George Russell (S P4, GP P4, 17 pts): 8.5/10
George Russell seemed in good spirits on Friday as he picked up a front row spot thanks to deleted lap times for his McLaren rivals in the final round of qualifying. His calls of "Where's Lando? We've lost Lando!" when Norris was unceremoniously pulled out of parc ferme as the penalty was handed down was the comedy moment of the weekend. The McLaren drivers and Max Verstappen had the upper hand on Saturday and fourth was the best Russell could have achieved in the Sprint. Then things turned serious on Sunday at the first corner of the Grand Prix when he was hit by his Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton. It had the potential of triggering a serious rift within the team, but an apology from Hamilton and a great recovery drive back to fourth soon set Russell's world to rights. Would he have been on the podium if not for the incident? Maybe. But in all honesty Verstappen, Piastri and Norris were simply better in Lusail.
Lando Norris (S P3, GP P3, 21 pts): 9/10
You'd think that with two podiums this weekend, Lando Norris would be on top of the world heading home to the UK. But unfortunately his place in the limelight and perhaps even the team's affections has been stolen by his rookie team mate Oscar Piastri, and that's going to chafe on him. Norris was certainly kicking himself for the number of mistakes that he made, including the key track limits infringement that dropped him to P10 on Friday and his poor start on the dirty side of the front row in the Sprint that cost him multiple positions. He actually drove a very good race after that to get back on the podium - but Piastri had done even better by claiming victory. In Sunday's race, Norris got a great start and picked off Esteban Ocon and Valtteri Bottas before the safety car. Norris and Piastri were the only drivers among the leaders to have three consecutive stints on mediums before a short final run on hards, and it worked out perfectly for both of them. In the closing laps Norris felt he was faster than Piastri and wanted permission to fight his team mate, but the McLaren pit wall - mindful of the constructors battle with Aston Martin - ruled that out, meaning Norris was once again left playing second fiddle to Piastri on the podium.
