Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes (P18): 3/10
Mercedes’ strategy during the Grand Prix had us all scratching our heads, but Antonelli made matters more difficult for himself and the team on race day by crashing at the end of Q1. They were unable to fix his W16 in time for the next part of qualifying and he was therefore forced to start in 15th. It was an uneventful race for the Italian as he remained stuck in a train of cars for its vast majority, the only source of excitement coming when he almost crashed into the rear of Albon’s Williams when the latter broke very early into the chicane. Antonelli sacrificed the little that was left from his day by holding up a gaggle of cars to allow teammate Russell to pit and come out ahead of him for a slim chance of points, points that unfortunately didn’t come for either Mercedes driver.
Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull (P17): 4/10
Tsunoda mirrored former teammate Gasly’s strategy by pitting for hard tyres at the end of the opening lap, hoping to close the gap to the developing train ahead and get a pitstop out of the way early. The pair came out of the pits one after the other. A mistake by the Japanese driver going into the tunnel prompted Gasly to attempt a move into the following chicane, but the Alpine driver made a hash of it and clattered into Tsunoda’s rear. His Red Bull was miraculously undamaged in the clash, although he lost several positions and was subsequently unable to wriggle his way free of the procession which plagued the midpack for the rest of the Grand Prix.
