Fernando Alonso, Alpine, Monza, 2022

Rate the race: 2022 Italian Grand Prix

2022 Italian Grand Prix

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What did you think of today’s race? Share your verdict on the Italian Grand Prix.

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Rate the 2022 Italian Grand Prix out of 10

  • 10 (1%)
  • 9 (1%)
  • 8 (8%)
  • 7 (17%)
  • 6 (24%)
  • 5 (24%)
  • 4 (8%)
  • 3 (5%)
  • 2 (3%)
  • 1 (9%)

Total Voters: 173

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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94 comments on “Rate the race: 2022 Italian Grand Prix”

  1. 6 for me. Slightly above average. Disappointing end. Great for De Vries. Latifi is done

    1. Yeah, the only question will they drop Latifi immediately?

      1. Latifi sure does suck (relatively speaking).
        Albon vs De Vries for rest of year would be awesome.

        1. What do you mean Latifi sucks? F1 are perfectly fine with Latifi but can’t allow Herta. F1 sucks

    2. The…disappointing ending does it for me, race might have ended much the same but that is not the point. At least Abu Dhabi was the right call done poorly.
      Come back Masi I forgive you.

      1. I wouldn’t have fired masi over abu dhabi, he had other questionable calls before that but still seemed excessive, in any case at least the race in abu dhabi restarted, here it didn’t, so agree.

  2. Okay race & about what I expected for Monza.

  3. 3/10. What a damp squib. Good job De Vries for scoring points on his debut.

    What should be done is that if there’s an incident in the last 10% or so of the race that requires a safety car normally, automatic red flag and standing start.

    1. Agree.

      If a footballer goes down injured in the 85th minute and is still on the pitch 5 minutes later, they don’t blow the whistle and call time. The amount of time the game was stopped is added and the match continues.

      Why not take a similar approach with F1, or at least red-flag any race that has 5 or fewer laps to go and then start from the grid?

      And for those that say it might affect the outcome of the race… well so does the ability to pit under a SC/VSC if you just happen to be in the right place at the right time.

      1. And how would you fuel the cars for races of indeterminate length?

        1. If they red flag then it’s not ‘of indeterminate length’.

      2. They don’t reset the score to 0-0 either!
        In tennis, cricket or golf, if rain stops play they don’t do it either. But in F1 if there is a crash, safety car to set the score back to 0-0!

        1. Currently, if you’re lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time, then you can get a free pitstop under a SC/VSC. Hardly fair, and very much in the mould of resetting the score to 0-0.

          Replace SC/VSC with double-waved yellows where appropriate, and a red flag if more severe. Do not allow teams to change tires whilst they’re waiting in the pits. Recommence the race from the starting grid, based on the drivers’ positions at the point the red flag was implemented.

  4. 6. An interested start, with different strategies and Sainz pushing as well as Verstappen but ultimately it faded out and the safety car ending was obviously disappointing even if it was probably the fairest end.

    1. @glynh, as often Monza tends to not be a great race; I gave it a 6 too for similar reasons as you. The midfield again was tight leading to some interesting racing, and a bit of excitement from those getting through from behind, some faster than others too. Not super, but decent enough.

    2. Yeah, it was a pretty decent race with some good stuff at the start, a few interesting battles going on for most of it too, but the end was a bit of a loss of energy as it confirmed what would have probably been the result anyway but without any attempt at drama.

  5. 2
    What a garbage ending. Could have been a much higher score if they were given the opportunity to race.

    1. It’s a tough one. If the red flag was called immediately and the McLaren was cleared quickly, it would have been a bit silly as there wasn’t really any danger. I personally think a red should have been thrown as soon as they knew mechanical assistance was needed. I absolutely hate seeing the train of cars going past recovery vehicles even behind the safety car. It just seems like such an unnecessary risk.

      1. Why not just double yellow flags. I mean the drivers drove past Ricardo’s car at least once if not twice under yellows and managed not to crash into it. They knew exactly where the hazard was.
        Leave the car where it is and let them keep racing without silly sc or vsc. Use yellows.

        1. Why not just double yellow flags.

          Proper use of double yellows would indeed have worked just fine, but F1 is too afraid to use them. Both because they want to avoid getting into a situation where they are held responsible for not removing an obstacle from the race track, and also because they are too afraid of the teams to penalise a driver who speeds under double yellows with anything more than a meaningless reprimand.

          1. Perhaps, like me, Michael, you watched F1 before they introduced SC’s in the early 2000’s and at that time a car like Dr’s today would have been left. Sadly since JB’s awful crash, I agree the fear of litigation dominates everything.

