Japanese Grand Prix driver ratings

1 SEBASTIAN VETTEL
Red Bull-Renault RB10

Start: 9th
Finish: 3rd
Strategy: 3 stops (wet/wet/inter/inter)

Rating: 8

Missing much of Saturday morning practice compromised Vettel in qualifying, although he still didn't do a great job.

He drove well in the race, pulling off some good passes, but did have an off at the esses.

Admitted he was fortunate to be promoted back to third on countback after slipping behind Ricciardo with his late pitstop.

3 DANIEL RICCIARDO
Red Bull-Renault RB10

Start: 6th
Finish: 4th
Strategy: 3 stops (wet/wet/inter/inter)

Rating: 7

Ricciardo had a difficult time on Friday, shunting at Turn 18, and did what he could in qualifying with a car that was compromised on straightline speed by running more wing.

He used that downforce superbly in the race, with two ballsy passes on the Williams drivers in the esses the highlight.

6 NICO ROSBERG
Mercedes F1 W05

Start: 1st
Finish: 2nd
Strategy: 3 stops (wet/wet/inter/inter)

Rating: 8

Rosberg looked serene on his way to pole, and seemed to have a slight edge over Hamilton in dry conditions.

Defended very well and for longer than he might have been expected to in the race, but ultimately couldn't match his team-mate's wet virtuosity.

44 LEWIS HAMILTON
Mercedes F1 W05

Start: 2nd
Finish: 1st
Strategy: 3 stops (wet/wet/inter/inter)

Rating: 9

Hamilton struggled slightly in the dry compared to Rosberg, but was a cut above in the wet.

Highlight of his race was a bold pass for the lead at Turn 1, but two off-track moments on Sunday, along with his Saturday morning shunt, mean he can't get a perfect score.

7 KIMI RAIKKONEN
Ferrari F14 T

Start: 10th
Finish: 12th
Strategy: 5 stops (wet/wet/inter/inter/inter/wet)

Rating: 4

Nowhere near Alonso in terms of pace, although the eight-tenths gap in Q3 slightly exaggerated Raikkonen's deficit.

He might well have picked up a few points had he not lost time in the pits, and there were flashes of pace in the race. But still a hugely lacklustre weekend.

14 FERNANDO ALONSO
Ferrari F14 T

Start: 5th
Finish: DNF
Strategy: retired (wet/wet/retired)

Rating: 8

As he failed to complete a racing lap at speed, Alonso can only be judged on his performance on Friday and Saturday. He comprehensively outpaced Raikkonen, although as a minor criticism he didn't manage to string together his theoretical best lap in Q3.

8 ROMAIN GROSJEAN
Lotus-Renault E22

Start: 16th
Finish: 15th
Strategy: 5 stops (wet/wet/inter/inter/inter/wet)

Rating: 7

The Lotus wasn't as good as was hoped at Suzuka ('good' in this context meaning there was a realistic hope that the team might be able to threaten the points with a bit of luck).

All Grosjean could do was beat his team-mate, which he did.

13 PASTOR MALDONADO
Lotus-Renault E22

Start: 22nd
Finish: 16th
Strategy: 4 stops (wet/wet/inter/inter/wet)

Rating: 5

Maldonado was on a hiding to nothing given the limitations of the Lotus and a 10-place grid penalty for taking his sixth engine of the year.

His performance level was similar to Grosjean's, although a few offs and a speeding penalty count against him.

20 KEVIN MAGNUSSEN
McLaren-Mercedes MP4-29

Start: 7th
Finish: 14th
Strategy: 5 stops (wet/wet/inter/inter/inter/wet)

Rating: 7

After a difficult Friday, Magnussen drove superbly in qualifying to outpace Button.

But the race started to go wrong when he had to make an extra stop to replace his steering wheel thanks to an electronics problem.

From there, he couldn't get back in contention, with a spin at Turn 2 not helping.

22 JENSON BUTTON
McLaren-Mercedes MP4-29

Start: 8th
Finish: 5th
Strategy: 4 stops (wet/wet/inter/inter/wet)

Rating: 9

It was a surprise to see him behind Magnussen on the grid, but Button reminded everyone of his class with a superb performance on Sunday.

He judged the conditions to perfection and switched to intermediates before anyone. It was unfortunate that time lost with a steering-wheel change compromised his fight with the Red Bulls.

11 SERGIO PEREZ
Force India-Mercedes VJM07

Start: 11th
Finish: 10th
Strategy: 3 stops (wet/wet/inter/inter)

Rating: 8

Perez might just have squeezed into Q3 had he not lost a fraction to a power problem on his best qualifying lap.

