2015 Chinese Grand Prix

 2015 Chinese Grand Prix

Racing data
3rd of 19 races in the 2015 Formula 1 World Championship
Surname:	2015 Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix
Date:	April 12, 2015
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: 35.782 min
Fastest lap
Driver:	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
Time:	1: 42.208 min (lap 31)
Podium
First:	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
Second:	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes
Third:	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari

The Chinese Grand Prix 2015 (officially 2015 Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix ) took place on 12 April at the Shanghai International Circuit in Shanghai instead and was the third race of the Formula 1 World Championship in 2015 .

report

backgrounds

After the Malaysian Grand Prix , Lewis Hamilton led the drivers' standings by three points over Sebastian Vettel and ten points over Nico Rosberg . In the constructors' championship, Mercedes led Ferrari with 24 points and Williams with 46 points .

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 .

The DRS zones remained unchanged compared to the previous year, the measuring point for the first zone was 35 meters before turn 16, the zone itself was on the start-finish straight and began 98 meters after the last curve. The measuring point for the second DRS zone was in curve 12, the DRS was then allowed to be activated 752 meters before curve 14.

Compared to the previous year, only minor changes were made to the track, the gravel bed in the run-off zone at the entrance to the pit lane was replaced by an asphalt run-off zone, and a safety fence was installed at this point to increase the safety of the marshals . The orange bands have been crossed out due to the risk of confusion with flag signals.

After both Red Bull drivers had brake problems during the race in Malaysia, the team switched brakes before the Chinese Grand Prix. As in 2014, Red Bull started with Brembo brake discs .

Before the Grand Prix, the FIA ​​prohibited Ferrari from using an injection system that, in qualifying, increased the fuel flow rate for a short time by around 15 kW (~ 20 hp).

Marcus Ericsson , Pastor Maldonado (five each), Sergio Pérez (four), Romain Grosjean and Nico Hülkenberg (two each) went into the race weekend with penalty points.

With Hamilton (three times), Fernando Alonso (twice), Kimi Räikkönen , Vettel, Jenson Button and Rosberg (once each), six former winners competed in this Grand Prix.

Mark Blundell (GBR), Gerd Ennser (DEU), Wang Feng (CHN) and Radovan Novak (CZE) acted as race commissioners .

free training

Daniil Kwjat's Red Bull is rescued after his accident in the second free practice session

In the first free practice, Hamilton set the fastest time in 1: 39.033 minutes ahead of Rosberg and Vettel. Roberto Merhi missed the 107 percent time .

In the second free practice session, Hamilton again set the fastest time in 1: 37.219 minutes, followed by Raikkonen and Daniel Ricciardo . Will Stevens missed the 107 percent time in this workout. The training had to be interrupted by Felipe Massa after an accident . Daniil Kwjat got off the track after a brake failure and hit the track barrier. There was another interruption when a spectator from the main stand first crossed the track, then jumped over the pit wall and ran into the Ferrari pit.

In the third free practice session, Hamilton again set the fastest time in 1: 37.615 minutes ahead of Rosberg and Vettel. Alonso had to park his car after just two minutes with a technical defect, Merhi failed again at the 107 percent hurdle.

Qualifying

The qualifying consisted of three parts with a net running time of 45 minutes. In the first qualifying segment (Q1), the drivers had 18 minutes to qualify for the race. All drivers who achieved a time in the first section that was a maximum of 107 percent of the fastest lap time qualified for the Grand Prix. The best 15 drivers reached the next part. Vettel was the fastest. The Manor and McLaren pilots as well as Nico Hülkenberg were eliminated.

The second section (Q2) lasted 15 minutes. The ten fastest pilots qualified for the third part of qualifying. Hamilton was fastest. Pérez, the Toro Rosso drivers, Kwjat and Maldonado did not make it into the last part of the timed practice.

The final section lasted twelve minutes, during which the first ten starting positions were assigned. Hamilton drove the fastest time ahead of Rosberg and Vettel.

run

Except for Kwjat and Carlos Sainz jr. all drivers started on the softer tire compound. At the start, Hamilton stayed in the lead from Rosberg and Vettel. Ricciardo started badly and fell back to the end of the field. Raikkonen overtook both Williams drivers on lap one and was fourth. On the second lap, Sainz spun in turn one, he was able to continue the race, but fell back to last place.

