Max Verstappen (P4, 12 pts): 8.5/10
Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc had their own private back-and-forth during practice with F1's biggest next generation stars hogging the top two sports throughout Friday and Saturday. However when it came to qualifying, Leclerc was once again in a league of his own and Verstappen dropped to the more subdued spot, which became ninth place on the grid once his Honda engine grid penalties kicked in. Setting a modest target of finishing in the top five, he achieved his objective with a position to spare thanks to Sebastian Vettel's retirement. His progress rather stalled when he changed to medium tyres, so it was otherwise very much business as expected for the Dutch driver, and if it felt like a low-energy sort of outing for him this weekend then it's hard to find anything of substance to complain about in his solid, up-to-scratch performance in Sochi. Even so, one suspects that Verstappen will barely remember this one in a few weeks time.
