Close Fight Sees Bianchi Finish Second Behind Maldonado

Qualifying:

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Time
1	2	Lewis Hamilton		1:23.154
2	29	Pastor Maldonado		1:23.216
3	1	Sebastian Vettel		1:23.493
4	62	Jules Bianchi		1:23.605
5	63	Diego Álvarez Torrente		1:23.656
6	30	Dean Stoneman		1:23.892
7	34	Valtteri Bottas		1:24.206
8	33	Einar Ármannsson		1:24.314
9	24	Kevin Magnussen		1:24.373
10	22	Jordan Davies		1:24.547
11	27	Dave Cassidy		1:24.832
12	23	Pierre Gasly		1:24.862
13	28	Daniel Melrose		1:24.945
14	31	Romain Grosjean		1:24.980
15	21	Stoffel Vandoorne		1:25.125
16	90	Daniel Ricciardo		1:25.347
17	91	Max Verstappen		1:25.630
18	5	Marvin Kirchhöfer		1:25.768
19	66	Pascal Wehrlein		1:25.769
20	32	Alexander Albon		1:25.462*
21	6	Santiago Urrutia		1:25.908
22	55	Artem Markelov		1:25.962
23	119	Felix Rosenqvist		1:26.048
24	67	Mike Rockenfeller		1:26.266
25	118	Carlos Sainz Jr		1:26.464
26	56	Sergey Sirotkin		1:26.594

* demoted five places

Report:

Royality was present, the King of Bahrain watched the Formula One race and he wanted to see a good show, like all the other fans that have arrived at the Bahrain International Circuit. They were not disappointed and got a fun event.

A great start saw Sauber in a good position, Dean Stoneman leading and Pastor Maldonado in third. The Venezuelan superstar went on to pass the second-placed Precision driver before efficiently passing his teammate for the lead.

Maldonado went on to build a lead and nurture it until the checked flag fell. However, behind him, a battle for second heated up: Jules Bianchi had to fight with the two Caterhams, just like the entire 2017 season, with Bianchi coming out on top.

Behind them, Theodore unfortunately no longer seem victory contenders. They still can be happy being best-of-the-rest in their very first season. Kevin Magnussen and Dave Cassidy scored the last points available with good drives.

Race:

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Time/Retired	Points
1	29	Pastor Maldonado		44:15.914	15
2	62	Jules Bianchi		+9.426	12
3	2	Lewis Hamilton		+10.061	10
4	1	Sebastian Vettel		+10.587	8
5	63	Diego Álvarez Torrente		+16.204	6
6	30	Dean Stoneman		+20.421	5
7	34	Valtteri Bottas		+34.623	4
8	33	Einar Ármannsson		+39.993	3
9	24	Kevin Magnussen		+50.669	2
10	27	Dave Cassidy		+53.713	1
11	22	Jordan Davies		+56.759	0
12	28	Daniel Melrose		+58.571	0
13	31	Romain Grosjean		+60.457	0
14	23	Pierre Gasly		+67.150	0
15	32	Alexander Albon		+76.055	0
16	91	Max Verstappen		+78.581	0
17	5	Marvin Kirchhöfer		+85.961	0
18	6	Santiago Urrutia		+87.083	0
19	66	Pascal Wehrlein		+88.558*	0
20	55	Artem Markelov		1 Lap	0
21	21	Stoffel Vandoorne		1 Lap	0
22	67	Mike Rockenfeller		1 Lap	0
23	119	Felix Rosenqvist		1 Lap	0
24	118	Carlos Sainz Jr		1 Lap	0
25	56	Sergey Sirotkin		1 Lap	0
DNF	90	Daniel Ricciardo		Collision	0

* given five-second penalty

Fastest Lap:

Lewis Hamilton – 1:24.135

Infinite Improbability Drive Of The Race:

Holden – after a grid penalty, they had a sensible race to work things out.

Reject Of The Race:

Stoffel Vandoorne – performed much, much worse than his car could.