China – Race: Alonso wins masterfully in Shanghai

Excluded from the qualifying session yesterday, Mark Webber and his team decided to start from the pit lane rather than from the last position on the grid, allowing them to adjust the settings of his RB9 to best suit this race. At the front, Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Räikkönen will share the front row, in that order.

**At the lights out**, Lewis Hamilton gets a very good start, unlike Kimi Räikkönen who gets overtaken by both Ferrari drivers. Fernando Alonso puts pressure on Hamilton, but the Spanish driver is unable to pass.

At the end of the first lap, Mark Webber is already back in the pits; the Australian driver, who had started on soft tires, switches to medium tires. As for the standings, we have Hamilton leading ahead of Alonso, Massa, Räikkönen, Rosberg, Grosjean, Ricciardo, Button, Vettel, and Hülkenberg.

In the third lap, the DRS is activated and in the second zone, it helps Romain Grosjean pass Nico Rosberg. In the following lap, it’s Sebastian Vettel who gets overtaken by Nico Hülkenberg and immediately after, on the straight, Lewis Hamilton loses the lead to Fernando Alonso and the Brit also sees the other Ferrari, driven by Felipe Massa, pass him.

In the sixth lap, Lewis Hamilton comes into the pits, followed by Nico Rosberg and Adrian Sutil, whose rear wing is heavily damaged. There is a fire starting on the German’s car, which is quickly extinguished by the Force India team members. It was Esteban Gutiérrez who collided with the Force India at the end of the straight, and the Sauber came to a stop in the runoff area with its right front wheel damaged. It’s retirement for both drivers.

In the seventh lap, Fernando Alonso goes through the pits just like Kimi Räikkönen, who holds off Mark Webber’s Red Bull upon exiting, keeping the Australian behind. Felipe Massa takes the lead but not for long as the Brazilian also goes through the pit lane for a tire change, putting on mediums like his rivals. Massa rejoins the race behind Hamilton, Räikkönen, and Webber.

With these different stops, Nico Hülkenberg is found leading the race in his Sauber, ahead of Sebastian Vettel, Jenson Button, Sergio Pérez, and di Resta, these five men having started on mediums unlike Hamilton, Alonso, Massa, Räikkönen, or Rosberg who were on softs at the start.

**After twelve laps**, we still find Nico Hülkenberg in the lead ahead of Vettel, Button, Pérez, and di Resta, followed by the leaders before the first round of stops, Alonso, Hamilton, Räikkönen, and Massa who have already caught up despite a pit stop.

In the next lap, Fernando Alonso overtakes Paul di Resta on the main straight with the help of DRS and begins to put pressure on Sergio Pérez. The Spanish driver is much faster than the drivers ahead of him, about one second faster per lap. After one lap behind Pérez, Alonso finds the solution on the main straight thanks to DRS.

At the end of the 14th lap, Hülkenberg, Vettel, and di Resta make pit stops. A great move for Red Bull and Vettel as they complete their stop in just 2.5 seconds, compared to 6.1 seconds for Hülkenberg and Sauber, which results in his compatriot overtaking him in the pits.

A few corners later, Mark Webber hits Jean-Eric Vergne’s Toro Rosso, causing the Frenchman to spin. Webber has to return to the pits to change his front wing. In the same corner, it’s Räikkönen and Pérez who make contact, with the Finn being pushed slightly off the track, braking on the dirty part and locking his wheels, unable to avoid the McLaren, his front wing is damaged.

In the wake of his stop, Mark Webber encounters a problem, the Australian is slowing down, he continues but has to stop just after the hairpin after losing his right rear wheel, which fortunately crosses the track without causing any damage.

After eighteen laps, we find Jenson Button leading ahead of Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, Kimi Räikkönen – continuing with a damaged front wing, Sergio Pérez, Felipe Massa, Sebastian Vettel, Nico Hülkenberg, Nico Rosberg, and Romain Grosjean, who is in 10th. The two McLaren drivers are the only ones who have yet to change tires, while at the end of the 19th lap, Massa and Rosberg are back in the pits for the second time since the start.

At the 21st lap, Fernando Alonso finally manages to overtake Jenson Button’s McLaren to take the lead. Just after making a stop, Nico Rosberg is back in the pits to switch to a new set of mediums due to an apparent slow puncture, causing the German to lose significantly with these two consecutive stops. At the end of the 21st lap, Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Räikkönen return to the pits; no front wing change for the Finn, who rejoins behind the Mercedes.

