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An enthralling Austrian Grand Prix brings the 2022 Formula 1 season to its halfway mark.
The weekend featured plenty of star performers – and Edd Straw’s highest-rated driver didn’t even make the top four in the race, such was the quality of some of the midfield drives.
After each grand prix, The Race will rate each driver’s weekend with a mark out of 10.
An average mark is 5 out of 10, so that score is indicative of a decent drive given the high standard of drivers in F1.
For a more in-depth explanation, read our outline of the system.
Started: 1st Finished: 2nd
Qualifying
Shaded Leclerc in the battle for pole position despite being disappointed with a conservative first sector on his final lap, with the final corner crucial in swinging the balance in his favour.
Sprint
Had a little wheelspin during the start but ensured Leclerc was covered. He then held off Sainz on the first lap, quickly establishing a DRS-busting lead and he controlled the race thereafter.
Race
Verstappen was surprised by how bad the tyre degradation was on race day, leading the first 11 laps but being powerless to stay ahead beyond them. He pitted on lap 13 and despite having two subsequent spells in the lead, didn’t have the pace over a stint to have beaten the Ferraris and only picked up second when Sainz retired.
Verdict: Performed well, but tyre struggles meant winning was impossible.
Started: 5th Finished: DNF
Qualifying
Struggled for grip in the slower corners in FP1 and failed to improve on his final Q3 run thanks to time loss through the final two turns. But that was a moot point as he’d exceeded track limits coming out of Turn 7 on his best Q2 lap, leading to him losing his Q3 times and that lap, dropping him from fourth to 13th.
Sprint
Gained five places on the opening lap thanks to Alonso’s problem and the Gasly/Hamilton clash, squeezing past Hamilton in a move completed at Turn 3 and then getting around Bottas at Turn 4. He then picked off the Haas drivers and Ocon to bag fifth.
Race
His race was effectively ruined by his Turn 4 clash with Russell after attempting to go around the outside. Based on the rules about the relative position at the apex, stewards deemed Russell needed to leave him more room, but the resulting pitstop and damage led to Perez retiring from last after 24 laps.
Verdict: Off Verstappen’s pace and on target to do a solid backup before his lap-one incident.
Started: 8th Finished: 3rd
Qualifying
Crashed at Turn 7 in Q3 before setting a serious laptime after the rear stepped out, potentially thanks to the crosswind on a lap when he was carrying more speed than he did previously. In correcting it, it fired him through the gravel trap and into the barrier. Prior to that, he looked to have top-four pace.
Sprint
Survived Gasly drifting into him on the run to the first corner with a little damage, but that left him down in 11th after Perez got ahead. Recovered to eighth by passing Albon, Bottas and a stubborn Schumacher.
Race
Ran a long opening stint on mediums, running all the way to lap 28, which allowed him to overcut his way past his team-mate, Ocon and Magnussen having already passed Schumacher on track. That put him a comfortable fourth, which became third when Sainz retired.
Verdict: Qualifying crash counts against him, but he at least emerged with the best-possible GP result.
Started: 4th Finished: 4th
Qualifying
Was generally giving away time to Hamilton through the first two sectors, with the overall deficit around the two-tenths mark. Russell did at least post a strong time on his first run in Q3 before crashing at the final corner at the end of a scruffy final attempt.
Sprint
Running the higher-downforce rear wing after damaging the preferred spec in his qualifying crash, Russell held fourth place from start to finish. As he put it, “nothing happened whatsoever”.
Race
Clashed with Perez at Turn 4 while trying to hold him off on the inside line, which earned him a five-second penalty. Front wing damage meant an early stop on lap 11, which cost him a combined total of 17s compared to a normal stop. But he avoided getting too bogged down in traffic despite dropping to 19th, passing Ocon with 10 laps remaining to secure fourth.
Verdict: A strong weekend, but the qualifying crash and first-lap collision made life more difficult.
Started: 2nd Finished: 1st
Qualifying
Was just 0.029s off pole position, with the difference being made in the final two corners where Leclerc was struggling with understeer.
