Edd Straw delivers his verdict on the performances of all 20 Formula 1 drivers across the 2022 Monaco Grand Prix weekend.
After each grand prix, The Race will rate each driver’s weekend with a mark out of 10.
An average mark is 5 out of 10, so that score is indicative of a decent drive given the high standard of drivers in F1.
For a more in-depth explanation, read our outline of the system.
Started: 4th Finished: 3rd
Qualifying
Verstappen described the weekend through to qualifying as “tricky” and never seemed as comfortable with the car as Perez – notably on the brakes into the first corner. But he was on a lap that could potentially have put him on the front row when Q3 was red flagged thanks to Perez’s crash.
Race
Held fourth in the first stint but switched to intermediates two laps later than Perez. Three laps later, he went to slicks, in the process jumping the delayed Leclerc to secure third.
Verdict: Not at his best, but his red-flag-interrupted Q3 lap could have changed everything.
Started: 3rd Finished: 1st
Qualifying
Perez looked to be the quicker Red Bull driver during practice, which was borne out by outqualifying Verstappen for the second time this season. However, he was assisted by his own crash at Portier on his final Q3 lap while trying to make up time after a difficult first part of the lap, which he attributed to not having the tyres up to temperature.
Race
Settled into third at the start before switching to intermediates on lap 16. This gave him an undercut on Leclerc that he used to superb effect, allowing him to jump ahead when the Ferrari driver stopped two laps later. Held the lead when he switched to slicks and resisted pressure from Sainz thereafter.
Verdict: Had serious pace and used it brilliantly at key moments in the race, although the Q3 crash does count against him.
Started: 8th Finished: 8th
Qualifying
Struggled more than Russell at times during practice, but come qualifying looked like he might be getting the edge. He outpaced Russell on the first runs in Q3, but aborted his first lap on the second run thanks to being in the incorrect engine mode. The red flag then denied him a second lap and left him behind Russell.
Race
Spent pretty much the entire race stuck “just cruising behind” Alonso, with his only respite the brief spell after changing to intermediates and before taking slicks when he clashed with Ocon at Ste Devote.
Verdict: Wasn’t able to show his true pace in Q3, then spent the race in a traffic jam.
Started: 6th Finished: 5th
Qualifying
Described this as “the hardest Monaco I’ve ever experienced” after qualifying sixth, behind Norris but ahead of Hamilton. While slower than his team-mate on the first Q3 runs, Russell improved on his first flier on his second run to get ahead.
Race
Held sixth in the early stages but opted to extend his wet stint and jump straight to intermediates, which he did at the end of lap 21. That allowed him to attack Norris – who made two stops – as the McLaren driver emerged from the pits, and squeeze past to secure fifth on the run up the hill.
Verdict: Nailed it when it mattered on the first Q3 run and around the pitstops to pass Norris.
Started: 1st Finished: 4th
Qualifying
Leclerc was always favourite for pole position and given he was on course for a huge improvement compared to his first-run time on his final Q3 lap when the red flag was thrown when he was at Tabac, Leclerc wouldn’t have been threatened.
As it was, the lap that earned him pole was “good” but not perfect by Leclerc’s own estimation, with time lost through Ste Devote.
Race
Pitted from the lead at the end of lap 18 for intermediates, which allowed Perez to jump him. Switched to hards three laps later, but lost crucial seconds with Sainz blocking the pitbox, meaning he was also jumped by Verstappen.
Started: 2nd Finished: 2nd
Qualifying
While Sainz was unlucky on his final run that Perez crashed in front of him at Portier, resulting in the Ferrari driver collecting the Red Bull, it’s unlikely that cost him a shot at pole position. He always seemed half a step behind Leclerc so second on the grid was a good result
Race
Sainz felt that without Latifi parking in front of him for the first lap of his outlap after changing to hards, he would have won the race. And he had a strong case, having pushed to extend his wet stint to jump straight to slicks, jumping Leclerc in the process.
Verdict: Not as quick as Leclerc, but made sure he controlled his own destiny strategically and was unlucky not to win.
Started: 14th Finished: 13th
Qualifying
Friday was disrupted by his FP2 crash, which was the consequence of going too aggressive with the ride height rather, but the pace never came on Saturday. Ricciardo admitted to being frustrated and confused, as in Q2 there was no specific problem beyond the big pace deficit to Norris.
