F1 Mid Season Report Card

Today, I'm doing a two part blog, as today was always planned to be the F1 Mid Season Report Card, but there is one item of news I need to cover, so I'm doing a very short blog later to cover that. But for now, the F1 circus returns to the road this weekend at Belgium's Spa-Francorchamps, so it's an ideal time to look on the performances of the first half of the season. Let's begin at 20th and go to 1st.

20: George Russel- B

Russell has been more impressive than his position suggests, being thoroughly better than Robert Kubica and only being behind him because of the German madness in which Kubica inherited a point.

19: Robert Kubica- C

I'm passing Kubica as I don't know exactly how good or bad he has been due to the Williams' pace this year. If this was an actual report card, it would probably be a NC in the sense of not enough data.

18: Antonio Giovinazzi- D

The fact that he has been shown up every race by Kimi Raikkonen isn't the leading factor here. The reason he fails is he has been 18th every race and has been the Gasly-esque thorn in Alfa Romeo's side as they try to push on this season.

17: Romain Grosjean- C

Pass conceded. Grosjean hasn't been very good at all this year and the only reason he's passing is that the majority of his retirements have been for mechanical reasons this year rather than driver error. However, Silverstone was inexcusable, and so was the fact that excluding Germany he's scored only one more point than Giovinazzi all season.

16: Sergio perez- C

He's been unlucky this year, finishing eleventh or twelth five times and not scoring at the German GP whereas drivers such as Dani Kvyat and Stroll scored big, passing him. Probably deserves to be higher up, but only three points finishes is a C material.

15: Alex Albon- B

Albon is a B considering he was a Formula E drier for the midpack Nissan team at the beginning of the season and now he has a top 10 seat. Another screwed over by Germany where Kvyat leapfrogged him despite a strong finish on his own part, Albon now has a chance to consolidate himself as a bright talent.

14: Nico Hulkenburg- C

Too many 13ths and not enough points scoring finishes. With that said, he, like Kubica, does not have a benchmark as Dan Ricciardo is probably the third or fourth best driver in the field behind Hamilton, Verstappen and maybe Leclerc. Still, Ocon would probably make better use of the seat, and since I'm a bit of a Hulk fan I wouldn't be heartbroken at a move to Haas considering that the cars are quite similar. Where he would partner...

13: Kevin Magnussen- C

Similar to Grosjean, but a solid apss because while he has finished 17th too much, he has also finished 6th and 7th this year, and neither were at Germany, proving that the car's deceleration in ability was more to blame than a drop off in form.

12: Lance Stroll- B

Despite being his usual self at qualifying, he has improved markedly in almost every race and, while Germany maybe meant he has slightly too many points, he still deserves to be beating drivers such as Grosjean and Perez.

11: Dan Ricciardo- B

Dan's had a good year when he's finished, with the Renault engine's reliability being a thorn in his side. I predict he'll move to a top team in 2021 if Renault don't improve in 2020, or give them one more year under the new rules.

10: Lando Norris- B

Lando is close to an A for a debut half season. Despite having a few incidents, his lowest finish has been 12th, which is seriously impressive when you consider that Sainz finished 14th in China, and Sainz has been having a great year. Lando's off track antics are also a highlight of the new breed of F1.

9: Daniil Kvyat- B

For a 'seat warmer', Kvyat has consolidated a future in F1 with a solid half-season, highlighted by a podium in Germany and six other points finishes, whereas both pierre Gasly and Dan Ticktum have had abysmal 2019s so far. This means that Kvyat should have a Toro Rosso seat for two more years at least while Pato O'Ward or someone else from the Red Bull Junior Academy gets their Superlicence points. The comparison of him with Gasly will be very interesting in the second half of the season.

8: Kimi Raikkonen- B

A lower B than Norris and Kvyat but still a solid year for the Iceman, Kimi Raikkonen. He's finished every race and scored in 2/3 of them. More food for thought is that is Giovinazzi scored as amny points as he has, Alfa Romeo would be a clear 5th as opposed to 8th.

7: Carlos Sainz- A

Red Bull made a massive mistake letting Sainz go this year, as he has absolutely responded with results for McLaren. After two retirements and a 14th, he has not failed to score since then and has often beaten or been close to Gasly in a much better car. A highlight was 5th in Hungary and frequent second- or third-row qualification.

6: Pierre Gasly- E

Pierre has been a shambles this season. You could understand Red Bull's thoughts about promoting him after he finished 4th in Bahrain, but that may have been an overestimation when you consider what he's done this year. Yes he still has a best of 4th but also has the rest of his results very similar to Carlos Sainz in the inferior McLaren. No surprise that he was demoted to Toro Rosso in the winter break.

5: Charles Leclerc- B

Leclerc has been impressive this year, with a win stolen in Bahrain. He will be angry at his mistakes in Monaco and Germany but they are really the only mistakes he has made all year. One for the future.

4: Seb Vettel- C

Pass conceded. With similar results to Leclerc, Vettel only has a big margin because he has finished every race this year, but has been off the pace at times. Highlights include a redemption drive in Germany from 20th to 2nd, lowlights include mistakes in Britain and Bahrain, among others.

3: Max Verstappen- A

Max has really got the most out of a good package this year, winning in Austria and in challenging German conditions, battling all the way at Silverstone and getting his first ever pole at Hungary. He could be an absolute force in the second half, watch for him at nearly every race.

2: Valtteri Bottas- C

Valtteri has done alright but has been a shadow of Australian Bottas since Australia. He could be overtaken by Max Verstappen in the second half of the season.

1: Lewis Hamilton- A

Simply the best. Like many, his only mistake of the year was in Germany and while Austria was also poor for him, he hasn't finished 3rd or lower in any other race. The odds-on championship favourite.

So that's my F1 Report Card for 2019! Who do you disagree or agree with? Tell me in the comments.