Italian newspaper gives Vettel perfect 10

The authoritative Italian trade newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport has given Sebastian Vettel a perfect ten for the first half of 2011.

Despite the Red Bull driver not adding to his tally of six grand prix wins this year within the month of July, the report said Vettel had the best car until June but drove "masterfully".

By contrast, his teammate Mark Webber received a score of just 5.5.

Closest to Vettel were Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, who each received scores of 9 out of 10.

La Gazzetta dello Sport said McLaren’s Hamilton, whose teammate Jenson Button scored 8, "gives a lesson to everybody on the right day" but needs to learn "self-control".

Alonso’s Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa scored just 5 because of the "massive difference" with the other side of his garage.

Also scoring just 5 is Michael Schumacher, compared to Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg’s 7. La Gazzetta dello Sport said it is clear that the "beautiful old times" for the seven time world champion "will never return".

Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi and Force India’s Adrian Sutil both scored 6.5, while Paul di Resta, Sebastien Buemi, Jaime Alguersuari and Sergio Perez got 6.

Like Webber, Vitaly Petrov and Pastor Maldonado got 5.5 out of 10, while Rubens Barrichello, Nick Heidfeld, Timo Glock and the Lotus and current HRT drivers scored 5.

The lowest-ranked drivers, with scores of 4, were Narain Karthikeyan, Karun Chandhok and Jerome d’Ambrosio, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport.