PlanetF1.com’s driver ratings are a key element of our post-race coverage, and whether you agree or not with our scores (mostly not, judging by the comments sections…) we are keeping track of each driver’s average rating in F1 2024.
As a result, this is forming our ‘power rankings’ for the season as a whole, so a good race for any driver can push them up and a bad race can push them down. Come season’s end, we’ll have a full table for you to look through – and it aims to reflect driver performance in their cars rather than the outright World Championship order.
F1 2024 power rankings by driver
First, a bit of housekeeping. Any regular reader of our post-race ratings will know that each driver is given a number between 1 and 10 for their performance across the whole race weekend, the majority of which will be for their performance in the Grand Prix but, in other circumstances, their qualifying and Sprint performances can also be taken into account.
We’ll just be looking at full-time drivers to avoid skewing the ratings, so with apologies to Oliver Bearman after his three excellent stand-in appearances this season, he’s not counted as he is not signed as a full-time driver. He would have appeared right towards the top with his average score, though, so he can take that as solace nonetheless!
We will be updating these rankings as the year progresses, with our scores reflective of the averages in our driver ratings all season.
Ready? Let’s take a look.
[Average scores correct as of 2024 Sao Paulo Grand Prix]
1 (+1): Charles Leclerc: 8.37
[Last race: 8.5]
‘Mr Consistent’ this season both on track and in our ratings has paid dividends for Charles Leclerc, going top of the power rankings for the first time this season after yet another 8.5/10 after Brazil – scoring 8.5 or above 15 times out of 21 so far this year.
2 (+1): Max Verstappen: 8.33
[Last race: 10]
Verstappen scored his worst driver rating of the season in Mexico after his two 10-second penalties, suffering a two-place drop, but has clawed one place back after one of the drives of his career at Interlagos.
3 (-2): Lando Norris: 8.31
[Last race: 6.5]
Lando Norris finally overhauled Max Verstappen for top spot in our power rankings in Mexico, but a drop from pole to P6 sees him fall behind once again after Brazil.
4: Oscar Piastri: 8.1
[Last race: 6.5]
After a fine run, a 6.5 for Piastri represents his joint-lowest score of the season – and first time receiving it since Spain – but he remains P4 on our power rankings for the year.
5 (+2): George Russell: 7.71
[Last race: 9]
Having wrapped up the F1 2024 qualifying battle in good time, Russell has nudged ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton in our power rankings, and is now into the top five for the year.
6 (-1): Carlos Sainz: 7.7
[Last race: 5.5]
Sainz leapfrogged both Mercedes drivers after a productive weekend for Ferrari in Austin, but a scrappy weekend in Brazil sees him fall behind one of them.
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7: Lewis Hamilton: 7.57
[Last race: 6]
A weekend of two halves for Hamilton, in that he did not appear to enjoy his actual racing on-track in Brazil, but he did get to drive his idol, Ayrton Senna’s 1990 McLaren too.
=8 [-2]: Franco Colapinto: 7.33
[Last race: 5]
Colapinto’s power ranking is obviously skewed compared to the rest of the field given most of their averages are taken over the full season to date, so his rating is likely to fluctuate more than most for the remainder of the year.
A tough weekend in Brazil represented his lowest rating to date.
=8 (+2): Liam Lawson: 7.33
[Last race: 8]
Like Colapinto, Lawson’s score is flattered as a result of his comparatively small data base, leading to what is likely to be bigger swings in his placing for the rest of the year.
After an impressive debut in Austin after replacing Daniel Ricciardo, it’s up to him to maintain this performance level for the rest of F1 2024.
10 (-1): Nico Hulkenberg: 7.19
[Last race: 5.5]
A seldom-seen black flag for Nico Hulkenberg ended his race early, with Haas being overhauled by Alpine on the day.
11: Pierre Gasly: 6.88
[Last race: 9]
Gasly and his team-mate were elated with a double podium at Interlagos, and so they should have been.
12: Fernando Alonso: 6.71
[Last race: 6]
Alonso looks to be getting all he can from his Aston Martin at present, though the edge of the points appears to be the car’s ceiling.
He was clearly struggling at Interlagos, too, finishing the race on behalf of the mechanics despite complaining of back pain.
13: Yuki Tsunoda: 6.68
[Last race: 8.5]
Tsunoda’s joint-highest rating of the season so far, earning 8.5 for the first time since all the way back at his home race in Japan.
14 (+1): Esteban Ocon: 6.55
[Last race: 9.5]
Ocon’s highest rating of the season came on Sunday, and it’s easy to see why. He’ll remember that podium for the rest of his career, and it moves him above Albon in the season’s average to date.
15 (-1): Alex Albon: 6.45
[Last race: 5.5]
It was shaping up to be another strong weekend for Albon, undone by a crash that meant he could not start the race.
16 (+1): Kevin Magnussen: 5.94
[Last race: N/A]
Magnussen’s ratings have had the widest variation from race-to-race of any driver on the grid so far this season, such as an 8/10 performance at Imola either side of a 2/10 at Monaco and Miami.
Moves up a place despite not starting in Interlagos, but we’ll get to why in a moment.
17 (-1): Lance Stroll: 5.81
[Last race: 3]
Lance Stroll beaching his car on the formation lap had everything to do with his poor rating from the weekend, and why he falls behind Magnussen for the year for now.
18 (+1): Valtteri Bottas: 5.6
[Last race: 7.5]
Probably as much his team’s issue as his that he features as low, but the fact remains Bottas has not scored a point for a long while now – and he’ll be looking to do so as soon as he can.
19 (-1): Zhou Guanyu: 5.5
[Last race: 5]
Perhaps reflective of Sauber’s form that both their drivers have fallen towards the bottom of the power rankings table at this stage of the season.
20: Sergio Perez: 5.43
[Last race: 5.5]
A slightly better weekend for Perez after two consecutive 2/10 races by our scores, but a sharp fall to the bottom of our power rankings has still occurred.
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