Kimi Raikkonen (P12): 7/10
After his embarrassing fumble seven days earlier when his race ended prematurely after a rookie-level error saw him rear-ending his Alfa Romeo team mate Antonio Giovinazzi, Kimi Raikkonen was looking more composed in Spain. He sat out FP1 in favour of the team's reserve driver Robert Kubica, but bounced back on Saturday morning with an impressive ninth fastest time. That didn't translate to success in qualifying however, and the Finn missed the first cut while Giovinazzi progressed. But when it came to the race, the tables were turned as has so often been the case and Raikkonen gained three positions with passes on Giovinazzi, George Russell and Yuki Tsunoda. It was all the more remarkable as Raikkonen was the only driver on the grid to opt to start on the nominally slower medium tyres while everyone else was on the soft compound. That choice led to a 37-lap opening stint during which time he had climbed as high as fifth, but it had been a strain and by the time he pitted for fresh tyres he found himself out of the points for the rest of the afternoon. "I think the strategy was the best we could choose today," he insisted. "Unfortunately, we went really close to the points once again but didn't get anything out of the race."
Lance Stroll (P11): 6.5/10
Lance Stroll was slower than his Aston Martin team mate Sebastian Vettel on Friday, but then picked up the pace in final practice. Both men made it into the second round of qualifying, but it was Stroll who was quickest of the pair and he only missed out on making it through to the final top ten pole shoot-out by 0.008s to Fernando Alonso. Usually lining up in 11th place on the grid comes with the compensation of having a free choice of starting compound for the race itself, but that proved meaningless this weekend as virtually everyone opted for the same soft tyres. When the lights went out, Stroll held position behind Alonso and then managed to get the jump on the two-time world champion at the restart following the early safety car for Yuki Tsunoda's retirement. It left Stroll stuck behind the McLaren of Lando Norris through the first round of pit stops and beyond. A second stop dropped Stroll behind Nicholas Latifi and it took him seven laps to finally get the jump on the Williams, only to then spend a similar time staring at the back of George Russell's car in a case of frustrating deja vu. he briefly broke into the top ten on lap 61 only to subsequently succumb to Pierre Gasly on fresher tyres, meaning his efforts had been rendered effectively and literally pointless.
