Alexander Albon (SP12, P14): 6.5/10
The Williams FW45 didn't like the cold, wet weather in Spa this weekend and seemed frankly reluctant to come out and play. A lack of downforce left the car slipping all over the place, making it a handful for Alex Albon and his team mate. Both missed the cut at the end of the first round of qualifying (with Albon earning himself a reprimand for an impeding incident), but slightly drier conditions in the Showdown saw them both make it through to Q2 where Albon was 12th quickest (and Logan Sargeant 13th). Albon managed to maintain that position in the Sprint, although he couldn't improve on it and never looked in danger of points. A dry start to the Grand Prix saw him in much better form where he made up five places at the start thanks in part to the Piastri/Sainz accident at La Source, and from sporting a set of soft tyres. But that meant an early stop on lap 7, and after that he found himself on the outskirts of the top ten with the medium tyres proving less to his liking. An extra pit stop on lap 33 dropped him to the back, but a return to the soft compound at least meant that he enjoyed himself making up several places.
Zhou Guanyu (SP15, P13): 6/10
Despite a disappointing outcome in qualifying where he was only 17th at the end of the first round, Zhou Guanyu was feeling upbeat about the performance of the Alfa Romeo which he insisted was well suited to the cold and wet conditions at Spa on Friday. Unfortunately he fared little better in the Showdown, and starting the Sprint from the back row left him stuck in poor visibility that limited his opportunity to improve, although he still slogged his way to 15th place at the finish. He started the Grand Prix on soft tyres and pitted on lap 7, held on reasonably well in a middle stint on the mediums to lap 25 and then benefitted from a return to the soft compound to pull off passes on Logan Sargeant, Daniel Ricciardo, Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen to finish in a respectable 13th, just behind his team mate Valtteri Bottas who had started three places higher up on the grid.
