Nico Hulkenberg, Haas (SP Ret, Disqualified Lap 30): 5/10
After three back-to-back points-scoring weekends, Nico Hulkenberg would have been hoping for a much better weekend than this, where nothing quite seemed to work out for the Haas driver. Practice started reasonably well and he made it into the second round of sprint qualifying to start from 12th place. Unfortunately he ended up being the only retirement of the afternoon with an exhaust problem on lap 21. The problems seemed to loom over Sunday as well with Hulkenberg missing the first cut in qualifying, but he got a great start to the race and was up to tenth before spinning in the wet conditions on lap 27 just after his pit stop. He got outside help from a marshal to get back underway which meant he was disqualified by race control, the first black flag since 2007. "It was my mistake but it was quite unlucky to be beached like that, which was really unfortunate after a low-speed spin."
Franco Colapinto, Williams (SP12, Accident Lap 30): 5.5/10
This was Franco Colapinto's first DNF in six Formula 1 race starts, so we'll cut him some slack as it was in some very difficult conditions that he'd not experienced in an F1 car before. He was consistent in practice, sprint qualifying and Saturday's race, but then spun in the wet conditions at the start of Sunday qualifying which left Williams in a race against time to repair his car in time for the start of the Grand Prix. They managed, and Colapinto put in a feisty performance in the race with some enjoyable duels before ultimately spinning off. "I was pushing to get the tyre temps up, and I just lost the car on one of the big rivers of water on the track."
