Nyck de Vries, Williams, Monza, 2022

2022 Italian Grand Prix driver ratings

2022 Italian Grand Prix

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The final race of a triple header, the Italian Grand Prix was also the second low downforce circuit drivers had to contend with in the space of three weeks.

With seemingly endless grid penalties once again meaning the final grid order bared little resemblance to the qualifying results, there were some impressive drives throughout the field on Sunday – including from an unexpected debutant.

Here are the RaceFans’ driver ratings for the Italian Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, Monza, 2022
Hamilton’s rise through the field started slowly

Lewis Hamilton – 6

Qualified: 5th (+1 place ahead of team mate)
-0.018s quicker than team mate in Q3
Started: 19th (-17 places behind team mate)
Finished: 5th (-2 places behind team mate)

  • Hit with a ‘back of the grid’ penalty for taking fourth power unit
  • Behind team mate in every practice session
  • Just beat team mate to qualify fifth, which became 19th on the grid after penalty
  • Started on mediums and fell to last at the first corner after missing chicane, but passed Bottas into Roggia
  • Overtook Schumacher on second lap, but struggled to get ahead of Tsunoda
  • Passed Latifi, Magnussen and then Tsunoda, catching and overtaking Ocon and Stroll before passing Alonso for sixth
  • Pitted for softs on lap 33, quickly overtaking De Vries, Gasly and Ricciardo to move to sixth
  • Gained fifth when Perez pitted, then stayed out under Safety Car
  • Remained in fifth behind the train, eventually finishing there under Safety Car conditions

George Russell – 6

Qualified: 6th (-1 place behind team mate)
+0.018s slower than team mate in Q3
Started: 2nd (+17 places ahead of team mate)
Finished: 3rd (+2 places ahead of team mate)

  • Ahead of team mate in every practice session
  • Pipped to fifth in Q3 by team mate, but moved to front row on the grid after penalties for rivals applied
  • Started on softs and challenged Leclerc into first corner, running over the inside kerbs and retaining second place
  • Lost second to Verstappen on lap five, but pulled sizeable gap to Ricciardo in fourth
  • Pitted for hard tyres on lap 23, gaining back third when Sainz pitted
  • Ran alone on track until pitting under late Safety Car for softs, retaining third place
  • Emerged behind Safety Car but was not permitted to overtake for two laps
  • Finished third behind Safety Car to take final place on podium
Max Verstappen, Red Bull, Monza, 2022
A fifth straight win from seventh on the grid for Verstappen

Max Verstappen – 8

Qualified: 2nd (+2 places ahead of team mate)
-0.9s quicker than team mate in Q3
Started: 7th (+6 places ahead of team mate)
Finished: Winner (+5 places ahead of team mate)

  • Handed a five-place grid penalty for taking his fourth power unit of the season
  • Quickest in final practice session
  • Qualified second just over a tenth away from Leclerc’s pole time, falling to seventh on the grid with penalty
  • Started on softs, passing Norris and Alonso off the line, then Gasly into Ascari to gain fourth
  • Overtook Ricciardo at start of second lap to take third, then passed Russell for second on lap five
  • Took the lead after Leclerc pitted under Virtual Safety Car, stretching his first stint until lap 25
  • Pitted for mediums and rejoined in second, rapidly closing up the ten second gap to the leader until Leclerc pitted
  • Maintained strong race pace, preventing Leclerc to make much progress on him despite fresh soft tyres
  • Held 16 second lead before Safety Car and pitted for softs, but only had to follow the pace car to the finish to win
  • Ahead of team mate in every session

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Sergio Perez – 5

Qualified: 4th (-2 places behind team mate)
+0.9s slower than team mate in Q3
Started: 13th (-6 places behind team mate)
Finished: 6th (-5 places behind team mate)

