A new Formula 1 driver rankings format is here starting from the United States Grand Prix weekend – with a tier list version (from Tier S to Tier F) instead of the 1-22 ranking.
Every tier but one is limited to five drivers, with Tier S fit for just one name – and it wasn’t a particularly complicated choice to make this time.
As usual, you can ask your questions about Edd’s rankings by commenting on this post in The Race Members’ Club – and have a crack at compiling your own US GP tier list with our handy visual tool!
You can read Edd’s full reasoning as to the change in format at the bottom of the article.
Although team principal Toto Wolff’s claim this was Kimi Antonelli‘s best race was perhaps a touch overstated, Antonelli was the standout choice.
Not only did he have a clear pace advantage over team-mate George Russell, but he also nailed it on the first run of Q3 to seal pole, then made a good start despite the disadvantage of mediums. That, and the choice to one-stop, was key to a relatively straightforward victory in a race that could have been far more complicated given the pace of Red Bull and Ferrari.
That comfortable position was the consequence of Antonelli’s outstanding execution.
Liam Lawson‘s weekend was one of largely unobtrusive excellence, dominating the midfield battle. The only caveat was that he was outpaced by Racing Bulls team-mate Arvid Lindblad in Q2 by 0.108s – but it’s difficult to hold this against him too much given the team’s decision not to run him in Q3 to minimise the impact of Lindblad’s grid penalty.
Similarly, Pierre Gasly largely maximised the Alpine despite never being entirely comfortable with the car. He found pace on his final Q2 run to put the car 11th-fastest, then after momentarily getting ahead of Lawson at the start slipped behind him at Turn 1. He carried floor damage on the right side after the Ollie Bearman collision but despite that held on to a points finish.
Charles Leclerc was the quicker Ferrari driver throughout and drove a strong race to take second place on the two-stopper. The only negative was that Q3 was a struggle, although as much as anything that was down to the characteristics of the Ferrari in those conditions.
Fernando Alonso was one of only three drivers to string together his three personal-best sectors in a tricky qualifying session – and felt he had a shot at points in the race. But instead he had to battle damage sustained when he was hit by Alex Albon at the hairpin on the first lap.
Max Verstappen struggled a little for rear grip in qualifying and was close to being outqualified by team-mate Isack Hadjar, in a head-to-head battle he ultimately won by just 0.036s. But despite the strategy not being ideal he managed to take third place, albeit with the virtual safety car hindering Lewis Hamilton’s charge.
Hamilton didn’t nail the set-up quite as well as Leclerc, though his qualifying deficit to his team-mate was small. He made good progress throughout the weekend and probably would have finished third without the VSC.
This was a strong recovery from Hadjar after a difficult Singapore weekend. He almost outqualified Verstappen and dealt well with his in-race problems, even if his radio messages didn’t suggest that was the case. He banked a decent result in the circumstances.
Nico Hulkenberg put the Audi broadly where it should have been, just outside the top 10 in both qualifying and the race. However, with a perfectly executed qualifying it was probably possible to score in the Audi – this fact putting him firmly in the middle of the pack of the rankings.
Having been on the back foot for much of the weekend, Lindblad did a good job to pull a Q3 place out of the bag, although the five-place grid penalty cost him and he was never able to get himself into serious points contention.
Sergio Perez was marginally the faster of the Cadillac drivers but didn’t get everything out of the car in qualifying. He didn’t have the easiest race after starting on softs, meaning he ended up being stuck in a blue-flag nightmare earlier than he’d have liked.
Lando Norris was quick, but by his own admission he did a bad job in Q3 and ended up behind his much slower team-mate. His race drive was well-executed, but his result potential was fundamentally limited by what happened on Saturday.
Gabriel Bortoleto appeared to be the Audi driver with that extra edge of pace but the grid penalties meant he wasn’t able to attack qualifying properly – although sixth in Q1 did lay down a marker. His race was good, but what costs him a place in a higher tier was mistakenly bringing himself into the pits when the VSC was deployed, meaning he finished 13th rather than 12th.
Oscar Piastri never looked at team-mate Norris’s level in terms of his pace. What saves him from being a tier lower is that he was able to keep Russell behind for a large proportion of the race.
Carlos Sainz was largely solid in the Williams. However, while he blamed Lindblad for squeezing him into the pitwall, it was a high-risk decision to try to put his Williams into such a small gap – so he has to bear some responsibility for the outcome.
Of the two Cadillacs, Valtteri Bottas was marginally the slower but it wasn’t by much. He was on course to finish broadly where he should have done before being forced to retire late.
Esteban Ocon‘s weekend was compromised by car problems, making it difficult to evaluate how close he got to the maximum of the car. But he drove a decent race in the circumstances after his customary strong start.
This tier comprises drivers who, to varying degrees, lacked the pace of their team-mates, in two cases compounding that with incidents in the race.
Russell never looked at team-mate Antonelli’s level, compounding that with a lap-one track limits violation and, even though the penalty was perhaps harsh, that condemned him to finishing at the back of the top-four team group.
Lance Stroll‘s pace deficit to Alonso was similar to that of Russell versus Antonelli, which made the difference between his #18 Aston Martin being a backmarker rather than a midfield contender like the #14. Even the pitlane start was partly a result of the need to deal with damaged parts.
Much of Ollie Bearman’s weekend would make him a candidate for a high tier. Yet he didn’t make the most of his pace in qualifying, as 13th-fastest turned to 16th when his final Q2 lap was deleted for a track limits violation, albeit one he strongly disputed. The early-race clash with Gasly at Turn 13 gave him damage that ruined his grand prix, with the stewards holding him responsible despite his protestations.
It was impossible to achieve anything in terms of results in a Williams, but Alex Albon had a so-so qualifying, lapping two tenths off Sainz. While his collision with Alonso at the hairpin on the first lap was by no means the torpedoing Alonso suggested it was, it was a high-risk move and gave Albon wing damage that compromised his race.
Franco Colapinto was put on the back foot through no fault of his own by a 10-place grid penalty, which means his qualifying deficit to Gasly wasn’t a major factor in his placing – as he didn’t focus on low-fuel pace work throughout the weekend. However, his pace overall never made an impact, and hitting Lindblad at Turn 1 was an error that ultimately put him out of the race.
Why we’ve changed the format
Edd Straw
There are three clear reasons. The first is the most important in that it is simply a more accurate way to compare the performances of drivers across a race weekend in terms of speed, consistency, racecraft, mistakes and the countless other criteria that relate to the driver’s art.
Often, the feedback focuses on why there might be, for example, a five-place difference between two drivers who were at the same level but a tier list allows them to be ranked equally, while also maintaining their position relative to the rest of the field. By grouping the drivers, and having seven available tiers, it’s a more meaningful way to differentiate between the performances of a group of drivers who are all operating at various levels of very good.Â
The second is that it is also easier for you to understand which drivers we consider to have done a better or worse job than others. By eliminating the need for infinitesimally small differentials, that should make it a more revealing exercise. Feedback has often focused on why, for example, two team-mates might be separated by four places in the middle of the rankings when there’s little or no meaningful difference between their performance. A tier list avoids this, and allows the focus to be on the more clear variations.
The third is that it’s a more contemporary and visual way to present comparisons of athlete performance. The outstanding graphics that have been put together by our team demonstrate that far more effectively than any words could.
The same rigour and effort will still go into the rankings, but at The Race we believe this is a more up-to-date and representative way to digest the level of analysis we offer.Â
