F1 Driver Ratings: 2024 British GP – Piastri Delivers As Verstappen Rages

Oscar Piastri finally became a Formula 1 winner's club member on Sunday. The Australian drove a superb race to win the Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring.

Lando Norris didn't make it easy for him but managed to salvage some excellent points by finishing second ahead of Lewis Hamilton, who picked up his 200th F1 podium.

Charles Leclerc gave Ferrari something to cheer about with fourth, while Max Verstappen endured a weekend of misery on his way to a disgruntled fifth.

For our driver ratings, autoevolution has focused on the driver's performance over the weekend. Technical failures and strategy decisions will not factor into our final grades.

2024 Hungarian GP - Driver ratings

Oscar Piastri 9/10

Qualifying: 2nd - Race: 1st

This was nearly the race Piastri should have won but didn't, with only a late intervention to prevent an inter-team civil war. But there was a happy ending at last to what could have been a very unpleasant way to ruin McLaren's first 1-2 since the 2021 Italian GP.

The Australian was right with Norris from qualifying and was only +0.022 away from Norris' pole time as McLaren locked out the front row for the first time since the 2012 Brazilian GP.

But his cleverness at the start helped him muscle past his teammate into Turn 1 and into the lead, quickly pulling away from the rest of the pack, by producing a gap of over three seconds on Norris and Verstappen.

A mistake on Lap 41 put him under pressure, and after his second stop, he was behind Norris, who broke away from him before letting his teammate by on Lap 68, earning him a richly deserved win.

Lando Norris 8/10

Qualifying: 1st - Race: 2nd

After turning Verstappen's winners' trophy into a glorified Terry's chocolate orange in 2023, Norris returned to Hungary seeking redemption from the disappointment of Silverstone.

The Brit was lightning fast in qualifying and snatched pole on his first push lap from Piastri and Verstappen, but his overeagerness to cover the Australian dropped him to third by the conclusion of Lap 1.

Norris got second back from the Dutchman but still couldn't get close enough to his teammate, who was setting a blistering pace. He finally returned to the lead after the final round of stops.

Although he had a decent cushion out in front, team orders meant he had to let his teammate through  even if he initially didn't want to. With three laps left the Brit played the team game and let Piastri by down the front straight.

Lewis Hamilton 7.5/10

Qualifying: 5th - Race: 3rd

Buoyed by his emotional Silverstone triumph, Hamilton bagged himself a richly deserved 200th podium at a track that has historically been one of his best.

Mercedes wasn't as strong at the Hungaroring, and the Brit narrowly missed on becoming the third big scalp of qualifying by just scraping into Q3.

A solid opening lap moved him up to fourth, which later became third after he jumped Verstappen at the first round of stops. The Dutchman tried to get by twice, but Hamilton was wise to his attacks and held his third place.

Hamilton was lucky to avoid damage when Verstappen tried an audacious move into Turn 1, but with the Dutchman out of sight, the Brit could cruise home for a well-deserved podium.

Charles Leclerc 7.5/10

Qualifying: 6th - Race: 4th

Four poor weekends in succession had sent Leclerc's season into a tailspin, and things got off to an awful start at the Hungaroring, with a crash in FP2 that cut short his running.

The Ferrari looked far from easy to drive at the Hungaroring, but Leclerc managed to qualify sixth and a tidy start helped him leapfrog teammate Carlos Sainz into fifth, and by staying out longer, he managed to put himself in the fight for third.

Although he couldn't get near Hamilton, Verstappen's late-race error promoted him to fourth, earning Leclerc his best result since winning May's Monaco GP.

Max Verstappen 5/10

Qualifying: 3rd - Race: 5th

There was no three-peat for Verstappen, but that's quickly forgotten when you look at how bad his race went, losing his cool on more than one occassion.

Initially it seemed as though, in practice, Red Bull had turned a corner, with the Dutchman second in FP2, but come qualifying, he was back behind the McLarens and was relegated to third on the grid.

At the start, he got alongside Piastri and Norris on the run down to Turn 1 but had to use the escape road after being squeezed out. He moved up to second but was forced to give the position back if he wished to avoid a potential penalty.

When instructed to give the position back, Verstappen lost his composure and spent most of the race complaining about the stewarding and his team's strategy.

Then, to cap off a wretched weekend, he tried and failed to pass Hamilton three times with his third attempt seeing him lock up into Turn 1, clattering into his former title rival, and relegating him to fifth.

