Chinese GP: Analysis of the weekend

The Chinese Grand Prix was certainly not exciting, as it highlighted the various defined balances of power between the various teams, so there was effectively a lack of duels on the track, with the most important positions remaining crystallized throughout the race. competition.

Mercedes returns to success, scoring the thirteenth Hamilton-Rosberg double. After the defeat in Sepang, the silver arrows team returned to the top, dominating all the free practice sessions, qualifying and finally the race, also thanks to new updates planned for the Bahrain GP but anticipated by the team that he felt intimidated by the Ferrari breathing down his neck. Unlike what was seen in Sepang, Hamilton and Rosberg managed to control tire degradation on a less abrasive track and certainly more congenial to the characteristics of the car, giving Vettel's Ferrari no way to rise to the role of real threat, demonstrating as there is a gap between the two cars, especially in qualifying. Once again Hamilton managed to dominate his teammate despite taking pole by just 40 thousandths on Saturday; the Englishman's dominance is becoming almost embarrassing and this is probably the reason why there were sparks between the two teammates after the race, with Rosberg accusing the Englishman of slowing him down on purpose during the race. The spirits are very high in the silver henhouse and certainly in Bahrain, given what happened last year, we will see some good things.

Ferrari can say they are satisfied. In fact, the Chinese weekend reiterated once again how the red is the second undisputed force in the championship. Of course, after the success of two weeks ago, the fans were hoping for it, but the reality is that there is still a gap with Mercedes, especially in qualifying; what makes Maranello smile most is a Sebastian Vettel in a state of grace (with three podiums in three races) and a Kimi Raikkonen who is certainly rediscovered, who makes up for Saturday's bad qualifying with an exceptional first lap in which he easily gets rid of Massa and Bottas who preceded him. Finally, after so many years, there are two drivers in Ferrari who bring home the points and who, in view of the Bahrain Grand Prix, which is very suitable for the characteristics of the red car, could bring even more important ones.

Williams confirms itself as the third force in the championship and seems to have taken a step forward, reducing the performance gap from Ferrari. In the race Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas could not do anything but get their best, in a situation in which the positions seemed to have crystallized, placing themselves in fifth and sixth position, consolidating third place in the constructors' standings. This year is certainly a good start for Massa who, according to Rob Smedley, is the best Felipe since 2008, the year in which he lost the world championship at the last corner.

First important points for Lotus thanks to Romain Grosjean who started eighth and crossed the finish line in seventh position taking home 6 points. The same cannot be said for teammate Pastor Maldonado who, after qualifying eleventh on Saturday, ruined his race with a gross mistake entering the pit lane. A race which then ended with the accident with Jenson Button at the first corner after the two were having a good battle (accident in which the Venezuelan was not at fault).
Weekend to remember for Sauber: both Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson reached the points after both managed to reach Q3 on Saturday. Eighth and tenth place finishes for the Brazilian and Swede respectively were what the team was hoping for, with Felipe finishing in the points for the second time this season, not bad for a rookie, while his teammate struggled for many laps against the much more renowned Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo. Thanks to this great result the team takes fourth place in the constructors' classification.

Increasingly dark crisis at Red Bull. With Ricciardo starting from seventh position and Kvyat from twelfth, it looked like a comeback race for both drivers. The Australian's slow start only confirmed this belief, but while the Australian was able to complete the difficult comeback race to finish ninth, his teammate was forced to retire due to yet another failure of the Renault power unit. An increasingly less rosy situation, in which the entire power unit and chassis package is not competitive. For the next races the team has ensured updates, but considering the number of engines already used by both drivers up to this point, getting back on top will not be easy.

Bad weekend at Force India. On Saturday, both drivers managed to overtake only the two Mclarens and the two Manors, with Hulkenberg out of Q2. In the race the German was forced to retire after just 10 laps due to technical problems, while the Mexican arrived on the edge of the points zone, lapped. Both drivers are well aware that the technical situation is not the best and are confident that the team can give them a more competitive car later in the season.

Bitter weekend for Toro Rosso. Although the potential was there, the team returned home empty-handed, with Max Verstappen retiring with three laps to go, while Carlos Sainz finished outside the points zone in thirteenth position after a troubled race conditioned by a spin on the first lap and from a gearbox problem. The Dutchman, however, was in eighth position with three laps to go after a sumptuous race in which he made several overtaking moves, including the one on Ericsson which was truly difficult and courageous. A great shame is the retirement which does not overshadow the great talent of the driver, who will certainly be able to make up for it in the next race.

Small steps forward for Mclaren which however remains anything but competitive. This weekend too, both Alonso and Button failed to get into Q2 on Saturday, while on Sunday the situation went a little better despite both drivers ending up lapped this time too. Contact with Pastor Maldonado ruined Jenson Button's race and gave Alonso the chance to pass both. It's difficult to think that the Asturian isn't slightly regretful of the choice he made, especially when during Raikkonen's lapping of the two McLarens the Finn shouted to his engineer on the radio: “Come on, get the McLaren out of the way!”; a sentence that we are sure Fernando didn't really like.

Davide Gambardella