F1 News

Ratings | De Vries 'steals' spotlight from Verstappen at Monza

12 September 2022 at 09:07
  • GPblog.com

The Italian Grand Prix was won by Max Verstappen, but the Red Bull Racing driver was not the Dutchman with the highest score this time. Nyck de Vries shone during his F1 debut for Williams. View all GPblog ratings here.

Verstappen: 10

Max Verstappen knew before the race weekend that he would lose places due to a grid penalty, so all focus was on the setup for the race. As a result he lost the battle for pole, but no one was able to match Verstappen and his RB18 on Sunday.

Leclerc: 9

Charles Leclerc again did everything he could to take victory this weekend, but Verstappen was simply too fast. The team will look at the decision to bring Leclerc in at the VSC, but it remains to be seen if it would have made a difference.

Russell: 8

George Russell lost qualifying to his team-mate on Saturday, who would have been starting from the back of the grid, but the young Briton drove strongly on Sunday. He lost touch with the top two, but didn't seem to fear for his podium.

Sainz: 9

Carlos Sainz stole the show at the Italian GP. The Spaniard flew from the start and passed one driver after the other. A podium place seemed out of sight, but with the late safety car everything was still possible. Unfortunately for Sainz, the race was not restarted.

Hamilton: 8.5

Lewis Hamilton also drove a strong race from the back of the grid. The Brit started the race a bit calmer than Sainz, but once he got going Hamilton returned to his old self. His double overtake at the first chicane certainly showed his racing prowess.

Perez: 5.5

Sergio Perez had another disappointing weekend for Red Bull. He too lost places to a grid penalty but was well ahead of Sainz and Hamilton. Yet he managed to finish behind them and was never of any use to Verstappen.

Norris: 4

Lando Norris got high up on the starting grid but benefitted from penalties. He then had a good chance to get a really good result but made a poor start to the Grand Prix and dropped back several places. By his own admission, he should've been in P5 but P7 was all he could get. 

Gasly: 7.5

Pierre Gasly was stuck behind a McLaren for the entire race. The AlphaTauri simply didn't have enough speed to overtake cars, so the Frenchman had a frustrating race.

De Vries: 9.5

Making your F1 debut for Williams and immediately scoring two points. Nyck de Vries clearly showed his worth during the Italian GP. The difference with regular driver Latifi was painful, but especially the performance of the Dutchman should be highlighted.

Zhou: 5

Guanyu Zhou picked up a point for Alfa Romeo in a race in which all he did was stare down the butt of De Vries' FW44. Never able to mount an attack, the Chinese driver's race still yielded a point thanks to Ricciardo's retirement.

Ocon: 6

Esteban Ocon had a colourless weekend in Italy where he finished outside the points.

Schumacher: 5.5

Mick Schumacher climbed to a respectable twelfth place in Sunday's race, after being beaten again by his teammate in qualifying on Saturday. The German's performance remains shaky.

Bottas: 4

Valtteri Bottas was unable to do much on Sunday in Monza following his grid penalty. The Finn couldn't get any further than thirteenth place.

Tsunoda: 5

Yuki Tsunoda also had a disappointing day. From the back of the grid it was always going to be tough for the Japanese driver, but he must have hoped for more than P14.

Latifi: 2.5

If you are beaten even by a driver who only learns he has to race on Saturday morning, when you have been driving that car for a whole year, you don't deserve to be in F1. Nicholas Latifi is not good enough for the sport and everyone has known that for three years. It's time he was pushed aside.

Magnussen: 5.5

Kevin Magnussen underperformed in Italy where he was the last driver to cross the finish line.

Ricciardo: 6

Daniel Ricciardo had a good race until his retirement. He again lacked pace, but in Monza he was able to keep a lot of drivers behind him and keep his sight on a top ten finish. However, an engine problem put an end to that.

Stroll: 5.5

Lance Stroll and his teammate were close to the top ten, but the Canadian was unable to finish due to an engine problem.

Alonso: 6.5

Fernando Alonso had a strong weekend and looked on course for a good top ten finish, but not for the first time he had to park his car in the garage. A problem with the water pressure would have prevented the Spaniard from scoring points this time.

Vettel: 4

Sebastian Vettel was the first dropout during the GP of Italy. The German retired with an engine problem, after he too drove close to the points.