Sebastian Vettel Takes Victory, Opposition Falters

Qualifying:

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Q1	Q2	Diff.
1	57	Dean Stoneman		1:15.000	1:15.131
2	94	Pascal Wehrlein		1:15.501	1:15.225	+0.225
3	37	Victoria Desai		1:17.761	1:15.259	+0.259
4	29	Roger Ibe		1:16.227	1:15.683	+0.683
5	23	Alexander Albon		1:19.390	1:15.764	+0.764
6	18	Sebastian Vettel		1:15.891	1:16.089	+0.891
7	47	Lando Norris		1:16.149	1:15.975	+0.975
8	33	Max Verstappen		1:16.023	1:16.026	+1.023
9	77	Valtteri Bottas		1:16.311	1:16.105	+1.105
10	39	Sho Tsuboi		1:16.146	1:16.359	+1.146
11	26	Robert Shwartzman		1:17.319	1:16.286	+1.286
12	70	Sérgio Sette Câmara		1:16.683	1:16.319	+1.319
13	20	Kevin Magnussen		1:16.439	1:16.616	+1.439
14	31	Esteban Ocon		1:18.046	1:17.685	+2.685
15	11	Terry Hawkin		1:17.892	1:18.030	+2.892
16	23	Jules Bianchi		1:18.421	1:18.102	+3.102
17	56	Einar Ármannsson		1:18.590	1:18.278	+3.278
18	95	Beitske Visser		1:20.041	1:18.962	+3.962
19	1	Artem Markelov		1:19.126	1:16.145	+1.145*
20	55	Carlos Sainz, Jr.		1:19.081	1:19.049	+4.049
21	4	Robin Frijns		1:19.768	1:19.554	+4.554
22	46	Alessandro Cicognani		1:20.013	1:20.260	+5.013
23	7	Charles Leclerc		1:20.191	1:20.099	+5.099
24	84	Jack Aitken		1:21.337	1:21.137	+6.137

Report:

The historic New Zealand International Grand Prix returned to its traditional place early in the year and despite the cooler temperatures, things got rather heated in the cockpits. Errors, both technical and mental, were the order of the afternoon.

One man left to profit from this was the oldest driver on the grid: 34-year old Sebastian Vettel showed off the full experience his fourteen seasons in the sport and took his first victory of the season and the 63rd of his career.

However, he was not the only star to shine. Williams-Ferrari had the edge over their fellow Ferrari-powered teams and used their power to delay Victoria Desai, enabling Camara to take his best Formula One result so far.

Precision had a small moment of joy as their race pace was not as catastrophic as in Melbourne, allowing Pascal Wehrlein to barely edge out a struggling Max Verstappen to the final point;

Race:

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Time/Retired	Points
1	18	Sebastian Vettel		69:25.023	15
2	70	Sérgio Sette Câmara		+25.066	12
3	37	Victoria Desai		+25.582	10
4	26	Robert Shwartzman		+57.863	8
5	77	Valtteri Bottas		+61.713	6
6	47	Lando Norris		+62.274	5
7	23	Alexander Albon		1 Lap	4
8	11	Terry Hawkin		1 Lap	3
9	39	Sho Tsuboi		1 Lap	2
10	94	Pascal Wehrlein		1 Lap	1
11	33	Max Verstappen		1 Lap
12	57	Dean Stoneman		1 Lap
13	14	Esteban Ocon		1 Lap
14	20	Kevin Magnussen		1 Lap
15	56	Einar Ármannsson		2 Laps
16	95	Beitske Visser		2 Laps
17	7	Charles Leclerc		2 Laps
18	85	Jack Aitken		3 Laps
19	46	Alessandro Cicognani		3 Laps
20	55	Carlos Sainz, Jr.		4 Laps
21	4	Robin Frijns		4 Laps
DNF	1	Artem Markelov		Throttle
DNF	23	Jules Bianchi		Motor
DNF	29	Roger Ibe		Motor

Fastest Lap:

Alexander Albon – 1:16.419

Infinite Improbability Drive Of The Race:

Beitske Visser – took on the challenge of a world’s champion and came out on top.

Reject Of The Race:

Alexander Albon – his first pitstop was not his fault; the other two were.