FORMULA 1

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Grosjean: Lenient F1 rules mustn't lead to Formula E-like chaos

Romain Grosjean has backed the idea of Formula 1's race stewards being more relaxed about driving standards, but has warned against making the sport rough-and-tumble like Formula E.
As Motorsport.com revealed over the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend, the FIA stewards and race director Michael Masi met with drivers to discuss how best to deal with rules of engagement in wheel-to-wheel racing.

It comes amid the battle to find the right balance between being too harsh with penalties that stops drivers fighting each other, or being too relaxed and letting bad behaviour creep in.

Grosjean, who is a director of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA), said that he would welcome things being a bit more relaxed, but without going to extremes.

"I don't think we want to go crazy, but I think if it's not intentional and you go for an overtaking manoeuvre and you lock up and you touch, then it's not the end of the world," said the Haas driver.

"If you do a Grosjean at Spa 2012 or a [Nico] Hulkenberg at Spa last year - okay, it's not intentional, but it's got big consequences so it's got to be penalised. Same as [Sergio] Perez in Singapore.

"But on lap one if you brake a bit late, or what I had in Austin with Charles Leclerc, I felt sorry I spun him, but his race was already dead because he had damage on the front wing and the floor, so I think the consequences were not that bad.

"I think it's a racing incident. His race was compromised, so what do we do? I think we should just say, 'well, it's lap one, everyone wants a position'.

"But we don't want Formula E, because I think Formula E has gone a bit too far. But if you touch someone anyway [in F1] your car is broken."

Grosjean said he welcomed the discussions with FIA stewards, including Garry Connelly, because it was important that drivers could get their point of view across.

"If I'm the head of the GPDA, it's because I'm interested in the sport and I want to make it better," he explained.

"It was really good from Garry and Michael to hear what we've got to say. Because the fact is we don't want to go into a braking zone trying to overtake someone and thinking 'oh, if I lock up and I touch him, that's going to be a penalty'. We want racing.

"S**t's going to happen over 21 races, but it always balances itself, I think, in the end. I think it's good that we can go racing, and we can fight.

"Obviously there are a few things that we don't want to see, and moving under braking is a big one, because to me that's the biggest danger nowadays. I think if that's really something we're strict on, for the rest, we should be allowed to race and have fun."

MIKA: Grosjean should be happy the rules will be relaxed as it mostly will benefit his style of crashing  

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Raikkonen: Following other F1 cars easier now

Kimi Raikkonen believes the 2019 aerodynamic rules have made it easier to follow other Formula 1 cars in races.
The Alfa Romeo driver admits, however, that he didn't have quite enough performance to find his way past the McLaren of Lando Norris in Bahrain.

Raikkonen followed up his eighth place in Australia by qualifying eighth and finishing seventh at Sakhir, right behind rookie Norris.

Despite having picked up extra pace on his final set of tyres, Raikkonen couldn't find a way past, although he said that the aero changes – including simpler front endplates – had helped.

"Yeah, I think it's more close," he said when asked by Motorsport.com if it is now easier to follow.

"Exits are still tricky, but you can get more close on the end of the corners and stuff like that.

"Low-speed corners we seem to still struggle, but maybe the conditions had an effect.

"We can get closer, overtaking is still difficult, but I think it gives us a bit more chance."

F1 boss Ross Brawn believes that Bahrain indicated that the aero changes have had a positive impact thus far.

"The effect of the new aero rules began to be felt in Melbourne and it was even more apparent in Sakhir," he said in his regular F1 briefing.

"The changes were introduced to improve the drivers' ability to race closely and they seem to be working.

"I'd say that we are only seeing the first signs, encouraging ones at that, and they have made for interesting racing, especially in Bahrain.

"It's not just down to the new rules, but the show we have seen in the first two races makes me feel optimistic about the rest of the season. In Shanghai we'll see if the improvement is repeated."

However, some drivers have not been convinced thus far.

When asked by Motorsport.com for his view, Lewis Hamilton said: "Following is no different. It's made zero difference, it's still terrible."

[skalls]

Man, talk about an awesome day.

Where is Ferrari?  Granted we're only 3 weeks into the season but it looks like Ferrari has yet again no answer for Mercedes.  Lewis made a great start and then that was that.  Bottas managed the race just as well.  I did dig the stacked stop that Merc did, didn't lose anytime at all.

I'm getting annoyed with Haas, they are great at quali but don't have anything to do in the race.

Tiger won the Masters (love love love this tournement) and Rossi won the Indycar Grand Prix of Long Beach.

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CHINESE GRAND PRIX: MERCEDES DOMINATE BORING 1000TH RACE

Mercedes were on another planet yet again as they dominated, unchallenged, Formula 1’s much-hyped 1000th race – the 2019 Chinese Grand Prix – which may also go down as one of the most boring.

Lewis Hamilton made no mistake as he powered from second on the grid into the lead by Turn 1 and was never headed again as his teammate Valtteri Bottas, who started from pole, chased all afternoon to claim second place.

A third one-two for the World Champions who have got a clear march on their rivals very early on in the season. The first time a team has locked out the first three races of an F1 season since Williams accomplished the feat in 1992.

Hamilton said afterwards, “It’s not been the most straight forward of weekends but what a fantastic result for the team. We didn’t know where we would stand with the Ferraris, they were so quick in the last week.”

“Valtteri was quick all weekend and to have a one-two together is really special in the 1,000th GP. The start was where I was able to make the difference. It’s still very close between us all. I have no idea how the next race is going to turn out.”

So dominant was Hamilton that he hardly got any screen time on a day in which he was unmatched, he did everything he needed to do and put to bed any dreams of a Bottas reloaded because, after that, the Finn held station and never unleashed an attack on his teammate, an option that might have spiced up the race but did not happen.

