Maldonado Wins Season Opener in Nevada

Qualifying:

* demoted five places for changing engine/gearbox

Report:

A Sauber and a Theodore battling for a podium, proving that the power balance in F1 has changed.

It has been too long. Nearly four months have passed since Sebastian Vettel has secured the world championship in Brazil. New challengers have emerged and we are going to spend the remainder of this year finding out whether they are sufficiently skilled to beat Caterham and the reigning driver’s champion.

It was Sauber-Judd who controlled the proceedings in qualifying, beating out the reigning champions and Theodore. Expected contenders Precision struggled heavily, with rookie Torrente barely able to make Q2, let alone challenge for any relevant positions. Calinetic-Holden also performed badly.

Once the race began, it was Pastor Maldonado who was able to take the lead and control the event. A miserable start left Dean Stoneman, the only person sharing a similarly powerful car, down the order. Maldonado ended up superbly controlling the race and winning the season opener just like in 2015.

Sebastian Vettel can be happy, despite low expectations, his title defense started with a great second place. Ferrari score double but it remains to be seen whether they can be a relevant player in 2019. Jordan Davies drove a good race for Haas and scored on his debut for the American team.

Race:

Fastest Lap:

Sebastian Vettel – 1:09.895

Infinite Improbability Drive Of The Race:

Theodore-Judd – signing Adrian Newey paid off, a quick rise to relevance.

Reject Of The Race:

Diego Álvarez Torrente – whilst his retirement was not his fault, his race before it was an atrocious first outing.