Max Verstappen and Red Bull continued to dominate in Mexico. But how does the rest of the field stack up in this week’s F1 Power Rankings?
This weekend’s race in Mexico City was perhaps one of the most boring of the season so far. Especially when compared to last season’s Championship battle between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. Verstappen won the race by around 15 seconds and managed to lap the back marker of Nicholas Latifi twice before the race was over.
Ferrari was nowhere to be found after having to turn down the engine power due to issues with overheating during Friday practice. They finished 5th and 6th, and almost a minute off the pace of Verstappen. While the front of the Grand Prix was more parade-like, the midfield, as is typical, continued to supply the action.
How the Power Rankings are Decided
If this is your first time here, a quick reminder on how the rankings are compiled:
- We started the series off with every driver’s points entering ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix. In the first edition, a quarter of their Drivers’ Championship points were calibrated along with the weekly activity.
- This week we calculated each driver’s weekend performance based on the following:
- Qualifying results compared to their starting position in the standings.
- Places gained or lost during the race.
- Any change of position in the Championship standings.
- The points scored in the current Grand Prix
- With any ties determined by the race results
The Rankings
This week rather than focus on the top ten we’ve elected to focus on some of the movers. Verstappen remains top, as expected, Perez increases his gap over Leclerc, while Hamilton and Russell both pulled farther ahead of Sainz. Norris and Ocon remain ‘best of the rest’. Following being reinstated into 7th place for the US Grand Prix, Alonso and Vettel are tied in our rankings after Mexico City. Vettel retains 9th on account of finishing ahead of Alonso this past weekend.
1. Max Verstappen
2. Sergio Perez
3. Charles Leclerc
4. Lewis Hamilton
5. George Russell
6. Carlos Sainz
7. Lando Norris
8. Esteban Ocon
9. Sebastian Vettel
The Honey Badger was in a hurry! 🍿#MexicoGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/UmWcqgumGE
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 31, 2022
10. Fernando Alonso
Alonso has struggled all year with the reliability of his car. And with another DNF on Sunday you could see the frustration on the Spaniard as he got out of his car. Looking ahead to next year, it could be more of the same for him when he joins Aston Martin. They have been sup-and-down with pace this season. The Two-Time Champion will be looking to get back to his former ways and look to get back into podium fights in the future.
11. Daniel Ricciardo (+4)
Daniel Ricciardo was the big winner this weekend, jumping up four places from last week’s F1 Power Rankings. He had a strong race after the rumor began swirling he would be going back to Red Bull as their Reserve Driver next season. Ricciardo has struggled all season but you wouldn’t have known that looking at his race performance this weekend. He was absolutely flying on the soft tire at the end of the Grand Prix. With just two races remaining he will be looking to continue this strong performance to help prove to teams he can still compete in F1.
12. Valtteri Bottas (+8)
While Ricciardo won Driver of the Day, Bottas was the biggest climber in our F1 Power Rankings this week. Up eight spots after a terrible day at the US Grand Prix, he returned to his early season form when he was outperforming what many thought the Alfa Romeo was capable of. What is Bottas’ potential within this team? It is hard to say, but it is clear he deserves to keep his seat in F1 for years to come.
13. Pierre Gasly (+1)
Pierre Gasly had another strong week finishing just outside the points in P11. This season has been a lot of ups and downs for the Frenchman and will be looking to end his last season in the Red Bull family on a high note. Next year when he joins his home country team Alpine, he will be joining a side that has the potential to be fighting for podiums, if they can get their reliability up. Despite back-to-back weeks having to serve penalties, Gasly’s strong drives keeps him in contention for the points.
14. Zhou Guanyu (-2)
Zhou’s rookie season has seen him shine at times while also experiencing the downs of adjusting to F1. He has defiantly gotten better as a driver as the season goes on and will likely continue to improve in the next few years. How far can he go in F1 and what can the team achieve with himself, Bottas, and the new link with Audi down the road?
15. Kevin Magnussen (-2)
After three finishes in the points in the first four rounds, Magnussen has often not had the car to challenge the midfield. He is 13th in the Championship, but it was a rough outing for Haas. With Haas announcing recently they are getting an influx of cash from new lead sponsor MoneyGram, hopefully, the team will put together a more competitive car for next season.
16. Lance Stroll
17. Alex Albon
18. Yuki Tsunoda (-7)
Yuki was this weekend’s biggest loser, dropping seven places in the F1 Power Rankings. He was having a strong race until he was knocked out by Daniel Ricciardo while attempting to pass him. This ended Yuki’s race early and Ricciardo was given a 10-second time penalty. Yuki will be returning next season to Alpha Tauri and will be joined by rookie Nyck de Vries. After a really strong 2021, Yuki will be happy to see this season come to a conclusion.
19. Mick Schumacher (-1)
Mick Schumacher has not had the best luck since joining F1 last season. He has driven in a Haas that hasn’t been as competitive as the team would hope. Hass hasn’t announced who will be in the second seat next year and Sunday didn’t help Mick’s case. He likely needs two strong finishes to end the season to keep his seat for next season. He now has the longest streak of finishing outside the points on the grid – nine races.
20. Nicholas Latifi (-1)
Latifi’s days in F1 are coming to an end. He has continually struggled in races and in Sunday’s Mexican Grand Prix, he was the only drier to be lapped twice by Max Verstappen. The current rumor is that next year he will be driving in America in IndyCar where he hopefully will find better luck.
