FERNANDO ALONSO WINS THE CHINESE GRAND PRIX
Here are the final results of the Chinese Formula One race and you can review below the text commentary of the events of the race that we were reporting live during the Grand Prix:
| 2013 Chinese GP: Formula One Race Results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Pts | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | 3 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 56 | Winner | 3 | 25 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | 7 | Kimi Raikkonen | Lotus-Renault | 56 | +10.1 secs | 2 | 18 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | 10 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 56 | +12.3 secs | 1 | 15 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 56 | +12.5 secs | 9 | 12 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | 5 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 56 | +35.2 secs | 8 | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | 4 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 56 | +40.8 secs | 5 | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 7 | 19 | Daniel Ricciardo | STR-Ferrari | 56 | +42.6 secs | 7 | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 8 | 14 | Paul Di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 56 | +51.0 secs | 11 | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 9 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 56 | +53.4 secs | 6 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 10 | 11 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber-Ferrari | 56 | +56.5 secs | 10 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 11 | 6 | Sergio Perez | McLaren-Mercedes | 56 | +63.8 secs | 12 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 12 | 18 | Jean-Eric Vergne | STR-Ferrari | 56 | +72.6 secs | 15 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 13 | 17 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Renault | 56 | +93.8 secs | 16 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 14 | 16 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Renault | 56 | +95.4 secs | 14 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 15 | 22 | Jules Bianchi | Marussia-Cosworth | 55 | +1 LAP | 18 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 16 | 20 | Charles Pic | Caterham-Renault | 55 | +1 LAP | 20 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 17 | 23 | Max Chilton | Marussia-Cosworth | 55 | +1 LAP | 19 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 18 | 21 | Giedo van der Garde | Caterham-Renault | 55 | +1 LAP | 21 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ret | 9 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 21 | +35 LAPS | 4 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ret | 2 | Mark Webber | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 15 | +41 LAPs | 22 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ret | 15 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 5 | +51 LAPs | 13 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ret | 12 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber-Ferrari | 4 | +52 LAPS | 17 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Note - Webber originally qualified 14th but moved to the back of the grid for failing to provide a one-litre fuel sample after qualifying | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Lap 56 Hamilton just hangs on for third place ahead of Vettel. Raikkonen in second.
Lap 56FERNANDO ALONSO WINS THE CHINESE GRAND PRIX!
Lap 56There's no chance that Hamilton can overtaken Raikkonen and there's loads of traffic in front! Vettel very close now.
FINAL LAPHamilton now under big pressure from Vettel.
Lap 55Vettel
is making his soft tyres last longer than Button and he's now within
four seconds of Hamilton. In for a gripping last lap!
Lap 55TWO LAPS LEFT! Hamilton's DRS is open down the pit straight but he just can't get close enough to frighten Raikkonen.
Lap 54He's
back to within a second of the Finn and will desperately want to stay
that close before the DRS detection point. Vettel is lighting up the
timing screens with some super-hot laps on those new soft tyres.
Lap 53And
still Raikkonen manages to hold Hamilton one-second behind. Can the
Englishman make a final push for second place on the podium?
Lap 52However,
the McLaren man's tyres already seem to be going off! It's pretty
stupid just how short the life of these soft tyres is.
Lap 52FIVE LAPS LEFT and it's an average stop for Vettel but he's in a very comfortable fourth. Button's eyes will now be on Di Resta.
Lap 51Vettel
remains in second but he does have to make one more stop. Button's pace
is immense and that signals to Red Bull that Vettel should put his soft
tyres on. Here he comes into the pit.
Lap 51Button's brand new softs are far too quick for Massa. Expect the McLaren to zoom past Di Resta soon as well.
Lap 50It's
a 2.6s stop for Button and he resumes in seventh behind Massa. It looks
as if Vettel is too far ahead for Button to challenge him for position
in the final few laps.
Lap 50Out sprint the McLaren engineers for Button's final stop. How will he fare on the softer tyres?
Lap 49Hamilton remains a little over a second behind Raikkonen. Will he be able get within the one-second DRS zone?
Lap 47There's
10 laps left and still the main focus should be on Raikkonen and
Hamilton. Remember, the former has a damaged front wing but it doesn't
seem to be effecting his performance much.
Lap 47Alonso is the first man to set a lap under 100 seconds as he crosses the line with a 1:39.506. This one's in the bag.
Lap 45Both
Raikkonen and Hamilton get past Button, who shouldn't be too concerned
as those aren't the men he's really fighting. Hamilton has lost a
little time in his fight with Raikkonen.
Lap 44So,
the important battles to look out for as we enter the final 15 laps of
the race are Raikkonen vs. Hamilton for second and Vettel vs. Button for
fourth and fifth.
Lap 43Didn't
take Alonso long to retake the lead! His tyres are much newer and
that's an easy pass on the pit straight. Vettel has to stop again and
Button is told that Vettel is the man he is racing.
Lap 42The
key number at the moment is Alonso's lead ahead of the
Raikkonen-Hamilton battle. It currently stands at about nine seconds but
should get bigger as the duo battle for position.
Lap 41Here
he comes. It's a slow, four-second stop from Alonso and Vettel manages
to get past. That's not a big concern for Ferrari though as they know
Vettel has to make another stop.
Lap 40Alonso should make his final stop shortly. His lead back to Raikkonen and Hamilton is about 31 seconds. Plenty.
Lap 39TOP 10: 1 Alonso 2 Vettel 3 Button 4 Raikkonen 5 Hamilton 6 Di Resta 7 Massa 8 Hulkenburg 9 Perez 10 Grosjean
Lap 38Hamilton
pits from second place and it's not good news as Raikkonen whizzes
past. The Englishman will have fresher tyres at the moment and he needs
to catch Kimi quickly.
Lap 37A
bit of pit-lane drama as Massa and Hulkenburg go side-by-side. The
latter couldn't turn off his pit limiter though and it's easy for Massa
to pass.
Lap 36"We need to pass Button," says Vettel's engineer and the German does just that. Easy peasy.
Lap 35"Kimi's
in the pit lane now Lewis so push push!" Hamilton is told. Raikkonen
should now have tyres that will get him to the end of the race.
Lap 34Vettel is really dialled in on these new medium tyres. He's overtaken Massa, Di Resta and now Hulkenburg for fifth place.
Lap 32That
top 10 is probably the best reflection of the race at the moment.
Alonso is clear favourite to win as he has an 11-second lead on
Hamilton, who should be more concerned with Raikkonen behind him.
Lap 32TOP 10: 1 Alonso 2 Hamilton 3 Raikkonen 4 Button 5 Hulkenburg 6 Vettel 7 Di Resta 8 Massa 9 Ricciardo 10 Grosjean
Lap 31Vettel
is told to pit from second place just as Raikkonen sweeps past Button
for third place. Vettel pops on another pair of mediums so he'll be
stopping again for some softs a little later. Hulkenburg is flying on
his set of softs but they won't last very long.
Lap 30Hulkenburg
pits from third place and Sauber go for the soft tyres. Interesting
move, let's see how a new set of the yellow-marked softs fare.
Lap 30Just a reminder of the four cars who have been retired: Webber, Rosberg, Sutil, Gutierrez.
Lap 29Down
the inside goes Hamilton and that's an easy pass on his former
stablemate. Expect Alonso to do a similar job on Vettel soon.
Lap 28And now Vettel is told the opposite: "Do not lose time holding off Alonso." The Red Bulls know they are in a different fight.
Lap 27Interesting
words from Button as he asks his team how much older Hamilton's tyres
are. He's told they're two laps older and then asks should I fight for
position. "Yes fight" is the response.
Lap 27Alonso
now the quickest car on the track and he passes Hulkenburg for second
place. A little further back Hamilton could be about to pass former
teammate Button.
Lap 26McLaren
and Lotus breathe a sigh of relief as the stewards announce that the
DRS incident will be investigated after the race. Surprising.
Lap 25TOP 10: 1 Vettel 2 Hulkenburg 3 Alonso 4 Button 5 Hamilton 6 Raikkonen 7 Di Resta 8 Massa 9 Grosjean 10 Perez
Lap 25Hamilton is the fastest man out there at the moment as he sets a new fastest lap of 1:41.8.
Lap 25Uh
oh! The stewards are investigating Button and Grosjean for using DRS
while it was turned off. That sounds like a certain penalty.
Lap 24Alonso
pits from the lead and it's not a great stop from the Ferrari men.
Button also comes in and it's a great stop from McLaren. Button is well
in this.
Lap 24OUT! Rosberg's car is retired after some problems on his second pit stop.