          2. The world has moved on from leaving broken cars on the side of a green track , Dave.
            It doesn’t really matter that there were hardly any incidents in F1 that came about from doing so – it’s simply not worth the risk of extra financial cost or potential for injury.
            (Yes, I have been watching that long, and I’ve also seen plenty of incidents in other series due to cars left on the side of the track that became much more expensive and dangerous as a result.)

      2. There were two laps between the marshals assessing the car (and finding out it could be pushed) and the SC being called.
        That’s plenty of time to make a proper decision.
        And then the SC picks up the wrong car, drives way too fast to bunch up the pack and totally ruins what could have been an interesting and exciting finish.

        I totally agree that with assistance vehicles required, there should have been an immediate red flag.

        1. Could not be pushed….

        2. Why move the stranded car at all in this circumstance? It is well off racing line. Parked on the inside. Double yellows for the final few laps. These are the best drivers in the world. As long as they are not racing past the stranded car, they do have the skills to avoid it.

          1. And it would only have taken one car to put a wheel in the gravel at Lesmo 1 to spear across to the inside and hit Ricciardo’s stationary car.
            Completely unnecessary risk.

            Have you seen how F1 drivers react to double yellows?

          2. S, “the world has moved on” indeed, in many ways. Not all new ideas are actually good ideas though. I disagree the current situation is progress.
            You do make an interesting point re the drivers. I agree
            the problem (in part) is how F1 drivers react to double yellows. Of course that can be fixed by enforcement of punitive penalties.

          3. S. Also even if a driver had spun as you outline, they would have crashed at relatively low speed into Drs car. Expensive to repair, yes, highly dangerous, I don’t think so.

  6. So this is how the last season should have ended?
    GARBAGE

    1. Yes like this.

  7. 4. Another race another safety car that spoiled the show.
    Max deserving winner so at least didn’t influence the fair result this time.

  8. Wow they ended the race under safety car…. Interesting…. Goodish race.

    1. There are at least two exits in the barrier between the Lesmos. Ricciardo parked his car in a very awkward spot.

      Vettel handled that much better earlier on in the race.

  9. Thank goodness that didn’t end with a red flag, it would have been horribly unfair. Race Control made exactly the right decision and I praise them for that. If we had rolling starts after red flags it would at least limit their effect, but the standing starts at the end make such an enormous difference to the race that it would have been wrong to have one for that, as was the case in Baku last season.

    1. Thank goodness that didn’t end with a red flag, it would have been horribly unfair.

      Completely disagree.
      Racing for position is not unfair at all.

      Seriously, why bother racing at all if that’s how you feel?
      Standing starts are part of racing too. Perhaps the most difficult part.

      1. Racing for position is not unfair at all.

        Red flagged races are effectively new races. Especially towards they end, they are not a ‘Grand’ Prix but shorter than even a theme park karting race. While the deployment of the safety car was once again badly timed, and poorly handled as it utterly failed to pick up the leaders in a timely fashion – it was absolutely correct not to ‘reset’ the race. It was bad enough at Indianapolis earlier this year; best not to adopt that dubious practise in F1.

        1. it was absolutely correct not to ‘reset’ the race.

          I disagree 100%.
          This is a motor race – there should be racing whenever it is possible.

          It was still within the race distance – it would not have been a new race. What a silly attitude.

          1. Yeah it’s a motor race, not an action movie. Sometimes the end isn’t as exciting as you’d hoped. I appreciate for the Netflix generation of fans, this isn’t ideal but some of us still care about the “sport” part of motorsport.

          2. Perhaps that’s why more people watch movies than F1…. @petebaldwin

            I care about the sport part too – that’s why I wanted to see it finish under competitive conditions.
            There no sport in trundling around in a fixed order at a reduced speed.

            And I’m not part of the ‘Netflix generation.’

        2. Got to agree with Michael here. Red flags and sc are unfair. If we look at this race why should Max’s lead be nullified? That would have been unfair, he earned it fair and square.
          If the SC had come slightly earlier (which it should have) he would have been ahead of Lec with Lec on new softs and him on old meds.
          Of course the same goes for Abu Dhabi last year when the boot was on the other foot.

    2. I agree. I don’t quite get all the blowback on this late safety car. Throwing a red flag for that just feels too contrived. If a sc comes out near the end, that’s just the way it is some times. If you’re going to replace safety cars with red flags, fine. Just red flag any incident worthy of an sc at any point in the race. Might be there for a while though!

