Sergio Perez (P2, 18 pts): 9/10
It's become a regular Formula 1 meme to say that Sergio Perez takes his time to get up to speed at a Grand Prix, whereas Red Bull team mate Max Verstappen hits the ground running and never looks back. It didn't feel that way in Melbourne, however. It was Perez who was quickest of the pair in FP1, almost two tenths quicker as Verstappen complained of lacking rear end grip and struggling to find the right balance for the RB18 here. Perez didn't seem to have the same problems: although he dropped back in FP2 he was looking good in final practice where he was third quickest and now half a second faster than the fretting Verstappen. Max still had something in reserve when it came to qualifying to make it onto the front row, but Perez was also looking strong and was only narrowly behind him on the grid in third. He lost out to Lewis Hamilton at the start of the race but the RB18 always had the pace to snatch the place back, and he duly did so on lap 9. Hamilton got ahead again when Perez pitted early on lap 20 and Hamilton achieved the overcut, but it didn't last long before Perez' warmer tyres gave him an emphatic advantage, making his move just before the race was neutralised by the second safety car of the day which enabled George Russell to get a 'free' stop that bumped him ahead of the Red Bull. Russell would have liked to fight longer and harder to retain this advantage but was ultimately told to preserve his tyres, allowing Perez to use DRS to sweep past on lap 35. Now too far behind the race leaders, the Mexican would have been content with third place until a late retirement for Verstappen promoted him to the runners-up spot. After that it proved to be a more or less uncontested run to the finish.
Charles Leclerc (Pole, P1, Fastest lap, 26 pts): 10/10
It was a race day grand slam for Charles Leclerc - pole, fastest lap and of course P1 - and the Ferrari driver had looked utterly composed and determined throughout the entire weekend in Melbourne. That he might come out second best to Max Verstappen again - as he had two weeks earlier in Jeddah - never appeared to cross his mind. 'I've got this', he seemed to be saying, and one might even think it arrogance if he hadn't gone up to deliver on his unspoken promise with such a comprehensive across the board success on Sunday. Prior to that he had faced some stiff competition from his team mate Carlos Sainz who was half a second quicker in FP1, but Leclerc had pushed back with the top time in FP2 and was then second quickest in FP3. The Red Bulls seemed to find pace in time for qualifying with Max Verstappen quickest in Q1 and Sergio Perez top in Q2, but when it came to the crucial moment Leclerc pulled out something genuinely special with his final flying lap to clinch his second pole of the season. He fended off Verstappen at the start of the race, and his only crisis moment came at the second restart when he suffered understeer on the now-cold tyres that left him struggling to make the corner under acceleration. He held on and the grip was back within two corners, and after that there was no question who the winner was even before Verstappen's hopes went up in smoke for the second time this year. Leclerc really wanted to use his advantage to make an extra pit stop and go for fastest lap, but the team said no: in fact he had it already. It was just that sort of day for the masterful Monegasque.
