Italian Grand Prix driver ratings

44 Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes F1 W08

Start: 1st
Finish: 1st
Strategy: 1 stop (super-soft/soft)

Rating: 9

Hamilton was supreme in qualifying again to claim the record 69th pole, and was only briefly threatened in a race he controlled from the front.

He felt he had "a few tenths" on Bottas "the majority of the time". The only lapses were a brief gravelly moment at Roggia and a small lock-up at Rettifilo. In his own words, a "98.2% perfect" race.

77 Valtteri Bottas
Mercedes F1 W08

Start: 4th
Finish: 2nd
Strategy: 1 stop (super-soft/soft)

Rating: 8

Bottas was fastest in Q1, but loses marks for not replicating that form with a single shot at the end of Q3, given his team-mate got pole in similar circumstances.

That qualifying outcome proved crucial in the race. Bottas raced hard and fast up to second, and was only 0.022s per lap slower than Hamilton for most of the distance.

3 Daniel Ricciardo
Red Bull-Renault RB13

Start: 16th
Finish: 4th
Strategy: 1 stop (soft/super-soft)

Rating: 9

Ricciardo was "nowhere" in Q1 and Q2 compared to Verstappen, but got the wets working properly in Q3 and ended up only a tenth behind - a good effort considering his team-mate's formidable reputation in such conditions.

Ricciardo's race was exemplary. He was quick, decisive in battle, managed his tyres brilliantly, mugged Raikkonen, and almost caught Vettel. An excellent drive.

33 Max Verstappen
Red Bull-Renault RB13

Start: 13th
Finish: 10th
Strategy: 2 stops (soft/super-soft/super-soft)

Rating: 8

Verstappen briefly qualified fastest until Hamilton produced that special lap at the end of Q3, but it was still a great effort from the Red Bull driver.

He was up to eighth by the end of the first lap, but a collision with Massa spoiled his race. Verstappen recovered decently enough, but got involved in scrapes with the Haas drivers and lacked Ricciardo's pace in the final stint.

5 Sebastian Vettel
Ferrari SF70H

Start: 6th
Finish: 3rd
Strategy: 1 stop (super-soft/soft)

Rating: 7

Ferrari wasn't in Mercedes' league in wet qualifying, but Vettel was still top-four fast until Q3, when Ferrari lost its way with the wet tyres.

Once past struggling team-mate Raikkonen in the race, Vettel moved swiftly up to third, but was way off the pace of the Mercedes drivers and had to work to stay out of Ricciardo's reach.

7 Kimi Raikkonen
Ferrari SF70H

Start: 5th
Finish: 5th
Strategy: 1 stop (super-soft/soft)

Rating: 6

Raikkonen was well off Vettel's pace for most of qualifying, but did a decent job to squeak fractionally ahead (by less than a tenth) amid Ferrari's Q3 struggles. That was as good as it got really.

He got outmuscled by Bottas, then stuck behind Stroll and Ocon, had to pit early to jump them, so became easy meat for Ricciardo. A disappointing race.

11 Sergio Perez
Force India-Mercedes VJM10

Start: 10th
Finish: 9th
Strategy: 1 stop (super-soft/soft)

Rating: 8

Although Ocon qualified way higher on the grid, Perez was only 0.002s shy of displacing him from the top-10 shootout, so there was nothing in it really.

Perez survived a first-corner clash with Massa to drive a strong race - particularly the second stint, in which he was quicker than Ocon and charged up behind the two Williams drivers in the closing laps.

31 Esteban Ocon
Force India-Mercedes VJM10

Start: 3rd
Finish: 6th
Strategy: 1 stop (super-soft/soft)

Rating: 8

Having made it into Q3 by the skin of his teeth, Ocon did an accomplished job to outqualify both Ferraris and Massa's Williams, but he was well off Stroll's pace.

Ocon got a bit of help from Hamilton's aggressive defence of the lead against Stroll after the start of the race, which enabled him to move up into second, and he was impressively resilient in keeping Stroll's Williams out of reach thereafter.

18 Lance Stroll
Williams-Mercedes FW40

Start: 2nd
Finish: 7th
Strategy: 1 stop (super-soft/soft)

Rating: 9

Stroll was the true star of wet qualifying - fourth quickest in a car that usually struggles in such conditions, only three tenths behind Verstappen, almost seven clear of Ocon, and 1.2s ahead of team-mate Massa!

He was unlucky Ocon got through at the first corner, but his only real mistake was a lock-up at Rettifilo shortly after his pitstop - which made the final laps trickier than necessary.

19 Felipe Massa
Williams-Mercedes FW40

Start: 7th
Finish: 8th
Strategy: 1 stop (super-soft/soft)

Rating: 8

Massa praised Stroll for doing a "really fantastic job" in qualifying, and admitted he would still have been seven tenths behind even with a perfect lap of his own in Q3. He loses marks for being so far off.

The veteran drove a feisty race, though, getting his elbows out to defend from Perez and Verstappen, then almost overtaking Stroll at Roggia on the final lap.

