Charles Leclerc (Pole, P4, Fastest lap, 13 pts): 8/10
For any other driver in any other season, fourth place in Mexico would have provided good reason to celebrate; but not so much for Charles Leclerc, not after his recent breakout performances. He was in the top three throughout practice and was the odds-on favourite to claim pole thanks to Ferrari's significant straight line speed advantage, but ultimately missed out - by a substantial quarter of a second - to Max Verstappen. However a grid penalty for the Red Bull promoted Leclerc back to the front, even if he looked distinctly nonplussed with the prospect of now having to tow everyone else down the starting straight. In fact he played it perfectly and was able to took control of the opening 14 laps, until it was time for his pit stop - which is where it all started to go awry. Trading mediums for mediums committed him to making a second stop later in the race, and Leclerc would have been watching on with horror as one-by-one his rivals opted for a single stop strategy instead. Worse, his own second stop saw a rare stutter from the Ferrari mechanics, and when he tried to make up for lost time and catch Bottas in the closing laps he pushed too hard and went off track. They pretty much locked down the running order for the remainder of the race, but Leclerc did at least put his fresh tyres to good use by taking the bonus point for fastest lap on lap 53.
