Vettel Wins for the First Time in 2018

Qualifying:

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Time
1	1	Sebastian Vettel		1:25.708
2	28	Marcel Agyemang-Badu		1:25.905
3	5	Valtteri Bottas		1:25.993
4	2	Lewis Hamilton		1:26.067
5	63	Jules Bianchi		1:26.149
6	27	Nathan McKane		1:25.649*
7	98	Salvatore Miccoli		1:26.317
8	99	Kevin Magnussen		1:26.441
9	21	Stoffel Vandoorne		1:26.534
10	62	Dave Cassidy		1:26.569
11	90	Daniel Ricciardo		1:26.694
12	29	Pastor Maldonado		1:26.893
13	31	Rhys Davies		1:26.969
14	91	Max Verstappen		1:27.029
15	43	Sergio Pérez		1:27.069
16	22	Johnny Cecotto Jr.		1:27.150
17	6	Matt Solomon		1:27.164
18	32	Daniel Melrose		1:27.166
19	30	Nico Hülkenberg		1:27.208
20	67	Pierre Gasly		1:27.268
21	55	Artem Markelov	-Mercedes	1:27.310
22	56	Bradley Dagnall		1:27.353
23	66	Josef Newgarden		1:27.518
24	42	Davide Valsecchi		1:27.106*
25	11	Daniël de Jong		1:27.810
26	12	Scott Dixon		1:27.395*

* demoted five places for changing engine/gearbox

Report:

F1’s Japanese fans could see clearly on Sunday, the rain was gone. Qualifying was dry yesterday already and that is why Sunday’s Q3 ended the same way it did on Saturday: Sebastian Vettel got his second pole position of the year, taking a very early in the Pole Position trophy. Again, he had a bad start and this time he paid for it: Bottas passed him into turn 1.

Williams were, however, not able to keep Caterham behind for any significant amount of time: at the first round of pitstops, Bottas was beaten by Vettel. Sebastian Vettel stormed away from the Finn, securing his lead and easily staying ahead after the second stop. He went on to win his first victory of the 2018 Formula One season.

Behind him and Bottas, the two Precision drivers had a thrilling fight. Dave Cassidy and Jules Bianchi changed position a few times during the race. This nearly ended in tears, as Dave Cassidy tried to squeeze his French teammate and almost forced him off the track. Thankfully, it did not end the race of the Precisions.

Stoffel Vandoorne tried again to make Gene Haas proud and managed to do so, a fifth place will help the American team. Max Verstappen got back on track on a dry track and managed to finish well ahead of his Australian teammate, who finished outside of the points, a good three seconds behind tenth-placed Artem Markelov, marking a great weekend for Mansell-Mercedes.

Race:

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Time/Retired	Points
1	1	Sebastian Vettel		41:29.379	17
2	5	Valtteri Bottas		+14.981	12
3	63	Jules Bianchi		+20.039	10
4	62	Dave Cassidy		+21.236	8
5	21	Stoffel Vandoorne		+34.356	6
6	29	Pastor Maldonado		+36.639	5
7	28	Marcel Agyemang-Badu		+42.385	4
8	91	Max Verstappen		+42.704	3
9	31	Rhys Davies		+45.471	2
10	55	Artem Markelov	-Mercedes	+51.402	1
11	90	Daniel Ricciardo		+54.513	0
12	12	Scott Dixon		+60.897	0
13	22	Johnny Cecotto Jr.		+66.875	0
14	98	Salvatore Miccoli		+67.880	0
15	32	Daniel Melrose		+69.458	0
16	67	Pierre Gasly		+71.508	0
17	30	Nico Hülkenberg		+73.826	0
18	11	Daniël de Jong		+82.918	0
19	2	Lewis Hamilton		+86.465	6
20	99	Kevin Magnussen		Throttle	0
DNF	56	Bradley Dagnall		Transmission	0
DNF	27	Nathan McKane		Engine	0
DNF	42	Davide Valsecchi		Transmission	0
DNF	6	Matt Solomon		Transmission	0
DNF	66	Josef Newgarden		Accident	0
DNF	43	Sergio Pérez		Collision	0

Fastest Lap:

Sebastian Vettel – 1:26.111

Infinite Improbability Drive Of The Race:

Artem Markelov – After Dagnall scored on Saturday, he now adds his name to F1 history.

Reject Of The Race:

Lewis Hamilton – Hurt his own race and ended up being the last finisher.