Caterham, Hamilton Victorious in Enna

Qualifying:

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Time
1	2	Lewis Hamilton		1:14.726
2	62	Dave Cassidy		1:14.810
3	1	Sebastian Vettel		1:14.852
4	63	Jules Bianchi		1:14.930
5	99	Kevin Magnussen		1:15.254
6	98	Salvatore Miccoli		1:15.431
7	29	Pastor Maldonado		1:15.571
8	22	Johnny Cecotto Jr.		1:15.572
9	21	Stoffel Vandoorne		1:15.709
10	91	Max Verstappen		1:15.891
11	67	Pierre Gasly		1:15.699
12	90	Daniel Ricciardo		1:15.981
13	6	Matt Solomon		1:16.052
14	55	Artem Markelov		1:16.109
15	31	Rhys Davies		1:16.379
16	30	Nico Hülkenberg		1:16.610
17	32	Daniel Melrose		1:15.733*
18	43	Sébastien Bourdais		1:15.815*
19	28	Marcel Agyemang-Badu		1:17.238
20	66	Josef Newgarden		1:17.275
21	12	Scott Dixon		1:17.448
22	5	Valtteri Bottas		1:16.376*
23	27	Nathan McKane		1:16.379*
24	56	Bradley Dagnall		1:17.644
25	42	Davide Valsecchi		1:16.917*
26	11	Daniël de Jong		1:17.728

* demoted five places for changing engine/gearbox

Report:

After a mid-season test, people are always curious as to how the power balance has shifted. Thankfully, the wait for the next race, the first Mediterranean Grand Prix since Juan Pablo Montoya won the 1998 edition and the first held under F1 rules since 1965, was not all too long and a sunny race proved to provide quite some entertainment to the Italian fans.

Qualifying saw a close battle in Q3 between Caterham and Precision, with a better end for the British team: Lewis Hamilton managed to take the two points on offer for the pole position. Some noticeable teams struggled, especially Ferrari, who had one car fail to make the Q1 cut and saw their other car drop even further down the order due to a grid penalty.

The battle for the win, however, happened without Precision. Lewis Hamilton lost the lead through turn one, but quickly took it back. After that, he and Sebastian Vettel were, barring technical problems, the only two contenders for the victory. Hamilton had the race under control and went on to score a valueable win. The Precisions were left to battle for third and did so: a hard fight saw Cassidy get third.

Behind them, Pastor Maldonado achieved a quiet, but very important, fifth-placed finish. Johnny Cecotto, Jr. came home in seventh after a good race that saw him having to defend his position against one of the greatest drivers in the sport today, but the Venezuelan managed to keep McKane behind. Calinetic came close to getting both cars in the top 10, but Ricciardo’s misfortune allowed Markelov to score his third career point.

Race:

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Time/Retired	Points
1	2	Lewis Hamilton		42:42.988	17
2	1	Sebastian Vettel		+5.213	12
3	62	Dave Cassidy		+21.321	10
4	63	Jules Bianchi		+22.197	8
5	29	Pastor Maldonado		+41.933	6
6	99	Kevin Magnussen		+47.465	5
7	22	Johnny Cecotto Jr.		+61.875	4
8	27	Nathan McKane		+62.137	3
9	91	Max Verstappen		+74.219	2
10	55	Artem Markelov		+1 Lap	1
11	21	Stoffel Vandoorne		+1 Lap	0
12	28	Marcel Agyemang-Badu		+1 Lap	0
13	12	Scott Dixon		+1 Lap	0
14	67	Pierre Gasly		+1 Lap	0
15	90	Daniel Ricciardo		+1 Lap	0
16	56	Bradley Dagnall		+1 Lap	0
17	66	Josef Newgarden		+1 Lap	0
18	98	Salvatore Miccoli		+1 Lap	0
19	31	Rhys Davies		+1 Lap	0
20	5	Valtteri Bottas		+1 Lap	0
21	11	Daniël de Jong		+1 Lap	0
DNF	32	Daniel Melrose		Suspension	0
DNF	6	Matt Solomon		Engine	0
DNF	42	Davide Valsecchi		Suspension	0
DNF	30	Nico Hülkenberg		Engine	0
DNF	43	Sébastien Bourdais		Collision	0

Fastest Lap:

Lewis Hamilton – 1:14.926

Infinite Improbability Drive Of The Race:

Johnny Cecotto, Jr. – He drove significantly better than his teammate today.

Reject Of The Race:

Daniel Melrose – Only amateurs make as many mistakes as he did today.