  • Given a ten-place grid penalty for taking fourth engine
  • Was fourth fastest in every qualifying phase to qualify fourth, nearly a second slower than his team mate
  • Started 13th on the grid on mediums, losing two places at the first corner, then another to Sainz on lap two
  • Passed Latifi, Magnussen and Ocon before having to pit with overheating front brakes, switching to hard tyres
  • Ran at the rear of the field, eventually moving up positions as cars ahead pitted
  • Got up to fifth before pitting for softs on lap 42, dropping him to seventh
  • Gained one place when Norris pitted under Safety Car, with no restart leaving him sixth at the finish
  • Behind team mate in every session
Carlos Sainz Jr, Ferrari, Monza, 2022
Sainz’s rapid rise up the order was impressive

Carlos Sainz Jnr – 7

Qualified: 3rd (-2 places behind team mate)
+0.268s slower than team mate in Q3
Started: 18th (-17 places behind team mate)
Finished: 4th (-2 places behind team mate)

  • Condemned to back of the grid start after multiple power unit penalties
  • Reprimanded in third practice for driving unnecessarily slowly at first chicane, leading to near-miss with Bottas
  • Qualified third despite the lack of a tow on his final Q3 lap, leaving him starting from 18th on the grid
  • Opted to start on medium tyres and gained two places in first corner
  • Passed Perez at start of second lap, then Latifi into Alboreto
  • Overtook 12 cars between second and 13th lap to gain fourth place over opening stint
  • Pitted for softs on lap 30 to rejoin in seventh, then passed Perez to move back up to fourth
  • Pitted again for new softs under Safety Car, remaining in fourth place where he would finish

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Charles Leclerc – 7

Qualified: Pole (+2 places ahead of team mate)
-0.268s quicker than team mate in Q3
Started: Pole (+17 places ahead of team mate)
Finished: 2nd (+2 places ahead of team mate)

  • Secured first pole position since Paul Ricard, beating Verstappen on merit
  • Started on softs and held off attack from Russell to keep the early lead
  • Pitted under Virtual Safety Car for mediums, committing to two stop and falling to third
  • Picked up the lead after Russell and Verstappen pitted, then stopped for softs with 19 laps remaining
  • Rejoined in second but struggled to make any progress into Verstappen’s lead ahead
  • Pitted for another set of softs under Safety Car but was frustrated that race did not restart, leaving him in second
Lando Norris, McLaren, Monza, 2022
Norris’s poor start was down to incorrect settings

Lando Norris – 7

Qualified: 7th (+1 place ahead of team mate)
-0.341s quicker than team mate in Q3
Started: 3rd (+1 place ahead of team mate)
Finished: 7th

  • Comfortably reached Q3 to qualify ‘best of the rest’ in seventh, half a tenth behind Russell’s Mercedes
  • Started on mediums but incorrect settings led to poor getaway which saw him lose five places off the line
  • Regained one place at the first corner, then passed Alonso to move into sixth
  • Lost seventh to Alonso after locking up at Rettifilo on lap 13 and running wide, but gained back the place on lap 18
  • Extended his first stint far longer than his team mate, eventually pitting for softs on lap 35 but lost five seconds with slow stop
  • Emerged ninth behind Ricciardo, Hamilton and Gasly, passing the AlphaTauri soon after
  • Allowed past team mate into seventh under team orders, which became sixth when Perez pitted
  • Pitted for used softs under Safety Car, dropping behind Perez in seventh where he would ultimately finish

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Daniel Ricciardo – 6

Qualified: 8th (-1 place behind team mate)
+0.341s slower than team mate in Q3
Started: 4th (-1 place behind team mate)
Finished: Retired (Oil leak – L46)

  • Progressed into Q3 to secure eighth, one place but three tenths slower than team mate
  • Started fourth on mediums and immediately passed team mate off the line to take third
  • Overtaken by Verstappen on second lap, then fell away from Russell ahead to lead a train of cars
  • Passed by Sainz to fall to fifth, then pitted for hards on lap 19
  • Held off Gasly for almost entire race
  • Allowed Norris on faster tyres through into seventh under team orders
  • Was running eighth directly behind team mate before suddenly losing power at Lesmos, forcing him into retirement
Fernando Alonso, Alpine, Monza, 2022
A water pump failure ended Alonso’s afternoon

