Carlos Sainz (Sprint P, GP P6, 9 pts): 7.5/10
Carlos Sainz was fastest in sole practice after he and Charles Leclerc were the only two main contenders to break open a set of soft tyres for the session. This may have been a mistake, as both Ferraris seemed compromised by not having enough new sets of the compound remaining for the rest of the weekend. Thereafter Sainz was a long way off the pace of Leclerc, the Spaniard barely registering in the Sprint events on Saturday. But when it came to the Grand Prix, Sainz was propelled into the spotlight by the premature abrupt exit of Leclerc on the formation lap, and he carried the Ferrari colours to sixth place with a satisfying raid on the struggling Mercedes cars. “We finish in the position we deserve this weekend," he said afterward, which is a fair assessment.
Lance Stroll (Sprint P12, GP P5, 10 pts): 8/10
After his disastrous slump over the summer and his temper tantrum in Qatar, we feared that Lance Stroll had hit the end of the road in F1. But he perked up in the US to give his fans some hope, and after a retirement in Mexico he came to Brazil looking transformed, delivering one of his strongest performances of the season as part of a general Aston Martin renaissance this week. He actually finished ahead of Fernando Alonso as part of an all-Aston second row, but fluffed his lines in the Showdown before battling his way up in the Sprint in which he gained five places in just 24 laps. In Sunday's race, Stroll kept out of trouble and almost unnoticed made his way to fifth place, while Alonso was busy stealing the limelight with his thrilling battle against Sergio Perez.