He did a tidy and effective job in the race and was unfortunate not to finish a place or two higher.

27 NICO HULKENBERG
Force India-Mercedes VJM07

Start: 13th
Finish: 8th
Strategy: 4 stops (wet/wet/inter/inter/inter)

Rating: 8

His qualifying lap was excellent, until he locked up and went wide at the last chicane and lost a shot at making the top 10.

Hulkenberg was sixth when the safety car was deployed, but ended up eighth on countback despite having retired.

21 ESTEBAN GUTIERREZ
Sauber-Ferrari C33

Start: 15th
Finish: 13th
Strategy: 3 stops (wet/wet/inter/inter)

Rating: 6

Gutierrez looked to have the edge on Sutil on pace, but didn't deliver in Q2.

Although the Sauber wasn't quick enough to trouble the points, he did a decent job in the circumstances and held his own in the pack.

99 ADRIAN SUTIL
Sauber-Ferrari C33

Start: 14th
Finish: 21st
Strategy: 4 stops (wet/wet/inter/inter/inter)

Rating: 4

Sutil did outqualify team-mate Gutierrez, but wasn't able to threaten the points in conditions that he usually thrives in, before losing it in the esses and crashing out late on.

25 JEAN-ERIC VERGNE
Toro Rosso-Renault STR9

Start: 20th
Finish: 9th
Strategy: 3 stops (wet/wet/inter/inter)

Rating: 8

Even with a 10-place penalty for an engine change hanging over him, and a modest 27 practice laps, Vergne did a good job in qualifying but was a tenth off his theoretical best.

A marathon stint on intermediates allowed him to seal two points when the race was stopped prematurely.

26 DANIIL KVYAT
Toro Rosso-Ferrari STR9

Start: 12th
Finish: 11th
Strategy: 4 stops (wet/wet/inter/inter/inter)

Rating: 7

Kvyat's speed was better than qualifying showed, as he had to back off for traffic at the end of his warm-up lap and lost tyre temperature and didn't improve on his final Q2 lap.

He flirted with the points, but the chaotic end cost him.

19 FELIPE MASSA
Williams-Mercedes FW36

Start: 4th
Finish: 7th
Strategy: 3 stops (wet/wet/inter/inter)

Rating: 7

Massa didn't quite have the same turn of speed as Bottas in the dry, but in the race did a very similar job as both drivers struggled against overheating tyres when on intermediates.

77 VALTTERI BOTTAS
Williams-Renault FW36

Start: 3rd
Finish: 6th
Strategy: 3 stops (wet/wet/inter/inter)

Rating: 8

Excellent in dry conditions and qualified impressively, Bottas was on a hiding to nothing in the race as Williams struggled with tyre temperatures on the wet track.

Sixth was the maximum possible in those conditions.

4 MAX CHILTON
Marussia-Ferrari MR-03

Start: 21st
Finish: 18th
Strategy: 3 stops (wet/wet/inter/inter)

Rating: 6

Suzuka is one of Chilton's strongest tracks and he looked like he had the pace to qualify not far off Bianchi.

But a mistake on the entry to Spoon Curve ruined what would have comfortably been his best lap. He beat Kobayashi, but couldn't match Ericsson in the race.

17 JULES BIANCHI
Marussia-Ferrari MR-03

Start: 18th
Finish: 20th
Strategy: 3 stops (wet/wet/inter/inter)

Rating: N/A

Prior to the terrible end to his race, Bianchi had performed to his usual high standards.

9 MARCUS ERICSSON
Caterham-Renault CT05

Start: 17th
Finish: 17th
Strategy: 4 stops (wet/wet/inter/inter/wet)

Rating: 8

Ericsson built on his good work in the race in Singapore with a really strong weekend, save for the embarrassing spin under the safety car that dropped him to last.

But, revelling in the car's more predictable handling, he made his way back to the front of the Caterham/Marussia group.

10 KAMUI KOBAYASHI
Caterham-Renault CT05

Start: 19th
Finish: 19th
Strategy: 5 stops (wet/wet/inter/inter/inter/wet)

Rating: 5

Kobayashi had a quiet weekend, only catching the eye when he crashed during Friday practice.

He didn't have the same turn of pace as Ericsson and while he spent much of the race ahead of Chilton, couldn't make the intermediate tyres last as long and slipped behind him.

NB The first stops for all drivers except Bianchi and Chilton are considered to have been made under the first red flag, as tyre changes are permitted in those circumstances.