Jules Bianchi Manages Amazing Grand Chelem

Qualifying:

Pos#DriverConstructorTime
162Jules BianchiPrecision-Mercedes2:05.372
229Pastor MaldonadoSauber-Judd2:05.640
363Diego Álvarez TorrentePrecision-Mercedes2:05.968
430Dean StonemanSauber-Judd2:06.094
534Valtteri BottasTheodore-Judd2:06.338
61Sebastian VettelCaterham-Judd2:05.224*
733Einar ÁrmannssonTheodore-Judd2:06.431
824Kevin MagnussenFAST-Mercedes2:06.803
922Jordan DaviesHaas-Judd2:06.931
102Lewis HamiltonCaterham-JuddNo Time
1123Pierre GaslyFAST-Mercedes2:07.942
1227Dave CassidyFerrari2:08.104
1355Artem MarkelovMansell-Mercedes2:08.247
1428Daniel MelroseFerrari2:08.828
1590Daniel RicciardoCalinetic-Holden2:08.982
1666Pascal WehrleinRed Bull-Ferrari2:09.142
1791Max VerstappenCalinetic-Holden2:09.146
1867Mike RockenfellerRed Bull-Ferrari2:09.185
1932Alexander AlbonHolden2:09.642
20118Carlos Sainz JrDawson-Holden2:09.696
216Santiago UrrutiaWilliams-Mercedes2:09.826
22119Felix RosenqvistDawson-Holden2:10.186
235Marvin KirchhöferWilliams-Mercedes2:10.207
2431Romain GrosjeanHolden2:10.516
2556Sergey SirotkinMansell-Mercedes2:10.449**

* demoted five places for causing an avoidable accident
** demoted five places for changing engine/gearbox

Report:

Jules Bianchi controlled the event and was absolutely unbeatable.

 

Achieving to score pole position, the fastest lap of the race and winning the race whilst leading every second of it  (a so-called Grand Chelem) is a rare feat in F1 and every time it is achieved, it is legendary: e.g. Jack Brabham dominating the ’57 Dutch GP, Rhys Davies’ first win in 2001 at the A1-Ring and Sebastian Vettel victimizing his rivals in Japan two years ago.

Jules Bianchi has joined that rare club, even if cynics will try to put an asterisk behind his domination because he inherited pole position from Vettel after the German two-times champion of world received the grid penalty he earned by taking out Bianchi’s teammate last race, by driving a superb race and always being the last to come into the pitlane for new tyres.

Behind him, Dean Stoneman scored his 13th consecutive point finish with second place and crawled closer to the championship leader, helped by Maldonado making a driver error and retiring from the race. Lewis Hamilton scored a valueable podium finish, beating out Ármannsson and Vettel to do so.

With only 14 out of 25 cars finishing this chaotic event, small teams had a chance to grab some points. Artem Markelov could have scored those points genuinely, but he is not angry about the help. Max Verstappen finally broke the lid and scored his first points of 2018, making up a bit for Ricciardo’s disappointing retirement.

Race:

Pos#DriverConstructorTime/RetiredPoints
162Jules BianchiPrecision-Mercedes49:44.69515
230Dean StonemanSauber-Judd+13.69312
32Lewis HamiltonCaterham-Judd+23.24410
433Einar ÁrmannssonTheodore-Judd+48.0908
51Sebastian VettelCaterham-Judd+51.6036
655Artem MarkelovMansell-Mercedes+66.7465
728Daniel MelroseFerrari+88.4114
831Romain GrosjeanHolden+94.7463
991Max VerstappenCalinetic-Holden+109.5292
1032Alexander AlbonHolden+110.3371
1167Mike RockenfellerRed Bull-Ferrari+119.6200
125Marvin KirchhöferWilliams-Mercedes1 Lap0
13118Carlos Sainz JrDawson-Holden1 Lap0
1456Sergey SirotkinMansell-Mercedes2 Laps0
DNF119Felix RosenqvistDawson-HoldenTransmission0
DNF90Daniel RicciardoCalinetic-HoldenAccident0
DNF29Pastor MaldonadoSauber-JuddAccident0
DNF24Kevin MagnussenFAST-MercedesTransmission0
DNF6Santiago UrrutiaWilliams-MercedesAccident0
DNF66Pascal WehrleinRed Bull-FerrariAccident0
DNF63Diego Álvarez TorrentePrecision-MercedesTransmission0
DNF34Valtteri BottasTheodore-JuddAccident0
DNF23Pierre GaslyFAST-MercedesAccident0
DNF22Jordan DaviesHaas-JuddAccident0
DNF27Dave CassidyFerrariAccident0

Fastest Lap:

Jules Bianchi – 2:07.863

Infinite Improbability Drive Of The Race:

Artem Markelov – if the staff at BR Mansell still have a job at the end of the year, they can thank Artem.

Reject Of The Race:

Daniel Ricciardo – had a major chance to help Calinetic, but made bad mistakes.