The Azerbaijan Grand Prix was headlined by a supreme performance from George Russell , while Franco Colapinto endured a nightmare as he committed motorsport’s cardinal sin.

What began as a processional affair sprang into life after Alex Albon hit the wall midway through the race, creating the opportunity for some drivers to step up their game, as others faltered.

Complete driver ratings for the 2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Putting ourselves on the figurative pit wall, here’s how PlanetF1.com rates the field from the perspective of a hard-nosed team boss.

George Russell – 9/10

Qualifying: 1 | Race: 1

Russell delivered a masterclass to secure a grand chelem weekend in Baku, his first in F1. After crushing the field in qualifying by eight tenths, he was flawless in the race, managing his energy deployment well – especially in defence. He held off relentless pressure from Max Verstappen during the final stint, all while hitting every apex and without touching a wall. Near perfection from start to finish.

Max Verstappen – 8/10

Qualifying: 8 | Race: 2

Verstappen recovered from eighth in qualifying with an impressive drive. He carved through traffic, survived the tricky medium compound early on, and then pushed Russell hard in the closing laps, brushing the wall as he used every inch of the Baku circuit. He did everything possible in the race to maximize Red Bull’s points haul in a ruthless drive, but starting so far back ultimately kept victory out of reach.

Isack Hadjar – 8/10

Qualifying: 4 | Race: 3

Hadjar delivered a mature, disciplined performance to secure a well-earned podium. He managed his pace, resisted the urge to overdrive, and kept his car away from the walls. He followed team instructions and kept his head comparatively cool to deliver a spotless drive behind a dominant top two on his return to an F1 cockpit. A strong performance by any measure.

Charles Leclerc – 5/10

Qualifying: 2 | Race: 4

Leclerc secured a strong front-row spot in qualifying, but a poor getaway dropped him behind Piastri off the line. He lacked the top speed and overall race pace to challenge the Red Bulls or George Russell. A quiet performance, he benefited from Piastri’s error as he kept his nose clean and delivered the maximum result the car allowed on the day.

Kimi Antonelli – 7/10

Qualifying: 16 | Race: 5

After a nightmare qualifying and an interrupted Friday practice, Antonelli delivered an exceptional recovery drive. He drove maturely in the race, avoided the restart pileup, and nursed a damaged floor to finish fifth. By his own admission he “drove like his grandmother,” and slicing through eleven positions on a narrow street circuit is top-tier damage limitation, but he should never have put himself in that position.

Lewis Hamilton – 5/10

Qualifying: 6 | Race: 6

Hamilton spent his afternoon largely in no man’s land, battling tyre warm-up issues and straight-line deployment deficits. While he kept his nose clean and secured 8 points, he was out-qualified by his Ferrari teammate and never looked capable of challenging the podium contenders ahead. It was an adequate performance, and nothing else.

Arvid Lindblad – 3/10

Qualifying: 15 | Race: 7

Seventh and six points look good on the board, but context is everything. Arvid compromised his preparation with an FP2 crash, then committed the ultimate sin by spinning his teammate Liam Lawson on the restart and damaging his floor. While his late overtakes on the Haas cars and drag race to the line saved his afternoon, a points finish doesn’t completely paper over a weekend littered with critical judgment errors.

Esteban Ocon – 6/10

Qualifying: 14 | Race: 8

Ocon delivered a strong drive from P14 into the points. He capitalised on the safety car restarts and managed team tactics well to protect the double-points finish. Giving up time after cutting a corner was slightly overly cautious, allowing Lindblad through, but overall it was a solid performance.

Oliver Bearman – 6/10

Qualifying: 11 | Race: 9

Bearman did well to keep his head down and navigate through something of a war of attrition. Taking collateral damage during Colapinto’s Turn 1 restart crash wasn’t his fault, though allowing Lindblad to slip past him late in the race showed a bit of vulnerability. Still, staying out of the walls on a chaotic street circuit and delivering a double-points finish for Haas earns him a respectable mark above baseline.

Carlos Sainz – 6/10

Qualifying: 9 | Race: 10

Sainz salvaged a solitary point from a compromised starting position following a grid penalty. He lacked outright pace all afternoon and struggled with car balance yet managed to move forward during safety car restarts and snatch 10th. It wasn’t pretty, but digging deep to drag a tricky car into the points earns a positive passing grade.

Nico Hulkenberg – 4/10

Qualifying: 18 | Race: 11

Clipping the wall with two laps to go, while running in the top 10, was entirely self-inflicted. Caught off guard at the restart and letting Oliver Bearman slip past is similarly unpardonable for a driver of his experience. Happy to see the upgraded chassis survived intact, but it was ultimately a comparatively untidy midfield performance.

