AUTOSPORT's Hungarian GP driver ratings

1 SEBASTIAN VETTEL
Red Bull-Renault RB10

Start: 2nd
Finish: 7th
Strategy: 2 stops (inter/soft/medium)

Rating: 6

Looked more comfortable at the wheel of the Red Bull than he did previously, which was reflected in a strong qualifying performance.

Safety car timing was unfortunate, but his spin exiting the last corner, which triggered his second pitstop, was a bigger factor in compromising his result.

3 DANIEL RICCIARDO
Red Bull-Renault RB10

Start: 4th
Finish: 1st
Strategy: 3 stops (inter/soft/soft/soft)

Rating: 9

The first safety car was a gift, but from then on Ricciardo drove superbly to ram home his advantage. Tyre management was excellent, his overtaking moves decisive and the result was a well-judged win.

Only criticism is that in qualifying he looked hard-pushed to beat Vettel, even taking into account losing his monkey seat wing.

6 NICO ROSBERG
Mercedes F1 W05

Start: 1st
Finish: 4th
Strategy: 3 stops (inter/soft/soft/soft)

Rating: 8

Qualifying was convincing in difficult circumstances and before the first safety car he had built a potentially race-winning margin.

But once misfortune robbed him of that lead, wasn't always as incisive as he needed to be in traffic, which was key in him finishing behind Hamilton.

44 LEWIS HAMILTON
Mercedes F1 W05

Start: 22nd (pits)
Finish: 3rd
Strategy: 2 stops (inter/soft/medium)

Rating: 8

Was favourite for pole when his Mercedes caught fire in qualifying, and things got worse when he spun on the first lap, coming close to doing serious damage to his car.

From that moment, recovered well, making some decisive overtaking moves and showing genuine resolve in refusing to cede to Rosberg when ordered to in a car that wasn't always behaving perfectly.

7 KIMI RAIKKONEN
Ferrari F14 T

Start: 16th
Finish: 6th
Strategy: 2 stops (inter/soft/soft)

Rating: 7

Certainly looked strong on the soft tyres, but struggled on the mediums, which led to him being seven tenths off Alonso on the first runs in Q1. But it was Ferrari's mistake not to let him then run on softs, leading to him being eliminated.

Didn't rocket up the field, but drove a good, measured race to take his best result of 2014.

14 FERNANDO ALONSO
Ferrari F14 T

Start: 5th
Finish: 2nd
Strategy: 2 stops (inter/soft/soft)

Rating: 9

Rightly saw this as a second gained, rather than a win lost. Only his off at the chicane and the fact that he probably could have qualified one place higher prevents a perfect score.

His performance on shot rubber to hold the lead for so long was stunning.

8 ROMAIN GROSJEAN
Lotus-Renault E22

Start: 14th
Finish: DNF
Strategy: retired (inter/soft/retired)

Rating: 3

This wasn't the way Grosjean wanted to go into the August break, committing the cardinal sin of dropping his Lotus while warming his tyres under the safety car and spinning into the wall.

Pace was fine, but it was an ignominious end even with the caveat that conditions were treacherous.

13 PASTOR MALDONADO
Lotus-Renault E22

Start: 20th
Finish: 13th
Strategy: 3 stops (inter/soft/soft/soft)

Rating: 5

Maldonado's pace compared well to Grosjean's during practice, but he had no chance to make good on that promising form in qualifying thanks to an energy store problem.

He was never going to score points, but clobbering Bianchi after locking up while trying to pass him at Turn 1 was unnecessary.

20 KEVIN MAGNUSSEN
McLaren-Mercedes MP4-29

Start: 21st (pits)
Finish: 12th
Strategy: 2 stops (inter/soft/medium)

Rating: 7

Did a fine job in qualifying but paid the price for not being more circumspect at the damp Turn 1 on his first Q3 lap, sliding heavily into the barriers. Very much a rookie error.

He did what he could in the race, but McLaren's strategy gamble didn't pay off so he was on a road to nowhere.

22 JENSON BUTTON
McLaren-Mercedes MP4-29

Start: 7th
Finish: 10th
Strategy: 3 stops (inter/inter/soft/medium)

Rating: 8

Didn't have the most convincing run through practice, but did a decent job during qualifying and the early stages of the race.

Unfortunately, McLaren's decision to give him a second set of intermediates on a rapidly drying track undid all of his good work. Justifiably unhappy.

11 SERGIO PEREZ
Force India-Mercedes VJM07

Start: 12th
Finish: DNF
Strategy: retired (inter/soft/retired)

Rating: 5

Pace in qualifying was pretty good until a hydraulic leak meant he couldn't have a second run in Q2.

