Feature

F1i's Driver Ratings for the 2024 Japanese GP

Alexander Albon (Accident, Lap 1): 6/10
Alex Albon didn't have any particularly strong stand-out moments this weekend, finishing outside the top ten in FP1 and FP3, and not setting a time in the wet second session. In qualifying he managed to make the first cut but it was a close-run affair which meant he started the Grand Prix from 14th immediately behind the RB of Daniel Ricciardo, and the pair made contact in the opening corners. Both went off into the barriers at turn 3 meaning there's not much we can say about their race. Replays showed that Albon did little wrong in the incident and that a distracted Ricciardo should have paid more attention to his rear view mirrors, so we're not deducting any marks off Albon's rating for that. Meanwhile Williams have more headaches dealing with further unwanted and very costly damage to their cars before the next outing in China.

Daniel Ricciardo (Accident, Lap 1): 5/10
It was a roller coaster weekend for Daniel Ricciardo, which started badly when he was denied any meaningful running on Friday - first because RB put young driver Ayumu Iwasa in the car in his place, and then because of a near wash-out in second practice that saw him complete only nine tentative laps on intermediates. Then on Saturday things were looking up with his best showing of the season so far, which saw him come within a whisker of making the final top ten round. Was he about to turn things around? Sadly, no. When the lights went out on Sunday, he found himself crowded in the midfield and too distracted to see Alex Albon coming up on the outside line. The pair touched, and into the barriers at turn 3 they went. Although Ricciardo was deemed at fault, the stewards decided that the proximity of Lance Stroll was enough to mitigate the situation as far as penalties ere concerned.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.

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