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F1 Power Rankings: Emilia Romagna GP

 

Verstappen and Perez celebrate the podium (Formula1.com)

    The championship was dramatically affected by the time that the Emilia Romagna GP was concluded. The first F1 Sprint weekend of the season was dictated by a wet weekend in which the two Red Bull cars excelled. Charles Leclerc's mistake trimmed the gap in both the Drivers' and Constructors' Championship to set the stage for an exciting season.
    Further down the grid, 7-time world champion Lewis Hamilton had a disaster weekend, coming home in P13. His teammate, George Russell, impressed in a car that was described as "undriveable" by team boss Toto Wolff. It was yet another really interesting race that showed that the 2022 regulations are absolutely working.
    We're back on Sincere Sports for the Formula 1 power rankings. Once again, two of our judges are taking a step back for this week, so we have Andrew Lewin and Edd Straw stepping in to fill the void.
    As usual, I added all the drivers' scores together to find the top 10 drivers for this particular race and on a season-long basis.
    If you've forgotten, we take machinery entirely out of the equation and simply judge the drivers based on how well they did with the equipment they possessed.
    Let's begin.

THE SCORES FOR IMOLA

1. Max Verstappen, Red Bull

Race Position: 1st
Score: 9.6

    Once again, Max Verstappen was in a league of his own. After a tough season of dealing with Red Bull Power Trains and their unreliable engine, Verstappen put it all together. He had the best car for the first time this season. The Dutchman put together a grand slam, like Leclerc did last week. This time, though, he picked up pole on two different occasions. 
    Verstappen's reward was chipping Leclerc's championship lead down by 19 points. If Red Bull have truly solved their reliability issues, Verstappen will be fully in the mix for a second consecutive Drivers' Championship.

2. Sergio Perez, Red Bull

Race Position: 2nd
Score: 8.6

    Verstappen wouldn't have had such a dominant race if not for Sergio Perez's good start off the line. Perez had a very good F1 Sprint to cover up his lacklustre qualifying. At the start of the race on Sunday, "Checo" picked up a position on Leclerc and stayed there for just about every single lap. Perez's presence prevented Charles Leclerc from getting clean air to chase after Verstappen. 
    Sure, the absence of DRS probably gave Perez a much better chance of keeping the Monegasque behind him. But he still quite quick for most of the race. He hasn't looked better behind the wheel of the Red Bull than he does right now.

3. George Russell, Mercedes

Race Position: 4th
Score: 8.5

    Considering Lewis Hamilton had such a disaster of the race in the same car that George Russell used to pick up P4, Russell's drive is even more impressive. Luckily, Russell has experience squeezing maximum performance out of an undriveable car. 
    He was quickest of all in FP2 and dealt with the porposing of the Mercedes that troubled Hamilton. The Brit then had an astonishingly quick start in the race to shoot up the order once the safety car came out. After that, Russell settled into the top 5 and managed to keep his predecessor Valtteri Bottas behind for the last few laps.
    Russell has been one of the stars of the 2022 season so far.

4. Lando Norris, McLaren

Race Position: 3rd
Score: 8.4

    McLaren's turnaround from back-markers to podium contenders has been stunning and Lando Norris' first podium of the season showed just how much the team has improved since Bahrain. We also can't discount Norris' drive. A mistake in qualifying actually benefited him and set him into P3 for the Sprint. 
    Norris was on his own after getting passed by Charles Leclerc on lap 7. It seemed as if Norris was destined for a still impressive P4 finish, but Leclerc's spin late in the race promoted the McLaren driver into the podium places. He is now sixth in the Drivers' Championship. 

5. Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo

Race Position: 5th
Score: 8.1

    Bottas continues to exceed expectations since moving from Mercedes. If not for a slow pit stop during the race, Bottas had a legitimate shot at P3 at the flag for what would have been a stunning podium for the Alfa Romeo team. 
    The Finn has shown relentless pace in qualifying this season, but this was arguably the first race of the season where Bottas' race performance was more impressive than his quali laps. Bottas has almost singlehandedly led the Swiss-Italian team to fifth place in the Constructors' Championship. 

6. Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin

Race Position: 8th
Score: 8.0

    Sebastian Vettel had a brutal debut in Melbourne after Nico Hulkenberg stepped in for the former 4-time champion. However, Vettel showed major improvements just two weeks after a DNF in Australia.
    Seb had a tough time in the drier conditions of the Sprint, but he leapt up the order with some nice moves early on during Sunday's race. Yuki Tsnuoda and Charles Leclerc both got past the German, who was running as high as P6, to demote him into eighth place. Nevertheless, it was a smooth drive for Vettel who helped Aston Martin get off and running in the Constructors' Championship.

7. Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri

Race Position: 7th
Score: 7.8

    Yuki Tsunoda's more experienced teammate, Pierre Gasly, really struggled at his team's home race. Thus, it was up to the young Japanese driver to pick up the slack. Tsunoda missed a spot in Q2 in the wet conditions, but his race pace was elite.
    He made up 4 places in the Sprint and then 5 further positions in the race. Yuki really seems to be putting his raw ability together this season. He's pulled ahead of Gasly in the driver's standings right now.
    The main thing that I've noticed with Tsunoda is his maturity. He isn't making mistakes as often anymore and he is acting like how an F1 driver should act. Yuki is the next in a long line of promising Red Bull juniors. 

8. Kevin Magnussen, Haas

Race Position: 9th
Score: 7.5

    Kevin Magnussen utilized the changing conditions of Friday qualifying to his advantage, securing P4 on the grid for the Sprint in one of the most impressive laps of the season. The Dane then had a tough day on Saturday, losing 4 places to leave him in 8th place for Sunday's race. 
    Magnussen had a quick start, but once again the dry conditions exposed the weaknesses in the Haas VF-22. Overall, it was another quiet race for the Dane, but he is continuing to pick up points finishes. Magnussen has been the early unexpected star of the season and steady performances like these will help him continue to rise in the power rankings.

9. Alex Albon, Williams

Race Position: 11th
Score: 7.4

    Look, I'll admit I'm a big fan of Alex Albon, but even neutral fans can't admit that the Thai driver is doing things that shouldn't be possible in a Williams. Though Albon fell short of a second consecutive points finish, his race performances was impressive yet again.
    A fire on Albon's right rear brakes forced him out in Q1, he got good starts against the back-markers of the grid to jump up the order on Sunday. I was very impressed with Albon once the DRS was enabled, as he was able to hold off both Pierre Gasly and Lewis Hamilton without having the advantage of the drag reduction system. 
    Esteban Ocon's penalty for an unsafe release meant that Albon was classified as P11. Yet another great result for Albon, who has joined the season-long power rankings after this week.

10. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

Race Position: 6th
Score: 7.0

    Ferrari were clearly second-best at their home race. Red Bull had a rocket of a car, so the fact that Charles Leclerc led most of the Sprint Race and was in P3 for most of the race on Sunday would have warranted a score much higher than a 7. However, one moment dropped the Monegasque's score significantly.
    We've seen Leclerc make mistakes before, but this year he has been brilliant at avoiding those errors from creeping into his races. However, it happened in Imola and it could have major championship ramifications.
    While chasing down Checo Perez for P2, Leclerc slipped into Variante Alta and went off track. He did well to recover after he sent his Ferrari into the wall. However, the fact is that Leclerc threw away 7 potentially crucial points with his spin.

JUST MISSED OUT

    Aston Martin finally looked competitive this week and it wasn't just Sebastian Vettel picking up points. Canadian driver Lance Stroll came home in P10 to take a very modest 1 point haul. It was an understated drive from Stroll, but it almost warranted him his first appearance on the power rankings this season. 
    Fernando Alonso wound up retiring from the race early after contact with Mick Schumacher. However, Alpine's new floor upgrades gave Alonso a chance to earn some real points. An impressive Q3 drive left him in P5 for the Sprint race. However, it all went downhill from there for the Spaniard as Alpine's point-scoring streak came to an end.

THE OVERALL STANDINGS

    Just like in the driver's championship, Charles Leclerc's commanding lead was significantly trimmed down by Max Verstappen after a brilliant drive. This week, our top 5 is incredibly similar to what it was during the last grand prix. We're definitely seeing some stability in the top 10. This week, Lewis Hamilton, who really struggled in Imola, as well as Alpine driver Esteban Ocon have dropped out. Williams driver Alex Albon makes his first top 10 appearance of the season.

1. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

Season Average: 9.0
Last GP: 1st

2. Max Verstappen, Red Bull

Season Average: 8.9
Last GP: 2nd

3. Sergio Perez, Red Bull

Season Average: 8.2
Last GP: T-3rd

4. George Russell, Mercedes

Season Average: 8.1
Last GP: T-3rd

5. Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo

Season Average: 7.8
Last GP: 5th

6. Lando Norris, McLaren

Season Average: 7.7
Last GP: 8th

7. Kevin Magnussen, Haas

Season Average: 7.6
Last GP: T-6th

8. Alex Albon, Williams

Season Average: 7.2
Last GP: NR

9. Fernando Alonso, Alpine

Season Average: 7.1
Last GP: T-10th

10. Carlos Sainz

Season Average: 7.0
Last GP: T-10th


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