Australian Grand Prix driver ratings

6 NICO ROSBERG
Mercedes F1 W06

Start: 2nd
Finish: 2nd
Strategy: 1 stop (soft/medium)

Rating: 6

Rosberg looked stronger than Hamilton through Friday practice, but lost his way on Saturday and messed up both of his crucial laps in qualifying - normally his strongest suit.

Hamilton got his title defence off to a flawless start © XPB

He did a decent job in the race, but needed to qualify ahead of Hamilton to have any chance of beating him. The runner-up had to admit his team-mate was simply better this weekend.

44 LEWIS HAMILTON
Mercedes F1 W06

Start: 1st
Finish: 1st
Strategy: 1 stop (soft/medium)

Rating: 10

A flawless performance from the reigning world champion. Hamilton abandoned an experimental set-up that hurt his form on Friday and produced two laps good enough for pole in qualifying - faster than even his own team expected.

Never troubled in the race, he simply managed the gap to Rosberg and brought it home.

3 DANIEL RICCIARDO
Red Bull-Renault RB11

Start: 6th
Finish: 6th
Strategy: 1 stop (soft/medium)

Rating: 7

Ricciardo did a superb job to qualify seventh, given the lack of running he completed in practice (due to hydraulic problems, an engine failure, and brake-by-wire difficulties).

Ricciardo was nowhere near last year's podium pace © LAT

But he lost ground to both Sainz and Nasr at the start and couldn't get back ahead of the Sauber, despite being in a quicker car.

26 DANIIL KVYAT
Red Bull-Renault RB11

Start: 12th
Finish: DNS
Strategy: N/A

Rating: 5

Red Bull's newcomer found it difficult to get comfortable with the RB11 through free practice and said he was driving "blind".

Nevertheless, he should have been much closer to team-mate Ricciardo in qualifying, but ended up nearly four tenths slower and 13th in Q2.

There was nothing he could do about the gearbox failure on his out-lap to the grid.

19 FELIPE MASSA
Williams-Mercedes FW37

Start: 3rd
Finish: 4th
Strategy: 1 stop (soft/medium)

Rating: 7

Williams reckoned Massa's qualifying lap was one of the most disappointing since he's been at the team, so the Brazilian was probably lucky to squeak ahead of the Ferraris.

Massa had to represent Williams solo © LAT

He reckoned poor timing of his pitstop cost him in his fight with Vettel, as it released him behind the slower Red Bull of Ricciardo, but the team said there was no other option.

77 VALTTERI BOTTAS
Williams-Mercedes FW37

Start: N/A
Finish: N/A
Strategy: N/A

Rating: 8

Bottas arguably did a heroic job to outpace Massa in Q2 while coping with a worsening back problem that first revealed itself during the session.

He struggled in Q3 (understandably), but still managed to qualify sixth before hobbling out of his car. He wanted to race on Sunday, but the FIA medical delegate said no.

5 SEBASTIAN VETTEL
Ferrari SF15-T

Start: 4th
Finish: 3rd
Strategy: 1 stop (soft/medium)

Rating: 9

Vettel achieved the maximum result possible on his Ferrari debut, saving his tyres behind Massa's Williams during the first stint, then unleashing enough speed to jump the Brazilian when he made his own stop a couple of laps later.

Vettel started life with Ferrari on the podium in Australia © LAT

He only gets marked down for failing to outqualify the Williams when he probably should have.

7 KIMI RAIKKONEN
Ferrari SF15-T

Start: 5th
Finish: Retired
Strategy: 2 stops (soft/soft/medium)

Rating: 8

Raikkonen wasn't pleased with his driving on Friday or Saturday, but only qualified fractionally behind Vettel.

He made an excellent start and almost passed his team-mate into Turn 1, but got squeezed out and then hit by Sainz's Toro Rosso, which damaged the floor and sent the car into anti-stall.

After that, Raikkonen recovered well to fifth before the team's late pitstop blunder.

20 KEVIN MAGNUSSEN
McLaren-Honda MP4-30

Start: 17th
Finish: DNS
Strategy: N/A

Rating: 5

McLaren's stand-in never even made it to the start, thanks to his Honda engine going bang spectacularly on his out-lap to the grid, so who knows what he could have done in the race.

Magnussen added to McLaren's problems with his practice crash © XPB

However, Magnussen qualified significantly slower than Button (to the tune of more than 0.6s), having been quicker in practice three. He also loses marks for his needless shunt in second practice.

22 JENSON BUTTON
McLaren-Honda MP4-30

Start: 16th
Finish: 11th
Strategy: 1 stop (soft/medium)

Rating: 8

The McLaren-Honda was so woefully off the pace that it's hard to gauge the ultimate quality of Button's performance, but he deserves enormous credit for his steely (and successful) defence of position from the faster Force India of Sergio Perez for 42 of the 58 laps.

