FORMULA 1 - 2014

[MIKA27]

Ricciardo surprised by Lotus struggles with Renault engine

Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo has admitted he is surprised Lotus is still struggling so much with its Renault power unit.

Following the post-Bahrain test last week, Lotus’ Romain Grosjean slammed the situation as “not acceptable”, after both himself and teammate Pastor Maldonado struggled simply to run the E22 amid ‘power unit-related’ issues.

The similarly Renault-powered Red Bull’s Ricciardo, however, said that he is “surprised” to hear the extent of Lotus’ ongoing troubles.

“It is not very reassuring to see another Renault powered team encountering such difficulties,” the Australian is quoted by the French-language Formula 1i.

“We also had a few problems with the V6 turbo in the tests, but nothing too serious,” Ricciardo added.

“While we can make further progress on reliability, I am surprised that [Lotus] are still facing so many problems.”

Indeed, Renault’s Remi Taffin said ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix that the French marque, after a difficult opening few months of 2014, is now beginning to “hit our stride”.

“While we know that the others are still ahead, we have made some good progress in the last two races,” he explained.

“At the test in Bahrain we tested several new software modes that will see us closer to the limits of the PU than before,” added Taffin.

[MIKA27]

Critics of new Formula 1 era have an agenda says Mosley

Former FIA president Max Mosley says criticism of the new era of Formula 1 is being driven by those with an agenda.

Since the sport made its revolutionary switch to the smaller, quieter and greener turbo V6 engines, the loudest critic has been Ferrari.

The current boss of Formula 1′s governing body, Jean Todt, is the new champion of the regulations, but they were actually the brainchild of Briton Mosley, who initially wanted the engines to be even quieter four-cylinder ones.

He said the old V8s were “dinosaurs”.

“It’s a really interesting technology and it’s change,” Mosley told Reuters when discussing the controversial new V6s.

“If you don’t have change, you just disappear.”

In the last few days, it has been all change at Maranello, as Stefano Domenicali was ousted and Formula 1 unknown Marco Mattiacci was installed as team boss.

But what has not changed is Ferrari’s criticism of Formula 1 2014.

Italy’s olympic chief, Giovanni Malago, was quoted in the Italian press recently as admitting that he does not like the ‘new’ Formula 1.

Ferrari has now reproduced the quotes on its official website.

“In my opinion, it’s a form of self-harm,” Malago said, referring to the 2014 rules.

“I hope the people who run the sport look again at the rules because the way Formula 1 is now, it has much less appeal and that’s a shame as it is an extraordinary world.”

Australia and Malaysia were panned as mainly processional races and the milder sound of the engines was criticised by many.

But Bahrain – race three – was a true thriller, as Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg fought wheel-to-wheel for victory.

Mercedes’ Hamilton said on Tuesday: “Bahrain was fantastic, and not just for us as a team but for the sport. I’m sure it won’t be the last time we see a great show this year.”

Ferrari has not been the only paddock voice making noise about 2014, as reigning world champions Red Bull and even Formula 1 Chief Executive Bernie Ecclestone have also been highly and repeatedly critical.

“It’s quite entertaining,” Mosley said, “because you know all the people and you know the way they react and they are all, of course, pushing their own particular agenda.

“But what they don’t realise is that the public understands that. The truth of the matter is I think that the public don’t take the slightest notice.”

[MIKA27]

Ferrari priority is to establish themselves as second best team

Ferrari say they are not targeting runaway Formula One leaders Mercedes but want to establish themselves as second-best team in the short term.

The Italian team, who this week replaced Team Principal Stefano Domenicali with Marco Mattiacci, want to bounce back at this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix from a disappointing showing in the previous race, in Bahrain.

“We are naturally working as hard as we can on closing the gap to the top teams, with Mercedes having a reasonable lead over the rest of the field,” Ferrari’s Engineering Director Pat Fry said on the team’s website on Tuesday.

“Currently, our first priority is to establish ourselves as the second best team. We are looking at all areas of the car – power unit, aero, suspension. We are trying to make as big a step as we can for each and every race.”

Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen claimed ninth and 10th places respectively in Bahrain, while the season’s first three races have been won by either Lewis Hamilton or Nico Rosberg for Mercedes.

[MIKA27]

No panic at Williams, says Smedley

Williams Head of Vehicle Performance Rob Smedley has dismissed suggestions that "panic" has set in at the Wantage team over their lack of podiums so far this year.

Throughout pre-season testing the Williams FW36 could be found near the top of the timesheets, but after the season's first three races their early promise is yet to translate into results.

Both Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas struggled for grip during qualifying in Australia and Malaysia, leaving their races compromised.

Despite qualifying in 10th place in Melbourne, Bottas seemed destined to finish on the podium, but suffered a rear tyre puncture after making contact with a wall.

In Bahrain, both drivers qualified in the top 10 but struggled with degradation issues throughout the race and finished a disappointing seventh and eighth, more than half-a-minute behind eventual winner Lewis Hamilton.

Smedley, though, isn't too worried about their disappointing results so far, saying that there is nothing to be concerned about at this stage.

"We scored the optimum result for where we are," Smedley told Autosport.

"We've done that consistently for three races, around sixth to seventh position.

"There's no panic, the development drive is on, as it is for everybody, and there's a whole new structure around Williams, trying to keep the good bits and trying to improve on it.

"That goes for the windtunnel too. There's no panic in the team, we just have to keep doing what we're doing."

MIKA: Why panic when this season has been Williams' best in years! Baby steps guys.... baby steps, you're alreay doing loads better than the likes of Ferrari

[MIKA27]

Montoya: Haas has a crazy plan

Juan Pablo Montoya believes Gene Haas is "mad" to try and run a Formula One team from a base in the United States.

NASCAR co-owner Haas was given a FIA license to join the sport in 2015, but Montoya believes approach is completely wrong.

"If he wants to build [the team] here in the States I think it's completely mad," the seven-time Grand Prix winner told Autosport at last weekend's Long Beach IndyCar event.

"You can't even call it mad because it makes no sense.

"You are not going to get people from England to move to Charlotte."

The Colombian added that Formula One should be careful not host to discard its European roots in favour of expanding to other areas of the world.

"I think Formula One has to be careful not to discard Europe too much," he added.

"That is where the original fans are, where the car fans are. You don't want to keep driving away from Europe.

"I know other places will give them more money to go but if you take the British GP, or the Spanish GP away, imagine that.

"There are a lot of big races and you don't want to screw that."

Haas, though, has responded to widespread criticism he has received for his move into Formula One.

"There is obviously skepticism in anything that anybody's trying to do that hasn't been done before," Haas said during a press conference earlier this week.

"The only way I can allay that is to go out there and do it. I think we have the flexibility.

"When things don't go right, we go in a different direction, and we do whatever it takes to get things done.

"I can't tell you about the other people that fail. I don't know why they fail.

"Maybe where they failed, I can figure out how not to. But I firmly believe that we have the right tools to go forward on this and be successful at it.

"I've been pretty successful at taking on projects that other people say you can't do."

[MIKA27]

Button with a 'point to prove'

Jenson Button is confident that McLaren will get more 'points on the board' after both the Woking team's drivers were forced to retire with clutch problems in Bahrain earlier this month.

"After a disappointing race in Bahrain, I think we head to China with a bit of a point to prove - we need to get some points on the board, and get another race under our belts that demonstrates the pace that we feel this year's car has," Button told crash.net ahead of this week's Chinese Grand Prix.

"That won't necessarily be straightforward - Bahrain showed that, the top two cars aside, the racing this year is fast, fraught and very evenly matched. The margins are so slim that it'll require us to get everything right: a focused practice, problem-free qualifying sessions and a clean race to try and establish ourselves at the forefront of that chasing pack.

"But I've always enjoyed racing in China - I won here in 2010, and I've always had good results here for McLaren.

"While it's not necessarily a track that perfectly suits our package, I think we can pull everything together and have a stronger weekend."

Eric Boullier, McLaren's Racing Director, agreed with the 2009 Drivers' Championship winner, adding that it is of the utmost importance for them that both Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen finishes in the top 10 this weekend.

"It's never easy to come away from a grand prix with two retirements, so it'll be important to get some further points on the board in China this weekend," the former Lotus boss explained.

"I think there are reasons to be encouraged by our general performance though: the chasing pack in Bahrain was extremely closely matched, but we were in the thick of it, and see the potential to hopefully edge clear.

"We're aggressively developing MP4-29: we know we have a good baseline, but it's a concept that requires development. We have some useful steps in the pipeline, and the key to success this year will be, firstly, the quick translation of those concepts into useful components; and, secondly, getting those steps to work successfully at the track.

"I think we've got good correlation between the windtunnel and the track, and our designers are encouraged by what's already been brought to the track. We'll have another little step for China, and will hopefully be bringing more key updates to every race.

"The Bahrain race was rightly acclaimed as a thriller, and I think we have all the ingredients in place for another exciting contest in China."

[MIKA27]

Perez targets another strong performance

Sergio Perez hopes to have another strong weekend in China this week after finishing in third place in Bahrain earlier this month.

The Mexican earned Force India their second-ever podium - after Giancarlo Fisichella in 2009 at Spa - and his first since 2012 after coming out on top in a battle with Daniel Ricciardo at Sakhir two weeks ago.

With that result in mind, Perez hopes that he remains a podium threat in Shanghai later this week.

"To get the podium in Bahrain was great," he is quoted in a Force India press release.

"My last podium was a long time ago, so to fight at the front again feels good. We knew we were quick and I made sure I grabbed the opportunity with both hands.

"It's a great result for this team and a big boost of confidence for me.

"The target is to move on, keep improving and target more podiums.

"Bahrain was the first real opportunity I had to develop the car through the weekend without any issues, so it felt like my season really started there.

"Now we need to think about how we can do better in China. At the same time, we must not get carried away because we know how competitive Formula One is and how things can change very quickly."

Although Perez heads into this weekend's Grand Prix in a confident mood, the Shanghai International Circuit isn't one he has excelled at before.

In the last two races there, he finished in 11th place on both occasions - with Sauber in 2012 and McLaren in 2013.

Nevertheless, Force India team owner Vijay Mallya, remains confident that they will be competing at the front end of the grid this weekend.

"I think we've shown in the first few races that we have produced a competitive car," Mallya said in the same press release.

"Bahrain was not just a one-off and we've been improving with each race.

"The aim is to repeat the podium, but each race is different and the field is so competitive that it's impossible to predict. Some tracks will suit us more than others, but I want to see us up there fighting towards the front."

[MIKA27]

It’s not easy or cheap being green, beating Europeans

The reality is, according to former FIA president Max Mosley, is that sponsors and boards will be asked about their green credentials. Supporting a racing series that is Neolithic could be troublesome. Refusing to change or changing back to an older technical regulation would face the threat of Renault and Mercedes leaving the sport.

To Mosely, F1 is about change because it’s about being fashionable and fashion changes—so goes Mosley’s logic. Those changes have brought about one of the biggest cost increases in F1 history and with the grave-side service over the cost cap idea having just finished, the smaller teams are sending clear signals of a catastrophic future for F1 if something isn’t done immediately—namely, the institution of a cost cap for all teams.

According to AUTOSPORT, a letter from Force India, Sauber, Caterham and Marussia has been sent to FIA president Jean Todt detailing certain doom should the cost cap discussion not be reinstated into the current dialog. They question the legality of the Strategy Group, which consists of Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes, Williams and Lotus, as a regulatory body capable of deciding the rules for F1. This letter may have prompted a quick call for a May 1st meeting or summit of the teams to discuss the situation.

It takes a lot of green to be green. There isn’t anything cheap about it and Formula 1 is finding out the hard way that deploying hybrid technology and a turbo V6 engine is not only a game-changer financially but competitively as well. The new regulations have de-throned, for now, the clearly dominant and paved way for a new juggernaut in Mercedes AMG Petronas.

Red Bull dominated the last four years but 2014 represents a return to humility and humble reflections on a car design that is struggling to be married to a Renault power unit and find any matrimonial harmony. It’s not a case of spousal abuse yet but should the team remain uncompetitive throughout the season, one can sense irreconcilable differences at best.

Perhaps no one will know how expensive F1 has become and how competitive it can be than American businessman Gene Haas who has thrown his hat into the ring of fire. Haas says he can beat those wily Europeans at their own game and if he doesn’t succeed at first, he’ll simply tack and make the corrections needed.

Can America’s first Formula 1 team in decades compete on the global scale and within the financial demand of green and the competitive demand of teams such as Mercedes and other similarly powered cars? Time will tell but getting a power unit supply will be a big first step. While Stewart-Haas racing is powered by a Hendrick Motorsport Chevy engine, I don’t see GM beating a path to Haas F1’s door to supply a lump. Beyond advertising for his own company, is it a good move? Not according to Juan Pablo Montoya.

Montoya, a former Formula 1 driver himself, said that Haas has to be mad to get into Formula 1. While that may be one man’s opinion, it could be a look-back statement when American fans say, “you know, Juan was right”.

