ASIA – Race 1 – Vitaly Petrov signs a chaotic victory!

Vitaly Petrov won his first race in GP2 Asia today. The Campos driver finished at the top after 48 laps of this first race of the Malaysian weekend at Sepang, under particularly difficult conditions.

Romain Grosjean, who started from pole position, was eliminated from the list of potential winners right from the start by stalling on the grid, just like Karun Chandhok beside him… View LIVE Race 1

The rain was a determining factor in this race. The Formula 1 cars present during the qualifications an hour earlier had avoided the raindrops. But the start of this race 1 took place, just as the lights turned green, in the rain.

Adrian Valles and Sébastien Buemi took the lead at the start by overtaking the two delayed drivers, but in very wet conditions, and right from the first corner, a collision in the middle of the pack caused a huge pile-up, leaving the race marshals to wave the red flag.

The race was therefore on standby. Restarted 5 minutes later after the removal of the Safety Car, it was then FMS driver Valles who took the best restart, leaving Buemi and Fairuz Fauzy behind.

Romain Grosjean, found in 10th position after stalling, tried everything to get back on the podium. The Frenchman climbed up to 4th position before opting for an intuitive strategy. He decided to switch to dry tires just after the rain stopped a few minutes ago. He quickly found himself in trouble and hit an opponent. Considering the damage, the current championship leader preferred to return to the pits and lost a lot of time.

At the same time, Bruno Senna, after making the same choice, lost control of his car and ended up in the gravel with no way out.

Leading the race, Valles and Buemi pitted together and collided at the first corner after exiting. Both men lost all chances of victory, leaving Petrov in 3rd and Grosjean, who had come back to 4th position, with a clear path.

Milos Pavlovic, who followed the two men onto the podium, attempted to overtake Grosjean a few laps before the finish. In a collision, both men spun, but Pavlovic was able to straighten his car immediately. Grosjean lost positions once again and finished race 1 in only 9th place.

The Frenchman therefore scores no points for his position, but one for setting the fastest lap in the race. He also lost the chance to start in pole position for race 2 tomorrow, as the 8th place finisher in race 1, in reverse order, starts on pole the next day.

Grosjean currently has only an 8-point lead over Fauzy.

Malaysian GP – Race 1 Result

See the LIVE Race 1