Brendon Hartley has scored his best driver’s rating this season, given a 7/10 by Autosport.com in their Japanese Grand Prix driver ratings. In its post-Grand Prix analysis, Autosport.com gives a rating and explanation for each F1 driver and in turn gives readers an opportunity to also rate each driver.
In giving Hartley a 7/10, the website explains…
“After a career-best qualifying performance, which he was justifiably delighted with, Hartley’s race fell apart in the first few seconds when he picked up a load of wheelspin. That allowed Gasly, Vettel and both Force Indias to pass him almost immediately. Struggles with both sets of tyres didn’t help matters, although Hartley perhaps should still have found his way back past Ericsson in the closing stages.”
Hartley’s team mate Pierre Gasly also scored a 7/10….
“Gasly was quick, and but for not having quite the same engine settings as his team-mate in Q3 he might well have been one place higher on the grid. The race didn’t come together for him as he continued to battle various minor engine-related glitches, which on top of tyre troubles meant he lost the final points position to Sainz.”
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and Haas’ Kevin Magnussen both scored the lowest at 5/10. Of Vettel, Autosport said:
“Vettel’s pace was not a problem, and the qualifying tyre error was not his. But he did make a big mistake at Spoon Curve on his one Q3 shot that left him ninth fastest. He recovered superbly early in the race before his misjudgement in passing Verstappen. The move was on, but Vettel was the architect of his own downfall as he slightly overestimated the front-end grip. Way too scrappy.”
So Hartley has certainly improved from his 5/10 in Russian. Let’s see how he goes in the US in ten days time.
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