How your Japanese GP driver rankings compared with Edd's
After every Formula 1 grand prix weekend, Edd Straw hops off the fence and ranks the performance of all 22 drivers across the whole weekend.
But in 2026, we've started asking those of you in the Champions tier of The Race Members' Club to give us your ranking.
For Suzuka, here's how our Champions ranked the drivers from best to worst, with Edd's ranking in brackets.
- Oscar Piastri (2nd)
- Charles Leclerc (4th)
- Pierre Gasly (1st)
- Kimi Antonelli (3rd)
- Lando Norris (10th)
- Esteban Ocon (5th)
- Lewis Hamilton (12th)
- Max Verstappen (11th)
- George Russell (13th)
- Liam Lawson (6th)
- Arvid Lindblad (9th)
- Carlos Sainz (8th)
- Isack Hadjar (17th)
- Nico Hulkenberg (19th)
- Gabriel Bortoleto (18th)
- Fernando Alonso (14th)
- Sergio Perez (7th)
- Ollie Bearman (22nd)
- Franco Colapinto (21st)
- Alex Albon (16th)
- Valtteri Bottas (20th)
- Lance Stroll (15th)
As you can see, there are some real differences there, with Edd ranking Sergio Perez 10 places higher than the Members' Club, while Lewis Hamilton was ranked five places higher by our Members' Club than Edd.
If you'd like to give your take after the next 2026 races, then make sure you're signed up to the Champions tier of The Race Members' Club.
After every grand prix, Edd also records a special Q&A bonus podcast, answering questions from The Race Members' Club on his ranking choices.
You can see an example of Edd's answers from his Suzuka debrief here.
We'll also have a tonne of bonus content over on The Race Members' Club over the surprise April gap, so make sure you're signed up so you don't miss out.