China: The Race Viewed from the Pits

Ferrari

Fernando Alonso – Winner

Felipe Massa – 6th

Stefano Domenicali, team director: « I am satisfied with the team’s overall result today, and particularly with winning a race that seemed challenging in various aspects, starting with tire management. After what happened in Malaysia, I am especially happy to see Fernando on the top step of the podium because it is the best possible turnaround, thanks to the excellent work done by the guys here on the track and in Maranello. However, I feel sorry for Felipe, who, due to graining, could not exploit his potential fully nor achieve the result he could have hoped for after his excellent start. This is only the third race, and in a few days, we will be back on track to face a new challenge in Bahrain. In the early part of the championship, it is more difficult than ever to have a reliable assessment of the current hierarchy: between qualifying and the race, we have seen very different performances from some teams, so we must focus intensely on improving the car’s performance in qualifying, while maintaining the level of performance we have shown in long stints during the race. »

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Lotus

Kimi Räikkönen – 2nd

Romain Grosjean – 9th

Alan Permane, Director of Track Operations: « The race was lively and enjoyable to watch. Our start was difficult with Kimi losing positions. But then, when we switched to medium tires, everything fell into place. There was no way to overtake Lewis on track; we had a very similar pace, maybe even a bit faster than his. So, we had to overtake him in the pits, and it worked perfectly. Kimi lost some front end grip due to damage on his front wing, otherwise he could have challenged Fernando [Alonso] for the lead. It was a more difficult day for Romain who struggled with his tires, but overall, it’s wonderful for the team to bring both cars home in the points. »

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Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton – 3rd

Nico Rosberg – Abandon

Ross Brawn, Team Director: We didn’t achieve the expected balance on the car today. Clearly, the track had changed to conditions less favorable for us and perhaps more favorable for one or two other teams. We didn’t have as good a balance in the race as on Friday. With Lewis, we did our best with the car we had today and he drove very well. We needed to have balanced stints to ensure we preserved our tires well, however, even with that, it was really tight with Sebastian at the end. Nico was having a similar race a bit further back when an issue with his anti-roll bar forced him to retire. Overall, we can be confident that we made another step forward this weekend, and the fact that we’re all a bit disappointed with this third place is a measure of the ambition and expectations of the team.

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Red Bull

Sebastian Vettel – 4th

Translate: Mark Webber – Abandon

Christian Horner, Team Principal: Having opted for the hardest tires at the start of the race, we knew it was going to be a different race for us compared to those ahead. Unfortunately, in the first stint, after Sebastian passed Jenson [Button], Hülkenberg managed to overtake both him and Jenson in the DRS zone, which cost us time. Undoubtedly, the time lost affected us at the end of the race, and without it, I’m sure we could have been on the podium. Nevertheless, Sebastian had a great race, managing his pace and the tires very well to come within a whisker of a podium position in the last lap.

On Mark’s side, we took the opportunity to make significant changes to the car compared to yesterday and start from the pit lane. We chose to bring him in after the first lap, switch his soft tires for medium ones, and release him with a clear track ahead. From there, his pace was excellent, he was climbing back through the field extremely well but, unfortunately, an incident with Jean-Eric Vergne damaged his front wing and caused a puncture. After changing the nose and all four tires, Mark reported, on his out lap, a problem with the right rear despite leaving the pit lane with the wheel properly secured. It then detached from the car and forced Mark to retire. Until we recover the car, it remains impossible to say what the exact cause is.

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McLaren

Jenson Button – 5th

Sergio Pérez – 11th

Martin Whitmarsh, Team Director: Jenson drove a brilliant race. He was completely restrained throughout, fully understanding the needs of the strategy and resisting the temptation to attack when the right thing to do was to preserve the tires. Obviously, the team opted for a two-stop strategy, a decision that gave our drivers work to do during the race. They both had to drive with restraint, take care of their tires, and keep in mind that the result would be decided at the checkered flag and not before. This requires a lot of discipline. The fact that we are not yet realistically in a position to finish higher than fifth place underscores Jenson’s performance.

