Lewis Hamilton ended Sebastian Vettel’s dominance over the opening two races of the 2011 season by taking victory in the Chinese Grand Prix.
The race will be remembered as one of the very best with action throughout, up and down the grid as different strategies played out over the race distance.
Sebastian Vettel remains ahead in the championship standings after he secured second ahead of his team-mate, Mark Webber in third, who drove an outstanding race after he started in P18.
Full race report below results.
Chinese GP Results:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Gap | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01. | L. Hamilton | McLaren | Winner | 25 |
| 02. | S. Vettel | Red Bull | +5.1 | 18 |
| 03. | M. Webber | Red Bull | +7.5 | 15 |
| 04. | J. Button | McLaren | +10.0 | 12 |
| 05. | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | +13.4 | 10 |
| 06. | F. Massa | Ferrari | +15.8 | 8 |
| 07. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | +30.6 | 6 |
| 08. | M. Schumacher | Mercedes | +31.0 | 4 |
| 09. | V. Petrov | Renault | +57.4 | 2 |
| 10. | K. Kobayashi | Sauber | +1:03.2 | 1 |
| 11. | P. di Resta | Force India | +1:08.7 | |
| 12. | N. Heidfeld | Renault | +1:12.7 | |
| 13. | R. Barrichello | Williams | +1:30.1 | |
| 14. | S. Buemi | Toro Rosso | +1:30.6 | |
| 15. | A. Sutil | Force India | +1 lap | |
| 16. | H. Kovalainen | Team Lotus | +1 lap | |
| 17. | S. Perez | Sauber | +1 lap | |
| 18. | P. Maldonado | Williams | +1 lap | |
| 19. | J. Trulli | Team Lotus | +1 lap | |
| 20. | J. d’Ambrosio | Virgin | +2 laps | |
| 21. | T. Glock | Virgin | +2 laps | |
| 22. | V. Liuzzi | Hispania | +2 laps | |
| 23. | N. Karthikeyan | Hispania | +2 laps | |
| 24. | J. Alguersuari | Toro Rosso | Retired |
Race Report:
The drama started before the race with the McLaren of Lewis Hamilton suffering a flooded airbox. The mechanics struggled to get him out before the start, but a mad rush meant he just made it with 30 seconds to spare.
Sebastian Vettel had a poor getaway when the green lights came on, Jenson Button immediately jumped the German to take P1, whilst Hamilton slid up the inside of turn one to take P2.
A clean start from all saw all 24 drivers complete the first lap, however a jump start for Vitantonio Liuzzi resulted in a drive-through penalty.
Mark Webber didn’t have the best starts, though he jumped to 15th from 18th, a lack of grip saw him drop back to 17th.
Jaime Alguersuari was the first to stop, but a right-rear gun problem meant he left with a loose wheel, one which went AWOL at turn one.
A battle between the top three saw Vettel pass Hamilton using DRS, but he and Button stopped leaving Hamilton to take the lead.
A massive error came from Button on lap 14 as he chose to stop in the Red Bull pitbox rather than his own, which delayed Vettel immediately behind him.
An error from Hamilton allowed Felipe Massa through as they both pitted on lap 15, giving the Brazilian the jump into fourth whilst Nico Rosberg made a clean stop to jump into the lead.
As the race played out, it became apparent that the teams hadn’t expected such high tyre wear with both McLaren’s opting to go onto 3-stops strategies.
A fierce 7-lap battle between Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso ended on lap 26 when the Ferrari driver enabled his DRS to get a good run into the penultimate corner.
Nico Rosberg also pitted, he rejoined fourth but a lap later took third from Alonso using his fresh rubber.
Alonso once again easy prey a few laps later for Button, giving the Brit fourth, followed by Hamilton taking fifth from his old rival.
Vettel chose to pit on lap 32 after coming under pressure from Brazilian Massa who, at this point in the race, looked good for a podium finish.
On lap 36, Hamilton caught Button to battle for P2, with Hamilton the victor into turn one. That sparked a stop for the 2009-champion to take on hard tyres for his final stint.
The next driver in Hamilton’s sights was Vettel who had been struggling for pace on his worn tyres. It came down to turn 7 for the pass to take place to take the lead.
Mark Webber stormed past Rosberg, dispatching Massa then Button to secure his third place on the podium, a brilliant result for the Australian who started 18th.
Renault couldn’t continue their podium run with Vitaly Petrov finishing 9th to take two points whilst Nick Heidfeld tried to gain 11th, but a collision with Paul di Resta kept him in 12th.
The only retiree of the race was Jaime Alguersuari.
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