Max Verstappen (P6, 8 pts): 7/10
Max Verstappen struggled in Friday practice last week in Imola only to go on to win the race, so when Red Bull were off the pace again in Monaco is just looked like the same old story. But while Verstappen certainly picked up the pace on Saturday, it was by no means a return to the sort of level of dominance we've become accustomed to from the world champions. He was second in final practice just two tenths behind Charles Leclerc, but clearly having to push himself to the very limit. He paid for that in the final round of qualifying when he tapped the wall on his final push lap which prevented him from improving on sixth place on the grid. Such was the static nature of the race itself, Verstappen had no chance of improving on that until the final laps when he hunted down George Russell whose Mercedes was on a very old set of mediums, but even with that upper hand he was unable to find a way past before the line. Max will be pleased to move on to Canada.
George Russell (P5, 10 pts): 7.5/10
Lewis Hamilton topped the times in FP1 with George Russell third, suggesting that Mercedes had some genuine pace this weekend. Unfortunately, once again their chances seemed to drain away the further in to the weekend they got, proving increasingly frustrating for the team. Russell ended up being equipped with the team's sole available upgraded front wing which was quite risky since if it got damaged on Saturday it could mean a pit lane start for breaching parc ferme rules. Credit to Russell, then, for colouring between the lines and still taking fifth on the grid. He was behind the clearly quicker Ferrari and McLaren drivers, but crucially ahead of Max Verstappen and Hamilton. Like them he was caught out by the early red flags which forced him onto mediums for the restart, but while the others were planning a second stop around lap 51/2 Russell was going the distance even if it meant crawling around in the early laps to preserve his tyres. The data said he wouldn't be able to do it; but he did, just holding off Verstappen at the line.
