British GP Driver Ratings

Vettel – 7

Outqualified by Webber, but beat his team mate off the line and looked set for yet another win. Botched pit stop cost him the lead however, and had to fight hard to fend off Webber in final laps. Probably his least competitive showing of the season, but still ended up 2nd!

Webber – 6

At a track the Australian enjoys, he took his second pole position of the season. Slow start relegated him to 2nd, and another Red Bull pit stop error lost him further time. Harried Vettel at end, contrary to orders of team - an action which smacked of petulance and frustration.

Hamilton – 7

10th on grid after bizarre decision to run on used tyres in Q3. Drove fabulous opening stint in tricky conditions and moved into contention for the podium with ballsy pass on Alonso, but pace dropped away due to dwindling fuel supplies. Did well to fend off Massa with a slightly rude manoeuvre to maintain 4th at last corner.

Button – 6

Qualified 5th, well ahead of Hamilton, but once again (like Canada) struggled in wettest part of race, supposedly his strength. Recovered after first pit stops and made good overtake on Massa, but out with loose wheel after second pit stop. Had looked unlikely to better his grid position in any event.

Alonso – 10

Another superb performance from the two-time champion. 3rd on the grid was good, and the Spaniard showed Red Bull-beating race pace even before Vettel and Webber’s botched pit stops. The one-off diffuser rule changes were almost certainly a factor, but that doesn’t detract from the quality of Alonso’s driving as he took his first win of the year.

Massa – 6

Once again failed to match Alonso, whose driving was on a different level. Nevertheless 4th in qualifying, but forced to play second fiddle in the race, where the team almost appeared to intentionally compromise the Brazilian by pitting him too late. Unable to pass fuel-saving Hamilton at end.

Rosberg – 7

Qualified only 9th and dropped back further after a poor start. Nevertheless managed to recover and complete the race in 6th place - probably the best result he could have achieved anyway. Surprising (and worrying for Mercedes) that he wasn’t able to pull away from Perez’s Sauber though.

Schumacher – 7

Only 13th on grid in wet-dry conditions which were previously his forte. Clumsily ran into Kobayashi in early wet part of race and given stop-go penalty. Mounted a great recovery to salvage 9th, and bizarrely stated that 4th would have been a realistic goal if his race had been trouble free…

Heidfeld – 6

Terrible 16th on grid, but drove a mistake-free race as usual to climb to 8th by the flag. Nevertheless did not escape criticism post-race - rumours that Romain Grosjean may replace Robert Kubica long-term (should the Pole not recover from his injuries) are perhaps the ultimate insult.

Petrov – 4

14th on the grid was bad enough, but it got even worse in the race. The Russian was unable to pick up points due to struggling with traction, most probably a result of the blown diffuser restrictions. Afterwards, nevertheless claimed the race was “not difficult” – one wonders, therefore, why he couldn’t do better…

Barrichello – 6

Another difficult weekend. Like Schumacher, struggled in wet-dry conditions in qualifying to post only the 15th best time. The race was better, but again the Williams looks slower than the like of Force India and Toro Rosso as Barrichello struggled to 13th.

Maldonado – 6

Qualified a brilliant 7th. Sadly anonymous in the race once again, and ended up behind Barrichello in 14th, although he was at least able to battle with the midfield for a while and didn’t end up last of the established runners (albeit only due to Di Resta’s problems).

Sutil – 6

Again outqualified by Di Resta, but by less than a tenth in Q2. Raced well in changeable conditions, as he often does, and was perhaps unlucky to miss out on points, finishing where he started in 11th. Three stop strategy arguably not the correct way to go.

Di Resta – 7

6th in qualifying was a fabulous effort. Impressively shadowed Button early on, but tyre mix up in pits cost him dearly, and he then ran into Buemi when trying too hard to recover. Needs to start converting promise into points on a more regular basis in the second half of the season.

Kobayashi – 7

Excellent 8th on the grid. Ran well early on before being savaged by optimistic Schumacher move. Then joined distinguished company (the Red Bulls and Button) by suffering pit stop problems – an unsafe release earned him a drive-through. Eventually posted his first retirement of the season with an oil leak.

Perez – 9

An exceptional performance from the young Mexican, who feared losing career momentum after his Monaco crash. From 12th on grid, rose to tremendous 7th at end of race, pushing Rosberg in the Mercedes hard for most of the race. His reward is a Ferrari test drive later in the year.

Buemi – 5

Adopted his team-mate’s recent ‘tactics’ by dropping out in Q1. It didn’t gain him the points scoring form which Alguersuari has enjoyed though. From 19th on the grid, he ran well for a time, but was then blamelessly hit by over-ambitious Di Resta and dropped out of the race with a shredded rear tyre.

Alguersuari – 7

Out in Q1 again in 18th, although Buemi was at least behind him. Showed great race pace again to move up to 10th in the race, and finished right on Schumacher’s tail. Seems to have rediscovered form and reasserted himself over Buemi after a tough start to the season.

Kovalainen – 7

Excellent 17th on the grid in changeable qualifying session. The race was a nightmare though, with the Finn retiring after just 2 laps with gearbox problems. A shame because, as he pointed out after the race, the mixed conditions may have allowed him to fight the midfield runners for a while.

Trulli – 4

Qualified 1.5 seconds off Kovalainen and behind Glock’s Virgin in 21st. Retired after just 10 laps with an oil leak to round off a terrible weekend for the team. He has, not undeservedly, been dropped for the German GP, which should provide a much needed wake-up call.

Glock – 7

Hard to assess, given his car disadvantage. Did well to outqualify Trulli, but in the race the best he could realistically do was beat his team-mate and the HRTs home, which he did with little difficulty. Seems to have recovered his motivation despite continued lack of car performance.

D’Ambrosio – 5

Qualified 22nd, but seven-tenths behind his admittedly much more experienced team-mate. Solid 17th place finish in the race, getting the better of Liuzzi’s HRT, but his early season sparkle seems to have disappeared for the time being.

Liuzzi - 7

A decent weekend for Liuzzi which was largely overlooked in context of his new team mate’s debut. Qualified just behind D’Ambrosio and six-tenths clear of Ricciardo. Race pace not quite enough to beat the Virgins, but finished just two laps down in 18th.

Ricciardo – 6

A difficult debut for the Australian. Last on grid was no surprise, but did well to beat 107% limit. Unable to match Liuzzi’s pace in the race, and lost a lot of time in latter stages to end up a full lap behind his team mate. Brought the car home at least, but needs to up his pace in future races.