Top 5 Drivers of the Italian Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton – 7/10

Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 team during qualifying for the Italian Formula One Grand Prix at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza in Monza, Italy. (Getty Images)

After a terrible Saturday that saw him getting eliminated in Q2, Lewis Hamilton started the race with prime tyres. But his Mercedes didn’t have the pace on hard tyres, probably due to high fuel loads, and he only went backwards during the opening 14 laps of the race before a slow puncture forced him to make an unscheduled stop. To make matters worse, he had problems with his team radio, which stopped working, and he was unable to communicate with the team.

Despite those troubles, Hamilton’s two strong stints on medium tyres coupled with some great overtaking moves helped him to return to points scoring position and finish the race in 9th place. However, if we compare his race with Sebastian Vettel’s drives from the back of the grid in Abu Dhabi and Brazil 2012, albeit in different conditions, Hamilton’s performance wasn’t as extraordinary.