Start, Monza, 2024

2024 Italian Grand Prix weekend F1 driver ratings

Formula 1

Posted on

| Written by

The fastest grand prix of the season delivered another fascinating and unpredictable race as 2024 continues to provide entertaining and enthralling racing.

An unlikely winner, the world champions struggling and even a driver making their grand prix debut made this a particularly interesting weekend when it comes to assessing the 20 drivers.

But unsurprisingly, there was one who was outstanding above all others. Here are the RaceFans driver ratings for the Italian Grand Prix.

A guide to RaceFans’ driver ratings system

RaceFans’ driver ratings system assesses driver performance across all three days of a grand prix weekend. Naturally, performances during competitive sessions – qualifying, sprint races and grands prix – will carry the most weight to their rating.

However, practice performance can affect a driver’s weekend rating in the event of a major mistake, such as a crash, consistent errors throughout practice sessions or if a driver shows a notably impressive speed throughout all free practice sessions relative to their team mate.

The system attempts to take into account the relative performance of each driver’s car and the expected results from that, meaning that a driver who wins a race in a car clearly superior to the rest of the field may not necessarily score as highly as a driver who claims a low points finish in a midfield car.

Ratings also attempt to take into account mitigating factors outside of a driver’s control. If a driver is forced to miss considerable track time due to car problems, is the victim of being blocked in qualifying, finishes far lower than expected because of a heavily botched pit stop or suffers any other misfortune they cannot be reasonably expected to control, their rating should not be penalised.

RaceFans rates each driver’s weekend performance on a scale of 0 to 10, where ‘5’ is considered to be a typically average weekend performance from a typically average Formula 1 driver.

Here is a rough guide to each possible score:

N/ANot applicable – No rating is given as the driver did not sufficiently participate in the competitive sessions

0Disqualified – Only in the most extreme instance where a driver’s conduct disqualifies them from participation

1Appalling – An appalling display that brings a driver’s competency under immediate question

2Awful – A very, very poor performance of repeated errors with almost no redeeming qualities

3Very bad – Far more negatives than positives across the weekend which a driver should be very disappointed with

4Underperformance – Driver failed to achieve the base level expected for a Formula 1 driver

5Acceptable – The standard level of performance that should be expected from an F1 driver

6Good – A decent overall performance across the weekend, but not one of the best

7Very good – A strong performance across the weekend that any driver should be very pleased with

8Brilliant – A truly great weekend where the driver stood out as one of the very best of the field

9Exceptional – An outstanding performance that ranks as one of the best, if not the very best, of the entire season

10Legendary – One of the few all-time greatest performances by a driver in the history of Formula 1



Max Verstappen – 6/10

Max Verstappen, Red Bull, Monza, 2024
It was a taxing weekend for Verstappen
Qualified: 7th (+1 place ahead of team mate, -0.04s)
Start: +1 place
Strategy: Two-stop (H-H-M)
Finished: 6th (+2 places ahead of team mate)

▶ Took seventh on the grid after being unable to match best Q2 lap in Q3
▶ Opted for hard tyres for start and gained a place when Russell went off
▶ Ran long first stint before pitting for second set of hard tyres
▶ Informed that not all PU power would be available to him for undisclosed reasons
▶ Could not catch Hamilton ahead and was caught and passed by Norris
▶ Pitted for mediums and rejoined behind Hamilton in sixth
Kept out of reach of the pursuing Russell behind to finish sixth

There was never any realistic hope of Verstappen challenging for a podium in Monza and certainly not the win. But although the Red Bull was not close to being the fastest package of the weekend, Verstappen’s usual ‘X-factor’ ability to still somehow pull outstanding results did not appear to work this weekend. He could not emulate his best Q2 time when it mattered most and did not gain any positions at the start by overtaking. Although he was hamstrung by limited power in the race, he just seemed unable to do anything to challenge those ahead of him. At least he managed to keep ahead of Russell in the final laps and was his team’s strongest driver, as ever.

Sergio Perez – 5/10

Qualified: 8th (-1 place behind team mate, +0.04s)
Start: Held position
Strategy: Two-stop (H-H-M)
Finished: 8th (-2 places behind team mate)

▶ Beaten by team mate in Q3 after mistake on final push lap
▶ Started on hard tyres and ran eighth before passing wounded Russell
▶ Kept pace with team mate before pitting for second set of hards
▶ Faced pressure from Russell before second stop for mediums
▶ Undercut by Russell, but passed Magnussen with fresh tyres for eighth
▶ Finished eighth, 14s behind Russell and team mate ahead

Red Bull had their most underwhelming showing since the Monaco Grand Prix, yet Perez actually had a better result in Monza than he had in several earlier rounds when the car was far stronger. As ever, he was the slower of the team’s two drivers but closer to Verstappen than he has been at several points this season. Although Red Bull were probably the fourth fastest team in Italy, his team might have hoped that he would have been able to be more of a challenge for Russell, given the problems the Mercedes driver had early on.

