In recent races, Carlos Sainz has shown impressive form, finishing sixth in Italy, as well as third in Sochi, Russia and eighth last time out despite taking a hefty grid penalty. Meanwhile, his teammate LeClerc will also be looking to help enhance his team’s chances of beating McLaren to third in the Constructor’s Championship following his fourth-place finish last time out. At present, there is just half a point separating the two so far in the standings.
Lando Norris will be looking to improve on the lofty standards that he set at the start of the season, as the Brit has managed two seventh-place finishes in a row since helping teammate Daniel Ricciardo to a one-two finish at Italy. Ricciardo has managed a fourth-place finish, as well as 13th last time out, the Australian has notably picked up his form in the second half of the season despite his result in Turkey.
Pierre Gasly has been one of the drivers of the season and is ninth in the standings, perhaps showing that he could be in line for another chance at Red Bull in the future, the Frenchman will be looking to build on a solid sixth-place finish last time out at Turkey, where he was eve challenging Hamilton in the latter laps of the GP. With 74 points of Alphatauri’s 92 points this season, it looks as though he is challenging Alpine for fifth-place on his own, barring drastic improvements from Yuki Tsunoda.
In Turkey, Fernando Alonso showed impressive pace, but, was unfortunate to be clipped at the start of the race by Gasly, ruining what looked like a promising weekend for the two-time world champion, the Spaniard will be desperate to bounce back and challenge the Frenchman for ninth in the championship in the latter races of the season. Meanwhile, Esteban Ocon is having a steady season, having scored 46 points, including that memorable maiden win in Hungary.
Vettel has scored points just once in his last nine outings and the four-time world champion will be desperate to finish the season strongly, as usually, when he earns points, he does so in large amounts, having finished fifth in Monaco and Belgium, as well as second in Azerbaijan.