The Final Word - China Race Report

The first four races have proved one thing; give us a sprinkling of rain and the race will be good - especially if that rain is intermittent. This race was more than good, if you woke up early enough, you were treated to a feast of overtaking which was fitting for the historic result it delivered.

Red Bull have the fastest car in the field. That is what we all thought anyway - come rain or shine the Adrian Newey designed car can cope with it. Let down by reliability in the first two races (Sebastian Vettel was forced to retire when in the lead) they took advantage of the open goal they were gifted by the other front runners to maximise their qualifying positions and deliver a masterful 1-2 in Malaysia. Problems solved. When they then blocked out the front row in China I thought that a repeat of last year's 1-2 (which came in the rain) was on the cards. However, there is one chink left in the Red Bull armour. One thing Dietrich Mateschitz hasn't yet bought. It is the reason Mark Webber couldn't maximise on his extreme pace in Australia, why he was out of position in Bahrain. It's the reason Toro Rosso won their first race before the parent team and it is the reason why Red Bull are sitting in third in the championship despite having the best car. Red Bull need a tactical engineer to call the shots from the pit wall (Pat Symonds is free now right - stranger things have happened; watch this space).

Before the installation lap everybody thought that the track was dry (it must have been on the way to the grid) but after the first racing lap, the course was too greasy for most of the drivers; they wanted intermediates. In fact, only Rosberg, Button, Kubica, Petrov and Kovalainen stayed out on the dry tyres. It would prove to be an inspired (and ultimately decisive) decision as the rain held at bay prompting everybody else to pit again. By the end of lap 10 there was a 50 second gap between those who had pitted (twice) and those who hadn't pitted at all. Rosberg was leading. This was Nico's big chance; if conditions stayed as they were, it was a two horse race between himself and Button. The ever improving Renaults may not be too far away from a return to the top step of the podium (I think it will happen this season and with traction that seems to be the best in the field I would be tempted to say it could even happen in Monaco - heard it here first) but they didn't have the pace of the Mercedes and McLaren. Nico pushed and pushed; imagine if he managed to pick up Mercedes first win as a constructor for 50 years, imagine if it was him and not Schumi who got there first, what a chance this was. He pulled away from Button; about 3 or 4 seconds - how was this possible? He was the World Champion and the McLaren (with its F-duct boost) was faster than the Mercedes, he should have been all over Nico. Then it became clear. 4 seconds became 3, became 2... Nico's tyres had started to grain. Jenson had done what he does best; he hadn't burnt out his tyres whilst carrying a full tank of fuel. He was past in a flash.

The champ pulled away now, when the rain came (for good this time) it was all very easy; a quick change to the intermediates and the status quo was maintained. That was until a Toro Rosso lost its front wing and left debris on the track. No sooner had Jenson started to look comfortable than his lead was eroded by the safety car. That didn't just bring Rosberg back into the picture; it brought the fast charging Hamilton and Alonso into it too - not to mention both of the Red Bulls. This race would have to be won the hard way.

The Jenson Button of 2010 is full of confidence though; the championship has brought the best out of him and winning in Australia helped too. Button was not about to let this go. Before the restart he bunched the pack, making sure that all of his competitors had to watch their mirrors and lines (to ensure they didn't overtake illegally or crash) rather than watching when he put the hammer down. It worked; he got the jump at the start. Now he had to pull away before any of the other fast cars caught up. Lap after lap he picked up the pace; judging the tyre wear and fuel load to perfection - this was like Oz all over again. In fact, there was only one car faster; the sister McLaren of Lewis Hamilton.

Lewis made it up to second; pulling out some outrageous overtaking moves in the process. His particular favourite was around the outside of turns 5 & 6 - a move that worked to great effect on one Michael Schumacher. When he made it past Rosberg for second he could sniff a win which an hour previously had looked impossible (he was now only 5 seconds behind). The race was on; champ 2008 v champ 2009 - equal machinery.

Button surprised everyone again though; he not only proved that he could match Hamilton - he pulled away from him. Jenson had again saved his tyres better and was more than a match for Lewis. Maybe it is now time for everyone to wake up and realise that Button is a better driver than many credit him as being. A small mistake saw the gap close to a whisker by the end (Button's tyres lost temperature & grip) but he had already made his point and won fair and square.

Rosberg finished in third to rub salt into Schumi's wounds (he finished 10th). Alonso was 4th which wasn't bad considering that a jump start and 5 journeys through the pit had seen Fernando as much as 70 seconds behind the leader earlier in the race. As for Red Bull, they will not be happy with 6th and 8th - not only were they outdone tactically, they had an ineffective setup on their car. Someone with a tactical brain would surely have moved to copy McLaren and Mercedes by keeping one car out and changing tyres on the other at the start.

It was McLaren's day. This victory summed up the (very different) strengths of their two drivers and was a red-letter day for British motorsport. The last time two Brits finished 1-2 was at the British GP of 1999 (David Coulthard led home Eddie Irvine). However, the last time it was an ENGLISH 1-2, England were the football World Champions. It was Monaco 1969 (Graham Hill & Piers Courage)! This race was truly historic!

Chinese Grand Prix Result

Fastest Lap: Lewis Hamilton - 1:42.061

Malaysian Grand Prix Result

Fastest lap: Mark Webber - 1:37.054