Torrente Wins After Returning From Injury

Qualifying:

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Time
1	63	Diego Álvarez Torrente		1:10.132
2	30	Dean Stoneman		1:10.300
3	2	Lewis Hamilton		1:10.397
4	34	Valtteri Bottas		1:10.581
5	29	Pastor Maldonado		1:10.742
6	33	Einar Ármannsson		1:10.878
7	27	Dave Cassidy		1:11.008
8	28	Daniel Melrose		1:11.129
9	62	Jules Bianchi		1:11.407
10	24	Kevin Magnussen		1:11.438
11	23	Pierre Gasly		1:11.578
12	22	Jordan Davies		1:11.578
13	31	Romain Grosjean		1:11.790
14	32	Alexander Albon		1:11.821
15	21	J. R. Hildebrand		1:11.904
16	119	Felix Rosenqvist		1:11.970
17	118	Carlos Sainz Jr		1:11.986
18	66	Pascal Wehrlein		1:12.246
19	91	Max Verstappen		1:12.346
20	5	Marvin Kirchhöfer		1:12.402
21	90	Daniel Ricciardo		1:12.475
22	67	Mike Rockenfeller		1:12.684
23	55	Artem Markelov		1:12.689
24	6	Santiago Urrutia		1:12.828
25	56	Sergey Sirotkin		1:13.142
26	1	Sebastian Vettel		No Time**

Report:

It is commonly said that you cannot win a race at the start. This claim was proven true today, as Diego Alvarez Torrente failed to defend his lead into turn 1. The man who beat him, however, was not the race winner: Valterri Bottas “only” finished third.

As far as Torrente was concerned, he was in great form after being kept out of the second Paris race for the sake of his health. He also proved his calm intellect by simply staying on Bottas’ tail until his pitcrew got him past the Finn at the first pitstop of two.

Outside of Torrente and Hamilton, who finished second, the title contenders had eventful days: Maldonado and Vettel retired, the former as a result of a failing throttle, the other after a rare mistake; Dean Stoneman made a mistake early in the race that left him 7th.

The final contender Jules Bianchi finished fourth after passing a great Dave Cassidy on the second-to-final lap, Cassidy joining the list of midfielders and backmarkers who did well today, such as Kevin Magnussen, J.R. Hildebrand and Artem Markelov.

Race:

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Time/Retired	Points
1	63	Diego Álvarez Torrente		46:49.633	15
2	2	Lewis Hamilton		+20.247	12
3	34	Valtteri Bottas		+39.216	10
4	62	Jules Bianchi		+40.396	8
5	27	Dave Cassidy		+41.597	6
6	24	Kevin Magnussen		+66.687	5
7	30	Dean Stoneman		1 Lap	4
8	31	Romain Grosjean		1 Lap	3
9	21	J. R. Hildebrand		1 Lap	2
10	55	Artem Markelov		1 Lap	1
11	91	Max Verstappen		1 Lap	0
12	90	Daniel Ricciardo		1 Lap	0
13	118	Carlos Sainz Jr		1 Lap	0
14	119	Felix Rosenqvist		1 Lap	0
15	6	Santiago Urrutia		1 Lap	0
16	67	Mike Rockenfeller		1 Lap	0
17	56	Sergey Sirotkin		1 Lap	0
18	22	Jordan Davies		Oil Leak	0
DNF	66	Pascal Wehrlein		Transmission	0
DNF	23	Pierre Gasly		Engine	0
DNF	5	Marvin Kirchhöfer		Accident	0
DNF	29	Pastor Maldonado		Throttle	0
DNF	1	Sebastian Vettel		Accident	0
DNF	28	Daniel Melrose		Throttle	0
DNF	32	Alexander Albon		Collision	0
DNF	33	Einar Ármannsson		Collision	0

Fastest Lap:

Sebastian Vettel – 1:11.205

Infinite Improbability Drive Of The Race:

Artem Markelov – after the disappointment in France, BR Mansell needed that point.

Reject Of The Race:

Sebastian Vettel – he risked too much in an effort to come back from his penalty.