Lap 23TOP 10: 1 Alonso 2 Button 3 Vettel 4 Hulkenburg 5 Perez 6 Grosjean 7 Ricciardo 8 Di Resta 9 Hamilton 10 Raikkonen
Lap 22The pair resume in ninth and 10th as Alonso continues to streak clear at the front.
Lap 22CLOSE!
Raikkonen and Hamilton enter the pit together and they both do 3.7s
stops to resume right next to each other just like they came in.
Lap 21ALONSO
uses DRS to zoom up the inside past Button and he's back in the lead.
Five seconds down the road it's Raikkonen all over Hamilton despite his
damaged front wing.
Lap 20Into the pit come Massa and Rosberg for their second stop. Both slip on another pair of mediums.
Lap 18Replays of Webber's wheel coming off are kind of comical but it could have been very dangerous.
Lap 18It's
now Button who leads the race but he's got a Ferrari all over his
exhaust and it won't be long before Alonso is back out front.
Lap 18Crazy
scenes as Webber fails to limp back to the pit. He reported that his
right rear tyre was broken and it's just come off his car and rolled
across the track. Luckily it avoids the cars around.
Lap 17OUT!
Webber can't get back into the race and he's going to have to retire
because of a mechanical issue. Not a great couple of weeks for the
Aussie.
Lap 16MORE CONTACT! It's now Raikkonen and Perez who come to blows! "What the hell is he doing?!" screeches Raikkonen to the team.
Lap 15CONTACT! Vergne turns into Webber and the Aussie has to pit while Vergne is out I think.
Lap 15Oh
deary me Sauber. Hulkenburg comes in at the same time as Vettel but
it's not a good stop and Vettel gets ahead of his fellow German.
Lap 14"Box, box, box" Vettel is told. That means pit, pit, pit.
Lap 14Perez
has got no answer for the DRS-assisted Ferrari and Alonso now zooms
into fourth. Hamilton hasn't been able to match the Spaniard's pace as
he is still behind Di Resta in seventh.
Lap 13Alonso is absolutely flying at the moment. He passes Di Resta for fifth and he's now all over the back of Perez.
Lap 13It's
believed that the cars who started on the medium compound will do a
two-stop strategy on the mediums and then just do a lap or two on the
softs at the end. Remember, under the rules both compounds have to be
used in the race.
Lap 12Little
change in the last couple of laps and it's a bit of a waiting game for
the likes of Alonso and Hamilton. They know that the five in front have
to stop and should resume the lead soon enough.
Lap 10TOP 10: 1 Hulkenburg 2 Vettel 3 Button 4 Perez 5 Di Resta 6 Alonso 7 Hamilton 8 Vergne 9 Raikkonen 10 Massa
Lap 9Hulkenburg
of Williams is our current race leader ahead of Vettel. They're not far
enough in front to stay ahead once they pit though.
Lap 9The
grid is awfully jumbled at the moment and it's very hard to tell
exactly who's in the best position. Although he's back in sixth, Alonso
is really our race leader as the five ahead of him haven't pitted yet.
Lap 8Hamilton is now the fastest man out there and the Mercedes looks much happier on the medium compound.
Lap 8Massa
pits from the lead and it's not such a good stop for the Brazilian as
he falls behind both Raikkonen and Webber, who has done extremely well
to get himself back into play.
Lap 7DRS is currently turned off down the back straight because of Gutierrez's crash. That should be turned back on shortly though.
Lap 7Alonso and Raikkonen now pit and it's a sublime stop from the Ferrari team for Alonso. Just 2.6s to change the tyres!
Lap 6CRASH!
Gutierrez locks up into the hairpin at the bottom of the pit straight
and he's damaged Sutil in the process. The Force India is now on fire in
the pit.
Lap 6Just as I say that, Vettel overtakes Rosberg for seventh. And both Hamilton and Rosberg pit!
Lap 5Further back it's Hulkenburg who overtakes Vettel. It's surprising how little the German world champion has done so far.
Lap 4ALONSO LEADS! Both Ferraris overtake Hamilton in fact. He's really hanging on now.
Lap 3Massa
has a little look but can't quite pick up enough drag to overtake
Alonso. The Spaniard also has DRS behind Hamilton so that's enough to
keep him in front.
Lap 3Now that we're onto the third lap, DRS is enabled. Expect to see some overtakes on the long back straight.
