Which Formula 1 driver made the most of the Italian Grand Prix weekend?
It’s time to give your verdict on which driver did the best with the equipment at their disposal over the last three days.
Review how each driver got on below and vote for who impressed you the most at Monza.
Driver performance summary
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Vote for your driver of the weekend
Which driver do you think did the best job throughout the race weekend?
Who got the most out of their car in qualifying and the race? Who put their team mate in the shade?
Cast your vote below and explain why you chose the driver you picked in the comments.
Who was the best driver of the 2021 Italian Grand Prix weekend?
- No opinion (0%)
- Nicholas Latifi (0%)
- George Russell (0%)
- Nikita Mazepin (0%)
- Mick Schumacher (0%)
- Antonio Giovinazzi (0%)
- Kimi Raikkonen (0%)
- Yuki Tsunoda (0%)
- Pierre Gasly (0%)
- Carlos Sainz Jnr (0%)
- Charles Leclerc (0%)
- Fernando Alonso (1%)
- Esteban Ocon (0%)
- Sebastian Vettel (0%)
- Lance Stroll (0%)
- Daniel Ricciardo (65%)
- Lando Norris (5%)
- Sergio Perez (1%)
- Max Verstappen (1%)
- Valtteri Bottas (23%)
- Lewis Hamilton (1%)
Total Voters: 210
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2021 Italian Grand Prix
- Who was to blame for Hamilton and Verstappen’s collision at Monza?
- Hamilton-Verstappen crash was ‘a racing incident, no danger’ – Alonso
- Hamilton pleased stewards “set a precedent”, Verstappen “doesn’t fully agree”
- Ricciardo didn’t need title rivals’ latest clash for stunning Monza win
- Why Verstappen’s grid penalty differed from Hamilton’s Silverstone sanction
Debates and polls
- Poll: Are Briatore or Symonds welcome in F1 so long after Crashgate?
- Doohan out, Colapinto in: Have Alpine made the right call?
- Which penalty calls did the stewards get right – or wrong – over the first five rounds?
- Should Mercedes re-sign Russell for 2026 – even if it leaves no room for Verstappen?
- Vote for your 2025 Bahrain Grand Prix Driver of the Weekend
David BR (@david-br)
12th September 2021, 22:50
Bottas, qualifying first on Friday, first in the sprint race, recovering from a non-self-induced maximum grid penalty to third, and smiling throughout. Loved it. Seems like the move away from Mercedes next year has already improved him.
GeeMac (@geemac)
13th September 2021, 5:22
I’m so glad someone agrees with me. As happy as I am for Ricciardo, Bottas was undoubtedly the driver of the weekend. He beat Hamilton in qualifying without a tow, he won the sprint race comfortably and he came through the field strongly to grab himself a podium. Even without the crash between Hamilton and Verstappen he would have been in the top 5 which would still have been a top effort.
gregwtravels (@gregwtravels)
13th September 2021, 8:04
Agree. Danny Ric had a great drive from the front, but Bottas tipped it by passing through the field on a track that it is supposedly so hard to pass on.
Nimba (@nimba)
14th September 2021, 17:57
It’s Valtteri Bottas for me too,, never thought i would be voting for him this year but he proved me wrong .
BasCB (@bascb)
13th September 2021, 15:27
For me it was between Bottas and Norris @geemac, @david-br. Bottas put that Mercedes on pole in front of both Max and Lewis. He had a good start, he ran great in that sprint race. And then he showed that it was possible to overtake, not even relying on only DRS passes to get onto the podium. Also, very good to see him thinking about the situation enough when trying to pass Perez, giving it a good go without overdoing it (since he knew that the penalty would do the job if he didn’t get past on track)
It really should make Toto wonder whether maybe he should have given Valterri a 3 year contract 3 years ago!
In the end i gave it to Norris, since he outqualified Daniel again, almost beat Max to 3rd and had to do some passing. Also, I consider his defensive drives on saturday and sunday as key for McLaren being able to win on sunday, but Bottas really deserved it for this weekend as well, I hope we get to see more of this from him.
David BR (@david-br)
13th September 2021, 15:59
I agree about Norris @bascb, not just the defensive duties, the pass on Hamilton in the sprint race was also crucial to securing 1 and 2 for McLaren on Sunday, an all round team player performance.
