Azerbaijan GP Driver Ratings

Key takeaways

• Colapinto gets a unanimous zero after braking too late on the safety car restart, locking his front-right and plowing into teammate Gasly, who had been running a superb race as high as ahead of Antonelli and Norris. The hosts note Flavio Briatore was reviewing consequences for Colapinto, with the possibility he could be sidelined.
• Perez massively outperforms Bottas in the Cadillac, running 35 seconds up the road after 20 laps and reaching as high as 12th, earning a 7-8 from the hosts. Bottas, by contrast, crashes twice into the same wall (they suspect a battery/software glitch that misjudged track position) and is rated as low as 2-3, with Matt arguing Bottas would have been lapped by his own teammate without the late safety car.
• Arvid Lindblad finishes a strong-looking 7th but both hosts downgrade him to a 5, arguing he should have received a penalty for a move that wiped out his own teammate Liam Lawson (who was actually the quicker Red Bull driver all weekend), and that the result flatters him.
• George Russell earns unanimous 10s for a near-perfect weekend, topping every session except FP3, dominating qualifying, and running away with an 11-second lead before the late safety car erased what would have been a comfortable win.
• Max Verstappen's grade becomes the episode's flashpoint: Matt gives a 9, citing luck from Hadjar holding station and a friendly safety car, while Tommy insists on a 10, calling it one of Verstappen's best drives given he started 8th after qualifying issues and nearly caught Russell on worse tires. They coin the phrase "tax Verstappen" for fans who feel he only deserves 10s when he wins.
• Isaac Hadjar returns from three races out to finish 3rd, praised for mature race management (sitting behind Verstappen rather than risking a fight) rather than aggressive overtaking, earning matching 9s from both hosts as Red Bull's best second-driver drive since Baku two years earlier.
• Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris both throw away strong weekends: Piastri locks up and can't rejoin the track due to Baku's straight-line runoff, dropping from a podium fight to 13th (rated 3-4), while Norris deals with a reported fuel injection/straight-line speed issue plus his own Turn 1 mistake before retiring, rated a 5 by both hosts.

Notable moments

• "Franco's getting a zero, I'm afraid"—both hosts agree instantly on Colapinto despite defending him earlier in the season.
• Bottas's crash explained: "his battery lost track of where it was... delivered more power into the corner because it forgot where it was on the track."
• The FIA's bizarre justification for not throwing a VSC after Bottas's crash, claiming drivers could "cut the apex"; which Matt calls "outrageous" and clearly untrue.
• Lindblad quietly "liking" a Liam Lawson tweet questioning why Lindblad avoided a penalty, prompting the hosts to speculate about the post-race handshake being pre-planned.
• Ferrari's PR moment: Leclerc reveals on camera he's using "Adduo 2," and a press officer visibly signals him to stop talking, sparking a viral joke about Ferrari being "77 years as an engine manufacturer" versus Red Bull's one.
• Hamilton stuck without radio updates during a possible VSC window, unlike the crisp communication Antonelli got from his engineer in the prior race; Tommy calls it proof Hamilton is "missing Bono."
• Matt and Tommy explicitly defend Lando Norris against the "abhorrent abuse" he received online over his Colapinto comments, saying disagreement is fine but the pile-on has gone too far.
• The coining of "tax Verstappen" to describe fans grading Max harshly unless he wins outright.

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