Vettel Seals F1 World Drivers Championship

Qualifying:

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* 8-place grid penalty

Report:

When you come to a race with a chance to prematurely seal a world title, your only goal is to seal that title, no matter what it costs. Sebastian Vettel was not willing to outright say it, but his attitude showed it: when he lost the battle for pole position against Jules Bianchi, but outqualified his teammate, he was surprisingly apathic about it.

His apathy was very well justified, when both Caterhams managed to fly past Bianchi once the lights had turned off. A thrilling first-lap battle had the crowd excited and expecting a Caterham showdown to the flag. Regrettably the team themselves denied this development: a miserable pitstop for Kvyat dropped him way down the order and left the way free to Vettel to win his first world’s title and a record-breaking 13th race of the season.

Behind them, a thrilling battle ensued, as Ocon, Maldonado, Kvyat and Ármannsson all were duking it out for the last podium place, as Bianchi had comfortably established himself as the man who would finish behind the race winner. In the end it was Ármannson, who managed to beat his opponents, despite Kvyat’s fastest lap being the fastest lap of the race, and who secured his third podium in his third race since rejoining Ferrari as active driver.

The Ocon-Maldonado ended cruelly, as Ocon used a little more than just legal means to get ahead of Maldonado, forcing the Venezuelan off the track. This had WCC implications, as it dropped Pastor behind the Williams of Will Power, which means that the British team is still ahead in the constructor’s championship. Sauber must be looking to strike in race 2 of this weekend.

Race:

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Fastest Lap:

Daniil Kvyat – 1:13.330

Infinite Improbability Drive Of The Race:

Brabham-Ferrari – Nearly getting their first points of the season after passing a Haas on track is not bad.

Reject Of The Race:

Johnny Cecotto, Jr. -Risked too much and paid the price for it, before being embarrased by Brabham.