Lance Stroll (P12): 5.5/10
Lance Stroll is like the proverbial box of chocolates in that you never know what you're going to get race-to-race, or even from session-to-session. Every time you think he's found a good run of form, suddenly it peters out as mysteriously as it materialised. This week in Japan he struggled for speed in practice so it should have been no surprise when he missed the first cut in qualifying. In the race itself he was able to get early jumps on Pierre Gasly, Esteban Ocon and Valtteri Bottas, but that was about it. He was particularly incensed by his lack of speed down the straight, but his team mate Fernando Alonso was demonstrating that it was still nonetheless perfectly possible to wring a top ten position out of it. But Stroll is no Alonso, and never will be, and surely the realisation is finally dawning within the team itself.
Nico Hulkenberg (P11): 6.5/10
Nico Hulkenberg was a long way outside the top ten during practice so it was a surprise to see him feature as strongly as he did in qualifying. He made the first cut and even came close to a surprise Q3 appearance, a much stronger showing than his Haas team mate Kevin Magnussen. He avoided getting caught up in the Albon/Ricciardo accident at the start, but then suffered horrible wheelspin at the restart when the race resumed after a lengthy red flag stoppage, which dropped him to the back of the field. He used the opportunity to come and and pit to shed his initial set of soft tyres and move to mediums on a two-stop strategy that allowed him to recover some of the lost positions. With no further cautions to benefit from, he did very well to cross the line just outside the points in P11. If not for that terrible restart, what might have been possible in Suzuka?
