A scorching hot race in Barcelona for the sixth round of the 2022 Formula 1 championship saw some on the grid rise to the occasion and other wilt under the heat.
Misfortune struck Charles Leclerc for the first time in 2022, while Max Verstappen was lucky that an early race mistake did not prevent him from being able to take advantage of Leclerc’s failure and claim his third successive victory and the championship lead.
Here are the RaceFans driver ratings for a memorable Spanish Grand Prix weekend…
Lewis Hamilton – 7
Qualified: 6th (-2 places behind team mate)
+0.119s slower than team mate in Q3
Finished: 5th (-2 places behind team mate)
- Took sixth on the grid, lowest of the top three teams after
- Contact with Magnussen on the opening lap left him crawling to the pits with a puncture
- Rejoined in 19th, falling a minute behind the leader
- Moved up to 16th by first scheduled stop, then gained ten more places on his long middle stint on mediums
- Passed Ocon, Bottas and Sainz to move up to fourth position
- Forced to back off severely in closing laps due to a water leak, costing him fourth place to Sainz
George Russell – 8
Qualified: 4th (+2 places ahead of team mate)
-0.119s quicker than team mate in Q3
Finished: 3rd (+2 places ahead of team mate)
- Consistently in the top four every practice and qualifying session
- Secured best grid position of the year in fourth
- Passed poor-starting Sainz off the line to take third
- Held off Perez, then Verstappen before pitting
- Absorbed pressure from Verstappen for 14 laps, helped by the Red Bull’s DRS malfunctioning
- Lost lead of the race to Perez before second stop
- Ran third through final two stints, passing two-stopping Bottas on way to final podium place
- Ahead of team mate in every session
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Max Verstappen – 7
strong>Qualified: 2nd (+3 places ahead of team mate)
-0.347s quicker than team mate in Q3
Finished: 1st (+1…