Nicholas Latifi (P18): 5/10
Every weekend we hope that Nicholas Latifi can pull something out of the bag and put in a performance worthy of retaining the Williams seat for another season. But unfortunately this was not that weekend, and instead only adds ammunition to those calling for Latifi to be dropped in favour of something that can do the job better. That's despite a promising start when he was P11 in a topsy-turvy first practice, and circumstances meant he avoided the wooden spoon in the remaining practice sessions and was a surprise 16th in qualifying. That translated to a vertiginous P11 on the grid once the various grid penalties had been factored in. Maybe the altitude went to his head, because his spin on lap 2 of the race threw away any chances he had (and took Valtteri Bottas out of the race as well) and from there he spent the majority of the rest of the afternoon stuck at the back of the order, the slowest of the three drivers to finish off the lead lap at the end of another deeply disappointing day for the Canadian.
Mick Schumacher (P17): 5.5/10
Before the summer break, Haas seemed to be making some welcome forward progress and Mick Schumacher had just taken his first two points finishes. But at Spa, it was down to earth with a big bump for both the team and the driver. He was slowest of anyone at the end of Friday, and then lost time with technical problems in final practice that limited him to just six laps. Given all that, he actually did rather well to make the cut at the end of the first round of qualifying. But of course he knew coming into the weekend that it was all in vain anyway, as grid penalties would leave him on the back row for the start of the race. Although he was handed a bunch of positions on the opening laps through various incidents and early pit stops, he was a sitting duck at the safety car restart and plunged to the back once again. After that he was vying with Nicholas Latifi for the wooden spoon, and while he managed to avoid that dubious honour in the end it was a thoroughly unrewarding outing at a venue that meant so much personally and professionally to his father Michael.