Liam Lawson – 6/10

Qualifying: 12 | Race: 12

Lawson got a clean getaway off the grid, but engine boost lag on the safety car restart left him vulnerable at Turn 1 where he was punted into a spin by Arvid Lindblad. Carrying a broken floor from that point on, recovering into the points impossible. He brought the wounded car home safely for a result not befitting his otherwise faultless drive.

Gabriel Bortoleto – 5/10

Qualifying: 17 | Race: 11

Bortoleto drove a sensible, steady race, though getting stuck behind slower cars because of a top-speed deficit is a familiar. He diagnosed setup issues from Friday and kept his nose clean while others were bouncing off the walls. Bringing the car home in one piece, however, is the definition of a baseline performance.

Oscar Piastri – 4/10

Qualifying: 3 | Race: 14

Qualifying third put Piastri in a strong position for a big result, and for a time it looked as though he might deliver one. That was until he locked up under pressure into Turn 1, destroyed his tyres, and dropped to the back of the pack. McLaren had the pace for a top-four finish, so ending up 14th without points due to a driving error is a disappointment.

Sergio Perez – 5/10

Qualifying: 18 | Race: 15

Checo extracted about as much as he could, keeping the car off the walls while fighting faster machinery early on. In a car without the outright pace of those ahead, his performance is a reflection of where Cadillac is, while seeing the flag within broad touching distance of the points (just nine seconds) is a positive reflection on Perez. But then keeping it out of the walls and staying out of trouble is the minimum expectation, especially for a driver of his experience and calibre.

Valtteri Bottas – 5/10

Qualifying: 22 | Race: DNF

Bottas’ job isn’t to fight for points yet; it’s to gather data, provide feedback, and guide the project, though getting out-qualified by his teammate is never a super start. His race was effectively a long, painful test session blighted by lift-and-coast instructions and rear-brake issues. It was a messy weekend, with the car weighing far more heavily on the result, and performance, that than the driver.

Franco Colapinto – 1/10

Qualifying: P9 | Race: DNF

Crashing into your teammate is the cardinal sin in motorsport. While Colapinto took responsibility for eliminating himself and Pierre Gasly (and Lando Norris), it doesn’t unwind the fact he made a significant and costly error; remorse does not repair damaged racing cars or recover lost points. P9 in qualifying showed potential, but he threw away not only a solid result for himself, but a valuable double points finish for the team. Given the scores and performances of others who had sub-par races, the impact of his mistake, and the pace and potential he’d shown earlier in the weekend (and last time out), Colapinto earns a 1/10.

Pierre Gasly – 7/10

Qualifying: 7 | Race: DNF

Gasly put in an exceptional weekend, qualifying a strong seventh and running a strong race with pace matching Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton. He built a massive 15-second gap over his teammate and was on course for solid points for Alpine before Franco Colapinto locked up and wiped him out on the restart. Gasly was entirely faultless in the clash, and was robbed of a well-deserved result through no fault of his own.

Lando Norris – 4/10

Qualifying: 5 | Race: DNF

Norris put in a solid effort in qualifying to start fifth, but his race management let him down when it counted. On lap 30, an unforced braking mistake caused him to lock up heavily and run deep into Turn 1, destroying his tyres and dropping him to ninth. Alex Albon crashed on lap 31 to trigger the Safety Car, allowing Norris to make his pit stop under neutralised conditions, a stroke of luck that mitigated the time lost from his error. Being wiped out on the lap 36 restart was entirely out of his hands, but his own mistake put him back in that vulnerable midfield position.

Alex Albon – 3/10

Qualifying: 13 | Race: DNF

Alex put in a thoroughly disappointing weekend in Baku, failing to match his teammate’s entry into Q3 and lining up P13. His race came to an abrupt, self-inflicted end on lap 29 when he misjudged his braking and nosed into the wall. Cutting car inconsistencies or wind gusts doesn’t excuse putting the car into the barrier on a street circuit. Crashing out from a mid-pack position and leaving the team with a hefty repair job is not the performance a driver of his experience, and ability, should be delivering.

Fernando Alonso — 4/10

Qualifying: 19 (Started P21 following engine penalties) | Race: DNF

Alonso extracted what he could from a severely underpowered package. After starting near the back due to power unit penalties, he launched an aggressive opening lap to pass both Cadillacs. His race ended on Lap 20 due to a severe loss of straight-line engine speed. While he executed his driver duties well given the car’s limitations, there was no opportunity to do more to impress, and loses a point for his qualifying crash.

Lance Stroll – 5/10

Qualifying: 21 (Started P22 after power unit penalties) | Race: DNF

Taking power unit penalties pushed him to the back of the grid, leaving him with an uphill battle. His race was cut short on Lap 7 by a team-instructed retirement for a water pressure fault. The early mechanical DNF was completely outside his control, while the weekend left him precious little opportunity to shine.

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