Formula 1 - 2017

[MIKA27]

Sauber F1 boss Kaltenborn slams Wehrlein absence conspiracies

Sauber team principal Monisha Kaltenborn has rubbished insinuations of a wider conspiracy behind Pascal Wehrlein's ongoing absence from Formula 1.

Wehrlein's lack of fitness following his Race of Champions crash forced him out of the Australian Grand Prix, and prompted a decision to miss this weekend's race in China too.

When asked by Autosport for her reaction to conspiracy theorists sceptical about Wehrlein's reasons, Kaltenborn replied: "I have to disappoint you there, the story is actually very straightforward and it might just not be good enough for some people to sell it better.

"The facts are - and it's really the way it is - he had this accident in America, and most of us saw the pictures.

"You see it's quite an impact, particularly his back suffered there. There was a lot of load on the back. These kinds of things you have to take seriously.

"Since that accident he got very clear medical instructions, under which he could not do very much training.

"It surprised us he actually got medical approval to be able to be in the car again that quickly, and the doctors also told us it's the result of having such a fit condition.

"We put him in the car step-by-step, never a whole day [of testing] but half-days. But we all know there's something he's missed out, which he has to catch up."

Wehrlein is not present in China this weekend as he focuses on fitness work.

A decision about the following Bahrain race will be made early next week.

Sergio Perez said he hoped Sauber was not hiding a bigger story behind Wehrlein's situation, while sceptics argued other drivers have raced in worse physical situations in the past.

Kaltenborn pointed out Perez himself had to miss the 2011 Canadian GP following a Monaco qualifying crash, and said Wehrlein's team-mate Marcus Ericsson struggled after the practice crash that forced him out of British GP qualifying last year.

"It's been a massive impact, this compression to [Wehrlein's] vertebra," she said.

"You can't underestimate these kind of things.

"Sergio, he wanted to sit in the car in Canada, and it didn't work, so we had to pull him out.

"You cannot compare these accidents at all.

"And even Marcus after his accident last year, it was not easy to sit in the car because the body simply takes its time.

"It's just as simple as that."

Other drivers have backed Wehrlein's decision and underlined that missing winter fitness training was particularly costly with the faster 2017 cars.

Renault's Jolyon Palmer argued any driver relatively new to F1 would only miss a race as a last resort.

"For someone like him or me, who still has to prove themselves in a championship-winning car or doesn't have a massive history to fall back on, you need every race you can to try and show what you can do," said Palmer.

"I don't think anyone can criticise it, not knowing how he is feeling in the car."

[Schumi5]

On ‎2017‎-‎04‎-‎03 at 4:02 PM, MIKA27 said:

IRVINE: TODAY’S DRIVERS ARE GOOD BUT NOT ON SCHUMACHER’S LEVEL

Speaking to Motorsport-Total, former Ferrari driver Eddie Irvine has labeled Sebastian Vettel an “arrogant, well educated kid” while insisting that no driver of the current generation is in the league of his former teammate and Formula 1 legend Michael Schumacher.

Irvine was a Ferrari driver from 1996 until 1999, years he spent playing second fiddle to Schumacher at Maranello. The Irishman insists that Schumacher is in another class when compared to Vettel.

He explained, “Michael was quite exceptional. Even when things were going really bad, he worked with Todt to hold the whole thing together, which was quite amazing.”

“In my day there was, after [Ayrton] Senna’s death, only Michael. No one could drive a car like Michael Schumacher. That is what helped Ferrari at the time, because they could never point a finger at him. Rightly so because he was never to blame.”

“When we were teammates I knew I was not as good as Michael. When I saw Michael drive I realised he could do things I could not do with the car. Mika [Häkkinen] was perhaps better than the rest of us but Michael was better than him too.”

Of today’s drivers, Irvine said, “Vettel is a arrogant, well educated kid and damn good driver, but not on Michael’s level, Lewis [Hamilton] is a damn good driver, but everyone knew Michael was on a different level.”

However the Irishman is adamant that arrogance is part of the DNA of successful Formula 1 drivers, “This is how we behave. I was just like that, and so is Lewis [Hamilton], look at [Fernando] Alonso, these guys are arrogant, that’s what drives them to get into Formula One.”

“When they arrive in Formula 1, with so much admiration feted over them, their narcissism is kindled, their arrogance, and all the other horrible qualities which do not make us nice humans.”

“Today who is the best? Vettel, Alonso or Hamilton? Ultimately it’s only your personal taste,” opined Irvine who made 146 grand prix starts, winning four times as a Ferrari driver.

Again, I am very biased here, but I could not agree more with Irvine on this one!  Schumi was an absolute legend and definitely the best driver I have ever witnessed in my lifetime. When the rains came, his superior skills became so incredibly evident.  Pretty certain Senna was right there as well but tough to know with the tragedy that cut his career short.  My dad and some of the older tifosi often tell me Gilles Villeneuve was perhaps the most talented driver of all but both before my time and another career cut far too short.  Such a shame to relive all these memories knowing the horrendous things that befell all three of these supremely talented drivers.  With Seb having christened his prancing horse this year 'Gina', which I might speculate is an homage to Schumi as that is Michael's daughter's name as well, I dream of Seb winning the championship this year and not only returning the Scuderia to the top but also offering a poignant tribute to Schumi himself.

