Chinese GP - what did we think?

[rossadopolus]

I thought the race today was absoultely brilliant! A great mix of clean racing and a mixture of tyre/pit strategies really chook things up and the last 15 laps were fantastic.

Rosberg was superb...I really didn't think Merc would have the race pace they showed today. Even if Jenson hadn't had his pit blunder I don't think he would have caught and passed Nico. Still a great result for McLaren though and they now top both championship tables!

Williams showing again they have good race pace and I think Alonso is showing just how good a driver he is getting the speed he is from the lacklustre Ferrari.

Tyres played a big part in todays result; most of all for Kimi. Going from 2nd to 10th in 5 corners shows just how rapidly the tyres can drop off. Really is a shame he didn't finish higher.

What did everyone else think?
 

[Ian]

A superb race, what an advert for F1, even if F1 is'nt your sport this was one to change your mind, it had everything, and the best part was great close, wheel to wheel but good clean racing.       

[David]

Great race, and well enjoyed. 

If only that nut gun hadn't robbed Shumi the chance to join in the fun. Also I notice he was the only DNF, F1 reliability is unreal this last while. 

[Alianora La Canta]

I was bored halfway through because virtually nothing was happening and the pit strategies were obvious. However, the Massa millipede was bottling up tension and when Felipe made his inevitable pit stop, the ensuing battles were great fun.

The race was good but not excellent - and if Felipe hadn't managed to get 2nd through not pitting excessively early, the race would have been dull due to people not even meeting let alone passing.

[John S]

I was bored halfway through because virtually nothing was happening and the pit strategies were obvious. However, the Massa millipede was bottling up tension and when Felipe made his inevitable pit stop, the ensuing battles were great fun.

The race was good but not excellent - and if Felipe hadn't managed to get 2nd through not pitting excessively early, the race would have been dull due to people not even meeting let alone passing.

You must have watched a different race to me then Alia. I feel the strategies were anything but obvious, Webber pitting early (lap 9, I think) was not expected and caused a whole wave of stops, some probably premature, by going much faster and making places in the process.

Massa's long first run was always on the cards as he started on mediums not softs like all the higher grid place men, but who would have expected him to be far enough forward to be in front of so many,  -for a while anyway.  

Battles in midfield throughout were spectacular with loads of wheel to wheel, and wing to wing, contact but all of them kept running (even crashkid Grosjean ). Then we had the fantastic battle for 2nd to 10th in the latter stages of the race. The only non finisher in the race was Schumi who was laid low by a simple wheel nut, now who would have believed he would be the only dnf with all the biffing and barging throughout the field. Crumbs we also had the spectacle of teamates duffing up each other, Sauber, Williams and even the RBR boys.

To top it off we even had Mark doing a Casey Stoner style wheelie at one point in the race, his laundry bill may be higher than usual after that.  

I guess we'll never know how Nico would have coped with pressure in the last quarter of the race, a win is a win for all that and you have to get yourself into the lead in the first place to be the winner. He never put a foot wrong when it mattered, so hats off to Nico for his maiden win.

'What if' always makes for a good discussion topic but there's no points for what may have been. I really, really enjoyed that race.   Oh and as a bonus it's shaken up the championship.    Roll on Bahrain.  

  
    

[hayleylsl]

I really, really enjoyed the race- the beginning wasn't as exciting i've seen but from Webber's early pit-stop it just got better and better and better!

Wheel to wheel action, 3 cars in a row- how they didn't touch i don't know but it was so exciting and amazing to watch.

The battle for second was amazing- the best i have seen in a very long time- i was shouting at my tv at one point, ebbing Lewis on.

I'm going to be watching the re-run in a bit too!

[Scott]

Yeah, I thought it was going to be a sleeper after the first few corners and the Merc's started to pull away and all the other followed in a row behind.  Then Schumi's blown pit stop by a what I assume will be a shortly unemployed lollipop man.  The wheel guy was waving like a maniac to not let him leave, but they lifted the lollipop anyhow.  I thought MS would be the one to put enough pressure on Rosberg to get by, making it a 1-2 Merc finish. 

Then about half way, I really started getting excited.  Like Ali said, after Massa got out of the way, things picked up.  Everyone raced clean aside from a little dustup between a Williams and Sauber (I think), and of course Perez almost getting creamed by Alonso when he came back on track.  Great driving to the whole field.  Who guessed one DNF?  Nobody.

I think Kimi's tire problem wasn't only that the tires went off suddenly.  It was when he went offline briefly and probably picked up a kg of marbles, making his car almost un-drivable.

Sorry Sauber only got one point out of today, but the Sauber's were both fun to watch plenty of the time.

Grossjean, Senna and Maldonado.  I know they all finished in the points, but they didn't get much TV time (unless maybe I had to step away).

I was pretty pleased when Webber passed Vettel near the end.  I'm sure Vettel was asking the team to let him back again, and probably Webber's radio went on the fritz 

Massa finishing only 5sec behind Alonso who was almost 40sec behind Rosberg should once again tell Ferrari that they first need to fix the car and THEN and ONLY THEN, look at the drivers.

I only watched the race as I ran past the TV every now and again, so I will watch it in its' entirety tonight, and maybe add more comments.

[Philbe]

Yeah, there was the best wheel to wheel racing this season. Everyone giving an inch spared a lot of grief.
Way to go Rosberg...pole to pole.
 And for such a high speed circuit the reliability is amazing. Makes GG picking interesting.

Phil

[F1fanaticBD]

A really astonishing race, crazy i will tell 

Except Nico every car from Massa to Button have been in the second spot and went all the way to the 13th place. And people must admit Lewis really drove an excillent race with great wheel to wheel clean and exciting racing. And others also did a similar, gutsy and crazy race, these are all done without any intervention of rain or any other halt or disruption.

[Scott]

I think Vettel had a bit of a workshop by various people showing him that you can pass in F1 without taking out the other guys front wing once you're past.  Webber and Button in particular did it quite well. 

[cosworth151]

I thought it was a very good race, too. It will be hard to talk about the race and not say "what if" about Schumi & Button's tire changing woes.

[Dare]

I thought it was a very good race, too. It will be hard to talk about the race and not say "what if" about Schumi & Button's tire changing woes.

It may have cost MS a podium,Button I don't think could
have won with a perfect stop

[Jericoke]

I thought it was a very good race, too. It will be hard to talk about the race and not say "what if" about Schumi & Button's tire changing woes.

It may have cost MS a podium,Button I don't think could
have won with a perfect stop

We've seen in the past that Button could unnerve Vettel just by being in his mirrors.  If we're playing 'what if', that's certainly a possibility for Rosberg who is busy tasting his first win to make a mistake under pressure.

I think it was a good race.  Very responsible running by everyone (except the Merc pit release system).  Even Massa and Hamilton executed a clean driving pass.

Without the pit mishaps, I think it would have been a classic.  At the very least, we'd have MS and JB fighting for second!

[Willy]

One of the best races in recent memory.
Fabulous to watch Nico get his 1st pole and win...he diserved them both with great driving and supurb team support.
The multicar race for second was outstanding with lots of action and great passing.
It seems that Massa has picked up the torch dropped by Yarno Trulli as the moveable chicane. Massa has not been the same since his accident. Time to step down, spend time with the family and let another have that seat.
And what was Lotus thinking letting Kimi stay out so long and let his tires go off so badly.
He should have been in for new shoes in the early 40's and he may have had a chance to catch up and at least gets some points. His tires dropped off so bad he lost 12 places in one or two laps.
Having said all that....a great race that has rekindled my interest in F1 again.