Our Mid-Season F1 Driver Rankings (20th -1st)

our midseason F1 driver rankings oh Tommy it's felt like so long since we sat here chatting about Formula 1 the summer break is of course well and truly underway and we are here to bring you our averages over the course of the season so far which I'm sure will appease and please everybody yeah it's you know a well-known series that everyone agrees with so to have basically our order it's very good and and the best thing about it is that we do it in a way where it is unbiased un no recency bias here we actually like grade all the averages so it's very easy to look at a driver that may be doing terribly now or really good now and forget they had a stinker or a really good start to the season exactly that's the thing right because I'm sure there are some drivers that have had an absolute worldy three or four five last races but this is taken into account the whole season we got to remember when Ferrar were good right great how long are we doing that how we recording for only a minute or so thank you so much for that um anyway let's dive straight into it shall we and begin with 20th position is it 20th technically 21st no well uh what are we doing about that uh i' I'd left it for the end but we can't we can mention it now OE bman we'll give him his let's give him his props yeah because he would have won because of of course he did one race and we both gave him a 10 so he technically has the best average grade of the entire thing so congratulations Ollie bman well done olle bman 10 out of 10 let's get into our full grid fulltime drivers starting with 20th position and the driver coming out in 20th for myself is Logan Sergeant with a score of 4.0 am I surprised to see this no uh his best score from myself was a 7 out of 10 at Silverstone where he got a P1 and his worst was in Canada when he got a one from me where he went off and and crashed out later as well dnfed but generally obviously with a 4.0 it's not been the best of seasons and what I would say from here on in second half of the Season just enjoy it Logan because Williams have turned their back on him now yeah you're you're pretty much done they've not announced he's leaving but they've signed two drivers so he's he's gone sadly so just enjoy the second half of the Season Logan is what I'd say so P20 for me is also Logan Sergeant I have been much more generous and giving him 4.1 out of 10 average yes he has not had the best season this was his opportunity of course to turn things around which he hasn't done I think the problem was not only has he still not had the better of Alex Alban in any race maybe has done less so now but still spent a lot of the first half of the Year crashing and that's why there's been a lot of discussions of was he going to get replaced midseason but yeah uh I gave him a seven as well at Silverstone which is his best performance uh when he finished P1 but then even in that race you know the Williams was quite good and Alex got a P9 but you can argue that's where he should be uh compared to Alex Alin you know just a couple of places Down The only positive is he is P20 in the championship Zone not last the head of vry botas let's go to 19th position so p19 for me is Z guu with 4.6 quite a big step up from Logan which maybe shows uh kind of how disastrous Logan season's been uh his best score was a 9 out of 10 from me in Barra again a drive with no points that was a a P11 finish but we've been I think in particular the most recent races where you know he's got a lot of three I've given him a lot of three out of 10 and it's just mainly just the fact that he's just not doing anything and he's consistently I know the the the saber is terrible but he is consistently so poor uh in qualifying in in particular even with the the financial backing that he's got it's not going to be enough for him to be considered for a seat next year either so uh not a a good season for Z not at all uh for me 19th position is also z guu uh with a whopping 4.7 out of 10 so uh 0.1 more generous than Tommy the worst score I gave him was a two in Canada uh where I mean it just was a a race to forget or race weekend to forget for him uh similar to You Tommy you I give a lot of Threes a lot of fours uh for Joe obviously it is a step up from Logan like a 6.7 Step Up is actually as you will see as we go up these these rankings a big step uh from that but I mean it's just been a a poor season I gave him a nine as well in Bahrain uh where he finished 11th uh I gave him sevens in China and Spain uh where he finished 14th and 13th so there's been enough crazy races in order to have what's that that Saba's level sadly but yeah um but there's been enough crazy races in order for him to have snuck another nine or a 10 out of 10 where he's finished in a ninth or a 10th place but sadly for for Saba they've not scored any points whatsoever so yep disappointing for Joe and that's why I've got him in 19th position 18th now this is wild to me but also not in some ways Sergio Perez is in 18th with 4.7 tied with Joe uh but he places higher because he's been given two n out of 10 from me I'm not going to get I'm not I'm not I'm not going to get into his season because we've spoken about it so much but some some I guess highlights and low lights uh from what I've picked out uh through my ratings throughout the the year he he's got a 4.7 and yet had a really strong start to the season know he I gave him an eight in Bahrain a nine in Saudi and Japan where he finished second in both of them sevens in