Zhou Guanyu (Power unit, Lap 47): 5.5/10
Given that this was his first time at Circuit Paul Ricard in a Formula 1 car, it was understandable that Zhou Guanyu had to dial himself into the track over the course of practice in which he didn't manage to crack the top ten at any point. Even so, he went into qualifying confident that he would make the second round at least - and was deeply disappointed when that proved not to be the case, mistakes meaning that he missed the first cut and had to settle for 18th. There was some small compensation when grid penalties for Carlos Sainz and Kevin Magnussen bumped him up to 16th on Sunday, but a poor start by the Alfa Romeo saw Zhou drop to three places on the opening lap putting him behind Nicholas Latifi. Unable to pass the Williams, Zhou subsequently clashed with Mick Schumacher at the safety car restart - "I was defending my inside in Turn 11, he was trying to go for the outside, but then it got to one point where the corner just became too small for me" - and was handed a five second penalty for the misdemeanour. A power unit issue prevented any recovery and the team called it a day with six laps to go.
Mick Schumacher (P15): 5/10
After some recent breakthrough performances for Mick Schumacher, this was more pedestrian outing for the young German. He was P16 but ahead of his Haas team mate in FP1 only to fell behind in the later session, down in 19th and over a second slower than Kevin Magnussen. It was also a disappointing showing in final practice, but he still had hopes of making it through to the second round of qualifying - except he didn't, after his best Q1 lap was deleted for track limits leaving him 19th. He was particularly annoyed because it had been a line he had used throughout practice and no one had said a word. He got a two place boost from the grid penalties for Magnussen and Carlos Sainz, and gained three places when the lights went out on Sunday, but with the mediums not behaving as expected he was called in to make an early stop on lap 8. It proved ill-advised when a safety car for Charles Leclerc's accident meant everyone got a 'free' stop ten laps later. Schumacher himself also stopped again, but his race strategy was now shot even before he made contact with Zhou Guanyu at the restart which left him plodding around near the back for the rest of the race.
