F1 Driver Form: Italian Grand Prix at Monza

Max Verstappen recorded his first win – and first top four result – at Monza in the 2022 Italian Grand Prix. His win was the first time he finished the Italian Grand Prix since 2019. His 100% finish record came to an end at Monza in 2020 and recorded a second consecutive DNF at the track in 2021 after colliding with title rival Lewis Hamilton.

Verstappen scored at the Italian Grand Prix in every season between 2016 and 2019, with a best result of fifth in 2018.

Verstappen inherited pole position in 2021 last year following a grid penalty for Valtteri Bottas. It’s the only time that he’s started on the front two rows of the grid at Monza. The Dutchman qualified on the front row in 2017, but started only 13^th after a penalty. He also qualified on the front row in 2022 but another penalty demoted him to seventh on the grid.

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 and gained six on his way to victory last year.

Sergio Perez has scored at the Italian Grand Prix in all of the last nine seasons. Perez’s best result at Monza is second place, which he scored with Sauber in 2012. He recorded his best result since then in 2021, 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 12^th with McLaren in 2013.

Perez’s best qualifying result at the circuit is fourth, which is where he qualified with Racing Point in 2020 and with Red Bull in 2022 – though he was demoted to 13^th on the grid last year.

Perez has reached Q3 on seven of his 12 Italian Grand Prix appearances. The Mexican was eliminated in Q1 at the track in both 2018 and 2019. In the last seven seasons, 2020 is the only time that Perez has out-qualified his team-mate at Monza.

Of the 11 Monza races he’s finished, 2013 and 2020 are the only ones in which Perez has failed to gain places over the duration of the race.

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 three times that he has scored points here. He finished fourth in 2021 and returned to the podium in 2022, finishing as runner-up.

Two of Leclerc’s appearances at the Italian Grand Prix have resulted in point-less afternoons: he finished 11^th on his first appearance in 2018 and crashed out in 2020.

Leclerc has taken two pole positions at Monza, in 2019 and 2022. 2021 marks his only other Q3 appearance at the track, having qualified sixth. 2021 is the only time so far that 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. He has scored in every race at the track since 2020, coming home sixth in 2021 and finishing fourth in 2022.

Sainz has reached Q3 in each of the last five Monza races, recording his best qualifying result so far at the track in 2020 with third on the grid. He equalled that result in 2022. He qualified seventh on his other three Q3 appearances here.

2022 was the first time since 2017 that Sainz failed to out-qualify his team-mate at the Italian Grand Prix. Taking a grid penalty into the race, Sainz gained 14 positions over the course of last year’s 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 in 2021, following a collision with Max Verstappen. He finished fifth in 2022.

In addition to his 2021 collision, Hamilton has a further two retirements here, both a result of crashing out in 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. He’s qualified fifth in each of the last two seasons – but moved up to fourth on the final grid in 2021 and dropped to 19^th due to a grid penalty in 2022.

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. 2021 was 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.

George Russell scored at Monza for the first time in 2021, finishing in ninth place. He took his first podium finish at the circuit in 2022, finishing in third place.

2021 was also the first time he made it out of Q1 at the Italian Grand Prix and he went on to record his best qualifying result at the circuit, with 15^th in Sprint Qualifying. In 2022, he reached Q3 at the track for the first time, qualifying in sixth place – one position behind his team-mate. It was the first time Russell was out-qualified by his team-mate at the track.

Russell previously competed at Monza in F3, GP3 and F2. Prior to F1, he scored points in every race he had competed in at the track, and won in GP3 in 2017 and at the F2 Sprint Race in 2018.

Esteban Ocon has scored on his four of his six outings at the Italian Grand Prix. His 11^th place in 2022 was the first time since his first appearance in 2016 that Ocon failed to score at Monza.

His best finishing position here is sixth, which he recorded in both 2017 and 2018. He finished eighth in 2020 and tenth in 2021.

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 was out-qualified by a team-mate at the circuit. He failed to reach Q3 in 2021 and 2022 either, being out-qualified by his team-mate on both occasions.

Ocon’s best qualifying result here is fifth, recorded in 2017. That later became third on the grid. 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 14^th in 2018 and 11^th in 2019. He scored for the second time at the track in 2022, coming home in eighth place. Gasly is 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. He qualified ninth for the second time last year.

Lando Norris has scored on all four appearances so far at the Italian Grand Prix. He recorded the best result of his career to date here in 2021, finishing as runner-up to his team-mate. He finished tenth in 2019, fourth in 2020 and seventh in 2022.

Norris has reached Q3 here in the last three seasons and recorded his best qualifying result at the track to date in 2021 with fourth place as a result of the sprint race. 2021 was the first time he out-qualified his team-mate at Monza.

