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The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix was the first sprint event of the 2022 Formula 1 season, and as such the extra race was always going to make it difficult for drivers to earn full marks in Edd Straw’s ratings.
That’s not to say there were no standout performances, though, with two drivers falling just a half-mark shy of the maximum, while at the other end of the scale two drivers yet to score points in 2022 endured another difficult weekend.
After each grand prix, The Race will rate each driver’s weekend with a mark out of 10.
An average mark is 5 out of 10, so that score is indicative of a decent drive given the high standard of drivers in F1.
For a more in-depth explanation, read our outline of the system.
Started: 1st Finished: 1st
Qualifying
Slower than Leclerc in Q1, quicker in Q2 and initially slower in Q3. But the battle for pole position was decided in his favour thanks to Verstappen completing back-to-back push laps and a judicious reaction to the yellow flag caused by Bottas, before the session was stopped.
Sprint
Wheelspin off the line then a slow shift ensured Leclerc jumped him easily at the start. But Verstappen managed the race well, making excellent use of his grip advantage in the second half of the race to close on Leclerc and make a decisive move for the lead on the penultimate lap.
Race
Comfortably held the lead at the start given Leclerc’s poor getaway and thereafter had a straightforward race. Didn’t put a foot wrong and took his second victory of the season.
Verdict: Completely in control, although the race situation never required him to go to extremes – hence no perfect 10.
Started: 3rd Finished: 2nd
Qualifying
A combination of ill-timed red flags and his own off-track excursions added up to a messy Q3 for Perez. The 1.8s deficit to Verstappen exaggerated the gap, but he never looked likely to get close to his team-mate’s pace.
Sprint
Made the most of the opportunity presented by the sprint race to recover from his disappointing qualifying by finishing third. He jumped Alonso at the start then passed Ricciardo through the exit of Tamburello on the first lap to run fifth, before picking off Magnussen and later Norris using the DRS to slot into third on lap 11.
Race
Capitalised on the better grip on the odd-numbered side of the grid to get ahead of Leclerc into second at the start. And save for the brief moment Leclerc was ahead of him during the pitstops to switch to slicks having stopped a lap after, Perez held that position throughout with the only scare a brief off at Variante Alta on lap 29 that allowed Leclerc to get close again.
Verdict: Disappointing qualifying, which hurts his rating, but recovered to do the job Red Bull employs him for well.
Started: 14th Finished: 13th
Qualifying
The Mercedes tyre warm-up troubles made qualifying difficult, especially with so many stoppages. Having scraped through to Q2 by 0.004s, Hamilton fell in Q2 thanks to having to rely on a tyre temperature prep lap prior to the red flag given the rain that then set in.
Sprint
Hamilton held 13th at the start, but was passed by Tsunoda through Villeneuve and hung out to dry at the exit, allowing Stroll to pass him too. That left Hamilton 15th, and he could only repass Stroll after spending the rest of the race parked in the DRS train.
Race
Hamilton was unable to break free of the second half of the midfield, with a wall of cars in the way at the start. That was compounded by Gasly and Albon, who stopped for slicks a lap earlier, passing him on his out-lap after he was briefly impeded by Ocon’s unsafe release. Hamilton spent the rest of the race in 14th staring at Gasly’s rear wing and unable to pass, moving up to 13th at the flag when Ocon’s time penalty kicked in.
Verdict: Unfortunate in Q2, but subsequently unable to break out of the midfield mire – although rating still lands on the average as the final gap to Russell was in a big part down to circumstances.
Started: 11th Finished: 4th
Qualifying
Like his team-mate, Russell failed to make it out of Q2 having not had the chance to set a proper push lap in that session prior to Sainz’s crash, with the red flag preventing what should have been the proper qualifying lap before later rain.
Sprint
Initially held 11th place, but was passed by Schumacher coming through Tamburello. Having sat behind Schumacher for more than half of the race, Russell reclaimed 11th with a DRS pass on Vettel late on.
Race
Jumped Schumacher and Alonso off the line, then gained three more places when Sainz and Ricciardo collided and held up Bottas. He then dispatched Magnussen into Variante Alta later in the first stint to take fifth. That became fourth when Leclerc had his spin, with Russell holding off Bottas in the closing stages.
Verdict: While circumstances exaggerated the gap to Hamilton, Russell gets extra credit for opportunism.
Started: 2nd Finished: 6th
Qualifying
Leclerc was favourite for pole position, but having initially been ahead of Verstappen in Q3 the timing of the red flag meant he ended up second. Having set a personal best first sector on the lap after the time that stood as his best, he backed off but the red flag meant the next lap never came.
