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Ratings | Everything goes wrong for Verstappen on Sunday, Ricciardo is back

Ratings | Everything goes wrong for Verstappen on Sunday, Ricciardo is back

13-09-2021 08:09
6

GPblog.com

After a Pierre Gasly victory in 2020, the same happened in 2021. Once again, the top drivers failed to finish at the front, and it was the mid-tier drivers who struck. Here are the numbers after the Italian Grand Prix, with some high-flyers, but also some disappointments.

Ricciardo: 10

Daniel Ricciardo finally managed to drive a perfect weekend for McLaren. The summer break has done the Australian good, who already showed something of his good form in Belgium and continued it in Zandvoort. His victory in Monza is the crowning glory of all his hard work in recent years.

Norris: 9.5

Lando Norris would have loved to have been on the top step of the podium, but it was not to be. In the sprint race, he lost ground to his teammate, but the Briton did a fantastic job of racing under pressure from Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.

Bottas: 9

Valtteri Bottas showed Sergio Perez how to be a wingman. The Finn drove a formidable weekend, setting the fastest time in qualifying and winning the sprint race. That he came from the back of the grid to the podium is special, and all in the week that Mercedes confirmed he will not be staying at the team next year.

Leclerc: 8

Charles Leclerc wasn't feeling too good at Monza all weekend, but he still managed to finish close to the podium. With Ferrari's current engine, that can still be called half a miracle.

Perez: 7

Sergio Perez scored points for Red Bull Racing, but with Hamilton and Verstappen dropping out of the race, there should have been more. The fact that Bottas passed him from the back of the grid due to a penalty will get him a talking to internally.

Sainz: 7

Carlos Sainz was in the wall with his Ferrari again, and not for the first time this season. He's perhaps just a little too eager, and that rarely goes well. He still ended up driving to a neat sixth place, but will really need to calm down to succeed at Ferrari.

Stroll: 6

Lance Stroll started his weekend moderately behind Vettel but quickly eliminated his teammate in the race with a tap from behind. The Canadian's entire race remained messy, but he did eventually grab the points.

Alonso: 8

Give Fernando Alonso a race, and he'll go out of his way to gain places. At Silverstone, the Spaniard took full advantage of the sprint race, and did the same again at Monza. He won two spots on Saturday and another three on Sunday, which suddenly gave him points for Alpine.

Russell: 7.5

When one sheep crosses the pond, more follow. It's a saying that resonates with George Russell, who after his first points in Hungary scored a podium at Spa and now another two points in Italy.

Ocon: 6

Esteban Ocon had a remarkable moment with Sebastian Vettel but drove further into the background to finish in tenth place. He scored a point but finished behind his teammate.

Latifi: 7.5

Just outside the points for Nicholas Latifi, who was close throughout the race, but just couldn't push through to actually score points.

Vettel: 5

Clearly not the race for Vettel, who fell way back on the first lap after being hit by Stroll, and then collided with Ocon later in the race.

Giovinazzi: 5

Antonio Giovinazzi ruined his unique starting position. The Italian shot straight through at the second chicane but forgot to look around when he got back on track. There was Sainz, who could do little about the Italian's crash.

Kubica: 5

Robert Kubica has also come through his second race replacing Kimi Raikkonen. He didn't perform miracles with the Alfa Romeo car, but he's not too far from his teammate who has been in the car for years.

Schumacher: 4.5

Mick Schumacher is doing what he can with the Haas, but more than a last-place is simply not possible. Again he collided with his teammate, but again Mazepin and not Schumacher was to blame.

Mazepin: 3.5

Whereas Nikita Mazepin was laughed at at the start of the year because of his spins, things are now going badly in his duel with his teammate. And in Italy he was also to blame for Schumacher's spin. Is he even taking the conversation with Steiner seriously?

Hamilton: 7.5

Lewis Hamilton needed a win in Italy, but after already losing to Valtteri Bottas in qualifying, he threw away his weekend with a poor start in the sprint race. He got off the line almost perfectly in the main race and gained places. He failed to pass a McLaren on Saturday and Sunday and seemed to be heading for a points loss. But then came the duel with Verstappen, after the latter lost time in the pit lane. Hamilton needed the points here and might have expected Verstappen not to concede. Who knows, with his faster car, he might have been better off giving Max that space.

Verstappen: 5.5

Max Verstappen drove a great weekend up until Sunday. He finished third in qualifying despite McLaren's impressive pace and took pole in the sprint race. On Sunday, however, everything that could go wrong went wrong. He had a bad start, failed to pass Daniel Ricciardo and had a terrible pit stop. He made up for a lot with a quick out-lap, but still saw Lewis get in front of him on the track. Knowing that Hamilton had the faster car, Verstappen made an all-or-nothing attempt, and it came to nothing. A blot on Verstappen's weekend.

Gasly: No score given (retired after three laps)

Pierre Gasly had another strong qualifying session, but in the sprint race he went into the wall after making contact with his front wing. Just like in Bahrain, you could have wondered if Gasly couldn't have gone a bit further and taken into account the delay in that corner. In the race he was supposed to start with a new Honda engine, but that ended up not happening due to problems.

Tsunoda: No score given (didn't start)

Yuki Tsunoda was unable to start during the Italian Grand Prix due to a technical problem, which only made the weekend worse for the Japanese rider. He has been offered a new contract by AlphaTauri, which he was surprised about, considering his performance at Monza. Throughout the weekend he was again much slower than Gasly.