Oscar Piastri (P8, 4 pts):: 7/10
It was a far cry from his miserable debut performance here a year ago in a seriously struggling McLaren, to the extent that Oscar Piastri was understandably disappointed to finish in only eighth place, the same position in which he had started. Passing Fernando Alonso early in the race meant he spent a long time in the race in seventh, and he did well to hold off Alonso and Lewis Hamilton for much of the race. The Mercedes finally got the better of him at the second round of pit stops when McLaren kept him out a too long and gave Hamilton the opportunity to snatch track position. Overall it was an uneventful first outing for Piastri, which doubtless gives McLaren a lot of valuable data to assess before Saudi Arabia and help them to improve a promising but as-yet incomplete MCL38.
Lewis Hamilton (P7, 6 pts): 7.5/10
Lewis Hamilton has been somewhat up and down about his feelings toward the W15, the last full iteration of the Mercedes chassis he will ever race in before his move to Ferrari next year. He sounded upbeat about the new car after practice, but then underperformed in qualifying despite insisting that he was having more fun than he had ever got from its "vicious" predecessor. But the positivity faded on Saturday when battery problems and overheating left him struggling to keep up with two McLarens ahead, and a broken seat only added to his distractions. He had the satisfaction of passing Fernando Alonso on more than one occasion and also got the better of Oscar Piastri, but Lando Norris proved too much for him and he spent the final 24 laps after the final pit stops glowering at the papaya entry ahead.
