Fernando Alonso claimed his and Ferrari’s first win of the 2013 season ahead of Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton in a strategy dictated Chinese Grand Prix.
The three former world champions started the race on soft compound tyres which despite their short shelf life, proved a vindicated decision as Sebastian Vettel could only manage fourth, albeit 0.2 second from the back of Hamilton’s Mercedes come the race finish.
The race’s start was characterized by the difference between the hard and soft compound tyres; the assumption being that those starting on softs would have a pace advantage of around four to six laps, but then would have to drop back in traffic, whilst those starting on mediums would benefit earlier but hit tyre troubles later.
The race began with fast starts made by the Ferraris of Massa and Alonso, which by the first corner, had swamped Raikkonen’s slow starting Lotus and were up into second and third. By lap five, the two red cars had overtaken Hamilton’s Mercedes on the pit straight.
The difference in strategies became visible when Alonso pitted early and switched to medium tyres to slice through traffic and eventually catch first place Vettel – who had left his pit stop five later than the Ferrari - in the middle stage of the race.
The current world champion saved his soft tyres until the final five laps of the race, which allowed him at one stage to close on Hamilton at three seconds a lap, putting him into contention for the second spot on the podium given the Lotus and the Mercedes were on older medium tyres.
Jenson Button finished fifth after a strong two-stop race, one place ahead of Felipe Massa, who will no doubt be disappointed with sixth place given his teammate’s win and promising pace shown earlier in the weekend.
Daniel Ricciardo confirmed Toro Rosso’s progress by finishing seventh ahead of Paul di Resta and Romain Grosjean who had yet another quiet but solid weekend. Nico Hulkenberg finished in a 10th behind the wheel of the Sauber after having run the same strategy as Vettel and even leading the race ahead of the Red Bull at one stage.
Mark Webber’s troubled weekend continued after he registered his first DNF of the season following a torrid qualifying. The Australian failed to finish following a tangle with Jean-Eric Vergne’s Toro Rosso which forced him into making an extra pit stop after he had pitted at the end of the first lap to switch to mediums.
The right rear wheel of the shortly Red Bull fell off which forced the Australian to retire.
The other high profile retirements of the race were Nico Rosberg with suspension problems and Esteban Gutierrez after ramming his Sauber into the back of Adrian Sutil’s Force India.
The race was also not without controversy with many drivers facing possible post-race sanctions due to overtaking under yellow flags; according to Autosport, the misunderstanding was caused by a paddock-wide telemetry issue.
Sergio Perez was also the subject of discussion with the young Mexican being accused of weaving whilst rivals attempted to overtake the McLaren. His race was earmarked by contact with Kimi Raikkonen which saw the Lotus lose a section of its nosecone.
Race results* – Chinese Grand Prix
1 - Fernando Alonso (Ferrari F138) - 56 laps 1.36'26"945
2 - Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus E21-Renault) - 10"168
3 - Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes W04) - 12"322
4 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB9-Renault) - 12"525
5 - Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/28-Mercedes) - 35"285
6 - Felipe Massa (Ferrari F138) - 40"827
7 - Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso STR8-Ferrari) - 42"691
8 - Paul Di Resta (Force India VJM06-Mercedes) - 51"084
9 - Romain Grosjean (Lotus E21-Renault) - 53"423
10 - Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber C32-Ferrari) - 56"598
11 - Sergio Perez (McLaren MP4/28-Mercedes) - 1'03"860
12 - Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso STR8-Ferrari) - 1'12"604
13 - Valtteri Bottas (Williams FW35-Renault) - 1'33"861
14 - Pastor Maldonado (Williams FW35-Renault) - 1'35"453
15 - Jules Bianchi (Marussia MR02-Cosworth) - 1 lap
16 - Charles Pic (Caterham CT03-Renault) - 1 lap
17 - Max Chilton (Marussia MR02-Cosworth) - 1 lap
18 - Giedo Van der Garde (Caterham CT03-Renault) - 1 lap
Fastest lap of the race: 1'36"808 (Sebastian Vettel)
Retirements
Lap 4 - Esteban Gutierrez
Lap 5 - Adrian Sutil
Lap 15 - Mark Webber
Lap 21 - Nico Rosberg
Drivers' championship
1.Vettel 52; 2.Raikkonen 49; 3.Alonso 43; 4.Hamilton 40; 5.Massa 30; 6.Webber 26; 7.Button, Rosberg 12; 9.Grosjean 11; 10.Di Resta 8; 11.Ricciardo, Sutil 6; 13.Hulkenberg 5; 14.Perez 2; 15.Vergne 1.
Constructors' championship
1.Red Bull-Renault 78; 2.Ferrari 73; 3.Lotus-Renault 60; 4.Mercedes 52; 5.Force India-Mercedes, McLaren-Mercedes 14; 7.Toro Rosso-Ferrari 7; 8.Sauber-Ferrari 5
*Unofficial
The three former world champions started the race on soft compound tyres which despite their short shelf life, proved a vindicated decision as Sebastian Vettel could only manage fourth, albeit 0.2 second from the back of Hamilton’s Mercedes come the race finish.
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| Lewis Hamilton leads, but not for long (Photo: WRi2) |
The race’s start was characterized by the difference between the hard and soft compound tyres; the assumption being that those starting on softs would have a pace advantage of around four to six laps, but then would have to drop back in traffic, whilst those starting on mediums would benefit earlier but hit tyre troubles later.
The race began with fast starts made by the Ferraris of Massa and Alonso, which by the first corner, had swamped Raikkonen’s slow starting Lotus and were up into second and third. By lap five, the two red cars had overtaken Hamilton’s Mercedes on the pit straight.
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| Alonso's pit stop was perfectly timed (Photo: WRi2) |
The difference in strategies became visible when Alonso pitted early and switched to medium tyres to slice through traffic and eventually catch first place Vettel – who had left his pit stop five later than the Ferrari - in the middle stage of the race.
The current world champion saved his soft tyres until the final five laps of the race, which allowed him at one stage to close on Hamilton at three seconds a lap, putting him into contention for the second spot on the podium given the Lotus and the Mercedes were on older medium tyres.
 |
| Nico Hulkenberg led prior to his first pit stop (Photo: WRi2) |
Jenson Button finished fifth after a strong two-stop race, one place ahead of Felipe Massa, who will no doubt be disappointed with sixth place given his teammate’s win and promising pace shown earlier in the weekend.
Daniel Ricciardo confirmed Toro Rosso’s progress by finishing seventh ahead of Paul di Resta and Romain Grosjean who had yet another quiet but solid weekend. Nico Hulkenberg finished in a 10th behind the wheel of the Sauber after having run the same strategy as Vettel and even leading the race ahead of the Red Bull at one stage.
Mark Webber’s troubled weekend continued after he registered his first DNF of the season following a torrid qualifying. The Australian failed to finish following a tangle with Jean-Eric Vergne’s Toro Rosso which forced him into making an extra pit stop after he had pitted at the end of the first lap to switch to mediums.
The right rear wheel of the shortly Red Bull fell off which forced the Australian to retire.
The other high profile retirements of the race were Nico Rosberg with suspension problems and Esteban Gutierrez after ramming his Sauber into the back of Adrian Sutil’s Force India.
The race was also not without controversy with many drivers facing possible post-race sanctions due to overtaking under yellow flags; according to Autosport, the misunderstanding was caused by a paddock-wide telemetry issue.
 |
| Kimi Raikkonen left some paint on the side of Perez's McLaren trying to pass the Mexican (Photo: WRi2) |
Sergio Perez was also the subject of discussion with the young Mexican being accused of weaving whilst rivals attempted to overtake the McLaren. His race was earmarked by contact with Kimi Raikkonen which saw the Lotus lose a section of its nosecone.
Race results* – Chinese Grand Prix
1 - Fernando Alonso (Ferrari F138) - 56 laps 1.36'26"945
2 - Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus E21-Renault) - 10"168
3 - Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes W04) - 12"322
4 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB9-Renault) - 12"525
5 - Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/28-Mercedes) - 35"285
6 - Felipe Massa (Ferrari F138) - 40"827
7 - Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso STR8-Ferrari) - 42"691
8 - Paul Di Resta (Force India VJM06-Mercedes) - 51"084
9 - Romain Grosjean (Lotus E21-Renault) - 53"423
10 - Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber C32-Ferrari) - 56"598
11 - Sergio Perez (McLaren MP4/28-Mercedes) - 1'03"860
12 - Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso STR8-Ferrari) - 1'12"604
13 - Valtteri Bottas (Williams FW35-Renault) - 1'33"861
14 - Pastor Maldonado (Williams FW35-Renault) - 1'35"453
15 - Jules Bianchi (Marussia MR02-Cosworth) - 1 lap
16 - Charles Pic (Caterham CT03-Renault) - 1 lap
17 - Max Chilton (Marussia MR02-Cosworth) - 1 lap
18 - Giedo Van der Garde (Caterham CT03-Renault) - 1 lap
Fastest lap of the race: 1'36"808 (Sebastian Vettel)
Retirements
Lap 4 - Esteban Gutierrez
Lap 5 - Adrian Sutil
Lap 15 - Mark Webber
Lap 21 - Nico Rosberg
Drivers' championship
1.Vettel 52; 2.Raikkonen 49; 3.Alonso 43; 4.Hamilton 40; 5.Massa 30; 6.Webber 26; 7.Button, Rosberg 12; 9.Grosjean 11; 10.Di Resta 8; 11.Ricciardo, Sutil 6; 13.Hulkenberg 5; 14.Perez 2; 15.Vergne 1.
Constructors' championship
1.Red Bull-Renault 78; 2.Ferrari 73; 3.Lotus-Renault 60; 4.Mercedes 52; 5.Force India-Mercedes, McLaren-Mercedes 14; 7.Toro Rosso-Ferrari 7; 8.Sauber-Ferrari 5
*Unofficial
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| Top three finishers (Photo: WRi2) |