After a Chinese GP that brought another Mercedes one-two and a shake-up in the chasing pack, EDD STRAW rates the field's performances
1 SEBASTIAN VETTEL
Red Bull-Renault RB10
Start: 3rd
Finish: 5th
Strategy: 2 stops (soft/medium/medium)
Rating: 7
Another weekend on which Vettel couldn't quite extract the best from the Red Bull.
Particularly unusual was his struggle with tyre life in the race, an area where Ricciardo had a clear advantage on top of the edge he had in pace.
But Vettel at least managed to make a two-stop strategy work, ensuring that while well behind Ricciardo, his fifth place was never threatened.
A solid weekend's work, but as the man himself said after qualifying: "I have to do a little bit better".
3 DANIEL RICCIARDO
Red Bull-Renault RB10
Start: 2nd
Finish: 4th
Strategy: 2 stops (soft/medium/medium)
Rating: 9
Another strong weekend from the Australian, whose superb long-run during Friday practice showed he had an immediate handle on the demands of the car and the tyres.
He reckoned his qualifying lap was the maximum possible, and given the advantage Hamilton had there's no way he could have done better.
A poor start, not helped by a patch of oil on his grid slot, cost him a podium finish but his race was, for the most part, excellent.
Outperformed Vettel in all areas.
6 NICO ROSBERG
Mercedes F1 W05
Start: 4th
Finish: 2nd
Strategy: 2 stops (soft/medium/medium)
Rating: 7
There are two ways of looking at this weekend for Rosberg.
While his pace was disappointing, particularly in qualifying where a lock-up on his key lap contributed to him starting fourth, he did at least show admirable fortitude to recover from dropping to sixth on the opening lap to finish second.
While the Mercedes had the pace to do this with ease, Rosberg had to do it without telemetry.
A difficult weekend, but Rosberg ensured he didn't let adversity cost him any more points to Hamilton than necessary.
44 LEWIS HAMILTON
Mercedes F1 W05
Start: 1st
Finish: 1st
Strategy: 2 stops (soft/medium/medium)
Rating: 9
Just as in Malaysia, Hamilton was in a class of his own, comfortably eclipsing Rosberg.
His qualifying performance was dominant in tricky conditions even though Hamilton reckoned he could have gone quicker and in the race his challenge was to keep a vice-like grip on the lead without unduly taxing the machinery.
He did that superbly - the only thing lacking was a stern challenge from the only driver in the field with the equipment to make a race of it.
7 KIMI RAIKKONEN
Ferrari F14 T
Start: 11th
Finish: 8th
Strategy: 2 stops (soft/medium/medium)
Rating: 6
By his own admission, this was a very difficult weekend for Raikkonen, who struggled for grip throughout and proved unable to match Alonso's level of performance.
There was an element of misfortune in not making Q3, as had he changed tyres a lap earlier he would probably have slipped through, while in the race he made little progress, running ninth early on, jumping Grosjean at the first stops but losing out to Bottas's Williams.
That, plus Massa's problems, equalled a disappointing eighth.
14 FERNANDO ALONSO
Ferrari F14 T
Start: 5th
Finish: 3rd
Strategy: 2 stops (soft/medium/medium)
Rating: 10
This was classic Ferrari-era Alonso. He didn't quite have the raw pace to beat Ricciardo's Red Bull to the podium, but the Spaniard's combination of a great first lap, consistent pace and effective racecraft meant he came home best of the rest.
That said, he was fortunate to get away with drifting into Massa's Williams at the start.
Powerless to keep Rosberg behind, his pace in the final stint, when he kept Ricciardo at arm's length, was particularly impressive.
8 ROMAIN GROSJEAN
Lotus-Renault E22
Start: 10th
Finish: DNF
Strategy: retired (soft/medium/retired)
Rating: 8
The Lotus is still not the easiest car to drive, but Grosjean's skill was to work more within the limitations of the car than his team-mate, in particular showing good pace in the tricky wet Saturday-morning conditions.
Made Q3 with ease, although probably could have done a bit better in the top-10 shootout.
In the race he was on course for 10th, which was as good as it was going to get for a Lotus, when gearbox problems intervened. Fine work.
