After the drama of Malaysia the Formula 1 fraternity returned to Shanghai for the Chinese Grand Prix and the battle was red hot.
A hive of activity surrounded Red Bull in the paddock as Vettel and Webber gave their views on the altercation from the previous race. Mercedes also had plenty of questions to answer on Thursday but most left the talking to the track and their performance. Here's my rolling weekend review of the Chinese Grand Prix weekend, covering every session as it happens.
The Shanghai International Circuit is always a challenge for both driver and team, with a wide range of corner types and that all important back straight making the high/low downforce split tricky. Do you go for good straight line speed to capitalise in the DRS zones or do you put on more downforce and pull away in the corners? It certainly proved its worth after a thrilling Grand Prix, scroll down for a review of the race.
Plenty of teams went in to the race weekend with high expectations, some were hopeful after a good first two races whilst others were confident in the steps forward that they had made. There was only one way to find out, out on track.
FP1
It was a quite start to the first practice session due to the dusty and green nature of the track. Unlike other races there were no real support races for the Chinese Grand Prix which meant very little running on track before the sessions. Only installation laps were completed in the first half an hour of the session before Esteban Gutierrez kick started the time sheets in his Sauber C32.
Jenson Button was also an early runner with McLaren hoping to make steps forward in comparison to their earlier form in Australia and Malaysia. As the session clock ticked on the drivers began to emerge to complete some extensive running after residing to the garage for the first half of the session.
By the chequered flag it was Nico Rosberg who had comfortably topped the session in the Mercedes, cementing the pace of the W04. The German set a best time of 1m36.717 to go fastest ahead of his recovering team-mate Lewis Hamilton, the deficit being four tenths.
The majority of teams brought new parts and upgrades to test so programs varied up and down the pit lane. Webber was nine tenths behind Rosberg in third ahead of Vettel, Alonso and Button. Massa, Sutil, Grosjean and Di Resta rounded out the top 10 and were all within two seconds of Rosberg.
Kimi Raikkonen had a scruffy first practice session for Lotus. He binned his first flying lap, spun on the second and could only set a fastest time worthy of 11th on the time sheets. Plenty of other drivers struggled including time topper Rosberg who went off track; one of many. Jean-Eric Vergne mixed strongly in the midfield ahead of Maldonado, Hulkenberg and Ricciardo. Sergio Perez had a poor session overall. He set the 16th fastest time and ended up crashing in the pit lane entry on his way to the garage. Bottas and Gutierrez were next up ahead of Bianchi and Chilton. Van der Garde and Ma Qing Hua, who was only driving in FP1 and became the first Chinese driver to drive on a Chinese Grand Prix weekend, rounded out the time sheets.
FP2
It was a rather eventful second practice session ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix. Teams had plenty of work to do as they mixed soft and medium Pirelli tyres with both short and longer runs.
Felipe Massa ended the 90 minute session fastest for Ferrari with a best time of 1m35.340. Conditions were better out on track for FP2 with higher temperatures, a more rubbered in circuit and a lot less dust. However drivers still struggled for grip and plenty of drivers suffered off track excursions, Giedo van der Garde, Sergio Perez and Adrian Sutil all spinning off track.
Kimi Raikkonen managed to haul his Lotus up to second after a quiet start. His car came alive on the soft tyre compound and the E21 certainly looked after its tyres in comparison to other drivers. Fernando Alonso was next up ahead of early leader Nico Rosberg. Mark Webber and Jenson Button rounded out the top six all within one second of Massa out front.
Button's former team-mate Lewis Hamilton finished seventh ahead of Adrian Sutil, Paul Di Resta and Sebastian Vettel rounding out the top 10. Hamilton dubbed the soft tyre compound which they all ran as "hardcore" and said that it disintegrated after "a few laps", judging the behaviour of the tyre as "unusual".
Williams continued to struggle with Maldonado and Bottas in 18th and 16th, Sauber had Gutierrez and Hulkenberg sitting 13th and 17th with their best times. Jules Bianchi managed to get within half a second of the midfield yet again as they, like many others, tested out some new upgrades. Giedo van der Garde and Charles Pic were next up ahead of Max Chilton.
The Brit had a dire session for Marussia. His car ground to a halt after eight minutes of the second practice session. He stopped at turn five but the team had the car returned. Chilton returned to the track but had to pull over yet again towards the end of the session.
FP3
It was a sunny and mild morning in Shanghai as the green light appeared for the start of the third and final practice session. It was a busy start to the 60 minutes of track time as drivers and teams attempted to complete their planned programs.
It was Fernando Alonso who set the fastest lap time of the session with a 1m35.391, his best of 13 laps out on track. Hamilton, Rosberg and Perez were just a handful of drivers to take to the top early on before a flurry of activity towards the end of the session strapped on the soft Pirelli tyre and changed up the order. Felipe Massa rose to second place in the closing moments like his team-mate but he was over six tenths behind his team-mate.
Lewis Hamilton finished the session in third place but his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg dropped to 14th after suffering a hydraulic leak that gave his team a race against time to fix it. Elsewhere Vettel and Webber set the fourth and fifth fastest times respectively ahead of Sutil, Raikkonen, Button and Perez.
