Formula 1 2013 - Round 3: China

Three weeks is a long time to stew. After the Malaysian Grand Prix, all eyes are on the Red Bull pairing for the usual wrong reasons, the teams meet again in China at one of Herman Tilke’s best tracks.

Only one driver has won twice since racing started at the Shanghai International Circuit and in recent years the racing here has been extremely exciting with some brilliant moves, not to mention a few bizarre incidents (such as Sebastian Buemi’s suspension disintegrating in 2010).

Of Course, all eyes are pointed in a very particular direction, straight at Red Bull. Will this latest chapter in the ‘relationship’ between Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber lead to more blows on track?

Circuit: Shanghai International Circuit

2012 Winner: Nico Rosberg

2012 Pole: Nico Rosberg

2013 Tyre Compounds: Soft and Medium

Three weeks may have passed since Malaysia, but it wasn’t long before the same complaint arose. The softer of the Pirelli tyre compounds continued to barely make it around more than a handful of laps. Pirelli’s response to the criticism from many drivers isn’t quite as bad as the BS EA’s been throwing out to justify Sim City’s always online requirement, but it’s not far off.

Moving back to actual racing, practice showed the cars seem to be more evenly matched then they were at Malaysia. Mercedes and Ferrari both looked extremely strong while in Red Bull Vettel was almost always within arm’s reach of Dr Helmut Marko (because that mean Aussie said something nasty to him, most likely).

Speaking of Vettel, he said in an interview that Webber ‘didn’t deserve the victory’. By that logic he shouldn’t be a three times world champion, but I doubt he would accept that (I try to be impartial here but that was an incredibly stupid and childish remark, almost as bad as Hamilton’s remark at Monaco in 2011).

While practice went well for the top teams, further back the Williams didn’t look like the promised solutions were working and Chilton endured two failures that caused him to grind to a halt before he could even complete a lap twice. The McLarens seemed to have picked up their pace, though the tyres reared their ugly heads when one delaminated on Button’s car.

The tyre worries persisted into Qualifying, where during the first phase none of the cars came out in the first 10 minutes. Everyone ran a single hot lap on the soft tyres, hinting at the idea of getting them out of the way as soon as possible so they could run much of the race on the more durable mediums, which actually struggled in Malaysia but didn’t have much trouble in China.

The two Mercedes cars claimed the top two spots for all it’s worth in Q1 with the Ferraris closest. The Toro Rosso very nearly joined the Marussias and Caterhams before they managed to push Bottas and Gutierrez out. It’s disappointing the see the Mexican out of qualifying so soon after showing strongly in GP2. Perhaps he needs another season in the feeder series before he’s really ready for Formula 1.

In Q2, Vettel surprised everyone by coming out first, followed by his teammate. The two Red Bulls put in banker laps on the tyres they used in Q1 before changing onto newer sets of the soft tyres. However, Webber didn’t get his second fast lap in as his car ground to a halt at the hairpin near the end of the lap. When they announced it was a problem with the Bowser, I wondered if the Koopas were invading Formula 1 before they clarified it was a fuel bowser issue. Regardless, Webber was out of qualifying with a lap that wouldn’t have put him into the top 10 and his misery was futher compounded when the officials couldn’t get a required amount of fuel out of the car and he was demoted to the back of the grid. In light of what happened at Malaysia, it does unfortunately have an air of suspiciousness about it.

The Ferraris looked strong again in Q2, as did the Force Indias to start with before they were both pushed out of the top 10 by a late run from Grosjean and a surprisingly fast lap from Riccardo in the Toro Rosso. Even Button, who also made it into the top 10, was impressed. Perez, Maldonado and Vergne also missed out on the top 10.

Again in Q3, Vettel went out first on the tyres he used in the previous round of qualifying while everyone else waited in the pits. However, Vettel didn’t finish his lap and alluded to his strategy. If he didn’t set a time in Q3, he would remain in the top 10 (being number 1 he’d be the highest placed of all those who don’t set times) and be allowed to choice his tyres.

Despite this, Vettel did join the others when they set out on track, again not finishing a lap along with Hulkenburg. Button cruised around on the medium tyres to put himself ahead of the two Germans in eighth with a time that technically wouldn’t have qualified him as it was over 30 seconds slower than the pole time.

During qualifying, it was constantly clear the Mercedes was quick, especially in Hamilton’s hands and the Brit continued the run by putting himself on pole position. Raikkonen, who had so far been quietly going about his drive, joined Hamilton on the front row with Rosberg splitting the Ferraris behind them. Grosjean and Riccardo also set laps on soft tyres so the top seven would be looking to get the less durable tyres out of the way as soon as possible come the race.

Unlike Melbourne and Sepang, Shanghai enjoyed a dry race day. Surprisingly though, most of the grid decided to start on the soft tyres. There were noticeable exceptions such as Button, Vettel and Hulkenburg along with the Marussias and Caterhams, but with the fast degrading of those tyres it seemed a better idea to save them until the last few laps of the race when the cars were light on fuel and the track was well rubbered in. Regardless, it would make of an interesting strategic race.

