Carlos Sainz (F1i.com)
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won his 7th race of the season at the Circuit Paul Ricard, after Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc crashed out from the lead. After being blessed with a brilliant and tightly contested World Championship last season, Verstappen seems to be running away with this year’s title, in large part due to continues errors from Leclerc and Ferrari.
However, even if the F1 championships look done and dusted, the Sincere Sports power rankings have never been tighter. This race marked the first lead change in the overall leaderboard of the entire year. After starting off strong, Leclerc has really tailed off with his performances and that has allowed the more consistent Verstappen to seize first place. Keep reading to find more changes to the standings.
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!
Race Position: 5th
Score: 9.2
If not for a grid penalty following a full replacement of his power unit, Carlos Sainz likely would have been the man standing on the top step of the podium. Nobody could compete with his speed. If he took qualifying seriously, he likely would have been the favourite for pole position, after posting the fastest lap time in Q2. But, no matter what his qualifying exploits were, he was going to have to start from the back row.
From P19, Sainz had a somewhat slow start, at least compared to others on a similar strategy. However, once he got into a rhythm, nobody could stop the Spaniard. Well, no driver could.
Some sketchy Ferrari strategy calls nearly undermined his excellent race pace. However, even with one hand tied behind his back, Sainz put together an overtaking masterclass to bring home a steady haul of points in P5.
2. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
Race Position: 2nd
Score: 9.0
Although I'm a Max Verstappen fan, it feels really good to see Lewis Hamilton operating at his best level once more. Qualifying was an interesting affair, as Hamilton outqualified his teammate, who has been consistently quicker over 1 lap this season. However, he was almost a second behind Leclerc, the polesitter for Sunday's race.
Hamilton got a perfect start on Sunday, breezing past Sergio Perez and having a look down the inside of Max Verstappen's Red Bull. While the Mercedes car has been showing improvement lately, it had no business competing with Verstappen or Leclerc. Thus, Hamilton settled down, defended well against Perez and drove patiently. When Leclerc spun out, Hamilton took advantage and grabbed an impressive P2.
3. Max Verstappen, Red Bull
Race Position: 1st
Score: 8.8
Unfortunately for neutral F1 fans, Max Verstappen hasn't hit his peak level of performance this season, yet he is still running away with the championship.
Verstappen wasn't particularly stunning at Le Castellet, mainly because he didn't need to be. Leclerc was in his sights in the first stint, but the Monegasque soon pulled away from Verstappen, leading Red Bull to pit their driver early. Unfortunately, we never got to see whether the undercut would have worked, as Leclerc spun out, gifting his title rival the lead of the race.
From then on, Max didn't have much to do. Hamilton never got close to his 2021 rival, likely because he didn't have a car capable of doing so.
4. Fernando Alonso, Alpine
Race Position: 6th
Score: 8.2
The wily veteran Alonso continues to impress in 2022 and show why Alpine shouldn't feel any need to get rid of him. He adopted his tactic of settling into the "best of the rest" spot and holding everybody else behind him with his vicious defending.
In France, Alonso used his high racing IQ to wear the tyres of Lando Norris by letting him approach. It was a smart move that fans are now coming to expect from the Spaniard. Alonso's impressive performance thrust Alpine into 4th place in the Constructor's Championship.
5. George Russell, Mercedes
Race Position: 3rd
Score: 8.1
Though George Russell still isn't fighting for wins, he keeps picking up unlikely podiums for Mercedes. If the Ferrari boys aren't in the mix for whatever reason, George is right there to swoop in for good points. Getting outqualified by Lando Norris wasn't a great look, but he dispatched his British buddy fairly quickly on Sunday.
From there, Russell settled into a groove. He started to put more pressure on Checo Perez as the race wore on. This culminated with a frankly unadvisable divebomb down the inside at the end of the Mistral Straight. Russell started complaining when Checo kept the position, but he soon took team boss Toto Wolff's advice and kept attacking his Red Bull rival.
At the end of the Virtual Safety Car period, Russell caught Perez napping and he made a very clever overtake to get into P3. Yet another decent result for the Briton.
6. Lando Norris, McLaren
Race Position: 7th
Score: 7.4
The question that many pundits are asking of McLaren's driver pairing is if Daniel Ricciardo is having a bad season or if Lando Norris is having a great season. Frankly, it might be a bit of both.
P5 on Saturday was a result that nobody could have predicted, but Norris put together a world-class lap to split the two Mercedes. Unfortunately, his McLaren didn't have the race pace to keep that place.
P5 on Saturday was a result that nobody could have predicted, but Norris put together a world-class lap to split the two Mercedes. Unfortunately, his McLaren didn't have the race pace to keep that place.
However, P7 was still Norris' target and he achieved it. He got trapped by the sneaky Alonso, but it's hard to complain with this race, as it was probably exactly where Norris deserved to be.
7. Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri
Race Position: DNF
Score: 7.2
Though Pierre Gasly was the AlphaTauri driver expected to star at Paul Ricard, Japanese sophomore Yuki Tsunoda was the man to make my top 10. Considering the Faenza squad have been really struggling, Yuki Tsunoda scraping into Q3 was probably the most impressive performance of any driver on the grid.
Points should have been available for Tsunoda, but Esteban Ocon spun him out of the race during a battle between the two drivers. Though Yuki wasn't out of the race instantly, he suffered lots of damage to the side of his vehicle and he later retired to preserve the engine.
This should have been a rewarding weekend for Yuki; instead, he picked up no points.
8. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
Race Position: 10th
Score: 7.1
Following the news of Sebastian Vettel's retirement from F1, the memes were endless that Vettel retired after being beat by Stroll in France. While that is obviously just a joke, Stroll's defense in the latter stages of Sunday's race definitely wore on Seb's nerves. Still, it was a sign of Stroll's recent improvement that he was the Aston Martin driver to finish in the points.
He had a tough qualifying, but he enjoyed a really impressive opening lap to put him in P10. Despite all the changing circumstances, the Canadian stayed in that position for the vast majority of the GP with the position only ever coming under threat at the end of the race.
T9. Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren
Race Position: 9th
Score: 6.9
While he wasn't on the same level as Norris, it was nice to see Danny Ric back in the points with a comfortable race. The Australian had a disappointing qualifying session, getting eliminated in Q2. However, his race started well and he was soon right behind Norris.
As the race went on, Ricciardo settled back into his quiet form, failing to keep Alpine's Esteban Ocon behind him. It could and should have been a smooth drive to P8, but Ricciardo still has room to improve before the end of the season.
T9. Kevin Magnussen, Haas
Race Position: DNF
Score: 6.9
Haas have been flying high after the joys of Silverstone and Spielberg. Unfortunately for the American team, those heights were not reached in France.
Magnussen took an engine penalty, which meant that qualifying was essentially a wash. Still, the Dane made it to the top-10 shootout, seemingly just to prove a point.
He got a better start than Sainz at the 5 red lights, leaping into an impressive 13th place. However, his tyre wear and degradation was so significant that Haas pulled him in on Lap 7. This left him in a tough position, particularly after the Safety Car brought out to deal with Leclerc's crash gave the other midfield drivers a 'free' pitstop.
Thus, points were looking unlikely for Magnussen, even before a collision with Nicholas Latifi forced him to retire from the GP.
T9. Alex Albon, Williams
Race Position: 13th
Score: 6.9
If free practice sessions are anything to go by, Albon should be very disappointed with P13. The Thai driver was really quick on Friday and Saturday morning. Perhaps he could compete for Q3? Albon barely squeaked into Q2 and ended up P13 on the grid for Sunday's race.
At his best position, Albon was in P11, just a hair away from the points. However, the Williams still isn't a very quick car and the faster drivers got past him, leaving Albon lingering in a respectable, but disappointing P13 at the flag.
JUST MISSED
Esteban Ocon (F1i.com)
Despite finishing in a respectable 8th position at his home Grand Prix, Esteban Ocon misses out on the top 10. His first-lap collision with Yuki Tsunoda combined with the fact that he finished 14 seconds behind his teammate leave him on the outside looking in, but the Frenchman still collected a nice points haul to push Alpine ahead of McLaren in the Constructor's Championship.
This was one of Sergio Perez's more anonymous weekends. The Mexican hasn't been able to build off his victory in Monaco. He seems to be reverting back to his 2021 form. At Le Castellet, he was a long way behind Max Verstappen. However, Leclerc's DNF now means that Perez is just 7 points back for P2 in the Driver's Championship, even if a title challenge is looking increasingly unlikely.
THE OVERALL STANDINGS
Max Verstappen (F1i.com)
As I mentioned earlier, there is a big change at the top of the table. The power rankings finally reflect the real world results: Max Verstappen is on top. Leclerc garnered a very poor score from the judges this week and it was enough to drop him into second place.
On the other hand, his Ferrari teammate, Carlos Sainz is in excellent form and he is now tied for fourth.
Also, this is the first race in a while in which no new driver has entered the top 10. While there have been some minor changes regarding the drivers in the top 10, nobody has entered and nobody has exited.
1. Max Verstappen, Red Bull
Season Average: 8.8
Last GP: 2nd
2. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
Season Average: 8.7
Last GP: 1st
3. George Russell, Mercedes
Season Average: 7.8
Last GP: T-3rd
T4. Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
Season Average: 7.7
Last GP: T-5th
T4. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
Season Average: 7.7
Last GP: T-5th
T4. Sergio Perez, Red Bull
Season Average: 7.7
Last GP: T-3rd
7. Fernando Alonso, Alpine
Season Average: 7.6
Last GP: 7th
8. Lando Norris, McLaren
Season Average: 7.4
Last GP: 8th
9. Esteban Ocon, Alpine
Season Average: 7.3
Last GP: T-9th
10. Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo
Season Average: 7.2
Last GP: T-9th
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