Brazilian Grand Prix driver ratings

1 SEBASTIAN VETTEL
Red Bull-Renault RB10

Start: 6th
Finish: 5th
Strategy: 3 stops (soft/medium/medium/medium)

Rating: 7

This was one of the few weekends when Vettel can be said to have had the edge on Ricciardo, albeit only by the tiniest of margins.

The champion drove a decent race, although going off while giving Magnussen too much room on the opening lap was a needless mistake.

3 DANIEL RICCIARDO
Red Bull-Renault RB10

Start: 9th
Finish: DNF
Strategy: retired (soft/medium/medium/retired)

Rating: 6

It was not as strong a weekend as we've come to expect from Ricciardo, who was nonetheless only just behind Vettel in qualifying after struggling for balance.

Even before his retirement with a suspension problem, he never quite managed to get into the thick of the battle.

6 NICO ROSBERG
Mercedes F1 W05

Start: 1st
Finish: 1st
Strategy: 3 stops (soft/medium/medium/medium)

Rating: 9

Rosberg stood up superbly to the pressure of a must-win race weekend and always looked to have the edge on Hamilton on qualifying pace - though ultimately only just.

That advantage didn't hold in the race, but Rosberg's nerve did even when under intense pressure.

Hamilton was quicker, but Rosberg did what he needed to do.

44 LEWIS HAMILTON
Mercedes F1 W05

Start: 2nd
Finish: 2nd
Strategy: 3 stops (soft/medium/medium/medium)

Rating: 7

Not quite as quick as Rosberg on qualifying pace, but Hamilton had the edge on race pace.

Although he closed the gap brilliantly, he was never in a position to mount a serious passing move, especially given that he could afford to be second.

He had stunning race speed, but is marked down because of the spin.

7 KIMI RAIKKONEN
Ferrari F14 T

Start: 10th
Finish: 7th
Strategy: 2 stops (soft/medium/medium)

Rating: 8

This was one of Raikkonen's stronger weekends of the year in terms of pace, as he qualified just a tenth behind Alonso.

He drove superbly to pull off a two-stopper, almost beating Alonso, although the costly pitstop problem was potentially a result of him clouting the quick-release jack by over-running his box.

14 FERNANDO ALONSO
Ferrari F14 T

Start: 8th
Finish: 6th
Strategy: 3 stops (soft/medium/medium/medium)

Rating: 8

Another combative weekend from Alonso, albeit one in which he found himself under a little more pressure from Raikkonen than usual.

He drove a consistently strong race as normal, and had some good moments in battle. He arguably should have been closer to Vettel, though.

8 ROMAIN GROSJEAN
Lotus-Renault E22

Start: 14th
Finish: 17th
Strategy: 3 stops (medium/medium/medium/soft)

Rating: 9

As usual, Grosjean wrung the neck of the Lotus and his qualifying lap was very good considering the machinery.

Starting on the mediums paid off and he was in with a good shout of points when a cylinder in his Renault V6 gave out.

A performance worthy of greater reward.

13 PASTOR MALDONADO
Lotus-Renault E22

Start: 16th
Finish: 12th
Strategy: 3 stops (soft/medium/medium/medium)

Rating: 7

Maldonado wasn't quite able to reach the level of his team-mate, although front-tyre warm-up problems held him back in qualifying.

He failed to pull off a planned two-stopper and his pace wasn't always consistent, but he ended up with a solid enough result.

20 KEVIN MAGNUSSEN
McLaren-Mercedes MP4-29

Start: 7th
Finish: 9th
Strategy: 3 stops (soft/medium/medium/medium)

Rating: 6

It's a sign of the progress Magnussen has made that qualifying 39 thousandths of a second behind his experienced team-mate and having a tricky race seems so underwhelming.

His pace was fundamentally fine, but Sunday afternoon did expose the fact he still has some way to go in terms of tyre management.

22 JENSON BUTTON
McLaren-Mercedes MP4-29

Start: 5th
Finish: 4th
Strategy: 3 stops (soft/medium/medium/medium)

Rating: 9

Again, Button turned in a very strong performance, especially considering he had a miserable Friday.

He qualified as well as he could have done and, in a car that wasn't quick enough to capitalise on Massa's problems, finished in probably the best position possible, too.

27 NICO HULKENBERG
Force India-Mercedes VJM07

Start: 12th
Finish: 8th
Strategy: 3 stops (medium/medium/medium/soft)

Rating: 9

The Force India is not the car it once was relative to the opposition. That this was arguably Hulkenberg's strongest weekend of the second half of the season says a lot.

He executed his race well and was rewarded with a solid points finish after a race-leading cameo.

11 SERGIO PEREZ
Force India-Mercedes VJM07

Start: 18th
Finish: 15th
Strategy: 3 stops (soft/medium/medium/medium)

Rating: 5

Thanks to a seven-place grid penalty for his Austin first-lap crash and not running on Friday courtesy of reserve driver Daniel Juncadella's shunt, Perez was right up against it.

Unsurprisingly, he wasn't able to match Hulkenberg and had a mundane race. Always on the back foot.

21 ESTEBAN GUTIERREZ
Sauber-Ferrari C33

Start: 11th
Finish: 14th
Strategy: 3 stops (soft/medium/medium/medium)

Rating: 7

After a troubled Friday, Gutierrez hauled his Sauber, which had been built up around a new chassis following electrical problems, to 11th on the grid.

It was inevitable he wouldn't be able to maintain that in the race, but he held his own in the mid-pack and outperformed Sutil.

99 ADRIAN SUTIL
Sauber-Ferrari C33

Start: 13th
Finish: 16th
Strategy: 3 stops (medium/medium/soft/medium)

Rating: 6

The news in the build-up to the weekend that he did not have a Sauber seat for 2015 came as a surprise, and Sutil's week didn't get much better.

In qualifying, Gutierrez had a healthy advantage, while a turbocharger and MGU-K change forced the German into a pitlane start that even a solid race drive could not make up for.

25 JEAN-ERIC VERGNE
Toro Rosso-Renault STR9

Start: 15th
Finish: 13th
Strategy: 3 stops (soft/medium/medium/medium)

Rating: 7

Vergne was on the back foot after managing just five laps during Friday practice, and he wasn't able to recover in time for qualifying.

His race performance was fine in the circumstances, finishing seven seconds behind Kvyat, but he was unable to make much progress.

26 DANIIL KVYAT
Toro Rosso-Ferrari STR9

Start: 17th
Finish: 11th
Strategy: 3 stops (medium/medium/medium/soft)

Rating: 7

Again, Kvyat started the weekend strongly, although qualifying was always going to be a lost cause given the engine-change grid penalty carried over from Austin.

He worked hard in the race but could not quite force his way into the points.

19 FELIPE MASSA
Williams-Mercedes FW36

Start: 3rd
Finish: 3rd
Strategy: 3 stops (soft/medium/medium/medium)

Rating: 8

Massa looked the quicker of the Williams drivers all weekend and duly secured third on the grid.

The speed remained in the race, but while he claimed an emotional third place, he did make two mistakes that, on another day, would have cost him positions.

77 VALTTERI BOTTAS
Williams-Renault FW36

Start: 4th
Finish: 10th
Strategy: 3 stops (soft/medium/medium/medium)

Rating: 6

A difficult weekend for Bottas, who didn't quite have the final fraction of a second that Massa had in his pocket and then struggled with myriad minor problems, both tyre- and seatbelt-related.

He salvaged a point, but even factoring in the difficulties, not his most spectacular weekend of the year.