The third round of the 2015 Formula 1 season took place at the Shanghai International Circuit in China.
It was the 12th running of the event, which first joined the calendar in 2004, and followed a thrilling Malaysian Grand Prix.
The tricky 3.39 mile circuit in Shanghai features a mix of slow, medium and high-speed corners, with several long straights and three distinct sectors.
The big question prior to the race weekend was whether Ferrari could take the fight to Mercedes once again, after Sebastian Vettel's spectacular Sepang victory.
FP1
Under sunny skies, Roberto Merhi, Carlos Sainz Jr and Valtteri Bottas were the first to take to the Shanghai International Circuit. Jolyon Palmer, replacing Romain Grosjean at Lotus for the first 90-minute practices session, quickly followed suit.
Nico Rosberg set the opening timed lap with a 1:41.052. He quickly improved his time and, following the 30-minute tyre change, increased his advantage by putting in a 1:39.574. With low grip levels, there were several off-track excursions, including spins for Palmer and Sainz Jr.
With 40 minutes on the clock, Hamilton hit the front with a 1:39.033. The 2014 champion remained fastest by the chequered flag, with Rosberg half a second further back. Vettel improved to third, with Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Nasr completing the top five.
Daniel Ricciardo, Daniil Kvyat, Sainz Jr, Bottas and Felipe Massa - who suffered a late spin in Turn 14 - completed the top 10. Palmer was 15th for Lotus on his FP1 debut, with Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso 13th and 17th for McLaren. Will Stevens and Merhi completed plenty of laps for Manor Marussia and rounded out the results.
FP2
The second practice session of the Chinese Grand Prix weekend got off to a quiet start. Once again, Merhi was the first driver to take to the circuit. Stevens and Raikkonen soon joined him, with the Spaniard putting in the opening timed lap - a tentative 1:50.865.
Vettel went for a spin at Turn 3 in the opening 10 minutes, while his team-mate Raikkonen went fastest. Hamilton then displaced the Finn, putting in a 1:39.058. An unusual incident occurred when a man was spotted running across the start/finish straight. He jumped over the pit wall and was quickly arrested.
Meanwhile drivers emerged on the soft tyre with one hour to go. Hamilton returned to first, with Raikkonen and Vettel in second and third. A mistake limited Rosberg to fourth. The session was red flagged with 52 minutes remaining, after Massa lost control at Turn 14, tapped the barrier and was forced to exit the session.
Drivers then switched to long runs, meaning Hamilton remained fastest by the end of the session. Raikkonen, Ricciardo, Vettel and Rosberg were next up. Kvyat was sixth, despite suffering brake failure late in the session and gently hitting the barrier at the sector three hairpin. Bottas, Nasr, Grosjean and Button completed the top 10.
FP3
Third practice got off to a busy start, with Stevens and Vettel being the first to emerge out on track. They were soon followed out by Bottas, Grosjean and Raikkonen. Alonso's session didn't last long. He stopped on track just after Turn 4 with a small puff of smoke emerging from the back of his McLaren.
Ericsson put in the opening timed lap - a 1:42.174. He was soon displaced by Vettel and Sainz Jr. The Mercedes drivers then quickly hit the front, with Hamilton setting the early pace. The Englishman put in a 1:39.776, going just under three tenths clear of his team-mate.
With 20 minutes to go, drivers started to switch to the soft Pirelli compound for a qualifying run. Kvyat was the first to improve, before Rosberg took over at the top of the timesheets with a 1:37.841 - 1.2 seconds faster than his effort on the medium tyre. Hamilton returned to first place just moments later.
The 2014 champion's 1:37.615 was unbeatable, finishing fastest from Rosberg, Vettel, Raikkonen and Ricciardo. Kvyat was next up, with both drivers struggling with brake issues once again. Sainz Jr, Bottas, Verstappen - who went for a spin at Turn 11 - and Grosjean completed the top 10.
Qualifying
Q1
The slowest five drivers were eliminated from the fight for pole position in the opening segment of qualifying. The session got off to a quiet start, with Merhi and Bottas being the first to take to the 16-turn track.
Merhi put in the opening timed lap with a 1:44.911. Raikkonen briefly held the lead, before the Mercedes duo of Hamilton and Rosberg beat him. Strategies were split for the early runs, with some emerging on the soft tyre and others on the medium compound.
