Maldonado Wins Season Opener in Nevada

Qualifying:

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Time
1	29	Pastor Maldonado		1:08.022
2	30	Dean Stoneman		1:08.161
3	1	Sebastian Vettel		1:08.284
4	34	Valtteri Bottas		1:08.321
5	2	Lewis Hamilton		1:08.443
6	33	Einar Ármannsson		1:08.481
7	21	Stoffel Vandoorne		1:08.599
8	62	Jules Bianchi		1:08.635
9	24	Kevin Magnussen		1:08.639
10	27	Dave Cassidy		1:08.787
11	23	Pierre Gasly		1:09.235
12	22	Jordan Davies		1:09.310
13	28	Daniel Melrose		1:09.639
14	31	Romain Grosjean		1:09.859
15	32	Alexander Albon		1:10.000
16	5	Marvin Kirchhöfer		1:10.205
17	63	Diego Álvarez Torrente		1:10.468
18	91	Max Verstappen		1:10.520
19	55	Artem Markelov		1:10.352
20	90	Daniel Ricciardo		1:10.814
21	66	Pascal Wehrlein		1:11.012
22	67	Mike Rockenfeller		1:11.075
23	118	Carlos Sainz Jr		1:11.243
24	6	Santiago Urrutia		1:11.245
25	56	Sergey Sirotkin		1:11.404
26	119	Felix Rosenqvist		1:11.576

* demoted five places for changing engine/gearbox

Report:

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:

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Time/Retired	Points
1	29	Pastor Maldonado		49:56.016	15
2	1	Sebastian Vettel		+12.187	12
3	33	Einar Ármannsson		+12.315	10
4	30	Dean Stoneman		+12.995	8
5	2	Lewis Hamilton		+15.335	6
6	27	Dave Cassidy		+31.285	5
7	21	Stoffel Vandoorne		+34.212	4
8	28	Daniel Melrose		+43.081	3
9	62	Jules Bianchi		+44.486	2
10	22	Jordan Davies		+45.000	1
11	24	Kevin Magnussen		+48.733	0
12	23	Pierre Gasly		+52.018	0
13	31	Romain Grosjean		+59.666	0
14	6	Santiago Urrutia		1 Lap	0
15	91	Max Verstappen		1 Lap	0
16	66	Pascal Wehrlein		1 Lap	0
17	5	Marvin Kirchhöfer		1 Lap	0
18	67	Mike Rockenfeller		1 Lap	0
19	119	Felix Rosenqvist		1 Lap	0
20	118	Carlos Sainz Jr		1 Lap	0
DNF	63	Diego Álvarez Torrente		Collision	0
DNF	34	Valtteri Bottas		Suspension	0
DNF	32	Alexander Albon		Accident	0
DNF	55	Artem Markelov		Accident	0
DNF	90	Daniel Ricciardo		Accident	0
DNF	56	Sergey Sirotkin		Engine	0

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.