After the race, Bottas popped the understatement of the season thus far when he told Martin Brundle, “I lost it at the start.”

“The car was feeling OK and otherwise the pace was similar. In the dirty air I couldn’t follow. Shame about the start, I got some wheel spin when I went over the start-finish line and I lost it there. It’s early days in the season, things are looking good for the team. It’s not a nice feeling, I’m coming back.”

On the other side of the coin Ferrari once again shot themselves in the foot with a slew of team orders that compromised, and indeed sacrificed, Charles Leclerc for the benefit of  chosen team leader Sebastian Vettel who finished third, while his younger teammate salvaged the shambles of a race they created for him into fifth place when a podium was possible.

And despite being hung out to dry by his team, when he was called upon to hold up Bottas for Vettel’s benefit he flew the Scuderia flag with remarkable loyalty considering circumstances, but in the end the German was unable to capitalise on the opportunity he was given by his team.

While Ferrari got caught up in their own ‘Keystone Cops’ show Max Verstappen snuck in with a solid driver and helped himself to fourth place at the expense of the sacrificial lamb that was Leclerc.

Vettel summed up his race, “I’m happy to be on the podium. We tried to stick with them but we couldn’t, they were too quick right from the start. I had a bit of a race with Max which was good fun. But the objective was to chase Mercedes down but they were just too quick. We’d have loved to be a bit faster.”

“I felt I could go faster [than Charles] but it was a bit difficult for me to find a rhythm and locked up, losing the advantage I gained. I think it’s fair if you see the whole race that we were just not able to stick with Mercedes. It’s a shame he couldn’t catch Max at the end. Plenty of homework for us. It’s a good result but not a great result.”

Daniel Ricciardo enjoyed his best Sunday afternoon as a Renault driver, finishing seventh albeit a lap behind the winner, nevertheless it was a solid result for the Australian. His teammate Nico Hulkenberg was the first retirement when he was pushed into his pit garage on lap 16.

Eight place went to Sergio Perez who delivered a gritty performance after a great put him at the sharp end of the midfield where he stayed. His Racing Point teammate Lance Stroll had a below-par race, finishing 12th to crown a disappointing weekend for the Canadian.

Veteran Kimi Raikkonen was in the wars with the Alfa Romeo, going wheel-to-wheel and getting the better of ‘hard boys’ Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean in the process.

The Driver of the Day was deservedly Alex Albon, the rookie coming back from his FP3 crash which forced him to miss qualifying and then delivered a mature performance, starting from the pit lane he battled hard to finish tenth and claim the final point. An impressive afternoon for the young Thai driver.

In the sister Toro Rosso, the ‘Torpedo’ was back in Shanghai. Daniil Kvyat speared into both McLaren’s through the long Turn 1 complex on the opening lap in which Carlos Sainz was the meat in the sandwich with Kvyat’s Toro Rosso on the inside and the other McLaren of Lando Norris on the outside.

As a result, the Spaniard ran out of space and tagged the Russian who lost control and torpedoed the Englishman. Kvyat was handed a drive-through penalty for his shenanigans, perhaps unfairly as it was one of those ‘three-into-one-does-not-go’ racing incidents.

The unfortunate McLaren duo were compromised as both had to pit for repairs. Sainz recovered to finish 14th, but Norris suffered damage to the floor of his car and as a result, was last of the classified runners.

At the end of the day, race 1000 (or whatever it is) was a big anti-climax coupled to the harsh reality that Mercedes are far ahead and Hamilton is capable of raising his game when required. It’s catch-up for everyone… and we know how that tends to pan out.

Mercedes chief Toto Wolff reflected, “It’s amazing the 1000th race, being on pole and then controlling the race this way is super. The double stack was a particularly proud moment because you have everything to lose.”

“We were thinking of losing the position if we were to pit one of the two earlier. The stacking functioned brilliant, it was good choreography. Valtteri for sure will not be happy. He was on pole and had the speed to win but the start was the deciding factor,” explained the Silver Arrows boss.

FIA Blow-By-Blow Report

Hamilton made a good start from second place on the grid to power past Bottas, who afterwards admitted he had been disadvantaged by momentary wheelspin on the start/finish line.

Starting from the same side of the grid as Hamilton, Leclerc also got away well to steal P3 from teammate Vettel. Behind them, Verstappen held fifth off the line, with Gasly also retaining his starting position of sixth ahead of Ricciardo.

Further back, there was trouble for Sainz and Norris got tagged in a battle with Kvyat. Norris was pitched into the air briefly and sustained floor damage while Sainz damaged his front wing. Both pitted for repairs at the end of the first lap and rejoined at the back of the field. Kvyat was soon handed a drive-through penalty for causing the collision.

By lap 10 Hamilton had opened up a solid lead ahead of his team-mate, but fourth-placed Vettel was now pushing to get past Leclerc. Despite the younger driver’s protestations that he was quicker than the German, Leclerc was told to defer to the four-time champion and on lap 11 he pulled across to allow Vettel through to third place.

At the end of lap 17 Verstappen headed for the pit lane to take on hard tyres. Sensing a threat, Ferrari mirrored the move with Vettel on the next lap and the German rejoined just ahead of the Dutch driver.

With Vettel on cold tyres, Verstappen smelled blood and the Red Bull driver launched a bold attack down the inside into the hairpin. He got past but locked up slightly and Vettel was able to hold a wide line and retained his position, with Verstappen being forced out onto the grass.

It was the Dutch driver’s only realistic chance and once Vettel’s tyres were working well, he began to pull away from the Red Bull.

