Chinese Grand Prix 2013: Race

Here we go then. Mark Webber now starts from the pit lane after first being relegated to the back for fuel problems yesterday. Further changes overnight to his gearbox mean starting from the pit lane.

The main thing to watch for in this race is tyres: some drivers are on the harder medium compound to start – these last far longer than the softs which have been lasting roughly 5 laps before dropping off dramatically. Those drivers are Jenson Button, Sebastian Vettel, Nico Hulkenberg, Paul di Resta, Sergio Perez, Jean-Eric Vergne and Valtteri Bottas.

Laps 1-5: Mark Webber started on the soft tyres and pits after one lap to switch to the medium compound ones. Smart move as that already fulfils the rule to use both compounds in the race. A fair bit of movement through the field, Ferrari looking strong with Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa harrying Lewis Hamilton for the lead. Kimi Raikkonen in fourth is pulling away a little from Nico Rosberg after replays show him getting a relatively slow start. At the beginning of the 5th lap, Hamilton lost the lead to Alonso and was immediately passed by Massa – Raikkonen almost made it a third car passed. The DRS allowing these overtakes but also Hamilton’s tyres are already fading.

Laps 6-10: Both Mercedes drivers pit for medium tyres. A replay shows Esteban Gutierrez struggling to stop for turn 14 and hitting the back of Adrian Sutil’s car – he limped in with a broken rear wing and also suffered a brake fire in the pits. Hamilton is currently in 12th, but is the fastest car on the circuit by a margin. Massa briefly lead the race, but his tyres dropped off after staying out a lap too long. Nico Hulkenberg takes over the lead of the race – he was a driver who started on the harder tyre. Alonso in sixth is effectively in a great position as those ahead of him need to stop at some point.

Laps 11-15: Hulkenberg continues to lead, but Vettel in second is right behind him. There’s a fair bit of overtaking going on as there are quit  in this section, catching and passing di Resta and Perez. The top five is bunching up, allowing eighth placed Raikkonen to begin closing on Hamilton by roughly one second a lap. Vettel pits along with Hamilton.

Laps 16-20: At the beginning of this stint, Jenson Button leads. Mark Webber clashed with Jean-Eric Vergne as they were fighting for 12th – Webber comes in with a broken front wing and resumes 15th. Webber’s car is going slowly after his stop; he reports that he is in trouble with the right rear of the car. Before he can get back to the pits, his wheel came off at turn 14. There was more action as Raikkonen hits the back of Perez after getting onto the dirt by going wide a turn 5! Raikkonen has a hole in his nose. Raikkonen appeared to be moving around the outside of Perez in a closing gap down to Turn 5. Meanwhile, Button still leads from Alonso, Hamilton, Raikkonen and Perez.

Laps 21-25: Vettel is up into 5th after passing Massa and Perez. Raikkonen doesn’t appear to have too much damage after that clash. Alonso sweeps past Button for the lead at the first corner of lap 21. Lots of movement up and down the field. Rosberg has some kind of issue, I’ve lost track of the number of stops he has made, but he is down in 18th after another. Hamilton and Raikkonen battle wheel-to-wheel as the pair elect to pit, no change in position though as Hamilton, 9th, gets away on medium rubber, with Raikkonen remaining behind in 10th . Rosberg pits again (4th time) and drives straight into his garage to retire. Alonso pits from the lead on lap 24, and Button follows him for his first stop. Vettel now leads ahead of Hulkenberg, Alonso, Perez and Button who is under investigation with Romain Grosjean for use of DRS under yellow flags. Hamilton in 5th is the fastest man on the track. The field is very unstable due to everyone being in a slightly different place in their tyre cycle – so hard to keep up!

Laps 26-30: Alonso passes Hulkenberg to move into second. He is looking very strong here. There is close racing for seventh between Paul di Resta and Massa. This is a quiet part of the race compared to the previous five laps! Hulkenberg is now being chased by Button but both still need at least one more stop. Hamilton passes Button on lap 29. Alonso and Vettel are having a close battle for the lead, with Alonso sweeping past with the aid of fresher tyres – he then uses his DRS to pull away. Hamilton, Button and Raikkonen are all very close for third now, behind leader Alonso and Vettel in second.

Laps 31-35: Raikkonen passes Button for 4th. Vettel after his pit stop came out in 8th, but quickly passes both Massa and di Resta to go into 6th. Hulkenberg in fifth sets the fastest lap on the soft compound tyres which are quickly degrading as Vettel drives past to take over 5th. Raikkonen makes a stop with his still-damaged nose. Lots of movement in the field through those five laps.

