Charles Leclerc (P7, 6 pts): 9/10
Sauber make it through to the final round of qualifying so often these days that we barely mention it - but compare that to how the team started the season, lurking around the back rows. Their improvement has been immense and Charles Leclerc has been a major part of that step forward. He gets his reward with a Ferrari seat next year, but first there was one last bit of business with his current team: starting from eighth place, he shot off the grid and passed Daniel Ricciardo for fifth place by the time the safety car was scrambled for Hulkenberg's overturned Renault. He subsequently followed Lewis Hamilton into the pits for an early pit stop under a Virtual Safety Car for Kimi Raikkonen's retirement, which dropped him to 14th after which it was a long way back into the points. Had that premature stop been the right call? Even Leclerc wasn't sure; perhaps a different choice might have put him up another spot to sixth. But the driver himself certainly played his part to perfection in the cockpit.
