Vettel Secures Crucial Victory at Akrotiri Bay

Qualifying:

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Time
1	1	Sebastian Vettel		1:06.964
2	2	Lewis Hamilton		1:07.113
3	34	Valtteri Bottas		1:07.270
4	21	Stoffel Vandoorne		1:07.467
5	29	Pastor Maldonado		1:07.467
6	33	Einar Ármannsson		1:07.467
7	30	Dean Stoneman		1:07.642
8	24	Kevin Magnussen		1:07.720
9	23	Pierre Gasly		1:07.729
10	22	Jordan Davies		1:07.800
11	5	Marvin Kirchhöfer		1:07.676
12	67	Mike Rockenfeller		1:07.724
13	66	Pascal Wehrlein		1:07.864
14	6	Santiago Urrutia		1:07.866
15	28	Daniel Melrose		1:08.001
16	118	Carlos Sainz Jr		1:08.050
17	27	Dave Cassidy		1:08.173
18	55	Artem Markelov		1:08.260
19	56	Sergey Sirotkin		1:08.496
20	119	Felix Rosenqvist		1:08.551
21	62	Jules Bianchi		1:08.791
22	63	Diego Álvarez Torrente		1:08.843
23	31	Romain Grosjean		1:08.850
24	91	Max Verstappen		1:08.881
25	32	Alexander Albon		1:08.975
26	90	Daniel Ricciardo		1:09.065

Report:

If three drivers achieve the same qualifying lap time, you are bound to see a thrilling race. We indeed saw an amazing race with many twists, mechanical failures, crashes and of course wild overtakes.

The win was decided between the two Caterham drivers in a close fight which saw Hamilton lose control after Vettel put the pressure on him all day long, something Caterham can’t be happy about but neither are able to blame their German star for.

Behind them, we saw many unusual faces in the upper points echelon: Bottas finishes on the podium again for the first time since Japan, Jordan Davies, Pascal Wehrlein and Carlos Sainz, Jr. scored.

Where there is light, there is darkness: Mercedes provided horrible engines this weekend, three engine failures and weak performances by Mercedes-powered teams, as well as Dean Stoneman and Pastor Maldonado causing very avoidable accidents.

Race:

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Time/Retired	Points
1	1	Sebastian Vettel		33:13.376	15
2	34	Valtteri Bottas		+5.455	12
3	29	Pastor Maldonado		+14.105	10
4	22	Jordan Davies		+19.521	8
5	66	Pascal Wehrlein		+22.813	6
6	33	Einar Ármannsson		+26.060	5
7	28	Daniel Melrose		+33.810	4
8	30	Dean Stoneman		+37.189	3
9	118	Carlos Sainz Jr		+38.655	2
10	27	Dave Cassidy		+40.817	1
11	56	Sergey Sirotkin		+45.324	0
12	90	Daniel Ricciardo		+55.628	0
13	2	Lewis Hamilton		+59.960	0
14	91	Max Verstappen		+60.168	0
15	5	Marvin Kirchhöfer		+60.563	0
16	63	Diego Álvarez Torrente		1 Lap	0
17	31	Romain Grosjean		1 Lap	0
18	32	Alexander Albon		1 Lap	0
19	67	Mike Rockenfeller		1 Lap	0
DNF	119	Felix Rosenqvist		Engine	0
DNF	62	Jules Bianchi		Engine	0
DNF	23	Pierre Gasly		Engine	0
DNF	6	Santiago Urrutia		Engine	0
DNF	21	Stoffel Vandoorne		Collision	0
DNF	24	Kevin Magnussen		Accident	0
DNF	55	Artem Markelov		Collision	0

Fastest Lap:

Sebastian Vettel – 1:08.499

Infinite Improbability Drive Of The Race:

Jordan Davies – amazing drive to get very close to a podium finish.

Reject Of The Race:

Mercedes-Benz– slow engines that exploded quite often in this race.