Lewis Hamilton (P4, 12 pts): 7/10
Perhaps there was just too much going on in Lewis Hamilton's world this weekend, heaping pressure on the reigning world champion's shoulders. At first he took it in his stride, with an impeccable performance in practice in which he was fastest in all three sessions by an average of around two tenths of a second over his team mate Valtteri Bottas. But when it counted, it was Bottas who was icily efficient and tantalisingly out of reach of the best Hamilton could come up with. In the process Hamilton pushed the limits to breaking point and found himself twice-penalised, costing him a crucial front row position. Not that it should have mattered unduly - such was the pace of the Mercedes that once Max Verstappen retired and the field was compressed behind a safety car for Kevin Magnussen's accident, it was back to Bottas and Hamilton vying for the lead at the front. Hamilton reacted angrily when it seemed that the Mercedes pit wall was trying to impose team orders just 36 short laps into the season, but the technical concerns were very real and ultimately impacted Hamilton more than Bottas in the closing stint. The Briton struggled to hold off Alexander Albon who was on fresher tyres, and the result was contact between the pair that earned Hamilton a five second penalty for causing the collision - and cost him his place on the podium. Could it prove a fatal crack in Hamilton's campaign for a record-equalling seventh title?
Lando Norris (P3, Fastest lap, 16 pts): 9.5/10
Having been one of the stand-out stars of the off-season with his entertaining antics in the world of Esports, Lando Norris bounced into Spielberg brimming with energy and enthusiasm. Featuring in the top six in both of Friday's practice session, he went even better in qualifying itself where he claimed a career-best fourth place on the grid. Before the race started he picked up another place when Lewis Hamilton was served a grid penalty an hour before the lights went out. However once the race got underway it seemed that McLaren's promising pace had deserted them, and Norris lost two positions in quick succession to Hamilton and Alexander Albon. Crucially he staved off early attacks from Sergio Perez and stabilised in fifth. Max Verstappen's early retirement then restoring him to fourth, but Perez finally succeeded in passing him on lap 33 shortly after the first safety car. It seemed that Fifth was the best that Norris could hope for today: that is, until a late safety car allowed him to change onto a new set of mediums which enabled him to punch in the MCL35's hyperdrive, blasting him back past Perez and ending the race with the fastest lap of day. The result of that was that when Lewis Hamilton's penalty was applied, Norris was classified in a richly deserved third place - his maiden F1 podium. Unquestionably our star driver of the day in Spielberg.