Drove well in the race, getting ahead of team-mate Hulkenberg before being clipped by him. Has himself to blame for drifting wide onto a slippery kerb and spinning heavily into the wall.

27 NICO HULKENBERG
Force India-Mercedes VJM07

Start: 9th
Finish: DNF
Strategy: retired (inter/soft/retired)

Rating: 4

Thumping the back of your team-mate, ripping off your front wing and then piling into the wall isn't the ideal way to end a race.

Up to that moment, he had driven to his usual high standards, but an uncharacteristic mistake rendered that all pointless.

21 ESTEBAN GUTIERREZ
Sauber-Ferrari C33

Start: 13th
Finish: DNF
Strategy: retired (inter/soft/retired)

Rating: 8

Wasn't quite as quick as Sutil in qualifying, but still did a solid job.

In the race, got ahead of his team-mate at the start and drove well, keeping Raikkonen at bay and climbing the order before being robbed of a good chance of a points finish by an ERS problem.

99 ADRIAN SUTIL
Sauber-Ferrari C33

Start: 11th
Finish: 11th
Strategy: 2 stops (inter/soft/soft)

Rating: 7

Had the legs on Gutierrez in qualifying, but was shuffled back at the start and was never quite able to haul himself into the points.

But this is about as close as a Sauber has been to a points position at the end of the race, so represents a decent weekend's work.

25 JEAN-ERIC VERGNE
Toro Rosso-Renault STR9

Start: 8th
Finish: 9th
Strategy: 2 stops (inter/soft/medium)

Rating: 9

Did an excellent job in qualifying to make sure of a Q3 place and enjoyed a great cameo in the mixed conditions early on, holding his own in second for a time.

It was always an illusion and he ended up ninth, but all the cars ahead of him were quicker. A job well done.

26 DANIIL KVYAT
Toro Rosso-Ferrari STR9

Start: 10th
Finish: 14th
Strategy: 2 stops (inter/soft/medium)

Rating: 6

Was on course to make Q3 when he kissed the grass on entry to Turn 12 and spun.

His race was compromised from the off when the engine died before the warm-up lap, although it's not clear if this was a driver error or not. Showed good pace at times, but couldn't recover.

19 FELIPE MASSA
Williams-Mercedes FW36

Start: 6th
Finish: 5th
Strategy: 3 stops (inter/soft/medium/medium)

Rating: 8

Lacked the latest-specification floor (his had been damaged in his Hockenheim roll), but this didn't entirely explain the gap to Bottas in qualifying.

Massa had a decent race, running second for a time and ending up fifth even though the strategy wasn't perfect.

77 VALTTERI BOTTAS
Williams-Renault FW36

Start: 3rd
Finish: 8th
Strategy: 3 stops (inter/soft/medium/soft)

Rating: 8

A superb qualifying performance harnessed to a race of misfortune.

Having run second early on, he plummeted to 11th thanks to unfortunate safety car timing and a 5.2s pitstop then, on medium Pirellis, had little chance to make up ground.

17 JULES BIANCHI
Marussia-Ferrari MR-03

Start: 15th
Finish: 15th
Strategy: 3 stops (inter/soft/soft/soft)

Rating: 8

Pulled a stellar qualifying lap out of the bag after an error on his first run to bump Raikkonen during Q1.

His race was going pretty well until he was clobbered by Maldonado, despite having given the Lotus driver room. Couldn't have finished any higher in the circumstances.

4 MAX CHILTON
Marussia-Ferrari MR-03

Start: 18th
Finish: 16th
Strategy: 2 stops (inter/soft/soft)

Rating: 6

Reckoned that his chassis change was a step forward and matched Bianchi's pace on his first qualifying run, but an electrical problem meant he was capped to 8000rpm on his second run and he couldn't improve.

Drove a solid race to finish behind the delayed Bianchi.

9 MARCUS ERICSSON
Caterham-Renault CT05

Start: 19th
Finish: DNF
Strategy: retired (inter/retired)

Rating: 4

Was very disappointed after qualifying having struggled all weekend with balance problems that weren't replicated on the other side of the garage.

Getting caught out by the conditions and crashing heavily is more forgivable in the tricky Caterham than most cars, but still not good.

21 KAMUI KOBAYASHI
Caterham-Renault CT05

Start: 17th
Finish: DNF
Strategy: retired (inter/soft/retired)

Rating: 7

Had a decent run during the weekend until a fuel system problem put him out of the race. Looked set to outqualify both Marussias before Bianchi pulled a lap out of the bag.

Put in a punchy first stint, but car pace meant that was just a cameo.