Chinese GP 2010: Lap By Lap Report Of Shanghai Noon

All Mercedes Powered Drivers on the podium

Its 15 minutes before the race begins, and reports say there is a 50% chance of rainfall. The formation lap begins and then there was rain. And that’s where I forget what to write about the race! It was chaotic right from the red lights going off and Alonso racing off the line (It was eventually a jump start and was penalized for it with a drive thru penalty) till the chequered flag where Hamilton was pushing Button at the top of the order and Schumacher was fighting with Massa and driving off the track for tenth place and the final championship point!

In terms of formula 1, this was a spectacular race with loads of racing. Clean racing. Pure racing. The kind of shifting in track position that was going on was enough to keep the heart of an almost dying man pumping thanks to the adrenaline rush!

From the word go, everyone took off but Vitantonio Liuzzi followed up his disappointing qualifying performance with a ridiculous spin off at turn 1 causing a pile up and bring the safety car out. Then the mayhem began with pit lane poker and everyone deciding to go onto intermediate tyres thanks to a light drizzle. But four wise men, namely Rosberg, Button, Kubica and Petrov stayed out on dry tyres and took the lead of the race and kept up a good pace.

After the first round of pitstops during the safety car, Hamilton, Vettel and Webber who were in the first 5 positions were at P12 and so on. Michael Schumacher looked impressive in P5 with Adrian Sutil in P6 after the first set of intermediates working for a few laps were left to pit again for slicks as the track just dried out too soon.

Hamilton & Vettel Racing in Chinese GP 2010

Hamilton and Vettel racing in the pit lane

Lap 19 and the critical moment in the race was Button capitalizing on Rosberg’s error and hence taking the lead in the race. They then went on to pit on lap 20. And so did the rest of the field! The rain got worse and Alguersuari in his Toro Rosso clipped his front wing on Barrichello’s Williams and drove on at top speed causing it to come off and lay debris all over a wet track. Yes, the safety car was back. During this pit lane peak traffic period, Vettel and Hamilton entered and exited the Pit Lane together, literally. They were jousting inside for position to be in and out onto the track and this resulted in a statement from the stewards saying that they would investigate the incident after the race.

Rolling start after the safety car period

Lap25 and safety car is in and we have a race, again! The order as on Lap 25 before the restart : Button leads Rosberg, Kubica, Petrov, Schumacher, Webber, Hamilton, Vettel, Sutil and Alonso. 11th is Barrichello from Massa, Kovalainen, Hulkenberg, Alguersuari, Senna and Chandok. At the restart, Hamilton was involved in two contentious events that may be looked into later on. He then just put his head down and muscled his way to P3 in a span of 6 laps and had a great 2 laps of trading P2 and P3 with Rosberg. Everyone else was fighting for every position on track and most notably, Schumacher seemed off pace and was passed by everyone till he dropped to 10^th.

Lap 36 and the leaders went in for a fresh set of inters. Providence had it that Hamilton went in first and did a blinding lap to snatch P2 from Rosberg coming out of the pits. Lap 40 and Button leads Hamilton, Rosberg, Alonso, Kubica, Vettel, Webber, Schumacher, Alguersuari and Petrov. At this point, the leader Button had just pit twice but fourth placed Alonso had Pit 5 times. This should indicate the unpredictability of the race. The mid field battles raged on with Vettel and Webber along with Massa, Schumacher and Petrov racing till the last lap and finally from the spray cloud emerged a winner – Jenson Button who had driven a well thought out race, kept it clean, preserved his car and he led Hamilton to turn Saturday’s Bullish dominance to be quashed by the silver arrows. Rosberg brought the Merc home in 3^rd with the prancing horse of Alonso breathing down his neck.

Jenson Button takes the Chequered flag with Hamilton behind

All in all, a great race for spectators, fans and any petrol head to watch. Good for formula 1! But, it was bad for the people who had to make some sense to put it onto paper, namely me! Heroes in China were Button for a classy and smart drive. Hamilton for showing us not just today but the past 3 races that he is a typical racer – spoilt and a brat, but a true racer on Sundays! Alonso yet again showing he is the man to beat in the Ferrari. Petrov – excellent drive in these conditions for his first championship points!

Drivers who disappointed were Massa with a great package still was fearful to overtake and Schumy – Don’t know what went wrong multiple times today. Sutil raced well but sadly didn’t muster any points as did Kovalainen in the Lotus. With 3 three different teams finishing 1-2 in the first 4 races, let’s hope this trend continues and the championship remains wide open in Europe when F1 returns in Barcelona.

Pictures Courtesy: f1racing.net

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