Max Verstappen, Red Bull (P6): 6/10
As usual, Verstappen was complaining about his car in Bahrain, but these complaints were more justified than ever before this time. Starting a lowly seventh, the defending Champion suffered a poor start, endured two slow pitstops, had no grip on the hard tyre and lacked pace overall in his RB21. As the Dutchman said after the race, “everything went wrong”. The only good decision that he and the team made was to stay out when the Safety Car came out, which allowed him to jump up to eighth. Two overtakes on Ocon and Gasly followed, the latter on the very last lap, securing eight points which could prove crucial if he has any chance to fight for the Drivers’ Championship.
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari (P5): 7/10
Hamilton still appears a little lost at Ferrari four races in, although after the Grand Prix the seven-time World Champion believes he has “figured out” the driving style of the SF-25. Both Ferrari drivers opted to start on the medium compound of tyre. Initially this seemed like a bad decision, as they struggled to keep up with those ahead of them, but this allowed Hamilton to push on his second medium tyre stint, performing a couple of lovely overtakes on Antonelli and Ocon on lap 25 and 26 respectively. The Briton is still noticeably off the pace of his teammate, but that gap appears to be closing.
