The fourth Grand Prix sees the drivers head for Shanghai. Felipe Massa has a slender lead at the top of the championship but all eyes will be on Red Bull. Watch the F1 Chinese Grand Prix Live Online at www.watch-live-formula1.com.
Sebastian Vettel drove to his first victory of the campaign in Malaysia and, given the performance of the Red Bull car, it will be a surprise if that is his last victory this season. The teams are now preparing for the Chinese Grand Prix on 18 April 2010 where Vettel won last year. True, Vettel was helped in Malaysia by a topsy-turvy grid caused by the chaos the rain brought in final qualifying, but nevertheless it was an impressive performance that takes him to third in the drivers championship. His team mate Mark Webber followed him over the line in second place to take Red Bull to third in the constructors championship, just five points behind second place McLaren and 15 points behind leaders Ferrari. A steady race by Nico Rosberg saw him take third in the Mercedes and Renault’s Robert Kubica followed his impressive second in Melbourne with a fourth place.
Adrian Sutil will have been delighted to receive his first points of the season by driving his Force India to fifth place.
The main sufferers from the rainy qualifying session were Ferrari and McLaren. Jenson Button in the McLaren gambled on an early tyre stop believing that the predicted rain would force every one into a second stop before the end. The rain didn’t come and Button slowed as his tyres struggled and he could only manage eighth, two behind his team mate Lewis Hamilton. Felipe Massa in the Ferrari came in seventh, which was enough for him to leapfrog Fernando Alonso to top of the driver championship. Alonso could only manage 12th.
The final two point scoring places saw Jaime Alguersuari in the Toro Rosso and Nico Hulkenberg in the Williams take their first points of the season.
Chinese Grand Prix
The circuit just outside Shanghai is lacking in atmosphere and hard on tyres. It also gobbles up the fuel, which will cause problems for engineers as they try to work out the best combination of driving fast but having enough fuel to last the race. Overtaking is not easy, which means a procession as seen in Bahrain may be the order of the day so qualifying times will be all important. Sebastian Vettel won here last year from pole position.
Standings After Three Grand Prix
Constructors: Ferrari (76), McLaren (66), Red Bull (61), Mercedes (44), Renault (30), Force India (18), Williams (6), Toro Rosso (2).
Drivers: Massa (39), Alonso (37), Vettel (37), Button (35), Rosberg (35), Hamilton (31), Kubica (30), Webber (24), Sutil (10), Schumacher (9), Liuzzi (8), Barrichello (5), Alguersuari (2), Hulkenberg (1).
Qualifying and Grid Positions
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