From GMM
Lewis Hamilton pulled back Sebastian Vettel's runaway lead in the world championship to 21 points by winning the thrilling Chinese grand prix.
McLaren's Hamilton passed the previously-dominant RB7 in the closing stages in Shanghai, with Red Bull boss Christian Horner revealing Vettel had KERS problems.
"At the end, Lewis was so much quicker it wasn't worth fighting so hard," he told the BBC.
German Vettel also struggled with a two-stop strategy compared to Hamilton's three, while Mark Webber in the sister Red Bull was smiling after a sensational run from 18th on the grid to finish third.
"Maybe the best thing to do is not even take part in qualifying and go from there," the Australian joked.
Lewis Hamilton's victory came less than two hours after his MP4-26 initially refused to start in the McLaren garage, and he came within seconds of having to start the race from the pitlane.
"It was not the greatest way to start out the afternoon but once it did start it went well," said boss Martin Whitmarsh.
Jenson Button, ultimately fourth at the flag, featured early but lost ground, also when he accidentally drove into the Red Bull pit area for a new set of tyres.
"I was looking down and when I looked back up I could see I was in the wrong place. It was one of those races where there was a lot of overtaking and action, but I wasn't quick enough," he said.
Lewis Hamilton's victory ended a four-race winning streak for Sebastian Vettel.
"I think we tried too hard staying on two stops. We did a couple of mistakes but still finished second so I'm very happy with that," said the German.
Grand prix of China, Shanghai
Sunday, April 17, 2011
1 - Lewis Hamilton (McLaren MP4/26-Mercedes) - 56 laps 1:36 '58 "226
2 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB7-Renault) - 5 "198
3 - Mark Webber (Red BullRB7-Renault) - 7 "555
4 - Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/26-Mercedes) - 10 "000
5 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes W02 MGP) - 13 "448
6 - Felipe Massa (Ferrari 150) - 15 "840
7 - Fernando Alonso (Ferrari 150) - 30 "622
8 - Michael Schumacher (Mercedes W02 MGP) - 31 "206
9 - Vitaly Petrov (Renault R31) - 57 "404
10 - Kamui Kobayashi (C30 Sauber-Ferrari) - 1'03 "273
11 - Paul di Resta (Force India VJM04- Mercedes) - 1'08 "757
12 - Nick Heidfeld (Renault R31) - 1'12 "739
13 - Rubens Barrichello (Williams FW33-Cosworth) - 1'30 "189
14 - Sebastien Buemi (STR6 Toro Rosso-Ferrari) - 1'30 "671
15 - Adrian Sutil (Force India VJM04-Mercedes) - 1 lap
16 - Heikki Kovalainen (T128 Lotus-Renault) - 1 lap
17 - Sergio Perez (C30 Sauber-Ferrari) - 1 lap
18 - Pastor Maldonado (Williams FW33-Cosworth) - 1 lap
19 - Jarno Trulli (T128 Lotus-Renault) - 1 lap
20 - Jerome d'Ambrosio (Virgin MVR02-Cosworth) - 2 laps
21 - Timo Glock (Virgin MVR02-Cosworth) - 2 laps
22 - Vitantonio Liuzzi (Hispania F111-Cosworth) - 2 laps
23 - Narain Karthikeyan (Hispania F111-Cosworth) - 2 laps
Fastest lap: Mark Webber: 1'38 "993
Retirements
Lap 11 - Jaime Alguersuari
The drivers' championship
1. Vettel 68; 2. Hamilton 47; 3. Button 38; 4. Webber 37; 5. Alonso 26; 6. Massa 24; 7. Petrov 17; 8. Heidfeld 15; 9. Rosberg 10; 10. Kobayashi 7; 11. Schumacher 6; 12. Buemi 4; 13. Di Resta, Sutil 2.
The constructors' championship
1. Red Bull-Renault 105; 2. McLaren-Mercedes 85; 3. Ferrari 50; 4. Renault 32; 5. Mercedes 16; 6. Sauber-Ferrari 7; 7. Toro Rosso-Ferrari, Force India-Mercedes 4.
