F1 driver ratings: mid-season review

While technically the mid-point of the season came on lap 26 of the British Grand Prix, Formula 1's August break offers the ideal opportunity to take a look at how the drivers have performed so far this year.

The report ratings do not simply echo the marks out of 10 allocated to the drivers after each grand prix, instead taking into account a wider set of criteria, along with any new information that has come to light since the race weekends in question.

SEBASTIAN VETTEL
RATING: B

Vettel has struggled to adapt to life without exhaust-blown downforce and time has run out to use that as an excuse. But while he still needs to improve, his performances haven't been as bad as some are making out. Progress is clear, and it's worth noting that in both Canada and Hungary only strategic misfortune dropped him behind Ricciardo, even though overall the Australian has comfortably outperformed him.

Highlight: Prevailing in classic battle with Alonso at Silverstone.
Lowlight: Costly spin during the Hungarian GP.

Ricciardo has been a revelation in F1 this season © LAT

DANIEL RICCIARDO
RATING: A

Arguably the star of the season, Ricciardo has backed up his incredible speed with consistency and racecraft to outperform illustrious team-mate Vettel. Mistakes have been few and far between, running wide at the first corner in Austria and losing places being the exception. Has also excelled in wheel-to-wheel battle, notably on his way to wins in Canada and Hungary.

Highlight: Passing Hamilton and Alonso to win in Hungary
Lowlight: Disqualification from second in Australia

NICO ROSBERG
RATING: A

Few would argue that Rosberg is as stunningly fast as Lewis Hamilton over a single lap. Yet he has more pole positions than his team-mate and leads the world championship. Granted, he has had less bad luck than Hamilton, but his campaign has not been without problems either. On the evidence of the season so far, he has been the more rounded of the two Mercedes drivers, even though, on pure performance, he is the less impressive.

Highlight: Salvaging a remarkable second without ERS in Canada.
Lowlight: The off at the end of Q3 in qualifying at Monaco, whatever the reason for it.

Eight races to go and it's difficult to call the battle between Hamilton and Rosberg © LAT

LEWIS HAMILTON
RATING: A

When things are going well, Hamilton drives beautifully, as he did on his way to four straight early-season wins. But there remain question marks over his mental strength, as after feeling justifiably aggrieved by what happened in qualifying at Monaco, a series of Saturday blunders proved costly. Not to blame for car problems in Germany and Hungary, he did well to salvage results from both races but can be his own worst enemy.

Highlight: Demolition of the field, Rosberg included, in Malaysia.
Lowlight: Q3 in Austria, where he made mistakes on both runs.

FERNANDO ALONSO
RATING: A

Only has two podiums to his name, but has thrashed team-mate Raikkonen and earned for Ferrari at least a degree of respectability without which it would be a laughing stock. Most impressive is that he hasn't let the prospect of yet another wasted season for him personally undermine his performances, always doing what he can even in unpromising scenarios.

Highlight: Heroic attempt to hang on in the lead in Hungary on shot rubber.
Lowlight: His sarcastic celebration as he finished ninth in Bahrain says it all.

Raikkonen has had a tough start to his 2014 F1 campaign © LAT

KIMI RAIKKONEN
RATING: D

The Finn's Ferrari return has been bitterly disappointing for both team and driver. While there have been flashes of the prodigious ability that we all know is there, mostly Raikkonen has struggled to extract anything like the full potential of the Ferrari, as shown by Alonso. Yes, it is Alonso's team and yes, the handling characteristics aren't to his liking, but it's down to Raikkonen to make more of the situation.

Highlight: Outqualifying and, until the final few laps, outracing Alonso in Spain.
Lowlight: Collision with Chilton under the safety car that cost Monaco podium.

ROMAIN GROSJEAN
RATING: C

There have been a few moments where the frustration of the situation has shown signs of getting on top of Grosjean, but for the most part he has driven well with a car/engine package that simply isn't up to challenging for regular points. When possible, the quality has been there, but it's been difficult to evaluate his performance given a litany of car problems.

