Lewis Hamilton (P4, 12 pts): 8.5/10
Unlike their closest rivals, Mercedes hadn't brought any significant upgrades to this week's race and it looked like they might really be in trouble in Melbourne. Lewis Hamilton was over a second off the leaders in Friday's two practice sessions and admitted that no matter what they tried, nothing seemed to be working. If nothing else he and team mate George Russell appeared to be on a more even footing with each other, and when it came to qualifying there was no question of a repeat of the nightmare in Jeddah where Hamilton astonishingly missed the cut at the end of the first round. This time he made it all the way through to Q3 and secured himself a spot on the third row, alongside (and just ahead of) Russell. That allowed him to pull off an early success on Sunday, muscling his way past a sluggish Lando Norris and then a boxed-in Sergio Perez when the the lights went out. But the Red Bull's superior pace over the troubled W13 meant that Perez got the position back on lap 9, and while an attempt at the overcut managed to put Hamilton back in front the advantage was gone again in the blink of an eye. Then Russell benefitted from a 'free' stop thanks to a subsequent safety car which put him ahead of Hamilton and into what proved to be a podium-winning position, and with his car suffering from overheating there was little that the seven-time world champion could do about it as the pair headed for home. While Hamilton remains ahead of Max Verstappen in the drivers standings, both men are rapidly losing ground to Charles Leclerc which must be a growing concern even this early in the season.
George Russell (P3, 15 pts): 9/10
George Russell has generally looked happier and more confident in this year's Mercedes W13 than his team mate Lewis Hamilton, but this weekend they seemed to be singing from much the same hymn book in Melbourne and put in very comparable performances. Russell was three tenths ahead in FP2 but otherwise it was Hamilton who had the slight advantage in practice. Making it into the top ten looked somewhat doubtful for Russell heading into qualifying, but when it came to it there was no problem with both Silver Arrows cruising into the final round. Russell took up residence in sixth place on the grid, alongside and just one place behind Hamilton. Both made early progress and put the two McLarens in the rear view mirror, but while Hamilton got the better of Sergio Perez into turn 1, Russell found himself with a watching brief of the battle as he settled into fifth. Perhaps very much aware that he's still the new boy at Brackley, Russell seemed relatively content to fall in behind Hamilton for the rest of the race - except that a fortuitously timed safety car during the pit stops saw him end up coming back out ahead of Hamilton on track in third place. Russell was eventually passed by Perez, but he got a place back when Max Verstappen retired putting him on course for his first podium in Mercedes colours. Or would the team instruct him to hand the position to Hamilton? This early in the drivers championship it would have been quite the statement of where Russell sits in the hierarchy. It was perhaps better for morale that the order never came, and Hamilton - suffering from overheating - never pressed the point on the track no matter what he might have thought about it.
