Lewis Hamilton (P2, 24 pts): 9.5/10
Mercedes are back! This had been teased in recent races, but the team's recovery fully blossomed this week. They were in contention from the start and only got stronger as the weekend went on. Lewis Hamilton must have hoped that this renaissance would allow him to take his first win of 022 and extend a record of at least one win in every season since his debut in 2007, but it was not to be. Even so, Hamilton didn't seem to mind or begrudge his young team mate George Russell claiming a maiden F1 victory. For his part, Hamilton was a tenth quicker than Russell in first practice, but lost out in the final round of qualifying when his hopes of starting a second flying lap before the rain picked up were thwarted by Russell spinning off and triggering a red flag. It left Hamilton in eighth place for the start of the sprint, but when the lights went out it was like the good old days as he carved his way through the field to third place, a satisfying pass on arch nemesis Max Verstappen along the way being particularly satisfying. A grid penalty for Carlos Sainz promoted Hamilton to the front row alongside Russell, and he took care not to do anything silly on the opening lap. When the race resumed after a safety car he found himself being squeezed by Verstappen, and he wouldn't have it. Keeping his foot down, the pair made contact (Verstappen was blamed for it by the stewards). Hamilton feared his car had been damaged, but gradually regained confidence as he made quick work of Pierre Gasly, Sebastian Vettel, Lando Norris and finally Sainz. After the first pit stops he was also able to take care of business with Sergio Perez, A final pit stop allowed Sainz to get in front again, but this was addressed when Sainz made his own stop behind the final safety car of the day. After that, Hamilton had little trouble fending off the Ferrari while remaining a respectful distance behind Russell as the pair pulled off a Mercedes 1-2 to the delight of everyone back at Brackley - which included Toto Wolff, who must have been regretting deciding not to travel to Sao Paulo on person for this one!
George Russell (P1, Fastest Lap, 34 pts): 10/10
George Russell had a great start to the season, finishing consistently in the top ten despite the conspicuous problems of the porpoising Mercedes W13. But in the second half of the season he seemed to have plateaued. The car was getting better and better, but team mate Lewis Hamilton was beginning to get the upper hand on a regular basis. Russell's last appearance on the podium was at Monza followed by poor showings in Japan and Singapore. The last two races in the US and Mexico showed him back on an upward curve, but there was a sense that Russell might have hit the 'glass ceiling', for this season at least. If Mercedes was going to win this season then it was obviously going to be down to Hamilton to pull it off. However it was Russell who did best in qualifying (picking up third despite being the cause of a red flag stoppage moments later) putting him in perfect position to dispense with surprise pole sitter Kevin Magnussen in the opening laps. The surprise was the zeal he pressed his case against Max Verstappen for the lead, balancing the risk/reward on offer and timing his strike perfectly to become one of a very small number of drivers to get the better of the Red Bull driver on track this season. It resulted in Russell's first F1 race win - but not his maiden Grand Prix win. That would have to come another day. IN fact, how about Sunday? There's little to be said about it as he drove to perfection from lights out to chequered flag; most impressive was the way he calmly directed strategy from the cockpit as if he'd been doing it all his life. He was so cool, calm and collected that it was stunning to see how emotional he was afterwards in parc ferme. Brits might have stiff upper lips, but never underestimate how deep their passion and will to win is when the moment comes.