The focus was on trying out both sets of tyres with most getting out on the soft Pirelli rubber towards the end of the session. Rosberg and Raikkonen were two of the first to switch to the soft's but the Mercedes W04 developed the hydraulic problem mentioned shortly after he emerged. In comparison to Friday's session it was a rather tame and trouble free session for most.
Romain Grosjean ended the session behind Bottas, Di Resta and Gutierrez in 18th place after struggling on the soft tyre. Towards the back Jules Bianchi continued to have the upper hand 3.1 seconds behind Felipe Massa. Charles Pic was next up ahead of Chilton and van der Garde who rounded out the runners.
Qualifying
After 240 minutes of practice time it came to qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix to see who really had the one lap pace. Race pace was another matter but the tyre wear was the talk of the table prior to lights out for the session start. However despite former worries the grid certainly shaped up very nicely indeed.
Q1
The sun was out in force, as were the Chinese fans for the start of qualifying, and it was a silent start to the session. For the first five minutes there was very little track action. The tyre situation was something that was playing on every teams mind as they attempted to save as many sets of tyres as possible.
The main consensus prior to the session was that drivers would be given one timed run, one opportunity to avoid the drop zone and make it through to the second session. With nine minutes of the session gone the Marussia of Jules Bianchi was fired up and let loose on the track. A few other cars followed including Bianchi's team-mate Max Chilton and the Caterham of Charles Pic. All of which on the soft compound tyre in a bid to save the precious white banded rubber for the race.
Bianchi set the pace early on, even bettering the Toro Rosso duo, before Rosberg duly went faster. With six minutes remaining the session built to an interesting and buy climax as Hamilton moved to the top. Massa, Webber, Alonso and Vettel all put in decent times but they continued to tumble.
The one run rule was discounted by the backmarkers who pitted for fresh boots and a second chance to get in to the second session. However it was not to be as Bianchi, Chilton, Pic and van der Garde slotted in to their usual slots in 19th, 20th 21st and 22nd.
Williams continued their dismal run in the first session with Bottas getting knocked out. He qualified 17th ahead of Gutierrez in the Sauber. Meanwhile up front it was Lewis Hamilton who led the field ahead of fellow Mercedes driver Rosberg. Ferrari showed they were still in contention with Massa and Alonso in third and fifth, McLaren showed improved pace too in seventh and ninth.
Q2
It was a busier start t the second session with Sebastian Vettel leading out of the pit lane for the battle to get in to the third qualifying session. It was a two run agenda for most during the session as drivers went for a second bite of the cherry in the hope of improving and moving out of the drop zone.
The Red Bull pairing opened proceedings and topped the session early on before Fernando Alonso took to the front. Mark Webber had initial gone fifth with his first run but with seven minutes to go he pulled off track at the final hairpin after a fuel pressure problem.
Meanwhile Nico Rosberg moved to the front before being displaced by Lewis Hamilton. Kimi Raikkonen also set a handy time to go third with the first runs being set.
With the chequered flag closing in to end the session out on track it really started to heat up. Everyone filed out of the pit lane for a second run bar those occupying the top three positions, Hamilton, Rosberg and Raikkonen.
By the sessions end Hamilton maintained his spot at the top of the time sheets. Alonso narrowly missed out on bettering the Brit's time in second ahead of Vettel, Massa and Rosberg. Raikkonen and Button finished the session in sixth and seventh whilst Grosjean and Ricciardo, for the first time since Bahrain 2012, made it through to the final session. Nico Hulkenberg had not been happy in free practice but sneaked through in 10th.
Out in the third session were the Force India duo of Di Resta and Sutil in 11th and 13th, sandwiching Sergio Perez's McLaren. Webber dropped to 14th overall after his earlier issue ahead of Maldonado and Jean-Eric Vergne. The Frenchman finished nine tenths down on his team-mate.
Q3
The third and final practice session again opened with Sebastian Vettel taking to the circuit on a fresh set of soft tyres. However the triple world champion returned to the comforts of his garage before setting a lap time.
It was as many had feared, with tyres wear being so crucial cars were limited to a one lap run or not setting a time at all. The opening seven minutes saw no timed laps at all and the growling tones of Vettel's Renault engine was the only sound heard in the early part of the session.
However with the clock counting down Raikkonen, Hulkenberg, Massa and Vettel all filed out of the pit lane to set one timed run. Interestingly some chose to go out and subsequently start on the medium compound Pirelli tyre, Vettel, Massa and Button choosing to take that direction.
The Mercedes duo also emerged from their garage to battle for grid position. After a flurry of lap times at the end of the session Lewis Hamilton took his first pole position for Mercedes ahead of Kimi Raikonen, Fernando Alonso and team-mate Nico Rosberg. Felipe Massa set the fifth fastest time ahead of Grosjean and Ricciardo. Button went eighth with a slow effort in a bid to save tyre life and jumped ahead of Vettel, who binned his lap at turn 14, and Hulkenberg who did not set a lap time and hence gave the duo free choice of tyres.
