Spanish Grand Prix driver ratings

6 NICO ROSBERG
Mercedes F1 W07

Start: 2nd
Finish: Retired
Strategy: (soft/retired)

Rating: 4

The championship leader looked in charge until Hamilton delivered a sucker-punch lap in Q2. Rosberg made a bold pass to take the lead at Turn 1, but then lost power, which allowed Hamilton to retaliate.

Jacques Villeneuve called Rosberg's defence of position "ruthless". Perhaps Rosberg knows he has to be to get the better of Hamilton. But the consequences here were very costly for Mercedes.

44 LEWIS HAMILTON
Mercedes F1 W07

Start: 1st
Finish: Retired
Strategy: (soft/retired)

Rating: 4

Hamilton struggled on Friday, but following Rosberg's set-up lead transformed the car and he utilised it to stunning effect to bag pole. That was as good as it got, though.

Outfoxed at Turn 1, Hamilton then collided with his team-mate as he tried to take advantage of Rosberg's sudden loss of power. He paid a big price for plunging into a rapidly disappearing gap.

5 SEBASTIAN VETTEL
Ferrari SF16-H

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

Rating: 8

Vettel looked a threat to Mercedes after final practice, but fell away badly as Ferrari misread changing track conditions and slipped behind Red Bull in qualifying.

He challenged Verstappen at the start but lost out to Sainz with big wobble at Turn 3. Strong early pace and an aggressive strategy got Vettel ahead of Ricciardo, but a super short middle stint compromised his victory chances.

7 KIMI RAIKKONEN
Ferrari SF16-H

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

Rating: 8

Amid Ferrari's difficulties in qualifying it's easy to overlook the fact that Raikkonen did a decent job to beat Vettel by 0.221s. His race started badly, but this was ultimately one of his better recent efforts.

Raikkonen found himself second once Vettel's strategy had taken Ricciardo out of the equation. He put Verstappen under enormous pressure in a tyre management marathon, but the youngster wouldn't crack.

19 FELIPE MASSA
Williams-Mercedes FW38

Start: 18th
Finish: 8th
Strategy: 3 stops (soft/medium/soft/medium)

Rating: 7

Massa loses marks for failing to escape Q1, which he blamed on the team sending him out too late. Williams argued he shouldn't have needed another run in a car quick enough for Q3...

He turned that disaster into a decent result at least. A smart strategy carried him from 19th at the end of lap one to on Perez's tail at the flag.

77 VALTTERI BOTTAS
Williams-Mercedes FW38

Start: 7th
Finish: 5th
Strategy: 2 stops (soft/medium/medium)

Rating: 8

Another good job by Bottas in qualifying. Best-of-the-rest behind Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari is about where Williams is right now.

He lost out to Sainz's fast-starting Toro Rosso on the first lap, but repassed it at the first round of pitstops. Thereafter it was a lonely race for Bottas, whose Williams wasn't fast enough to join the fight at the front.

3 DANIEL RICCIARDO
Red Bull-Renault RB12

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

Rating: 8

Ricciardo almost got upstaged by Verstappen in qualifying, but pulled out a special effort when it counted to put the youngster back in his place.

He controlled the race early on after Mercedes' implosion, but was undone when Red Bull fell for Ferrari's 'tortoise and hare' strategic trap. The attempts to repass Vettel at the end were overzealous, but at least he had a go.

33 MAX VERSTAPPEN
Red Bull-Renault RB12

Start: 4th
Finish: 1st
Strategy: 2 stops (soft/medium/medium)

Rating: 10

Verstappen looked comfortable in his new car immediately, and was the fastest Red Bull driver for most of qualifying - except at the very end. Still, to be fourth fastest and four tenths off Ricciardo represented a solid start.

The race fell into his lap thanks to the Mercedes colliding and Ricciardo's strategy woe. But the way he closed it out under enormous pressure was outstanding.

11 SERGIO PEREZ
Force India-Mercedes VJM09

Start: 9th
Finish: 7th
Strategy: 2 stops (soft/medium/medium)

Rating: 9

Perez felt significant updates for Spain were a decent step forward for Force India, which is still lacking rear grip.

He outqualified Hulkenberg again and chased hard after Sainz and Bottas in the race, but the VJM09 wasn't capable of finishing higher. The Mexican's final stint was as long as Raikkonen's, but Perez managed his tyres well to fend off the rapidly closing Williams of Massa.

27 NICO HULKENBERG
Force India-Mercedes VJM09

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

Rating: 6

Hulkenberg didn't feel as comfortable with the Force India update package as his team-mate, and missed out on Q3 to Alonso's McLaren by just 0.011s, which was disappointing.

He lost ground on the first lap and then retired from a second successive race, thanks to a fire caused by an oil leak. Yet another race to forget in forgettable season so far for Hulkenberg.

20 KEVIN MAGNUSSEN
Renault RS16

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

Rating: 5

Magnussen did another great job to split the Haas drivers in qualifying, in a car that is underdeveloped and lacks power, but he was rightly disappointed with his race.

He struggled massively on the hard tyre in his third stint and had to pit again. He passed Nasr's Sauber late-on, but collided with team-mate Palmer on the last lap, which earned a 10s penalty and cost Magnussen a place.

30 JOLYON PALMER
Renault RS16

Start: 17th
Finish: 14th
Strategy: 2 stops (soft/medium/hard)

Rating: 7

Palmer suffered another terrible Friday - sitting out first practice for Ocon to drive and then suffering a puncture in second practice that cost him most of that session thanks to floor damage.