The interesting plot-twister in this entire conversation over the cost of the new green F1 is the issue of the Strategy Group that excludes six teams from having a voice at the table. Force India’s Bob Fernley doesn’t think this system works and while many may agree, the FIA’s Jean Todt says that each team signed the “Concorde Agreement”—his words, not mine—and they knew what they were signing up for.

In the end, perhaps being fashionable isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. I don’t wear Kiton K50’s—not because they don’t look good but because the price is much too expensive. Perhaps I’m just not a slave to fashion like F1 is.

[MIKA27]

Formula One's Old Masters Head Back to the Track

The growling engines that Formula One drivers have so vocally missed this season could soon return to the track, but not in the hands of the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel. Rather, the roaring V10s would appear in a potential masters series, featuring Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet, according to the sport's chief, Bernie Ecclestone.

Ecclestone's interest was revealed by a European trademark application filed in February by Formula One Licensing to protect the name "Historic Formula One." The application is specifically in the category covering sporting events which is an important step in the preparation of a race series.

It would follow a well-worn path in other sports, such as tennis and golf, which all have tournaments for senior stars.

The proposal has received support from former drivers, such as ex-Ferrari racewinner Gerhard Berger. Martin Brundle, now an analyst for Sky, added, "whatever the format I'd want to be part of it especially if it was supporting the F1 calendar."

But Eddie Irvine, who almost won the F1 title in 1999, said, "it's not for me personally" but adds "I think the fans would love it and some drivers too."

Although there is no equivalent in motor racing, there is a series called Masters Historic Racing which allows the owners of classic F1 cars to compete against each other. They visit 10 historic tracks including Silverstone, Spa in Belgium, Germany's and Nürburgring Brands Hatch. Its championship is known as the "Historic Formula One Championship" and Ecclestone licenses the name to them. Since the license is under Ecclestone's control he could use it for his series once the agreement with Masters Historic Racing comes to an end.

It wouldn't be the first time that F1 has brought a new championship into its fold. In 2007, it bought the GP2 junior series, which has spawned F1 stars such as Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. Three years after buying GP2, F1 launched a second feeder series called GP3, which takes drivers from grass-roots championships like Formula Ford. A masters series would complete the ladder, offering a venue for drivers who want to continue racing but are no longer up to F1 standards.

A similar motor-racing series, known as Grand Prix Masters, was launched in 2005 and featured ex-F1 drivers over the age of 40, competing against each other in modern 3.5-litre single-seater cars. It held three races—in South Africa, Qatar and at Silverstone—and was won by American driver Eddie Cheever. The series, not backed by Ecclestone, shut down in 2007.

Brundle added that "a well-structured F1 masters series would be very popular with drivers and fans, and therefore TV and new media channels and sponsors too. I'm not so sure about driving the cars we used to race, most of us who are lucky enough to still be alive tend to limp a lot. To attract the household names of decades past I suspect the cars would need to be safer and less physical to drive."

Britain's 1996 world champion Damon Hill also pointed out the risk element. "I think most old drivers want to get home to bed early with a good book."

[MIKA27]

How about this idea: Fair play...

This morning I've read that some talking head from the Italian Olympic Committee has come out and talked about Formula 1 in support of Ferrari’s campaign to have Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen ride dinosaurs around the Circus Maximus. I have some advice for him: Go away, shut up and worry about your own sport. If that seems uncharitable, I can only say this: What would his reaction be if Bernie Ecclestone or Jean Todt got up and started spouting on about doping in international athletics? I gave up watching athletics and cycling years ago because I didn't trust anything about either sport. It would be nice to believe in them because athletic endeavour and physical achievements can be inspiring, but too many champions have tested positive over the years…

So, Mr Malago, slide away somewhere and do something positive for your own sport and don’t even try to dabble in Formula 1.

I think Ferrari is a great team for the sport, in fact, it is legendary and its fans are filled with passion, bordering religion. All over the world there are Ferrari fans. Terrific, however I really do not like the current attempts to manipulate the sport simply because the Italian team cannot compete with Mercedes Benz in terms of engine design. Sorry, if that does not quite fit the Ferrari image of great engineering, but if you live by the sword, you have to be prepared to get stuck in the ribs as well.

Ferrari competes in Formula 1 with a number of unfair advantages and if there was some logical thinking going on down there someone would have realised that if there is one team that would gain from a cost cap, it is Ferrari. Why? Because it is smaller than the big manufacturers like Renault and Mercedes Benz, so when it comes to ramping up costs to win, it cannot compete. It even struggles against the soda pop manufacturer Red Bull.

So, if Ferrari was being sensible, it would be in favour of a cost cap…

But, of course, if there was a cost cap, Ferrari would probably need to give up its advantages. We don’t know for certain what these are, because these things are secret, but we do know that under the terms of the last Concorde Agreement that ran from 2009 to 2012 that the Italian team got 2.5 percent of the F1 prize fund, off the top, before anyone else got a taste of anything. While some argue that this is grossly unfair, Ferrari says that it should be rewarded for the power of its brand, which is synonymous with Formula 1. You can be absolutely sure that the new deals that last from 2013-2020 will not have given Ferrari any less money – and the likelihood is that the company got a bigger slice of the pie, straight out of the oven.

What does this advantage actually mean? Well, folks, it means that in 2011, for example, the prize fund was around $682 million. That meant that before this was divided up Ferrari was handed a cheque for $17.5 million. If you do the numbers based on that year’s prize fund: Red Bull Racing earned $98.8 million for winning the championship. McLaren got $88.6 million for coming second and Ferrari made $95.8 million for coming third. How is that fair?

These days there is no such thing as a Concorde Agreement and the sport is based on bilateral agreements between the Commercial Rights Holder and each individual team. The deals may be based on the terms of the old Concorde Agreement but the numbers involved are not known. The details are locked away in safes.

What we do know is that until 2020 Ferrari has a right of veto in respect of the introduction/modification of any technical or sporting regulations (except for safety requirements). There are some conditions that must be met in order for this veto to be used including the proviso that the veto can only be used if it is not prejudicial to the traditional values of the championship and/or the image of the FIA, and that Ferrari considers that the new regulations are likely to have a substantial impact on its “legitimate interest”.

Let us not just blame Ferrari for this because this situation was not arrived at without the complicity of others, looking after their vested interests, and it is fairly clear that Red Bull Racing has some kind of similar financial deal, and probably others have had their deals sweetened as well, either with a signing bonus or a year-by-year deal.