Ricciardo and Grosjean could not better Massa's time to go sixth and seventh. Button coasted across the line to go eighth, saving the performance of his medium tyre. Sebastian Vettel binned his sole attempt at turn 14 after locking up and going straight on. He pitted without crossing the line as did Nico Hulkenberg.
The Race
Shanghai's International Circuit was bathed in sunshine for the Chinese Grand Prix. For the first time in the race's history rain never played a part in the race weekend but it was still far from straightforward.
Tyre wear was on everybody's mind ahead of the race. How would the soft tyres cope? When would the first pit stops be? We all found out the answers after what was a spectacular race.
Qualifying provided the race with a mixed up grid, both Red Bull's further back than normal and a high quality top three. That set us up for a great race and what a race it was.
The cars completed the warm-up lap, they parked in their respective grid spots and waited for the lights to go out. The rev's rose, the lights came on and as they disappeared we were racing in China. Off the line Hamilton got a good start but Raikkonen was bogged down with wheel spin as he pulled away, losing out to the two Ferrari's. Turn one was close but clean as the cars continued on for the opening lap. There was bunching up at turn six but all the cars exited unscathed. Vettel failed to make the jump on Button whilst Alonso challenged for Hamilton up front. Perez and Maldonado battled closely towards the end of the lap after the Mexican had a bad start.
Paul Di Resta and Adrian Sutil touched on the exit of turn 14 and the Scot had to take to the grass in avoidance. Mark Webber pitted at the end of the first lap for fresh rubber in the hope of using a differing strategy to move through the field.
The cars crossed the line to start lap three with the two Ferrari's drawing closer, and in turn moving towards Hamilton out front. Ricciardo held stations in seventh early on with Button and Vettel keeping up with the train on the medium compound tyres. DRS was enabled on lap three but on the first activation there was no activity, that was all to come.
However DRS brought Alonso right in to play and by lap four the battle was on for the lead. He continued to put the pressure on Hamilton and got past the Brit at turn one. Felipe Massa moved past him too thanks to DRS on the pit straight as Hamilton went from first to third in one straight. Further back the drama continued as Button dropped behind Vettel and Hulkenberg.
The pit stops arrived on lap five with Ricciardo, who we later found out pitted for a new nosecone. Adrian Sutil pitted with a broken rear wing, during which his brakes caught fire in the pit lane. The story behind the Force India's ailing rear wing was revealed on the reply, showing he was hit by Esteban Gutierrez under braking for turn 14. The rookie had been battling with Sergio Perez but misjudged his braking point. The pit lane then began to buzz with activity as Hamilton and Rosberg came in on lap six, following by Raikkonen on the following lap.
Massa visited the pit lane at the end of lap seven, by that time most of the soft tyre runners had moved to the mediums. The Brazilian lost out to Mark Webber, who had made great progress by that point, but he came out just ahead of Rosberg. Hamilton was the fastest car on track as the cars started lap eight and this gave him a significant advantage over Massa. He was right with Alonso too as they battled through the traffic.
Nico Hulkenberg led the race after the first flurry of stops. The German had moved ahead of both Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button thanks to DRS and they were all on the same strategy. It was what was predicted really, a dramatic and enthralling first few laps of the race as strategies were split.
The effective leaders began to move through traffic to regain a presence in the top five. The pace of the non-stopping leaders was respectable but slow in comparison to those who had switched to the mediums after their first stops and this saw Alonso use DRS to pass Perez and Di Resta to move into clear air by the start of lap 14.
Vettel was radioed to stop at the end of lap 14 and he followed in Hulkenberg to cover him. The Red Bull team found clear air and on the exit of the pit lane thanks to a sublime stop to jump the Sauber. Both drivers emerged behind Mark Webber but the Aussie made a clumsy move on Jean-Eric Vergne. The two collided and the unlucky Red Bull driver damaged his front wing. He had to "box this lap" which was where his problems moved up a level.
The drama continued in the traffic as 2008 world champion Kimi Raikkonen collided with Sergio Perez, queue "what the hell was he doing" being uttered over team-radio. The Finn managed to move ahead of Perez despite the damaged front wing soon after. However for Mark Webber his race was run by lap 18 with a "broken left rear". He attempted to make it back to the pits but his wheel made a bid for freedom at turn 14 and the Aussie could do nothing but pull over.
Massa and Rosberg both pitted for the second time on lap 20 to strap on a fresh set of medium compound tyres. Out on track both McLaren's slipped back, Vettel displacing Perez and Alonso moving ahead of Button.
Hamilton had fallen behind Alonso by the 20 lap mark and was being caught by Kimi Raikkonen. Elsewhere his team-mate Nico Rosberg made his second stop in two laps. The German pitted some time later to retire from the race. Despite a tardy stop for Rosberg the team made swift work of Hamilton's second visit to the pit lane on the next lap.
Jenson Button had a quietly impressive opening first stint. The Brit made it to the end of lap 23 on his first set of mmedium cmptyres. Alonso pitted on the same lap and they both made it out ahead of Lewis Hamilton. Perez pitted on the next lap after effectively mirroring his team-mates opening stint. However unlike Button the Mexican moved on the soft tyres for a short middle stint.
