Chaotic Race Gives Marcel Agyemang-Badu First Victory

Qualifying:

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Time
1	1	Sebastian Vettel		1:07.003
2	29	Pastor Maldonado		1:07.229
3	21	Stoffel Vandoorne		1:07.278
4	28	Marcel Agyemang-Badu		1:07.556
5	91	Max Verstappen		1:07.565
6	42	Davide Valsecchi		1:07.639
7	27	Nathan McKane		1:07.694
8	62	Dave Cassidy		1:07.864
9	43	Sergio Pérez		1:07.364*
10	30	Nico Hülkenberg		1:07.817
11	2	Lewis Hamilton		1:07.558*
12	90	Daniel Ricciardo		1:07.924
13	22	Johnny Cecotto Jr.		1:07.972
14	5	Valtteri Bottas		1:08.049
15	63	Esteban Ocon		1:08.132
16	12	Scott Dixon		1:08.234
17	99	Kevin Magnussen		1:08.277
18	98	Salvatore Miccoli		1:08.410
19	11	Daniël de Jong		1:08.816
20	67	Pierre Gasly		1:08.864
21	6	Matt Solomon		1:09.005
22	31	Rhys Davies		1:09.143
23	32	Daniel Melrose		1:09.151
24	66	Josef Newgarden		1:09.180
25	55	Artem Markelov		1:09.543
26	56	Bradley Dagnall		1:09.434*

* demoted five places for changing engine/gearbox

Report:

Winning a Formula One Grand Prix is the greatest feeling a race car driver can experience, short of winning the Formula One World’s Driver Championship. The latter may be out of the reach of Marcel Agyemang-Badu, unless something unexpected happens, but the former was achieved by the Ghanian star running with a French license.

The second driver to take his debut victory with Ferrari in as many years was given a shot when Sebastian Vettel’s electrical system failed, taking the 2017 champion and championship leader out of contention. Even though Ricciardo decided to start a last-minute charge towards the leader, Marcel easily kept him behind to come home with a healthy lead, giving him 15 points and a good shot of staying in F1 beyond 2017.

Behind them, chaos was the order of the day. After many driver errors and pitlane mishaps, it was Precision of all teams who were there to take advantage. Being able to get the most when others fail seperate losers from winners. Daniel Ricciardo was such a winner, as he joined Max Verstappen in the top five, getting Calinetic crucial points.

Looking at the losers, Nathan McKane is an obvious choice: a silly move against Maldonado ruined his race before his engine explodes, not a good outing, especially when your teammate wins. Sauber struggled because of that move and a driver error of Maldonado’s teammate, only ending up with one point. Williams-Ferrari’s race was also bad, calling both cars in the pits at the same time in one pitstop period and then having both cars fail.

Race:

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Time/Retired	Points
1	28	Marcel Agyemang-Badu		33:16.042	15
2	90	Daniel Ricciardo		+4.949	12
3	62	Dave Cassidy		+14.370	10
4	63	Esteban Ocon		+19.802	8
5	91	Max Verstappen		+21.230	6
6	99	Kevin Magnussen		+25.861	5
7	31	Rhys Davies		+26.765	4
8	21	Stoffel Vandoorne		+29.630	3
9	67	Pierre Gasly		+33.143	2
10	30	Nico Hülkenberg		+36.766	1
11	56	Bradley Dagnall		+42.012	0
12	2	Lewis Hamilton		+43.128	0
13	98	Salvatore Miccoli		+44.524	0
14	66	Josef Newgarden		+54.865	0
15	29	Pastor Maldonado		+12.891	12
16	32	Daniel Melrose		Engine	0
17	5	Valtteri Bottas		Transmission	0
18	6	Matt Solomon		Puncture	0
DNF	27	Nathan McKane		Engine	0
DNF	1	Sebastian Vettel		Electrical	2
DNF	42	Davide Valsecchi		Engine	0
DNF	11	Daniël de Jong		Transmission	0
DNF	43	Sergio Pérez		Engine	0
DNF	55	Artem Markelov		Collision	0
DNF	12	Scott Dixon		Transmission	0
DNF	22	Johnny Cecotto Jr.		Collision	0

Fastest Lap:

Sebastian Vettel – 1:08.572

Infinite Improbability Drive Of The Race:

Precision-Mercedes – Actually gain points on Caterham, despite all experts saying that would not happen.

Reject Of The Race:

Williams-Ferrari – Miserable pitstop planning and a double retirement with three laps to go is just bad news.