Venezuela's Pastor Maldonado has extended his GP2 points lead by winning the first of Silverstone's two races this weekend. The Rapax man, who overhauled pole-sitter Jules Bianchi off the start line, led home the ART driver and Spain's Dani Clos on Saturday.
The Frenchman's chance of victory was over at the start when a slow getaway handed Maldonado a lead which, pit-stops notwithstanding, he never relinquished, with Clos slotting in behind the pair. Oliver Turvey pushed across to protect himself after a less than optimal start, but countryman Sam Bird was through and gone before he got there, with Giedo van der Garde also gaining from Charles Pic's startline woes.
Pic had more misfortune a lap later when a hard-charging Sergio Pérez just caught the rear of his car, tapping the Frenchman into a spin and down to 11th position, with series returnee Luca Filippi dropping to last place after a misjudgement from Michael Herck damaged the Italian's tyres and forced him into an early stop.
Christian Vietoris took advantage of his qualifying pace by also stopping early and putting together a string of quick laps in clear air before the rest of field came in, promoting the German to fifth place when the stops shook out.
Back at the front Maldonado was imperious, untouchable as he led the field home, ten seconds to the good over Bianchi, who had a similar margin over Clos as the chequered flag dropped: the Spaniard held on against strong pressure throughout the second half of the race from Bird to claim another podium finish.
Pérez was rewarded for his boundless pressure after the stops to claim fifth place from Vietoris with two laps remaining, while Giedo van der Garde was possibly the unluckiest driver of the day, holding onto seventh place until a few corners from the end when he ran over some carbon and couldn't turn in, waving iSport duo Davide Valsecchi and Oliver Turvey through for the final points positions and the front row for tomorrow's sprint race.
But with the crowd beneath the podium holding three fingers up to the podium it was clear that championship leader Maldonado was the apple of his team's eye, stretching out his points lead even further as his rivals had no answer for the Venezuelan's speed today.
Sunday's Sprint Race begins at 9:35am local time (BST)
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