Button was told that he was to "race" Hamilton for position, the former team-mates were on different strategies at the time but the McLaren's true pace was revealed by the slower lap times in comparison to the Mercedes (despite being on fresher tyres). Of course both drivers were on different levels of tyre preservation and Hamilton duly got past on lap 29.
Sebastian Vettel pitted for his second stop on lap 31, which promoted Alonso to the lead once again. The Red Bull driver emerged behind Massa and Hulkenberg in eighth place. However Vettel showed his worth with a brilliant and witty move on Massa for seventh at turn six. He was a man on a mission, passing Nico Hulkenberg for fifth just moments after making the move on Massa. Raikkonen pitted for the final time on lap 35 to take on another set of medium compound Pirelli's.
Triple world champion Vettel moved ahead of Jenson Button on lap 37 for what was third place at the time. Hulkenberg and Massa brought their battle to the pit lane and despite pulling out alongside the Ferrari driver he had to back off as they re-joined the track. Mercedes brought in Hamilton at the end of lap 37. It proved to be a few laps too long on his third stint as he emerged some way behind the undercutting Kimi Raikkonen.
Fernando Alonso had a commanding lead out front, even after pitting for the third and final time on lap 42. Further back Raikkonen and Hamilton vied for second place after the latter lost position during the third and final pit sequence.
The McLaren mechanics emerged on lap 50 for Jenson Button's final pit stop. It was a smooth stop for the Brit and he emerged in seventh place on the soft tyres. With fresher tyres he moved ahead of Felipe Massa for sixth at turn 14, with a helpful boost from DRS. Red Bull brought Sebastian Vettel in at the end of lap 52. He emerged in a clear fourth place with clear air out front.
Alonso had a dominant lead but as the chequered flag closed in the battle for second between Raikkonen, Hamilton and Vettel began to heat up. Paul Di Resta made a late pit stop and emerged in eighth place. However Sebastian Vettel was closing in fast on Lewis Hamilton. The German was on the soft tyre compound in the closing stages and on the final lap he was closing in. However he went deep in to turn 12 and ended up just behind.
It was both a dominant and clear victory for Fernando Alonso in China, the 500th podium for a Ferrari engined car. He made the most of Raikkonen's poor start and took the lead from Hamilton early on in the race. From then on he was clearly the car to beat and his final two stints were sublime, consistent and controlled. A "typical Alonso driver" for the Spaniard, who finished 10 seconds clear of Kimi Raikkonen in second.
The Finn dropped from second to fourth on the opening lap but he did well to recover. The Lotus was easier on its tyres and that meant he managed to stay with and eventually pass Hamilton for second. It was close towards the end but the Finn managed to take 18 points in China. Even closer was the margin between Hamilton and Vettel for third and fourth. The Mercedes driver took his second podium finish in a row and held off the sole Red Bull finisher to take third. Vettel made a differing strategy work to climb from ninth to fourth. He completed some fantastic and precise overtakes to carve his way through the field.
Despite doubts of his strategy working mid-way through the race, Jenson Button managed to cling on to fifth place for McLaren. He set his fastest lap of the race on the final lap and proved the soft tyres could work towards the end. Despite losing out to Vettel he was one of just two drivers to make a two stop strategy work. Felipe Massa dropped from third to sixth in the 56 lap race after making a strong start. The Ferrari driver never challenged or matched the pace of his team-mate.
Daniel Ricciardo had a strong qualifying and an even better race to finish seventh, his best finish in the sport to date. He showed maturity in his overtaking and a late burst of form meant he displaced Grosjean and Hulkenberg for a welcome haul of points. Di Resta pitted very late in the race but managed to maintain a position in the top eight, team principal Bob Fernley discussing a few moments in the race where the Scottish driver lost time.
Romain Grosjean was another driver to race in the shadow of his team-mate but he scored a few more points after finishing ninth. Nico Hulkenberg looked strong early on and even overtook Vettel and Button to be the lead runner on the medium compound tyre. However he had to switch to a three stop strategy and ended up finishing some way behind Felipe Massa, whom the Sauber team reacted to on two of the three pit stops.
Sergio Perez was the second and final driver to make a two stop strategy work, but this time the effect was not as strong in comparison to his team mate. He finished 11th after a few dramatic and questionable scraps, ahead of Jean-Eric Vergne. The Frenchman survived a collision with Mark Webber to finish a clear 12th ahead of the leading Williams of Valtteri Bottas. Pastor Maldonado trailed home 13th for yet another pointless race for the Grove based squad.
Jules Bianchi again finished as the leading backmarker. He had a quiet run to 15th but he narrowly finished ahead of Charles Pic in the Caterham, the margin being just two seconds. Pic had a good race and proved to match fellow Frenchman Bianchi. All the backmarkers finished one lap down but Chilton managed to get the jump on Giedo van der Garde after dropping behind him mid-way through the race.