Fernando Alonso – 6

Qualified: 10th (+1 place ahead of team mate)
Started: 6th (+8 places ahead of team mate)
-0.269s quicker than team mate in Q2
Finished: Retired (Water pump – L32)

  • Got into Q3 in ninth but lost one and only lap in Q3 due to exceeding track limits, leaving him tenth
  • Started on mediums in sixth, passing Norris off the line but losing one place to Verstappen
  • Fell to seventh when Norris overtook him into the first Lesmo on the opening lap
  • Kept in touch with Norris, eventually passing the McLaren after Norris’s Rettifilo mistake on lap 13
  • Lost seventh to Norris along the main straight on lap 19, then passed by Hamilton to fall to seventh
  • Ran long opening stint and was still on his starting tyres when water pump failure ended race on lap 32

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Esteban Ocon – 5

Qualified: 11th (-1 place behind team mate)
+0.269s slower than team mate in Q2
Started: 14th (-8 places behind team mate)
Finished: 11th

  • Five-place grid penalty for fifth engine
  • Just missed out on Q3 berth in 11th with “small mistakes” to line up 14th on the grid
  • Started on softs and gained one net position over the opening lap
  • Passed Magnussen for 12th on second lap, then overtaken by Sainz and Perez to run behind Stroll in 12th
  • Pitted for hards on lap 19, rejoining behind Zhou and De Vries
  • Remained behind Zhou, unable to get close enough to challenge
  • Gained 11th when Ricciardo retired but had to remain there behind Safety Car until the chequered flag
Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri, Monza, 2022
Gasly overcame poor health at the start of the weekend

Pierre Gasly – 7

Qualified: 9th (+6 places ahead of team mate)
-0.01s quicker than team mate in Q1
Started: 5th (+15 places ahead of team mate)
Finished: 8th (+6 places ahead of team mate)

  • Missed media day on Thursday on advice of doctors
  • Described driving in Friday practice as “like a slap in the face”
  • Just slipped into Q3 in tenth but was slowest of the nine drivers to set legitimate times
  • Started fifth on mediums, immediately jumping Norris off the line to take fourth but was passed by Verstappen into Ascari
  • Ran tenth before being passed by Sainz, then pitted for hard tyres on lap 18
  • Permanently stuck behind Ricciardo before being passed by Hamilton, then lost a place to Norris
  • Gained eighth when Ricciardo retired ahead of him which he held under Safety Car to take four points

Yuki Tsunoda – 4

Qualified: 15th (-6 places behind team mate)
+0.01s slower than team mate in Q1
Started: 20th (-15 places behind team mate)
Finished: 14th (-6 places behind team mate)

  • Earned ten-place grid penalty for fifth reprimand in Zandvoort, then back of the grid penalty for sixth power unit
  • Handed a further three place grid penalty for failing to slow for yellow flags in second practice
  • Easily progressed through Q1 before abandoning session due to myriad of penalties
  • Started from the very back of the grid on mediums, passing Bottas and Hamilton on exit of the first chicane
  • Passed Schumacher for 17th on lap two, then Latifi and Magnussen
  • Pitted for hard tyres and overtook Stroll, running behind Ocon
  • Lost 13th to Schumacher at Ascari just before Safety Car
  • Pitted for softs under Safety Car, losing 13th to Bottas which he never had the chance to recover

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Sebastian Vettel – 4

Qualified: 17th (+1 place ahead of team mate)
-0.112s quicker than team mate in Q1
Started: 11th (+1 place ahead of team mate)
Finished: Retired (ERS – L11)

  • Handed car over to Nyck de Vries for opening practice session
  • Loose bodywork in first Q1 disrupted him, leading to his elimination in 17th
  • Started 11th on used mediums and squeezed inside Latifi into first corner to take tenth place
  • Lost tenth to team mate’s aggressive but clean pass at Rettifilo on lap two
  • Ran behind team mate in 12th until ERS problem led to smoke from the back of his car
  • Lost power and was directed to pull of circuit into retirement on lap 11
Aston Martin chose to retire Stroll to save his engine

Lance Stroll – 4

Qualified: 18th (-1 place behind team mate)
+0.112s slower than team mate in Q1
Started: 12th (-1 place behind team mate)
Finished: Retired (Withdrawn by team – L39)

