Maldonado Sweeps Abu Dhabi Races

Qualifying:

Pos#DriverConstructorTime
162Jules BianchiPrecision-Mercedes1:29.804
229Pastor MaldonadoSauber-Judd1:30.007
363Diego Álvarez TorrentePrecision-Mercedes1:30.024
430Dean StonemanSauber-Judd1:30.169
52Lewis HamiltonCaterham-Judd1:30.211
61Sebastian VettelCaterham-Judd1:30.376
734Valtteri BottasTheodore-Judd1:30.500
833Einar ÁrmannssonTheodore-Judd1:30.640
927Dave CassidyFerrari1:30.892
1028Daniel MelroseFerrari1:31.048
1123Pierre GaslyFAST-Mercedes1:31.437
1224Kevin MagnussenFAST-Mercedes1:31.686
1366Pascal WehrleinRed Bull-Ferrari1:31.796
1422Jordan DaviesHaas-Judd1:31.961
1521J. R. HildebrandHaas-Judd1:32.097
1690Daniel RicciardoCalinetic-Judd1:32.288
175Marvin KirchhöferWilliams-Mercedes1:32.573
18119Felix RosenqvistDawson-Mercedes1:32.570
1955Artem MarkelovMansell-Mercedes1:32.608
2091Max VerstappenCalinetic-Judd1:32.617
21118Carlos Sainz JrDawson-Mercedes1:32.748
226Santiago UrrutiaWilliams-Mercedes1:32.891
2356Sergey SirotkinMansell-Mercedes1:33.076
2467Mike RockenfellerRed Bull-Ferrari1:33.110

Report:

Imitating his teammate, Torrente had the displeasure of being dropped behind a Haas late in the game because of an error.

 

After the Abu Dhabi Grands Prix, only four rounds of the World Championship remain. If you want to be the hero of 2019, you need to strike now or never. Pastor Maldonado heeded this wisdom by securing a confident victory in the desert.

He beat polesitter Jules Bianchi at the start and never relinquished the first place for a long time. Behind them, the two Precisions got cosy, fully aware that they needed an error or a technical failure from Maldonado to win this race.

Unfortunately, the error came from Precision: DAT smacked into the barriers due to excessive wheelspin and needed a front wing replacement. Jordan Davies, who had a great race, held up Torrente long enough so he could not recover any more places.

Haas were generally in good position all weekend, J.R. Hildebrand was running well in what will be his final race as Stoffel Vandoorne’s replacement. In contrast, new Judd customer Calinetic had a miserable race which ended after less than five laps.

Race:

Pos#DriverConstructorTime/RetiredPoints
129Pastor MaldonadoSauber-Judd45:58.53515
262Jules BianchiPrecision-Mercedes+8.45012
330Dean StonemanSauber-Judd+18.50410
41Sebastian VettelCaterham-Judd+22.1058
52Lewis HamiltonCaterham-Judd+29.1226
633Einar ÁrmannssonTheodore-Judd+32.2345
734Valtteri BottasTheodore-Judd+38.4634
827Dave CassidyFerrari+42.6873
963Diego Álvarez TorrentePrecision-Mercedes+51.3472
1022Jordan DaviesHaas-Judd+58.9651
1166Pascal WehrleinRed Bull-Ferrari+78.0860
1221J. R. HildebrandHaas-Judd+81.2750
1324Kevin MagnussenFAST-Mercedes+86.7440
145Marvin KirchhöferWilliams-Mercedes1 Lap0
15118Carlos Sainz JrDawson-Mercedes1 Lap0
1655Artem MarkelovMansell-Mercedes1 Lap0
176Santiago UrrutiaWilliams-Mercedes1 Lap0
1867Mike RockenfellerRed Bull-Ferrari1 Lap0
1956Sergey SirotkinMansell-Mercedes1 Lap0
DNF119Felix RosenqvistDawson-MercedesLoose Wheel0
DNF28Daniel MelroseFerrariAccident0
DNF90Daniel RicciardoCalinetic-JuddCollision0
DNF23Pierre GaslyFAST-MercedesCollision0
DNF91Max VerstappenCalinetic-JuddCollision0

Fastest Lap:

Diego Álvarez Torrente – 1:31.024

Infinite Improbability Drive Of The Race:

Jordan Davies – this man deserves to drive in 2020.

Reject Of The Race:

Calinetic-Judd – both of their drivers retired from the race quickly in strange accidents.