13 PASTOR MALDONADO
Lotus-Renault E22
Start: 22nd
Finish: 14th
Strategy: 2 stops (soft/medium/medium)
Rating: 4
While Maldonado could not be blamed for the oil leak that kept him out of qualifying and relegated him to the back of the grid, setting the tone for an afternoon of toil in the lower reaches of the field, it wasn't his greatest weekend.
Driving off the track while distracted by making adjustments to settings on his steering wheel was embarrassing, as was crashing in the pit entry on Friday.
But at least in the race he kept out of trouble and given his starting position salvaged a solid result.
22 JENSON BUTTON
McLaren-Mercedes MP4-29
Start: 12th
Finish: 11th
Strategy: 2 stops (soft/medium/medium)
Rating: 6
Struggles with front-tyre temperature meant that he fell in Q2 and the difficulty with front rubber continued in the race.
Despite running as much front wing as possible, it was difficult to get the tyres working, so graining of the front-left was more of a problem.
That, combined with the car's downforce deficit, meant that Button only had the pace to sit on the periphery of the top 10.
A perfect run might have allowed him to pip Kvyat for the final point, but he was nine seconds down at the finish.
20 KEVIN MAGNUSSEN
McLaren-Mercedes MP4-29
Start: 15th
Finish: 13th
Strategy: 2 stops (medium/soft/medium)
Rating: 6
The shape of Magnussen's weekend was very similar to Button's, although the rookie understandably couldn't quite get as much out of the car as the 2009 world champion.
Avoided getting caught up in a first-lap incident, just, but after being the only driver to start on the medium-compound Pirellis wasn't able to make much progress in the race.
Behind Button but, factoring in experience, he gets the same rating on a tough weekend.
27 NICO HULKENBERG
Force India-Mercedes VJM07
Start: 8th
Finish: 6th
Strategy: 2 stops (soft/medium/medium)
Rating: 9
Force India wasn't able to replicate its Bahrain heroics, but Hulkenberg certainly extracted the maximum from the car he had under him.
The Force India was at best a marginal Q3 contender, but by nailing a good lap early in his final Q2 run before conditions worsened, the German made it through.
From eighth on the grid, he did well to keep the quicker Bottas at bay, keeping up his 100 per cent record of finishing either fifth or sixth in 2014.
11 SERGIO PEREZ
Force India-Mercedes VJM07
Start: 16th
Finish: 9th
Strategy: 2 stops (soft/medium/medium)
Rating: 7
Perez struggled in wet qualifying with a braking problem, which left him facing an uphill struggle in the race.
But the Mexican drove well on Sunday to pick up a couple of points.
It wasn't a straightforward race for him. He climbed to 12th on lap one, and while Massa's pitstop problem gifted him one place, he had to jump Kvyat in the first round of stops then pass Grosjean during the second stint.
Had a go at closing on Raikkonen late on, but couldn't.
21 ESTEBAN GUTIERREZ
Sauber-Ferrari C33
Start: 17th
Finish: 16th
Strategy: 3 stops (soft/medium/medium/soft)
Rating: 6
Gutierrez's exit from Q1 in qualifying was disappointing. Although he was held back by his brake-by-wire system going into safe mode on his key final lap, he was on course to make it through before a mistake at the final corner cost him time.
His race drive was good in spells, although tyre-degradation problems that set in during the second stint forced him onto a three-stop strategy.
But given the limitations of the car, he was never in the hunt for points anyway.
99 ADRIAN SUTIL
Sauber-Ferrari C33
Start: 14th
Finish: DNF
Strategy: retired (soft/retired)
Rating: 7
Sutil's race was effectively over before it had begun thanks to an engine problem that manifested itself on the formation lap.
He plodded on, desperately slowly, for five laps before it was clear there was no point continuing.
But he deserves credit for doing a decent job in qualifying, putting in a good lap late in Q1 on intermediates to make Q2, where he beat both Magnussen and Perez.
Drove well, but was on a hiding to nothing.
25 JEAN-ERIC VERGNE
Toro Rosso-Renault STR9
Start: 9th
Finish: 12th
Strategy: 2 stops (soft/soft/medium)
Rating: 7
In wet conditions, Vergne was, as usual, excellent. He made it through to Q3 for the third time this season, needing to bang in a good lap on intermediates late in Q1 to ensure he advanced.
But in dry conditions, he was never happy with the balance.
