Oscar Piastri (SP11, P16): 6/10
McLaren were looking in confident mood this weekend with a substantial package of upgrades to the MCL60 that was performing well for both drivers. Oscar Piastri should have easily made it into the final round of qualifying on Friday, but had his best lap time deleted for exceeding track limits when it was too late to respond, leaving him starting the Grand Prix from 13th. Nor did things go to plan in the showdown, but he had a fun time in the sprint where he was "super strong in mixed conditions" and finished in P11 after timing the change from inters to slicks just right. But Sunday's race proved frustrating, caught in a long line of traffic and suffering from front wing damage after running into the back of Kevin Magnussen who had himself had to brake to avoid a car in front. That meant an extra pit stop for Piastri to pick up a replacement wing which was the kiss of death for his race, not that there had been much chance of a resuscitation at any point before then. Given what Lando Norris achieved, it has to be said that this weekend was not a great look for the Aussie, but he's still a rookie and this was by no means a disaster of de Vries proportions.
Valtteri Bottas (S20, P15): 5/10
Valtteri Bottas made an early impact on Friday's qualifying session when he spun in the first corner and triggered a red flag at the start of Q1; but he recovered from that distraction and made it through to the second round where he secured 14th place on the grid ahead of Red Bull's Sergio Perez. The showdown was was less impressive and he was only 19th quickest, leaving him trapped at the back for the start of the sprint. The team took an audacious flier by starting him on slick tyres despite a wet track, and that dropped him to the back from which there was no recovery on Saturday. He was unlucky at the start of the race on Sunday, when he ran over the debris from the Tsunoda/Ocon collision that triggered a brief safety car for clean-up on aisle one. Again the tyre choice bit him - starting on hard tyres meant he was on a long first stint when he could now have done with an early service. He did well to get (and stay) ahead of Oscar Piastri, and an undercut on the second round of pit stops gave him the jump on Yuki Tsunoda, while post-race penalties for Nyck de Vries promoted Bottas to 15th in the final standings. But really, Alfa Romeo urgently need upgrades to the car to allow Bottas to so something - anything - in the second half of their last season in F1 in their current form.
