F1 2010 Chinese Grand Prix

[Bartek S.]

Vettel the man to beat in Shanghai

Sebastian Vettel and Michael Schumacher both return to the scene of milestone triumphs at this weekend's Chinese Grand Prix but it is the younger German who looks more likely to be sipping champagne again on Sunday.

Vettel, who clinched Red Bull's first Formula One race victory in Shanghai last year, will take the lead in the drivers' title race for the first time if he can win back-to-back races after his Malaysia triumph two weeks ago.

More: eurosport

Some key statistics ahead of Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai, plus a look back at previous races.
WINS
Sebastian Vettel's win in Malaysia for Red Bull was the sixth victory of his career and made him, with Ralf Schumacher, she second most successful German driver in World Championship history.
The 22-year-old needs another 85 wins to equal compatriot Michael Schumacher's record tally, however.
Ferrari have won 211 times while McLaren are the second most successful team with 165. Williams have 113.
CHAMPIONSHIP
Ferrari's Felipe Massa has made his best ever start to a championship, leading after three races. He last led the standings in 2008.
POLE POSITION
Red Bull have started all three races so far this season on pole position.
Four of the six Chinese Grands Prix to date have been won from pole. However, no driver has won from pole position since Vettel's triumph in Japan last October - a run of five races.
The last team to take four poles in a row was Ferrari in 2007.
Ferrari have not been on pole since the Brazilian GP of 2008. Last season was their first without a pole since 1993, which is also the last year that Formula One had no refuelling during races.
World champion Jenson Button has not started on the front row since Turkey in June last year.
QUALIFYING
Seven-times world champion Michael Schumacher has been out-qualified by Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg in all three races so far.
The only other drivers with a 3-0 score against them are Renault's Russian rookie Vitaly Petrov, Force India's Italian Vitantonio Liuzzi, Toro Rosso's young Spaniard Jaime Alguersuari and Virgin's Brazilian rookie Lucas di Grassi.
The Malaysian GP was the first time without either a McLaren or a Ferrari in the third and final phase of qualifying since the format was introduced in 2006.
CHINA
Ferrari have won three of the six Chinese GPs to date. McLaren, Renault and Red Bull have won the others.
Button, Rubens Barrichello, Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber are the only drivers to have finished every Chinese GP so far.
Renault reserve Ho-Pin Tung is the only Chinese driver in an F1 team.
Red Bull took their first F1 win in Shanghai last year. Michael Schumacher's 91st and last win to date also came at the circuit in 2006.
CIRCUIT INFORMATION
Circuit: Shanghai International Circuit
Lap distance: 5.451km/3.387 miles
Total distance: 56 laps (305.066km/189.568 miles)
Race lap record: Michael Schumacher (Germany) 1:32.238 (Ferrari, 2004).
2009 pole position: Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Red Bull 1:36.184
The circuit is designed by Hermann Tilke and shaped like the Chinese character 'shang' meaning 'high' or 'above'. To the northeast of Shanghai, it can seat 200,000 people.
There are seven left and seven right turns. The main overtaking chance is turn one and the end of the back straight. The longest straight is more than 1km long with cars hitting top speeds of more than 330kph.
PREVIOUS RACES
2009 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)
Vettel gave Red Bull their first F1 victory in a one-two finish with team-mate Mark Webber. The track was wet and slippery, with the first eight laps behind the safety car. Webber described it as "right on the edge in terms of safety". Ferrari failed to score for the third race in succession.
2008 - Lewis Hamilton (McLaren)
Hamilton put himself on the brink of becoming F1's youngest champion with his fifth win of the season. Ferrari's Massa finished second after team-mate Raikkonen let him pass.
2007 - Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)
Hamilton started on pole but his dreams of winning the title in China evaporated when he skidded off into the gravel at the pit lane entry on lap 31. The Briton, struggling on worn tyres, had already been passed by Raikkonen, who went on to secure his fifth win of the season. Alonso finished second to keep his championship hopes alive to the final race.
2006 - Michael Schumacher (Ferrari)
Schumacher's last grand prix win, from sixth on the grid, taking him back to the top of the championship for the last time as well. Alonso was second but would have been third had team mate Giancarlo Fisichella not let him through.
2005 - Fernando Alonso (Renault)
Alonso handed Renault their first constructors' title. McLaren's hopes vanished when Juan Pablo Montoya hit a loose manhole cover and retired. Schumacher collided with Dutch driver Christijan Albers on the formation lap.

 

[Remy Zero]

Hope it'll be a wet race like last year...

Btws, just a new updates :

Ferrari will be using the 'old' Bahrain engines for this weekend's GP.

Mclaren won't be using their new suspension/ride height system for this weekend. In fact, they stopped working on it.

Ferrari, Mclaren, Mercedes are among teams bringing huge upgrades for this weekend's race.