The Williams drivers left it late and emerged with five minutes remaining for one run on the soft tyres. Bottas went fastest, with Massa four tenths slower in fourth. However, the Finn was displaced by his countryman Raikkonen.
Vettel then set a new fastest time on the option compound and his 1:37.502 proved to be impossible to beat. Raikkonen, Bottas, Grosjean and Hamilton completed the top five. Verstappen, Massa, Rosberg, Nasr and Ricciardo were next up. Hulkenberg, Button, Alonso, Stevens and Merhi were all eliminated.
Q2
Five drivers were also eliminated from the 15-minute second segment of qualifying. Ericsson was the only driver to emerge onto the circuit in the opening 60 seconds of the session. He was quickly joined by his team-mate Nasr.
Ericsson also put in the opening lap time, with a 1:39.240. Nasr went four tenths slower on his first attempt, before Bottas moved to the front for Williams. Hamilton then displaced the Finn with a 1:36.423, going three tenths faster than Rosberg.
Vettel and Raikkonen completed just one timed lap, going third and fourth for Ferrari. There were plenty of improvements in the final moments of Q2, with Massa and Bottas improving to fifth and sixth.
Ricciardo moved up to seventh, with Nasr, Grosjean and Ericsson also making it through to the top 10 shoot-out. Maldonado just missed out and was joined in the drop-zone by Kvyat, Verstappen, Sainz Jr and Perez.
Q3
The final segment of qualifying decided the top 10 positions on the Chinese Grand Prix grid. Grosjean and Bottas were the first to exit the pit lane in the 12-minute session, following a quiet start.
Bottas put in the opening lap time, with a slightly scruffy 1:37.903. Hamilton quickly displaced the Williams driver with a stunning 1:35.782. Rosberg moved up to second place, just under three tenths slower than his team-mate.
Following a brief lull in the on-track action, the drivers returned on new sets of soft tyres for the final runs in Q3. Hamilton failed to improve, but retained first place to score pole position for the Chinese Grand Prix.
Rosberg just missed out by 0.042 seconds, with Vettel third and Massa fourth. Bottas and Raikkonen were fifth and sixth, with Ricciardo, Grosjean, Nasr and Ericsson completing the top 10.
Full qualifying results can be found here.
The Race
The Chinese Grand Prix started under sunny skies at the Shanghai International Circuit, with Lewis Hamilton on pole position, with Rosberg completing the front row and Vettel in third.
Could Ferrari challenge Mercedes once again? Would it be Hamilton or Rosberg standing on the top step of the podium? Read on to find out...
The revs rose, the lights went out and round three of the 2015 season got underway. Off the line, Hamilton had a strong start and covered off his team-mate into Turn 1. Raikkonen moves ahead of Bottas and Massa, while there was contact in the midfield at Turn 6.
Ricciardo dropped from seventh to 17th on the opening lap. Hamilton had a 1.1 second lead after the opening lap, while Sainz Jr fell to the back of the field after a spin at the first corner on the second tour. Having displaced Button, Ricciardo's recovery continued on lap three, passing Alonso around the outside at Turn 7.
Kvyat, on the medium tyre, was warned to not hold up his team-mate. However, he didn't let Ricciardo through straight away, costing the Australian time. The gap at the front remained one second by lap seven, with the Mercedes duo trading fastest times.
Verstappen closed on Ericsson with DRS and made an aggressive move into Turn 14 on lap nine, with the two drivers just avoiding contact. Hulkenberg retired from the race just moments later with a gearbox issue, pulling off the track on the run to Turn 7. Nasr quickly dived into the pit lane for his opening pit stop at the end of lap 10.
Lotus reacted and pitted Maldonado on the following tour. Vettel was the first of the leading four to stop at the end of the 13th lap, returning to the track on a fresh set of the soft tyre. Hamilton pitted on the following lap and also moved onto the option compound, as did Rosberg.
The German emerged back on track around three seconds behind his team-mate, but comfortably ahead of Vettel. Kvyat exited the race in spectacular style with smoke pouring from the back of his Red Bull, while Verstappen moved ahead of Nasr with another impressive overtake at the hairpin.
