Charles Leclerc overthrew the McLaren advantage on race day to take a stunning win for Ferrari in front of the adoring Tifosi at Monza, whilst the papaya team were left to rue what might have been as Lando Norris made small but further headway into Max Verstappen’s World Championship lead.
Here are the winners and losers from a packed Italian Grand Prix.
Charles Leclerc: 10
Grid Position: P4, Race Finish: P1
Leclerc could not match the pace of the McLarens in qualifying with his Ferrari limited through Turns 1, 2, 4 and 5, and sat on the dirty side of the circuit in fourth behind George Russell, but after the Mercedes’ mistake at Turn 1 and getting the jump on Norris at the Lesmo complex, Leclerc found himself in prime position for a victory charge early-on. The turning point in the race was the decision by the team to keep Leclerc out when Norris was boxed for a second set of tyres, and the execution and the subsequent tyre management enabled the Monegasque to take his second F1 victory of the season and his second in-front of the adoring Italian fans.
Carlos Sainz: 7.5
Grid Position: P5, Race Result: P4
In his last race at Monza as a Ferrari driver, Sainz was unable to capitalise on the McLarens in the manner that Leclerc had managed, but delivered a calm and assured performance throughout the race to be a support for his team-mate. Largely staying out of any early chaos, Sainz lost ground on the McLarens after both pitted for the first time, but was able to hold both up until lap 45 and 48 respectively to help Leclerc build enough of a gap to win. Sainz maintained enough pace to keep the chasing back behind him at bay, helping the team to sandwich both Piastri and Norris to take a creditable fourth.
Oscar Piastri: 8
Grid Position: P2, Race Result: P2
In another mature display that other drivers and fans alike are getting used to seeing, Piastri utilised Papaya Rules to stay ahead of his title-chasing team-mate and narrowly miss-out on victory. After getting a good start and holding position behind Norris into the Rettifilo, Piastri used the draught to get firmly under his team-mate’s rear wing to make an audacious move into the Roggia chicane to take the lead, which he would hold until after the pitstops helped form the emerging pattern of Ferrari’s strategic victory. After being allowed to cleanly race his team-mate, Piastri was afforded the opportunity to maximise his own race, and was only 2.5 seconds away from Leclerc at the finish.
Lando Norris: 7
Grid Position: P1, Race Result: P3
After taking a brilliant pole position, his race was compromised early on after dropping to third on the first lap, leaving the Englishman on the back foot. Norris pulled a clean move on Verstappen after his first stop to gain some much-needed ground, but after a second stop put him back behind the now-one-stopping Leclerc, he lost track position to Piastri, his team opting not to prioritise him. Nonetheless, he would finish on the podium to chip a further seven points out of Verstappen’s championship lead, but must be left disappointed at how he could have gained so much more.
Lewis Hamilton: 6.5
Grid Position: P6, Race Result, P5
After qualifying, Hamilton said victory was not wholly implausible, so his final result may not have been as fruitful as it may have seemed. After keeping out of problems at the start, Hamilton’s race left him closer to his old adversary Verstappen, and he was able to have more than enough race pace to finish 15 seconds ahead of the Red Bull man.
George Russell: 6
Grid Position: P3, Race Result: P7
Any chances Russell sensed of victory were gone on the first lap, after locking-up into the braking zone of the Rettifilo, forcing him to go down the escape road, into the clutches of the cars behind him. Russell would also suffer front wing end plate damage after battling with Sergio Pérez, therefore the race became a damage limitation job, which was completed with P7 having battled cars in the midfield after his earlier skirmishes.
Max Verstappen: 6.5
Grid Position: P7, Race Result: P6
The story of Red Bull’s weekend would ultimately be underlined by the further ringing of alarm bells with yet another weekend of uncompetitiveness, with an audible unhappy Verstappen aware of the race he had to run. After qualifying a whopping seven tenths short of Norris’ pole time, Verstappen would find himself racing the McLaren in the latter stages, and was urged by his team to race him, but the clear gulf in race pace between the two cars was evident when Norris surged past on Lap 40. Russell’s early escapades allowed Verstappen to finish one place higher than his qualifying position, but will head to Baku wary of what changes the Milton Keynes team will or will not be able to make to their advantage.
Sergio Perez: 6
Grid Position: P8, Race Result: P8
Regardless of Red Bull’s dip in form, Perez might well feel encouraged by how his weekend began in terms of comparison to his team-mate, which has been the subject of much discussion throughout the season. Qualifying just four hundredths off Verstappen, it looked as if the Mexican had everything to gain in the race in terms of the cars the Red Bulls could realistically fight, but Perez made little ground during the race. A battle with Russell would ultimately be lost, finishing eighth, 15 seconds off the Mercedes and 17 adrift of his team-mate.