Esteban Gutierrez was the first retirement from the race after misjudging his braking for turn 14, spearing into Adrian Sutil's Force India. The latter also retired from the race with damage to the rear of his car. Mark Webber suffered a loose left rear which eventually made a bid for freedom. Nico Rosberg was the final retirement from the race after pulling into the garage with 35 laps still to go.
 |
| (c) Sahara Force India F1 Team |
The Shanghai International Circuit is always a challenge for both driver and team, with a wide range of corner types and that all important back straight making the high/low downforce split tricky. Do you go for good straight line speed to capitalise in the DRS zones or do you put on more downforce and pull away in the corners? It certainly proved its worth after a thrilling Grand Prix, scroll down for a review of the race.
Plenty of teams went in to the race weekend with high expectations, some were hopeful after a good first two races whilst others were confident in the steps forward that they had made. There was only one way to find out, out on track.
FP1
It was a quite start to the first practice session due to the dusty and green nature of the track. Unlike other races there were no real support races for the Chinese Grand Prix which meant very little running on track before the sessions. Only installation laps were completed in the first half an hour of the session before Esteban Gutierrez kick started the time sheets in his Sauber C32.
 |
| (c) Sky Sports F1 |
By the chequered flag it was Nico Rosberg who had comfortably topped the session in the Mercedes, cementing the pace of the W04. The German set a best time of 1m36.717 to go fastest ahead of his recovering team-mate Lewis Hamilton, the deficit being four tenths.
The majority of teams brought new parts and upgrades to test so programs varied up and down the pit lane. Webber was nine tenths behind Rosberg in third ahead of Vettel, Alonso and Button. Massa, Sutil, Grosjean and Di Resta rounded out the top 10 and were all within two seconds of Rosberg.
Kimi Raikkonen had a scruffy first practice session for Lotus. He binned his first flying lap, spun on the second and could only set a fastest time worthy of 11th on the time sheets. Plenty of other drivers struggled including time topper Rosberg who went off track; one of many. Jean-Eric Vergne mixed strongly in the midfield ahead of Maldonado, Hulkenberg and Ricciardo. Sergio Perez had a poor session overall. He set the 16th fastest time and ended up crashing in the pit lane entry on his way to the garage. Bottas and Gutierrez were next up ahead of Bianchi and Chilton. Van der Garde and Ma Qing Hua, who was only driving in FP1 and became the first Chinese driver to drive on a Chinese Grand Prix weekend, rounded out the time sheets.
FP2
It was a rather eventful second practice session ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix. Teams had plenty of work to do as they mixed soft and medium Pirelli tyres with both short and longer runs.
 |
| (c) Marussia F1 Team |
Kimi Raikkonen managed to haul his Lotus up to second after a quiet start. His car came alive on the soft tyre compound and the E21 certainly looked after its tyres in comparison to other drivers. Fernando Alonso was next up ahead of early leader Nico Rosberg. Mark Webber and Jenson Button rounded out the top six all within one second of Massa out front.
Button's former team-mate Lewis Hamilton finished seventh ahead of Adrian Sutil, Paul Di Resta and Sebastian Vettel rounding out the top 10. Hamilton dubbed the soft tyre compound which they all ran as "hardcore" and said that it disintegrated after "a few laps", judging the behaviour of the tyre as "unusual".
Williams continued to struggle with Maldonado and Bottas in 18th and 16th, Sauber had Gutierrez and Hulkenberg sitting 13th and 17th with their best times. Jules Bianchi managed to get within half a second of the midfield yet again as they, like many others, tested out some new upgrades. Giedo van der Garde and Charles Pic were next up ahead of Max Chilton.
The Brit had a dire session for Marussia. His car ground to a halt after eight minutes of the second practice session. He stopped at turn five but the team had the car returned. Chilton returned to the track but had to pull over yet again towards the end of the session.
FP3
It was a sunny and mild morning in Shanghai as the green light appeared for the start of the third and final practice session. It was a busy start to the 60 minutes of track time as drivers and teams attempted to complete their planned programs.
 |
| (c) Sky Sports F1 |
Lewis Hamilton finished the session in third place but his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg dropped to 14th after suffering a hydraulic leak that gave his team a race against time to fix it. Elsewhere Vettel and Webber set the fourth and fifth fastest times respectively ahead of Sutil, Raikkonen, Button and Perez.
The focus was on trying out both sets of tyres with most getting out on the soft Pirelli rubber towards the end of the session. Rosberg and Raikkonen were two of the first to switch to the soft's but the Mercedes W04 developed the hydraulic problem mentioned shortly after he emerged. In comparison to Friday's session it was a rather tame and trouble free session for most.
Romain Grosjean ended the session behind Bottas, Di Resta and Gutierrez in 18th place after struggling on the soft tyre. Towards the back Jules Bianchi continued to have the upper hand 3.1 seconds behind Felipe Massa. Charles Pic was next up ahead of Chilton and van der Garde who rounded out the runners.
Qualifying
After 240 minutes of practice time it came to qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix to see who really had the one lap pace. Race pace was another matter but the tyre wear was the talk of the table prior to lights out for the session start. However despite former worries the grid certainly shaped up very nicely indeed.