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

Lewis Hamilton – 6/10

Qualified: 6th (-3 places behind team mate, +0.073s)
Start: +1 place
Strategy: Two-stop (M-H-H)
Finished: 5th (+2 places ahead of team mate)

▶ Fastest in final two practice sessions
▶ Qualified sixth, admitting he lost time with multiple errors on best Q3 lap
▶ Gained fifth with team mate’s off at the start before pitting early for hards
▶ Ran behind Sainz but unable to get within DRS range before second stop for hards
▶ Kept pace with McLarens ahead on new tyres but ran lonely final stint to finish fifth
▶ Attempted to set fastest lap on final tour but beaten by less than a tenth

Heading into qualifying, Hamilton was looking as though he might be the favourite for the rest of the weekend. But things did not pan out that way as, again, Hamilton came away from a qualifying session unhappy with his result. He made up for it with a better showing in the race and it would have been interesting to see where he might have ended up had Mercedes followed Ferrari in one-stopping. But fifth place was still a decent result, even if it was lower than Hamilton and Mercedes would have hoped for heading into Sunday.

George Russell – 6/10

George Russell, Mercedes, Monza, 2024
Russell’s race went wrong early on
Qualified: 3rd (+3 places ahead of team mate, -0.073s)
Start: -4 places
Strategy: Two-stop (M-H-H)
Finished: 7th (-2 places behind team mate)

▶ Missed first practice to hand car over to Antonelli
Secured third on the grid in qualifying behind the McLarens
Dropped to seventh after missing the first chicane
▶ Suffered front wing damage after touch with Verstappen at Roggia
▶ Pitted for hard tyres early, losing several seconds with front wing change
▶ Caught up to Perez before second stop for hards
▶ Undercut Perez and then passed Albon and Magnussen to finish 1.7s behind Verstappen

Russell would have naturally been disappointed to come away with just six points from Monza after starting third on the grid. But even though the end result was nothing to cheer about, he still showed some fighting spirit across the weekend. A great qualifying session but him in a strong position, but he cost himself several places by misjudging his braking into turn one and then lost more time damaging his front wing when he clipped Verstappen. It’s difficult to know where he might have been without that, but it’s difficult to blame anyone else for being in that position.

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

Charles Leclerc – 8/10

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Monza, 2024
Leclerc nursed his front-left tyre to make his strategy work
Qualified: 4th (+1 place ahead of team mate, -0.006s)
Start: +2 places
Strategy: One-stop (M-H)
Finished: Winner (+3 places ahead of team mate)

▶ Qualified fourth on the grid behind Russell
Made opportunistic pass on Norris on opening lap to claim second place
▶ Undercut by Norris switching to hard tyres but kept pace with him until he pitted
▶ Took the lead when McLarens pitted after committing to one-stop
Managed old hard tyres expertly to keep out of reach of Piastri to take brilliant strategic win

An excellent drive that will likely be remembered as one of his best race victories. Leclerc brilliantly executed a one-stop strategy to outsmart the faster McLarens and secure his second race victory of the season to delight his team and the Tifosi. A strong qualifying, a good opening lap to move up to second, then consistent and controlled pace throughout the rest of race opened up the door for Leclerc to take an unexpected victory. One that was richly deserved.

Carlos Sainz Jnr – 7/10

Qualified: 5th (-1 place behind team mate, +0.006s)
Start: +1 place
Strategy: One-stop (M-H)
Finished: 4th (-3 places behind team mate)

▶ Lined up fifth on grid behind team mate after virtually matching his best time
▶ Moved up to fourth after Russell’s off at the start
▶ Pitted last of the frontrunners on mediums to rejoin nine seconds behind team mate
▶ Maintained pace with team mate ahead and commited to one-stop
▶ Kept Hamilton at bay but was passed by both McLarens in closing laps
Finished fourth ahead of both Mercedes and Red Bulls, 15s behind team mate

In weekend where all the focus was on the McLarens, Red Bulls and then his team mate, Sainz was easy to overlook through all of it. He virtually matched Leclerc’s best time in Q3 and did good work to extend his opening stint, then played a not insignificant role in leading Ferrari to commit to the one-stop with both cars. Finishing fourth was a very strong result that he could be satisfied with for his last race in Italy for Ferrari. It’s just that his team mate was even stronger.

