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The 2018 Chinese GP Thread

Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2018 7:41 pm
by cmlean
This is the place to discuss everything related to the 3rd round of the 2018 season taking place in Shanghai between the 13th and 15th of April.

To submit your 10 'n' Pole Picks for China click here, to register in the competition click here

Picks for China close at the start of Saturday practice.

The event timetable for the Chinese Grand Prix.
Friday
1st Practice 10:00 local time - 02:00 GMT
2nd Practice 14:00 local time - 06:00 GMT

Saturday
Practice 11:00 local time - 03:00 GMT
Qualifying 14:00 local time - 06:00 GMT

Sunday
Race 14:00 local time - 06:00 GMT

Re: The 2018 Chinese GP Thread

Posted: Thu Apr 12, 2018 7:08 pm
by cmlean
Well. Round 3 in China and this circuit has been a happy hunting ground for Mercedes. The last victory for some team other that the German marque was back when Alonso was piloting the prancing horse around.

Will things be different this time around? We will see. My thoughts are that the Ferrari winning streak will come to an end at this race. But I could be wrong. It wouldn't be the first time.

The sensational effort by Gasly in Bahrain will be a tough act to follow. I don't imagine that we will see the attrition that occurred last weekend but the usual suspects will be near the front.

Reliability will be the main objective. With 3 power units to last the season and already a couple of teams having used their first, grid penalties will become evident later in the season. Just how long the teams can prolong this eventuality may determine just who will win the championship.

Re: The 2018 Chinese GP Thread

Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2018 7:04 pm
by cmlean
FP1 Results

Code: Select all

Pos	Time		Driver		  Team
1	1:33.999	Lewis Hamilton	  Mercedes
2	1:34.358	Kimi Räikkönen	  Ferrari
3	1:34.457	Valtteri Bottas	  Mercedes
4	1:34.537	Daniel Ricciardo  Red Bull Racing
5	1:34.668	Max Verstappen	  Red Bull Racing
6	1:34.861	Sebastian Vettel  Ferrari
7	1:35.178	Kevin Magnussen	  Haas
8	1:35.616	Carlos Sainz	  Renault
9	1:35.718	Romain Grosjean	  Haas
10	1:35.800	Nico Hulkenberg	  Renault
11	1:36.037	Pierre Gasly	  Toro Rosso
12	1:36.044	Fernando Alonso	  Renault
13	1:36.051	Sergio Perez	  Force India
14	1:36.351	Esteban Ocon	  Force India
15	1:36.691	Sergey Sirotkin	  Williams
16	1:36.715	Brendon Hartley	  Toro Rosso
17	1:36.723	Charles Leclerc	  Sauber
18	1:36.756	Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren
19	1:36.909	Marcus Ericsson	  Sauber
20	1:37.277	Lance Stroll	  Williams
Practice 1 is in the books and, other than Vandoorne nearly hitting the barrier coming out of turn 10, there were no real incidents.

There were a few spins and a few flat spots on tyres but all went basically as expected for most teams.

Re: The 2018 Chinese GP Thread

Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2018 7:10 pm
by cmlean
FP2 Results

Code: Select all

Pos	Time		Driver		  Team
1	1:33.482	Lewis Hamilton	  Mercedes
2	1:33.489	Kimi Räikkönen	  Ferrari
3	1:33.515	Valtteri Bottas	  Mercedes
4	1:33.590	Sebastian Vettel  Ferrari
5	1:33.823	Max Verstappen	  Red Bull Racing
6	1:34.313	Nico Hulkenberg	  Renault
7	1:34.458	Kevin Magnussen	  Haas
8	1:34.473	Carlos Sainz	  Renault
9	1:34.557	Daniel Ricciardo  Red Bull Racing 
10	1:34.632	Fernando Alonso	  McLaren
11	1:34.792	Sergio Perez	  Force India
12	1:34.849	Pierre Gasly	  Toro Rosso
13	1:34.874	Esteban Ocon	  Force India
14	1:35.163	Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren
15	1:35.333	Brendon Hartley	  Toro Rosso
16	1:35.340	Sergey Sirotkin	  Williams
17	1:35.624	Marcus Ericsson	  Sauber
18	1:35.916	Charles Leclerc	  Sauber
19	1:36.471	Romain Grosjean	  Haas
20	1:37.147	Lance Stroll	  Williams
Small showers brought the practice runs to an end. Half a dozen cars ventured out on intermediates but most did only one or two laps.

Re: The 2018 Chinese GP Thread

Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2018 10:02 am
by cmlean
Another day, another unsafe release.
This time it was McLaren and Stoffel Vandoorne with a loose right rear wheel.
A fine to the team seems to be all that is required.