China and Miami and yet he's got an average of a 4.7 which just shows you just how low we've scored him after that because that's when the dip kicked in with imer getting a three there he got a zero in Canada for me Hungary obviously redeemed himself slightly and finished seventh which is was was a decent drive from 16th on the grid still is one of the worst drivers of the Season sadly even with that strong start and uh there's no more to say about Perez p18 for me is also Sergio Perez uh with the same a 4.7 no surprise that it looks very similar to you yeah you look at the start of the season and it's strange to because it feels so long ago that he had that form there's obviously a lot of argument that even with that form that was when Max was winning Races by 25 seconds and Perez was finishing second now with Perez finishing 25 30 seconds behind Max that of course equates to a very poor points tally which he's got you look at the start of the season and from me he got 8 n 5 99 77 and then it goes 320 33 what like his form has just hit a cliff and Frank agrees he's he's Frank is basically gone we don't need to hear about perz again let's go to 17th position then shall we so P 17 Uh Kevin Magnuson with a 5.2 Now Kevin Magnuson is a funny one because middle of this season we thought it was a complete slam dunk that he was going to get banned at some point I actually gave him two zeros one in Miami and one in Monaco Magnuson had a very poor kind of few races where it really did look like he was going to get a race ban but then he has had uh some strong performances and with h we've been able to see uh a much better season from them cuz they haven't had that complete calamitous car that just falls back in the races so that is why he has been able to bag you know five points is not a huge amount but obviously there's not been many points dished out because of the the top drivers so my 17th position is Lance stroll with a 5.1 uh I think it's pretty fair that he's in this region of drivers it's not been it's not been a great season for stroll uh he he's had a few decent drives uh gave him an eight out of 10 in places like Bahrain Canada and Silverstone and yeah I'd say more recently he's had better drives for sure like he's been around where Alonzo's been Alonzo's maybe had a bit of a dip I would say at the same time uh but he also had some pretty massive stinkers in the earlier parts of the season the lowest grade I gave him was in China where I gave him a one out of 10 where he just drove into the back of Ricardo let's go to 16th then for me Kevin Magnuson with a 5.4 rating the best rating I gave for him was a nine in Austria where he finished in eighth I gave him a zero as well in Monaco because uh it was I know Perez did have a part to play in that but I I'm very much on the still on the the of the opinion that km mag was at fault for that and how he did not get penalty points he didn't get any did he for that it was deemed a ra incident right yes he got he got none desp needing just a few to push him over the edge but also I should have given him a 10 because that allowed for charlot Clair to easily win the Monaco Grand Prix so um Magnus and I also gave him a one in Miami which is quite funny because obviously that was one of the uh would you call it dirty dangerous or just pure didn't care about the rules probably the lat the latest of those three and then I've given him a few sevens across the season as well but yeah I mean despite those few standouts yeah he's had a few stinkers as well which has caused to be 16th so 16th for me is Lance stroll on a 5.3 similar to Perez but the other way in the fact that uh for me a lot of his bad grades were at the start of the Season where I think uh a lot of the grades are you know more just the frustration and fed up when when actually bizarrely when Alonzo's doing a brilliant job stroll is having an absolute night nightmare for instance you know the Saudi crash and uh slamming into the back of Ricardo in in China like you mentioned and then blaming Ricardo and just being absolutely ridiculous but as the Aston Martin ironically has got worse Lance str's performances have got better and whether that's because Fernando Alonzo's getting worse or the car is now more suited to where stro likes it of course because he is the driver they build the car around of course um he's the reason they are the reason existing exactly so so he's got a few eight grades and and sevens recently 15th position Tommy I've gone for valry Bas with a 5.5 uh he's p15 and he's last in the championship but he's 15th in our hearts and no he's uh he's a very difficult driver to grade because I mean that is mad by the way that he's 15th when I look at his results which are 19th 17th 14th 14th retired 16th 18th 13th 13th 16th 16th 15th 16th 15th exactly and he's always ridiculous it is ridiculous but you know he's normally for the most part higher than his teammate he does a brilliant job in qualifying which you know he's very good at but unfortunately in the races and this this is the part of Formula 1 when for the majority not all uh teams that you can have a brilliant performance in qualifying but over a 60 70 lap race or whatever the performance kind of levels itself a bit more and you get a bit closer but botas is only last in the in the championship because he's not been able to have a standout strong result and that's why he's behind Logan sorry Logan's 11th place is what actually and and Show's 11th place as well um so botas hasn't even got close to the points