Sergio Perez (P9, 2 pts): 8.5/10
After being in the top ten in both Friday practice sessions, Sergio Perez had every reason to believe that he would be able to make it into the final round of qualifying on Sunday morning. But that proved not to be the case, and Perez found himself ignominiously eliminated at the end of Q1 which left him fuming. But once the race itself got underway, his luck changed for the better: Perez made an immediate leap forward and was up to 11th by the end of the first lap, and went on to spend much of the middle section of the race circulating in the top ten on the medium compound. Late in the race, Racing Point opted to pit Perez for a second time to put him back on softs to allow him to fight off the faster cars around him, which came in handy when Pierre Gasly came calling. Unfortunately there was contact between the pair and Perez spun off into the gravel, seemingly costing him a points finish - only to learn that a timing glitch had actually ended the race a lap early, meaning that his contact with the Toro Rosso had effectively happened after the race was finished. It was a lucky break for the Mexican, who goes into his home race with a welcome boost.
