Baku magic continues to infect Sergio Perez, who took his second victory of the season from Max Verstappen, whilst Charles Leclerc secured Ferrari’s first trip to the podium for 2023 with third.
Fernando Alonso got his elbows out to finish fourth ahead of Carlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton, with Lance Stroll, George Russell, Lando Norris and Yuki Tsunoda rounding off the top 10.
Total-Motorsport.com rate all 20 drivers based on their qualifying, sprint and race performances at the Azerbaijan 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 Baku.
2023 Azerbaijan GP Driver Ratings
Sergio Perez 9/10
Sprint race finish: 1st; Started: 3rd – Finished: 1st
Perez’s special relationship with Baku continued after taking the Sprint before a fortuitous safety car put him in a commanding position which he didn’t relinquish.
Max Verstappen 7/10
Sprint race finish: 3rd; Started: 2nd – Finished: 2nd
Frustrating weekend for the reigning world champion, who never seemed at ease, enduring two frustrating races where he struggled to challenge Perez for victory.
Charles Leclerc 7/10
Sprint race finish: 2nd; Started: 1st – Finished: 3rd
After the misery of Melbourne, Leclerc finally opened his 2023 account in Baku with a pair of poles and a trip to the podium despite the Ferrari’s limitations
Fernando Alonso 7/10
Sprint race finish: 6th; Started: 6th – Finished: 4th
Baku was far from easy for Alonso, who had to shake off an intermittent DRS system which scuppered his Qualifying, but he got his elbows out in both races securing more valuable points.
Carlos Sainz 5/10
Sprint race finish: 5th; Started: 4th – Finished: 5th
Whilst his teammate shined, Sainz looked far from comfortable in Baku, picking up solid points but was some distance behind the lead quartet.
Lewis Hamilton 6/10
Sprint race finish: 7th; Started: 5th – Finished: 6th
Mercedes were back to their pre-Melbourne form in Baku, but Hamilton still managed to salvage some points from a track which didn’t suit the W14.
Lance Stroll 7/10
Sprint race finish: 8th; Started: 9th – Finished: 7th
Solid weekend for Stroll, who recovered well from a difficult qualifying and got his elbows to pick up more points.
George Russell 6/10
Sprint race finish: 4th; Started: 11th – Finished:8th
Russell had an interesting time in Baku, getting his elbows out in the Sprint, but ultimately couldn’t do much from 11th on Sunday.
Lando Norris 7/10
Sprint race finish: 17th; Started: 7th – Finished: 9th
More points for Norris, who continued to outperform his car’s potential but was unable to push it further up the pack after spending plenty of the race inspecting Hulkenberg’s Haas.
Yuki Tsunoda 7/10
Sprint race finish: DNF; Started: 8th – Finished: 10th
Great weekend’s work from Tsunoda, securing his first Q3 appearance of 2023 and picking up another point after a testing race. Pity the Sprint was over before it began.
Oscar Piastri 6/10
Sprint race finish: 10th; Started: 10th – Finished: 11th
Dealing with a stomach bug made this weekend a real test of stamina for Piastri, but despite his second Q3 appearance, the race was fruitless.
Alex Albon 6/10
Sprint race finish: 9th; Started: 12th – Finished: 12th
Albon and Williams are on the right track, but Baku was another case of what could have been missing out on points in the Sprint before enduring a quiet race.
Kevin Magnussen 4/10
Sprint race finish: 11th; Started: 16th – Finished: 13th
After a week where his F1 future was questioned, Magnussen couldn’t do much after fluffing his lines in Qualifying, dooming the race.
Pierre Gasly 3/10
Sprint race finish: 13th; Started: 17th – Finished: 14th
Gasly usually goes well around Baku, but this weekend was one of his worst after destroying the Alpine in Qualifying, ending all chance of points.
Esteban Ocon 5/10
Sprint race finish: 18th; Started: 19th [pit lane] – Finished: 15th
One to forget for Ocon, who had no luck or pace. Gambling on the hards was worth a shot, but it didn’t work out.
Logan Sargeant 3/10
Sprint race finish: N/A; Started: 14th – Finished: 16th
Until Saturday, Sargeant had looked in the groove around Baku, but a crash on Saturday morning wrecked his momentum.
Nico Hulkenberg 5/10
Sprint race finish: 15th; Started: 20th [pit lane] – Finished: 17th
The heroics of Melbourne seemed very far away for Hulkenberg as a lowly qualifying and race, which included a gamble on hards, meant he could achieve little.
Valtteri Bottas 4/10
Sprint race finish: 16th; Started: 13th – Finished: 18th
Although he managed to break into Q2, nothing went right for Bottas in Baku, who was boxed three times during the race.
Zhou Guanyu 5/10
Sprint race finish: 12th; Started: 15th – Finished: DNF
Not much to ride home about for Zhou, a Q1 exit before making up ground in the Sprint, only for a technical failure to end a quiet race early.
Nyck de Vries 1/10
Sprint race finish: 14th; Started: 18th – Finished: DNF
A catalogue of errors from De Vries, who did himself no favours by crashing in Q1 wrecking Tsunoda’s Sprint by squeezing him into the wall before a clumsy mistake ended his race early.
