Round 16 brought us to the Temple of Speed in la Bella Italia. With it being the home race of Ferrari, the normally red (but yellow for one weekend only) squad had quite some expectations to live up to. They didn’t quite live up to those expectations, but they weren’t the only ones that fell short over the weekend. Others did surprisingly well and a second Dutchman made a surprise appearance.
Want to know how the Temple of Speed treated your favourite driver? Be sure to read up on the 16th report cards:
Top of the class:
Nyck de Vries – Qualifying: 13th (Started 8th) | Race: 9th
Alex Albon, afflicted with appendicitis, had a nightmare of a weekend, but he thankfully seems to be on the mend right now. Williams didn’t have to look far for a replacement, however, as Nyck de Vries was already present at the track after having driving FP1 for Aston Martin.
The Dutchman had virtually no trouble finding his feet, despite having done no high-fuel running, no pitstop practice and limited procedural practice. In fact, he looked so strong in qualifying that we were almost disappointed that he didn’t make it into Q3, rather than being surprised that he made it out of Q1. His Sunday was even better, earning points on his debut (only Williams’ fourth score of the year), so the title of ‘driver of the day’ was certainly well-deserved.
He barely put a foot wrong, executing a mature drive to battle the likes of Pierre Gasly and Guanyu Zhou for the entire race. Considering the 2021 Formula E Champ is keen to make his move into Formula 1, he has certainly left his mark, which makes it hard for people to forget about him.
Carlos Sainz – Qualifying: 3th (Started 18th) | Race: 4th
He didn’t quite manage to race his way to the podium, but his recovery drive (aided by the cheers of the Tifosi) was flawlessly executed. He carved through the midfield and easily picked off Sergio Perez on his way to fourth, suggesting that Carlos will be a force to be reckoned with in Singapore when he (most likely) won’t have any penalties relegating him to the back of the grid.
Zhou Guanyu – Qualifying: 14th (Started 9th) | Race: 10th
After a barren streak of six pointless races for Alfa Romeo, it was Guanyu who managed to score another point at long last. It’s definitely well-deserved, considering the Chinese driver has had quite an unlucky run thus far.
He wasn’t quite able to pass de Vries for 9th, but with Bottas forced to start at the back due to getting a penalty (one of the many drivers to do so), it was Zhou who led Alfa Romeo’s charge with a rather anonymous but most definitely solid drive.
Then for honourable mentions:
The first one goes to Max Verstappen. Considering it’s become a common sight for the Dutchman to charge up to first despite grid penalties, it doesn’t feel quite right to put him in the top of the class (and how insane is that!) but it definitely isn’t something which should be brushed under the carpet either. The Dutchman is clearly on a roll and there doesn’t seem to be any stopping him. He looks to be clinching his second world title at Japan for definite, but he could get his hands on it as early as Singapore.
The second honourable mention goes to Daniel Ricciardo, because whilst he doesn’t have anything to show for it due to his race ending prematurely after his car called it quits, he looked to be having quite a promising weekend before that. Had things gone his way, he would have been able to score his first points since France, but it just wasn’t to be. Which quite frankly is kind of indicative of Danny’s season thus far.
Struggle bus:
Nicholas Latifi – Qualifying: 16th (Started 10th) | Race: 15th
Whilst his temporary teammate has found his way to the top of this list, Latifi finds himself at the wheel of the struggle bus. Unsurprisingly, because whilst both Nyck and Nicholas started in the points, there is only one of them who succeeded in remaining there, whilst the other one finished second-to-last of all cars who managed to cross the finish line.
It doesn’t help that the Canadian seemed less than pleased with the performance of his FW44 (and wasn’t afraid of saying so), not when it seemed to fare perfectly fine on the other side of the garage.
It’s then not surprising that the rumour mill around Latifi’s drive for 2023 (or lack thereof) is picking up speed. There are plenty of drivers, young and old, who are currently without a seat, snapping at Latifi’s heels. He will have to perform in the remaining races on the calendar, because Williams will have little trouble to find another driver willing (and eager) to fill that seat.
Haas
Mick Schumacher – Qualifying: 20th (Started 17th) | Race: 12th
Kevin Magnussen – Qualifying: 19th (Started 16th) | Race: 16th
Haas were honest about their prospects (or lack thereof) for their weekend on Italian soil. They were well aware that they would most likely be ending this triple header without any points to show for it and that promise rang true.
Both drivers had to take grid penalties, but because so many of the others did too, they actually still managed to start higher than they qualified. They weren’t able to capitalise on it, however, as Magnussen made contact with Bottas in the first corner and earned himself some damage which made his afternoon all the more trying, and later a 5-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage, resulting in him coming in last of all 16 drivers who managed to make it to the finish line.
Mick’s Sunday was looking a little more positive and promising, however, as the German driver managed to make up a handful of places during the race and battled heavily with Latifi for position. Unfortunately, P12 doesn’t bring home anything to celebrate.
Alpine
Esteban Ocon – Qualifying: 11th (Started 14th) | Race: 11th
Fernando Alonso – Qualifying: 10th (Started 6th) | Race: DNF
Whilst their previous two weekends are something to be proud of, they ended this triple-header on a low. Alonso looked to be set for points, but ended up having to park his car after a suspected water pressure issue, ending a streak of 10 races in the points.
Teammate Ocon ended up trapped behind both de Vries and Zhou, who proved to have the upper hand this time around. A decent drive, but simply not good enough for points, which must have been a disappointment considering how fast the Alpine cars have been in recent rounds.
Then for dishonourable mentions:
Our dishonourable mention of the day goes to Charles Leclerc’s side of the Ferrari garage. Although there aren’t any glaringly obvious mistakes made by Ferrari’s strategists or pit crew this time around, the fact remains that the Dutchman was victorious despite the Monegasque starting from pole.
Verstappen confirmed that had Ferrari not called in Charles for a stop under the VSC, he would have stopped, as his orders from GP were literally “opposite to Leclerc”. So perhaps that would have helped the Italian team to gain the upper hand, but truth to the matter is that it looked like they were destined to lose out no matter what. Perhaps they could start praying for a miracle, because in order for Il Predestinato to win them a championship they most definitely need one.
Next up on the calendar is the Singapore Grand Prix on the 2nd of October. It’ll be our first night race in a while and according to drivers the toughest on the calendar. It’ll be Verstappen’s first possibility at clinching his WDC title and it will (hopefully) signify the return of Albon, so it’s definitely one worth watching. Be sure to tune in at 1pm UK time.
