Fernando Alonso (P8, 4 pts): 7/10
Fernando Alonso had a slow start to this weekend and was behind his Aston Martin team mate in both of Friday sessions, and again in qualifying. He was half a second behind Lance Stroll as he took up tenth place on the grid. But the race is always Alonso's natural habitat, and as usual he used all his formidable talent and experience to maximise the opportunities that presented themselves. A long 17-lap first stint on a set of used hard tyres meant he briefly led the race for half a lap before pitting under the Virtual Safety Car for Lewis Hamilton's retirement. He slotted back in behind Lando Norris and was subsequently passed by Sergio Perez, leaving him having to settle for sixth place by the final lap having thwarted George Russell's sustained attempts to get past. When Russell crashed, the race stewards deemed Alonso's defensive measures to be "potentially dangerous" and handed him a 20s penalty that dropped him to P8 - which we're frankly still in two minds about whether it was really warranted.
Yuki Tsunoda (P7, 6 pts): 8.5/10
Inevitably much of the spotlight this weekend was on Yuki Tsunoda's RB team mate and local hero Daniel Ricciardo who had the support of the Aussie fans cheering from the grandstands. That probably suited Tsunoda quite nicely, as he put his head down and got on with the job, delivering the solid sort of success that he's always been capable of but so often fails to deliver. This week he was in the top ten for both practice sessions on Friday and then made it through to the final round of qualifying and took eighth place, while Ricciardo languished at the back of the grid. He lost a spot to Lance Stroll at the start but after that, Tsunoda put in a remarkably cool, calm and consistent run, barely budging from ninth place all afternoon. He gained a place on the final lap due to George Russell's accident, and another after the flag thanks to Fernando Alonso's penalty, boosting him to six points for P7 showing that good things do indeed come to those who wait patiently - maybe even an outside shot at a Red Bull seat?