BasCB (@bascb)
14th September 2021, 11:41
Quite true as well, yeah @david-br, Norris really was key to pulling this one off.
jff
13th September 2021, 8:37
Bottas’ car is better and smile smaller than Ricciardo’s.
Ceres (@ceres)
13th September 2021, 18:44
I totally agree!
I’d love to give my vote to McLaren, my favourite team and drivers, but Bottas did a stunning job, and delivered the entire weekend ^^ , He deserves it :) Happy to see him smiling…. Looks like a burden has being lifted off his shoulders by not having a seat/ the pressure @ merc anymore.
Blaize Falconberger (@)
12th September 2021, 22:55
Bottas, now he’s been released form the bind he was in, he’s come alive… all of what @david-br said :-)
David BR (@david-br)
12th September 2021, 23:07
Pretty close between Bottas, Ricciardo and Norris to be honest! Ricciardo’s ecstatic celebration almost swung it. Norris’s jump on Hamilton at the start of the sprint qualifying was also epic.
roadrunner (@roadrunner)
12th September 2021, 23:21
Indeed. I first wanted to vote for Bottas, than switched last second to Ricciardo but clicked accidentally on Norris name :D
Dan Rooke (@geekzilla9000)
12th September 2021, 23:00
I voted for RIC but I could just have easily picked BOT, and on reflection maybe he deserved it more.
Great drive on Sunday, great drive on Saturday, and a superb performance when it counted on Friday.
DaveW (@dmw)
12th September 2021, 23:08
Heart votes ricciardo brain says Bottas. Bottas was pretty much flawless.
XV
13th September 2021, 3:21
Stomach says “Bottas”. Still not comfortable watching Ricciardo drink from his shoe :-)
ttongsul (@ccpbioweapon)
12th September 2021, 23:29
Lando Norris, nice clean mature racing taking Lewis at the start of the sprint and was fair to Lew with clean hard racing when he was overtaken during in the race. We need more Lando’s and less destruction derby max’s
Danny ric is a nice fella but he lucked the win being in the right place at the right time after Max torpedoed Lewis and McLaren forced team orders. to prevent Lando trying to overtake.
But lets not be delusional, McLaren are still not at the standard of excellence that was the norm when Ron Dennis was in charge, having a slippery car that suits low aero tracks and winning when the top cars take each other out is one thing but most importantly is to have a constantly fast car. Do the engineers at Woking still have the ability to build a championship car??
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
12th September 2021, 23:44
@ccpbioweapon
Your reasons for voting Norris over Ricciardo seem somewhat odd.
Ricciardo outlaunched him in the sprint and finished ahead. That’s one reason to vote Norris over Ricciardo.
Ricciardo was in the “right place at the right time” because he qualified 3rd, where Norris could have been…
The team orders couldn’t prove that Norris would have been able to overtake without them either.
And your claim of “nice clean mature racing” also is odd, as he nearly ended up getting a black and white flag. Getting track limit warnings twice isn’t the best example of clean and mature racing.
I would say Ricciardo was convincingly better in the sprint and the race and can’t understand your reasoning to vote for Norris over him.
Dan Rooke (@geekzilla9000)
13th September 2021, 11:53
@thegianthogweed – Ricciardo was where he was due to a superb qualifying performance, a great sprint race, and a better launch on Race Day followed by a superb drive. I agree with you, this was not luck – he got himself into that position himself.
It is true that McLaren said to hold position, but Ricciardo demonstrated that he was not considerably slower than Norris and even went on to pump out the fastest lap of the race!
Norris also had a super race, but it was certainly Ricciardo’s chance to shine this weekend.
JohnH (@johnrkh)
12th September 2021, 23:46
Ricciardo for me he had a terrific weekend he drove a very smart race from start to finish. Norris was not far behind but just couldn’t quite match his team mate yesterday.
Now the pressure is on Ricciardo, can he maintain the momentum for the rest of the season?
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
13th September 2021, 1:52
Oh, also if ricciardo’s form continues for the rest of the season it’s over for the 3rd place race, so far ferrari only had a chance because of ricciardo’s poor form.