but is p15 and not actually driving that badly but that is Formula One my 15th Place is also valky Bas with a 5.6 uh the lowest grade I gave him was a four I think he's just had a very quiet season apart from maybe in like China where I gave him a nine um but then even that I think that was he retired didn't he but he was running really well yeah he's just had such a quiet season where I'm giving him fives maybe six is when he's beaten Joe by an absolute country mile but that that is all that he can do in that saber and I think being going about his job quite quietly and not being involved in too many incidents or that sort of stuff he's being placed higher than the ones that are having these Peaks and troughs mainly troughs at this stage of the rankings uh and that's is 15th and I think he deserves to be there I don't think he's driving badly let's go to 14th position then and mine is Daniel Ricardo with a 5.8 oh Danny Danny Danny uh I think he's he's had a tale of two halves I'd say uh with this season uh the first half pretty shocking uh lowest grades I gave him were a series of Threes in Saudi Arabia Australia Japan and the highest grades I gave him were in Miami where I gave him an eight same for Canada same for Austria and Belgium so yeah he's I it's a difficult one and I think had he just put together what he's done in the last few races across the season he may well may well be sat in a Red Bull seat right now we don't know I mean helmet Marco literally said if he was out performing Yuki which he hasn't uh then he may well have got that call up yeah 14th position I think is fair because he hasn't been as good as as Yuki Coda over the course of this season he's had some some highlights but not enough of them Daniel Ricardo is also 14th for me with 5.6 I think Daniel's season it all comes to that kind of point at the start of the Season quite early in the season if you look at Yuki soda where he was bagging points finishing best of the rest constantly and Daniel Ricardo was finishing races in you know 12th 15th 13th 12th of course had that amazing Sprint result but then didn't deliver in the main race like you say he kind of had that Red Bull seat what felt like Des destined for him that all he had to do was um beat Yuki Coda and uh he hasn't and he's definitely doing a lot better now but unfortunately for him it was just not not enough uh for to essentially Drive the championship Constructor Championship winning car for now as it's falling further further back into the pack 13th position Tommy 13th is Alex Alban with 6.1 Alban is a funny old driver because he's not scored many points couple of p9s that is the only uh points he's got on the board Williams haven't had those High highs like they did last year he was of course I want to say top definitely in a lot of people's top fives of driver of the year last year hasn't had those moments this year now whether that's that the car's not as good it's it's going to be certainly a lot more interesting when we see SS alongside him to see just how good he is but he hasn't really had those incredibly like incredible moments um like he was delivering last year so he's had a fairly quiet season but certainly not a bad one my 13th position is estan Aon with a 5.9 he had some high grades from me uh in Miami and spar with some nine out of 10 uh where he scored points in both of those Spar especially was was incredibly impressive uh with all of those overtakes that he made and then sadly for him I think this is where it's uh impacted him quite heavily I think for both of our grades when we eventually get to okon for you is that uh that zero that he got in Monaco um because of how close these these ratings are now uh in this pack of of drivers it's put him towards the the the rear of this midfield for me um cuz yeah he he's not had I'd say he's had on par the same kind of season as gazley but he's had that one massive dip which is which has affected uh his grade quite a lot because I think they've both had four points scoring finishes if I'm not mistaken it's not been a bad season by any stretch uh for okon um but yeah he's 13th for me and uh as the Alpine improves I'm sure he will continue to score more points in the second half of the Season 12th position I have his teammate Pierre gazley with a 6.2 uh the worst grade I gave him was a four in Bahrain uh where he qualified 20th and finished 18th um a few fives and then some standouts uh in Monaco and Canada where I gave him eight his best grade that I gave him was was a nine in Spain where he finished P9 after qualifying in a sensational seventh place he's had a lot of bad luck as well though um which obviously has impacted not his grade couldn't give him a zero but we sort of it hasn't affected his average has it the the ones where he's had some really bad luck yeah p12 for me is es bokon with 6.1 which is exactly the same score as Albin uh they he got the same number of nines from me as album the same number of eights but had more seven grades that's how close it was between uh aan and album for me completely agree with you that with these especially when you're looking at it's it's it's over half the season but we've obviously still got a few races to go one Z can really knock your grade now and I think okon has delivered a very good season he's taken what is an awful car same with his teammate gazley and delivered points from it when I don't think maybe some of the other drivers in the lower half of Formula 1 might not have got the what those guys would have got out of