Carlos Sainz Jr., Williams (P10) 4/10
Sainz was lucky to score points; if it wasn’t for the three disqualifications ahead of him he would have finished in P13. The Spaniard just doesn’t seem to have the pace compared to teammate Albon, struggling to extract the maximum out of his Williams. He was behind Albon in every facet, from Sprint Qualifying to the Grand Prix itself. We have given him an extra mark for keeping his medium tyres fresh for longer than the majority of the field, but the general lack of confidence behind the wheel is more than a little concerning for Sainz. Hopefully that odd crash he had in Melbourne hasn’t affected him mentally.
Lance Stroll, Aston Martin (P9) 7/10
An excellent SQ3 appearance for Stroll, and you can tell from his interviews and press conferences over the weekend that he has gotten some confidence back in his abilities. He didn’t have the pace to convert his solid starting position into points, and fortunes fell even more in the main Qualifying session as Aston Martin struggled to tune their car for one-lap pace. Starting the Grand Prix on the hard tyre, Stroll discreetly made his way up into an enticing position but subsequently started losing those places he gained as his grip fell away. But he had good enough pace to keep Tsunoda behind despite the tyre deficit, and after pitting for fresh rubber on lap 38 performed some bold overtakes, including one at Turn 1 on Sainz, which was only enough for P12 at the flag but turned into points after disqualifications were handed out.
