Carlos Sainz, Ferrari (P6, 8 pts): 7.5/10
All the drama on Sunday was swirling around McLaren, Mercedes and Red Bull, and Ferrari were probably quite relieved about that and allowed to fly under the radar in Budapest as they continue to work out what's gone amiss with their upgrade programme. Carlos Sainz had a strong Saturday to qualify in fourth ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, but he lost out badly at the start of the race on Sunday. While he soon recovered a place from Fernando Alonso, he was never quite able to get back on an even footing with the others during the course of the afternoon. A solid effort from the Spaniard but there was still a sense that he could and indeed should have done a bit better this week.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull (P5, 10 pts): 6.5/10
It's been a while since the reigning world champion has received such a low rating from us. It may look a little harsh given that Verstappen was in the top three in all three practice sessions in Budapest, and again in qualifying where he was just 0.046s short of matching Lando Norris' pole time. He was clearly putting everything he had into beating the McLaren pair, and of course that's the big take away this weekend. Red Bull simply weren't up to it, for all their major upgrades being rolled out which Verstappen himself said would set the tone for the rest of their season. On this basis, they're just not good enough, but maybe some more bedding in at Spa will change that. The headaches certainly spilled over into deep frustration in the race and we saw levels of mistakes, petulance and tantrums from the cockpit the likes of which haven't been there since 2021.