In the front part of the field there was no battles for positions, Hamilton was about a second ahead of Rosberg. Vettel was about three seconds behind, almost two seconds ahead of Raikkonen, the two Williams were another three seconds behind. In the tenth lap, Hülkenberg had to park his vehicle with a gearbox defect.

The first phase of the pit stops began on lap eleven; Felipe Nasr was the first driver to pit to change tires. From the leading group, Vettel drove into the pits on lap 13, he stayed on the softer tire compound. Hamilton on lap 14 and Rosberg and Raikkonen one lap later also switched to the softer mixture again, the positions remained unchanged during the pit stops. The Williams drivers used a different strategy and switched to the harder of the two tire compounds.

On lap 16, Kvjat had to park his car with an engine failure. At the front the field moved closer together, Rosberg complained several times over the radio that Hamilton was driving too slowly and that he had to keep his distance so that his tires in the slipstream did not deteriorate too much. Sainz reported a transmission problem at this point and coasted, but was able to continue driving at normal racing pace shortly afterwards. Ricciardo fought with Nasr for several laps, there were several overtaking maneuvers between the two drivers.

On lap 30, Vettel came back to the pits and switched to the harder tire compound. Hamilton drove the fastest race lap to date and was able to break away from Rosberg, who pitted on lap 31. Hamilton drove two more fast laps and switched to the harder tire compound on lap 33, so Raikkonen took the lead. Maldonado braked at the pit entrance and had to back up to be able to turn into the pit lane. Raikkonen also pitted on lap 35 and dropped back to fourth place. Shortly afterwards, Massa and Valtteri Bottas came to the pits and switched to the softer tire compound, but they were around 30 seconds behind Raikkonen.

Maldonado spun on lap 41 and was able to continue, but Button passed him. As a result, there were several overtaking maneuvers between Button and Maldonado, so that Alonso was able to catch up with both. On lap 48, Button and Maldonado collided at the end of the start-finish straight and Alonso was able to pass. Button's front wing was damaged in the process, but he was able to continue the race. Maldonado was also able to continue initially, but had to give up the race two laps later with braking problems on the rear axle. Button was subsequently given a five-second penalty for causing this collision, and he also received two penalty points.

Lewis Hamilton just before the end of the race

The positions at the top remained unchanged, Räikkönen was able to shorten the gap to Vettel with his fresher tires and was now 1.5 seconds behind his team-mate. Max Verstappen had to park his vehicle in the 54th of 56 laps with a technical defect in the middle of the start-finish straight. The safety car was sent out to rescue . As the marshals were only able to recover the car in the course of the last lap due to a blocking rear axle and an opening in the pit wall that was too narrow, overtaking was prohibited until the finish. A five-second penalty was also subsequently imposed on Merhi after the race because he drove too slowly behind the safety car. He also received two penalty points.

Hamilton won the race ahead of Rosberg and Vettel. This was the third time that the same drivers were on the podium in the third race. Since Hamilton also drove the fastest race lap, he managed a hat trick . Raikkonen, Massa, Bottas, Grosjean, Nasr, Ricciardo and Ericsson completed the top 10. Grosjean was able to score the first points for Lotus with seventh place this season.

Hamilton extended his lead in the drivers' championship ahead of Vettel and Rosberg. In the constructors' championship, Mercedes stayed ahead of Ferrari and Williams.

