'S APRIL RACE ROUND-UP
CHINESE GRAND PRIX
Hamilton Hattrick
Hamilton won his third race in a row comfortably, leading every lap from pole position.
Bizarrely, the race finished earlier than scheduled after the chequered flag was accidentally waved two laps early.
Fortunately, it did not greatly affect the result: only Kobayashi’s pass of Bianchi for 17th place was discounted.
A repeat Bahrain’s Mercedes in-team battle was prevented by Rosberg qualifying a disappointing fourth. A poor getaway from the start line and a small collision with Valtteri Bottas made things worse, but he was still able to comfortably recover from sixth at the end of lap 1 to take second place.
Alonso gave Ferrari their first podium of the year in 3rd, but was cautious when asked if they could perform equally well at the next race in Spain:
“This is hopefully a boost for the team and some extra motivation to keep improving and to do even better in the next couple of races. We were ninth and tenth fifteen days ago and that was hard. We need to remain very calm.”
Vettel ignores team orders
For the second race in a row, Sebastian Vettel was asked to cede his position to his teammate Ricciardo, however this time he replied with “tough luck” after finding out that, unlike in Bahrain, they were on the same tyre compound.
It capped a disappointing race for the reigning champion, who ended the race a distant 25 seconds behind his teammate.
Vettel’s reluctance to let Ricciardo through may have cost the Australian a chance of third place, as Ricciardo finished the race just over a second behind Alonso.
McLaren off the pace
Button and Magnussen failed to get into Q3 and both finished outside the points, a marked change from when they were leading the Constructor’s championship after Australia
.
The car seems particularly bad accelerating out of fast corners, which suggests that their FRIC system (front to rear interlinked suspension) is poorly optimized. This may be a consequence of the introduction of their innovative “butterfly” suspension, rear suspension wishbones that are intended to create downforce. The FRIC system has to be carefully calibrated for each track, and can take teams several months to get right. Significant changes to the suspension arrangement may undo any knowledge they have gained from previous years using the FRIC system.
Championship positions
Drivers Standings
Constructors Standings
Position
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
10th
Driver
Rosberg
Hamilton
Alonso
Hulkenberg
Vettel
Ricciardo
Bottas
Button
Magnusson
Perez
Points
79
75
41
36
33
24
24
23
20
18
Position
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
10th
Driver
Mercedes
Red Bull
Force India
Ferrari
McLaren
Williams
Torro Rosso
Lotus
Sauber
Marussia
Points
154
57
54
52
43
36
8
0
0
0