Norris brilliant in wet & Verstappen recovery extraordinary - driver ratings

McLaren's Lando Norris secured his third win of the season on Sunday by beating Max Verstappen to victory at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix. Norris started on pole position but lost the lead of the wet-dry-wet race to new world champion Kimi Antonelli on the opening lap. But after an early pit stop for dry tyres, he regained control when Mercedes' Antonelli spun at the first corner. Verstappen, meanwhile, claimed his eighth consecutive podium with another eye-catching drive in tricky conditions at Interlagos, while his Red Bull team-mate Isack Hadjar finished third. Here are my ratings for how the drivers performed across the whole weekend in Brazil.Lando Norris - 10/10Pretty difficult to ask for much more for the McLaren driver. Fastest in first practice on Friday, brilliant in the wet to take pole and then kept his head through constantly changing conditions to win comfortably. Losing the lead at the start was only a minor blemish.Max Verstappen - 9.5/10Another extraordinary recovery drive in the Red Bull. Fastest in final practice and then charged from 21st to second, making up 10 places almost immediately, and once again looking completely at home in difficult conditions.Isack Hadjar - 9/10One of his strongest weekends all season. Qualified well, ran with team-mate Verstappen for much of the race and delivered another podium despite a few mistakes along the way. Had the pace to make Red Bull think before eventually letting Verstappen through.George Russell - 7.5/10The pace was excellent all weekend and second in qualifying showed what was possible, even if his engine penalty dropped him to seventh. Spinning his Mercedes on the pit exit was a huge error and probably cost him a podium, but recovering to fourth was a very strong response.Kimi Antonelli - 6.5/10For the opening stint this looked like the perfect first race as world champion. A brilliant start and built a healthy lead, but spinning it away after switching to the slick tyres unlocked a messy afternoon.Oscar Piastri - 6/10Another weekend where things never really clicked. His qualifying result was compromised by the timing of the red flag, but he was a long way from Norris' pace in the race and finished almost a minute behind his McLaren team-mate.Liam Lawson - 8.5/10An excellent weekend in the Racing Bulls. Qualified fifth, started third and even ran second during the opening stages before eventually slipping backwards as the race developed.Charles Leclerc - 6.5/10A very good recovery from 14th on the grid after his power-unit penalty. Qualified fourth on pure pace and worked his way through to eighth. He passed Lawson towards the end but was given a five-second penalty for hitting the New Zealander, which means he finishes behind him.Lewis Hamilton - 6.5/10The opening few laps were vintage Hamilton as he charged from 20th to ninth, but the progress then stalled. He struggled for pace in the Ferrari on the intermediate tyres, and a late spin capped a race where more looked possible after such a promising start.Nico Hulkenberg - 7.5/10Outstanding in the wet qualifying session to put Audi sixth before penalties promoted him to fourth. A 10-second time penalty for going off track in his battle with Franco Colapinto hurt his Sunday, but he still came away with the final point.Arvid Lindblad - 7/10His qualifying was cut short by a mechanical problem in his Racing Bulls and further power-unit changes left him starting well down the order. Recovered well to 11th and came extremely close to points.Fernando Alonso - 8/10Reaching Q3 for the first time this season was a big positive and he raced well enough to even get ahead of Hamilton with a spectacular move in the Aston Martin. P12 doesn't look spectacular, but there was plenty to like about the weekend. Franco Colapinto - 6.5/10Alpine struggled badly in the wet qualifying session but Colapinto made a reasonable recovery. Finished ahead of team-mate Pierre Gasly and was involved in the battle with Hulkenberg that eventually earned the Audi driver a penalty.Pierre Gasly - 5.5/10A disappointing weekend after both Alpines went out in Q1. Made a little progress from 16th on the grid but finished behind Colapinto and never really threatened the points.Alex Albon - 7/10Saturday was the highlight after reaching Q3 for the first time this season and earning ninth on the grid. Unfortunately the race went the opposite way and he fell back to 15th in the Williams.Gabriel Bortoleto - 5/10Showed good speed before qualifying but his crash in the Audi in Q1 put him on the back foot for his home race.Oliver Bearman - 5.5/10A really strong Saturday to put the Haas eighth in qualifying and sixth on the grid. The race was a completely different story, though, as he tumbled out of contention and eventually finished 17th.Sergio Perez - 5/10Starting last because of his engine penalty made it difficult from the outset. Kept his nose clean, picked up several positions in his Cadillac and reached the finish ahead of a Williams and a Haas.Carlos Sainz - 4.5/10Unlucky to have his Q2 attempt interrupted by the red flag just as he switched to the intermediates, but Sunday offered little recovery.Rafael Camara - 5.5/10Plenty of raw speed on his F1 debut in the Haas but plenty of learning too. Reaching Q2 in those conditions was impressive, although two qualifying incidents and a difficult race ultimately left him 20th.Lance Stroll - 4/10Out in Q1 and never looked capable of matching Aston Martin team-mate Alonso across the weekend.Valtteri Bottas - 4.5/10Only 20th in qualifying before being promoted a couple of places on the grid. His race was over before it had even begun, with Cadillac retiring his car with a technical problem, so Sunday itself is impossible to judge.