Charles Leclerc (P4, 12 pts): 8.5/10
Charles Leclerc was crowned the official F1 driver of the day in Suzuka, and we have no real problem with that - he rather stole the show on Sunday with an entertaining and dogged performance that showed him at his best. But the F1i ratings cover the entire weekend, not just the race - and the reason he had to put in such an eye-catching performance in the Grand Prix is because of his poor result in qualifying. Starting from P8 inevitably compromised what he could do in the race, forcing him onto a one-stop strategy that meant he was obliged to let his Ferrari team mate Carlos Sainz go past him in the closing laps. It was far from the sort of performance we would expect from the Monegasque over an entire event, one that suggests he might be feeling the pressure after Sainz's popular win in Melbourne a fortnight ago.
Carlos Sainz (P3, 15 pts): 9/10
Given the relative performances of Carlos Sainz, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton over the last few weeks, you have to wonder if the management at Maranello aren't suffering from a touch of buyer's remorse. Sainz is by far the best driver at Ferrari at this point with Leclerc uncharacteristically struggling at times, while Hamilton's problems at Mercedes are going from bad to worse. Did Ferrari let the wrong man slip through their fingers? Japan saw another impressive performance from Sainz, building on his win in Australia two weeks ago. While the Ferrari simply isn't able to challenge the Red Bulls when they're on form, Sainz did everything else that was required of him this weekend, taking care of business with his former McLaren team mate Lando Norris to get back on the podium in Suzuka, extending the Spaniard's golden run.
