Sebastian Vettel (P8, 4 pts): 7.5/10
Sebastian Vettel had a curiously lacklustre Friday: while his Aston Martin team mate Lance Stroll was in the top five in both sessions, Vettel was a consistent 15th in both FP1 and FP2 and over a second slower. He looked much happier in final practice, but still missed the cut at the end of the first round of qualifying, albeit by just two thousandths of a second on his young protege Mick Schumacher. Even so, he started the race from tenth place thanks to grid penalties for eight other drivers, and made outstanding use of the opportunity by gaining five places on the opening lap, although inevitably he could do nothing about Max Verstappen blasting his way past on lap 5. His first pit stop on lap 14 was well-timed, although he was held up having to deal with Alex Albon when he rejoined, before settling in behind Fernando Alonso until the second round of stops. He then ended up getting embroiled in a three-wide battle with Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon down the Kemmel Straight reminiscent of Schumacher/Hakkinen (and backmarker Zonta) in 2000, but survived being the meat in a high speed sandwich to claim eighth place - Aston's best result since Azerbaijan. Not bad for a guy on the verge of retirement, all things considered.
Esteban Ocon (P7, 6 pts): 9/10
He might not have taken the accolade of Driver of the Day, but he certainly gets applause for what must be the overtaking move of the race for that three-wide move down the Kemmel Straight where he took advantage of Pierre Gasly and Sebastian Vettel scrapping over seventh place with a do-or-die move around the outside to dispatch both of them in a single manoeuvre. It will surely do down in the history books right alongside the Schumacher/Hakkinen clash at the same place in 2000. It capped an excellent weekend for the French driver, who had started with a subdued time in Friday practice (16th in both) but perked up on Saturday (ninth in final practice) before finishing qualifying in fifth place. Unfortunately it meant little because of his 'back of the grid' penalty, which on this occasion meant starting from P16. But the race pace of the Alpine was evident, and after a solid first spell on mediums, Ocon then put in a long stint on the hard compound that saw him run as high as sixth place. His final stop and a return to mediums for the final ten-lap run back on the mediums put him behind his team mate Fernando Alonso, who'd started the race from fourth on the grid. Their combined success this week has given Alpine a huge boost in its battle over fourth place in the constructors championship with McLaren.