In the circumstances he did a decent job to almost make Q2, missing out by less than two tenths. His race was solid, and narrowly beating his team-mate was a good effort, but finishing behind a Sauber was disappointing.

26 DANIIL KVYAT
Toro Rosso-Ferrari STR11

Start: 13th
Finish: 10th
Strategy: 3 stops (soft/medium/medium/soft)

Rating: 7

Kvyat found adjusting to the STR11 tricky, but was still ultimately closer to Sainz in qualifying than Verstappen was to Ricciardo...

The early part of Kvyat's race was tough, but the second half was much better as he found his feet, using a tow from the leaders at the end to pick off Gutierrez for the final point. A solid start to the rebuilding process.

55 CARLOS SAINZ JR
Toro Rosso-Ferrari STR11

Start: 8th
Finish: 6th
Strategy: 2 stops (soft/medium/medium)

Rating: 10

This was Sainz's most complete weekend since he arrived in F1. He put the Toro Rosso as high up as it merited on the grid, and briefly fought with the Ferraris in the race after a stellar opening lap.

Sainz got jumped by Bottas's Williams in the pits, but that was inevitable really. He chased hard thereafter and recorded his best result yet. He couldn't have done more.

9 MARCUS ERICSSON
Sauber-Ferrari C35

Start: 19th
Finish: 12th
Strategy: 3 stops (soft/soft/medium/medium)

Rating: 9

This was a strong grand prix from Ericsson, who felt the lap that put him 0.377s clear of team-mate Nasr in qualifying represented one of his best Saturdays in F1.

Sunday was pretty good too. He went wide at Turn 3 on lap one and lost places, but made them back up and more with an aggressive strategy. Beating both Renaults in the race was an excellent effort.

12 FELIPE NASR
Sauber-Ferrari C35

Start: 20th
Finish: 14th
Strategy: 2 stops (soft/medium/medium)

Rating: 7

Nasr reckoned the heat of qualifying compared to practice caught his engineers out, and he was fighting oversteer throughout the session. He also suffered some locking from new front brakes fitted beforehand.

The Brazilian felt sticking to a two-stop strategy compromised his race, and thought he should have had priority on team tactics after jumping Ericsson on lap one. He is pleased at least with the general behaviour of his current chassis after a problematic start to the year.

14 FERNANDO ALONSO
McLaren-Honda MP4-31

Start: 10th
Finish: Retired
Strategy: (soft/medium/medium/retired)

Rating: 8

Alonso got the MP4-31 hooked up really well to bag Honda's first top-10 qualifying result since it returned to Formula 1. Unfortunately that was as good as it got.

He lost ground by running wide at Turn 3 on lap one, but was chasing after team-mate Button and looking good for a points finish until a "software command issue" shut down his engine.

22 JENSON BUTTON
McLaren-Honda MP4-31

Start: 12th
Finish: 9th
Strategy: 2 stops (soft/medium/medium)

Rating: 8

Button wasn't too far away from Alonso in qualifying, missing Q3 by just 0.156s having struggled with oversteer in practice. He couldn't explain the strong start that vaulted him ahead of Alonso and Hulkenberg on lap one, but thereafter struggled for grip.

Button still managed to dive past the ailing Haas of Gutierrez near the end, and hold off the charging Kvyat to bag points.

88 RIO HARYANTO
Manor-Mercedes MRT-05

Start: 22nd
Finish: 17th
Strategy: 2 stops (medium/medium/soft)

Rating: 6

Haryanto was a little further away from team-mate Wehrlein in qualifying here compared to last time out in Russia, but at least this time he got to finish the race.

He felt starting on the medium tyre put him in too much traffic and also wasn't happy with his pace on that tyre. The Indonesian was roughly two tenths behind Wehrlein when it counted on this track.

94 PASCAL WEHRLEIN
Manor-Mercedes MRT-05

Start: 21st
Finish: 16th
Strategy: 2 stops (soft/medium/medium)

Rating: 8

Wehrlein expected a tough weekend at Barcelona, even with upgrades fitted to the MRT-05. This is a high-downforce circuit, and the Manor is not a high-downforce car. He feels the front end is too strong relative to the rear, which hurts rear grip and tyre life.

Wehrlein endured a lonely race, as Manor was cut adrift from Sauber. All he could do was beat his team-mate, which he did.

8 ROMAIN GROSJEAN
Haas-Ferrari VF-16

Start: 14th
Finish: Retired
Strategy: (soft/soft/medium/soft/retired)

Rating: 6

After a dream start this season is turning into a battle for Grosjean, who is still struggling with the balance of his car in a way his team-mate is not.

He jumped Hulkenberg and Kvyat on lap one, but then it all unravelled: "lost the radio, lost the front wing, lost the brakes" and he was forced to retire. He wants to see if a new chassis can transform his fortunes.

21 ESTEBAN GUTIERREZ
Haas-Ferrari VF-16

Start: 16th
Finish: 11th
Strategy: 2 stops (soft/soft/medium)

Rating: 7

Gutierrez suffered more technical trouble on Friday, which he feels harms his reputation as a driver. He was quicker than Grosjean in Q1, but disappointingly went slower in Q2 as rivals improved.

His race was a slow burner, though it included some feisty battling with his team-mate. A monster 36-lap final stint on mediums almost netted a points finish, but he just ran out of rubber at the end.