Oliver Bearman (SP14, P12): 6/10
A poorly Kevin Magnussen meant that Oliver Bearman got an early morning wake-up call on Friday morning telling him he would be in the car this weekend in São Paulo. Unfortunately it simply wasn't a good weekend for Haas as a whole with the team falling behind Alpine in the standings and only two points ahead of RB with three races remaining. You can hardly blame Bearman for any of that, who did as well in the challenging conditions as you could expect of any rookie in his first time at Interlagos. He had a bright start on Friday with third place in practice and making the top ten on the sprint grid, but after that reality asserted itself. He dropped to 14th in the sprint, missed the first cut in Grand Prix qualifying, and finished outside the points - but in one piece - after a difficult race. No disgrace, and a good learning experience for him ahead of assuming the seat full time in 2025.
Sergio Perez, Red Bull (SP8, P11, 1 pt): 5.5/10
The good news is that there weren't any major disasters for Sergio Perez in Brazil. But unfortunately there were very few positives either. Both he and team mate Max Verstappen were sluggish in practice, and he only managed to qualify in 13th place for the sprint. He did manage to battle his way into the top eight to secure a single point on Saturday afternoon, but then the pattern repeated on Sunday when he was 13th again in qualifying for the Grand Prix. While Verstappen flew up the order in the wet and eventually clinched victory from 17th, Perez spun on the first lap and was again left slogging away through the midfield attempting to salvage something. It looked like he would get a point at least until Lewis Hamilton snatched it away on lap 55 leaving him without reward for his efforts. We'd like to say he deserved better, but to be honest that's about what his lacklustre performance this weekend merited.
