We Grade F1 Drivers For The 2016 Season So Far

We’ve had 12 Formula 1 races so far this season, with nine more still to go. F1 is now on its month-long summer break, so we thought we’d see just how each driver has done so far and grade them (in the high school A-F scale) on their efforts!

Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton: A

The British driver hasn’t had an ideal season, with some tough starts and compromised results early in the year. He’s now found his stride and holds the championship lead. Some mistakes have crept in (Spain, Turn 3, obviously) but overall it’s been a very good year so far for Hamilton.

Nico Rosberg: B+

Rosberg won four races in a row to kick off the season and spent most of it at the top of the drivers’ standings. But he’s failed to reach the same heights since then. He’s put in some strong drives, but some results have been helped by misfortune and there have been some puzzling moments – Austria on the final lap being the obvious example.

Ferrari

Sebastian Vettel: B

It’s clear Ferrari is once again no match for Mercedes, but Vettel has done a pretty good job with the machinery at his disposal. There have been some problems and missed opportunities, while his team-mate has beaten him on occasion too. He may not have matched his successes of 2015 and Red Bull may be catching fast, but Vettel’s performed decently so far.

Kimi Raikkonen: C+

The recently-married Iceman has had a solid 2016 up to the summer break, but his driving still lacks the spark we saw five or so years ago. The Finn appears more comfortable with this year’s car and that’s showed, with some great drives. But we’ve also seen some anonymous and underwhelming performances too. The inconsistency continues.

Red Bull Racing

Daniel Ricciardo: A+

Ricciardo appears rejuvenated and full of confidence this year. Things got off to a little bit of a shaky start but as Red Bull has found its feet with the RB12, so has the Aussie. He should have won a race this season and he has excelled in recent races. His consistency means Ricciardo’s now third in the standings. I’m excited to see what he does during the rest of the year.

Max Verstappen: A

The Dutch youngster scored a sensational victory on his Red Bull debut in Spain and has had a surprisingly positive season so far since then. His early races with Toro Rosso were decent but lacked some of the fire we saw in his rookie campaign, but that soon returned when he was promoted to the parent team.

Williams

Felipe Massa: C-

I’d probably best describe Massa’s season so far as “OK”. The Brazilian racer has suffered a disappointing run of races, not helped by Williams losing ground in the competitive order. Massa’s early form was solid, but his performances remain fairly underwhelming. Perhaps it’s time to bring someone else in at Williams?

Valtteri Bottas: B

Bottas hasn’t had a particularly easy season. Like Massa, he’s struggled at times with the FW38 – particularly on high-downforce tracks. But the Finn has generally done a more consistent, competitive job and that’s proved in the standings.

Force India

Nico Hulkenberg: C+

I’ve always rated Hulkenberg pretty highly but my expectations have decreased over the course of the last season and a half. He puts in the odd impressive result, had some missed opportunities and obviously there are limitations with the VJM09, but the German has also put in some rather anonymous performances too.

Sergio Perez: B+

On the other side of the garage, Perez has impressed. The two Force Indias have scored points on the same number of occasions but Perez has snapped the high-profile results and made the most of them. The Mexican scored podiums in Monaco and Baku, while his qualifying form has also been good.

Toro Rosso

Daniil Kvyat: E+

I really feel for Kvyat. In Germany he was clearly a broken man, knowing his performances weren’t good enough. The Russian had such a positive result in China but from there it all went wrong. He was demoted to Toro Rosso and has regularly lagged behind his less experienced team-mate. Kvyat needs to get his act together, as there are Red Bull juniors waiting in the wings for that STR seat.

Carlos Sainz Jr: B

Verstappen got all the attention at Toro Rosso last year but Sainz actually performed very well. He’s kept that up in 2016, with several strong drives and solid results so far. He’s regularly out-paced Kvyat and enjoyed some great battles on track. Good job, Carlos. Good job.

Renault

Kevin Magnussen: C

Driving for the Renault F1 team in 2016 is no easy task but Magnussen has done a solid job. He was a late call-up to replace our favourite, Pastor Maldonado, but continues to dominate the inter-team battle at the Enstone-based outfit, which is all he can really hope for with such a difficult car.

Jolyon Palmer: D-

Sure, the RS16 isn’t a great car to drive and Renault is in a year of recovery after last year’s disaster, but Palmer hasn’t quite met the mark so far. He’s been frequently out-qualified and out-raced by Magussen and came close to scoring a point in Hungary before he spun. The Brit is a rookie and mistakes happen but he needs to find some more speed in the second part of 2016.

McLaren

Fernando Alonso: B+

The Spaniard is one of those drivers who can drag a car far higher up the order than it really deserves to be. We’ve seen that many times during the course of the season but the performance is still not quite there for McLaren. Nevertheless, it’s been a more competitive year for the team and Alonso has had some great drives.

Jenson Button: C+

Could this be Button’s final season at McLaren? Will he go to Williams? Plenty of unanswered questions, plenty of time to speculate. But it’s been a decent year so far for the 2009 champ, he’s proved to be a good match for Alonso and has scored a good haul of points. Well, for a McLaren driver anyway…

Sauber

Felipe Nasr: D

Sauber has had a disastrous 2016 so far, largely thanks to financial struggles and a lack of car development. It’s basically last year’s racing machine. So it’s no surprise Nasr has failed to stand out and quietly impress even with a bad car. But as the year has progressed he’s also struggled to match his team-mate.

Marcus Ericsson: D+

It was pretty close between the two Saubers but Ericsson edges it for his better results and qualifying edge. The Swede had an underwhelming 2015 and regularly lagged behind Nasr but the tables seem to have turned.

Manor

Pascal Wehrlein: B+

Here’s an example of a driver racing with a bad car, but impressing nonetheless. Wehrlein was highly rated coming into his rookie season and up to the summer break, he’s certainly delivered. With some great qualifying efforts and feisty drives, including a 10th place in Austria, he definitely deserves a strong grading.

Rio Haryanto: D

On occasion, Haryanto has out-qualified and beaten Wehrlein but all too often we’ve found him a little way off the pace. It’s clear his Indonesian backing helped Haryanto secure the seat but complications with funding mean it doesn’t matter how he performed, because he has now lost his seat to Esteban Ocon anyway.

Haas F1

Romain Grosjean: B-

No one expected Haas F1 to have such an encouraging start to their debut season. Grosjean played a crucial role in these strong results with a couple of stunning drives in the early races. Haas lost its way a little but Grosjean has consistently delivered, despite the car being far from where he wants it to be.

Esteban Gutierrez: C-

The Mexican driver has had some bad luck in 2016. There have been a couple of missed opportunities for points but he’s done a good job on his return to F1, after a year out. Gutierrez will be hoping to end the year on a high.

Were we too kind? Or a bit too harsh? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.