Lost a couple of places at the start, and couldn't match the pace of Kvyat, ending up 14 seconds and two places behind.
But the fact his car is seven kilos overweight must be taken into account when judging his relative performance.
26 DANIIL KVYAT
Toro Rosso-Ferrari STR9
Start: 13th
Finish: 10th
Strategy: 2 stops (soft/medium/medium)
Rating: 8
Another strong performance from Kvyat, whose fourth and final grand prix as a 19-year-old yielded his third points finish.
He wasn't as strong as Vergne in wet conditions, but in the dry he had a pace advantage and had to beat Button in a straight fight for the final point, overtaking the 2009 world champion on lap 21 and then edging away from the McLaren over the rest of the race.
While Ricciardo has starred this year, so has his replacement.
19 FELIPE MASSA
Williams-Mercedes FW36
Start: 6th
Finish: 15th
Strategy: 2 stops (soft/medium/medium)
Rating: 8
The Brazilian was downbeat after the race following yet another difficult afternoon.
He qualified well in wet conditions, shading team-mate Bottas, then made a brilliant start that should have catapulted him into the mix for a strong result.
There was always risk inherent in going between Alonso and Ricciardo, and the Spaniard drifted into him, but it was the pitstop blunder that ruined Massa's race.
Without the attempt to fit the rear wheels to the wrong side, Massa was on course for a solid sixth.
77 VALTTERI BOTTAS
Williams-Renault FW36
Start: 7th
Finish: 7th
Strategy: 2 stops (soft/medium/medium)
Rating: 7
The Finn perhaps should have done better in Q3 given his pace in the earlier segments of qualifying, but it was still a decent performance and earned him a place behind Massa on the grid.
His race was compromised both by being clipped by Rosberg at the first corner, costing a few places, and by a loss of telemetry.
Given all of that, his run to seventh place was pretty good, although he could never quite challenge Hulkenberg for sixth.
17 JULES BIANCHI
Marussia-Ferrari MR-03
Start: 19th
Finish: 17th
Strategy: 2 stops (soft/medium/medium)
Rating: 6
A mistake at the final corner during Q1 cost him a place to Kobayashi, but given how horrendous his Marussia looked to drive during the wet morning session that wasn't a complete surprise.
Drove a decent race and finished very close behind Gutierrez's Sauber.
However, he was very fortunate that the expunging of the final two laps thanks to the premature chequered flag gave him back the 17th place he had lost on the 'real' final lap to Kobayashi.
4 MAX CHILTON
Marussia-Ferrari MR-03
Start: 21st
Finish: 19th
Strategy: 3 stops (soft/medium/medium/soft)
Rating: 5
This was a difficult weekend for Chilton, who couldn't string together a strong lap in the wet qualifying session and ended up 1.5 seconds off Bianchi and then endured a challenging race.
Having to switch to a three-stop strategy didn't help him but he still at least finished 15 seconds ahead of Ericsson.
His pace relative to Bianchi in the first stint was OK, but things got away from him thereafter.
As Chilton put it: "it wasn't a perfect race, but I gave it my best".
9 MARCUS ERICSSON
Caterham-Renault CT05
Start: 20th
Finish: 20th
Strategy: 3 stops (soft/medium/soft/soft)
Rating: 6
Was very disappointed not to have strung together a better lap during Q1, ending up 1.4 seconds behind Kobayashi.
His race was dogged by persistent understeer, with attempts to dial it out proving fruitless, meaning Ericsson spent most of his day at the back of the field.
Never quite managed to get on terms with Chilton, who finished 15 seconds up the road, but at least brought the car home even though his pace was not as strong as Kobayashi's.
10 KAMUI KOBAYASHI
Caterham-Renault CT05
Start: 18th
Finish: 18th
Strategy: 3 stops (soft/medium/soft/soft)
Rating: 8
Drove very well in qualifying on intermediate rubber in the wet, ending up only a few tenths off Gutierrez's Sauber.
Typically, in the race he executed a three-stop strategy well and deserved the reward of 17th place having passed Bianchi at the hairpin on the final lap.
Unfortunately, the premature showing of the chequered flag to Lewis Hamilton on lap 55 led to the results being taken from the end of lap 54, robbing Kobayashi of what he described as this "small victory".