Highlight: Qualifying fifth in Spain then finishing eighth in a hobbled car.
Lowlight: Embarrassing shunt under the safety car in Hungary.

Maldonado and Grosjean have been hobbled by a less-than-competitive Lotus © XPB

PASTOR MALDONADO
RATING: D

While Maldonado has been thumped by Grosjean, given the testing circumstances of a trouble-hit season for Lotus, he can perhaps be partly excused for how long it has taken to adapt to his new environment. During the past few race weekends, he has shown some encouraging signs and while he still has a stupid error in him, when things don't go wrong he has performed perfectly reasonably.

Highlight: Keeping his cool when seeing the team he abandoned fight for podiums.
Lowlight: Needless crash on his first Q1 lap in Spain, the one race at which Lotus was competitive.

KEVIN MAGNUSSEN
RATING B

After his stunning second on debut, things got a bit shaky for Magnussen. But from Austria onwards, he has really started to string together consistent performances. His qualifying performances are looking ever more convincing and are now backed up with an ability to score consistently. Yes, the odd rookie error is still happening (not that he was guilty for the Hockenheim start crash) but that's to be expected.

Highlight: Finishing second on his F1 debut in Australia.
Lowlight: The misjudgments in battle early on that compromised results.

Magnussen has proven himself to be a match for veteran team-mate Button © LAT

JENSON BUTTON
RATING: B

Amid all the question marks over his future, it's easy to overlook the fact that Button continues to go about his business very effectively. There have been times when McLaren's errors have made his performances look worse than they were, and overall his knack for delivering unobtrusive, but very effective, race runs remain. At 34, he's still driving well although he's getting a hard time from Magnussen.

Highlight: Excellent showing at Silverstone after capitalising on rain in qualifying.
Lowlight: Being put out on fresh intermediates on a rapidly drying track while up front in Hungary.

SERGIO PEREZ
RATING: C

Perez is one of those drivers who really catches the eye because when things go well, they go really well. Certainly, his season has been pretty good and misfortune has cost him some points, but there have also been some errors on his part, notably in Canada. Has more often than not been outperformed by Hulkenberg, but really comes into his own in races where rear-tyre degradation is the limiting factor.

Highlight: Stunning podium in Bahrain.
Lowlight: Hitting Massa in Canada. Watch the overhead footage if you still aren't convinced it's his error.

Hulkenberg impressively scored points in the first 10 races © LAT

NICO HULKENBERG
RATING: B

Aside from his horrendous error in Hungary, where an attempted pass on Perez at the last corner led to him losing his front wing and crashing out shortly after a mistake let the Mexican past, he's had a very strong season. Points in 10 out of 11 races and consistently good qualifying performances have been just what Force India wanted. But he still needs to make progress on rear-tyre management in high-degradation races.

Highlight: Making Alonso's life difficult on his way to sixth in Australia.
Lowlight: That misguided pass on Perez in Hungary.

ESTEBAN GUTIERREZ
RATING: E

Has had the better of Sutil in qualifying six-to-five, although the significant weight advantage he carried early in the season has helped that. Certainly, Gutierrez has a good turn of speed at times and has driven some decent races, but there are still some needless errors. His cack-handed clouting of the inside barrier while on course for points in Monaco is a blunder that will haunt him for years.

Highlight: Strong race drive to get into points contention in Hungary before retiring.
Lowlight: Monaco, lap 58, Rascasse.

Sutil and Gutierrez have not enjoyed a smooth start to the season © LAT

ADRIAN SUTIL
RATING: C

On paper, the results look poor for Sutil. But the Sauber has combined lack of pace with being difficult to drive so, frankly, there's not much else that he could have done. Taking into account the limitation of the machinery, his pace and race performances have been pretty much what you would expect from a proven midfield performer like Sutil.

Highlight: Coming so close to a first point with 11th in Hungary.
Lowlight: Being mistakenly ordered to stop during the Austrian GP because of a radio blunder.

