Sergio Perez (P4, 12 pts): 8/10
Seventh in the only practice session of the weekend before securing a somewhat disappointing ninth in qualifying on Saturday afternoon, Sergio Perez was predicting a 'painful' Sunday for Racing Point - especially in light of the turmoil on the other side of the garage where illness forced Lance Stroll out of the car and Nico Hulkenberg was en route direct from Cologne to take over with virtually no preparation time. There was nothing Checho could do about any of that so he just got his head down and played his part: he picked up a spot at the start with a pass on Esteban Ocon, and was up to fourth place on one of his trademark extended first stints by the time he stopped for fresh tyres on lap 28. One of the few cars not to be lapped at any point during the race, he nonetheless found himself stuck behind Daniel Ricciardo and unable to do anything about passing the Renault for the final podium position before the chequered flag came out. Despite that disappointment Perez must be pleased with how the day turned out for both himself and Hulkenberg especially given his 'painful' expectations before the start. As a result, Racing Point now lead McLaren in the constructors championship.
Daniel Ricciardo (P3, 15 pts): 9.5/10
Daniel Ricciardo has been tantalisingly close to landing a podium for Renault several times in 2020, and we were starting to worry that it wouldn't happen in time before his tenure at Enstone comes to a close. But the Aussie was finally back on the podium on Sunday, for the first time since 2018 when he won the Monaco Grand Prix with Red Bull. This was almost as impressive an achievement in the circumstances. A decent showing in the sole practice session on Saturday morning translated to sixth place on the grid for the race, and he immediately picked off Alex Albon at the start to slot in to fifth behind Charles Leclerc. He then took his time to apply pressure on the Ferrari driver before pulling off what was for us the pass of the day around the outside of turn 1 on lap 8 to pick up fourth. A few laps later, Valtteri Bottas' lock-up, pit stop and ultimate power unit-related retirement promoted Ricciardo into third, although his pit stop briefly dropped him back down to ninth. He soon fought his way back into a podium spot, but he still faced a tough challenge From Sergio Perez to hold onto it in the closing laps following the safety car restart. The prospect of picking out a tattoo for team boss Cyril Abiteboul kept him focused, and there was an explosion of joy, excitement and not a little relief when he finally crossed the finish line - with his huge smile visible from space even from behind a face mask.
