I haven’t seen any penalties following the queues in Q1 costing ZHO his quick lap, but the FIA seem more focused on telling the drivers not to wear jewellery even when the drivers are raising safety concerns about the concrete wall in Turn 14.
Following Quali the provisional grid: LEC, SAI, VER, PER, BOT, HAM, GAS, NOR, TSU, STR, ALO, RUS, VET, RIC, SCH, MAG, ZHO, ALB, LAT, OCO
However it looks like both Aston Martins will start from the pit lane; STR says it’s a fuel problem
Aston Martin confirm it’s because the fuel has been cooled too much and is below the required temp, so they’ll warm it up in time for the start
40% risk of rain(!)
LEC leads everyone (except STR and VET) away on the formation lap
Looks like they’re all on medium tyres except RUS, LAT, OCO, STR & VET on hard
01/57: VER squeezes SAI and takes P2 into Turn 2
HAM has dropped to P8
02: LEC, VER, SAI, PER, BOT, GAS, ALO, HAM, NOR, TSU
05/57: LEC, VER, SAI, PER, BOT, GAS, HAM, ALO, NOR, TSU, SCH, MAG, RIC, ZHO, RUS, ALB, OCO, LAT, STR, VET
06: HAM takes P6 from GAS
07: ZHO pits, retires
08: VER now has DRS behind LEC
09: VER dives inside LEC into Turn 1; takes P1
10/57: VER, LEC, SAI, PER, BOT, HAM, GAS, ALO, NOR, SCH, MAG, TSU, RIC, RUS, ALB, OCO, LAT, STR, VET; out: ZHO
11: RIC takes P12 from TSU into T1
RUS closing on TSU
12: TSU pits
13: LEC goes deep at the end of the long straight
14: RIC runs wide and RUS steals P11
15/57: VER, LEC, SAI, PER, BOT, HAM, GAS, ALO, NOR, SCH… but then SCH pits
16: VER fastest lap 1:33.510
There’s a big (10+ sec) gap between the front four and BOT
ALO has a long pit stop – problem with the rear right
17: A gaggle of cars in the pit lane as many of the medium runners switch to hard tyres
19: NOR pits; rejoins between STR and VET; VET passes NOR immediately; MAG follows through
Radio from PER complaining of a loss of power; long argument with his engineer who says it’s fine
20/57: VER, LEC, SAI, PER, BOT, HAM, RUS, RIC, OCO, GAS
21: MAG has a look at VET but he runs out of space
23: VER f/lap 1:33.193
HAM pits from P6; clean stop; rejoins P7 just ahead of RIC
24: LEC f/lap 1:33.141
Radio from LEC, “The car is so difficult to drive”
25/57: LEC pits; rejoins P4
LAT closing on TSU
27: VER pits, as does BOT
28: SAI pits from P1; slow stop; rejoins P3
PER pits; rejoins much closer to SAI now
RIC is now the only one on mediums; everyone else on hard tyres
Half distance
29: LEC f/lap 1:32.950
Radio from HAM saying his tyres are overheating
30/57: VER, LEC, SAI, PER, RUS, BOT, HAM, RIC, OCO, GAS, ALO, STR, MAG, VET, SCH, NOR, ALB, TSU, LAT; out: ZHO
VER 1:32.779
31: MAG all over STR’s rear wing
RIC pits; rejoins P10
32: NOR has joined the MAG-SCH-VET train
33: VER f/lap 1:32.742
34: LEC f/lap 1:32.366
35/57: VER, LEC, SAI, PER, RUS, BOT, HAM, OCO, GAS, ALO, STR, MAG, SCH, VET, NOR, ALB, RIC, TSU, LAT
SCH passes teammate MAG for P12
36: VET locks up and NOR steals P14
37: HAM closing on BOT
38: VER f/lap 1:32.325
39: ALO and GAS make contact as ALO tries to dive inside
ALO takes P9
GAS loses another place to STR
40/57: VER, LEC, SAI, PER, RUS, BOT, HAM, OCO, ALO, STR, GAS, SCH, MAG, NOR, VET, ALB, RIC, TSU, LAT; out: ZHO
LEC f/lap 1:32.096
GAS ran wide; SCH and MAG pass him; NOR alongside but GAS closes the door and rips off his rear right tyre!
NOR bounces off the wall and comes to a stop; he’s out of the car
41[VSC]: RUS pits
SC replaces the VSC
42[SC]: GAS, RIC and OCO pit for soft tyres
5-sec penalty for ALO for causing the collision with GAS
43[SC]: TSU pits for softs
Still a lot of debris on track
45[57[SC]: VER, LEC, SAI, PER, BOT, HAM, RUS, ALO, SCH, OCO, ALB, STR, MAG, VET, RIC, GAS, LAT, TSU; out: NOR, ZHO
Lapped cars can now pass the SC
46[SC]: SC in at the end of this lap
Radio from GAS, “I think the rear right is broken”
GAS pits, retires
VER slows everyone down, preparing for the restart
47: SAI defends from PER
Incident involving MAG and STR noted
48: LEC under 1sec behind VER but DRS isn’t enabled yet
49: DRS enabled
RUS all over teammate HAM’s wing
50/57: LEC f/lap 1:31.850
BOT runs wide; HAM and RUS storm past
RUS takes P5 from HAM but he was off the road
51: Incident involving MAG and STR – no further action
52: PER dives inside SAI into T1; did they touch? PER locks up and runs wide, so SAI keeps P3
53: VER opening a lead; LEC no longer has DRS
54: VER f/lap 1:31.456
VET is T-boned in T1 by SCH – that was terrible by SCH
55/57: VER, LEC, SAI, PER, RUS, HAM, BOT, ALO, OCO, ALB, MAG, STR, RIC, TSU, LAT, SCH; out: VET, GAS, NOR, ZHO
SCH pits for a new nose
56: Incident involving SCH and RIC – leaving the track and gaining an advantage
57 = final lap: MAG and STR make contact
MAG pits, retires
VER takes the chequered flag
Provisional result: VER*, LEC, SAI, PER, RUS, HAM, BOT, ALO, OCO, ALB; RIC, STR, TSU, LAT, SCH
DNF: MAG, VET, GAS, NOR, ZHO
*Fastest lap: VER
There’s a few incidents under investigation, so provisional is more applicable than usual.
Update: ALO was given a 5-second penalty for colliding with GAS, so that dropped him from P8 to P9 … and then an investigation into ALO “leaving the track and gaining a lasting advantage” resulted in an additional 5-second penalty (and one penalty point) so that dropped him from P9 to P11 [FIA]
However, MAG received a 5-second penalty for causing a collision (he was already P16 and DNF, so the penalty makes no difference) and RIC got 5-secs for “leaving the track and gaining a lasting advantage” (dropping him from P11 to P13).
So the revised result: VER, LEC, SAI, PER, RUS, HAM, BOT, OCO, ALB, STR; ALO, TSU, RIC, LAT, SCH
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