2 Stoffel Vandoorne
McLaren-Honda MCL32

Start: 18th
Finish: Retired
Strategy: (super-soft/retired)

Rating: 8

Vandoorne was quicker than both Force Indias in Q2, so it was a shame his Honda engine broke before he could show his worth in Q3, and an even bigger shame the engine needed changing before the race, denying him a top-eight start.

He drove very well on Sunday - passing Sainz, hassling Kvyat, and stretching away from Alonso until Honda gremlins struck again.

14 Fernando Alonso
McLaren-Honda MCL32

Start: 19th
Finish: Retired
Strategy: (soft/super-soft/retired)

Rating: 7

Alonso sacrificed qualifying to help Vandoorne, knowing strategic grid penalties made his own position irrelevant. He felt he could have been in the top five in normal circumstances, but we'll never know.

Alonso was right with Vandoorne for the first five laps, but got trapped behind Sainz then Palmer, and cut a frustrated figure until McLaren retired the car for the sake of his temperamental gearbox.

26 Daniil Kvyat
Toro Rosso-Renault STR12

Start: 8th
Finish: 12th
Strategy: 1 stop (super-soft/soft)

Rating: 7

Kvyat deserves credit for making a better fist of qualifying than Sainz, beating him in Q1 and Q2 as Toro Rosso struggled on the intermediate tyre, and competing with Hulkenberg's Renault too.

He got overtaken by Magnussen's Haas on lap one, hassled by Vandoorne's McLaren and jumped by Hulkenberg in the pits, but at least managed to repass the Renault before the end.

55 Carlos Sainz Jr
Toro Rosso-Renault STR12

Start: 15th
Finish: 14th
Strategy: 1 stop (super-soft/soft)

Rating: 6

Sainz normally excels in difficult conditions, so it was a surprise to see him struggle so much compared to Kvyat in wet qualifying, as both Toro Rossos made Q2 but went no further.

Sainz's race was "nothing special" either. He was overtaken by one McLaren, held the other one off, and spent most of the race in fruitless pursuit of Hulkenberg.

8 Romain Grosjean
Haas-Ferrari VF-17

Start: 20th
Finish: 15th
Strategy: 2 stops (super-soft/soft/super-soft)

Rating: 5

After a solid Friday, Grosjean's weekend fell apart spectacularly. He raged at the FIA after he crashed his Haas on the main straight in Q1, but he was the only one to lose control there.

Grosjean jumped Palmer and Wehrlein on the first lap of the race, but clashed with both Red Bulls, broke a front wing early on and was forever playing catch-up afterwards.

20 Kevin Magnussen
Haas-Ferrari VF-17

Start: 9th
Finish: 11th
Strategy: 1 stop (super-soft/soft)

Rating: 7

Magnussen struggled to get the intermediate tyres to work on low-downforce in qualifying and managed to beat only his crashed team-mate, Palmer's Renault and the two Saubers.

A raft of grid penalties gave Magnussen a top-10 start and he looked set to bag the final point for most of the race, until Verstappen came charging past with seven laps left.

27 Nico Hulkenberg
Renault RS17

Start: 14th
Finish: 13th
Strategy: 1 stop (super-soft/soft)

Rating: 7

Hulkenberg was top-10 fast on wet tyres in Q2, but "something weird happened" on intermediates and he tumbled to 12th as rivals improved and he didn't.

He found the race "a bit of a struggle". Hulkenberg had a close race with Magnussen and the two Toro Rossos, but couldn't jump the Haas in the pits and got repassed by Kvyat eventually.

30 Jolyon Palmer
Renault RS17

Start: 17th
Finish: Retired
Strategy: (soft/super-soft/retired)

Rating: 6

Palmer was close to Hulkenberg on wets in Q1, but paid for an error on his third flying lap so missed Q2 as Renault struggled with the intermediates on both cars.

His race was notable only for the irritation he caused Alonso by cutting the Roggia chicane. Palmer wasn't too much slower than Hulkenberg, but had to stop early with transmission trouble.

9 Marcus Ericsson
Sauber-Ferrari C36

Start: 11th
Finish: Retired
Strategy: (super-soft/soft/retired)

Rating: 7

Ericsson was well off Wehrlein on wet tyres in qualifying, but squeaked ahead on intermediates, though he felt there was more time left in the car.

From elevated grid positions thanks to so many drivers in faster cars taking grid penalties, it didn't take long for the Sauber to regress to its natural level in the race. Ericsson fought hard with Wehrlein for much of it, before the intercooler got too hot and he had to stop.

94 Pascal Wehrlein
Sauber-Ferrari C36

Start: 12th
Finish: 16th
Strategy: 1 stop (super-soft/soft)

Rating: 7

Wehrlein was faster than Ericsson initially in qualifying, but slipped a tenth behind after failing to improve on inters.

Wehrlein says he's struggled for straightline speed since Austria and cannot find the source of the problem, despite several engine component swaps, but Ferrari sorted it for the race and he was back on song, overtaking Ericsson before their battle was spoiled.

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