Let's begin at the start, naturally! Nico Rosberg got away from the rest of the pack incredibly and wasn't put under any pressure from those behind him on the grid. There wasn't too much action in the rest of the top 10 except for the fact that Button got himself in to third position behind the Mercedes of veteran driver Michael Schumacher. Elsewhere, Sebastian Vettel is clearly being affected by starting right in the middle of the pack because he lost about four places immediately after a slow start. He admitted to not waking up early enough after the lights went out.
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| Rosberg gets off to a flier |
As I mentioned the first part of the race was fairly uneventful as no one was pulling any extraordinary overtakes and positions didn't change around too much. Following Mark Webber's first pit stop it looked quite clear that many would follow a 3 stop strategy and we began to see a lot more action on the track as new tyres breathed some life into the racing. Rosberg managed to maintain a gap at the front of the pack but unfortunately for his team-mate a problem with his front-right wheel nut, after his very first pit stop, meant that he had to retire from the race. I'm sure this was more than just frustrating for Schumacher as it seems that he's just not getting any luck on Sundays. How long will it be before he can follow up a strong qualifying performance with a good amount of points on race day? So, for the remainder of the race, the hopes of an entire Mercedes team were placed on the 26 year old German, Rosberg.
I'll move on now to that battle for 2nd place between Raikkonen, Vettel, Button, Hamilton, Webber and for some part Grosjean and Senna. Now wasn't that something? After Vettel finally made a move on Raikkonen it seemed the Finn had lost all grip in his tyres and tumbled a further seven places in the space of one lap. This gave Button a chance to have a go at Vettel (who was on a 2 stop strategy) and, with the benefit of newer tyres, he finally clawed back second place on Lap 51. Lewis Hamilton was next up to add to Sebastian's woes and add to them he did when he passed him going into the hairpin only three laps after Button. Despite Vettel's attempts to regain position, Hamilton clung on to his third third-place of the season. Fast forward by one lap and the two Red Bulls were wheel-to-wheel when the double world champion's tyres succumbed once again to the newer tyres of Mark Webber. That rounded off the top 5 and they all contributed to one of the most exciting race ends we've seen for a while.
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| Vettel is "satisfied" with a 5th place finish |
Romain Grosjean took his Lotus over the line in sixth position and it was the first time he'd seen the chequered flag in 2012. This will no doubt be a boost to him, especially because fellow Lotus driver Raikkonen finished well out of the points in 14th. Williams picked up a cool 7th and 8th finish and I am so glad to see this team, with the history they have, get off to a great start this season considering a woeful 2011.
China didn't disappoint in providing some great talking points and due to the stable conditions, it allowed us to see what the cars are really capable of, although no clear pecking order has yet emerged. If there were any doubts that this season is going to be a lot tighter than we have been used to in recent times, let the fact that there have already been six different drivers (Hamilton, Button, Alonso, Rosberg, Vettel and Perez) on the podium in only three races this season compared to the seven in eighteen races last year.
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| Rosberg celebrates his first ever F1 win |
The attention now refocuses on Bahrain and, considering it is highly unlikely that the race won't go ahead, it's sure to be another amazing race. Many drivers will be trying to go one better than they managed this time round and many will be imagining themselves on the top step of the podium.
And the best news? The excitement all starts in less than a week.
Aqsa
(Image 1: dailymail.co.uk, Image 2: redbull.com, Image 3: telegraph.co.uk)
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