Daniel Ricciardo, (P18, 3 pts): 6.5/10
It had been a nervous start to the weekend for McLaren with Daniel Ricciardo just P15 in first practice, but he and his team mate Lando Norris both easily made it into the top six in qualifying. Unfortunately a problem was detected on his MCL36 that prevented Ricciardo from taking part in FP2 and left him nervous about reliability for the sprint. Fortunately he sailed through and kept firm grip on P6 for the Grand Prix grid. When the lights went out he had a chance of challenging Carlos Sainz on the opening lap, taking the inside line through Tamburello only to find himself unable to ride the wet kerb and maintain the tightening line, sending the McLaren sliding wide in to the Ferrari. While Sainz was beached in the gravel, Ricciardo limped back to pit lane although he was unable to improve from the back of the field, and the team used him to sample alternative tyre compounds including being the first driver to move to slicks on lap 16 which was valuable information to Norris flying high at the front. There wasn't much else to say afterwards, other than to offer his apologies to Sainz.
Mick Schumacher (P17): 6/10
Qualifying in 12th place on Friday would in other circumstances have been a good result for Mick Schumacher, but his Haas team mate Kevin Magnussen comprehensively outdid him by getting into fourth. Otherwise the pair being closely matched in both practice sessions this weekend and Schumacher was in even better form in the sprint, gaining two places while Magnussen dropped four. That put Schumacher into the top ten on the grid on Sunday, his best starting spot in F1 to date, but a seemingly minor brush with Fernando Alonso on the opening lap (which fatally wounded the Alpine) sent him spinning and undid all the earlier good work, leaving him running at the back. With the midfield race soon becoming something of a DRS logjam, there was no way forward for the German driver, and Schumacher just had to put in the miles before he could call it a day.