  • Eliminated from Q1 in 18th, a tenth slower than his team mate
  • Lined up 12th on the grid on used mediums, passing Latifi for 11th at the first corner
  • Overtook team mate for 10th on the second lap but lost it to Sainz soon after, running in 11th behind Zhou
  • Pitted for hards on lap 18 but fell to the back after being overtaken by Tsunoda and Latifi
  • Overtaken by Schumacher and Bottas with only damaged Magnussen ahead of him
  • Called in by his team to retire in order to preserve engine mileage

Nicholas Latifi – 3

Qualified: 16th (-3 places behind team mate)
+0.02s slower than team mate in Q1
Started: 10th (-2 places behind team mate)
Finished: 15th (-6 places behind team mate)

  • Eliminated in Q1 after locking up into Rettifilo, being out-qualified by debutant team mate
  • Started tenth on mediums but passed either side by both Aston Martins at first chicane, then Ocon’s Alpine
  • Dropped down the order in the opening laps to fall to 17th position
  • Pitted for hard tyres on lap 15 but slow stop cost him at least three seconds, rejoining last
  • Overtook Stroll to run behind Tsunoda in second stint, later passed by Schumacher and Bottas
  • Pitted for softs under Safety Car but did not gain or lose any positions, finishing in 15th place, six behind his team mate

Alexander Albon – N/A

Withdrawn by team due to health reasons

  • Over a second faster than team mate in both Friday practice sessions
  • Withdrew from the event due to a sudden attack of appendicitis
Nyck de Vries, Williams, Monza, 2022
De Vries was outstanding on his debut

Nyck de Vries – 8

Qualified: 13th (+3 places ahead of team mate)
-0.02s quicker than team mate in Q1
Started: 8th (+2 places ahead of team mate)
Finished: 9th (+6 places ahead of team mate)

  • Stood in for Sebastian Vettel in opening practice
  • Suddenly called in to replace Albon on Saturday morning, making his grand prix debut
  • Had 35 minutes of second practice in a new car ahead of qualifying
  • Beat team mate Latifi to reach Q2 despite losing final lap time for track limits
  • Qualified 13th after brake balance mistake on final Q2 lap which became eighth on grid
  • Held his position at the start, ran eighth behind Alonso before being passed by Sainz
  • Committed to one stop by pitting for medium tyres, then ran tenth behind Gasly
  • Received a black-and-white warning flag for exceeding track limits
  • Kept Zhou behind for the majority of the race, then stayed out under Safety Car
  • Crossed the line in ninth, six places ahead of team mate to secure two points on debut and Williams’ fourth points finish of the season
  • Reprimanded after the race for slowing suddenly at Curva Grande under Safety Car

Valtteri Bottas – 5

Qualified: 12th (+2 places ahead of team mate)
-0.342s quicker than team mate in Q2
Started: 15th (-6 places behind team mate)
Finished: 13th (-3 places behind team mate)

  • Hit with 15-place grid penalty for using sixth engine, seventh turbo charger and seventh MGU-K
  • Got through to Q2 in 14th, then out-qualified team mate in 12th position
  • Started 15th, clipped the back of Magnussen into turn one and fell into anti-stall, falling to 19th
  • Suffered minor front wing damage that compromised his pace
  • Fell to the rear when passed by Hamilton, but later passed Magnussen before pitting for softs on lap 33
  • Overtook Stroll and moved up to 14th behind Tsunoda, gaining 13th when the AlphaTauri pitted under Safety Car
  • Finished in 13th, three places behind team mate
Guanyu Zhou, Alfa Romeo, Monza, 2022
Zhou secured his third points finish of the year

Zhou Guanyu – 6

Qualified: 14th (-2 places behind team mate)
+0.342s slower than team mate in Q2
Started: 9th (+6 places ahead of team mate)
Finished: 10th (+3 places ahead of team mate)

