Vettel – 8
Crash on Friday didn’t stop him claming yet another pole position. Drove an almost faultless race despite tricky conditions and the pressure of seeing his lead eaten into by red flags and safety cars. Last lap error of own making cost him the win.
Webber – 7
Qualified 4th. Good recovery in race after being punted into a spin at first corner by optimistic Hamilton, and took final podium spot after an energetic battle with Schumacher. Still looking like the number two driver at Red Bull though.
Hamilton – 4
Another error-strewn performance. Qualified 5th with partial wet set-up, but then ran into Webber at first corner and went wide at the hairpin trying to pass defensive Schumacher. Later squeezed into pit wall by Button, causing retirement (but was partly to blame himself for putting car in no man’s land on outside of team mate).
Button – 8
Only 7th on grid after gambling on wet set-up. Not actually that quick in wet part of race and was responsible for clumsy collisions with Hamilton and Alonso. Benefited enormously from late race safety car, however, and was quick when it mattered to pass Vettel for fortuitous win after the German’s last-lap mistake.
Alonso – 6
Brilliant recent form continued in qualifying, the Spaniard just pipping team mate Massa to a front row spot. Didn’t look as quick as Massa in the race, but was just coming into contention when eliminated by a somewhat rash move from Button.
Massa – 8
Back on song after recent struggles. Qualified 3rd, fractionally behind Alonso, and had the measure of his exalted team mate for much of the race. Nosed wall after hitting wet patch trying to lap Karthikeyan, but recovered well and used combination of KERS and DRS to just beat Kobayashi to 6th place on the line.
Schumacher – 9
Qualified reasonably well in 8th. Put in easily the best performance since his comeback in the race by consistently running at the front. Poor straight line speed cost him in fight with Webber and Button and was unlucky to finish off the podium in 4th.
Rosberg – 6
Impressive in qualifying, pipping Button’s McLaren to 6th on grid. Didn’t seem to be able to push the car to its limits in the wet race, unlike Schumacher, and dropped to 11th on last lap after tagging back of Kobayashi’s Sauber and damaging front wing.
Heidfeld – 7
Reasonable qualifying effort saw him 9th. His usual capable wet weather driving saw him in reach of a top five finish, but contact with Kobayashi sent front wing under the car and, soon after, car into barriers. At least David Coulthard can now pronounce his name correctly…
Petrov – 8
Quaified just behind Heidfeld in 10th. Ran 4th before red flag and only lost one place thereafter to finish in an excellent, mistake-free 5th. Also did well to miss errant marshall in an incident which looked comical but could have been fatal.
Barrichello – 6
Another fairly anonymous weekend for Barrichello and Williams. Qualified 16th, and didn’t really demonstrate the delicate touch in wet conditions which he has so often in the past. Nevertheless brought the car home to double his and team’s tally for the season with 9th place finish.
Maldonado – 6
Put in excellent lap in qualifying to line up 12th, three-tenths ahead of Barrichello. Looked good for points after red flag, running with Rosberg and Kobayashi, but damaged front wing after colliding with the Mercedes. Later spun out all on his own.
Sutil – 5
14th on grid, but behind Di Resta again. One of a number of drivers that could have picked up points in the race, and also one of a number to collide with Rosberg. Earned a drive-through penalty for this incident, and later hit wall and retired.
Di Resta – 7
Excellent 11th in qualifying, half a second up on Sutil. Showed stunning pace early in the race, despite a couple of trips off the track, but then made silly move on Heidfeld and damaged front wing. Like team mate, was given drive-through, and then clipped wall and retired with a puncture.
Kobayashi – 9
Another great drive after qualifying 12th despite looking ragged in practice. Stunning in wet first part of race, keeping his head to rise to 2nd. Sadly dropped back in dry conditions and had to settle for 7th after being pipped by Massa on run to flag.
De la Rosa – 7
Replaced Perez at short notice at Sauber – so short he had to drive on Friday with McLaren overalls! Qualified a solid 17th and impressively ran in the points in wet part of race. Like Kobayashi, dropped back in dry conditions but brought car home safely in 12th.
Buemi – 6
15th on grid was a good effort. Changed to slicks early after red flag stoppage, which may have cost him time. Nevertheless managed to pick up another point thanks to attrition, but was outperformed in race by Alguersuari for first time in a while.
Alguersuari – 7
Knocked out in Q1 for second race in a row. Good recovery in the race though – the Spaniard kept the car on track in tricky conditions and took first points of the season (and his best ever result) with 8th.
Kovalainen – 5
Bumped down to 20th on the grid by Trulli, nearly 2 seconds ahead of the HRTs and Virgins. Unfortunate to retire behind safety car with driveshaft failure in race of high attrition – however, he never really looked like scoring a point.
Trulli – 6
Finally outqualified Kovalainen and only half a second off Alguersuari in 19th. Race didn’t go so well – the veteran Italian was hampered by rake issues and ended up behind the other new teams on the road. Finished an underwhelming 16th.
Liuzzi – 9
A brilliant performance (given the car) on a track where he has often gone well. Qualified ahead of both Virgins in 21st. Drove a clean and fast race in tricky car and conditions to take crucial 13th place (moving HRT ahead of Virgin in constructors’ championship).
Karthikeyan – 7
His best weekend of the season, but couldn’t quite match Liuzzi. Still, did beat D’Ambrosio in qualifying and was only one and a half tenths off team mate. Finished 14th on the road in the race, but bumped back to 17th by penalty for cutting chicane passing Glock.
Glock – 6
Outqualified by Liuzzi, which no doubt pleased him not a lot. The German usually shows well in the wet, and did so at times here, but locked up near end of race, causing a flat spot on tyre. Resultant vibration destroyed tyre and left him 15th.
D’Ambrosio – 6
Outside of 107% in Q1, and was fortunate to be allowed to start. Raced well though, despite penalty for changing to intermediate tyres prematurely after red flag, to beat Glock home to 14th (albeit behind both HRTs on the road).
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