifting him up the order after he was initially worried their day could end as low as fifth or sixth. Our judges took note as Verstappen maximised what was possible.

Another what might have been moment for Norris, who looked on course to win his home Grand Prix for the very first time at various stages. That is until his – and McLaren’s – decisions came back to bite, most notably the choice to put on the soft tyres rather than the medium for his final stint as Verstappen flew past into second. But it was still another worthy drive for the Brit, and that is reflected in his score.

Like his team mate, Piastri could well have had a chance to challenge for the win in Silverstone. However that opportunity disappeared at the first pit stops as he was left out for an extra lap on slicks as others came in for intermediates, losing him around 15s immediately. Ultimately it was a second consecutive British Grand Prix fourth place for the Australian who can still look back on a weekend where he performed well.

Following an eventful start that included some minor car damage, Albon excelled and managed to steer his Williams to some much-needed points with his P9 finish. That was the team’s second score of the season, after Albon’s P9 in Monaco, and every point could prove crucial. The judges certainly recognized the job Albon had done.

After securing a stunning pole for his home race on the Saturday, things soon unraveled for a disappointed George Russell. The Mercedes driver did enjoy a good launch at the start and led team mate – and eventual winner – Hamilton for the opening phase. But the younger Brit lost the lead to Hamilton on Lap 18 before the McLaren duo surged ahead of both Silver Arrows. But things were further compounded as Russell was then forced to retire shortly after losing out to Verstappen at the first pit stops – a water system issue ending any hopes Russell could stand on the British Grand Prix podium.

The Spaniard had looked like a mild threat at the front of the race, but ultimately faded to take P5. That said, he acknowledged that result was probably the maximum Ferrari could have hoped for out there – particularly when you look at the struggles his team mate Charles Leclerc endured.

Another points-scoring appearance from Tsunoda who managed to finish P10 in what was a tough race for RB. But the judges took note of the 24-year-old’s efforts to fully realise what his car could do in weather that was consistently tricky to deal with.

FACTS AND STATS: A record 17 years since his first, evergreen Hamilton takes his 104th F1 win

A welcome return to points-scoring form for Aston Martin as Lance Stroll took P7 – his third top-seven finish of the season. The Canadian would beat his team mate Fernando Alonso by just over seven seconds in the race, with our judges acknowledging a job well done here.

MISSING OUT

The Williams of Logan Sargeant is unfortunate to miss out on the top 10 here – he scored 7.0 (the same as Stroll) but doesn’t make the cut by virtue of him finishing lower down the order compared to the Canadian. But his 11th-placed result in Britain did lift him off the bottom of the drivers’ championship, Valtteri Bottas now occupying the spot no one wants to be in…

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POWER RANKINGS: Who impressed our judges in a spectacular Silverstone extravaganza?

How it works

MISSING OUT

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