Is that the right way to run the sport? Would it not be so much better if all of this was transparent and in the open and everyone got the same? I am in favour of success being rewarded, but I think it would be better to have a prize fund that operated on the basis of points-per-dollar involved, rather than just World Championship points. That way the smaller teams would be rewarded from their efficiency and the successful smaller teams would be legitimately rewarded for success achieved. It would also be an incentive for the bigger teams to bring down their spending.

That way there would be a solid field of competitors, no dodgy side deals and a feeling that there was a level playing field.

[Jeremy Festa]

Apologies if this has been posted. Just stumbled across it earlier today and thought it definitely belongs in this thread.

Super impressive...

[MIKA27]

Apologies if this has been posted. Just stumbled across it earlier today and thought it definitely belongs in this thread.

Super impressive...

Wow, never been posted here mate, thank you for sharing, that's super cool! Post of the thread.

[MIKA27]

Horner defend scrapping cap

Christian Horner has defended the decision to scrap a proposed cost cap, saying it would "never" effectively cut costs.

Earlier this month, FIA President Jean Todt announced that the cost cap he had wanted to implement in 2015 would not happen.

"Most of the teams were in favour of the cost cap, but I understand that all the teams that are part of the Strategy Group are against it now," he said.

"So clearly, if the commercial rights holder, and if six teams, which means 12 of 18 are against, I cannot impose it. It's mathematics. So in this case, no more cost cap."

The decision has not gone down well with Formula 1's smaller teams, some of whom have budgets that are just a tenth of what the likes of Red Bull Racing spend.

But despite their complaints, Red Bull boss Horner says axing the cap is the right move.

He told Autosport: "I think the situation is that a cap is never going to effectively control the costs.

"All of the teams are effectively agreed that we want to reduce the costs, and the most effective way to do that is really through the sporting regulations more than anything.

"So we need to look at the sporting regulations and look at what are our cost drivers."

[MIKA27]

Shanghai Qualifying: Hamilton is the main man in the rain

Lewis Hamilton marched to a dominant Chinese Grand Prix pole position at a rain-soaked the Shanghai International Circuit, finishing six tenths clear of Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull Racing, who in turn beat third-placed team-mate Sebastian Vettel by half a second.

“It was so slippery out there, trying to find the grip, obviously not making mistakes on your lap, and really putting it together, especially when you have these guys [Red Bull] pushing you,” he said of third pole position of the season so far. “It was a tough session. I really enjoyed it. The car was feeling great. It’s a good position for the race and I hope we can follow through tomorrow.”

Ricciardo edged closest to the Briton in the final moments of the session but the Australian admitted afterwards that he had not got the best out of the session.

“To be honest, I struggled a bit throughout the session, at least personally I didn’t feel like I was getting on top of the conditions,” he said. “But then the last set of inters, right at the end of Q3, we managed to get a bit more out of it and I put a good lap together, so pretty pleased to be on the front row. A good day.”

Vettel, meanwhile, finished just under five tenths behind Ricciardo and admitted that the Australian’s better record in qualifying so far was far from pleasing.

“Daniel is doing a very good job, he has not just had one good weekend, he had good weekends and so far he seems to be able to get the maximum out of the car,” said the defending champion. “On my side, maybe I’m struggling a little bit more, but at the end of the day we have the same car – there’s nothing between cars, so if he manages to beat me, then he beats me on the circuit, fair and square. Of course, that’s not to my liking but equally, I know that I have to do a little bit better.”

Steady rain at the start of the first made wet Pirellis the tyre of choice but as the 18-minute segment reached its final minutes a number of drivers gambled on a switch to intermediate rubber and as the Sauber drivers began to put in good sector times it looked the right move for those who might otherwise be bounced out in Q1.

Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne made himself safe by jumping to ninth place (which was eventually good enough for 11th) but Sauber’s Esteban Gutierrez was the man caught out, the Mexican failing to improve enough.

He was pushed to 17th and out of the session by Lotus’ Romain Grosjean. Behind Gutierrez, the Caterhams of Kamui Kobayashi (P18) and Marcus Ericsson (P20) and the Marussias of Jules Bianchi (P19) and Max Chilton (P21) were also eliminated. Pastor Maldonado, meanwhile, had already bowed out, Lotus unable to ready his car following the problems that caused him to stop on track during the morning’s final practice session.

Intermediates remained the tyre of choice in Q2 too, with all 16 remaining drivers opting for the green-banded Pirellis. The top of the table took on a familiar look as the Mercedes cars of Hamilton and Rosberg occupied first and third places respectively with the Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo second and fourth.

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso also looked solid, the Spaniard eventually taking fifth spot. Behind that quintet the battle for the remaining top 10 places was a fluid affair, largely dependent on the shifting conditions.

Late in the segment, Vergne jumped to seventh spot with a good lap but he was the last driver to make a significant improvement and as the rain briefly intensified in the final minute, other failed to make a similar leap.

It meant that Nico Hulkenberg’s earlier lap of 1:58.847 was good enough to see him through in 10th spot, ahead of Felipe Massa, Vergne and the impressive looking Grosjean. However, out went the second Ferrari of Kimi Raikonen (P11), the McLarens of Jenson Button (P12) and Kevin Magnussen (P15), the Toros Rosso of Daniil Kvyat in 13th place and, suprisingly perhaps, the Force Indias of Adrian Sutil (P14) and Sergio Perez (P16).

The left the battle for pole and once again Hamilton was untouchable. The Mercedes driver posted a lap of 1:54.348 with his first run to take provisional pole, with Rosberg slotting into second spot ahead of the Red Bulls.

Rosberg then attempted to put pressure on his team-mate but a brief lock-up put paid to that ambition. Ricciardo jumped into P2 with the first lap of his final run but Hamilton’s time of 1:53.864 was untouchable and the Briton claimed his third pole of the season.

[Reevzy]

There's no I in team..... but there is in Sebastian.

I think if Mark Webber had have watched that race, he'd be down at Harvey Normans this morning buying a new TV from throwing the remote at it in disgust.

[ptrthgr8]

There's no I in team..... but there is in Sebastian.

I think if Mark Webber had have watched that race, he'd be down at Harvey Normans this morning buying a new TV from throwing the remote at it in disgust.

What are you talking about? God forbid a 4 time champ would want to actually race. Besides, he obviously let Danny go by shortly after the team order.

If Webber would be upset by anything today it would be that Daniel is far more competitive than he could ever have been. Had Daniel been Vettel's teammate for the last couple of years I bet there would have been more Red Bull podiums.

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk

[MIKA27]

Hamilton: I just can’t believe how amazing the car is and how hard everyone has worked

Lewis Hamilton scored his 25th Formula 1 victory in fine style at the Chinese Grand Prix, a lights to flag victory which will go down as one of his most dominant perfoamances in the cockpit of the mighty Mercedes W05. He spoke after his triumph in Shanghai.

