We rate the drivers after the Italian GP

Red Bull-Renault RB9
Start: 1st
Finish: 1st
Strategy: 1 stop (medium/hard)
Rating: 9

The Vettel/Red Bull combination was imperious all weekend, so it was no surprise to see him control the race while appearing not to break sweat. While some criticise him for having the best car, he did not put a foot wrong on a weekend when several other drivers did just that in machinery capable of fighting for strong results.

Dominance always looks easy, but it takes a classy driver to make it look that straightforward.

Red Bull-Renault RB9
Start: 2nd
Finish: 3rd
Strategy: 1 stop (medium/hard)
Rating: 7

Always looked to be half-a-step behind Vettel, but deserves credit for qualifying a couple of tenths off him and finally climbing onto the Monza podium.

Lost a place to Massa on the run to the first corner before being passed by Alonso, but was able to execute a routine undercut strategy to turn fourth into third place ahead of the Brazilian. A solid weekend's work for Webber, but could have finished second had he kept Alonso behind in the first stint.

Ferrari F138
Start: 5th
Finish: 2nd
Strategy: 1 stop (medium/hard)
Rating: 9

Alonso's relationship with Ferrari was under intense scrutiny all weekend, a situation not helped by various interpretations of radio messages. But either way, he was unimpressed at his team's failure to execute its towing strategy to perfection in Q3.

Qualifying was solid rather than spectacular but in the race he did a fine job, pulling off an excellent pass on Webber and then breezing past a co-operative Massa. Running long before stopping exaggerated the gap to Vettel, but he had no chance of beating him.

Ferrari F138
Start: 4th
Finish: 4th
Strategy: 1 stop (medium/hard)
Rating: 7

Amid the off-track intrigue surrounding both his team-mate's relationship with Ferrari and his own future, Massa put in an unflustered performance at Monza. Hamstrung in qualifying by having to drag Alonso around, he picked up a decent tow from Webber in Q3 to outqualify the Spaniard.

His start was excellent and, but for Webber stopping before him, there was every chance he would have finished third on a weekend where he was close to Alonso's level. Very good, but not great.

McLaren-Mercedes MP4-28
Start: 9th
Finish: 10th
Strategy: 1 stop (medium/hard)
Rating: 6

Headed to Monza with high hopes and made it to Q3, but was unable to go much further, ending up ninth. Slipped to 11th at the start, which he blamed on the clutch. From there, he had a tough afternoon.

Despite having decent pace, the gear ratios meant he was both vulnerable to attacks under the DRS and unable to fight slower cars ahead. Picked up a flatspot in the final stint that made life harder, and did well to salvage a point by holding off Raikkonen.

McLaren-Mercedes MP4-28
Start: 8th
Finish: 12th
Strategy: 1 stop (medium/hard)
Rating: 5

Fundamental pace was as good as identical to Button's, shading him in qualifying thanks to being stronger through the Parabolica. Dealt well with being booted across the first chicane by Raikkonen, running eighth early on, but stopped a lap later than Button and dropped behind him.

Had the same top-speed limitation as his team-mate, but didn't do as good a job of keeping Raikkonen at bay late on. That said, with a well-timed pitstop he might well have beaten Button.

Lotus-Renault E21
Start: 11th
Finish: 11th
Strategy: 2 stops (hard/medium/medium)
Rating: 7

After spending Friday running the new long-wheelbase version of the Lotus E21, gathering valuable data but surely compromising the rest of his weekend, Raikkonen failed to make Q3 by 25 thousandths of a second.

That and rear-ending Perez at the first corner, which he blamed on the Mexican chopping across the front of him and costing him downforce, meant his excellent race pace on a two-stop strategy was to no avail. Qualifying and Turn 1 arguably cost him a good shot at a podium.

Lotus-Renault E21
Start: 13th
Finish: 8th
Strategy: 1 stop (medium/hard)
Rating: 7

Having been happy on Friday, Grosjean complained of the car lacking grip in qualifying and being all over the place. Ran 12th in the first stint after passing Sutil, but a delay exiting the pits, after an electronic problem stopped his traffic light turning green at the right time, cost him positions.

But stuck to his task and was one of the few drivers on an orthodox strategy to make up multiple positions, passing both McLarens in the second stint to take eighth.

Mercedes F1 W04
Start: 6th
Finish: 6th
Strategy: 1 stop (medium/hard)
Rating: 7

In judging Rosberg, you have to take into account the hydraulic problem that ruined his Saturday morning practice. That unquestionably had a knock-on effect on his performances in qualifying and the race.

He spent the vast majority of Sunday afternoon unable to mount a serious attack to take fifth place from Hulkenberg. The car was quicker and with DRS assistance it looked inevitable he would make the move late on, but it never came. An adequate weekend, but with mitigating factors.

Mercedes F1 W04
Start: 12th
Finish: 9th
Strategy: 2 stops (hard/medium/medium)
Rating: 7

This was a weekend defined by two pieces of misfortune: first clouting a kerb and damaging the floor of his car, which began the sequence of events that, compounded by being impeded by Sutil, cost him a place in Q3; the second was picking up a slow puncture that forced an early pitstop and therefore a two-stop strategy.

Amid all that, his pace was strong and he had the legs on Rosberg. Had he started near the front, would likely have been on the podium.

Sauber-Ferrari C32
Start: 3rd
Finish: 5th
Strategy: 1 stop (medium/hard)
Rating: 10

Hulkenberg simply could not have done a better job. The Sauber was stronger at Monza, unquestionably, but it certainly wasn't the right material for third on the grid or fifth in the race.

His results were down to extracting the absolute maximum from the car while others faltered. What's more, in the closing stages he had no right to keep the faster Rosberg at bay, yet he did so with relative ease. An exemplary drive that Ferrari would do well to note.

