Chinese GP: Race - Re-Cap & Results

CHINESE GRAND PRIX - RACE

When the lights went out, Daniel Ricciardo soared past Nico Rosbrg, who had started on Pole. He was also the only Mercedes driver up in front. His team-mate, Lewis Hamilton, was starting all the way back from 22nd after a grid-penalty and not being able to set a time in Qualifying due to mechanical issues.

    Daniil Kvyat tried to go past both Ferrari's on the first lap, which caused Vettel to swerve into Raikkonen in an attempt to avoid getting hit by the Red Bull. Raikkonen was spun off track and had damage to his car. Vettel also had damage as well, but managed to avoid an early pit-stop. Hamilton had first-lap-damage as well and his whole front wing fell off and was dragged under his car, before finally flying onto the track. 

    Romain Grosjean, who was celebrating his 30th birthday, had a very unlucky race after Ericsson collided with him on the first lap. He ended up with damage to the car and was unable to get up into the points this time around. Team-mate, Gutierrez, was unable to score points either, but finished the race, something he was unable to do in Australia (Collision with Alonso) and Bahrain (Brake failure).

     Lewis Hamilton ended up with more than 3 pit stops early on in the race after a slight tyre strategy mix-up. Force India double-boxed their drivers, causing Hulkenberg to have to drive slow while Perez was getting his tyres changed. This almost caused a collision between Perez and Sainz. Hulkenberg was given a 5-Second-Time-Penalty and 2 Penalty Points to his license for driving slowly in pit-lane.

    It was a decent race for Toro Rosso with both cars finishing in the points. Verstappen came in 8th and Sainz made a last-lap pass on Bottas for 9th. A total of 6 points added to the teams tally and they sit 6th in the Constructors Championship. Force India, however, were unable to get points after both drivers struggled in the later half of the race. It had looked promising at first with both drivers running in the top 5 for multiple laps.

    In the end, not one car retired from the race. It was only the 6th time that has happened in F1 history. Nico Rosberg, who won the race, ended up being the 4th driver to ever win 6 consecutive races in a row (The last three in 2015 and the first three of 2016). Sebastian Vettel managed to hold on to Second place after a battle wit Kvyat, who finished Third to finish the podium. 

RACE RESULTS:

1. Nico Rosberg / Mercedes-Mercedes / Germany / + 25 Points

2. Sebastian Vettel / Ferrari-Ferrari / Germany / + 18 Points

3. Daniil Kvyat / Red Bull-TAG-HEUER / Russia / + 15 Points

4. Daniel Ricciardo / Red Bull-TAG-HEUER / Australia / + 12 Points

5. Kimi Raikkonen / Ferrari-Ferrari / Finland / + 10 Points

6. Felipe Massa / Williams-Mercedes / Brazil / + 8 Points

7. Lewis Hamilton / Mercedes-Mercedes / Great Britain / + 6 Points

8. Max Verstappen / Toro Rosso-Ferrari / Netherlands / + 4 Points

9. Carlos Sainz / Toro Rosso-Ferrari / Spain / + 2 Points

10. Valtteri Bottas / Williams-Mercedes / Finland / + 1 Point

11. Sergio Perez / Force India-Mercedes / Mexico

12. Fernando Alonso / McLaren-Honda / Spain

13. Jenson Button / McLaren-Honda / Great Britain

14. Esteban Gutierrez / Haas-Ferrari / Mexico

15. Nico Hulkenberg / Force India-Mercedes / Germany

16. Marcus Ericsson / Sauber-Ferrari / Sweden

17. Kevin Magnussen / Renault-Renault / Denmark

18. Pascal Wehrlein / Manor-Mercedes / Germany

19. Romain Grosjean / Haas-Ferrari / France

20. Felipe Nasr / Sauber-Ferrari / Brazil

21. Rio Haryanto / Manor-Mercedes / Indonesia

22. Jolyon Palmer / Renault-Renault / Great Britain

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Article Written By: Amy Hawk

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