Charles Leclerc (P4, 12 pts): 9/10
Charles Leclerc had been unhappy with his own performance in Portugal a week ago, but there was nothing for him to admonish himself about in Spain. He was quickest of the two Ferraris throughout practice (although not by a huge amount - Carlos Sainz is proving to be a well-matched team mate), and Leclerc was pleased to put himself onto the second row of the grid for the start of the Grand Prix on Sunday. Even better, he was able to get the jump on Valtteri Bottas going through turn 3 on the opening lap. Although the Mercedes was clearly the fastest of the two cars - especially on the straights, where Ferrari continue to struggle for speed - Leclerc was able to fend off the Finn's efforts to retake the spot. In the end, Bottas relied on pulling off the overcut at the first round of pit stops, about which Leclerc could do nothing. After that Leclerc had the best seat in the house as the top three ahead of him vied for position; but without any misfortune befalling Bottas, Max Verstappen or Lewis Hamilton there was nothing more to be done by Leclerc. "P4 was the best we could achieve," he conceded. "I am really happy though, because from the cockpit you can feel when you do a good job and that was the case today."
©Mercedes/ThomasMaheux
Valtteri Bottas (P3, 15 pts): 8.5/10
Has Valtteri Bottas finally reached the end of his tether? The Finn has been the loyal team player for over four seasons now, but on Sunday there came a possible tipping point when he refused to immediately pull over and make way for his Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton who was attempting to charge down Max Verstappen for the lead of the race. Bottas' reticence likely cost Hamilton a few seconds, and if it had resulted in victory slipping away then you can imagine there would have been stormy scenes in the paddock after the race. Fortunately it didn't, and there weren't: Hamilton seemed unconcerned by the incident and insisted that he and Bottas were still "best team mates", but you have to wonder whether that will last beyond the end of 2021. However Bottas did have a point when he explained that he had his own battle for position with Charles Leclerc to focus on, after the Ferrari had managed to jump him at the start of the race when he himself was briefly baulked by Hamilton checking up after being overtaken by Verstappen in turn 1. All things considered it had been another solid showing from Bottas which had included setting the fastest time in FP1, and he played a valuable strategic role in 'boxing in' Verstappen and limiting Red Bull's options in the second half of the race.
