Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes (P6): 8/10
Antonelli became the youngest driver in F1’s history to lead a Grand Prix. He was admittedly never in contention to win the race; the only reason he found himself in first was because he extended his initial medium tyre stint until the end of lap 31, longer than anyone else. To make his tyres last that long, even longer than Hamilton did on hard tyres, is to be highly commended. By giving himself a shorter stint on his second set of tyres, the Italian was able to push his Mercedes hard, and he closed in on Russell and Leclerc ahead of him but ran out of time to pass the pair.
George Russell, Mercedes (P5): 7/10
Russell opted for a very different strategy to his teammate, as he darted into the pits before any of the other frontrunners on lap 19 for a fresh set of hard tyres. Despite being faster than the Ferrari of Leclerc directly ahead of him, Suzuka proved a real challenge to overtake on, and the Briton couldn’t get past the Monegasque despite enjoying some clean air after his pitstop. Like many of the others, it was a stressful yet unexciting race for Russell.
