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POWER RANKINGS: No perfect 10s in Spain – but who’s on top after Barcelona?


The 2022 Spanish Grand Prix was a tough race for many, Charles Leclerc retiring as Max Verstappen emerged on top. But how did the judges rate the drivers?

How it works

  • Our five-judge panel assess each driver after every Grand Prix and score them out of 10 according to their performance across the weekend – taking machinery out of the equation

  • Our experts’ scores are then averaged out to produce a race score – with those scores then tallied up across the season on our overall Power Rankings Leaderboard (at the bottom of the page)


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Russell squeezed everything out of the updated Mercedes W13 this weekend. Starting fourth, he ended up leading after Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen went off at Turn 4 but inevitably lost out to Verstappen – after a stunning wheel-to-wheel battle. Cooling issues forced Russell to back out at the end of the race yet he still clinched a brilliant podium in Spain. As a result, our judges gave him the highest score of anyone.

READ MORE: ‘This is the start of our season’ says podium finisher Russell after duelling with Verstappen in Spain


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Leclerc spun and recovered with a sensational lap to take pole in Spain, and seemed to have everything under control, batting off a Verstappen challenge at the start for what seemed an insumountable lead. That was, until his Ferrari engine gave way and sent Leclerc retreating to the garage. The Monegasque driver had done pretty much everything right up until that point.

TREMAYNE: Why Ferrari need to steady the ship after their first major wobble of 2022


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Despite Hamilton having been voted Driver of the Day, he didn’t rank #1 with the judges. Still, the seven-time champion received a lofty score having recovered from the back after a small collision with Magnussen. Hamilton was set for P4 but had to back off at the end of the race, finishing fifth despite his early setback. A drive worthy of a champion…

READ MORE: Hamilton ‘would have raced for the win’ in Spain without Magnussen contact, says Wolff


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Another great performance from Verstappen, but one that wasn’t deemed his best of the season by the judges. The Dutchman’s DRS failed both in Saturday’s qualifying and Sunday’s race, setting him back, but he was given carte blanche to attack Russell by Red Bull and eventually won the race by a comfortable 13 seconds to take the championship lead.

READ MORE: Verstappen says he enjoyed ‘really cool fight’ with Russell on the way to Spain victory, as he addresses DRS issue


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Perez finished behind Verstappen but was convinced he had the pace to win on Sunday. Despite qualifying behind his team mate, Perez ended up ahead as Verstappen made a mistake at Turn 4 and the Mexican wanted to attack Russell to win – but ended up having to swap positions with the reigning champion. Team orders came into play on Sunday but the Mexican kept his chin up to back up a very useful Red Bull one-two.

READ MORE: Horner wary of renewed Mercedes pace, as he reveals plan to discuss team orders ‘openly’ with Perez


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Norris was outqualified by Ricciardo but the Briton’s pace was far superior, seeing the McLaren driver start 11th but finish eighth as the Australian ended up 12th – a nasty bout of tonsillitis notwithstanding. Taking machinery into account, as usual, Norris received a favourable score from the judges.

PODCAST: McLaren’s James Key on working with Ricciardo and Norris – and his plans to take the team back to the front


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Similar to Norris, Ocon outqualified his experienced team mate – Fernando Alonso qualifying 17th…



Read More: POWER RANKINGS: No perfect 10s in Spain – but who’s on top after Barcelona?