Sprint
Got a slightly better start than Verstappen but had to back off when he was squeezed. That allowed Sainz to get around him, but he reclaimed the position at Turn 4. Focused on tyre management early on and had to repulse a lap-seven attack from Sainz, but was not able to threaten Verstappen.
Race
Executed his race well, passing Verstappen with ease three times and then managing the late throttle problem to take a deserved victory.
Verdict: Perhaps should have topped qualifying and won the sprint, but aced the main event.
Started: 3rd Finished: DNF
Qualifying
Similar to team-mate Leclerc, he complained of not having enough time to get the tyres up to temperature, meaning he struggled with the fronts on his push lap. Time lost through the final two corners left him third.
Sprint
Took second from Leclerc around the outside of Turn 1 and was able to get alongside leader Verstappen at Turn 3. That let Leclerc attack, with Sainz losing the position at Turn 4. He tried to repass Leclerc on lap seven but ran out of room on the outside line and subsequently dropped back, finishing four seconds behind Leclerc.
Race
Did the ideal backup job for Ferrari, lacing the last edge of pace Leclerc had but executing his race well. Would undoubtedly have passed Verstappen to secure second but for his fiery engine failure.
Verdict: A fine, battling weekend in which he was fractionally off Leclerc’s pace.
Started: 11th Finished: 9th
Qualifying
There were no major errors or mistakes to explain his Q1 elimination and lagging three-tenths behind a hobbled Norris. Just lacked feel and pace.
Sprint
Settled into 12th behind Norris on the first lap and was still there, albeit one place better off having passed Albon, 23 laps later. He did argue over the radio that he was faster, particularly in the middle sector, but the team rejected his suggestion that Norris let him through.
Race
Ricciardo characterised himself as pleased rather than happy with the race. He did run ahead of Norris early on after passing him around the outside of Turn 6 on lap one but was battling a flat spot picked up at the start and was repassed at Turn 3 on lap five. He lacked that final few tenths needed to mix it in the battle ahead between his team-mate and the Haas drivers. The result was a solid ninth place.
Verdict: Did well to salvage points but still a chunk off Norris’s pace and wouldn’t have scored without Sainz and Perez retiring.
Started: 10th Finished: 7th
Qualifying
Norris went into qualifying on the back foot after FP1 was truncated by a power unit problem. That led to a switch to an old engine, with qualifying starting to unravel when he suffered a long brake pedal on his first run thanks to a brake-by-wire problem that continued to hold him back throughout, leading to his Q2 exit.
Sprint
Gained three places at the start before passing Albon on lap six, but not before he’d been crowded off the track at Turn 3 while attempting to get around him.
Race
Initially slipped behind Ricciardo before repassing him on lap five, Norris settled into a race-long battle with the Haas drivers. Ultimately, his five-second penalty for exceeding track limits cost him, as although he was able to pass Magnussen after his second pitstop, he felt that cost him the chance to beat Schumacher.
Verdict: Considering the impact of his Friday failure, had a strong weekend blighted by his self-inflicted penalty.
Started: 6th Finished: 5th
Qualifying
Put the Alpine at the front of the midfield pack, which was the best he could have done, which added up to fifth thanks to problems for Perez and Hamilton. Would have faced a challenge from Alonso, whose mistake on his opening lap put him out of contention
Sprint
Held fifth in the early stages before inevitably being passed by Perez. Stayed a comfortably sixth to the end, although he was forced to stop shortly after crossing the line with a fuel pump problem.
Race
Didn’t put a foot wrong in a relatively uneventful run to fifth, with his late loss of fourth to Russell unavoidable given the Mercedes pace advantage.
Verdict: Did an excellent job throughout to bank the best possible result on all three days.
Started: 19th Finished: 10th
Qualifying
Had a strong run through Q1 and Q2, but tried to pinch a little too much extra track on entry to Turn 1 on his first Q3 lap, resulting in him running wide and clouting the sausage kerb at the exit. That gave him some light floor damage that restricted him to eighth.
Sprint
An electrical problem meant Alonso was unable to start.
Race
Started on the back row and took the chance to take a ‘free’ power unit change. Started on hards and ran to lap 27, committing to a two-stopper by taking hards again. The VSC was well-timed, allowing him to take mediums and rejoin ninth, but he sharply spotted a loose wheel and came back in for another stop. That dropped him to 14th, but he picked off Stroll, Gasly, Albon and Bottas in the final 12 laps to salvage a point.
