ONLINE AROUND THE WORLD ON F1 GP

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1 ONLINE AROUND THE WORLD ON F1 GP MONDAYs >> Issue 218 >> MONDAY APR Formula 1 WEEK.com mercedes responds But Lewis Hamilton's commanding race wasn't as comfortable as it seemed follow us: 1

2 Chinese Grand Prix April 9, 2015 Photographer: Patrick Lundin, Sutton Images Camera: Nikon D4 Shot at 85mm, 1/1000 sec f/3.2 OPENING SHOT

3 Chinese Grand Prix April 10, 2015 Photographer: Mark Sutton, Sutton Images Camera: Nikon D4S Shot at 500mm, 1/25 sec f/22 OPENING SHOT

4 Chinese Grand Prix April 11, 2015 Photographer: Patrick Lundin, Sutton Images Camera: Nikon D4 Shot at 600mm, 1/400 sec f/14 OPENING SHOT

5 Chinese Grand Prix April 12, 2015 Photographer: Patrick Lundin, Sutton Images Camera: Nikon D4 Shot at 850mm, 1/80 sec f/13 OPENING SHOT

6 Chinese Grand Prix April 12, 2015 Photographer: Mirkop Stange, Sutton Images Camera: Nikon D4 Shot at 300mm, 1/500 sec f/6.3 OPENING SHOT

7 F1 >>> news RENAULT IN STRIFE Reliability issues are threatening to derail Renaultpowered teams sooner than expected, with 10-grid-spot penalties looming large this early in the season. Red Bull was forced to switch to its third (of four allowed) engines within its Power Unit in Daniel Ricciardo s car between qualifying and Sunday s race in China, and then both Toro Rossos were taken out of the race with engine failures Max Verstappen within two laps of a superb points-earning result. Cyril Abiteboul, Renault s F1 chief, was unable to offer any great hope that the next race this weekend in Bahrain would offer any better odds: "We knew there was a weakness (in the engine), so there was a plan in place. We need to make sure the plan is good enough for the size of the issues we had today, and whether it can be addressed fairly quickly. "I'm not quite sure from a logistical perspective that it could be addressed for Bahrain, but certainly our aim has been to have absolutely no reliability issues by Monaco. "We knew that the first engine we built had some reliability weaknesses. "The plan is to make sure that the future engine we will be building has absolutely no reliability issues." 7

8 F1 >>> news Book covers not contractual formula woman Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has again found a way to rile fans by suggesting a separate championship solely for female drivers. Speaking with the British media in the lead up to the Chinese Grand Prix, Ecclestone was quoted as saying he thought a women only championship would be a good idea. "For some reason, women are not coming through," he said. "Not because we don't want them, of course we do, because they would attract a lot of attention and publicity and probably sponsors." It's an idea that has been almost universally panned, with the exception of Lotus development driver Carmen Jorda. "I don't want to fight for 10th of 15th," she said. "What I want to do is win," while suggesting the physical nature of a Formula 1 car was prohibitive to females being successful. On the other side of the argument is Susie Wolff who snubbed the idea. "It's most definitely not the right way forward," the Williams test driver hit back. "First of all, I don't know where you'd find a full grid of female drivers who are good enough. Secondly, I have raced my whole career in motorsport as a normal competitor. Why would I ever look for a race where I was only competing against women? "I can hand on heart say it would not interest me at all to win such a race. I would rather not be in the race because what am I winning? A race where they've just looked for any girl to make a grid up." Michele Mouton, president of the FIA's Women & Motor Sport Commission, was equally scathing. "I truly believe women want to compete on an equal level with their male counterparts." she opined. "They have proved through the decades that it is possible, even if only a few." Mouton finished second in the 1982 World Rally Championship, winning four rallies in a career that spanned twelve years. The last female to race in Formula 1 was Lella Lombardi in The Italian is the only female to have scored points in Formula 1 one of only two to have started a grand prix. 8

9 F1 >>> news WEEK.com MANAGING EDITOR Chris Lambden EDITOR Mat Coch CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Formula 1: Mike Doodson Paolo Filisetti (F1 Tech Editor) Sean Kelly Social Media: Ernie Black Photography Sutton Motorsport Images Keith Sutton Mark Sutton, Daniel Kalisz, Mirko Stange, Dirk Klynsmith sour grapes for red bull Published by Grand Prix Week Ltd 61 Watling Street, Towcester Northants NN12 6AG United Kingdom Publisher Chris Lambden ADVERTISING Richard Partridge Ph: Mob: Mark Sutton mark@sutton-images.com SE Asia, Australasia GPWEEK (Australia) publisher@gpweek.com Dietrich Mateschitz, the billionaire owner of Red Bull and Toro Rosso teams, has reiterated threats the drinks company could pull out of Formula One if it's not competitive. "We'll only stay in Formula One if we have a competitive team, and we need a competitive power unit for that," Mateschitz told the Austrian Press Agency in the build up to the Chinese Grand Prix. The comments follow on from those made by Helmut Marko, the man charged with overseeing Red Bull's involvement in the sport, following the Australian Grand Prix who said the company will review its involvement later this year before deciding to continue. "If we are totally dissatisfied we could contemplate an F1 exit," he said. "The danger is there that Mr Mateschitz loses his passion for F1." The problems however appear to run more deeply. Beaten on merit by Toro Rosso in Malaysia suggets the Red Bull chassis is not as good as the team would have us believe and whie there are clearly problems with the Renault engine that the Red Bull heirarchy suggests that is the root of its problems smacks of sour grapes. "Of course Renault can also weigh its options, including pulling out," Mateschitz added. "As a manufacturer it's your task to deliver a competitive power unit. If you can do that it's great. If for whatever reason you can't do that you should pull out. Then the consequences for us would be clear, too." The problem for Red Bull however is the simple fact that it was beaten on pace by Toro Rosso in Malaysia. With the same engine in both cars to logical conclusions is that the Red Bull chassis is not as good as the team would have us believe. Furthermore the threat to leave the sport appears hollow as Mateschitz's statements came on the same day the Milton Keynes squad announced a multi-year deal with Hisense. Indeed the parent Red Bull company has been linked by some as a potential new owner of the sport, and an aspiring engine builder. On current form perhaps it would be better concentrating on improving the car and mending the windows it has thrown rocks through at Renault rather than making whimsical statements to the media which serve no purpose to improving the teams fortunes on track. Accessible via the GPWEEK APP CLICK on the appropriate provider (right) 9

