Max Verstappen (P2, 18 pts): 9.5/10
Red Bull were resigned to a tough weekend at one of Mercedes' strongest circuits, and were mainly focused on containing the damage after Max Verstappen was forced to take a back-of-the-grid penalty for a complete engine change on top of an existing three-place penalty from Monza. Although he was third fastest in FP1, Verstappen seemed to lose motivation in the afternoon and didn't even take part in qualifying after final practice had been washed out. Presumably he was hoarding all his energy for the start of the race on Sunday, which saw him gain four places on the opening lap although he wasn't a match for Charles Leclerc's spectacular early gains, the Ferrari having lined up alongside him. No matter: Verstappen caught and passed Leclerc on lap 10 and by lap 15 he was up to sixth place. Pitting on lap 26 set him back but not for long, although he then found himself stuck behind Fernando Alonso and set for a seventh place finish by the time the rain started to fall. Along with the likes of Carlos Sainz and Daniel Ricciardo he made the decision to pit for inters, emerging back on track in third which then turned into second when Norris lost his battle to stay out on slicks. Finishing second in Sochi from a back row start was the ultimate in damage limitation for Max: while he might have lost the lead of the drivers championship to Lewis Hamilton, it's only by two points and he emerges as perhaps the day's biggest long-term strategic winner. "We will definitely take that result!" he beamed afterwards. "To come from last to second is very good. when I woke up this morning I definitely didn't expect this."
Lewis Hamilton (P1, 25 pts): 8.5/10
After a torrid finish to Saturday's qualifying session, Lewis Hamilton had been in deep despond. "I am incredibly disappointed with myself," he said afterwards. "That is not what you expect from a champion." The cause for his self-recrimination was an accident late in Q3 as he dived in to pit lane for a set of slicks: although the track was drying, pit lane was still wet enough to catch out the unwary. It left him short of time, and for once it seemed the pressure then got to the reigning world champion as he proceeded to spin out on his final flying lap attempt. Fortunately his earlier time was still good enough for a second row grid spot, but there were more problems at the start of the race when he got boxed up after a sluggish start and lost three places to Lance Stroll, Daniel Ricciardo and Fernando Alonso. Settling down for the long haul he gradually reclaimed those positions and was soon into second place, taking chunks every lap over the huge lead that Lando Norris had managed to build up in the meantime. Battle between the pair was resumed after the pit stops, but whether Hamilton could have found a way around the McLaren in time was left an open question when the rain transformed the situation. Initially resistant, Hamilton finally heeded his race engineer's unequivocal instruction to pit for inters while Norris tried and failed to tough it out on slicks. It won him the race and meant that Hamilton had achieved something almost unthinkable: a full century of Formula 1 race wins. "It's taken a long time and I wasn't even sure the 100th would come!" he said afterwards. "I'm incredibly grateful to the strategy team for the job they did today. Getting anywhere near 100 victories wouldn't be possible without the hard work of the men and women here and back at the factory."
