It may have been a record-equalling weekend for Lewis Hamilton, but it wasn’t a perfect performance.
The big stars of the Eifel Grand Prix – according to Edd Straw – were further back. One of them was a driver under massive pressure to keep his place on the grid, and another started Saturday chilling in a cafe.
Among the low scorers, two of the other drivers fighting for their futures had absolute shockers – not for the first time lately, in one case.
Here are Edd’s full judgements, and as ever you can debate them with him in the comments section live at 5.30pm UK time today.
Started: 2nd Finished: 1st
Qualifying
Practice laps: 27
Gap to team-mate: +0.256s
Gap to ‘ideal’ lap: +0.304s
Hamilton didn’t seem completely on top of things during qualifying and in Q3 either didn’t have the same confidence, or the same grip thanks to differing tyre preparation, as his team-mate – particularly when it came to his run from the start of the lap through the first few corners.
Race
Penalties: –
Positions gained/lost lap 1: NONE
Strategy: 2 stops – soft/medium/soft
Hamilton couldn’t press home the advantage of his better launch despite briefly being ahead and was pushed back to second by Bottas at Turn 2.
But as the first stint went on, it was clear Hamilton was in better shape tyre wise and he claimed the lead around the outside of Turn 2 after Bottas’s big lock-up. Thereafter, he had everything covered.
VERDICT: His record-equalling weekend wasn’t his strongest, although the race was coming to him even before Bottas’s error.
Started: 1st Finished: DNF
Qualifying
Practice laps: 25
Gap to team-mate: -0.256s
Gap to ‘ideal’ lap: +0.000s
Given his usual strength in getting down to a good lap time quickly, it was no surprise to see Bottas on pole position on this weekend of reduced mileage.
An improved run through the first sector meant he was already up on his team-mate and he built on that throughout the lap. He also appeared to excel in ensuring his tyres were in the right window after the preparation lap.
Race
Penalties: –
Positions gained/lost lap 1: NONE
Strategy: 1 stop – soft/medium/retired
Bottas did a great job to reclaim the lead having momentarily lost it to Hamilton’s better start, but he struggled more with graining before having a big lock-up into Turn 1 that cost him the lead.
He was confident of recovering but didn’t get the chance to try thanks to engine problems.
VERDICT: Did so much right, particularly in qualifying and in toughing it out at the start, but had made a costly error even before the problems that forced him out set in.
Started: 11th Finished: 11th
Qualifying
Practice laps: 25
Gap to team-mate: +0.498s
Gap to ‘ideal’ lap: +0.053s
Vettel didn’t have the latest Ferrari upgrades until qualifying, which put him on the back foot, and struggled for grip on his Q2 runs.
Race
Penalties: –
Positions gained/lost lap 1: DOWN 1
Strategy: 2 stops – medium/medium/soft
Vettel himself said he spent most of this race “stuck” in traffic but it was his first-stint spin while moving across the back of Giovinazzi on the approach to Turn 1 that really undid his race.
He picked off Latifi and Magnussen after the restart, which meant he recovered to exactly where he was before the off: behind Giovinazzi.
VERDICT: Another disappointing weekend where he couldn’t extract the pace his team-mate did and made a big mistake in the race.
Started: 4th Finished: 7th
Qualifying
Practice laps: 25
Gap to team-mate: -0.498s
Gap to ‘ideal’ lap: +0.035s
Leclerc was the star of qualifying, judging the changing conditions well to lift the Ferrari to the front of the midfield.
While he also had the advantage of having run the Ferrari upgrades in FP3, he again had a clear advantage over his team-mate.
Race
Penalties: –
Positions gained/lost lap 1: NONE
Strategy: 2 stops – soft/medium/medium
Leclerc struggled badly on the softs in the first stint and lost a place to Ricciardo before making his first stop while under pressure from Norris.
He opted for an early second stop for another set of mediums in what was a race built around stemming the losses after his out-of-position qualifying performances.
