China – Race: Hamilton and Mercedes Imperial, Alonso on the Podium

The conditions are ideal for this Grand Prix start, the track is dry which will allow the use of soft and medium tires during the race. First problem for Nico Rosberg right from the start of the race: the telemetry of the Mercedes is not working.

At the start, Felipe Massa gets off to an excellent start by maneuvering between the different cars, and the Brazilian makes significant contact with Fernando Alonso. It’s a challenging start for Nico Rosberg, who drops to seventh place after contact with the other Williams, while Sebastian Vettel takes second place, ahead of Fernando Alonso and Daniel Ricciardo. A poor start also for Valtteri Bottas and Jean-Eric Vergne, who both lost many positions.

With Nico Rosberg in sixth place, Lewis Hamilton is quite free to increase the gap, which already stands at 2.5 seconds after 2 laps. But the German is on the attack to make up for lost ground.

After 6 laps, the battle for second place remains tight, with Fernando Alonso closing in on the one-second barrier behind Sebastian Vettel, which would allow him to use the DRS. Retirement for Adrian Sutil, who sees his third consecutive retirement. Problems persist for Nico Rosberg, who still has no telemetry: the Mercedes driver will have to manage his fuel consumption on his own.

First pit stop for Jenson Button, who chooses to switch to medium tires. Graining is starting to emerge in the radio communications, and the problems are quite significant. Romain Grosjean also decides to pit to switch to medium tires, and he comes out battling with the Marussia cars. He is followed by Felipe Massa and Kimi Räikkönen, and the wave of tire changes is well underway. Big problem for Felipe Massa, as the rear tires are having difficulty fitting, particularly the rear left. This might be a consequence of his collision with Fernando Alonso at the start. His stop lasts nearly a minute, compromising the Brazilian’s race.

After 12 laps, Fernando Alonso is the first driver in the top 5 to have made a pit stop: unsurprisingly, given the wheel lock-up he had suffered while braking. He is followed by Sebastian Vettel, who rejoins the track behind him. At Red Bull, Daniel Ricciardo is asked to do 2 or 3 more laps. Nico Rosberg also comes into the pits after complaining about his front wing, possibly due to rubber debris. For Lewis Hamilton, everything is going well with a good lead. The battle between Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel ends in a stalemate: the German informs his engineer that the difference in top speed is too great and pulls back. Daniel Ricciardo makes his pit stop and comes out behind Nico Rosberg, who is the fastest lap holder. There are many battles in the pack, with Kimi Räikkönen and Romain Grosjean, Sergio Perez and Jenson Button…

On the 18th lap, Lewis Hamilton makes his pit stop without any issues to switch to medium tires. On the other side of the Mercedes pit, Nico Rosberg is asked to read data on his steering wheel screen to assess his fuel consumption, which is good at this stage of the race. The German is catching up like a rocket to Sebastian Vettel, who has left a gap behind Fernando Alonso. Lewis Hamilton’s fuel consumption is negligible compared to that of his pursuers, while Valtteri Bottas’s flow meter seems to be malfunctioning: the Finn would have used 0.00 kg of fuel… on the 22nd lap.

A very fine exchange between Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel, which ends in favor of the Mercedes driver. Behind them, it’s Daniel Ricciardo who is closing in significantly: the Australian is now less than a second behind his world champion teammate.

On the 24th lap, Fernando Alonso is the only obstacle standing in the way of another Mercedes one-two finish. Surprising communication: Sebastian Vettel is once again asked to let his teammate pass. But the request is initially ignored by the driver with number 1 before he complies. He is then informed of Ricciardo’s strategy: 2 stops. A complicated race for McLaren drivers: 13th and 15th. Romain Grosjean is the pleasant surprise of this race: the Lotus driver holds 10th place before encountering a gearbox issue, and the Frenchman enters the pits slowly to retire.

On the 30th lap, Felipe Massa finds himself battling with Esteban Gutierrez for 17th place while both Force India cars should be able to aim for points. Fernando Alonso can start worrying: Nico Rosberg is closing in on him and is soon within the one-second range that allows DRS activation. The second wave of pit stops has begun, with Pastor Maldonado, Jean-Eric Vergne, and Fernando Alonso heading to the pits. Kamui Kobayashi un-laps himself from Sebastian Vettel, who complains on his radio: the Caterham driver sees a flurry of blue flags waving as the German makes his second pit stop.

On the 38th lap, Nico Rosberg and Daniel Ricciardo pit and come out between Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel. But the Spaniard is losing several seconds per lap. The race leader stops on the following lap, even having the luxury of getting the wing cleaned. A Mercedes one-two is shaping up with Nico Rosberg overtaking Fernando Alonso, while Daniel Ricciardo seems to be gradually gaining ground.

On the 45th lap, Fernando Alonso attacks a bit more to try to keep the Red Bull driver at bay. Sebastian Vettel, meanwhile, is relegated to 13 seconds behind Daniel Ricciardo. The rest of the top 10 is composed of Nico Hülkenberg, Valtteri Bottas, Kimi Räikkönen, Sergio Perez, and Daniil Kvyat.

On the 50th lap, the standings seem set, but Daniel Ricciardo’s engineer asks his driver to keep pushing against Fernando Alonso, hoping for degradation issues with the Spanish driver’s tires. The battle also becomes more intense between Jenson Button and Daniil Kvyat, as well as between Kevin Magnussen and Jean-Eric Vergne.

With 3 laps to go, Fernando Alonso and Daniel Ricciardo got past a lapped Pastor Maldonado, but this overtaking does not affect the gap between the two drivers. The Mercedes cars are clearly not threatened and should now secure a third consecutive one-two finish.

Lewis Hamilton wins for the third consecutive time! He finishes ahead of Nico Rosberg, allowing Mercedes to achieve another one-two finish. A strong performance by Fernando Alonso who finishes on the podium ahead of Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel. The two Force India drivers also finish in the points, while the McLarens leave empty-handed.

2014 Chinese Grand Prix Results