Mike Davies (@nanotech)
13th September 2021, 0:38
Who voted for Hamilton? I think this was one of the worst weekends of his career. Did OK Friday. Sucked Saturday. DNF’ed Sunday from a low position. Definitely worth a vote, for some…
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
13th September 2021, 1:51
Yet it’s marginal if he’s gonna be a struggler or not, and I’m pretty sure he won’t, since he wasn’t at monaco.
JohnH (@johnrkh)
13th September 2021, 7:10
@esploratore1 True. Also Bottas had a really good weekend, I can’t remember the last time I seen him work his way through the field like that.
DaveW (@dmw)
13th September 2021, 19:00
Someone always votes by party list. Don’t mind them.
hyoko
13th September 2021, 23:06
Never ever voted such a sorry excuse for a featherless biped, but was tempted to do it this time.
Why? I predicted it would never have the nerve to show up in Max’s exterior, after the Silverstone enormity.
I was wrong. It did, in the first approach to della Roggia. And survived.
Max, you’ll never learn!
Dave
14th September 2021, 11:12
Racing incident 100%.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
13th September 2021, 1:50
In my mind there can only be 2 star contenders: bottas and ricciardo, don’t think anyone else did something exceptional.
The reason I went for ricciardo is I tried to imagine both in the other driver’s situation, as in an in-form ricciardo and a bottas, and I’m pretty sure ricciardo could’ve done what bottas did in that mercedes, remember some good recovery from him in 2017 already with a red bull that wasn’t as strong, he ended up 4th and chasing vettel for the podium, whereas I’m not sure bottas could do what ricciardo did and hold off verstappen using a mclaren, since bottas isn’t very good on wheel to wheel, in any case no matter what I vote ricciardo wins by a huge margin and bottas is clear 2nd best.
rodewulf (@rodewulf)
13th September 2021, 3:08
@esploratore1
Bottas is also not good on tyre management. A better driver than him on this department, as well as in racecraft, would have won this Italian GP even starting from the back. The other top drivers took each other out and Perez, also in a top car, just complicated his own life again, albeit not so dramatically this time.
jff
13th September 2021, 8:42
Hard to fault Gio.
And Alonso gets a small nod for his Sprint overtake.
rodewulf (@rodewulf)
13th September 2021, 21:45
jff
Almost sure he also fully maximised his results, outqualified and outraced Ocon, considering the relatively subpar machinery performance for the weekend (in the opposite trend of McLaren, Alpine was considerably stronger in Zandvoort than in Monza).
Jorge Lardone (@jorge-lardone)
13th September 2021, 1:50
Ricciardo this time.
Also great weekend for Bottas, Norris, Giovinazzi.
JackySteeg (@jackysteeg)
13th September 2021, 2:44
Easy to say Ricciardo, but for me Bottas just about edges it. It was far and away his best weekend of the season, and quite possibly one of the best of his career. It was one heck of a response to losing his seat. Truly superb throughout.
It’s a timely reminder that on his day he really is world class. It’s just a shame these sorts of performances only happen 2 or 3 times a year for him. Hopefully this reset away from the spotlight will bring out the best in him more often.
Loujinong RDCP (@loujinong)
13th September 2021, 4:20
Ric
Broke1984 (@broke1984)
13th September 2021, 7:13
Could’ve been Bottas but it’s Ricciardo for me.
Balue (@balue)
13th September 2021, 7:52
I voted Ricciardo, but not much to choose between him and Norris who was actually a tad faster, just a bit worse / unlucky start in the Q race.
But props to Leclerc too. Feeling sick to the point of being dizzy (not what you want driving an F1 car) and still delivered way above par. Verstappen was also very solid with a super Q lap, but poor tyre management in the first stint.
ruliemaulana (@ruliemaulana)
13th September 2021, 8:05
Daniel deserved this. But I knew he would won the poll, so I pick Valtteri as a token of respect.
Jere (@jerejj)
13th September 2021, 9:16
DOTW & DOTD: RIC
erikje
13th September 2021, 17:20
At least there are some with humor here and voted for Lewis :)
DaveW (@dmw)
14th September 2021, 1:13
If anyone is still wavering between Bottas and another driver just remember that Bottas ruthlessly murdered a small woodland creature on Friday. 🥲