F1 Driver Form: Italian Grand Prix at Monza

Max Verstappen’s 100% finish record came to an end at Monza in 2020. He recorded a second consecutive DNF at the track last year after colliding with title rival Lewis Hamilton. Verstappen scored at the Italian Grand Prix in every season between 2016 and 2019. He’s yet to finish in the top four at the circuit, with a best result of fifth in 2018. Verstappen inherited pole position here last year following a grid penalty for Valtteri Bottas. It’s the only time he’ started on the front two rows of the grid at Monza. The Dutchman qualified on the front row in 2017, but started only thirteenth after a penalty. Given his low starting positions, it’s no surprise that – of the races he’s finished – Verstappen has never finished in a position lower than where he has started at the Italian Grand Prix. He gained eleven positions at the track in 2019.

Sergio Perez has scored at the Italian Grand Prix in all of the last eight seasons. Perez’s best result at Monza is second place, which he scored with Sauber in 2012. He recorded his best result since then last year, with fifth place. 2011 and 2013 are the only seasons in which Perez has failed to score at the circuit. He retired in 2011 and finished only twelfth with McLaren in 2013. Perez’s best qualifying result at the circuit is fourth, which is where he qualified with Racing Point in 2020. Perez has reached Q3 on six of his eleven Italian Grand Prix appearances. The Mexican was eliminated in Q1 at the track in both 2018 and 2019. In the last six seasons, 2020 is the only time that Perez has out-qualified his team-mate at Monza. Of the races he’s finished, 2013 and 2020 are the only ones in which he’s failed to gain places over the duration of the race.

Lewis Hamilton has recorded five Italian Grand Prix wins and a further three podium finishes. He’s not finished on the podium at Monza since 2019. Following a penalty for entering the pit lane when it was closed, Hamilton finished only seventh in the 2020 Italian Grand Prix – his worst result at Monza since 2013. He then retired last year, following a collision with Max Verstappen. Hamilton has a further two retirements here, both a result of crashing out in both 2009 and 2010. They’re the only other seasons in which he has failed to score at Monza. Hamilton has taken pole at the Italian Grand Prix seven times, with his 2020 pole lap setting a new record for the fastest lap in F1 history. Hamilton took four consecutive poles at Monza between 2014 and 2017. In total, Hamilton has had nine front row starts here. 2008 and 2013 are the only years that Hamilton has failed to reach Q3 at the track, while in addition to those years, 2007, 2010 and 2021 are the only other times that Hamilton has been out-qualified by a team-mate at the circuit. He qualified fifth last year – the first time he did not set one of the three fastest lap times in qualifying at Monza since 2013. Despite being in contention for the win, 2019 marked the first time Hamilton did not lead a lap of the Italian Grand Prix since 2013. He set a new record for most laps led at the track in 2020.

Charles Leclerc took victory at the 2019 Italian Grand Prix, taking Ferrari’s first home win in almost a decade. Leclerc’s win is one of only two times that he has scored points here, having finished eleventh on his first appearance in 2018 and crashed out in 2020. He finished fourth last season. His pole position in 2019 is the only time he has qualified in the top five at the venue. 2021 marks his only other Q3 appearance at the track, having qualified sixth. Last season was the first time Leclerc has been out-qualified by a team-mate at the track.

Carlos Sainz finished as runner-up in the 2020 Italian Grand Prix. It was only the second time he had scored at Monza, having also finished eighth for Renault in 2018. Last year, he finished sixth for Ferrari. Sainz has reached Q3 in each of the last four Monza races, recording his best qualifying result so far at the track in 2020 with third on the grid. He’s qualified seventh on his other three Q3 appearances here. 2017 is the only season in which Sainz has failed to out-qualify his team-mate.

Daniel Ricciardo took his first victory in over three years at last year’s Italian Grand Prix. The Australian has scored in all but one of his nine eight Italian Grand Prix appearances. 2021 marked Ricciardo’s first podium finish at Monza, having recorded a previous best result of fourth with Red Bull in 2017 and with Renault in 2019. Ricciardo has had two retirements here, in 2011 and 2018, while 2012 is the only other season in which he has failed to score at the track. Ricciardo’s best qualifying result at Monza is third. He set the third fastest time in 2017, though he started only sixteenth that year due to a penalty and finished third in last year’s Sprint Qualifying event. In all nine races he has finished here, Ricciardo has never lost a position from where he has started.