After a Chinese GP that brought another Mercedes one-two and a shake-up in the chasing pack, EDD STRAW rates the field's performances
1 SEBASTIAN VETTEL
Red Bull-Renault RB10
Start: 3rd
Finish: 5th
Strategy: 2 stops (soft/medium/medium)
Rating: 7
Another weekend on which Vettel couldn't quite extract the best from the Red Bull.
Particularly unusual was his struggle with tyre life in the race, an area where Ricciardo had a clear advantage on top of the edge he had in pace.
But Vettel at least managed to make a two-stop strategy work, ensuring that while well behind Ricciardo, his fifth place was never threatened.
A solid weekend's work, but as the man himself said after qualifying: "I have to do a little bit better".
3 DANIEL RICCIARDO
Red Bull-Renault RB10
Start: 2nd
Finish: 4th
Strategy: 2 stops (soft/medium/medium)
Rating: 9
Another strong weekend from the Australian, whose superb long-run during Friday practice showed he had an immediate handle on the demands of the car and the tyres.
He reckoned his qualifying lap was the maximum possible, and given the advantage Hamilton had there's no way he could have done better.
A poor start, not helped by a patch of oil on his grid slot, cost him a podium finish but his race was, for the most part, excellent.
Outperformed Vettel in all areas.
6 NICO ROSBERG
Mercedes F1 W05
Start: 4th
Finish: 2nd
Strategy: 2 stops (soft/medium/medium)
Rating: 7
There are two ways of looking at this weekend for Rosberg.
While his pace was disappointing, particularly in qualifying where a lock-up on his key lap contributed to him starting fourth, he did at least show admirable fortitude to recover from dropping to sixth on the opening lap to finish second.
While the Mercedes had the pace to do this with ease, Rosberg had to do it without telemetry.
A difficult weekend, but Rosberg ensured he didn't let adversity cost him any more points to Hamilton than necessary.
44 LEWIS HAMILTON
Mercedes F1 W05
Start: 1st
Finish: 1st
Strategy: 2 stops (soft/medium/medium)
Rating: 9
Just as in Malaysia, Hamilton was in a class of his own, comfortably eclipsing Rosberg.
His qualifying performance was dominant in tricky conditions even though Hamilton reckoned he could have gone quicker and in the race his challenge was to keep a vice-like grip on the lead without unduly taxing the machinery.
He did that superbly - the only thing lacking was a stern challenge from the only driver in the field with the equipment to make a race of it.
7 KIMI RAIKKONEN
Ferrari F14 T
Start: 11th
Finish: 8th
Strategy: 2 stops (soft/medium/medium)
Rating: 6
By his own admission, this was a very difficult weekend for Raikkonen, who struggled for grip throughout and proved unable to match Alonso's level of performance.
There was an element of misfortune in not making Q3, as had he changed tyres a lap earlier he would probably have slipped through, while in the race he made little progress, running ninth early on, jumping Grosjean at the first stops but losing out to Bottas's Williams.
That, plus Massa's problems, equalled a disappointing eighth.
14 FERNANDO ALONSO
Ferrari F14 T
Start: 5th
Finish: 3rd
Strategy: 2 stops (soft/medium/medium)
Rating: 10
This was classic Ferrari-era Alonso. He didn't quite have the raw pace to beat Ricciardo's Red Bull to the podium, but the Spaniard's combination of a great first lap, consistent pace and effective racecraft meant he came home best of the rest.
That said, he was fortunate to get away with drifting into Massa's Williams at the start.
Powerless to keep Rosberg behind, his pace in the final stint, when he kept Ricciardo at arm's length, was particularly impressive.
8 ROMAIN GROSJEAN
Lotus-Renault E22
Start: 10th
Finish: DNF
Strategy: retired (soft/medium/retired)
Rating: 8
The Lotus is still not the easiest car to drive, but Grosjean's skill was to work more within the limitations of the car than his team-mate, in particular showing good pace in the tricky wet Saturday-morning conditions.
Made Q3 with ease, although probably could have done a bit better in the top-10 shootout.
In the race he was on course for 10th, which was as good as it was going to get for a Lotus, when gearbox problems intervened. Fine work.
