Motor Failure Decides Championship Fight On Second to Last Lap

Qualifying:

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Time
1	96	Diego Álvarez Torrente		1:57.686
2	73	Daniel Melrose		1:58.357
3	18	Sebastian Vettel		1:58.668
4	27	Jules Bianchi		1:58.695
5	3	Marvin Kirchhöfer		1:59.300
6	7	Charles Leclerc		1:59.441
7	55	Santiago Urrutia		1:59.476
8	1	Pastor Maldonado		1:59.595
9	33	Salvatore Miccoli		1:59.695
10	6	Artem Markelov		1:59.795
11	56	Einar Ármannsson		2:00.381
12	37	Kazuki Nakajima		2:00.390
13	57	Dean Stoneman		2:00.731
14	47	Lando Norris		2:00.835
15	19	Jordan Davies		2:01.163
16	14	Marcel Agyemang-Badu		2:01.379
17	28	Harrison Newey		2:01.847
18	10	Pierre Gasly		1:58.972
19	64	Dave Cassidy		1:59.401
20	39	Sho Tsuboi		1:59.435
21	35	Sergey Sirotkin		1:59.604
22	94	Pascal Wehrlein		1:59.684
23	98	Bradley Dagnall		1:59.780
24	23	Alexander Albon		1:59.950

Report:

The season finale of the 2020 season was meant to be Mercedes’s showcase of how they and Precision Motorsport had controlled this season, securing their fourth Constructors’ Championship as engine supplier in this millennium and their first since 2015. Even with the copious amount of rain dropping this weekend, they had fun.

Obviously, the Drivers Championship remained undecided and thus, it needed to be settled between the Precision drivers. Torrente knew his only chance was to push from the start and thus he dominated, but it looked all for naught until Jules Bianchi’s motor exploded, in an event some would call “El Nuevo Milagro de Shanghai”.

With Torrente winning his first championship and the DHL Fastest Lap Trophy, other stories were left a bit underappreciated. The battle for 4th in both championships was decided, with Vettel clearly securing the position and Sauber and BR Mansell not doing enough to steal the position from Red Bull, even with both teams scoring lots of points.

Drivers still looking for a seat in 2021 had their chance to impress or the risk of not doing so, which affected a number of drivers, e.g. Salvatore Miccoli, who wasted a major chance to put one over on Dave Cassidy, or Sergey Sirotkin, who made his case for his continued stay in F1 by mastering the wet conditions and coming home in sixth.

Race:

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Time/Retired	Points
1	96	Diego Álvarez Torrente		67:09.270	15
2	18	Sebastian Vettel		+47.152	12
3	7	Charles Leclerc		+65.709	10
4	1	Pastor Maldonado		+72.696	8
5	56	Einar Ármannsson		+88.818	6
6	35	Sergey Sirotkin		+91.212	5
7	47	Lando Norris		+96.527	4
8	64	Dave Cassidy		+108.877	3
9	3	Marvin Kirchhöfer		+109.897	2
10	14	Marcel Agyemang-Badu		+110.590	1
11	55	Santiago Urrutia		+112.431	0
12	73	Daniel Melrose		Motor	0
13	33	Salvatore Miccoli		1 Lap	0
14	19	Jordan Davies		1 Lap	0
15	37	Kazuki Nakajima		1 Lap	0
16	28	Harrison Newey		1 Lap	0
17	94	Pascal Wehrlein		1 Lap	0
18	57	Dean Stoneman		1 Lap	0
19	39	Shu Tsuboi		1 Lap	0
20	98	Bradley Dagnall		1 Lap	0
21	27	Jules Bianchi		Motor	0
DNF	10	Pierre Gasly		Accident	0
DNF	6	Artem Markelov		Motor	0
DNF	23	Alexander Albon		Puncture	0

Fastest Lap:

Diego Álvarez Torrente – 1:55.428

Infinite Improbability Drive Of The Race:

Einar Ármannsson – he mastered the rain and secured Calinetic’s 10th place in the WCC.

Reject Of The Race:

Mercedes-Benz – a late motor failure ending their “lap of honour” ruins the PR effect.