Rainstorm Causes Red Flag, Melrose Wins at Magny-Cours

Qualifying:

Pos#DriverConstructorTime
127Jules BianchiPrecision-Mercedes1:14.480
273Daniel MelroseRed Bull-Ferrari1:14.738
318Sebastian VettelCaterham-Judd1:14.975
464Dave CassidyFerrari1:15.141
56Artem MarkelovMansell-Mercedes1:15.149
699Mike RockenfellerRed Bull-Ferrari1:15.264
71Pastor MaldonadoSauber-Judd1:15.286
847Lando NorrisCaterham-Judd1:15.464
933Salvatore MiccoliFerrari1:15.557
107Charles LeclercFAST-Mercedes1:15.743
1157Dean StonemanSauber-Judd1:15.921
1296Diego Álvarez TorrentePrecision-Mercedes1:14.640*
133Marvin KirchhöferWilliams-Ferrari1:16.004
1435Sergey SirotkinMansell-Mercedes1:16.084
1555Santiago UrrutiaWilliams-Ferrari1:16.299
1611James James DaviesToyota1:16.398
1722Kazuki NakajimaToyota1:16.512
1814Marcel Agyemang-BaduFAST-Mercedes1:16.829
1919Jordan DaviesTheodore-Ferrari1:16.845
2094Pascal WehrleinCalinetic-Judd1:16.989
2156Einar ÁrmannssonCalinetic-Judd1:17.113
2298Bradley DagnallTheodore-Ferrari1:17.151
2310Pierre GaslyDawson-Judd1:17.394
2423Alexander AlbonDawson-Judd1:17.527

* given ten-place grid penalty for causing an avoidable accident

Report:

The battle between Vettel and Bianchi became just one of the things the horrid weather made irrelevant.

 

Many weathermen predicted rain to arrive at some point during the French Grand Prix, much to the delight of F1 fans who know that a good rain shower can turn a race upside-down and offer new chances for everyone.

Unfortunately, this day, the weather gods clearly overdid it, resulting in a massive rain storm that made it unable to race a F1 car; leaving the fans with only half a race and the drivers with only half the points.

However, even if it is only a 7.5-point win, Daniel Melrose will be glad to take it after surviving a lap in the heavy rain on dry tyres and then not spinning off when many ahead of him did, including stars like Bianchi and Vettel.

Other teams also profited from the bad environment, Williams got into position for a 3-5 finish and Theodore finally achieved the first points of the year, mostly thanks due to the survival skills of Dagnall.

Race:

Pos#DriverConstructorTime/RetiredPoints
173Daniel MelroseRed Bull-Ferrari32:00.54615
296Diego Álvarez TorrentePrecision-Mercedes+11.16012
33Marvin KirchhöferWilliams-Ferrari+11.77910
433Salvatore MiccoliFerrari+22.6878
555Santiago UrrutiaWilliams-Ferrari+32.0496
61Pastor MaldonadoSauber-Judd+34.7135
798Bradley DagnallTheodore-Ferrari+47.2614
899Mike RockenfellerRed Bull-Ferrari+51.9123
919Jordan DaviesTheodore-Ferrari+53.3742
1022Kazuki NakajimaToyota+72.3461
1157Dean StonemanSauber-JuddAccident0
1247Lando NorrisCaterham-JuddAccident0
137Charles LeclercFAST-MercedesAccident0
1427Jules BianchiPrecision-MercedesAccident0
156Artem MarkelovMansell-MercedesAccident0
1618Sebastian VettelCaterham-JuddAccident0
1764Dave CassidyFerrariAccident0
1814Marcel Agyemang-BaduFAST-MercedesAccident0
1911James James DaviesToyotaAccident0
2010Pierre GaslyDawson-JuddAccident0
2123Alexander AlbonDawson-Judd1 Lap0
DNF35Sergey SirotkinMansell-MercedesTransmission0
DNF94Pascal WehrleinCalinetic-JuddMotor0
DNF56Einar ÁrmannssonCalinetic-JuddMotor0

Fastest Lap:

Jules Bianchi – 1:16.524

Infinite Improbability Drive Of The Race:

Bradley Dagnall – once more he proves that he makes up for a lack of pace with a blessing of fortunes.

Reject Of The Race:

Race Stewards – if they had waved the red flag earlier, the result would have been more representative and presentable.