Q1
The sun was out in force, as were the Chinese fans for the start of qualifying, and it was a silent start to the session. For the first five minutes there was very little track action. The tyre situation was something that was playing on every teams mind as they attempted to save as many sets of tyres as possible.
 |
| (c) Caterham F1 Team |
The main consensus prior to the session was that drivers would be given one timed run, one opportunity to avoid the drop zone and make it through to the second session. With nine minutes of the session gone the Marussia of Jules Bianchi was fired up and let loose on the track. A few other cars followed including Bianchi's team-mate Max Chilton and the Caterham of Charles Pic. All of which on the soft compound tyre in a bid to save the precious white banded rubber for the race.
Bianchi set the pace early on, even bettering the Toro Rosso duo, before Rosberg duly went faster. With six minutes remaining the session built to an interesting and buy climax as Hamilton moved to the top. Massa, Webber, Alonso and Vettel all put in decent times but they continued to tumble.
The one run rule was discounted by the backmarkers who pitted for fresh boots and a second chance to get in to the second session. However it was not to be as Bianchi, Chilton, Pic and van der Garde slotted in to their usual slots in 19th, 20th 21st and 22nd.
Williams continued their dismal run in the first session with Bottas getting knocked out. He qualified 17th ahead of Gutierrez in the Sauber. Meanwhile up front it was Lewis Hamilton who led the field ahead of fellow Mercedes driver Rosberg. Ferrari showed they were still in contention with Massa and Alonso in third and fifth, McLaren showed improved pace too in seventh and ninth.
Q2
It was a busier start t the second session with Sebastian Vettel leading out of the pit lane for the battle to get in to the third qualifying session. It was a two run agenda for most during the session as drivers went for a second bite of the cherry in the hope of improving and moving out of the drop zone.
The Red Bull pairing opened proceedings and topped the session early on before Fernando Alonso took to the front. Mark Webber had initial gone fifth with his first run but with seven minutes to go he pulled off track at the final hairpin after a fuel pressure problem.
 |
| (c) Sahara Force India F1 Team |
Meanwhile Nico Rosberg moved to the front before being displaced by Lewis Hamilton. Kimi Raikkonen also set a handy time to go third with the first runs being set.
With the chequered flag closing in to end the session out on track it really started to heat up. Everyone filed out of the pit lane for a second run bar those occupying the top three positions, Hamilton, Rosberg and Raikkonen.
By the sessions end Hamilton maintained his spot at the top of the time sheets. Alonso narrowly missed out on bettering the Brit's time in second ahead of Vettel, Massa and Rosberg. Raikkonen and Button finished the session in sixth and seventh whilst Grosjean and Ricciardo, for the first time since Bahrain 2012, made it through to the final session. Nico Hulkenberg had not been happy in free practice but sneaked through in 10th.
Out in the third session were the Force India duo of Di Resta and Sutil in 11th and 13th, sandwiching Sergio Perez's McLaren. Webber dropped to 14th overall after his earlier issue ahead of Maldonado and Jean-Eric Vergne. The Frenchman finished nine tenths down on his team-mate.
Q3
The third and final practice session again opened with Sebastian Vettel taking to the circuit on a fresh set of soft tyres. However the triple world champion returned to the comforts of his garage before setting a lap time.
 |
| (c) Getty Images |
The Mercedes duo also emerged from their garage to battle for grid position. After a flurry of lap times at the end of the session Lewis Hamilton took his first pole position for Mercedes ahead of Kimi Raikonen, Fernando Alonso and team-mate Nico Rosberg. Felipe Massa set the fifth fastest time ahead of Grosjean and Ricciardo. Button went eighth with a slow effort in a bid to save tyre life and jumped ahead of Vettel, who binned his lap at turn 14, and Hulkenberg who did not set a lap time and hence gave the duo free choice of tyres.
Ricciardo and Grosjean could not better Massa's time to go sixth and seventh. Button coasted across the line to go eighth, saving the performance of his medium tyre. Sebastian Vettel binned his sole attempt at turn 14 after locking up and going straight on. He pitted without crossing the line as did Nico Hulkenberg.
Pos Driver Team Time Gap
1. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m34.484s
2. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1m34.761s + 0.277
3. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m34.788s + 0.304
4. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m34.861s + 0.377
5. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m34.933s + 0.449
6. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m35.364s + 0.880
7. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m35.998s + 1.514
8. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 2m05.673s + 31.189
9. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault no time
10. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber-Ferrari no time
Q2 cut-off time: 1m36.261s Gap **
11. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m36.287s + 1.209s
12. Sergio Perez McLaren-Mercedes 1m36.314s + 1.236s
13. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m36.405s + 1.327s
14. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m36.679s + 1.601s+
15. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1m37.139s + 2.061s
16. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m37.199s + 2.121s
Q1 cut-off time: 1m37.508s Gap *
17. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Renault 1m37.769s + 1.976
18. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 1m37.990s + 2.197
19. Jules Bianchi Marussia-Cosworth 1m38.780s + 2.987
20. Max Chilton Marussia-Cosworth 1m39.537s + 3.744
21. Charles Pic Caterham-Renault 1m39.614s + 3.821
22. Giedo van der Garde Caterham-Renault 1m39.660s + 3.867
107% time: 1m42.489s
+Mark Webber was disqualified from qualifying and sent to the back of the grid. This was due to a fuel problem for Red Bull meaning stewards were unable to extract the needed one-litre fuel sample from the RB9. Red Bull made modifications to his car and he started the race from the pit lane.The Race
Shanghai's International Circuit was bathed in sunshine for the Chinese Grand Prix. For the first time in the race's history rain never played a part in the race weekend but it was still far from straightforward.
