2026 F1 Italian Grand Prix - Monza Driver Ratings

It is time for the 2026 F1 Italian Grand Prix driver ratings!

The Monza weekend was a wild one, with shocks, surprises and a huge accident for Charles Leclerc in front of the Scuderia. 

Did anyone get a perfect 10? And who finds themselves at the bottom of RacingNews365's Monza rankings? Find out below!

The top five

Kimi Antonelli - 10

What a way to end a 60-year wait. Antonelli qualified seventh but was dropped to 19th on the grid after Mercedes took an engine penalty at his home race, a bold strategic gamble that paid off in spectacular fashion. From the back of the field, the 20-year-old carved his way through with 26 overtakes, pitting under the Virtual Safety Car for fresh medium tyres and then reeling in team-mate George Russell, whose hard tyres were fading badly. The decisive move came at Ascari on lap 50 of 53, and Antonelli swept to victory with the fastest lap to boot. The first Italian to win at Monza since Ludovico Scarfiotti in 1966, and a performance that will live long in the memory.

Pierre Gasly - 9.5

Saturday belonged to Gasly. His maiden Formula 1 pole position, 191 grands prix into his career, was Alpine's first since Fernando Alonso put Renault on pole at the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix. The Frenchman delivered a stunning 1:21.786 in Q3 to pip Russell by six hundredths of a second, a lap that was no fluke given Alpine's pace throughout qualifying. The race told a different story, as it so often does for a midfield car at the sharp end. Gasly held the lead off the line but was gradually swallowed by faster machinery as the laps wore on, ultimately finishing seventh, some 27 seconds behind Antonelli. A brilliant Saturday, a sobering Sunday, but the pole alone elevates this weekend significantly.

Max Verstappen - 8.5

Verstappen qualified sixth, promoted to fifth on the grid after Oscar Piastri's penalty for impeding Liam Lawson, and produced a typically combative drive to finish on the podium. He briefly led the race around lap 12, using overtake mode to dive past Russell into the first chicane, though Mercedes' superior race pace soon reasserted itself. A rear-axle issue complicated his afternoon, but Verstappen pitted under the Virtual Safety Car and used fresh rubber to battle his way past Gasly, Norris and Hamilton. A lock-up at Turn 1 briefly let Piastri through, but the Dutchman repassed around lap 43 and held third to the flag, 14.7 seconds behind Antonelli. Extracting a podium from the RB22 at Monza was no small feat.

George Russell - 8

Russell was arguably the fastest driver all weekend, topping both FP2 and FP3 before qualifying on the front row, just 0.060 seconds behind Gasly. He took the lead on lap two and controlled proceedings for the majority of the 53-lap distance, managing pressure from Verstappen and, increasingly, from Antonelli behind. The critical moment came under the Virtual Safety Car. Mercedes pitted Antonelli for fresh mediums while Russell stayed out on worn hard tyres, a strategy call that ultimately doomed him. By the closing laps his rubber was spent, and Antonelli swept past on lap 50. Second place and 18 points represents a strong haul, but Russell will know a victory slipped through his fingers through no real fault of his own.

Franco Colapinto - 8

Colapinto put in a superb qualifying session, reaching Q3 and setting the eighth-fastest time to line up seventh on the grid after Antonelli's penalty. On the restart following Charles Leclerc's heavy Parabolica crash, the Argentine was right in the mix, scrapping with Verstappen for third place. Then came the mistake. An off-track moment on lap six sent him tumbling from fourth to 16th, and what could have been a career-best result suddenly looked like a disaster. To his credit, Colapinto regrouped and mounted a determined recovery, picking his way back through the field to finish ninth and score two points for Alpine. The error will sting, but the raw pace and the fightback deserve recognition.

The bottom five

Valtteri Bottas - 5

A Q1 exit left Bottas 19th in qualifying, though grid penalties for others promoted him to a P16 start on race day. It was a small mercy for the Cadillac driver, who could do little with it. On a circuit where straight-line speed is king, the Cadillac simply lacked the grunt to compete, and Bottas slipped backwards throughout the afternoon. He was eventually classified 19th, two laps down on the leaders, and last of the runners still circulating. It was a weekend to forget for the Finn, with very little to take away from Monza.

Charles Leclerc - 4.5

Leclerc qualified a respectable fourth for Ferrari's home race and looked well placed to deliver a solid result. Instead, disaster struck on lap two. Fighting to defend his position from Oscar Piastri at the exit of Parabolica, Leclerc lost the rear of the SF-26, snapped sideways and hit the tyre barrier at enormous speed in what was reported as a roughly 60G impact. The crash triggered a red flag, and while Leclerc walked away and was cleared by the FIA medical centre, his race was over before it had truly begun. A bitterly disappointing home weekend for the Monégasque.

Liam Lawson - 4

Lawson's qualifying pace was respectable in isolation, with the New Zealander reaching Q2 and clocking a 1:22.821 to finish 14th in the session. However, a 35-place power unit penalty condemned him to a pit-lane start. He made impressive early progress through the field, but contact with Nico Hulkenberg at the red-flag restart damaged his front wing and cost him over 30 seconds in an unscheduled pit stop. That incident effectively ended his chances of scoring points, and he finished 14th, roughly 17 seconds adrift of the final points-paying position.

Fernando Alonso - 3.5

Both Aston Martins endured a wretched weekend at Monza. Alonso was eliminated in Q1 with a 1:25.150, good enough only for 21st on the grid, before his race came to a premature end following a suspension failure. Reports indicate the Spaniard struck the kerbs aggressively, which caused damage to the underside of the car and ultimately broke the front-right suspension, forcing him to pit on lap 23 and retire. At 45, Alonso has seen better weekends, and this was one he will want to move past quickly.

Lance Stroll - 3.5

Stroll fared no better than his team-mate, qualifying last of the 22 drivers in P22 with a 1:25.222 after being knocked out in Q1. His race was then cut short by a hydraulic failure that brought his AMR26 to a halt near the first chicane. With both cars failing to see the chequered flag, Monza was a deeply frustrating outing for Aston Martin. For Stroll, there was simply nothing to salvage from a weekend where the car let him down both on pace and reliability.