Nico Hulkenberg (P10, 1 pt): 8/10
Renault looked set for a truly terrible weekend at Suzuka, with both Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo baffled by their poor pace in Friday's practice session. Hopes that the R.S.19 would spring to life on Sunday seemed dashed by a poor showing in qualifying when hydraulic pressure problems denied him a final run, although at least by then Hulkenberg had managed to out-do his team mate and make it through to the second round. Starting from 15th on the grid, Hulkenberg got a terrific start to the race and ran most of the first stint in the points, also adapting well when he changed to the medium tyre for the reminder of the afternoon which soon saw him back on the top ten. It looked like he would pick up two championship points after Sergio Perez spun out on the penultimate lap, but a timing glitch meant that the rollback restored Perez to ninth and left Hulkenberg having to settle for just the one point after all.
