Pastor Maldonado Wins Thrilling Battle Near Istanbul

Qualifying:

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Time
1	63	Diego Álvarez Torrente		1:20.405
2	2	Lewis Hamilton		1:20.530
3	62	Jules Bianchi		1:20.726
4	29	Pastor Maldonado		1:20.805
5	1	Sebastian Vettel		1:20.845
6	34	Valtteri Bottas		1:21.012
7	30	Dean Stoneman		1:21.171
8	33	Einar Ármannsson		1:21.241
9	24	Kevin Magnussen		1:21.430
10	27	Dave Cassidy		1:21.566
11	23	Pierre Gasly		1:21.863
12	21	Stoffel Vandoorne		1:21.971
13	28	Daniel Melrose		1:22.003
14	22	Jordan Davies		1:22.397
15	31	Romain Grosjean		1:22.543
16	90	Daniel Ricciardo		1:22.555
17	32	Alexander Albon		1:22.565
18	91	Max Verstappen		1:22.722
19	66	Pascal Wehrlein		1:23.165
20	5	Marvin Kirchhöfer		1:23.222
21	6	Santiago Urrutia		1:23.270
22	118	Carlos Sainz Jr		1:23.283
23	67	Mike Rockenfeller		1:23.293
24	55	Artem Markelov		1:23.444
25	119	Felix Rosenqvist		1:23.510
26	56	Sergey Sirotkin		1:23.734

Report:

Many people expect the current three-way battle for the titles between Sauber, Precision and Caterham to not last long, given as Sauber simply lacks the financial firepower to compete with the great works-supported effort of Precision and the CWG-funded Caterham team.

If these fears prove to be true, the fans of the sport should enjoy the current state of things as long as possible. Today, we saw all three teams fight bravely for the win from the start until the end of the pitstop phases, where Pastor Maldonado finally jumped ahead for good.

This battle asked quite a lot of all teams which came to haunt the inexperienced Diego Torrente, who used up his fuel to stay in a good position. This is the kind of learning curve all young drivers have to go through, but when you contend for a title, it stings even harder.

Behind the big names, other teams are worthy of praise as well: Ferrari did well to earn a double-points finish. Stoffel Vandoorne is unfazed by Haas’ announcement to exit Formula One, he finished the race in an impressive 8th place for his American employer, earning three points.

Race:

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Time/Retired	Points
1	29	Pastor Maldonado		42:50.710	15
2	62	Jules Bianchi		+6.399	12
3	2	Lewis Hamilton		+10.049	10
4	1	Sebastian Vettel		+13.746	8
5	30	Dean Stoneman		+28.843	6
6	34	Valtteri Bottas		+31.307	5
7	27	Dave Cassidy		+42.709	4
8	21	Stoffel Vandoorne		+56.289	3
9	28	Daniel Melrose		+59.669	2
10	23	Pierre Gasly		+60.063	1
11	31	Romain Grosjean		+62.237	0
12	22	Jordan Davies		+62.941	0
13	90	Daniel Ricciardo		+67.087	0
14	66	Pascal Wehrlein		+82.960	0
15	91	Max Verstappen		+85.223	0
16	63	Diego Álvarez Torrente		Fuel	0
17	6	Santiago Urrutia		1 Lap	0
18	119	Felix Rosenqvist		1 Lap	0
19	55	Artem Markelov		1 Lap	0
20	67	Mike Rockenfeller		1 Lap	0
21	32	Alexander Albon		1 Lap	0
DNF	56	Sergey Sirotkin		Accident	0
DNF	118	Carlos Sainz Jr		Transmission	0
DNF	5	Marvin Kirchhöfer		Collision	0
DNF	33	Einar Ármannsson		Collision	0
DNF	24	Kevin Magnussen		Collision	0

* given five-second penalty

Fastest Lap:

Jules Bianchi – 1:22.468

Infinite Improbability Drive Of The Race:

Ferrari – were best of the rest on merit, a good performance.

Reject Of The Race:

Marvin Kirchhöfer – earned himself a nice race ban for his actions.