Liam Lawson – 7 – Bit anonymous really from the Kiwi. An odd front wing issue prevented him from getting through into Q3 like his Racing Bulls team-mate Arvid Lindblad but Lawson never fully shone. A big benefactor of the safety car to allow him a cheap pit stop and get up into the points and keep Esteban Ocon at bay for P9.
Esteban Ocon – 7 – Welcome back to the points, Esteban. A much better weekend from the Frenchman. Not outstanding but proceeded through to Q2 and had the pace over Haas team-mate Oliver Bearman, who has been putting Ocon in the shade so far this year.
Nico Hulkenberg – 6 – A mistake cost him a Q3 effort and pitting too late to really benefit from the safety car during the race results in another missed points opportunity for the Audi driver.
Isack Hadjar – 6 – The good news is that Hadjar is not suffering from the curse of Red Bull second seat. Unfortunately, it just so happens that the car isn’t performing to the level it should be. Outqualified team-mate Verstappen but struggled in the race.
Gabriel Bortoleto – 6 – A second top-10 start for the year, undone by a rough lights-out. Recovered in the race but fell away towards the end.
Arvid Lindblad – 8 – Hugely down on laps in practice, knocked Verstappen out in Q2 and a brilliant start to the grand prix. Kept Hadjar behind in the early stages but ultimately his race was ruined by the safety car.
Carlos Sainz – 6 – A fresh trim for the weekend wasn’t quite enough to see the Spaniard trouble the points for a second race in a row. But it felt like he got the most out of the equipment he has at Williams, with no heroics.
Franco Colapinto – 4 – How quickly things can change after an immense race in China. Not at one with the Alpine car, and a scary moment slowing heavily into Spoon Curve causing Ollie Bearman’s 50G crash is a stark reminder of the safety measures implemented in today’s Formula 1.
Sergio Perez – 7 – A rocky start to the weekend, colliding with the Williams of Alex Albon and still complaining of various, vague deployment issues. But outqualified Cadillac team-mate Valtteri Bottas and ahead of both Aston Martins in the race.
Fernando Alonso – 7 – First time seeing the chequered flag this year! I think that’s the only high Alonso and Aston Martin can take from this weekend. A much needed few weeks now before the Miami Grand Prix.
Valtteri Bottas – 6 – Despite having an upgrade on the car and seemingly making improvements, Perez had the better of him in Japan.
Alex Albon – 5 – Another tough weekend and some cryptic radio messages in qualifying highlight all is not well within the Williams camp. Sacrificed his race for a testing session.
Lance Stroll – 5 – A second consecutive year qualifying last for the Japanese Grand Prix and pretty much glued to the back of the pack until Aston Martin retired the car.
Oliver Bearman – 4 – Having been one of the stars of the season so far, Japan did not go his way. Bearman was eliminated in Q1 with a suspected technical issue but even when he could get a lap in he didn’t deliver on pace. The crash in the race wasn’t his fault but perhaps he could have judged his overspeed a tad better – easy for me to say. Thankfully, he walked away from a huge shunt and will have time to recover fully before we go racing again in early May.