Alex Albon: 9
Grid Position: P9, Race Result: P9
Albon showed consistency which has often become a staple of his Williams career, and when the car is producing the pace to give the Thai-Anglo driver an opportunity, he can, and often, delivers. Making it into Q3 on Saturday would put him into the position of potentially challenging for points in the race, and Albon did just that, holding his grid position to score a much-needed two points for the team.
Franco Colapinto: 7.5
Grid Position: P18, Race Result: P12
The Argentinian Williams Academy man was announced as replacement for Logan Sergeant in the days leading up to Monza, many wondered how Colapinto would perform, and his team would surely come away feeling vindicated in their decision. Despite an underwhelming qualifying and missing out on Q2, Colapinto drove calmly all race and made up six places to finish 12th, just 12 seconds off the final points place. The performance will surely boost his confidence in the run-up to Baku.
Kevin Magnussen: 6.5
Grid Position: P13, Race Result: P10
Magnussen was out-shone by his one-lap specialist team-mate in qualifying, but a 13th-place starting berth gave him an outside chance of scoring points. The Dane drove well on Sunday, leading the line for Haas to finish ninth on the road. Alas, a harsh 10-second time penalty for a collision with Alpine’s Pierre Gasly relegated him to 10th and a race ban next time out.
Nico Hulkenberg: 6
Grid Position: P10, Race Result: P17
Hulkenberg once again delivered the goods on Saturday, qualifying in 10th, but immediately on Sunday, the German was put on the back foot when RB’s Daniel Ricciardo squeezed him onto the grass during Lap 1. From there, a clumsy lock-up into Turn 1 saw Hulkenberg force Yuki Tsunoda into retirement and after a front wing change and time penalty, the German’s race was run.
Fernando Alonso: 7
Grid Position: P11, Race Result: P11
Alonso believed there wasn’t much more to give during qualifying as he missed out on the Q3 top-10 shootout by one position and the veteran Spaniard rated the Grand Prix as one of his better 2024 performances. A two-stop strategy gave him work to do chasing down the points scorers later on and after Magnussen’s 10-second penalty was applied, Alonso agonisingly missed out on 10th by a matter of tenths.
Lance Stroll: 4
Grid Position: P17, Race Result: P19
Alonso believes that he and Stroll have been closer than ever in 2024, separated by a matter of seconds at any given race day, but this past weekend Stroll was firmly second best at Aston Martin. A Q1 exit didn’t stack up well against Alonso’s P11 quali performance and Stroll suffered massively with degradation all race, with a third stop right at the death for a failed fastest lap attempt summing up his weekend.
Daniel Ricciardo: 5.5
Grid Position: P12, Race Result: P13
Ricciardo had the measure of his team-mate in qualifying at the circuit he claimed an astonishing McLaren victory at just three years ago. However, his race unravelled at the start when he was handed a five-second time penalty for squeezing Hulkenberg on Lap 1. A mechanic slip-up saw Ricciardo serve his penalty incorrectly, incurring another and from there, any chance of scoring points was dashed.
Yuki Tsunoda: 5.5
Grid Position: P12, Race Result: DNF
Tsunoda struggled with an updated spec RB machine all weekend and wasn’t happy with the car underneath him as he could only qualify 16th. The Japanese driver was then shunted at Turn 1 by an over-zealous Hulkenberg early on during Sunday’s GP with the damage sustained ending his race before he could clock a double-digit count of laps.
Esteban Ocon: 6
Grid Position: P15, Race Result: P14
Ocon was on a near-par with team-mate Gasly on Saturday at Monza, getting narrowly out-qualified to the tune of one grid slot. Alpine’s troubles continue and the Enstone-Viry squad’s car was uncompetitive at the Italian GP. Points were never on the cards and the strategy headache between a one and two-stop didn’t help matters. 14th was a fair result.
Pierre Gasly: 6
Grid Position: P14, Race Result: P15
Gasly got the upper hand on his team-mate in qualifying and Ocon returned the favour on race day as the Alpine duo continues to be one of the most evenly matched on the Formula 1 grid. A brake issue found post-qualifying persisted through the race meaning Gasly endured a frustrating Sunday afternoon in Italy.
Valtteri Bottas: 6
Grid Position: P19, Race Result: P16
With the Sauber continuing to be worst-in-class in 2024, Bottas did all he could do in qualifying, beat his team-mate. In the race, the Finn capitalised on others’ misfortune to pick up three positions. At least he moved forward for a change.
Zhou Guanyu: 4
Grid Position: P20, Race Result: P18
Second best in the worst car on the grid is a potent blend serving up continual bouts of Grand Prix misery. Three-tenths adrift of Bottas in qualifying, Zhou would have finished last of the classified runners without Stroll opting for a third pit-stop/fastest lap attempt.