10 Briefly PALMER DEBUTS Reigning GP2 champion Jonelyn Palmer made his race weekend debut in China. Stepping into Romain Grosjean's Lotus for opening practice, the 24-year-old had an early spin before setting the 15th fastest time of the session. TRACK INVADER During second practice a fan ran across the pit straight before jumping over the pit wall. He was quickly apprehended by security and handed to Police, reportedly claiming he wanted to drive a car. Security was tightened in the wake of the incident, as former driver turned TV pundit Johnny Herbet found out on Saturday morning. RENAULT RETURN Rumours continue to circulate that Renault may go it alone and buy a team. Lotus, Sauber and Toro Rosso all possible targets for the French manufacturer though has a paltry budget of just 30million with which to acquire a team. Renault previously sold 75% what is now the Lotus team at the end of 2009 to Genii Capital, the remaining 25% puchased by Lotus cars in END OF THE ROAD Turning 34 in July, Fernando Alonso has claimed he will end his Formula 1 career with McLaren. The commitement to his new team sounds rather reminiscant of statements made when he joined his previous employer. we don't need renault, says lauda Amid thinly veiled threats that Renault could withdraw from Formula 1 should it remain uncompetitive, Mercedes non-executive chairman Niki Lauda has suggested the sport doesn't need them. Indeed the opinionated Austrian has suggested the sport would also survive quite happily without Honda too. "If Honda and Renault decide to leave Formula 1, I couldn't care less," he is quoted as saying in the Italian press. "If despite their spending they are not able to fight for the win, that should not be a problem for Mercedes." Having been the pick of the breed since the introduction of new engine regulations at the start of 2014, Mercedes has largely maintained its advantage even once the regulations were relaxed ahead of this season which allowed manufactureres to tinker with their designs. The move came after Renault and Ferrari sought to level the playing field with their developments and while Ferrari has made strides forward the same cannot be said of Renault. That lack of development, which has effectively seen it go backwards in comparison to Ferrari, has heaped pressure on the French marque and led to some fiery exchanges in the media with Red Bull's Helmut Marko and owner Dietrich Mateschitz. Lauda though fails, or chooses not, to see the problem should Renault decide to step away from the sport it dominated just two years ago. "When I won the championship there were two Ferrari engines and 20 Cosworth engines and no one complained," the three-time world champion argued. "If Renault and Honda go we will give 20 Mercedes engines to everyone and what is the problem?" F1 >>> news 10

11 F1 >>> news F1 >>> news C M Y CM MY delays force late debut CY CMY K Force India has confirmed the debut of its B-Spec VJM08 has been delayed until the middle of June. The new car is now expected to break cover in Austria, the eighth round of the 2015 season, rather than in Monaco next month as was originally planned. It's a decision the team has taken following delays in development which came about because of problems getting into Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne. During the winter Force India opted to change wind tunnels when time in Toyota's more advanced facility became available courtesy of the demise of Caterham. The team claims the B-Spec car will be a significant step forward, one which can't come soon enough for a downbeat Sergio Perez. "If we don't make the step we're hoping for then it's going to be a very painful year," the Mexican said in China. "Obviously it is frustrating not to have a competitive car that can bring you into the points with pure pace." "It's hard to keep motivated going into a race knowing it will be a really hard race," added teammate Nico Hulkenberg. "As drivers we have to give 100 per cent with whatever we have and try to get some points before we get the new package, which hopefully will bring us back to the points. "We're quite far from the team ahead of us so in that respect, we need a big step." According to deputy team principal Bob Fernley the car could have been rushed for Monaco but, with little to be gained around the streets of the Principality the Silverstone based squad instead chose to take a more measured aprooach and instead work towards an Austrian Grand Prix debut. The delay comes as a blow to the team which has shown little in the way of pace so far this season. The current car was only debuted on the penultimate day of winter testing and while it's been reliable, a fact which helped it score points in Australia, it's not been especially fast. 11

