Nico Hulkenberg, Haas (P6, 8 pts): 8.5/10
If anyone was surprised that Audi chose Nico Hulkenberg for their works team in 2025, then Silverstone was a good reminder of why he deserves the break and should be a valuable asset for them. He was quicker than both Oliver Bearman and Kevin Magnussen in practice, and in qualifying he once again out-performed the car to slide into the final round and claim P6 on the grid, while Magnussen fell at the first cut. He was challenged by Lance Stroll at the first corner which sent him running wide and dropped him to ninth. Hulkenberg kept his cool, bided his time and took the position back from Stroll on lap 19. After that it was a smooth run to the finish behind Carlos Sainz despite the changeable conditions. At no time did it feel like he had lucked in to the result, and he looked like he was born to be in the top six, even in a Haas.
Carlos Sainz, Ferrari (Fastest Lap, P5, 11 pts): 8/10
It wasn't really an eye-catching weekend for Carlos Sainz, but that was mainly due to Ferrari getting distracted trying to figure out what had gone awry with their latest package of upgrades. Sainz was in the top ten throughout practice but it wasn't until FP3 that he finally nosed ahead of team mate Charles Leclerc, who seemed to be more put off by all the noises off than the Spaniard. Sainz duly made it through to the final round of qualifying (Leclerc didn't) although seventh on the grid was not exactly the sort of result Ferrari would have been expecting at this point of the season. While Leclerc toiled with a tyre strategy misfire, Sainz got his head down and executed a conservative strategy to finish in fifth place after sparring for much of the afternoon with Oscar Piastri. That the McLaren was clearly faster will be a worry for all at Maranello, but Sainz himself did all he was asked to do (and more) this weekend.
