2013 Chinese Grand Prix

 2013 Chinese Grand Prix

Racing data
3rd of 19 races in the 2013 Formula 1 World Championship
Surname:	2013 Formula 1 UBS Chinese Grand Prix
Date:	April 14, 2013
Place:	Shanghai
Course:	Shanghai International Circuit
Length:	305.066 km in 56 laps of 5.451 km
Pole position
Driver:	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
Time:	1: 34.484 min
Fastest lap
Driver:	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault
Time:	1: 36.808 min (lap 53)
Podium
First:	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari
Second:	Kimi Raikkonen	Lotus Renault
Third:	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes

The Chinese Grand Prix 2013 (officially 2013 Formula 1 UBS Chinese Grand Prix ) took place on 14 April at the Shanghai International Circuit in Shanghai instead and was the third race of the Formula 1 World Championship in 2013 . Fernando Alonso ( Ferrari ) won the race ahead of Kimi Räikkönen ( Lotus-Renault ) and Lewis Hamilton ( Mercedes ).

Reports

backgrounds

After the Malaysian Grand Prix , Sebastian Vettel led the drivers' standings with nine points ahead of Kimi Räikkönen and 14 points ahead of Mark Webber . Red Bull-Renault led the constructors' championship with 26 points ahead of Lotus-Renault and Ferrari .

At the Chinese Grand Prix, Pirelli provided the drivers with the tire compounds P Zero Medium (white) and P Zero Soft (yellow), as well as Cinturato Intermediates (green) and Cinturato Full Wets (blue) for wet conditions .

Fernando Alonso started at this Grand Prix for the 200th time in Formula 1.

With Lewis Hamilton (twice), Alonso, Raikkonen, Vettel, Jenson Button and Nico Rosberg (once each), six former winners competed in this Grand Prix.

Mark Blundell (GBR), Garry Connelly (AUS), Steven Chopping (AUS) and Wang Feng (CHN) acted as race stewards.

training

In the first free practice, Rosberg set the fastest time in front of his teammates Hamilton and Webber. Sergio Pérez lost control of his vehicle at the end of practice and slipped into a pile of tires as he entered the pit lane. Qing Hua Ma replaced Charles Pic at Caterham in this training . He was the only pilot above the 107 percent time . In the second free practice, Felipe Massa drove the fastest lap ahead of Raikkonen and Alonso. During the training it was shown that the tires deteriorated significantly, especially during the full tank tests. Pérez was noticed again with a slip. Both Marussia pilots retired due to a technical defect. The team suspected a crack in the oil tank was the cause.

In the third free practice session, Alonso took the lead from Massa and Hamilton. Ferrari used a new front wing on both vehicles.

Qualifying

In the first qualifying segment, the drivers tried to drive just one fast lap to save tires. All drivers opted for the softer tire compound. Hamilton posted the fastest time. The Caterham and Marussia pilots as well as Esteban Gutiérrez and Valtteri Bottas were eliminated. In the second segment, the pilots continued to only use the softer mixture. Hamilton stayed in the lead. Webber stopped in this session with insufficient fuel pressure. The Force India pilots as well as Jean-Éric Vergne , Pastor Maldonado , Webber and Pérez were eliminated.

Hamilton was also the fastest in the third segment, achieving the first pole position for his new Mercedes team. Räikkönen and Alonso followed in second and third place. In the final section, only eight pilots drove a timed lap. Of these, the first seven drove with the softer tire compound. Button drove a time on the harder compound that was more than half a minute slower than the fastest lap, so as to start eighth ahead of the drivers who did not do a timed lap. Vettel and Nico Hülkenberg did not drive a timed lap and thus had a free choice of tires for the Grand Prix.

Since it was discovered after qualifying that Webber's car had too little fuel on board due to a fault in the tank system, he was excluded from qualifying. He was allowed to start from the last place on the grid. The team decided to make changes to the vehicle, so Webber started from the pit lane.

run

The Chinese Grand Prix was determined by the strategic approach of the teams and drivers.

Raikkonen got off to a bad start in the Grand Prix, so that both Ferrari drivers passed him. Hamilton retained the lead. Force India touched in midfield, but there was no damage. Webber, who had started out of the pits, went to the pits after the first lap and switched from the softer to the harder tire compound.

