Malaysian Grand Prix driver ratings

6 NICO ROSBERG
Mercedes F1 W06

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

Rating: 7

Rosberg had a much smoother start to his weekend than Hamilton, but was still a tenth slower in Q1 and "miles off" in the wet of Q3. He almost jumped Vettel's Ferrari at the start, but was rebuffed at Turn 1.

Not the number Hamilton expected to be parking next to in © XPB

After his early stop he could arguably have been more incisive in traffic, but was disadvantaged by being 'stacked' behind Hamilton in the pits.

44 LEWIS HAMILTON
Mercedes F1 W06

Start: 1st
Finish: 2nd
Strategy: 3 stops (medium/hard/medium/hard)

Rating: 9

Hamilton recovered well from engine and telemetry problems on Friday to set the pace in qualifying, in both wet and dry conditions, but was hampered in the race by ineffective strategy and the W06's appetite for tyres.

It would have been interesting to see whether Mercedes could have optimised its car better for Sunday had its Friday been smoother.

3 DANIEL RICCIARDO
Red Bull-Renault RB11

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

Rating: 6

After another tough Friday beset by technical problems, Ricciardo again pulled his weekend back together on Saturday and qualified fourth in the wet - probably as high as was possible.

The Red Bulls had to race each other for minor points © LAT

He damaged his front wing by hitting Rosberg at the start and struggled thereafter due to a worsening brake problem. A race to forget.

26 DANIIL KVYAT
Red Bull-Renault RB11

Start: 5th
Finish: 9th
Strategy: 3 stops (medium/medium/hard/hard)

Rating: 7

Renault returned to a testing specification of engine for this race, which made the RB11 more competitive over a single lap and allowed Kvyat to go fourth fastest on Friday.

He wasn't quite as strong as Ricciardo on Saturday, but beat him in the race, despite getting tipped into a spin by Nico Hulkenberg's Force India.

19 FELIPE MASSA
Williams-Mercedes FW37

Start: 7th
Finish: 6th
Strategy: 3 stops (medium/medium/medium/hard)

Rating: 7

Williams was in a race of its own here, in a no-man's land between Ferrari and the Renault-powered cars.

Massa wasn't as quick as Bottas in Q1, but outqualified his team-mate in the wet.

Bottas hunted down Massa at the end © LAT

He ultimately lost out to Bottas in the closing stages of the race, after a wheel-to-wheel fight.

77 VALTTERI BOTTAS
Williams-Mercedes FW37

Start: 8th
Finish: 5th
Strategy: 3 stops (medium/medium/medium/hard)

Rating: 8

Bottas changed his driving position to avoid a recurrence of the back problem he suffered in Australia. He was fourth fastest in Q1, but suffered for the team's "tyre operation" error in Q3.

That was followed by the "worst first lap I've ever had" as he dropped to 14th in the race, but he recovered brilliantly to fifth, overtaking his team-mate around the outside of Turn 5 on the penultimate lap.

5 SEBASTIAN VETTEL
Ferrari SF15-T

Start: 2nd
Finish: 1st
Strategy: 2 stops (medium/medium/hard)

Rating: 10

Form is temporary, class is permanent, and this looked like the Sebastian Vettel that won four consecutive world championships for Red Bull.

The return of the winning finger © XPB

He got as close as anyone to the Mercs in Q1 and almost denied Hamilton pole in the wet in Q3. By executing his race perfectly he ended the Scuderia's 34-race losing streak.

7 KIMI RAIKKONEN
Ferrari SF15-T

Start: 11th
Finish: 4th
Strategy: 3 stops (medium/medium/medium/hard)

Rating: 7

His strong race run on Friday was the first indication that Ferrari might genuinely challenge Mercedes here.

Saturday did not go to plan for Raikkonen, though, leading to a disagreement with his boss about the reasons for being delayed behind Marcus Ericsson's Sauber at a crucial moment in Q2.

A poor start and early puncture hampered his race, but he recovered well.

14 FERNANDO ALONSO
McLaren-Honda MP4-30

Start: 18th
Finish: Retired
Strategy: (hard/medium/retired)

Rating: 7

Alonso was not feeling fully fit after more than a month out of the car, but showed no after-effects from his crash once behind the wheel.

Faster than Button on Friday, he messed up Turn 6 on his quickest lap in Q1 so qualified behind his team-mate.

McLaren was able to mix it with the midfield more convincingly at Sepang © XPB

Was on course to beat the Force Indias until an ERS cooling problem intervened.

22 JENSON BUTTON
McLaren-Honda MP4-30

Start: 17th
Finish: Retired
Strategy: 3 stops (hard/medium/medium/medium/retired)

Rating: 7

Button complained of understeer on Friday, but was happy with gains made with the MP4-30 through a new front wing and floor package.

He required a fresh engine before Saturday's running and used it to good effect to outqualify Alonso.

Although he lost crucial time at his first stop, he was closing down Perez in the race before the turbo broke.

11 SERGIO PEREZ
Force India-Mercedes VJM08

Start: 14th
Finish: 13th
Strategy: 2 stops (medium/hard/medium)

Rating: 6

Quicker than Hulkenberg in the extreme heat of Friday, Perez was a handful of tenths slower in qualifying.

Hulkenberg was penalised for punting Kvyat into a spin © LAT

He used his trademark deft touch with the Pirelli tyres to make the finish of the race on two stops and beat his team-mate, despite a penalty for an unnecessary high-speed collision with Grosjean's Lotus.

27 NICO HULKENBERG
Force India-Mercedes VJM08

Start: 13th
Finish: 14th
Strategy: 3 stops (medium/medium/hard/hard)

Rating: 6

Fractionally slower than Perez on Friday, Hulkenberg turned the tables when it mattered on Saturday.

After a brilliant start to rise to seventh on the first lap, he ran as high as second by staying out under the safety car, but wasn't able to make the finish on two stops, and slipped back further thanks to a penalty for clattering into Kvyat at Turn 2.

55 CARLOS SAINZ JR
Toro Rosso-Renault STR10

Start: 15th
Finish: 8th
Strategy: 2 stops (medium/hard/hard)

Rating: 8

Sainz superbly matched Vettel's time (to the nearest thousandth of a second) in Q1 to be fourth fastest, but admitted to a "rookie error" lock-up at Turn 14 that caused him to ultimately qualify out of position.

Verstappen was one of the stars of qualifying © LAT

He started the race strongly and managed his tyres expertly to pull off a second consecutive points finish.

33 MAX VERSTAPPEN
Toro Rosso-Renault STR10

Start: 6th
Finish: 7th
Strategy: 3 stops (medium/hard/hard/medium)

Rating: 9

Weaker than Sainz over one lap in the dry, Verstappen qualified a superb sixth in the wet, just behind Kvyat.

He slipped back at the start but beat both Red Bulls in the race, diced with the Williamses, and repassed Sainz in the closing stages to finish as high as was reasonably possible.

8 ROMAIN GROSJEAN
Lotus-Mercedes E23

Start: 10th
Finish: 11th
Strategy: 3 stops (medium/medium/medium/hard)

Rating: 7

Revised turbo pipes and clips prevented a repeat of Lotus's Australian Grand Prix issues, but Grosjean suffered a separate engine problem that robbed the E23 of power and hampered his race.

Grosjean reckoned he could've beaten at least one Red Bull © XPB

He felt a "dangerous" move by Perez cost him "probably a point", but he lost six seconds for the resulting spin and that would not have been enough to haul him back ahead of Ricciardo's Red Bull for 10th.

13 PASTOR MALDONADO
Lotus-Mercedes E23

Start: 12th
Finish: Retired
Strategy: 3 stops (medium/medium/medium/hard/retired)

Rating: 5

Maldonado was fractionally slower than Grosjean in Q1 and dropped out in the drizzling mayhem of Q2.

A first-lap puncture consigned him to a race of his own at the back, until a brake-by-wire problem intervened. He was also penalised 10 seconds for speeding under the safety car.

28 WILL STEVENS
Marussia-Ferrari MR-04

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

Rating: N/A

The software glitches that prevented him appearing in Australia were solved for Malaysia. Stevens made a strong start on Friday, outpacing Merhi and lapping within the 107 per cent cut-off.

Merhi gave the revived Manor team its first grand prix distance © LAT

Unfortunately, his car developed a "fuel system problem" on Saturday, which could not be rectified in time for qualifying, or the race.

98 ROBERTO MERHI
Marussia-Ferrari MR-04

Start: 19th
Finish: 15th
Strategy: 3 stops (medium/hard/medium/medium)

Rating: 5

Merhi was slower than Stevens and spun into the gravel on Friday, so it was not the most impressive of starts.

He also failed to make the 107 per cent grade in qualifying, but was allowed to start the race on account of Stevens setting a time fast enough during practice in the other car. A thrice-lapped finish boosted the team's morale.

9 MARCUS ERICSSON
Sauber-Ferrari C34

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

Rating: 6

After a poor run in Australia, Ericsson looked strong all weekend, putting a Sauber into Q3 for only the second time in the last 21 races.

Ericsson's qualifying breakthrough was wasted with an early spin © LAT

Unfortunately, he undid all that good work with an overzealous attempt to repass Hulkenberg at Turn 1 on lap four, which deposited his C34 in the gravel.

12 FELIPE NASR
Sauber-Ferrari C34

Start: 16th
Finish: 12th
Strategy: 4 stops (medium/hard/hard/hard/medium)

Rating: 2

Nasr was disadvantaged by missing practice one, but the star performer of Melbourne never recovered. He struggled with the balance of the car all weekend and was way off Ericsson.

He hit Raikkonen on lap one and damaged his front wing, and was the only driver who needed four stops to make the finish.