2011 Chinese Grand Prix Results

For the third race of the season, teams headed to Shanghai. This season, the Chinese Grand Prix’s main sponsor has changed from Sinopec to UBS. The UBS Chinese Grand Prix was an exciting race, with McLaren driver, Lewis Hamilton taking his first win this season. This was Hamilton’s second win in Shanghai, after having won the race in 2008. The Chinese Grand Prix was a race that came down to tyre wear and pitting tactics. Hamilton was flanked on the podium by Sebastian Vettel in second place and Mark Webber in third pace.

Vettel was looking strong, poised to win his third consecutive Grand Prix race this season, as he easily took pole position in Shanghai, but it wasn’t meant to be. He was followed by the two McLaren drivers, Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton in second and third place grid positions. Mark Webber, who managed to finish the Grand Prix in third place, actually started in 18th position on the grid. A feat, quite unheard of in F1 racing. Force India looked like good on the grid, as driver Paul di Resta qualified in 8th place, but he just missed the point scoring rank by finishing in 11th place. All 24 drivers qualified in Shanghai and were able to start the race.

Hamilton drove an impeccable race, overtaking Button, Massa, Rosberg and Vettel. However, he almost didn’t even start the race, when a fuel line leak minutes before the start almost kept him from starting. But McLaren mechanics were able to fix it just in time. Button was looking strong, having started from second position on the grid. Until he pitted in the Red Bull pit by mistake in lap 14, instead of his own McLaren slot! An incredible mistake for the veteran driver, who joked about it after the race. It cost the driver one and a half seconds, but probably did not make a huge impact on the overall result of the race.

Vettel’s downfall in Shanghai came down to strategy. The two McLaren drivers used a three pit-stop strategy, versus Vettel’s two-stop strategy. In the end, it was the tyre wear that put an end to Vettel’s winning streak. Some critics are still saying that the tyre wear issue is taking away from the racing itself, with too many pit-stops. But the overtaking and excellent driving in Shanghai was probably one of the best action Grand Prix races F1 has seen in a while.

The Chinese Grand Prix results do not change the top three rankings for the Drivers’ Championship standings. Vettel further solidifies his lead, with 68 points, thanks to his second place finish. But Hamilton’s first place finish in Shanghai is allowing him to close the gap, with 47 points. Third place is Button with 38 points. Mark Webber’s third place finish in Shanghai puts him just one point behind Button, with 37 points. For the Constructors’ Championship standings Red Bull builds on its first place ranking, with second and place finishes, bringing their point total to 105. McLaren also raked in the points this weekend, with their first and fourth place finishes, bringing their total to 85 points. Third place is Ferrari with 50 points, with Alonso and Masa coming in 6th and 7th place in Shanghai. Four teams still remain with zero points this season: Lotus, Williams, Virgin and HRT-Cosworth.

Full Race Results

  1. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes) 1:36:58.226
  2. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing-Renault) +5.198s
  3. Mark Webber (Red Bull-Renault) +7.555s
  4. Jenson Button (McLaren-Mercedes) +10.000s
  5. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) +13.448s
  6. Felipe Massa (Ferrari) +15.840s
  7. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) +30.622s
  8. Michael Schumacher (Mercedes) +31.026s
  9. Vitaly Petrov (Renault) +57.404s
  10. Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber-Ferrari) +1:03.273s
  11. Paul di Resta (Force India-Mercedes) +1:08.757s
  12. Nick Heidfeld (Renault) +1:12.739s
  13. Rubens Barrichello (Williams-Cosworth) +1:30.189s
  14. Sebastian Buemi (Toro Rosso-Ferrari) +1:30.671s
  15. AdrIian Sutil (Force India-Mercedes) +1 lap
  16. Heikki Kovalainen (Lotus-Renault) +1 lap
  17. Sergio Perez (Sauber-Ferrari) +1 lap
  18. Pastor Maldonado (Williams-Cosworth) +1 lap
  19. Jarno Trulli (Lotus-Renault) +1 lap
  20. Jerome d’Ambrosio (Virgin-Cosworth) +2 laps
  21. Timo Glock (Virgin-Cosworth) +2 laps
  22. Vitantonio Liuzzi (HRT-Cosworth) +2 laps
  23. Narain Karthikeyan (HRT-Cosworth) +2 laps

Jaime Alguersuari (Toro Rosso-Ferrari) Retired, lap 9