Sergio Perez (P6, Fastest lap, 8 pts): 7.5/10
It wasn't the brightest of weekends for Sergio Perez, who never did seem to quite spark into life at Monza after finishing first practice down in P14. Things were much better in FP2 but he was still half a second off the pace of his Red Bull team mate Max Verstappen. He continued to make progress on Saturday - third in final practice, fourth in qualifying - but the gap to Verstappen was now up to nine tenths. A ten-place grid penalty for taking additional power unit elements then meant he dropped to 13th place for the start of the race on Sunday. Despite starting on a set of medium tyres, Perez was the first man to pit on lap 7 after flat-spotting his tyres at the start; then his brakes overheated and briefly caught fire as he left pit lane. Fortunately the air flow once he was back up to speed put the flames out, miraculously without having done any long term damage. After bumping along at the back for a spell, Perez was one of the few drivers to make the hard compound pay off over the next 35 laps and he continued on his way to climb up to fifth place before making an inevitable second stop which dropped him behind Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris. He had just used his fresh tyres to pass Norris when a late safety car neutralised the race and left him in a decent P6 at the chequered flag.
Lewis Hamilton (P5, 10 pts): 8/10
After throwing all the toys out of the Mercedes cockpit at the end of the Dutch Grand Prix, it was a more chilled and composed Lewis Hamilton at Monza this weekend. Perhaps he more relaxed because he knew that whatever happened he would be starting with a 'back of the grid' penalty which had in large part been his fault. It had arisen from his clash with Fernando Alonso at the start of the Belgian GP that had caused his car to flip into the air at Les Combes potentially compromising his power unit (still being analysed). Given that he had little to play for in Monza, P4 in first practice was a good start. Although he fell back over the subsequent sessions he was easily quick enough to make it through to the final round of qualifying and give his team mate a tow that helped the team pick up a front row starting spot. In the race, Hamilton suffered minor contact at the start and bided his time before picking up the pace and climbing to fifth on an initial 33-lap stint on mediums. Shortly after his pit stop he was in the position to pick off Pierre Gasly and Lando Norris in a single move on lap 36 putting him up to sixth. A late second pit stop for Sergio Perez promoted him one place higher, and the timing of the safety car helped Hamilton stay there when they crossed the line, having resisted being tempted into making any 'free' stops under the yellows.