that Alpine so done a very good job there he's shown quite a few times this year why someone like H despite what people on social media think of him being washed and terrible and I think a lot of it is Banter but that he does deserve to be there because he is a very capable and quick driver and that's why he's got uh some nines and and eights as well absolutely completely agree let's go to 11th place now 11th for me is Pier gazley with 6.2 like a lot of their lives these two are can't can't separate them too much and gazley uh has been very similar to okan he's not had the the low low that okon had at Monaco but his his Drive I gave him a 10 in Spain actually for that drive which I believe was uh the P9 where he finished brilliantly and did a really good qualifying as well so it's it's very very very similar to okon you can say all the things you said about Aon with Pierre gazley that unfortunately him okon and uh gazli are two much more capable drivers uh than what they than that car they deserve a lot a lot better and it's difficult to grade them a lot of the at the time because they are just not doing much but I think I think the fact that gazley and Aon consistently are almost always together shows that they are maximizing what they are doing doing in that car my 11th place is Alex albon with a 6.2 tied with gazley uh but placed higher because I've given albon two uh nine out of 10 and they were in Monaco and Silverstone uh where he finished ninth my worst grade for him was was a four out of 10 in Spain um and then a lot of fives and sixes the Williams again not being particularly great for most of the season and uh I think albon's still driving very well I think he deserves to be uh in this sort of 11th place that I've given him with the with the averages uh it's just hard for him to do much more like he beats his teammate every single race weekend and I know that oh it's Logan Sergeant he's not that great but you can't compare him to anything else so that's why I've given him a lot of six out of 10 and when he's put half a minute on his teammate you you can't just ignore that and give him a five or a four so 6.2 out of 10 for me with albon let's go to 10th position and mine is Fernando Al Lonzo with a 6.6 out of 10 so now we are into the top 10 this is where it's it's pretty close between a lot of drivers my best grades for Fernando uh I gave him a nine in Saudi Japan Canada and Belgium and a worst grade of two out of 10 in IMA where he finished 19th and did have an absolute stinker in IMA the first Glimpse since Alonzo returned I would say of a oh oh Fernando's not having that much fun anymore and with we're seeing a few weekends creep in now where he's not demolishing stroll which is confusing in my brain I know Tommy you have your theories as to why perhaps the stroll Alonzo divide is is closing and it's because they think you think that the car is being more suited to stroll but either way Fernando just hasn't been completely and utterly on it I would say in this second half of the Season which is why he's been bumped down uh to 10th because I'd say in that first half of the Season he was looking like a top three top four driver again uh but no 10th for me P10 is also Fernando Alonzo with a 6.6 so despite my bias Fernando Alonzo grades We've Ended up with the same score it's very similar to exactly what you've said he he at the start of the Season it looked like Aston Martin delivered not as good of a car as last year obviously he's not been able to get those podiums and really high points finishes but they were in Formula a and then they were hanging on to formula a and now they very much don't feel part of formula a at all ever since Aston Martin have struggled it has been Alonzo that that has struggled and he's got some very bad grades as well like you say in in IMA in Austria where you know he had contact with I think it was Joe uh when he dived up the inside so he's put a few clumsy moves in as well which maybe think is a bit of desperation and frustration that the car's not where he wants it to be particularly when you look at how good the Aston Martin was and this time last year we were talking about oh Fernando Alonzo like it's going to be great when he gets win 33 and now that just looks A Million Miles Away let's go to ninth position then Tommy so ninth for me is Yuki CA with 6.9 average score out of 10 nice he's had a very strong season particularly at the the start when we you know we mentioned Daniel Ricardo maybe not not delivering and Yuki had so many performances where he was finishing best of the rest we we say that formula a is Untouchable and Yuki SoDo was the guy that was always topping formula B for a good run of races you know seventh in Austria 10th in Japan uh seventh in in Miami he still has unfortunately those moments which maybe Red Bull think twice about when he bins it into the wall and has a big crash and while he's still new he's not new new anymore that he can really lean back on that excuse that he's a brand new driver when you said that I just had the worst dad joke of you talking about the Teletubbies then but anyway it's fine was the vacuum right yeah just came straight to it just you know give me some of that tubby toast don't know what I'm talking about now um let's get into my ninth as well because it is also Yuki with a 6.9 nice best grades were for me at 10's in Australia where he finished seventh and then Japan where he finished 10th the worst grades I gave him were fours in China Canada and Spain I also gave him nine out