F1 Driver Ratings: Italy 2020

A dramatic Italian Grand Prix created one of the most unpredictable races in Formula 1 history as Pierre Gasly won his first race for AlphaTauri.

McLaren’s Carlos Sainz chased Gasly down and was one lap short from a likely overtake for the lead but just missed out.

Lance Stroll scored his second podium in Formula 1 ahead of Lando Norris in a crazy race.

This is a very tough grand prix to rate, so as usual feel free to disagree with the ratings.

2020 Italian Grand Prix – Monza

Pierre Gasly: 9/10

Carlos Sainz: 9.5/10

Lance Stroll: 7/10

Lando Norris: 7/10

Valtteri Bottas: 5/10

Daniel Ricciardo: 8.5/10

Lewis Hamilton: 8/10

Esteban Ocon: 6/10

Daniil Kvyat: 7/10

Sergio Perez: 8.5/10

Nicholas Latifi: 8/10

Romain Grosjean: 7/10

Kimi Raikkonen: 8.5/10

George Russell: 6/10

Alexander Albon: 4.5/10

Antonio Giovinazzi: 6/10

RETIRED

Max Verstappen: 7/10

Charles Leclerc: 5/10

Kevin Magnussen: 6/10

Sebastian Vettel: 5.5/10

As mentioned above, rating the drivers is very difficult because some had a lot of luck and others did not, and none of that luck is there fault.

Carlos Sainz gets the highest rating for me because he would have likely been in second on merit had the race gone normally.

He was right on the limit of his car in qualifying to pull off a lap good enough to qualify third and a great start and excellent race pace over teammate Lando Norris early in the race is what does it for me.

I was so glad he did not listen to engineer Tom Stallard and went for the win, just one lap away from overtaking Gasly. The way he did not overpush and closed the gap was very impressive, as was Gasly’s cool head it must be said in the latter stages of the grand prix.

Gasly had a lot of luck to be in the position he was, nevertheless he made the most of it and did not put a foot wrong in a car that was perhaps slightly worse than the McLaren and Racing Point at Monza.

As for Lance Stroll, his performance at the weekend was not impressive to me. His podium came because of the red flag which allowed him to have a free pitstop and he lost the chance of winning the race.

The Racing Point was more than capable of winning on Sunday in the position Stroll was in but he was poor on the restart and will be ruing that he was unable to do more. Stroll may never be in that position again and although he was on the podium, Sergio Perez was the stronger driver at Monza.

Valtteri Bottas’ racecraft weaknesses proved very costly on lap one when he was outdone by Norris, Perez and Daniel Ricciardo.

He may have had some engine issues which made it hard for him but he lacked confidence to not get muscled out on the opening lap and did not get close to challenging the car in front. A poor weekend, but for me it was no different to his performance in Belgium.

It was yet another nightmare weekend for Ferrari. The car looked like a handful all weekend and I was very glad Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc came away from Monza unscathed after a brake failure for Vettel and a big crash for Leclerc at the Parabolica.

Leclerc looked like he was overdriving a car so it was driver error on his behalf but for Ferrari to be battling with Haas and Alfa Romeo on pure pace is very worrying.