2025 F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Driver Ratings

There are no perfect 10s in the RacingNews365 driver ratings for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. 

There are however, two nines but how did Max Verstappen's first lap 'short-cut' affect his rating?

What about Lando Norris's comeback after his qualifying crash and what of Lewis Hamilton?

Check out the driver ratings below, and let us know your thoughts in the comments!

The top five

Oscar Piastri - 9

Cannot score higher after lacking a bit of pace throughout practice, and then being pipped by 0.010s to pole position. But had one chance to steal the lead from Verstappen - which he did at Turn 1 as a Verstappen'd Verstappen. Job done. 

Carlos Sainz - 9

His best weekend for Williams - and felt the car had finally clicked. Qualified sixth, ahead of Hamilton, with eighth the best result in the race once the faster Ferrari and the McLaren of Norris came through. Excellent work with Alex Albon to protect from Hadjar for P8 and P9. 

Max Verstappen - 8.5

On course for a 9 or higher, but simply must be docked marks for the Turn 1 incident. You simply cannot release the brake, cut the corner, maintain the position and not expect a penalty. Stunning lap for pole position.

Charles Leclerc - 8.5

Despite struggling with the car throughout practice and being deeply unhappy after qualifying, this was a strong performance. Banking Ferrari's first podium of the year, he did well to defend from Norris in the late podium charge. Strong pace early on after switching to the hards.

George Russell - 8

Fell off the cliff with tyre concerns, but this was still another top-rate Russell display, especially in qualifying to be a tenth off pole, when the Red Bull and McLaren were faster. Norris was always coming through, and given the tyre woes, fifth was the best to expect.

The bottom five

Gabriel Bortoleto - 5

A score of 5 is the par score given for a weekend. Boss Jonathan Wheatley felt the team did not give the Brazilian "a fair crack of the whip" following the loss of FP2 and chassis change with a fuel leak. A character-building weekend. 

Lewis Hamilton - 4.5

Never at one with the car throughout the weekend, except in the second stint on the hards in the race, but by then it was too late. Consistently over half-a-second down on Leclerc in the sister car. Yes, there are the teething troubles of gelling in with a new team, but maybe Hamilton's late-braking driving style just does not agree with this generation of car.

Yuki Tsunoda - 4.5 

The crash at the end of FP2 was clumsy and fortunately did not cost him any track time bar a few minutes, but it was still a mistake that should not have been made. Did well to qualify in eighth, and the first lap collision with Pierre Gasly was a racing incident - but no other drivers collided on the first lap, so it is a second strike. 

Esteban Ocon - 4 

From out-qualifying Ollie Bearman by 0.779s in Bahrain, Ocon was 0.556s slower in Saudi. He never got to grips with the car throughout the weekend and was over 20 seconds behind at the flag, albeit only one place. 

Jack Doohan - 4 

After a reasonably bright weekend in Bahrain, Doohan was off the pace in Jeddah, fighting what he called "gremlins" on Friday, and feeling as if he lost the sessions battling "anomalies." Was 0.714s slower than Gasly in qualifying, who made Q3 and finished P17, only moving forward from the Gasly and Tsunoda DNFs.