Fernando Alonso has won the Italian Grand Prix twice – for McLaren in 2007 and for Ferrari in 2010. His 2010 win began a streak of four successive podium finishes at Monza – but his second place in 2013 remained the last time he scored here until 2021, when he finished eighth. From his last six appearances at the circuit, Alonso has recorded four retirements. Alonso qualified on the back row on his first two appearances at Monza in 2001 and 2003 but then qualified in the top ten at every Italian Grand Prix between 2004 and 2014. He’s yet to qualify in the top ten since then. Alonso has taken two pole positions at Monza, in 2007 and 2010. Of the races he has completed here, the 2016 event is the only one which he has finished in a worse position than where he started.

Esteban Ocon has scored on his last four outings at the Italian Grand Prix. His best finishing position here is sixth, which he recorded in both 2017 and 2018. He finished tenth last year. 2020 was the first time since 2016 that Ocon has failed to reach Q3 at Monza, as well as the first time since then that he has been out-qualified by a team-mate at the circuit. His best qualifying result here is fifth, recorded in 2017. The 2017 race is the only one in which Ocon has finished an Italian Grand Prix in a worse position than where he started.

Before 2020, Pierre Gasly had not scored a point at the Italian Grand Prix. That changed, as Gasly recorded his maiden Grand Prix victory at Monza, becoming France’s first F1 winner in 24 years. The Frenchman had less luck in 2021, with his 100% finish rate ending at the circuit due to a retirement. He also retired from Sprint Qualifying, meaning he started from the back of the grid. He previously finished fourteenth in 2018 and eleventh in 2019. He’s yet to qualify above ninth position at the track – though he did reach Q3 for a third time in 2021, qualifying sixth for the sprint event.

Sebastian Vettel has not scored at the Italian Grand Prix since his fourth place finish in 2018. Vettel has recorded three wins at the track, including the first win of his career with Toro Rosso in 2008. He also won with Red Bull in 2011 and 2013. Vettel finished on the podium with Ferrari three times at the Italian Grand Prix, but never won here with the Scuderia. He’s recorded two retirements at the track, in 2012 with Red Bull and in 2020 with Ferrari. Vettel has taken pole here three times, all three being in the years that he won the event. Since his last pole in 2013, 2018 is the only other occasion that Vettel has started from the front row at the track. He’s not reached Q3 here since 2019.

Lance Stroll has scored on four of his five Italian Grand Prix appearances and holds a 100% finish record at the track. He recorded his best result at the circuit in 2020, finishing on the podium in third place. Stroll missed out on reaching Q3 at Monza for the first time in 2021, but made his way back into a top ten starting position during the Sprint Qualifying event. He recorded his best qualifying position at the track in the wet 2017 session, where he qualified fourth. As a result of grid penalties, that fourth place became a front row start. 2020 was the first time that Stroll has been out-qualified by a team-mate at Monza. Sebastian Vettel also out-qualified him here last year.

Valtteri Bottas has a 100% finish rate at the Italian Grand Prix. He has finished in the top six at Monza in every season since 2014. The Finn has never won here, but has recorded four podium results. He finished as runner-up in 2017 and 2019, and finished third in 2019 and 2021. As well as being his only non-score, 2013 is the only season in which Bottas has failed to qualify in the top six at the venue. He secured his first pole position at Monza last year as a result of Sprint Qualifying – but started from the back of the grid due to a power unit penalty. Bottas started from the front row at the Italian Grand Prix for the first time in 2020. 2020 was the first time that Bottas lost more than one position from where he has started in his eight Italian Grand Prix appearances. He gained sixteen places last season.

Kevin Magnussen has scored only a single point at Monza, having finished tenth in the 2014 Italian Grand Prix. His other five races here resulted in non-scoring results, including two retirements on his last two visits. 2014 is the only time Magnussen has reached Q3 here, qualifying in fifth place. He was eliminated in Q1 in both 2016 and 2017.