  10. Watch last 5 laps of V8 supercars race from this morning to see a great finish.

  11. Again a 4/10…

    Sadly those 3 back 2 back races were quite promising on paper, but never delivered their hype(all the penalties contributed as well).

  12. Well done to stewards today!

  13. Monza races are always rather dull, but there was such a big pace difference between the top three teams that even strategically it didn’t really lead to any tension in the race. Cars either get stuck in a train (Gasly, Zhou, De Vries), or breeze past (Hamilton, Pérez, Sainz) with nobody bothering to even try to defend.

    Honda’s decision to pull their name off the best package in F1 continues to be dumbfounding. What a bunch of terrible business decisions these guys have made over the years in F1.

    Fair play to De Vries for keeping it together and scoring points – plural! – on his debut for Williams. And a small nod to Latifi for showing more close racing spatial awareness than many a race winner.

    1. Honda’s decision to pull their name off the best package in F1 continues to be dumbfounding. What a bunch of terrible business decisions these guys have made over the years in F1.

      You do realise just how much money it costs them to put that name there, don’t you? And the way that looks in Japanese culture?
      Regardless, everyone knows those engines are still Honda’s. They still get the glory.

      1. Every manufacturer thinks they get more out of F1 than it costs them to participate. If Honda can’t make that cost/benefit work now it’s because they’ve handed all the cards to Red Bull. That they will keep making, servicing and supporting these engines for years to come while Red Bull cheekily names them ‘Red Bull’ is one of the biggest marketing failures in recent F1 history.

        1. Red Bull are paying Honda for them now – that’s quite a different situation.

          Even worse for Honda would be wasting their customers’ money, as that would cripple the entire organisation in Japan. Public perception is a thing.

  14. Max winning races is starting to feel a bit inevitable like Schumacher 04 or Vettel 13. I certainly wouldn’t have predicted that after the Australian GP… No major errors by Ferrari this time. The Red Bull-Verstappen combo is just seemingly unbeatable at the moment. Gave the race a 6. I think the strength of the DRS was about right here. It gave drivers a chance of overtaking without making it too easy.

    1. Ah, interesting point on the DRS (also about comparison of VER), it wasn’t impossible but neither a breeze so I’d agree with that @tommy-c, yeah, Monza like Zandvoort isn’t a great track under such circumstances for a tense race, but it was entertaining enough I’d say.

    2. No major errors by Ferrari this time.

      What about Leclerc’s first stop onto Mediums?
      This forced them into a 2-stop race, which is next to impossible at Monza.

    3. Wasn’t it Verstappen himself that complained in previous years how boring it was for the same person in a dominant car to win all the time…

  15. Disappointing ending. Overreacting to the mess that happened in AD it felt like.

    1. Was done the way it should. Fair and square even if i dnt support max.

      1. Doesn’t matter who you support. You should be supporting racing, regardless of who wins.

        I totally agree with Postreader.
        They should have finished the race under competitive conditions.

  16. Honestly they should apply some common sense to these incidents that happen towards the end of the race…if they can tell it’s going to take a while to sort out, just red flag immediately so they can finish under racing conditions, not just do a parade for the last 5 laps. And yes, I think that’s also what they should’ve done in Abu Dhabi last year. Red flag it straight away and do a standing start restart for the last few laps.

  17. It’s a 7/10 from me. Very happy for Nick De Vries, I hope he gets the Williams drive next season. Good to see George get another podium. There is no stopping Max, it seems. And finally, shame the race ended under yellow flags.

    1. *Safety car.

  18. Hearing David Croft and Chandhok complaining about how the race would’ve been more exciting if it was red flagged and restarted with a standing start really highlights how much this sport has lost its sporting ways and has turned into a showy spectacle.

    With things like Drive to Survive turning F1 into a Hollywood movie, bringing new “fans” on board who just want to see drama is so depressing. I only started watching F1 in 2010, so I’m relatively new, but even I remember back then how it was just one of those things you’d accept if a race ended behind the safety car. The best race I’ve ever seen, Brazil 2012, ended behind the safety car.

    All this nonsense with red flags, safety cars, standing restarts really devalues this sport. This is not the F1 I fell in love with when I was a child. I’m optimistic it will improve, but I can’t see it any time soon.

    As for the race itself, mediocre, 5/10

    1. I agree. I don’t like races to end behind the SC, but it’s just a part of things. I have seen races end behind the SC multiple times before.

      I hate Chandhok actually preferring drama over retaining sports standards.

      1. Not drama. Racing.

        Massive difference.

        1. Races finishing under Safety Cars are part and parcel of racing. We shouldn’t be using safety mechanisms to artificially boost The Spectacle™.

          1. Not true.

            Sports develop over the years as they react to events and also the demands of fans.

    2. @smartez Completely agree with everything you said.

    3. I’m entirely with you @smartez, @spafrancorchamps and @stefmeister, for me a it’s interesting if it happens organically, but if it needs a restart in the last few laps ‘to make it interesting’ that’s the sort of things I hate to see in movies as being contrives and even more in sports S; nascar went along that road and it didn’t save them, and the frequent resets during quite long races (esp. the ovals) in indycar also make me less interested to follow those. It kills suspense from being able to follow it that happens too much; might as well roll a die and space me any investment in what had been happening so far.

      Different strokes perhaps, but if F1 strongly goes that way, I start to lose the drive to closely follow the whole season, every race.

      1. You mention NASCAR, but then they race on ovals which are a completely different type of environment with different needs.

        If you don’t like it, don’t watch it.
        I like racing. I like starts. I like difficulty and challenges. I want to see racing, not SC finishes.

        1. As you said, “ If you don’t like it, don’t watch it.” I can’t recall too many positive comments from yourself about F1…..

          1. That’s because they keep stuffing things up like the finish of yesterday’s GP.

            So much potential for F1 to be amazing, but way too many opportunities wasted.

  19. 5/10. I can’t rate a race that finishes behind the safetycar any higher than that.

    With a proper finish it would likely had been a 7/10. Very procedural race, with Max being way too dominant at this stage of the season. Nice fight between Ricciardo and Gasly. Very strong performance from De Vries.

  20. I glad they didn’t throw a red flag at the end, I hate it when Indycar do that & I hated it when F1 did that last year in Baku.

    A race ending behind the SC or even ending early with a red flag as has happened before isn’t ideal but it’s just the way it goes sometimes & from a sporting perspective I would much rather prefer that than turning a 53 lap race into more of a lottery with a standing restart & 3-4 lap or less shootout. Especially on a track like this where accidents in the first corners on starts is quite common.

  21. Not bothered about the end much but a pretty average race

  22. To all the: ‘they should have red flagged it’ -commenters: they can’t just throw a red flag

    1. They certainly could.
      Putting support vehicles on the track with track workers is absolutely a justifiable reason for going red.

      1. That’s why they have safety cars instead

      2. Putting support vehicles on the track with track workers is absolutely a justifiable reason for going red.

        Not when it’s perfectly safe to do so under a SC or VSC.

        A red flag only needs to be called if the track is blocked, If there is enough debris that can’t be easily/quickly picked up under a SC or if there is damage to the barriers.

        Throwing a red flag just to get a standing restart/3-4 lap shootout in purely for ‘the show’ isn’t a valid reason. F1 is supposed to be a sport & the sport should always be put above the show imo.

        The show been put above the sport will only lead to more messes like Abu Dhabi last year.

        1. Race Director’s discretion… He can call Yellow, VSC, SC or Red.

          Assuming competitive racing is defined as ‘show’ – more show please.
          I don’t care if it lasts 1 lap, 3/4 laps or 20 laps – racing is racing, and that’s what most people watch racing for.

          1. Oh, and more ‘mess’ too, please.
            Entertain me, F1. That’s what I’m paying for – motorsports entertainment.

          2. Sounds like you want a Motorsports equivalent to wwe

      3. Why not red flag all the SC or VSC situations then? I mean every lap behind SC means one less lap of “racing”. You’d get lots of short sprints, drivers gambling on stoppages and not changing tires at all… Don’t need to visit casinos at all!
        Not much to do with strategies though or any long term planning, just rolling the dices.. And teams with lot of drivers (RB/AT) get more rolls!

  23. I’m not sure why the safety car was speeding round for a couple of laps rather than slowing down waving people past to wait for the leader. It was bizarre. Ultimately it was a fair result apart from McLaren pitting Norris out of 6th place… A lot of points lost for McLaren today. If it wasn’t for the slow stop earlier he could have stayed ahead of Hamilton too…

  24. How is this season still better than 2014-16? During that years you at least had two capable drivers in dominating machine pushing each other to limits. When one made a mistake, the other was there to capitalize on it.

    For at least entire middle of this season, Verstappen & Red Bull is under no pressure from any other driver or a team. He wins races irregardless where he starts and just blasts past the competition. Today, Verstappen would have won with whatever strategy Ferrari would pull on him. This season´s end can´t come close enough.

    1. I didn’t mind 2014-16 – at least there was some excitement. The 2nd half of this season is turning into something more like 2017-2020 where winning is far too easy.