The race then settled until the second round of stops, again triggered by Verstappen. The Dutchman pitted at the end of lap 34 for medium tyres and Ferrari responded by bringing in Vettel for the same compound a lap later. Mercedes then brought in their drivers for medium compound Pirellis.

Bottas dropped to third in that round of stops but he soon closed in on Leclerc and despite a brave defence by the Ferrari driver, the Finn was able to get past to reclaim P2.

Vettel now also began to close on Leclerc and armed with fresher tyres there was little fuss in getting by as Leclerc gave way and swiftly made his own pit stop for mdeiums. The Monegasque’s pit stop allowed Max to power past and reclaim fourth place, with Leclerc eventually rejoining almost 15 seconds behind the Red Bull.

The order at the top remained unchanged in the final laps, with Hamilton cruising to a 75thcareer win ahead of Bottas, Vettel and Verstappen.

However, behind fifth-placed Leclerc, Pierre Gasly in the second Red Bull was plotting a late charge.

Vettel had held the race fastest lap, a 1:34.836s, since lap 37, but holding an almost 30 seconds advantage over Ricciardo, Gasly took a free pit stop on lap 53 for soft tyres.

He duly claimed fastest lap with a time of 1:34.742 to take another point to add the eight earned for sixth place ahead of Ricciardo, Pérez, Räikkönen and Albon, who delivered an excellent drive to claim a point for 10th place after starting from the pit lane.

MIKA: I honestly have no words WHY the Chinese GP even exists. Has always been boring and yet again, IMO, boring yet again.

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BINOTTO: IF CHARLES IS UPSET, HE IS RIGHT TO BE UPSET

If there was ever a race in which a driver was offered up as a sacrificial lamb we saw it at the 2019 edition of the Chinese Grand Prix.

We watched live the lobotomisation of Charles Leclerc as he was ordered to allow teammate Sebastian Vettel through to try and attack the dominant Mercedes pair way up the road during a dull race in Shanghai.

It was a tough-to-swallow call for the young Monegasque who has done more than enough to justify equal treatment at the Scuderia, an organisation steeped in the tradition of team orders to favour their ‘chosen’ driver and right now that chap appears to be Vettel.

Ferrari chief Mattia Binotto was well aware of the impact of his decision and told Sky F1 after the race in Shanghai, “If Charles is upset, he is right to be upset. We should accept it, it’s a shame for him and next time maybe it will be to his advantage.”

“It was not to give an advantage to a driver. It really is the team trying whatever we could, It was an early stage but an important moment of the race.”

“I understand the feeling of Charles. It’s a shame for him but at that stage of the race Mercedes were slightly faster and we simply tried to give Sebastian a go and see if he could keep the pace of Mercedes,” added Binotto.

Ironically Vettel was not quicker when he was released by the #16 car and made absolutely no impact on the Mercedes dominance and, although the German finished third, he was over 13 seconds adrift of race winner Lewis Hamilton when the chequered flag waved.

Leclerc was somewhat rattled in the cockpit when he got the radio call but quickly composed himself and willingly became the designated wingman to protect his teammate by holding up Bottas, and then provided the slipstream to aid car #5 which was being reeled in by the hard-charging Red Bull of Max Verstappen.

Afterwards Leclerc was composed when he reported, “I need to understand the full picture and see the full picture, to speak with the engineers and understand the decision.”

“For sure there is an explanation behind this decision and I will understand it. I don’t know [if the call was made too early]. I need to look at the data and speak to the engineers to understand. I don’t want to make any silly comments.”

“Anyway, it has passed. It’s not been a great race for me but overall this weekend I’ve not been as strong as I wanted driving,” lamented the 21-year-old who might have been on the podium, but instead was kept out far too long on hard rubber and in the end fate conspired to relegate him to fifth place.

Of course, Vettel backed his team’s call, “I felt I could go faster but it was a bit difficult for me to find a rhythm and locked up, losing the advantage I gained.  I think it’s fair if you see the whole race that we were just not able to stick with Mercedes. It’s a shame he couldn’t catch Max at the end.”

Sky F1 pundit Nico Rosberg opined, “I think it was the right thing because it appeared like Vettel was quicker. In hindsight he wasn’t, it was just the DRS that was allowing him to stay so close with Leclerc.”

“It was the right thing to do to try it. But they then really compromised Leclerc’s race afterwards as he completely lost out to Verstappen and fell way off. That was not nice for him so it’s a really tough one for him,” added the 2016 F1 World Champion.

 

MIKA: A load of horse S**T, to let vettel past and as usual, clumsy. Sorry, but Seb is really overrated IMHO.

Clearly Sebastian was slow and actually held back Charles more than Charles was holding back Seb. Sure, if they swapped and it was clear Sebastain was still slow IN CLEAN AIR, Ferrari should have switched the drivers back. 

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VETTEL: I’M A LITTLE BIT AGAINST THE WAY YOU – ALL OF YOU – WORK

Sebastian Vettel had a stab at media during the top three press conference after the Chinese Grand Prix, claiming that what he says is misconstrued and gets lost in translation as reporters chase their own agendas.

After finishing the race in Shanghai third, Vettel was quizzed about the team orders that Ferrari gave to Charles Leclerc which gifted the German an eventual podium finish while his younger teammate was forced to move aside and then play wingman for the Scuderia, hence sacrificing a possible podium to benefit the sister car.

L’Equipe reporter Frederic Ferret asked if it was Vettel himself who asked the team to shift Leclerc aside and also how the four-time F1 World Champion felt about the command from the red pitwall.