12 F1 >>> news a load of hot air Though the costs of competing in Formula 1 continue to rise, teams remain at loggerheads when it comes to finding a solution. Red Bull boss Christian Horner suggested in Australia that one option would be to ban the use of wind tunnels as a development tool, finding an ally in Force India's Bob Fernley. "If you're really serious about reducing the costs in F1 then you have to look at turning it upside down in many respects," Horner suggested. "A Holy Grail the teams are reluctant to go near is the wind tunnel. "Look at the consumption of cash it takes to feed that tunnel," he added. "If the sport is serious about reducing costs then we have to say: 'Ok, let's get rid of wind tunnels'." "We would definitely be for a ban," agreed Fernley, who went on to brand wind tunnels as "a bit of a dinosaur technology." Those comments have not gone down well further up the paddock, particularly with Williams technical boss Pat Symonds (right). "Maybe Bob ought to come and have a look at a decent windtunnel and just see how technically advanced they are," Symonds responded in China. "Our windtunnels are anything but dinosaurs. Just because a technology has been around for a while doesn t mean that it joins those reptiles of old. Cars have been around for a long while. Are cars dinosaur technology?" In place of wind tunnels Fernley and Horner are both in favour of moving towards computational fluid dynamics (CFD) as a way of not only reducing costs but levelling the playing fields. According to Fernley a wind tunnel costs up to $20million to run, versus $1million for a CFD installation. Indeed, in Malaysia Horner went further to suggest standardising CFD among teams and a loosening of the regulations would be a way of stimulating ingenuity across the grid. Ferrari's James Allison believes there remains merit in both approaches. "The techniques we develop in both those spheres, in both windtunnel and CFD, are impressive by any measure," he reasoned. "We, as an industry, have caused the CFD tools for low speed aerodynamics to be pushed forward very nicely to the benefit of more than just Formula One so I don t think there s any need to worry about us using dinosaur technology." ferrari staying focussed Victory in Malaysia may have been a well needed shot in the arm at Ferrari, but the Italian squad is not letting itself get carried away. In the opening three races of the season the Scuderia has established itself as the second best team behind Mercedes, and with strong race pace courtesy of a car that looks after its tyres has showed it's capable of causing headaches for the reigning world champions. "They have a bit more horsepower than us and a bit more downforce than us and until we've closed those two gaps it's not realistic to talk about title challenges," Technical Director James Allison said in China when ased if the Italian team can mount a serious championship campaign. "To finish at the front in a race is a great thing but it doesn't tell you much about what's going to happen in the future. "it makes everybody happy of course, but the main effect it does have is boosting everyone's confidence," he added. "The team has had a difficult period over the past couple of years and to score a win was tremendously enjoyable and helps pump everyone up and makes it easier to work the hours that they need to work before we can close up and be properly competitive in every race. "Our objectives were set out at the beginning of the year," he added. "We thought it was realistic to score a couple of wins and of course we'll take whatever comes our way and we'll do our best to make our car close up as much as we can and who knows what after that." Sebastian Vettel has finished on the podium in the opening three races of the season, and currently sits second in the drivers championship behind Lewis Hamilton. 12

13 OPINION THE ENTERTAINMENT VALUE OF HAMMY'S HAIRDO OPINION MIKE DOODSON Now, as we all know, Nico Rosberg has almost everything going for him that a sports hero could wish for, and more. Famous father, fluent in five languages, di Caprio-like filmstar looks, adoring missus and immensely intelligent with it (at home, he reads books on economics). He's also a very fast racing driver, although evidence is emerging that he may not be quite fast enough. Wash out my mouth for daring to suggest this, old chap, but if Lewis was holding you up so badly in Shanghai, why didn't you have a go at passing him? The fact is that the bloke in the lead Mercedes (and who's going to argue with that assessment now that we're three races into the season?) has got Nico right where he wants him. If the German chap is serious about making the drivers' championship less one-sided for the Brit, and a bit more interesting for the rest of us, he's going to have to consider something drastic, like tipping Lewis into the weeds. Oh, but he tried that at Spa last year, didn't he? And it backfired on him, horribly. So, if we are to find something to enjoy in the coming races, we're going to have to look beyond the fastdiminishing chances of a proper intrateam duel for the title in the style of Piquet-vs-Mansell at Williams or Sennavs-Prost at McLaren. With things threatening to become so processional on-track, it's the off-track stuff that will have to keep us entertained. Personally, I am taking a close interest in the increasingly bizarre routine that is Lewis Hamilton's post-race hair-fluffing. I am sure that I am not alone in this, although I note that until now the TV commentators have studiously avoided mentioning it. But if Lewis keeps on racking up victories at the current rate, the TV chaps won't be able to resist a few observations on all that selfpampering in the podium lounge. Much as he loves winning, Lewis clearly hates the close photographic scrutiny that comes with it. He's so anxious not to reveal his bonce that he has become inseparable from hats of various types. He's always the last man to take off his helmet, which seems to have led to some nasty facial bruises for his own crew as they greet him in the corral below the podium. Then he spends an inordinate length of time upstairs, towelling off his scalp as if it will magically re-grow a few extra fronds of hair. Making things even worse for Lewis has been that embarrassing anthem-andred-carpet business that Bernie forced on us last year around the time when he decided that Vladimir Putin was a world leader of such prestige and compassion that the entire F1 brigade should be obliged to stand reverentially in his honour. (We'll see how that scheme works out for Mr E later this year when his Russki friend-for-life discovers that inflation has doubled the bill for his rather peculiar race out there in the sticks). Lewis clearly doesn't like the new ceremony any more than I do, albeit for different reasons. In Malaysia last month, one of the TV cameras on the grid dwelled pointedly on the gap in the drivers' anthem line-up where Lewis should have been standing. In fact, our hero was standing almost unrecognisable at the far end of the line in dark glasses, towel wrapped around his neck while skulking under an umbrella. As far as I could see, he was the only driver to insult the host nation by failing to remove his hat while the anthem was played. It was not a happy situation for a driver who, judging from the prominent Petronas branding on his kit, draws a substantial portion of his multi-million salary from an oil company in which the Malaysian government holds an important stake. Clearly, Lewis is ultra-sensitive about his image but it seems to me that Lewis has completely failed to understand that his behaviour draws far more attention to his lack of hair than if he were cheerfully to ignore it. It's not as though he can't do anything about it, either. It's true that a wig, which might stick embarrassingly tight to the inside of a helmet as it was removed, would be the wrong solution. A hair transplant would, however, do the trick, as various footballers have demonstrated. There would be a brief period of merriment in the paddock and press room immediately after the procedure, of course, but it would quickly be forgotten. It is possible, I suppose, that Lewis has a fear, at the back of his mind, that a shortage of hair somehow signifies a loss of sexual potency. This, though, is clearly a misapprehension. And for confirmation, I suggest Lewis has a quiet word with a chap called Stirling Moss, who never seemed to have any difficulties at all when making friends with the ladies. I'll say no more. 13