In the end, he held sixth, assisted by retirements given he’d also dropped behind Perez and Sainz at the restart having opted not to take fresh rubber. He also lost a place to Gasly in the dash to the line.
VERDICT: He was never going to be able to hold position and his race result reflected the pace of the Ferrari that he flattered in qualifying.
Started: 3rd Finished: 2nd
Qualifying
Practice laps: 24
Gap to team-mate: -0.485s
Gap to ‘ideal’ lap: +0.160s
As ever, Verstappen extracted most of what he could from the car and did a good job to have the fastest time based on the first runs in Q3.
Perhaps he gave away a tenth by carrying a little too much speed and struggling on the bumps into the Turn 10/11 left/right, without which he might have been able to sneak ahead of Hamilton in the final shootout.
Race
Penalties: –
Positions gained/lost lap 1: NONE
Strategy: 2 stops – soft/medium/soft
Verstappen did exactly what he usually does in the race and kept himself in the mix with the Mercedes drivers, but never quite had the sustained pace to challenge Hamilton.
He picked up second thanks to Bottas’s retirement but might have given him a run for his money anyway.
VERDICT: Kept the Mercedes drivers in sight in qualifying and the race, which is about all he could do.
Started: 5th Finished: DNF
Qualifying
Practice laps: 23
Gap to team-mate: +0.485s
Gap to ‘ideal’ lap: +0.000s
Albon described his Q3 lap as OK but not one of his greatest and felt he didn’t attack the first corner enough. That, combined with struggling in the final corner perhaps thanks to graining, contributed to another big deficit to Verstappen and, more significantly, being behind Leclerc.
Race
Penalties: +5s (causing a collision with Kvyat)
Positions gained/lost lap 1: DOWN 1
Strategy: 1 stop – soft/medium/retired
The race started to unravel early with a big lock-up while battling with Ricciardo at Turn 3 on the opening lap ultimately leading to an early stop as the resulting vibrations were beyond Red Bull’s tolerance.
Albon then carelessly chopped across Kvyat’s front wing before retiring thanks to debris damaging a radiator, ending a potential recovery that could still have yielded a decent result.
VERDICT: Didn’t get the best from the machinery in qualifying and made two big errors in his relatively brief race.
Started: 8th Finished: DNF
Qualifying
Practice laps: 29
Gap to team-mate: -0.251s
Gap to ‘ideal’ lap: +0.233s
Norris wasn’t especially happy with how qualifying went as he seemed to struggle to get the tyres in the right window for his final Q3 run, which is reflected in time loss throughout the lap compared to his best. Without that, potentially there was Renault-beating pace in there.
Race
Penalties: –
Positions gained/lost lap 1: UP 1
Strategy: 1 stop – soft/medium/retired
Norris was set to be Ricciardo’s leading rival for third place given he was ahead of Perez after the first stops, but by then he was already beset by ignition-related power unit problems that were costing him time.
Eventually, as with Sainz pre-race at Spa, unburned fuel in the exhaust resulting from the problem caused a fire.
VERDICT: Had a shot at his second podium finish despite being disappointed with qualifying before the problem ruined a strong race.
Started: 10th Finished: 5th
Qualifying
Practice laps: 29
Gap to team-mate: +0.251s
Gap to ‘ideal’ lap: +0.370s
The lack of running on Friday hurt Sainz more than most as he was using the McLaren upgrade package, including the modified nose with the new parts that completed the package, so needed the mileage to finetune it.
He struggled for grip and balance but still made Q3, albeit a quarter-of-a-second off Norris.
Race
Penalties: –
Positions gained/lost lap 1: NONE
Strategy: 2 stops – soft/medium/soft
Sainz described his race as 60 laps of struggle, which was fair given the lack of grip in the upgraded McLaren.
Tenth on the first lap, he gained four places to retirements and got ahead of Leclerc thanks to strategy.
VERDICT: Given his car struggles, Sainz deserved a little luck and fifth place was a reward for a dogged drive.