Three consecutive for Lewis Hamilton – how about that? Great stuff, Lewis. That looked, from where we were sitting, incredibly easy. How was it for you?

Lewis Hamilton: Ni hao. The fans have been incredible this week, so I really felt a lot of energy but I really couldn’t do this without all the hard work from the team, it’s incredible. Honestly, I just can’t believe how amazing the car is, and how hard everyone has worked. The results we’re getting is a real true showing of all the hard work.

Absolutely incredible. You were radioing in and saying ‘my tyres feel good’ and everybody else was screaming to come into the pits. The first stint was just beautiful for you.

LH: Yeah. Surprisingly, again, as I said, after P2 I had to make a lot of changes in anticipation of today, even though yesterday was wet, but it worked perfectly and I was able to look after the tyres. After that I was just really racing myself. I did lose a lot of time after the first stop but still it was great. I am really happy that Nico is up here with us, it’s great points for the team and they really deserve it.

You had one little trip off the circuit, obviously when the front tyres were finally going away. A little fright there for you?

LH: No, no, fortunately there’s lots of run-off area. Basically the left front is the one that’s graining and wearing and I’d gone quite a lot longer than I’d planned and eventually the tyre was dead so I locked it, but it was OK and I recovered.

We’re back to tracks you know well, obviously Barcelona, you’ve got some testing coming up. Surely you can’t keep improving this car?

LH: Well, this team is a on a roll that’s for sure. The team have done a great job, as I said. We’re going to keep pushing; we’re going to keep moving forwards. That’s what Mercedes Benz want to do. They want to keep moving forward, developing, hopefully improving the engine, also the car. But as I said, I’m going to be working hard, we’re going to keep working hard because obviously the others are pushing to catch us up. So I hope it continues.

A three-time winner here. How does that feel?

LH: It feels incredible. I just have to shout out a big thank you, thank you so much to the team, firstly for embracing me into the team last year and for all the hard work and for them continuously pushing forward. I really hope that the guys back at the factory are enjoying this and really have a great week. I’m so, so happy. I had such a great race, really enjoyed it, particularly the last few laps, y’know? Really trying to keep temperature in the tyres, pushing a little bit more, just to keep temperature up and the car was great.

You spoke about the work being done in FP2 and then of course the car was good enough for pole in the wet and then good enough to win in the dry. How perfect was it?

LH: The car was really good. As I said, made lots of changes overnight on Friday night and obviously it was wet for qualifying. So I didn’t get to feel… I didn’t know what it was going to be like today. And really just that hard work sitting down with the engineers, really choosing… we didn’t guess, we really made those steps in anticipation for today and it worked perfectly. I couldn’t really have asked for more.

The only really big surprise I guess was getting the chequered flag a lap early – which could have tripped you up.

LH: That was very strange! I was thinking ‘am I seeing things?’ I looked up, I was coming across the line expecting to do another lap and all of a sudden I looked for a split second and I saw the flag, I lifted for a second and I saw there was no-one on the wall, so then I just kept going. I did lose a second or so. I asked the team, they said no, so I just kept going. Very, very strange. It was good to do another lap.

You mentioned the support of the Chinese fans on the podium. Have you seen an increase in support over the years here and is it something that makes them unique here at Shanghai?

LH: Every year I come here, I feel that the fan base – at least my fan base – feels like it’s growing every year here. Growing up in Stevenage, I never ever thought that I would fly halfway round the world and have so many people who chose to wear my cap, to wear my top, to have my flag and really support me. It’s absolutely phenomenal, and here it’s maybe my second year, I think, that from the moment I’m at the airport – I don’t know how they know I’m there but they know I’m there – it’s almost like they radio to the guys at the hotel and when I get to the hotel – I don’t know how they know I’m at that hotel – but they’re there every morning, every evening, day and night and that’s why I always say we win and we lose together. This morning and on the way, one of my fans she gave me like a digital photo frame and on it, they did a special video for me from all the fan base here and for me, it’s touched my heart so much so I want to say a big thank you to all of them.

[MIKA27]

Rosberg: I lead the championship and I plan to keep it that way

Nico Rosberg recovered from a bad start to finish second in the Chinese Grand Prix behind his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton, and the result sees him hang on to his championship points lead heading to the European stanza of the championship where he intends to stay at the top of the table. He reflected on his day’s work in Shanghai.

You still lead the Formula 1 World Championship so some consolation in that respect?

Nico Rosberg: Yeah, definitely. That’s there. I’m not going to use the word still because I plan to keep it that way. Definitely in the lead and that’s good. Especially considering that the whole weekend was really, really bad for me. It went completely wrong in so many different respects. Also, in the race we had no telemetry so there was no communication between the car and the pits, so they had no idea what was going on on track and that’s why the start was also so bad and a lot of things came together. So I’m pleased with second and I just look forward to a normal weekend again in Barcelona, full attack again.

Yeah it was a bad start. Take us through that first corner when you had contact with Valtteri Bottas in the Williams..?

NR: It was just very close, there were cars all over the place. Just had a bit of contract there and it was great that my car held on.

Then you had to make your way back through the field. You had a little bit of fun coming through?

NR: It’s really a pleasure to drive this car at the moment. It’s incredible the car that the team has built – fantastic. So thanks to the whole team. And Mercedes. This thing is so quick. It really increases the enjoyment level even further.

You said so many things went wrong. What was your set-up like from Friday FP2 though to the race itself?

NR: It was all OK. Set-up-wise it was a good team effort this weekend. Because it’s a very unique track here with the understeer being the main problem and the front-left tyre, so you really have to change everything, adapt to the needs of the track and we did well as a team. It wasn’t perfect in the race but it was definitely…pretty good.

As you played catch-up from the start you could really see what your strengths were in comparison to other cars.

NR: Yeah, definitely. We have the best car, y’know, and that makes it more enjoyable then to do catch-up, even though of course don’t want to do any catch-up – but I was back there so then catching up was nice with this fast car. It’s a good weapon.

Then we heard you not entirely happy giving a fuel report every lap.

NR: No! My telemetry failed, yeah? So I was completely on my own out there. The team then never…doesn’t see any information from the car, so they have nothing to do. Er…they do have things to do! So I had to do all the things on my own out there and, for example, it was then telling the team what my fuel level is so that they could judge if I was using too much fuel or if I’m safe – and I had to do that in Turn One y’know and Turn One is a difficult corner anyways, so yeah, didn’t enjoy that point.

