DIVE INTO F1® 2021’s DRIVER RATINGS

Last week, the world got a sneak peek at some of the F1^® 2021 driver ratings as Raikkonen & Giovinazzi, Gasly & Tsunoda and Russell & Latifi had a go at guessing their own teammates’ scores. Did they get them right? You can check out what happened here.

The time has now come to reveal the full driver ratings for F1^® 2021. In My Team, you’re placed in the position of driver-owner and need to make a key decision: who’s going to be your teammate?

The My Team ratings first appeared in F1^® 2020. Based on real-life results and data from the start of Formula 1^®’s hybrid era, they allow you to compare and contrast all drivers competing in both F1^® and F2^™ based on experience, racecraft, awareness, pace and overall rating. Last year’s ratings provoked a lot of discussion and debate amongst you, and one of the biggest changes we have made for 2021 is to place a greater emphasis on recent results. You’ll notice that drivers with good form will see a more rapid rise in their ratings.

Experience equals time on the track – easy! This number comes from the real-life races the driver has entered, and the bar here is a high one, with Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen leading the charge with the maximum of 99.  In F1^® 2021, the higher this number, the more resource points the driver will pick up for your team.

Determining the racecraft rating involves taking a deep look into a driver’s starting and finishing positions and running some complex calculations in between. How does this affect the drivers in F1^® 2021? The higher the racecraft, the more overtakes a driver will go for out on track when the opportunities arise.

Awareness is based on how clean a driver is and how many penalties they pick up in races. Clean races and fewer penalties equal an above-average awareness score, which in-game, translates to better control of the car in challenging circumstances.

Pace is pure speed. This one is calculated by compiling the fastest laps in a race and comparing them to not only the fastest lap overall, but also the lap times of their teammate too. Translating this ranking into F1^® 2021 means that those drivers with a higher pace are much more likely to grab those fastest laps and end up on the sharp end of the grid in qualifying.

The four attributes combine nicely into the overall ranking, giving you a general guide on just how good each driver is.

The in-game driver stats are dynamic! Not only will they change as you progress and develop your drivers through gameplay, they will also be updated based on the drivers real-world performances throughout the season. You’re free to accept the rating changes or keep what you have worked on already!

It’s been a sensational start to the F1® season so far, and a number of driver rankings have already dramatically changed since the end of 2020, especially those in their debut season. Here’s a quick look at the most notable ones.

AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda has been lighting up timing screens and radios alike this season. Finishing ninth in Bahrain and 13^th after starting from the pit lane in France has boosted his racecraft by an incredible 31 points, the largest points increase in any rating from any driver. It’s not only his racecraft that’s gone up; his experience has increased by 16, awareness by eight, pace by 13 and his overall rating by 16.

The fortunes of the two McLaren drivers could not be more different. Lando Norris has never finished outside the top eight, with two incredible podiums to his name in 2021. This unbelievable feat, along with posting the third-fastest lap at Imola, has meant his pace has gone up by four and his overall rating by three since the start of the season.

Daniel Ricciardo’s season has played out very differently. Whilst his racecraft has gone up by two, and his awareness by four, his pace has gone down by four, due to his performance compared with his teammate.

The biggest story of the 2021 season, however, has to be the epic battle for this year’s Drivers’ Championship. Whether you’re Team Hamilton or Team Verstappen, it’s really heating up at the sharp end of the standings, and our ratings reflect just how tight the fight is.

Both drivers are sitting on an overall rating of 95, the highest rating recorded for any driver in our system right now. Since this season began, Lewis Hamilton’s awareness has increased by three, and his experience and overall rating by one. Verstappen has had a strong start to the season, with one of his best performances coming at the French Grand Prix with an overtake of Hamilton on the penultimate lap! As a result, Verstappen’s experience, racecraft, pace and overall rating have all gone up by one.

Here are the full driver ratings for F1^® 2021: