Carlos Sainz (P7, 6 pts): 7.5/10
Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris were looking fairly evenly matched this weekend in Baku, at the wheel of a McLaren MCL34 that actually seemed rather suited to the challenges of the Baku City Circuit after its struggles in Shanghai. Sainz was faster on Friday, while Norris had the edge on Saturday in FP3 and then in qualifying. Sainz was irked to miss out on joining Norris in Q3 after being thwarted by an ill-timed yellow flag, but it turned out that this was actually in his favour when penalties for others on the grid promoted him to eighth and with the additional perk of a free choice of tyres, unlike Norris. Even so, Sainz was unable to do anything about getting past Norris when the pair ran together for 20 laps during the race. It was only when the team called Norris in for an extra pit stop after the Virtual Safety Car that Sainz gained the place and ended up the first of the McLarens at the line. Despite this, when it comes to ratings, it seems to us that the rookie deserves the (slightly) higher score this week.