Sauber-Ferrari C32
Start: 16th
Finish: 13th
Strategy: 1 stop (hard/medium)
Rating: 7

In the face of Hulkenberg's heroics, Gutierrez's weekend looked dire on paper. But while he did underperform markedly in qualifying, his fundamental pace was actually pretty good.

Certainly, he had the speed to breeze into Q2 and, with a better starting position, might well have been in the hunt for his maiden point. Excelling in qualifying in modern F1 is a huge test for rookies, but Gutierrez needs to improve in that area to showcase his solid progress.

Force India-Mercedes VJM06
Start: 15th
Finish: DNF
Strategy: retired (medium)
Rating: 4

Everything that could go wrong did go wrong for di Resta. A brake-disc failure in Saturday morning practice left him in the Parabolica barrier, costing him his qualifying simulation run.

With the Force India combining being slow on the straights with mediocre in the corners, di Resta ended up a tenth-and-a-half off Sutil in qualifying. Locked up under braking for the second chicane and hit Grosjean. Was out on the spot and accepted it was his mistake.

Force India-Mercedes VJM06
Start: 17th
Finish: 16th
Strategy: 1 stop (medium/hard)
Rating: 8

Considering the machinery at his disposal, Sutil had a perfectly respectable weekend. He reckoned his qualifying lap was acceptable, if unspectacular, although a three-place penalty for impeding Hamilton in Q2 meant he was relegated behind Maldonado, di Resta and Gutierrez.

Hung on to a group of quicker cars early on, but was never really in points contention considering the pace of the car. A fine opportunistic pass on Gutierrez was the highlight before he retired with brake problems.

Williams-Renault FW35
Start: 14th
Finish: 14th
Strategy: 1 stop (medium/hard)
Rating: 7

While he complained about the weighbridge costing him laps in Q2, it made very little difference to Maldonado's weekend. He was able to shade Bottas on pace, but beyond that was on a hiding to nothing.

The Williams was far from competitive at Monza, much to his disappointment, and the fact he was only 11 seconds off the points probably flattered the car. Hard to draw a definitive conclusion, but Maldonado did a good, clean job and finished roughly where he should have done.

Williams-Renault FW35
Start: 18th
Finish: 15th
Strategy: 1 stop (medium/hard)
Rating: 6

You could best sum up Bottas's weekend by saying he was very slightly less competitive than Maldonado, which considering his rookie status is perfectly respectable. His race was much the same as his team-mate's, although he very slowly dropped off the back of him to finish an eventual eight seconds behind.

No big errors - was brisk enough, but not quite as fast as Maldonado. Beyond that, it's very difficult to draw any conclusions about his performance given the car's pace.

Toro Rosso-Ferrari STR8
Start: 10th
Finish: DNF
Strategy: Retired (medium)
Rating: 8

In many ways, Vergne's weekend summed up his season. He was massively committed and very quick - as quick as Ricciardo in fact until Q2. At that point, Ricciardo pulled three-tenths on him.

But Vergne still made Q3, only to chuck it off at the Parabolica, run through the gravel and condemn himself to 10th. Even so, he drove impeccably in the race until his latest dose of 'JEV luck', as his transmission failed, costing him a surefire points finish.

Toro Rosso-Ferrari STR8
Start: 7th
Finish: 7th
Strategy: 1 stop (medium/hard)
Rating: 9

Once again, the Australian impressed in qualifying. The Toro Rosso looked competitive throughout practice and despite a low-downforce approach meaning the car was a little tail-happy, he managed to stick it seventh on the grid.

That was critical to his weekend. The Toro Rosso was less competitive in the race, but good top speed meant he was able to keep a varying cast of quicker drivers behind him throughout. Seventh was the best possible result and he nailed it.

Caterham-Renault CT03
Start: 20th
Finish: 17th
Strategy: 2 stops (medium/hard/hard)
Rating: 6

Pic was the slower of the two Caterham drivers during qualifying, albeit only by a tenth-and-a-half, but he was able to jump ahead off the line. And in terms of his race, that was that.

He drove around at about the pace you would expect and was able to edge away from his team-mate. As for judging his performance against the rest of the field, it's impossible as the rest were well ahead and the Marussias comfortably behind.

Caterham-Renault CT03
Start: 19th
Finish: 18th
Strategy: 2 stops (medium/hard/hard)
Rating: 6

Van der Garde's pace in the final sector allowed him to outqualify his team-mate, although a poor start meant he dropped behind both Pic and Bianchi. He repassed the Marussia driver before the end of the lap, but could not quite stay with Pic.

While perhaps not as quick on race pace, the difference was negligible (the gap was four seconds by the time both pitted). The team not being ready for his second stop exaggerated the gap.

Marussia-Cosworth MR-02
Start: 21st
Finish: 19th
Strategy: 1 stop (medium/hard)
Rating: 7

Missing FP1 to allow Rodolfo Gonzalez to drive was a setback, and Bianchi seemed to be playing catch-up all weekend. A DRS problem on his second run in Q1 didn't help matters, meaning he failed to improve his position.

Engaged in a tight battle with Chilton in the first part of the race, managing to stay ahead in the intra-team fight, which was all that could be asked given that the Caterhams were uncatchable.

Marussia-Cosworth MR-02
Start: 22nd
Finish: 20th
Strategy: 1 stop (medium/hard)
Rating: 8

Chilton's claim that this was his "best qualifying of the year" seemed tenuous given the deficit of four tenths to Bianchi, but was explained by Marussia discovering the car had been over-fuelled by 19.5kg. Fuel-corrected, it meant he might well have been quicker than his team-mate.

It was a similar story in the race, where he shadowed Bianchi, only really losing ground late on amid blue flags. While he did finish behind the Frenchman, this was a big step forward, hence the high score.