Italian Grand Prix driver ratings

6 Nico Rosberg
Mercedes F1 W06
Start: 4th
Finish: Retired
Strategy: (soft/medium/retired)

Rating: 8

In the end this was a disastrous weekend for Rosberg, who actually drove well in the trying circumstances presented by having to ditch his leaky new (and more powerful) development engine for the tired, older-spec version he raced with at Spa.

There was a suggestion he should still have out-qualified both Ferraris, but that seems unrealistic given everything that went wrong, which later included Raikkonen stalling at the start and ruining Rosberg's own launch.

Hamilton and Rosberg ended up with different engine specs when it counted © XPB

44 Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes F1 W06
Start: 1st
Finish: 1st
Strategy: 1 stop (soft/medium)

Rating: 9

Whatever the vagaries of Mercedes' tyre pressure settings, this was still a fine performance from Hamilton. He wasn't entirely happy with his car on Friday and gets marked down slightly after admitting his own performance in qualifying was below his usual standard.

His team-mate's engine woes meant he had a relatively comfortable run to his 11th pole and seventh victory of the season. Late call to push hard in case of penalty didn't throw him off track.

3 Daniel Ricciardo
Red Bull-Renault RB11
Start: 19th
Finish: 8th
Strategy: 1 stop (medium/soft)

Rating: 10

This was Ricciardo at his best: relentless and error-free. He copped a 50-place grid penalty for two engine changes, and lost valuable track time to a hydraulic problem on Friday and engine failure on Saturday.

He was faster than Kvyat with only one flying lap in Q1, before sitting out the rest of the session, then put on a mighty charge to eighth starting from the back row, including an opportunistic pass of Ericsson's Sauber on the run to the line.

Ricciardo had the edge over Kvyat all weekend at Red Bull © LAT

26 Daniil Kvyat
Red Bull-Renault RB11
Start: 18th
Finish: 10th
Strategy: 1 stop (medium/soft)

Rating: 7

Kvyat has an affinity with this track, winning here in GP3 and Formula Renault 2.0 (five times!), and seriously impressing Toro Rosso with his charge from the back of the grid last year.

Those skills were required again thanks to a glut of grid penalties for changing his engine and gearbox. He drove well this weekend, but was out-done by Sainz's Toro Rosso in qualifying, and not quite at Ricciardo's level in the race.

19 Felipe Massa
Williams-Mercedes FW37
Start: 5th
Finish: 3rd
Strategy: 1 stop (soft/medium)

Rating: 8

Massa's weekend began well with the news Williams will retain his services for another season.

He looked spectacular but a bit wild behind the wheel on Friday, but calmed down sufficiently to out-qualify his team-mate (with a little help from following him and picking up a tow) and take fifth on the grid, which the team reckoned was the maximum possible. He had a small edge in the private Williams battle, and did well to resist a late Bottas charge with three-lap older tyres.

Bottas couldn't quite match Massa around Monza last weekend © LAT

77 Valtteri Bottas
Williams-Mercedes FW37
Start: 6th
Finish: 4th
Strategy: 1 stop (soft/medium)

Rating: 7

Ferrari speculation done with, Bottas also came to Monza with a fresh Williams deal in his back pocket.

He looked racey on Friday, and likely to lead the way behind the silver and red cars, but failed to warm his tyres sufficiently on the out-lap in qualifying - and also felt he was down on straightline speed - so he ended up nearly two tenths adrift of Massa. He trailed him throughout the race too, though smart tyre-saving almost changed that near the end.

5 Sebastian Vettel
Ferrari SF15-T
Start: 3rd
Finish: 2nd
Strategy: 1 stop (soft/medium)

Rating: 8

Vettel admitted Ferrari needed to "take a step forward with the car", after trailing Mercedes by a large margin in practice, despite running with a new, upgraded engine.

The Scuderia did just that on Saturday, as the red cars qualified two-three, though Vettel trailed Raikkonen fractionally, which was a surprise based on recent form. The German wasn't tested too much in the race, though he responded well to Rosberg's late charge before the Mercedes engine blew.

Raikkonen pipped Vettel to a front-row start alongside Hamilton © LAT

7 Kimi Raikkonen
Ferrari SF15-T
Start: 2nd
Finish: 5th
Strategy: 1 stop (soft/medium)

Rating: 6

Raikkonen was self-critical after trailing both Force Indias in Friday practice, but he recovered well to qualify on the front row for the first time since 2013. That was lost with a woeful getaway, which meant he was last at the first corner.

His recovery drive to fifth was decent, but probably took too much from the tyres. He re-passed Ericsson's Sauber and the Force Indias after his stop, but made no ground up on the Williams drivers, despite stopping almost 10 laps later than Massa.

14 Fernando Alonso
McLaren-Honda MP4-30
Start: 16th
Finish: Retired
Strategy: (medium/soft/retired)

Rating: 7

McLaren reverted to the longer nose it last used on one car at the Austrian Grand Prix in June, because the team felt the short version gave the MP4-30 too much drag for Monza's straights.

Alonso was fractionally slower than team-mate Button in qualifying and started on a different tyre, but the two world champions converged for a fight near the end. Then a suspected electrical control board failure spoiled the only fun on offer on an otherwise trying weekend.

Button excelled on the first lap, then missed out on a fight with Alonso © XPB

22 Jenson Button
McLaren-Honda MP4-30
Start: 15th
Finish: 14th
Strategy: 1 stop (soft/medium)

Rating: 7

Button pretty much missed all of Friday's crucial second practice session thanks to an ERS coolant leak, so he did well to out-qualify Alonso on Saturday.

He made a fantastic start to run inside the top 10 in the early laps of the race and was feisty in defence, despite being in a powerless situation. Arguably burned up his tyres a bit too much though, leaving him vulnerable to a late Alonso attack but for his team-mate's retirement.