  • Easily progressed to Q2 but eliminated 14th after flat spotting tyre
  • Started ninth on mediums and held position off the line, missing the second part of the Rettifilo chicane in the process
  • Ran behind De Vries, then lost ninth to Sainz before pitting for hard tyres
  • Found himself behind De Vries in second stint but again could not find a way around
  • Fell out of DRS range of the Williams ahead before the Safety Car was deployed
  • Inherited tenth place with Ricciardo’s retirement to claim the final point at the finish
Mick Schumacher, Haas, Monza, 2022
The Safety Car may have cost Schumacher points

Mick Schumacher – 7

Qualified: 20th (-1 place behind team mate)
+0.097s slower than team mate in Q1
Started: 17th (+1 place behind team mate)
Finished: 12th (+4 places ahead of team mate)

  • Missed first practice after handing over car to Antonio Giovinazzi
  • Pulled off midway through second practice with an ECU problem
  • Received a 15-place grid penalty for fifth engine and sixth gearbox
  • Missed 50 minutes of third practice as team worked on a clutch problem
  • Eliminated slowest of all runners in Q1
  • Started 17th, hitting the rear of Bottas in first corner crush but retaining position
  • Passed by Tsunoda and Hamilton on second lap, falling to 19th
  • Gained places over long opening stint, eventually pitting for softs on lap 33 and rejoining 17th
  • Overtook Stroll, Latifi and Tsunoda to move 12th and was catching Ocon before Safety Car ended his race
  • Infuriated when race did not restart, feeling he was denied an inevitable points finish

Kevin Magnussen – 4

Qualified: 19th (+1 place ahead of team mate)
-0.097s quicker than team mate in Q1
Started: 16th (+1 place ahead of team mate)
Finished: 16th (-4 places behind team mate)

  • Hit with 15-place grid penalty due to fifth engine, turbo charger and MGU-H
  • Had his two best Q1 times deleted for track limits out of second Lesmo, costing him a place in Q2
  • Started 16th on the grid and gained three places off the line before being clipped by Perez in turn one squeeze
  • Took the inside run off and emerged ahead of Latifi, later deemed to have gained an advantage and handed five second time penalty
  • Suffered diffuser damage in collision which compromised his pace throughout the race
  • Gradually fell down the field before pitting for hard tyres and to serve penalty on lap 24, dropping to the very back
  • Finished last of the runners on track in 16th place behind the Safety Car

Over to you

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2022 Italian Grand Prix

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Author information

Will Wood
Will has been a RaceFans contributor since 2012 during which time he has covered F1 test sessions, launch events and interviewed drivers. He mainly...

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43 comments on “2022 Italian Grand Prix driver ratings”

  1. YTD average based on @WillWood‘s ratings:
    Nyck de Vries: 8.0
    Max Verstappen: 7.4 ↑
    Charles Leclerc: 6.7
    Lando Norris: 6.6
    Fernando Alonso: 6.5
    George Russell: 6.4
    Lewis Hamilton: 6.1
    Carlos Sainz Jnr: 5.8
    Valtteri Bottas: 5.7 ↓
    Alexander Albon: 5.7 ↑
    Pierre Gasly: 5.6 ↑
    Esteban Ocon: 5.6 ↑
    Sergio Perez: 5.6 ↓
    Kevin Magnussen: 5.4 ↓
    Sebastian Vettel: 5.3
    Nico Hulkenberg: 5.0
    Zhou Guanyu: 4.9
    Mick Schumacher: 4.9 ↑
    Lance Stroll: 4.9
    Yuki Tsunoda: 4.8
    Daniel Ricciardo: 4.4
    Nicholas Latifi: 3.8 ↓
    (‘↑↓’ trend last 3 races vs season, competed less than 3 races)

    1. How De Vries can clinch this ‘championship’ at the next race in Singapore

      Nyck de Vries can win the RaceFans ratings championship at the next round, locking down his first title with five races to spare.
      The Williams driver and Mercedes/Aston Martin reserve/practice diver can only do this if he does not participate in the Singapore Grand Prix and any of the later races. As he has no race seat this year the chances seem good. He’s already in a position where only Verstappen can equal or better him.
      If Verstappen scores 7 or worse in Singapore he can no longer overtake de Vries and de Vries becomes the RaceFans ratings champion.

