Max Verstappen (P2, Fastest lap, 19 pts): 9.5/10
While the 2020 season isn't turning out to be everything that Max Verstappen had been hoping for - the performance gap between Red Bull and the Mercedes remains vast - the Dutch driver is certainly contributing everything he possibly can from the cockpit. He started the weekend with the fastest time in first practice and was then third fastest on Saturday behind the two Silver Arrows. He tried to ambush Valtteri Bottas at the start of the race but the Mercedes was simply too strong, and so he settled in for a quiet but lonely run for the rest of the afternoon. Things only got interesting again when Valtteri Bottas suffered a tyre failure with two laps to go: Red Bull called Verstappen in for new tyres as a precaution and also in a (successful) bid to pick up the bonus point for fastest lap, but they weren't to know that the race leader would also suffer a blow-out. Verstappen was over 30s behind Lewis Hamilton going into that final lap and by the end he was just five seconds in arrears: if not for that pit stop call, he would probably have won the race. However he wasn't feeling too bad about how it turned out as he sprayed champagne from the second step after the race.
Lewis Hamilton (Pole, P1, 25 pts): 9/10
To be honest it wasn't entirely the ideal weekend as far as Lewis Hamilton was concerned, and the Mercedes W11 frequently didn't look nearly as hooked up in his hands to the degree it did for his team mate. He wasn't quickest in any of the three practice sessions, and there was an uncharacteristic error from him in qualifying when he spun and triggered a red flag. Fortunately he was able to bounce back after that scare, and the pole-winning performance he pulled off in the final round was little short of miraculous. It seemed to have decided the fate of the race there and then, with Hamilton effortlessly able to control proceedings from the minute that the lights went out. Rarely under threat, it was a rude awakening for him and the team as a whole when Valtteri Bottas' tyres failed with two laps to do - and then on the final lap Hamilton himself suffered the same issue. Only his huge lead saved him from being hunted down by Max Verstappen, but credit to Hamilton for being able to keep the car on the road and getting to the line despite only three wheels remaining on his wagon.
