F1 driver power rankings: November - who shone in the United States and Brazilian?

November was an eventful month in Formula One. Lewis Hamilton took his sixth world championship title at the US Grand Prix, moving to within one of Michael Schumacher's record seven.

Then came the chaotic Brazilian Grand Prix, which had too many incidents and brilliant moments to mention here. Needless to say Max Verstappen took an excellent win but that was not even the half of it.

With all that in mind, we look at how the drivers performed in those two Grands Prix in the November edition of our driver power rankings.

The rankings are calculated by combining a variety of factors.  They take into account the adjusted performance index we used for our ratings last year (where drivers are given a handicap and rating according to their machinery), race and qualifying performance, any penalties a driver receives and our subjective rating out of 100. From this they get a rating and from that we derive our rankings.

So, who did the business in rounds 19 and 20?

10. George Russell - Williams

It is a shame Russell has not been in a more competitive car with a more competitive team-mate. He has absolutely destroyed Robert Kubica in qualifying and races (although Kubica has Williams' only point of the season) but it's difficult to get a gauge on just how good he has been.

Russell is largely up here by virtue of his 12th place in the Brazilian Grand Prix in such a poor car and the fact that so many other drivers had a nightmare in either round 19 or 20.  Still, he has been consistent when others have not.

9. Antonio Giovinazzi - Alfa Romeo

Alongside the plaudits for Pierre Gasly and Carlos Sainz at the Brazilian Grand Prix, it was pleasing to see Giovinazzi claim his best ever finish - and 10 points with it - for finishing fifth. After a patchy start to the season he started regularly out-qualifying team-mate Kimi Raikkonen and putting in the performances on Sunday to show that he is worthy of his place in F1. His race in Austin was by no means brilliant but fifth in Brazil was fully deserved for a solid debut season.

8. Lando Norris - McLaren

After a fairly even first half of the season performance-wise, Norris has started to be a little overshadowed by team-mate Carlos Sainz. That's no shame as Sainz is driving as well as anyone on the grid at the moment, but Norris still delivered two strong points finishes for McLaren here with seventh in Austin and eighth in Brazil.

He currently sits 11th in the championship just one point behind Sergio Perez. A place in the top 10 would be just reward for a brilliant debut season.

7. Pierre Gasly - Toro Rosso

Gasly had a woeful 12 races at Red Bull earlier in the season, but he has finally found some of his spark back at his old team, Toro Rosso. In both of these rounds he made it into Q3 (making it four times in a row) and, but for his retirement in Austin, would be much higher in these rankings.

The strength of his finish in Brazil owed a little to fortune, with three frontrunners picking up a penalty and a couple of Safety Car periods, too. But he was by far the quickest and best midfield runner at Interlagos and after a tough start to the season, nobody can begrudge him a brilliant first podium in F1.

6. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes

In both of these rounds Hamilton came just short of victory. In the US he nearly held on to first place in the closing stages, despite starting from fifth after a lacklustre qualifying. In Brazil he put the faultless Verstappen under pressure throughout the race but just did not have the pace to beat him.

His lunge down the inside of Albon in the closing stages at Interlagos cost him five seconds via a penalty, and a few places, but other than that he was close to his best, getting the most out of his car as usual. No wins in November but a sixth world title sealed, at least.

5. Sergio Perez - Racing Point

The last time Perez finished a race and did not score a point was back at the Hungarian Grand Prix in August. And even then he was only 11th. In Austin he drove superbly from the pit lane to a point and, although he feels his race performance didn't merit ninth place in Sao Paulo, he picked up another two points anyway. 46 points in the season in a Racing Point that has been, on average, the ninth quickest team on raw pace is no small achievement.

Given Lance Stroll's persistent struggles to be anywhere near competitive in the sister car, Perez is Racing Point's biggest asset at the moment.

4. Kimi Raikkonen - Alfa Romeo

After a mid-season slump (25 points and seven top-10s in the first 10 rounds and just six points and one top-10 in the next nine), Raikkonen arrested his slide with a fighting fourth in Brazil. 11th in Austin was not too bad given how much the Alfa Romeo struggled but staying out of trouble and making the right calls brought him his, and his team's, best finish of the season at Interlagos.

Like Perez at Racing Point, Raikkonen has proved how valuable he is to Alfa Romeo this year. He will start next year as the second-most experienced Grand Prix driver of all time.

3. Daniel Ricciardo - Renault

Following the disappointment of disqualification from sixth in Japan, Renault and in particular Ricciardo have bounced back emphatically. The Renault RS19 seems to struggle in qualifying trim but on race days in the hands of the Australian it has often been at the front of the midfield.

A pair of sixth places in November puts Ricciardo on 54 points for the season and all but assures him of ninth in the standings. His first year at Renault has been a bumpy ride but there are at least some solid signs of progress towards the end of the year. You do wonder what he'd be doing with a Red Bull at his hands, though.

2. Carlos Sainz - McLaren

With 20 rounds of the 2019 season gone, Sainz sits on 95 points in the championship, with a good chance of finishing sixth at the end of the season and breaking the 100-point barrier. It has not only been clearly his best year in F1, he could also end up near enough doubling his previous best points total.

Eighth from seventh on the grid in Austin was fairly solid and circumstances helped him to his first podium finish in F1 in Brazil, but it is just reward for a driver who has surprised many this season as he starts to realise his potential. Fernando who?

1. Max Verstappen - Red Bull

Verstappen should have won in Mexico but he didn't slow for yellow flags and then opened his  mouth in the post-race press conference. It cost him pole position in a race he should have won. No such mistakes in the US and Brazil, though.

He gave both Mercedes a good run in Austin but did not quite have the car underneath him. But it was at Interlagos where he was back to his brilliant best, taking pole position on Saturday before twice overtaking Hamilton on Sunday to secure his third win of the season and move to third in the standings. Unless there is a big turnaround in Abu Dhabi he will finish ahead of both Ferraris in the drivers' championship. Superb.