Sergio Perez (P4, 12 pts): 8/10
Sergio Perez did nothing wrong this weekend and drove a perfectly solid race. But neither did it quite catch fire for the Mexican, in part thanks to knowing he had a five place grid drop for taking additional power unit elements which maybe blunted his enthusiasm for what was possible. He was fifth in FP1 and fourth in both final practice and qualifying, but dropped to P9 on the grid because of the penalty. The strength of the Red Bull was such that his rapid advancement through the ranks in the opening laps was no surprise, and he briefly led the race when those ahead pitted. He was running in third place behind the safety car, but lost out to Charles Leclerc soon after the restart. He briefly led again during the second pit stop sequence, but failed to gain a lasting advantage and was back in fourth for the final laps, unable to to anything about retaking the final podium place from Leclerc before the chequered flag.
Charles Leclerc (P3, 15 pts): 8.5/10
After the door to the drivers championship was slammed firmly shut in his face in Japan, Charles Leclerc is now looking for individual wins and to learn everything he can to contribute to Ferrari's 2023 campaign. In the former pursuit, Leclerc was always unlikely to taste victory at the Circuit of the Americas once he incurred a ten place grid drop for taking a new engine this weekend, dropping him to P12 on the grid after he was pipped to the top spot in qualifying by his teammate Carlos Sainz who had already headlined FP1. Even so, Leclerc wanted to come away from Austin with a podium at the very least, and he made quick work of moving forward in the opening laps. A long first stint saw him briefly lead the race before finally pitting on lap 19. He was behind Sergio Perez for the the safety car restart and soon pulled off a brilliant pass on the Red Bull going into turn 12 on lap 30. He then had an epic battle with Max Verstappen after the race leader dropped behind as the result of a problematic pit stop, but despite a valiant effort Leclerc couldn't fend off Verstappen any longer. Having cooked his tyres in the attempt, the Monegasque accepted the inevitable and settled for third place - a podium to be sure, but still perhaps not as completely satisfying as he might have been hoping for.
