Fernando Alonso (P8, 4 pts): 7.5/10
Fernando Alonso was doubtless feeling pretty happy after finishing Friday's practice session fourth fastest, and he continued to be in the top ten in FP3 and in qualifying where he put the Alpine into a solid ninth place on the grid for Sunday's race. A poor start from Lando Norris gifted him a further place at the start and he was able to maintain that for the first ten laps, but he was then ambushed by both McLarens on lap 11 and then by Sebastian Vettel shortly afterwards which drove him out of the points, even before his first pit stop on lap 18 dropped him to 15th. It looked like a long way back from there for Alonso, who unlike his team mate Esteban Ocon had started on the medium compound. Passing Kimi Raikkonen on lap 27 was a key moment, and he would have enjoyed getting the better of both Ferraris in quick succession shortly thereafter. That left him running in eighth place behind Pierre Gasly, who proved an impossible nut to crack by the time the race ended.
Pierre Gasly (P7, 6 pts): 8/10
Pierre Gasly spent much of the weekend complaining about how difficult the conditions were at Circuit Paul Ricard and how much he was struggling, but it didn't show in his performance which was remarkably consistent: eighth in FP1, seventh in FP2, ninth in FP3 and into the final round of qualifying on Saturday afternoon where he was able to line up in a very commendable sixth place on the grid for his home event. Nothing to fault there, although he'd probably have preferred to be ahead of Carlos Sainz. He was also a strong performer during the race where he held up under pressure from Charles Leclerc, Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris (with whom he had quite the battle, perhaps going a little too far at points) before pitting on lap 17. Thereafter he continued to be frustrated by Sainz until finally dispatching the Ferrari on lap 36, and he spent the final 16 laps wedged between Ricciardo and Fernando Alonso on his way to earning points in a very respectable seventh.
