Torrente scores win while Bianchi makes mistake at Imola

Qualifying:

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Time
1	96	Diego Álvarez Torrente		1:23.841
2	27	Jules Bianchi		1:23.969
3	1	Pastor Maldonado		1:24.482
4	47	Lando Norris		1:24.634
5	7	Charles Leclerc		1:24.663
6	33	Salvatore Miccoli		1:24.675
7	64	Dave Cassidy		1:24.703
8	18	Sebastian Vettel		1:24.757
9	57	Dean Stoneman		1:25.022
10	14	Marcel Agyemang-Badu		1:25.326
11	73	Daniel Melrose		1:25.357
12	56	Einar Ármannsson		1:25.447
13	99	Mike Rockenfeller		1:25.476
14	6	Artem Markelov		1:24.982*
15	55	Santiago Urrutia		1:25.559
16	3	Marvin Kirchhöfer		1:25.632
17	94	Pascal Wehrlein		1:25.716
18	35	Sergey Sirotkin		1:26.064
19	11	James James Davies		1:26.218
20	37	Kazuki Nakajima		1:26.526
21	19	Jordan Davies		1:26.771
22	23	Alexander Albon		1:27.072
23	98	Bradley Dagnall		1:27.160
24	10	Pierre Gasly		1:27.227

*five-place grid penalty for exceeding the maximum allowed number of gearboxes in a season

Report:

With the Italian Grand Prix name returning to F1 after a 3-year long legal battle under the night sky at Imola, few would have predicted against the qualifying result, which again saw Precision lock the front row out easily, Torrente this time topping championship-leading Bianchi for pole position.

Torrente led the race from start to finish – a cool, calculated drive that didn’t look remotely difficult for him. Teammate Bianchi however looked uncomfortable, as despite setting fastest lap he could not pass Torrente, before rather embarrassingly hitting the wall at the Tamburello chicane and ending his afternoon. Torrente would win from 16 seconds over 2nd-placed Pastor Maldonado, who again managed to be competitive in his Sauber, ahead of 3rd-placed Sebastian Vettel.

Dave Cassidy split the Caterhams in 4th, with the 2nd Sauber of Dean Stoneman in 6th and Red Bull’s Daniel Melrose in 7th, being the last car to finish on the lead lap. Sirotkin, Rockenfeller and Urrutia rounded around the points scoring positions, with both Dawsons being classified behind Artem Markelov, whose brakes failed on the last lap, showing a poor race by the British team.

Race:

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Time/Retired	Points
1	96	Diego Álvarez Torrente		55:03.489	15
2	1	Pastor Maldonado		+16.210	12
3	18	Sebastian Vettel		+31.487	10
4	64	Dave Cassidy		+41.879	8
5	47	Lando Norris		+56.477	6
6	57	Dean Stoneman		+1:07.795	5
7	73	Daniel Melrose		+1:14.972	4
8	35	Sergey Sirotkin		1 Lap	3
9	99	Mike Rockenfeller		1 Lap	2
10	55	Santiago Urrutia		1 Lap	1
11	94	Pascal Wehrlein		1 Lap	0
12	3	Marvin Kirchhöfer		1 Lap	0
13	56	Einar Ármannsson		1 Lap	0
14	11	James James Davies		1 Lap	0
15	98	Bradley Dagnall		1 Lap	0
16	6	Artem Markelov		Brakes	0
17	10	Pierre Gasly		2 Laps	0
18	23	Alexander Albon		2 Laps	0
DNF	7	Charles Leclerc		Accident	0
DNF	19	Jordan Davies		Suspension	0
DNF	33	Salvatore Miccoli		Spun Off	0
DNF	14	Marcel Agyemang-Badu		Suspension	0
DNF	27	Jules Bianchi		Accident	0
DNF	37	Kazuki Nakajima		Motor	0

Fastest Lap:

Jules Bianchi– 1:26.575

Infinite Improbability Drive Of The Race:

Pastor Maldonado – again managed to show some semblance of his championship-winning form last year.

Reject Of The Race:

Jules Bianchi – was nervous against Torrente in the race which was compounded by crashing out embarrassingly.