 

[siko]

Buemi's Toro Roso had its suspension explode in a straight away...

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YouTube - Sébastien Buemi tire suspension crash China Shanghai April 16 2010

 

[Bartek S.]

FP1
Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps
1. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m36.677s 15
2. Rosberg Mercedes 1m36.748s +0.071 17
3. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m36.775s +0.098 19
4. Schumacher Mercedes 1m37.509s +0.832 14
5. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m37.601s +0.924 20
6. Kubica Renault 1m37.716s +1.039 17
7. Petrov Renault 1m37.745s +1.068 25
8. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m37.980s +1.303 17
9. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m38.008s +1.331 13
10. Massa Ferrari 1m38.098s +1.421 19
11. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m38.161s +1.484 19
12. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m38.375s +1.698 21
13. de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1m38.421s +1.744 19
14. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1m38.569s +1.892 20
15. di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m38.618s +1.941 26
16. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m38.678s +2.001 17
17. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m39.939s +3.262 5
18. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1m41.531s +4.854 22
19. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1m41.779s +5.102 23
20. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m41.830s +5.153 20
21. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1m42.181s +5.504 27
22. Senna HRT-Cosworth 1m43.875s +7.198 23
23. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 1m43.949s +7.272 20
24. Alonso Ferrari no time 6

FP2

Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:35.217 26
2. Rosberg Mercedes 1:35.465 + 0.248 22
3. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:35.593 + 0.376 26
4. Schumacher Mercedes 1:35.602 + 0.385 28
5. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:35.791 + 0.574 30
6. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:35.995 + 0.778 29
7. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:36.254 + 1.037 31
8. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:36.377 + 1.160 43
9. Kubica Renault 1:36.389 + 1.172 29
10. Alonso Ferrari 1:36.604 + 1.387 33
11. Massa Ferrari 1:36.944 + 1.727 36
12. Petrov Renault 1:36.986 + 1.769 27
13. de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1:37.421 + 2.204 32
14. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:37.431 + 2.214 33
15. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:37.657 + 2.440 30
16. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:37.804 + 2.587 31
17. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:37.867 + 2.650 29
18. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1:39.624 + 4.407 35
19. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1:39.947 + 4.730 30
20. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:40.233 + 5.016 27
21. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 1:41.008 + 5.791 32
22. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1:41.107 + 5.890 28
23. Senna HRT-Cosworth 1:41.345 + 6.128 32
24. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari

 

[Bartek S.]

FP3

Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:35.323 16
2. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:35.564 + 0.241 12
3. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:35.691 + 0.368 14
4. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:35.747 + 0.424 14
5. Alonso Ferrari 1:35.857 + 0.534 13
6. Rosberg Mercedes 1:35.913 + 0.590 12
7. Schumacher Mercedes 1:36.262 + 0.939 10
8. Kubica Renault 1:36.343 + 1.020 16
9. Massa Ferrari 1:36.416 + 1.093 11
10. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:36.634 + 1.311 16
11. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:36.879 + 1.556 17
12. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:37.031 + 1.708 16
13. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:37.192 + 1.869 18
14. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:37.240 + 1.917 18
15. Petrov Renault 1:37.339 + 2.016 13
16. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:37.585 + 2.262 13
17. de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1:37.664 + 2.341 19
18. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:37.784 + 2.461 14
19. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:39.579 + 4.256 15
20. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1:39.616 + 4.293 17
21. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1:39.749 + 4.426 13
22. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1:39.776 + 4.453 16
23. Senna HRT-Cosworth 1:40.316 + 4.993 19
24. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 1:41.141 + 5.818 18

 

[Centurion]

Another Red Bull weekend*yawn*

Mercedes, Mclaren and Ferrari need to do something, find a loop hole in the regulations and develop whatever makes Red Bull overly dominant in qualifying. We're heading to Europe in a few weeks and on tracks like Barcelona and Monaco the pole sitter often bags the win, while midfielders have minimal overtaking opportunities.

Sure you can overtake from the back but it's tough on tires, there's risk of colliding or getting penalized for "hooning". If it wasn't for Vettel's reliability issues, Alonso and Button wouldn't even have won. Luck can only take you so far.

If Red Bulls wins this year, Adrian Newey will get the biggest pay rise ever.

 

[Zonda]

Go Vettel!
With no Kimi around, this is as good as it can be

 

[Bartek S.]

Qual.

