After a small hiatus over the last three weeks F1 finally returned to hopefully carry on where Shanghai left off. Fans were so enthralled be Shanghai there was a sense of excitment overload, especially if every race this season matched its predecessor. After all the build up Qualifying took place and was over in a flash. I felt sorry for Kobayashi who in qualifying didnt even make it round the first lap due to mechanical errors so had to take up the last position on the grid. ( I could imagine there was a party in the Hispania garage at that point). Vettel had a mixed qualifying session in which he crashed his car into the barrier so badly that the engineers were working overtime to get his car driveable again. They managed to get the car up and running but took up most of the young germans remaining time. This meant he only had 7 laps worth of the session left. Mind you watching Vettel this season you could sense he only needs one lap to appear up the top of the leader board. He used all 7 laps before the time ran out and guess where he ended up, Yep on Pole. Familiar ground for the young german this season. The star of Qualifying was Rosberg who upset McClaren and Red Bull by geting amongst them and qualifying 3rd. And a quick note on Michael Schumacher who after 20 years in the sport learned something new about his car which his engineer kindly pointed out that he was using one of his paddles wrong.
So the complete grid after qualifying looked like this:
1. Sebastian Vettel 2. Mark Webber 3. Nico Rosberg 4. Lewis Hamilton 5. Fernando Alonso 6. Jenson Button 7. Vitaly Petrov 8. Michael Schumacher 9. Nick Heidfeld 10. Felipe Massa 11. Rubens Barrichello 12. Adrian Sutil 13. Paul di Resta 14. Pastor Maldonado 15. Sergio Perez 16. Sebastien Buemi 17. Jaime Alguersuari 18. Heikki Kovalainen 19. Jarno Trulli 20. Tonio Liuzzi 21. Timo Glock 22. Narain Karthikeyan 23. Jerome d’Ambrosio 24. Kamui Kobayashi.
So 23 drivers lined up on the grid ready for the race (Glock did not start), for the first time this season 95% of the grid was as predicted with no real surprises. Although Webber must have found his position unfamiliar as he is not normally on front row this season. However he kept up his trend of not making the first corner without being overtaken. Rosberg kindly snuck up beside him and snatched 2nd place from him, to be fair it was like watching candy being taken from a child. McClaren's Hamilton and Button start together and after last year with the two Red Bulls crashing together the McClarens thought it would be fun to see if we can see how competitive we can get without crashing into each other. Button and Hamilton were overtaking each other several times luckily for Martin Whitmarsh not coming together and ending up in a heap alongside the tarmac.
The star of the show this weekend was not a driver but was the pit-stops. 73 in all during the race partly due to the prielli tyres and partly due to drivers covering each other. There were some real horror shows on display too, no matter how hard they practice it seems you cannot get it perfect all the time. Hamilton and his McClaren team in the thick of it nearly crashing twice in the pitlane. Coincidently it was the Ferrari's who were getting in his way. First of all Massa trying to get out of the pit lane too quick and not looking in his mirrors to see Hamilton right along side him. Then the McClaren team not being able to get the nut in place on the tyres which cost Hamilton an extra 20 seconds. His lollipop collegue did well to stop Hamilton from going as you could see he was fustrated but the lollipop guy didnt let him out of the pit as there was traffic coming in. Time and time again this season we have seen the outcome of if you do more pit stops the more succcesful you are. Button and Buemi fell foul of this rule when they tried the 3 stop rule but were being overtaken by all the people who have done 4 stops. Michael Schumacher had an afternoon to forget, being overtaken alot and not being very productive. The fustration got the better of him as every time the camera was on him he was getting overtaken and for once he even admitted he was in the wrong when he collided with Petrov.
Alonso had a great race to claim a podium position, although the McClaren's did hand it to him on a plate with their poor strategies. The real star driver who had his 'Do a Webber' moment starting from last on the grid to pick up a point by finishing 10th. A solid drive from the bold and daring driver. He drives like he has nothing to lose every week so it didnt daunt him one bit and he moved up to field in timely fashion and got his strategy spot on.
Stars of the day - Kobayashi and the Pit-Stops.
Villan of the day - Michael Schumacher
Final race finishing positions:
01. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:30:17.558
02. Mark Webber Red Bull +8.807
03. Fernando Alonso Ferrari +10.075
04. Lewis Hamilton McLaren + 40.232
05. Nico Rosberg Mercedes + 47.539
06. Jenson Button McLaren + 59.431
07. Nick Heidfeld Renault + 1:00.857
08. Vitaly Petrov Renault + 1:08.168
09. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso + 1:09.300
10. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber + 1:18.000
11. Felipe Massa Ferrari + 1:19.800
12. Michael Schumacher Mercedes + 1:25.400
13. Adrian Sutil Force India + 1 lap
14. Sergio Perez Sauber + 1 lap
15. Rubens Barrichello Williams + 1 lap
16. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso +1 lap
17. Pastor Maldonado Williams + 1 lap
18. Jarno Trulli Lotus + 1 lap
19. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus + 2 laps
20. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin + 2 laps
21. Narain Karthikeyan HRT + 3 laps
22. Tonio Liuzzi HRT + 5 laps
Retirements
Paul Di Resta - 44 laps
Timo Glock - DNS
Next race is in Spain: It is the home race of Fernando Alonso. Prepare for Fernando Fever!
See you all in two weeks!
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