04/08/2025 13:55
The Hungarian Grand Prix rounded out the first half of the 2025 F1
season, with the summer break now in full swing. To cap it off,
there were a number of stunning performances at the Hungaroring,
but nobody quite made a perfect 10. Check out our driver ratings
from Budapest below, and make sure to let us know what you rated
the drivers in the comments! The top five Fernando Alonso - 9
Carrying the back injury which forced him to miss FP1, Alonso
excelled in every critical session, and was 0.109s away from taking
an astonishing pole for a team which had qualified last on pure
pace at Spa. After settling into the race, Alonso took the best
possible result in fifth. Gabriel Bortoleto - 9 Close behind
Alonso in the race was his protege Bortoleto, who enjoyed his
strongest weekend in F1 to date. He landed a maiden Q3 berth, with
seventh, ahead of Max Verstappen, and then improved his result by
leapfrogging Lance Stroll to take sixth. Thoroughly out-performed
Nico Hulkenberg to boot. Lando Norris - 8.5 Loses some credit for
being out-qualified by Oscar Piastri, and then for the first lap
which dropped him to P5. But earns it back for pulling off the
one-stopper with nothing to lose following intense pressure from
Piastri. A big statement to reduce Piastri's lead to nine points,
instead of the 23 it would have been if he had been passed. Oscar
Piastri - 8.5 Given that the McLarens were so equally matched, it
is only fair to rank them equally. Piastri receives some credit for
qualifying ahead of Norris and carving great chunks of time out of
him in the chase, but ultimately fell short. Charles Leclerc - 8.5
Most of Leclerc's rating is based on his Q3 pole lap and the first
stint in the race. It was arguably the lap of the season to deliver
an upset to McLaren, not deemed possible after practice, and in
tricky conditions. In the first stint of the race, he genuinely had
Piastri covered, but fell apart as the race progressed. Loses
credit for the aggressive defence against George Russell for which
he received a five-second penalty and one penalty point. The bottom
five Franco Colapinto - 4.5 Colapinto out-performed Pierre Gasly
in qualifying, but his race was ruined by a long pit-stop which
ruined his afternoon. Lost four places from where he qualified.
Lewis Hamilton - 4 Probably the lowest weekend in a season which
has been a major disappointment. Was both 12th in qualifying and
the race, even after a contra-strategy. Had decent pace in clean
air after the stop, but made no progress beyond 12th. The fact he
did not even attempt to stay on the track when Max Verstappen
barged past sort of sums it up. The summer is much needed. Esteban
Ocon - 4 Was comprehensively out-performed by Ollie Bearman in
qualifying and something of an anonymous weekend all told. Yuki
Tsunoda - 4 Another nothing weekend for Tsunoda as Red Bull
struggled once again. Hard-done-by to fall in Q1 given he was close
to Verstappen's time, but even though the car is tricky, a Red Bull
should be able to clear cars such as a Haas, the two Williams, and
a Stake. Pierre Gasly - 4 Out-qualified by Colapinto and also had a
scrappy race. Received a 10-second time penalty and two penalty
points for a needless shove on Carlos Sainz. Finished 19th and
last. RacingNews365's 2025 F1 Hungarian Grand Prix driver ratings
