F1 Power Rankings: Hamilton on top, Rosberg not so much
Welcome to theScore's F1 Power Rankings! After every race we'll rate each driver's race weekend performance, and not necessarily where they finish on the grid, because lists and cats are what the Internet was made for.
This week we look at the Australian Grand Prix. Sorry Manor Marussia, only teams that raced get on the list.
1. Lewis Hamilton
| Race result: 1 | Qualified: 1 | Driver standings: 1 | Driver points: 25 |
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He crushed qualifying, finished nearly three seconds ahead of third-place Sebastian Vettel and chirped The Terminator. Hamilton's the world champ for a reason.
2. Sebastian Vettel
| Race result: 3 | Qualified: 4 | Driver standings: 3 | Driver points: 15 |
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Seb looked inspired in his debut with Ferrari. The car has improved from last year and Vettel looked like his old self en route to the podium. Third place is a big, big deal for the Prancing Horse.
3. Nico Rosberg
| Race result: 2 | Qualified: 2 | Driver standings: 2 | Driver points: 18 |
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This race should have been a lot closer. Rosberg was slow at the start and later brushed the wall. He needs to do a lot better to challenge Hamilton.
4. Felipe Nasr
| Race result: 5 | Qualified: 11 | Driver standings: 5 | Driver points: 10 |
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Nasr probably wouldn't have finished as high without half the pack being DNF'ing terrible. Still, his result was impressive considering it was his F1 debut and he missed the first practice during Sauber's nightmare week.
5. Daniel Ricciardo
| Race result: 6 | Qualified: 7 | Driver standings: 6 | Driver points: 8 |
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Lucky, lucky Red Bull. One driver can't even start the race, but the team still gets eight points from the Great Australian Hope.
6. Felipe Massa
| Race result: 4 | Qualified: 3 | Driver standings: 4 | Driver points: 12 |
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Massa really should have been on the podium. Instead, Williams called him into the pits too early and he failed to take advantage of his Mercedes engine to pass Vettel.
7. Carlos Sainz Jr.
| Race result: 9 | Qualified: 8 | Driver standings: 9 | Driver points: 2 |
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For all the talk about his 17-year-old teammate, Sainz was the best driver Toro Rosso had despite an awful pit stop. A great start to his F1 career.
8. Kimi Raikkonen
| Race result: DNF | Qualified: 5 | Driver standings: 12 | Driver points: 0 |
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Kimi deserved better. Safe to say this pit crew member's job security isn't great right now.
9. Max Verstappen
| Race result: DNF | Qualified: 12 | Driver standings: 13 | Driver points: 0 |
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The kid did good, right up until his engine decided play time was over. Let's see what he does in the next race.
10. Nico Hulkenberg
| Race result: 7 | Qualified: 14 | Driver standings: 7 | Driver points: 6 |
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If Hulkenberg decided to knock off for the beach halfway through the race, would anyone notice?
11. Marcus Ericsson
| Race result: 8 | Qualified: 16 | Driver standings: 8 | Driver points: 4 |
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Probably the first and last points of Ericsson's career. But hey, he's got money, right Giedo?
12. Valtteri Bottas
| Race result: DNF | Qualified: 6 | Driver standings: 18 | Driver points: 0 |
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Have to figure Bottas qualifies higher if it weren't for the back injury.
13. Romain Grosjean
| Race result: DNF | Qualified: 9 | Driver standings: 14 | Driver points: 0 |
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Consider this: Grosjean's car died on the first lap and he's STILL optimistic the car isn't hot garbage like last year.
14. Pastor Maldonado
| Race result: DNF | Qualified: 10 | Driver standings: 15 | Driver points: 0 |
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Just Pastor being Pastor.
15. Daniil Kvyat
| Race result: DNF | Qualified: 13 | Driver standings: 16 | Driver points: 0 |
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Kvyat is going to be playing Russian Roulette with that Red Bull this year. #sorrynotsorry
16. Jenson Button
| Race result: 11 | Qualified: 17 | Driver standings: 11 | Driver points: 0 |
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Retirement would have been a smart career move in retrospect.
17. Sergio Perez
| Race result: 10 | Qualified: 15 | Driver standings: 10 | Driver points: 1 |
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Perez needed all he had to get by a McLaren not fit for go-karts. Yikes.
18. Kevin Magnussen
| Race result: DNF | Qualified: 18 | Driver standings: 17 | Driver points: 0 |
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Maybe Magnussen gets one more race while Fernando Alonso steers clear of this disaster.