Just eight seconds separated the top four by lap 23, with the Ferrari drivers closing in on the two leaders. Hamilton was warned to up his pace ahead of the second pit stops, with Mercedes saying that if he didn't, the team would have to pit Rosberg first.
Vettel told the team he was pushing "close the limit" and pitted for the second and final time at the end of lap 30. Mercedes reacted and pitted Rosberg and Hamilton shortly after, with Raikkonen stopping at the end of the 34th tour.
The gap between the top four increased during the second round of pit stops, with Hamilton increasing his lead to over six seconds and Rosberg moving four seconds clear of Vettel. After going off at the pit lane entry, Maldonado's day went from bad to worse when he spun at Turn 7.
Up ahead, Ricciardo and Ericsson battled closely for 10th place. The Australian eventually muscled his way through at Turn 6 after an impressive move. Further back, Button, Maldonado and Alonso scrapped over 13th place, with the Lotus driver attempting to recover from his earlier errors.
The fight came to a dramatic end when Maldonado and Button made contact into Turn 1, with the 2009 world champion running into the back of the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix winner. Both continued, but Maldonado retired a few laps later.
At the front, Raikkonen closed in on Vettel and was 1.5 seconds behind his team-mate with four laps remaining. The Safety Car was deployed on the next lap after Verstappen was forced to stop his car on the pit straight with an engine failure.
With the marshals taking their time recovering the Dutchman's car, the Mercedes AMG GT pitted at the end of the final lap, meaning the order remained unchanged. Hamilton took the chequered flag to win his third race of the season and extend his lead in the championship to 17 points.
Rosberg crossed the line seven tenths further back, but the gap would have been much more had the Safety Car not emerged. The German just didn't have the pace to challenge his team-mate. Vettel was third and completed the podium, with Raikkonen in fourth.
Massa and Bottas were fifth and sixth for Williams, with Grosjean scoring his first points of the season in seventh. Nasr, Ricciardo and Ericsson rounded out the top 10. Perez, Alonso and Button were next up, with Sainz Jr, Stevens and Merhi completing the finishers. However, Button was penalised for his crash with Maldonado and dropped to 14th. There were three retirements - Verstappen, Maldonado, Kvyat and Hulkenberg.
Full Chinese Grand Prix race results can be found here.
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| © Red Bull Racing |
The tricky 3.39 mile circuit in Shanghai features a mix of slow, medium and high-speed corners, with several long straights and three distinct sectors.
The big question prior to the race weekend was whether Ferrari could take the fight to Mercedes once again, after Sebastian Vettel's spectacular Sepang victory.
FP1
Under sunny skies, Roberto Merhi, Carlos Sainz Jr and Valtteri Bottas were the first to take to the Shanghai International Circuit. Jolyon Palmer, replacing Romain Grosjean at Lotus for the first 90-minute practices session, quickly followed suit.
 |
| © Daimler Mercedes |
Nico Rosberg set the opening timed lap with a 1:41.052. He quickly improved his time and, following the 30-minute tyre change, increased his advantage by putting in a 1:39.574. With low grip levels, there were several off-track excursions, including spins for Palmer and Sainz Jr.
With 40 minutes on the clock, Hamilton hit the front with a 1:39.033. The 2014 champion remained fastest by the chequered flag, with Rosberg half a second further back. Vettel improved to third, with Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Nasr completing the top five.
Daniel Ricciardo, Daniil Kvyat, Sainz Jr, Bottas and Felipe Massa - who suffered a late spin in Turn 14 - completed the top 10. Palmer was 15th for Lotus on his FP1 debut, with Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso 13th and 17th for McLaren. Will Stevens and Merhi completed plenty of laps for Manor Marussia and rounded out the results.
FP2
The second practice session of the Chinese Grand Prix weekend got off to a quiet start. Once again, Merhi was the first driver to take to the circuit. Stevens and Raikkonen soon joined him, with the Spaniard putting in the opening timed lap - a tentative 1:50.865.
 |
| © Daimler Mercedes |
Meanwhile drivers emerged on the soft tyre with one hour to go. Hamilton returned to first, with Raikkonen and Vettel in second and third. A mistake limited Rosberg to fourth. The session was red flagged with 52 minutes remaining, after Massa lost control at Turn 14, tapped the barrier and was forced to exit the session.