13 PASTOR MALDONADO
Lotus-Renault E22
Start: 22nd
Finish: 14th
Strategy: 2 stops (soft/medium/medium)
Rating: 4
While Maldonado could not be blamed for the oil leak that kept him out of qualifying and relegated him to the back of the grid, setting the tone for an afternoon of toil in the lower reaches of the field, it wasn't his greatest weekend.
Driving off the track while distracted by making adjustments to settings on his steering wheel was embarrassing, as was crashing in the pit entry on Friday.
But at least in the race he kept out of trouble and given his starting position salvaged a solid result.
22 JENSON BUTTON
McLaren-Mercedes MP4-29
Start: 12th
Finish: 11th
Strategy: 2 stops (soft/medium/medium)
Rating: 6
Struggles with front-tyre temperature meant that he fell in Q2 and the difficulty with front rubber continued in the race.
Despite running as much front wing as possible, it was difficult to get the tyres working, so graining of the front-left was more of a problem.
That, combined with the car's downforce deficit, meant that Button only had the pace to sit on the periphery of the top 10.
A perfect run might have allowed him to pip Kvyat for the final point, but he was nine seconds down at the finish.
20 KEVIN MAGNUSSEN
McLaren-Mercedes MP4-29
Start: 15th
Finish: 13th
Strategy: 2 stops (medium/soft/medium)
Rating: 6
The shape of Magnussen's weekend was very similar to Button's, although the rookie understandably couldn't quite get as much out of the car as the 2009 world champion.
Avoided getting caught up in a first-lap incident, just, but after being the only driver to start on the medium-compound Pirellis wasn't able to make much progress in the race.
Behind Button but, factoring in experience, he gets the same rating on a tough weekend.
27 NICO HULKENBERG
Force India-Mercedes VJM07
Start: 8th
Finish: 6th
Strategy: 2 stops (soft/medium/medium)
Rating: 9
Force India wasn't able to replicate its Bahrain heroics, but Hulkenberg certainly extracted the maximum from the car he had under him.
The Force India was at best a marginal Q3 contender, but by nailing a good lap early in his final Q2 run before conditions worsened, the German made it through.
From eighth on the grid, he did well to keep the quicker Bottas at bay, keeping up his 100 per cent record of finishing either fifth or sixth in 2014.
11 SERGIO PEREZ
Force India-Mercedes VJM07
Start: 16th
Finish: 9th
Strategy: 2 stops (soft/medium/medium)
Rating: 7
Perez struggled in wet qualifying with a braking problem, which left him facing an uphill struggle in the race.
But the Mexican drove well on Sunday to pick up a couple of points.
It wasn't a straightforward race for him. He climbed to 12th on lap one, and while Massa's pitstop problem gifted him one place, he had to jump Kvyat in the first round of stops then pass Grosjean during the second stint.
Had a go at closing on Raikkonen late on, but couldn't.
21 ESTEBAN GUTIERREZ
Sauber-Ferrari C33
Start: 17th
Finish: 16th
Strategy: 3 stops (soft/medium/medium/soft)
Rating: 6
Gutierrez's exit from Q1 in qualifying was disappointing. Although he was held back by his brake-by-wire system going into safe mode on his key final lap, he was on course to make it through before a mistake at the final corner cost him time.
His race drive was good in spells, although tyre-degradation problems that set in during the second stint forced him onto a three-stop strategy.
But given the limitations of the car, he was never in the hunt for points anyway.
99 ADRIAN SUTIL
Sauber-Ferrari C33
Start: 14th
Finish: DNF
Strategy: retired (soft/retired)
Rating: 7
Sutil's race was effectively over before it had begun thanks to an engine problem that manifested itself on the formation lap.
He plodded on, desperately slowly, for five laps before it was clear there was no point continuing.
But he deserves credit for doing a decent job in qualifying, putting in a good lap late in Q1 on intermediates to make Q2, where he beat both Magnussen and Perez.
Drove well, but was on a hiding to nothing.
25 JEAN-ERIC VERGNE
Toro Rosso-Renault STR9
Start: 9th
Finish: 12th
Strategy: 2 stops (soft/soft/medium)
Rating: 7
In wet conditions, Vergne was, as usual, excellent. He made it through to Q3 for the third time this season, needing to bang in a good lap on intermediates late in Q1 to ensure he advanced.
But in dry conditions, he was never happy with the balance.
