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| Source: motorsport.com |
F1 drivers are often known by certain character traits- Hamilton is aggressive, Button is collected, Vettel is rapid, and Kimi is... well, he's Kimi. And then there's the likes of Fernando Alonso. Alonso is a wily old fox and has been in this business for a long time; he understands the F1 game and how it should be played. Nowhere was this more apparent than in Shanghai, laying his cunning genius bare before all. He had set his eyes on victory the moment he stormed past Raikkonen before the first corner of the race, slicing his way through the field after every perfectly-executed pitstop and eventually finding himself in the lead for the umpteenth time shortly into his last stint. He was pulling away from Raikkonen in 2nd sometimes at the rate of seconds per lap, and when told by Andrea Stella (his race engineer) to rein in his charge a bit all he said was: "I'm not pushing". Well played, Mr. Alonso. Well played. He was under pressure from a resurgent Massa threatening to be the first of his team mates to out-qualify him five times on the trot on the back of a DNF going into the race, but assumed the role of captain killjoy by qualifying two places in front. To make a further point, he seamlessly ambled past Raikkonen at the start, sailed past Hamilton for the lead on lap five, had the race under control well before half-distance, left Vettel's Red Bull and Raikkonen's Lotus for dead, and greeted the chequered flag eleven seconds before anyone else. Point made, I think.
There were several keys to the Ferrari's success that came together to seamlessly unlock their weekend: amazing speed and durability on the option tyre; second-row qualifying position; bolting off the line; and brilliant race pace. As countless analysts have pointed out, the typical Ferrari affair of recent years involves achieving a respectable-but by no means astonishing-qualifying position, and relying on the consistency of their beloved Spanish hero and, failing that, the car to boost their race prospects come Sunday. Ferrari executed their weekend perfectly, bringing a strategy to the table that would complement all that was good in the car-its excellent tyre management (as emphasised by Alonso's and Massa's cars easily being able to do an average of 16 laps on the medium compound tyre whilst being able to knock out several fastest laps) and the remarkably superior performance on the soft compound tyre. Both factors came together to ensure a good qualifying performance whilst allowing both cars to extract the longest life out of their speedy option tyres at the start of the race. Consequently, they could lead going into the first round of pitstops and carry that momentum into the coming stints, executing the undercut well and leapfrogging those who decided to start on the medium tyre (notably Vettel and Button) and those on the options who couldn't quite cut Ferrari-strength mustard (Hamilton and even Raikkonen). So, that's Ferrari's China success in a nutshell. But what about the other teams?
Red Bull seemed to have a bit of a dismal weekend, epitomised by Mark Webber's woes. Starting in 22nd place wasn't ideal in the first place, but crashing into the sister team on lap 15 was only the start. The end came shortly afterwards, on lap 18, with Webber's wheel ominously migrating across the track towards an approaching Vettel and missing by just a foot. No wonder he looked so disappointed. Despite escaping Webber's attempt at lethal sabotage, Vettel's strategy didn't pay off in the end. Opting for an inverted/alternative tyre strategy was a lucky punt at best, and was not likely to work given the pace of that Ferrari on the options. They had to go to the extent of sacrificing qualifying for both cars in order to start on the mediums, pinning their hopes for victory on all the others struggling on the options. Most indeed did, but not to the extent they were either expecting or praying for. They couldn't get their one-lap pace sorted out in qualifying, and couldn't go fast enough on the tyres they elected to use to build up a big-enough gap to Alonso following his first stop on lap 7. Similar woes were experienced with the Lotus crew, as Kimi's start procedure went awry and following up with a crash into the back of Perez on lap 16. The Mexican was clearly to blame, as was made evident by what I'm sure was a stream of several and quite sour expletives emanating from the Finn's cockpit. I don't believe that this race was a portent of things to come; Red Bull and Lotus experienced a series of unfortunate events throughout the weekend, which merely served to accentuate what was a perfectly executed weekend for Ferrari. It's no more than that, but it does send out a potent warning that Ferrari can, and will, mean business for the foreseeable season. I hope so, Red Bull need knocking off their perch once in a while.
Mercedes. They are somewhat unfathomable at the moment. They exhibit frequent flashes of inspired brilliance in qualifying - epitomised by Lewis' storming lap to steal pole by an emphatic margin -, but come race day they are often left floundering for position. Lewis and Nico mean business when they are given the chance, and both are nigh-on impossible to crack when they are on form. But their race pace... what on earth is the problem? The Mercedes outfit has been burdened with insufferable rear tyre wear since their inception in 2010, a problem they have not found the solution for in four seasons of racing. With the personnel and resources they have at their disposal, I think the persistence of this chronic problem is fairly appalling and largely inexplicable; their car is a bit of an enigma when it comes to this tyre wear. Hamilton and Rosberg cannot maintain an attacking driving style in race conditions without wearing out their car's shoes, which is easily the most detrimental handicap they could have when presented with the formidable challenge brought forward by the usual suspects of Red Bull, Ferrari and now even Lotus. As Red Bull have discovered on numerous occasions, especially in 2010 I seem to recall, blistering qualifying performance alone does not make the formulation for a successful car. Race pace, now more than ever, is crucial, and it is something that Mercedes need to crack if they want to keep their most recently acquired asset happy and fighting.
