Lance Stroll (P12): 7/10
Lance Stroll's Aston Martin didn't look very happy in the wet conditions on Friday (he was P18 in FP2). Once things dried up on Saturday he perked up in final practice, only to slump back to P18 again in qualifying after locking up in the hairpin on his crucial flying lap. He more than made up for it with a brilliant start to the race, though: "Before we got going, I had noticed a strip of drier asphalt and decided to go for it at the start," he said. "It worked out really well. It was a really fun first lap!" Sticking close to the pit wall won him seven places before the red flag came out. He opted to make two pit stops during the race, but it didn't really pay off and he ended up stuck in 12th place for the remainder of the day.
Daniel Ricciardo (P11): 7/10
Daniel Ricciardo finally got his hands on McLaren's new sidepod upgrade this week, but it didn't seem to be giving him or team mate Lando Norris much of a boost in Suzuka. He was disinclined to risk damage to the new parts in the wet conditions on Friday, but was 11th in the drier FP3 and in qualifying he came within three thousandths of a second of squeaking into the final top ten pole shoot-out round, after locking up his wheels in the final corner. He gained three spots at the start of the race and peaked at third during the cycle of pit stops, but then dropped to P13 behind Lance Stroll. A late stop for the Aston Martin allowed Ricciardo to line up a successful pass on Yuki Tsunoda leaving him running behind Norris to the line; but while Norris was just in the top ten, Ricciardo finished pointless.