For Sergio, it was a long and difficult race today. Starting from 12th place, the strategy didn’t work as well for him, but he did a great job today. He continues to learn and he will take a lot from this weekend, which will make him stronger for the next race, next week.

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Toro Rosso

Daniel Ricciardo – 7th

Jean-Eric Vergne – 12th

Franz Tost, Team Principal: « It was a very interesting race that saw Daniel Ricciardo start from 7th place and take the checkered flag in the same position. This encouraging result was built on his great performance in yesterday’s qualifying. Unfortunately, on lap 4, Daniel was involved in a collision with Rosberg and had to pit earlier than planned because his front wing was damaged. The mechanics did a very good job, changing the front wing and tires in 7.2 seconds, which is fast. From there, he had a very good race with many overtakes. It’s unfortunate that Jean-Eric Vergne was involved in a collision with Webber’s Red Bull, and it’s even more regrettable when it happens within the Red Bull ‘family’. All weekend, the car worked well, the new developments brought here worked as hoped, and the team did a good job as well. Today’s points mean that we move up to 7th place in the Constructors’ Championship, seven points behind the team in 6th position. We will only have a few days before racing again in Bahrain, and the goal is to maintain this momentum to score more points before the start of the European season. »

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Force India

Paul di Resta – 8th

Adrian Sutil – Retirement

Robert Fernley, Deputy Team Principal: « This is the first time we’ve scored points in China, so it’s good to end that streak and see Paul demonstrate the true pace of the car. He got stuck in the pack quite early, but the strategy eventually worked for us towards the end of the race as Paul delivered a fantastic third stint on mediums. We kept him out on track until the final laps before bringing him in to switch to softs, but Paul had done enough to keep Grosjean and Hülkenberg behind him. Credit must also go to the mechanics who were exceptional with very quick stops today, especially the last one. On the other side of the garage, Adrian was the innocent victim of Gutiérrez’s mistake. Adrian could do nothing to avoid it, but it clearly cost us a good chance to have both cars in the points. »

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Sauber

Nico Hülkenberg – 10th

Esteban Gutiérrez – Retirement

Tom McCullough, Track Engineering Director: « After a good first lap, Esteban’s race came to a halt on the fifth lap. Nico’s pace in his first three stints seemed good. In the last stint, we weren’t as fast as expected, and we ultimately finished in 10th place. We need to look into the causes of this setback. We look forward to the next race in Bahrain. »

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Williams

Valtteri Bottas – 13th

Pastor Maldonado – 14th

Mike Coughlan, Technical Director: « We had decided to make three stops with both cars today, but we chose to run one car on softs at the start and the other at the end, as our main tire compound for the race was the medium. We knew that both strategies would be similar if the drivers weren’t caught in traffic, and we saw it with only a 1.6-second gap between our cars at the finish. The soft tires were much faster at the end, so Valtteri was able to overtake and finish ahead. We got the most out of the FW35 today, but we know we need to find more performance, and we will focus on that in the coming races. »

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Marussia

Jules Bianchi – 15th

**Max Chilton** – 17th

John Booth, Team Director: « We had planned for a challenging race today, and it clearly kept our engineers on their toes, with the drivers fully focused on managing their tires. Jules and Max did a great job keeping their heads down and completing good races, getting involved in the battle with other cars when necessary while keeping an eye on the big picture to ensure the result. In the first part of the race, we had to slightly change our strategy by extending our first stint, which allowed Caterham to pass when we stopped, but we made up for the lost time afterward and regained our positions.

Overall, it’s another good result for the team and our third finish with both cars in as many races. This weekend wasn’t without its challenges, especially for Max, but it’s to his credit for maintaining his positive and mature attitude throughout to help us overcome these issues and get us on the right track. We have little respite before we head to Bahrain in just seven days, where I hope we can achieve another positive result but with fewer hurdles along the way.

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Caterham

**Charles Pic** – 16th

Giedo Van der Garde – 18th

Caterham did not publish the statements from the team’s representatives.

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