Victoria Desai Clinches First Formula 1 Victory in Zhuhai

Qualifying:

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Q1	Q2	Diff.
1	57	Dean Stoneman		1:17.865	1:17.640
2	94	Pascal Wehrlein		1:18.111	1:18.069	+0.429
3	29	Roger Ibe		1:20.145	1:20.516	+2.505
4	1	Artem Markelov		1:20.339	1:20.264	+2.624
5	70	Pastor Maldonado		1:20.508	1:20.390	+2.750
6	37	Victoria Desai		1:20.462	1:20.664	+2.822
7	23	Alexander Albon		1:20.546	1:20.539	+2.899
8	33	Max Verstappen		1:20.800	1:20.618	+2.978
9	39	Sho Tsuboi		1:20.655	1:21.074	+3.015
10	55	Carlos Sainz, Jr.		1:20.849	1:20.746	+3.103
11	47	Lando Norris		1:20.929	1:20.845	+3.205
12	26	Robert Shwartzman		1:20.894	1:21.156	+3.254
13	77	Valtteri Bottas		1:20.924	1:21.330	+3.284
14	20	Kevin Magnussen		1:21.208	1:21.010	+3.370
15	4	Robin Frijns		1:21.287	1:21.052	+3.412
16	18	Sebastian Vettel		1:21.308	1:21.165	+3.525
17	11	Terry Hawkin		1:22.059	1:21.970	+4.330
18	31	Esteban Ocon		1:22.510	1:22.356	+4.716
19	56	Einar Ármannsson		1:23.208	1:22.824	+5.184
20	23	Jules Bianchi		1:22.902	1:22.826	+5.186
21	95	Beitske Visser		1:22.870	1:22.939	+5.230
22	46	Alessandro Cicognani		1:23.791	1:23.487	+5.847
23	7	Charles Leclerc		1:24.181	1:24.021	+6.381
24	84	Jack Aitken		No Time	1:24.792	+7.152

Report:

After the debacle that was the 2021 Marlboro Pilipinas Grand Prix, the FASC had a lot to make up for. With the weather playing along, the second race in China was bound to be a success and it turned out to be one: at the very least for Ferrari.

Victoria Desai joined the elite club of drivers who won their first Grand Prix in their rookie year. Of course, such a feat should be expected of any rookie honored with driving for Scuderia Ferrari in their very first year.

Other teams also had good moments: Caterham survived a nasty moment for Norris in the race and a poor qualifying effort from Vettel to add 13 points to their championship total; Precision turned their 1-2 into a double-points finish.

Seven cars failed to finish the race. One of those was Jules Bianchi, who earned himself the ire of British Formula One fans by not pulling his broken car over. Roger Ibe was left heartbroken over his “home” retirement.

Race:

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Time/Retired	Points
1	37	Victoria Desai		60:22.295	15
2	33	Max Verstappen		+15.704	12
3	70	Pastor Maldonado		+29.293	10
4	47	Lando Norris		+34.744	8
5	23	Alexander Albon		+36.689	6
6	18	Sebastian Vettel		+43.490	5
7	1	Artem Markelov		+61.556	4
8	57	Dean Stoneman		+63.673	3
9	94	Pascal Wehrlein		+71.196	2
10	11	Terry Hawkin		+76.039	1
11	14	Esteban Ocon		1 Lap
12	56	Einar Ármannsson		1 Lap
13	95	Beitske Visser		1 Lap
14	46	Alessandro Cicognani		1 Lap
15	7	Charles Leclerc		2 Laps
16	55	Carlos Sainz, Jr.		2 Laps
17	85	Jack Aitken		2 Laps
DNF	26	Robert Shwartzman		Suspension
DNF	29	Roger Ibe		Water Leak
DNF	77	Valtteri Bottas		Suspension
DNF	23	Jules Bianchi		Motor
DNF	39	Sho Tsuboi		Motor
DNF	4	Robin Frijns		Suspension
DNF	20	Kevin Magnussen		Transmission

Fastest Lap:

Pastor Maldonado – 1:22.607

Infinite Improbability Drive Of The Race:

Caterham-Judd – came back from a mediocre qualifying to score a metric ton of points.

Reject Of The Race:

Jules Bianchi – a veteran like him should know better how to deal with a broken car.