Race
Ran 14th early on and opted to run long on the wets to make the jump to slicks, which he did on lap 17. That put him behind Gasly, who had passed him in the first stint after switching to intermediates, and added up to 13th place at the finish – the Aussie having jumped Tsunoda when the AlphaTauri driver made his second stop and picked up another place when Magnussen retired.
Verdict: A nothing weekend for Ricciardo, who lacked confidence and pace.
Started: 5th Finished: 6th
Qualifying
Despite the hangover from his bout of tonsillitis, Norris performed superbly throughout qualifying and always looked to have a big advantage over Ricciardo. He also strung together a strong lap on used rubber on his first Q3 lap, which allowed him to outqualify both Mercedes drivers.
Race
Held fifth in the first stint, but switching to intermediates on lap 17 and then hards on lap 22 gave Russell the chance to attack. Norris almost held on but Russell, who skipped the short inter stint, blasted past him when he emerged from his second pitstop. Having held him up briefly at the end of the inter stint, Alonso then acted as a rolling roadblock to give Norris the gap to pit and take fastest lap on fresh rubber.
Verdict: A strong weekend in which he comprehensively outperformed his team-mate.
Started: 10th Finished: 12th
Qualifying
Kept a low profile during practice, but hit form when it counted to make it to Q3. Unfortunately, having set his first Q3 run on used rubber, he didn’t have the chance to improve on fresh softs on his second run thanks to the red flag.
Race
Ran 10th in the early stages, which became ninth thanks to overcutting early-stopping Vettel. That’s where he was at the finish before dropping to 12th thanks to a five-second penalty for causing a collision with Hamilton in his first stint.
Verdict: Was robbed of a chance to do better in qualifying but his over-aggressive defence against Hamilton cost him two points.
Started: 7th Finished: 7th
Qualifying
Alonso thought fifth place was on the cards when he braked too late at Mirabeau and, after catching the rear end, nosed into the barrier. It wouldn’t have made any difference as the red flag would have prevented him from completing that lap, but he described it as a “silly” mistake made trying to make up for an average start to the lap.
Race
Had control of seventh place throughout the race, making the switch straight from wets to slicks in doing so. He then took an ultra-cautious approach to the restart, backing up Hamilton and the rest of the field, but never looked like losing the position.
Verdict: Q3 was untidy, but Alonso’s speed was good and didn’t put a foot wrong in the race.
Started: 17th Finished: 11th
Qualifying
Looked a shoo-in for Q3 heading into qualifying, having been in the top seven in all three practice sessions, only to be eliminated in Q1.
His first-run time was a couple of tenths off what he needed to make Q2, with no chance to set a time on his second set of tyres thanks to a combination of the red flag and then being sent out of the garage at the back of the queue and therefore missing out on starting a lap.
Race
Enlivened the early stages of the race after becoming the first to switch to intermediates at the end of lap two. He was quick and pulled off some important passing moves, but only enough to climb to 12th on the road, which became 11th after Ocon’s penalty.
Verdict: Could only show glimpses of what he had the pace to be capable of thanks to Q1 disaster.
Started: 11th Finished: 17th
Qualifying
Just missed out on a Q3 spot despite carrying some damage after clouting the barrier at the chicane in Q1, which brought out the red flag. He did look to have Q3 pace prior to the barrier clout, but that imprecision cost him.
Race
Ran 11th prior to pitting for intermediates at the end of lap six. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to make use of the pace of the car as effectively of Gasly and became stuck in traffic, then lost a place to Stroll. That meant that once he changed to slicks, he’d slipped to 15th place, which is where he took the restart. But he struggled as his stint on mediums went on after the restart, going off at Ste Devote and letting Latifi past before making another stop that dropped him to last.
Verdict: Decent pace with occasional untidy moments, his race was ruined by getting stuck in traffic.
Started: 9th Finished: 10th
Qualifying
Pulled a superb lap out of the bag at the end of Q2 to get into the top 10. Once in Q3, he opted to use his fresh set of softs on the first run, but a moment through Ste Devote meant he was slightly slower than his Q2 time. The red flag prevented him from improving.
Race
Held ninth early on before going off at Ste Devote after locking up on the yellow line and dropping behind Ocon, which triggered a pitstop to take intermediates.
Followed Gasly through traffic after that stop, but then overcut the AlphaTauri driver when they switched to hards. That put him 11th after losing a place to Bottas going directly to slicks, which then became 10th when Ocon’s penalty was applied.
