Lando Norris, McLaren (Fastest lap, P4, 13 pts): 9/10
Lando Norris came into Baku hopeful that his championship campaign started here, after agreement was reached at McLaren to ask his team mate Oscar Piastri to support his title bid. It was odd just how much that didn't go according to plan. By the end of Friday, Piastri was looking strong while Norris was having problems with traffic and finished in an oddly prophetic P17 which is where he ended up in qualifying after missing the cut due to a maliciously ill-timed yellow flag. Even gaining a couple of positions on the grid due to penalties elsewhere, Sunday remained a damage limitation exercise with Verstappen starting nine places ahead. But what Norris lacks when starting from pole he more than makes up for carving his way through the midfield, and a long first stint on hards was just the right strategy to put him ahead of Verstappen by the finish. Along the way he provided the perfect strategic assist to Piastri by holding up Sergio Perez during the pit stops - exactly the sort of team order that Piastri had come into the weekend expecting to be tasked with delivering. Funny how these things go. A very impressive performance from Norris, who looked genuinely happy with his day.
George Russell, Mercedes (P3, 15 pts): 8/10
It was a really strange race for George Russell. That's not our assessment, but the words of the man himself. He had been beset by technical problems on Friday before coming good with the fastest time in final practice. But when it came to qualifying the Mercedes couldn't find that same edge and Russell was disappointed to miss out on the front two rows for the start of Sunday's race. The first lap didn't go well and he lost a position to Max Verstappen at the start, and then he struggled to keep up with the leaders on his initial set of soft tyres. It was all slipping away from him, and any prospects of a podium were long gone. And then he switched to the hard tyres for the rest of the race, and suddenly it was night and day: now the car had speed enough to match the race leaders. He found himself rapidly catching back up to Verstappen who was being hampered by Lando Norris on old tyres near the end of an extended first stint. But catching Verstappen is one thing, passing is - no, wait, actually that took no time at all, our bad. It was a brutal bit of payback for the humiliations Verstappen has been handing out in the last three seasons. The only way things could end better for Russell would be for a last minute accident ahead handing him a podium in a gift basket - and yes, that also happened. It might not compensate him for the lost Spa victory, but the look of delight on Russell's face suggested it wasn't all that far off.