Sprint
Leclerc’s good start, combined with Verstappen’s bad one, allowed Leclerc to jump into the lead at the start. But he took a little too much out of his soft Pirellis pushing to get out of DRS range, making him vulnerable later in the race. He lost the lead to Verstappen’s DRS-assisted pass, completed into Tamburello, on the penultimate lap.
Race
Leclerc bogged down then suffered from wheelspin at the start and slipped to fourth. It took until lap eight to pass Norris with a decisive move into Tamburello, by which time he’d lost ground to the top two.
He couldn’t stay ahead of Perez after emerging from his first stop a lap after the Red Bull driver just ahead and later spun at Variante Alta while trying to close to within DRS range of the Red Bull after his second stop. Recovered to sixth after a visit to the pits for a new front wing.
Verdict
Quick, but that late-race spin was the kind of unforced error he needs to cut out now he’s in a title fight and his rating plunges as a result.
Started: 4th Finished: DNF
Qualifying
Spun into the barrier at Rivazza 2 while on what he described as a “banker lap” during Q2 when he was “surprised by a snap” after turning in. He’d already done a lap good enough for Q3, but couldn’t run.
Sprint
Sainz jumped slow-starting Bottas off the line then got round Vettel into Tamburello. That put him eighth, but he showed patience from there and picked off Alonso, Ricciardo, Magnussen then Norris to recover to fourth and ensure he started the grand prix in the leading group.
Race
Sainz ended up buried in the gravel for the second race in a row, but this time he was unfortunate after being tagged by the apologetic Ricciardo at Tamburello on the first lap.
Verdict: Unlucky on Sunday, but despite his sprint-race recovery the Q2 crash counts heavily against him.
Started: 6th Finished: 18th
Qualifying
Took a slightly more conservative approach than Norris into qualifying and ended up six tenths slower. But kept it clean and always ensured he posted a decent time when it mattered.
Sprint
Held sixth at the start before picking off Magnussen with a DRS pass on lap 11. But the recovering Sainz was closing, taking the position on lap 14. That left Ricciardo to come home sixth, three seconds behind Norris.
Race
Tried to give Sainz space at Tamburello having opted to contest the corner with the Ferrari driver, but tagged him after a slight wobble after sliding on the inside kerb. He couldn’t recover from there despite suggesting a lap-two pitstop for hotter intermediates for the restart, with two further pitstops – including being the first to take slicks – ensuring he finished last.
Verdict: Once again, not at Norris’s level but lost a decent result to the mistake in battle with Sainz, so dips below the average.
Started: 5th Finished: 3rd
Qualifying
Caused the final red flag in Q3 after spinning when he touched a white line at Acque Minerale, but by that time he had posted the third-fastest time meaning his off helped to ensure nobody could get ahead of him.
Sprint
Held onto third early on, but was inevitably shuffled back to fifth by Perez and Sainz. But the pace of the McLaren made fifth in the sprint the best-possible result.
Race
Jumped Leclerc at the start but was never going to be able to stay ahead. But he consolidated fourth place and was able to manage the pace for the rest of the race thanks to the position he’d got himself into, earning third when Leclerc spun.
Verdict: Achieved the optimum result in qualifying, the sprint and the grand prix – although his Q3 off does lower his rating slightly.
Started: 16th Finished: 14th
Qualifying
A gearbox problem meant Ocon was unable to set a representative laptime in Q1, leaving him slowest of those to set a time through no fault of his own.
Sprint
Ocon got up to 16th ahead of the Williams drivers, assisted by the Zhou/Gasly collision, on the opening lap. And there he stayed. He was satisfied with his race, but couldn’t make inroads on Stroll ahead while in the DRS train.
Race
Made a good start and got around Gasly into Tamburello on the opening lap to run 12th. He then jumped Hamilton in the pitstops via an unsafe release, finishing 11th on the road but dropping to 14th when the resulting five-second penalty was applied.
Verdict: Recovered decently after the Q1 gearbox failure that defined his weekend and can’t be blamed for the unsafe release. A better weekend than the result suggests.
Started: 9th Finished: DNF
Qualifying
Despite having a brief off, had a good run in qualifying to take fifth on the grid – albeit within a tenth of third place. He was certainly confident with the car even in the tricky conditions.
Sprint
The sprint was a struggle for Alonso, who slipped to seventh behind Perez and Ricciardo on the first lap. He struggled with tyre degradation and a snappy rear end, slipping to ninth after being passed by Bottas on lap 16.
Race
Alonso’s race was effectively over on the first lap when Schumacher spun on the power out of Tamburello and clipped his sidepod and floor. At the restart, part of the sidepod flew off and he was shuffled backwards, then retired as a result at the end of lap six.
