Sainz beats Bottas to third in Autosport readers' driver ratings
Carlos Sainz Jr has bumped Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas from the top three in Autosport readers' Formula 1 driver ratings after another impressive showing at the French Grand Prix
McLaren driver Sainz registered a second 'Class B' victory of the season by finishing sixth at Paul Ricard and was the only driver from the midfield group to finish on the lead lap.
That performance earned Sainz an average score of 8.8 from Autosport readers, nudging his overall rating after eight grands prix up to 7.91.
It also moves him ahead of Bottas, whose run of below-par races continued in France as he finished a distant second to team-mate Lewis Hamilton.
Five-time champion Hamilton earned a 9.4 for his dominant performance in the French GP, a race he won by 18 seconds, which boosted his average to 8.68 for the season.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen remains a comfortable second ahead of Sainz and Bottas, the pair now have the same score to two decimal places.
Two rookies are next up in the list; Williams's George Russell is fifth, while Sainz's McLaren team-mate Lando Norris has moved up four places and is now sixth.
Norris has been boosted by an impressive Paul Ricard race in which he managed a hydraulic issue in the latter stages that earned him a score of 9.1 from readers.
Charles Leclerc is Ferrari's lead representative in seventh, having regained two places thanks to a gallant chase of Bottas in France, while Sebastian Vettel remains 15th.
Vettel's average score from readers so far this season is just 6.60, but he is at least faring better than the final driver from F1's big three teams.
After another disappointing race, this time in front of his home crowd, Pierre Gasly has slipped to the tail of the order with an average of just 5.39 - putting him behind Alfa Romeo's Antonio Giovinazzi, Lance Stroll and Williams returnee Robert Kubica.
You can keep track of the average scores dished out by both the readers and our Grand Prix Editor Edd Straw, as well as reading all the ratings features so far on our dedicated driver ratings page.
Readers' driver ratings standings
| Pos | Driver | Rating | Change after Canada |
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | 8.68 | - |
| 2 | Max Verstappen | 8.25 | - |
| 3 | Carlos Sainz Jr | 7.91 | Up 1 |
| 4 | Valtteri Bottas | 7.90 | Down 1 |
| 5 | George Russell | 7.43 | - |
| 6 | Lando Norris | 7.36 | Up 4 |
| 7 | Charles Leclerc | 7.32 | Up 2 |
| 8 | Sergio Perez | 7.28 | Down 2 |
| 9 | Daniil Kvyat | 7.19 | Down 2 |
| 10 | Kimi Raikkonen | 7.17 | Up 1 |
| 11 | Alex Albon | 7.04 | Down 3 |
| 12 | Nico Hulkenberg | 6.99 | - |
| 13 | Daniel Ricciardo | 6.98 | - |
| 14 | Kevin Magnussen | 6.75 | - |
| 15 | Sebastian Vettel | 6.60 | - |
| 16 | Romain Grosjean | 6.29 | - |
| 17 | Antonio Giovinazzi | 5.72 | Up 2 |
| 18 | Lance Stroll | 5.66 | Down 1 |
| 19 | Robert Kubica | 5.61 | Up 1 |
| 20 | Pierre Gasly | 5.39 | Down 2 |
Share Or Save This Story
Nicolas Hamilton secures Team Hard Volkswagen BTCC seat for 2020
Double DTM champion Ekstrom joins Cupra for first Pure ETCR season
The phoenix driver who is at peace with his defeats
Indecent proposal? How Sainz's big idea to change F1 qualifying might work
Williams plans “almost entirely new car” by Azerbaijan GP
The best FIA relations in years: How F1 drivers won the penalty points fight
What we learned from the 2026 F1 British GP sprint race and qualifying
Wolff: "Emotional" Vasseur misunderstood comments on Ferrari
F1 British GP: Antonelli takes pole position, Russell down in fourth
LIVE: F1 British GP commentary and updates – Antonelli claims pole position
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments