Gabriel Bortoleto, Kick Sauber (Retired, lap 46): 6/10
Bortoleto outqualified Hulkenberg on his debut Qualifying session and made it into Q2, no mean feat against an experienced teammate. The fundamental pace simply wasn’t there from the Kick Sauber car to challenge for points, but the Brazilian was doing well to keep out of trouble. That was until the rain decided to increase in intensity; Bortoleto touched the slippery painted white lines in the final sector and retired from the race, one of four rookies to fail to make it to the chequered flag.
Liam Lawson, Red Bull (Retired, lap 47): 1/10
Close enough, welcome back Sergio Perez! All jokes aside, not much more could have gone wrong for Lawson over the course of the Australian Grand Prix weekend. He made a handful of errors in Qualifying, failing to even get into Q2 while his teammate managed the second row of the grid. The New Zealander continued to disappoint by struggling to overtake the trudging Ocon for 20 laps, and then failing to make inroads on the Kick Saubers. He should be breezing past these slow cars in a Red Bull, no matter the weather. And to top it all off, he crashed out the moment conditions became that bit more difficult. Awful.