[MIKA27]

HAMILTON: THIS COULD BE A BLESSING IN DISGUISE

When Lewis Hamilton finally emerged from the garages on a rainy, foggy Friday at the Chinese Grand Prix, it wasn’t to take his Mercedes car out for a practice lap on the Shanghai International Circuit, it was to sign hats to throw into the crowd and suggest a new weekend format to the powers that be.

Hamilton and the other Formula One drivers had very little time on the track after poor visibility wiped out much of the day’s two practice sessions.

With the circuit’s medical helicopter unable to land at the nearest hospital in case of an accident, F1 canceled the afternoon session completely and only gave drivers the green light for about 20 minutes in the morning.

After the second session was called off, Hamilton walked onto the track to take pictures of the hardy fans who had remained in the stands hoping for the weather to clear. He then signed hats and threw them into the cheering crowd.

“Obviously not a great day,” Hamilton said. “The track was absolutely fine and we could have run all day today with no issue if it weren’t for the clouds.”

On Twitter, the three-time world champion pressed the FIA and F1’s new owners, Liberty Media, to adjust the weekend schedule to allow for more practice runs. He suggested holding three practice sessions on Saturday and then qualifying on Sunday morning before the race.

“This could actually be a blessing in disguise. A chance for new bosses to be proactive & be creative,” Hamilton tweeted.

The FIA did not immediately respond to questions about whether the weekend schedule would be adjusted. The forecast for Saturday’s qualifying was expected to be clear, but rain could return for Sunday’s race.

The slick conditions caused plenty of sliding for the brief time the drivers were on the track in the morning, with Haas racers Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean spinning at Turn 9 and Renault driver Niko Hulkenberg ending up in the gravel after spinning on Turn 3.

“It’s going to be the same for everyone (on Saturday),” said Valtteri Bottas, Hamilton’s teammate at Mercedes. “It’s a real shame with the weather here, but there’s nothing we can do. We’re very keen to see how we’re performing here, which we didn’t find out today.”

[MIKA27]

TIME IS UP FOR MALAYSIA ON GRAND PRIX CALENDER

It has been announced that this year’s Malaysian Grand Prix is to be the country’s 19 the and last, a decision taken jointly by Formula 1 and Sepang International Circuit (SIC).

Malaysia joined the Formula 1 calendar in 1999

Sean Bratches, Managing Director, Commercial Operations, Formula 1 commented, “It’s always sad to say goodbye to a member of the Formula 1 family. Over nearly two decades, the Malaysian Formula 1 fans have proven themselves to be some of the sport’s most passionate supporters.

“As we said in Melbourne, we have big plans for bringing our global fan base closer to the sport than ever before, providing an enhanced digital experience and creating new events. We’re looking forward to talking more about these plans as the season progresses.

“We will have 21 exciting events to look forward to in the 2018 calendar, with the additions of the French and German races. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the Sepang International Circuit for their hospitality and professionalism over the years, and their ongoing commitment to motorsport.”

Malaysia’s tourism minister had said in November that the country will stop hosting the racing championships after the current agreement expires in 2018.

“The Cabinet has agreed to end the contract for hosting the Formula One race starting 2018 after considering lowering returns to the country compared to the cost of hosting the championships,” Malaysia Prime Minister Najib Razak said in a statement.

State oil and gas firm Petronas is the title sponsor for the F1 race in Kuala Lumpur. The company has been hit hard in recent times by tumbling oil prices.

Petronas, however, will continue to sponsor the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team as part of its marketing strategy, Najib said.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said, “It is a bit of a blow. It was one of the great circuits. For us emotionally it is a bit tough to overcome because it is a home grand prix.”

Both Formula 1 and SIC say they are committed to make this year’s event in October a fitting finale for the ground-breaking circuit.

[MIKA27]

Formula 1 drivers shown new 'shield' cockpit protection proposal

Formula 1 drivers have been shown an alternative cockpit protection idea - called 'the shield' - by the FIA as a decision nears over introducing the halo for 2018.

During Friday night's drivers' briefing in China, the FIA delivered a presentation about an alternative canopy-style solution that could be introduced in the future.

Although it is only an outline concept, and has not yet been tested extensively, it is understood the idea features a screen that extends much further forward along the nose than the halo or aeroscreen did.

The solution is believed to be more aesthetically pleasing but does not offer the levels of protection that the halo (pictured below) would.

The FIA used the briefing to get feedback on whether the idea would garner much support among drivers, but opinions were divided.

Haas driver Kevin Magnussen said: "I don't know. My opinion is I wouldn't mind not having anything. I am happy as it is now.

"I think visibility [with the shield] is going to be a big issue at least in the wet.

"In Brazil last year we couldn't see anything without any protection so with the screen I am sure there is going to be no visibility in a situation like that.

"Maybe in the dry it could be OK, but with mist on the screen it could be tricky. Let's see what they come up with."

Toro Rosso's Daniil Kvyat said: "It's not fully the halo, it's even slightly worse in that respect because we cannot see anything.

"It will just get dirty. I don't believe in that project."

Romain Grosjean added: "There are two very different opinions [among drivers] - some want to get the halo up as soon as possible some don't want anything.

"My feedback is I am against the shield, aeroscreen (pictured above) or halo.

"F1 is back to where it should be right now, back to really cool and aggressive cars and I don't want to put anything that could destroy what we have just built."

