George Russell (P4, 12 pts): 8.5/10
On one hand you have to feel sorry for George Russell, who crossed the line in fourth, watched Fernando Alonso on the podium, then got told he was being given third place after all, briefly held the trophy - only to have to hand it back to Alonso after Aston Martin won their appeal against race control's ten second penalty. But even before that unfolded, Russell had been vocal in saying that Alonso deserved the place and that the penalty was wrong, so presumably Russell was as happy as anyone in the Aston camp by the reversal. In any case, fourth place was the right and true outcome for him in Saudi Arabia, very much in line with his performance in Friday's practice sessions and with the grid position he took in qualifying, four spots ahead of team mate Lewis Hamilton who admitted that he didn't have the younger man's same sense of feeling and compatibility with the W14. Given the rumours that Hamilton might be contemplating a move toward the emergency exits, this weekend hinted at a potential real change in the balance of power in the driver line-up at Mercedes.
Fernando Alonso (P3, 15 pts): 9.5/10
It was certainly a roller coaster weekend for Fernando Alonso in Saudi Arabia - especially those last few hours on Sunday evening. Carrying the momentum on from his podium in Bahrain, Alonso showed it had been no fluke or track-specific success as he remained a fixture of the top three throughout practice. A driveshaft failure for Max Verstappen and a grid penalty for Charles Leclerc meant that the Aston Martin lined up on the front row of the grid for the race, and that was an invitation that Alonso wasted no time in accepting as he swept past pole sitter Sergio Perez when the lights went out. Was it possible he was about to take his first Grand Prix victory since 2013 in Spain? Unfortunately, no. The first bump in the road was when he was handed a five second penalty for being out of position on the grid (too far left, apparently). Even before he got to serve that, Perez had regrouped and retaken the lead. Alonso did benefit from the safety car (ironically triggered by the retirement of his own team mate Lance Stroll) which muted the impact of serving the penalty when he pitted; and after that he hunkered down and focused on getting to the finish, not wasting any time or rubber putting up a fight against Verstappen. He'd done enough to secure another podium - until word came down from race control declaring there had been a problem with the way he had served that original penalty and that he would now drop to fourth. It was ridiculously late for such an action, and Aston Martin duly successfully protested. Even George Russell, who would have been the main beneficiary, was delighted when the whole matter went away and Alonso could get back to partying long into the desert night; and well deserved too.
