Charles Leclerc, Ferrari (P4): 8/10
Leclerc extracted the absolute maximum out of his SF-25 on Saturday, qualifying in third which became a front row start after Russell’s one-place grid penalty. The Monegasque’s hard work was somewhat undone at the race start as he lost two positions to Russell and Norris through the first few corners, and briefly fell to fifth behind the Alpine of Gasly after pitting from the lead on lap 17. Leclerc subsequently upped the ante by pushing hard on his second medium tyre stint, setting fastest laps and cruising up to the back of Norris and Russell in a developing battle for second. Lap 25 saw the Ferrari get ahead of Norris for third, but a strange decision to opt for the hard tyre after the Safety Car made it easier for Norris to get back ahead and reclaim the final podium spot. But fourth was perhaps the best that Leclerc and Ferrari could have hoped for.
Lando Norris, McLaren (P3): 6/10
It feels strange to give such a low rating to a driver that appeared on the podium, but such is the dominance of McLaren these days. A disappointing P6 in Qualifying set the tone for the rest of the weekend for Norris, who said himself that he had forgotten how to drive a Formula 1 car in Bahrain. The British driver made amends for a bad Saturday by moving up three places in the opening lap, but was deemed to have started ahead of his grid box and handed a five second penalty as a result. He was faster than Leclerc and Russell ahead of him for much of the race but couldn’t get past them, until the Safety Car and a fresh set of medium tyres allowed him to challenge the pair ahead. A lock up at Turn 1 on lap 46 while attempting an overtake on Leclerc lost Norris a lot of momentum, but he regrouped and overtook the Monegasque on lap 52. He ran out of time to get by Russell, and was disappointed not to make it a McLaren one-two at their second home race.
