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The 2022 F1 Italian GP has concluded and what we have with us is Max Verstappen once again at the top of the podium. Late race safety car or not, Max Verstappen was not going to be troubled. He held a clear pace advantage over Charles Leclerc and despite starting the race from P7, there was no stopping him.
The entire Italian GP weekend featured quite a few positives and some negatives as well. When all is said and done, there are going to be a few that would have a pleasant feeling after the Italian GP weekend is over. Others might not be in a merry mood and would be kicking themselves over how the Monza GP weekend went. Who are they? Let's take a look at the Winners and Losers of the 2022 F1 Italian GP.
2022 F1 Italian GP (Winners and Losers)
Winner
Max Verstappen
That's five in a row for Max Verstappen and he has put some distance between himself and the pack in the Drivers' Championship table. What is interesting, however, is that despite having a bad image early in his career for being far too aggressive behind the wheel, he's executing his races these days with a certain sense of calm.
3 of his last 5 wins have seen him make his way through the field with a calm that people did not associate with him earlier. With five wins in a row, Max Verstappen has leveled Lewis Hamilton's career-best race win streak. With 11 wins this season, he has already matched Hamilton's most race wins in a season. All of this with six races left in the season. Verstappen is taking dominance to another level this year.
Loser
Ferrari
You just cannot let drivers dictate strategies in a race! You just cannot! They don't know the whole picture, they're not aware of the tire data or what the others are doing, and most importantly, they're driving a Formula 1 car at over 300 kmph.
It's something new that Ferrari has opted for, with Charles Leclerc making strategy calls while trying to fend off Max Verstappen. Worryingly, every pit call has to be given a go-ahead by the driver before they go through with it.
Having said that, Ferrari did not lose the 2022 F1 Italian GP because they messed up their strategy. They lost because they did not have the speed to keep up with Verstappen. There's work to be done at Ferrari because things don't look good for the team.
Winner
Nyck De Vries
This is what we call a sensational debut in F1. Nyck De Vries did not put a foot wrong in the entire Italian GP and as a result, found himself scoring valuable points this weekend.
It wasn't just the way the stars aligned for De Vries this weekend as he found his way into a Williams on a track that suits the car the most, but also because the Dutch driver's race pace and race craft were sensational.
He was part of the long DRS train and at no point did he lose touch with the frontrunners. With this kind of performance, he should ideally get the seat at Williams, but it all depends on the approach the team wants to take for the 2023 F1 season.
Loser
Alpine
Alpine would be kicking themselves with the kind of weekend the team had. On a weekend where the team was supposed to be competitive in the low downforce configuration, they went home with nothing in the bag. Alonso dropped out of points scoring position, although looking at where he was in the race, he would have dropped out of points when he pitted.
On the other hand, Esteban Ocon was closing up on the DRS train when Daniel Ricciardo's engine gave up on him. All in all, a weekend to forget for Alpine as the team's 11-race points scoring streak ended at the F1 Italian GP.
Winner
McLaren
This was a statement from McLaren as the team showed ample improvement on a low downforce track and laid down the gauntlet in the fight for P4 in the Constructors' Championship. Lando Norris was quick throughout the race and Daniel Ricciardo showed brilliant racecraft. The biggest statement of the weekend was Norris overtaking Fernando Alonso.
Ricciardo's DNF was unfortunate but the Australian more or less did the job for himself as he showed everyone what he's still capable of in an F1 car.
Loser
Haas
During the F1 Italian GP weekend, one rumor that left everyone somewhat confused was Nico Hulkenberg being linked with the second seat at Haas. In terms of talent, Hulkenberg is a brilliant driver and showed earlier in the season (when he subbed for Sebastian Vettel) that he's still very fast.
But signing Hulkenberg in place of Schumacher does not make sense at the moment. This was Mick Schumacher's post-race radio from his engineer:
"That drive was worthy of P8, but we had P12. You put us in the position to score points when we shouldn't have even had a chance. Well done, Mick. So sorry we didn't get to race."
The German has clearly been the better driver at Haas for some time now and since the summer break, there has been a clear gulf in how the two drivers have performed. It might be time for Haas to start thinking over which driver is actually performing and which one isn't.
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