Verdict: Quick in qualifying, struggled in the sprint, unlucky in the race.
Started: 17th Finished: 12th
Qualifying
Crossed the line with just over 50 seconds remaining to finish his final Q1 flying lap, making him vulnerable to late improvements. That meant he was eliminated in Q1, although his lap wasn’t the tidiest and was slower than that of team-mate Tsunoda, who was on the same strategy and in identical conditions.
Sprint
His attempt to pass Zhou on the inside at Piratella resulted in contact, the racing accident the consequence of both drivers taking the risk of running side by side through the left-hander. He survived and took the restart with a fresh front wing, passing the Williams drivers to recover to 17th.
Race
Gasly was never able to recover from his lowly grid position, running 13th in the first stint. He pitted at the same time as Albon, but was passed by the Williams driver early in that stint after both jumped Hamilton. He spent the rest of the race sandwiched between Albon and Hamilton, resulting in 12th.
Verdict: Had plenty of misfortune on Friday and Saturday – but was slower than Tsunoda in qualifying – and wasn’t able to recover on Sunday.
Started: 12th Finished: 7th
Qualifying
Like team-mate Gasly, was caught out by his final push lap finishing just under a minute before the flag in improving conditions. But he did do a slightly better job than Gasly, gaining time in the final sector in particular to outqualify his team-mate. However, it wasn’t enough to get out of Q1.
Sprint
Jumped Zhou at the start, then battled past Stroll and Hamilton through Tamburello and Villeneuve. That put him 13th, which became 12th when he dispatched Vettel in the closing stages.
Race
Survived a grasstracking moment on the run to Tamburello on the first lap after being squeezed by Schumacher to run ninth. Had to wait for the DRS to be available – surviving a Variante Alta off that almost allowed Stroll to pass him – before he could pass Magnussen.
He later dispatched Vettel for seventh – although he was unable to keep the recovering Leclerc at bay having briefly moved up to sixth when the Ferrari driver had to pit after his spin.
Verdict: Recovered well from Q1 misfortune and in particular executed Sunday’s race well.
Started: 13th Finished: 8th
Qualifying
Seemed at home in the damp conditions, crucially putting in a good lap before Sainz crashed in Q2 to earn a place in Q3. There, he was slowest of the nine cars to run, but that’s to be expected given the pace of the car.
Sprint
Vettel held ninth on the first lap, losing a place to Sainz and gaining one from Bottas at the start. But he was always fighting a losing battle with gravity given the pace of the car and was shuffled back to 13th by the finish.
Race
Gained two positions at the start to run 11th, which became ninth when Ricciardo and Sainz collided then eighth after passing the ailing Alonso. He went for slicks on lap 17, which allowed him to undercut ahead of Magnussen for seventh. Tsunoda passed him in the second stint, but given the pace of the car he felt eighth was like a victory.
Verdict: A superb weekend to bounce back from Melbourne woes.
Started: 15th Finished: 10th
Qualifying
Having joked about taking pole position on Thursday given his usual wet-weather prowess, qualifying proved a damp squib. Errors in the best of the conditions in Q2 meant he didn’t get a proper laptime on the board, leaving him a distant 15th.
Sprint
Got ahead of Hamilton on the opening lap of the sprint race on the run out of Villeneuve, but inevitably slipped behind him again and finished 15th. But did a good job to keep the quicker Ocon behind him.
Race
Incisive at the start, crucially getting ahead of Hamilton. That put him 10th once Alonso hit trouble but it always seemed unlikely he would stay there. But he didn’t put a foot wrong thereafter, keeping Ocon at bay and earning a point.
Verdict: Poor in qualifying but executed the sprint and the main race well.
Started: 19th Finished: 16th
Qualifying
Still lacking confidence in the Williams, Latifi struggled throughout Q1 – spinning along the way – and never looked to have the pace to challenge for a Q2 slot.
Sprint
Slipped behind Ocon through Tamburello on the opening lap, then made a small mistake coming through Rivazza 2 for the restart that allowed team-mate Albon to pass him on the run down to the first corner. The result was 19th and last of the runners.
Race
Ran with Albon in the first stint, but lost touch after stopping a lap later – although as he admitted after the race his lack of confidence in the car meant he was not clamouring to be the first to take slicks. Lost out to Zhou in the second stint but finished clear of Schumacher and Ricciardo.
Verdict: Lack of confidence in car meant another unconvincing weekend.
Started: 18th Finished: 11th
Qualifying
After an initial exploratory lap on intermediates, switched to slicks in Q1 but the team opted to keep the brake balance biased a little more rearwards than normal for brake temperature. The extra braking energy thanks to the grip of the slicks led to the rear brakes overheating, with the right side catching fire and meaning Albon ended his session without a time on the board.
