Max Verstappen ended his Albert Park hoodoo with a commanding victory in a wild 2023 Australian Grand Prix, as Lewis Hamilton bagged his first podium of the season with a second place finish.
Fernando Alonso had a trouble-free run to third, whilst his Aston Martin teammate Lance Stroll capped off a dramatic start to the season with fourth ahead of the Red Bull of Sergio Perez and McLaren‘s Lando Norris.
Total-Motorsport.com rate all 20 drivers based on their qualifying and race performances at the 2023 Australian GP.
Team errors such as a slow pit stop or poor strategy do not affect our ratings as they are no fault of the drivers. Instead, our ratings solely look at how well the drivers got on throughout the weekend in Melbourne.
Max Verstappen 9/10
Started: 1st – Finished: 1st
It hasn’t been a straightforward weekend for Verstappen, but he leaves Melbourne with another win in his pocket and a small cushion over his teammate in the drivers’ championship.
Lewis Hamilton 8/10
Started: 3rd – Finished: 2nd
It’s been a long time coming, but it seems Hamilton finally refound his rhythm leading for a quarter of the race before settling in second, securing Mercedes’ first podium of 2023.
Fernando Alonso 7/10
Started: 4th – Finished: 3rd
Win number 33 is still slightly adrift, but a hattrick of solid podiums for Alonso will be a suitable tonic to end his best start to a season for a decade.
Lance Stroll 6/10
Started: 6th – Finished: 4th
Solid weekend for Stroll, picking up more good points despite not being fully fit. However, a slight off at the second restart could have ended disastrously.
Sergio Perez 5/10
Started: 20th [from the pitlane] – Finished: 5th
From a masterclass in Jeddah to a myriad of problems in Melbourne for Perez, who blotted his copybook in Q1, forcing him to play catch up in the race, salvaging a top-five finish.
Lando Norris 7/10
Started: 13th – Finished: 6th
After beating himself up following a difficult qualifying, Norris rebounded nicely with some points and good racecraft to put the silver lining on what has been a nightmare start to the year.
Nico Hulkenberg 8/10
Started: 10th – Finished: 7th
Strong weekend for Hulkenberg, who can be pleased to have beaten his teammate again and scored his first F1 points of the season.
Oscar Piastri 6/10
Started: 16th – Finished: 8th
Not the homecoming Piastri had hoped for, but he will be relieved to finally get on the board after spending a good chunk of the race rooted to 11th.
Zhou Guanyu 5/10
Started: 17th – Finished: 9th
Alfa Romeo and Zhou had struggled for pace in Melbourne and looked unlikely to score points until opportunity knocked at the restart and opened his account for 2023.
Yuki Tsunoda 7/10
Started: 12th – Finished: 10th
Points at last for Tsunoda after a testing weekend where it looked like his best efforts would be unrewarded but with cars around him being wiped out, luck finally smiled down on him.
Valtteri Bottas 3/10
Started: 19th [from the pitlane] – Finished: 11th
It was a sluggish weekend for the adopted Australian, as a mistake in Q1 and a pitlane start condemned him to a pointless race.
Carlos Sainz 6/10
Started: 5th Finished: 12th
Sainz had been on course for a decent haul of points after a quiet race, but after locking up into Turn 1 and hitting Alonso, he dropped to 12th following a five-second penalty being applied.
Pierre Gasly 7/10
Started: 9th – Finished: 13th
The history books may say otherwise, but Gasly had a great weekend in Melbourne, out-qualifying Ocon again and driving a solid race until he was wiped out at the second restart.
Esteban Ocon 4/10
Started: 11th – Finished: 14th
An unhappy weekend for Ocon, who was out-qualified and outraced by his teammate. Contact with De Vries and Gasly at the second restart capped off a dreadful race.
Nyck De Vries 4/10
Started: 15th – Finished: 15th
A quiet weekend for De Vries, but finally, progress was made with his first Q2 birth since Monza last year. Unfortunately, contact with Ocon at the restart ruined his race.
Logan Sargeant 3/10
Started: 18th – Finished: 16th
There are few positives to take from this weekend for Sargeant, as a mistake in Q1 set the tone for a fruitless race that ended in the gravel trap at the second restart.
Kevin Magnussen 4/10
Started: 14th – Finished: 17th
After his Jeddah heroics, Melbourne was a thump back to earth for Magnussen, who simply didn’t have the pace before ending his day early with a kiss of the barrier.
George Russell 6/10
Started: 2nd – Finished: DNF
A weekend of two halves for Russell, enjoying a superb qualifying before leading the race’s opening stages. But an unlucky strategy call and engine failure ended all chance of beating Verstappen.
Alex Albon 4/10
Started: 8th – Finished: DNF
What might have been for Albon if a clumsy mistake during the race hadn’t washed away all hope of converting a good qualifying into hard-earned points.
Charles Leclerc 5/10
Started: 7th – Finished: DNF
Everything went wrong for Leclerc in Melbourne, who drew the short straw in qualifying after losing the tow to Sainz before Stroll tagged him on Lap 1 to end his race after one sector.
