Mid-season F1 driver ratings

With half of the 2018 Formula 1 season in the history books, and the second half about to kick off, it's a good time to evaluate the performances of the drivers so far.

While Autosport rates each driver out of 10 on a race-by-race basis, the ratings created here are only partially based on those, given that each is only a snapshot of their race weekends.

The mid-season ratings also take into account the way drivers have progressed, their all-round contribution to the team and the overall significance of any errors made.

It is not simply about each race so far representing one-twelfth of the rating, but about which drivers rose to the occasion when it was most important, and which ones didn't make the most of their big chances. Hence these ratings are not simply mean averages of those figures.

Inevitably, there are no drivers who get very low ratings. The quality of drivers throughout the field is strong, and it's only right to rate their true performance rather than just rank them, then distribute the 10 available ratings equally.

Lewis Hamilton 9

At times, Hamilton has looked lost and struggled to get the most out of a tricky Mercedes. But at others, he has been mighty - just look at the way he seized on rain in Germany and Hungary to pull a pair of unexpected victories out of the bag. A slightly uneven season, by his own admission, but it says a lot that, despite all that, he's 24 points clear in the standings.

Highlight: Stunning run through the final corners at the Hungaroring to take pole in the wet.

Lowlight: Slow start at Silverstone that cost him the lead to Vettel, and put him in harm's way at Turn 3.

Valtteri Bottas 8

Bottas' primary objective this season was to even out his performances and eliminate the troughs of last year, particularly the ones that came after the August break. He's done so very effectively, and has a very handy qualifying record compared to Hamilton that means, on average, he is well within a tenth of a second - shining particularly on weekends when Mercedes has struggled. His points tally does him no justice, given the misfortune he's suffered.

Highlight: Executing the perfect undercut to take the lead from Vettel in China.

Lowlight: Crashing on his first Q3 lap in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

Sebastian Vettel 9

Vettel has managed to deliver a level of excellence more consistently than Hamilton in terms of extracting the most from an admittedly more consistent car. But key errors have cost him the championship lead. At Baku, Paul Ricard and Hockenheim he made mistakes that have cost him points, which, along with his struggles in the wet, drag down a season that is otherwise superb. He earns the same mark as Hamilton as his consistency has been stronger even if he has made more significant mistakes.

Highlight: Taking a bite of the grass out of Turn 2 as he launched a successful passing move on Hamilton in Austria.

Lowlight: Crashing out of the lead in Germany on slicks when the rain came.

Kimi Raikkonen 7

Raikkonen has done a pretty good job as Vettel's support act this season, but it says a lot about his inability to string together an error-free weekend that he hasn't managed a win. The biggest problem is his tendency either to make a mistake or be too conservative on key qualifying laps, although misjudgements in the races in Austria and Germany cost him track position that could have allowed him to win.

Highlight: Outperformed Vettel conclusively in Australia on the one weekend when the situation meant the slower Ferrari won.

Lowlight: Booting Hamilton into a spin at Turn 3 on the first lap of the British Grand Prix.

Daniel Ricciardo 8

Ricciardo has demonstrated his exemplary racecraft on multiple occasions this season, save for getting sucked into a clash with Verstappen at Baku, and would have more points but for the regular reliability problems that have held him back. But what's unquestionable is that he's generally giving away a couple of tenths to Verstappen on a Saturday - an average of 0.173s where the comparison is fair. In a way, he's a mirror image of Verstappen - a great first quarter of the season, and a less impressive second.

Highlight: Capping his charge from sixth by diving up the inside of Bottas for the lead in China.

Lowlight: Getting drawn into a collision with Verstappen at Baku - even with the mitigation of earlier provocation.

Max Verstappen 7

Verstappen was going off the rails in the first part of the season, even taking umbrage at Red Bull top brass suggesting he needed to change his approach. But for all his protestations, he has indeed changed his approach and, from the Canadian Grand Prix onwards, has shown very good judgement in battle and been rewarded with consistently good results. He's come out of his bad run well and is back to being a formidable grand prix driver.

