Canadian GP Driver Ratings

Lewis Hamilton
Qualified 2nd, Finished 1st

This was not his finest weekend by any means – a mistake on his final lap in qualifying was costly and uncharacteristic – but you have got to hand it to Lewis Hamilton. Unlike Sebastian Vettel, and closest championship rival Valtteri Bottas this season, Hamilton has been able to deliver when it matters most.

After crashing out on Friday and making that error on Saturday, Hamilton said he was more determined than ever on Sunday, partly to thank his team for all their hard work in repairing his car after a reliability glitch. And Hamilton could not have done much more in his hunt of Vettel, staying close before really putting the pressure on after the first pit-stops – and you can see why the Englishman felt he forced the mistake from his great rival.

After that, Hamilton – described as an “instinctive winner” by Martin Brundle in his latest column – looked to capitalise on what would possibly be his only passing opportunity until he was closed off by Vettel, and you cannot really blame him for asking Mercedes on team radio to look into that. Hamilton did nothing wrong in that situation, nor did he deserve any boos afterwards.

“All I did was just race my heart out,” said Hamilton, who will take some stopping in the championship now.
Rating out of ten: 9

Sebastian Vettel
Qualified 1st, Finished 2nd

A deserved pole position, a deserved Driver of the Day and Sebastian Vettel probably deserved to claim his first victory of the season at the Canadian GP.

But while the penalty imposed on Vettel was certainly questionable, the German will instead be ruing another mistake when under pressure from Lewis Hamilton.

It was clear Vettel was at least trying to give Hamilton room after running onto the grass at Turn Three and Sky F1’s pundits agreed there was not much more he could have done once in that position. But Vettel was in that position for a reason, and if he did not make that error then race stewards would not have had a decision to make, while Vettel would most likely have kept Hamilton at bay for 22 more laps considering Ferrari’s straight-line speed advantage.

A precious win was there for the taking and before Lap 48, Vettel was absolutely perfect – his qualifying performance and control of the race was vintage Seb. But right now, the four-time world champion just is not getting it right in F1 2019’s critical moments.

Let’s hope he returns in France with the same fire we saw here.
Rating out of ten: 9

Charles Leclerc
Qualified 3rd, Finished 3rd

Considering this was one of Charles Leclerc’s least competitive weekends of the season, the youngster was rather lucky to equal his best F1 result.

The 21-year-old endured another sloppy qualifying, finishing six tenths off his team-mate, and usually he would be punished for that kind of gap with a grid slot behind another Mercedes and possibly even a Red Bull or two. On this occasion he lined up third but despite getting close to Hamilton at the start, he never really troubled the two in front of him.

But would he have pushed more to take second place of Vettel had Ferrari informed him of his team-mate’s five-second penalty? Leclerc finished seven seconds behind Vettel in the end.
Rating out of ten: 7.5

Source: Sky Sports