George Russell secured an expert victory around the streets of Las Vegas as Mercedes took a spectacular 1-2, but it was also a glorious weekend for a certain Max Verstappen who was crowned champion for a fourth time. But who else impressed our judges under the neon lights? Scroll down to check out the latest Power Rankings leaderboard.
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)
George Russell started the Las Vegas weekend in the shadow of Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton, but he turned up the heat when it mattered, posting two superb Q3 laps to secure pole position and then converting it masterfully on race day. In team boss Toto Wolff’s words, his driving was from “another planet”.
After a tough weekend in Brazil, topping FP1 and FP2 at the Las Vegas Strip Circuit was the perfect way for Hamilton to bounce back. Mistakes in the pole shootout proved costly, before a charge through the field from 10th on the grid served as another reminder of what the seven-time world champion can do.
Max Verstappen entered the night-time event knowing he would clinch a fourth world title by simply finishing ahead of rival Lando Norris. In a cool, calm and composed performance from the Red Bull driver, that’s exactly what he achieved – following the faster Mercedes and Ferrari cars home and getting the job done.
Several drivers have been placed alongside Yuki Tsunoda at RB in order to gauge their competitiveness in recent times and, over the course of the weekend in Vegas, the Japanese racer seemed more determined than ever to prove a point to Red Bull. Comfortably quicker than team mate Liam Lawson, he made it to Q3 before scoring some valuable points.
Tsunoda spent the closing stages of the race squabbling with Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg over eighth position. It was the German who ultimately crossed the finish line ahead, giving his team another couple of points that could be decisive in their quest to beat both RB and Alpine to sixth position in the constructors’ standings.
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