George Russell (P6, 8 pts): 8.5/10
Of the two Mercedes drivers, George Russell is looking most at home in a W15 that s not delivering what it had promised. Russell himself noted that the team had started well in both Bahrain and Jeddah, only to somehow manage to get slower over each successive session, leaving them struggling in the race. Having been second quickest at the end of Thursday, he slipped to fourth in qualifying and lost a net one place in the first round of pit stops under the safety car. That left him running behind Fernando Alonso for the rest of the evening. The Mercedes simply didn't have the pace to dispatch the Aston Martin, but he was able to contain the threat of Ferrari super-sub Ollie Bearman behind him to bring home what was almost certainly the best that Mercedes were capable of this week.
Fernando Alonso (P5, 10 pts): 8/10
Fernando Alonso was certainly enjoying himself on Thursday, finishing second behind Max Verstappen in first practice and then himself topping the times in FP2 in the evening. There was little doubt that the Aston Martin would make it through to the final round of qualifying, and he was rewarded with fourth place on the grid for the race. However the Aston was no match for Oscar Piastri at the start, and Alonso spent all but one lap of the rest of the race staring at the McLaren's rear wing. He wasn't able to do anything about passing the Australian, but on the other hand he was more than up to the challenge of staying comfortably ahead of George Russell in the Mercedes behind him. The three cars - and indeed, all three drivers - looked pretty well-matched this weekend.
