Lando Norris (Fastest lap, P6, 9 pts): 8/10
Lando Norris was obliged to sit out first practice in favour of McLaren's IndyCar star Pato O'Ward, and was outside the top ten in FP2 as he played catch-up. He was fully up to speed on Saturday and was fifth in final practice which translated to a very decent P7 on the grid, best of the rest after drivers from the Big Three. The starts have traditionally been a problem for Norris, but he's certainly getting the hang of them now and claimed the scalp of George Russell into the first corner - although Russell had the final word on that four laps later. Seventh was where Norris stayed for much of the evening with the exception of pit stops, which included a big scare for Norris when Russell pulled out of his pit box right in front of him and Norris had to stamp on the brakes to avoid a hard collision. It cost him time, but by the final stint he was back in seventh (and still behind Russell) only to pick up a bonus spot when Lewis Hamilton retired with three laps to go. Unfortunately it still wasn't enough to allow McLaren to steal fourth in the constructors championship from Alpine.
George Russell (P5, 10 pts): 8/10
George Russell's huge grin in the paddock after his maiden F1 win in Brazil was almost as wide as Daniel Ricciardo's resting beaming face. He came into Abu Dhabi hoping that last week's performance heralded a renaissance for Mercedes, but in the end all Abu Dhabi proved is that the former constructors champions still have a long way to go. Problems manifesting on the brakes, high drag and 'bouncing' left them progressively off the pace as the weekend wore on. In particular, the W13 looked painfully slow on the straight compared to Red Bull and even Ferrari. Russell and his team mate lewis Hamilton did manage to lock out the third row of the grid but that was pretty much the height of their ambitions at Yas Marina. Russell got the maximum out of the car, but a penalty for unsafe release (nearly hitting Lando Norris on pit lane) put the podium out of reach this weekend.
