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The 2025 F1 Qatar GP was a race of massive consequences for the championship as Max Verstappen picked up his 7th win of the season. The Dutch driver made the most of a strategic gamble that went wrong for McLaren.
In P2, we had a distraught Oscar Piastri and a jubilant Carlos Sainz. The race was not the most action-packed and was slightly processional. It was still challenging in many ways for the drivers, and there were quite a few who stood up to the challenge and others who failed.
So how did each driver fare in the F1 Qatar GP? Let's take a look.
Criteria
- Performance in both qualifying and races is judged.
- Results achieved compared to the car's potential.
- Mistakes made over the weekend.
- Relative performance against teammate.
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2025 F1 Qatar GP: Rating the drivers
McLaren
Lando Norris
Rating: 7.5
An error in qualifying followed by a race that wasn't executed perfectly. A P4 isn't nearly as big a disaster as it could have been for Norris, but it's not the best Qatar GP for the driver.
Oscar Piastri
Rating: 9.5
Oscar Piastri's face after the race said it all. He knew he had a golden opportunity to eat into the championship deficit, but it was taken away from him. The Australian looked angry and frustrated, and he had every right to be. It would be interesting to see what the 2025 F1 Abu Dhabi GP holds for him.
Ferrari
Charles Leclerc
Rating: 9
The Ferrari didn't deserve to make it to Q3 in either of the qualifying sessions. It was only Charles Leclerc performing miracles in that car that made it happen. With that being said, a forgettable F1 Qatar GP for the driver, not for the lack of trying.
Lewis Hamilton
Rating: 4
An absolute disaster from start to finish, where Lewis Hamilton once again got exposed compared to his teammate. The British driver is hoping that the season comes to an end, but it's not looking good within that team.
Red Bull
Max Verstappen
Rating: 10
Max Verstappen is absolutely correct when he says that McLaren and its drivers have been handing over points to him in the championship and the battle should have been over a few races back.
With that being said, it takes special skills to nail every session and extract the best from the car every time. Verstappen has put himself in these positions and is reaping the rewards from it. The F1 Qatar GP was just another example of it.
Yuki Tsunoda
Rating: 6.5
Yuki Tsunoda scored points in both races and even outqualified Max Verstappen for the sprint. The driver is doing all that he can, but if reports are to be believed, then he's on his way out of the team.
The Qatar GP was a good reminder, however, of what Tsunoda can do in that car.
Mercedes
George Russell
Rating:7.5
Left something on the table in qualifying, and then a bad start meant he left something on the table in the race. Russell would have hoped for a better return on a track where the Mercedes did appear to be a decently fast car.
Kimi Antonelli
Rating: 8
Kimi Antonelli essentially lost out on a podium due to his pit stop being slower than Carlos Sainz's. Once the position was conceded, there was nothing he could do after that other than just follow him home. Overall, this was another positive weekend, though, for the Italian.
Aston Martin
Fernando Alonso
Rating: 7.5
Both the sprint and the race showed that the Aston Martin under Fernando Alonso has no business being in the position he qualified the car.
The Spaniard has spins in both races, but points-scoring finishes in both races are a decent enough result for the driver at the F1 Qatar GP.
Lance Stroll
Rating: 5
Lance Stroll had a weekend to forget once again, and even though he tried to do something different in the race, the result was just not there, unfortunately.
Alpine
Pierre Gasly
Rating: 7
Strong qualifying followed a slightly unfortunate incident with Nico Hulkenberg. There would have been points on the table for both drivers had the incident not happened, but that's just the way the cookie crumbles sometimes.
Franco Colapinto
Rating: 5
Franco was quite clearly a step behind his teammate throughout the Qatar GP and was nowhere close to points. The Argentinian is slowly starting to regress within the team again, which is an alarming sign for the driver.
Haas
Esteban Ocon
Rating: 5
Poor qualifying followed by a race execution that was less than acceptable meant that the weekend went away from Esteban Ocon. The French driver is not comfortable with the car whatsoever, and the race weekend showed that.
Ollie Bearman
Rating: 7.5
Ollie Bearman was once again the benchmark within Haas. The young driver was set to score a few points before the pitstop mishap destroyed his race.
Racing Bulls
Liam Lawson
Rating: 5
Liam Lawson didn't do himself justice with the kind of weekend he was able to put together at the F1 Qatar GP. The Kiwi has slowly regressed in the teammate dynamics at Racing Bulls, and even though he keeps the seat for 2026, he'll need to be very careful.
Isack Hadjar
Rating: 8
Another race, another reminder of why Isack Hadjar is getting promoted to Red Bull (reportedly). The driver makes sure he gets the most out of the car, and then at the same time he ends up securing points without making many mistakes.
The puncture in the F1 Qatar GP on Sunday was not his fault, but the race weekend execution before that was admirable.
Williams
Alex Albon
Rating: 5
Unlike his teammate, Alex Albon did not have a great weekend. The Thai driver is slowly starting to get overshadowed by Sainz, and the Qatar GP was another example of that.
Carlos Sainz
Rating: 9
Carlos Sainz has now officially taken over as the lead driver at Williams. Two podiums in the second half of the season and the F1 Qatar GP were the perfect description of a team that worked in harmony.
The Spaniard will be happy with what he achieved in the end, and this is just him building up the momentum for what's coming.
Sauber
Nico Hulkenberg
Rating: 7.5
A weekend of 'what could have been?' for Nico Hulkenberg. He had the pace, he was making up places, and he had jumped Charles Leclerc's Ferrari already. If only Gasly's Alpine didn't understeer into him, a strong result would definitely be on the table.
Gabriel Bortoleto
Rating: 6
A weekend where the Brazilian was just a step behind his teammate. The last few races have seen Bortoleto try and play catch-up against his teammate, as the rookie has been a bit behind for the most part.
