Oscar Piastri (P4, 12 pts): 8/10
Very much in the spotlight at his home race, Oscar Piastri ran confidently but quietly in the top ten throughout practice. While Lando Norris topped FP1, it was Piastri who moved ahead of his McLaren team mate after that. However he couldn't quite carry that through in the final round of qualifying. After Sergio Perez' penalty for impeding was applies, Norris started the race from third with Piastri two spots behind in fifth, sandwiching Charles Leclerc who was to prove their nemesis in the race. Piastri pitted at the same time as the Monegasque on lap 9 and crucially the Ferrari came out ahead, with the pair both successfully undercutting Norris who had stayed out five laps longer. This led to a crucial strategy call by the team on lap 29 ordering Piastri to allow Norris to pass him in order to give chase to Leclerc. The home fans hated that decision, but in any case Piastri was too hard on his second set of tyres, locked up and had to make his second stop on lap 39 which proved to be a slow one. It gave Norris a big advantage for the rest of the race with the gap between them growing to half a minute by the chequered flag.
Lando Norris (P3, 15 pts): 8.5/10
Lando Norris topped the times in first practice, only to go into reverse and drop down the order in FP2 and FP3. Not that there was any undue concern about the situation at McLaren, and sure enough there was little drama in qualifying as both Norris and his team mate Oscar Piastri progressed to the final round with almost serene composure. Norris ended up on the second row even before the application of Sergio Perez' three place grid penalty. From there he was able to maintain his position sandwiched between the Ferraris of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc at the start, as Max Verstappen retired in a cloud of smoke. He had planned to pit early but was caught out when Leclerc preempted him. The extra five laps he stayed out allowed both Leclerc and Piastri to undercut him. Although the McLaren pit wall eventually issued team orders directing Piastri to let him pass (the Aussie fans did not like that one bit), Norris was no longer able to snatch P2 from the Ferrari. Norris did prove that the team orders had been the correct decision as he chased down Leclerc and pulled out a half minute lead over Piastri by the finish.
