Daniel Ricciardo (P4, 6 pts): 9/10
Like Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo has also been going through some tough times of late. The transition from Renault to his new berth at McLaren has been a rocky and at times dispiriting one for the Australian. While it's hard to tell for sure given just how bonkers the Belgian Grand Prix was, this weekend gave him a welcome confidence boost and he looked more like his old self at Spa than at any time so far this season. Not that it looked all that promising in practice, where he failed to crack the top ten in any of the three sessions. But he pounced on the opportunity presented by the poor weather on Saturday afternoon to pull out a top quality lap when it counted in Q3 to place him onto the second row of the grid, his best starting position in a year. Fourth was duly his when the race ended without a single lap of green flag running. It might not have been the way he might have wanted it, but it was still a good result for Ricciardo in his 200th Formula 1 race start.
Lewis Hamilton (P3, 7.5 pts): 8.5/10
Lewis Hamilton always tends to wear his heart on his sleeve, and this weekend he didn't look to be a particularly happy bunny. Coming into the weekend the Mercedes team had made certain choices about car, engine mode and downforce settings, and they weren't proving to suit the weather conditions when they hit the ground in Spa on Friday morning, with Hamilton complaining that the car felt slow and sluggish on the straights. Nonetheless he would have expected to join Max Verstappen on the front row of the grid in qualifying, only to be as shocked as the rest of us by George Russell pipping him to second. In a Williams! For Hamilton it must be like being confronted by the ghost of Christmas Future, an insight into what awaits if Russell does indeed get the promotion in 2022 that he's so widely tipped for. Stormy times for Hamilton on Sunday, for sure; but added to that were signs and portents of even more headaches ahead for the reigning world champion.
