Lewis Hamilton broke the Red Bull strangle hold on Formula One, with a fantastic drive to win the Chinese Grand Prix. He took the top step, and was followed by Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber.
Lewis made a great start to the grand prix, as did team mate Jenson Button. The two McLaren drivers eased past Sebastian Vettel, making it a one-two going into the first corner. The top three then slowly started to form a gap to the followers. They were followed by Nico Rosberg, who was holding up Felipe Massa, and Fernando Alonso. At the front, Jenson ensured he had at least a second gap to Lewis, making sure he could not use the DRS. Meanwhile, Sebastian was told to wait for his turn to get past Hamilton.
At the back of the grid, Mark Webber was having a torrid time. He had hoped to jump most of the field, but in the first few laps he had jumped to as high as 15th. His afternoon got worse when Sergio Perez passed him. Due to starting on the harder tyres, his pace was not great, so as expected, he was one of the first drivers to pit. He was joined by Michael Schumacher and Jaime Alguersuari. The young Spanish driver wouldn't last long though. One of the wheels had not been put on properly, and round turn one, it flew off, making Jaime the first and only retirement of the day.
When Mark came out on the soft tyres, he started setting the fastest laps. This caught the attention of the leading teams and drivers. The first to pit were Nico Rosberg, Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel. When Jenson pitted however, he was distracted and pulled in, momentarily. into the Red Bull Pit Box. This weird error cost him the place to Sebastian Vettel, and looking back, possibly the race victory!
When the dust had settled after the pit stops, it was obvious that being the first to pit was the advantage. The leader at the time was Nico Rosberg - who was the first driver to pit. He lead from Vettel, then Button and Massa. Further down, Michael Schumacher had leapfrogged Fernando Alonso in the pits. After several laps of trying to outbreak him, the Spaniard beat the seven-time World Champion using his DRS. By that time though, they had both lost a lot of time. The leaders again capitalized on the gap by pitting again, with the McLaren drivers and Nico Rosberg all going for a three-stopper.
At this time, the Red Bull and Ferrari team looked to have made the correct decision in only stopping the twice. However, the tide was about to change. Nico Rosberg began to set fast times, and had soon overtaken Alonso to take third. Lewis Hamilton was also posting fastest lap times, and catching his team mate. By the time the Ferrari and Red Bull's had had their second stop, the McLaren's and Rosberg had jumped them. Lewis then made a great move on Buton to take second place.
For the driver's on a three-stopper, it was again a game of who blinks first. The driver to blink first was Button, followed by Hamilton the Rosberg. By the time Rosberg had pitted, he came out right in from of a charging Lewis Hamilton. At the time, Vettel lead Massa, with Rosberg 3rd, Hamilton 4th, Button 5th. Webber had also had a great middle stint to push him up to P6!
With fresh tyres on, not much was going to get in the way of the charging McLarens. It did not take long for Lewis to pass Rosberg, and he was quickly on the back of Felipe Massa. Lewis soon made a great pass on Felipe, leaving only Sebastian Vettel, who he was catching at a rate of one second a lap. Also making moves up the field was Mark Webber. The Australian on fresh tyres was setting fastest laps nearly every lap, and had already pushed himself up to seventh.
There was also fighting for the final podium position. Nico Rosberg tried to charge past Massa, only to overcook the maneuver, and let past Button and Massa. With six laps to go, Button eventually took Massa for third, and looked relatively comfortable. At the front, Hamilton was still closing on Vettel, and with jut four laps to go, the Brit eased past the World Champion.
The driver to watch in the closing laps was Mark Webber. After storming through the midfield in second stint, his next target was the front runners. On lap 52 out of 56, Mark took Felipe, who had ageing tyres on his car. Two laps latter, the storming Red Bull driver then took fourth position away from Nico Rosberg. Mark's last target was Jenson Button in third. Mark cruised up to the back of Button, and on the penultimate corner of the penultimate lap, Webber took Jenson with a lovely move to make it a great day for the Aussie. He had started to day back in 18th place, and managed to get a podium place with a fantastic drive up the field.
Right at the front, Lewis had no trouble, and still pulled away from the Vettel, even in coasting mode. Hamilton's victory stopped Vettel's and Red Bull's chance of five straight victories. Lewis' victory also means that the Red Bulls are beatable, and that the championship is far from over.
Race Results
Pos - Driver - Team - Rank
1 - Lewis Hamilton - McLaren - 2
2 - Sebastain Vettel - Red Bull - 1
3 - Mark Webber - Red Bull - 3
4 - Jenson Button - McLaren - 5
5 - Nico Rosberg - Mercedes -10
6 - Felipe Massa - Ferrari - 6
7 - Fernado Alonso - Ferrari - 4
8 - Michael Schumacher - Mercedes - 17
9 - Vitaly Petrov - Renault - 21
10 - Kamui Kobayashi - Sauber - 24
11 - Paul Di Resta - Force India - 32
12 - Nick Heidfeld - Renault - 13
13 - Rubens Barrichello - Williams - 8
14 - Sebastian Buemi - Toro Rosso - 16
15 - Adrian Sutil - Force India - 15
16 - Heikki Kovalainen - Lotus - 11
17 - Sergio Perez - Sauber - New
18 - Pastor Maldonado - Williams - N
19 - Jarno Trulli - Lotus - 12
20 - Jerome D'Ambrosio - Virgin - 36
21 - Timo Glock - Virgin - 14
22 - Vitantonio Liuzzi - HRT - 26
23 - Narain Karthikeyan - HRT - N
R - Jaime Alguersuari - Toro Rosso - 20
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