British GP driver ratings: No perfect 10 for Lewis Hamilton, Perez flops yet again

An emotional Lewis Hamilton took victory for the Mercedes team at the British Grand Prix — breaking a drought of nearly three years, and breaking the record for most driver wins at a single circuit with nine victories at Silverstone.

Hamilton’s win makes it six different victors in the first 12 Formula 1 races of 2024 — an impressive feat in a rain-punctuated British Grand Prix where multiple drivers looked set to win at different points in the race.

Driver ratings for the F1 2024 British Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton – 9.5

After nearly three years, Lewis Hamilton has once again returned to the top step of the podium — in the process breaking the record he shared with Michael Schumacher regarding the number of wins scored at the same track.

For Hamilton, who started the race in second place, the cards almost instantly fell into place. The British racer’s experience with Silverstone and its changeable conditions gave him a leg up over the competition, and Hamilton’s skill was paired with an impeccable strategy that launched him into the lead.

I won’t go so far as to call it a perfect drive, considering Hamilton’s off-track excursion as the rain picked up in the early stages of the race. However, it was just about as close to ideal as Hamilton could hope for from his drought-breaking win.

Max Verstappen – 8

The inimitable Max Verstappen has proven to be mortal after all.

In the last 15 laps of the British Grand Prix, Verstappen reminded us why he’s been the dominant driver in Formula 1 for the past two years. Donning a set of hard tyres to round out the race, Verstappen snatched second place from Lando Norris before setting about chasing down leader Lewis Hamilton.

But we saw a much different Max Verstappen in the race’s first stint. Yes, the Dutch racer passed Norris immediately on the first lap, he put up no defense against either McLaren on Laps 15 and 17.

He came alive during and after the rain — but that initial race pace signalled a different, more vulnerable Verstappen.

Lando Norris – 8

McLaren have become legitimate championship contenders in terms of pure performance, but the team’s strategy calls and mistakes by its drivers have once again lost out on victory for Lando Norris.

Again, Norris showed that he struggles with F1’s highly competitive standing starts, but he pulled of an overtaking masterclass against Max Verstappen in the early stages of the race.

Strategy primarily slowed the British racer down. He stopped for slicks one lap later than ultimate winner Lewis Hamilton, then opted for the high-degrading slicks that later handed his second-place position to Verstappen. And in his final pit stop, he missed his pit box, resulting in a much slower stop.

Again, Norris shows ample promise, but his starts and the strategy calls he and McLaren made need work before he can truly become a regular race winner.

Oscar Piastri – 8.5

While a fourth-place finish is a result to be proud of, Oscar Piastri will undoubtedly be wondering how his McLaren team gave away what could have been an even better result.

Piastri was quick all day, chasing down his teammate for position — but rather than opt for a double-stack pit stop to swap its drivers from intermediate to soft tyres, McLaren left Piastri out on track one extra lap compared to Norris.

That one lap made all the difference. From that point forward, Piastri was playing a game of catch-up — but it was an impressive one.

In the final stages of the race, Piastri and Verstappen swapped fastest laps as both drivers tried to claw back track position. Even though he finished just off the podium, Piastri put in a drive to be proud of.

Carlos Sainz Jr. – 8.5

Carlos Sainz Jr. had a quiet day to finish in fifth place — though that was likely preferable to the hell his teammate Charles Leclerc went through.

Things went well for Sainz from start to finish; a good start, no slow stops, some frustration during the changeable conditions, but nothing that could be called a “poor” performance.

As Sainz mentioned to Sky Sports after the GP, he was proud of the performance he’d put in, primarily because his Ferrari was able to put up a fight for the podium for a while — something that shouldn’t have been possible for a team that has continued to struggle all season long.

The extra point for securing fastest lap at the end of the race should serve as a nice cherry on top, too.

Nico Hulkenberg – 9

Nico Hulkenberg showed why he was one of the first drivers to secure a new ride in the throes of Formula 1’s ongoing 2025 silly season. Despite losing three positions in a messy start, Hulkenberg fought his way back up superbly to sixth place to finish where he started.

The German racer performed admirably in the wet-to-dry-to-wet conditions to take home a season-matching best, mimicking his sixth-place finish in Austria. He misses out on an even higher score only for causing chaos with Alex Albon at the start.

Lance Stroll – 8

We didn’t hear much about Lance Stroll during the British Grand Prix, and that was probably a good thing. The Canadian driver had a clean run to finish in seventh place — a spot ahead of his more experienced teammate.

It was a great result for the British Aston Martin outfit after a difficult run of points-less finishes.

Fernando Alonso – 7.5

Like his younger teammate, Fernando Alonso had a very solid weekend — one that was really only marred by a difficult start, and by the fact that he has once again lost out on the performance advantage he’d amassed over Lance Stroll.

Alexander Albon – 8

Williams racer Alex Albon is likely left wondering what could have been after coming home ninth in the British Grand Prix — equalling his best-season result of ninth at Monaco.

At the start of the race, Nico Hulkenberg got loose, which resulted in some congestion at the middle and rear of the field. Albon was caught up making contact with both Fernando Alonso and his own teammate Logan Sargeant, losing bodywork in the process.

Had he not been left battling to make up the positions he lost on the start, Albon may have been able to take home a better points haul. Nevertheless, he should be proud of another top 10.

Yuki Tsunoda – 7

VCARB driver Yuki Tsunoda has struggled to find his footing in 2024, especially on high-speed tracks like Silverstone or Austria. His ability to bring home a challenging car in a points-paying position at track where the team expected to struggle is impressive. It bodes well for both the team and its Japanese driver heading into the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Logan Sargeant – 7.5

It was nearly points for Logan Sargeant’s Williams machine, but the American driver just couldn’t quite get it done.

Still, it was a promising showing for Sargeant, whose sophomore season in Formula 1 has been fairly disappointing. An 11th-place finish may just be enough to help him hold onto his race seat for a little while longer.

More reactions from the British GP

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Kevin Magnussen – 5.5

Kevin Magnussen displayed some impressive passes during the British Grand Prix, and he also managed to save a nasty wiggle on Lap 34 when he ran over a slippery kerb.

Overall, though, it was something of a disappointment. He was knocked out of qualifying in Q1 while his teammate made it all the way to Q3, and he was bested by Williams during the Grand Prix.

Daniel Ricciardo – 5.5

A 13th-place finish for Daniel Ricciardo isn’t what the Australian would have wanted after having scored points in both Barcelona and Austria — but Ricciardo noted after the race that the team had struggled more than expected with its upgrade package.

Charles Leclerc – 6

Oh, Charles Leclerc. Ever since his home win at Monaco, everything has gone wrong for the Ferrari driver.

He earns extra points for his start, where he managed to take advantage of some chaos to make up three positions, then mount some overtakes on drivers like Lance Stroll and Nico Hulkenberg.

That’s about where his good day ended. Leclerc pitted 0n Lap 20 for intermediate tyres in anticipation of rain that failed to manifest for several laps. Five laps later, he’d worn out his tyres to the extent that he was running off track before being lapped for the first of two times on Lap 26.

There wasn’t much Leclerc could do after the initial intermediate call.

Valtteri Bottas – 4

Valtteri Bottas lost two places at the start of the British Grand Prix, leaving him trying to claw back position from 18th place. He did manage to finish 15th — but that’s still well out of the points. After the race, he pinpointed to media, including PlanetF1.com, that his Stake team just hasn’t provided enough upgrades to be competitive with the other cars in the middle and rear of the field.

Esteban Ocon – 5.5

Esteban Ocon was Alpine’s only hope after Pierre Gasly retired on the formation lap, but it was a challenging race. Ocon was one of a few drivers who swapped to intermediate tyres well before any rain fell, and it left him on the back foot for the remainder of the British Grand Prix.

Sergio Perez – 3

Oof. Sergio Perez’s race was always going to be challenging thanks to his pitlane start, but the British Grand Prix proved to be quite the challenge.

By Lap 13, Perez had worked his way up to 16th position, but he was one of the first drivers to pit for intermediate tyres on Lap 20. The Mexican racer almost immediately noted that the track conditions were too dry for those tyres to work magic, and he was a lap down five laps later. He ultimately finished two laps down, in 17th — second to last in terms of on-track finishers.

Zhou Guanyu – 3.5

If Valtteri Bottas had a difficult race, Zhou Guanyu’s was even worse. In an attempt to make up positions at the start, the Chinese racer started on soft tyres and was in the pits to change them by Lap 13. He cruised home as the last driver on the track, finishing 18th.

George Russell – 7.5

Polesitter George Russell held the lead in the early stages of the British Grand Prix, showing off the Mercedes team’s ever-improving form at his home race.

As the rain started to fall, Russell lost a position to his teammate Lewis Hamilton, the latter of whom was visibly more confident in the tricky conditions. That’s not to say that George Russell performed poorly; it was simply one of those moments where his relative lack of experience compared to his teammate came into play.

Unfortunately, Russell’s day ended on lap 34 when the team asked him to retire, suspecting a water system failure. Russell had been seated in a comfortable fourth place at the time, having lost a position to Max Verstappen during Merc’s doublestack pit stop.

Pierre Gasly – N/A

There’s not much to say about Pierre Gasly’s performance in the British Grand Prix. On the formation lap, Alpine detected a possible gearbox issue and asked Gasly to retire the car. The Frenchman never had a chance to take the start, so there’s not much performance here to analyze — though his 50-place grid penalty was honestly quite impressive.

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