Lance Stroll (P8, 4 pts): 7.5/10
With all the attention this week on his Aston Martin team mate Sebastian Vettel, Lance Stroll was able to get down to business undisturbed. After missing out on FP1 in favour of Felipe Drugovich, Stroll was understandably off the pace in FP2 and was only P16 in final practice. He picked up the pace to survive the first cut in qualifying and started the race from 14th, immediately getting the jump on Mick Schumacher and Daniel Ricciardo when the lights went out. He was the second driver to pit on lap 13, moving from medium to hard tyres, and the tactic played out to his advantage: by the time others had made their own stop he was into the top ten. A second stop on lap 40 cost him only three spots, and he went on to pass four cars including Vettel and then Daniel Ricciardo, and benefitted from Lewis Hamilton's late retirement to end up in a very decent eighth.
Esteban Ocon (P7, 6 pts): 7.5/10
Esteban Ocon was keenly aware that his mission, should he choose to accept it, was to ensure that McLaren didn't spring a last race ambush on Alpine for fourth place in the constructors championship. His practice performances made it look touch-and-go as to whether he would get through to the final round of qualifying, but when it came to it there was no problem and he started Sunday's race from eighth on the grid. He wasn't able to make any impression on Lando Norris ahead, but did ensure that first Sebastian Vettel and later Lance Stroll found no way through. His second pit stop briefly allowed Daniel Ricciardo to get ahead but Ocon soon put that to rights. Lewis Hamilton's late retirement with three laps to go handed Ocon an extra position, and his resulting six points helped ensure that Alpine achieved its objective.
