Chinese Grand Prix 2011

Just one week after great Malaysian GP, we saw yet another, even more entertaining spectacle. I would love to describe the race as faithfully as possible, but with the amount of action, overtaking manoeuvres and changes of situation, it is simply impossible to transfer it all in writing. While in Sepang Vettel’s win was pretty certain, in China nothing could have been taken for granted. Right after the start, Jenson Button seemed to be the man, then one might have expected that Nico Rosberg would take his long anticipated first ever F1 victory, there were also moments when the two Ferraris were about to take advantage and in the end it was Lewis Hamilton who finished the run of Sebastian Vettel’s four consecutive wins.

Hamilton was actually lucky to have even started the race as he had problems with his engine and the mechanics pulled an enormous effort to fix it right before the start, making it possible for the Briton not to start from the pit lane.

Red Bull proved that they still haven’t solved their KERS issues (which was supplemented this week by a broken team radio in Vettel's car as the German's engineer couldn't hear his driver for the majority of the race). Sebastian Vettel was slow off the line and was swallowed by Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton. Behind them, Rosberg kept his fourth position, while Fernando Alonso had yet another bad start and lost position to his team mate Felipe Massa, but managed to defend from di Resta’s Force India. The two McLaren drivers were now leading, but were unable to build a gap over Vettel, who managed to pass Hamilton on one of the opening laps.

Jaime Alguersuari was the first driver to enter the pit lane as early as lap 9 and he was also the first (and only one) to retire as his wheel fell off soon after he rejoined the track. Nico Rosberg finished his first stint earlier than other front runners and he was leading the race after the first dose of pit stops. The Mercedes team tried to copy this strategy pitting him earlier once again, but it didn’t work and Rosberg was unable to keep his lead. On the closing laps of the race, he struggled with his tyres and as his engineer told him that the fuel was critical, Mark Webber and Jenson Button got through.

Lap 14 saw two leaders – Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel pitting and the viewers could only expect a duel between the pit crews. Button was however too hasty and he entered the first pit box he saw on his way. It turned out to be Red Bull’s and as Button drove past the astonished mechanics to get to his own crew, it was clear that Sebastian Vettel would leave the pit lane first.

Ferrari pitted Massa earlier than Alonso. The Brazilian rejoined having clear track in front of him and was able to chase the leaders, taking P1 for some time. He was once again in a good shape, matching Vettel’s pace at some point and finishing the race before his team mate. Alonso came back from his first pit stop behind Michael Schumacher. The Ferrari driver was fiercely trying to get past his former nemesis and the TV replays even showed him using his moveable rear wing outside the overtaking zone, but it was left with no further sanctions*. Being stuck behind the Mercedes driver probably compromised the Spaniard’s race as he lost some valuable seconds, yet it provided the viewers with a magnificent fight between the two world champions with Alonso finally pulling a cheeky move on the inside of turn 14.

By lap 40, the leading drivers were Vettel, Massa and Rosberg. Hamilton, who managed to get past his team mate without particular problems a few laps earlier was catching up and as Rosberg had problems with fuel, the Briton took P3. One lap later he was already in P2. Hamilton was now chasing Vettel, who was on a 2-stop strategy and was struggling with tyres. Being told to look after his tyres, the 2008 world champion preferred to rather look after his first victory this year and managed to secure it just a few laps from the chequered flag after a nice fight with the reigning champion.

When all these fights and twists of action were taking place, Mark Webber was making spectacular progress. The Aussie hit trouble in the final free practice on Saturday and didn’t manage to get to Q2 in the qualifying session. However, despite being even P20 at the beginning of the race, thanks to good pace, right 3-stop strategy and some good overtaking moves (among others on Alonso, Massa, Rosberg, Button) he managed to climb to the podium. His early exit in the qualifying session let him save some sets of fresh tyres, which was also a significant factor influencing his Sunday performance.

Most front runners opted for three pit stops. Ferrari decided to change their tyres only twice. At first, it seemed to be the right choice, but in the last stages of the race both drivers were struggling and were unable to defend their positions from much faster 3-stoppers. Felipe Massa was overtaken by Jenson Button, Nico Rosberg and Mark Webber, while Fernando Alonso had to give his place to Webber and was forced to fight with attacking Schumacher until the finish line. Thus, what was expected to be a better race for the Italian team, turned out to be another disappointment with their drivers finishing in distant 6th and 7th place. Renault also didn’t meet the expectations of their fans. After two podium finishes in Australia and Malaysia, both drivers struggled and were unable to keep pace with the front runners. Petrov this time didn’t try to fight Fernando Alonso and let the Spaniard through without much troubles. Heidfeld couldn’t defend his position either and was overtaken at one point by Schumacher and Alonso simultaneously. The Renault drivers tried to fight each other later on and it almost ended up with a collision. Petrov finished the race in 9th and Heidfeld in 12th position.

At the back of the field all last year's newbies managed to score double finishes with Lotus' Heikki Kovalainen crossing the line in P16 in front of Sauber's Sergio Perez (whose race was compromised by a drive through penalty after he caused a collision with Adrian Sutil on lap 47) and Williams' Pastor Maldonado.

 DRS and KERS once again passed test and provided us with lots of action. Also the Pirelli tyres contributed to the excitement. Though one may argue that the KERS/DRS overtaking is artificial and that the great number of overtaking moves takes it source (above all) in huge differences in tyres degradation rather than in the drivers’ skills, the amount of entertainment provided cannot be questioned. There were yet again those moments when I, as a common viewer, was a bit lost and didn’t know who could end up where, but in the end, these are still the fastest cars that win races. As a result today’s top places were taken by: Hamilton, Vettel, Webber, Button, Rosberg, Massa, Alonso, Schumacher, Petrov and Kobayashi.

Because of Lewis Hamilton’s win, the championship fight became open wider, with Sebastian Vettel still leading the standings with 68 points. Lewis Hamilton is now second 21 points behind. Further positions are occupied by Jenson Button (38 point), Mark Webber (37), Fernando Alonso (26) and Felipe Massa (24). After first this season double podium finish, Red Bull Racing are still in the lead of the WCC with 105 points. Behind them, we’ve got McLaren (85 points) and Ferrari (50).

I hope you enjoyed the race as much as I did!

Cheers,

Ewa

* Alonso using his DRS ouside the overtaking zone has caused much uproar. BBC's crew explained that the driver was not penalised as he gained no advantage and was actually harmed by the situation. It turns out that Alonso's DRS was activated by a mysterious error, which is now investigated by the FIA officials.