Although the FIA has stated that a form of cockpit head protection will be introduced for 2018, no agreement has yet been reached on what type it will be.

The FIA technical regulations can be changed with majority support until April 30, and after that point unanimous backing from teams will be required.

Even without that, the FIA could choose to force a cockpit protection device through on safety grounds if there is disagreement between the competitors about what to do.

[MIKA27]

FIA rules out bringing F1's Chinese Grand Prix forward to Saturday

The Chinese Grand Prix will go ahead as planned on Sunday, with Formula 1 race director Charlie Whiting ruling out a change of timetable because of weather conditions.

Low cloud on Friday meant the medical helicopter could not land at a nearby hospital, and as an ambulance could not have reached the hospital on land within the 20-minute limit the FIA could not allow cars to run for most of the day.

Amid concerns of further bad weather on Sunday, teams had considered the possibility of shifting the race to Saturday when the forecast is better.

A decision about the potential schedule change was due to be made at Friday night's drivers' briefing at the Shanghai circuit.

But with the FIA confident the weather for Sunday will not be as bad as some have feared - with the cloud set to be higher and windier conditions expected - the idea of a change was swiftly ruled out.

Whiting told team managers and drivers that the timetable for the weekend was going ahead without any alteration.

Haas driver Kevin Magnussen said: "It looks like the weather forecast is saying the clouds will be a bit higher up, so that the chance of the helicopter being able to land will be bigger on Sunday."

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said he would have been open to a Saturday race but felt the FIA made the right call.

"I think stability of the format is important, and rather than racing on Saturday we should find out why we couldn't drive today, why couldn't the helicopter land, and if that's the case, which hospital could we take in case of an emergency," Wolff told Autosport.

"But if it's not feasible, I would do the Saturday format.

"Maybe it would have been a good opportunity to try some stuff - no testing!"

[MIKA27]

Pirelli: New inters considerably quicker

Having run their new intermediate tyres for the first time at a race weekend in Shanghai, Pirelli have declared that they are significantly quicker.

This season Pirelli rolled out new wider tyres but also improved on the compound of their wet and intermediate rubber.

Those were given a brief run in Shanghai on Friday in a weather-interrupted FP1.

Max Verstappen set the pace on the inters with a 1:50.491, which despite the Red Bull driver covering only four laps, was considerably up on last year’s intermediate tyres.

“Today [Friday] was the GP debut for our 2017-specification wet and intermediate tyres,” explained Mario Isola, Pirelli’s head of F1. “We also have a wet-weather tyre in a different compound with the target of providing more grip.

“Its test wasn’t particularly significant due to the lack of running.

“However, we did see a fastest time from Max Verstappen that was seven seconds faster than the intermediate tyre in China last year.”

[MIKA27]

SHANGHAI QUALIFYING: HAMILTON DENIES VETTEL

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton powered towards the 63rd pole position of his career in Shanghai, edging out Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel by just under two tenths of a second, with the German claiming second spot on the grid ahead of the second Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas by just 1000th of a second.

Hamilton was the first to make a move in Q1 setting the early pace with a time of 1:33.333. Team-mate Bottas then slotted into P2, four-tenths behind the three-time champion.

Hamilton said, “We knew it would be close. We knew we’d need a perfect lap. Very, very happy and super grateful to the team. It’s more exciting than ever fighting these guys. It’s amazing.”

“It has been an interesting weekend so far. Today was a real challenge we had to compile a lot of yesterday’s testing into this morning and hope we hit the nail on the head with the balance of the car.”

“Ferrari looked so fast. I managed to chip away, session to session, the last lap was my best which is always the plan,” added the triple F1 World Champion.

The Briton’s time in P1 was short, however, as Vettel swiftly appeared to dislodge him, the Ferrari driving lapping almost three tenths quicker than the Mercedes man. Vettel also took top spot on soft tyres, whereas Hamilton had used the supersoft rubber.

Raikkonen, who also used only the soft tyre, took third ahead of Bottas, while Williams’ Lance Stroll put in an excellent final flyer to claim fifth place ahead of Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo.

The Australian ensured passage to Q2 with a time 1:34.041, set early in the session. There was no such comfort for team-mate Max Verstappen, however.

The Dutchman was slow on opening flyer and after reporting a problem with his power unit he abandoned the lap and retreated to the pit lane.

He was soon back on track but time was rapidly running out. Midway through the lap he was being fed possible solutions to the loss of power by his team but the remedial action appeared to achieve little.

His first time, set 30 seconds before the flag was good enough for P17 and he was told to try for another lap, but any possibility of improvement was eradicated moments later when Sauber’s Antonio Giovinazzi crashed heavily in the final corner just as the chequered flag came out.

It meant that Verstappen ended the session in P19, eliminated ahead of Esteban Ocon and behind 16th placed Stoffel Vandoorne of McLaren, Haas’ Romain Grosjean and Renault’s Jolyon Palmer.

Raikkonen set the early pace in Q2 with a lap of 1:32.602 before again being bested by Vettel and Hamilton. Bottas too eclipsed the Finn to leave the two Ferraris split by the Mercedes pair. Ricciardo slotted into P5 with his first run.

In the drop zone with five minutes to go were McLaren’s Fernando Alonso in P11, followed by Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg, Haas’ Kevin Magnussen and Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson.

It was Hulkenberg who made the most of the final run. The German posted an excellent lap of 1:33.636 to vault from P12 to P6. He finished ahead of Massa, Force India’s Sergio Perez, Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat and 10th placed Stroll.

Eliminated at this stage were Carlos Sainz in the second Toro Rosso in P11, Magnussen, Alonso, Ericsson and the unfortunate Giovinazzi.

At the front of the pack the Mercedes drivers and Ricciardo opted to sit out the final run. Ferrari, though, chose to send out its drivers and it was Räikkönen who made the most of the lap. The Finn jumped to the top of the order with a time of 1:32.181, two tenths of a second clear of Vettel who did not improve.

Having dominated the opening segments it might have been expected that Ferrari would again lead the way at the start of Q3. It was Hamilton, however, who set the early setting a time of 1:31.90 to head by Vettel by just over a tenths of second, with Bottas third ahead of Raikkonen and Ricciardo.

And Hamilton kept the momentum in the final runs. The first across the line he set a benchmark of 1:31.678. Bottas then slotted into P2 with a time of 1:31.865.

Raikkonen couldn’t get close to that but Vettel was edging towards the end of what was looking to be a very competitive lap. In the end though he couldn’t match Hamilton and finished 0.186 behind the Briton.

He was, however, 1000th of a second quicker than Bottas and so claimed his 72nd career front row start. Ricciardo remained in fifth place ahead of Massa, Hulkenberg, Perez, Kvyat and Stroll.

[MIKA27]

GIOVINAZZI: I APOLOGISE TO THE TEAM FOR WHAT HAPPENED

Sauber driver Antonio Giovinazzi, substituting for injured Pascal Wehrlein, walked away from a scary last corner crash during Q2 of qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix and immediately apologised to his team.
In the wake of crashing into the wall after clipping the grass in the final turn of the Shanghai International Circuit, Giovinazzi explained in a media release, “It was a disappointing ending to qualifying. It was all good until the last corner of my final lap.”

“I was already in Q2 and improving my lap time, but I pushed a bit too much, touched the grass in the exit of the last corner and then lost the rear of the car. I apologise to the team for what happened.”

“Tomorrow I will do my best to put in a good performance,” added Giovinazzi who impressed in his short notice debut at the season opener in Melbourne.

[MIKA27]

ALONSO: I WAS DRIVING LIKE ALL THE ANIMALS

It was always going to be a tough ask for McLaren in China, but Fernando Alonso refused to buckle as he threw everything he had into his qualifying lap which saw him finish 13th on the timing screens a half second faster than his teammate Stoffel Vandoorne.

The Spaniard delivered a gutsy display, in the woeful underpowered McLaren Honda, throwing caution to the wind as he flung the car around Shanghai International Circuit.

Over the team radio Alonso declared, “I was driving like all the animals. It is when you don’t care any more whether you have a snap or a spin or whatever.”

“We felt really non-competitive in FP3 so we went into Q1 with pessimism in the targets. I did the lap flat out in some corners, not caring too much about the risks over the limit. We crossed the line and I thought ‘Wow, P10’ that should be enough for Q2.”

“P13 in Q2 is a big surprise for us with the expectations we had before qualifying. Now we need to capitalise on this position and hopefully bring some points.”

“I think in the corners we are really good – as fast as anyone else – but on the straights we are the slowest by far,” he said.

“The rain will be good for us I think. In normal conditions I think it’s unlikely we get some points. A chaotic race will help us.

“We raced a couple of times here in the wet so we should use that experience to take any opportunity,” added Alonso a one time winner of the Chinese Grand Prix.

[MIKA27]

PALMER AND GROSJEAN PENALISED FOR IGNORING YELLOW FLAGS

Haas driver Romain Grosjean and Renault’s Jolyon Palmer have both been given five-place grid drops for the Chinese Grand Prix, because they ignored yellow flags during qualifying.

The pair will now start 19th and 20th, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Force India’s Esteban Ocon each inheriting a place to 17th and 18th respectively on the Shanghai grid.

The penalties followed after Sauber driver Antonio Giovinazzi crashed heavily in Turn 1 during Q1, with stewards concluding that both Grosjean and Palmer had “attempted to set a meaningful lap time” after passing the double waved yellow flags in the wake after the accident.

Additionally, both Grosjean and Palmer have had three penalty points added to their license.

[MIKA27]

Haas Formula 1 boss Steiner criticises Grosjean Chinese GP penalty

Haas Formula 1 team boss Gunther Steiner has criticised the decision to penalise Romain Grosjean for an offence under yellow flags following Antonio Giovinazzi's crash in Chinese Grand Prix qualifying.

Grosjean and Renault's Jolyon Palmer were both given five-place grid penalties for improving their times after passing double-waved yellow flags for Giovinazzi's wrecked Sauber in the middle of the track after he went off at exiting the final corner.

Both drivers claimed they backed off, but the stewards ruled that they "attempted to set a meaningful lap time", which is not allowed in the rules.

"If they want everybody to stop, they need to throw a red flag," said Steiner.

"Sometimes you have to be conscious that we actually race.

"Romain backed off. It's a double yellow, he was - in my opinion - in control of the situation.

"If you look at the [data] trace, he lifted, saw nothing, accelerated, saw the wreck, lifted again.