      1. Mmm, he also has very good chances if he has another race (I heard on this website that albon could also miss singapore), he could get a 7 with a decent race, with an average of 7,5, which could make it difficult for verstappen to beat.

        1. Indeed,
          I tried to keep it simple though in this :-J post.

        2. @esploratore1 and jff, the irony is that the Singapore GP probably comes at a bad time for both Albon and De Vries. For both it might be better to sit this one out. Both drivers might not be fit enough for the most demanding race on the calendar, for different reasons. And second, Williams is likely not to score points this GP, unlike Monza. Albon shouldn’t race if he is not deemed fit, but for De Vries the Singapore GP will probably do more harm than good for his current positive reputation. Not that he will hesitate to step in though.

      2. Had DEV won the race, maybe he would’ve scored a 9

      3. Imagine the 9 that DEV would’ve received, had he won

  2. Most impressed: VER, SAI, & DEV
    Most disappointed: PER, OCO, LAT, & MAG

    1. I don’t think that Perez (was that much worse than Sainz in the race.
      The brake fire was surely not his fault, and his lap times on Hards were better than Sainz’ times on Mediums.
      His first lap was bad though, but not sure what caused that.

      1. Yes, I think perez’s 5 is the biggest outlier here in terms of ratings, he had an ok race.

      2. Sorry, PER really kinda looked like a disappointment. He started 13th with the same machinery as VER, and for some races now VER has no opponent in the races. SAI started 18th, passed PER on track on merit, finished in front, and Ferrari in race trim now is closer to Mercedes than RBR… unfortunately.

  3. Norris a 7 and Ricciardo a 6 ?, Norris did nothing in the race, Dan was on the poorer tyre strategy (probably no matter what position he got into from a team orders POV) and as Gasly said (paraphrasing) ‘I followed Daniel for lap after lap, he did not make a single mistake…’. Not so much querying Dan’s 6 as Lando’s 7…

    1. @deltas4 Lando had a stronger qualifying, and his long stint on the mediums was impressive. At the end of the first stint, he had Hamilton around 5 seconds behind him, and the Mercedes driver was not getting any closer. Without his slow stop and the extra, unnecessary stop, he would probably have been fifth ahead of Hamilton on merit.

      1. Ricciardo’s pace was very slow but he had the straight line speed to hold up the cars behind. Norris showed the McLaren to be the 4th fastest car with the right driver, yet Ricciardo was holding up Gasly in an Alpha Tauri, his teammate, Alonso in an Alpine, de Vries on debut in a Williams and Zhou in a Alfa Romeo.

        On old tyres Norris set better laptimes than Ricciardo on new tyres. It wasn’t so much that Norris’s strategy was better, Norris made his strategy look better by covering off the part of the race where he should have lost time to Ricciardo. It was only due to a slow McLaren pitstop that Norris didn’t come out ahead.

        Norris’ race wasn’t without its flaws – terrible getaway although he clawed back some of that lost ground on lap 1, plus a mistake after the VSC (although again he repassed Alonso) but his pace and tyre management was worthy of an 8. The mistakes make it a 7.

    2. @deltas4, for me Norris a 7 but both Russell and Hamilton a 6 also doesn’t really make sense, especially when just reading the text for them all; HAM did all he could on Saturday as did Norris, they weren’t entirely perfect in the race but good while Russell didn’t step a foot wrong. Where’s the difference then?

      Also, what did Leclerc do wrong to not get the same 8 as Verstappen? Have a slower car?

  4. The issue with these ratings is it’s not really 0-10, it’s usually 3-8. Condenses the rankings way too much. Does Latifi deserve to be just 5 points less than De Vries?

    1. @wrsgo yeah, the range is cut in half. May as well use the full range or add half points.

    2. This is true, we’ve at least had a valid example of a 9 in spa now, but doesn’t change the fact that the majority of the races it’s too hard to separate performances that are slightly better when you only have 6 marks instead of 10 typically.