Registration list

team	No.	driver	chassis	engine	tires
Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes F1 W06 Hybrid	Mercedes-Benz PU106B Hybrid	P
	06th	Nico Rosberg
Infiniti Red Bull Racing	03	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull RB11	Renault Energy F1 2015	P
	26th	Daniil Kvyat
Williams Martini Racing	19th	Felipe Massa	Williams FW37	Mercedes-Benz PU106B Hybrid	P
	77	Valtteri Bottas
Scuderia Ferrari	05	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari SF15-T	Ferrari 059/4	P
	07th	Kimi Raikkonen
McLaren Honda	14th	Fernando Alonso	McLaren MP4-30	Honda RA615H	P
	22nd	Jenson Button
Sahara Force India F1 Team	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India VJM08	Mercedes-Benz PU106B Hybrid	P
	11	Sergio Perez
Scuderia Toro Rosso	33	Max Verstappen	Toro Rosso STR10	Renault Energy F1 2015	P
	55	Carlos Sainz Jr.
Lotus F1 Team	08th	Romain Grosjean	Lotus E23 Hybrid	Mercedes-Benz PU106B Hybrid	P
	13	Pastor Maldonado
	30th	Jolyon Palmer
Manor Marussia F1 Team	28	Will Stevens	Marussia MR03	Ferrari 059/3	P
	98	Roberto Merhi
Sauber F1 Team	09	Marcus Ericsson	Clean C34	Ferrari 059/4	P
	12	Felipe Nasr

1. ↑ ^{a b} The Lotus with the starting number 30 was used in the first free practice for Palmer. Grosjean then took over the vehicle with his number 8 for the rest of the race weekend.

Classifications

Qualifying

Item	driver	constructor	Q1	Q2	Q3	begin
01	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1: 38.285	1: 36.423	1: 35.782	01
02	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1: 38.496	1: 36.747	1: 35.824	02
03	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1: 37.502	1: 36.957	1: 36.687	03
04th	Felipe Massa	Williams-Mercedes	1: 38.433	1: 37.357	1: 36.954	04th
05	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Mercedes	1: 38.014	1: 37.763	1: 37.143	05
06th	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	1: 37.790	1: 37.109	1: 37.232	06th
07th	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull-Renault	1: 38.534	1: 37.939	1: 37.540	07th
08th	Romain Grosjean	Lotus Mercedes	1: 38.209	1: 38.063	1: 37.905	08th
09	Felipe Nasr	Clean Ferrari	1: 38.521	1: 38.017	1: 38.067	09
10	Marcus Ericsson	Clean Ferrari	1: 38.941	1: 38.127	1: 38.158	10
11	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus Mercedes	1: 38.563	1: 38.134	-	11
12	Daniil Kvyat	Red Bull-Renault	1: 39.051	1: 38.209	-	12
13	Max Verstappen	Toro Rosso-Renault	1: 38.387	1: 38.393	-	13
14th	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Toro Rosso-Renault	1: 38.622	1: 38.538	-	14th
15th	Sergio Perez	Force India-Mercedes	1: 38.903	1: 39.290	-	15th
16	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	1: 39.216	-	-	16
17th	Jenson Button	McLaren Honda	1: 39.276	-	-	17th
18th	Fernando Alonso	McLaren Honda	1: 39.280	-	-	18th
19th	Will Stevens	Marussia Ferrari	1: 42.091	-	-	19th
20th	Roberto Merhi	Marussia Ferrari	1: 42.842	-	-	20th
107 percent time : 1: 44.327 min (based on Q1 best time of 1: 37.502 min)

