F1 Driver Ratings from the 2021 Monaco Grand Prix

Each driver is scored out of ten with the rating being heavily weighted on their race day performance. Qualifying performance holds less weight when deciding the ratings

Max Verstappen (Qualified 2nd, finished 1st) - 10

Verstappen did what he had to do in the principality to get his championship challenge back on track. With Lewis Hamilton only managing seventh on the grid, Verstappen knew it was the perfect chance to gain ground in the race for the title. Charles Leclerc’s failure to start the race ensured it was a comfortable afternoon for the Red Bull driver. Despite getting a worse start than Valtteri Bottas, the Dutchman was able to maintain the lead into Turn 1 and from then on, he was dominant. 

Carlos Sainz (Qualified 4th, finished 2nd) - 9

Sainz’s first podium in Monaco was completely deserved despite the misfortune of teammate Leclerc and Mercedes’ Bottas. The Spaniard was fuming after qualifying - had it not been for Leclerc’s crash at the end of Q3, Sainz felt he had the pace to secure a top-two spot on the grid. Sainz showed Ferrari had enough pace to finish on the podium on merit, reducing the gap to Bottas to just under two seconds before the pit stop phase. Sainz ran comfortably in second for the rest of the race to continue his impressive start to life with Ferrari.

Lando Norris (Qualified 5th, finished 3rd) - 10

Norris continued his fine run of form with yet another podium finish. While he did benefit from the misfortune of Leclerc and Bottas, the McLaren driver deserves immense credit for his qualifying performance as he ended Q3 just over 0.2s off pole position. The McLaren MCL35M appeared better suited to the softer rubber as he was put under pressure from Sergio Perez in the closing laps when he switched to the hards. Another classy drive that sees him move up until third in the drivers’ championship.

Sergio Perez (Qualified 9th, finished 4th) - 8

Perez’s qualifying struggles continued as he could only manage ninth on the grid. On race day, we saw everything good about the Mexican. Impressive tyre management allowed him to make the most of his soft tyres in clear air to overcut Sebastian Vettel, Pierre Gasly and Lewis Hamilton. He was still beaten by two slower cars but it was still a strong drive to fourth for Perez, allowing Red Bull to take the lead of the constructors’ championship.

Sebastian Vettel (Qualified 8th, finished 5th) - 9

The four-time champion was back to his best in the principality as he extracted the maximum from this year’s Aston Martin. Eighth on the grid ahead of Perez in qualifying marked a notable step forward for Vettel. Like Perez, Vettel made the best use of the overcut to get ahead of Gasly and Hamilton. An impressive weekend all-in-all for Vettel and one he should take a lot of confidence from. 

Pierre Gasly (Qualified 6th, finished 6th) - 9

Gasly continued to extract the maximum from his AlphaTauri as he enjoyed yet another Q3 appearance. AlphaTauri decided to call Gasly in on Lap 30 to cover Hamilton’s undercut attempt, which he did successfully. The Frenchman was unable to remain ahead of Vettel and then Perez, as the pair made the most of the overcut. A comfortable afternoon from that moment onwards where he wasn’t put under too much pressure from the seven-time world champion behind him.

Lewis Hamilton (Qualified 7th, finished 7th) - 5

One of Hamilton’s worst weekends as a Mercedes driver. While it didn’t have the outright pace to win in Monte Carlo, Bottas showed it was a car capable of comfortably finishing on the podium. A poor setup direction for qualifying was compounded by Mercedes’ poor strategy on race day. Mercedes called Hamilton in on Lap 29 in a bid to undercut Gasly ahead. It proved to be unsuccessful as he remained behind Gasly, and was subsequently overcut by Vettel and Perez. A weekend to forget for the reigning world champion.

Lance Stroll (Qualified 11th, finished 8th) - 8

The Canadian never had the pace of four-time world champion teammate Vettel but it was still an impressive race day performance from Stroll. Starting on the hard tyres, Stroll went long in a bid to jump the likes of Esteban Ocon and Antonio Giovinazzi. While he struggled with the balance of his car initially on the harder rubber, once Stroll settled down, he managed to pull an impressive gap over Ocon - who was struggling on his medium tyres, and Giovinazzi, to pit and come out in eighth place.

Esteban Ocon (Qualified 11th, finished 9th) - 9

Ocon continues to impress in the Alpine as he added two more points to his tally for the season. Alpine struggled for pace all weekend as, like last year, it seems to perform best on low downforce circuits. Ocon narrowly missed out on a spot in Q3, qualifying 11th. A later switch to the medium tyres allowed him to get ahead of Giovinazzi and despite having very poor pace for much of the second stint, he managed to keep the Italian at bay. 