When you said that you had to report your fuel consumption or fuel level to the pit lane every lap, why is that? Wouldn’t it be easier that you saw on the dashboard a plus or minus and then you could drive on your own rather than talking to your pits?

NR: Yeah, you’re right. Just that I didn’t have that function, probably because we don’t really need that normally. It’s fine like that, it’s just reporting once in a while to the paddock. It wasn’t every lap, you know, it was just once in a while so they can put a few dots and see where it’s going. That’s it. So that wasn’t a problem at all, it was just that I didn’t like where I had to do it because it was in turn one and that was not good.

All the other teams have set their sights on the Barcelona race as their best chance to improve their performance with the novelties on their cars, so how confident is Mercedes that the things you’re going to bring to Barcelona will keep the gap or maybe even extend the gap you have to the other teams?

NR: Hopefully, more than all the other teams; we want to go to Barcelona with the biggest step, that’s our ambition. Barcelona is a chance for us to extend the advantage that we have and that’s the approach that we have going to Barcelona, 100 percent.

[MIKA27]

Alonso: We need to keep scoring points, as many as we can now that we are not super-competitive

After a week where Ferrari under went a change of team boss it was fitting that Fernando Alonso dug deep, in his unique style, to score the team’s first podium finish of the new season, at the Chinese Grand Prix. The Spaniard spoke about his race in Shanghai.

Third for Ferrari. There are a lot of Ferrari fans out there and of course Fernando Alonso fans. Fernando, you beat the Red Bulls and you’re third only behind the Mercedes Benz cars. You must be really satisfied with that.

Fernando Alonso: Hello everybody, first of all. It was a good weekend. We did improve the car a little bit compared to the first three races, so we felt more competitive and now in the race being here on the podium is some kind of surprise for us, a nice surprise finally. Happy with a podium finish today. I think I’m third in the Drivers’ Championship behind these two guys. So we didn’t have the start of the season that we would like but at the end of the day we’re still in the fight.

Just briefly you had a big contact with Felipe Massa going into the first corner. You were lucky [there] with no suspension damage.

FA: Yeah, it was a big contact. I asked on the radio ‘can you check the car’, because it felt OK but I don’t know how it looks from the outside, but it was OK and we managed very lucky to finish the race and hopefully next one it will be a clean start.

First podium this year for Ferrari, how satisfying is that?

FA: It is. Obviously we had a difficult start of the season with some lack of performance in the first races and, y’know it’s good to be on the podium here on the fourth race after a not-easy weekend with changeable weather conditions and a difficult race as well, as Nico touched on. I think with the tyres, being a unique track with the front graining that you need to take care, plus some actions because we were not alone on the race. We managed, I think, quite well to get this podium and this is hopefully some boost of the team and some extra motivation y’know, to keep improving and to do even better in the next couple of races.

And again, the set-up from FP2 to the race, how good was that?

FA: I think we make very few changes to be honest, from FP1 to now in the race. We brought some new parts here, a small step that probably we are a little bit more competitive now and we concentrate on Friday testing those parts and not much set-up work to be honest. Yesterday on the wet conditions, now in these days it’s not much to do, wet to dry anyway, so, as I said, the setup, my feeling was quite OK from Friday to now.

The podium here, what can you promise your home fans at the next grand prix at home?

FA: We need to see. We need to remain very calm. It has been a very unique race, we make a step forward. We were ninth and tenth fifteen days ago and that was hard, pain a little bit. So, yeah, we need to remain calm. We are happy, we need to enjoy the result today but still a long way to go and we cannot promise anything for Barcelona. We will give 100 per cent again and we will fight – but in terms of result we need to remain very calm and see how development is these three weeks if we can bring some extra new parts for Barcelona.

You said several times that Ferrari needs a global improvement but is there a priority in this situation, to try to get closer to Mercedes?

FA: Well, of course it is a priority, we need to close, we need to catch them as soon as possible before the championship is over, so we need to keep scoring points, as many as we can now that we are not super-competitive, try not to lose too much ground on points in the championship, and if in one race we become as competitive as them, try to catch up in terms of points. At the moment, it seems very far away because they have a big advantage and we need to work really hard if we want to have that possibility. There is nothing really special we can do, just don’t give up; we’re in the fourth race in the championship, there ‘s still a long way go but being super-realistic, knowing that the gap is very very big it’s going to be very tough.

How can you understand this race? In the last one, you finished a long way behind the Mercedes; this time you were seven seconds behind Nico. Is it the characteristics of the track or the new parts that you brought that has made the car so fast?

FA: I think it was a combination. As I said, we brought new parts that feel a little more competitive – the car feels a little bit faster – we also tested in Bahrain, they felt OK and we confirmed that here. On the other hand, I personally have had an extremely good weekend, probably at the level of 2012 in terms of driving and feeling comfortable with the car, qualifying, Friday, today. In Bahrain, we were one minute behind the leaders, ninth and tenth and today we are on the podium, seven seconds behind Nico as I said, but Kimi’s one minute behind the leaders. I think it’s a combination. Hopefully I can keep going like this. I felt more comfortable with the car and we will not give up.

[MIKA27]

Vettel reluctant to let Ricciardo pass but eventually capitulates to team order in China

Formula 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel smarted on Sunday after being told for the second race in a row to let Red Bull team mate Daniel Ricciardo overtake because the Australian was faster.

Ricciardo finished fourth in the Chinese Grand Prix with quadruple champion Vettel, winner of the last nine races of 2013 having to settle for fifth.

Vettel sounded reluctant to comply when he received the radio instruction on the 24th lap, replying ‘tough luck’.

Ricciardo went past on lap 27 and ended the race more than 20 seconds ahead of Vettel and with Ferrari’s third-placed Fernando Alonso in his sights. Another lap and he might have overtaken the Spaniard.

“Obviously he’s going to challenge them, he’s a racer, he’s on the same tyres at that point and the guys want to race each other,” said team boss Christian Horner of Vettel’s response to the team orders.

“But we were looking at a different strategy for Seb…and then he’s obviously moved out of the way and let his team mate through.

“From a team point of view we always want to get the best result we can. Seb’s done the right thing for the team today. As he’s said very honestly, he’s let his team mate through. [Ricciardo] was quicker today.”

Red Bull have made a difficult start to the season but have been picking up pace, with Ricciardo starting Sunday’s race on the front row and alongside Mercedes’ race winner Lewis Hamilton.

He also finished second on his debut with the team in Australia, although he was excluded from that race after a fuel flow rate controversy, and has looked more at home in the new car with its V6 turbo engine.

