George Russell (P4, 12 pts): 8.5/10
One of the universally accepted facts about the 2022 season to date is that the Mercedes is an absolute disaster, described by team boss Toto Wolff as undriveable this weekend as Lewis Hamilton slumped to P13 at Imola. It must be terrible to be George Russell, waiting so long for his big break only for it to coincide with a calamitous slump in the team's fortunes. Only the funny thing is, Russell is doing just fine in the much maligned W13, thank you very much. He was faster than Hamilton in both practice and qualifying on Friday and looked much more comfortable in the car even before he was quickest of anyone in the dry, warm conditions of FP2. Unfortunately the straight line pace and aggressive porpoising of this year's Mercedes meant he made no progress in the sprint, and it looked touch-and-go as to whether or not he would be in the points on Sunday. A truly astonishing start then saw him shoot up to sixth by the time the safety car came out. At the restart he soon dispatched Kevin Magnussen, after which he fell into line behind fellow Brit Lando Norris for the rest of the race. Perhaps his biggest achievement was thwarting his Mercedes predecessor Valtteri Bottas from passing him, especially during the hard-fought closing laps. Perhaps it's Russell's experience at Williams in finding ways to drive around a bad car's problems, but whatever it is he's starting to make his team mate look almost second rate. And no one saw that coming.
Lando Norris (P3, 19 pts): 8.5/10
A sluggish opening to the weekend in Friday's practice session raised doubts as to whether or not McLaren really had turned things around after a bad start to the season in Bahrain. Had Melbourne's success (both cars finishing in the top six) been due to the circuit? Norris provided a rapid response to that question by claiming third place in qualifying later in the day (with Daniel Ricciardo also in a strong sixth), although he was embarrassed to end Q3 in the gravel rather than the front row. The sprint race didn't go entirely to plan, although losing out to the likes of Red Bull's Sergio Perez and Ferrari's Carlos Sainz was hardly anything to be ashamed of. Heading into the Grand Prix, Norris said he wasn't expecting anything magical in the race, starting from fifth on the grid. Hitherto one of Norris' weakest skills has been his somewhat sluggish starts, but on Sunday he triumphed with a perfect launch that saw him ambush Charles Leclerc and put him up to third place before the safety car was scrambled for the clash between Ricciardo and Sainz. Unsurprisingly Leclerc soon wrested the position back on lap 7, and Norris seemed to accept that fourth place in the Grand Prix was the best he could expect - and then Leclerc spun off, and Norris suddenly found himself in a surprise podium position at the chequered flag. The stunned and delighted look on his face wasn't the only one in the paddock.