Started: 6th Finished: 3rd
Qualifying
Practice laps: 23
Gap to team-mate: -0.019s
Gap to ‘ideal’ lap: +0.156s
Ricciardo didn’t manage to string together his ideal lap thanks to giving away a tenth-and-a-half through the final chicane after a conservative entry having struggled on the brakes there previously.
With a perfect run he probably could have picked off Leclerc and Albon.
Race
Penalties: –
Positions gained/lost lap 1: UP 1
Strategy: 2 stops – soft/medium/soft
The Renault driver passed Albon at the start then eventually found his way past Leclerc to take fourth on lap nine.
Bottas’s retirement meant third was on and once Norris was out of the picture it came down to a battle with Perez.
Ricciardo was 9.9s clear of Perez, who was closing rapidly, when the safety car was deployed, which thanks to the team and his sharp reaction allowed him to dive into the pits, get fresh tyres and ensure he had the grip to hold third.
VERDICT: The safety car helped, but this was a typically strong race drive from Ricciardo made slightly harder by a solid but not great qualifying.
Started: 7th Finished: DNF
Practice laps: 27
Gap to team-mate: +0.019s
Gap to ‘ideal’ lap: +0.072s
This is the closest Ocon has got to Ricciardo in a dry qualifying session as he continues to chip away at the deficit.
He also believed he left a little on the table, with the rear stepping out on him in the final corner and costing him on the run to the line.
Race
Penalties: –
Positions gained/lost lap 1: DOWN 2
Strategy: 0 stops – softs
Ocon lost a couple of places on the first lap, which stemmed from being stuck in the middle heading into Turn 1, and was on course for what would have become fifth place when hydraulic problems struck.
VERDICT: Should have followed up his best dry qualifying performance of 2020 with fifth, but for hydraulic problems.
Started: 12th Finished: 6th
Qualifying
Practice laps: 28
Gap to team-mate: -0.072s
Gap to ‘ideal’ lap: +0.000s
Gasly admitted that he perhaps left a tenth or so on the table and wasn’t completely happy with the car given the lack of preparation.
A small gain would have put him ahead of Vettel, but it was about where the AlphaTauri might be expected to be.
Race
Penalties: –
Positions gained/lost lap 1: DOWN 1
Strategy: 2 stops – medium/hard/soft
Gasly initially slipped to 13th thanks to Giovinazzi’s gains, then passed Magnussen on the run to Turn 1 at the same time as Vettel went off before dispatching Giovinazzi three laps late.
This effectively set his position as he was able to stop under the safety car for fresh rubber. That, combined with Ocon, Bottas and Norris retiring, added up to sixth place.
VERDICT: Another well-rounded weekend’s performance in a car that wasn’t at its best, with a couple of key passes setting him up for an attrition-assisted strong result.
Started: 13th Finished: 15th
Qualifying
Practice laps: 26
Gap to team-mate: +0.072s
Gap to ‘ideal’ lap: +0.000s
This was arguably Kvyat’s strongest qualifying performance of the season relative to Gasly, given there was little between to choose between them throughout the lap and he didn’t rely on Gasly underachieving as at Spa and Mugello when he was ahead. This time he was slower by 0.072s, but it was still a good qualifying effort.
Race
Penalties: –
Positions gained/lost lap 1: DOWN 2
Strategy: 2 stops – medium/hard/soft
Kvyat dropped to 15th on the opening lap, but ran long on mediums and had just moved up to 10th place thanks to cars ahead pitting when he misjudged his braking and cut the chicane.
This allowed Albon to pass him, only for the Red Bull driver to cut across too early and damage Kvyat’s front wing. After a long, slow lap back to the pits all he could do was drive round to the finish at the back given damage to the floor and brake ducts.
VERDICT: Pace was good and the race would have come to him before it was ruined by Albon – although Kvyat did create that situation with his own mistake.
Started: 9th Finished: 4th
Qualifying
Practice laps: 25
Gap to team-mate: -0.901s
Gap to ‘ideal’ lap: +0.374s
Perez was on the back foot heading into qualifying given the team only had one car’s worth of data from FP3, but after a shaky start he picked up the pace and made Q3.