Highlight: His ballsy round-the-outside pass on Raikkonen at Silverstone was a reminder of how spectacular a racer Verstappen can be when he gets it right.

Lowlight: Of all his early-season disasters, shunting in the irrelevant FP3 session at Monaco and costing potential victory shot was the most needless.

Sergio Perez 7

Perez has continued to be a dependable performer even when Force India has struggled, although he has been marginally the less impressive of the team's drivers. While he's still shown he's capable of seizing a podium from nowhere, he's only beaten Ocon twice in races and has been edged in qualifying. Even so, while his points scoring has been less consistent this year, that's more down to the car than any regression on his part.

Highlight: Passing Vettel in Baku to take fourth, which became a sensational third at the finish when Bottas picked up a puncture.

Lowlight: Spin in the damp at Hockenheim potentially cost him a better result than seventh.

Esteban Ocon 8

Although Ocon seemed to struggle more than Perez early on when the Force India was at its worst, he has since asserted himself over his team-mate and has comfortably won the qualifying war - albeit only by a small margin on average. He's only a point behind, too - largely thanks to blanking in Baku where Perez was third - and there's little doubt that had Bottas not upped his game at Mercedes he'd be on for a promotion.

Highlight: Exemplary performance at Monaco to qualify and finish sixth.

Lowlight: Clashing with Raikkonen on the first lap in Baku and costing himself a big result.

Lance Stroll 5

It's difficult to evaluate Stroll's performance overall given he's now up against a rookie rather than the experienced Felipe Massa, but his qualifying form has been erratic - with Sirotkin actually having the slight edge. But Stroll has generally been outstanding on opening laps, although he has been unable to convert those flying starts into anything more than a finish near the back. But when Williams was strongest, in Azerbaijan, he did deliver.

Highlight: His eighth place at Baku, which represents the only points finish for Williams.

Lowlight: Triggering a big crash with Hartley on the first lap in Canada.

Sergey Sirotkin 5

Sirotkin is the only driver yet to have scored a point, but he has shaded Stroll in qualifying and done a similar job in the races - albeit not in Baku, where he threw away a points shot. He's also settled in well with the team and, in difficult circumstances, acquitted himself solidly in his rookie season.

Highlight: Did an excellent job in Monaco qualifying to line up 13th.

Lowlight: First-lap collision in Azerbaijan that cost him his best points shot.

Nico Hulkenberg 8

He's had the advantage in the intra-Renault driver battle, although by a smaller margin than the popular perception. And he sits atop the midfield after scoring consistently, including four wins in the 'Class B' races that the midfield has become. Other than his Baku blunder, he's been a dependable Renault team leader and has reminded everyone just why he was once rated as a future world champion.

Highlight: Passing Ocon on the first lap on his way to 'Class B' victory at Silverstone.

Lowlight: Crashing out of fifth place in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Carlos Sainz Jr 7

Sainz came to Renault expecting to assert himself over Hulkenberg, but he's failed to do so in 2018 and is now on his way to McLaren. There are mitigating factors, but Sainz has been outperformed on qualifying pace and race finishes - even when you factor in some of the bad luck that has struck him and question marks over Renault's ability to run two cars consistently strongly.

Highlight: Storming qualifying in the wet in Hungary, disregarding an instruction to pit on the lap that put him fifth on the grid.

Lowlight: Losing the MGU-K late in the French Grand Prix and dropping from a perfect sixth to eighth.

Brendon Hartley 6

By all metrics - points, qualifying performance, race results - Hartley has been the Toro Rosso number two. Often, the pace is there in fits and starts but he doesn't string it together. Sometimes this was down to outside influences - such as his suspension falling apart at Silverstone - and sometimes to Hartley. The average three-tenths deficit to Gasly suggests he lacks that cutting edge of pace, but he deserves a clean run of races to show what he can do.

Highlight: Overruling the team's summons to the pits when the rain came in Germany, earning himself a point in the process.

Lowlight: Dropping a wheel on the grass at the entry to Campsa and crashing heavily in FP3 in Spain.