While Hülkenberg had overtaken Vettel, who followed the same strategy as Hülkenberg, in midfield, Alonso and Massa Hamilton overtook together on the start-finish straight on the fifth lap with the help of the Drag Reduction System (DRS). Hamilton pitted at the end of the lap, just like his teammate Rosberg. Both switched from the softer to the harder tire compound. In the meantime there was a collision between Gutiérrez and Sutil. Gutiérrez missed the braking point at the end of the long straight and drove Sutil into the rear, so that both of them retired. The race stewards investigated the incident after the race and imposed a five-position penalty for the next race against Gutiérrez.

One lap after Hamilton, Alonso and Raikkonen also pitted, one lap later Massa, who was in the lead for one lap. Everyone switched from the softer to the harder mixture. After the top group had completed their pit stop, Hülkenberg led in front of Vettel, Button, Pérez, di Resta and Alonso. The first five drivers all started on the harder tires and stayed out longer. Massa fell behind Webber due to his stop, but overtook him a little later.

Mark Webber loses his right rear wheel ...

... and then has to give up the race.

Alonso passed di Resta and Pérez in the next few laps and was finally in second place behind Button, as Hülkenberg and Vettel pitted. Because Hülkenberg had problems stopping, Vettel passed him at the pits. Vettel had not previously managed to drive past Hulkenberg on the route, which is why he was unable to get the planned advantage.

Meanwhile there were two collisions in midfield. Webber pulled up next to Vergne and collided with him. Vettel overtook both. Webber pit for a repair stop while Vergne fell by the wayside. When changing the front wing, the tires on Webber's vehicle were also changed. His right rear wheel was not properly attached. Webber drove slowly around the course until the wheel came loose just before the pit entrance. Webber dropped out. The race management investigated the collision between him and Vergne after the race and imposed a starting place penalty of three positions on Webber. Red Bull was fined € 5,000 for driving on with the loose tire. The other collision occurred between Raikkonen and Pérez. Raikkonen damaged the tip of the front wing, which was now open, when it came into contact with the rear of Pérez. The damage did not require repair and the impact on Raikkonen's racing pace was marginal. Neither driver involved was sanctioned for this collision.

Shortly before the second pit stops, Alonso passed Button, who had not yet stopped, and took the lead of the race. At this point, Alonso was about 13 seconds ahead of the drivers who were on the same strategy as him. Alonso and Button went to the pits a little later, so Vettel took the lead. However, it did not take long before Alonso had caught up with Vettel and overtook him. Vettel had previously been asked by his team to pay attention to his lap times and not to duel with Alonso, as both pursued different strategies. During their second pit stops, Vettel and Hülkenberg decided on different tires. Hulkenberg switched to the softer mixture so that he could use the harder one at the end of the race. Vettel stayed on the harder tire, so he had to make another stop. In the meantime, Rosberg had given up with a defect in the rear stabilizer.

Alonso extended his lead over Raikkonen and Hamilton, who were third and fourth, but used the same strategy as Alonso, in this racing phase and also stayed longer on the track. After his third and final pit stop, Alonso lost the lead for one lap to Vettel. Vettel, who, unlike Alonso, had to come back to change tires, let Alonso pass without any problems shortly afterwards, so that neither of them lost any time. For similar reasons, Button let Raikkonen and Hamilton pass without resistance.

Fernando Alonso on the way to his first win of the season

While Alonso led the race in the final phase with about ten seconds ahead of Raikkonen and was asked by the team to conserve the material, Vettel drove the fastest laps with the softer tires after a late last pit stop and shortened the gap to Hamilton in front of him whose tires deteriorated more in the race and had to save fuel in the first corner. Vettel caught up with Hamilton, but it was no longer enough for an overtaking maneuver, as the race was over when Vettel was in direct striking distance.

Alonso won the race ahead of Raikkonen, Hamilton and Vettel. At a greater distance followed in the other top 10 places Button, Massa, Ricciardo, di Resta, Grosjean and Hülkenberg. Ricciardo achieved his best result in Formula 1 to date with seventh place. Button was the only driver in the top 10 who implemented a two-stop strategy instead of using a three-stop strategy.

With his 31st Formula 1 victory, Alonso drew level with Nigel Mansell in fourth position in the all-time best list of Formula 1 winners .

In the world championship, Vettel kept the lead from Raikkonen. Alonso took third position. Red Bull stayed in the lead among the constructors. Ferrari passed Lotus into second place.