of 10 in Miami Monaco and Hungary I think Yuki's been fantastic this year as you've mentioned Tommy I think he has had moments that sadly haven't been erased from his game yet if we just constantly saw a Yuki Coda topping formula B I don't think that Red Bull would be able to come up with an excuse to not give him at least a shot or they wouldn't even need an excuse right it's seems like right now as you constantly say every time on the race podcast the Christian horn is never looking when Yuki snow is in the top 10 but as soon as he is uh he's uh he's awake and he's seeing everything I think that I I don't know there's there's something that just doesn't feel as though Red Bull will ever go for Yuki Cod and that's why he's been tipped to Aston Martin in the future and and stuff like that and perhaps that that that door will close we don't know eighth place for me Nico hulkenberg with a 7.3 out of 10 uh Hulk has been brilliant this year he really has uh he's he's also got 22 points the same as Yuki and you compare that to his teammate Magnuson who's got five uh he's had some Stellar Stellar performances in the likes of Austria Silverstone consecutive P sixes he's just been really good uh for a lot of the year he does extract everything and he is one of the best Midfield drivers that we see in we've seen in Formula 1 I would say because he's always there with whether it was with Rena or whoever force India whatever so yeah the name you're saying is never he's never had a race winning car it's all right going oh but the fact is that when he's bottled podiums it's because he was absolutely un somehow running first in a force India so he can't it's not like he's got a Red Bull drive and then been terrible n hulkenberg is also p8 for me with a 7.1 maybe hasn't had as good uh of those like unbelievable qualifying things but what's great is that he can now deliver in the races um and that's what we love to to see like he has been good in qualifying but last year he would always drop back down whereas now he's able to actually stay there and you actually look at where he's finished even when he's not in the points five of those are p 11 so he does get good amount from that car delivered some amazing results I mean his two backtack six a h is actually phenomenal let's go to Seventh Place seventh place for me is George Russell I think it's going to be very close between a lot of these drivers now um and and can go either way I think we might see a bit of a a mixed order maybe look at seventh and go oh that's a bit harsh but he is close to to the others Austria brilliant Drive uh has to be said you know I know he inherited a win and of course gave him a 10 as well for for for spa despite the disqualification which was very unfortunate but a fair grade still has had the odd moment of Madness I think that he did a dive bomb for what I remember on piastra in Japan that was a bit like chill out but at the start of the Season he was very impressive and maybe didn't get the credit he deserved for just how impressive he was and how much ahead of Hamilton he was and his his qualifying score particular against leis Hamilton my seventh position is L Hamilton with a 7.4 out of 10 uh and I think it's worth mentioning that my sixth is 7.5 my fifth is 7.6 my fourth is also 7.6 so it's very close in this span from fourth to 7th but look I think that this reflects for me you know this 0.1 point2 difference that I've got with Hamilton now down in seventh compared to maybe being in fourth is the start of the Year where George Russell was doing a great job and beating Hamilton uh in a in in some of those races like for example a bad grade came from me four I say bad four out of 10 in Australia ad dnfed um so it was difficult to really judge much from that but he did qualify P1 um and then the best grades the things that have have really brought up his score of course Silverstone Belgium gave him 10 out of 10 uh it's been an upward trajectory I mean his results you know the last five races have been third fourth first third first as a reminder this is a whole season perspective and I think this might be the one where people go what do you mean Hilton's been in incredible this year not over the course of the whole season read the first read his first ones exactly so what did he have seventh ninth retired 9th nth with a second in the Sprint for China sixth sixth seventh so that's yeah a lot of sort of decent points but but well not even decent points three of them were ninth so uh so yeah that's why I've got Hamilton at 7.4 sixth position I have got Carlos signs with a 7.5 at the start of the year was incredible of course he got a 10 in Australia after coming back uh with his appendicitis of course Saudi Arabia uh where we didn't give him a score at all did we so it didn't affect his his averages and then it's been it's been a a decent season for Carlos he's picked up what 1 two 3 four five podiums a bit of a what it come a Cropper of the Ferrari just getting a little bit slower and he's scored some very solid points and he's not been far off lir sometimes been faster than him especially at the start of the year uh so yeah sixth place for me 7.5 a decent grade and I can't believe he's going to Williams next year Carlos is six for me with a 7.6 for me his worst result was Canada but his form at the start of the year was incredible his win in Australia put him on the talk of like oh he is the the man that everyone's going to want and instead he's at Williams next year he doesn't really have many low lows