Fernando Alonso (Retired, Lap 48): 3.5/10
Make no mistake, this was an absolutely terrible weekend for Fernando Alonso. He was slowest of the regular drivers in FP1, and outright last after spinning in FP2. He looked certain to miss the first cut in qualifying and surprised everyone by squeaking through and claiming 13th place on the grid, thanks in part to the misfortunes of others who lost their chance for a final lap because of yellow flags - caused by none other than Alonso himself and his second spin of the weekend. He went backwards at the start of the race and had the misfortune of pitting just before the red flag for Kevin Magnussen's accident, leaving him right at the back. The AMR23 was even worse after the restart, and by now even never-say-die Alonso had had enough. As a result he drops behind Sainz to fifth in the drivers championship; those halcyon days where he was Max Verstappen's closest challenger are a very long way behind us.
Lance Stroll (Accident damage, P17): 5.5/10
After finally notching up a points finish in the US for the first time since Belgium, we were hopeful that the perennially unfortunate Lance Stroll might be on the comeback trail at last. But it was not to be, despite a solid start with tenth place in first practice. While he had looked better than his team mate Fernando Alonso throughout practice, it was the Spaniard who survived the first cut in qualifying while Alonso succeeded in squeaking through. After Aston Martin made overnight changes to his car, Stroll started from pit lane and put in a solid race on Sunday, moving within touching distance of the points on a used set of softs but losing out in the red flag stoppage. He was 14th when damage sustained from a collision with Valtteri Bottas forced him to retire on lap 66.