Comments from the first three drivers

“It couldn't have gone better today! I haven't won since Germany and that is a special feeling because it was a difficult race full of incidents. Together with the second place I took in Australia, this result shows that this car is competitive and that we are working in the right direction to always fight for the podium.
I have to thank the team for their tremendous efforts, both here and at home in the factory. You worked so hard to get me into this situation where I can fight on an equal footing with the others.
We had a good feeling throughout the weekend and finishing third in qualifying gave us the opportunity to fight for top positions. In addition, we may deserve a little luck. Together with all these important factors such as the setup, the strategy, the decision for the pit stops and the pit stops themselves, everything worked perfectly. All of this together produced a victory that was not easy in the end.
We made the most of our speed and did a good job keeping the tires up. That was definitely the most dangerous aspect. Since nobody is dominating the championship, it is extremely interesting, even if we are of course aware that this is only the third race. We are not under any illusions and have to continue to concentrate, give everything to keep improving. "

- Fernando Alonso

“Second place wasn't exactly what we wanted. But under these circumstances it was the best we could achieve today. I'm not 100 percent happy because we didn't win, but that's the way it is and second place is a good result after a bad start and the incident with Sergio Pérez.
It was pretty difficult out there because of course the car isn't designed that way, otherwise we would of course use it all the time. However, I was surprised at how good it was. Of course there were a few problems with the handling, which wasn't ideal, but we just had to try to live with it and, amazingly, we still had good speed. "

- Kimi Raikkonen

“That was a good race for me. Of course I would have preferred to win, but I'm very happy with this third place and my second podium in a row. Fernando Alonso and Kimi Räikkönen were a bit faster than us in the race today.
In the end, my tires deteriorated a lot when I tried to stay ahead of Sebastian Vettel. I saw him getting bigger and bigger in the rearview mirror, so it was all the nicer to defend third place against him.
The guys have done a great job this weekend to put us in that position. We got absolutely everything out of the car today - that's a very nice feeling. In terms of overall pace, we're not quite where we want to be. But everyone in the team is working very hard on it and I am convinced that we can do it. "

- Lewis Hamilton

Registration list

team	No.	driver	chassis	engine	tires
Infiniti Red Bull Racing	01	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull RB9	Renault 2.4 V8	P
	02	Mark Webber
Scuderia Ferrari	03	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari F138	Ferrari 2.4 V8	P
	04th	Felipe Massa
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes	05	Jenson Button	McLaren MP4-28	Mercedes-Benz 2.4 V8	P
	06th	Sergio Perez
Lotus F1 Team	07th	Kimi Raikkonen	Lotus E21	Renault 2.4 V8	P
	08th	Romain Grosjean
Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team	09	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes F1 W04	Mercedes-Benz 2.4 V8	P
	10	Lewis Hamilton
Sauber F1 Team	11	Nico Hulkenberg	Clean C32	Ferrari 2.4 V8	P
	12	Esteban Gutiérrez
Sahara Force India F1 Team	14th	Paul di Resta	Force India VJM06	Mercedes-Benz 2.4 V8	P
	15th	Adrian Sutil
Williams F1 team	16	Pastor Maldonado	Williams FW35	Renault 2.4 V8	P
	17th	Valtteri Bottas
Scuderia Toro Rosso	18th	Jean-Éric Vergne	Toro Rosso STR8	Ferrari 2.4 V8	P
	19th	Daniel Ricciardo
Caterham F1 team	20th	Qing Hua Ma	Caterham CT03	Renault 2.4 V8	P
		Charles Pic
	21st	Giedo van der Garde
Marussia F1 Team	22nd	Jules Bianchi	Marussia MR02	Cosworth 2.4 V8	P
	23	Max Chilton

Remarks

1. ↑ ^{a b} Ma drove the Caterham with the number 20 in the first free practice. Pic then took over the vehicle for the rest of the race weekend.