He replied, “Well, let’s put it this way, I knew the moment it was happening that I would have to face these questions. Not sure I want to answer because I’m a little bit against the way you – all of you – work because you take bits out of answers here and there and put it into the wrong light.”

“So, if you ask me again in half an hour down in the paddock, maybe I give you a straightforward answer and you don’t write it down or record. Seems the way that, not maybe all of you but some of you are working.”

“Yeah, I felt I was faster in the car, I was asked if I can go faster. I answered that I felt I can. I was a bit surprised when I was in free air – not surprised but I was struggling a bit to put the laps together.”

“Once I found a rhythm, I was able to chip away – but yeah, obviously the objective was to try and catch Mercedes. At the point obviously the gap was already quite big,” explained Vettel after celebrating on the podium for the first time this year.

As for the plight his teammate the 31-year-old added, “It’s a bit of a shame he couldn’t get Max in the end. I was following the tower in the middle of the track and I was hoping for him to pip Max. I think it was very close. But as I said, plenty of homework for us. Nevertheless, it’s a good result but not a great result.”

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VERSTAPPEN: WE JUST DIDN’T HAVE THE PACE TO FIGHT

The prospect of success for the Red Bull Honda partnership was always going to be a long term plan, however, the road to the end of that plan is now being travelled and the reality is that while the Blues are lagging behind their rivals they may have only themselves to blame.

Previously it was easy and convenient to point a finger at their engine supplier Renault, right now they do not have that luxury as the team need to buckle up for the graft ahead while keeping their young charge Max Verstappen happy.

For now, the Dutchman is happy, as again he delivered a gritty performance to finish fourth, perhaps fortuitous as Ferrari messed up their strategy. Nevertheless, the Red Bull driver was there to pounce at the opportunity and is now third in the standings.

Verstappen said afterwards, “I think there was not much in it. I was pushing very hard to try and stay with them. As a team, we did a good job today to undercut a Ferrari and stay ahead as well. We maximised the result to be honest.”

“Every weekend is a bit of a guess what you are doing and how competitive you are as well. I had a good battle with Seb but even after that we just didn’t have the pace really to fight.”

“You just need to make sure that you run your own race. On the medium tyre it felt a bit better and Leclerc was luckily not fast enough to launch an attack.”

“We just didn’t have the pace” sums up what he intends saying. The malady might be a combination of the entire RB15 package (PU included) which is clearly having a laboured birth.

Worth noting is that last year in Shanghai qualifying the best Red Bull was a full second quicker than the best Toro Rosso, this year the deficit was only four-tenths of a second.

If you assume that the Renault and Honda engines are in the same ballpark right now, it stands to reason then that Adrian Newey has got the maths wrong on this year’s creation.

That there was or is a chassis problem is no secret, Red Bull team chief Christian Horner said as much after the race, “The chassis has made a big step forward. Honda have made progress on the straights. We still have that bit to find to the cars ahead but there is stuff in the pipeline that should help us in the near future.”

“Good strategy managed to nick a place ahead of Ferrari. They were probably a bit quicker in the race but I think strategy got us that position. Max has driven the wheels off the car all afternoon and good to nick the fastest lap off Sebastian right at the end with Pierre,” added the Red Bull team chief.

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MERCEDES: TO WIN THE 1,000TH RACE IN SUCH A CONTROLLED WAY IS AMAZING

Mercedes report from the Chinese Grand Prix, Round 3 of the 2019 Formula 1 World Championship, at Shanghai International Circuit.

Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport claim a 1-2 victory in the historic 1000th Grand Prix

• Lewis took his 75th career victory today – his second of the 2019 season and sixth at the Chinese Grand Prix
• Valtteri finished the race in second place, completing the third consecutive 1-2 for the team in 2019
• Today’s result marks the 90th win for Mercedes-Benz in Formula One
• Lewis (68 points) leads the Drivers’ Championship by 6 points from Valtteri (62 points)
• Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport (130 points) lead Ferrari (76 points) by 54 points in the Constructors’ Championship
• Marcus Dudley, Performance Engineer on car no. 44, accepted the Constructors’ trophy on behalf of the team

Lewis Hamilton: “It’s not been the most straightforward of weekends, but what a fantastic result for the team, everyone’s worked so hard for this. Coming here we didn’t know exactly where we would stand with Ferrari, as they’d been so quick in Bahrain. Valtteri has been quick all weekend and did a great job today.”

“To have a 1-2 together is really special for the 1,000th Grand Prix. The start was where I made the difference and after that it’s history. The strategy has really been on point over these first three races so we need to keep that up.”

“Team LH China have been incredible all weekend, a big thank you to them. They welcomed me from the moment I arrived at the airport, at the hotel every morning and night every single day, and then at the track too. A big thank you to everyone who’s supported me.”

“You can still see it’s very close between us all. I really have no idea how the next races will turn out but I’m super excited for them.”

Valtteri Bottas: For us as a team it’s really been a perfect start to the season; we could not have imagined to get three 1-2s in a row, so a big thank you to everyone for their hard work. We managed to maximise on every single opportunity which is great to see.”

“For me personally today has been a bit disappointing as I was on pole, but then lost the race at the start. There’s a white line just outside the starting box and I had some wheelspin when I went over it and lost the position to Lewis.”

“It’s all about details in this sport, so unfortunately that detail decided the rest of the race. On the positive side, we did have a strong race pace here in Shanghai, much better than in Bahrain. I think that we’re in a good position, but we need to keep pushing.”

“This track is very unique in its layout and Baku will hold very different challenges so it’s going to be interesting again in two weeks.

Toto Wolff, Team Principal: “To win the 1,000th race in such a controlled way is amazing. It’s a very special win and you can tell that everyone in the team is very happy with the outcome. Based on our long run simulations we didn’t think it would be so straightforward and our advantage to Ferrari came as a bit of a surprise.”