Tyre wear was on everybody's mind ahead of the race. How would the soft tyres cope? When would the first pit stops be? We all found out the answers after what was a spectacular race.
Qualifying provided the race with a mixed up grid, both Red Bull's further back than normal and a high quality top three. That set us up for a great race and what a race it was.
The cars completed the warm-up lap, they parked in their respective grid spots and waited for the lights to go out. The rev's rose, the lights came on and as they disappeared we were racing in China. Off the line Hamilton got a good start but Raikkonen was bogged down with wheel spin as he pulled away, losing out to the two Ferrari's. Turn one was close but clean as the cars continued on for the opening lap. There was bunching up at turn six but all the cars exited unscathed. Vettel failed to make the jump on Button whilst Alonso challenged for Hamilton up front. Perez and Maldonado battled closely towards the end of the lap after the Mexican had a bad start.
Paul Di Resta and Adrian Sutil touched on the exit of turn 14 and the Scot had to take to the grass in avoidance. Mark Webber pitted at the end of the first lap for fresh rubber in the hope of using a differing strategy to move through the field.
 |
| (c) Sky Sports F1 |
However DRS brought Alonso right in to play and by lap four the battle was on for the lead. He continued to put the pressure on Hamilton and got past the Brit at turn one. Felipe Massa moved past him too thanks to DRS on the pit straight as Hamilton went from first to third in one straight. Further back the drama continued as Button dropped behind Vettel and Hulkenberg.
The pit stops arrived on lap five with Ricciardo, who we later found out pitted for a new nosecone. Adrian Sutil pitted with a broken rear wing, during which his brakes caught fire in the pit lane. The story behind the Force India's ailing rear wing was revealed on the reply, showing he was hit by Esteban Gutierrez under braking for turn 14. The rookie had been battling with Sergio Perez but misjudged his braking point. The pit lane then began to buzz with activity as Hamilton and Rosberg came in on lap six, following by Raikkonen on the following lap.
Massa visited the pit lane at the end of lap seven, by that time most of the soft tyre runners had moved to the mediums. The Brazilian lost out to Mark Webber, who had made great progress by that point, but he came out just ahead of Rosberg. Hamilton was the fastest car on track as the cars started lap eight and this gave him a significant advantage over Massa. He was right with Alonso too as they battled through the traffic.
Nico Hulkenberg led the race after the first flurry of stops. The German had moved ahead of both Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button thanks to DRS and they were all on the same strategy. It was what was predicted really, a dramatic and enthralling first few laps of the race as strategies were split.
The effective leaders began to move through traffic to regain a presence in the top five. The pace of the non-stopping leaders was respectable but slow in comparison to those who had switched to the mediums after their first stops and this saw Alonso use DRS to pass Perez and Di Resta to move into clear air by the start of lap 14.
 |
| (c) Getty Images |
The drama continued in the traffic as 2008 world champion Kimi Raikkonen collided with Sergio Perez, queue "what the hell was he doing" being uttered over team-radio. The Finn managed to move ahead of Perez despite the damaged front wing soon after. However for Mark Webber his race was run by lap 18 with a "broken left rear". He attempted to make it back to the pits but his wheel made a bid for freedom at turn 14 and the Aussie could do nothing but pull over.
Massa and Rosberg both pitted for the second time on lap 20 to strap on a fresh set of medium compound tyres. Out on track both McLaren's slipped back, Vettel displacing Perez and Alonso moving ahead of Button.
Hamilton had fallen behind Alonso by the 20 lap mark and was being caught by Kimi Raikkonen. Elsewhere his team-mate Nico Rosberg made his second stop in two laps. The German pitted some time later to retire from the race. Despite a tardy stop for Rosberg the team made swift work of Hamilton's second visit to the pit lane on the next lap.
Jenson Button had a quietly impressive opening first stint. The Brit made it to the end of lap 23 on his first set of mmedium cmptyres. Alonso pitted on the same lap and they both made it out ahead of Lewis Hamilton. Perez pitted on the next lap after effectively mirroring his team-mates opening stint. However unlike Button the Mexican moved on the soft tyres for a short middle stint.
 |
| (c) Sky Sports F1 |
Sebastian Vettel pitted for his second stop on lap 31, which promoted Alonso to the lead once again. The Red Bull driver emerged behind Massa and Hulkenberg in eighth place. However Vettel showed his worth with a brilliant and witty move on Massa for seventh at turn six. He was a man on a mission, passing Nico Hulkenberg for fifth just moments after making the move on Massa. Raikkonen pitted for the final time on lap 35 to take on another set of medium compound Pirelli's.
Triple world champion Vettel moved ahead of Jenson Button on lap 37 for what was third place at the time. Hulkenberg and Massa brought their battle to the pit lane and despite pulling out alongside the Ferrari driver he had to back off as they re-joined the track. Mercedes brought in Hamilton at the end of lap 37. It proved to be a few laps too long on his third stint as he emerged some way behind the undercutting Kimi Raikkonen.
Fernando Alonso had a commanding lead out front, even after pitting for the third and final time on lap 42. Further back Raikkonen and Hamilton vied for second place after the latter lost position during the third and final pit sequence.
 |
| (c) Sky Sports F1 |
Alonso had a dominant lead but as the chequered flag closed in the battle for second between Raikkonen, Hamilton and Vettel began to heat up. Paul Di Resta made a late pit stop and emerged in eighth place. However Sebastian Vettel was closing in fast on Lewis Hamilton. The German was on the soft tyre compound in the closing stages and on the final lap he was closing in. However he went deep in to turn 12 and ended up just behind.
Fernando Alonso took victory in the 2013 Chinese Grand Prix
 |
| (c) Sky Sports F1 |
The Finn dropped from second to fourth on the opening lap but he did well to recover. The Lotus was easier on its tyres and that meant he managed to stay with and eventually pass Hamilton for second. It was close towards the end but the Finn managed to take 18 points in China. Even closer was the margin between Hamilton and Vettel for third and fourth. The Mercedes driver took his second podium finish in a row and held off the sole Red Bull finisher to take third. Vettel made a differing strategy work to climb from ninth to fourth. He completed some fantastic and precise overtakes to carve his way through the field.
Despite doubts of his strategy working mid-way through the race, Jenson Button managed to cling on to fifth place for McLaren. He set his fastest lap of the race on the final lap and proved the soft tyres could work towards the end. Despite losing out to Vettel he was one of just two drivers to make a two stop strategy work. Felipe Massa dropped from third to sixth in the 56 lap race after making a strong start. The Ferrari driver never challenged or matched the pace of his team-mate.
Daniel Ricciardo had a strong qualifying and an even better race to finish seventh, his best finish in the sport to date. He showed maturity in his overtaking and a late burst of form meant he displaced Grosjean and Hulkenberg for a welcome haul of points. Di Resta pitted very late in the race but managed to maintain a position in the top eight, team principal Bob Fernley discussing a few moments in the race where the Scottish driver lost time.
 |
| (c) Sky Sports F1 |
Romain Grosjean was another driver to race in the shadow of his team-mate but he scored a few more points after finishing ninth. Nico Hulkenberg looked strong early on and even overtook Vettel and Button to be the lead runner on the medium compound tyre. However he had to switch to a three stop strategy and ended up finishing some way behind Felipe Massa, whom the Sauber team reacted to on two of the three pit stops.
Sergio Perez was the second and final driver to make a two stop strategy work, but this time the effect was not as strong in comparison to his team mate. He finished 11th after a few dramatic and questionable scraps, ahead of Jean-Eric Vergne. The Frenchman survived a collision with Mark Webber to finish a clear 12th ahead of the leading Williams of Valtteri Bottas. Pastor Maldonado trailed home 13th for yet another pointless race for the Grove based squad.
Jules Bianchi again finished as the leading backmarker. He had a quiet run to 15th but he narrowly finished ahead of Charles Pic in the Caterham, the margin being just two seconds. Pic had a good race and proved to match fellow Frenchman Bianchi. All the backmarkers finished one lap down but Chilton managed to get the jump on Giedo van der Garde after dropping behind him mid-way through the race.
Esteban Gutierrez was the first retirement from the race after misjudging his braking for turn 14, spearing into Adrian Sutil's Force India. The latter also retired from the race with damage to the rear of his car. Mark Webber suffered a loose left rear which eventually made a bid for freedom. Nico Rosberg was the final retirement from the race after pulling into the garage with 35 laps still to go.
 |
| (c) Sky Sports F1 |
Classified:
Pos Driver Team Time
1. Alonso Ferrari 1h36:26.945
2. Raikkonen Lotus-Renault + 10.100s
3. Hamilton Mercedes + 12.300s
4. Vettel Red Bull-Renault + 12.500s
5. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 35.200s
6. Massa Ferrari + 40.800s
7. Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 42.600s
8. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 51.000s
9. Grosjean Lotus-Renault + 53.400s
10. Hulkenberg Sauber-Ferrari + 56.500s
11. Perez McLaren-Mercedes + 1m03.800s
12. Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1m12.600s
13. Maldonado Williams-Renault + 1m33.800s
14. Bottas Williams-Renault + 1m35.400s
15. Bianchi Marussia-Cosworth + 1 lap
16. Pic Caterham-Renault + 1 lap
17. Chilton Marussia-Cosworth + 1 lap
18. van der Garde Caterham-Renault + 1 lap
Fastest lap: Vettel, 1m36.808s
Not classified/retirements:
Driver Team On lap
Rosberg Mercedes 22
Webber Red Bull-Renault 16
Sutil Force India-Mercedes 6
Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 5
Check out my favourite images from the Chinese Grand Prix race weekend with my new TopF1Pic's feature http://jackleslief1.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/chinese-gp-top-f1-pics.html
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.