Zhou Guanyu (P12): 6/10
Although buoyed up by the news that he will be staying with the team next year (whatever it ends up being called in 2024), Zhou Guanyu seemed to have endless headaches with traffic in Singapore and ended up dropping out of qualifying in the first round. With little to lose, the team did some overnight power unit work that meant he started Sunday's race from the pit lane. He was one of only three drivers to start the race on soft tyres but promptly changed to hards on lap 2 and then switched to mediums under the safety car on lap 20. Frankly we can't work out what his or the team's thinking was behind this strategy. While it briefly put him into the top ten on lap 45, the mediums waned and he dropped back in the final stint before a late pass on Nico Hulkenberg and George Russell's last lap crash restored him to P12. No points, then, but not bad from pit lane.
Alexander Albon (P11): 7.5/10
Alex Albon would have loved to score some points for the third race in a row. Despite missing out on second practice with an engine issue which left him battling to make it to the second round of qualifying and no further on Saturday, points still looked on the cards all the way until lap 57 when he was rudely knocked aside by Sergio Perez. By the time he recovered, he had been passed by Perez, Nico Hulkenberg, Zhou Guanyu and Kevin Magnussen. He got back past two out of the four by the chequered flag but it wasn't enough to restore him to the top ten. Perez was penalised by the stewards for the original incident but it made no difference to the final result and Albon was furious: "Sergio tried to hit me two or three times," he said. "I can't avoid him every time he rushes in!"
