Formula 1's Driver Power Rankings After 2015 Italian Grand Prix
Lewis Hamilton dominated the 2015 Italian Grand Prix weekend to take his seventh victory of the season.
By winning the race, starting from pole, leading from start to finish and setting the fastest lap, the Brit also chalked up the second Grand Chelem of his Formula One career—but he faced an agonising wait before the celebrations could begin.
Measurements taken on the starting grid suggested Mercedes had failed to abide by the minimum tyre pressures set by Pirelli in the aftermath of two high-speed blow-outs at Spa. Fortunately for the reigning world champion, the stewards eventually decided the team had no case to answer.
It was good news for Hamilton but a major blow for Nico Rosberg. The German went into the Italian race needing a stroke of good fortune if he was to challenge Hamilton for the title; a late retirement left him 53 points down on his team-mate and reliant on a nothing short of a miracle.
Sebastian Vettel came home in second to score his eighth podium of the season, but Kimi Raikkonen was left to reflect on what might have been. The Finn struggled to get off the line from second on the grid and had to battle back to finish fifth.
Felipe Massa, Daniel Ricciardo and Sergio Perez joined Hamilton in putting in top-drawer displays, while Nico Hulkenberg and Felipe Nasr endured tough weekends.
With the European season over, the sport now heads to Singapore for the only true night race of the season on September 20. The logistics personnel will already be preparing to leave, while all the drivers will be hopping into their simulators to practice taking lots and lots of 90-degree corners.
Here's how they rank after Italy.
Note on Driver Power Rankings
These rankings should not be confused with the championship table.
Rather than looking solely at how many points each driver has, these rankings take into account race results, qualifying, the overall performance of each driver and how drivers stack up against their team-mates. The relative pace of each driver's car is factored in, as is the identity and ability of his team-mate.
For each race weekend, every driver who took part is awarded a score out of 10. The sum of these scores across the previous six races is given on each driver's slide and determines the driver's ranking.
As we're more than six races into the season, drivers will be dropping points from races earlier in the year; this, coupled with a very tight field, may result in large fluctuations.
All position changes are relative to where the driver was in the previous set of rankings, published after the Belgian Grand Prix and available here.
Honourable Mentions
1 of 11
Marcus Ericsson seems to have truly turned the tables on Felipe Nasr at Sauber. The Swede outqualified his team-mate for the fourth race in a row and drove a sensible race to score valuable points for the team.
Will Stevens also had a good outing for Manor, while Kimi Raikkonen deserves a mention for his qualifying performance and a fine recovery drive.
Fernando Alonso is level on points with the drivers in ninth and tenth, but he misses out on this occasion.
10. Romain Grosjean
2 of 11
Down Two
Romain Grosjean never really got a opportunity to try to score his successive podium.
He qualified eighth with a time of one minute, 25.054, but if he'd matched his Q2 lap, he would have started seventh. Team-mate Pastor Maldonado missed out on a spot in Q3 with the 11th-fastest time.
Grosjean had to swing right to avoid the slow-starting Kimi Raikkonen at the start but was in seventh as he entered the first corner. Felipe Nasr was just behind and trying to make up places down the inside, and as Grosjean turned in, he made contact with the Brazilian.
The impact appeared small, but it was enough to cause terminal damage to Grosjean's rear suspension. He was forced to park the car by the side of the track halfway through the second lap—his third retirement in the last five races.
Grosjean falls to 10th after a disappointing weekend.
Rating: 7
Cumulative: 45
9. Sergio Perez
3 of 11
Down Two
Sergio Perez once again led Force India's charge.
He qualified a fine seventh on the grid with a lap of 1:24.626. Team-mate Nico Hulkenberg was ninth, seven-tenths of a second slower—and only part of the gap could be put down to the German's fuel problems.
Perez made a good start and looked like he might even challenge for third, but he was on the outside going into Turn 1 and had to back out. He exited the corner in fifth.
The Force India man only lasted one lap in the position before being dropped down to sixth by the recovering Nico Rosberg, but he demonstrated good pace throughout the opening stint and comfortably pulled away from Hulkenberg behind.
Toward the end of the race, Kimi Raikkonen caught Perez. Though the Mexican held off the quicker Ferrari for five laps, he was only delaying the inevitable and Raikkonen got through on Lap 50.
