Power Ranking the Formula 1 Teams After 2015 Italian Grand Prix
Mercedes survived a post-race scare to secure their 10th race win of the season at the 2015 Formula One Italian Grand Prix.
Following Lewis Hamilton's dominant victory, the team faced an anxious two-hour wait for the result to be confirmed. Checks on the grid had shown both Silver Arrows to have tyre pressures lower than the newly introduced minimum level, but it turned out the problem lay with the testing procedure.
There was no case to answer.
Ferrari would have been the main beneficiaries had Hamilton been disqualified, but they had to settle for outscoring Mercedes for only the third time all year. Williams also took home more points than their engine supplier, but Lotus had a nightmare.
Red Bull and Toro Rosso had disappointing weekends too, and the less said about McLaren, the better.
The European season is now over, and the teams face a number of long trips to far-flung locations between now and the end of the year.
With seven races to go, here's how they rank.
Note on Team Power Rankings
F1 team power rankings ignore the points table and instead present a snapshot of where each team stands in relation to their competitors based on the three key factors of reliability and single-lap and long-run pace.
The rankings are based on how they would perform if racing on an "average circuit" that places equal emphasis on each area of the car.
All position changes are relative to those in the previous set of rankings, published after the Belgian Grand Prix. You can find them here.
10. Manor
1 of 10
No Change
It was the same old story for Manor, but at least they got both cars to the end.
Will Stevens took advantage of Max Verstappen not taking part in the session and outqualified Roberto Merhi to set the 18th-fastest time. It was "just" 1.6 seconds slower than two-time world champion Fernando Alonso's best for McLaren.
The Manors moved up the grid as a host of rivals received grid penalties—Stevens started a lofty 13th, with Merhi 14th. But once the race got going they were soon relegated to the back and spent the afternoon with only each other for company.
Stevens finished two laps down in 15th, with Merhi close behind.
Manor remain 10th.
9. McLaren
2 of 10
No Change
McLaren suffered again at a circuit with high power demands.
Jenson Button was their quickest man in qualifying, but he could only manage the 16th-fastest time with a lap of one minute, 1:26.058 seconds. Fernando Alonso was less than a tenth behind—slowest of all bar the two Manors.
Both took grid penalties but bizarrely moved forward on the grid because other drivers had bigger drops—Button started 15th, Alonso 16th.
Button made a great start and was up to tenth by the end of the opening lap. He rose to ninth when Romain Grosjean retired but was soon passed by the quicker cars behind. Having started on the soft tyres, he switched to mediums on Lap 25.
Alonso also made up places at the start—and like Button, lost them soon after. He'd started on the medium tyres and, after switching to the softs after 28 laps, he started to home in on his team-mate.
Having been easily overtaken by everyone else, it would have been nice for the two ex-world champions to have a proper race with each other. But it wasn't to be—Alonso was forced to retire with what the team called an "electrical control board issue."
Button was left alone to pootle home in 14th, a minute shy of the points.
Having endured arguably the worst two races of their proud 50-year history, McLaren remain ninth.
8. Sauber
3 of 10
No Change
Sauber scored points for the second race in a row but could have done even better.
Marcus Ericsson continued his fine run of qualifying form, beating his team-mate for the fourth race in succession. The Swede's lap of 1:26.214 was the 10th-fastest of the session; Felipe Nasr could only manage 12th.
However, a grid penalty for impeding Nico Hulkenberg in qualifying dropped Ericsson to 12th and raised Nasr up to 11th.
Ericsson made a good start despite having to avoid Kimi Raikkonen's slow-starting Ferrari, and he ended the first lap in ninth. He looked quick enough to progress further but got stuck behind Nico Hulkenberg's Force India.
No opportunities to pass presented themselves in the opening stint, and Hulkenberg's earlier stop saw him stay ahead. Ericsson pushed and pushed but couldn't find a way by.
Ericsson finally gained a place when Nico Rosberg retired, but his run in eighth lasted just one lap—Daniel Ricciardo nipped by at the very last corner of the race, relegating the Sauber man back to ninth.
Nasr made an even better start and emerged from the first corner in eighth, but he picked up a puncture and had to make a stop at the end of the first lap. It effectively ended his race; unable to catch up to the points contenders, he finished down in 13th.
Sauber are slowly pulling clear of McLaren in the constructors' championship but could struggle at the next few rounds.
They remain eighth for now.
