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The first Formula 1 Grand Prix to be held at Mugello proved a hit with just about everyone, featuring thrills and spills galore. Unfortunately several drivers didn't have much of a chance to show their true form in the race, with a plethora of early retirements hitting this week's official F1i driver ratings...
Pierre Gasly (Retired, Lap 1): 6.5/10
From first to last in the space of just seven days: it's not often that the winner of a Grand Prix one week ends up being the first retirement in the next. But we're not going to use the phrase 'from hero to zero' when it comes to Pierre Gasly, because he didn't really do anything wrong on Sunday. He just had the misfortune to be in the wrong place when everything kicked off going into turn 2, and he was one of those caught out that ended up clashing with Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean before joining Max Verstappen in the gravel and out of the race. It's a shame because Gasly had been looking pretty decent in the practice sessions and consistently in the top eight, but the AlphaTauri lost out in qualifying and missed the cut at the end of Q1 which put him deep into dangerous waters for the start of the race itself.
Max Verstappen (Retired, Lap 1): 7.5/10
Max Verstappen continues to do everything he possibly can in the RB16, but fate refuses to cut him a break. He was in the top three throughout practice and qualifying, beaten only by one or other (or both) of the Mercedes drivers, and must have been reasonably confident of taking at least a podium to revive his title campaign following last week's DNF. The sight of the Red Bull mechanics working on the car in the minutes before the start of the race was a worry but apparently it was unconnected to what followed: the anti-stall kicked in on the way to the grid, and when Verstappen tried to pull away when the lights went out there was simply a dearth of drive from the power unit. He was passed by multiple cars into the first turn and then became a blockage on the narrow track, contributing to his getting hit from behind and thrown into the gravel. It's not like he would have been able to go much further anyway in the circumstances.