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

Lando Norris – 6/10

Lando Norris, McLaren, Monza, 2024
Unforced error dropped Norris further out of contention
Qualified: Pole (+1 place ahead of team mate, -0.109s)
Start: -2 places
Strategy: Two-stop (M-H-H)
Finished: 3rd (-1 place behind team mate)

Beat team mate to take pole position despite describing best lap as “shit”
Lost the lead when passed by team mate, then dropped behind Leclerc to run third
▶ Caught Leclerc before pitting for hard tyres to undercut him for second
Lost time with error at Roggia chicane on lap 31, then made second stop for hards
Overtook Sainz for third place but unable to catch team mate ahead
▶ Finished third, three seconds behind team mate
▶ Took fastest lap on final lap

After a commanding victory just a week prior in Zandvoort, Norris did not make the most of his opportunities in Monza and once again failed to convert a pole into a victory. Although he successfully held the lead into the first corner this time, he was simply out-manoeuvred by his team mate at the second chicane, which ultimately decided his race. He was by no means bad as he drove on to finish third, but if he truly wants to somehow chase down Verstappen for an unlikely championship victory, he knows he needs to be better than this.

Oscar Piastri – 7/10

Qualified: 2nd (-1 place behind team mate, +0.109s)
Start: +1 place
Strategy: Two-stop (M-H-H)
Finished: 2nd (+1 place ahead of team mate)

▶ Secured front row start just behind team mate in qualifying
Took the lead with bold pass on team mate through Roggia chicane
▶ Pitted for hard tyres from lead on lap 16, keeping team mate at bay
▶ Fell to third after second stop for hard tyres
Passed Sainz to take second, then chased down Leclerc
▶ Closed to under three seconds but unable to catch Leclerc before finish, taking second

After a disappointing weekend last time out in Zandvoort, Piastri may have come away from Monza frustrated to have lost the win, but at least he had turned things around from the previous round. Despite missing out on pole on Saturday, Piastri pulled off a brave but brilliant pass on his team mate into the second chicane to take the lead and looked like he was on for victory number two until McLaren were outfoxed by Ferrari. Still, he could take solace from the fact that he had not lost the race, but that Leclerc had simply gone out and won it.

Fernando Alonso – 6/10

Qualified: 11th (+6 places ahead of team mate, -0.396s)
Start: +1 place
Strategy: Two-stop (M-H-H)
Finished: 11th (+8 places ahead of team mate)

▶ Only just missed out on Q3 by one-hundredth of a second
▶ Pressured Albon early before pitting for hard tyres and easily undercutting him
▶ Grew gap of around six seconds to Albon behind before second stop for hards
Rejoined 14th and overtook Colapinto and Ricciardo before pursuing Albon
▶ Got within a second of Albon on final lap but beaten to tenth, just a tenth behind Magnussen after his penalty

Alonso had a decent weekend in Monza where he seemed to always be just on the verge of something better. Perhaps he would have scored a point had he committed to a two-stop strategy, but being just a tenth of a second away from a top ten finish, it’s hard not to agonise over any small error over the 53 laps that could have made the difference between a point and 11th place at the end.

Lance Stroll – 4/10

Lance Stroll, Aston Martin, Monza, 2024
Late bid for fastest lap left Stroll at the back
Qualified: 17th (-6 places behind team mate, +0.396s)
Start: Held position
Strategy: Three-stop (H-H-M-S)
Finished: 19th (-8 places behind team mate)

Eliminated from Q1 almost four tenths off team mate
▶ Started on hards and lost a place to Colapinto on lap two but claimed it back soon after
▶ Fell to 17th after pitting for second set of hards, but could not pass Colapinto
▶ Switched to mediums at second stop, passing Gasly and Zhou
▶ Caught up to Ocon but pitted for softs in failed attempt at fastest lap, finishing last

After some positive performances leading up to the summer break and in Zandvoort, Stroll had a slightly peculiar weekend in Monza. While Alonso was on the cusp of Q3 on Saturday and a tenth away from a point on Sunday, Stroll was just not able to match his team mate’s performance. His weekend was summed up best when he pitted in the final laps for soft tyres in an attempt to set the fastest lap, only to post the eighth-best time of the race with them.

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

Pierre Gasly – 6/10

Pierre Gasly, Alpine, Monza, 2024
Gasly was knocked wide by Magnussen
Qualified: 14th (+1 place ahead of team mate, -0.028s)
Start: +1 place
Strategy: Two-stop (M-H-H)
Finished: 15th (-1 place behind team mate)

▶ Fastest of the two Alpines in qualifying but knocked out in 14th
▶ Claimed to have carried a “brake issue” from Saturday into Sunday
▶ Overtaken by team mate after complaining of vibration, then pitted for hards
▶ Undercut Magnussen but passed by him, Ricciardo, Colapinto and Stroll before second stop for hards
▶ Passed by Stroll a second time, then started to catch team mate late
▶ Picked up 15th when Stroll pitted late to finish just under six seconds behind team mate

Monza was not Alpine’s best circuit of the season and it showed as Gasly never looked like a contender for the top ten as he had achieved the week prior in Zandvoort. However, he was the quicker of the two Alpine drivers in qualifying, but the two stop strategy was the inferior one in the grand prix and he was the one who was unlucky enough to get it on Sunday. Given that he still finished so close to his team mate, it seems fair to say the honours were even for this weekend.

