Ben Anderson's F1 Driver Rankings for the 2025 Qatar Grand Prix

Putting McLaren's Qatar Grand Prix stumble aside, the Lusail weekend saw some truly impressive individual performances, alongside some less memorable ones. Ben Anderson steps in this week to rank all 20 Formula 1 drivers' performances from best to worst, evaluating pace, racecraft, consistency, and key mistakes.

Why it matters:

F1 driver rankings offer a crucial lens into individual performance beyond raw race results, which can be heavily influenced by car performance and external factors. This ranking highlights who truly maximized their potential in Qatar, providing insight into driver form and skill, especially given the high-speed, high-commitment nature of the Lusail circuit.

The Details:

• Carlos Sainz (Williams): Started 7th, Finished 3rd. Sainz delivered a second consecutive overachievement, securing a podium and comprehensively outperforming teammate Alex Albon. Despite McLaren's implosion and Ferrari's struggles, Sainz's pace against Norris, Antonelli, and Russell was truly impressive, showcasing why Williams hired him.
• Oscar Piastri (McLaren): Started 1st, Finished 2nd. Piastri rebounded after challenging weekends, excelling on the high-speed, high-commitment Qatar circuit. He was a marginal contender for the top spot, only missing a clean sweep of poles and wins due to McLaren's strategy errors. His bravery was a key asset.
• Max Verstappen (Red Bull): Started 3rd, Finished 1st. Verstappen, another strong contender for the top rank, seized his opportunity, jumping Norris at the start and winning convincingly after McLaren's strategy blunder. He displayed bludgeoning pace on hard tires, though an underwhelming sprint qualifying (due to a bouncing car) allowed Yuki Tsunoda to beat him.
• Isack Hadjar (RB): Started 6th, Finished 18th. Hadjar showcased relentless impressiveness, on track for a top-six finish until a front wing failure and puncture. His only minor flaws were a poor start and a slightly underwhelming Q2 lap, but his Q3 performance was strong.
• Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin): Started 8th, Finished 7th. Alonso was outstanding for much of the weekend, pushing the Aston Martin beyond its expected limits. A top-four sprint grid spot was remarkable. However, a late spin costing two positions and a slightly weaker Q3 relative to Sainz and Hadjar limited his ranking.
• Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes): Started 5th, Finished 5th. Antonelli showed strong potential, but a mistake on the penultimate lap allowing Norris through into fourth, and being fundamentally slower than teammate George Russell (who was comprehensively defeated in the sprint), kept him out of the top three.
• George Russell (Mercedes): Started 4th, Finished 6th. Russell's underlying performance was superb, impressively splitting McLarens in the sprint and nearly outqualifying Verstappen. However, a poor first lap cost him crucial positions, and a double-stack pitstop compromise further hurt his race. A podium was likely with perfect execution.
• Lando Norris (McLaren): Started 2nd, Finished 4th. Norris was definitively the second-best McLaren driver in Qatar, with small but decisive qualifying gaps and mistakes attributed to overreaching on the high-grip, high-speed circuit. His starts were not ideal, and he struggled to match Verstappen's mid-race pace.
• Charles Leclerc (Ferrari): Started 10th, Finished 8th. Leclerc faced an unwieldy Ferrari but showed impressive resilience. Despite a messy drive and a Q3 spin, he still managed to secure points, demonstrating his ability to extract performance from a challenging car where few others could.
• Oliver Bearman (Haas): Started 13th, Finished DNF. Bearman overachieved in a car not suited to the track, snapping at Leclerc's heels for much of the race. He was on course for unlikely points until a pitstop error ruined his race, clearly demonstrating superior pace to Esteban Ocon.
• Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber): Started 11th, Finished DNF. Hulkenberg impressed by passing Leclerc early and battling Pierre Gasly before their 'racing incident.' He was arguably unlucky to be taken out, having shown the potential for a top-eight finish.
• Pierre Gasly (Alpine): Started 9th, Finished 16th. While marginally more culpable in the collision with Hulkenberg, Gasly's qualifying display was exceptional, hauling the worst car into Q3 for the third consecutive race. His heroics there salvaged his overall ranking.
• Liam Lawson (RB): Started 12th, Finished 9th. Lawson was the best of the convincingly defeated teammates, just 0.083s off Hadjar in Q2. He drove a tidy race, benefiting from others' troubles to secure a couple of points.
• Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull): Started 15th, Finished 10th. Tsunoda's weekend peaked in the sprint, where he was quicker than a struggling Verstappen. However, a Q1 exit and a frustrating race undermined his earlier promise, although he did secure a point.
• Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber): Started 19th, Finished 13th. Bortoleto's race was defined by a grid penalty. While he drove a respectable race, his qualifying performance lagged behind Hulkenberg, continuing a recent dip in form for the rookie.
• Alex Albon (Williams): Started 14th, Finished 11th. Albon had another disappointing weekend where Williams had an opportunity for points but he failed to capitalize. A messy Q2 and an unhelpful safety car left him outside the points, especially glaring next to his teammate's podium.
• Esteban Ocon (Haas): Started 16th, Finished 15th. Ocon struggled significantly against Bearman, whose driving style coped better with the car's instability. A micro-jump start penalty further compounded a poor weekend, leaving him firmly in Bearman's shadow.
• Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari): Started 17th, Finished 12th. Hamilton struggled with Ferrari's difficult car balance, appearing less confident than Leclerc. Consecutive Q1 exits and a "dull" race, partly due to being stacked in pits, highlighted his underperformance compared to Leclerc.
• Franco Colapinto (Alpine): Started 20th (pitlane), Finished 14th. Another anonymous weekend for Colapinto, qualifying significantly slower than Gasly. Despite setup changes, he "really struggled for pace, for grip, sliding a lot" in the race, needing to elevate his level.
• Lance Stroll (Aston Martin): Started 18th, Finished 17th. Stroll is the clear choice for the wooden spoon. He was furthest off his teammate in qualifying with no clear explanation, admitting he couldn't access the car's higher limits. A pitlane speed limit button error further worsened his terrible performance.

What's next:

The wide variance in driver performance at Qatar underscores the pressure on drivers to adapt quickly to diverse circuit characteristics and maximize every opportunity. With the season progressing, these rankings will continue to fluctuate, providing critical insights into who is truly delivering under pressure and who needs to find more consistency heading into the latter stages and looking towards next season's challenges.