essentially other than that retirement his worst finish is a P6 even on his off days he delivers a very strong result fifth position so in fifth place I have leis Hamilton with 7.6 which is the same as science but he's got two 10s it's funny that yeah George Russell for me is seventh Hamilton fifth so two grades higher but it's only 0.1 out of 10 which shows how maybe evenly matched over the whole season they actually have been for me Hamilton's second it's not even second half it's just he's been so good in the last like five races he's been absolutely Sensational and delivered the maximum out of his car every time getting two wins in three races is something we never thought was going to happen when he was finishing seventh and Ninth every race so my fifth place is charl Clair with a 7.6 and I note that Tommy has not yet said sh Clair so I will not have anyone saying blinded by fanboyism when I have given him a lower average score I mean he's still driving really well he's still getting a lot of great results his worst race was obviously Silverstone but I mean he just had that run where I don't really feel like it was his fault what was going on or at least I mean there were some parts to play where maybe he could have done better Silverstone being one of them hence why I gave him a four was because you know he cooked his tires and he came in um and then obviously changed onto the inters and that wasn't the right way to go and you know you blinked and then he'd been lapped I think in three of four four races uh more recently so that aside he's still there getting some great results best race and of course the 10 out of 10 was his win in Monaco mostly given him eights and nines uh because he has been I would say extracting the most out of that Ferrari where he can barring those three or four terrible races but I think that's what has brought him down fourth position I have got George Russell he's tied with the cler on 7.6 but is higher due to two 10 out of 10s so the worst grade I gave George Russell was a five uh in Australia but the best grades were 10 out of 10 in Austria and Belgium uh where of course we've Tommy's already mentioned those uh and just pretty decent grades throughout most of the season of course he's beat Hamilton by 02 uh for me of course as I say more recently Hamilton has been incredible but let's not take anything away from George Russell either I think he's had a great season I do still I think fourth place a very lovely performance from George Russell fourth for me is charlot Clair uh with a 7.7 so I know I'm I am obviously the resident charlot Clair Fanboy of this podcast yeah he got tens from me in Monaco and also uh Spa where I feel like he delivered uh everything despite of course dropping back but you look at his start of the year and it is funny how despite Carlos having a sensation run Charlotte clerp until Monaco was getting the maximum out of that Ferrari every single weekend but even with the way the car has not been as quick it seems and they're looking like they're the fourth fastest car now L Clair's still put in some some good performances so yeah it's been a it's a good season for for sha and this is why I like that we've done it through averages because it's very easy to forget runs that certain drivers had at the start of the season and stuff and L CLA was absolutely brilliant third place third for me is Lando Norris a big surprise with an 8.1 of course his teammate has not been said yet which is why it's a a big surprise for me you know I think I think this is a bit like um an oon for me where I gr I graded him quite harshly some would say in in Belgium I think he massively underd delivered he was you know himself not himself and made quite a few errors during the race his best grade did come up Miami is that his only 10 that I've given him it is and Lando for me has maybe underd delivered what that McLaren is capable of but equally at the same time I think he's unfairly got a bit of a reputation of being like I mean it's classic internet that you can never just be like rational and say he's done a good job he either has to be he's massively overrated or he's really underrated because you got hyped up massively and you know people saying that oh if he has the car he will deliver and I don't think unfortunately he has delivered what I thought he might with with a car that good but it's nowhere near as bad as what certain people are saying like that he's like absolutely awful and way off he deserves credit for delivering a good season and having the points tally he he has yes it should be more and sometimes that's through McLaren sometimes that's through his own fault but we'll see how he he he does in the second half of the year I think it's going to be a really big moment in L's career I think this second half of the season and how he how he performs third place for me is Oscar piastri with an 8.1 Oscar piastri of course has had an amazing season he is a what one and a half Seasons into Formula 1 and he's just growing with confidence and getting stronger by the day another season under his belt and we could well see piastri and Norris very close can Oscar even get past and faster than Lando that's that's a question on on a lot of people's lips but I think osca over the course of the whole season has been great I think his worst grade for me was in Spain with a 6 out of 10 best rating of course 10 out of 10 in Hungary I don't think he's been as good as Lando Norris over the course of the whole year of course get recenty bias