Lewis Hamilton pulled back Sebastian Vettel's runaway lead in the world championship to 21 points by winning the thrilling Chinese grand prix.
McLaren's Hamilton passed the previously-dominant RB7 in the closing stages in Shanghai, with Red Bull boss Christian Horner revealing Vettel had KERS problems.
"At the end, Lewis was so much quicker it wasn't worth fighting so hard," he told the BBC.
German Vettel also struggled with a two-stop strategy compared to Hamilton's three, while Mark Webber in the sister Red Bull was smiling after a sensational run from 18th on the grid to finish third.
"Maybe the best thing to do is not even take part in qualifying and go from there," the Australian joked.
Lewis Hamilton's victory came less than two hours after his MP4-26 initially refused to start in the McLaren garage, and he came within seconds of having to start the race from the pitlane.
"It was not the greatest way to start out the afternoon but once it did start it went well," said boss Martin Whitmarsh.
Jenson Button, ultimately fourth at the flag, featured early but lost ground, also when he accidentally drove into the Red Bull pit area for a new set of tyres.
"I was looking down and when I looked back up I could see I was in the wrong place. It was one of those races where there was a lot of overtaking and action, but I wasn't quick enough," he said.
Lewis Hamilton's victory ended a four-race winning streak for Sebastian Vettel.
"I think we tried too hard staying on two stops. We did a couple of mistakes but still finished second so I'm very happy with that," said the German.
Grand prix of China, Shanghai
Sunday, April 17, 2011
1 - Lewis Hamilton (McLaren MP4/26-Mercedes) - 56 laps 1:36 '58 "226
2 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB7-Renault) - 5 "198
3 - Mark Webber (Red BullRB7-Renault) - 7 "555
4 - Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/26-Mercedes) - 10 "000
5 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes W02 MGP) - 13 "448
6 - Felipe Massa (Ferrari 150) - 15 "840
7 - Fernando Alonso (Ferrari 150) - 30 "622
8 - Michael Schumacher (Mercedes W02 MGP) - 31 "206
9 - Vitaly Petrov (Renault R31) - 57 "404
10 - Kamui Kobayashi (C30 Sauber-Ferrari) - 1'03 "273
11 - Paul di Resta (Force India VJM04- Mercedes) - 1'08 "757
12 - Nick Heidfeld (Renault R31) - 1'12 "739
13 - Rubens Barrichello (Williams FW33-Cosworth) - 1'30 "189
14 - Sebastien Buemi (STR6 Toro Rosso-Ferrari) - 1'30 "671
15 - Adrian Sutil (Force India VJM04-Mercedes) - 1 lap
16 - Heikki Kovalainen (T128 Lotus-Renault) - 1 lap
17 - Sergio Perez (C30 Sauber-Ferrari) - 1 lap
18 - Pastor Maldonado (Williams FW33-Cosworth) - 1 lap
19 - Jarno Trulli (T128 Lotus-Renault) - 1 lap
20 - Jerome d'Ambrosio (Virgin MVR02-Cosworth) - 2 laps
21 - Timo Glock (Virgin MVR02-Cosworth) - 2 laps
22 - Vitantonio Liuzzi (Hispania F111-Cosworth) - 2 laps
23 - Narain Karthikeyan (Hispania F111-Cosworth) - 2 laps
Fastest lap: Mark Webber: 1'38 "993
Retirements
Lap 11 - Jaime Alguersuari
The drivers' championship
1. Vettel 68; 2. Hamilton 47; 3. Button 38; 4. Webber 37; 5. Alonso 26; 6. Massa 24; 7. Petrov 17; 8. Heidfeld 15; 9. Rosberg 10; 10. Kobayashi 7; 11. Schumacher 6; 12. Buemi 4; 13. Di Resta, Sutil 2.
The constructors' championship
1. Red Bull-Renault 105; 2. McLaren-Mercedes 85; 3. Ferrari 50; 4. Renault 32; 5. Mercedes 16; 6. Sauber-Ferrari 7; 7. Toro Rosso-Ferrari, Force India-Mercedes 4.