The Azerbaijan Grand Prix was yet another instant classic in a blockbuster 2024 Formula 1 season that’s produced thriller after thriller, as Oscar Piastri survived a race-long battle with Charles Leclerc for a richly deserved second win – so how did he do in the 2024 Azerbaijan GP driver ratings?
And as Leclerc‘s tyres evaporated, a gripping three-way battle for the final two podium spots came to an abrupt halt thanks to Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez‘s full-throttle crash on the penultimate lap in Baku.
Meanwhile Lando Norris dodged a cataclysm in the drivers’ championship, recovering from 15th on the grid to beat Max Verstappen and claim the fastest lap point for good measure. But how did the rest of the F1 grid perform?
Total-Motorsport.com’s Azerbaijan GP Driver Ratings assesses all 20 drivers based on their Qualifying and Grand Prix performances.
F1 2024 Azerbaijan GP Driver Ratings
Check out the Total-Motorsport.com F1 2024 Azerbaijan GP driver ratings below.
Oscar Piastri: 9.5/10
Qualifying: 2nd – Race: 1st
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Never has anyone seemed calmer announcing ‘probably the most stressful weekend of my life’. The driver who’s scored more points than any other in the last seven races, Piastri’s middle leg of the season had still somehow been defined by Lando Norris more than the man himself.
But no more. Piastri‘s only slight Baku blot was his qualifying margin to Leclerc but he was virtually flawless in the grand prix in attack and defence. The most impressive win this season? It’s in the
Charles Leclerc: 6/10
Qualifying: 1st – Race: 2nd
Another pole position Leclerc has failed to turn into a win. Caught napping by Piastri for the overtake, should’ve been able to make the pressure count at some point in the next 30 laps and was lucky to hold onto some silverware in the closing laps.
Monster Saturday performance though.
George Russell: 7.5/10
Qualifying: 5th – Race: 3rd
Fortunate to get on the podium but maximised what was on offer in Azerbaijan. Russell lost ground at the start but qualified well ahead of Verstappen and well within a tenth of third.
Lando Norris: 7/10
Qualifying: 16th – Race: 4th
5/10 for qualifying, 9.5/10 for the grand prix. The stunned reaction to Norris’ Q1 elimination says a lot for his burgeoning reputation – it was such a costly moment.
Yes, the yellow flag played a part. But anyone who’d watched any amount of free practice could’ve predicted a late yellow flag would take a high-profile casualty, such was the frequency of driver errors on a low-grip surface at one of the trickiest circuits in F1.
Still, to beat Verstappen from that position was some drive.
Max Verstappen: 5.5/10
Qualifying: 6th – Race: 5th
For once, Verstappen didn’t maximise the Red Bull. This is probably the lowest rating he’ll get this season, but the Dutchman was outqualified and outraced by Perez, simple as. At least he finished though.
Fernando Alonso: 7.5/10
Qualifying: 8th – Race: 6th
Let’s by honest, Aston Martin‘s finest moment of 2024 probably happened in the last week and it wasn’t in Baku.
Still, they’ve only finished as high as sixth once since China and Alonso pulled a storming lap out of the bag to reach Q3 on a track that didn’t play to Aston‘s strengths
Alex Albon: 8.5/10
Qualifying: 10th – Race: 7th
Albon secured Williams‘ best finish of the season, and showed strong pace on the hard tyres to hold up a host of much faster machinery driven by Verstappen, Norris and Russell.
Could’ve earned half a point just for having to deal with *that* qualifying moment.
Franco Colapinto: 8.5/10
Qualifying: 9th – Race: 8th
Well this was unexpected. Nothing in Colapinto‘s junior career pointed to him taking to F1 this comfortably, but they don’t race on paper and the Argentine just looked effortless around the Baku City Circuit, reaching Q3 and on the verge of points before the late chaos.
Lewis Hamilton: 4.5/10
Qualifying: 7th – Race: 9th
A weekend to forget for Hamilton. He’s finished outside the top 10 purely pace once since 2009, but that tally was set to be doubled as he was running behind seven different constructors with three laps to go.
Oliver Bearman: 7/10
Qualifying: 11th – Race: 10th
This must be mission accomplished for Bearman. A first full F1 race weekend under his belt, and a largely incident-free one apart from his FP3 brush with the barriers that was only due to inexperience.
Russell‘s trophy cabinet notwithstanding, Bearman was the biggest beneficiary of the crash on the penultimate lap, gaining three positions and a second top-10 finish from two races.
But he needed to have performed well to get that fortune, and Bearman showed nothing suggest he isn’t ready to step up to Haas full-time in 2025, regardless of his F2 record.
Nico Hulkenberg: 7/10
Qualifying: 13th – Race: 11th
Don’t be fooled: Hulkenberg was running tenth behind Albon so would’ve scored a big haul for Haas if his front wing hadn’t been damaged by debris at the death. Qualified a couple of tenths behind Bearman.
Pierre Gasly: 6.5/10
Qualifying: DSQ (13th) – Race: 12th
Gasly was quicker than Ocon, though it’s not how much that says given the disruption to the taller Frenchman’s weekend. Disqualified from an impressively high grid slot,
Daniel Ricciardo: /10
Qualifying: 15th – Race: 13th
Well out of the Haas–Williams–Hamilton battle (what a ludicrous state of affairs), one that RB should be well-represented especially given Stroll was out of the picture.
Zhou Guanyu: 5/10
Qualifying: 18th – Race: 14th
A nice promotion from the 16-20th reign that Zhou has inhabited since June, but lagged six-tenths behind Bottas in qualifying ahead of only the luckless Ocon.
Esteban Ocon: 6/10
Qualifying: 19th – Race: 15th
Tempting to give Ocon N/A given he had one of the more cursed weekends in recent F1 history. Had virtually no track time in free practice so it’s not a surprise he finished behind Gasly, even if losing out to a Sauber is particularly tragic.
Valtteri Bottas: 4.5/10
Qualifying: 17th – Race: 16th
Had a shot of reaching Q2, but it’s the second time in three races that Bottas has been in the bottom two finishers.
Sergio Perez: 7.5/10
Qualifying: 4th – Race: DNF
Partly to blame for The Incident, which was such a shame because this had been Perez’s best weekend since… His last visit to Baku. Seriously.
He’d barely put a foot wrong up to that point, yet ultimately it counts for nothing and it’s reasonable to expect a reversal to the norm going forward.
Carlos Sainz: 6/10
Qualifying: 3rd – Race: DNF
His crash with Perez absolutely reeked of unranked F1 online lobby and was one that both drivers could’ve avoided. A slightly less spectacular weekend than the Mexican, and was only in contention for beating Leclerc because his teammate went all-in for the win.
Lance Stroll: 5.5/10
Qualifying: 14th – Race: DNF
Puncture on lap one, retired on lap 47 with a brake issue. Rotten Sunday afternoon after a poor Saturday more of Stroll‘s own making.
Yuki Tsunoda: /10
Qualifying: 12th – Race: DNF
Tsunoda will be scoreless for over two months by the time Singapore rolls around, in a quite that probably would get more attention if the rest of the season wasn’t quite so unhinged.
Caused his own retirement by shutting the door on Stroll, frustratingly Tsunoda could’ve scored in Baku.
