Round 19: Mexico
F1i's driver of the weekend: Max Verstappen (Red Bull) - 9.5/10
Verstappen had an easy afternoon in Mexico, taking the lead into the first corner and then calmly managing the race from there with Hamilton second for Mercedes. Perez crashed out at the start after making contact with pole sitter Leclerc and the race was red-flagged after a huge accident for Haas' Kevin Magnussen. In the ratings, Verstappen was top and Norris and Hamilton tied on 9.0 while Albon, Ricciardo and Leclerc were equal on 8.5, Ricciardo celebrating capturing his first points of the season.
"Another win, another record claimed by Max Verstappen" is how we reported the outcome, with 16 Grand Prix victories under his belt in a single season. "Simply phenomenal. "Before that, despite sweeping the practice sessions, Max had ended up sideswiped by Ferrari in qualifying. But it's not like anyone wasn't still expecting him to take the lead of the race at some point, and the main question was: how long would it take? About 800 metres, it turned out.
"Missing out on pole and the fastest lap bonus point means he doesn't get a perfect ten in this week's ratings, but in every other respect it was yet another stunning performance from Verstappen, just as we've come to expect from the three-time world champion. How many more victories are there to come before the end of the season? And in how many of those can we find some reason for still not giving him a perfect ten? At this rate we'll have to turn the ratings up to 11 for 2024."
Round 20: Brazil
F1i's driver of the weekend: Lando Norris (McLaren) - 9.5/10
Verstappen chalked up yet another victory with what proved a simple win in Sao Paulo. Norris pushed the Red Bull hard after the McLaren took advantage of a multi-car accident at the start to leap into P2 from sixth on the grid, and Alonso beat Perez to P3 in a breathless late battle to the finish line which was reflected in their respective ratings (9.0 to 8.5). By comparison, it was a bad performance for Mercedes (wth Hamilton and Russell rating just 7.0 each).
This was the final race of the season to have two drivers tied at the top of the ratings, with Norris and Verstappen both on 9.5. We've come down on the side of Norris on this occasion - he was second in both the Sprint and the GP after that thrilling flying start, and he took fastest lap of the race while will have irked Verstappen who really doesn't like it when other people play with his toys.
"Did Lando Norris come into the weekend predicting that Sao Paulo wasn't McLaren's sort of track and they would struggle to do well?" we asked. "He usually does, after all, and you might even have fallen for the flannel after practice where both McLaren drivers were a long way adrift at the bottom of the timesheets.
"The MCL60 was much quicker in qualifying trim but the team mistimed his final Q3 lap and Norris was caught out by the weather and yellow flags, finishing a disappointing seventh. He said he felt the McLaren had had the potential to take pole, and proved for all to see in the Showdown. However, he still wasn't enough to beat the dominant Max Verstappen in the Sprint itself unlike Piastri in Qatar..
"His compromised qualifying meant he looked unlikely to have another chance on Sunday, but a brilliant start saw him fly straight into second place and he was ready to have a second bite at Verstappen at the restart. He tried his best but the Red Bull is simply in another league at the moment."