Antonio Giovinazzi (Qualified 10th, finished 10th) - 9

Giovinazzi starred in qualifying as he progressed into Q3 for the first time this season. The Italian was robbed of a chance to improve on a new set of softs after Leclerc’s shunt at the end of Q3. An earlier pit stop put Giovinazzi in traffic, allowing Ocon to overcut him for ninth. While the Alfa Romeo driver had the pace on Ocon, he was unable to overtake him, finishing in tenth to score his first points of the season.

Kimi Raikkonen (Qualified 14th, finished 11th) - 7 

Another average qualifying performance from Raikkonen saw him comprehensively beaten by Alfa teammate Giovinazzi. The Finn got ahead of Ricciardo at the start and maintained that place through the round of stops. Raikkonen closed up to the back of Giovinazzi, who was stuck behind Ocon - narrowly missing out on a top ten finish come the end of the race.

Daniel Ricciardo (Qualified 12th, finished 12th) - 4

Arguably Ricciardo’s worst weekend as an F1 driver as he struggled for pace all weekend. Over 0.6s off teammate Norris in qualifying and then lapped by the young British driver on race day, it was a torrid weekend for Ricciardo at a circuit he often excels at.

Fernando Alonso (Qualified 17th, finished 13th) - 5

Alonso’s struggles in qualifying continued as he couldn’t get the tyres into the correct working window, missing out on a spot in Q2. He made up a couple of places in the early phase of the race but couldn’t make the overcut work, switching to softs midway through the race. The Spaniard was once again outperformed by teammate Ocon.

George Russell (Qualified 15th, finished 14th) - 7

Russell continued his impressive run of qualifying performances as he progressed into Q2 yet again in the Williams. Williams simply didn’t have the race pace to stick with the Alpines and Alfas, finishing a lonely 14th, once again ahead of teammate Nicholas Latifi. 

Nicholas Latifi (Qualified 18th, finished 15th) - 6

Latifi could only manage 18th in qualifying after his shunt at Swimming Pool in FP3 left Williams with limited time to repair his car. The Canadian enjoyed a solid race, finishing just behind teammate Russell having run several laps longer than the Brit before making his only pit stop of the afternoon.

Yuki Tsunoda (Qualified 16th, finished 16th) - 3

Another underwhelming performance from Tsunoda. The Japanese rookie never looked comfortable around the principality, with his clash with the barriers at the Swimming Pool chicane in FP2 surely knocking his confidence. He was ultimately beaten by both Williams drivers on his way to 16th.

Nikita Mazepin (Qualified 19th, finished 17th) - 6

An error-free weekend for Mazepin as he looked more at home this weekend in Monaco. Whether he would have beaten teammate Mick Schumacher in qualifying is uncertain, but the Russian looked a closer match over one lap. He was overtaken by his teammate into the hairpin on the opening lap, however, managed to get back ahead after his teammate suffered a temporary loss of power which was related to a fuel pressure pick up problem.

Mick Schumacher (Qualified 20th, finished 18th) - 6

Schumacher’s shunt in FP3 meant he was unable to take part in qualifying. An impressive overtake on teammate Mazepin into the hairpin was the highlight of his afternoon as he then dropped behind him due to the aforementioned fuel pressure pick up issue. Once fixed, Schumacher closed to the back of his teammate but was ordered by the team to sit behind him. Without the technical gremlin, Schumacher would have finished 17th.

Valtteri Bottas (Qualified 2nd, DNF) - 8

For the first time in a long time, Bottas was the outright fastest Mercedes throughout qualifying and on race day. A late setup change gave Bottas the confidence and tyre temperature needed to challenge for pole position, while teammate Hamilton could only muster seventh. Had it not been for Leclerc’s shunt in qualifying, Bottas - like Verstappen and Sainz, had a serious shot at pole. Regardless, the Finn had to settle for third on the grid - second once it was clear Leclerc couldn’t start the race. Bottas had a better start than Verstappen, but couldn’t pass as the Dutchman shut the door. The Mercedes driver dropped to around five seconds behind before making his pit stop on Lap 30. Mercedes’ mechanics couldn’t remove Bottas’ front-right tyre due to a damaged wheel nut, forcing him to retire and costing him a podium finish in Monaco.

Charles Leclerc (Qualified 1st, DNS) - N/A

Leclerc stormed to a sensational pole on Saturday as he claimed Ferrari’s first since Mexico 2019. His crash at the end of Q3 meant his benchmark couldn’t be beaten by the likes of Verstappen and Bottas. It remains unclear whether his crash in qualifying directly caused the driveshaft issue he suffered on his way to the grid, but it was still a great chance for Leclerc to win on home soil. 

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