Chinese Grand Prix 2011: Raceday - Formula One Highlights (Part 5)
Welcome back to the action from the Shanghai circuit.
Nico Rosberg entered the pit lane in his Mercedes for a fresh set of soft tyres and rejoined the race in 10th position – With most of the 9 frontrunners still to pit, Rosberg was bound to win back some places to score some valuable points in the
driver’s and constructor’s Championship.
Gadgetry of the 2011 season, namely the Drag Reduction System (DRS), was called into action moments later as Perez got his Sauber past Rubens Barrichello for 11th spot. Elsewhere on track, Mark Webber seemed to have found his sweet spot as the
Australian posted the fastest time heading into Lap 14 – So far this season, Sebastian Vettel has been at the forefront of any Red Bull fireworks. With the young German stuck behind the two McLarens, could we expect the veteran to step up?
Meanwhile, Nico Rosberg was evidently making full use of his relatively new Pirellis. The Mercedes driver got past Vitaly Petrov with minimal fuss to take 9th position.
Turning our attention to the pit lane, Shanghai was about to brace itself for the two most important pit stops of the race so far as both Red Bull and McLaren got ready for pit stops – The question was, who would blink first?
Looking back at the action on track, Sebastian Vettel used the DRS to good use as he got past Hamilton for 2nd position on the back straight – Perhaps indication that the German was about to pit while a somewhat patient Hamilton chose to hold
back owing to an extended stay?
Surely enough, Jenson Button came in for McLaren. Sebastian Vettel followed suit. However, there was a mistake! The British driver through Vettel’s pits before arriving at his own! Button came out of pit lane behind Vettel in 9th position as a
result – Costly error on part of the McLaren driver. Would it go on to haunt not only Button but also expose Hamilton? Was it going to spell the end for the McLaren team-play with the Red Bull sandwiching the two MP4 – 26?
A lap later, Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton dived into the pits. Both drivers opted for a fresh set of soft tyres. Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso was yet to make his first pit stop of the race.
To be continued in part 6...
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