The Italian Grand Prix saw one of the closest qualifying sessions ever plus the fastest lap and race in Formula 1 history.
But at the end of it one driver dominated the contest – and for once he wasn’t in a McLaren. Here are RaceFans’ driver ratings for the Italian Grand Prix.
Lando Norris
▶ Skirted disaster in Q2 then lacked tow for first Q3 lap but beat team mate with last run
▲ Made a better start than Verstappen and took the lead
▶ Couldn’t keep Verstappen behind and dropped back in second
▶ Fell behind Piastri due to later, slower pit stop but team moved him back ahead
8/10: Fought Verstappen more convincingly than usual but was lucky team chose to swap cars
Oscar Piastri
▶ Missed first practice as Alexander Dunne drove his car
▶ More consistent than Norris in qualifying but beaten to second on final runs
▶ Lost third to Leclerc at the start, made excellent re-pass at Lesmo 1 then lost place again
▶ Finally got ahead of Leclerc for good but lost time to Norris and never recovered it
7/10: Easy to sympathise over the end of the race but he wasn’t quite as quick as Norris
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Charles Leclerc
▶ Couldn’t wring any more from his car on second Q3 run
▶ Passed Piastri twice in the opening laps but over-stressed his tyres trying to stay ahead
▶ Fourth place was clearly the best the car could manage
8/10: Tried everything to get on the podium but didn’t have the car to do it
Lewis Hamilton
▶ Qualified a tenth of a second off Leclerc but penalty from Zandvoort left him 10th on the grid
▲ Gained two places off the line then two more over next laps and closed on Russell
▶ Long first stint cost him time to Russell and ended his hopes of fifth place
7/10: Not served well by strategy but did the best he could given penalty
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Max Verstappen
▲ Consistently quickest on softs in qualifying and kept improving for pole
▶ Cut the first corner to keep Norris behind and avoid coming under attack from others
▲ Repassed Norris for the lead and dominated race from there on
▶ Almost as quick on his hard tyres as Norris was on softs
9/10: Back to his imperious best
Yuki Tsunoda
▼ 0.7s deficit to Verstappen in Q3 was huge and not all down to tow
▼ Fell back in the DRS train and was passed by Antonelli
▶ Made early pit stop, passed Lawson but was hit by him
▶ Claimed he was delayed by damage from then on
▼ Finished 80 seconds behind Verstappen, not far off being lapped
4/10: Far too far off Verstappen in qualifying and the race
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Andrea Kimi Antonelli
▼ Missed most of second practice after spinning into a gravel trap at Lesmo 2
▶ Qualified a few hundredths behind his team mate but admitted he could have gone quicker on last lap
▼ Poor start dropped him back to 10th
▲ Excellent pass on Tsunoda moved him up to ninth
▶ Move on Albon was unnecessary but probably didn’t deserve a penalty
6/10: Still misfiring but clear signs of improvement
George Russell
▶ Quickest in Q1 on mediums, wanted them back for Q3 but miscommunication left him on softs
▶ Didn’t improve on final run which left him sixth before Hamilton’s penalty
▶ Locked into fifth place all race long
7/10: Has to shoulder some blame for missed opportunity in qualifying
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Lance Stroll
▼ Went out in Q1, almost three-tenths of a second off Alonso, who reached Q3
▶ Ran an extremely long first stint on hard tyres
▶ Lost 16 seconds with a slow pit stop for softs
▶ Finished last; team said he could have been 12th without slow stop
6/10: Managed hard tyres well and was unlucky but again qualified poorly
Fernando Alonso
▲ Wrung everything from the Aston Martin for a place in Q3
▲ Gained places from Antonelli and Bortoleto at the start, but lost the latter position gain
▶ Hamilton inevitably went by for seventh
▲ Jumped Bortoleto in the pits by following him in closely
▼ Team said suspension failure was linked to Ascari kerb use
6/10: Battled as hard as ever but asked a little too much of his car
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Franco Colapinto
▶ Missed first practice as Paul Aron drove his car
▶ Squeezed a tenth of a second more out of the car than Gasly to qualify 18th
▶ Started on mediums and was stuck behind rivals on hards
▶ Passed by Lawson at the start and Hadjar later in stint
▶ Offered no resistance to his team mate when he came past on lap 30
▶ Obeyed order to let Gasly pass him again at end of race
5/10: Qualified well but couldn’t make progress on mediums early on
Pierre Gasly
▶ Blamed traffic after qualifying 19th
▶ Started from the pit lane after power unit change
▶ Ran a long stint on hards before switching to softs
▶ Alpine moved him in front of Colapinto at end
6/10: Quicker in race than his team mate but Alpine weren’t competitive in Monza
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Esteban Ocon
▶ Improved on final Q1 lap despite not having a tow and reached Q2
▼ Picked up a five-second time penalty for squeezing Stroll
▶ Ran a long opening stint on hards behind Albon
▶ Stayed out hoping for a Safety Car but didn’t get one
6/10: Unnecessary squeeze on Stroll ended slim chance of points
Oliver Bearman
▲ Was just one hundredth of a second away from beating Tsunoda into Q3
▶ Pitted first of those who started on mediums, then passed Lawson
▶ Collision with Sainz was a racing incident which did not deserve a penalty
▶ Remained 12th despite 10-second penalty for Sainz incident
6/10: Another decent qualifying effort and missed points chance
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Isack Hadjar
▼ Blamed Sainz for interfering with his Q1 lap after team warned him not to let the Williams past
▲ Despite his compromised preparation lap he still managed to out-qualify Lawson
▶ Started from the pit lane after power unit change
▲ Passed Colapinto and caught queue of other drivers on hards
▶ Gained places when Sainz and Bearman tangled and promoted to 10th when Ocon and Stroll pitted at end
7/10: Stayed out of trouble and kept his pace up to snatch an unlikely point
Liam Lawson
▼ Touched the gravel in Ascari on his final lap which left him last in qualifying
▶ Started on softs and got past Stroll and Colapinto on lap one
▶ Pitted early for hard tyres and ran to end
▼ Collided with Tsunoda as the Red Bull driver passed him, then let him through
4/10: Disappointing in qualifying, strategy was unlikely to get him points but Tsunoda collision was senseless
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Alexander Albon
▶ Both Williams drivers struggled with tyre preparation and Albon was narrowly beaten by Sainz
▶ Started on hards and was waved past Sainz just before half-distance
▶ Lapped quicker than Verstappen at one point
▲ Overtook Antonelli after well-timed switch to mediums
▲ Gained six places (after Hulkenberg’s retirement) to finish seventh
7/10: Strategy and teamwork played out perfectly for him, and pass on Antonelli was excellent
Carlos Sainz Jnr
▶ Did a strong lap in Q1 when he got the tyres worked but dropped out in Q2
▶ Starting on the medium tyres arguably put him on a weaker strategy than Albon
▶ Let his team mate past when instructed to
▶ Should have left Bearman more room when he passed him
6/10: Paid a price for being unnecessarily uncompromising with Bearman
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Nico Hulkenberg
▼ Poor banker lap left him at a disadvantage in Q2 as Bortoleto beat him again
▶ Didn’t start the race due to hydraulic failure
5/10: Wasn’t up to scratch in qualifying again but race was a non-event for him
Gabriel Bortoleto
▶ Reached Q3 but couldn’t repeat his Q2 time and admitted a better result was possible
▶ Lost a place to Alonso at the start but re-passed him
▼ Admitted his pit box positioning could have been better after losing a place to Alonso
▶ Fell behind Albon and Antonelli but inherited eighth after the latter’s penalty
7/10: Again converted a strong qualifying effort into points
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Over to you
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