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7. Toro Rosso
4 of 10
No Change
Heavy grid penalties cost Toro Rosso any chance of points at their home race.
Carlos Sainz Jr. achieved a small victory on Saturday by outqualifying both Red Bulls, but his time of 1:25.410 was only good enough for 13th. Max Verstappen didn't set a time in the session and was classified 20th—then the penalties kicked in.
Changing multiple components on his power unit cost Sainz a theoretical total of 35 places, while Verstappen dropped 30 places for a combination of component swaps and a procedural breach by the team. In the real world, Sainz ended up 17th while Verstappen remained 20th.
Sainz made an average start and was around 16th as he entered the braking zone of Turn 1, but he cut the corner and ended the first lap in 11th. He received a five-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage—taking this at his first stop dropped him down to last.
He made up some places in his middle stint, but stopping for a second time saw the Spaniard fall back again. His pace on the fresher tyres was good, but he couldn't catch the cars ahead and finished the race in 11th.
Verstappen had to serve a drive-through penalty after the team failed to secure his engine cover properly during qualifying. The Dutchman's pace was good when he was on the track, and he produced a very nice overtaking move to get past Felipe Nasr. However, a risky two-stop strategy didn't work out, and he crossed the line in 12th.
Toro Rosso should go better at the next race in Singapore, but for now, they remain seventh.
6. Lotus
5 of 10
Down One
Lotus lost both cars after less than two laps for the third time in 2015.
Romain Grosjean made it through to Q3 and set the eighth-fastest time, but team-mate Pastor Maldonado fared less well. The Venezuelan was knocked out in Q2 by just 25-thousandths of a second.
However, he started 10th after Marcus Ericsson's penalty.
Both E23s got off the line reasonably well and held their places into Turn 1—then disaster began to strike. Maldonado was minding his own business on the outside when he was nudged by Nico Hulkenberg.
The Lotus website reports the hefty contact broke his front-right suspension, and though he made it back to the pits, he was out of the race.
Grosjean was also hit in Turn 1, with Felipe Nasr's Sauber causing irreparable damage to his rear suspension. The Frenchman lasted half a lap longer than his team-mate before parking his Lotus by the side of the track.
A weekend to forget for the Enstone outfit—especially after strong races from their closest rivals.
Lotus fall a spot to sixth.
5. Force India
6 of 10
Up One
Force India secured valuable points to edge back ahead of Lotus in the battle for fifth.
Sergio Perez was the team's star qualifier, putting his VJM08 seventh on the grid with a lap of 1:24.626. Nico Hulkenberg was ninth after a what the team described as a "fuel system problem" in Q3. Autosport later reported it was a little less complicated than that—he had simply run out of fuel.
When the lights went out, Perez made his way up to fifth. Nico Rosberg soon dropped him back down to sixth, and the Mexican settled in for an uneventful afternoon. He didn't quite have enough pace to push the two Williams up ahead, but he was comfortably quick enough to stay clear of the chasing pack.
The only fight he got involved in was with the recovering Kimi Raikkonen. Perez resisted the Finn's attack for five laps, but he was never going to keep him behind forever. Rosberg's retirement saw him come home in sixth.
Hulkenberg got a decent start, too, but he got caught up in a typical first-chicane incident and was fortunate to emerge unscathed after heavy contact with Pastor Maldonado. Seventh after two laps, he clearly lacked Perez's pace and spent the whole race under pressure from Marcus Ericsson's Sauber.
He later complained there must have been a problem with the car, but he still held on to take seventh.
Force India's haul of 14 points sees them edge back ahead of Lotus. They rise one spot to fifth.
4. Red Bull
7 of 10
Down One
Red Bull will have been happy with a double points finish after starting at the back.
Both the team's drivers made it through to Q2, but only Daniil Kvyat set a time. The Russian's lap was good enough for 14th, but qualifying position was never going to matter too much to either driver.
Kvyat had a 35-place grid penalty hanging over him and was relegated to 18th, while Ricciardo's 50-place penalty moved him down to 19th. Such harsh penalties are incredibly confusing even to dedicated fans—one can only wonder what newcomers to the sport make of them.
Ricciardo, starting on the medium tyres, made a great start and ended the opening lap in 13th. He made steady progress through the order as rivals—most of whom started on the soft tyres—pitted, and emerged from his own later stop in 10th.
