Sergio Perez (P8, 4 pts): 6/10
Sergio Perez is lucky that this was a terrible race weekend as a whole for Red Bull, or else his own performance might have come under heavy fire. Both he and Max Verstappen were clearly off-colour throughout practice, although we all figured that there was some 'sandbagging' going on and that all would come right in qualifying - right up until the moment that it didn't. Both missed the second cut and Perez found himself lining up in 13th place on the grid, but at least this time he was only two places (and a tenth and a half) slower than Verstappen. However he had a terrible race, colliding first with Yuki Tsunoda on the opening lap, then struggling with the consequent damage to make any forward progress over the opening stint on hard tyres. Then he got caught out by the timing of the safety car and its subsequent virtual cousin, and then collided again this time with Alex Albon for which he was handed a five second post-race penalty. A messy day for the Mexican.
Oscar Piastri (P7, 6 pts): 7.5/10
Oscar Piastri was once again handicapped by being the McLaren driver without the latest updates for the MCL60, and the difference it made in the performance between himself and Lando Norris was clear from the get-go. He was out of the top ten on Friday, but was unlucky to get caught out by the Lance Stroll red flag at the end of the first round of qualifying which left him in 17th place on the grid for the race. Things started to turn around when the lights went out on Sunday, and he made an immediate gain of three places on the first lap including passes on Alex Albon and Valtteri Bottas. He made up two more places in the first round of pit stops under the safety car, putting him ahead of Liam Lawson as he tucked in behind Pierre Gasly. If points had initially appeared out of reach today, then to come away with six of them must be like stumbling across the Holy Grail.
