Lando Norris (SP1, Pole, P6, 16 pts): 6.5/10
This was pretty much the make-or-break weekend for Lando Norris' bid to beat Max Verstappen in the 2024 championship. And it started so well on Friday where McLaren were clearly the class of the field. A little bit of McLaren team work with Oscar Piastri duly delivered victory in the sprint race, and Norris put in arguably his best qualifying session on Sunday morning when he flew to pole for the Grand Prix, while Verstappen faltered and had to line up in P17. Surely Norris was going to take a chunk out of the Red Bull's points lead? But the rain hit hard: a cautious start saw Norris lose the lead at the first corner to George Russell, and the subsequent red flag gifted Verstappen a free pit stop to take the lead which proved a fatal blow. Norris rather unravelled in the final laps and slumped to sixth when he should have at least been ahead of Russell. The title appears decided as a result.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari (SP3, P5, 16 pts): 8/10
It's been a strong run for Ferrari with 1-2 victories in the last two outings, but there was simply something missing for both cars this weekend in Brazil and neither of them managed to shine. Too many accidents blighted Carlos Sainz' weekend, while by contrast Leclerc was pretty solid throughout but lacked that necessary spark to inject himself into the top echelons when it mattered. He did get on to the podium in the sprint after the race stewards stepped in and handed Max Verstappen a penalty, but he was fairly anonymous in the Grand Prix where he started in sixth and benefitted from the problems of the McLaren drivers to gain a place in the wet race despite an inevitable number of minor scares along the way. A solid weekend for the Monegasque, but far from a stand-out one; he would have been hoping for more.