“I think there was no point holding him back further,” said Vettel, always seen as number one at Red Bull when Australian Mark Webber was his team mate up to the end of last year, of Sunday’s race.

“He was quite a lot quicker. At that stage we were on different strategies. Once I was told that I decided to let him go. And also I had to realise more and more towards the end that I couldn’t hold him back.”

Vettel famously ignored team orders in Malaysia last year when he was behind Webber, overtaking the Australian to win in an incident that poisoned the atmosphere of their final season together.

The ever-smiling Ricciardo indicated he had barely noticed any controversy over the team instructions.

“I was told about the radio now so I wasn’t really aware of it on track,” he told television reporters.

“In turn one I had a bit of a look, I don’t know if he went deep or gave me a bit of room but I managed to get by after the lap so it wasn’t too bad.”

MIKA: I'm never a fan of any team order, especially so early in the season. I can understand strategically why it is required but not this early in the 2014 season. Closer to the end of a season when there is a definite advantage, sure, but call me old school, I believe if anyone behind any driver is faster, then that driver should have no issue overtaking another who is slower... like Massa and Bottas.

[MIKA27]

Ferrari: The result is a reward for the effort that all the team is putting into every area

Ferrari team and drivers report from the Chinese Grand Prix, Round 4 of the 2014 Formula 1 World Championship, at Shanghai International Circuit;

Fernando Alonso: “After a difficult start to the season, this podium is a confidence boost for the whole team, providing extra motivation for all those who are doing their best to close the gap to the front. And I think this podium should be dedicated to Stefano, as everything we [will] do up to July will also be the result of his efforts. We have definitely made a step forward, because compared to two weeks ago, we have partly closed the gap to the leaders, but we are well aware there’s still a long way to go and we have to keep our feet on the ground. In general, this has been a good weekend for me, as everything went well, right from Friday, although the rain made Qualifying more complicated than expected. I was on the limit all race long and I really don’t think I could have done any more. This is quite a unique track of its kind and now we must make the most of the long break before the next race to prepare as well as possible for whatever situation arises.”

Kimi Raikkonen: “This has been a really difficult weekend. Right from Friday morning, I suffered with problems that we didn’t manage to solve completely and today in the race, I couldn’t get the result I wanted. The start was good, I made up two places but then I couldn’t make up any more ground, as I just didn’t have the pace, nor much grip at the front or the back. In the final stint on new tyres, the car handled better, but then, as the tyres degraded the situation got complicated again. I think the difficulties I encountered here stem from a combination of various factors, from my driving style combined with the low temperatures and the characteristics of the track. Today, we brought home valuable points thanks to the intense efforts of the whole team and now we will continue to work ceaselessly to improve. Fernando’s result is very encouraging and proves that we are moving in the right direction.”

Pat Fry: “Today’s result is a reward for the effort that all the team is putting into every area. Both drivers got away well, managing to make up two places immediately and, luckily the collision between Fernando and Felipe Massa’s Williams left the F14 T undamaged. In the first stint, with Kimi we lost a bit of time behind Grosjean and that prevented him from making up ground on his rivals, in a race where tyre degradation and graining played an important role. The choice made at Fernando’s first stop saw him take second place: from then on, we concentrated on managing the gap to the Red Bull and tried to keep Rosberg behind us for as long as possible. This weekend we made some progress and in general, the speed of the car has increased, both in the corners and on the straights, but we have to be realistic about our current potential and continue working, because the gap to Mercedes is still big and no one within our team has any intention of giving up.”

[MIKA27]

McLaren worst of Mercedes powered teams as woes continue in China

McLaren endured another tough weekend in China on Sunday with both drivers failing to score points for the second race running. This saw the team tumbling down the Formula One constructors’ standings.

After a double retirement in Bahrain, the team’s first since 2006, Jenson Button and Danish rookie Kevin Magnussen finished a distant and disappointing 11th and 13th respectively in Shanghai.

They had qualified 12th and 15th.

McLaren, the second most successful team in the sport, had led the constructors’ championship after the opener in Australia when Magnussen was second and Button third but they slumped to fifth overall on Sunday.

“We’re struggling to get front tyre temperature in the wet and it’s also an issue in the dry,” said Button, whose team have not won a race since 2012 and went through 2013 without appearing on the podium.

“It’s not that you don’t switch the tyre on so much, it’s that it just grains immediately as soon as you put it on the car,” added the 2009 champion.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do and it’s tough for all of us, it’s tough for us out there driving the car because we’ve got to put up with it for an hour and a half.”

Magnussen said the car overall was good but lacked overall grip: “We just need loads of downforce,” he said.

Racing Director Eric Boullier said that the team would use the three-week break between China and the first race of the European season in Spain to address the problems.

“Our car isn’t competitive enough, we know that,” said the Frenchman.

“We’ll work flat-out between now and [barcelona] in an effort to address our car’s shortcomings. We know what we have to do, and we’ll work night and day to do it.”

[MIKA27]

Caterham: he final result is not exactly what we wanted to achieve

Caterham team and drivers report from the Chinese Grand Prix, Round 4 of the 2014 Formula 1 World Championship, at Shanghai International Circuit.

Kamui Kobayashi: “Finishing 18th isn’t the final position we’d want, but after a really good battle with Jules I’m relatively pleased with how today’s race went. However, it’s a real shame that my move on him on the last lap now doesn’t count due to the mistake with the chequered flag, something we had nothing to do with. We’d had a really good battle for the last few laps of the race and I got him on what was the last lap, until it turned out the chequered flag had been waved a lap too early by mistake – until we found that out after the race it had been good to see what a small victory like that does for the team as it lifted everyone at the end of a very tough first four races of 2014.

“I didn’t have a great start but still made up a couple of places on lap one and was having a good fight with Maldonado until lap 18 when he got past. The guys did a very good pitstop when we came in for the first time for new mediums on lap 11, helping me stay ahead of him until halfway through the second stint, but our car is simply not competitive enough on options tyres to hold him and once he was ahead I didn’t have the pace to fight back, so from that point we were focused on beating the Marussias.

“We stuck to the original three stop strategy and that gave us a few interesting moments, particularly with Vettel who I was told I could pass as he was fuel saving and on old tyres and I was on new softs on the third stint. I hear he wasn’t too pleased about that but relative to him I had the pace then to immediately pull away and did so to avoid compromising our plan.

