Yuki Tsunoda (P8, 4 pts): 8.5/10
Yuki Tsunoda was hailed as the official F1 driver of the day by the fans after the race, and while we wouldn't go quite that far it was certainly his best drive to date in three seasons of F1. It was particularly good to see him rise to the occasion when he was put on the spot as the man who had to deliver points if AlphaTauri were to catch Williams in the constructors championship. Following a rather subdued Friday he was in the top ten in final practice and delivered a wonderful P6 on the grid having made it through to the final round. If he could keep hold of that in the race then it looked like it would be enough to secure that coveted seventh in the standings. Unfortunately the likes of Fernando Alonso, Sergio Perez, Lewis Hamilton and Oscar Piastri were too strong to hold back in race trim, and it was not to be. But Tsunoda did lead the race for five wonderful laps, only the second time a Japanese driver has done so with Takuma Sato being the first during the 2004 European GP at the Nurburgring. As far as ways of signing off for the season go, that's not at all bad.
Fernando Alonso (P7, 6 pts): 7.5/10
Missing out on first practice in favour of Felipe Drugovich (who finished FP1 second fastest and best rookie) didn't seem to unduly faze Fernando Alonso, who was still faster than his regular team mate Lance Stroll in all the remaining sessions. He was stronger than he'd been expecting in the first round of qualifying and that allowed him to pick up confidence through Q2 and Q3 where he secured seventh place on the grid for Sunday's race. He was quick to realise that the medium tyres were not lasting as well as expected in the race, and his early stop on lap 12 encouraged a flurry of copycats. He recovered to P7 over the following stint and did the same again on the last run. The final position was snatched away from Yuki Tsunoda which proved key, as it meant Alonso had tied on points for fourth in the drivers championship. The position went to the Spaniard under countback rules but Alonso insisted that this was unimportant compared to his contribution to the team's success overall, with Aston Martin ending the campaign in fifth.
