Fernando Alonso (P6, 8 pts): 8.5/10
Fernando Alonso was clearly digging deep and throwing all his years of experience and incomparable talent into the problem of wringing the absolute maximum from the Aston Martin this weekend, but it was clearly hard work. The lack of performance from his team mate Lance Stroll showed just how far the old master was able to out-perform the AMR24 in Suzuka. He was in the top ten throughout practice and qualifying and took fifth place on the grid, while Stroll had missed the first cut and was down in P16. Such heights for Alonso was clearly as good as it was going to get for the Aston, and he duly hunkered down and focused on what proved to be a race-long marathon defence against any attempt by Oscar Piastri to pass him. However there was nothing he could do to stop Ferrari's one-stop strategy putting Charles Leclerc ahead of him from lap 34 onwards leaving Alonso to cross the line in P6.
Lando Norris (P5, 10 pts): 8.5/10
As Lando Norris was first to admit after the race, McLaren's performance on Saturday had been a high water mark that promised too much, one they simply couldn't reproduce in race trim on Sunday. Starting from third place he was initially able to fend off attacks from Carlos Sainz into the first corners, but he knew he was in a losing battle and that the two Ferrari cars (not to mention the Red Bulls) were clearly faster. He was fighting what was, in his own words, a losing battle for any hope of a podium. Norris was subsequently frustrated by the team's decision to pit him a second time on lap 26 just when Charles Leclerc was making his first stop after a mammoth first stint on mediums, which meant he lost the chance to fight the Ferrari for track position. Sainz stayed out longer and had fresher tyres when he made his subsequent successful move on Norris on lap 44, after which Norris accepted the inevitable and focused on ensuring he remained well out of reach of any late surge from Fernando Alonso.
