Lando Norris delivered a champion’s drive in the Hungarian GP, but the latest edition of PlanetF1’s driver ratings reveals contrasting fortunes across the grid.
From a statement victory to costly mistakes and missed opportunities, here is how every driver performed at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Lando Norris – 10/10
Qualified: 1st | Race: 1st
Norris delivered a statement weekend, recovering from a scruffy opening lap to dominate once he had clear air. He managed his tyres and had strong race pace, even when tucked up behind teammate Oscar Piastri through the opening half of the Hungarian GP. Once clear, he controlled the race. The McLaren looked superb, but Norris extracted every ounce of performance from it and showed the kind of clinical execution expected from a champion.
Charles Leclerc – 7/10
Qualified: 3rd | Race: 4th
Charles Leclerc had endured a frustrating Hungarian Grand Prix. Ferrari arrived expecting a stronger showing but failed to convert that pace into a result. The soft tyre call had been a sensible read, but a poor start and fluctuating car balance left him unable to exploit it. A solid recovery rather than a standout drive. He did what was needed, but Ferrari had left too much on the table.
Oscar Piastri – 9/10
Qualified: 5th | Race: DNF
Oscar Piastri had driven an excellent opening phase in Hungary, making the better start and controlling the race despite his McLaren clearly lacking the pace his teammate Lando Norris’ had behind him. He was robbed of a chance of victory by Carlos Sainz’s inexplicable and inexcusable move while being lapped, the delay that caused Piastri enough to allow Norris easy passage into the lead. From there, his pace disappeared before he did too with a gearbox issue.
Max Verstappen – 9/10
Qualified: 6th | Race: 2nd
Verstappen produced a superb salvage job from a difficult Red Bull package, dragging a fundamentally unhappy car onto the Hungarian GP podium. He managed the tyres well and made the decisive move on Hamilton to deliver a weekend well above expectations. It was an 8/10 performance, but his move on Hamilton earns a bonus point for its brilliant audacity.
Lewis Hamilton – 6/10
Qualified: 2nd | Race: 5th
The underlying pace was better than the result suggested as he failed to convert when it mattered. He qualified on the front row before his penalty dropped him back, then drove a strong opening stint and looked capable of fighting near the podium, only for a questionable pit call and his own pit-lane speeding error cost him the chance to finish higher than fifth. The pace was encouraging, but Hamilton’s mistake, and those of the team, left too much on the table again.
George Russell – 8/10
Qualified: 7th | Race: 7th
A throttle failure at the start of the Hungarian GP dropped George Russell well down the order before he drove magnificently back to seventh. It was far from the result the championship contender was hoping for, but once his fate was sealed he kept his head and delivered the sort of composed performance that, while unspectacular now, could mark the difference between first and second in the world championship.
Kimi Antonelli – 7/10
Qualified: 4th | Race: 3rd
Antonelli delivered another mature performance, recovering from seventh on the grid to take a podium through strategy and composure under pressure. His Mercedes was not easy to handle but he avoided mistakes and protected the result when others were compromised.
Isack Hadjar – 7/10
Qualified: 8th | Race: 6th
Hadjar never looked comfortable all weekend, and his own assessment matched what was visible on track. He repeatedly referenced an unpredictable balance, poor downshifts and a lack of grip, while also questioning the timing of his first pit stop. Despite that, he recovered well on the hard tyre and brought the car home in sixth, justifying Red Bull’s strategy in the closing stages.
Nico Hulkenberg – 7/10
Qualified: 10th | Race: 9th
Nico Hulkenberg finally converted strong qualifying pace into a solid result with ninth, scoring Audi’s first points in several races. An aggressive strategy helped him stay in contention, and although he briefly lost ground at the start, he recovered well and managed the race cleanly despite repeated blue-flag interruptions in the closing laps. It wasn’t spectacular, but it was exactly the sort of efficient, mistake-free afternoon Audi needed heading into the summer break.
Liam Lawson – 7/10
Qualified: 11th | Race: 8th
Another mature and well-executed race in Hungary, maximising the compliant Racing Bulls package to finish eighth. He managed the long opening stint well, trusted the team’s reactive two-stop call when pressure built, and converted the late soft-tyre advantage without drama. It was a strong points-scoring drive that strengthened Racing Bulls’ position over Alpine heading into the break.
