Max Verstappen extended his grip on the world championship with a dominant victory in Sunday’s 2023 Monaco Grand Prix.
Fernando Alonso came close but not close enough to ending his winless streak with a fine second, whilst Esteban Ocon gave Alpine their first podium since the 2021 Qatar GP.
Total-Motorsport.com rate all 20 drivers based on their qualifying, sprint and race performances at the Monaco GP.
Team errors such as a slow pit stop or poor strategy do not affect our ratings as they are no fault of the drivers. Instead, our ratings solely look at how well the drivers got on throughout the weekend in Monaco.
Max Verstappen 9.5/10
Started: 1st – Finished: 1st
A lap for the ages in Qualifying which included an exceptional final sector and a cruise to victory in the race. Pretty excellent weekend at the office for the reigning world champion.
Fernando Alonso 8.5/10
Started: 2nd – Finished: 2nd
For a few seconds, it looked like Alonso had secured pole position only for a superb final sector from Verstappen to dash those dreams. Nevertheless, a distant second wasn’t a bad reward for his efforts.
Esteban Ocon 8/10
Started: 3rd – Finished: 3rd
Lift off at last for Ocon, after defending stoutly from Sainz to secure his first podium since winning the 2021 Hungarian GP.
Lewis Hamilton 7/10
Started: 5th – Finished: 4th
Not a perfect weekend by any stretch for Hamilton, who crashed in FP3 and nearly got eliminated in Q1. Nonetheless, a solid drive to fourth salvaged good points for Mercedes.
George Russell 6/10
Started: 8th – Finished: 5th
Russell didn’t look entirely comfortable in Monte Carlo, and an unsafe release when making a mistake in tricky conditions could have had disastrous consequences, yet still, fifth was a decent result.
Charles Leclerc 7/10
Started: 6th – Finished: 6th
The Monaco curse lives on for Leclerc after a late radio call inadvertently saw him block Norris, giving him a three-place grid penalty, effectively ending his podium hopes.
Pierre Gasly 6/10
Started: 7th – Finished: 7th
Not a bad weekend’s work for Gasly, who showed decent pace throughout proceedings and kept Sainz after pitstops.
Carlos Sainz 4.5/10
Started: 4th – Finished: 8th
Sainz’s run of clumsy mistakes continued in Monaco after clattering his front wing when trying to get past Ocon. From then on, he was stuck behind Gasly and never looked like challenging for the podium.
Lando Norris 6/10
Started: 10th – Finished: 9th
After a far-from-smooth weekend, two more points for Norris will be seen as a good result, following a crash in Q2 before his final run in Q3 got scuppered because of Leclerc’s inadvertent blocking.
Oscar Piastri 6/10
Started: 11th – Finished: 10th
A weekend of near misses for Piastri, missing out on Q3 by the slimmest of margins before managing to take something away from Monaco after Tsunoda’s error.
Valtteri Bottas 5.5/10
Started: 15th – Finished: 11th
Alfa didn’t have speed in Monaco, so Bottas could not get the much-needed points he would have wanted.
Nyck de Vries 5/10
Started: 12th – Finished: 12th
With his F1 future in doubt De Vries needed a trouble-free weekend, and it’s precisely what he got, albeit without points.
Zhou Guanyu 5/10
Started: 19th – Finished: 13th
A poor qualifying put Zhou on the back foot in Monaco, and although he could make some ground through an early stop, points remain elusive.
Alex Albon 5/10
Started: 15th – Finished: 14th
Williams and Albon would have expected more coming into the weekend, but a troublesome qualifying meant points were out of reach.
Yuki Tsunoda 6.5/10
Started: 9th – Finished: 15th
Tsunoda had looked on course for two much-needed world championship points, before a brake issue at Mirabeau saw him tumble down the order.
Sergio Perez 2/10
Started: 20th – Finished: 16th
Arguably Perez’s worst weekend for a long time, as two amateurish mistakes put him further behind Verstappen in the championship race.
Nico Hulkenberg 3.5/10
Started: 18th – Finished: 17th
Not a positive return to Monaco for Hulkenberg, with a Q1 exit followed by an unremarkable race.
Logan Sargeant 3/10
Started: 16th – Finished: 18th
Sargeant had a tough weekend in Monte Carlo, and he didn’t help himself by playing bumper cars with Stroll at Lowes, picking up damage.
Kevin Magnussen 2.5/10
Started: 17th – Finished: DNF
Not a great weekend at the office for Magnussen after multiple offs and a Q1 exit before calling it a day with less than a handful of laps left.
Lance Stroll 3/10
Started: 14th – Finished: DNF
A horror weekend for Stroll, as a poor lap in Q2 put him on the back foot. Race wasn’t much better, with a clumsy mistake ending his day early.