“Obviously though the real battle for us was with the Marussias and when I came out on new softs after my final pitstop I was able to catch Chilton quickly and then closed the gap to Bianchi in a few laps, despite the traffic at that point in the race which always makes our own race very difficult. It was a really good battle with Jules, clean racing and I finally passed him going into the hairpin at the end of the back straight, having feinted left in turn 11 so I had a better run on him onto the straight which set him up for the pass into turn 14. As I say, through no fault of our own that result now doesn’t count but we’ll just have to dig deeper in Spain and fight back there.

“Even though we had good race with Maldonado for the first third of the race it’s clear we don’t have the outright pace to fight Lotus or Sauber yet, but we have a good package coming for Spain and we are determined to try and close the gap. The first four races have been hard, but having both cars finish today shows the progress we and Renault have made with reliability. Now we have to build on that and use the next couple of weeks to recharge ourselves so we can come back stronger in Barcelona.”

Marcus Ericsson: “For me the whole race was dominated by understeer. On every set of tyres the balance just wasn’t there and that meant I couldn’t really push at all. It’s good that we got to the end of the race, but if I hadn’t had that understeer I’m sure I’d have been quicker.

“My start wasn’t perfect and I was behind both Marussias at the end of lap one. We did the first stint on softs and they started graining pretty quickly so we boxed for mediums for the second stint on lap 10. We added a bit more front wing to try and help with the understeer but it didn’t really help so I just couldn’t push any more than I was. It was the same for the third and fourth stints which we did on softs but by that point I was pretty much on my own so just focused on getting to the end of the race.

“This is obviously the last of the early season flyaways and when we start the European season in Spain it’ll be back at a track I know really well. As a rookie that’s obviously good for me and with the amount of time I’ll be in the factory and in the simulator between now and then, and with the new parts we have coming in Barcelona, I’m sure we’ll come back stronger there and ready to make progress there and in the next few races.”

Cedrik Staudohar, Renault Sport F1 track support leader: “Today we had no issues on the Power Unit side and worked with the team to get the maximum performance possible. The final result is not exactly what we wanted to achieve but we’ll take advantage of the three weeks between Shanghai and Barcelona to work on performance and help the team deliver in the European season.”

[MIKA27]

Red Bull: We know we have a lot of work to do

Red Bull team and drivers report from the Chinese Grand Prix, Round 4 of the 2014 Formula 1 World Championship, at Shanghai International Circuit.

Daniel Ricciardo

• Finish Position: 4th, Start Position: 2nd

“I started on the dirty side of the grid and had quite a poor getaway; I was spinning up on the line a bit too long and lost the two places. From then on however, I thought the race was good! With Seb, we were racing and you always want to hold on to your position, but the team radioed and he let me through. I did what I could after each stop and we improved the car; at the end I was doing all I could to catch Alonso and I think we got to within a couple of seconds of him as we went over the line. It’s going well with the team, I feel comfortable here and I did the best I could today. I really want that podium and we’re getting close!”

Sebastian Vettel

• Finish Position: 5th, Start Position: 3rd

“I moved over for Daniel once I knew that we were on different strategies. When I was first asked, I didn’t understand as we were on the same tyre, unlike in Bahrain, so I double checked. When the team said we were on a different strategy, I moved over and then, as the race went on, I saw more and more that I didn’t have the pace. There was no point in holding Dan back. I’m not yet where I want to be with the car, but it’s an on-going process; hopefully at the next few races we will make some more steps in the right direction. Our weakness isn’t in the corners, but on the straights. The first stint today was okay but after that I’m not sure what happened.”

Christian Horner, Team Principal: “I think the wet conditions in qualifying yesterday helped us get higher starting positions up the grid. In today’s dry race, ultimately fourth and fifth is realistically where we were this weekend. Mercedes again were particularly strong and Ferrari carried their form through from Friday into a dry race today. Sebastian made a great start, but then appeared to go through the tyres quicker than Daniel and, after the second stop, it was apparent Seb’s degradation was particularly worse than Daniel, so we looked at switching him to a three-stop and therefore released Daniel who was very much focused on a two-stop at that point. Thereafter Daniel was able to close the gap to Alonso, but unfortunately we didn’t have enough to get onto the podium today. Fourth and fifth is still a solid result with good points. Heading back to Europe we know we have a lot of work to do.”

Thierry Salvi, Renault: “Again a race where both drivers had to work a lot to stay close to the front. Seb had a decent start but nevertheless had to fight against Alonso, while Daniel had an issue on his start but was able to make his way back to the front. A step has been made in terms of energy management compared to Sakhir, but it’s obviously not enough to come back to where Red Bull has to be. A lot of work is on-going at Viry to be at the top of the energy balance and trade-offs between the ICE and the ERS and we are looking forward to running at Barcelona to extract even more from the power units.”

[MIKA27]

Force India: To have 54 points after four races is an excellent effort

Sahara Force India continued its strong points-scoring form in China as Nico Hulkenberg finished in sixth place ahead of Sergio Perez in ninth. The ten points scored today leave the team with 54 points and third in the constructors’ standings.

P6. Nico Hulkenberg VJM07-04

Tyre strategy: New Softs (11 laps) – New Medium (20 laps) – New Medium (25 laps)

“Finishing in sixth and bringing both cars home in the points again was a very positive result for the team. It was actually a pretty straightforward race for me after we got in front of Massa: I had to manage my tyres, my pace and avoid mistakes, and it only got tricky at the end when Bottas was getting a bit closer. We have beaten all other customer Mercedes cars, which are our main competition at the moment, but we have also seen some other teams up their game so we will need to keep pushing.”

P9. Sergio Perez VJM07-02

Tyre strategy: New Softs (10 laps) – New Medium (20 laps) – New Medium (26 laps)

“To start from P16 and finish in ninth place is a good recovery after a difficult qualifying session yesterday. I made a good start and after that I just focussed on making the two-stop strategy work. I think everybody suffered with tyre graining and I picked up a few flat spots, but we still made it work. It was not easy to overtake today, even the cars on a different strategy, so I think ninth place was the maximum. It means I’ve scored points in three out of four races, but I was hoping for more today after the weekend we had in Bahrain. It’s also clear that all the teams around us are finding pace so we have to keep working hard to be ready for Barcelona.”

Robert Fernley, Deputy Team Principal: “Coming away from China with another ten points in our pocket and third place in the teams’ standings is a very good effort. We never expected Shanghai to be our strongest track so I think we can feel pretty satisfied with our performance over the entire weekend. Nico’s race was relatively straightforward and we judged the tyre strategy correctly as he held off Bottas in the final stint. Sergio staged a strong recovery drive to move up into the points, which was a good effort when you consider he has not felt completely comfortable with the car balance this weekend. To have 54 points after four races is an excellent effort and we can be pleased with the consistency we have shown over a variety of different circuits.”