Pierre Gasly – 6/10
Qualified: 12th | Race: 12th
Pierre Gasly endured a frustrating weekend as the Alpine’s limitations were exposed. After qualifying 10th, he never looked capable of troubling the midfield ahead in the race. In Hungary, he complained about inconsistent aero behaviour and a car that would not respond to his inputs, concluding with Gasly questioning whether the promised Alpine upgrades will deliver a meaningful step.
Franco Colapinto – 5/10
Qualified: 13th | Race: 15th
Colapinto endured a difficult afternoon and never looked comfortable despite an encouraging start. He slipped backwards as the Alpine lost balance and grip, leaving him unable to match the midfield pace before eventually finishing 15th, two laps down. Blue flag issues added frustration, but they were a sideshow to a race where he simply lacked the pace to compete. Given teammate Pierre Gasly finished ahead in 12th, Colapinto never looked like extracting the maximum from the package.
Gabriel Bortoleto – 8/10
Qualified: 14th | Race: 11th
Starting 14th, Gabriel Bortoleto executed the opening stint well on soft tyres and briefly looked capable of stealing eighth before Audi’s one-stop strategy left him exposed on worn hard tyres. Liam Lawson passed him late and the Brazilian ended the race 11th, just outside the points. The strategy gamble ultimately cost him rather than any obvious mistake behind the wheel, although getting trapped behind Esteban Ocon early prevented him from fully capitalising on his pace. A solid, mature drive that deserved more than it got.
Esteban Ocon – 7/10
Qualified: 15th | Race: 16th
Ocon extracted about as much as Haas could realistically expect in the Hungary GP, even if the final result was outside the points. He seemed happier in the car, though admitted race pace and tyre degradation remain major weaknesses. Haas ultimately lacked the grip to compete when tyre wear became a factor, but Ocon delivered a tidy, error-free weekend.
Fernando Alonso – 7/10
Qualified: 16th | Race: 14th
Alonso described Hungary as a genuine step forward for Aston Martin, and the race backed that up. He finished 14th in the team’s upgraded car, with Aston showing its most competitive pace of the season. The result was modest, but the performance suggested tangible progress that points to something far more than the result on Sunday.
Oliver Bearman – 4/10
Qualified: 17th | Race: 19th
Oliver Bearman had endured a miserable Hungarian GP weekend. A blue flag penalty was unfortunate but a spin at Turn 2 compounded the damage. Hungary was a major regression and Bearman leaves Hungary with more questions than answers.
Carlos Sainz – 3/10
Qualified: 18th | Race: 18th
Carlos Sainz had been having a respectable drive before bashing into the effective race leader Oscar Piastri. The blue flag system issues provided some mitigation, and the five-second penalty reflected that, but a veteran driver still needed to have greater awareness when the leaders were approaching, and he can consider himself fortunate to have only received a five-second penalty.
Alex Albon – 5/10
Qualified: 19th | Race: 17th
Alex Albon had endured another miserable weekend, qualifying 19th and finishing 17th. Largely anonymous through the race, he was able to help the team diagnose the issues that blighted him. But starting at the back, and with improved rivals about, it was never likely to be a strong Sunday performance.
Lance Stroll – 7/10
Qualified: 20th | Race: 13th
The bar had been set deliberately low for Aston Martin’s latest upgrade. Stroll’s race performance helped confirm that the new package had moved the team into the midfield fight, though he still lacked the pace to trouble the leading cars. His tyre strategy was sensible rather than inspired, using the early stop to escape traffic, but there was little evidence of standout racecraft against the field. The upgrade looked like the bigger story than the driver.
Valtteri Bottas – 5/10
Qualified: 21st | Race: DNF
Bottas had shown encouraging pace early on, briefly passing a Mercedes at the start and running close to Williams before Cadillac’s familiar reliability problems intervened. He was forced into heavy lift-and-coast to manage overheating brakes before the issue escalated into a retirement, continuing a frustrating pattern of mechanical failures for the new team.
Sergio Perez – 5/10
Qualified: 22th | Race: DNF
Starting from the back, he spent much of the Hungarian GP battling an ill-handling car, later revealing he believed an internal issue linked to a replacement gearbox left the balance feeling “quite strange” despite overnight setup changes. He also admitted having to significantly alter his driving style to compensate, while further technical concerns and confusion around blue flags compounded a difficult afternoon.
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Originally published by Planet F1 —
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