Charles Leclerc (P2, Fastest lap, 19 pts): 9.5/10
After coming off second-best to his Ferrari team mate Carlos Sainz in the 2021 driver standings, his emphatic victory in last week's season opener in Bahrain seems to have given Charles Leclerc a renewed sense of confidence and optimism this season, which is showing in his on-track performances. He was fastest in all three practice sessions, despite making heavy contact with the barrier in FP2 which meant an early finish for him and a late night for the Ferrari mechanics fixing the suspension on the F1-75. Leclerc vowed the mishap wouldn't knock his confidence, and he was good to his word. On Saturday, it looked like he had picked up pole position only to be stunned by Sergio Perez' last gasp success (but to be fair, no one saw that one coming - not even Perez!) In the race, he tried his best to take the lead at the start but Perez had him covered, and Leclerc had to wait for Perez to make an early pit stop before he finally took to the front, consolidated by a helpful safety car a few minutes later. Leclerc was now in control but Max Verstappen was right behind, and that's the way it stayed all evening as both men pulled out all the tricks at their disposal. It was almost a re-run of the back-and-forth of Bahrain, but this time it was Verstappen who came out on top and finally made his decisive pass stick with five laps remaining. A late yellow in turn 1 for the Alex Albon/Lance Stroll incident prevented Leclerc from pressing the issue on the penultimate lap, and then Verstappen had the raw pace to come out of the final turn in front with the chequered flag beckoning him to the finish line.
Max Verstappen (P1, 25 pts): 9.5/10
It had been a heartbreaking finish to the Bahrain Grand Prix for Max Verstappen and for Red Bull as a whole, with mechanical failures costing them what had looked to be a certain double podium outcome albeit not outright victory. This weekend the team threw everything it had into ensuring there would be no repeat, and sure enough the reliability was bullet proof (although problems at sister teams AlphaTauri make you wonder about the long-term prospects for the season). Verstappen was second in first practice, just 0.116s behind Charles Leclerc; then 0.140s behind in FP2 and a wafer-thin 0.033s at the end of FP3. Clearly the battle for pole would be between the pair,? Except Carlos Sainz led the first two rounds of qualifying, and Sergio Perez came from no where to steal the prize leaving Verstappen a disappointing fourth on the grid. But there's not much that can knock Verstappen off-balance these days and he quickly passed Sainz for third, benefitted from Perez' mistimed early pit stop, and then sat patiently in Leclerc's wake waiting for his moment. Another brilliant battle between the pair - hard but fair, no quarter given or asked, but respectful and clean - culminated with Verstappen getting the upper hand. And once he had it, there was no giving it back before the chequered flag no matter how hard Leclerc pushed.
A brilliant finish to the race with two exceptional racing talents on display, which is why they are our joint Drivers of the Day this week.