run

Item	driver	constructor	Round	time	begin	Fastest lap
01	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	56	1: 39: 42.008	01	1: 42.208 (31.)
02	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	56	+ 0.714	02	1: 42,565 (39.)
03	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	56	+ 2.988	03	1: 43.018 (15.)
04th	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	56	+ 3.835	06th	1: 43.026 (48th)
05	Felipe Massa	Williams-Mercedes	56	+ 8.544	04th	1: 42.734 (37.)
06th	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Mercedes	56	+ 9.885	05	1: 43.051 (37th)
07th	Romain Grosjean	Lotus Mercedes	56	+ 19.008	08th	1: 43.134 (34.)
08th	Felipe Nasr	Clean Ferrari	56	+ 22.625	09	1: 43.692 (46.)
09	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull-Renault	56	+ 32.117	07th	1: 43.245 (46.)
10	Marcus Ericsson	Clean Ferrari	55	+ 1 lap	10	1: 44.204 (32nd)
11	Sergio Perez	Force India-Mercedes	55	+ 1 lap	15th	1: 43,512 (44.)
12	Fernando Alonso	McLaren Honda	55	+ 1 lap	18th	1: 43.728 (40th)
13	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Toro Rosso-Renault	55	+ 1 lap	14th	1: 42.652 (41st)
14th	Jenson Button	McLaren Honda	55	+ 1 lap	17th	1: 44.991 (21.)
15th	Will Stevens	Marussia Ferrari	54	+ 2 rounds	19th	1: 45.414 (40.)
16	Roberto Merhi	Marussia Ferrari	54	+ 2 rounds	20th	1: 45.963 (43.)
17th	Max Verstappen	Toro Rosso-Renault	52	DNF	13	1: 43.880 (46.)
-	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus Mercedes	49	DNF	11	1: 43.686 (37.)
-	Daniil Kvyat	Red Bull-Renault	15th	DNF	12	1: 46.291 (13.)
-	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	09	DNF	16	1: 45.844 ( 06.)

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  Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 68 02  Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 55 03  Nico Rosberg Mercedes 51 04th  Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 30th 05  Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 24 06th  Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 18th 07th  Felipe Nasr Clean Ferrari 14th 08th  Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault 11 09  Romain Grosjean Lotus Mercedes 6th 10  Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 6th 11  Max Verstappen Toro Rosso-Renault 6th

Item driver constructor Points 12  Carlos Sainz Jr. Toro Rosso-Renault 6th 13  Marcus Ericsson Clean Ferrari 5 14th  Daniil Kvyat Red Bull-Renault 2 15th  Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1 16  Jenson Button McLaren Honda 0 17th  Fernando Alonso McLaren Honda 0 18th  Roberto Merhi Marussia Ferrari 0 19th  Will Stevens Marussia Ferrari 0 -  Pastor Maldonado Lotus Mercedes 0 -  Kevin Magnussen McLaren Honda 0

Constructors' championship

Item constructor Points 1  Mercedes 119 2  Ferrari 79 3  Williams-Mercedes 48 4th  Clean Ferrari 19th 5  Red Bull-Renault 13

Item constructor Points 06th  Toro Rosso-Renault 12 07th  Force India-Mercedes 7th 08th  Lotus Mercedes 6th 09  McLaren Honda 0 10  Marussia Ferrari 0

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Dominik Sharaf: Pirelli's tire choice will remain conservative until Bahrain. Motorsport-Total.com, March 4, 2015, accessed March 4, 2015 . 
2. ↑ ^{a b} Dominik Sharaf: Shanghai: DRS zones remain unchanged. Motorsport-Total.com, April 9, 2015, accessed April 9, 2015 . 
3. ↑ Marcus Lüttgens, Dieter Rencken: Red Bull is changing brake suppliers in Formula 1. Motorsport-Total.com, April 9, 2015, accessed April 9, 2015 . 
4. ↑ Dominik Sharaf: Media report: FIA prohibited Ferrari from using its qualifying turbo. Motorsport-Total.com, April 24, 2015, accessed April 24, 2015 . 
5. ↑ Dominik Sharaf: Mark Blundell in China FIA driver commissioner. Motorsport-Total.com, April 9, 2015, accessed April 9, 2015 . 
6. ^ GP China in Shanghai / 1st free practice. Motorsport-Total.com, April 10, 2015, accessed April 10, 2015 . 
7. ↑ GP China in Shanghai / 2nd free practice. Motorsport-Total.com, April 10, 2015, accessed April 10, 2015 . 
8. ↑ Stefan Ziegler: Formula 1 in China 2015: Mercedes in front, Red Bull surprised. Motorsport-Total.com, April 10, 2015, accessed April 10, 2015 . 
9. ↑ Christian Nimmervoll: Formula 1 China 2015: Hamilton dominates final training. Motorsport-Total.com, April 11, 2015, accessed April 11, 2015 . 
10. ↑ Rebecca Friese: Too slowly behind the safety car: Time penalty for Roberto Merhi. Motorsport-Total.com, April 12, 2015, accessed April 12, 2015 .