Chinese Grand Prix 2011: Raceday - Formula One Highlights (Part 13)
The Mercedes pit crew got ready as the race leader Nico Rosberg dived into the pits for a fresh set of hard compound tyres. The young German rejoined the track in 3rd position in front of the McLaren of Lewis Hamilton. The Briton, clearly carrying
more momentum, tried to overtake the Mercedes but Rosberg was able to hold him off for the time being.
It was important for Hamilton to get past as soon as possible owing to the fact that Rosberg needed at least a lap’s time to get his tyres up to race temperature. The further the duel went on, the stronger the German was going to get as he would then have
the fresher of the two tyres.
Meanwhile, Michael Schumacher turned his Mercedes into pit lane for his 3rd and final stop of the day. Sebastian Vettel effectively led the Ferrari of Felipe Massa by 3.6 seconds. Just behind the duo, Hamilton was still pressurizing Rosberg into
a mistake – The British driver kept on knocking but the German firmly kept the door shut. Moments later, Hamilton had to brake extremely hard as he locked up his left front tyre to avoid a collision with Rosberg.
During the start of the race, it was speculated that Mark Webber would opt for a 2-pit stop strategy owing to his 18th starting position on the grid. However, the Red Bull team decided to pit their driver for a third time. Webber dropped out of
6th position as a result to come in for a tyre change.
Perhaps it was a much more sensible option. The Red Bull clearly had the pace to beat other cars on track. Deciding upon fresh rubber versus saving up 6 to 7 seconds for a routine pit stop showed their belief in the veteran’s pace – Even if he could make
up half a second for the next 15 laps, he would effectively be cancelling out the amount of idle time spent in pitting, if not better.
After some consorted pressure, Lewis Hamilton finally got his man. The Briton was able to line up Rosberg’s Mercedes and was able to pull off the overtaking manoeuvre to take 3rd spot – However, it could’ve been due to Rosberg holding back as
he tried to conserve fuel. The Mercedes on board radio confirmed that the Mercedes was ‘critical on fuel’.
To be continued in part 14...
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