JEAN-ERIC VERGNE
RATING: C

This has been comfortably Vergne's best season and his more constructive mental approach has certainly allowed him to perform more consistently, especially in qualifying. Has responded well to watching Ricciardo land the Red Bull drive and shown he belongs in F1. Unfortunately, the performances of his remarkable rookie team-mate have largely overshadowed him.

Highlight: Running an accomplished second in Hungary on his way to a fine ninth place.
Lowlight: Austria, where he proved unable to get near Kvyat's raw pace.

Rookie Kvyat has impressed many F1 fans and pundits © XPB

DANILL KVYAT
RATING: B

There were fears that the Russian wouldn't be up to it after his shock promotion from GP3/F3 level, but despite a trying pre-season he looked utterly assured on his debut, making Q3 and then taking two points for ninth place on debut. There have been a few downs, but largely it has been ups and he would have more points to his name but for STR's poor reliability record.

Highlight: Becoming F1's youngest-ever driver, and points scorer, in Australia.
Lowlight: Taking to the grass and spinning during qualifying in Hungary.

FELIPE MASSA
RATING: C

The Brazilian has certainly proved that he has a few seasons left in him in F1 despite appearances to the contrary during the last years of his stint at Ferrari. But while he has been quick, results have been far patchier than they should have been. Often, this has been down to bad luck, but as the season has gone on, the Brazilian has been increasingly overshadowed by Bottas.

Highlight: A stunning first pole position for almost six years in Austria.
Lowlight: Rolling at Turn 1 in Germany then blaming Magnussen for a racing accident.

Bottas has performed well in his second F1 season, scoring three podiums © XPB

VALTTERI BOTTAS
RATING: A

There were times early in the season where Bottas seemed a little ragged trying to assert himself over Massa, but as the year has progressed he has looked increasingly assured. Fast and unflappable, his run of three consecutive podiums in Austria, Britain and Germany shows not only how strong a car the Williams is, but also that he can cut it at the front day in, day out.

Highlight: Faultless charge from 14th to second in the British GP.
Lowlight: Squandering a podium by slapping the wall in Australia.

JULES BIANCHI
RATING: B

Fast and dependable, Bianchi didn't have a perfect start to the season but soon settled down, delivering a remarkable performance in Monaco to grab two vital points despite several things going against him. Certainly remains Marussia's prize asset and is justifying the interest shown in him by Ferrari over the years, suggesting the time might be right to step up at least to a midfield team.

Highlight: Forceful pass on Kobayashi that was key to scoring points at Monaco.
Lowlight: Collision with Sutil in Bahrain that earned penalty points.

Bianchi's ninth place in Monaco was a breakthrough result for Marussia © XPB

MAX CHILTON
RATING: E

There were encouraging signs early on, although since the early races he's struggled to string together consistent performances. Car problems haven't helped matters, but he has the ability to be regularly closer to Bianchi than he has been. Perhaps if he focuses less on trying to beat Bianchi and more just on doing his own thing, this might allow him to get the best out of himself as he is a better driver than his reputation suggests.

Highlight: Ending up 13th in weather-affected qualifying at Silverstone.
Lowlight: Colliding with Bianchi on the first lap in Canada.

KAMUI KOBAYASHI
RATING: C

The Japanese has kept plugging away in difficult circumstances and is performing well enough to be scoring consistently in a better car. Has given the Marussias a hard time when the car has been good enough, and reliable enough, but he's largely been on a hiding to nothing. Question marks remain over his seat, but not for reasons to do with his performances.

Highlight: Making Q2 in wet conditions on his F1 comeback.
Lowlight: The brake problem that turned him into an unguided missile on his F1 comeback.

Ericsson has had a largely anonymous season so far © LAT

MARCUS ERICSSON
RATING: E

The 23-year-old rookie is in the worst possible place to make a good impression given that he's only really noticed when he's either crashing a difficult-to-drive car or grinding to a halt with a problem. He's also carrying a weight penalty relative to Kobayashi worth several tenths per lap. In those circumstances, he hasn't done a bad job and his pace is better than it looks.

Highlight: Just missing out on a point with 11th at Monaco.
Lowlight: Had a horrible time in Hungary, culminating in crashing out early on.