P1 with Matt and Tommy - Italian GP Driver Ratings

Episode Date: September 10, 2025

Amazingly, we've got some actual disagreements coming out of a confusing Italian GP. But will WE do everything to keep it as fair as possible between our two number one drivers? We've added extra P1 live shows in Australia next year, with Adelaide tickets now on sale! To grab your tickets for those or any of our shows this year in the UK, Ireland and North America, click here: tix.to/p1liveYou can listen to an extended version of every race review episode over on our Patreon! You'll also access to every P1 episode ad-free, early access to tickets & merch, and access to our Discord server where you can chat with us and other F1 fans! Click here to sign up now: http://patreon.com/mattp1tommyFollow us on socials! You can find us on Twitter, Instagram, Twitch, YouTube and TikTok. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello everybody and welcome back to the P1 podcast with Matt and Tommy. It's driver ratings. Lock in. Let's do some numbers, shall we? Tommy, how are you feeling ahead of this one? Of course, usually the more boring ones, which I think Monza absolutely fairly can be labelled more towards the less intriguing of the ones we've had this season, usually are a little bit easier to grade. but then again I think there are some very 50-50 incidents to discuss that might well push people's ratings one way or another. Yeah, definitely.

I was looking through this and there are a few in there that I think can be kind of a bit contentious, which is good as long as we all respect each other's opinion. We don't have to agree. I don't think we should agree. That's boring. Yeah, all right. Max just happened one out of ten. I think he was very poor.

I expected it for him. you. Yeah, fair enough. All right, here we go. The slander has already begun. Right, let's start with Gabrielle Bortoletto, who started the race in 7th and finished 8th. I am locking in a 9 out of 10 for Gabriel Bortoletto this week. Her phenomenal qualifying was strong all weekend long. It's not going to be a 10 because just perhaps. Perhaps there was amazing now. Yeah, exactly. It's so hard, you know, with the chopping and changing of some teams and their performance. but a nine out of ten is very solid for Bortoletto, of course, lost a position from where he started. But overall, very solid weekend, and he can be very happy how he's continued after the summer break.

Absolutely. I've gone for a nine out of ten as well for Bortoletto. Great result, fantastic qualifying, fantastic race result. Of course, lost a position, which was mainly due to Lewis Hamilton coming through the field, of course, after his grid drop. but another great performance from Bortoletto and if you'd said at the start of the year that a Sauer qualifying 7th and finishing 8th

would be a 9 out of 10, I'd have been like, what to plan as are we on? But that is the way it goes. It's not a 10 drive, but it's still another fantastic result for Portoletto. Absolutely. The fans, they agree, they've gone for a 9 out of 10 as well.

Nico Holcomburg, qualified 12th, because usually we say start, but he didn't really start because he didn't start DNS. He didn't. And that's why it's surely got to be an N.A. Well, it has to be because he gave Max an N.A. And he did two corners this year.

So that's less than two corners. And yeah, it has to be not applicable, isn't it? Absolutely, yeah. Yeah, it's absolutely fair enough. Of course, you know, we'll reflect on his qualifying. Of course, better than it has been, but not as good as his teammate, which seems to be a recurring theme. A trend at the moment, doesn't it, for sure?

for sure. But yeah, and not applicable for both of us for Nico. The fans, are we also putting them down as an NA, even though they've given a five? I guess you can't vote as an NA on the form. So maybe we'd start having that. The fans have to give an NA as well. Right. It's void to the whole result. Yeah. Yeah. Void. Nico does not exist this weekend in terms of the ratings. Okay, let's move to Alex Albon. Started the race in 14th, finished 7th. I'm going to go for a 9th. out of 10 for Alex Albon. I think it was a very strong, an incredible race from him, of course, qualifying behind his teammate, and just, I think it was the right strategy for Alex Albon, who essentially gained more positions when those ahead had pit.

And yeah, it was just a really good, really good, well, I don't know if I can give him a 10, just purely because I think there's a little bit of a knockdown from qualifying, but overall, a really, really solid weekend once again for Alex Albon. This guy is just farming great weekends every single time. He sure is. I've gone for a nine as well. Another brilliant result for Alex Albon.

Didn't have the great qualifying. And he did have the superior strategy of the two Williams drivers, but that's not to take anything away from him because he drove brilliantly. The superior strategy of not colliding with another car. But also the pit. I'm kidding. And yeah, he's doing so well this year. It can't be said enough. He's now ahead of Antonelli in the championship. He is seventh in the World Championship in a Williams. He is just

bagging so many points. It's so, so impressive what he's doing. And yeah, amazing pace again from him to grab a P7. Absolutely. Well done to Alex Albon. The fans gave him a nine out of 10. Carlos Sines started the race in 13th, finished 11th. Oh, it's the first contentious result of the driver ratings. So I will say my result and then I will explain it before everyone writes their comment first. So feel free to write your comment afterwards. Seven out of 10 for Carlos Sites. So the reason I've gone for a seven is because he outqualified his teammate.

he had the worst strategy. And if he hadn't collided with Olly Behrman, he would have obviously been in the points. So in my opinion, that would have been a seven. Now, I can hear everyone already screaming about this Olly Beerman incident with Carlos Seitz. I understand why it's contentious. I have watched this so many times

to basically like see if my opinion has changed on it. And for me, it hasn't. And I totally understand why some people are like, Carlos has turned in and he has. He's turned in as if Olly Behrman is not there. But my opinion on this incident is Olly Behrman has to know when to back out of a move. And as they get into the breaking zone, I've seen people saying he's halfway alongside. He's not. His front wing is pretty much at his rear tire. And Olly Beerman is... To be fair, his front right is just past his left rear of Carlos signs. That's how I saw it.

Not before they break, not before science hits the brakes. So Olly Behrman breaks later. So it's even, he goes even later and like steams in. So, so yeah, I don't think he, I don't think Olly Beerman, I think Olly Behrman should have known better there. I do appreciate that Carlos Seitz has turned in as if Olly Beerman isn't there. But I also believe that most other drivers probably would have known when to quit in that situation because Carlos was, was ahead.

So, yeah, it's a contentious. I can see why some people maybe think it's Carlos's fault. And then, of course, that would reflect a much worse grade than this. But I believe that Carlos was unfortunate this weekend. Okay. I've written my comment on me and you are a hater. So my grade for Carlos Sines is a six out of ten. He had his part to play, I think, in this incident for sure.

And I've watched it back. And sometimes, you know, you can change your opinion. I'm not going to change my opinion. I still think Ollie Behrman was at fault, despite a lot of people thinking the other way around and that Carlos closed the door when he shouldn't have. If you look at the racing rules, which, yeah, we don't like, we don't like. But for the inside, which is technically the next corner,

where Olly Beerman is attempting to overtake, once having been overtaken, it's a grey area, isn't it? Who is the overtaking car right now? Is it Carlos or is it Oli? as we go to the next corner where Carlos is ahead. Like for me, my head is saying, that's Carlos is now the defending driver, and Ollie is now the attempting the overtake.

So, you know, for the inside corner, in the front axle, has to be alongside the mirror at the apex, and also to be controlled and within track limits. He's not that far alongside. And therefore, with the racing rules, if it is met, if, for example, you know,

you do get alongside the mirror of the defending car, then they have to leave space. Up until that point, they don't have to leave space. That is literally in the rule book. So Carlos probably has seen that and gone, well, it's up to Olly to not crash into me. I think Carlos definitely has, as I say,

a part to play where you go. He might, he could have thought, it's his very split second decisions. He could have gone, I'm just going to straight line this and just basically not that. But then I guess on the flip side of that, he is still attempting to finish an overtake

and probably thought, well, I have to make this corner. Otherwise, I might be asked to give the position back. It's, it's a confusing one. You know, I don't like the racing rules in the sense of you can just close the door if you are a certain amount ahead of a driver that is putting a nose in. But at the same time, I still put more responsibility on Olly Behrman there for not making, not causing contact. So I've gone for a six because, yeah, I still think there's a small part to play for Carlos.

It cost him points again. Like how many weekends have we spoken about where Carlos, has something's gone wrong, a lot out of his control. This one, I feel like there was a small amount that he could have tried to avoid the contact on literally a rookie of Olly Behrman. But it's still a six. It's not horrendous grade. But it is very much a what could have been once again for Carlos Science when he had shown, you know, some promise.

The fans gave him a six as well. Isaac Hadjar started the race from the pit lane and finished P-10. Hmm. This one, this one is a, this was a tasty one because Hadjar gained massively from the incident we just spoke about between signs and bearmen. It literally opened, opened the door for him to gain two positions. I've gone for a seven out of ten for Hadjar. I think it was, yeah, you know, obviously qualifying was poor he even said himself, he made a mistake, had a terrible Q1. But back to bounce back to P10 is a great result for him.

In a racing ball that I am still convinced is a very good car. So that's why I've not gone for an eight or nine despite, you know, there might be questions of Matt. But he went from the pit lane to P10. That's an unbelievable drive. Yes, it is a good one. Hence, I've given it a seven. So that's what I've done. I will go for an eight out of ten for Hadjar.

It's touch and go between a seven and eight for me. I just think that the racing bulls, I don't think, was suited to this track or particularly great. of course it's not a nine because he's qualified badly through his own doing anyway as well although I guess in his opinion

there was some mess with the Williams that he was of course very angry about in qualifying but yeah he's made his way through the field to get a point which I don't think should have been possible and I can't believe

what happened when he started from the pit lane so another good drive from Hadjar Yeah, I guess in my mind I've gone for a seven because I see it as very much a gaining of two positions through. Oh, it's close for sure in my opinion. That's a P-12 in my head without the signs and bearman instant. But hey-ho, you got a point. Well done.

Hajar. The fans gave him a seven as well. Liam Lawson started the race in 18th, finished 14th. I have gone for a five out of ten for Liam Lawson. It was kind of doomed after qualifying and unlike his teammate that he had a inferior strategy. the soft tire gamble didn't really work at all. And I do think I'm still adamant. He was quite unlucky with Sonoda personally.

So, yeah, I've gone for a five out of ten for Lawson. I think Sanoda didn't give him enough room and then he was told to let the place back. Well, Tommy, I'm going to whip out the racing rules once again. But I'll say my grade first. I've gone for a five out of ten as well for Lawson. but it was on him to not make the contact with Yuki Sonoda because if you could try to go around the outside, which is what he was doing,

it's the outside which then turns to the inside, obviously for the next part of the chican. His front axle has to be ahead at the apex and in control and within track limits. His front axle was not ahead of Yuki Sanoda's front axle and therefore by the rules Yuki is allowed to say, nice try, mate, but I don't need to give you space. So yeah, so that's where I sit on that one and as much as we might disagree with the

racing rules and I don't like, I don't like the fact that drivers can just be like, no, they can manipulate it a bit now, can they're all going a bit wise to it, I think. Oh yeah, for sure. Because the FIA literally got rid of the part where it's like you have to kind of keep an eye on your opponent in terms of the, you know, don't push them off the track. That's been removed for this year. So that's why this, it's, we've had obviously so many conversations about Max Verstappen and when he's dive-bombed into an apex and things like that. So it's still a five though, yeah, for Lawson. It's a shame because I genuinely thought he was on for a little,

maybe even a cheeky point at one point, my good surprise for this weekend, because he did go for the soft tire, which was the inferior strategy, but also we knew that from the get-go. That was a decision that was made by him and the team to try and make up from a disappointing qualifying, but he was just on those hard tires for far too long,

and wasn't able to pull it off. The fans gave him a five as well. Ollie Berman, started the race in 11th, finished 12th. I put Ollie Berman down more for this. You know, I said, I... It's tough, it's tough. Okay, I'm going to give Olly Berman. It's still a six out of ten.

It genuinely is. I was going to maybe give him lower for the incident, but he still finished 12th. He qualified ahead of his teammate, still beat his teammate, despite the cross. crash. I know Ockon was doing some wild strategy of praying for a safety car or red flag. But yeah, it was, it could have been so much better for Olly Beerman. And I don't want to go back to saying this after the great result he had last time out of it could have been better. He could have scored points. But I still, yeah, I still think Ollie had a little bit more of a part to play as we've already spoken about by not putting his nose into a, into a chican that is so difficult to overtake at as well. So it's still a six because it could have been an eight and that's where I stand. I've gone for a five out of ten for Olly Behrman.

Crazy. Yeah, crazy. One difference. Crazy slander. Five just feels so much worse. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, I do blame him for the incident. I think he should have backed out.

I think he had good speed again. He's been really, he's shown so much promise and had really good speed this year. But clumsy incidents. He's now on 10 penalty points as well as a rookie, which is quite insane to be. Two away from a ban. Two away from a ban at this point of the season. that's also another reason that I'm giving this grade because like in theory those penalty points

I meant to like kind of be a You're downgrading him for previous incidents Tommy No no no as in like He needed to back out of that move In my opinion and just know when it was kind of done And it's a risky move And I do blame him for it

So he's cost his team points there So I'm going for a five And then there's Rosberg who thinks we're completely wrong And thought Carlos should get a penalty which I cannot see in any world where you read the racing rules and go, how is that Carlott's penalty? Some people are convinced that it's science's fault. And yeah, but it's like you say, it's the racing rules.

Yes, and it's all lovely discussion. Really enjoyed it. Thank you so much, everybody, for getting involved. The fans gave Ollie Berman a six out of ten. Esteban Okon, started the race in 15th, finished 15th. I've gone for a four out of ten for Estabana O'Con. Slower than his rookie teammate, didn't look to have. have the pace of him. Of course, he tried the usual half strategy of praying for

trying something crazy, which I respect them for because why not? You know, you're going to finish even if you do the normal strategy, you're finishing like 13th or something. So why not try something crazy? They did, didn't work. Of course, he had the incident with stroll. One thing I want to ask about that, because we had this discussion yesterday about the incident with stroll. So if Sonoda doesn't need to give room to Lawson. Lawson, yeah. Did Okon not need to give room to stroll? Well, we're talking about the corner here as opposed to on the lead up to the corner.

I think that's probably where, you know, you can't just shove a person onto the grass before we get to the breaking zone. I'd need to watch it again. So is it the fact that Yuki, Lawson was still on the track, so that's why they gave it. Because, yeah, if you don't need to give them room, Stroll was never really going to make that pass, was it you say? Yeah, yeah, I mean, this is where it gets into the absolute depths of hell with these racing rules. Because he's absolutely no, Stroll is absolutely nowhere near alongside his mirror at this point. His front is by his rear. Yeah, you know, I'm watching it back right now.

and I'm actually more more I think stroll's gone into a gap that was never there and Ocon's got a penalty for it personally but hey there we go yeah this is a mess isn't it it's a mess these rules yeah I think that this is probably

the most questionable one from the stewards where like you would think it's more of a racing incident maybe for this one actually when you look back at it um yeah it's just it's just absolute carnage isn't it, these racing rules?

I just don't like it. Just everybody should be given room and we should have some lovely side-by-side action. Like how hard is that to put it into some rules? Yeah, exactly. Okay, for me, Estabana Ocon gets a four out of ten as well. Just a poor weekend, but it's interesting when you look back at the race.

He was two seconds behind Albon, or two and a half seconds behind Albon, past the halfway distance. And then you have Albon, of course, you know, finishing well up in the point, But Ocon, it just seems as though his tyres fell off pretty massively towards the end of that hard stint, and it just ruined any opportunity for him to score any points. So it's a shame because, yeah, as I say, he was with Albon, but it just fell off in that later stage of the first,

I was going to say the first stint, but the first stint, it was basically the entire race for O'Con. The fans gave O'Con a five. Franco Colopinto started the race in 17th, finished 17th. I have gone for, I've gone for five for Franco Colopinto, because he actually did all right this weekend. Alpine are in a championship of their own. They are Formula 2 or Formula 1.5, whatever you want to call it. They are like hats, aren't they in 2021?

Or was it where they're just on their own? Exactly. And Colopinto qualified well. He was, he finished ahead. Oh no, he was just behind. Sorry, Gassley at the end, wasn't he? He let him through, though. Yeah, they were swapping around, left, right and center, those two.

But Colopinto to be with Gasly, oh God, is it even more than that? Like the Alpins is a tractor. I'm giving him a six, actually, Franco Colopinto. You know what? No, I'm not going to give him a 10. And I'm going to give him a six because, look, we don't, we sometimes just look over potential great results, as we know from Alex Albon's interview and the fact that he once saw us give him a four

when he said he got the best result of his life. But yeah, I think Franco deserves a six because to be with your very experienced. experienced race winner teammate around this track. This track as well, yeah. Should be commended for someone with such little experience. So I've gone for a six. Thank you very much. Well done, Franco.

Interesting, because I was between a five and a six. Just one thing to throw into the mix even more about the fact that he's an experience. He also didn't do FP1 as well. So missed out on that running time. Still outqualified, Gazley. Yes, people will go, oh my God, he finished 17th. And how are you giving him a six? but Alpine are their own

like they're in their own race Colapinto let Gasly through at the end so you know without that bit of team play probably could have beaten him and yeah it needs to be applauded because you know all he can do really in the Alpine now is be comparable to his teammate and actually I think

he was the better driver than Gasly this weekend and we all know how good Gasly is around this track so yeah I think he deserves credit for that so I'll go for a six as well Okay, yeah, Franco gaining a bit of confidence it has to be said in the Alpine that is dreadful. So whether that will give me any points. Who knows? The fans gave him a four.

Not happy in the slightest with Franco's. Should have won the race in that Alpine really, is, do we? Yeah, yeah, definitely. Yeah, we get so much criticism. That one is a dreadful rating from you lot. Right, let's move to Pierre Gassley. Started the race from the pit lane, finished 16th. I've gone for a five, mainly, yeah, again.

Alpine, they're on their own, can't really do a lot. Of course, modified his car under Park Fermi after starting from the pit lane. But you do, you would expect Gasly to be comfortably ahead of Colapinto, based on the fact that Colapinto, yeah, like didn't do FP1, didn't, you know, is very inexperienced and has come in midseason in that car. And yeah, expected more from Ghazley, even though it's a, it's a tough fight. I mean, this is the thing with Alpine, right? Colapinto and Gasley might have won the race in the McLaren. You just don't know. Like, they might have had, as we mentioned in that Alex Albin chat and I think we said it to Carlos as well, you never know if they've had the greatest race of their life. But they're driving an Alpine

and it's terrible. So, yeah, it's a fight. And we just give some silly little numbers and we trigger people. We hope that we get somewhere close. For me, Pierre Gatsley gets a five out of ten as well. I agree with everything that you've said,

to be honest with you, Tommy. You expect a little bit more in the head-to-head team battle. Of course, Gatsley did start from the pit lane, but yeah, it's just not as,

not the difference between the two teammates aren't as big as perhaps I would have expected, considering Colopinto's struggles when he first started. So yeah, a five out of ten for Gassley, because they have become the, I don't really know how they've done team, because they are very slow.

The fans gave them a five as well. They agree. They don't know. Lance Stroll started the race in 16th, finished 18th. I have gone for a 4 out of 10 for Lance Stroll. Yes, it looks terrible that he's finished 18th. And I've still graded him, obviously, on the lower end of the scale. However, he did have a 16 second pit stop at the end, which I am going to highlight because he would not have finished behind the Alpines, perhaps not even finished behind Ocon or Lawson, maybe even finished ahead of Sonoda. We don't know. But he had a very long pit stop. So he would have obviously been miles behind Alonzo had Alonzo actually finished because Alonzo was doing goat things. So the Aston did have pace. But he doesn't deserve any lower than a four, in my opinion. yeah I'm going to go for a four as well I can tell I've convinced Tommy

no it's actually I was I was I'm in a rowing about a five to be honest because yeah I had the pit stop in mind but looking at looking at where he qualified is is really poor compared to his teammate so yeah it's got to be a four he obviously did his usual qualifying quite poorly and staying out hoping for the dream strategy that some sometimes pays off for him where he gets a lovely little P7 or a P8, but this time it didn't happen.

But the actual finishing position of 18th is more down to that slow pit stop at the end. He would have just finished without the points. Exactly. The fans gave Lance a three. Fernando Alonzo started the race in 8th, did not finish. I'm going to go for an 8 out of 10 of Fernando Alonzo. He was running with Bortoletto. I don't think the Aston should have been there this weekend. I don't think that car would suit Monza, which I know Lance Stroll has never been good at qualifying,

but they have been close occasionally in qualifying and things, even if Alonzo has, of course, whitewashed him this year in qualifying. But yeah, the fact that he was racing in the points and could have scored some really good points, as we've seen, like Bortoletto, delivered a great. result and Alonso is racing him. I know some people will jump on the fact that like he hit the curb weird, but like you don't expect your entire suspension to break for going on a curb. Like that, that is bad luck. I don't believe you can count that as a driver error. But of course I'd say that because it's Fernando Alonso. Yeah, of course you would. I've gone for seven out of ten

for Fernando Alonzo. It's a nod to the fact that yeah, he was in the points, but he only made it to half race distance. So I'm not going to absolutely expect the fact that he would have scored a huge amount of points. We don't know. And it is a small driver error. He's run wide. Wider than any driver does go there.

