Power Ranking the Formula 1 Teams After 2015 Monaco Grand Prix

The 2015 Monaco Grand Prix won't take up a lot of space on the end-of-year season-highlights DVD, but what happened in the race may have a significant and lasting impact on the sport's leading team.

The inexcusable blunder by Mercedes that robbed Lewis Hamilton of his second Monaco win ranks among the worst strategic mistakes in recent Formula One history. But until that point everything had been perfect for the German team—so far as performance is concerned, they remain at the top of the class.

Ferrari once again occupied the runners-up spot, while Red Bull had their best race of the season and Force India confounded all expectations as Sergio Perez came home in seventh.

There was some joy for McLaren too—but the MP4-30 is far from a finished product.

The Canadian Grand Prix is next up; here's how the teams rank as they prepare to head over the Atlantic for the first time in 2015.

Note on Power Rankings

F1 team power rankings ignore the points table and instead present a snapshot of where each team stands in relation to their competitors based on the three key factors of reliability, single-lap and long-run pace.

All position changes are relative to those in the previous set of rankings, created after the Spanish Grand Prix. You can find them here.

No Change

There was no change at the rear as Manor again finished several laps down.

Will Stevens was again the team's quickest qualifier, but his best lap was more than two seconds slower than 18th-placed Marcus Ericsson. The Brit set the 19th-quickest time, with team-mate Roberto Merhi three-tenths slower in 20th.

Their race played out in the usual pattern but with one notable difference—Merhi was ahead of Stevens. The latter suffered front-wing damage on the first lap and finished in last place.

Merhi was 16th, one place higher.

Manor remain 10th.

Down Two

Sauber had a fairly quiet weekend but still left Monaco with a couple of points.

The Swiss team had a poor Saturday and saw both cars eliminated in Q1. Felipe Nasr was quickest of their two drivers but he could only manage 16th; Marcus Ericsson was 18th.

Nasr made up two places at the start as Felipe Massa and Nico Hulkenberg made first-lap pit stops. From then on, with overtaking impossible, it was simply a case of making up places as others encountered problems.

Fortunately for the Brazilian, several rivals dropped out of the running, and he was up to ninth at the end.

Ericsson's race followed a similar pattern with two key differences. He started from further back than Nasr and lost two places at the pit stop round. Also completing the whole race without overtaking anyone, he could do no better than 13th.

Sauber didn't look quick in either qualifying or the race—on a normal circuit with overtaking opportunities, Nasr would not have finished ninth.

They fall two places to ninth.

Up One

McLaren proved their car isn't that bad after all and finally scored their first points of the year.

Jenson Button qualified a season-best 12th. He had the pace to make Q3 and perhaps even the fourth row, but yellow flags ruined his chances. Fernando Alonso also had the speed for Q3, but he ended up 15th after his car broke down in Q2.

Both started two places higher than they'd qualified after other drivers received penalties, and Button was up to ninth after Pastor Maldonado's early retirement. Max Verstappen's lengthy pit stop gave him another place and his pace looked, for a McLaren, very good.

He came home in eighth to give the team their first points of the season.

Alonso made up an extra place at the start with a robust move on Nico Hulkenberg into Mirabeau. The pass punted the Force India man into the wall and the five-second penalty Alonso received was probably fair.

Like Button, he made up a few places thanks to the misfortune of others and also had strong pace. The Spaniard was set to finish ninth—but again his car let him down and he coasted to a halt with a gearbox issue on Lap 42.

Though their power-unit deficit may harm them in Canada and reliability remains a problem, McLaren rise a spot to eighth.

Up One

Force India confounded all expectation with a great showing in the principality.

Sergio Perez was one of the stars of Saturday's qualifying session. His excellent lap of one minute, 16:808 seconds gave him a season-best starting position of seventh. Team-mate Nico Hulkenberg had a poor session and could only manage 13th.

At the start, Perez held seventh and hung on admirably to the leading group. After 35 laps he was just nine seconds down on Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari, and though the gap slowly grew as the race went on, the Mexican held on to finish seventh.

Hulkenberg had a less enjoyable afternoon. Slow out of Casino Square on the opening lap, he was punted into the barrier at Mirabeau by Fernando Alonso. Though the team quickly replaced his broken front wing, when he left the pits he was already a minute down on the race leader.

But the German had good pace and slowly made his way back into contention. Gaining places as others encountered problems, he finished just outside the points in 11th.

Force India rise a spot to seventh.

Down One

It's unlikely any team will have left Monaco feeling more deflated than Lotus.

Pastor Maldonado always goes well here and put in a good lap to qualify ninth. Romain Grosjean set the 11th-fastest time but had been forced to change his gearbox prior to the start of the weekend; he was relegated to 15th by the resulting grid penalty.

Carlos Sainz Jr.'s penalty promoted Maldonado to eighth on the grid, and he held the position at the start. But after just two corners he began to feel a problem with his brakes and was forced to retire on Lap 5.

Grosjean made up two places on the opening lap and spent most of the afternoon having a normal, processional Monaco race. He was running in 10th when a recovering Max Verstappen came up behind him on much quicker tyres and set about trying to pass.

The Frenchman seemed to have it covered, but Verstappen didn't give up. On Lap 63, he attempted to overtake into Turn 1, braked too late and slammed into the back of the Lotus.

It was a significant impact and, though his E23 was somehow OK to continue, the crash cost Grosjean time. He ended up in 12th.

The speed is there, but the luck is not. Lotus drop a spot to sixth.

Up One

Toro Rosso seem to be good around slow corners as well as quick ones, but they didn't fulfil their potential in Monaco.

Carlos Sainz Jr. lapped the Circuit de Monaco in 1:16.931, the eighth-fastest time, but he was harshly excluded from qualifying for missing a call to the weighbridge. Team-mate Max Verstappen was 10th, promoted to ninth by Sainz's misfortune.

The Dutchman held ninth at the start, and a fine move on Pastor Maldonado's ailing Lotus lifted him to eighth. A string of laps at the leader's pace saw him close the gap to seventh-placed Sergio Perez, but the Force India man proved a tougher nut to crack.

Toro Rosso appeared to be looking for the undercut when they called their man in for an early stop, but a problem with the right-rear tyre cost Verstappen almost half a minute.

He fought back into points contention and even overtook another car, but he put himself out of the race by running into the rear of Romain Grosjean as the pair battled for 10th.

Sainz started from the pit lane and made a very early pit stop. Forced to nurse the rubber throughout a mammoth 66-lap stint, his pace wasn't spectacular—but by staying on the track he slowly picked up positions.

The Spaniard ended up 10th. A single point was scant reward for his qualifying display—but more than he might have expected after starting last.

Toro Rosso edge ahead of Lotus and into fifth.

No Change

Red Bull showed they have a decent chassis with a strong Monaco display.

Daniel Ricciardo qualified a fine fourth, his fastest lap "just" a second slower than Lewis Hamilton's pole time. Team-mate Daniil Kvyat equalled his career-best grid slot and started fifth.

The two Red Bulls swapped places at the start as Kvyat went down the inside into St. Devote. He remained ahead throughout the pit stop phase and until the end of the late safety car period, at which point he allowed Ricciardo through.

At the time, Ricciardo had just produced a fine (or overly aggressive, depending on your viewpoint) move to muscle by Kimi Raikkonen, who had passed him during the pit stops. Having switched to new super-soft tyres, the Australian was waved through to have a go at the leading three.

He was unable to get through and, as agreed, gave the position back to Kvyat at the end. The Russian finished fourth to cap off a very strong weekend with Ricciardo a season-best fifth.

But can Red Bull maintain this level of performance at a more "normal" circuit?

Probably not. They remain fourth for now.

No Change

Williams expected a blip in Monaco, and that's exactly what they got—but they can't have expected it to be this bad.

Qualifying was nothing short of a disaster; Valtteri Bottas went out in Q1 and lined up 17th, while Felipe Massa—though quicker—could only manage 14th.

It got worse for the Brazilian on the opening lap when he had contact in the first corner. It damaged his front wing and forced him into the pits—when he rejoined, he was a lap down and effectively out of the race.

He finished 15th.

Bottas made it around Turn 1 unscathed, but his race was little better than Massa's. Unable to make the most of his powerful Mercedes engine around the tight streets of the principality, the Finn didn't even complete a single lap in a points-paying position on his way to 14th.

It was the team's worst result since 2013, but Williams' performance chief Rob Smedley told Autosport their lack of performance was "very specific to this circuit."

For that reason, they remain third.

No Change

Ferrari proved they have a good car for all circuits but may have been disappointed by their deficit to Mercedes.

Sebastian Vettel qualified third, the best he could realistically have achieved. Team-mate Kimi Raikkonen maintained his poor record and could only manage sixth—behind both Red Bulls.

Vettel held third at the start and looked set to stay there. He remained within a few seconds of Nico Rosberg's Mercedes but never had a chance of getting by.

But Mercedes' error with Lewis Hamilton moved Vettel up to second. Though he struggled to get his worn soft tyres up to temperature, the German successfully defended the position and finished 4.4 seconds behind Rosberg at the flag.

Raikkonen had a more action-packed afternoon—by Monaco standards at least. Unable to pass either Red Bull at the start, he jumped ahead of Daniel Ricciardo at the pit stop round.

Fifth looked on, but Ricciardo made an extra stop for fresh super-softs behind the safety car and struck back at Mirabeau on Lap 71.

Raikkonen wasn't happy with the move but no action was taken, and the Finn finished where he started for the first time all year.

Ferrari remain second.

No Change

Mercedes threw away a one-two finish with a spectacularly inept strategy call but still left Monaco as winners.

Lewis Hamilton qualified on pole by a little over three-tenths of a second. Team-mate Nico Rosberg didn't have the best of sessions but still managed to line up alongside Hamilton on the front row.

Both held their positions at the start, and Hamilton pulled out a small gap. This increased as the leaders made their way through traffic, and by the time Max Verstappen went into the back of Romain Grosjean and brought out the safety car on Lap 64, his lead was almost 21 seconds.

Then it all went pear-shaped. Mercedes badly miscalculated what the gap would be after Hamilton was slowed by the safety car and brought him in for a precautionary stop. He exited the pits in third behind Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel and, though he had fresher and quicker tyres, this is Monaco—there was no way past.

Rosberg had appeared more concerned with Vettel until this point, lacking the pace to stay with Hamilton. But, crucially, he had more than enough speed to stay ahead after inheriting the lead and took the chequered flag for the luckiest win of his career.

Mercedes remain first.