The rain always makes a Formula 1 race interesting, and this is no exception! Ahead of this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix, we look back at the fourth round of the 2010 season where the rain gave us an exciting race around the Shanghai International Circuit.
The two Red Bulls locked out the front row, Vettel on pole ahead of Mark Webber. Alonso was third, whilst Nico Rosberg put in a good performance for Mercedes to line up fourth – ahead of the two McLarens of Button and Hamilton.
Fernando Alonso got a scorcher of a start – entering the first corner miles ahead of Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel – who swapped positions going into the long right hander of turn 1. His start, though, was a bit too good. For the first time in his career, he had jumped the lights and was duly punished with a drive through penalty. Further down the field, Vitantonio Liuzzi lost the rear of his Force India under braking, sending him into the Toro Rosso of Buemi and Kamui Kobayashi’s Sauber. All three were eliminated, whilst Nico Hulkenberg had to take evasive action in his Williams to avoid joining them.
The accident brought the Safety Car out, and with that most of the drivers came into the pits to switch to intermediate tyres. For Red Bull, this was disastrous. An air gun problem meant that Webber had an awful pit stop – and as the team chose to stack Vettel in behind, both cars had their races ruined.
Nico Rosberg and Jenson Button opted to stay out, giving them the lead once the track returned to green flag conditions. They were followed by the two Renaults of Kubica and Petrov – two others who opted to stay out – whilst Heikki Kovalainen was sixth for Lotus as he too stayed out.
The front four were handed a healthy lead over the rest of the field, who made a mistake by pitting as the rain did not come quick enough and they were forced back onto slick tyres.
The rain did eventually come – promoting yet more pit lane drama.
The two Ferraris jostled for the first stop in the pit lane entrance, whilst Hamilton and Vettel were wheel to wheel down the exit – something that saw them both reprimanded by the stewards after the race.
What unfolded was a brilliant duel between Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton. The two diced for position down the long back straight. Hamilton took the place in the slip stream, but the Mercedes pulled the same trick. Schuey had the inside line for the corner, but ran in too deep and allowed the McLaren to finally take the place.
Jaime Alguersuari ran into difficulties with a backmarker and damaged his front wing. As he pitted to replace it, the remnants collapsed. The Toro Rosso driver ran over them, scattering debris across the track and bringing the Safety Car out again.
Button slowed the pack to a near halt before the restart, causing all kinds of mayhem as the cars bunched up. Mark Webber lost 6 places as he was forced to go off track. He had dropped to twelfth – outside of the points. The Australian was not best pleased.
Hamilton was on a charge after the restart and had no problems passing Kubica once he had seen off seven times champion Schumacher. The Brit took the outside line down the back straight and easily out braked the Polish driver’s Renault. Alonso passed Adrian Sutil at the same point – squeezing the German out on the exit of the penultimate corner.
Rosberg brilliantly fended off Lewis Hamilton through the fast second sector, meaning that he was ahead of his future team mate before the final round of pit stops saw the McLaren jump the Mercedes. Alonso managed to jump Kubica’s Renault in the pits.
Both Barrichello and Sutil would finish the race
Button now lead a McLaren one-two, whilst Vitaly Petrov had begun a resurgence in the second works Renault. Webber ran wide entering the looping right hander going onto the main straight, allowing the Russian to squeeze through. Petrov would finally come home in seventh place.
Jenson Button took victory in China – continuing the trend of the Chinese Grand Prix being won by a different driver every year. He became the first repeat winner of the season and, thanks to Massa finishing ninth, took the championship lead. Rosberg completed the podium, with Alonso, Kubica and Vettel following up. Mark Webber went from 2nd on the grid to eighth in the race.
McLaren now led the constructors’ championship by 19 points over Ferrari, whilst Button took a 10 point lead in the drivers’ championship – ahead of second place man Nico Rosberg as Formula 1 moved on to Europe and the Spanish Grand Prix. The amazing season would see Vettel and Red Bull take the first of their four consecutive titles in the final race of the year at Abu Dhabi.
Picture courtesy of Williams F1 Team
