Driver ratings for the 2023 Italian Grand Prix

It was an exciting Sunday showing in Monza, with Verstappen making history, and the best battle for the lead we've seen all season.

While it was surely entertaining for all, some drivers performed better than others. In this piece, we'll give each driver a rating out of 10 for how they faired in the Grand Prix, in order of last year's constructor standings.

Williams

Logan Sargeant - 3 | The American Driver finished the race in P13, and received a five second time penalty after coming together with Valtteri Bottas while scrapping over the final points place.

A clumsy move into turn 3 saw Sargeant understeering into the side of Bottas' Alfa Romeo, then slipping back behind the ill-fated McLaren of Piastri, and an impressive AlphaTauri of Liam Lawson.

On a track where both Williams cars should have been in the points, to finish P13 doesn't look good for Sargeant.

Alexander Albon - 8 | It was a great showing by the former Red Bull driver to finish in P7, matching his best finish for the Williams team.

Though the track was well suited to the strengths of his car, he put up great fights against cars that were clearly faster, defending from Norris, Piastri, and Hamilton, until the Mercedes got by him.

Another very impressive performance from Albon.

Alphatauri

Yuki Tsunoda - 5 | Qualifying in an impressive P11, it was shaping up to be a relatively good day for the Japanese driver.

Unfortunately, he suffered an engine failure on the formation lap. This caused what was effectively a red flag before the race had even begun.

Tsunoda gets recognition for a good qualifying position, but he wasn't able to show anything in the race, through no fault of his own.

Liam Lawson - 7 | Starting the race in P12, one position behind his teammate's empty grid slot, Liam Lawson put on an impressive drive, finishing the race in P11.

He was just shy of points in his second Grand Prix, and his first full race weekend, in what is one of the worst cars of the field.

Haas

Kevin Magnussen - 4 | It was a very hard race for the Haas team, and with a car that tends to eat its tires, hopes were low for this weekend.

Magnussen started in 19th, below the potential of the car. In the race he faired no better, finishing in last place.

Nico Hulkenberg - 5 | Getting through to Q2 was impressive, but the Haas car was horrible on Sunday, Nico finished in 17th, one position ahead of his teammate in last, and was one of only two drivers to be lapped.

Aston Martin

Lance Stroll - 3 | Stroll started Sunday's Grand Prix in last place, after having limited running on the track before qualifying, due to sitting out FP1 in place of reserve driver Felipe Drugovich.

In FP2 the Canadian was unfortunate to have an engine issue, which saw him not complete a single lap in Italy until FP3.

In the race he was struggling, passing only the two Haas cars, finishing P16.

Fernando Alonso - 7 | In what was his worst race weekend for the Aston Martin team, Fernando was able to finish in the points after starting in P10.

He put of a good fight against Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes, but ultimately the Aston Matin is just too draggy for a circuit like Monza, though Alonso did what he could and maximized the results.

Alfa Romeo Sauber

Zhou Guanyu - 4 | A relatively quiet race for the Chinese driver saw him finish in P14, not having a very memorable time in the temple of speed.

He was unable to make up any places after starting in P16, as he inherited a position do to Yuki Tsunoda's retirement, and the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg falling to the wayside.

Valtteri Bottas - 8 | The former Mercedes man had an eventful day in Monza. Starting 14th on the grid, he was able to battle with those ahead using an alternate strategy.

This strategy helped him secure a points position, finishing in P10. All of this was achieved in a car that is proving hard to understand for the Switzerland-based Sauber team.

McLaren

Oscar Piastri - 5 | The rookie at McLaren had a challenging race. His teammate was breathing down his neck for a substantial part of the Grand Prix.

He also came together with Lewis Hamilton and was awarded a 5-second time penalty for overtaking off the racetrack in an unrelated incident.

It was not a good day for the Australian, but he maximized his result given the circumstances and finished in P12.

Lando Norris - 6 | After getting ahead of his teammate in the pits, Norris tried to hunt down the Williams of Alex Albon, but his efforts were in vain.

Before he knew it, the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton was breezing past him, and relegating him to 8th, where he'd finish the Grand Prix.

Alpine

Esteban Ocon - 4 | It was a rough time for both Alpine cars. Though it was a quiet race for Ocon, he didn't have it easy, retiring from the Grand Prix after getting past the Haas of Kevin Magnussen.

Pierre Gasly - 5 | Hardly fairing better than his teammate, Pierre Gasly finished the race in 15th. Presumably the Alpine could not have done much better this weekend, and Pierre did all he could do to help his result.

Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton - 5 | The 7-time champion had an alternate strategy for the Grand Prix which saw him start the race on hard tires and finish on a long stint of medium tires.

This saw him rise from P8 on the grid to P6 at the end of the race, getting past Alex Albon, but having a clumsy coming-together with Oscar Piastri, costing the Australian good points.

George Russell - 6 | In a race not suited very well to the Mercedes, Russell did a great job of keeping Perez behind for several laps, before ultimately falling behind the Red Bull.

It ended up being the only position he would lose for the whole race, ending in P5, just behind the Ferraris and Red Bulls.

Ferrari

Charles Leclerc - 8 | The Ferrari man did well to keep close to battles going on in front of him, and put up a good defense against Sergio Perez until the Red Bull was able to power past him.

He also put up a very entertaining fight with his teammate for the final podium place, but ultimately fell short, finishing P4, which was clearly the best he could hope for this weekend.

Carlos Sainz - 10 | It was as perfect of a performance you can hope for from a driver, starting on pole and not putting a wheel wrong for the whole race.

Carlos Sainz gave Red Bull the hardest fight they've had all week, keeping Max behind for 14 laps, and getting passed by Perez with only a handful of laps left, with some of the best defensive driving we've seen around Monza in years.

Carlos fought tooth and nail the entire race and even kept his teammate behind after ruining his tires trying to defend from Perez.

He started on pole and dropped two places, but you couldn't ask somebody to be more complete in Formula One than Sainz was this weekend.

Red Bull

Sergio Perez - 9 | Starting in 5th place behind Russell, Perez faced a challenging task if he aimed for a P2 finish or higher.

However, thanks to some good overtakes and great pace, the Red Bull driver managed to pass Russell and both Ferraris.

He finished right behind his teammate, putting up a strong showing for Red Bull.

Max Verstappen - 10 | 10 wins out of 10 races is an unbelievable stat that many thought wasn't possible.

However, Max Verstappen silenced the doubters with an unquestionable performance in Italy.

He was patient in overtaking Carlos Sainz and took the lead comfortably after moving into P1 on lap 14.

It wasn't easy to get 10 wins in a row, but max made it look that way, making seemingly no mistakes in recent memory, with Sunday's race being no different.