Valtteri Bottas, Sauber (P16): 6/10
Valtteri Bottas extended his whitewash of Sauber team mate Zhou GUanyu in qualifying. Having finished in the top ten in practice on Friday, he duly made it through to the second round of qualifying and put himself 12th on the grid. But after all that effort, Sauber's soft-soft-hard tyre strategy was a kick in the teeth that left the Finn with little to work with on Sunday afternoon and trailing several places behind his team mate Zhou Guanyu by the end of the race. It really does feel that Sauber has lost interest in anything that happens before Audi formally takes over in 2026.
Daniel Ricciardo, RB (P15): 6.5/10
Daniel Ricciardo wasn't happy to be out-qualified by RB team mate Yuki Tsunoda on Saturday, but he had a much better time of it in the race. Given that the new upgrades on the RB were not delivering the performance boost that everyone had been hoping for, Ricciardo put in a strong drive on Sunday and got more out of the car than anyone had been expecting. It's not nearly enough to resurrect his career prospects, but it does remind us of Ricciardo's impressive talent. "Unfortunately I think we just didn't have more to show this weekend," he admitted afterward. "We seem to be missing something with the new package."
