Brazilian Grand Prix driver ratings

44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes F1 W08

Start: Pits

Finish: 4th

Strategy: 1 stop (soft/super-soft)

Rating: 9

Hamilton's race was a 10 out of 10 effort. He had a new engine, and no need to conserve it, but to finish fourth from a pitlane start, within 5.5 seconds of the winner, was the maximum Mercedes expected.

He's marked down for that uncharacteristic and costly crash in Q1, which prevented him from dominating this race from the front.

77 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes F1 W08

Start: 1st

Finish: 2nd

Strategy: 1 stop (super-soft/soft)

Rating: 8

Bottas should have won this race, but he paid for a poor start and being too tentative into Turn 1. An underwhelming Mercedes pitstop also stymied a later effort to counterattack.

It's hard to know if there was more in the car given Hamilton was sidelined in qualifying, but Bottas still did well to beat Vettel to pole, even if Sunday was disappointing.

3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault RB13

Start: 14th

Finish: 6th

Strategy: 2 stops (soft/soft/super-soft)

Rating: 8

Ricciardo seems baffled as to why he suddenly can't get the tyres working properly for one lap in Q3, despite being rapid on Fridays. This is usually a forte of his.

He was superb in the race, though, showcasing his renowned blend of controlled aggression to recover to sixth after contact on lap one. Marks are lost for Saturday's underwhelming effort.

33 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Renault RB13

Start: 4th

Finish: 5th

Strategy: 2 stops (super-soft/soft/super-soft)

Rating: 9

Verstappen was angry and wild in practice, but pulled it together when it mattered most in qualifying. He wasn't in the fight for pole, but was well ahead of Ricciardo again.

He cut a frustrated figure in the race, where he burned through tyres trying vainly to keep up with the leaders. Renault's lack of power was just too much to overcome this time.

5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari SF70H

Start: 2nd

Finish: 1st

Strategy: 1 stop (super-soft/soft)

Rating: 9

Vettel executed his race faultlessly - passing Bottas off the line and controlling the pace from the front.

The only slight fault is his qualifying effort. Both of Vettel's Q3 laps were scruffy, so he loses a mark for giving away the four hundredths of a second that would have put him on pole and otherwise made for a perfect weekend.

7 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari SF70H

Start: 3rd

Finish: 3rd

Strategy: 1 stop (super-soft/soft)

Rating: 8

Raikkonen was faster than Vettel in final practice and quickest of all in Q1, but fell away in Q2 and couldn't quite get it back in Q3, finishing finished two tenths off pole. That's one mark lost.

He struggled in the first stint of the race, which accounts for the other mark dropped, but he did better in the second stint. It was one of Raikkonen's better displays overall.

11 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes VJM10

Start: 5th

Finish: 9th

Strategy: 1 stop (super-soft/soft)

Rating: 8

Perez reckoned this was his best qualifying effort for a while, having struggled to maximise the car since Force India's major Singapore update. It's difficult to disagree given he topped an ultra-tight midfield battle.

He got bullied by Alonso on lap one and just couldn't find a way to recover, despite a straightline speed advantage, though he almost re-passed the McLaren at the end.

31 Esteban Ocon Force India-Mercedes VJM10

Start: 10th

Finish: Retired

Strategy: (super-soft/retired)

Rating: 5

A disappointing weekend in the end for Ocon, who was within a tenth of Perez in Q2 and less than seven hundredths away from making Q3, but just couldn't get hooked up through sector two as he needed.

He blamed Grosjean for his first single-seater race retirement since 2014, but it looked as though Ocon's over-ambition had already got the better of him.

18 Lance Stroll Williams-Mercedes FW40

Start: 16th

Finish: 16th

Strategy: 2 stops (super-soft/soft/super-soft)

Rating: 4

Stroll is not yet able to deliver his maximum pace immediately in qualifying, so losing Saturday morning practice to a broken gearbox hurt. He had to revert to an older engine too, but still shouldn't have been a second off Massa in Q1.

The race was disappointing as well - Stroll bogged down at the start and got stuck behind Grosjean, before flatspotting a tyre that later delaminated.

19 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes FW40

Start: 9th

Finish: 7th

Strategy: 1 stop (super-soft/soft)

Rating: 9

Massa's race was a flawless 10 out of 10. He aced the start, gained three places on lap one, and resisted enormous Alonso pressure after jumping the McLaren at the restart. This was Massa at his best.

He loses a mark for underperforming in Q3, after becoming distracted by a needless blocking spat with Sainz and almost crashing. That was the only blot.

