Fernando Alonso finally did what he has been threatening to do since the start of the season. The Ferrari driver became the third different winner in as many races when he took an impressive victory in the Chinese Grand Prix; a result that confirmed the former World Champion’s popular choice as a favourite to take a third title this year.
The Ferrari may not have the out-and-out speed of the Mercedes and the Lotus that qualified ahead of him but it is a good race car, particularly when driven in typically relentless fashion by Alonso. The experienced Spaniard not only shows great speed and race craft but he also has the necessary ability to manage his tyres during 56 laps of Shanghai International Circuit.
Tyres were the critical factor; more so than usual because the softer of the two was only good for six or seven laps and, of course, each driver had to run this tyre at some stage during the 190-mile race. It was an interesting variable for the teams to consider when deciding on race strategy.
There were nine different leaders; a sign of how fortunes varied dramatically as the third round of the championship was played out in warm, sunny conditions. But Alonso was never far from the front, taking the lead briefly before the first pit stops and then moving ahead again just after half distance; from that point, he never looking likely to be threatened.
In race dictated by the need to make tyres last, it was no surprise to see experience shine through, Alonso being joined on the winner’s podium by two more World Champions. Kimi Räikkonen, winner of the opening round in Australia, finished second for Lotus with Lewis Hamilton taking third.
Hamilton had started his Mercedes from pole position but the Englishman’s speed during one lap of qualifying could not be carried all the way through the 96-minute race. Hamilton crossed the line less than a car’s length ahead of Sebastian Vettel as the reigning World Champion launched a late attack.
Vettel and Hamilton made different tyre choices, Vettel forgoing the chance of using the soft tyre for a prime grid position, preferred to start from further back on the grid on the harder tyre and leave the soft tyre until the closing laps of the race. Hamilton, starting on the soft tyre, did the opposite.
Vettel’s gamble almost paid off as he stopped for the soft tyre with just five laps to go and proceeded to reel in Hamilton. Had Vettel not made a small mistake during the final, dramatic lap, the winner of the previous race in Malaysia might have snatched third and denied Hamilton his second podium for Mercedes.
An eventual fourth place for Vettel means the German continues to lead the World Championship, although it remains a very tight battle with just 12 points covering Vettel, Räikkonen, Alonso and Hamilton.
With different pit stop and tyre strategies being played out all afternoon, it was a difficult race to follow, not least for the eventual winner.
“It was not so easy to understand the race sometimes,” admitted Alonso. “We were overtaking the McLarens, (Nico) Hulkenberg, Sebastian (Vettel), so it was a little bit of a mix. It was not an easy race, and there were some moments of action let’s say and the risk is there when you have to do an overtaking manoeuvre and you have to manage that as well. The team did a perfect job with the set-up of the car for quali and the race, plus perfect pit stop strategy and execution.
“At the end of the race the victory is a good reward for the team, well deserved after the disappointment in Malaysia (Alonso hit the back of Vettel and crashed out at the end of the first lap) and, you know, the car felt good. The two races we finished, one was second and the victory today, so definitely it’s a positive start to this championship. We need to keep going like that, in this direction, with good weekends, with not any extra risk and hopefully in Bahrain (next weekend) we can score some good points again.”
By Maurice Hamilton
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