"Sometimes I don't get it, but anyway, I'm not a steward.

"He was in the wrong place at the wrong time - we paid a penalty for that one.

"Otherwise we could have made it into Q3, there was a chance."

Grosjean took to Twitter on Saturday to reveal data from his lap (above), saying: "So apparently I made no effort to slow down and didn't abandon the lap... data shows a different point of view."

Speaking before the decision from the stewards, he added that he was initially told it was a single-yellow flag zone, which is why he stayed on track to complete the lap.

"I backed off before the corner, took the corner slowly," he said.

"I didn't go to the pit because the engineer told me it was a single-yellow flag so that could just be a spin and going again, I didn't know it was a crash.

"I lost one second and I was fully backed off before the corner, and after the corner."

Grosjean added that he felt the situation was skewed by the fact that he spun on his first attempt in Q1, meaning he was bound to improve his lap time even if he backed off next time through.

"The first lap was 17 seconds off, so of course I was going to go faster," he said.

"The first time I was sideways, a bit on the grass, spinning the car around."

Palmer, whose first run in Q1 was compromised by low front tyre temperatures and a flat-spot, believed it was clear that he also backed off.

"I was on to cruise through to Q2 but I didn't complete the lap because of Giovinazzi," said Palmer.

"We can see from the times that it would have been very comfortable to get through. I completed the lap, I just backed off.

"It's clear that I back off a lot. It's up to an interpretation of how much you're backing off."

[RijkdeGooier]

MAX - driver of the day again. 

Too bad Red Bull isn't competetive?

[MIKA27]

Lewis Hamilton wins Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix for Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton converted pole position into a controlled Formula 1 race victory in a mixed-conditions Chinese Grand Prix.

Hamilton and his Mercedes team bounced back from defeat against Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel in Australia, the German failing to present a major challenge this time around, not helped by losing time in traffic after making an early pitstop.

Vettel did finish the race a clear runner-up, with Red Bull's Max Verstappen completing the podium from 16th on the grid, holding off a strong late challenge from team-mate Daniel Ricciardo.

While the Shanghai track was drying quickly after morning rain, all but two cars - the Toro Rosso of Carlos Sainz and the Renault of Jolyon Palmer (which pitted at the end of the formation lap) - had intermediate tyres fitted.

When the lights went out, poleman Hamilton eased towards Turn 1 in the lead, whereas fellow front row starter Vettel only just kept the second Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas at bay.

There was progress for Red Bull, with Ricciardo picking off Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen for fourth after the opening sequence of corners and Verstappen powering through to seventh by the end of the opening lap, having made up nine places.

Midway through the first lap, Lance Stroll, who had made his first Q3 appearance on Saturday, was punted off by Force India's Sergio Perez, the Canadian rookie's Williams beached in the gravel and forcing an appearance by the virtual safety car.

That remained for a couple of laps, with Hamilton now enjoying a healthy advantage and a number of drivers, including Vettel, opting to switch to slicks.

Most of the frontrunners were on intermediates as green flags waved again, but there was another crash moments later as Antonio Giovinazzi lost his car on the main straight, slamming into the pitwall and leading to a full safety car period.

When the race restarted on lap seven, the whole field was now on slicks, with Ricciardo Hamilton's closest rival, as Vettel lost ground through the earlier stop and Bottas spun under the safety car when trying to warm up his tyres.

In green-flag conditions, a surging Verstappen quickly passed Raikkonen for third, before picking off Ricciardo a few laps later with a dive into Turn 6.

Hamilton pulled away at the front, with Ricciardo quickly dropping off the pair and instead working to keep the Ferrari duo at bay.

Vettel picked off Raikkonen first, and he needed little time to pull off a superb outside move on Ricciardo.

As Vettel applied pressure to Verstappen, the Red Bull driver locked up into the hairpin at the end of the lap, allowing the Ferrari through before pitting shortly after.

Upon rejoining, Verstappen lit up the timing screens and, after he took fifth from Bottas with another late Turn 6 lunge, all the drivers ahead would make their stops as well.

Eventually, this left Hamilton seven seconds clear of Vettel, and the gap between the pair remained around that point for the rest of the grand prix, eventually ending up at 6.250s at the chequered flag.

It was much closer in the fight for third, as the final laps of the race featured a tense fight between Verstappen and Ricciardo.

Verstappen was frustrated at the Haas of Romain Grosjean running ahead a lap down, but whatever interference the Frenchman caused was not enough for Ricciardo to capitalise.

Ricciardo tried a last-lap lunge at the hairpin, but came up short, having to settle for fourth place, while Raikkonen led recovering compatriot Bottas in fifth.

Sainz was best of the rest for Toro Rosso in seventh, while Kevin Magnussen scored his first points for his new team Haas in eighth.

He overtook the Force India pair of Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon, with the duo completing the top 10 as they bagged another double points finish for the Indian outfit.

There were five retirements in total, Stroll and Giovinazzi exiting in incidents and three other drivers foiled by reliability - Toro Rosso's Daniil Kvyat and the McLaren duo of Stoffel Vandoorne and Fernando Alonso, the latter pulling over with a driveshaft failure after battling Sainz.

[MIKA27]

Ricciardo and Perez get F1 reprimands for being late for anthem

Daniel Ricciardo and Sergio Perez have been reprimanded for being late for the start of the national anthem ahead of the Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix.

