Alexander Albon (P10, 1 pt): 8/10
In the days before the Bahrain Grand Prix, we asked friends and colleagues what people thought of the prospects of all the teams for 2023. The word used for Williams was not one that we could use in a family-friendly publication. And no surprise, because of all the teams it's Williams that's had the most tempestuous off-season, losing its team principal and entire senior technical staff (the latter still to be replaced). It seemed like they would be lucky to score any points all season. And yet here we are, the day after the first race, and Alex Albon has already won them their first shiny championship reward. To say it was unexpected is an understatement, so well done to Albon - and also to team mate Logan Sargeant for being 'best rookie' as well. Whether this was a fluke or not remains to be seen in Jeddah, but certainly Albon could have done no more than he managed in Bahrain.
Pierre Gasly (P9, 2 pts): 8.5/10
After finishing Friday practice in seventh place, Pierre Gasly was probably feeling pretty satisfied with his switch from AlphaTauri to Alpine over the winter. But things went badly wrong for him in qualifying when understeer suddenly switched to oversteer and the way he was sliding around made it look like he was auditioning for Dancing on Ice rather than driving in the desert of Sakhir, leaving him starting on the back row of the grid. Obviously he didn't have a chance in hell of scoring any points from there, so exactly how did he manage to mount a comeback to eighth place by the chequered flag? "We had to be aggressive, use the performance of the car by shifting, have the right strategy," he said afterwards. Whatever the secret, we say "bravo" to the conquering Norman after that impressive display.