“They still look very quick on the straights; I’m not sure it’s just the power, our car is maybe a bit draggier than theirs, but we have to keep working on our straight-line performance. Stacking the cars for a double pit stop was a risky moment because you have everything to lose when you’re leading the race.”

“But we thought we would lose positions if we had stopped one of the earlier. Our plan worked out perfectly; it was a well-choreographed pit stop and the team did a brilliant job. Lewis had the clutch paddle under control today and had a strong start and controlled the race from then on.”

“Valtteri for sure won’t be happy as he had pole and the speed to win today, but the start was the deciding factor. Baku is a different ball-game, there’s a very long straight and we need to get the power and drag level there right. I think we’ll be up for the fight and I’m looking forward to it.”

Andrew Shovlin, Chief Race Engineer: “Obviously a great result, it was luck and solid reliability that got us the 1-2 finish in Bahrain so our goal was to come here and win the race by being fastest.”

“Both drivers did a great job. Valtteri was unlucky to lose the lead into the first corner having put together such a strong weekend. Lewis drove a commanding race from the front, managing the car and tyres well. We knew that the race would be tight between a two and a one-stop and were hoping to be able to build a gap to the others so that we could shadow their strategy rather than get forced onto a defensive race plan.”

“It’s been very satisfying to see how well the team and the car have worked here. Everyone in Brackley and Brixworth is working very hard to help us optimise for each track and to bring developments to the car, so it’s fantastic that all that hard work has been rewarded with such a strong start to the season.

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KVYAT: I TOTALLY DISAGREE WITH THE PENALTY

Daniil Kvyat was nicknamed ‘The Torpedo’ after a collision at the 2016 Chinese Formula 1 Grand Prix but the Russian felt unfairly punished after hitting both McLarens on another smashing Sunday.

The Toro Rosso driver, who eventually retired, was handed a drive-through penalty for causing a first-lap collision with British rookie Lando Norris, whose car bounced in the air, and Spaniard Carlos Sainz.

The impact damaged both McLarens and destroyed their hopes of scoring points.

“Regarding the lap-one incident I saw it quite many times now, I had time, and to be honest I totally disagree with the penalty,” Kvyat told Sky Sports television.

“I will speak with the stewards behind closed doors to find out what is their opinion on that.

“I don’t see ever this incident was very particular. It’s a typical lap one sandwich so these things happen,” added the 24-year-old.

Kvyat earned his nickname after Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel complained the Russian had tried to overtake him down the inside ‘like a torpedo’ in 2016, causing him to collide with then team mate Kimi Raikkonen.

The Russian did not race last year but has returned to the Red Bull-owned team that dropped him in 2017.

Nico Rosberg, the retired 2016 world champion who was in Shanghai as a television pundit, felt the Russian had a point although his reputation might not have helped.

“There’s the history of Daniel Kvyat messing up quite a lot. I would kind of want to tell him just be a bit more careful,” said the German.

“Just leave a bit more space and don’t go all sideways on the exit, taking so many risks. Then to blame him completely wouldn’t be right either,” he added.

Sainz, who was classified 14th while Norris retired, said he understood Kvyat’s frustration but he should have shown more patience in a 56-lap race where overtaking is perfectly possible.

The Spaniard pointed out also that Kvyat’s rookie Thai teammate Alexander Albon had finished 10th after starting from the pit lane.

“I think someone didn’t enjoy going side by side and opened the wheel a bit too much and created a bit of a melee, let’s put it like that,” said Sainz. “I don’t pray for penalties or ask for penalties. I just ask for a bit more patience in lap one.”

Norris said “it looked like a bit of a racing incident” but he needed to take a closer look.

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RICCIARDO: GOOD TO GET ON THE BOARD AND TO FINISH A RACE

Daniel Ricciardo struck third time lucky at the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai, scoring his first points for Renault to avoid a hat-trick of retirements since moving from Red Bull at the end of last season.

The 29-year-old winner of seven grands prix, including two last year, finished seventh in Formula One’s 1,000th world championship race.

“It’s good to get on the board, good to finish a race. We were looking for that for the last couple. It was nice. We’ll take the positives and try and build on that,” he said.

“We’ve still got work to do to get both cars home in the points. We’ll take positives from today, but we’re trying to find a bit more every weekend.”

Both the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Pierre Gasly, the Frenchman who has replaced Ricciardo, finished ahead of the Australian in fourth and sixth respectively.

Gasly also bagged an extra point for setting the fastest lap right at the end, something Ricciardo was never in a position to do as he saved his tyres on a one-stop strategy while lapped by Mercedes’ race winner Lewis Hamilton.

Ricciardo’s German team mate Nico Hulkenberg, who finished seventh in the Australian opener, retired after 16 laps with a suspected motor generator (MGU-K) problem.

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Suspected MGU-K issue leaves Nico Hulkenberg on penalty risk

Nico Hulkenberg is already on the brink of a grid penalty after he suffered a suspected MGU-K issue that curtailed his Chinese Grand Prix.

Renault has lagged behind its rivals throughout Formula 1’s hybrid era and in recent years the MGU-K has been regarded as a primary weakness.

A suspected MGU-K failure on both Renaults in Bahrain prompted the manufacturer to fit a new specification to its cars in China.

The Renault-powered McLaren cars were also fitted with updated MGU-Ks.

It was the second of two permitted MGU-Ks for the respective drivers for the entire 2019 season.

Should a driver have to take on a third MGU-K then they will face a 10-place grid penalty, a situation that Hulkenberg will face in Azerbaijan if Renault is unable to repair either of his previously used MGU-Ks.

