Three races in – and the gloves are off at Mercedes. Again. The F1 season is definitely up and running.
Lewis Hamilton won the Chinese Grand Prix, his second win in 2015. Mercedes locked out the front of the grid and scored a familiar one-two. After being beaten by Ferrari in Malaysia, the status quo had been restored. And yet…
Nico Rosberg was far from happy with second place. Having lost out to Hamilton – starting with the championship last year and through the first two races – the German was determined to make his mark in China. And he came close – 0,044 seconds close – to taking pole position, Rosberg’s frustration being evident by responding ‘Aw, com’on guys!’ when told of the tiny deficit. Rosberg felt he had been sent out too late for his final qualifying lap and had to rush the preparation of his tyres on the out lap. Apart from being beaten by Hamilton, second on the grid would put him on the back foot strategy-wise in the race. Which is exactly how it turned out.
With Sebastian Vettel qualifying third and Kimi Raikkonen only sixth on the grid because of traffic, Rosberg knew he would have to fend off the red cars as well as thinking about how to attack his team-mate. Making tyres last would be the key factor.
It began to go wrong for Vettel in the middle stint, a critical one when stretching the running of the softer tyre. Hamilton was so intent on saving his front-left Pirelli (which receives the greatest hammering at Shanghai), that he reduced pace and backed Rosberg towards Vettel. After complaints via radio from Rosberg, Hamilton was told to pick up his pace, Rosberg then having to suffer by stopping earlier than planned to cover Vettel’s pit stop for the final set of fresh rubber. Meanwhile, to really rub it in, Hamilton let loose with two stunning laps which showed there was life left in his tyres while, at the same time, securing a comfortable cushion for his pit stop. Job done.
After the race, Rosberg attacked Hamilton’s tactics, saying he had compromised his race. Rosberg claimed he could not push his team-mate because, by doing so, he would have ruined his front tyres in the dirty air of Hamilton’s car. (Vettel would back that up by saying he could not get close to Rosberg – not even to within one second to use the DRS overtaking aid – for exactly the same reason).
Hamilton was unrepentant. “The key was eke out tyres and make them last as long as you can,” said Hamilton. “I was trying to stretch my middle stint. I’m not sure how I compromised him (Rosberg); he was never close, so therefore I was having no impact on his race. If he was right on my tail then perhaps the team could say something. I was ready to go at any stage but you always try to keep a little bit in your pocket. I don’t think either of us are at fault, to be honest.”
There is no question that Hamilton drove the perfect race – from his point of view. It has clearly become a matter for the team to sort out, particularly when Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff commented: “Lewis’s first responsibility is to guarantee a good result for the team. Equally, he is a racing driver and needs to look after himself. It’s a question of finding a balance between the two.”
Vettel and Raikkonen can only hope Mercedes have difficulty in finding that balance. Certainly, Ferrari continue to improve, edging further ahead of Williams, the British team finishing fifth (Felipe Massa) and sixth (Valtteri Bottas) and actually being worried about Lotus finally fulfilling their promise as Romain Grosjean claimed eighth.
But at least the concerns of Williams are manageable, which is more than can be said for Red Bull as Daniel Ricciardo, doomed by the anti-stall kicking in at the start, was an eventual ninth, the only Renault-powered car to finish on a shocking day for the French engine company.
Mercedes, meanwhile, continue to dominate, so much so that top of the agenda going into next weekend’s race in Bahrain is what to do about keeping the peace among their drivers. On the evidence so far, the championship is theirs to lose. And Mercedes know that could happen quite easily.