Verdict: Fast, but difficult stint on wets and brief off meant he didn’t quite maximise the result.
Started: 18th Finished: 14th
Qualifying
Stroll was looking strong in Q1, quicker than Vettel in fact, but on the crucial final lap the rear stepped out coming out of the first part of the swimming pool. Before that moment, he was well up on his personal best and set to make Q2 comfortably.
Race
Hit the wall at Casino before the race was even green-flagged, forcing an immediate pitstop. From there, it was a long afternoon although he did pull off a great overtaking move on Tsunoda through Rascasse.
Verdict: Pace was better than he could show and he pulled off the pass of the race, but the shunt under the safety car was poor.
Started: 19th Finished: 15th
Qualifying
Ended up eight-tenths off Albon and never really looked to have the pace of his team-mate. But after struggling through practice, he was far more comfortable with the car in qualifying and reckoned without the red flag interrupting his second run he’d have found more time.
Race
Hit the wall at the hairpin after being released from pits on lap one, which he suspected was down to some throttle-related fault but appeared just to be cold front tyres. That led to an early stop, although he got ahead of struggling team-mate Albon and then squeezed past Zhou at Tabac late on when the Alfa driver backed off to let Tsunoda past after cutting the chicane.
Verdict: His struggle for pace and safety-car off made for a bad weekend, although his race had its moments.
Started: 16th Finished: DNF
Qualifying
Spent much of Q1 in the top 15, but the red flag interrupted his final run with only a slender improvement on the lap after the restart. Having got to the front of the queue, he was in the ideal place on track, but lost a little time through the Swimming Pool section and just missed out on Q2.
Race
Climbed to 13th early on but lost places to a trip up the Ste Devote escape road. At times, his pace was decent enough but he was hit with a penalty for gaining an advantage by cutting the chicane while battling with Schumacher and later retired with a front-end problem that the team referred to as unexpected bouncing.
Verdict: Unlucky not to make Q2 and the race had promising moments but was also untidy.
Started: 20th Finished: 16th
Qualifying
While took a sensible approach to his first Monaco weekend as an F1 driver and Q2 always looked a long shot. But he was unfortunate in qualifying, first losing a lap that would have been an improvement to the red flag, then being unable to start a final attempt after the restart.
Race
Zhou was always up against it starting at the back but matched his team-mate’s strategy by running longer on intermediates before switching to slicks. Took the restart in 15th, but had a big moment at the chicane while attempting to pass Tsunoda. He caught it superbly, but in letting Tsunoda back past, he was also ambushed by Latifi coming through Tabac and lost a place.
Verdict: A tidy, but – save aside – unspectacular first Monaco GP.
Started: 12th Finished: 9th
Qualifying
Had high hopes heading to Monaco and described it as “weird” that the expected pace wasn’t there. Missing FP1 to an MGU-K failure didn’t help, but Bottas reckoned the poor ride was proving costly in particular in the middle sector.
Race
Had it in mind to go straight from wets to slicks from early on and executed this well. That allowed him to climb from 12th to 10th, jumping Vettel and Tsunoda, who both went to inters first. The 10th place then became ninth when Ocon was penalised.
Verdict: Made the best of a tricky car, salvaging a decent result with a strong race drive.
Started: 13th Finished: DNF
Qualifying
Felt the car had the pace to make Q3, but wasn’t happy with how Q2 played out with a messy and traffic-laden lap not good enough to make the top 10. His theoretical ideal lap would have put him into Q3 easily.
Race
Set himself up for a possible points finish with a good first stint, staying on intermediates with a view to switching straight to slicks. He was ahead of Vettel when he hit engine troubles and was forced to retire.
Verdict: Didn’t quite nail Q3, but even so was on course for a point when he retired.
Started: 15th Finished: DNF
Qualifying
Lapped only 0.160s off Magnussen and was content with his Q2 performance, although that gap perhaps flattered his pace relative to his team-mate.
Race
Schumacher was one of the earlier adopters of intermediates. But he didn’t make a huge amount of progress and was 17th behind Zhou when he got a little off line and crashed coming through Swimming Pool.
Verdict: Another difficult weekend in terms of pace and consistency.
Keyword: Edd Straw’s 2022 Monaco Grand Prix F1 driver ratings