Some cars work better in different scenarios than they do in other ones so balancing the performance is also a reflection of recency bias.
For example, you may have a car that hasn't been developed at all that looked slow in the early Asian legs but suddenly looks better in the European phases simply because the tracks and/or conditions suit the car more. Obviously there is an underlying level of performance in each car but it's how you stick the likes of de Vries and Colapinto in a Williams after the mid-season and suddenly they're doing well... because the car is doing well.
There are clear tier levels though.
McLaren are, and will be, the top of the food chain for most races.
There'll be some races that suit the Mercedes and some where they barely even look like a competitive team. Similar to Ferrari but Ferrari seem slightly more rounded so they'd be slightly ahead of Mercedes in the hierarchy for me. Red Bull are hard to judge because they have one guy who is the cream of the crop and a second driver that is the driving like cream that has gone off. I'd say Ferrari marginally over Mercedes and a small gap to Red Bull. Max's driver rating should then pull him into the same level as the better cars and leave Yuki battling for 7ths and 8th at best. However, he's not doing that so shove him to the bottom.
I'd have Williams marginally ahead of the midfield. I think it helps that their driver-pairing is probably the best of the midfield but they'd be a tiptoe ahead of the rest.
Aston Martin and Sauber, I'd feel are neck-and-neck. Only a smidge off Williams and constantly on the precipice of points. You could probably chuck in VCARB here but i'd have them a jot behind with the Haas team.
Alpine are the bottom-feeders. I'm not just saying that because their second-seat driver is absolutely garbage but even Gasly, who is a known quantity, isn't pulling trees up neither. He was doing bits in an Alpha Tauri that wasn't on the pace but can't do it in an Alpine. Plus they deserve to be last for not taking the sport seriously by the allocation of that second seat. I wouldn't have them far off Haas though.
So, in summary; with a rudimentary rating to showcase closeness.
McLaren - 9/10 - Pretty good at every track
Max's Red Bull - 8.5/10 - Challenging at every track for wins but mainly podium battling with Ferrari
Ferrari - 8/10 - Podiums mainly
Mercedes - 7.8/10 - Sneak a podium at most tracks.
Williams - 6.5/10 - Consistent points scorers
Aston - 6.05/10 - Occasional points
Sauber - 6/10 - Occasional points
VCARB - 5.5/10 - Occasional points but rarer than the above
Haas - 5.3/10 - Occasional points but rarer than Aston/Sauber
Yuki's Red Bull - 5.2/10 - Might sneak a point on a good day.
Gasly's Alpine - 5/10 - Participation trophy. Mixes it with back of the midfield and very rare points.
Colapinto's Alpine - 3/10. Only has a reverse gear.