Sprint
Stayed last at the start of the sprint, but picked up two places when Zhou and Gasly collided. He then got the jump on team-mate Latifi at the restart, but was shuffled back to 18th place in the closing stages by the recovering Gasly.
Race
Held 15th on the first lap, which became 14th when Alonso retired. He was one of three to stop on lap 17, one lap after Ricciardo, which allowed him to jump Hamilton. He then passed Gasly, who had stopped at the same time, without DRS on the main straight, to run 12th. Kept Gasly and Hamilton behind to the finish, moving up to 11th when Ocon was penalised.
Verdict: Wasn’t at fault for the qualifying problem and executed the race superbly even if he wasn’t rewarded with another point.
Started: 20th Finished: 15th
Qualifying
After a strong Q1, felt that Q3 was on but for struggles with tyre warm-up and the disruption of the red flag in Q2 – but he was far from the only one to feel that frustration.
Sprint
Zhou’s sprint race was brief as he spun into the inside wall at Piratella after contact with Gasly on the opening lap. He and Gasly entered the left-hander side-by-side, with the resulting coming together a classic racing accident.
Race
A pitlane start meant he was always up against it, but having got ahead of Ricciardo on the first lap, he then got ahead of Schumacher when the Haas driver spun mid-race. He later DRS’d his way past Latifi, but couldn’t make up enough ground to have jumped Ocon when the Alpine driver’s penalty was applied.
Verdict: Sprint race collision could have been avoided but drove a solid GP race, albeit without showing the pace of his team-mate.
Started: 7th Finished: 5th
Qualifying
An overheating exhaust in Q3 meant that he didn’t have the chance to back up his belief that he could have done better than eighth place. The resulting damage forced the team to rebuild the car around the spare chassis, meaning he missed FP2.
Sprint
Bogged down at the start, so was jumped by both Sainz and Vettel to run 10th. He subsequently picked off Vettel, Alonso and Magnussen – the latter by using the DRS on lap 19 – to recover to seventh.
Race
Held onto seventh at the start despite wheelspin, but was delayed by the Ricciardo/Sainz collision, hitting the back of the McLaren but fortunately not suffering front wing damage. Picked off Magnussen in the first stint but a cross-threaded front-right wheelnut at the pitstop cost him around nine seconds – albeit not a position.
He spent the rest of the race reeling in Russell, showing strong pace in the second half of the race, but was unable to pass him late on. Did pick up fifth when Leclerc spun, though.
Verdict: A strong weekend that would have been at least one place better but for first-lap and pitstop misfortune.
Started: 8th Finished: 9th
Qualifying
Made it through to Q3 comfortably, but almost squandered that opportunity when he touched the white line at Acque Minerale and spun into the gravel. Sharp clutch and throttle work ensured he could recover to the perimeter road and return to the pits, meaning he was able to post Haas’s best-ever qualifying performance in fourth.
Sprint
Opted to start on mediums having felt the softs start to drop off during his long run in FP2, but admitted that held him back in the sprint. Held fourth on the first lap with some dogged defending, earning a black and white flag for weaving that appeared primarily motivated by warming the tyres, but was gradually shuffled back to eighth by Perez, Sainz, Ricciardo and Bottas.
Race
Jumped to fifth on the first lap thanks to the Tamburello incident, but the Haas didn’t have the pace to stay there. Russell, then Bottas – the latter after Magnussen made a small error on entry to Variante Alta – made their way past during the first stint, with Vettel undercutting him when the field switched to slicks. Tsunoda, who Magnussen did keep at bay for some time, later relegated him to ninth.
Verdict: Overachieved in qualifying, with the Saturday and Sunday results about right for the machinery.
Started: 10th Finished: 17th
Qualifying
Put in a good lap late in Q1 to advance to the next stage, but a mistake at Tosa eliminated any hope of making it to Q3 for the first time. Even so, always looked a step behind Magnussen on pace.
Sprint
Took 11th from Russell through Tamburello on the opening lap despite being one of the few to start on mediums. Having initially chased Bottas, then had the chance to attack Vettel, who had fallen behind the Alfa Romeo driver. He dispatched Vettel with the assistance of the DRS, completing the move on turn-in to Tamburello with just under three laps remaining to secure 10th.
Race
Spun exiting Tamburello on the opening lap and dropped to 17th. A second spin when rejoining after cutting Variante while chasing Latifi let Zhou past, but he at least finished ahead of Ricciardo with time for a late stop for softs.
Verdict: Sprint race was well-executed, but otherwise off Magnussen’s pace and made too many mistakes in the grand prix.
