Sergio Perez (P6, 8 pts): 8/10
Racing Point certainly seem to be onto something with their 'Pink Merc' makeover. Not only did it allow Lance Stroll to show what he can do in decent hardware, it also meant that Sergio Perez could get out on track and have a lot of fun. Consistently in the top five throughout practice, it was a slam dunk that he would feature in the final round of qualifying - and even a slight disappointment that he was 'only' sixth on the grid after tying Alexander Albon's fastest Q3 lap time to the thousandth of a second. He was able to maintain that position at the start of the race despite urgent pressure from Charles Leclerc, and benefitted form the misfortunes of others to put himself into a potential podium position for the final phase of the proceedings. Unfortunately the decision to favour maintaining track position over pitting for fresh tyres during the late safety car periods proved the wrong tactic and he fell victim to late passes from Leclerc, Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz leaving him back down where he'd started the day. A good effort though, and thoroughly entertaining.
Carlos Sainz (P5, 10 pts): 8/10
Despite a strong start to the weekend with fourth place in opening practice, Carlos Sainz had a fairly subdued time in Spielberg. He proved slower than his team mate Lando Norris during the remainder of practice, and then qualified a full four places down on the grid after both McLarens easily made it through to the final round of the session. Sainz normally makes up for that sort of deficit to his team mate in race trim, but not this time: when the lights went out he found himself trapped behind the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc for the next 50 laps, preventing him from showing what might have otherwise been possible. He was then clipped from behind by an over-ambitious lunge from Sebastian Vettel in the second Ferrari, although it didn't appear to do significant lasting damage to the McLaren. In the closing laps a new set of medium tyres enabled him to get the better of Sergio Perez and push his way into fifth place. If he hadn't been overshadowed by the attention-steeling antics of Norris, it would have been a thoroughly decent effort for Sainz.
