Pierre Gasly (P8, 4 pts): 8/10
After struggling in recent races, AlphaTauri seemed to be boosted by being back on home ground with Monza not far away from the team's base in Faenza. It's also where Pierre Gasly scored his first Formula 1 win in 2020. That never looked like happening again this year, with Gasly only 14th at the end of Friday's sessions and slower than his team mate Yuki Tsunoda in final practice on Saturday. But he was much more on the money in qualifying, progressing to the final top ten pole shoot-out round that meant he benefitted from the grid penalties of the drivers ahead of him to take the start in fifth alongside Fernando Alonso. He had a solid first stint on the medium tyre, losing out only to the recovering Carlos Sainz, but his pit stop dropped him out of the top ten and lodged him behind Daniel Ricciardo for the next 25 laps. It was only when the McLaren suffered a late technical failure triggering a safety car that Gasly finally able to pop up to eighth for the finish. Gasly might have been hoping for better, but it was a good result, perfectly proficiently delivered for the team given where they are right now.
Lando Norris (P7, 6 pts): 8/10
Lando Norris used to look like the work experience boy who couldn't believe his luck, but he's older and wiser now, and knowing that he will be McLaren's team leader in 2023 has given him a sense of purpose and confidence that's paying off by the week. He was only 16th in FP1 but any concerns that he might be struggled were swept away in the second session when he flew to an impressive fourth place ahead of the likes of George Russell, Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez. He couldn't replicate that on Saturday, but getting through to the final top ten pole shoot-out in seventh meant he took the start of the race in P3 as a result of all the grid penalties flying around. Unfortunately any hopes of repeating last year's shock McLaren 1-2 sensation were firmly dashed when he suffered a clutch problem when the lights went out, costing him three places. He was also passed by Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso, but an impressive 35-lap stint on mediums meant he was back in the top four by the time he finally made his stop. Unfortunately he lost a lot of time in the pits and came out in the thick of traffic, losing out to both Lewis Hamilton and Pierre Gasly. Norris soon got his revenge on Gasly and regained two further positions - from Daniel Ricciardo's retirement, and when Sergio Perez pitted a second time - but the Red Bull's fresher tyres meant Perez retook the position just before the safety car, leaving Norris settling for a hard-fought seventh at the chequered flag.