11 Sergio Perez
Force India-Mercedes VJM08
Start: 7th
Finish: 6th
Strategy: 1 stop (soft/medium)

Rating: 9

Perez showed great single-lap pace on Friday, but wasn't happy with the balance of his VJM08, nor the degradation his tyres showed over longer runs. Force India got on top of that with overnight set-up changes and the business end of Perez's weekend went as well as could be expected.

He wasn't challenged in qualifying, owing to problems for others, but was faultless in the race - battling Rosberg's Mercedes early on and managing his tyres superbly.

Perez led the line for Force India all weekend in Italy © XPB

27 Nico Hulkenberg
Force India-Mercedes VJM08
Start: 9th
Finish: 7th
Strategy: 1 stop (soft/medium)

Rating: 6

Force India's newly re-signed driver wasn't too bothered by running out of fuel in qualifying - as it only cost him two grid slots at best - but he was unhappy after a difficult race, where he tagged Nasr's Sauber on the first lap, struggled for rear grip, and almost got beaten by Ericsson's Sauber and Ricciardo's Red Bull.

Hulkenberg was slower than Perez throughout, and is convinced there was something wrong with his VJM08.

33 Max Verstappen
Toro Rosso-Renault STR10
Start: 20th
Finish: 12th
Strategy: 2 stops (soft/medium/soft)

Rating: 8

Verstappen remains positive in the face of Renault's on-going woes, and needed all of his resolve given the task he faced trying to race forward from the back of the grid - with a drive-through penalty (for his car's engine cover flying off in qualifying) thrown in for good measure.

He fought valiantly, including a nice pass on Nasr on the outside at the first chicane. Verstappen was marginally the stronger of the two Toro Rossos in the race.

Sainz starred in qualifying, but neither Toro Rosso scored points © LAT

55 Carlos Sainz Jr
Toro Rosso-Renault STR10
Start: 17th
Finish: 11th
Strategy: 2 stops (medium/soft/soft)

Rating: 7

We're becoming accustomed to Sainz excelling in qualifying, and he delighted in winning a personal duel with Red Bull stablemate Kvyat, given both were hit with the same degree of grid penalty for their various engine component changes.

He battled hard to pass Button early in the race, but a five-second penalty (for gaining an advantage by cutting the first chicane) arguably cost him a point. First finish in five starts was welcome in any case.

8 Romain Grosjean
Lotus-Mercedes E23
Start: 8th
Finish: Retired
Strategy: (soft/retired)

Rating: 7

Grosjean did his customary excellent job to make the top-10 shootout in qualifying, despite missing yet another opening practice session to allow reserve Jolyon Palmer more seat time, having minimal dry running in FP3 on Saturday, and the team having to borrow tyre blankets from rivals owing to an overnight deluge.

His race didn't last very long after a punt from Ericsson's Sauber at the start broke the E23's rear suspension.

Grosjean's race was over moments after the lights went out © LAT

13 Pastor Maldonado
Lotus-Mercedes E23
Start: 10th
Finish: Retired
Strategy: (soft/retired)

Rating: 6

Maldonado felt Pirelli's new tyre pressure and camber limits were not helping his cause at Monza, and he struggled with a lack of rear grip.

The 0.285s gap to Grosjean in qualifying was too big really, given Maldonado had more track time than his team-mate during the build-up. But neither Lotus got much running in the race, with Maldonado getting caught-up in chain reaction contact at the first chicane after the start. An innocent victim this time.

28 Will Stevens
Marussia-Ferrari MR-03B
Start: 13th
Finish: 15th
Strategy: 1 stop (soft/medium)

Rating: 8

This was a good weekend for Stevens. He was hopeful Manor would move a little closer to the rest of the field here, and he felt much happier with his car's balance than he has done recently.

He drove well and maintained a useful advantage over his team-mate throughout the event. He was far enough ahead in the race that even a slow pitstop didn't cost him in the private battle of the Manor Marussias.

Stevens was back on top in the battle of the Manors at the back © XPB

98 Roberto Merhi
Marussia-Ferrari MR-03B
Start: 14th
Finish: 16th
Strategy: 1 stop (soft/medium)

Rating: 6

Merhi has been coming on stronger over recent races and had beaten team-mate Stevens in each of the past two grands prix before coming to Monza.

But he couldn't quite get on terms with his main rival as the weekend progressed, trailing by a tenth or two as both drivers got quicker through Friday and Saturday. He couldn't live with Stevens in the early part of the race either, and that's what settled matters in the end.

9 Marcus Ericsson
Sauber-Ferrari C34
Start: 12th
Finish: 9th
Strategy: 1 stop (soft/medium)

Rating: 7

This was another good weekend's work overall, though it wasn't the cleanest. Ericsson drove well to make the top-10 shootout in qualifying, but a penalty for blocking Hulkenberg's Force India at Parabolica was careless.

He was also lucky to come away unscathed after triggering contact at the first chicane that ultimately put both Lotus drivers out. He'd burned his tyres up attacking the ailing Hulkenberg late-on, which led to a small mistake at Ascari and defeat to Ricciardo.

Nasr suffered a puncture on lap one thanks to Hulkenberg's Force India © XPB

12 Felipe Nasr
Sauber-Ferrari C34
Start: 11th
Finish: 13th
Strategy: 2 stops (soft/medium/soft)

Rating: 6

Nasr spent some time at the Brembo factory after Spa, in order to better understand the recurring brake problems he's suffered this season.

He had no further problems here, but felt a "5kph" straightline speed deficit cost him dearly in qualifying, and that seventh or eighth was possible in the race without the early puncture he suffered at the hands of Hulkenberg. But in truth he wasn't really fast enough in the race to score points.