SHANGHAI – Sebastian Vettel claimed a battling fourth place in Shanghai in a tactical battle that saw the champion use a different strategy to those cars ahead of him on the Chinese Grand Prix grid.
Seb began the race in ninth place, on the medium tire and hoping to maximize its durability against the soft tires of the seven rivals at the front of the grid. The champion was competitive throughout but was eventually passed for P1 by Fernando Alonso on a fresh set of medium tires that would see the Ferrari driver through to the end. Sebastian needed to stop again for soft tires but following his visit to the pit lane he utilized the much better pace of the fresh soft tires to make a late charge. He eventually finished fourth, just 0.2 seconds adrift of third-place Lewis Hamilton and just two seconds behind Kimi Raikkonen who finished in P2.
“After the last stop, the team told me there was quite a big gap to the cars ahead, but also a big gap behind, so we thought we should go for it in the closing stages,” Sebastian said afterwards. “When I came on to the long straight and saw Lewis at the other end turning into the hair pin I thought ‘well, that’s a bit too far,’ but obviously we had much more speed on the fresher tires. It was a little bit disappointing to lose out by such a tiny bit; a few corners more and we could have tried something.
“Nonetheless, our strategy seemed to work today. We knew it would be difficult and that it was crucial to get clean laps, but we didn’t in the first stint. I was faster than Nico (Hulkenberg) but if you follow another car you lean on your front tires too much and it was hard to find the right compromise, but overall we can be happy.”
Mark, meanwhile, endured a tough afternoon after starting from pitlane following his demotion to the back of the grid yesterday due to a qualifying fuel problem.
The Australian hustled his way towards the top 10 in the opening laps but a collision with Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne forced a visit to the pits for a new nosecone and fresh tires. Within moments of rejoining, Mark reported a problem with the right rear wheel and before he could return to the pitlane the wheel detached, forcing him to retire. The incident with Vergne was later investigated by the race stewards and Mark adjudged to have caused the collision. He will take a three-place grid penalty for next weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix.
“The start of the race was going okay; we elected to get rid of the soft tire quite quickly and then came back through the field pretty well,” said Mark. “Regarding the incident with Jean-Eric, I was coming from a reasonable distance behind, Jean-Eric was really wide, but when we came close to the apex he wanted to hit it, which he is entitled to do, but by then I was committed to the inside and the incident happened.
“It was a couple of laps before our pit stop window, so I had to come in early. The guys thought the tire was fixed when we left the stop, but it came off on the out lap. We have had a few problems this weekend; I think we could have done something from our start position today, but it wasn’t meant to be.”
Team Principal Christian Horner said it was too early to determine the cause of the wheel problem that sidelined Mark.
“With Mark, having taken the opportunity to change the car significantly overnight and starting from the pit lame, we elected to stop on the first lap, change his soft tires for the hard ones, and put him into clear air,” he said. “His pace thereafter was excellent, he was coming back through the field extremely well, but unfortunately an incident with Jean-Eric Vergne caused front wing damage and a puncture.
“After changing the nose and all four tires, Mark reported a problem with the right rear on the out lap, which had certainly left the pit lane fully torqued up. The right rear then came detached from the car and caused Mark to retire. Until we get the car back, it’s not possible to yet conclude the exact cause.”
Of Seb’s race he said: “Having opted to start the race on the prime tire, it was always going to be a different race for us compared to the cars ahead of Sebastian. Unfortunately in the first stint, after Sebastian had passed Jenson, Hulkenberg managed to pass both Jenson and Sebastian in the DRS zone, which cost us quite a bit of time. Arguably the time lost then hurt Sebastian at the end of the race – and otherwise I am sure he would have been on the podium. But, nonetheless he drove a very strong race, managing his pace and tires very well to come extremely close to taking the final podium place on the final lap.”
Seb’s 12 points from Shanghai keep him at the top of the Drivers’ Championship standings on 52 points, three ahead of Raikkonen. Alonso is third with 43 points. We also maintain our lead in the Constructors’Championship with 78 points, five clear of Ferrari and 18 ahead of third-placed Lotus.
TEAM REACTIONS
Car 1 Sebastian Vettel, Finish Position: 4th, Start Position: 9th
“After the last stop, the team told me there was quite a big gap to the cars ahead, but also a big gap behind, so we thought we should go for it in the closing stages. When I came on to the long straight and saw Lewis at the other end turning into the hair pin I thought ‘well, that’s a bit too far’, but obviously we had much more speed on the fresher tires. It was a little bit disappointing to lose out by such a tiny bit; a few corners more and we could have tried something. Nonetheless, our strategy seemed to work today. We knew it would be difficult and that it was crucial to get clean laps, but we didn’t in the first stint. I was faster than Nico (Hulkenberg) but if you follow another car you lean on your front tires too much and it was hard to find the right compromise, but overall we can be happy.”
Car 2 Mark Webber, Finish Position: DNF, Start Position: Pit lane
"The start of the race was going okay; we elected to get rid of the soft tire quite quickly and then came back through the field pretty well. Regarding the incident with Jean-Eric (Vergne), I was coming from a reasonable distance behind, Jean-Eric was really wide, but when we came close to the apex he wanted to hit it, which he is entitled to do, but by then I was committed to the inside and the incident happened. It was a couple of laps before our pit stop window, so I had to come in early. The guys thought the tire was fixed when we left the stop, but it came off on the out lap. We have had a few problems this weekend; I think we could have done something from our start position today, but it wasn’t meant to be.”
Christian Horner, Team Principal
“Having opted to start the race on the prime tire, it was always going to be a different race for us compared to the cars ahead of Sebastian. Unfortunately in the first stint, after Sebastian had passed Jenson, Hulkenberg managed to pass both Jenson and Sebastian in the DRS zone, which cost us quite a bit of time. Arguably the time lost then hurt Sebastian at the end of the race – and otherwise I am sure he would have been on the podium. But, nonetheless he drove a very strong race, managing his pace and tires very well to come extremely close to taking the final podium place on the final lap. With Mark, having taken the opportunity to change the car significantly overnight and starting from the pit lame, we elected to stop on the first lap, change his soft tires for the hard ones, and put him into clear air. His pace thereafter was excellent, he was coming back through the field extremely well, but unfortunately an incident with Jean-Eric Vergne caused front wing damage and a puncture. After changing the nose and all four tires, Mark reported a problem with the right rear on the out lap, which had certainly left the pit lane fully torqued up. The right rear then came detached from the car and caused Mark to retire. Until we get the car back, it’s not possible to yet conclude the exact cause.”
Thierry Salvi, (Renault)
“Shanghai is a tough circuit for the engine, with it getting a full workout on all levels with the combination of straights and low speed corners. Although the result is not ultimately what we would have hoped for coming into the weekend, finishing under half a second from the podium, with the starting positions we had, has to be positive.”
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