Now on the quicker tyres, he caught up to the battle for seventh and eighth on the final lap and mugged Marcus Ericsson in the final corner to claim his position and four world championship points.
Kvyat had an average start, ending the first lap in 16th place. He soon cut through the pack and ran close behind Ricciardo for most of the opening stint. After both had stopped, he once again found himself staring at his team-mate's rear wing.
But the Russian didn't quite have the pace to stick with Ricciardo and had to settle for 10th.
With the two big power circuits now out of the way, Red Bull should be back nearer to the front—but the poor reliability of their Renault engine is still a major concern.
They fall a place to fourth.
3. Williams
8 of 10
Up One
Williams chalked up their best result of the year at Monza.
Felipe Massa was the team's quickest man in qualifying, his lap of 1:23.940 good enough for fifth on the grid. Valtteri Bottas was around two-tenths slower and started alongside his team-mate on the third row.
Good starts by both saw the duo enter the first corner third and fourth, Massa leading Bottas, and they appeared to have good pace as they circulated together throughout the opening stint. The recovering Nico Rosberg closed up and had a few attempts at passing Bottas, but the Finn held firm.
At least, he did until all three made their one and only pit stop.
If an award existed for the team most likely to be undercut in the pits, Williams would almost certainly have it in their trophy cabinet. Rosberg stopped at the end of Lap 18, and though Williams responded by bringing in Massa a lap later, the damage was done—Rosberg had undercut both FW37s.
Bottas closed up on Massa toward the end of the race, and when Rosberg retired, it became a fight for the podium. Ex-Ferrari man Massa came out on top and secured an emotional third at what could still be considered his second "home" race.
Monza should have suited Williams, and they'll be disappointed to have been beaten so comprehensively by Ferrari.
But in part due to their far superior reliability and the absence of any grid penalties, they nose ahead of Red Bull into third.
2. Ferrari
9 of 10
No Change
Ferrari were forced to settle for a spot on the podium after being outclassed at their home race.
Kimi Raikkonen surprised a lot of people by qualifying second, less than three-tenths of a second behind polesitter Lewis Hamilton. Sebastian Vettel was third, half a tenth down on Raikkonen.
The German had a good getaway and was able to challenge Hamilton on the outside going into Turn 1. However, the Mercedes man had the inside line and Vettel had to settle for second.
It was a fairly uneventful race for the three-time Monza winner from that point on; though unable to keep up with Hamilton, he pulled steadily clear of the chasing Williams. Nico Rosberg's rise to third gave him something to think about in the final stages, but that threat disappeared when the Mercedes' engine let go three laps from the end.
Raikkonen got a terrible start from second and fell to the rear of the field, but this at least gave him the opportunity to demonstrate the SF15-Ts proficiency in traffic. The Finn scythed his way past a string of rivals to end the day in fifth.
Ferrari remain second, well clear of the chasing pack—but they're still nowhere near Mercedes.
1. Mercedes
10 of 10
No Change
Mercedes had by far the quickest car in Monza but only got one driver to the finish.
Lewis Hamilton qualified on pole for the 11th time in 2015. His lap of 1:23.397 was almost three-tenths clear of second-placed man Kimi Raikkonen. Team-mate Nico Rosberg, running an old (and less powerful) engine due to problems with his new unit, could only manage fourth.
The start saw Hamilton lead into the first corner, and he was never challenged thereafter. The only drama he encountered during the race came late in the day when his team told him he had to build a gap to the cars behind.
He duly delivered, and though he'd spent much of the afternoon cruising, he finished 25 seconds clear of Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari.
It later transpired he'd been told to pull clear to cover any potential penalty after it was found his left-rear tyre's pressure on the grid had been lower than the legal minimum. However, no further action was taken by the stewards as the tyres had the correct pressure when fitted—the pressure on the grid was irrelevant.
Rosberg made a poor start and was down to sixth midway through the first lap. He gradually climbed back up the order and used an earlier pit stop to overtake both Williams cars to take third.
The German closed the gap to countryman Vettel, and it looked like there would be a late battle for second. But Rosberg's engine let go a few laps from the end—his first retirement of the season.
With the upgraded power unit, Mercedes were as dominant as ever; Rosberg's failure, and issues with the new unit, don't appear to be indicative of a sudden loss of reliability.
They remain on top.
Timing and penalty data sourced from the FIA. Results and additional race data sourced from the official F1 website and F1Fanatic's lap charts.
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