Verdict: Fast but unlucky, although his rating is hit by the self-inflicted Q3 damage.
Started: 14th Finished: 15th
Qualifying
Came within a hundredth of making it into Q3, which was a good return given the machinery. That said, Tsunoda did show signs of potentially having fractionally stronger pace.
Sprint
Drifted over on Hamilton on the run to the first corner and triggered a collision that damaged his car, resulting in a 16th-place finish ahead only of team-mate Tsunoda and Latifi of those still running.
Race
Struggled again, running 12th early on and expressing his fury at the timing of his first stop. Despite his struggles, he was running ahead of Bottas before the final stops where a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits dropped him behind. He was then shuffled back to 15th place in the final 12 laps.
Verdict: Not to blame for poor car, but made two significant in-race errors.
Started: 16th Finished: 16th
Qualifying
Felt he had a shot at Q2, but a big moment at Turn 1 on his final run meant he wasn’t able to show his full potential.
Sprint
Struggled badly for pace thanks to poor grip and unpredictable balance, even falling behind damaged team-mate Gasly on his way to 17th place.
Race
Had the same troubles as in the sprint race, which meant he had an afternoon scrapping in the lower midfield. He eventually finished last after being passed by Vettel in the closing stages and had a pace deficit of a couple of tenths to Gasly.
Verdict: The car was terrible but seemed all at sea dealing with it, even finishing behind damaged Gasly in the sprint.
Started: 18th Finished: 17th
Qualifying
Vettel was frustrated to have his best lap time deleted for a Turn 1 track-limits infringement that he argued cost him time. That lap would have been good enough for 17th, although Q2 would have been a difficult task.
Sprint
Held 14th after a clean and effective first lap having started on softs. But his race was ruined when he attempted to pass Albon in a move that started at Turn 4 but ended with a clash when Vettel was on the outside at Turn 6. He retired from last late on with damage.
Race
Ran 18th early on, on the hards and found himself in the same position once the first round of pitstops had played out. He did start to make a little progress, getting up to 13th only to spin after contact with Gasly after attempting to go around the outside of Turn 4 – a clash that earned the AlphaTauri driver a penalty. Took 16th after picking off Tsunoda late on.
Verdict: Battled limited machinery and incidents solidly.
Started: 12th Finished: 13th
Qualifying
Battled with track limits in Q1, with three infringements, but did post a lap at the end of the session that put him 17th. He did show the pace in fits and starts to have scraped into Q2, but didn’t connect up an ideal lap.
Sprint
Put together a solid race after starting on softs, finishing 13th on the road but moving up a place when Albon’s penalty was applied.
Race
Ran 11th on the first lap on the back of the two McLarens. Went to lap 29 on his first set of mediums, but having dropped 13s off Ricciardo by extending the stint in the hope of completing the race on one-stop, he switched to a two-stopper. He rejoined 15th on mediums and passing Gasly to finish 13th having gained a place to Sainz’s retirement.
Verdict: Did a handy enough job in limited machinery, but strategy and hard-tyre struggles meant he fell away from points contention.
Started: 17th Finished: DNF
Qualifying
Still in the old-specification Williams, Latifi put in a solid lap in Q1 to take 19th place. A wide moment in Turn 7 cost him a little time and restricted him to a gain of around a tenth on his final run.
Sprint
Frustrated by starting on softs and an uncompetitive car, Latifi initially ran ahead of Gasly and Zhou before inevitably falling behind them. Was the last to take the chequered flag in 18th, although had been ahead of Vettel when the Aston Martin driver retired late on.
Race
Latifi was showered with debris from the Perez/Russell collision on lap one, sustaining damage that made a slow car even slower. He struggled badly with tyre deg and eventually retired from last after 48 laps after complaining that the car had become impossible to turn in Turn 9.
Verdict: Machinery gave him little chance to make an impression.