Esteban Ocon – 6/10

Qualified: 15th (-1 place behind team mate, +0.028s)
Start: Held position
Strategy: One-stop (H-M)
Finished: 14th (+1 place ahead of team mate)

▶ Knocked out slowest in Q2 but less than half a tenth slower than team mate
Went with hard tyres for start and passed Tsunoda on the second lap
▶ Overtook team mate on lap nine, then ran long first stint before pitting for mediums on lap 31
▶ Rejoined 16th but gained two places when Bottas and Stroll pitted
▶ Finished 14th, five seconds ahead of team mate

Ocon would not have been thrilled about finishing 14th in Monza, but on a weekend where Alpine were not at their fastest, he could be pretty satisfied with the job he did. He beat team mate Gasly on both Saturday and Sunday and executed a one-stop strategy starting on hard tyres with skill. Although he did not have the tools to attack cars ahead of him, there was no shame in finishing where he started.

Alexander Albon – 7/10

Qualified: 9th (+9 places ahead of team mate, -0.519s)
Start: Held position
Strategy: One-stop (M-H)
Finished: 9th (+3 places ahead of team mate)

Reached Q3 to take ‘best of the rest grid’ position in ninth
▶ Absorbed pressure from Alonso early before making relatively late stop for hard tyres
Managed tyres well to make one-stop strategy viable
▶ Lost a place to Magnussen, then chased down by Alonso
Kept within 10s of Magnussen to pick up ninth after holding Alonso at bay

Although Williams have tried to build a car that performs well at all kinds of circuits, rather than just low-downforce tracks, Monza was always going to be one of the team’s best opportunities for points all season. Albon converted that opportunity with a very good performance over the Monza weekend. He always looked in contention for a top ten across the weekend and did a great job to stay within ten seconds of Magnussen while also staying out of reach of Leclerc. One of his best weekends of the season, but his Williams was always likely to be strong at this circuit.

Franco Colapinto – 7/10

Franco Colapinto, Williams, Monza, 2024
Newcomer Colapinto wasn’t far off Albon’s pace
Qualified: 18th (-9 places behind team mate, +0.519s)
Start: Held position
Strategy: One-stop (M-H)
Finished: 12th (-3 places behind team mate)

Failed to follow team mate into Q2 after running wide at Lesmos on final push lap
▶ Received formal warning for making practice start out of permitted zone in practice
▶ Passed by Stroll, then pitted for hard tyres to rejoin 17th
▶ Undercut Stroll to run ahead of him, then overtook Bottas for 13th
Largely matched team mate’s lap times until later laps
▶ Began to catch Ricciardo in later laps, finishing 3s behind but promoted to 12th after his penalty

Welcome to Formula 1, Franco Colapinto. Williams jettisoned Logan Sargeant to replace him with their junior driver, who immediately showed why his team had deemed him worthy of an opportunity. His qualifying performance was not great, as he admitted, but for his first grand prix in a car he barely knows, Colapinto put in a performance he can always be proud of, gaining six places and running at a comparable pace to team mate Albon. A very solid start to his nine-race stint in the world championship.

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

Yuki Tsunoda – 5/10

Yuki Tsunoda, RB, Monza, 2024
Tsunoda retired after being hit by Hulkenberg
Qualified: 16th (-4 places behind team mate, +0.044s)
Start: +2 places
Finished: Retired (Damage – L7)

▶ Benefited from team’s upgrades for the weekend
▶ Just missed out on Q2 berth, beaten by almost half a tenth by team mate
▶ Fitted hard tyres for start but suffered floor damage when hit by Hulkenberg
▶ Called in to retire at the end of lap seven

A weekend to forget for Tsunoda in Italy. He never seemed comfortable with his car with RB’s new upgrades for their home grand prix and was frustrated to be knocked out of Q1. But he would have been far more annoyed about being taken out of the race on Sunday as there was little he could do about Hulkenberg clattering into him. He could not continue with the damage and became the only retirement from the race.

Daniel Ricciardo – 6/10

Qualified: 12th (+4 places ahead of team mate, -0.044s)
Start: +1 place
Strategy: One-stop (M-H)
Finished: 13th

▶ Did not receive upgrades provided to team mate over the weekend
▶ Reached Q2 before eliminated in 12th
Received five second time penalty for pushing Hulkenberg off the track into Ascari on lap one
Switched to hard tyres and passed Gasly and Bottas to sit in 11th
Kept decent pace over 43 lap second stint to cross the line 12th
▶ Dropped to 13th after 10s penalty for team failing to serve first penalty correctly

Ricciardo had a decent weekend, for the most part. He looked more comfortable than his team mate over the three days even if – or maybe because – he didn’t get his team’s new parts for the weekend. He cost himself by earning a fair penalty on the opening lap, but the second penalty that dropped him to 13th was not his fault. He successfully pulled off the longest stint of the race, and would probably have earned a higher rating without his opening lap mishap.

