Chinese GP 2011 - Shanghai

[Just_a_fan]

Great race. Great drive from Webber. He gets my "man of the match" for this weekend.

Great drive from Hamilton. The overtake on Button won him the race.

Good solid drives from Rosberg and Massa. Nice bit of old-fashioned racing from Alonso and Schuie.

If they're all like this one then we're in for a great season...

[zgred]

What a race for Webber. Great job Hamilton

[myurr]

Red Bull stuffed the strategy today for Vettel. Should have been an easy win for him with a 3 stopper given the pace of Webber.

Agree to an extent - but remember Webber had many more sets of fresh tyres to use which contributed massively to his pace. I think Lewis used his brand new set of softs on his third stint which is why he could attack as he did.

[mach11]

Great race. Great drive from Webber. He gets my "man of the match" for this weekend.

Great drive from Hamilton. The overtake on Button won him the race.

Good solid drives from Rosberg and Massa. Nice bit of old-fashioned racing from Alonso and Schuie.

If they're all like this one then we're in for a great season...

+1

The season has finally come alive... the Mercs have improved a lot to add to the fight for the title.... hope it continues...

[myurr]

Great drive by Massa as well, thoroughly out raced Alonso and finished 14 seconds ahead of him. Was good to see a glimmer of his old form there.

[Tamburello]

Hamilton's key overtake was on Button - that was pure class. The rest were not as sophisticated because he had a big tyre advantage.

[Tamburello]

Still myur, if Vettel had a set at the end even a couple of laps older than Hamilton's new set, I don't think he would have been caught.

Agree re Massa. So shut up the naysayers for a while I hope.

[FrukostScones]

that was fun!

[Ray]

Sorry, but no. The tires are such a handicap no one manages their tires. How many pulled in after just 10 laps on the options? Almost everyone. With the exception of maybe Sauber, the tires hit a peak and fall off a cliff for everyone. Lewis didn't do anything other than take advantage of Vettel's radio problems and possible strategy miscommunication. The fact that Rocky said over the radio to Vettel that he had to stay out tells everyone that their strategy was compromised by a failed radio. Tires are a huge artificial factor to the out come of the racing, no one is able to make them last longer than the opposition reliably.

The real story here is that Webber finished 7.5 seconds behind Lewis. 7.5 seconds. Lewis passing Vettel for a win is nothing, absolutely nothing, compared to what Webber managed.

If the FOM is the one running the cameras at this race they are only eclipsed by the ALMS for worlds worst camera coverage. For fraks sake, they went to a car driving down the damn pitlane s when Alonso and Schumacher were dicing it out. God I hate the FOM. From the cutting away from good battles, having long and low shots that only highlight sponsor billboards, to the complete lack of onboard shots it's disgustingly aggravating to watch.

[myurr]

Ditto for Webber actually, from 18th to 3rd was a great drive. Like Lewis it was the second half of the race where they had a slight tyre advantage that they translated into much much better pace than their peers. Lewis for my driver of the day, just shading Webber and Rosberg.

[Tamburello]

Great race!

[andrew]

It does not detract from driver skill, it is a skill required from a driver to manage their tyres !!!

I respectfully disagree.

So you don't think Hamilton showed any skill in how he was able to attack all those drivers and make his way through the field? Remember I don't think he got a single overtake due to the DRS.

Vettel mostly made a two stopper work, that was his choice and it got him second. Hamilton beat him because ultimately a three stopper was quicker AND he showed the skill in passing to make his way through the field.

Look at the Ferrari's - 6th and 7th on the same strategy as Vettel. They made a bad call in the way they ran their race. **BUT** it would have worked had Lewis and the others not been able to make those overtakes.

Sure there is driver skill but I think that the tyres as they are detract form it. I'm not convinced Vettel was on a 2 stop strategy. His 2nd stint was more than pushing it in terms of length, that much was obvious when he pitted. His radio was clearly not working so I am wondering if he wasn't able to tell the team he needed to stop until it was too late.

Either that or Red Bull screwed up.

For me, F1 has gone from overtaking being rare now it is over the top.

[Ray]

Ditto for Webber actually, from 18th to 3rd was a great drive. Like Lewis it was the second half of the race where they had a slight tyre advantage that they translated into much much better pace than their peers. Lewis for my driver of the day, just shading Webber and Rosberg.

Yeah, driver of the day. Only managed to finish 7.5 seconds in front of the guy who started 18th with no KERS. Webber by far was the class of the field.

[septerra]

What an amazing race after a while. Im hoping Alonso is investigated for the DRS incident.

[andrew]

What an amazing race after a while. Im hoping Alonso is investigated for the DRS incident.

Why? It is race control that control where the DRS is activated.