Why? Because you need to see the value of drivers also where the racing car is not competitive. And because your teammate is the first one you have to defeat in Formula 1!
Tyres change – we will rate the tyres change taking into account the performance made by the drivers at every Grand Prix. We will use 1-to-6 rating scale, meaning that 6 is the highest rating we assign for the best performance (the racing car is provided with super soft tyres) and 1 is the lowest rating assigned by us for the weakest performance (the racing car is provided with wet weather tyres). But we will not take into account the performance of the car or other things that are not under the direct control of the drivers.
(+) Race car driver: Felipe Massa, even if also Bottas, Ricciardo and Kvyat deserved to be mentioned. The fact that here, where he used to live, he managed to stay calm and get the 1st podium this year, was a success and it gave him the confidence he needed further on.
(-) Cab driver: Racing stewards. The penalty given to Magnussen is awkward. The replay clearly shows how he enters a turn very naturally, defending his position in a very normal way. We wonder when all the battles and overtakings will be prohibited in F1!
Race performance rating: 6,5 out of 10.
Red Bull: Vettel rating 5 (8, 6) – Ricciardo rating 6 (9, 5)
Daniel Ricciardo said that there are some of the next circuits in the race calendar that fit perfectly to the Red Bull team. And he asked for the team’s support if they wanted to have a chance to earn a world championship title. More exactly, he said that when and if the situation required it would be desirable that the team would support him and Sebastian would cede him his place.
Monza 0 – 1
Overall score 2 – 11
Mercedes: Rosberg rating 5 (2, 2) – Hamilton rating 6 (1, 1)
We assign the intra-team victory and the highest score to Lewis Hamilton, because he performed a very good race. But the ‘mistakes’ made by Nico Rosberg during the race smell a bit to us for more reasons:
– we have never seen Nico failing twice in the same place and without any intention of braking at least at the second mistake. The first mistake was probably made by him in order to see how much time he would lost after he would had left the circuit. He performed the same way as Piquet jr. did at Singapore, when he crashed into the circuit walls
– before being overtaken by Hamilton – about 27 laps – Nico was in front of Massa at a constant advance of about 3.5 seconds. But after that incident both drivers of Mercedes run to 15 seconds and Rosberg ‘s rhythm increased by about half a second per lap after that ‘mistake ‘
– the satisfaction smile that occurred on Toto Wolff’s face while ‘overtaking’ and especially the fact that in his statement made after the race he named stupid everyone who thought that he smiled while overtaking. He explained it by the fact that the television delayed on transmitting the images.
– the statements and the attitude of Rosberg; for example, he participated at taking the official team photo – a thing that rarely happens. And by the tone he used in his statement made from his racing car immediately after the race, he seemed almost happy and he said that it was a great result for the team.
But Hamilton certainly deserved the victory and the world of Formula 1 needed that for revivaling the competition from the top. So, all that has been written above could be just speculations. However, let’s think of what the British press would have written if the roles had been reversed.
Monza 0 – 1
Overall score 6 – 7
Ferrari: Alonso rating6 (7, 21) – Raikkonen rating 4 (11, 9)
It is the first race this year where Alonso got no point. In the future we do not see how the Spanish driver can stay in the top four ranking till the end of the year. Raikkonen is slower …
Monza 1 – 0
Overall score 11 – 2
McLaren: Button rating5 (6, 8) – Magnussen rating 6 (5, 10 )
There were beautiful battles given by the two McLaren drivers in the race. Our point goes to the Danish driver, because he was a little bit faster in qualifying and because his penalty was not justified as he was in front of his teammate at the end of the race.
Monza 0 – 1
Overall score 8 – 5
Lotus: Grosjean rating5 (17, 16) – Maldonado rating 6 (16, 14)
Maldonado gets another point in the battle with his teammate. But Lotus car looks more and more horrible. Sorry, we mean to say that it runs more and more horrible, because in the race it is overtaken by the racing cars of Sauber and Marussia .
Monza 0 – 1
Overall score 8 – 4
Force India: Hulkenberg rating4 (13, 12) – Perez rating6 (10, 7)
Sergio Perez wins this stage, too, and Hulkenberg fades into obscurity more and more by his much weaker performances.
Monza 0 – 1
Overall score 8 – 5
Sauber: Sutil rating6 (14, 15) – Gutierrez rating 5 (15, 20 )
Sauber can be glad because they are faster than the Lotus drivers. That is all and this is too little.
Monza 1 – 0
Overall score 7 – 5
Williams: Massa rating6 (4, 3) – Bottas rating 6 (3, 4)
We will not downgrade Valtteri for his missing the start, because then he made a beautiful recovery race. But F1 Manager point goes to Felipe.
Monza 1 – 0
Overall score 6 – 7
Toro Rosso: Kvyat rating6 (21, 11) – Vergne rating 4 (12, 13)
Unfortunately Vergne has no excuse in this race. It is painful for a driver to be beaten by his teammate who had started 9 positions behind him.
Monza 1 – 0
Overall score 8 – 5
Marussia: Bianchi rating6 (19, 18) – Chilton rating 4 (20, 22)
Monza 1 – 0
Overall score 10 – 3
Caterham: Kobayashi rating6 (18, 17) – Ericcson rating 4 (22, 19)
Monza 1 – 0
Overall score 10 – 1
“The penalty given to Magnussen is awkward. The replay clearly shows how he enters a turn very naturally, defending his position in a very normal way. We wonder when all the battles and overtakings will be prohibited in F1!”
Hmm!… Magnusen made it a habit to push other drivers off the track, “very naturally”. He did that to different drivers three times in the last two races. I don’t know how can anyone see it normal in the replay, when the front wheels of both cars are side by side and the defending driver leaves no space for the other car. Where must the other guy go? Vanish? And by the way, the most exciting moments of a race are exactly when two drivers battle wheel to wheel corner after corner. This is only possible if drivers do not defend their position in this so called “very normal way”. FIA rules state clearly that it is compulsory for the car ahead to leave one car width when the car behind has a significant part alongside the car in front. In the case under discussion, the part alongside one another was one full car length. This must be “significant”!
You make a good point… but I’d also like to add…. that there is a fine line between hard racing, and shoulder charging people off the track.
The fact that people are fighting for their seats, only serves to encourage poor quality racing.
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I’d much rather see high quality overtaking battles of the like delivered by JB, LH & DR…… than the scrappy defence tactics of Magnusen; who we saw in the previous race, forcing his team mate off the track, when it was a good move, JB was faster, and Mclaren team would have justifiably won more points (probably), rather than needing team orders.
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I guess, I just don’t believe that Magnussen is a ‘quality’ driver…… and perhaps the stewards were feeling the same way…… the penalty being a timely reminder to ‘up your game’.