Laps 36-40: Alonso continues to lead over Hamilton. Vettel passes Button on track for 3rd. Many stops are happening here. I’ll wait until all have been completed to update. Alonso leads from Vettel and Button, who all need to stop once more, Raikkonen is ahead of Hamilton, who is the fastest man on the track.

Laps 41-45: Many cars are now set to be investigated for DRS use under yellows in what will be a lengthy stewards chat after the race. Vettel, Webber, Raikkonen, Valtteri Bottas, Daniel Ricciardo and Max Chilton – as well as Button and Grosjean – are all under threat of post-race penalty. Alonso pits at the end of lap 41 for his final stop and a switch to soft tyres, giving the lead to Vettel. Alonso takes the lead back at the start of lap 43 with the aid of DRS into turn 1. Button is told he is racing Vettel, but still still need a late stint on soft tyres. Hamilton is still setting fastest laps behind Raikkonen – Hamilton’s tyres are younger than Raikkonen’s so he may be hoping the drop off will provide him with an advantage. Raikkonen and Hamilton both pass Button who drops into 5th. Further down the field Grosjean and Perez are scrapping nicely with Grosjean moving up into 10th.

Laps 46-50: The battle between Hamilton and Raikkonen will be the focus for the rest of the race I think as second is up for grabs between them. The damage that Raikkonen’s carrying doesn’t seem to be hindering him at all. Alonso is 9 seconds ahead of that scrap. Not  huge amount of movement going on now. Ricciardo has passed Hulkenberg into 8th. Raikkonen is comfortably ahead of Hamilton, who has been warned of the threat from Vettel. Button gets his soft rubber the start of lap 50 and continues in 7th behind di Resta and Massa.

Laps 51-56: Button passes Massa at turn 14. He is now 5 seconds behind di Resta. Vettel makes his last stop at the end of 51, returning to the track in 4th. Vettel’s pace is rapid but he is still fourth and 11 seconds behind the Raikkonen/Hamilton pair. Button looks unlikely to be able to close the gap to di Resta, however he pits and resumes back in 8th behind Button, Massa and Ricciardo. Grosjean has passed Hulkenberg for ninth. Hamilton may still lose 3rd place to Vettel as he is stuck in traffic on the last lap. No doubt about the winner though as Alonso powers across the line, followed by Raikkonen and Hamilton. Vettel just misses out on passing Hamilton – he crossed the line 2 tenths behind. Button ends up in 5th, Massa 6th, Ricciardo 7th, di Resta 8th. Grosjean and Hulkenberg complete the top ten.

Remember there are still many investigations going on, and the result may still change.

Four drivers retired from today’s race:

• Nico Rosberg had trouble at his second stop and never recovered, eventually pulling into the pits.
• Mark Webber also had trouble after a tangle with Jean-Eric Vergne. His left rear detaching itself finished off his afternoon.
• Adrian Sutil retired with a broken rear wing and a brake fire in the pits after being assaulted at high speed from an over eager Esteban Gutierrez, who later admitted he was a little hot into Turn 14. The Sauber sustained considerable front end damage.

Provisional Results (11 drivers under investigation):

1. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, 1h36:26.945
2. Kimi Raikkonen, Lotus-Renault, +10.100s
3. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, +12.300s
4. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull-Renault, +12.500s
5. Jenson Button, McLaren-Mercedes, +35.200s
6. Felipe Massa, Ferrari, +40.800s
7. Daniel Ricciardo, Toro Rosso-Ferrari, +42.600s
8. Paul di Resta, Force India-Mercedes, +51.000s
9. Romain Grosjean, Lotus-Renault, +53.400s
10. Nico Hulkenberg, Sauber-Ferrari, +56.500s
11. Sergio Perez, McLaren-Mercedes, +1m03.800s
12. Jean-Eric Vergne, Toro Rosso-Ferrari, +1m12.600s
13. Pastor Maldonado, Williams-Renault, +1m33.800s
14. Valtteri Bottas, Williams-Renault, +1m35.400s
15. Jules Bianchi, Marussia-Cosworth, +1 lap
16. Chalres Pic, Caterham-Renault, +1 lap
17. Max Chilton, Marussia-Cosworth, +1 lap
18. Giedo van der Garde, Caterham-Renault, +1 lap

Fastest lap: Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull-Renault, 1m36.808s

Not classified/retirements:

• Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 22 laps
• Mark Webber, Red Bull-Renault, 16 laps
• Adrian Sutil, Force India-Mercedes, 6 laps
• Esteban Gutierrez, Sauber-Ferrari, 5 laps