I'd be fairly close to the same with only a few possible changes.

Lewis/Max - If anything to this point I'd give Max a slight edge. He's been a monster on some starts, always races (even when the pass is off track) and has been fairly consistent. His aggression is still an issue, but it's much more tame than in the past. Lewis has had a few bozo moves this season, but recovers well in most cases. Baku was a rookie error at best, Italy was the luck of the safety car that saved him, and Monaco was just a hot mess. On the up side, he retains the solid recovery drives regardless of why he ends up back in the pack. It almost seems as though he is his best with some pressure applied. But he should have had more of a cushion in points by now. Agreed the second half of the season he usually comes on stronger, and suspect it will be the same this year.

Bottas/Perez - On this one I'd say closer to equal for the season. Neither is consistent, both have had some really bad races, and both have had great races. I'd still put them both at a C+/B- myself. The issue for these two is how strong their other team driver is, and it shows.

Alonso - I'd say a B+ myself. With the limited testing time this year even he needed a few races to get his feet under him again.

Sainz, Leclerc, Gasly, and Russell.... all pretty close and well called IMHO.

Ricciardo - It pains me to agree with your rating, but he just hasn't come to grips with that car yet. And I think in raw talent in past years he should at least be close to Lando, yet is struggling bad in comparison.

And on that point, amazing to see Lando put that Mclaren in the top three WDC points to this point in the season.


I think overall this field has as least 5 or 6 drivers that would easily compete for the WDC if all the cars were closer. Maybe even more. I hope the new regs bring the cars closer still, and it continues to show off driver skill.