The wet weather yet again played apart in the race outcome, but it was Jenson Button who yet again made the right tyre calls to take victory ahead of his teammate in an all British 1-2 in Shanghai.
Nico Rosberg took P3 ahead of Fernando Alonso, whilst Robert Kubica continued Renault’s resurgence to take fifth.
The race began in dry conditions, but that didn’t last long. Fernando Alonso took the lead of the grand prix into turn one, however, he later received a drive through penalty for a jump start.
Vitantonio Liuzzi lost control into the first corner and collided with Sebastien Buemi and Kamui Kobayashi ending their races, whilst Timo Glock failed to start the race.
That incident led to the safety car coming out just as the rain began to fall. That saw the majority of the grid pit for intermediate tyres, some drivers having to stack in the pitlane whilst their teammates had priority.
Rosberg took the decision to stay out on slicks, along with Button handing the Mercedes driver the lead. That proved to be the correct decision as drivers yet again pitted to change from slicks to intermediates as the rain abated.
Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton were released from the pits at the same time, resulting in them driving side-by-side to the pit exit – a move which is to be looked at after the grand prix.
The rain once again started, this time coming down much heavier, prompting the grid to pit yet again for intermediates.
Vettel, Hamilton and Webber all had to fight their way back through the field after finding themselves in the bottom ten. Hamilton put a storming move on Vettel which saw him take the Red Bull and the Force India of Sutil in a double move into the penultimate turn.
Things eventually settled down before a second safety car bought more carnage. At the restart, Jenson Button backed the pack up to such an extent, that Hamilton had to take avoiding action and run off the track, or he would have been planted in Webber’s rear end.
As the restart began, Hamilton slid up the inside of Webber, forcing him off the track.
Some excellent strategy calls from McLaren moved Hamilton into second behind Button, the positions they would remain in until the very end.
Rosberg couldn’t challenge for second, but managed to take third ahead of a speedy Fernando Alonso.
Race Results (provisional):
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Pit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 08 | M. Webber | Red Bull | +52.172 | 4 |
| 02 | L. Hamilton | McLaren | +1.530 | 4 |
| 06 | S. Vettel | Red Bull | +33.310 | 4 |
| 01 | J. Button | McLaren | 1:46.42.163 | 2 |
| 04 | F. Alonso | Ferrari | +11.869 | 5 |
| 03 | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | +9.484 | 2 |
| 10 | M. Schumacher | Mercedes | +1:01.749 | 4 |
| 05 | R. Kubica | Renault | +22.213 | 2 |
| 09 | F. Massa | Ferrari | +57.796 | 4 |
| 22 | K. Kobayashi | Sauber | +56 laps | 0 |
| 13 | J. Alguersuari | Toro Rosso | +1:11.416 | 6 |
| 23 | V. Liuzzi | Force India | +56 laps | 0 |
| 21 | S. Buemi | Toro Rosso | +56 laps | 0 |
| 11 | A. Sutil | Force India | +1:02.874 | 4 |
| 07 | V. Petrov | Renault | +47.600 | 2 |
| 12 | R. Barrichello | Williams | +1:03.665 | 4 |
| 20 | P. de la Rosa | Sauber | +49 laps | 0 |
| 15 | N. Hulkenberg | Williams | +1 lap | 6 |
| 24 | T. Glock | Virgin | +56 laps | 0 |
| 14 | H. Kovalainen | Lotus | +1 lap | 2 |
| 19 | L. di Grassi | Virgin | +48 laps | 1 |
| 18 | J. Trulli | Lotus | +30 laps | 5 |
| 16 | B. Senna | HRT | +2 laps | 4 |
| 17 | K. Chandhok | HRT | +4 laps | 4 |
All timing unofficial
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