14 THE RAPID RISE AND RISE OF MAX VERSTAPPEN OPINION OPINION CHRIS LAMBDEN In a top team before he s 20, opined Martin Brundle. World Champion before he s 20, offered Johnny Herbert. He d better get on with it then, offered the dry Damon Hill, because time s getting by he s running out of time! It may have been a commentatorial contest to see who could be most effusive but, as Brundle repeated a number of times during the Chinese Grand Prix, the doubters have been silenced. Not only is the youngest grand prix driver ever not suffering through his relative lack of calendar years on earth, but Max Verstappen is starting to look very much like the Next Big Thing. His moderately older team-mate, 20 year-old Carlos Sainz (who doesn t like the Jnr ), is doing a pretty good job too but, as with Nico Rosberg in the championship-elect Mercedes team, the headlines are being stolen by the other side of the garage. Brundle s genuine head-shaking amazement as the #33 Toro Rosso arrowed down the inside of rivals at Shanghai s hairpin are a testament to the innate feel that the 17-year-old has. As Brundle knows, arriving down the inside is one thing; but managing it without locking a front wheel, while at the same time starting to turn with all the shifting weight distributions that involves is extraordinary. While Max has the pedigree former F1driver, Jos Verstappen, as a father, a successful female kart driver, Sophie Kumpen, as a mother it is his meteoric leap from karting to the F1 grid that has set records unlikely ever to be matched. (Okay, never say never ). Just two years ago, in 2013, Max was racing in, and winning, the most prestigious of the karting world championships, at the age of 15. Yes, history shows that world level karting is about the best motorsport education you can get, but He first drove a race car for the first time later in 2013, testing a Formula Renault in the first of a series of Renault/F3 tests, resulting in his 2014 drive in the European F3 Championship. He finished third in the series, won 10 races (of 33 three per event), punctuated by the announcement (before he d even driven an F1 car) that he would drive for Toro Rosso in Three weeks before his 17th birthday, in September, he completed his first laps in a 2012 Toro Rosso 148 of them, enough for Superlicence qualification apparently at the Italian Adria circuit, prompting team sporting director, the experienced, Steve Nielsen to tell Autosport: "Max did a very competent job, giving the impression he has been driving a Formula 1 car for quite a while, not like someone on their first day behind the wheel. He made no mistakes all day, seemed confident, and once he was told something he remembered it. The rest is very much recent history. Compare that with Ayrton Senna. In September 1978, Ayrton at the ripe old age of 18 contested his first European kart race, the 1978 World Championships, at Le Mans (he finished sixth, and was runner-up in the next two years). Five years later, in July 1983, he tested an F1 car for the first time a Williams FW08, at Donington. His grand prix debut, with Toleman, came a little short of his 24th birthday. It s a sobering comparison, isn t it? Max Verstappen was roughly seven years younger than the great man on F1 debut The Max V phenomenon isn t totally new to modern motorsport. You only have to look as far as MotoGP and Marc Marquez to see that there are young men, almost children, today who have the ability to cope with everything that goes with being a contender at the top of the motorsport tree. (Although even the amazing Mr Marquez took five years to come through the 125/Moto2 school and was 20 years of age on MotoGP debut having debuted in the 125 world championship at the age of 15!). There has to be some limit and in some ways the new 18-years-of-age qualification for a Superlicence is sensible. Otherwise what next 15 year-old Ferrari stars? Regardless, like Brundle, in a year threatening to dissolve into a Lewiswins/Nico-frets series of predictable results, I m fascinated by, and enjoying, the impact Max Verstappen is making. That alone is enough to keep me tuning in. 14

15 THE MOMENT... The race that started it all. The 2009 Chinese Grand Prix, held in atrocious conditions, heralded the beginning of Red Bull's rise to prominence with a 1-2 finish for the team, led home by its rising star Sebastian Vettel. (Sutton Images archive Over 900,000 images available online for search and print order)

16 F1 >>> CHINA Mercedes fight-back Left red-faced in Malaysia, Mercedes struck back in China to record a strong 1-2 finish, but it wasn't as comfortable as it seemed

17 Safety car or not, the winner of the Chinese Grand Prix was never really in doubt. Though Ferrari was closer to the Mercedes pair the race remained firmly in Lewis Hamilton's control from lights to flag. The Brit led every lap, bar the odd lap during the two pit windows, and held speed in reserve to be unleashed ahead of his second stop to safeguard his position at the head of the race. Like in Australia, Nico Rosberg was never a threat. Heading into the race there were concerns within the Mercedes camp that the red team had closed to gap sufficiently to challenge it on race pace. While in qualifying Hamilton and Rosberg demonstrated the superiority of the Mercedes over a single lap during practice, and in the previous race in Malaysia, the Ferrari had shown itself to be gentle on its tyres. In long runs there was little to choose between the two teams; Mercedes pace countered by Ferrari's ability to keep life in its Pirellis. The first phase of the race seemed to confirm that. Mercedes were able to open a small margin with Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen doing their best to keep the two silver cars in sight. But as the race wore on Ferrari's challenge never materialised; Vettel could do little more than shadow Rosberg who, for a time at least, looked to be bottled up behind Hamilton. Thinking on its feet, Mercedes decided to use the softer compound tyre for its second stint. The warmer track temperatures played into the German team's favour, and perhaps against that of Ferrari, while careful control of his right foot saw Hamilton able to manage degredation towards the end of his second stint. Though the first three ran in close formation for a time it was never a concern to race leader Hamilton, who was able to accelerate away as his final stop approached. The pace of the Mercedes was confirmed in the final stint as both Hamilton and Rosberg opened a comfortable advantage to the third and fourth placed Ferrari's. It was a performance more familiar to the team's 2015 campaign, and the opening round of the season, but at the same time there was just a hint the squad was keeping more than a watchful eye on Ferrari. Every time Vettel pitted the silver clad team responded. Hamilton kept performance in hand ahead of sprinting away in the final laps of the middle stint rather than simply racing away. Mercedes may have won comparatively comfortably in the end but Ferrari did enough on Friday and Saturday to rattle the reigning world champion's confidence. Much of Raikkonen's fourth placed owed to a strong opening lap that saw him clear Valtteri Bottas in the run down to the first corner before moving by Felipe Massa midway around the opening lap. It set the Finn up for a strong race and importantly allowed him to run his own strategy, his pace mirrroring that of Vettel and demonstrating well the potential of the Ferrari's. There is little doubt the Scuderia is the cloest challenger to Mercedes as China finally painted a more accurate portait of the current order. Williams is clearly third best, though just who falls into fourth remains rather clouded. By rights it should have been Red Bull next but a poor lap in qualifying compromised Daniil Kvyat's race while an uncharacteristically poor race from Daniel Ricciardo meant the Australian was rather further down the order than his car deserved to be. Ricciardo's race was particularly scrappy; he went into anti-stall at F1 >>> CHINA 17

18 F1 >>> CHINA the start and found himself racing McLaren's into the first turn while later in the race he was well below his best when battling with Marcus Ericsson. Worse for Red Bull is the fact there were more engine problems. Ricciardo had an Internal Combustion Engine changed while Kvyat's race ended after just 15 laps with smoke pouring out of the Red Bull. Max Verstappen's Renault engine was the reason for the safety car under which the race finished, his car skidding to a halt on the pit straight just four laps from home - while the Dutchman was in a points paying position. If tensions were strained between the Austrian drinks company and the French manufacturer before one expects there will be some fiery discussions (no pun intended) in the very near future. To that point, Verstappen had been driving a splended race. He was in the points while his bravery on the brakes allowed him to overtake from seemingly impossible positions. In just three races he has routinely upstaged more experienced drivers, many in better equipment, and with Kvyat failing to fire in the main team is already staking a serious claim to being promoted next season. Such is Verstappen's form that Carlos Sainz has been largely forgotten, though the young Spaniard has done everything one could rightly expect of a rookie driver. He has done a solid job, but alongside Verstappen that is simply not enough, and his piroette early in the race certainly didn't help matters. It was a harmless spin, one you'd expect to see from a driver with just two grands prix underneath him, but against his faultless teammate it stands out like a sore thumb. So did Force India. Though Sergio Perez came within touching distance of the points the team struggled all weekend. After Manor, which was predictably the slowest team on track, and McLaren which came as something of a surprise, Force India was the third weakest team in China. Nico Hulkenberg, a man who has scored pole positions, was eliminated from the first phase of qualifying while in the race Perez found himself racing a McLaren as often as not. With McLaren's well documented problems it was a poor showing for the team, but one which seemed to be expected. It's already talking up the B-Spec car (see separate story) due in Austria, almost writing off the first part of the season. The danger there is that, should the new car be no better, it will quickly be overtaken by the improving McLaren which in the last two races has shown glimpses of potential. Like Malaysia, Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button showed promise during practice. The team was genuinely enthusiastic about its potential heading into qualifying and was disappointed to have been knocked out so early. In the race both Honda engines went the distance while Button was able to race wheel to wheel with Pastor Maldonado deep into the race. That they reached the finish is encouraging, that Button nudged Maldonado (for which he received a 5-second penalty post-race) is too. It's strange to think that crashing into another car is a positive but for the Woking squad it is a sign of competitiveness. In Australia it was woefully off the pace signalling the battle with Maldonado as a measure of progress. That squabble though was the highlight of the race which, if we're honest was rather uneventful. The suspense at the front between Ferrari and Mercedes quickly disappeared at the first round of stops. While the Ricciardo and Ericsson duel amused for a time the race was rather processional. Of the three races we've seen so far only Malaysia proved any different suggesting something about the 2015 ruleset is making it more difficult for drivers to race with and pass oneanother. Perhaps that will change in Bahrain, a circuit which last year produced one of the most thrilling battles of the season. With a seemingly back on form Nico Rosberg challenging the championship leader perhaps it is there that the championship will come alive. 18