I agree that the suspension should not have just turned in on itself. But at the same time, yeah, a marginal one, which had big consequences for Alonzo. But up until that point, it was a really good weekend. And once again, his season is just. It's just a disaster, isn't it? Like, there is, there is some powers over him that are saying, no, Lance Stroll will beat you in the championship. He even said this. He didn't say this exact.

Is that power, Lawrence Stroll? That's what I'm saying right now. Well, it's car failure. He mentioned the fact that, you know, he was running P6 at Monaco and had the engine problem. Now he's had the suspension problem while running P7. He definitely should have more points on the board this year. Yeah, he should. But he doesn't.

But he doesn't. But he doesn't. Number one driver, Astermatin. Yeah, exactly. looking forward to being world champion in 2026. The fans gave Fernando a seven. Kimmy Antonelli started the race in sixth, finished ninth. I've gone for a six out of ten for Kimmy Antonelli this weekend.

Looked promising after qualifying to finish down in ninth. You know, he received a five second penalty for driving erratically, which dropped him behind Bortoletto. And just overall, you know, You got Russell up there in fifth having a lovely chill time and Antonelli is over 20 seconds behind, I think, at the end. So it's an okay weekend for Kimmy. It's a six. It's not anything dreadfully scored a couple of points.

But you know, you also think about the mistakes he made in practice. I don't think that's necessarily, he hasn't destroyed his car as such. But it's nowhere near the level of what we have seen from Kimmy, like in Canada this year. so that's why I've gone for a six. I've gone for a four for Kimmy Antonelli. I think it was a really poor weekend from him. He dropped behind at the start. He had, of course, another mistake in practice,

which piles all that pressure on. Then he actually had a good qualifying and then dropped back at the start with a poor start. then, you know, finishing behind... Tommy, I can hear the keyboards. Yeah, I can hear the keyboard. No, it's great.

I think... And this is coming from a Kimmy fan and wanting him to do well and said that he was going to beat George Russell this year. But he's been so underwhelming. And like this race was enough for, you know, Toto Wolf to basically come out and say, yeah, he's not delivering as we expected for the first time.

You shouldn't be being beaten by a Williams that started... 14th was it from Alburn and Asalba, a track that's not got a huge amount to it. It of course had the incident with Albin as well for driving erratically. Yeah, I just think it was a poor race from Antonelli, even though he's got points, you know, 30 seconds behind George Russell when he started next to him on the grid. I don't think is good enough. Was it 30? Yeah, I think so. Let's do a quick double check of the resurgence.

results here and go to Italy. You know what I'm like with numbers. And George Russell, 32 and 59 is 27. But if you take off the five second penalty, you finish 22 on track. But he got a five second penalty. Okay. All right. So you're adding, okay, I was. I normally tend to count five second penalties. Yeah. But we've already downgraded him for that. You can't then also say you finished 30 seconds behind his teammate when it was actually 22. Like, you know what I'm saying? But he did finish 30 seconds find his teammate because he got five second penalty, which is his own fault. Like, I think, yeah, I... You've absolutely decimated him. But fair enough. Okay, Kimmy Anton...

I say fair enough. I disagree. But that's good. I think that might be one of the only times we've had more than a one-point discrepancy in driver ratings, and I'm here for it. Keep it up. Who is the Kimmy stand now? I think I've just taken that crown. The fans gave Antonelli a six out of ten. George Russell, started the race in fifth, finish fifth. I've gone for an eight out of ten for George Russell. I think he did the kind of best he could in that kind of. In that kind of really, didn't have the pace of the Ferraris, the McLaren's and Max. So just more solid points on the board in what's been a good season for him. Very anonymous, really.

Yeah, it was an incredibly anonymous race, not much to really speak about. And he didn't change from his quality position. I've gone for an 8 out of 10 as well for George. A solid weekend in a Mercedes that, you know, he is questioning, right? He thinks it's such a strange season that Max could win by 20 seconds one week and then McLaren can dominate by nearly a minute at another track. It's a crazy season for us to watch

and it's mad to think that even the drivers and teams are questioning how on earth this is happening. But now it was a solid weekend from George. It's an eight out of ten. The fans gave him an eight as well. Yuki Sonoda started the race in ninth, finished 13th. I've gone for a three out of ten.

for Yuki Sonoda. Your teammates won the race. And on lap 53, I know he got some damage from the Lawson thing. He's saying it was massive damage. I failed to see where loads of parts fell off. But you have to take that there was some damage on the car. But your teammates won the race and you're fighting Liam Lawson for out of the points at the time that that happened.

Your teammate has won by 20 seconds in a Red Bull that clearly worked this weekend. how can I give him any higher than a three? I know he's got through to Q3, but he hasn't ended up in the points in the end. So, yeah, it's, I don't think he had any, I think he was fine in terms of that, that Sonoda Lawson incident, as we mentioned when we were doing Liam's grade.

But he's in a race-winning car. I know it's the second Red Bull seat, but you have to still factor that in. And yeah, it's tough to watch. I don't want to see Yuki down here, but it's a three out of ten. Yeah, I've gone for a three out of ten. as well for Yuki Sonoda.

Have to, yeah, whatever you say about that. Curse second seat, you have to grade him as we did with Sergio Perez had we did with, as we did with Lawson at the start of the season. And Maxa Stepans won the race by a massive margin and was basically maybe two or three laps away from lapping Yuki Sanoda, a complete disaster to not get even a single point during a race weekend where Maxis Stappens won the race. I don't know how you can give him a higher grade than that. The fans did.

They gave him a four. So still not the greatest of grades, though. Only one point difference. Let's go to Max Verstappen. Start of the racing first, finished first. I've gone for a 10 out of 10 for Max for Stappen. Shock. Easy 10.

It's funny because last week I thought he did incredibly well in Zambort to get P.T. two. And I think I even said, like, I can't give him a 10, even though no one can beat the McLaren's now, because you do think that, like, maybe by some miracle, Max could still do it. And then in the very next race, he beats them by 20 seconds. It was an amazing performance to, I think the most impressive thing for me is it's not even a win, and this is not to discredit his other couple of wins, but it's a win where he's actually managed to grab back that. the first place as well.

It's not been a case of like getting to the first corner first, and it's very difficult to overtake, like a Suzuki or whatever, and he stayed ahead and won the race, and it's mainly been kind of like won in qualifying. This, he qualified well, very well, very, very well, Paul. And, yeah, the way he kind of grabbed back the win after I thought it was kind of over for him and then just looked so dominant. It was such an impressive drive.

One of the best of the year for sure. Absolutely. I've gone for a nine out of ten. He lost a lead at the start. And, you know, poor from him. I'm kidding. It's of course a ten out of ten for Max Verstappen. Probably the best weekend in terms of just outperforming

any expectations coming into Monza. I know we knew McLaren were potentially going to be on, not the back foot as such, but there was going to be more competition. But we did not expect Max to win by 20 seconds. Toto Wolf coming out after the race saying that everybody basically needs to re-evaluate what they're doing.

It's only one driver out there did the job. So yeah, it's, I feel like we were back in sort of 2023. Max just absolutely untouchable out in front. His lap times, as I think I mentioned in the main race podcast, it was just mesmerizing to watch the consistency that he was putting in those times. despite the fact that he was forced to go really long, which is where, of course, the McLaren's would then come into their own a little bit more with their tireware or lack of tireware.

Max still held on beautifully and won by a massive margin. So, yeah, so 10 out of 10, the fans, unsurprisingly, gave him a 10 as well. Lewis Hamilton started the race from 10th after being penalised five places for the yellow flag infringement from the previous round. Finished 6th. I've been very is it a is it a it's going to be a seven out of ten for Lewis Hamilton it was a good performance he was making great moves at the start just what I'm then going to give that his teammate I can't give Lewis the same grade as him

shock because I'm a Charlotte Club fan no I'm joking like please please listen to my thoughts and opinions like seven's not a bad thing agree by any stretch of the imagination. It's a nod to the fact that he made some great moves at the start and put himself in a good position to kind of solidify P6, but that's about as far as he could get. So yeah, you know, qualified behind his teammate as well. So, yeah, it's a solid seven out of 10, but I'm not going to give him any higher. Yeah, I've gone for a seven as well for Lewis Hamilton. It is a high seven and spoiler alert, like I can't give him the same as Leclair. Even if you take that penalty into account, you know.

Yeah, because where do you take that into account? Do you take that from Zanford? Because it's unlucky. So I think even if you remove that penalty, he'd be, and he actually had good, good, good pace as well. And it's a real, it's a real, it's a real shame that you had that, that penalty. And I'm not taking that into account for this grade. Of course, he qualified six or a couple of places behind Lecler. And, yeah, he made, he made it through to P6, maybe if he'd got, I know it would have been a tough ass, but George Russell as well, maybe it would have been an eight, but yeah, it's a, it's a tough one. Yes, the fans gave him an eight out of ten.

Charles LeCler started the race and fourth, finished fourth. I've gone for an eight out of ten, as mentioned. It's got to be higher than Lewis Hamilton because, you know, he's outqualified him. and I do think that, and this is a reason that I can't give him a nine, is that maybe there was more from him in qualifying. I think he did make a little mistake on that last run, and you never know, I do think that he probably wouldn't have been able to beat the McLarence anyway with the pace of the Ferrari had, but you never know, like,

I do think, like, we've seen Charlercala pull out these miracle laps in qualifying before, and had he done that, maybe you could have started, started pole. but it was P4 and he just, you know, raced, race to P4. It's a good result based on Ferrari are, but it can't be any higher. But it has to be higher than his teammate. So that's my logic there. Yeah, and your logic, it matches up because I've gone for an eight out of ten as well for Shal LaClair.