“We pitted and came out in some traffic, but then I felt a loss of power,” said Hulkenberg, who was in the mix for points.

“We tried our best to fix it out there as it looked like a software issue, but it wasn’t possible and we had to park up.

“We’re looking into the issue, but it looks like an MGU-K related problem.”

Renault team-mate Daniel Ricciardo classified seventh to collect his first points of 2019.

[MIKA27]

Carlos Sainz Jr. blames impatient Daniil Kvyat for collision

Carlos Sainz Jr. believes stewards were correct in blaming ex-team-mate Daniil Kvyat for the first-lap clash in China which compromised McLaren’s prospects.

Kvyat and the McLaren drivers battled for position through the exit of Turn 6 but contact was made between Kvyat and Sainz Jr., which tipped the Russian into Lando Norris.

All three drivers were able to continue in the race but Norris and Kvyat eventually retired while Sainz Jr. lost substantial time and came home a low-key 14th.

It marked his first finish in McLaren colours but Sainz Jr. expressed annoyance at the manner in which the situation unravelled.

“From my side it is Lap 1, obviously I understand his frustrations but anything can happen but it is Lap 1 and there is 55 laps to go,” he said.

“So if you don’t get the best of starts… look at your team-mate who has finished in the points starting from the pit lane.

“It is a long race and you don’t have to open the steering wheel on the exit of a corner when you know you have two McLarens side-by-side.

“I think he knew, he knew that we were there.

“A bit of a shame because of that as it is a long race here in Shanghai and you can overtake here so if you don’t get the best of starts you have to be patient and get back in the points.

“That is exactly what Lando and I were doing but we were in a melee. It is a shame.”

Stewards deemed that Kvyat was “wholly to blame” as he “lost control of his car on the exit of Turn 6 and hit the cars to his left”.

He was issued with a drive-through penalty, and two points on his license, but criticised the decision post-race and demanded a meeting with the stewards.

[MIKA27]

Raikkonen says tyre temperature drop cost him better result

Kimi Raikkonen reckons losing temperature in his front tyres cost him the chance of finishing as best of the rest behind the top three teams in the Chinese Grand Prix.

The Finn came home right behind seventh-placed Daniel Ricciardo and eighth-placed Sergio Perez in Shanghai to claim the ninth spot.

But he reckons he would have had a chance of overhauling the pair of them if he had not lost temperature in his rubber in the closing stages.

Speaking to Motorsport.com, Raikkonen said that his Alfa Romeo felt strong on race pace as he pushed through the field following a disappointing qualifying.

"Obviously we at least got a few points and it is better than yesterday for sure," he said. "The car was handling pretty nicely, but in the end I just lost temperature in my front tyres.

"I think with my tyres the wear was very good, but it got too cold and I lost the grip in the front so I couldn't any more push.

"It was a bit of a shame as I felt we could quite easily have caught up with the other cars, but it didn't work out at the end."

While Raikkonen added to his points tally that leaves him seventh place in the world championship standings – just one point behind Red Bull's Pierre Gasly – his teammate Antonio Giovinazzi failed to finish in the top ten again.

After a frustrating weekend that was hampered by reliability woes, Giovinazzi came home 15th after failing to make enough progress from the back of the grid.

"I think China was not my weekend, to be honest," said the Italian. "It was a difficult weekend so far, and today we tried to make a different strategy compared to others to try to gain positions, but in the end it didn't work. This is it, and I just want it to be Baku."

[MIKA27]

Tost believes Kvyat penalty was "unjustified"

Scuderia Toro Rosso Formula 1 team principal Franz Tost says that the drive-through penalty handed to Daniil Kvyat in the Chinese GP was "unjustified."
Kvyat had first-lap contact with the McLarens of both Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris, causing both drivers to pit for new front wings.

Kvyat himself initially continued without making an extra stop, but he was assessed a drive-through penalty and given two penalty points on his licence.

The stewards noted that he had "lost control of his car at the exit of turn 6 and hit the cars to his left. He did this on his own and the Stewards determined that he was wholly at fault, causing the collision".

Although there was nothing he could do about the decision after the race, Kvyat went to see the stewards in company with team manager Graham Watson.

"This penalty for me is unjustified," Tost told Motorsport.com. "Norris was off the track, and he came back very aggressively, so what should Daniil do? For me this decision is not correct.

"You can't change it, but Daniil and Graham went to the stewards to tell them that this is our opinion, and I share this opinion because I watched it on TV once more just now with the engineers. It cannot be that someone is off the track, is coming back, and then the other one is there. What should he do?"

Later in the race Kvyat lost more time when front wing damage was spotted at his scheduled stop, and the team decided to pit him again and change it. When it was clear that he would not score any points, the team stopped the car.

"We retired him because we wanted to save engine mileage," said Tost. "The regulations say only three engine. So instead of running the car out on the track we decided to call him in."

 

[MIKA27]

RACING POINT: WE LEAVE CHINA WITH FOUR MORE POINTS

Racing Point report from the Chinese Grand Prix, Round 3 of the 2019 Formula 1 World Championship, at Shanghai International Circuit.

Sergio Perez: “I’m very happy to score four points today. The start was fantastic: I saw a gap, went for it and it paid off. Our race pace was good: we were able to maintain the pace and manage the tyres well. It wasn’t an easy race, though, because I was under pressure from Kimi for most of the second stint, which made it more difficult to look after the tyres and keep up the pace.”

“It was the same with Daniel ahead of me – I think he was working hard to manage his tyres because every time I got close to him he found the pace to pull away again. This was never going to be our strongest track so it’s important to take opportunities such as today and keep scoring points. I think we have the potential to be stronger at the next race in Baku.”

