Mental Errors Blight Thrilling Precision Showdown

Qualifying:

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Time
1	96	Diego Álvarez Torrente		1:40.675
2	27	Jules Bianchi		1:40.827
3	73	Daniel Melrose		1:40.943
4	18	Sebastian Vettel		1:41.274
5	64	Dave Cassidy		1:41.355
6	7	Charles Leclerc		1:41.421
7	47	Lando Norris		1:41.502
8	35	Sergey Sirotkin		1:41.725
9	33	Salvatore Miccoli		1:41.762
10	55	Santiago Urrutia		1:41.792
11	14	Marcel Agyemang-Badu		1:42.008
12	57	Dean Stoneman		1:42.027
13	1	Pastor Maldonado		1:42.147
14	3	Marvin Kirchhöfer		1:42.189
15	6	Artem Markelov		1:42.225
16	37	Kazuki Nakajima		1:42.237
17	28	Harrison Newey		1:42.306
18	56	Einar Ármannsson		1:42.811
19	39	Sho Tsuboi		1:42.845
20	94	Pascal Wehrlein		1:42.994
21	19	Jordan Davies		1:43.163
22	10	Pierre Gasly		1:43.412
23	23	Alexander Albon		1:43.486
24	98	Bradley Dagnall		1:43.571

Report:

Diego Álvarez Torrente gained all the momentum in the last couple of months as Jules Bianchi failed and failed again to see the flag, shrinking his 45-point lead to a mere seven championship points. If Torrente would win at Abu Dhabi, he’d be in a great spot to take the title by force.

From the early stages on, Precision made this a battle between themselves. Even if they courted controversy by giving their drivers widely varying strategies, we were bound to have a thrilling climax: Torrente hunting down Bianchi on his younger tyres.

Neither driver handed the pressure well: first Bianchi lost the lead he hung on to, spinning out in the final corner. He’d regain it before the end, as Torrente messed up lapping Dagnall, losing P1. These errors in the last couple of weeks severely dampen the legacy boost the world championship gives a driver.

Behind them, Daniel Melrose’s title chances died despite him grabbing his second podium in as many races. FAST had both drivers in the points and Sergey Sirotkin helped BR Mansell to get an edge against Sauber in the battle for fifth.

Race:

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Time/Retired	Points
1	27	Jules Bianchi		59:41.809	15
2	96	Diego Álvarez Torrente		+0.679	12
3	73	Daniel Melrose		+11.410	10
4	7	Charles Leclerc		+25.382	8
5	64	Dave Cassidy		+28.495	6
6	47	Lando Norris		+35.481	5
7	35	Sergey Sirotkin		+38.624	4
8	33	Salvatore Miccoli		+44.260	3
9	14	Marcel Agyemang-Badu		+46.011	2
10	1	Pastor Maldonado		+49.277	1
11	57	Dean Stoneman		+50.993	0
12	55	Santiago Urrutia		+54.411	0
13	6	Artem Markelov		+64.764	0
14	56	Einar Ármannsson		+67.557	0
15	28	Harrison Newey		+71.423	0
16	37	Kazuki Nakajima		+84.144	0
17	94	Pascal Wehrlein		+90.744	0
18	39	Shu Tsuboi		+95.491	0
19	19	Jordan Davies		+98.964	0
20	10	Pierre Gasly		+99.675	0
21	23	Alexander Albon		1 Lap	0
22	98	Bradley Dagnall		1 Lap	0
DNF	18	Sebastian Vettel		Accident	0
DNF	3	Marvin Kirchhöfer		Motor	0

Fastest Lap:

Diego Álvarez Torrente – 1:41.554

Infinite Improbability Drive Of The Race:

FAST-Mercedes – a late-season resurgence may allow them to get up to P6 or even P5 in the championship.

Reject Of The Race:

Diego Álvarez Torrente – his race-losing error gave momentum back to Jules Bianchi and may have cost him the championship.