Lost a couple of places at the start, and couldn't match the pace of Kvyat, ending up 14 seconds and two places behind.
But the fact his car is seven kilos overweight must be taken into account when judging his relative performance.
26 DANIIL KVYAT
Toro Rosso-Ferrari STR9
Start: 13th
Finish: 10th
Strategy: 2 stops (soft/medium/medium)
Rating: 8
Another strong performance from Kvyat, whose fourth and final grand prix as a 19-year-old yielded his third points finish.
He wasn't as strong as Vergne in wet conditions, but in the dry he had a pace advantage and had to beat Button in a straight fight for the final point, overtaking the 2009 world champion on lap 21 and then edging away from the McLaren over the rest of the race.
While Ricciardo has starred this year, so has his replacement.
19 FELIPE MASSA
Williams-Mercedes FW36
Start: 6th
Finish: 15th
Strategy: 2 stops (soft/medium/medium)
Rating: 8
The Brazilian was downbeat after the race following yet another difficult afternoon.
He qualified well in wet conditions, shading team-mate Bottas, then made a brilliant start that should have catapulted him into the mix for a strong result.
There was always risk inherent in going between Alonso and Ricciardo, and the Spaniard drifted into him, but it was the pitstop blunder that ruined Massa's race.
Without the attempt to fit the rear wheels to the wrong side, Massa was on course for a solid sixth.
77 VALTTERI BOTTAS
Williams-Renault FW36
Start: 7th
Finish: 7th
Strategy: 2 stops (soft/medium/medium)
Rating: 7
The Finn perhaps should have done better in Q3 given his pace in the earlier segments of qualifying, but it was still a decent performance and earned him a place behind Massa on the grid.
His race was compromised both by being clipped by Rosberg at the first corner, costing a few places, and by a loss of telemetry.
Given all of that, his run to seventh place was pretty good, although he could never quite challenge Hulkenberg for sixth.
17 JULES BIANCHI
Marussia-Ferrari MR-03
Start: 19th
Finish: 17th
Strategy: 2 stops (soft/medium/medium)
Rating: 6
A mistake at the final corner during Q1 cost him a place to Kobayashi, but given how horrendous his Marussia looked to drive during the wet morning session that wasn't a complete surprise.
Drove a decent race and finished very close behind Gutierrez's Sauber.
However, he was very fortunate that the expunging of the final two laps thanks to the premature chequered flag gave him back the 17th place he had lost on the 'real' final lap to Kobayashi.
4 MAX CHILTON
Marussia-Ferrari MR-03
Start: 21st
Finish: 19th
Strategy: 3 stops (soft/medium/medium/soft)
Rating: 5
This was a difficult weekend for Chilton, who couldn't string together a strong lap in the wet qualifying session and ended up 1.5 seconds off Bianchi and then endured a challenging race.
Having to switch to a three-stop strategy didn't help him but he still at least finished 15 seconds ahead of Ericsson.
His pace relative to Bianchi in the first stint was OK, but things got away from him thereafter.
As Chilton put it: "it wasn't a perfect race, but I gave it my best".
9 MARCUS ERICSSON
Caterham-Renault CT05
Start: 20th
Finish: 20th
Strategy: 3 stops (soft/medium/soft/soft)
Rating: 6
Was very disappointed not to have strung together a better lap during Q1, ending up 1.4 seconds behind Kobayashi.
His race was dogged by persistent understeer, with attempts to dial it out proving fruitless, meaning Ericsson spent most of his day at the back of the field.
Never quite managed to get on terms with Chilton, who finished 15 seconds up the road, but at least brought the car home even though his pace was not as strong as Kobayashi's.
10 KAMUI KOBAYASHI
Caterham-Renault CT05
Start: 18th
Finish: 18th
Strategy: 3 stops (soft/medium/soft/soft)
Rating: 8
Drove very well in qualifying on intermediate rubber in the wet, ending up only a few tenths off Gutierrez's Sauber.
Typically, in the race he executed a three-stop strategy well and deserved the reward of 17th place having passed Bianchi at the hairpin on the final lap.
Unfortunately, the premature showing of the chequered flag to Lewis Hamilton on lap 55 led to the results being taken from the end of lap 54, robbing Kobayashi of what he described as this "small victory".