Lando Norris (SP9, P4, 12 pts): 8.5/10
Armed with the much-heralded upgrade package for the MCL60 - so many changes that it seems closer to being a B-spec version of this year's car - Lando Norris came into the weekend brimming with confidence, and it showed. First practice was inevitably more about bedding in all the new parts and making sure they were working well, then in qualifying he navigated the hurdles of all those track limit violations to navigate his way safely into the final round and put himself on the second row of the grid in P4 for the race. Before that there was time to perform even better in the showdown where he was third quickest behind the Red Bulls in the wet conditions. Unfortunately Norris found his way forward blocked by a Red Bull squabble at the start of the sprint and haemorrhaged positions, leaving him circulating outside the points for the remaining 24 laps. He made sure not to suffer a repeat of that on Sunday, although he still lost a spot to Lewis Hamilton in the run down to the first corner. The Mercedes was soon struggling to turn through the corners (earning Hamilton multiple citations for track limit violations) and Norris was able to force his way back past on lap 28. There was little he could do about the recovering Sergio Perez in the Red Bull cruising by, nor did he have the pace to catch and pass the Ferrari of his former team mate and BFF Carlos Sainz - although a post-race penalty for track limits violations would end up taking care of that and hand Norris a fine fourth after all, along with the recognition of the fans who chose him as their driver of the day.
Sergio Perez (SP2, P3, 22 pts): 8/10
Alarm bells were ringing on Thursday when Sergio Perez missed the media day after falling unwell, sparking excited rumours that Daniel Ricciardo might be on call to step in. Perez was at the Red Bull Ring as usual on Friday but we now know that he was far from at his best - high fevers, no sleep, lack of strength - which perhaps explains why he made such a Horlicks of qualifying, where he seemed unable to complete a lap without exceeding track limits resulting in a lowly P15 on the grid for the race. Christian Horner's comments about Perez seemed unnecessarily stinging in the circumstances, but perhaps they did their job whipping up the Mexican into a much better performance on Saturday where he sealed the second place behind Max Verstappen we might have expected. In fact it might have over done it, because the battle between Perez and Verstappen in the opening corners of the sprint was nearly a disaster. Fortunately they worked it out, took a Red Bull 1-2, and all was harmony again in the team trailer. Perez still had to sort out damage limitation for the Grand Prix, which he did in the calm and assured way we've come to expect (the stumbles of the last three races notwithstanding). It culminated in a brilliant battle for the final podium position with Ferrari's Carlos Sainz, which was some of the best action of the weekend between two talented and not always fully appreciated drivers.
