Valtteri Bottas (P8, 4 pts): 7.5/10
It was a surprise to be reminded that Valtteri Bottas had gone for 103 races qualifying in the top ten - a reminder of just what a reliable pair of hands he had been for all that time at Mercedes. No one had expected him to keep up that record going after his move down the grid to Alfa Romeo, but he had extended that run in Bahrain and Jeddah in a much better than expected C42. However all good things come to an end eventually, and despite finishing in the top ten in both FP2 and FP3 he wasn't able to translate that into a spot in the final round of qualifying. Instead, Bottas found himself starting Sunday's race from 12th on the grid, sandwiched between the two AlphaTauri cars. Yuki Tsunoda got the better of him when the lights went out, meaning he remained locked in that position even after Carlos Sainz' early exit from the proceedings. Pit stops for those ahead of him put him briefly as high as sixth, but his own stop came just before the safety car for Sebastian Vettel's retirement and once things shook out he found himself back in 12th for the restart, when he got jumped by Lance Stroll. Subsequent pit stops under a Virtual Safety Car restored him to 11th but desperate defensive moves by the Aston (including weaving down straights) meant he didn't have his revenge on Stroll until lap 50. He made quicker work of Pierre Gasly on lap 52 and then benefitted from Alex Albon's penultimate lap pit stop to pick up eighth place at the line, but by now it was too late to make any inroads into the gap to Esteban Ocon ahead.
Esteban Ocon (P7, 6 pts): 7.5/10
Esteban Ocon and his Alpine team mate Fernando Alonso were well matched on Friday. Both were in the top ten in the first two sessions, Ocon quicker in FP1 and Alonso leading the pair in FP2. Final practice saw Alonso up in fourth while Ocon dropped to 13th, but this was a temporary situation and in qualifying both cars made it the distance into Q3 with Ocon ending up in eighth after Alonso was sidelined by a hydraulic issue that sent his A522 spinning off. When the lights went out he maintained position but was the first of the top ten to pit on lap 17, a decision that dropped him all the way to 17th. A subsequent safety car benefitted those yet to make their stops, but Ocon himself was back up to 11th place for the restart and once again hunkered down for the long haul rather than making any immediate progress. Max Verstappen's retirement on lap 38 and more pit stops under the ensuring Virtual Safety Car for those starting on hard tyres helped him gain more places, and he headed to the finish running in eighth and staring at the backside of Alex Albon's Williams, which seemed to have forgotten to head to pit lane all afternoon. When the FW44 did peel off at the start of the final lap, Ocon was able to snap up seventh - a solid day's work and a decent haul of points for the team after Alonso's campaign spluttered to a disappointing finish at the back. However it's never really going to make anyone's highlight reel.