On the 22nd lap, Nico Rosberg returns to the pits for the fourth time since the start and the third time in three laps; it’s retirement for the Mercedes driver. Alonso is informed that he must go through the pits at the end of this lap, and the Spanish driver complies. He is followed by Button and Grosjean. Alonso comes out ahead of Pérez and Button behind his teammate but in front of Lewis Hamilton. Sebastian Vettel finds himself leading ahead of Nico Hülkenberg.

Following Pérez’s stop, the hierarchy is as follows: Vettel, Hülkenberg, Alonso, Button, Hamilton, Räikkönen, di Resta, Massa, Grosjean, and Pérez in 10th place.

After twenty-nine laps, Lewis Hamilton finally manages to find a way past his former teammate, Jenson Button. The Mercedes driver overtakes the McLaren to gain 4th place. Fernando Alonso passes Sebastian Vettel just before the DRS zone located on the straight but late enough to benefit from DRS unlike Vettel. The Ferrari driver takes the lead of the race again. Nico Hülkenberg, who was in 5th place, returns to the pits to put on the soft tires.

At the end of the 31st lap, Sebastian Vettel, who was in second place, comes back into the pits. He switches to medium tires and rejoins in 8th position. At the same time, Kimi Räikkönen has overtaken Jenson Button’s McLaren. The Finn, driving a still-damaged Lotus, is now in 4th place. Following his stop, Sebastian Vettel manages to pass Felipe Massa to gain 7th place. The reigning world champion then overtakes Paul di Resta, who enters the pits for his second stop.

On the 35th lap, Kimi Räikkönen stops by the pits again, still no front wing change for the Lotus driver. Two laps later, it’s Felipe Massa and Nico Hülkenberg’s turn to make a new and final pit stop. Meanwhile, Sebastian Vettel has passed Jenson Button to gain 3rd place.

On the thirty-eighth lap, Lewis Hamilton makes his final pit stop. The Mercedes driver leaves on mediums. He is followed into the pits by Romain Grosjean, 7th before the stop, and Jean-Eric Vergne, 12th before this stop.

On lap 41, Fernando Alonso, still in the lead, makes his third pit stop. The Ferrari driver comes out just behind Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull. As the two drivers are not competing for the same objective, Alonso overtakes Vettel on the next lap.

After fifty laps, Jenson Button goes back to the pits for his second stop, with the McLaren driver now on soft tires after two stints on mediums. He returns to the track in 7th position. At the front, Fernando Alonso is still leading ahead of Sebastian Vettel, Kimi Räikkönen, Lewis Hamilton, Paul di Resta, Felipe Massa, Jenson Button, Daniel Ricciardo, Nico Hülkenberg, and Romain Grosjean in 10th place. Thanks to the extra performance provided by his soft tires, Jenson Button manages to gain a position, overtaking Felipe Massa.

In the next round, it’s Sebastian Vettel’s turn to make his second pit stop. Like Button, he switches to soft tires after two stints on medium tires. The Red Bull driver returns to the track in 4th position, with a comfortable lead over 5th place Paul di Resta.

At the back of the pack, in the battle of the smaller teams, it’s Marussia ahead of Caterham. Jules Bianchi is in 15th place in front of Charles Pic, Max Chilton, and Giedo Van der Garde. With two laps to go, Paul di Resta makes another pit stop, his third of the Grand Prix. The Scottish driver rejoins in 8th position.

In the final lap, Sebastian Vettel makes huge strides on Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Räikkönen thanks to his soft tires, but the German driver is unable to overtake the Brit, finishing right on his exhaust but in 4th position.

At the checkered flag, it is Fernando Alonso who wins, driving his Ferrari. He is ahead of Kimi Räikkönen, Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, Jenson Button, Felipe Massa, Daniel Ricciardo, Paul di Resta, Romain Grosjean, and Nico Hülkenberg, who scores the point for 10th place. They are followed by Sergio Pérez, Jean-Eric Vergne, Valtteri Bottas, Pastor Maldonado, Jules Bianchi, Charles Pic, Max Chilton, and Giedo Van der Garde.

In the championship, Vettel is still the leader, three points ahead of Räikkönen. Alonso takes back third place ahead of Hamilton, Massa, and Webber. In the constructors’ standings, Red Bull leads Ferrari by 5 points. Lotus is in third place.

2013 Chinese Grand Prix Results: