Power Ranking the Formula 1 Teams After 2014 Italian Grand Prix
Formula One's oldest and most successful team had their worst home race since 2005 at the 2014 Italian Grand Prix.
But while Ferrari were toiling, Mercedes returned to the top step of the podium, ending Daniel Ricciardo and Red Bull's winning streak.
The two Williams drivers finished third and fourth to secure a valuable 27 points. They now sit third in the constructors' championship, while Valtteri Bottas is up to fourth in the drivers' standings.
McLaren showed some promise, Caterham defeated Marussia and Toro Rosso's true pace was masked by reliability issues.
And poor old Sauber made it 13 races without a point.
Looking at reliability, qualifying and race pace, here's how the teams currently rank. Positions are relative to those in the previous rankings, published after the Belgian Grand Prix.
11. Caterham
1 of 11
No Change
Kamui Kobayashi got to drive at Monza because a suitable seat-buyer couldn't be found.
He once more proved he's the only Caterham driver capable of doing anything good with the CT04. A good lap put him 19th on the grid (18th after penalties), ahead of both Marussias.
Marcus Ericsson, having been outpaced by F1 debutant Roberto Merhi in first practice, qualified last for the sixth time in 2014.
The Japanese hung on to the back of Adrian Sutil's Sauber for the first half of the race, but ended up in no man's land after his one and only stop. He finished 17th.
Ericsson spent the whole race by himself, unable to match the pace of Kobayashi or Jules Bianchi in the Marussia. He ended up 20th and last.
Caterham beat Marussia in Italy, but one suspects they'll return to the rear at an "average" sort of track.
They remain 11th.
10. Marussia
2 of 11
No Change
Monza was never going to be a happy hunting ground for Ferrari-engined Marussia.
Jules Bianchi could only set the 20th-fastest time, with team-mate Max Chilton right behind him. The Frenchman was only a few tenths slower than the quickest Lotus, but still seven-tenths shy of progressing to Q2.
Chilton was out after a few laps, a rare mistake sending him over the kerb at the second chicane and into the wall. It was only his second failure to finish in 32 starts—and the second caused by his own error.
Bianchi got to the end, but was outpaced by the returning Kamui Kobayashi in the Caterham. Though he pegged the gap and closed it slightly in the second half of the race, he was too far behind to challenge.
He finished 18th, but Marussia are still ahead of Caterham at an average circuit.
They stay 10th.
9. Lotus
3 of 11
No Change
Long straights and Lotus go together like deep-fried Mars bars and healthy eating, so like Marussia they were always going to have a hard time at Monza.
Pastor Maldonado qualified 17th, with team-mate Romain Grosjean one place further back. It was the first time since Australia that both Lotus cars failed to make it out of Q1.
In the race, it went a little better. Maldonado proved the quicker of the two drivers, passing the two Saubers at the start and comfortably remaining ahead of them. He finished 14th.
Grosjean had a rare off-day. A dreadful start saw him drop to 21st, and he never really recovered.
The Enstone team have stopped all development work on the E22, per Grosjean's comments reported by Autosport's Ben Anderson.
He doesn't expect any more points this year, and I'm inclined to agree.
Lotus stay ninth.
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8. Sauber
4 of 11
No Change
Sauber, with their weak Ferrari engine, were another team facing an uphill battle.
In qualifying, they occupied a fairly substantial gap between the Lotuses and the rest of the midfield. Adrian Sutil and Esteban Gutierrez qualified 15th and 16th, respectively.
Sutil had an uneventful race. Early on he couldn't get away from Kamui Kobayashi's Caterham, but after the stops found himself in a lonely race. He finished 15th.
Gutierrez struggled with the tyres and intended to do a two-stop race. Late on he was battling Romain Grosjean for 16th, side-by-side at 200 miles per hour down the pit straight, and had pretty much got the move done.
The Mexican—suffering brake problems, according to an explanation given to the stewards—then swerved across the track into Grosjean, the resulting contact mercifully slight but enough to give him a puncture.
A pit stop and 20-second penalty for the incident dropped him to 19th.
Sauber should go better in Singapore, and remain eighth.
7. Force India
5 of 11
Down One
Force India were again the slowest of the Mercedes teams, but at least one of their drivers did his best to hide that fact.
Sergio Perez qualified 10th, a massive 1.8 seconds off the pole time but in the Top 10 for only the fifth time in 2014. Nico Hulkenberg, usually the team's qualifying master, could only manage 14th.
When the race got going on Sunday, both made good starts to run eighth (Perez) and ninth (Hulkenberg) after the first lap.
Perez remained in the main midfield pack for the entire race, battling the McLarens, Red Bulls and Ferraris. He finished eighth, before being promoted to seventh by Kevin Magnussen's penalty.
Hulkenberg was less settled. He never seems to match Perez on stop-start circuits, and trailed home a disappointing 12th.
They have the better driving lineup and that could make all the difference, but on an average circuit they may not be as quick as the Baby Bulls.
Force India drop one place to seventh.
6. Toro Rosso
6 of 11
Up One
Toro Rosso were the stealth speedsters of the Italian Grand Prix. Or at least one of them was.
Daniil Kvyat qualified 11th before being relegated to 21st due to an engine-change penalty. Team-mate Jean-Eric Vergne set the 13th-fastest time.
Once racing got under way on Sunday, Kvyat made massive progress. He ran a long opening stint on the hard tyre, gradually making up places and time on the cars ahead.
After stopping later than anyone else, the Russian lapped at close to the leader's pace. He got to within touching distance of the points before a brake failure on the penultimate lap destroyed his hopes, and came home in 11th.
Vergne was less spectacular, and finished 13th.
Reliability remains questionable—if it isn't one thing it's another.
But if they can sort it out, I see more points-scoring potential in Toro Rosso than in Force India at the moment.
They rise one spot to sixth.
5. McLaren
7 of 11
No Change
McLaren expected a slightly better than average performance at Monza, and got it.
Kevin Magnussen qualified an impressive fifth, with team-mate Jenson Button a mere eight-hundredths of a second slower in sixth.
The Danish rookie moved up to second at the start, but was soon chased down and passed by Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton.
He fell back from the quicker cars ahead and ended up in a hard, close fight with a train of cars including Button, Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez. He finished seventh on the track, but an overly harsh penalty for forcing Valtteri Bottas off the track dropped him to 10th.
Button, ninth on the track, was promoted to eighth.
It'll be interesting to see where McLaren are on the tight, slow Singapore circuit.
For now, they stay fifth.
4. Ferrari
8 of 11
No Change
The Renault engine gets the most stick, but the Ferrari effort doesn't seem any better.
Fernando Alonso qualified his F14 T in seventh, and later said on the team website he could not have done any better. Kimi Raikkonen set the 12th-fastest time and lined up 11th after Daniil Kvyat's penalty.
Decent starts for each saw Alonso retain seventh and Raikkonen move up to 10th. The Spaniard looked marginally quicker during the opening stint, but not quick enough to keep his position. He emerged from the pits in a net eighth—then the impossible happened.
Alonso's car broke down.
It was his first mechanical failure since the 2010 Malaysian Grand Prix and ended his 100 percent points-scoring record for 2014.
Raikkonen got to the end, catching the scrap for the minor points a few laps from the flag. But he was unable to get past Jenson Button. He finished 10th, which became ninth after Magnussen's penalty.
Ferrari stay fourth, and it's looking ever more likely that's where they'll end the year.
3. Williams
9 of 11
No Change
Williams were hoping their strong engine and low-drag car would put them in contention for the win in Italy, but they were never really in touch despite locking out the second row of the grid.
Valtteri Bottas' lap was half a second down on the pole time, with Felipe Massa a few tenths further back.
A dreadful start dropped the Finn to 11th after the opening lap, while Massa took advantage of his team-mate and Lewis Hamilton's bad getaways to move up to second.
Hamilton quickly got back past, but Massa remained in a comfortable third all the way to the chequered flag. It was his first podium since the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix.
Bottas, meanwhile, recovered to fourth—showing Williams were clearly the best of the rest in Monza.
But at an average track, one suspects they'll be back behind the Red Bulls.
They remain third.
2. Red Bull
10 of 11
No Change
Red Bull left Monza happy with a job well done, but after qualifying the outlook was bleak.
Sebastian Vettel led the way but could only manage the eighth-quickest time, 1.3 seconds down on pole. Team-mate Daniel Ricciardo was ninth.
Their paths diverged at the start. Vettel got away well and was fifth after the opening lap, while Ricciardo lost places and dropped down to 12th.
But a too-early stop for the four-time champion left him struggling toward the end. Ricciardo, who stopped nine laps later, flew.
The Australian passed his team-mate late in the race to take fifth, while Vettel held off a queue of cars for sixth.
Their weak Renault power unit puts them at a disadvantage on circuits like Monza; at a normal track, they'll be well clear of Williams.
Red Bull remain second.
1. Mercedes
11 of 11
No Change
Only one team has remained in the same place since these rankings began all the way back in February, and Mercedes again demonstrated a significant advantage over the rest of the field.
Lewis Hamilton scored his first pole position since the Spanish Grand Prix with a near-perfect lap. Team-mate Nico Rosberg was a few tenths back in second.
A software glitch led to the Brit getting a poor start, and he fell to fourth as Rosberg led. But by Lap 10 he was right behind the German and the expected battle resumed.
Rosberg's error at the first corner gifted Hamilton the lead and the duo trundled away into the distance. Hamilton was 25 seconds clear of third-placed Felipe Massa at the end, despite both Mercs easing up to protect their brakes.
They remain on top.
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