Valtteri Bottas – 6/10

Valtteri Bottas, Sauber, Monza, 2024
Sauber’s point-less season ground on in Monza
Qualified: 19th (+1 place ahead of team mate, -0.344s)
Start: Held position
Strategy: One-stop (H-M)
Finished: 16th (+2 places ahead of team mate)

▶ Eliminated from Q1 in 19th but three tenths faster than team mate
▶ Started on hard tyres and ran ahead of team mate early
▶ Ran long opening stint before pitting for mediums on lap 33
▶ Rejoined 18th and rapidly caught team mate before overtaking him
▶ Finished 16th, eight seconds adrift of Gasly, after

A solid weekend from Bottas once again despite his car giving him little to work with even around the relatively few corners at Monza. He was, again, the clear best of the two Sauber drivers over the weekend and finished higher than he started. However, given that he gained one place from a retirement, one from a penalty and one from a driver pitting in the final laps, his result likely flattered him.

Zhou Guanyu – 5/10

Qualified: 20th (-1 place behind team mate, +0.344s)
Start: Held position
Strategy: One-stop (M-H)
Finished: 18th (-2 places behind team mate)

Knocked out slowest in Q1 complaining about traffic on final run
▶ Ran behind team mate in ealy laps before pitting for hard tyres
▶ Had consistent pace until lap times began to fall when caught by leaders
▶ Passed by Stroll, Gasly and team mate with fresher tyres
▶ Overtaken by Hulkenberg to fall to last but picked up one place when Stroll pitted late

After being significantly slower than his team mate the previous weekend at Zandvoort, Zhou was much closer to Bottas’s performance in Monza – just still slower than him. It’s hard to judge him too harshly as he remains in the slowest car in the field and he made no notable errors over the weekend, but Zhou continues to fail to stand out when he needs to if he is to remain racing in F1 into the future.

Nico Hulkenberg – 5/10

Qualified: 10th (+3 places ahead of team mate, -0.287s)
Start: -6 places
Strategy: Two-stop (M-H-H)
Finished: 17th (-7 places behind team mate)

Reached Q3 for seventh time to take tenth on the grid
▶ Lost six places at the start when pushed wide by Ricciardo into Ascari
Hit with 10s penalty for hitting Tsunoda at Rettifilo and forced to pit for new front wing
▶ Ran last for bulk of the race, out of sequence with cars ahead
▶ Caught and passed Zhou in later laps, then picked up 17th after Stroll’s late stop

A decent start to the weekend for Hulkenberg but a sloppy end. Once again, Hulkenberg spearheaded Haas’ charge in qualifying to reach Q3 for the seventh time this season. He was not at fault for being pushed wide by Ricciardo on lap one, but his poorly-judged pass on Tsunoda in the opening laps was one of his worst moments of the year so far. That one moment ended any remaining hopes for his race and undid a lot of the otherwise strong work he had done.

Kevin Magnussen – 6/10

Kevin Magnussen, Haas, Monza, 2024
Magnussen will miss the next race
Qualified: 13th (-3 places behind team mate, +0.287s)
Start: +1 place
Strategy: One-stop (M-H)
Finished: 10th (+7 places ahead of team mate)

Crashed out of second practice at the second Lesmo
Could not follow team mate into Q3, eliminated 13th
▶ Ran behind Ricciardo early before undercut by Ocon
Hit with 10s penalty for clash with Gasly at Roggia chicane
Managed hard tyres well over 39-lap second stint
Lost ninth place to Albon with penalty but held final point by just under two tenths

It feels strange to be awarding a positive rating for a driver who received a ban from the next race for an incident that occurred during the grand prix and even more so for a driver who had a pretty untidy weekend overall in Monza. But despite his practice crash, his inability to follow his team mate into Q3 and his avoidable clash with Gasly in the race, Magnussen was actually one of the better performers in the race. He made good use of his one-stop strategy and managed to cling onto a point by a slender margin after his penalty was applied. He will get an unscheduled weekend off for Baku.

Over to you

Vote for the driver who impressed you most last weekend and find out whether other RaceFans share your view here:

2024 Italian Grand Prix

Browse all 2024 Italian Grand Prix articles

Author information

Will Wood
Will has been a RaceFans contributor since 2012 during which time he has covered F1 test sessions, launch events and interviewed drivers. He mainly...

Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

49 comments on “2024 Italian Grand Prix weekend F1 driver ratings”

  1. Not going to argue with the ratings despite not choosing Leclerc as my own top driver, and agree Colapinto and Piastri were up there.

    Agree less with the idea that this is likely to be one of Leclerc’s most memorable victories though (other than it being a Ferrari win in Italy). Great job of course, but I definitely give the nod to wins on comparable strategies. Not that I am suggesting he should not have done the one stop, but a strategy based win just doesn’t have the same shine to it for me.

    1. notagrumpyfan
      3rd September 2024, 7:56

      but I definitely give the nod to wins on comparable strategies.

