24-04-2014, 14:39
http://www.planetf1.com/driver/3260/9279...Chinese-GP'
Mercedes
Nico Rosberg 0 - Lewis Hamilton 4
Race: Hamilton
Lewis was supreme and serene out front, pulling away from the rest of the field while still lifting and coasting down the long back straight, giving him a massive fuel advantage on the rest of the field.
Nico Rosberg had a race that echoed the plot of Toy Story 3, where he spent the entire 1 hour 40 minutes trying to get back to his rightful place. It was the kind of thing that Mark Webber often had to do after a poor start. Rosberg tried to blame his own poor start on the lack of telemetry and being unable to set a clutch bite point. But Paddy Lowe - who you think would know this kind of stuff - said it wasn't. When the team boss says definitively it wasn't, yet the driver says it was, it does make you think about the effects of pressure. Lewis has been there and done that. It's all new for Nico.
Red Bull
Daniel Ricciardo 3 - Sebastian Vettel 1
Race: Ricciardo
Ricciardo qualified in front of Vettel again to make it 3-1 in the Saturday battles, more than Webber achieved for the whole of last year. And Vettel is supposedly good in cold and wet conditions after his debut win for Toro Rosso at Monza. Christian Horner says that Seb can't get his head round the 2014 tyres. Last season the Red Bull team couldn't get their heads round the 2013 tyres but after the Silverstone debacle they managed to apply pressure to get them changed in a way that suited their car. That isn't going to happen this year.
The incident with Vettel refusing to respond to team orders was another PR disaster for the four-times World Champion - "tough luck" was the real Vettel stripped of all the engineered niceties. And yet again Christian Horner handled it with all the authority of a supply teacher put in charge of the worst form in school. If Christian likes his drivers to be a bit feisty and ignore team orders, "they're racers" then why bother saying anything to them? An instruction is an instruction. Or maybe add "in your own time..."
Daniel Ricciardo is emerging as the real star of 2014 and he is going to be Red Bull's saviour. Many people in the sport are fed up with the team's attitude to the rules, Mateschitz's politicking, Horner sucking up to Bernie, their overspending and their failure to control a driver who has enjoyed more than his fair share of the spotlight. But you cannot hold that against Ricciardo - the quintessential nice-guy actually coming good for once.
Ferrari
Fernando Alonso 4 - Kimi Raikkonen 0
Race: Alonso
The usual qualifying position for Fernando - some stat monkey said that the Chinese GP was Fernando's 18th time in P5 on the grid for Ferrari. In the past he's used P5 as a springboard to P2, P3 or P4 on the opening lap, but this season he hasn't been getting away from the line so well. Not this Sunday. He was off at speed with only the small blemish of a wheelbang with his former team-mate.
Finishing third this year is like a win in class in one of the Le Mans WEC categories. This year the grid is divided into three classes: Mercedes (two entrants), F1 (16 entrants), GTA (four entrants). Alonso set an impressive series of laps, all Personal Bests, from Lap 44 through to Lap 48 to keep Daniel Ricciardo at bay and take his first podium of the year. Team-mate Raikkonen had no serious issues on his car but felt that his style of driving didn't get enough heat into the front tyres.
Is it just us, or does Marco Mattiacci look suspiciously like Giancarlo Fisichella's dad?
McLaren
Mercedes
Nico Rosberg 0 - Lewis Hamilton 4
Race: Hamilton
Lewis was supreme and serene out front, pulling away from the rest of the field while still lifting and coasting down the long back straight, giving him a massive fuel advantage on the rest of the field.
Nico Rosberg had a race that echoed the plot of Toy Story 3, where he spent the entire 1 hour 40 minutes trying to get back to his rightful place. It was the kind of thing that Mark Webber often had to do after a poor start. Rosberg tried to blame his own poor start on the lack of telemetry and being unable to set a clutch bite point. But Paddy Lowe - who you think would know this kind of stuff - said it wasn't. When the team boss says definitively it wasn't, yet the driver says it was, it does make you think about the effects of pressure. Lewis has been there and done that. It's all new for Nico.
Red Bull
Daniel Ricciardo 3 - Sebastian Vettel 1
Race: Ricciardo
Ricciardo qualified in front of Vettel again to make it 3-1 in the Saturday battles, more than Webber achieved for the whole of last year. And Vettel is supposedly good in cold and wet conditions after his debut win for Toro Rosso at Monza. Christian Horner says that Seb can't get his head round the 2014 tyres. Last season the Red Bull team couldn't get their heads round the 2013 tyres but after the Silverstone debacle they managed to apply pressure to get them changed in a way that suited their car. That isn't going to happen this year.
The incident with Vettel refusing to respond to team orders was another PR disaster for the four-times World Champion - "tough luck" was the real Vettel stripped of all the engineered niceties. And yet again Christian Horner handled it with all the authority of a supply teacher put in charge of the worst form in school. If Christian likes his drivers to be a bit feisty and ignore team orders, "they're racers" then why bother saying anything to them? An instruction is an instruction. Or maybe add "in your own time..."
Daniel Ricciardo is emerging as the real star of 2014 and he is going to be Red Bull's saviour. Many people in the sport are fed up with the team's attitude to the rules, Mateschitz's politicking, Horner sucking up to Bernie, their overspending and their failure to control a driver who has enjoyed more than his fair share of the spotlight. But you cannot hold that against Ricciardo - the quintessential nice-guy actually coming good for once.
Ferrari
Fernando Alonso 4 - Kimi Raikkonen 0
Race: Alonso
The usual qualifying position for Fernando - some stat monkey said that the Chinese GP was Fernando's 18th time in P5 on the grid for Ferrari. In the past he's used P5 as a springboard to P2, P3 or P4 on the opening lap, but this season he hasn't been getting away from the line so well. Not this Sunday. He was off at speed with only the small blemish of a wheelbang with his former team-mate.
Finishing third this year is like a win in class in one of the Le Mans WEC categories. This year the grid is divided into three classes: Mercedes (two entrants), F1 (16 entrants), GTA (four entrants). Alonso set an impressive series of laps, all Personal Bests, from Lap 44 through to Lap 48 to keep Daniel Ricciardo at bay and take his first podium of the year. Team-mate Raikkonen had no serious issues on his car but felt that his style of driving didn't get enough heat into the front tyres.
Is it just us, or does Marco Mattiacci look suspiciously like Giancarlo Fisichella's dad?
McLaren
Fernando es de otro planeta