He had to use up more softs than he would have liked to do so, meaning he had just one go in Q3, splitting the McLarens despite struggling with oversteer running in the windiest conditions.
Race
Penalties: –
Positions gained/lost lap 1: UP 1
Strategy: 2 stops – soft/medium/soft
This was set to be a classic Perez drive, running long on softs to climb to fourth then trying to reel in Ricciardo, who stopped 12 laps earlier, on fresher rubber.
He reckoned he would have pulled it off and not been threatened by any two-stoppers, but instead, the safety car intervened.
Racing Point initially left him out to gain third on the ground but he suggested this wasn’t a good idea and the team then brought him in second time round.
He didn’t have the pace to challenge Ricciardo after the restart, but at least had the tyres to protect from behind.
VERDICT: Qualifying wasn’t perfect, but drove an excellent race and might well have taken third without the safety car.
Started: 20th Finished: 8th
Qualifying
Practice laps: –
Gap to team-mate: +0.901s
Gap to ‘ideal’ lap: +0.225s
Called up from TV duties after Stroll fell ill and pitched straight into qualifying with only a few hours notice having charged to the circuit from Cologne, Hulkenberg did a good job. While he didn’t make Q2, he had a grand total of four push laps and was only half a second from making it through.
Race
Penalties: –
Positions gained/lost lap 1: UP 3
Strategy: 2 stops – soft/medium/soft
Hulkenberg fought his way up to 16th on the first lap, with a brush of wheels with Latifi along the way.
He ran longer than any of the other soft starters before stopping on lap 29 and was up to eighth when the safety car was deployed.
This allowed him to trade older rubber when being chased by those who had stopped for tyre parity and he reclaimed the place he lost to Grosjean, who didn’t stop, at the restart to take eighth.
VERDICT: He had a little luck on his side, but after the cold start in qualifying this was a remarkable performance.
Started: 19th Finished: 14th
Qualifying
Practice laps: 25
Gap to team-mate: +0.285s
Gap to ‘ideal’ lap: +0.000s
Raikkonen admitted he didn’t have the speed or the greatest laps and didn’t seem quite as comfortable with the car as team-mate Giovinazzi in the cool conditions. Struggles getting the front tyres working didn’t help.
Race
Penalties: +10s for causing collision with Russell
Positions gained/lost lap 1: None
Strategy: 2 stops – soft/medium/soft
Not an easy race for Raikkonen, who was caught out by the first lap concertina at Turn 3 and briefly went off after locking the rears, then made a mistake while battling with Russell and hit the Williams – earning a 10s penalty. He made the finish, despite the damage, ahead of Kvyat.
VERDICT: His record 323rd race start probably doesn’t rank among his top 300.
Started: 14th Finished: 10th
Qualifying
Practice laps: 25
Gap to team-mate: -0.285s
Gap to ‘ideal’ lap: +0.037s
Giovinazzi became the last driver to make his first appearance of the season in Q2 after lapping almost three-tenths faster than Raikkonen in the first part of qualifying.
Race
Penalties: –
Positions gained/lost lap 1: UP 3
Strategy: 2 stops – soft/medium/medium
Giovinazzi had a superb first lap to climb to 11th. That, combined with retirements, set him up for a run at the points but he committed early to a two stopper and reckoned he would have finished two places higher without the intervention of the safety car that eliminated his tyre advantage.
Even so, he had better rubber than Grosjean and couldn’t pass the Haas in the run to the flag.
VERDICT: Continued his improved Sochi form in qualifying and the race and the safety car hindered him, but he should have beaten Grosjean.
Started: 16th Finished: 9th
Qualifying
Practice laps: 27
Gap to team-mate: +0.321s
Gap to ‘ideal’ lap: +0.434s
The first lap on Grosjean’s final Q1 run was good enough for 10th, but was deleted thanks to running wide by the narrowest of margins at Turn 4.
