Round 9: Austria
F1i's driver of the weekend: Max Verstappen (Red Bull) - 10/10
Max Verstappen continued Red Bull's unbroken run of 2023 Grand Prix victories with another emphatic win and his second perfect ten of the season, this time with a clean sweep across all sessions in Spielberg. Sergio Perez made amends for a dreadful qualifying on Friday by coming third after a thrilling battle with Carlos Sainz earning both of them 8.0 ratings, but Lando Norris pipped them both with 8.5 for a dramatic improvement for McLaren.
"Alright, we give up," was what we said after the race. "Week after week we try and maintain a certain element of suspense about whether Verstappen will get a perfect ten. We don't want to make it a routine foregone conclusion, but then there are weekends like this where it's just not possible to find anything to criticise.
"A clean sweep of every track session puts it beyond argument in Austria, and the way he swaggered his way to putting the cherry on top with the bonus point for the fastest lap of the race was virtually beyond belief. We're surprised he didn't stop to pop round to the shops on the final lap as well, he had plenty of time to.
"He behaved as though he was the only driver in the race, for the very simple reason that for all intents and purposes that really was the case. The only time he was rattled all weekend was on the first lap of the sprint when he got a poor start and had to battle with Sergio Perez for control of the race. He could hardly believe that his own team mate had the temerity to fight him and risk causing a collision.
"It was soon sorted out, and Verstappen blasted off to victory just like we had always expected him to. But could that possibly be a glimpse of a slight chink in the formidable armour of F1's current unstoppable force?"
Round 10: Britain
F1i's driver of the weekend: Lando Norris (McLaren) - 10/10
Max Verstappen clinched victory, a record-equalling 11 wins in a row for Red Bull but the home crowd had much to cheer with Verstappen joined on the podium by two Britons for the first time since 1999, after a text book drive for Lando Norris and a spirited display from Lewis Hamilton. We were so impressed by the rapid improvement of the McLaren that we were spellbound into deploying our ultimate accolade of a perfect ten for Norris, while Verstappen shared second on 9.5 with Oscar Piastri and Alex Albon.
"A subdued time in practice for McLaren as they got their new upgrades bedded in had us worried, because things really didn't look all that good on Friday and it felt like the team might even have made a retrograde step since Austria," he said. "But it was all part of the necessary process - it's what practice is for, after all
"It was a totally different picture when we get to qualifying where Norris was in the top three in all three rounds, putting himself on the front row of the grid for Sunday's race. Surely he wouldn't be able to sustain that when the lights went out? Not only did he do just that, he jumped Max Verstappen and took the lead.
"Naturally the Red Bull snatched it back five laps later, but Norris kept his cool and stayed with Verstappen for the rest of the race. When he was denied his 'operationally difficult' choice of soft tyres by the McLaren pit wall at the next stop, he didn't complain but just got on with what he'd been given. Norris proved that he could be as tenacious a defender as anyone, even in the face of pressure from his childhood hero Lewis Hamilton.
"It was an awesome display by one of the most likeable people in the sport, winning a legion of new fans who will remember this moment for years to come."