      They had identical strategies in Monaco.
      I rate this win much much higher though ;)

      1. I’m happy to have a different view, and I’m not saying you are wrong, just that our opinions differ.

        Just to be 100% clear though. The article states

        “….will likely be remembered as one of his best race victories.”

        So my comment was somewhat speculative in that even “if” one would not rate any of his prior victories higher, there remains a reasonable chance of a future win that one would. But in all honesty I’d have to rewatch previous ones for an objective assesment of those to date.

        1. I think there’s a good candidate in monza 2019, he was 1 vs 2 against a mercedes that looked faster in race pace and managed to keep them behind till the end.

    2. strategy based win just doesn’t have the same shine to it for me.

      This was not just a strategy based win.
      It was a strategy only possible based on a masterful drive . Leclerc made his last lap 53rd at same level of his 32nd.
      He drove 38 laps in those tires while his team mate drove 34 and could not.

      The difference between Leclerc and Sainz is unfair. It should be 2 points . 9 and 7.

      1. This was not just a strategy based win.

        I already knew that I would be in the minority, if not alone, based upon comments in prior threads. However I never suggested it was ‘just’ a strategy based win, and indeed comented that he did a great job.

        It was a strategy only possible based on a masterful drive

        Indeed you even acknolwedge the strategy element in your own comment, so I am unsure we disagree in what transpired. Only in whether it constitutes one of his most memorable drives.

  2. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
    3rd September 2024, 7:48

    I’m pretty sure Russell damaged his front wing when weaving through the first corner that he missed and hit one of the bollards o whatever you call them. That is what I thought caused his front wing damage. When was the contact with Verstappen?

    1. I don’t think it was shown on TV, but I remember Verstappen having complained on the radio about his driving on lap 1, probably around Curva Grande or the second chicane.

    2. @thegianthogweed – No, the contact with Piastri indeed caused the damage as he navigated around the polystyrenes without touching any of them.

      @hunocsi – So while it appeared on the world feed, no one really noticed as everyone was focusing on Leclerc overtaking Norris into Lesmo 1.

      1. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
        3rd September 2024, 8:47

        @jerejj

        I can see now that he did contact Piastri at the very start before the first corner, but it is incorrect that he “navigated around the polystyrenes without touching any of them”

        He literally knocked one of them over, though it was on the other side of his car that made contact.

        1. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
          3rd September 2024, 8:48

          The formatting went wrong in this but oh well.

        2. notagrumpyfan
          3rd September 2024, 9:24

          He did indeed hit one of the bollards (seemed heavier than a typical polystyrene block), with his (rear) left.

          His right front wing still seemed intact when weaving through there; I assume that his wing damage was due to him hitting the rear left of Verstappen (second part of Roggia).
          He also came extremely close to Hamilton, and might have touched him, in the curva grande.
          His right wing tip has been extremely busy during those first metres; well deserved early retirement later on ;)

        3. @thegianthogweed

          I can see now that he did contact Piastri

          That’s one way of looking at it. Another is to observe that Piastri swept across the track into Russell’s path, causing the contact (and damage), pushing Russell onto the grass and causing him to lose grip into the first corner.

          1. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
            4th September 2024, 8:41

            @david-br

            Well, the other way of looking at it certainly isn’t what caused the contact. There was no contact when Piastri came accross on Russell and there was more than a cars width and at this point – Russell did not even touch the grass. After this, Russell had 3 full seconds to react better than he did. When Piastri pulled infront of him, Russell lifted slightly before breaking, and that was what caused him to make contact as he was carrying too much speed and misjudged how early he needed to break.

            The contact then happened at the first corner, and wasn’t Piastri’s fault in the slightest.

  3. notagrumpyfan
    3rd September 2024, 8:31

    Is it correct to rate (mid season) new starters more leniently/favourably than other racers? Should a rating include experience and expectations?

    If included in the average ratings Colapinto would now sit just behind Verstappen, with Bearman in the clear lead.
    Also De Vries would’ve won the average rating in 2022.

    PS either way I disagree that Bearman (8) did a better job than Colapinto (7), even taking into account Bearman’s reduced weekend preparation.

    1. Yes. Rookies are always rated as if they’re on a curve by F1 media. If you listened to Sky, you’d think Ollie’s debut made Senna’s drive for Toleman at Monaco look like a 4/10 drive.

      1. Ahah, indeed, and while he did well, it has to be taken in context of the car he drove; for example, I would expect more than that from him if he had a second race with ferrari and would see it as a negative if he didn’t do any better.

  4. The difference between Leclerc and Sainz is unfair. It should be 2 points . 9 and 7.

  5. Pure bias showing yet again. Please fix the ratings because they make no sense at all. Some drivers get punished much more for being out-qualified than others.

