Fernando Alonso (S P8, GP P6, 9 pts): 7.5/10
Fernando Alonso finished in the points on both of this week's races in Qatar. However we reckon he's regretting scoffing at McLaren's chances of catching Aston Martin in the constructors championship given that the papaya players took 38 points out of the margin between them this weekend, to put them only 11 points behind. On a personal level, at least Alonso crept five points closer to Lewis Hamilton on the drivers standings. The Spaniard clearly enjoyed himself at Lusail; he was on the podium for Alpine the first time that F1 raced here in 2021 so the circuit suits him. He was fourth in practice and qualifying on Friday before losing momentum on Saturday, and then dropping two places during the course of Sunday's Grand Prix as he complained about a searingly hot race seat. The team decided against his request to use a pit stop to throw iced water into the cockpit - and over all the delicate electronics - but were open to suggestions of throwing a toaster into Alonso's post-race bath.
Charles Leclerc (S P12, GP P5, 10 pts): 7.5/10
Ferrari had hoped that the team's win in Singapore signalled a turning point in its otherwise disappointing season, but McLaren took the glory in Japan. This weekend Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc were best of the rest behind Max Verstappen in practice, but then got leap-frogged by Mercedes in qualifying. McLaren would have been ahead too if not for their track limits violations, but they bounced back with a front row all-papaya lock-out in the Sprint Showdown. Ferrari was gradually being pushed down the order, and Leclerc had the ignominy of dropping the top eight in the Sprint after he was handed a post-race penalty for multiple track limits violations. The Monegasque was on his own on Sunday after Sainz suffered a fuel issue and failed to start the race; Leclerc looked a little lost in the heat of the race, circulating well enough without really going anywhere. He can't be happy to see how George Russell raced back from last place to finish ahead of him.