But Perez regained sixth instantly after Rosberg retired, and that's where he finished—over 20 seconds ahead of his team-mate.
Another top performance, but Perez drops two spots to ninth.
Rating: 9
Cumulative: 45
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8. Daniil Kvyat
4 of 11
Down Two
Daniil Kvyat salvaged a point after being forced to start from near the back.
He made a half-hearted attempt at qualifying and ended up with the 14th-fastest time, but he had a 35-place grid penalty hanging over his head that eventually pushed him down to 18th. Team-mate Daniel Ricciardo qualified 15th and started 19th.
A fairly poor start saw Kvyat up to 16th at the end of the opening lap; by contrast, Ricciardo was 13th. But the Russian wasted little time dispatching the backmarkers and by Lap 10 was directly behind his team-mate—albeit travelling slightly slower.
Kvyat remained in Ricciardo's wheel tracks after both had made their stops, but the Australian gradually pulled clear. Nico Rosberg's late retirement moved Kvyat into 10th, where he remained until the end of the race.
He slips two places to eighth.
Rating: 7
Cumulative: 45
7. Valtteri Bottas
5 of 11
Up Two
Valtteri Bottas might be a future Ferrari driver, but he was shown up at Monza by a man the Scuderia ditched.
He qualified sixth on the grid with a lap of 1:24.127, almost two-tenths of a second down on team-mate Felipe Massa and a little over seven-tenths down on pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton's best.
The two Williams cars remained together at the start, both passing Nico Rosberg and Kimi Raikkonen to run third and fourth. Bottas soon came under pressure from Rosberg, but the Finn held him off all the way to the pit stop round.
Mercedes pulled their man in early, and he got the jump on Massa, who stopped a lap later. Bottas couldn't hope to emerge ahead, so he stayed out an extra three laps before making his own visit to the pits. He emerged in a net fifth, six seconds behind his team-mate.
Toward the end of the race, Bottas' fresher tyres gave him the opportunity to close up and attack Massa for the prize of a podium finish, but he was unable to find a way by. He crossed the line just 0.361 seconds behind his team-mate to take fourth.
Bottas rises two places despite an average weekend.
Rating: 7
Cumulative: 46
6. Max Verstappen
6 of 11
Down One
Max Verstappen's race was effectively over before it had even begun.
He failed to set a time in qualifying after the team—having just completed an engine change—didn't fix the bodywork back on properly. It blew off in spectacular fashion shortly after he left the pits, earning him a drive-through penalty for the race.
Starting from 20th, Verstappen had a mediocre getaway, but it didn't really matter—any progress he might have made would have been wiped out by the drive-through. He took it at the end of the first lap and emerged from the pit lane more than half a minute down on the race leader.
Toro Rosso decided he had little to lose, so they took a gamble and put him on a two-stop strategy. While it didn't move him any closer to the points, it did at least give the Dutchman sufficient pace to perform one of his trademark overtakes.
His late-braking move around the outside of Felipe Nasr into Turn 1 was perfectly judged and executed—it's just a shame it was a battle over 13th and 14th.
Verstappen eventually finished 12th. Without the drive-through, he might just have crept into the points.
He's down one place to sixth.
Rating: 8
Cumulative: 47
5. Felipe Massa
7 of 11
New Entry
Felipe Massa scored an emotional podium in front of a crowd that still holds him dear.
He qualified fifth on the grid, outqualifying team-mate Valtteri Bottas for the first time since the British Grand Prix. His best Q3 lap of 1:23.940 was three-tenths of a second shy of a spot on the front row.
Massa made a decent start and picked up two places courtesy of slow-starting Kimi Raikkonen and Nico Rosberg. His pace on the soft tyres throughout the opening stint was good, but he lost third to Rosberg when the Mercedes driver pitted one lap earlier.
Team-mate Bottas lost ground at the pit stop round but caught up to Massa in the closing laps. With Rosberg retiring, the duel became a battle for the podium—and credit must go to Williams for allowing their drivers to fight.
Massa eventually prevailed, crossing the line mere metres ahead of Bottas to chalk up his third Monza podium.
He's a new entry in fifth after a very impressive drive.
Rating: 9
Cumulative: 48
4. Daniel Ricciardo
8 of 11
No Change
Daniel Ricciardo made the most of an alternative strategy to snatch a points finish at Monza.
The Australian was carrying 50 places worth of grid penalties before qualifying, so he made only a token effort when taking part in the session. His Q1 lap of 1:25.633 was around one-tenth quicker than team-mate Daniil Kvyat at the same stage; Ricciardo made it through to Q2 but didn't take part.
He started 19th after his penalties and had a good first lap, moving up to 13th, and nine laps later he was 10th. Throughout the opening stint, he showed strong pace, pulling slowly away from the chasing Kvyat.
Ricciardo ran the slower but more durable medium tyres for his first stint—most of the other drivers went with softs. He was therefore able to make his one and only stop later in the race, taking on the quicker compound for a short sprint to the flag.
The strategy paid off in the closing stages. Ricciardo caught Marcus Ericsson on the final lap and nipped by at very last corner of the race to claim eighth.
In the circumstances, that represented a great result. Ricciardo holds station in fourth.
Rating: 9
Cumulative: 48
3. Nico Hulkenberg
9 of 11
Down One
Nico Hulkenberg had his second disappointing race in a row.
He could only manage ninth in qualifying with a lap of 1:25.317—team-mate Sergio Perez was seventh, seven-tenths quicker than Hulkenberg. But the German did at least have an excuse—he was unable to complete his full Q3 programme after hitting fuel-system trouble.
Hulkenberg made an average start and got caught up in a Lotus sandwich at the first chicane. Felipe Nasr tagged Romain Grosjean, who was knocked sideways into Hulkenberg. The Force India man was in turn bumped off course and into Pastor Maldonado.
Both the cars he made contact with were forced out, but Hulkenberg was able to continue and rose to seventh after two laps.
However, his pace wasn't good. Perez pulled away quickly while Hulkenberg was left to hold off the Sauber of Marcus Ericsson. The Swede spent the entire race stuck to his gearbox; without his car's significant straight-line speed advantage, Hulkenberg would not have stayed ahead.
He crossed the line in seventh, a lap down on the leader and 20 seconds behind sixth-placed Perez.
Hulkenberg drops one spot to third.
Rating: 6
Cumulative: 48
2. Lewis Hamilton
10 of 11
Up One
Lewis Hamilton edged closer to a third world title after dominating the Italian Grand Prix weekend.
He set the quickest time in every part of qualifying and took his 11th pole from 12 races with a best Q3 time of 1:23.397. Team-mate Nico Rosberg—forced to run an older, less-powerful engine—was fourth.
When the lights went out, Hamilton got a reasonable start and was able to fend off Vettel into the first chicane. His race then became something of a cruise as he relentlessly pulled clear of the rest of the field.
The only moment of drama came in the closing stages, when Mercedes—worried Hamilton could be given a penalty over the tyre-pressure farce—asked him to push to build a gap. By the end of the race, he had a 25-second cushion over second-placed man Vettel.
Hamilton led from start to finish and also set the fastest lap to record only the second Grand Chelem of his F1 career. He set the fastest time in every practice session, too.
He rises a place to second after the very definition of a perfect weekend.
Rating: 10
Cumulative: 49
1. Sebastian Vettel
11 of 11
No Change
Sebastian Vettel scored his eighth podium of the season at Ferrari's home race.
He started third on the grid after being outqualified by team-mate Kimi Raikkonen for only the third time in 2015. His best lap of 1:23.685 was three-tenths down on pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton's best.
A good start allowed Vettel to fly past the slow-starting Raikkonen and briefly challenge Hamilton into Turn 1, but he didn't have the inside line and had to settle for second. The next 49 laps were somewhat uneventful for the German—then the recovering Nico Rosberg loomed large in his mirrors.
It looked like we were set for a great fight, but it was only a short-lived distraction for Vettel—the Mercedes was forced to retire without ever getting a sniff of a chance to pass.
Vettel set his fastest lap on the 52nd tour and cruised to the line in second.
He remains in the top spot.
Rating: 8
Cumulative: 51
Penalty, stewards' investigation and timing data sourced from the FIA. Additional race result and position data sourced from the official F1 website and F1 Fanatic's lap charts.
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