The start was relatively clean with Hamilton and the Ferraris, Alonso ahead of Massa, getting away well, but Raikkonen suffered some serious wheel spin off the line and ended up in forth after the first few corners. Gutierrez made a stonking start up to as high as thirteen while Vergne dropped backwards. The cleanliness didn’t last however as the Force Indias nearly tangled and Di Resta ended up in fifteenth.

Webber was the first to pit at the end of the first lap, getting the soft tyres out of the way as soon as possible as Hamilton tried to escape the Ferraris. Until the third lap when the DRS (Drag Reduction System) was activated it looked like he could, but two laps later the Ferraris steamed past as the Mercedes wore its tyres away.

Elsewhere, Hulkenburg managed to get by Vettel with the Ferrari powered Sauber’s superior straight line grunt. Rosberg slowly slipped back as well while Riccardo held his position well against strong opposition. However, out of shot, he managed to damage his front wing and was forced to pit, though he was fortunate enough to be in the window to change tyres as all the top runners were starting to struggle.

Gutierrez’s good start came to naught however as while duelling the McLaren of Perez, he underestimated the extra speed he was taking into the hairpin with the DRS active and missed his braking point, leading him to hammer into the back of Sutil’s Force India and destroy his rear wing. The Sauber came off worse with its nose and suspension destroyed and both cars were out of the race, along with Gutierrez later being given a five place grid penalty for the next race in Bahrain.

With the soft tyres degrading and the worry of a Safety Car which didn’t end up happening, the soft tyre runners pitted. Both Mercedes pitted together, nearly queuing up but the lead car of Hamilton was serviced quickly enough to not impede Rosberg, but in the meantime Webber had sped through the back of the field and was between the Mercedes cars when they exited the pits. Alonso and Raikkonen pitted the next lap with Massa and Grosjean doing the same the lap after. Massa came out behind Webber as Rosberg had but the Ferrari was soon able to get passed the Red Bull.

With these pit stops done, Hulkenburg led from Vettel who was in the wheel tracks of his country man and the two McLarens, Button ahead of Perez.  However, with the former leaders all on fresher medium tyres, they soon started chasing down the leaders with Alonso and Hamilton close together.

Hulkenburg and Vettel pitted together, the Red Bull leaving the pits ahead of the Sauber as the rear right

wheel didn’t go on properly. Back on track, Webber’s continued run of bad luck (in quotes if you want) came when he attempted to pass the Toro Rosso of Vergne and instead ran into him. Webber had dived for a gap from too far back and Vergne remained on his racing line, so frankly it was Webber’s fault, but with the current suspicions surrounding the team it can look like something’s going on behind the scenes. Regardless, Webber’s front wing was knocked off so he had to pit while Vergne re-joined the race.

Unsurprisingly, when Webber’s luck is going down it almost literally jumps off a cliff and his race came to an end after changing the front wing with what at first seemed to be suspension damage but turned out to be a loose rear wheel, leaving Webber to ground to a halt exactly where he stopped in qualifying. The incident with Vergne also gained him a three place grid penalty, but I doubt he was overly bothered by it as he considered his future.

The action didn’t stop as Raikkonen attempted to go around the outside of Perez, the Mexican remaining on his line while the Lotus, which had more momentum, bumped into the back of the McLaren and left Raikkonen with some minor damage. Even after that, the Finn later managed to get by Perez and chased down Hamilton, the Lotus quicker at this stage of the race.

Amazingly, Button was still going on the tyres he started with as Alonso finally caught the Brit. Hamilton had dropped by through traffic and his tyres wearing out whilst Massa and Rosberg became the first of the leaders to pit for a second time. Rosberg soon returned to the pits however and was forced to retire with a suspension issue.

During that time, Alonso took the lead off Button who was still going fairly strongly on his starting tyres, but they were well past their best and the younger tyres on the Ferrari provided more than enough grip to pass the McLaren. Soon after Hamilton and Raikkonen pitted with them remaining in order. The same happened with Alonso and Button soon after and now Vettel was leading.

Unlike normal, Vettel didn’t start scampering off into the distance as Alonso and Hamilton once again got about chasing down the leaders, the Ferrari now a distance ahead of the Mercedes.

Alonso dispatched Hulkenburg and soon after Vettel to take the lead once again while Hamilton got stuck behind Button for slightly longer then he’d like. Raikkonen soon followed and chased after the Mercedes, the Lotus being kinder on its tyres.

Vettel, Massa Hulkenburg and Perez pit as their tyres wear out, throwing another spanner into the mix especially as Hulkenburg swaps to soft tyres unlike his countryman and the McLaren. Massa, who was released just before Hulkenburg, beat the German out of the pits when his pit lane limiter refused to deactivate for a moment.

Soon after Raikkonen pits and after a fast out lap when Hamilton pitted manages to get himself ahead of the Mercedes. Further back, just to prove I haven’t totally forgotten about them the Williams are knocking about in thirteenth and fourteenth while Bianchi continues to lead the Caterhams and his team mate, though Pic isn’t far behind.

