Max Verstappen may have hated everything about this weekend’s off-the-track events, but on-track, it was a familiar story as the triple-world champion took victory in the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Charles Leclerc came close to victory but eventually had to settle for second ahead of Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon, who drove a mighty race from 16th to fourth.
Total-Motorsport.com’s driver ratings for the 2023 Las Vegas GP assesses all 20 drivers based on their qualifying and race performances in Interlagos.
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 driver ratings solely look at how well the drivers got on throughout the weekend in Las Vegas.
F1 Driver Ratings – Las Vegas GP
Max Verstappen 8/10
Qualifying: 3rd – Race: 1st
Not straightforward for Verstappen, incurring a five-second time penalty for squeezing Leclerc at Turn 1 before needing a new front wing after contact with Russell on his way to win number 18 of 2023.
Charles Leclerc 9/10
Qualifying: 1st – Race: 2nd
Tyre issues denied Leclerc his first win of 2023, but nonetheless, he could hold his head high after a brilliant weekend’s performance, which saw him snatch second from Perez on the last lap.
Sergio Perez 7/10
Qualifying: 12th – Race: 3rd
Mission accomplished for Perez, who secured second place in the drivers’ championship on a weekend where he will be wondering if victory could have been on the cards if he had defended more vigorously.
Esteban Ocon 7.5/10
Qualifying: 17th – Race: 4th
A superb comeback drive for Ocon, who drove like a man possessed to take his first top-five finish since finishing third in May’s Monaco GP.
Lance Stroll 7.5/10
Qualifying: 14th [started 19th] – Race: 5th
Stroll needed to make amends after earning a five-place grid drop for clumsily overtaking under yellows in FP3, picking up ten places at the start and paving the way to an excellent fifth-place finish.
Carlos Sainz 8/10
Qualifying: 2nd [started 12th] – Race: 6th
Misfortunes come in threes for Sainz, who ran over a manhole cover in FP1, picking up a ten-place grid penalty for an exhaust change, before having his race ruined after being hit at Turn 1.
Lewis Hamilton 6/10
Qualifying: 11th – Race: 7th
Not a smooth weekend for Hamilton after being knocked out in Q2 and then having to come through the field following contact with Piastri, which gave him a puncture.
George Russell 6.5/10
Qualifying: 4th – Race: 8th
Russell looked strong in Las Vegas but threw away a good result by making contact with Verstappen, earning him a five-second penalty.
Fernando Alonso 6/10
Qualifying: 10th – Race: 9th
Back to reality for Alonso as an opening lap incident caused by overeagerness into Turn 1 sent him to the back. Nonetheless, he was able to finish strong, salvaging two points from a tricky weekend.
Oscar Piastri 7/10
Qualifying: 19th – Race: 10th
Piastri needed to roll the dice at Las Vegas after a poor qualifying, and the gamble paid off, securing an unlikely point after a strong drive where he got his elbows out.
Pierre Gasly 8/10
Qualifying: 5th – Race: 11th
Gasly did everything right in Las Vegas, qualifying an excellent fifth and running comfortably in the top five during the race before tyre issues meant he was a sitting duck.
Alex Albon 7/10
Qualifying: 6th – Race: 12th
Albon put his Williams amongst the top 10 after a strong qualifying and opening stint before tyre issues, and a rare mistake at Turn 5 meant he left Vegas empty handed.
Kevin Magnussen 7/10
Qualifying: 9th – Race: 13th
Magnussen’s first Q3 appearance since Singapore showed he still had plenty of talent left in him, but sadly, he left the weekend unrewarded due to Haas’ lack of pace.
Daniel Ricciardo 6/10
Qualifying: 15th – Race: 14th
Vegas’ biggest fan didn’t strike the jackpot as AlphaTauri struggled to get temperature into the tyres on the slick surface, condemning Ricciardo to a quiet race.
Zhou Guanyu 5/10
Qualifying: 18th – Race: 15th
After having his lap ruined by the Verstappen-Ocon squabble in Q1, Zhou had plenty of work to do in the race, but despite a stint in the top 10, he was unable to end his points drought.
Logan Sargeant 6.5/10
Qualifying: 7th – Race: 16th
Sargeant continues to make progress as an F1 driver and got into Q3 for only the second time in his career before driving a steady race where, ultimately, the lack of pace let him down.
Valtteri Bottas 7/10
Qualifying: 8th – Race: 17th
Bottas produced a superb Qualifying, dragging his Alfa Romeo into Q3, but the chance of points went just after being caught up in the opening lap drama, which wrecked the Finn’s race.
Nico Hulkenberg 5/10
Qualifying: 13th – Race: DNF
Nothing went right for Hulkenberg despite making up for a Q2 exit with a brief run in the points before a race spent going backwards ended early with a power-unit issue.
Yuki Tsunoda 3/10
Qualifying: 20th – Race: DNF
A horror weekend for Tsunoda, who was massively off the pace before a gearbox problem ended his race early.
Lando Norris 5.5/10
Qualifying: 16th – Race: DNF
Norris’ run of podiums came to an end in Vegas as a lack of grip made him lose control of his McLaren on Lap 3, sending him into the barriers, fortunately escaping injury.