Carlos Sainz 6.5/10

Qualifying: 4th - Race: 6th

It was another solid result for Sainz, who again picked up more solid points for Ferrari. However, he will be left wondering what might have been if a poor first stint hadn't cost him so dearly.

The Spaniard, who topped FP2, out-qualified teammate Leclerc for the third consecutive race and was only three-tenths off Verstappen in Q3. But he made a hash of the start, dropping three places on Lap 1.

He did make up some ground by passing Alonso on Lap 2, but he seemed too far away from challenging the rest of the top five and settled down to a quiet race, earning him his fourth consecutive top-six finish.

Sergio Perez 4.5/10

Qualifying: 16th - Race: 7th

With an awful Silverstone weekend contributing to more speculation as to whether his time in F1 was running out, Perez had to score good points in Budapest if he wished to silence his critics.

Practice times indicated that maybe the Mexican had turned a corner, but all progress was thrown in the shredder with a crash in Q1, putting him out in qualifying.

After his Red Bull mechanics worked through the night to prepare his car for the race, Perez dropped further positions at the start but had quietly worked his way up into the points by half-distance.

Two stints on mediums helped, and although Sainz was too quick, he managed to finish a respectable seventh, salvaging some points on what had been a far from straightforward weekend.

George Russell 6/10

Qualifying: 17th - Race: 8th

After two races that saw him right at the front of the pack, Russell had a trickier time in Budapest, but there was one reason behind his surprisingly poor result.

Russell set a sluggish banker lap in Q1, leaving him on the fringes of the dropzone. However, he could not improve on his second run as Mercedes miscalculated the amount of fuel they had left in the car. These factors left Russell down in 17th, his worst qualifying result since the 2023 Hungarian GP.

Gradually, the pace in the Mercedes on the medium tyres helped him make progress, moving up to eighth at halfway, but with the tight nature of the Hungaroring, that was as good as it got.

Yuki Tsunoda 8/10

Qualifying: 10th - Race: 9th

This was Tsunoda's grittiest weekend to date in his F1 career. He overcame the pain barrier to bring home more solid points for RB.

In qualifying, a slight mistake at Turn 5 sent him flying into the barrier, destroying his car and suffering bruising on his back even if he came out of the medical center with no serious injuries.

Starting from 10th, Tsunoda had a tidy opening stint and cycled into the top six through the first pitstop window.

After stopping on Lap 30 for hards, he rejoined in tenth, which became ninth when he passed Stroll with 20 laps left.

Lance Stroll 5.5/10

Qualifying: 8th - Race: 10th

Lumped with the old upgrade package for opening practice, Stroll wasn't much quicker with the new package, and looked set for a long weekend.

The new package began to work in qualifying, and the Canadian booked another Q3 appearance behind teammate Alonso. Stroll was kept out longer than his teammate for the race and pitted on Lap 15 only to suffer a long 4.1-second stop, costing him vital seconds.

By halfway, Stroll was running ninth, but that was as good as it got. Tyre issues saw him drop back in the closing stages, eventually dropping to tenth after Tsunoda got by following the second round of stops.

Fernando Alonso 5.5/10

Qualifying: 7th - Race: 11th

Returning to the site of his maiden victory, Alonso looked unsettled in Hungary as Aston Martin tried to get their season back on track.

During practice, the Spaniard seemed unhappy with the team's upgrade package, but he still managed to secure seventh on the grid for Sunday's race.

Yet still, Alonso didn't have much to celebrate as he wasn't allowed to go out for a second run in Q3 after the pitlane was closed following Tsunoda's crash.

He managed to jump Sainz in the opening laps but dropping back to where he started and continued to fall back through the order, finishing outside of the points.

Daniel Ricciardo 6.5/10

Qualifying: 9th - Race: 12th

A weekend of two halves for Ricciardo, who came into the weekend hopeful he could show Red Bull why he was the right man to replace Perez.

The Australian nearly did himself a disservice by being on the fringes of a Q1 exit, but with time running out, he managed to set the fastest time of Q1, knocking out Perez, who had crashed earlier on.

Leaving it late was the story of Ricciardo's session. He used a clear track following the red flag caused by Tsunoda to jump his teammate for ninth.

But his excellent starting position didn't translate to points, as Ricciardo was pitted early and couldn't make much progress through the pack, turning a promising race into a disappointing one.

Nico Hulkenberg 6/10

Qualifying: 11th - Race: 13th

There was no Hulkenberg magic at the Hungaroring, but the lack of points was more due to the Haas's lack of speed and just missing out on Q3 than the German's performance.

