On another day, Valtteri Bottas could have joined Zhou in the points and made it a double score for Kick Sauber. After some encouraging early-weekend pace, contact with RB’s Liam Lawson on race day forced him wide and damaged his car’s floor – allowing Zhou to slip ahead and giving his team mate the strategic advantage. In Bottas’ own words, the timing of the Safety Car “couldn’t have been worse” and agonisingly left him P11 at the flag.

READ MORE: ‘I could see myself filling that role’ – Bottas ‘really confident’ he could thrive at Red Bull as he provides update on Mercedes discussions

Missing out

Lando Norris just missed out on the top half of the Power Rankings field for Qatar after a 10-second stop/go penalty for failing to slow under double waved yellow flags dashed his victory hopes and consigned him to a P10 finish – costing McLaren some points in their constructors’ push.