2025 F1 Spanish Grand Prix - Driver Ratings

A strategic Spanish Grand Prix was quietly simmering away until a late-race safety car saw it explode into life, not that it fazed the unflappable Oscar Piastri, who stormed to his fifth victory of the F1 season.

The Australian clawed back a good chuck of the drivers' championship advantage he lost at the hands of Lando Norris in Monaco and now leads the standings by 10 points from his McLaren team-mate.

However, it was Max Verstappen and his apoplexy at the chaos induced by the safety car restart that dominated the post-race discussions at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

But how will his complete loss of composure affect his rating for the weekend?

The top five

Oscar Piastri - 10

Back-to-back 10/10 performances from the McLaren duo after Lando Norris' stunning display in Monaco. Like his team-mate one week prior, Piastri was masterful in Spain. In fact, he was even better. When the only fault across an entire F1 weekend is not topping FP1, it was, for all intents and purposes, faultless.

He managed the start perfectly and always had enough pace in hand to maintain a comfortable lead. He would let Norris within touching distance, only to stretch his legs once again. Victory never looked in doubt, even with the jeopardy of a late-race safety car, which he also navigated with poise and his usual assured calmness.

Charles Leclerc - 8.5

Talk about delayed gratification. Leclerc sacrificed a second fresh-tyre run in Q3 to afford him two medium compounds for the grand prix, and it paid off handsomely. Starting from seventh, he instantly looked on his A-game, working through the pack and into position to latch onto any opportunity that came his way.

Once that chance did come, in the form of the Kimi Antonelli-induced safety car, the incident with Max Verstappen could have resulted in a penalty, which would have cost him his first podium at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya - and Ferrari's first there since 2017. That, and being out-qualified by Lewis Hamilton are the only blots on his Spanish Grand Prix copybook.

Nico Hulkenberg - 8

A first top five finish for Hulkenberg since the 2019 Italian Grand Prix and a huge result for Stake. It lifts the future Audi works team from last in the constructors' standings to eighth, ahead of Aston Martin and Alpine. He ensured he was in the right place at the right time through a strategically-complicated race and his move on Hamilton was brilliant, even if he was on fresher tyres.

The only mark, and a considerable one at that, against the German is being out-qualified by Gabriel Bortoleto, who reached Q2, and P12, to Hulkenberg's Q1 exit.

Isack Hadjar - 8

Another week, another points-scoring display from the Racing Bulls driver. He has been the revelation of the season and the calls for a promotion to Red Bull are only growing louder. Whether that is the best move for the young Frenchman is a whole different matter, but his Spanish Grand Prix, yet again, underlined the brilliance of his debut campaign, especially in the context of his actual debut.

Yet to be eliminated from Q1, he out-qualified Liam Lawson again, putting himself in position to rake-in the points in Barcelona. 

Pierre Gasly - 8

Points have been hard to come by for Alpine this season, but Gasly's consistent, if uneventful, weekend in Spain keeps the embattled Team Enstone in touch at the foot of the constructors' standings.

If going faster than both Hadjar and Fernando Alonso in Q3 was not enough, he was within a tenth of Leclerc and Antonelli ahead. He kept his nose clean and was duly rewarded.

The bottom five

Lewis Hamilton - 4.5

Things were going well for Hamilton in Spain until, all of a sudden, they were not. A strong performance in qualifying to start a row ahead of Leclerc quickly made way for a painful afternoon. His abject dejection was palpable post-grand prix, as he could not find comfort in his SF-25 all race long.

Having to let his team-mate past was a low point, as was being overtaken by Hulkenberg - even if he was somewhat powerless to fight back. He finished sixth, but it appears to feel so much worse for the seven-time F1 drivers' champion.

Max Verstappen - 4

Let's start with the good. An unusually strong Friday made way for an equally impressive Saturday, qualifying in third and just three tenths from pole-sitter Piastri. He dispatched of the other McLaren at the start and the aggressive three-stop strategy looked to have positioned him well to pressure Norris until the chequered flag. But then...

An uncharacteristic mistake that escalated into a moment of mindless madness. Catching the huge snap of oversteer at the safety car restart was an act of brilliance and he was unfortunate be to hit by Leclerc and George Russell as a consequence.

However, his decision to use his Red Bull as a battering ram was completely unacceptable. He was fortunate to escape with just a 10-second time penalty. Even then, he threw away valuable points.

Alex Albon - 3.5

When Albon has a messy grand prix, he has a really messy grand prix. That was the case in Barcelona for the Williams driver. P11 on the grid was disappointing - a sign of the improvement the team has made - but damaging two front wings in the space of fewer than 27 laps is not a good look.

At which point, having served his 10-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage during his clumsy exchange with Lawson, Albon was essentially hauled off by the team and into retirement - it may be that he was out of available front wings.

Yuki Tsunoda - 3

The Japanese driver was at a loss to explain the substantial deficit to Verstappen in Spain, which grew significantly after some steady recent improvement. But qualifying P20 in a Red Bull is precisely the kind of form that saw Lawson dropped from the team after just two rounds earlier in the year - Tsunoda knows that.

That coming just two rounds after his Imola Q1 crash does not help matters, and even though he worked his way up through the pack on Sunday in Barcelona - and he would have finished higher than P13 had it not been for the safety car - he needs to be doing more than he currently is to keep hold of the seat for the remainder of the campaign, let alone next season.

Franco Colapinto - 3

Another driver in an increasingly precarious position is Colapinto, and it is hard to argue Alpine's decision to promote him in place of Jack Doohan is not starting to look like a mistake. It was another utterly anonymous weekend for the Argentine, who is quickly proving that he cannot meet the requirements placed upon him by Flavio Briatore.

P19 in qualifying (before Lance Stroll's withdrawal) whilst Gasly went eighth fastest does not bode well, and he never looked like adding anything to the equation on race day. He did not crash, but his current form is nowhere near the level it needs to be to continue past the Austrian Grand Prix - no matter what assurances Briatore is publicly making.