Pierre Gasly 8

Gasly's high points have been outstanding, with big helpings of points in Bahrain, Monaco and Hungary - the first and third of those being crushing 'Class B' victories. That he hasn't been a consistent points scorer is perhaps more down to the erratic nature of Toro Rosso, although he still needs to show he can scrap for a point here and there on a difficult weekend. That's a minor criticism, and Gasly's strong season so far has earned him a promotion to Red Bull's A-team for 2019.

Highlight: Sensational qualifying and race performance in Bahrain to give Honda its best result since returning to F1.

Lowlight: Losing it on the first lap of his home grand prix and wiping out himself and Esteban Ocon.

Romain Grosjean 6

Grosjean has had a tough season punctuated by too many errors, and at times that has left Haas privately frustrated. But three points finishes in the last four races before the break have hopefully given Grosjean a sense of equilibrium and act as a reminder of his class. But he still needs to reassert himself over Magnussen after being outperformed on average qualifying and race performances, and have a strong start to the back end of the season to be certain of retaining his drive.

Highlight: Late charge from 10th to sixth at Hockenheim. Yes, he had fresh rubber, but others complained of not being able to overtake.

Lowlight: Crashing out of sixth place under the safety car in Baku after an inadvertent switch change.

Kevin Magnussen 8

This has been a breakthrough season for Magnussen, who has seized the opportunity to become the Haas team's de facto leader. Aside from a spell after upgrades being introduced when it seemed that he was struggling with a car that became more oversteery, he has been the squad's go-to guy and in Spain and France won the 'Class B' battle. Seven points finishes in 12 races is a good return and he remains strong in battle, although there have been a couple of races that have got away from him slightly.

Highlight: Outstanding all-round performance in Spain to win 'Class B'.

Lowlight: Pushing Gasly into the wall in Baku.

Stoffel Vandoorne 5

An early trio of points finishes seemed to lay the foundations for a good season for Vandoorne, especially when he bounced back from some difficult weekends to match Alonso's qualifying pace in Canada. But a litany of car problems, with the car undriveable and missing downforce at Silverstone and Hockenheim, have made him look stupid. He isn't, but circumstances as the second driver in Alonso's team with a poor car mean he's been on a hiding to nothing.

Highlight: Storming drive after a dreadful start in Bahrain to go from last to eighth.

Lowlight: Hitting Gasly at Turn 2 on the opening lap of the Austrian Grand Prix.

Fernando Alonso 9

Alonso might have decided to walk away from F1 for 2019, but his performances have been consistently strong during the first half of this season. There has been the odd error along the way, but generally McLaren could rely on Alonso to make the best of it on a Sunday afternoon - proved by him scoring 85% of the team's points and comprehensively outperforming Vandoorne.

Highlight: Around-the-outside pass on Ocon at Barcelona's Turn 3.

Lowlight: Spinning while pointlessly trying to hold off the recovering Vettel in the French Grand Prix.

Marcus Ericsson 6

It's fair to say that Ericsson has been blown out of the water by Leclerc on qualifying pace - although he did end a run of nine reverses by beating Leclerc on Saturday in Hungary. But Ericsson has at least shown a Perez-esque ability to complete marathon stints on alternative strategies. Good as Leclerc is, Ericsson needs to get closer more consistently in the second half of the year.

Highlight: Marathon first stint in Bahrain to allow him to go from starting 17th to finishing ninth.

Lowlight: Crashing out at Silverstone after failing to close the DRS in time at Abbey.

Charles Leclerc 9

That Leclerc had done well enough to put himself into a position to get promoted to Ferrari (prior to the loss of Sergio Marchionne) tells you everything you need to know about his season. After three wobbly weekends, he hit his stride in Baku and, other than underwhelming performances in Germany and Hungary, he has been one of the standout performers of the season. Quick, consistent and has shown a knack for scoring points when in a marginal top 10 car.

Highlight: Claiming his first points with a stellar sixth place at Baku after a shaky start to the year.

Lowlight: His race falling apart in Germany, including a spin out of the first corner.