Meanwhile, Alonso has scampered off as Hamilton tries to chase down Raikkonen. The Spaniard pits first out of the leaders for his final set of tyres with fifteen laps left, giving Vettel the lead again as Raikkonen and Hamilton reel in and pass Button.

Hulkenburg however soon hits the wall with regards to his soft tyres, losing grip after barely 5 laps. Riccardo managed to pass the Sauber before he can pit, leaving Hulkenburg in the lower end of the points after leading the race ones (which was quite exciting for me as he’s leading my Fantasy Formula 1 team).

After being well and truly dropped by the Lotus and Mercedes, Button becomes the first of the front running, medium tyre starters to change onto the softs with six laps to go. Shortly after with far more grip and speed, Button passes Massa for fifth, setting their finishing positions.

Vettel pits for his own soft tyres with four laps to go, putting him fourteen seconds behind the still duelling Raikkonen and Hamilton though neither have the grip to really do anything against each other. The German immediately starts putting in lap times over three seconds faster than those he’s chasing. On the last lap, Vettel was right on Hamilton but as they approached the final sector of the lap the Caterham of Van der Garde came into view and didn’t get out of the way quite quick enough, nearly impeding both Hamilton and Vettel, but while off line in the braking zone Vettel nearly slide wide as his tyres wore out, but despite his searing pace the reigning champion wasn’t able to get by the 2008 champion in time.

Alonso took what was a fairly easy win, making up for the mess that was the first couple laps in Malaysia. Things went so well his mechanic even started speaking in English, which usually means the Italian team has nothing to hide and everything’s going well.

Massa however, slipped backwards as the race progressed, as did Hulkenburg. Vergne barely featured beyond his run in with Webber while his team mate recovered from his wing damage to finish well within the points, making the young Australian highly likely to get the second Red Bull seat if rumours of his countryman going to GT racing turn out to be true (considering Webber drove the Mercedes Le Mans car that flipped over of its own accord, I’m surprised he’s give the series another look, but then this guy did continue racing in the wet after throwing up and later for several races with huge chunks of metal holding his leg together).

Perez missed out on the points, as did both the Williams cars though at least Maldonado managed to finish the race this time.

Moving forwards, the Formula 1 circus heads to the middle east kingdom of Bahrain, a circuit that plays to most of the Red Bull’s strengths. I’m looking forwards to seeing how the Ferrari fares as it’s clearly a considerably better car then last year, but as the circuit plays to many of the Red Bull’s strengths, it’s likely the Australian anthem will play on the podium, likely with the German anthem but I have a feeling Webber’s going to go hell for leather.

  

[i]As I’ve recently started a new job, updates will be slightly rarer[/i]

Race Results:

	Driver	Constructor	Race Time	Grid
1st	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1:36:26.695	3
2nd	Kimi Raikkonen	Lotus	+00:10.100	2
3rd	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	+00:12.300	1
4th	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull	+00:12.500	9
5th	Jenson Button	McLaren	+00:35.200	8
6th	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	+00:40.800	5
7th	Daniel Riccardo	Toro Rosso	+00:42.600	7
8th	Paul di Resta	Force India	+00:51.000	11
9th	Romain Grosjean	Lotus	+00:53.400	6
10th	Nico Hulkenburg	Sauber	+00:56.500	10
11th	Sergio Perez	McLaren	+01:03.800	12
12th	Jean-Eric Vergne	Toro Rosso	+01:12.600	15
13th	Pastor Maldonado	Williams	+01:33.800	14
14th	Valtteri Bottas	Williams	+01:35.400	16
15th	Jules Bianchi	Marussia	+1 lap	19
16th	Charles Pic	Caterham	+1 lap	20
17th	Max Chilton	Marussia	+1 lap	19
18th	Giedo Van Der Garde	Caterham	+1 lap	21
19th	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	DNF (Suspension)	4
20th	Mark Webber	Red Bull	DNF (Loose Wheel)	22
21st	Adrian Sutil	Force Indai	DNF (Accident)	13
22nd	Esterban Gutierrez	Sauber	DNF (Accident)	17

Driver’s Championship:

	Driver	Score
1st	Sebastian Vettel	52
2nd	Kimi Raikkonen	49 (-3)
3rd	Fernando Alonso	43 (-9)
4th	Lewis Hamilton	40 (-12)
5th	Felipe Massa	30 (-22)
6th	Mark Webber	26 (-26)
7th	Nico Rosberg	12 (-40)
8th	Jenson Button	12 (-40)
9th	Romain Grosjean	11 (-41)
10th	Paul di Resta	8 (-44)
11th	Daniel Riccardo	6 (-46)
12th	Adrian Sutil	6 (-46)
13th	Nico Hulkenburg	5 (-47)
14th	Sergio Perez	2 (-50)
15th	Jean-Eric Vergne	1 (-51)

Constructor’s Championship:

	Constructor	Score
1st	Red Bull	78
2nd	Ferrari	73 (-5)
3rd	Lotus	60 (-18)
4th	Mercedes	52 (-26)
5th	McLaren	14 (-64)
6th	Force India	14 (-64)
7th	Toro Rosso	7 (-71)
8th	Sauber	5 (-73)