McLaren Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton takes pole in Chinese Grand Prix 2011 – Formula One News
McLaren’s very own, Lewis Hamilton, after an exciting and rather unpredictable contest at the Shanghai circuit in the Chinese Grand Prix, overcame a pre-race car issue to bounce back and take all 25 points in round 3 of the Formula One championships.
The British driver recorded his 15th career win after overtaking Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull with just 5 laps remaining. It would have to go down to efficient pit strategy on part of McLaren Mercedes as they made sure that their driver had fresher tyres by opting for a 3-stop strategy as opposed to Vettel’s 2.
The fresher Pirellis enabled the Briton to make a late pass on the somewhat struggling Red Bull with ease – Clearly, Vettel struggled to make his 2-stop strategy work. However, Vettel has been more than impressive this season; coming in second would be his idea of tasting ‘defeat’ this term – which again, is by no means, a lost cause if one were to stay objective.
Red Bull might have gotten it wrong for their number 1 driver, but seeing the progress Mark Webber made, it could be said that the constructor’s had an overall fruitful day. The Australian driver, after a superb drive, was able to claw back 15 places after starting in 18th spot to take the final step of the podium – Further confirming that a 3-pit-stop strategy was the best bet in China.
Finishing behind Red Bull was the second McLaren of Jenson Button. The Briton could be criticized for not being able to grasp the opportunity of claiming the race lead in the early parts of the race due to a mistake in pit lane.
Mercedes made positive inroads this weekend. Nico Rosberg appeared to be a constant thorn in the path of the McLarens and Red Bulls but somewhat faded near the end. However, the German was still able to finish a strong 5th after starting the race 4th on the grid. The two Ferraris of Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso succeeded the Mercedes – Again, the race left a lot to be desired for the Italian constructors.
Michael Schumacher, starting the race in 13th, fared rather well on the day to bring home his Mercedes in 8th. Vitaly Petrov, in his Renault, followed by Kamui Kobayashi in the Sauber, rounded off the top 10 point scoring positions.
The new tyre regulations have continued to be a dominant factor in terms of race strategy. The motorsport remains as unpredictable and exciting as expected heading into the 2011 calendar year in the sport’s near six decade history.
With 3 races done and dusted, Sebastian Vettel still comfortably leads the driver’s standings with 68 points. Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button slot into 2nd and 3rd with 47 and 38 points respectively. Mark Webber is 4th with 37 points to make it 2 Red Bulls and 2 McLarens in the top 4.
Up next, the Formula One fraternity heads to Turkey for the Turkish Grand Prix on May 8th.
Tags: