Formula One 2015 Chinese Grand Prix: Hamilton wins Shanghai battle

After winning the 2015 Malaysian GP, Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel and teammate Kimi Raikkonen went to Shanghai full of hope for the SF15-T. Fans, Ferrari fans, to be precise, were talking of a resurrection, the Scuderia rising from the ashes with Sebastian leading the way.

 

Can Ferrari make it two in a row? Or will the defending champions get their act together and once again be top dog? Will the China GP be a pole to flag procession? Or will the vast track layout with its double DRS zones showcase proper racing?

 

Defending Champion Lewis Hamilton won back in 2014 with Nico Rosberg coming in at second, with Fernando Alonso, driving for Ferrari, taking third. After qualifying on Saturday, it seemed that the results of 2015 China GP will be a repeat of last year.

 

Hamilton took pole from Rosberg who was just 0.04 secs adrift of his team mate, with the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel taking P3. Felipe Massa took P4 while Valterri Bottas slid in at P5. Kimi Raikkonen was 6th with Daniel Ricciardo taking 7th, Romain Grosjean on board the Lotus took P8, while Sauber rookie Felipe Nasr Jr. vaulted past his team mate Marcus Ericsson who was in P10.

 

Sunday saw warmer than usual temperatures in Shanghai, and the chatter in most forums was that Ferrari could edge out both the Mercedes to claim back to back wins. Toto Wolff, the team principal of Mercedes AMG Petronas F1, was of the opinion that they had to take the threat that Ferrari could topple them very seriously.

 

As the cars lined up on the grid after the formation lap, Lewis Hamilton parked his charger at such a sharp angle, that you knew he was going to block Nico before reaching turn 1. This could well be the opening Vettel needs to slide past Nico or both Mercs as they fight for position. When the race went underway, Lewis had a good start, covering Nico and holding on to the lead into turn 1. Rosberg held P2 while Vettel settled in at P3. Kimi did his best to fight it out with both Williams cars, finally passing Massa and Bottas by turn 6 of the first lap. The biggest loser was Ricciardo who found himself down to 17th before the end of the opening lap, while Daniil Kyvat fared a little better at P14. Red Bull really have their work cut out for them if they want to get back some of the glory of years past.

 

Out in front, Lewis was leading the field by more than a second, while Vettel was keeping pace with Nico. Ferrari are looking at the undercut to climb up the standings. By lap nine, the drivers have settled down and out in front, it was both the Mercedes, then both Ferraris, followed the Williams pair, the Lotus duo and rounding the top 10 were the Saubers.

 

Nico Hulkenberg had a gearbox problem and crawled to a halt on lap 9, bringing out the yellow flags. Despite this, Hamilton still registered fast sector times. The Mercedes were once again in their element, and no one could fight them for the lead.

 

Lap 14 saw Sebastian come into for a change of tires, taking on another set of Pirelli soft tires. Mercedes was quick to bring in their drivers a lap later. Lewis came in, taking soft tires, and Rosberg came in on lap 16. Vettel failed to undercut Nico but was now closer to his fellow German. The Ferrari began hunting down the Mercedes, and this didn’t sit well with Rosberg.

Daniil Kyvat was the next retirment of the day, blowing up his Renault engine. It seems that the once mighty Red Bull team has fallen by the wayside, and the Renault power unit is to blame.

 

Lap 20 saw the frustrated Rosberg make a call to ask the team to tell Lewis to speed up. Nico claimed that Lewis was deliberately driving slower than needed, and Nico couldn’t attack because that would ruin his tires. Rosberg felt that he was vulnerable to an attack from Sebastian and maybe even Kimi. Mercedes did inform Hamilton to speed up, which the Brit obediently followed, setting another fast sector time in the process.

 

Down the order, Daniel Ricciardo was figthing Marcus Ericsson for 11^th. Daniel braked late into turn 1 and got position over the Swede, but a mistake at turn 6 saw Ericsson re-take his spot. It was a move that the Aussie failed miserably at. These are sad times for the Milton-Keynes squad indeed.

 

Lap 33 saw Sebastian come in early for a set of mediums. Seeing this move, Mercedes responded by bringing in Nico for his mediums as well, to try and prevent the undercut by Vettel. Rosberg came out in front of Vettel but not by much. This could be a fight to the finish.

 

Hamilton pitted the very next lap, thus promoting Kimi Raikkonen, who was driving a steady race, to P1. Lewis came out in front of the battling Rosberg and Vettel. Kimi’s momentary stint in P1 was cut short when the Finn came in for his set of mediums. Raikkonen came out behind his team mate. Kimi was on fresher tires and could theoretically challenge Sebastian for P3 in the latter stages of the race.

 

Lap 41 saw the up and coming Max Verstappen challenge Sergio Perez for P8. Diving late, Max took Sergio in turn 6. Sauber’s Felipe Nasr Jr. joined the fray and relegated the Mexican to 10th. Two laps later Kimi Raikkonen came over the radio complaining to the team to get the McLarens out of the way. By then, both Alonso and Button were lapped by the leaders. This is such a bitter pill to swallow for the proud team from Woking.

 

As the leaders went about racing in front, real wheel-to-wheel racing was being provided by Maldonado, Button and Alonso. The Venzuelan was effectively holding off the McLaren of Jenson, but in the DRS zone, Button got close to the Lotus and tried a move inside. This was blocked by Pastor. Heading into turn 1, Jenson got too close and ran into the back of Maldonado, causing both cars to spin with Fernando the beneficiary of the clash between the two. This promoted Alonso to 13th.

 

With two laps to go, Max Verstappen had a huge engine blow out at the pit straight. This brought out the safety car. The Toro Rosso was stalled right at a point where race control deemed it dangerous if they let the cars race to the flag, so, the Chinese Grand Prix finished behind the safety car in the following order: Hamilton, Rosberg, Vettel, Raikkonen, Massa, Bottas, Grosjean, Nasr Jr., Ricciardo and Ericsson, all in points-scoring positions.

 

At the post race media interviews, a visibly irked Rosberg blamed Hamilton for deliberately slowing down and in the process, was susceptible to attacks from Vettel. The Brit replied that he was managing his own race and he was not managing Rosberg’s.

 

This rift in team harmony is another incident that Toto Wolff has to take control of. He can’t have his drivers take each other out and hand valuable points to their rivals.

 

Bahrain is next on the calendar, and, if Mercedes can’t “manage” their drivers, fans can expect the Scuderia or maybe even a Williams to take the top spot in the desert.