Carlos Sainz (Engine, Lap 57, 6 pts): 8/10
Ecstasy a week ago in Silverstone when he claimed his maiden pole position and F1 victory, but agony this week when an almost-certain second place went up in smoke. And flames. It left the Spaniard sitting by the side of the track, head in hands, wondering just what he has to do to get his season back on course. Up to that point he'd enjoyed a strong weekend, missing out on pole by just 0.082s on Friday and then baring his teeth in the sprint with a fierce battle with his team mate, fortunately coming out of it having made no contact with Charles Leclerc and both cars still in one piece. He initially lost out in the race when he briefly dropped behind George Russell but swiftly blasted his way back in front again, and he and Leclerc then showed superior pace to Max Verstappen. Sainz was just gearing up for another pass on the Red Bull to secure second place when his engine comprehensively voided its warranty without warning.
Sebastian Vettel (P17): 5/10
Despite a decent showing in first practice, qualifying was a disaster for Sebastian Vettel who had crucial lap times deleted for exceeding track limits leaving him bottom at the end of Q1. He hoped to make amends and repair the damage in the sprint race, but instead bumped wheels with Alex Albon while trying to overtake the Williams. It sent him into the gravel, the Aston Martin incurring too much damage to continue. At the start of next day's race he was hit by some debris but was luckier than Nicholas Latifi when it came to damage, although the AMR22 didn't like the hard compound tyres it had started the race on. The longer stint enabled him to reach P9 before his own pit stop dropped him to the back again. Any hopes of a significant improvement came to an end on lap 40 when he clashed with Pierre Gasly and ended up back in the gravel again. He said afterwards that it felt like his car had a target painted on it for the other drivers to aim at.