The time that grand prix drivers have for their reconnaissance laps to the grid has been reduced from 15 to eight minutes for this year.

The move was, in part, aimed at giving the drivers more time to get to the grid in time for start of the national anthem ceremony.

This year's sporting rules state that "14 minutes before the scheduled start of the formation lap all drivers must be present at the front of the grid for the playing of the national anthem".

Red Bull driver Ricciardo and Force India's Sergio Perez were seen arriving late to the start of the Chinese anthem.

Both drivers were handed reprimands for the incident.

It is the second reprimand of the year for Perez, while it was Ricciardo's first of 2017.

[MIKA27]

Sebastian Vettel: Timing of F1 safety car unfortunate in Chinese GP

Sebastian Vettel believes the deployment of the Formula 1 safety car after Antonio Giovinazzi's Chinese Grand Prix crash was "unfortunate" as it eliminated the potential advantage of his early pitstop.

The Ferrari driver pitted for slicks under the virtual safety car deployed on the first lap thanks to Lance Stroll's stricken Williams, but as Giovinazzi crashed moments after the race was restarted the other frontrunners were then able to stop under safety car conditions.

This meant Vettel could not capitalise on the period he believed he would have had a pace advantage on slicks, and left him in a queue behind the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo and team-mate Kimi Raikkonen.

While he hinted this would have transformed his battle with race winner Lewis Hamilton, who he finished 6.250s behind, Vettel stopped short of saying he would have won.

"I realised the inters had quite a lot of degradation, I knew it was dry in some parts of the track and I was happy to take the risk," said Vettel of his early stop.

"But the safety car came in just as I could feel the dries were a lot quicker, so I lost a lot of positions.

"I just go with the fact that who won the races deserves to win, every race we do.

"Lewis did the best job, even though we were a bit unfortunate with the safety car.

"Who knows, it was a long race from there, I had a bit more to do than he had."

Once he had made his way up to second, Vettel enjoyed the battle with Hamilton, even though he never got close enough to seriously threaten the Mercedes driver.

"I tried to hunt him down, but knowing it would be difficult in the last few laps I asked for an average [time], and when they came up with a conclusion it was a bit more than half-a-second [per lap required to catch Hamilton]," said Vettel.

"I kept pushing in case he made a mistake and I enjoyed the fact we were racing, even if not side-by side.

"In pace it was a bit matched, sometimes he was faster and sometimes I was faster."

Hamilton echoed Vettel's sentiments on how closely matched they were after claiming his 54th grand prix win.

"The only summary is that it is very, very close," said Hamilton.

"There were times putting laps in when it was hard to match the time in the last 10 or 12 laps when he was doing a 1m35.6s and I was doing a 1m35.8s.

"There were other times when he was faster."

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Sainz Jr says Toro Rosso F1 team thought he was 'mad' to use slicks

Carlos Sainz Jr says his Toro Rosso Formula 1 team thought he was 'mad' to gamble on starting the Chinese Grand Prix on slick tyres.

The Spaniard was the only driver to line up on the grid for the damp start with slicks, while Renault's Jolyon Palmer dived for the pits at the end of the formation lap to copy the decision.

Sainz slipped to the back of the field off the line, but he caught the pack in just a handful of corners on the dry part of the lap, and made up ground when everyone pitted for slicks on his way to finishing seventh.

"When I saw everyone on inters I thought it was the wrong decision [to start on slicks], but you have to trust yourself," said Sainz.

"You should have seen the faces of my engineers, of Franz Tost, of Helmut Marko, when I told them I wanted to start on the super-soft.

"I told them I was convinced, I thought it would pay off, so let's play the long game.

"They looked at me like I was totally mad, but it worked.

"It's quite funny now - in the moment I was not sure, but I trusted myself.

"The first four corners were very tough, but after that the track was dry and suddenly I rejoined the pack.

"When everyone started to pit [for slicks], I knew I had taken the right decision and I was so happy."

Sainz had a lucky escape when he spun behind the safety car between Turns 2-3 and touched the wall, and he believes his pace after the restart, when he kept up with the Red Bull and Ferrari drivers, was decisive in him being the only driver outside of the top three teams to finish on the lead lap.

"Behind the safety car my tyres went down to 50 degrees, that was very cold and I lost the car," he said.

"I touched a bit the wall, I was lucky in that regard.

"I thought I had blown it completely, I was so angry with myself, thinking 'what have I done?', but in those cases you need to reset your mind.

"Suddenly the safety car came in and we were faster than Ferrari, faster than Red Bull in damp conditions.

"I couldn't believe it - yesterday they were two seconds faster than us but in these conditions you can show you can make a difference

"That was a great feeling and from then onwards I was pumped up to keep opening the gap to the rest."

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Valtteri Bottas spin behind safety car 'a stupid mistake'

Valtteri Bottas has admitted that a 'stupid mistake' cost him and the Mercedes Formula 1 team a better result in the Chinese Grand Prix.

The Finn spun behind the safety car early in the race, dropping him to 12th and forcing him to battle through the field to eventually finish fifth, while team-mate Lewis Hamilton won from pole.

"Behind the safety car I was trying generate as much tyre temperature as I could," Bottas explained to TV crews after the race.

"I went too far away, I was too aggressive and made a mistake and spun, and lost so many places and time.

