George Russell, Mercedes (P2): 9/10
Russell has regained the “Mr. Consistent” moniker he earned during his exploits back in 2022. This time however, he is consistently finding himself in podium contention, and disrupting the dominance of McLaren. It all started with a masterful Qualifying performance which saw him set the second quickest time. He was forced to start in third after a one-place grid penalty, but found himself back in P2 with a solid launch off the line. Russell managed to stay ahead of Norris after the first pitstops, and looked in control to finish in second until the Safety Car came out. Mercedes opted to send him out on the soft tyre with 24 laps remaining, a decision which Russell called “audacious” over team radio. Nevertheless, the soft compound didn’t degrade nearly as quickly as many expected, although a transponder issue and technical faults in his W16 threatened to derail his race right at the end. Thankfully his car held on, and Russell crossed the line in a brilliant second place. He was investigated after the race for accidentally opening his DRS illegally, but wasn’t penalised as he didn’t gain any advantage by doing so.
Oscar Piastri, McLaren (P1): 10/10
Piastri’s victory never looked in doubt from the word go. It started with a dominant Qualifying display, setting a time almost two tenths quicker than the next fastest driver. He aced the race start, broke out a one second gap to Russell by the end of the second lap and turned that into six seconds by the midpoint of the Grand Prix. Piastri’s advantage was wiped out when the Safety Car was brought out, but he managed to grow the gap with his brilliant driving once again, eventually winning by over 15 seconds. While Norris looked out of sorts, Piastri was calm, collected and supremely confident behind the wheel of his MCL39. He has the mentality of a Champion, no doubt.
