Nyck de Vries (P18): 5/10
Nyck de Vries needed a boost in confidence after a terrible time in Baku, but unfortunately he suffered a spin during Friday practice. While he kept it off the wall and avoided damage to the AlphaTauri, it was still one of those moments that stops a driver from really pushing to the absolute limit for the rest of the weekend. It was a surprise, then, when - having bumped along at or near the bottom in all three practice sessions - he successfully navigated his way through to the second round of qualifying ahead of the likes of Lando Norris, Yuki Tsunoda and Lance Stroll. Unfortunately the start of the race saw him make contact with Norris and he suffered from vibrations on the right front tyre for the rest of the afternoon, causing him to fall away from the main pack and lose DRS which made it even harder to recover. He did finally catch and pass Oscar Piastri, and was getting close to Norris again in the final laps only to run out of time before the chequered flag.
Lando Norris (P17): 5.5/10
When Lando Norris finished Friday sixth fastest it looked like McLaren were in with a chance of some points this weekend. Unfortunately Saturday quickly snuffed out that optimism with P19 in final practice accurately prefiguring an early exit in the first round of qualifying, which he admitted had come as no surprise to him or the team. It left him starting Sunday's race in 16th, where he was tagged by Nyck de Vries which sent him running wide, costing him time and positions. Starting on the soft tyres also proved to be a mistake and after pitting on lap 4 he was running last-but-one on the track. He did manage to catch and pass his team mate on lap 13 only to lose out in a scrap with Alex Albon, and was also passed by Nico Hulkenberg after a late stop for the Haas. Norris insisted that there was nothing wrong with the driving or the strategy, but this was a woeful day for both him and the team as a whole.
