The twelfth Chinese Grand Prix to be held at the Tilke-designed Shanghai International Circuit was certainly invigorated by a dash of controversy. For the first time in 2015, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg’s intense inter-team battle boiled over, as the German accused the reigning champion of compromising his race. With Ferrari in close company, Rosberg indicated that Hamilton’s actions put the team’s eventual 1-2 finish in doubt.
The F1 circus moved to Shanghai on the back of Sebastian Vettel’s surprise victory in Malaysia. It was his first victory for Ferrari and one which had journalists and armchair pundits alike pondering whether Vettel could mount a title challenge to Mercedes in 2015.
As such, the Chinese Grand Prix was arguably one of Mercedes’ most important weekend’s of the V6 era, as they looked to reassert their pre-eminence and demonstrate that they were still the class of the field.
Saturday saw Hamilton and Rosberg resume usual form, as they locked out the front row. Frustratingly for number six, he found himself a mere 0.04 seconds adrift of his chief rival. This fine divide figured heavily in the race. Meanwhile, Vettel ended nearly a full second away from Hamilton’s benchmark, while Kimi Raikkonen was left with work to do having been demoted to sixth by the Williams duo.
While Raikkonen addressed his Saturday woes within the first handful of corners on lap one – elevating himself to fourth – it was status quo for the top three. With tyre wear being a key element of the race, pace management was always going to be a factor.
By lap 20, Rosberg was more than two seconds adrift of Hamilton, while Vettel had closed to within two seconds, therefore making the undercut a possibility for Ferrari. Feeling that Hamilton was lapping unnecessarily slowly in order to back him into the threatening Ferrari duo, Rosberg told the pit wall to “get him to speed up”.
Rosberg’s dilemma was compounded by the fact that, when running in Hamilton’s turbulent air during the opening stint, his tyre degradation was significantly accelerated. Hence, in his opinion, closing up to Hamilton and attempting an overtake was out of the question prior to the second round of pit-stops. A notion which was challenged by Hamilton in what was a rather frosty post-race press conference.
Elsewhere, Max Verstappen was creating headlines of his own. He demonstrated maturity far beyond his year’s in China, as the Dutchman performed a catalogue of spectacular overtakes.
Marcus Ericsson, Felipe Nasr, and Sergio Perez were all swiftly demoted by the teenager. While his race ended prematurely when his Renault powertrain expired, it was a performance which cemented his credentials as a future champion and set the tone for what was to come in the remainder of his maiden campaign.
Meanwhile, Pastor Maldonado had a day full of adventure, as the Venezuelan first overshot the pit-lane entry. Having dashed Hamilton’s title hopes in 2007, Maldonado became the latest to fall foul of the tricky piece of tarmac. He later found himself in a close battle with both Jenson Button and a fast-charging Fernando Alonso. On lap 47, the duel was curtailed as the Englishman collided with the Lotus, in an incident which forced Maldonado into retirement.
Out in front, Hamilton remained unchallenged as he took his fourth Chinese Grand Prix victory. Posting the fastest lap along the way, Rosberg finished directly behind his teammate for a third consecutive race, as Lewis’ championship advantage had extended to 17 points.
The first flashpoint of the 2015 season. Lewis left China on a high with his main rival aggrieved. “It’s just interesting to hear from you, Lewis, that you were just thinking about yourself with the pace in front, and that was compromising my race,” Nico stated after the race.
Lewis’ reply – “it’s not my job to look after Nico’s race” – becoming one of the most replayed quotes of the season.