Re: The 2018 Chinese GP Thread

Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2018 1:54 pm
by cmlean
FP3 and poof! Ricciardo's Renault goes up in smoke.
Looks like one battery and now one power unit have now been used on that side of the garage.

Re: The 2018 Chinese GP Thread

Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2018 5:13 pm
by cmlean
FP3 Results

Code: Select all

Pos	Time		Driver		  Team
1	1:33.018	Sebastian Vettel  Ferrari
2	1:33.469	Kimi Räikkönen	  Ferrari
3	1:33.761	Valtteri Bottas	  Mercedes
4	1:33.969	Max Verstappen	  Red Bull Racing
5	1:34.057	Lewis Hamilton	  Mercedes
6	1:34.329	Kevin Magnussen	  Haas
7	1:34.445	Sergio Perez	  Force India
8	1:34.456	Esteban Ocon	  Force India
9	1:34.582	Carlos Sainz	  Renault
10	1:34.741	Sergey Sirotkin	  Williams
11	1:34.841	Nico Hulkenberg	  Renault
12	1:34.851	Fernando Alonso	  McLaren
13	1:34.977	Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren
14	1:34.991	Brendon Hartley	  Toro Rosso
15	1:35.061	Daniel Ricciardo  Red Bull Racing
16	1:35.079	Pierre Gasly	  Toro Rosso
17	1:35.375	Lance Stroll	  Williams
18	1:35.497	Charles Leclerc	  Sauber
19	1:35.679	Marcus Ericsson	  Sauber
20	1:35.756	Romain Grosjean	  Haas

Re: The 2018 Chinese GP Thread

Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2018 5:21 pm
by cmlean
Qualifying

Code: Select all

Pos	Time		Driver		  Team
1	1:31.095	Sebastian Vettel  Ferrari
2	1:31.182	Kimi Räikkönen	  Ferrari
3	1:31.625	Valtteri Bottas	  Mercedes
4	1:31.675	Lewis Hamilton	  Mercedes
5	1:31.796	Max Verstappen	  Red Bull Racing
6	1:31.948	Daniel Ricciardo  Red Bull Racing
7	1:32.532	Nico Hulkenberg	  Renault
8	1:32.758	Sergio Perez	  Force India
9	1:32.819	Carlos Sainz	  Renault
10	1:32.855	Romain Grosjean	  Haas
______________________________________________________
11	1:32.986	Kevin Magnussen	  Haas
12	1:33.057	Esteban Ocon	  Force India
13	1:33.232	Fernando Alonso	  McLaren
14	1:33.505	Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren
15	1:33.795	Brendon Hartley	  Toro Rosso
______________________________________________________
16	1:34.062	Sergey Sirotkin	  Williams
17	1:34.101	Pierre Gasly	  Toro Rosso
18	1:34.285	Lance Stroll	  Williams
19	1:34.454	Charles Leclerc	  Sauber
20	1:34.914	Marcus Ericsson	  Sauber


Re: The 2018 Chinese GP Thread

Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2018 10:53 pm
by cmlean
Results

Code: Select all

Pos	Driver		  Team
1	Daniel Ricciardo  Red Bull Racing
2	Valtteri Bottas	  Mercedes
3	Kimi Räikkönen	  Ferrari
4	Lewis Hamilton	  Mercedes
5	Max Verstappen	  Red Bull Racing
6	Nico Hulkenberg	  Renault
7	Fernando Alonso	  McLaren
8	Sebastian Vettel  Ferrari
9	Carlos Sainz	  Renault
10	Kevin Magnussen	  Haas
11	Esteban Ocon	  Force India
12	Sergio Perez	  Force India
13	Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren
14	Lance Stroll	  Williams
15	Sergey Sirotkin	  Williams
16	Marcus Ericsson	  Sauber
17	Romain Grosjean	  Haas
18	Pierre Gasly	  Toro Rosso
19	Charles Leclerc	  Sauber
DNF	Brendon Hartley	  Toro Rosso

Re: The 2018 Chinese GP Thread

Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2018 11:01 pm
by cmlean
A reasonably late safety car turned the race on its head following a collision between the two Toro Rosso's at the hairpin.
Verstappen pitted with 6th placed Ricciardo and both Red Bulls commenced their drives through the field.
Max came upon Alonso and ran off the track giving the lead Red Bull position to Ricciardo.
From there on in, it became a question of when the leaders would be caught and passed.
Verstappen had an incident while trying to pass Vettel at hairpin for which Max received a 10 second penalty for his efforts.
This race showed the class of Ricciardo with decisive passes on both the Mercedes.