  5. Norris is too generous, a 6 I would say.
    Hamilton on the other hand deserves a 7 I think, he did not have a spectacular charge like Sainz but 19th to 5th in a 2022 Merc on Monza is a very good result.

    1. Nonsense, Hamilton is always driving the fastest car on the grid :) He should have won at Monza.:)

    2. I’m guessing you missed the fact that norris would’ve been in front of hamilton if not for a terrible pit stop; hamilton didn’t seem to have the pace to overtake him.

  6. I don’t quite understand the relevance of “beating” your team mate in practice. It doesn’t take into account the programme each driver is running, or even if there is an incentive to go for a flat out lap. Hamilton for years has often finished behind his team mate in practice, only to be ahead in quali. I hope it’s not used as a justification for scoring but it’s inclusion suggests it does.

    De Vries is a tricky one. Spanked his team mate in his first ever race which he had no notice of, but then he did make the brake balance mistake, got a black and white for track limits and a reprimand behind the safety car, so not the cleanest weekend. I assume his rookie status is factored in to the assessment. Still pretty impressive.

  7. Sainz had a weird race… He got through the field but I don’t remember a single driver taking the inside line or doing anything to even attempt to slow him down. I’m sure the Netflix fans were blown away by the excitement of it but I was a bit disappointed. I was looking forward to seeing how he got on but it seemed like no-one at all fancied a race.

    1. Yes (@come-on-kubica)
      13th September 2022, 13:20

      Modern formula one for you. No point in racing a faster car as it ruins your lap time. It’s a shame but it’s what happens when the spread is too big.

      1. @come-on-kubica I don’t think that is fair. In the history of F1 most overtakes were pretty easy and straightforward. Sometimes it indeed is smarter to choose your battles. A fight is nice to see, but sometimes not the right thing to do.

    2. Fully agree. Made a simular comment elsewhere on this site. Not only Sainz but all drivers in top3 teams gets a free pass from the midfield so they don”t ruin their own race. Makes sense but I can’t remember this happened pre DRS years. Drivers used to defend hard to keep position and try to finish in front.

      1. This is correct. Even only a few years ago, a driver in the slower car would have quite often tried to hold off a driver in a faster car for a few laps. Just to prove how good they were and try to keep their place. This just doesn’t happen anymore. Slower cars just let the faster ones through.

        This gives a lie to all this argument about reverse grids as well. All too often it is very easy for the faster cars to pass.

        1. I think a lot of it is DRS related. You either let them past and then try to pick up DRS for the next straight or two or you let them past to keep your position in the DRS train. The slower cars also know that with DRS, it’s impossible to keep someone in a faster car behind for long so there is no point in fighting. It’s a shame though..

          As for reverse grids – it might still be interesting as the first cars they’ll be trying to pass from the back will be the ones with the best chance of defending. Overall all though, with DRS, it’s not going to be exciting. A reverse grid without DRS I could maybe get on board with….

  8. Peter Virdee Fan Club (@)
    13th September 2022, 12:45

    Sebastian Vettel sat out first practice in favour of giving reserve driver Nyck de Vries (whatever happened to him?) a chance in the cockpit. Vettel and regular team mate Lance Stroll were in the bottom four in the later Friday session and things were scarcely any better on Saturday. There was a distinct lack of shock when neither Aston made the cut at the end of the first round of qualifying. The mass (or should that be mess?) of grid penalties meant that Vettel actually started the race from 11th. Vettel lost out to Stroll on the second lap and then inevitably succumbed to Carlos Sainz soon after, but by the time he was passed by Esteban Ocon on lap 10 the car was already suffering early onset ERS failure forcing Vettel to stop by the side of the road. His considerate parking meant the ensuing Virtual Safety Car was short-lived – shorter than many teams would have liked, actually. After a few words about the wisdom of flyover, it was time for Vettel to tick off another race in his countdown to exiting F1 for good.

