George Russell (P12): 7.5/10
Now in his second year in F1, George Russell is certainly pushing very hard to prove himself worthy of that coveted promotion to Mercedes, and that's helping Williams to make progress as a whole. But it's also revealing some cracks: in qualifying he had an outstanding lap deleted for exceeding track limits. He still made it through to Q2 for the third consecutive weekend but in the process incurred a five place grid penalty for failing to slow under the yellow flags for Nicholas Latifi's spin, which meant he actually started from the very back of the grid. If not for this mistake, Russell could very easily have been in a position to score his maiden championship points here at his home circuit. As it was, he was able to come out on top in spirited battles with the likes of Alfa Romeo and Haas, and by the end he was just ten seconds behind a Ferrari and in a very creditable 12th place. Does this mean Williams have finally succeeded in finding a race pace to match their recent run of qualifying success?
Valtteri Bottas (P11): 9/10
Valtteri Bottas did everything right this weekend, so to see him walk away from Silverstone with nothing to show for his efforts is truly heartbreaking. Of the two Mercedes drivers, he looked happier with his car in practice than Lewis Hamilton and was duly fastest of anyone in final practice, a success he took into qualifying where he was fastest in Q1 and Q2 even as Hamilton looked to be struggling. But the final round saw a restoration of the old order and Hamilton was three tenths quicker than Bottas in Q3 to claim pole, and that set the scene for the race itself where the Finn once again found himself playing the role of sidekick while Hamilton romped away at the front. Even so, second place would have been a good result for Bottas and kept him within 12 points of his team mate in the drivers championship. Instead, that wholly unexpected tyre delamination with two laps to go dumped him out of the points and leaves him an undeserved 30 points adrift instead. It may prove the crucial moment upon which the 2020 title pivots.