Hulkenberg sat out of FP1 to give Britain's Oliver Bearman another session, but it losing an hour of track time didn't seem to have phased him as he once again out-qualified Magnussen. Only +0.010 separated him from a third consecutive Q3 appearance, but he just missed out to Hamilton.

An early stop on Lap 3 dropped him to the back of the pack, and he had plenty to do if he wanted any hope of getting points, but in reality the Haas' lack of pace meant a top 10 was never on the cards.

Alex Albon 6/10

Qualifying: 13th - Race: 14th

For the first time, Albon's relationship with Williams showed signs of strain as a bizarre strategy put him on the back foot and led to a frustrating afternoon.

Albon felt he had more to give in qualifying, but traffic issues prevented him from getting higher than 13th. Needing to try something different, Williams started him on softs so he could gain as many positions as possible in the opening stint.

It looked to have paid off as Albon moved up to ninth by Lap 1 before making his opening stop on Lap 7, dropping him behind Alonso. A switch to hards at the second stop didn't bear fruit, and a late switch to a three-stopper when the tyres were gone left him well out of the points.

Kevin Magnussen 4.5/10

Qualifying: 15th - Race: 15th

After being told he would be unemployed at the end of 2024, Magnussen approached the weekend needing to put in a good pitch to save his F1 career.

The Dane was again out-qualified by Hulkenberg but made a blistering start on new softs, jumping up to tenth by the end of Lap 1. Haas boxed Magnussen on Lap 7 for hards, and although he could undercut Ricciardo, the Australian would eventually get by.

From then on, Magnussen made no progress and had a lonely second half of the race.

Valtteri Bottas 6/10

Qualifying: 12th - Race: 16th

With new upgrades arriving for Budapest, Bottas would have hoped for a better weekend and finally get on the scoreboard for 2024.

Bottas finally ended a two-race Q1 exit streak with the heavily revised package, advancing into Q2, and out-qualifying both Williams earning him a respectable 12th on the grid his best qualifying result since April's Chinese GP.

But it was back to reality on race day. Although the Finn could keep faster cars behind for the first 15 laps, he quickly fell away, and with it, any hope of points rapidly faded.

Logan Sargeant 5/10

Qualifying: 14th - Race: 17th

Now, no longer listening to his critics or commenting about his future; for now, Sargeant had a fairly standard weekend, during which he remained in touch with his teammate.

An early lockup in Q1 saw him kiss the barrier down at Turn 1, but fortunately, he could get back around to the pits so his mechanics could begin repairs under the red flag.

He rewarded them with a Q2 appearance and was only a tenth slower than his teammate, indicating that the American's qualifying form has improved in his second season.

Sadly, starting on mediums and an average start set up a quiet afternoon.

Esteban Ocon 5/10

Qualifying: 19th - Race: 18th

The lone highlight of Ocon's Hungarian weekend was the unique helmet design he brought to the Hungaroring, as nothing else went right for the Frenchman.

Although he was as high as tenth in Q1, the decision to leave him in the garage for the remainder of the session saw Ocon tumble down the order, and he would finish the session 19th.

With new mediums, Ocon made up a few places at the start, but a decision to stop early backfired spectacularly. The resulting three-stop strategy, which saw him use all three compounds of tyres, left the Frenchman way adrift of the points for the second race in succession.

Zhou Guanyu 3.5/10

Qualifying: 18th - Race: 19th

Time is running out for Zhou to land a seat on the 2025 grid, and he did nothing to help his cause in Budapest with a frankly mediocre weekend mired by tyre management issues.

A spin in FP2 in which he blamed Perez for trying to get out of the way was comical as the Chinese star lost it all on his own at Turn 6. In qualifying, he exited in Q1, while teammate Bottas nearly broke into Q3.

Stopping for hards early didn't help Zhou's cause, and he spent most of the race in tyre management mode, gaining more knowledge of the team's upgrades in what became a glorified test session.

Pierre Gasly 5/10

Qualifying: 20th [started from the pits] - Race: DNF

It was another weekend of torture for Gasly, who once again had his race ruined before it even started. The misery started in qualifying when Alpine's decision to keep the Frenchman and his teammate Esteban Ocon in the garage after the red flag in Q1 backfired as the track quicken demoting him to last.

With another tough race expected, Alpine elected to change elements of Gasly's power unit, ensuring a pitlane start.  After a clean opening stint, Gasly settled down in the midfield and made some progress through the field, running as high as 10th before his opening stop on Lap 30.

But that was good as it got as on Lap 35, Alpine retired the car because of a suspected hydraulic leak.