Classifications

Qualifying

Item	driver	constructor	Q1	Q2	Q3	begin
01	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1: 35.793	1: 35.078	1: 34.484	01
02	Kimi Raikkonen	Lotus Renault	1: 37.046	1: 35.659	1: 34.761	02
03	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1: 36.253	1: 35.148	1: 34.788	03
04th	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1: 35.959	1: 35.537	1: 34.861	04th
05	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1: 35.972	1: 35.403	1: 34.933	05
06th	Romain Grosjean	Lotus Renault	1: 36.929	1: 36.065	1: 35.364	06th
07th	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1: 36.993	1: 36.258	1: 35.998	07th
08th	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	1: 36.667	1: 35.784	2: 05.673	08th
09	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault	1: 36.537	1: 35.343	no time	09
10	Nico Hulkenberg	Clean Ferrari	1: 36.985	1: 36.261	no time	10
11	Paul di Resta	Force India-Mercedes	1: 37.478	1: 36.287	-	11
12	Sergio Perez	McLaren-Mercedes	1: 36.952	1: 36.314	-	12
13	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Mercedes	1: 37.349	1: 36.405	-	13
14th	Pastor Maldonado	Williams-Renault	1: 37.281	1: 37.139	-	14th
15th	Jean-Éric Vergne	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1: 37.508	1: 37.199	-	15th
16	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Renault	1: 37.769	-	-	16
17th	Esteban Gutiérrez	Clean Ferrari	1: 37.990	-	-	17th
18th	Jules Bianchi	Marussia-Cosworth	1: 38.780	-	-	18th
19th	Max Chilton	Marussia-Cosworth	1: 39.537	-	-	19th
20th	Charles Pic	Caterham-Renault	1: 39.614	-	-	20th
21st	Giedo van der Garde	Caterham-Renault	1: 39.660	-	-	21st
107 percent time : 1: 42.498 min (based on Q1 best time of 1: 35.793 min)
EX	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	1: 36.148	1: 36.679	-	box

Remarks

1. ↑ Mark Webber was excluded from qualifying because his car had stopped running in the second section without fuel. He was allowed to start from the last place on the grid. Since Red Bull decided to make changes to the car, Webber had to start from the pit lane.

run

Item	driver	constructor	Round	Stops	time	begin	Fastest lap
01	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	56	3	1: 36: 26.945	03	1: 39.506 (46.)
02	Kimi Raikkonen	Lotus Renault	56	3	+ 10.168	02	1: 39.955 (51st)
03	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	56	3	+ 12,322	01	1: 39.981 (50th)
04th	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault	56	3	+ 12.525	09	1: 36.808 (53.)
05	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	56	2	+ 35.285	08th	1: 38.058 (56th)
06th	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	56	3	+ 40.827	05	1: 40.284 (55.)
07th	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	56	3	+ 42.691	07th	1: 40,240 (55.)
08th	Paul di Resta	Force India-Mercedes	56	3	+ 51.084	11	1: 40.101 (55.)
09	Romain Grosjean	Lotus Renault	56	3	+ 53.423	06th	1: 40,563 (55.)
10	Nico Hulkenberg	Clean Ferrari	56	3	+ 56.598	10	1: 40.630 (31st)
11	Sergio Perez	McLaren-Mercedes	56	2	+1: 03.860	12	1: 41.281 (55.)
12	Jean-Éric Vergne	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	56	3	+1: 12.604	15th	1: 40.138 (56.)
13	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Renault	56	3	+1: 33.861	16	1: 38,200 (53rd)
14th	Pastor Maldonado	Williams-Renault	56	3	+1: 35.453	14th	1: 40.968 (54th)
15th	Jules Bianchi	Marussia-Cosworth	55	3	+ 1 lap	18th	1: 41,537 (35.)
16	Charles Pic	Caterham-Renault	55	3	+ 1 lap	20th	1: 41,997 (48th)
17th	Max Chilton	Marussia-Cosworth	55	3	+ 1 lap	19th	1: 41.978 (39.)
18th	Giedo van der Garde	Caterham-Renault	55	3	+ 1 lap	21st	1: 42,357 (42nd)
-	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	21st	3	DNF	04th	1: 43.378 ( 07.)
-	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	15th	2	DNF	box	1: 43.416 (12.)
-	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Mercedes	05	0	DNF	13	1: 44.257 ( 03rd)
-	Esteban Gutiérrez	Clean Ferrari	04th	0	DNF	17th	1: 44.775 ( 02nd)

World Cup stands after the race

The first ten of the race got 25, 18, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 and 1 point (s) respectively.