I have to mention Toro Rosso's performance. Daniel Ricciardo was absolutely stunning throughout the weekend, girding his loins fully on the Saturday. Let's cut to the chase: he was 1.2 seconds faster than his team mate in qualifying 7th on the grid. You read that right, 1.2, and 7th. He then proceeded to outclass Vergne in the race, holding on to his 7th place with an inspired strategy choice and crossing the line where he started. With Mark Webber potentially leaving for Porsche's brand new LMP1 racing team next year, Ricciardo will be going hell-for-leather to grab his seat, and if he carries on at this rate he'll be high up on the list of prospective replacements. The next most comprehensive intra-team trouncing with regards to quali and race performance was offered by Nico Hulkenburg in his Sauber, a second ahead of his team mate Esteban Gutierrez, who seemed to resemble something akin to a kamikaze mobile chicane more than anything else. He crashed into the back of Adrian Sutil in a spectacularly amateurish maneuver on lap 4, rather a good metaphor for his disappointing performance so far this season, having been outclassed by his team mate at Malaysia (and probably in Australia had Hulkenburg been able to start the race). Hulkenburg had a stonking race, running with the big guns for a while in the middle of the race and racing Vettel for position. Of course he himself was a mobile chicane in the eyes of the world champion, but considering the Sauber is nowhere near as quick as that infernal Red Bull he did very well to keep ahead of it and finish 10th to get some points for the team. The same can't be said of his young Mexican team mate, who will seriously have to up his game if he wants to impress the Sauber heavies. Even Sergio Perez in his new McLaren outfit is failing to impress. He seems to be taking things far too cautiously at the moment, and needs to take a more aggressive attitude, the kind that secured him his dream drive in the first place. I'm sure Martin Whitmarsh has told him this, but he really does need to get a move on to justify his position in the team.
Despite being a fairly innocuous weekend compared to the cataclysmic battle in Malaysia, Ferrari have managed to send out an ominous message to the front-running few. They can occasionally get everything right in a race weekend, and when they do, you can be sure as hell they will do themselves justice.
Mercedes. They are somewhat unfathomable at the moment. They exhibit frequent flashes of inspired brilliance in qualifying - epitomised by Lewis' storming lap to steal pole by an emphatic margin -, but come race day they are often left floundering for position. Lewis and Nico mean business when they are given the chance, and both are nigh-on impossible to crack when they are on form. But their race pace... what on earth is the problem? The Mercedes outfit has been burdened with insufferable rear tyre wear since their inception in 2010, a problem they have not found the solution for in four seasons of racing. With the personnel and resources they have at their disposal, I think the persistence of this chronic problem is fairly appalling and largely inexplicable; their car is a bit of an enigma when it comes to this tyre wear. Hamilton and Rosberg cannot maintain an attacking driving style in race conditions without wearing out their car's shoes, which is easily the most detrimental handicap they could have when presented with the formidable challenge brought forward by the usual suspects of Red Bull, Ferrari and now even Lotus. As Red Bull have discovered on numerous occasions, especially in 2010 I seem to recall, blistering qualifying performance alone does not make the formulation for a successful car. Race pace, now more than ever, is crucial, and it is something that Mercedes need to crack if they want to keep their most recently acquired asset happy and fighting.
I have to mention Toro Rosso's performance. Daniel Ricciardo was absolutely stunning throughout the weekend, girding his loins fully on the Saturday. Let's cut to the chase: he was 1.2 seconds faster than his team mate in qualifying 7th on the grid. You read that right, 1.2, and 7th. He then proceeded to outclass Vergne in the race, holding on to his 7th place with an inspired strategy choice and crossing the line where he started. With Mark Webber potentially leaving for Porsche's brand new LMP1 racing team next year, Ricciardo will be going hell-for-leather to grab his seat, and if he carries on at this rate he'll be high up on the list of prospective replacements. The next most comprehensive intra-team trouncing with regards to quali and race performance was offered by Nico Hulkenburg in his Sauber, a second ahead of his team mate Esteban Gutierrez, who seemed to resemble something akin to a kamikaze mobile chicane more than anything else. He crashed into the back of Adrian Sutil in a spectacularly amateurish maneuver on lap 4, rather a good metaphor for his disappointing performance so far this season, having been outclassed by his team mate at Malaysia (and probably in Australia had Hulkenburg been able to start the race). Hulkenburg had a stonking race, running with the big guns for a while in the middle of the race and racing Vettel for position. Of course he himself was a mobile chicane in the eyes of the world champion, but considering the Sauber is nowhere near as quick as that infernal Red Bull he did very well to keep ahead of it and finish 10th to get some points for the team. The same can't be said of his young Mexican team mate, who will seriously have to up his game if he wants to impress the Sauber heavies. Even Sergio Perez in his new McLaren outfit is failing to impress. He seems to be taking things far too cautiously at the moment, and needs to take a more aggressive attitude, the kind that secured him his dream drive in the first place. I'm sure Martin Whitmarsh has told him this, but he really does need to get a move on to justify his position in the team.
Despite being a fairly innocuous weekend compared to the cataclysmic battle in Malaysia, Ferrari have managed to send out an ominous message to the front-running few. They can occasionally get everything right in a race weekend, and when they do, you can be sure as hell they will do themselves justice.
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