|
 China 13-15 Apr 2012UBS Chinese Grand Prix Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai, China Race Distance: 56 laps, 305.066 km The Shanghai International Circuit is another Hermann Tilke track featuring a pair of long straights with passing opportunities at their ends. Like the Malaysian circuit, the track features an interesting turn 1-2-3-4 complex where the drivers must navigate a long, sharply decreasing right turn, followed by a hard left hand hairpin. In 2011, Vettel started on pole but was relegated to finishing 2nd due to a possible KERS issue allowing Hamilton to take the win. Webber made a terrific run from 18th to finish 3rd. The Mercedes "Super DRS" works to full effect down Shanghai's long straights allowing Rosberg to capture his first career pole position a half second faster than Hamilton and teammate Schumacher. Hamilton's 2nd place qualifying position will drop 5 spots due to a gearbox change, leaving the front row an all Mercedes affair. Kobayashi's Sauber sets 4th fastest time, with Raikkonen in 5th. The top 10 in China: ROS HAM* MSC KOB RAI BUT WEB PER ALO GRO *5 spot gearbox penalty The 9th running of the Chinese grand prix is one for the ages as harsh tire wear leads to a 56 lap wheel-to-wheel battle for most everyone in the field. Rosberg's getaway, aided by teammate Schumacher's apparent sandbagging of the field, allowed the younger German to stay above the fray over most of his drive to his 1st ever victory. While Schumacher himself became the only car to fail to finish as a loose wheel nut puts him out. The rest of the field ran race-long battles on track for position as tire wear resulted in significant speed differences between cars on 2 stop and cars on 3 stop strategies. In the end, it was Button's gentle use of the tires that overcame his own pit-stop delay to take 2nd. Hamilton once again finds himself on the podium, in 3rd. Webber and Vettel roud out the top 5 by finishing higher than expected from the slacking Red Bull chassis.
UBS Chinese Grand Prix Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai, China 
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|