Lance Stroll: “Today could have been better. We were in front of Albon before the first stop and then he undercut us by one lap and finished in the points, so it’s a bit of a shame. We could have been more proactive because we didn’t have anyone immediately in front of us.”

“I think it was Sergio or Raikkonen ahead at the time, about five seconds up the road, so we weren’t really fighting anyone in front and we had Albon three seconds behind. It was just a classic undercut. It’s disappointing because once that happened we were in his dirty air and it was tough to overtake.”

“We tried an extra stop at the end and got past Magnussen to finish P12, but it could have been more. Our race pace was not bad but we just need to look at the strategy, because I think we may have been able to pick up a point today.”

Andrew Green, Technical Director: “We leave China with four more points in the bag and today’s result means we’ve scored points in every race so far this season. Sergio drove a skilful race and managed the tyres well. He got himself in a good position on lap one and stayed out of trouble to bring the car home in P8.”

“Lance was close to scoring points today, but just didn’t have the track position to make the one-stop strategy pay off. Losing out to Albon at the first pit stop proved costly and he spent most of the afternoon chasing the Toro Rosso, fighting for the final point.”

“We switched Lance to a two-stop strategy late in the race – taking a gamble – and giving him the final few laps on the soft tyre. He managed to pass Magnussen on the final lap, but there were a lot of blue flags to deal with which made things tricky. He made a great start and drove well, but the strategy didn’t quite play out in his favour today.”

[MIKA27]

RED BULL: P4 AND P6 TODAY REPRESENTS GOOD TEAMWORK

Red Bull report from the Chinese Grand Prix, Round 3 of the 2019 Formula 1 World Championship, at Shanghai International Circuit.

Max Verstappen: “It was not an easy race but as a Team we did a really good job today. We planned a good strategy to undercut a Ferrari and stay ahead, so we definitely maximised the result to finish fourth ahead of Charles. I had a good battle with Seb when he came out of the pits on colder tyres which was good fun.”

“That was my one shot and I tried but after that you could see that we didn’t quite have the pace to fight him to the end. I was pushing really hard and we can be happy with the team result. We still need a bit more pace to fight Mercedes and Ferrari but we are in a good position and collecting solid points each race.”

Pierre Gasly: “I’m happy to score my first fastest lap in F1 today. We saw that we had quite a big margin behind us in the last few laps, so we decided to go for it and have an extra pit stop which worked. During the race I tried to keep the rhythm, take care of my tyres and improve my feeling with the car.”

“I’m slowly getting more confident, I think we take one step every weekend but of course I would like to take three every time. There is still work for me to do for the next race but the good thing is that I know what I need to improve and what I can do better.”

“We are quite happy to finish in the points and take the extra point for fastest lap with us. Tonight I will make my way to the factory and spend tomorrow and the day after in the sim and we’ll work for the next race.”

Christian Horner, Team Principal: “P4 and P6 today represents good teamwork. A strong strategy and being the first to adopt the two stop with Max allowed us to beat Charles Leclerc today. Max drove the wheels off the car all afternoon and although he fought hard to pass Vettel and challenge for a podium, we just didn’t quite have the pace to get ahead of him.”

“It is great to see Pierre continuing to settle into our car and he had another solid race, finishing sixth and claiming fastest lap. He took one point away from Ferrari and gaining that additional point for fastest lap was a real positive for him, which I’m sure he will take confidence from.”

[MIKA27]

HAAS: NOT THE RACE WE’D HAVE HOPED FOR

Rich Energy Haas F1 Team drivers Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen brought home finishes of 11th and 13th, respectively, in the Chinese Grand Prix Sunday at Shanghai International Circuit, the third round of the 2019 FIA Formula One World Championship and the 1,000th grand prix in Formula One history.

Race Recap

Grosjean, who started from the 10th grid position, chased Toro Rosso’s Alexander Albon for the 10th and final points-paying position over the closing laps around the 5.451-kilometer (3.387-mile), 16-turn track but fell 1.020 seconds short at the checkered flag.

He made his second and final pit stop 20 laps from the finish to take a fresh set of Pirelli P Zero Yellow medium tires in place of the White hard compound he used for the middle portion of the 56-lap race. Albon and the three finishers ahead of him all completed the race on just one stop.

Magnussen, who like Grosjean started the race on Pirelli P Zero Red soft tires, struggled to maintain pace in the early going from his ninth starting position, falling back to 12th before pitting on lap 10 for a set of hards.

He resumed in 17th and worked his way up to as high as 11th before pitting for a set of mediums on lap 35 that would take him the rest of the way. He settled into the 12th position by lap 46 and dropped a spot just before the finish.

Today’s results dropped the Rich Energy Haas F1 Team on position to sixth in the constructors’ standings, tied with McLaren with eight points each, four points behind Renault and Alfa Romeo who are tied for fourth, and one point ahead of eighth-place Racing Point.

Lewis Hamilton led a 1-2 finish by Mercedes, winning the Chinese Grand Prix by 6.552 seconds over his teammate Valtteri Bottas. Rounding out the podium was third-place Sebastian Vettel of Scuderia Ferrari.

The 2019 FIA Formula One World Championship resumes with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix April 28 at Baku City Circuit.

Romain Grosjean: “I was a bit worried, to be fair, before the start as our race pace hasn’t been amazing all weekend. The car’s amazing over one lap, but as soon as we go two laps on the tires, we’re not there anymore. We need to understand exactly what happened. I think without the blue flags at the end we’d have scored a point. Alex (Albon) did a great job defending well and not making any mistakes. Congratulations to him. It’s so annoying to give it all, push hard, and just not get the chance to score points.”