Lap 3As
they cross the line for a second time Alonso has dropped a little off
Hamilton and is now under real pressure from teammate Massa. How long
are these tyres going to last?!
Lap 2Raikkonen
re-passes Rosberg for fourth position while a little further back Di
Resta has had a trip on the grass and may have taken a shove from his
teammate Sutil.
Lap 2Webber is told to pit straight away so he can get rid of the soft tyres straight away.
Lap 1Alonso is right on the back of Hamilton and looking great. Didn't I say the Ferraris start well?
Lap 1No crashes yet, Raikkonen has dropped to fifth. Vettel still behind Button.
Lap 1Awful start from Raikkonen, Hamilton leads ahead of the two Ferraris.
Lap 1GO GO GO! The five red lights go out and we're underway in Shanghai!
8.02amAs
the 22 cars line up down the pit straight it's a sad sight to see
Webber trundling down the pit lane. Can the Aussie get any points today?
About to start...
8.01amWill
Hamilton be able to get away well and hold his position at the front.
I'd be wary of Alonso and Massa in third and fifth respectively. The
Ferraris often shoot off the line.
8amFORMATION LAP: Hamilton leads the cars out for one circuit of the track before we begin.
7.58amI've
mentioned the top 10 but the biggest names further back are Sergio
Perez in 12th and Webber, who starts from the pit lane. Perez is the
meat of a Force India sandwich and both Di Resta and Sutil could well
challenge for points today.
7.57amPREDICTION!
Not long to go now and it's time for my prediction on the race. It
really is very tough to call as the soft tyre could give up the ghost
after very few laps. Still, I expect one of the people at the front to
be good enough and I'm plumping for Raikkonen, whose Lotus is thought to
manage the tyre wear better.
7.55amI'd
be very surprised if all 22 are still intact after the first four
corners. Once we're into lap three the DRS system will be allowed and
that should see plenty of overtaking on the two straights.
7.53amTHE TRACK!
Here's a little more information on the Shanghai International Circuit:
One lap is 3.39 miles long and the 22 cars will go around 56 times.
There are 16 turns and the highlight section is perhaps right at the
start, where a quarter of those turns come very quickly in what looks
like a ying-yang symbol from above.
7.52amExpect
to see the frontrunners pitting very early then. They'll switch
straight on to the medium compound and will then stay on it for the rest
of the race.
7.50amThe
top seven drivers are all set to begin the race on the soft compound of
tyres and there's a real concern about how long they will last. Rosberg
tells BBC Sport: "It's not a question of how many laps you can do, it's a question of how many corners!"
7.47amIn
all honesty it looked like there would be a Mercedes lock-out on the
front row but Nico Rosberg made a mistake on the final corner and will
start fourth.
7.45amTOP 10:
Anyway, here's how the top 10 line up: 1 Hamilton 2 Raikkonen 3 Alonso 4
Rosberg 5 Massa 6 Grosjean 7 Ricciardo 8 Button 9 Vettel 10 Hulkenburg
7.43amA
bit of news from the pit lane this morning: Paul Di Resta was in
serious danger of not making the race because of a fuel leak but Force
India managed to sort it out and the Scot will start from 11th.
7.41amThe
tyre wear made for an underwhelming qualifying yesterday as most
drivers only set one time in each session. Let's hope for a more
thrilling race today.
7.39amVettel has just told Sky Sports F1 that he does have a chance of winning today as it is a "long race". He knows that the tyre degradation is going to be critical.
7.38amHowever,
the German didn't actually set a time in the final part of qualifying
yesterday and that means he has free choice of tyre at the start of the
race. If you do set a time in qualifying then you have to start the race
on that tyre.
7.36amAs
mentioned above, Saturday was not a good day for Red Bull. Mark Webber
was knocked out in Q2 as he failed to make it back to the pits because
of a refuelling issue. Since then he has been demoted to the back of the
grid. Championship leader Vettel also failed to have it his own way and
he starts from eighth.
7.34amYesterday it was Lewis Hamilton who secured his first pole position at new team Mercedes with a dominant performance throughout. Has the Englishman got similar 'race pace' today?
7.31amMorning
all! Should be a cracking race this morning with a bit of a jumbled
grid and a circuit that usually encourages overtaking.
HELPING SOURCE: sportsmole.co.uk
Leye penalty
