Whenever some friend of yours says Formula One is boring and there is no passing, just show him, or her, the Chinese GP from 2011. Even though the race did not start until 3am where I live, the constant dicing and exchange of positions due to pit stops and passing kept me wide awake to the end.
After a dismal, disastrous qualifying, who would have expected Mark Webber to drive like the hounds of hell were on his trail the whole race, rising from 18th to the podium? Certainly not I.
Who thought Hamilton would be able to overhaul Vettel at the end, despite the obvious evidence of him closing the gap? Again, not I.
It looked like Webber passed everyone but the pace car on his way through the field, many twice due to tyre changes, but he was not the only one out there showing some fierce, controlled aggression. Hamilton and Button both hosed Vettel at the start, who was caught uncharacteristically napping, and nearly lost another spot to Rosberg in the first corners, but managed to hold on to third at that point. Vettel leapfrogged Button when they came in for their first stops, as Button stopped to say hi to Vettel's crew on his way to his pit. This delay allowed Vettel to get out ahead of Jenson, and kudos to the Red Bull crew for not leaping on Button's car and changing his tyres. Full credit to Lewis for the way he hunted down Vettel at the end, stalked him, took him, and drove off to a well-deserved victory.
Nico Rosberg led the race for several laps, on merit, and he clearly has the measure of his older teammate, who continues not to achieve a rapprochement with his car. Rosberg ended in a well-earned fifth and a podium may not be too far away.
Ferrari are still not threatening, and again Massa came home ahead of his more heralded teammate, who looked almost bored out there. Will heads be rolling soon at Maranello? Not sure, but I think I can hear an axe being sharpened.
Renault did not show the pace they had in the first two races, slipping back into the pack due to Heidfeld's loss of part of his front wing in a first-turn discussion with di Resta, and Petrov just squeaking into the points.
Kobayashi dragged his Sauber into the points again, and I am sure I am one of many who would love to see what he could do with a Red Bull or McLaren.
For now, with a couple of weeks off before Turkey, it looks like Red Bull and McLaren at the front, with everyone else trying to catch up. Williams finally finished a race, but their new design is clearly not working, and revisions are in order between now and the next race.
Remarkably there was only one retirement in Shanghai, Alguersuari not having a wheel sufficiently tightened on his first stop, his right rear departing after the first corner. The caste system remains firmly in place, with Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari, and Mercedes filling the first 8 spots, with a bit of position switching from race to race, and the occasional invasion by a Renault.
The tyre performance remains the big "X" factor, with performance dropping off steadily after about 10 laps with the "softs", and few teams using the "primes" for significant length of time. Is the FIA happy with the tyre situation? Will Pirelli be tinkering with them all year? These among others are questions that will keep us coming back for the next races, most especially, will McLaren continue to be able to threaten Red Bull for race wins, and will any other teams be able to get their cars to the front? See you in Istanbul.
Jim Casey
jim.casey@pitpass.com
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