2 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren-Honda MCL32

Start: 12th

Finish: retired

Strategy: (super-soft/retired)

Rating: 6

Vandoorne's car was finally matched to Alonso's aero specification, but Vandoorne couldn't live with Alonso in qualifying, complaining he couldn't get the tyres to work properly, particularly in Q2. This costs him marks given he should have made Q3.

He almost survived the melee at Turns 1 and 2, before an accidental hit from Magnussen ended Vandoorne's race on lap one.

14 Fernando Alonso McLaren-Honda MCL32

Start: 6th

Finish: 8th

Strategy: 1 stop (super-soft/soft)

Rating: 9

Alonso qualified very strongly again, perhaps a bit better than expected given Honda's power deficit. But there's an argument to say he should have beaten Perez and gained another place on the grid, having been sixth fastest in Q2 then failed to find more time in Q3.

Alonso was at his relentless best in the race. It's hard to see how he could have done much more.

10 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso-Renault STR12

Start: 19th

Finish: 12th

Strategy: 1 stop (soft/super-soft)

Rating: 7

For Gasly to be behind a Sauber and out in Q1 looked bad, but he took wing off in readiness for Sunday, knowing he faced a hefty grid penalty, so it's probably not a fair comparison.

He reckoned this grand prix was his best yet. The start and first lap was excellent, but he struggled to hang onto the tyres in the first stint.

28 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso-Renault STR12

Start: 18th

Finish: Retired

Strategy: (super-soft/soft/retired)

Rating: 7

Hartley was the Toro Rosso driver who squeaked into Q2, but his focus was also on the race and he didn't even bother to set a time having made it through, so judging his Saturday performance is difficult.

Stroll near-stalling right ahead of him and an unplugged radio made the early race running tough, but Hartley was recovering reasonably well when engine problems stopped him yet again.

8 Romain Grosjean Haas-Ferrari VF-17

Start: 11th

Finish: 15th

Strategy: 2 stops (super-soft/soft/super-soft)

Rating: 6

Qualifying was the main highlight for Grosjean, who was impressively only 0.112s away from making Q3 despite Haas struggling for pace in practice.

The first-lap spin and bump with Ocon was clumsy, but probably not worth a penalty given Ocon already seemed out of control. Grosjean struggled with floor damage thereafter, and found matching the pace of the Saubers difficult.

20 Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari VF-17

Start: 13th

Finish: Retired

Strategy: (super-soft/retired)

Rating: 5

Magnussen was close to Grosjean, just a tenth behind, until the final runs in Q2 - when Grosjean pulled out a special lap. Magnussen admitted he struggled to cope with the car's rear instability in the same way.

After what Magnussen's team had called a "perfect" race in Mexico, this one was over almost immediately, thanks to clumsy contact with Vandoorne that broke the front suspension.

27 Nico Hulkenberg Renault RS17

Start: 7th

Finish: 10th

Strategy: 1 stop (super-soft/soft)

Rating: 8

A pretty solid weekend from Hulkenberg. He admitted to leaving a bit of time on the table in Q3, so should have beaten Alonso really, and didn't make a great start in the race.

But he was quicker than Sainz throughout and it's hard to see what more he could have done given the need to detune the engine for reliability.

55 Carlos Sainz Jr Renault RS17

Start: 8th

Finish: 11th

Strategy: 1 stop (super-soft/soft)

Rating: 7

Sainz was pleased to make Q3 for the third time out of three with Renault, but is still leaving some margin while he learns his new car.

He lacked a small but crucial bit of pace compared to his team-mate in qualifying and the race, partly due to lap-one floor damage, but was at least closer to Hulkenberg than in Mexico.

9 Marcus Ericsson Sauber-Ferrari C36

Start: 17th

Finish: 13th

Strategy: 1 stop (soft/super-soft)

Rating: 7

Ericsson has been the more impressive Sauber driver of late, but was behind Wehrlein in second and third practice, and two tenths off in qualifying, even though Wehrlein missed Friday morning in favour of Charles Leclerc.

Ericsson struggled with the balance on the soft tyre in the first half of the race and had to let his team-mate past, but came alive on the super-soft late-on. A solid effort.

94 Pascal Wehrlein Sauber-Ferrari C36

Start: 15th

Finish: 14th

Strategy: 1 stop (super-soft/soft)

Rating: 7

With new aero and suspension parts fitted in lieu of a chassis change, Wehrlein looked more like the driver Mercedes rates - only 0.053s from Q2 and ahead of a Toro Rosso and a Williams.

His race was spoiled by a big moment avoiding the Turn 2 mess, and an overly optimistic attempt to do 70 laps on one set of tyres.