Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes (P9) 4/10
It was Antonelli’s first home Grand Prix in Formula 1, but he may want to forget about it sooner rather than later. A poor start sealed the Italian’s fate; a bad launch saw him lose four positions even before the first corner. He then spent the next 18 laps bogged down behind a slow Tsunoda, finally making it through at the first chicane. The rest of the race was an exercise in catching up for Antonelli, who was subsequently given a five-second penalty for driving erratically which dropped him from eighth to ninth after application.
Gabriel Bortoleto, Kick Sauber (P8) 8/10
The mere fact that none of us were overly surprised when Bortoleto qualified his Kick Sauber in seventh on the grid shows just how strong of a driver he is, especially for a rookie. The Brazilian was even putting Russell in a Mercedes under pressure in the first few laps of the Grand Prix. Even though he came in for a set of hard tyres a bit too early on lap 20, he put in great lap times to work his way back into the top ten. Yet another solid performance from Bortoleto.
