Monaco Grand Prix driver ratings

It wasn't just the famous casinos which made it an expensive return to Monaco for several Formula 1 teams, as drivers stepped over the limits defined by the unforgiving armco barriers. Those with unmarked machinery fared best come raceday, but only one driver earns a maximum score in our driver ratings

Alex Kalinauckas May 24, 2021, 11:07 AM

Max Verstappen – 9

Considering he'd just gone fastest in the first sector and was up on his previous best lap when Leclerc crashed, Verstappen was firmly in the hunt for pole. He missed it, and a maximum score here, for trailing after the first banker Q3 runs, which left him exposed. He got wheelspin at the start from new 'pole', but defended well and then controlled the race to whoever was following him.

Carlos Sainz – 8

Very close to getting one mark higher. Even though he insisted he could have got pole were it not for Leclerc's crash, he'd just slipped behind his teammate come Q1, having looked the faster Ferrari driver by a shade before then. That left him vulnerable to the Q3 circumstances that played out. Also grained his tyres after losing temperature and focus chasing Verstappen through traffic deep into the race.

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Author Alex Kalinauckas

Alex Kalinauckas is Autosport's Grand Prix Editor, covering every Formula 1 race since the start of 2020. After completing a master's degree in journalism at Goldsmiths College University of London in 2014, he worked for a range of motorsport and technology publications while covering national racing as an Autosport freelancer.

A lifelong motorsport fan - no one in his family can explain quite how or why such a development first occurred - Alex joined the Autosport staff in April 2017 as the magazine’s Assistant Editor covering Formula 2 and GP3, before being made Formula E correspondent and Autosport.com’s Plus Editor in March 2018. He lives in north-east London and is constantly frustrated by the Central Line.