Yeah, qualifying was where there was an opportunity to get in the mix at least to upset the rhythm of the McLaren's in second and third. Max is well gone. Max is gone. It doesn't matter if you qualified on pole. Max was coming through. But for the, yeah, the McLaren's, you know, Charles was not far away after the whole kerfuffle of Piastrian Norris and the pit stop. Well, he arguably caused that whole kerfuffle by being, yes.

Yeah, my guy, Charles, it's a 10 out of, I'm kidding. But yeah, it was a slightly better weekend than Hamilton. I think when you look at Lewis as well, because of the great overtakes he made, Hamilton was just behind Leclair from sort of what, the half-raced distance, if not earlier. So he had time to, stretch his legs. I'm looking at lap 29 right now and Hamilton's six seconds behind Lecler and yeah, Lecler just just had a slightly better weekend than Hamilton. So that's why I've gone for an eight, but no, I don't think any deserving of any higher. That curb, the first chican, still haunts me, still haunts me from qualifying and the way he bounced over it because

that was a poll. Maybe not. No, it wasn't poll. The fans gave Shal an eight as well. Oscar Piastri, started racing third, finished third. Oh, the McLaren I wondered about this one for a very long time. I've gone for an eight out of ten for Oscar Piastri. Just a marginally worse weekend than his teammate Lando. They missed out by a very small margin in qualifying. He was slower than Lando in the initial phase of the race, but then started to come back towards the latter part of that first stint.

But I think it's clearly so difficult around Monson. even though the first couple of laps felt like, oh, overtaking, we can actually do it now. Clearly not, because everybody was just separated by six seconds, it felt for ages. And then, you know, the whole shenanigans, nothing to do with Oscar, really. I'm not going to downgrade him for letting his teammate through or anything like that. That's not really where my grade is going to be affected. But, yeah, it's an eight. I've gone for an eight out of ten as well for Oscar Piastri.

Yeah, more often than not, I think this season, he's been the quicker McLaren driver. over the weekend but this one it wasn't the case he was yeah didn't have the pace of his teammate it was close again as it always is with the two of them but i think he was the slower mcclaren driver of course none of this kerfuffle that i'm still have exactly the same opinion on that it was ridiculous to do comes into effect and i've not downgraded him in any way for letting Lando through or anything that happened there. One thing I will say is

we mention LeClair being like the best wheel to wheel racer in F1 at the moment. Like Piastri is coming for that crown at the moment. That move on show. Was unbelievable. The first Lesmo.

And what's the insane thing that I thought about as well? It's probably not even his best move of the year because he did that amazing one on Hamilton in Australia. Australia, the chican in the wet as well. He is, his racecraft is unbelievable. But yeah, he just didn't have the pace of his teammate this weekend. So an eight.

The fans gave Oscar an eight as well. Lando Norris started the race in second, finish second. I've gone for a nine out of ten for Lando Norris. In my opinion, it has to be high than Piaastri. He was the quicker driver this weekend, just like last week. Piazari got a 10 from me and Lando got a nine. because Piastri was quicker, even though it was close. Same again this week.

I'm not taking into account any of the crazy situation with McLaren and all that kind of stuff that happened. But I was actually very impressed with Lando's star, and I'll be honest, I didn't know he maybe even had it in him to do something like that, because once he got pushed wide by Max and onto that grass, when obviously the grass came out with the nature of how Mons is this very wide patch of tarmac and then becomes the grass.

I thought, well, that's surely Curtin's for his chance because he got a really good start. So to still, you know, get off the brakes, make the turn and be able to make that move on Max. I was very impressed by that because that's what Lando needs to do if he really wants to, you know, challenge for this championship. So yeah, he had a good race. Can't, of course, be a 10 because McLaren are just so good. this year that you feel like they should be winning every race. But I personally believe that he deserves to get a higher grade than Oscar Piastri because he was quicker. This is where the one time, actually, about a hundred times in driver ratings I've wished for half grades. And this was kind of

the one where I was like, can I give an entire grade higher than Oscar when they have been very close? You've convinced me. I'll go for a nine out of ten for Lando and it's a very good point that you make Tommy about lap one, when he dipped his wheels on the grass, I'm thinking that's either going to be a crash if he tries to overtake Max because his tires have just been dirtied. That's not a word, but they were dirty. Or, you know, he's going to lose a position to Oscar or to Shal or whatever in that first chicane. But instead, it was perfectly judged in the sense of diving down the inside.

He stays on the track. Max has to bail out, racing rules, blah, blah, blah, whatever. But, no, but Landon did a great job and it was something that we have asked of him to do since, God knows when, since probably last year, at the start of last year when, or the middle of last year when McLaren were good. So yeah, it's a nine out of ten, yeah, for Lando.

I am still absolutely baffled, baffled to my core that he offered Piastri to pit first. Yeah, yeah, definitely. To save him from Chalekle. This is the one thing that I'm really struggling to get my head around of like you're battling your teammate for the world championship and you're trying to save him points. That was utterly bizarre to me. Some people say, oh, he's a good

teammate. They've won the constructors. They've won it. Please don't give Oscar good strategies when you're trying to beat him. And then obviously the whole thing kicked off anyway and Oscar got through and I guess it was fair after all of that. Yeah, I know. I'm still female. I I cannot believe, and I know this is rich coming from me because I've basically the whole time being like, everyone's entitled to their opinion for drive ratings. But I respectfully disagree that anyone can think that what McLaren did was the right thing because it just wasn't. They didn't need to have that situation. It was a complete mess. I'm still very annoyed about it.