He still came within hundredths of making Q2 with his second lap of the final run despite traffic but called his performance a bad job – only using stronger language.
Race
Penalties: –
Positions gained/lost lap 1: DOWN 4
Strategy: 1 stop – medium/hard
Things didn’t start well, Grosjean going off the track at Turn 2 as he slipped to last, then being hit in the left index finger by some gravel flung by Raikkonen’s Alfa Romeo running wide at Turn 11 on lap two.
But his race was made by staying out under the safety car, making him the only driver to one-stop. This put him up to seventh.
After being passed by Gasly and Hulkenberg at the restart he drove superbly with a tyre disadvantage to keep Giovinazzi at bay.
VERDICT: While there were too many track limits violations, he was quick and did a great job to hold a points position after staying out under the safety car.
Started: 12th Finished: 13th
Qualifying
Practice laps: 27
Gap to team-mate: -0.321s
Gap to ‘ideal’ lap: +0.199s
Making it to Q2 is always a good day if you’re in a Haas, but perhaps Magnussen should have beaten Giovinazzi to 14th if he’d hooked up the lap given the slender margin and the fact he couldn’t match his best times in the first two sectors on his key lap.
Race
Penalties: –
Positions gained/lost lap 1: UP 1
Strategy: 2 stops – soft/medium/medium
Magnussen had his customary strong first lap, battling past Kvyat at the hairpin – having come very close to hitting the back of Vettel at Turn 4 – then pulled off a great move around the outside of Gasly at Turn 3 on lap two to run 13th.
He ran four laps longer than Raikkonen before stopping, emerging behind the Alfa Romeo and stayed there in the middle stint but, along with Giovinazzi and Latifi, committed to a second stop before the safety car.
When that came, it stymied his progress given the cars ahead got to change tyres without losing position. He slipped from 11th at the restart to 13th after being passed by Vettel and Raikkonen in one lap, shortly after misjudging his braking and cutting the chicane, after rubbing wheels with both.
VERDICT: Quick and fiesty, but unfortunate with the safety car in the race.
Started: 17th Finished: 14th
Qualifying
Practice laps: 26
Gap to team-mate: +0.248s
Gap to ‘ideal’ lap: +0.144s
Latifi was close to Russell’s pace in the first two sectors, but the lap became increasingly untidy and he lost significant time in the final sector – through the chicane and last corner in particular.
Race
Penalties: –
Positions gained/lost lap 1: NONE
Strategy: 2 stops – soft/medium/medium
Latifi held 18th on the first lap after losing out in a wheel-banging battle with Hulkenberg at Turn 5. He ran a two-stop strategy with his second stop before the safety car was deployed, meaning he took the restart 12th having made a long undercut pass on Vettel and also moved ahead of Raikkonen when he stopped under the safety car.
But given the car pace and the tyre disadvantage, he was picked off by Vettel and Raikkonen in the closing stages.
VERDICT: Again didn’t maximise qualifying and had better underlying pace than he showed and held his own in the race in the slowest car.
Started: 17th Finished: DNF
Qualifying
Practice laps: 30
Gap to team-mate: -0.248s
Gap to ‘ideal’ lap: +0.000s
Russell felt Q2 was on the cards after his strong pace in FP3 was shrouded by backing off for a yellow flag, but on the crucial final run he didn’t get the tyres in the right window or deliver a strong enough lap.
Race
Penalties: –
Positions gained/lost lap 1: UP 1
Strategy: 1 stop – soft/medium
Russell ran 16th behind Kvyat in the first stint after gaining a place on the opening lap thanks to Raikkonen’s Turn 3 moment, but came into the pits at the end of lap 11 while running right behind Vettel, who was also heading in after his spin.
With both on mediums, Russell passed Vettel up the inside into the chicane but the Ferrari driver came back on the inside of the last turn and then got back past him using the DRS.
This allowed Raikkonen, who had stopped a lap earlier than the pair, to get up the inside of Russell into Turn 1, locking up, losing the rear trying to hold a tighter line and punting the Williams out of the race.