Started: 15th Finished: 12th
Qualifying
Completed three runs in Q1, relying on his final lap to get into Q2. That left him with one set of fresh softs and after setting a good pace on his first run using old tyres, he got within a tenth of a Q3 pace in 12th place, but lost time to a rear-end snap and opposite lock moment at Turn 4 then a big moment in Turn 9 in Ocon’s turbulence.
Sprint
Made a good start using soft rubber and did well to avoid getting caught up in the Gasly/Hamilton collision. Ran 10th on the first lap after having to take to the run-off at Turn 1 and Turn 3 but was shuffled down to 13th. That became 16th when his five-second penalty for forcing Norris off track was applied.
Race
Held 13th in the first stint and was broadly in the same place at the finish thanks to the place he gained to Sainz’s retirement. But he did show decent race pace, almost good enough to have grabbed a point given he was only shuffled out of 10th place by Bottas on lap 64 as he inevitably dropped behind slightly faster cars.
Verdict: Did a good job with what he called a “peaky” car.
Started: 13th Finished: 14th
Qualifying
Had similar problems to Bottas in terms of struggling for grip, ending up lapping 0.459 slower than his team-mate in Q1 and never looking like showing the pace to make it through to Q2.
Sprint
Zhou’s engine shut off in the last corner of the original formation lap, caused by slipping into anti-stall for too long. Although he eventually got it restarted, he had to start from the pitlane as per the regulations. Came through to 15th, passing the hobbled Gasly in the closing stages.
Race
Considering he had to serve a five-second penalty for a track limits violation at his final stop, did a reasonable to finish 11 seconds behind his team-mate given how much he was struggling with tyre degradation.
Verdict: Off Bottas’s pace and was at fault for his sprint race start problem.
Started: 20th (pits) Finished: 11th
Qualifying
Despite carrying a back-of-the grid penalty for a power unit change, did attack qualifying as normal in the hope of being in the mix for sprint points. But struggled for grip and top speed, meaning a Q2 elimination.
Sprint
Jumped to ninth on the first lap, partly thanks to the Gasly/Hamilton collision. But he subsequently slipped behind Hamilton and finished 10th.
Race
Already had a back-of-the-grid penalty, so started from the pits having changed his rear wing under parc ferme to improve straightline speed. After getting stuck in a DRS train, opted for an early stop and did work his way through the lower midfield.
Verdict: Quick but couldn’t quite pull off a points finish that was possible.
Started: 7th Finished: 8th
Qualifying
Had a good run through qualifying to end up sixth, although time lost off Turn 3 and through Turn 4 on his best lap potentially cost him the chance to pip Ocon for best-of-the-rest behind the big three.
Sprint
Held his sixth place early on, but was powerless to prevent the quicker Perez from passing him on lap 10. Had Schumacher close behind for much of the race, but drifted out of DRS range late on and was given instructions to help out a little too late, allowing Hamilton to pass his team-mate.
Race
Initially held sixth but was overcut by Hamilton. After being undercut by Norris at the first round of stops, he repassed the McLaren and was running ahead of Schumacher and Norris when he reported a suspected engine problem on lap 31. On lap 32, he was slow off Turn 7, which allowed Schumacher to get ahead. Having undercut Norris at the second stops, he slipped behind him on lap 62, finishing eighth and relieved that his engine problem didn’t worsen.
Verdict: A strong weekend, blighted only by an engine problem striking mid-race.
Started: 9th Finished: 6th
Qualifying
Made it to Q3 for the third time this season with his pace similar, but just off, Magnussen’s. But he struggled on his last run with understeer, taking a brief bite of the gravel along the way, and ended up slowest of those to set a time with the gap to his team-mate stretching to two-tenths.
Sprint
Ran seventh behind Magnussen early on, which became eighth when Perez passed both the Haas drivers. Felt he was quicker than Magnussen, which the team put down to the DRS effect, and proved effective in defending against Hamilton until Magnussen edged out of DRS range, slipping down to ninth and missing out on the points.
Race
Held eighth early on and even briefly got ahead of Hamilton. But his race was with his team-mate and the McLarens, which he prevailed in. He passed Magnussen, who was suffering with a minor engine problem, into Turn 9 on lap 32 and executed his two-stopper well. His reward was a career-best sixth.
Verdict: His most complete and convincing weekend yet in F1.
