Alexander Albon (P14): 8/10
By rights we should be lauding Alexander Albon's first podium position today, instead of lamenting the cruel fickleness of fate. He started well enough by topping the times in the wet first practice, but then made a mistake and planted the Red Bull in the wall at the end of the session which graphically illustrated just how tricky Interlagos can be for first-time rookies. That put him on the back foot in the afternoon but his confidence was barely dented and he was on it again on Saturday and comfortably in the top six, if not quite a match for his pole-winning team mate. With the exception of a short period during the first round of pit stops, Albon started and ran in fifth place for the first 40 laps of the race. A solid two-stop strategy saw him gain track position over Valtteri Bottas and Sebastian Vettel, and Lewis Hamilton's surprise late stop under the final safety car vaulted him into a second place behind Max Verstappen that he was utterly determined to keep in the final two-lap shootout after the restart. Unfortunately he ended up being spun out by an equally determined Hamilton on the final lap (did he leave too much room? Possibly, but the stewards put all the blame on Hamilton) which left him limping home in an ignominious and undeserved 14th place when he had been so close to glory.