Points were impossible without more attrition.

11 SERGIO PEREZ
Force India-Mercedes VJM08

Start: 14th
Finish: 10th
Strategy: 1 stop (medium/soft)

Rating: 3

Perez said it would be a "mega job" to score points at this event, given the lack of testing with the new VJM08.

Perez had a messy race, picking up a point due to a lack of finishers © XPB

He managed to collect the final one on offer, but drove poorly for it. Overtook Ericsson under the safety car, drove into Button, and also went off on his own. Not his finest race.

27 NICO HULKENBERG
Force India-Mercedes VJM08

Start: 13th
Finish: 7th
Strategy: 2 stops (soft/medium/soft)

Rating: 9

Hulkenberg messed up the final part of his fastest lap in qualifying, but he was flawless in the race.

While Force India has been up against it thanks to severe delays getting its new car ready, Hulkenberg again showed the class that makes him one of the team's most vital assets. He couldn't have finished any higher.

55 CARLOS SAINZ JR
Toro Rosso-Renault STR10

Start: 7th
Finish: 9th
Strategy: 1 stop (soft/medium)

Rating: 8

A highly accomplished F1 debut for the Formula Renault 3.5 champion. He qualified eighth, which was probably the maximum possible, then rose to fifth on the first lap, but was lucky to avoid damage after tagging Raikkonen's Ferrari into Turn 1.

Sainz scored on his debut and ran in the top five briefly © XPB

Incorrect software settings (not his fault) lost Sainz valuable places at the restart and a pitstop problem cost him 33s, without which he would have finished seventh.

33 MAX VERSTAPPEN
Toro Rosso-Renault STR10

Start: 11th
Finish: Retired
Strategy: 1 stop (medium/soft)

Rating: 7

The youngest driver ever to start a grand prix banished all fears he might be too young or too inexperienced for this game with a polished performance.

Verstappen was outqualified by his team-mate Sainz after a crucial mistake in Q2, but drove a strong first stint and was on for a points finish until engine failure intervened.

8 ROMAIN GROSJEAN
Lotus-Mercedes E23

Start: 8th
Finish: Retired
Strategy: (soft/retired)

Rating: 8

Lotus was odds-on to score points at this race, but a "loss of power" on the formation lap meant Grosjean never had the chance to deliver on the promising race run he completed on Friday.

Maldonado's first lap crash wasn't his fault this time © LAT

He perhaps should have outqualified Sainz with a better lap in Q3, but otherwise can't really be faulted.

13 PASTOR MALDONADO
Lotus-Mercedes E23

Start: 9th
Finish: Retired
Strategy: (soft/retired)

Rating: 6

Maldonado has a bad reputation for getting involved in accidents, but the one that eliminated him from this race at the first corner was certainly not his fault, pitched into the wall as he was by the consequences of contact between Sainz and Raikkonen.

He gets marked down for being slower than Grosjean through practice three and qualifying.

9 MARCUS ERICSSON
Sauber-Ferrari C34

Start: 15th
Finish: 8th
Strategy: 3 stops (medium/soft/soft/soft)

Rating: 5

Although he was hampered by suspension failure in practice two and a brake problem on Saturday morning, Ericsson still looked ragged as he qualified well adrift of team-mate Nasr.

Nasr made a spectacular debut after a tricky weekend for Sauber © LAT

He used a three-stop strategy to score points, but dropped too much time around his pitstops and lost touch with Hulkenberg's Force India, which shouldn't have finished 15s up the road.

12 FELIPE NASR
Sauber-Ferrari C34

Start: 10th
Finish: 5th
Strategy: 1 stop (soft/medium)

Rating: 10

A superlative F1 debut. Nasr kept his head in difficult circumstances, built up speed carefully through practice, and did a great job to come within a tenth of making Q3.

His superb start gained crucial track position, and he kept the faster car of Ricciardo at bay to record the highest finish for a Brazilian debutant in F1 history.

28 WILL STEVENS
Marussia-Ferrari MR-04

Start: N/A
Finish: N/A
Strategy: N/A

Rating: N/A

Stevens probably would feel worse about this weekend if he hadn't already made his grand prix debut for Caterham in Abu Dhabi last November.

Plenty of time stood around for the Manor pair this weekend © LAT

He was pleased with his own performance in passing the mandatory timed test for exiting his car's cockpit safely. Otherwise, did an excellent job standing around and watching the race.

98 ROBERTO MERHI
Marussia-Ferrari MR-04

Start: N/A
Finish: N/A
Strategy: N/A

Rating: N/A

Merhi is still waiting to make his grand prix debut, thanks to the ongoing software problems that confined the revived Manor/Marussia team to the garage all weekend.

Hopefully the squad will get its cars up and running in time for Merhi to change that fact before his concurrent Formula Renault 3.5 campaign gets under way on April 25.