19 QUALIFYING F1 >>> CHINA FORMULA 1 Round 3 CHINESE GP Qualifying Pos Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS 1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1: : : Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1: : : Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1: : : Felipe Massa Williams 1: : : Valtteri Bottas Williams 1: : : Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1: : : Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1: : : Romain Grosjean Lotus 1: : : Felipe Nasr Sauber 1: : : Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1: : : Pastor Maldonado Lotus 1: : Daniil Kvyat Red Bull 1: : Max Verstappen Toro Rosso 1: : Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 1: : Sergio Perez Force India 1: : Nico Hulkenberg Forice India 1: Jenson Button McLaren 1: Fernando Alonso McLaren 1: Will Stevens Marussia 1: Roberto Mehri Marussia 1: Q1 107% Time 1: Mercedes fends off feisty Ferraris It was business as usual for Mercedes as Lewis Hamilton claimed pole over Nico Rosberg, but it was the tale of Ferrari which captivated qualifying. Throughout practice the Italian team had shown good pace. Lacking in ultimate single lap speed to Mercedes the red team was clearly the second best team, with some distance to third best. But what Ferrari lacked over a single lap it looked to have over a long run, certainly enough to worry the Mercedes in the race, making it important both Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel made the second row of the grid at least. Vettel fulfilled that requirement with third though a scrappy lap from Raikkonen saw him in sixth behind both Williams. The fault was with the Iceman, who had showed good pace earlier in the weekend to emerge as the man most likely to challenge Mercedes. Oversteer on the exit of turn three cost him in the first sector while he also out-braking himself at turn six didn't help matters. There was also a missed apex towards the end of the lap which combined to really hurt his laptime. McLaren too flattered to deceive. Setting competitive times on Friday there was again genuine belief one of the two could escape the first phase of qualifying. The two Honda powered cars locked out the penultimate row of the grid, ahead only of the two Marussias who both made it within the 107% cutoff on merit. Having shown pace on Friday, Red Bull looked like it could challenge for third best team on the grid though Daniil Kvyat fell out of qualifying in the second session while Daniel RicciarDO was only able to set the seventh best time. The team had played with a lower downforce setup on Ricciardo's car on Friday which appeared to bring results, certainly in terms of top speed which had been woefully slow on Friday morning. Kvyat was disappointing, a scrappy session and scrappy lap. The Russian is yet to impress in his new role at the Red Bull senior team and will soon come under pressure to retain his seat from Max Verstappen if he's unable to lift his performances. Sauber will be pleased, backing up their strong pace in Australia to have both cars in the top ten. It speaks volumes for the team, suggesting 2014 was perhaps not all about simply a bad car so much as a bad Ferrari engine. With the improvements made in Maranello showing themselves clearly on the red cars it logically follows that a strong engine will allow Sauber to also shine. It's 2015 contender is a solid car, 19

20 QUALIFYING F1 >>> CHINA backed now with what is a far stronger engine while has allowed both Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson to challenge for points at the first two races of the season. To see them ahead of the Toro Rosso's though was unexpected. The junior Red Bull team has typically shown itself to stand shoulder to shoulder with its bigger brother so far this season but in qualifying the best Verstappen could manage was still two tenths off the unaccpetably slow time set by Kvyat. Mercedes is fast over a single lap but less so over a full race distance. It still has margin but certainly not the better part of a second Hamilton enjoyed over Vettel in qualifying. It's expected to be in the region of two or three tenths of a second, and with Ferrari much kinder to its tyres on long runs could make for some sweaty palms on the Mercedes pitwall towards the end of each stint. At Mercedes, it appears Rosberg is back on form. That could well prove critical for the German team as it looks to fend off a resurgent Ferrari - if not in qualifying then certainly when it comes to race pace. QUALIFYING CLASSIFICATION 1 Lewis Hamilton joins Michael Schumacher, Juan-Manuel Fangio and Ayrton Senna as the only men to take 5 pole 20

21 F1 >>> CHINA Rebounding Rosberg The Chinese Grand Prix marked the first time this season Nico Rosberg has come within touching distance of Lewis Hamilton. Ever since the Belgian Grand Prix last season Nico Rosberg has looked a shadow of his former self. The German scored the most pole positions last year but it was only in China that he managed to get anywhere near his teammates pace. Even then his frustration over the radio was clear when his crew informed him of the miniscule margin by which he missed pole position. His body language had been downcast throughout 2015, and was towards the end of last season too; whatever happened behind closed doors after Belgium has only just begun to be undone. "Nico has to sort himself out," Niki Lauda said ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix. "He is definitely a little bit behind Lewis. It is not anything I can talk to him about. He will know what he has to do, and he must sort it out himself." A more aggressive approach was Rosberg was the response. He was rather more sharp with his team over the radio and that seemed to pay off. His qualifying performance was key. That he was disillusioned about finishing second and didn't resort to the tired PR lines like "Lewis was better than me today," suggests a new lease of life for the 29-year-old He's not there yet but at least he's beginning to resemble the man that led the championship for so long in 2014, as evidenced by the spat with Hamilton post-race. RIGHT: It's been a difficult start to 2015 for Nico Rosberg but in China showed signs he's re-found his 2014 form... 21

22 Tension at the top It was a tense post-race press conference in China as a fiesty Nico Rosberg accused race winner Lewis Hamilton of compromising his race, reigniting the rivalry that grew between the two during the 2014 championship fight. "I had no real threat from Nico through the whole race so I just managed it and I got to real enjoy it to be honest," Hamilton explained of his victory. "It's interesting to hear from you, Lewis, that you were just thinking about yourself," an aggreived Rosberg responded. "Your pace was compromising my race. Driving slower than was maybe necessary meant Vettel was very close to me, and that opened up the opportunity for him to do the early stop and menat I had to cover him. That cost me race time, and as a result my tyres died as my stint was much longer." During the middle part of the race Rosberg had asked his team to speed race leader Hamilton up. Having both fitted the soft compound tyres at their first stops, Hamilton was driving conservatively to ensure his went the distance. That saw Rosberg bottled up behind his teammate and allowed Sebastian Vettel in third to close. "My job is not to look after Nico's race, my job is to manage the car and bring it home," argued the Englishman, heaping more fuel on the fire. "I didn't do anything intentionally to slow the cars up. If Nico wanted to get by he could have tried, but he didn't." F1 >>> CHINA 22