into that and say of course he's been great in the last three or four races where he's finished second fourth first second and yes he has been amazing hence why he's got an 8.1 average grade this is you know what you were saying Tommy it is isn't a case of piastri being worse than Norris it's that he hasn't had just by a minute amount as strong a season over the course of the last well from Bahrain to Belgium let's go to second place then no surprise it is Lando Norris for me with an 8.3 it's that final percent that Lando's been missing of course I think McLaren in general come into this season with a bit of a bit of Underdog mentality not just within their team which we've just discussed before but from fans perspective as well oh my God you know McLaren can challenge Red Bull this is amazing and I'm sure some of the grades for example Lando getting a 9 out of 10 in a Australia for a third place it does shift the way our expectations as we go through the season and McLaren are quicker and quicker and quicker Lando has had a great season he's just been missing that final percent of challenging Max for stappen Max is so far clear in our average grades that that's where the difference is I don't think he deserves a seven out of 10 average grade or anything like that because he's had so many brilliant drives over the course of this year but the highlights the ones that we all remember are him not being able to convert pole position because that they're in the Limelight they're in the spotlight and this is what's brought up and of course we're going to discuss it because we'd love to see a fight with Lando and Oscar and McLaren against Max foren in Red Bull so P2 for me is Oscar piastri with 8.4 which is quite a bit higher than than Lando a surprising amount whopping yes I would say whopping but it is um I think three is a whopping amount in these driver rankings I was surprised by it um but when I looked back on on the season I do think that it is actually a lot tougher to call between the two of them Miami as an example uh I gave Oscar a 10 out of 10 he was ahead of Lando until you know not Tak taking anything away from L's Victory it was a sensational win and I'm incredibly glad that he got that Victory but Oscar was ahead of him before the the for like you know good fortune which he finally deserved because he's had a lot of bad fortune as well since McLaren got good in those last few races it's been a lot closer uh I think since since Miami Oscar has outscored Lando which is another big surprise and yeah very excited to see how the two of them do in the next half of the season first place it is Max for Sten what a surprise nine out of 10 exactly which is pretty poor for Max's standards recently pretty wash to be honest still a whopping clear of the others and it's not been a perfect season from him like we expected the car we've still given him good grades because I don't think the car is anywhere near as dominant as it was last year but he has had his moments where Monaco didn't go to plan Austria Hungary for example Max is one of those drivers I saw a lot of people maybe questioning our grade for him for Belgium I think it was and saying that he should be higher maybe um and sometimes drivers can be a victim of their own success that because Max has been dominant for so long you kind of feel like you can't give him a a nine or a 10 out of 10 for a P4 um but as we go into the second half of the season it's quite clear that Red Bull do not have anywhere near the advantage they did and while I think it is a very it's going to take an absolute minding miracle for him not to win the the championship with the points lead he's got it's going to be very interesting by the end of the year seeing how how he continues because he's not one since Spain which was the 23rd of June uh which in Max for sten's dominance and all the banter about the Dutch national anthem being the F1 outro is a very very very long time my first position is of course Max for staffen as well with an 8 point nine out of 10 and uh hater yeah absolutely disgraceful yeah 8.9 uh still a six difference to Second Place same as you uh so he's clear he's he's the best driver in the on on the grid he's able to extract everything most of the time of course as we've mentioned there are a few blips uh and it hasn't been a perfect season even though we expected it uh in Bahrain um but there there's been still what how many is he won 1 2 3 four five six seven seven races this season uh and uh there'll be other like crier River only seven races yeah and I'm sure there'll be plenty more in the second half of the year uh but yeah he's still able to extract some great great results even if the Red Bull is now in the pack so uh yeah there's not what else you say about match for Stan he's just unbelievable and the best driver on the grid at the moment and that is that that wraps up our driver rank Kings for the midseason interesting of course no opinion it wasn't like we've formulated this in terms of grading like our own opinion of it it's this is all averages this is uh straight out of the driver rating system my final thoughts I hope you enjoyed that of course it's a whole season well midseason averages let us know your thoughts I know you will and uh we will see you and we will see you for what we going to do predictions aren't we for the rest of the season some crazy predictions uh which will be fun and then we'll be back to zamort I hope you all enjoying the summer break and we'll see you soon lots of love bye bye [Music]