    Norris gets a 6 for getting pole and finishing p3. Piastri gets a 7 for being outqualified but outracing Norris. This is fair enough. It’s more emphasis on the race result than qualifying. So how on earth have Russell and Hamilton both got 6/10?
    Applying the same logic of better qualifying vs better race, Hamilton should easily be rated higher than Russell.

    Leclerc out-qualifies Sainz and has an incredible race and is only an 8!

    Sainz gets a 7 for being out-qualified and finishing -3 places behind team mate. Yet Hamilton gets a 6 for also being out-qualified and finishing 2 places in front of his team mate?! how? In what world does that make any logical sense?

    Is starting 5th, finishing 4th (-3 to your team mate) and being 0.006 behind team mate in qualifying really that much better than starting 6th, finishing 5th (+2 to your team mate) and being 0.073 behind your team mate in qualifying? Given Ferrari had the better race car this weekend I’d say those performances are almost identical, if not slightly better for Hamilton.

    Then Russell also gets a 6 for finishing 2 paces behind Hamilton and dropping from p3 to p7. That’s just shocking! if 5 is

    “the standard level of performance that should be expected from an F1 driver”

    how can Russell get a 6. So it’s expected an F1 driver should lose 4 positions per race?

    1. Yes, there is a very obvious bias towards Russel. I don’t see any attempt to even try to hide it. Math simply doesn’t work here, besides we have watched the race too. Russel was one of the worst performers, definitely the worst amongst the top runners. He made mistakes, they didn’t fall from the sky or something.
      Verstappen had a race to forget, but he performed better and his numbers (like finishing position) are better. Norris was definitely better, especially if qualy counts. Russel would be the first to disagree with his own rating, relative to other drivers.
      But it doesn’t matter, it’s just one man’s subjective view. Still, when you write here, you should at least try to be objective, for the sake of the readers.

    2. BLS (@brightlampshade)
      3rd September 2024, 13:12

      I do like George but I am doubtful that he’s the equal fourth best driver this season. It’s “weekend” ratings rather than race ratings, and he is reliably very good on Saturdays. But still, his ratings do feel elevated.

      1. George got a very high rating in the mid-season analysis as well. 3rd or 4th I think. I objected to that and I think he does seem to get rated overly favourably. I am not sure why really.

      2. The real problem is that since they basically restricted themselves from ever giving drivers a 9 let alone a 10 and, on the other extreme, never having given a 1-2 and a 3 requires a horror weekend, there’s is not enough of a range in their ratings to provide any good differentiation. The fact that Leclerc’s win is only point away from Sainz is a good example of this.

        However, I will give them this, this is a season in which I haven’t seen a single driver other than Max deserving of a high praise. I’m sure the ups and downs have the cars have played a role as it always does, but this has been a season where the drivers in the top 4 teams have 1-2 major highs paired with many drives that ranged from mediocre to just good.

        1. 9 happened before and it requires a super weekend, just like 3 the other way around.

          But generally speaking, 90% of the times at least they deal with 5 ratings: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8; if the range is that small, one could also call them “very bad, bad, average, good, very good”.

          1. What got a 9? Hamilton’s Silverstone or something?

    3. Not worth losing sleep over, as other people will always have different opinions to yours, whether you think it is bias or not. But for what it’s worth, I think Russel and Sainz are rated a bit generously here. Russel ruined his race with his own mistakes, and Sainz had no pace in the 2nd stint compared to Leclerc, despite having 4 laps fresher tyres and probably a better strategy in terms of pitstop timing (Leclerc was pitted too early in a vain attempt to cover Norris).

      Outside of something truly miraculous, 8 is effectively the highest rating possible, so it is the expected rating for Lerclerc. He drove a great race for sure and couldn’t have done much more, but only one on-track pass which was partially gifted by Norris being pushed off line. After that, it was kind of a well-managed time trial.

      I also would have downgraded both Haas drivers a bit. Haas was the clear 5th fastest car this weekend, and neither driver maximised their result due to mistakes.

      1. I’d add Verstappen to the overrated list too. What I don’t understand is how one lap in Q3 gave Russell the same score as Hamilton who effectively outperformed him any every other single metric and session over the weekend. Verstappen’s weekend was the very definition of average with him only beating Russell because he wrecked his own race in the first corner. I’d have given both a 5.

        1. @slowmo

          The reason why I think that Max rates above George is that the latter obviously made mistakes. Max might have maximized the result. It’s hard to know how hard the car is to drive.

          What we do know is that he beat Perez with a 16 second gap, and that is with a botched pit stop for Max.

      2. Perhaps my comment sounded angrier than I actually am!

        I think my main point is the system itself. Limiting results to an 4-8 scale rather than a 1-10 is always going to cause issues. Maybe that’s the problem but it certainly feels biased especially when it comes to the Mercedes drivers.

        1. I understand the logic of the 4 to 8 ratings, to some degree but these ratings do not go back many years. I think everyone should be rated 1-10 if the fan site is going to do ratings by race weekend. Perhaps it would be best just not to cross-reference the ratings to other years? But this is a discussion that comes up quite regularly on here so I don’t suppose things will change.