23 Picking the pecking order After three races a solid picture of the 2015 Formula 1 pecking order is beginning to emerge. While it was always expected that Mercedes would be the head of the class, the smart money was on Williams to reaffirm itself as the next best team. It was then predicted that Ferrari, Williams and Lotus would all be closely matched in a tight battle for the midfield. The true picture though is rather different. Mercedes is at the top of the class but doesn't have the margin most expected. Furthermore it's pursued not by Williams but by Ferrari, which has shown it has strong race pace but is someway off the Mercedes in qualifying trim. Behind them, and at some distance, is a lonely Williams team which has shown itself to have more than enough to escape the midfield mayhem but not enough to challenge for a podium on outright pace. Below Williams it all gets rather muddied with Red Bull, Lotus, Toro Rosso and Sauber showing form. After three races Red Bull has emerged as the leader of that little group but hasn't made the most of its opportunities to really hit that advantage home. As a result it sits just a single point clear of Toro Rosso while Sauber has been reinvigorated courtesy of an updated Ferrari engine. At the back of the pack Manor trails rather predictably by some distance with McLaren next slowest. However, as the season wears on that will change as the Woking squad comes to terms with the brand new Honda engine. In China it already showed it's making strides towards Force India which is desperately hanging out for its B-Spec car. Until then having one car escape Q3 will be the highlight of its weekend. F1 >>> CHINA 23

24 F1 >>> CHINA Stat Wrap with Sean Kelly 5 PREVIOUS RACES HAVE FINISHED BEHIND THE SAFETY CAR CANADA 1999, AUSTRALIA 2009, ITALY 2009, MONACO 2010, BRAZIL 2012, CANADA 2014 HAMILTON WINS HIS FOURTH CHINESE GRAND PRIX, FURTHER EXTENDING HIS WIN RECORD in china HAMILTON HAS CONVERTED EIGHT OF HIS LAST NINE POLES IN RACE WINS, AND WAS SECOND IN THE OTHER ONE (MALAYSIA 2015) HAMILTON HAS PASSED JACKIE STEWART (1921) AND JIM CLARK (1942) ON THE ALL-TIME LAPS LED LIST, MOVING UP TO SIXTH ALL-TIME A 10TH CONSECUTIVE PODIUM FINISH FOR LEWIS HAMILTON IS THE LONGEST RUN OF HIS CAREER, AND THE FIFTH- LONGEST IN F1 HISTORY MERCEDES has its 13TH 1-2 FINISH SINCE THE BEGINNING OF LAST YEAR, 10 OF THEM WITH HAMILTON AHEAD VETTEL FINISHES ON THE PODIUM IN THE OPENING THREE RACES, SOMETHING HE'S ONLY DONE ONCE BEFORE IN HIS CAREER (2011) RAIKKONEN HAS THREE FOURTH PLACE FINISHES SINCE REJOINING FERRARI BUT STILL HASN'T FINISHED ON THE PODIUM FELIPE MASSA IS FIFTH - WILLIAMS HAdN'T FINISHED IN THE TOP-5 in china SINCE JUAN-PABLO MONTOYA WAS FIFTH Some facts you may have thought of, and most you certainly didn t know about the CHINESE GP! IN 2004, AND IS MASSA'S BEST FINISH HERE SINCE 2008 MASSA HAS TAKEN TOP-SIX FINISHES IN THE FIRST THREE RACES OF THE SEASON BOTTAS IS SIXTH HE'S ONLY FINISHED HIGHER THAN HE'S STARTED ONCE IN THE PAST 10 RACES (MALAYSIA) the finn HAS SCORED IN EXACTLY 50% OF HIS CAREER STARTS (20 OUT OF 40) BOTTAS HAS A 15-RACE FINISHING STREAK, THE LONGEST ACTIVE STREAK (DID NOT START IN AUSTRALIA) GROSJEAN SCORES FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE MONACO 2014, 16 RACES AGO NASR SCORES FOR THE SECOND TIME IN THREE RACES AND GIVES SAUBER THEIR BEST RESULT IN CHINA SINCE 2005 DANIEL RICCIARDO HAS SCORED IN ALL THREE RACES, WITHOUT FINISHING IN THE TOP-FIVE IN ANY OF THEM. HE HAS NEVER FINISHED HIGHER THAN HE'S STARTED ON THIS TRACK MARCUS ERICSSON MAKES IT TWO SAUBERS IN THE POINTS FOR THE SECOND TIME IN THREE RACES, AFTER THE TEAM FAILED TO SCORE AT ALL IN 2014 BOTH MCLARENS FINISH FOR THE FIRST TIME IN CLASSIFIED FINISHERS IS THE MOST IN 2015 Points Drivers: Hamilton 68, Vettel 55, Rosberg 51, Massa 30, Raikkonen 24, Bottas 18, Nasr 14, Ricciardo 11, Hulkenberg 6, Verstappen 6, Grosjean 6, Sainz 6, Ericsson 5, Kvyat 2, Perez 1 FORMULA 1 Round 3 CHINESE GP Pos Driver COUNTRY Team TIME/LapS PTS 1 LEWIS HAMILTON GBR MERCEDES 1:39: NICO ROSBERG GER MERCEDES s 18 3 SEBASTIAN VETTEL GER FERRARI s 15 4 KIMI RAIKKONEN FIN FERRARI s 12 5 FELIPE MASSA BRA WILLIAMS s 10 6 VALTTERI BOTTAS FIN WILLIAMS s 8 7 ROMAIN GROSJEAN FRA LOTUS s 6 8 FELIPE NASR BRA SAUBER S 4 9 DANIEL RICCIARDO AUS RED BULL MARCUS ERICSSON SWE SAUBER +1 lap 1 11 SERGIO PEREZ MEX FORCE INDIA +1 lap 0 12 FERNANDO ALONSO ESP MCLAREN +1 lap 0 13 CARLOS SAINS ESP TORO ROSSO +1 lap 0 14 JENSON BUTTON GBR MCLAREN +1 lap 0 15 WILL STEVENS GBR MANOR +2 laps 0 16 ROBERTO MEHRI ESP MANOR +2 laps 0 17 MAX VERSTAPPEN NED TORO ROSSO +4 laps 0 RT PASTOR MALDONADO VEN LOTUS DNF 0 RT DANIIL KVYAT RUS RED BULL DNF 0 RT NICO HULKENBERG GER FORCE INDIA DNF 0 Constructors: Mercedes 119, Ferrari 79, Williams 48, Sauber 19, Red Bull 13, Toro Rosso 12, Force India 7, Lotus 6 24