    Alpine weren’t at their best on the high-speed Autodromo Nazionale Monza track this weekend, but Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon were nonetheless in the top ten in all three practice sessions. That made Ocon’s failure to progress to the final top ten pole shot-out round in qualifying a genuine surprise. Alonso did, only to make an error in his first Q3 run and then have his second effort deleted for exceeding track limits leaving him in tenth place. That translated to P6 on the grid after all the grid penalties had been worked out, and starting on mediums allowed him to sustain a median seventh place for the opening stint despite evidently lacking the pace of the cars ahead of them. Unfortunately a water pressure system issue forced the team to call him in on lap 32 when points were very much on the cars. A double Alpine DNF has allowed McLaren to cut the gap between the teams in the constructors championship, albeit by just six points- it could easily have been worse.

  9. Surely Nick deserves a 9 or even a 10. He made one mistake with his settings and that was it. Performed like he’s been in F1 for years after being thrust into a race at the last minute and picking up points. Coke on!

    1. Surely Nick deserves a 9 or even a 10. He made one mistake with his settings and that was it.

      But that would not be fair to others who made no mistake at all and had a bigger gap to their respective teammates (Max, Charles, …).

      I’d award him whatever I would have given Albon for such a weekend and then round it up for short notice and lack of practice in that car.

    2. @davidhunter13 please bear in mind that these rankings are based on the entire history of formula 1. I think a debut like Schumacher back in Spa 1991 warrants a 9. And a 10? Than I am thinking of Senna Donington 1993 or Schumacher Barcelona 1996, you know really epic drives. If you give De Vries a 10 for a 9th place finish, what score would he get for a win? I think an 8 is fair enough for this race.

  10. I really don’t get how Schumacher is a 7 for crashing into another car (which incidentally caused Hamilton to avoid and lose places) and then finishing arguably where he should have been anyway without a bad qualifying session.

    Then Hamilton is a 6 whose only mistake was seemingly avoiding getting involved in an accident on the first corner. Hamilton also qualified faster than his teammate and ended the race just behind Sainz who had a much faster car. Being slower in the practice sessions is such a meaningless assessment when Hamilton was clearly having to setup his car to be optimal for passing in the race rather than working on outright qualifying pace which was irrelevant for him given the penalties this week.

    I have no issues with the rating of Hamilton of a 6 but when you look at his rating in comparison to Schumacher , the rating for Schumacher is clearly wrong. Also saying someone “might” have got a different result to justify a otherwise good performance when things don’t go their way didn’t seem to get weighted to many other drivers ratings this year.

    1. The assessment of Hamilton being slower than his teammate in practice did make me laugh… throughout his career he’s often not cared about practice positions, more to understand and setup the car properly AND in this case he surely was concentrating more on race setup.

      Anyway I was at the race and a few of the recent other ones too and you can find my pictures below if anyone is interested (insta @f1_gresty)

  11. Hard to rate most of top drivers. All of them drove good races and did what they could with what they had, but all the penalties and Red Bull/Verstappen superiority made for a pretty dull race.

    I could not ignore Gasly’s supreme incompetence on overtaking Ricciardo though. If it was the first time i would say it was the car, but Gasly not being able to overtake on an easy to overtake track and completely ruining his chances already happened more than once in the past, like Austria 2019.

  12. Lewis a 6?!?

    Did this guy even watch the race.

    19th to 5th at Monza in that Merc, beautiful double overtake, decent pace.

    Re qualifying, he has always tended to do that and then put in a solid final lap.

    Come on this is just hate now.

    1. Orange stupidity would argue for 5 here. Seems like articles are now written to suit those ‘fans of the F1 show’. The paperchamp gets 8 for cruising around with a car at least 1s faster than the rest, while the most successful driver ever gets a 6 for maximizing his cars potential. Embarrasing.

    2. 1 is way too much

    3. worst part is taking free practice in consideration. Who cares if one lead all sessions? it doesn’t mean absolutely anything.

    4. Sainz got 7 with a more impressive recovery and hamilton wouldn’t have even overtaken norris if not for his slow pit stop, 6 seems fair, perez got worse.

      1. How was it more impressive, the Ferrari is superior to the Merc.
        He finished p4, Lewis p5.

  13. Honest question: why does this review always start with Hamilton? Shouldn’t it be for the race result?

    1. Seems like its last years WCC, and secondary WDC. That way teammates stay together.

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