"After that, it was tricky for a while to get the tyres working again. I got them there eventually and then the pace was good.

"From a stupid mistake of mine, we lost so many points today."

Bottas's team boss Toto Wolff urged his new signing, who replaced world champion Nico Rosberg for this year, to move on from the error.

"He threw it away behind the safety car," Wolff told Sky Sports.

"It happens to the best, it was very slippery out there and he lost it - and that's when the race was gone.

"He just needs to recover from that now. It's the second race into the season, there are 18 more left.

"Analyse it and forget it.

"He was doing Lewis's laptimes at various stages in the race, but once you're losing so many positions and you're not in the leading pack anymore, and you have to recover mentally, that is very difficult.

"He certainly has the character to recover from such a situation.

"Lewis on his day, he's in a different league. You could see today he was without any mistakes.

"On a difficult day, in difficult conditions, there is nobody else I would like to have in the car."

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Alonso calls his Chinese Grand Prix F1 race drive 'incredible'

Fernando Alonso has described his Chinese Grand Prix Formula 1 drive as "incredible" after retiring from eighth place.

The Spaniard stopped after suffering a driveshaft problem on lap 31, just after being passed by Toro Rosso driver Carlos Sainz.

After describing his performance in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix as "probably the best race of my life", Alonso suggested China was even better.

"Yeah, incredible," said Alonso when asked if he was happy with his performance.

"I thought Australia would be unrepeatable and here it was the same or even better. The conditions helped, so we took advantage of that.

"People were spinning left and right and we were gaining places more or less for free, and then when the track was damp we were keeping the pace of the best with a top speed deficit.

"[It's] one of the best things that has happened to me."

Alonso started 13th and climbed to eighth early on in tricky conditions despite his clear top-speed deficit on the long back straight.

The Spaniard is confident he would have finished in the points, potentially finishing as high as eighth, and found it surreal to be able to spend several laps of the race running ahead of the Mercedes of the recovering Bottas.

"I think we'd be fighting with Perez and Magnussen [who finished eighth and ninth] for the final points," he said.

"We could have scored one or two points like in Australia in an incredible way, because running ahead of Bottas [when] he can't overtake you for two or three laps was one of the most surreal things that has ever happened to me.

"He was 300m behind me and he passed me on the straight, but then I could sort of stay with him on the following lap.

Alonso said the team is still paying the price for its lack of running in testing, with team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne also retiring from the Chinese GP with a fuel system problem.

"Having not done testing we are discovering new problems race after race," said Alonso.

"Let's hope we can have a normal reliability soon to be able to finish the races."

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Toto Wolff: Valtteri Bottas threw chance of victory away in China

Valtteri Bottas "threw away" any chance of winning the Chinese Grand Prix with his mistake behind the Safety Car, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said after the race.

Bottas was fifth when the Safety Car came out for Antonio Giovinazzi's early crash, having stopped for slick tyres, but spun as he attempted to get some heat into his tyres, dropping him down to 12th.

That was the moment a shot at victory was lost according to Wolff, who admitted mistakes like that happen to everyone and he should "forget it".

"He threw it away behind the safety car," Wolff told Sky Sports. "It happens to the best, it was very slippery out there and he lost it and that's when the race was gone.

"He just needs to recover from that now. Analyse it and forget it," added Wolff. "It’s the second race into the season, there are 18 more left."

He eventually finished sixth, almost 50 seconds adrift of winner and team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

Wolff reckons Bottas' pace showed he would have been capable of a podium at worst had he not spun.

"You could see during the race that he had the pace," he explained. "He was doing Lewis' laptimes at various stages in the race, but once you’re losing so many positions and you’re not in the leading pack anymore, and you have to recover mentally, that is very difficult."

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Max Verstappen named Driver of the Day for Chinese GP

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has been named Driver of the Day by fans for the Chinese Grand Prix after coming from 16th to third.

The Dutchman suffered a tough qualifying with a misfiring engine and dropped out in Q1, eventually starting 16th due to numerous drivers getting grid penalties.

In slippery conditions, Verstappen made up a lot of ground early on, placing seventh after the opening lap of the race.

He then rallied to move up the order, battling with the Ferraris and his team-mate Daniel Ricciardo.

Having held off Sebastian Vettel for a little while, a lock-up let the Ferrari through and sparked an earlier second stop for Verstappen.

However, he bounced back to finish third, just holding off Ricciardo at the chequered flag to claim the final podium spot.

It’s his first time this season winning Driver of the Day, which is voted for by the fans from mid-way through the race.

Vettel won the award for the season-opener in Australia.

DRIVER OF THE DAY:
Australia - Vettel
China - Verstappen

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Raikkonen feels Ferrari should have stopped him earlier

Kimi Raikkonen believes his Ferrari team should have stopped him for new tyres earlier during the Chinese Grand Prix, the Finn admitting his result ought to have been better.

Raikkonen spent several laps during the middle part of the race stuck behind the Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo, before he was called in to put new tyres on on lap 39 - making his second stop later than all of his fellow frontrunners.

Although teammate Sebastian Vettel had managed to pass Raikkonen and Ricciardo on track, the Finn felt he should have stopped earlier to avoid the traffic.

Raikkonen went on to finish in a disappointing fifth position, over 40 seconds behind his teammate.