Pos Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3
1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:36.317 1:35.280 1:34.558
2. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:35.978 1:35.100 1:34.806
3. Alonso Ferrari 1:35.987 1:35.235 1:34.913
4. Rosberg Mercedes 1:35.952 1:35.134 1:34.923
5. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:36.122 1:35.443 1:34.979
6. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:35.641 1:34.928 1:35.034
7. Massa Ferrari 1:36.076 1:35.290 1:35.180
8. Kubica Renault 1:36.348 1:35.550 1:35.364
9. Schumacher Mercedes 1:36.484 1:35.715 1:35.646
10. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:36.671 1:35.665 1:35.963
11. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:36.664 1:35.748
12. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:36.618 1:36.047
13. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:36.793 1:36.149
14. Petrov Renault 1:37.031 1:36.311
15. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:37.044 1:36.422
16. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:37.049 1:36.647
17. de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1:37.050 1:37.020
18. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:37.161
19. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:39.278
20. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1:39.399
21. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1:39.520
22. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1:39.783
23. Senna HRT-Cosworth 1:40.469
24. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 1:40.578

 

[siko]

Haha... lap 7 and its already a clusterf#%k!

 

[bmwownage]

MB podium.

 

[Gullwing]

MB podium.

 

[Centurion]

Wohaa!! Now that's was a race woth waking up early for. 10/10!!!!1

One thing is for sure, elbows will be stiffer now when the prelude to the 2010 season is over. The stewards have work cut out for them because in this race there was plenty of grey area driving:

Alonso: Mashing past Massa in the pitlane entry.

Hamilton & Vettel: Fightining in the pit lane entry and pit lane exit.

Rosberg: Almost making a double move during an overtake attempt by Hamilton.

Button: Backing up the field in the hairpin.

When drivers' watch a re-run of the race, they will be raising their eyebrows. For the stewards the decision is whether to penalize or let the big dogs get at each other.

I think Button has silenced the critics. His previous victory wasn't luck. Button's ability to be confident in staying out on dry tires is an amazing asset. Today we saw exactly how rewarding it can be. Not only do you leap frog several drivers, but you win a battle without fighting! In the process you conserve your tires, avaoid getting into trouble with other drivers and avoid making grey area decisions that might make the stewards investigate you.

 

[SKY]

I am confused by what Alonso has done, noone seems to comment about this, I think Massa is gonna get angry now.

 

[Monster]

I am confused by what Alonso has done, noone seems to comment about this, I think Massa is gonna get angry now.

Well that was very sneaky, but no contact was made so nobody made a big issue out of it, however I am surprised nobody look into the incident between Lewis and Mark. Lewis physically forced Mark off the track at the final corner after the final restart.

 

[Centurion]

Well that was very sneaky, but no contact was made so nobody made a big issue out of it, however I am surprised nobody look into the incident between Lewis and Mark. Lewis physically forced Mark off the track at the final corner after the final restart.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the coner was congested and Hamilton had Vettel on the inside with zero room for Hamilton to give Webber more of the road.

As for Massa, that was a wake up call that nice guys finished last. He was also squeezed by Schumi during an overtake attempt in the final phase of the race. First blood has been drawn and winning the title is the objective. Now it's not only about driving well but managing your aggression and fending off other's.

 

[Bartek S.]

PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS

The Chinese Grand Prix
Shanghai International Circuit, China;
56 laps; 305.066km;
Weather: Mixed conditions.

Classified:

Pos Driver Team Time
1. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1h44:42.163
2. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 1.530
3. Rosberg Mercedes + 9.484
4. Alonso Ferrari + 11.869
5. Kubica Renault + 22.213
6. Vettel Red Bull-Renault + 33.310
7. Petrov Renault + 47.600
8. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 52.172
9. Massa Ferrari + 57.796
10. Schumacher Mercedes + 1:01.749
11. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 1:02.874
12. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 1:03.665
13. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1:11.416
14. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth + 1 lap
15. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth + 1 lap
16. Senna HRT-Cosworth + 2 laps
17. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth + 4 laps

Fastest lap: Hamilton, 1:42.061

Not classified/retirements:

Driver Team On lap
Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 27
Di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 9
De la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 8
Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1
Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1
Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1
Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1

 

[Bartek S.]

World Championship standings, round 4:

Drivers:
1. Button 60
2. Rosberg 50
3. Alonso 49
4. Hamilton 49
5. Vettel 45
6. Massa 41
7. Kubica 40
8. Webber 28
9. Sutil 10
10. Schumacher 10
11. Liuzzi 8
12. Petrov 6
13. Barrichello 5
14. Alguersuari 2
15. Hulkenberg 1

Constructors:
1. McLaren-Mercedes 109
2. Ferrari 90
3. Red Bull-Renault 73
4. Mercedes 60
5. Renault 46
6. Force India-Mercedes 18
7. Williams-Cosworth 6
8. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 2

 

[Bartek S.]

I’m frustrated for Kubica to miss the podium because of second safety car and definitely Hamilton should be penalised for his driving.

 

[Leech]

yap..

they should penalise him and forbid every kind of overtaking...

so we can watch surroundings and how fast PIT teams are

 

[Bartek S.]