I don't buy Oscar Piastri even coming out with a very PR-friendly answer of yes, it was fair, you know, of course, McLauram will want him to say that. And that's, that to me just screams that they want to keep the peace. And that's what the drivers are, you know, that's the way they're going to play this, this championship. But I still don't agree with it and don't like to see it. Yeah, I'm also wondering, like Oscar's chill nature about, of course, Oscar is chill anyway. But hypothetically, you put that situation where he's three points ahead of Lando in the championship rather than 30 odd that he was. Does he have the same reaction? action because I don't think so.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, if it switched the positions or, yeah, because that is the, I don't think any of this actually comes down to it. You know, we had the conversation about should Oscar have done it? And it is very 50-50 of like, should he do you, shouldn't he? I think it was just a case of him. I don't think it was him being particularly clever about it or anything. It was just him basically being like, yeah, okay, I'll do it.

But in a way, I do think that, yeah, like, had it been more, had it been later in the season. And one thing I think is quite interesting is a lot of people now feel, and some will argue he won't get this because it's Lando's team and there's a lot of talk about now favouritism of Lando, that he's essentially like bagged the fact that they owe him one and it's only for a very small amount of points. So when it comes to a race win between first and second, he can almost cash in that token for more points. Yeah. So there you go. Yeah, that's exactly what I was going to say is that it's only, it's a six point swing, but it's a much bigger swing when it's between first and second. But hey, that's what they were going to do anyway, Tommy. It doesn't

matter if it happens four times to the same driver. There are no tokens here. We are a fair team. But, and this is one thing I didn't mention, but I saw some people mentioning as well and have seen some people saying this online. What makes it even worse is this slow pit stop situation? What is a slow pit stop? So like in the next race is four. seconds a slow pit stop because normally it's two. So then does Landa have to move back two seconds? Like what is the deal with that? Like that's going to, yeah, this is why it's piled so much more pressure on McLaren, I think. Yeah, what are the terms and conditions? Is it the fact that one of the Jackmen have to, or like the wheel gunners have to be like, oh, it's not on? Because you look at

the replay, it's actually mad by the way that he just sits there. And then someone else has to tap him be like, the will nuts not on. What constitutes a bad pit stop? It's a can of worms that did not need to be open, but they have gone everywhere. Anyway, back to Lando's grade. The fans gave him an eight. Did not believe that he deserved a slightly more than Oscar this weekend.

Okay, and finally, who is our P1? Who does it go to? I wonder, let me think Max Verstappen. I think the only 10 that I gave today was Max Verstappen. So it has to be Max. fully deserving and challenge it back on? No, sadly not.

I wish it was. It has made me like, I think it is an outlier that result. Yeah, of course, P1 is max as well. My only 10 grade, it was one of those races where he showed why everyone, like most majority of people,

of course there'll always be haters, but people think he's the best in Formula on. And what an insane moment as well after the race that Toto said, one driver out there has made everyone else look stupid. I'm like, what does George Russell think if you're saying things like this? I know. George is out there going to have, yeah, I've done the Max swim. Because they still don't have a contract either, do they? And it's mad. It's mad. Absolutely wild. And the final thing I'm going to leave you with, which is what you sent me actually, Tommy, but I'm going to share it with everyone, which is essentially a championship back on scenario with Max Verstappen, where

So we have just come off the back of Monsra, of course. So what needs to happen from here on in is, of course, Max win every single race and sprint. So that would be one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, plus the two sprints that are left. Yeah, that's correct. Piastri would have to DNF in Baku and then have five seconds and two thirds.

I mean, that's doable. And then Norris, he can essentially finish on the podium. for almost all of them and it would not matter because Max Verstappen would win the championship on countback 444 points each Vestappen and Piastri

if that was to happen Tommy so are you telling me it's not championship back It's not going to happen one thing that did surprise me about that was how if you'd have told me that that's how he'd have had to do it you know if we were in a situation where

McLaren started the season good and they'd lost development like the Red Bull, I'd be a bit more like, oh, yeah, maybe. You never know you can never count out Max, but Red Bull aren't there. But it did surprise me how it wasn't a case of like McLaren need to DNF from almost every race. Like it's only really like one and finishing seconds and thirds, but it's not going to happen. I just found it a very fascinating table to look at. And I imagine if it happens in back here, they both crash into each other. Or one of the McLaren's crashes, then the other one's told to crash to make it fair.

Then, of course, Max gets the points. Yeah, Max could actually take advantage of this fair rule by McLaren. Wouldn't that be the funniest? I wouldn't put it past Max. If one of the McLaren's did crash or retire, he got a team radio from Max going, shouldn't the other McLaren know crash? I'll be leading soon. The other would be coming in.

Right, that's it. We poke fun. Of course we do. Thank you, everybody, for watching and listening to this driver ratings. course we have a week off before we go to Baku. Tommy, what are your final thoughts? Final thoughts? Shout out to Australia again for just being amazing. Adelaide tickets are now on sale and going very quickly, so grab them because you wanted them, that's for sure, based on the comments. You wanted them and now you've got them. Just to clarify, Australia. The

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Then please come and see us We'd love to have you at our show Right that is it Thank you soon Lots to love, take care Bye Bye Bye

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