Kevin Magnussen: “I didn’t have the pace today, so we need to work on the race pace. Qualifying’s been good all year, so-far, we just need to sort out the race pace – it’s the most important one to be good at. There’s some work to do. I don’t really understand it at the moment, we all need to understand it. It’s not easy. It’s frustrating that we see we’ve got a good car, that can qualify well, then we can’t convert that into race pace.”

Guenther Steiner, Team Principal: “Not the race we’d have hoped for. It seems that we had a very similar problem to what we had in Bahrain. It was déjà vu. So, we need to look into it, and work hard to get this issue sorted. We move on to the next one.”

[MIKA27]

MCLAREN: RACING CAN BE VERY CRUEL SOMETIMES

McLaren report from the Chinese Grand Prix, Round 3 of the 2019 Formula 1 World Championship, at Shanghai International Circuit.

Carols Sainz: “Another frustrating day. Impossible to avoid the Toro Rosso so another thing out of our control that ruined the race, and this time, unfortunately, involving our both cars.”

“A real shame because our race pace was good and I managed degradation well, so I think we had a chance to fight for the points. We definitely had a better race car than a quali car. I prefer to keep thinking about the positives and be patient, because things in the end will turn around. I’m quite happy with the car, very happy with the team, my engineers, my mechanics, and things will turn around eventually.”

Lando Norris: “My start was pretty good, getting off the line well and making up places before I had to back out in Turn Three when I was close to Kimi. I was on the outside in Turn Six and was hit which sent me into the air. That damaged the car, I lost a lot of places and had to box. That pretty much ruined our race.

“I didn’t have great pace afterwards due to floor damage but Carlos’ pace looked very good. The top-three teams aside, he looked to be the best of everyone else. So there was potential in the car today but the contact ruined it. On to the next one.”

Gil de Ferran, Sporting Director: “Racing can be very cruel sometimes, and today it was. Obviously, the first-lap incident destroyed our race, but we tried to do our best and raced hard to the end.

“Despite it all, there were several positives to come from this grand prix, particularly our race pace, which was very competitive when compared to the guys that finished in the points.

“We also learned more about our car on this very different track, and now we look ahead to another fighting weekend in Baku.”

[MIKA27]

WILLIAMS: WE HAD AN ENJOYABLE RACE TODAY

Williams report from the Chinese Grand Prix, Round 3 of the 2019 Formula 1 World Championship, at Shanghai International Circuit.

Dave Robson, Senior Race Engineer: “We had an enjoyable race today and were able to race a couple of cars who had found themselves a little out of position following their first lap incidents. We had clean, well-driven races from both drivers and were able to execute a sensible one-stop strategy with Robert.”

“We tried a similar strategy with George, but the length of the stint and the loss of some tyre temperature meant that ultimately, we opted to pit George for a second time and allow him to finish the race on a new qualifying tyre.”

“We have made some improvements to the car this weekend and have started to close the gap. We also tested some new components which may help us close the gap further in the coming races. The next race on the streets of Baku will pose a new set of challenges, but we are ready to meet those as we continue to learn about the FW42.

George Russell: “The pace was slightly better than expected, we were battling in the opening couple of laps and we managed to stay with the pack. Once things settled down, the gaps started to open, and it was a fairly lonely race for me.”

“We were struggling with the tyres in the middle stint of the race, and the laptimes were dropping off, so it was the right choice to pit for a second time. At the end of the day this is where we are at the moment, we must keep pushing and keep working.”

Robert Kubica: “There was not a lot to say today to be honest. The most exciting moment of the race for me was when I spun on the formation lap. I tried to put heat into the tyres and I lost the car going slow in turn six. I then had a good start and I went to the inside line but honestly, I didn’t want to risk anything.”

“I was close to one of the Racing Point’s and I was on the inside and I didn’t know if he would tighten the line, so I left enough space and lost two places there. It is difficult to risk something when you know the pace will be what it will be.”

MIKA: "An enjoyable race" 

[MIKA27]

2019 Chinese Grand Prix: Race Highlights

POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE:

 

[MIKA27]

Drivers And Pundits Re-Live F1's Greatest Moments | Race 1000

We put the F1 family past and present in front of a screen and replayed some memorable moments from the F1 archives - here are their reactions!

[MIKA27]

Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes F1 Double stack Pit Stop China 2019. Perfection

 

[In-A-Gadda-Davidoff]

1 hour ago, MIKA27 said:

MIKA: A load of horse S**T, to let vettel past and as usual, clumsy.

Agreed.  Ferrari didn't have anything to challenge Mercedes.  Leclerc and Vettel were turning almost identical lap times.  After Leclerc ceded the position to Vettel it was very frustrating to watch Vettel hard charge corners and tire lock lap after lap.  

Alexander Albon had a very good race after his crash is fp3.  To manage a p10 after starting from the pit lane was very impressive.

Nice to see Ricciardo settling in to his Renault, but the team better figure out the MGU-K issues.  Going into the fourth race of the season and Hulkenberg may already be looking at possible grid penalties because of MGU-K failures is unbelievable.  For a team that was hoping to close the gap this year to the top three teams so far it has been ugly.

[Lotusguy]

...and we’re back to the usual Mercedes domination....

 

Wake me in 2021 when there are new regulations.

 

[b0rderman]

My wonky cut had quite a bit of rake in it, I thought it might have been a sign that red bull was going to sneak onto the podium. 

Not the most exciting race as was noted. Kimi mixing it up a bit on screen, and the merc double stack I suppose were points of interest. Gasly sneaking in a flyer on the softs was fun as well. Other than that, the race could have used some help.