25 F1 >>> CHINA THE NUMBERS (German GP) Kimi Raikkonen led a lap on Sunday for the first time since the Nurburgring nearly two years ago. It was the first lap he s led for Ferrari since Monza Laps Percent The Manor Marussia of Will Stevens was not only within 107% of the best time in Q1, but got within 105%. Furthermore, his Q1 time of 1: was 0.236s inside the 104.7best Marussia time at the 2014 race weekend 7 13 Senna, The number of laps, on average, that Lewis Hamilton has led for every Grand Prix in which he has raced in so far. He has now led 1956 laps in his career, with only Schumacher, Prost, Mansell and Vettel ahead of him Lewis Hamilton now has seven hat-tricks (a win from pole with the fastest lap) in his career, only one behind currently active leader Sebastian Vettel, but way behind Michael Schumacher s Laps Of the 56 race laps in the Chinese Grand Prix, Williams Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas ran in fifth and sixth places for all-but-three laps The same three drivers have finished on the podium in the first three races of a season for the first time in F1 history 6.0 quicker 10 extremely Km/h Pastor Maldonado was quickest in the speed trap, at 344.1km/h in the race, fully 6km/h clear of any other driver, and a massive 31.5km/h than Daniil Kvyat s best top speed Seconds Carlos Sainz set the fastest lap of the race by a non-mercedes driver, 0.444s adrift of Hamilton s best Places Daniel Ricciardo lost 10 positions on the opening lap due to an slow start % Roberto Merhi s Q1 time was just outside the 107% limit, but he was still allowed to start 669 Out of 670 laps. Fernando Alonso lost his distinction of having completed every racing lap ever held on this track, 11 years after it opened, by virtue of finishing a lap down in 12th 25

26 TECHNICAL F1 >>> CHINA TECHNICAL PAOLO FILISETTI Technical Editor The race in Shanghai further illustrated that only two teams can currently really compete at the top Mercedes and Ferrari. The race in Malaysia provided a stunning victory for Ferrari, underlining the fact that the Italian cars, could capitalise on a strong advantage in terms of reduced tyre wear compared to the Mercedes. The Chinese race was expected to show whether what happened in Malaysia was just a one-off in terms of tyre advantage in favour of Ferrari or otherwise. Of course the temperature at Sepang was something completely different compared to Shanghai but, even taking into consideration the different compound allocated for this race as option (Soft), repeating the same choice adopted in Australia, it was clear that Mercedes had recovered in terms of the overall balance of the car, hence reducing the gap in terms of tyres efficiency compared to Ferrari. Mercedes, brought to China a significantly revised aero package, featuring a modified front wing together with revised barge boards, and a revised rear wing too. This of course was a programmed development step for the Brackleybased squad, but it was a timely means of regaining the competitveness of the W06. In particular the new front wing features a series of slits in the area close to the endplate, to better divert the airflow towards the outer section of the front wheels, so to reduce the drag. This feature was particularly effective in China, especially on the long back straight. It is in fact important to note that the W06 had a noticeable downforce gain, with very small disruption in terms of drag increment. This fact was illustrated both by the speed trap and top speeds at the end of each track sector, where the Mercedes, at the top in the speed trap sheet, was the fastest car at the sector ends. This demonstrates that the downforce load adopted was very high, higher than the one adopted by Ferrari, but at the same time the Power Unit advantage still helped Mercedes to top the sheet at the speed trap. The increased downforce load helped in terms of regaining a better balance, and thus managing the tyre wear during the race. The advantage that was believed (after Malaysia) to be Ferrari s in this respect, already faded away after the first stint, leaving the Italian cars only the chance of trying to close the gap with the cars in front but not trying too hard, as even for Vettel and Raikkonen it was not possible to put too much pressure on the tyres without eventually destroying them. The SF-15T did however continue a steady reduction of the gap to the Mercedes, even if this was not enough to pass them by means of an undercut strategy. Ferrari was quite active in terms of development of the car, even though not sporting such a deep revision, as it was the case for the Mercedes. Ferrari in fact, limited the aero development to the adoption of a slimmer engine cover, now not featuring the huge air vent around the exhaust pipe. This one was wrapped tightly by the bodywork, so as to reduce the negative effects in terms of airflow directed to the rear under the main wing profile. This new bodywork will probably not be kept in Bahrain next week, due to the very high temperature, even though it is important to point out that the race will be a night one, with temperatures lower than at night. The Sakhir track features a very technical layout and will thus be a very useful test for both the leading teams, as car balance and tyre performance will be crucial elements. 26

27 Seen at Shanghai F1 >>> CHINA 27

28 Wheel to wheel the Mercedes duo of Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton battled hard for victory in Bahrain last year with the Brit coming our on top. PARTING SHOT