The 2022 Italian Grand Prix was the first Monza race in which Norris finished in a worse position than where he started from.

Norris has previous experience at the Monza circuit in F3 in 2017 and F2 in 2018. He won the first of the three F3 races here in 2017, finishing as runner up in the other two. Meanwhile, in F2 in 2018, Norris finished sixth in the Feature Race and fifth in the Sprint Race. He drove for McLaren at the track in 2018 in Free Practice 1 for the Italian Grand Prix.

Valtteri Bottas has a 100% finish rate at the Italian Grand Prix. For the first time since 2013, Bottas failed to finish in the top six at the circuit in 2022. 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 one of only two non-scores at Monza, 2013 is one of only two seasons in which Bottas failed to qualify in the top six at the venue. He was eliminated in Q1 in 2013 and could progress no further than Q2 in 2022.

Bottas secured his first pole position at Monza in 2021 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 nine Italian Grand Prix appearances. He gained 16 places in 2021.

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 seven appearances at the circuit, Alonso has recorded five retirements.

Alonso has taken two pole positions at Monza, in 2007 and 2010. He 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 qualified in the top ten for the first time since then in 2022. After qualifying tenth, he moved up to sixth on last year’s grid – his best starting position at Monza since 2013.

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.

Lance Stroll has scored on four of his six Italian Grand Prix appearances. He held a 100% finish rate at the circuit until 2022. Stroll 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 exited in Q1 in 2022 but moved up to 12^th on the grid as a result of grid penalties for other drivers.

Stroll 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, making him the youngest driver to start from the front row in Formula 1 history.

2020 was the first time that Stroll has been out-qualified by a team-mate at Monza. Sebastian Vettel also out-qualified him here in each of the last two seasons.

Kevin Magnussen has scored only a single point at Monza, having finished tenth in the 2014 Italian Grand Prix. His other six races here resulted in non-scoring results, including two retirements in his last three visits.

2014 is the only time Magnussen has reached Q3 here, qualifying in fifth place. He was eliminated in Q1 in 2016, 2017 and 2022.

Nico Hulkenberg’s best result from nine previous Italian Grand Prix appearances is fifth place, which is where he finished in 2013 and 2019. Those are two of five occasions on which he has finished in the points at Monza. He has failed to finish here only once, in 2012.

While Hulkenberg has been eliminated in Q1 once at Monza, he has reached Q3 five times. His best qualifying result here is third, which is where he qualified with Sauber in 2013. He has not out-qualified a team-mate at the track since 2017.

Yuki Tsunoda did not have much luck at the Italian Grand Prix when he first appeared here in 2021, having failed to start the race due to brake issues. Tsunoda originally qualified in 17^th place and made up one position during Sprint Qualifying.

In 2022, Tsunoda managed to make the start of the race and finished 14^{th –} six places behind his team-mate. On Saturday, he was eliminated in Q2 and was out-qualified by his team-mate for the second consecutive year.

Tsunoda previously raced at Monza in F3 and F2. In F3, he finished on the podium in both races, winning the second race of the weekend. In F2 in 2020, Tsunoda finished fourth in the Feature Race and was not classified in the Sprint Race, retiring after 15 laps.

Daniel Ricciardo recorded his most recent Formula 1 win – and his only victory with McLaren – at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix. That was his eighth and most recent points-scoring appearance at Monza from his 12 F1 visits to the track. He has recorded three retirements here, the most recent of which came in 2022. His 2021 win is his only podium appearance at the Italian Grand Prix, though he finished fourth in both 2017 and 2019.

Ricciardo has never qualified on the front row at Monza, though he did start from the front row following a grid penalty for Valtteri Bottas in 2021, when Ricciardo had finished third in the Sprint. He also qualified third in 2017 but moved down to 16^th on the final grid as a result of penalties. Despite qualifying only eighth last year, he started fourth for similar penalty reasons.

Ricciardo has never lost a position from where he has started in any of the races he has finished at Monza. He’s set the fastest lap at the track twice.

Alex Albon has scored once from his two appearances at the Italian Grand Prix with Red Bull. He finished sixth here in 2019, but failed to score in 2020, finishing only 15^th. Albon reached Q3 on both previous appearances, with a best result of eighth place in 2019.

After participating in Free Practice on Friday, Albon was ruled out of taking any further part in the 2022 Italian Grand Prix after undergoing treatment for appendicitis. He was replaced by Nyck de Vries.

Logan Sargeant has raced at Monza in both single seaters and endurance racing. Last year, in Formula 2, Sargeant finished fourth in the Sprint Race but failed to finish the Feature Race.