          1. @phil-f1-21 I kind of agree with the idea of leaving 10s available for legendary performances, which might only come up once or twice every few seasons. Most sites offer multiple 10s for every race, meaning there is nothing to differentiate between a very good weekend and one of those legendary ones. But I think so far there has only been maybe three 9s, and almost no 1s or 2s. If we are comparing to the worst F1 drivers in history, then 1s and 2s should never happen, because obviously there was some atrocious drivers in the past who were not just mistake prone, but also 2 seconds or more off the pace. As much criticism as drivers like Logan Sergeant got, he was certainly within a second of his teammate almost every race, and kept it on the track more often than not. I’d rate a 1 as the worst we can expect from a modern driver – off the pace (say at least 0.5 seconds) and either multiple errors or a very poor race ending error early in the race. I think the 2-9 range should be used pretty regularly to help differentiate between the varying degrees of ‘decent’ weekends.

    4. At this point Hamilton gets a standard 5 or 6 here without much afterthought. It’s been frustratingly stupid reasoning since whenever this started. Last year Ham finished a clear best of the rest in the standings but the wise racefans points system gave Ham an average 5.9 or 6.1.

      1. Yes, I noticed, he seems to be underrated by this system more often than not.

  6. That sentence on Stroll…lol! :

    His weekend was summed up best when he pitted in the final laps for soft tyres in an attempt to set the fastest lap, only to post the eighth-best time of the race with them.

    1. Ahah, that’s a fun one indeed!

  7. Piastri is the bullet train coming at maximum speed up the line. Next season he will show that he is in a whole different league all by himself. Whether he is in a dominant car or not.

    1. Hmm. I picked out Piastri as a star performer in the first half of the season. But now McLaren have the fastest car (generally) on the grid, shouldn’t he be performing at another level already if he’s the new Verstappen or Hamilton? Or even the new Vettel. All of the had races in their first season(s) where you immediately saw them as future stars and champions. Piastri has had one outstanding sprint race and a race victory that was handed to him under team orders. If McLaren really are going with ‘let them race’ despite Norris’s outside chance at a title bid, then let’s see it from Piastri now. Monza looked like a failed attempt to do just that. The fact Piastri thinks he still has a chance of the title is a good sign, if pretty unrealistic, but he probably needs to win all the races from here on. Is that too harsh a judgment? I don’t know. I kind of feel he should be on the pace already, not next year.

      1. And, coming like a “bullet train” is especially amusing since, if he gets there, it will have been a very gradual progression to overhauling Lando. Young stars rarely gain raw pace. They just become more consistent.

      2. Completely agree, he should be dominating now with this car if he’s one of the all time greats, 2 full years with so many races is a long time for an all time great to show himself.

    2. Sure he will…

  8. Hey, you included a driver’s average as I’ve requested many times. Nice. However, it’d be great if you could also provide the exact avg. for each driver in addition to the graph.

    1. It is provided. On a computer, you hover your mouse over the bar of a driver and it displays the exact number. For example, 6.63 for Norris. I don’t know how to see it in a smartphone, though.

      1. On a smartphone tap the bar and the value will be displayed.

  9. 8 for Charles, were you watching a different race? Or were you drunk? Charles performed beautifully. He demonstrated that you can win on a one-stop and not be disqualified. Excellent drive by LeClerc. He also beat Sainz by 15 seconds on five laps of older tyre, and you gave Sainz a 7? If you’re giving Sainz 7, then Leclerc is a nine minimum. Also, Russell was below average in this race. Msx complained about his driving on lap one, plus he damaged his wing. He also failed to come through the pack again, and it is odd to put him on the same score as Lewis—5/10 for Russell.

    1. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
      4th September 2024, 8:47

      9 = Exceptional – An outstanding performance that ranks as one of the best, if not the very best, of the entire season.

      I don’t think it was quite at this level. And I wouldn’t say anyone would need to be drunk to think that 8 is a perfectly fair score.

      8 = Brilliant – A truly great weekend where the driver stood out as one of the very best of the field.

      8 is still an extremmelly good score and you are making it look like it is a bad rating.

      1. Especially with this rating system: for someone who had marks till 10 at school an 8 at a subject you’re good at might be disappointing, but an 8 with this system is basically the school’s 9\10.

  10. First time I agree with Will’s rating.

  11. KMag was the best of the rest in the race and on merit P8. He had many overtaking as well not mentioned here. Great performance and has shown how good Haas is this year. They are by far the best in the midfield. Williams upgrade since last race is pretty good. I think they will target points as well from now. RB on other hand are doing downgrades. Hopefully they can fix their car otherwise points are unlikely in second half. I do not understand, If they want to evaluate Ricciardo performance then both driver need same car and same strategy. It could also be they have already decided to keep or not too keep him.

Comments are closed.