Drivers then switched to long runs, meaning Hamilton remained fastest by the end of the session. Raikkonen, Ricciardo, Vettel and Rosberg were next up. Kvyat was sixth, despite suffering brake failure late in the session and gently hitting the barrier at the sector three hairpin. Bottas, Nasr, Grosjean and Button completed the top 10.
FP3
Third practice got off to a busy start, with Stevens and Vettel being the first to emerge out on track. They were soon followed out by Bottas, Grosjean and Raikkonen. Alonso's session didn't last long. He stopped on track just after Turn 4 with a small puff of smoke emerging from the back of his McLaren.
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| © Daimler Mercedes |
Ericsson put in the opening timed lap - a 1:42.174. He was soon displaced by Vettel and Sainz Jr. The Mercedes drivers then quickly hit the front, with Hamilton setting the early pace. The Englishman put in a 1:39.776, going just under three tenths clear of his team-mate.
With 20 minutes to go, drivers started to switch to the soft Pirelli compound for a qualifying run. Kvyat was the first to improve, before Rosberg took over at the top of the timesheets with a 1:37.841 - 1.2 seconds faster than his effort on the medium tyre. Hamilton returned to first place just moments later.
The 2014 champion's 1:37.615 was unbeatable, finishing fastest from Rosberg, Vettel, Raikkonen and Ricciardo. Kvyat was next up, with both drivers struggling with brake issues once again. Sainz Jr, Bottas, Verstappen - who went for a spin at Turn 11 - and Grosjean completed the top 10.
Qualifying
Q1
The slowest five drivers were eliminated from the fight for pole position in the opening segment of qualifying. The session got off to a quiet start, with Merhi and Bottas being the first to take to the 16-turn track.
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| © Manor Marussia F1 Team |
Merhi put in the opening timed lap with a 1:44.911. Raikkonen briefly held the lead, before the Mercedes duo of Hamilton and Rosberg beat him. Strategies were split for the early runs, with some emerging on the soft tyre and others on the medium compound.
The Williams drivers left it late and emerged with five minutes remaining for one run on the soft tyres. Bottas went fastest, with Massa four tenths slower in fourth. However, the Finn was displaced by his countryman Raikkonen.
Vettel then set a new fastest time on the option compound and his 1:37.502 proved to be impossible to beat. Raikkonen, Bottas, Grosjean and Hamilton completed the top five. Verstappen, Massa, Rosberg, Nasr and Ricciardo were next up. Hulkenberg, Button, Alonso, Stevens and Merhi were all eliminated.
Q2
Five drivers were also eliminated from the 15-minute second segment of qualifying. Ericsson was the only driver to emerge onto the circuit in the opening 60 seconds of the session. He was quickly joined by his team-mate Nasr.
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| © Sahara Force India F1 Team |
Ericsson also put in the opening lap time, with a 1:39.240. Nasr went four tenths slower on his first attempt, before Bottas moved to the front for Williams. Hamilton then displaced the Finn with a 1:36.423, going three tenths faster than Rosberg.
Vettel and Raikkonen completed just one timed lap, going third and fourth for Ferrari. There were plenty of improvements in the final moments of Q2, with Massa and Bottas improving to fifth and sixth.
Ricciardo moved up to seventh, with Nasr, Grosjean and Ericsson also making it through to the top 10 shoot-out. Maldonado just missed out and was joined in the drop-zone by Kvyat, Verstappen, Sainz Jr and Perez.
Q3
The final segment of qualifying decided the top 10 positions on the Chinese Grand Prix grid. Grosjean and Bottas were the first to exit the pit lane in the 12-minute session, following a quiet start.
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| © Daimler Mercedes |
Bottas put in the opening lap time, with a slightly scruffy 1:37.903. Hamilton quickly displaced the Williams driver with a stunning 1:35.782. Rosberg moved up to second place, just under three tenths slower than his team-mate.
Following a brief lull in the on-track action, the drivers returned on new sets of soft tyres for the final runs in Q3. Hamilton failed to improve, but retained first place to score pole position for the Chinese Grand Prix.
Rosberg just missed out by 0.042 seconds, with Vettel third and Massa fourth. Bottas and Raikkonen were fifth and sixth, with Ricciardo, Grosjean, Nasr and Ericsson completing the top 10.
Full qualifying results can be found here.