  25. I’d give it a 6 – some interesting strategy calls kept it enjoyable. Shame about the end and fact that most decided to not bother racing (Sainz came from the back of the grid to the front without anyone even attempting to race him!)

    I did minus a point for the endings but I added a point back on hearing how salty David Croft was about it. Chandhok telling him that “eventually, people should probably move on from things that happened in the past” in an attempt to keep the broadcast vaguely professional was a highlight.

  26. Big chances VER would have won no matter the strategy deployed by Ferrari/LEC but…. in hindsight, I think there were few chances LEC could have won. Gaining 5-10sec under that VSC ”threw” LEC on a 2-stopper, which wasn’t the way to go…. especially when you don’t have the fastest car in race trim. His last stint on SS didn’t work almost at all, he started to gain some time on VER (Mediums), RUS (Hards), SAI (Hards) only after 4-5 laps. Even then, not even close to the times he needed to catch VER. LEC should have done what VER did and hope to keep it ahead of him after they both pitted and keep that ~2sec gap ’til the end. Probably impossible, but……

    1. @mg1982 I think the problem with the VSC and the decision they made to take the tyres was if Verstappen took that chance and switched to a 2 stop with the time saving and Leclerc didn’t, the race was almost certainly over. Taking the tyres at that point gave them an opportunity for later in the race if we hit a safety car for example or another VSC to get the second cheap stop. I do think Ferrari were a little unlucky that the green flag ended while they were still in the pit lane which reduced the time they saved on the pitstop too which is just down to luck really.

      Red Bull being second at the VSC also meant they could just box opposite to Leclerc and having the faster car they’d have been happy with either strategy. Ultimately Verstappen’s car is just so much faster than everyone else’s at the moment that there was probably little chance of a win other than through a twist of fate (VSC or SC for cheap 2nd stop). Even then I think they would have needed a on track pass which was unlikely given the RB straight line performance.

  27. Horrible. This gets a 1. Should be 0.
    It took almost a whole lap to throw a VSC, then a lap almost for SC. Why does it take them so long to react to this stuff. A car stops, matshalls have to enter the track… automatic VSC. Then make the call for Full SC. There was never any excitement in this Race. Yes the fast cars moved up through the field. The rest was DRS Train garbage.

  28. Boring. My rate: 5.

  29. After two previous surprise results at Monza, it was business as usual in 2022 with fastest raceday car and driver winning on Sunday. There were some phases which looked interesting – Sainz making way through the field, De Vries holding onto points and some clearly disappointing – lack of Mercedes pace, lack of Ferrari pace on the softs in last stint, Ricciardo and Alonso retirement. I am not sure about the early call for medium from Ferrari, given how long the softs lasted on both Red Bull and Mercedes.

  30. 2. Ridiculous race direction, predictable outcome.

  31. 5/10 for me. Was not that exciting a race as, as it developed there were quite large gaps between the leading drivers. There were one or two interesting battles but not really exciting. Then there was the safety car fiasco to put the cherry on top.

    Good drives by de Vries and Sainz.

  32. Gave it 8, kinda liked it, but really didn’t like the SC ending, so that should’ve probably been a 7, also cause ferrari wasn’t really in a position to challenge verstappen with today’s car.

  33. Current Monza track layout already stinks, this ending was just the cherry on top.
    Though, it is fair to say stuff like this happens, it is part of the sport.
    2/10

  34. I gave it a 5. Although it was disappointing we didn’t get a green flag finish it really didn’t change the score much and at best I’d have awarded maybe a extra point if we’d got a close finish. There was some nice overtakes but also a lot of DRS trains. I’m not a driver obviously but it feels like the track has little to offer in it’s current configuration in terms of challenge and the top speed spectacle isn’t really wowing now we have other faster tracks. The Tifosi are of course an impressive crowd but I think they deserve a better circuit/layout for their race.

    I suspect the lack of any challenge for the win will mean a lot of the second half of the year races will rate worse than the early races this year. It’s a shame really but that’s sometimes how the cookie crumbles in F1.

  35. Really don’t know how to rate this race. Wasn’t a bad race but so predictable. Max won the race and the top 6 is the usual suspects despite the grid penalty’s. Its clear that the midfield is not fighting the top3 cars because it will ruin their race but not fighting ruins my race. It would have been fun to see some midfielder hard defense against a Ferrari, MB or RB so I would really appreciate the heroic fight for points or podium from the back of the grid. Max would have won the race anyway but that first lap looked like there where only back markers with blue flags. I have seen much worst races so overall maybe 6 or 7

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