Having topped both Practice 1 and 2, McLaren looked strong in Friday’s practice sessions. During the Practice 3 the McLarens were placed 2nd and 4th by the RedBulls getting 1st and 3rd position. We only saw little action from Ferrari’s and the Mercedes. During the Qualifying having topped both Q1 and Q2, Lewis Hamilton impressed his fans. However the Top 10 shootout didn’t work for Hamilton that well. RedBull’s secured the Pole Position for the 4th consecutive time at Chinese Grand Prix giving Sebastian Vettel the Pole position.
It was a dramatic Grand Prix race indeed. Fernando Alonso’s “Jump Start” came out as a surprise for the well experienced driver. He was given a drive through penalty for that. Nico Rosberg, Jenson Button and Robert Kubica had the advantage on tyres and were virtually ahead of others by a very far. McLaren’s tyre strategy was again different for Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton made 4 pit stops altogether while his team mate did only two. Nico Rosberb was leading in the early part of the race gave the track position to Button because of a mistake he made. Hamilton having to battle the RedBulls, Renaults and seeing the big red Ferrari’s in his rear mirrors managed to pass the Russian newcomer Vitaly Petrov with the massive Top Speed of the powerful McLaren. He subsequently passed Kubica and Rosberg and climbed up to the second position behind team mate Button. Hamilton was catching Button but then lost time and Rosberg was catching Hamilton. Hamilton however responded with the superb last few laps and was only a second behind Button when they saw the Chequered Flag.
It was a much needed McLaren one-two win at the end. McLaren are now leading the Constructor’s championship ahead of their traditional rivals Ferrari. Jenson Button is the current driver’s championship leader. Sabastian Vettel is indeed the man to watch. But there is an interesting fact. Nico Rosberb again both out-qualifying and out-racing his team mate Michael Schumacher is currently in the 2nd place of the driver’s championship. Nothing can be predicted because it’s only the start of the season. Lot more action can be expected when the races moves to Europe.
