Valtteri Bottas (P10, 1 pt): 7.5/10
After moving from Mercedes to Alfa Romeo over the winter, Valtteri Bottas had a strong start to the season - only for it all to fizzle out. The last time he was in the final round of qualifying was Hungary, and he hadn't scored any championship points since Canada. But while other teams like Aston Martin and Haas struggled in the rarified air of Mexico City, the Alfa seemed to get a boost in the high altitude and was quick from the get-go, finishing in the top ten in all three practice sessions. Could he convert that to a Q3 appearance? You bet he could, and he started Sunday's race from sixth place after splitting the two Ferraris who were also somewhat off-colour this weekend. He lost places to Charles Leclerc and Fernando Alonso at the start but then settled into eighth place for his first stint, having opted to start on the medium tyres which he made last for 39 laps. Unfortunately the team then switched him onto uncooperative hard tyres for the remainder of the race, rather than the softs that worked so brilliantly for Daniel Ricciardo who flew past the Finn on lap 57. Bottas was able to hold on to tenth to claim a long-awaited championship point, but there's a feeling he could have done even better - maybe as high as seventh - with a different tyre call.
Lando Norris (P9, 2 pts): 7/10
McLaren are still engaged in the battle with Alpine for fourth place in the constructors championship, and so far this season it's been Lando Norris who has been doing all the heavy lifting for the team when it comes to pulling in the points. After a solid time in practice (eighth in FP1, seventh in FP3) he reliably claimed P7 in qualifying putting him just ahead of both his Alpine rivals for Sunday's race. Unfortunately the start continues to be Norris' Achilles heel and he lost out to both Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon when the lights went out. He stemmed the bleeding and ran the first stint in a stable tenth place before making his pit stop on lap 31, earlier than planned in response to Yuki Tsunoda coming in. Unfortunately it meant he was put on to the hard compound to make it through the remainder of the race, and like others making the same choice he found the compound difficult to switch on. His team mate Daniel Ricciardo stopped later and was able to take soft tyres, which proved to be a masterstroke - the Australian sailed past Norris on lap 55, demoting Norris out of the points. Fortunately Alonso's retirement gifted him a place and he was able to get around Valtteri Bottas to put him into ninth at the chequered flag, helping McLaren take four points out of Alpine's slender advantage in the team standings.