Driver ranking

Item driver constructor Points 01  Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 52 02  Kimi Raikkonen Lotus Renault 49 03  Fernando Alonso Ferrari 43 04th  Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 40 05  Felipe Massa Ferrari 30th 06th  Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 26th 07th  Nico Rosberg Mercedes 12 08th  Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 12 09  Romain Grosjean Lotus Renault 11 10  Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 8th 11  Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 6th

Item driver constructor Points 12  Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 6th 13  Nico Hulkenberg Clean Ferrari 5 14th  Sergio Perez McLaren-Mercedes 2 15th  Jean-Éric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1 16  Valtteri Bottas Williams-Renault 0 17th  Esteban Gutiérrez Clean Ferrari 0 18th  Jules Bianchi Marussia-Cosworth 0 19th  Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 0 20th  Charles Pic Caterham-Renault 0 21st  Giedo van der Garde Caterham-Renault 0 22nd  Max Chilton Marussia-Cosworth 0

Constructors' championship

Item constructor Points 01  Red Bull-Renault 78 02  Ferrari 73 03  Lotus Renault 60 04th  Mercedes 52 05  McLaren-Mercedes 14th 06th  Force India-Mercedes 14th

Item constructor Points 07th  Toro Rosso-Ferrari 7th 08th  Clean Ferrari 5 09  Williams-Renault 0 10  Marussia-Cosworth 0 11  Caterham-Renault 0

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Stefan Ziegler: "Pirelli calls tire allocation for the first races of the season". Motorsport-Total.com, February 13, 2013, accessed February 18, 2013 . 
2. ↑ Christian Nimmervoll: "Mercedes dominates the start of training in China". Motorsport-Total.com, April 12, 2013, accessed April 12, 2013 . 
3. ^ "GP China in Shanghai / 1st free practice". Motorsport-Total.com, April 12, 2013, accessed April 12, 2013 . 
4. ↑ Christian Nimmervoll: "Tire poker in China: Massa on Friday ahead". Motorsport-Total.com, April 12, 2013, accessed April 13, 2013 . 
5. ^ "GP China in Shanghai / 2nd free practice". Motorsport-Total.com, April 12, 2013, accessed April 13, 2013 . 
6. ↑ "China: Ferrari dominates the final training". Motorsport-Total.com, April 13, 2013, accessed April 13, 2013 . 
7. ^ "GP China in Shanghai / 3rd free practice". Motorsport-Total.com, April 13, 2013, accessed April 13, 2013 . 
8. ↑ Norman Fischer: "Red Bull: Error in the tank system does not deliver enough fuel". Motorsport-Total.com, April 13, 2013, accessed April 13, 2013 . 
9. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} Christian Nimmervoll: "Sovereign victory of Alonso in China". Motorsport-Total.com, April 14, 2013, accessed December 14, 2013 . 
10. ^ ^{A b c} Andrew Benson: “Classy Fernando Alonso takes China victory for Ferrari”. bbc.com, April 14, 2013, accessed December 14, 2013 . 
11. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h} "GP China in Shanghai / Race - Chronology". Motorsport-Total.com, April 14, 2013, accessed April 14, 2013 . 
12. ↑ Kerstin Hasenbichler: "Formula 1 - Sutil-Crash: Stewards punish Gutierrez". Five starting positions back. Motorsport-Magazin.com, May 14, 2013, accessed May 14, 2013 . 
13. ↑ Michael Wittershagen: "With unbeatable devotion". faz.net, April 14, 2013, accessed December 14, 2013 . 
14. ↑ Kerstin Hasenbichler: "Formula 1 - Mark Webber will be transferred to Bahrain". Collision with Vergne. Motorsport-Magazin.com, April 14, 2013, accessed April 14, 2013 . 
15. ↑ Kerstin Hasenbichler: "Formula 1 - Red Bull has to pay 5,000 euros". Unsafe release. Motorsport-Magazin.com, April 14, 2013, accessed April 14, 2013 . 
16. ↑ ^{a b} Fabian Hust: "Mercedes: Tire damage and technology cost chances to win". Motorsport-Total.com, April 14, 2013, accessed December 14, 2013 . 
17. ↑ "Chinese Grand Prix: Alonso wins superior, Vettel gambled away". spiegel.de, April 14, 2013, accessed December 14, 2013 . 
18. ↑ Fabian Hust: "Ferrari: A Victory and Homework for Ferrari". Motorsport-Total.com, April 14, 2013, accessed December 14, 2013 . 
19. ↑ Fabian Hust: "Lotus: Raikkonen with a wounded car second". Motorsport-Total.com, April 14, 2013, accessed December 14, 2013 .