Formula 1 News

Chinese GP: lap by lap highlights 

Chinese Grand Prix, Shanghai: lap by lap race highlights.

Lap 1 – Race start. Lewis Hamilton leads the race, Raikkonen 2nd, Massa 3rd and Alonso 4th. Weather conditions remain still uncertain, the track is humid and rain has started to fall. The drivers opted for intermediate tires.

Lap 2 – Barrichello and Davidson on gravel but both of them manage to continue the race. There’s a lot of rain near the finish line.

Lap 3 – Hamilton still leading with 2” gap on Raikkonen and 5” on Alonso.

Lap 4 – Hamilton establishes the fastest lap. Rain has stopped in the pitlane.

Lap 5 – Hamilton still 1st, Raikkonen 2nd, Massa 3rd, Alonso 4th, Coulthard 5th, Liuzzi 6th, Heidfeld 7th, Webber 8th.

Lap 6 – Hamilton has 4” gap on Raikkonen, 7” on Massa and 8” onFernando Alonso.

Lap 9 – Hamilton has 6” gap on Raikkonen, 11” on Massa and 13” on his teammate Alonso.

Lap 12 – Davidson on Super Aguri retires from the GP.

Lap 14 – Pit stop for Hamilton: the Briton adds fuel but doesn’t change tires.

Lap 16 – The circuit is half wet and half dry. Raikkonen 1st and Massa 2nd.

Lap 17 – Pit stop for Felipe Massa who follows Hamilton’s choice and remains with used tires.

Lap 18 – Pit stop for Alonso. No tire change even for the Spaniard.

Lap 19 – Pit stop for Raikkonen. Hamilton 1st, Raikkonen 2nd, Massa 3rd and Alonso 4th; with such placement, Hamilton wins the Drivers’ Championship.

Lap 20 – Alonso is 12” behind Hamilton.

Lap 22 – Hamilton has 5” gap on Raikkonen, 18” on Massa and 19” on Alonso.

Lap 25 – Lap times for the drivers that opted for dry tires are clearly faster. According to the weather forecast, rain prediction is still high but the track has many dry corners.

Lap 28 – Raikkonen attacking Hamilton.

Lap 28 – Raikkonen overtakes Hamilton and gets the lead.

Lap 29 – In the last two laps Alonso has gained 5” on Hamilton. The Briton has, again, tire problems.

Lap 31 – Hamilton, while entering the pitlane in order to change a defective tire, slips on the gravel and has to retire from the GP. The battle for Drivers’ Championship remains open.

Lap 33 – Robert Kubica on BMW, retires for a hydraulic problem.

Lap 34 – Raikkonen 1st with 10” on Alonso and 11′ on Massa.

Lap 40 – Raikkonen still leading the race with 8” on Alonso. Massa 3rd, Button 4th, Vettel 5th, Fisichella 6th, Liuzzi 7th and Heidfeld 8th.

Lap 43 – Kimi Raikkonen doesn’t seem to have problems on keeping his 8” gap on Alonso.

Lap 52 – Raikkonen 1st, Alonso 2nd, Massa 3rd and young Vettel 4th.

Lap 56 – Kimi Raikkonen wins the Chinese Grand Prix. 2nd place for Alonso and 3rd for Massa. Drivers’ Championship is still an open matter as Hamilton remains with 100 points followed by Alonso with 103 and Raikkonen with 100. The Brazilian Grand Prix in 15 days will decide who among those three will win the title.