2024 is fast becoming one of Formula One’s greatest seasons in recent times, with so many fairytale storylines being written throughout the campaign.
Carlos Sainz winning in his final season with Ferrari, as was the case with Lewis Hamilton taking a ninth home triumph at Silverstone, alongside Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri both tasting victory for the first time in their respective careers, have all made for brilliant viewing.
Charles Leclerc finally stood on the top step of the podium at his home race in Monaco, before pulling off a brilliant one-stop strategy at Monza to win in front of the adoring Tifosi.
The Italian Grand Prix had all the hallmarks of a McLaren victory, especially after locking out the front-row in qualifying, but Leclerc intervened to take Ferrari’s third win of the year, on home turf.
With controversy and drama throughout the field, here how the drivers rated in the 2024 Italian Grand Prix.
Driver ratings
Charles Leclerc – 9
Ferrari’s prince, champion in-waiting, the one tasked with ending the long wait for a Formula One title: Charles Leclerc.
The Monegasque starlet used all the skill and experience he now possesses to protect his tyres and guide them to the end of the Grand Prix, in a similar fashion to George Russell at Spa.
However, Leclerc keeps his win, further immortalising himself in Ferrari folklore.
A brilliant, opportunistic, overtake on Norris at the start allowed Leclerc to be in the fight for the win, and when he sensed the possibility, he never looked like passing up the chance.
With Hamilton joining in 2025, Leclerc will face his toughest test yet, but races like the 2024 Italian Grand Prix will give the driver confidence that he can match the seven-time world champion.
Oscar Piastri – 8
Despite the joyous scenes which followed a Ferrari winning at Monza, one had to spare a thought for Piastri, who had driven a faultless race and thoroughly deserved a second career victory.
Pulling off a gutsy overtake over Norris on the first lap, before stretching his advantage adequately throughout the race, with a win looking all but assured, the Aussie was in dreamland.
However, a well-executed strategy from Ferrari denied McLaren a second-successive win, but Piastri once again showed how fast he really is.
Lando Norris – 5
On a weekend billed as the start of the driver’s championship battle, with McLaren displaying a major pace advantage over Red Bull, and after taking pole on Saturday, Norris must have been quietly confident of further reducing Max Verstappen’s lead.
That he did, but it was yet another missed opportunity in this season of missed opportunities.
Losing the lead to Piastri and failing to catch his teammate meant Norris had to settle for third, only scoring eight more points than his title adversary.
In two weeks time, Baku must see Norris return to the same dominant levels of performance he displayed in Zandvoort, otherwise, his shot at a first championship may slowly slip away.
Carlos Sainz – 6
Sainz did everything expected of him during the race, but a long first stint took him out of the fight for the lead.
The Spaniard managed to keep fourth ahead of Hamilton, not losing out through the one-stop.
Lewis Hamilton – 6
Much like Sainz, Hamilton drove to his car’s potential and looked just as fast as the Ferrari on the hard-compound.
The Mercedes suffered on the medium and looked slower than its rivals, but after burning fuel looked much more competitive, however, Hamilton’s poor qualifying and first-stint took him out of the podium fight.
Max Verstappen – 7
Despite obvious pace issues, Verstappen managed to hold onto the back of Hamilton during the first stage of the race, and if not for a near seven-second pit stop, may have finished ahead of the Mercedes.
Suffering with power issues limited the world champion to the lowest top-speed throughout the Grand Prix, which didn’t help his cause.
George Russell – 5
The Italian Grand Prix seemed like an all-too familiar tale for Russell, putting his car in a good position during Saturday’s qualifying, before throwing it away the next day.
Having to avoid running into the back of Piastri on the opening tour resulted in Russell picking up damage in the pack, leading to a 10-second pit-stop, ultimately ruining his race.
The Mercedes driver did well to overtake Sergio Perez and almost catch Verstappen, but it could’ve been so much more, considering he started third.
Sergio Perez – 5
An average weekend from Perez, who qualified and finished behind his teammate, but couldn’t achieve much more due to his car’s lack of pace.
He failed to hold Russell behind, despite the Briton’s damage, which highlighted the Red Bull’s speed.
Alex Albon – 8
The Williams driver continues to exceed expectations, becoming one of the stand-out stars of the midfield.
Team principal James Vowles believes the team’s new upgrades allow them to fight for points weekly, and that’s exactly what Albon did at Monza, starting and finishing best of the rest.
Kevin Magnussen – 7
If there was a race to sum up Kevin Magnussen as a driver, it would’ve been the 2024 Italian Grand Prix.
Fast, ferocious and fearless, but too often over the limit.
Finishing 10th after a ten-second time penalty for colliding with Pierre Gasly highlighted his strong pace but has ultimately resulted in K-Mag’s 12th penalty points, which in-turn means he misses Baku through a race suspension.
With 2024 looking like the Dane’s last year on the grid, Magnussen is certainly going out with a bang.
Fernando Alonso – 6
A quiet race from Fernando, who battled hard and came within a tenth of taking tenth-place from Magnussen.
The Aston Martin was slow this weekend, as it has been for a while, which will not please Alonso, not one bit.
Franco Colapinto – 8
A brilliant debut for the new Williams driver, who came only two places off the points.
Some tidy overtaking into turn one showed that the Argentinian has brilliant confidence, something Logan Sargeant was lacking at the end of his F1 career.
Daniel Ricciardo – 7
RB were slow this weekend, even with Yuki Tsunoda having new upgrades.
However, Ricciardo was quicker than his teammate all weekend and held his own during the race.
Esteban Ocon – 7
Despite starting below his teammate, Ocon finished ahead of Gasly in a tidy race.
Pierre Gasly – 5
Gasly started ahead but finished behind his teammate, which wouldn’t have been helped by Magnussen running into the side of his Alpine car.
A race to forget for the Frenchman.
Valtteri Bottas – 7
Bottas did well with the slowest car on the grid, finishing 16th after starting 19th.
Nico Hulkenberg – 4
Hulkenberg started in the top 10 but after a messy first few laps, which featured contact with Ricciardo and Tsunoda, the Haas driver had his race ruined and could no longer fight for points.
Guanyu Zhou – 5
Qualified last but finished 18th, however, was off the pace of teammate Bottas all weekend.
Lance Stroll – 4
Stroll dropped to the last-running driver during a horrid race, where he finished miles off Alonso.
He also caused a stir with front-runner Piastri, who took aim at the Canadian for ‘driving like it was his first go-kart race’ in relation to a blue-flag incident.
Yuki Tsunoda – 4
Tsunoda struggled all weekend with his upgraded car and was slower than Ricciardo throughout.
He had to retire from the race through no fault of his own, capping off a miserable weekend for the Japanese driver.
