Mexico City Grand Prix driver ratings: How Max Verstappen and others performed

Max Verstappen – 9.5/10

Not quite a perfect weekend but a superb Sunday. Started fifth after a grid penalty and took full advantage of the Ferrari squabble ahead before holding off Hamilton through two restarts to claim his third win in four races.

Lewis Hamilton – 9.5/10

A brilliant first Ferrari pole and arguably his strongest weekend with the team. Played his part in both drivers going too deep at Turn Four on lap one, but recovered to push Verstappen all the way and also set the fastest lap.

Kimi Antonelli – 9/10

The pressure was enormous and he handled it superbly. Managed an excellent first stint on the soft tyre, produced a decisive move on Leclerc after the red flag and finished on the podium to become Formula 1’s youngest-ever world champion.

Charles Leclerc – 7/10

There was plenty of speed after topping Friday practice and qualifying third, but Sunday’s mistakes were costly. His off-track pass earned a penalty and the huge lock-up after the red flag dropped him off the podium when Ferrari had the pace to fight for victory.

Lando Norris – 7.5/10

Very quick at times, including topping final practice and Q2, but sixth on the grid left him with too much to do. His race pace was excellent and he finished right on Leclerc’s gearbox, although losing places on the opening lap hurt his chances.

George Russell – 6/10

Missing pole by just 0.009 seconds was excellent and the lack of deployment at the start wasn’t his fault. But spinning Isack Hadjar and picking up a 10-second penalty was a significant mistake on a day when much more was available.

Liam Lawson – 8.5/10

An excellent recovery from the pit lane after his qualifying disqualification for a technical breach. Had already shown top-10 pace on Saturday and fought all the way through to seventh after penalties were applied.

Gabriel Bortoleto – 7/10

Didn’t have the outright pace of Nico Hulkenberg in qualifying but kept himself in contention during a chaotic race. Stayed clean when several around him didn’t and was ultimately rewarded with eighth.

Isack Hadjar – 8/10

Another strong weekend that deserved more. Qualified seventh and had his race badly compromised when Russell spun him on lap one, so recovering to ninth after penalties were applied was decent.

Ryo Hirakawa – 8.5/10

An extremely impressive Formula 1 debut at very short notice. Started 18th, kept his head through all the interruptions and passed both Williams drivers late on before post-race penalties promoted him into the points.

Alex Albon – 6/10

Williams was again fighting towards the back but Albon at least led the team’s challenge. Eleventh in the final order was his best result for 13 races, although much of that came through penalties elsewhere.

Carlos Sainz – 5.5/10

Another frustrating weekend in a difficult run of form. Finished behind Albon and was unable to turn a relatively chaotic race into the sort of opportunity Williams desperately needed.

Oscar Piastri – 5/10

There was some good recovery work after the shock Q2 exit and he fought his way to seventh on the road. But the collision that ended Arvid Lindblad’s race was judged to be avoidable and the resulting 10-second penalty caps a weekend with too many errors.

Nico Hulkenberg – 5.5/10

Reaching Q3 was a good start to the weekend and he was firmly in the fight for points. Running into the back of Oliver Bearman after the restart undid that work and earned him a 10-second penalty.

Franco Colapinto – 6.5/10

A much better performance than the 15th looks on paper. Ran eighth on the road after a well-executed race, but failing to slow sufficiently for yellow flags cost him 10 seconds and the points he had earned.

Sergio Perez – 6.5/10

A spirited home race on his 300th Grand Prix start. Made up six places on the opening lap and ran as high as 13th before a slow pit stop and other issues knocked him backwards.

Pierre Gasly – 5.5/10

Qualifying ninth was excellent and he crossed the line in the points despite suffering power issues during the race. But failing to slow for double-waved yellow flags is a serious mistake and the resulting 30-second penalty dropped him to 17th.

Arvid Lindblad – 8/10

A very strong weekend despite the DNF. Qualified eighth, raced confidently in the points and had just got ahead of Piastri before the McLaren driver was judged responsible for the collision that sent him into the barriers.

Oliver Bearman – 7/10

A solid recovery after qualifying 14th and he looked capable of fighting for points after passing Bortoleto. His retirement was through no fault of his own after Hulkenberg hit him at the restart.

Valtteri Bottas – 5.5/10

Started at the back because of power-unit penalties and had made up ground before his frightening accident. The crash was caused by a car failure rather than driver error, so there is little reason for the DNF itself to hurt his score.

Lance Stroll – 4.5/10

Qualified on the back row and barely had a race to judge. A battery-related problem forced Aston Martin to retire the car after only five laps.

Fernando Alonso – 5.5/10

Another weekend ruined by reliability. The MGU-K problem compromised qualifying and then reappeared almost immediately in the race, forcing him out after five laps.