The Race
The Chinese Grand Prix started under sunny skies at the Shanghai International Circuit, with Lewis Hamilton on pole position, with Rosberg completing the front row and Vettel in third.
Could Ferrari challenge Mercedes once again? Would it be Hamilton or Rosberg standing on the top step of the podium? Read on to find out...
 |
| © Daimler Mercedes |
The revs rose, the lights went out and round three of the 2015 season got underway. Off the line, Hamilton had a strong start and covered off his team-mate into Turn 1. Raikkonen moves ahead of Bottas and Massa, while there was contact in the midfield at Turn 6.
Ricciardo dropped from seventh to 17th on the opening lap. Hamilton had a 1.1 second lead after the opening lap, while Sainz Jr fell to the back of the field after a spin at the first corner on the second tour. Having displaced Button, Ricciardo's recovery continued on lap three, passing Alonso around the outside at Turn 7.
Kvyat, on the medium tyre, was warned to not hold up his team-mate. However, he didn't let Ricciardo through straight away, costing the Australian time. The gap at the front remained one second by lap seven, with the Mercedes duo trading fastest times.
Verstappen closed on Ericsson with DRS and made an aggressive move into Turn 14 on lap nine, with the two drivers just avoiding contact. Hulkenberg retired from the race just moments later with a gearbox issue, pulling off the track on the run to Turn 7. Nasr quickly dived into the pit lane for his opening pit stop at the end of lap 10.
Lotus reacted and pitted Maldonado on the following tour. Vettel was the first of the leading four to stop at the end of the 13th lap, returning to the track on a fresh set of the soft tyre. Hamilton pitted on the following lap and also moved onto the option compound, as did Rosberg.
The German emerged back on track around three seconds behind his team-mate, but comfortably ahead of Vettel. Kvyat exited the race in spectacular style with smoke pouring from the back of his Red Bull, while Verstappen moved ahead of Nasr with another impressive overtake at the hairpin.
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| © Scuderia Ferrari |
Just eight seconds separated the top four by lap 23, with the Ferrari drivers closing in on the two leaders. Hamilton was warned to up his pace ahead of the second pit stops, with Mercedes saying that if he didn't, the team would have to pit Rosberg first.
Vettel told the team he was pushing "close the limit" and pitted for the second and final time at the end of lap 30. Mercedes reacted and pitted Rosberg and Hamilton shortly after, with Raikkonen stopping at the end of the 34th tour.
The gap between the top four increased during the second round of pit stops, with Hamilton increasing his lead to over six seconds and Rosberg moving four seconds clear of Vettel. After going off at the pit lane entry, Maldonado's day went from bad to worse when he spun at Turn 7.
Up ahead, Ricciardo and Ericsson battled closely for 10th place. The Australian eventually muscled his way through at Turn 6 after an impressive move. Further back, Button, Maldonado and Alonso scrapped over 13th place, with the Lotus driver attempting to recover from his earlier errors.
The fight came to a dramatic end when Maldonado and Button made contact into Turn 1, with the 2009 world champion running into the back of the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix winner. Both continued, but Maldonado retired a few laps later.
At the front, Raikkonen closed in on Vettel and was 1.5 seconds behind his team-mate with four laps remaining. The Safety Car was deployed on the next lap after Verstappen was forced to stop his car on the pit straight with an engine failure.
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| © Daimler Mercedes |
With the marshals taking their time recovering the Dutchman's car, the Mercedes AMG GT pitted at the end of the final lap, meaning the order remained unchanged. Hamilton took the chequered flag to win his third race of the season and extend his lead in the championship to 17 points.
Rosberg crossed the line seven tenths further back, but the gap would have been much more had the Safety Car not emerged. The German just didn't have the pace to challenge his team-mate. Vettel was third and completed the podium, with Raikkonen in fourth.
Massa and Bottas were fifth and sixth for Williams, with Grosjean scoring his first points of the season in seventh. Nasr, Ricciardo and Ericsson rounded out the top 10. Perez, Alonso and Button were next up, with Sainz Jr, Stevens and Merhi completing the finishers. However, Button was penalised for his crash with Maldonado and dropped to 14th. There were three retirements - Verstappen, Maldonado, Kvyat and Hulkenberg.
Full Chinese Grand Prix race results can be found here.
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