"I had the feeling that we probably needed to stop at some point so I would rather do it earlier to get out of the traffic, the cars in front of me, but that didn't happen," said Raikkonen.

"That feeling got even stronger on my side but it took a while. The reasons behind it I don't know right now. We have to look at it. It's easy to say afterwards. We should have done a better job out of it.

"After that it was pretty much race over. I caught up with the Red Bull but it was too late.

  

"The car was behaving pretty nicely with the new tyres, but we lost the front after a few laps and for sure we have some work to be done with the set-up to be happy all the time.

"The speed wasn't too bad, but not a great result."

Although Raikkonen complained about his engine several times during the race, he said afterwards that there was nothing wrong with it and suggested the issue was related to its settings-

"The engine was okay. Obviously we just have to do certain things. I didn't expect that there was nothing wrong with the engine. It's different settings. No issue there. It didn't do anything wrong for us. It was all okay."

The Ferrari driver, who finished a distant fourth in the season-opening Australia Grand Prix, believes the lack of running on Friday was particularly hurtful as he feels he needs track time to sort his set-up issues.

"It was better here than it was last race, but the result shows we still have improvements to make in the set-up, but I think we know what we want to do," he said.

"The situation with the no running on Friday didn't make it any easier. There's a lot of potential but we just have to make a better job."

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Verstappen calls for blue flag tweaks after Grosjean hold-up

Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen believes Formula 1 needs to look into its blue flag rules in 2017, as he feels the Chinese GP podium battle was nearly affected in an undue way by lapped traffic.

Verstappen drove from 16th on the grid to third during the China race, but was forced to defend his unlikely podium from teammate Daniel Ricciardo in the closing laps, their battle going down to the wire.

For much of that duel, Verstappen was on the radio with Red Bull to voice his concerns over the Haas car of Romain Grosjean, which was running right ahead, a lap down.

The Dutchman arrived within two seconds of Grosjean on lap 50 of 56, but never did close the gap to within a second of the Haas.

He called the situation "ridiculous" several times over the radio and asked his team to talk to race director Charlie Whiting, but was told nothing could be done.

After the race, Verstappen responded to the suggestions that Grosjean was too far ahead to be shown a blue flag, telling Sky Sports: "One and a half seconds is not that much. There were blue flags all the time.

"It's disturbing; as soon as you get within two seconds, and especially with a car balance that's already on the understeer side, it's horrible.

"I think he had no one in front, and there was no one behind us, so he could have moved behind us.

"In the end, it didn't damage anything in terms of my race, but it's not ideal. We need to look into what we should do with those cars if there's blue flags."

While praising Verstappen for a "fantastic drive", Red Bull team boss Christian Horner conceded he wasn't expecting Grosjean to be made to move over.

"He [Verstappen] was struggling with an awful lot of understeer, and he felt that being in that proximity was hurting him," Horner told Sky Sports. "But Charlie was never going to wave him past."

[Baldy]

Yeah they should revise the blue flag rule.  Eliminate it. 

Amazing the quality of racing on a quality track that allows passing.   Tracks that does not allow passing continues to be an issue in F1.

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HAMILTON: ALONSO TO MERCEDES IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN

Fernando Alonso’s hopes of ending his McLaren nightmare with a move to Mercedes have been dismissed by Lewis Hamilton after he claimed the Spaniard will not be joining him next season.

Alonso, who won the last of his two championships with Renault more than a decade ago, is in the final season of his three-year deal with the British team.

The 35-year-old has stated he will take stock of his future during the summer break but he is keen to remain in the sport if he can find a competitive car which will afford him the chance to fight for victories and the elusive third title he so desperately craves.

Alonso revealed he held talks with Mercedes following defending champion Nico Rosberg’s decision to retire before they moved to sign Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas on a one-year deal.

The length of Bottas’ contract may have lured Alonso to believe that he could be in the running to join Hamilton in a mouth-watering, and potentially explosive, line-up at Mercedes next term.

But Briton’s triple world champion poured cold water on such a move on the eve of the second round of the season in China.

“It’s not going to happen,” said Hamilton. “Valtteri is fantastic here at the team. He was very, very fast at the last race.

“He has obviously got a lot of potential and a lot of growth to go, but it is all about finding the right balance in the team. So far Valtteri and I have a great balance and the scales weigh up nicely.

“If you have got two kilos on either side, and then take the two kilos off and put four on, what is the point? You need the balance.”

Sebastian Vettel, the Ferrari driver who is also in the final season of his current deal with the resurgent Italian team, could also be an option for Mercedes in 2018.

But Bottas insists he is not fazed by the threat of losing his seat after just one term, “For me, even though it is a more important year than ever before, nothing changes from my side. There is only a certain amount of things I can do which is to drive the car as fast as I can.

“I have a good feeling within the team and it is up to me to prove myself and if I perform well there is going to be no problem. There are no strict guidelines or x amount of points that the team want me to achieve.

“They are going to review my performance throughout the year and make a decision then which I think is completely fair.”

While Hamilton won the Chinese Grand Prix, Bottas made a rookie mistake when he spun at low speed during a safety car period which dropped him down the field. He spent the afternoon recovering to finish sixth.

Alonso was up to sixth at one point in the race, but he suffered a driveshaft issue which caused him to stop out on track on lap 34 of the 56 laps race.