Vettel Makes Error on Final Lap, Maldonado Leads Championship

Qualifying:

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Time
1	1	Sebastian Vettel		1:14.820
2	63	Diego Álvarez Torrente		1:14.825
3	2	Lewis Hamilton		1:14.881
4	30	Dean Stoneman		1:15.014
5	29	Pastor Maldonado		1:15.158
6	34	Valtteri Bottas		1:15.386
7	33	Einar Ármannsson		1:15.537
8	27	Dave Cassidy		1:15.581
9	28	Daniel Melrose		1:15.604
10	22	Jordan Davies		1:15.686
11	24	Kevin Magnussen		1:16.208
12	32	Alexander Albon		1:16.457
13	21	J. R. Hildebrand		1:16.516
14	23	Pierre Gasly		1:16.571
15	31	Romain Grosjean		1:16.618
16	5	Marvin Kirchhöfer		1:16.838
17	90	Daniel Ricciardo		1:17.091
18	91	Max Verstappen		1:17.094
19	118	Carlos Sainz Jr		1:17.599
20	67	Mike Rockenfeller		1:17.682
21	6	Santiago Urrutia		1:17.835
22	55	Artem Markelov		1:17.835
23	119	Felix Rosenqvist		1:17.936
24	56	Sergey Sirotkin		1:17.942
25	66	Pascal Wehrlein		1:18.022
26	62	Jules Bianchi		No Time*

* demoted to the back of the grid for causing an avoidable accident

Report:

 

The second half of the Formula One season has begun in the Middle East and if this race is a preview of things to come, we are in for an amazing final to the 2019 season with lots of close racing for the titles.

Whilst the race ended with Caterham owning the first two positions on track, they really had to work for that position and lost it when Vettel, in a very stupid move, took out Gasly on the final lap whilst trying to close the gap to his teammate.

Behind race winner Lewis Hamilton, Pastor Maldonado and Diego Álvarez Torrente fought each other with reckless abandon, the Spaniard getting the short end of the stick, leaving Pastor to achieve third.

Behind the big teams (and in the case of Jules Bianchi inbetween them), Theodore and Ferrari seemingly own the lower points-paying position. Haas, FAST and the other teams will need to work hard if they want to gain genuine points.

Race:

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Time/Retired	Points
1	2	Lewis Hamilton		43:21.349	15
2	29	Pastor Maldonado		+8.831	12
3	63	Diego Álvarez Torrente		+9.523	10
4	30	Dean Stoneman		+13.805	8
5	1	Sebastian Vettel		+21.200*	6
6	34	Valtteri Bottas		+23.945	5
7	27	Dave Cassidy		+26.397	4
8	62	Jules Bianchi		+26.847	3
9	28	Daniel Melrose		+32.105	2
10	33	Einar Ármannsson		+38.268	1
11	24	Kevin Magnussen		+47.171	0
12	22	Jordan Davies		+49.428	0
13	32	Alexander Albon		+65.869	0
14	21	J. R. Hildebrand		+66.863	0
15	31	Romain Grosjean		+71.777	0
16	90	Daniel Ricciardo		+73.095	0
17	5	Marvin Kirchhöfer		+78.027	0
18	66	Pascal Wehrlein		1 Lap	0
19	91	Max Verstappen		1 Lap	0
20	67	Mike Rockenfeller		1 Lap	0
21	6	Santiago Urrutia		1 Lap	0
22	118	Carlos Sainz Jr		1 Lap	0
23	55	Artem Markelov		1 Lap	0
24	119	Felix Rosenqvist		1 Lap	0
25	56	Sergey Sirotkin		1 Lap	0
26	23	Pierre Gasly		2 Laps	0

* given twenty-second penalty for causing an avoidable accident

Fastest Lap:

Diego Álvarez Torrente – 1:15.561

Infinite Improbability Drive Of The Race:

Kevin Magnussen – was clearly the best driver outside the five large teams.

Reject Of The Race:

Sebastian Vettel – he can do better than that and he knows it.