It was an interesting weekend at the FORMULA 1 2018 HEINEKEN CHINESE GRAND PRIX in Shanghai. Practice was impacted by high winds and some minor rain, but that didn’t stop the top teams from settings lap times within fractions of a second from each other. The weekend finished with a dynamite drive and shocking finish.
Lewis Hamilton started the first practice session of the weekend out strong, earning the top spot. Many teams headed onto the track right at the start of the session, hoping to rack up some laps before the forecasted rain. After the halfway point of the session, some light spots of rain hit the circuit, causing slightly lower grip and leading to a lot of spins. Strong winds didn’t help the situation. Kimi Räikkönen was second fastest of the session, with Valtteri Bottas, the two Red Bull drivers and Sebastian Vettel rounding up the top six.
With more rain forecast for the second free practice session, it was overcast skies and another rush to get onto the track for some laps. Bottas claimed the top spot of the session before being overtaken by Hamilton and Räikkönen. Stoffel Vandoorne highlighted the current pit stop issues in the sport, retiring 15 minutes early with a loose wheel. In the closing minutes of the session, the rain appeared which prompted the teams to retire to the garage. The competition at the top was close, with just 0.033 seconds separating the top three drivers.
Gusty winds and a damp circuit again made running difficult in the final free practice session on Saturday morning. The conditions caused many spins, most notably Hamilton, who spun his Mercedes in fantastic style. Both Red Bull drivers suffered from issues with their Renault engines, with flames pouring from the rear of Daniel Ricciardo’s car. At the end of the session, Sebastian Vettel had gained the top spot ahead of teammate Räikkönen. Bottas and Max Verstappen were the next fastest, with Hamilton completing the top five more than 1 second slower than the leading Ferrari.
Vettel took the early lead in the first qualifying session of the afternoon ahead of his teammate, Bottas and Verstappen. Romain Grosjean rounded out the top five, with Hamilton lapping in P6. Meanwhile, the Red Bull mechanics put in a lot of work to rebuild the engine following Ricciardo’s FP3 issues, allowing him to leave the garage with 3 minutes remaining in the session. Mercedes clawed back the top spot from Ferrari in Q2, with Nico Hülkenberg and Grosjean rounding out the top six ahead of the two Red Bulls. Vettel collected his second pole position of the season with Räikkönen helping to lock out the front row of the grid. Mercedes locked out the second row with Bottas leading Hamilton and Red Bull locked out the third row with Verstappen leading Ricciardo, making for a very orderly starting grid.
Vettel maintained his race lead at the start of the race on Sunday, while Räikkönen dropped behind Bottas and Verstappen. Vettel pulled comfortable lead. The pit window opened and the Red Bull team was the first to take advantage, calling in both of their drivers for fresh tyres. Hamilton pitted followed by Bottas. Vettel was next to pit, although he lost out to Bottas. Ferrari left Räikkönen out to slow Bottas down, which helped but Vettel was still unable to get past.
The Toro Rosso teammates collided at the hairpin, bring out the safety car for debris. This played greatly into the hands of Red Bull, with both of their drivers diving into the pits for a free pitstop. Botta maintained his position on the restart. Verstappen attempted to overtake Hamilton on the outside, but ran wide, conceding the position to his teammate. Ricciardo made easy work of Räikkönen and Vettel showing that he had potential to win the race. With a spectacular overtake on the inside of Bottas, Ricciardo took the race lead in turn six. He went on to score his first race victory of the 2018 season, stopping Ferrari from getting three in a row.
After taking a week off to recoup from this Chinese Grand Prix, the teams will be heading to the narrow streets of Baku for the 2018 Azerbaijan Grand Prix which takes its new earlier position in the F1 calendar. The race will be held on the weekend of April 29.
