Rate the race: China

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What did you think of the Chinese Grand Prix? Rate the race out of ten and have your say below.

Rate the Chinese Grand Prix out of ten

  • 10 (19%)
  • 9 (32%)
  • 8 (31%)
  • 7 (11%)
  • 6 (3%)
  • 5 (1%)
  • 4 (1%)
  • 3 (1%)
  • 2 (0%)
  • 1 (1%)

Total Voters: 2,855

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Scale: 1 = ‘Terrible’ – 10 = ‘Perfect’

2010 Chinese Grand Prix

    Browse all 2010 Chinese Grand Prix articles

    Author information

    Keith Collantine
    Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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    169 comments on “Rate the race: China”

    1. It was absolutely brilliant. Loads of overtaking, loads of drama, the final few laps were very tense. Better than Australia!

      1. what i dont believe 10 for this race nonsense just because it was an mclaren 1 2 this shouldn be a 10 more like a 7 or less dont get overpatrotic

        1. Why you replying to me about that? I don’t even understand your post.

          As I’ve said before even if the McLarens spun out I would’ve given this a 9/10 like I did anyway. It wasn’t about who was on the podium, it was about how exciting the race was, and it was very exciting.

          1. i just replied your comment just because doing that would give my comment a better position on the page

            1. I hate it when people do that…

        2. What does that have anything to do with a 10/10?

          I give it a 9/10. Williams did badly today & I still gave it 9/10. Doesnt stop it being brilliant.

          1. if people cared about williams im sure williams by now would have some more points

        3. I’m sorry but you are an idiot. You seriously think we should vote whatever it is you would vote?

          Click your own button and shut up…

          1. The above was directed at MigueLP

          2. everybody voted 9 or 10 not because of the quality of the race just because someone you wanted to win the race did eventually won basic psicology

            1. im giving a 7 because im an honest person im not blinded by my tastes. by the way im happy not see another one 2 by redbull

            2. The taste you have is the thing you are so full off.

              This was the best race of the year by far. It had loads of drama, loads of overtaking, great battles, great strategy. In short it had literally EVERYTHING a great race should have. This is a classic that will be talked about for a long time.

              The only thing it is lacking for YOU is that apparently you feel the wrong driver won.

              Alosno came fourth after he ruined his own race. What more do you want?

              Honestly, what more nonsense will these fanboys come up with.

            3. I voted 10 and I don’t even like Button, Hamilton or McLaren. It was an amazing race whatever the result.

            4. There may have been a few people who gave the race a higher vote because of who won, probably the same amount of people who gave the race a low rating because of who won.

              Regardless of who finished where, the only thing that stopped the race from being perfect for me was that there was not a great battle for the lead.

              Also lots of people still care about Williams, myself included, but what does that have to do with how many points they get.

              If points were dependent on support there would be no need for races and they could just have a vote and see Ferrari come first with McLaren second all the time.

              You have already admitted you replied to the first comment only because you wanted the attention so it wouldn’t surprise me if your actual comment was intended just to provoke debate, if it was I guess you succeeded.

            5. PJA,

              Rosberg and Button fought for much of the race for the lead and at the end of the race Hamilton was pretty close to Button twice.

    2. definitely 9. first half of it was amazing; so intense. probably will watch it again this week, maybe even twice!

    3. If only there were 2 more laps would have been a good battle for the win.

      Mclaren drivers driving both questionable but only Hamilton will get the penalty obviously…

      1. I would say what Button did was a bit off, slowed down waay too much but just caused kerfuffle more than anything else.

        Hamilton/Vettel, much as I love to see drivers like those two really going for it they could have easily collected a bit of dangling pit gear or an unwary mechanic

        1. As Martin said he slowed the pack up way to much and when it came into the final corner everyone was so close they had to go side by side which eventually ruined Webbers race.

          No doubt Hamilton will be blamed though as Webber said on the team radio.

          1. it was an unintended payback for webber for foolsihly ruining hamilton’s race in australia .

            1. And in my opinion what Webber did in Australia was way worse – Hamilton was not to blame in Australia at all..

            2. It doesn’t matter who did what worse, the rule enforcers should surely look at this ignoring any other incident, otherwise it cannot be a fair system.

          2. Hamilton did nothing wrong there. They had passed the safety car line already so hamilton was allowed to overtake. He had the inside line so Webber should have backed off.

            1. So the safety car line was before the final corner? I don’t think so.

            2. What are you on about Patrickl? They were side by side in the last corner. And it wasn’t even Hamiltons fault for being three wide it’s because the pack got bunched up stupidly.

            3. OK, I see you are a bit testy by the poor performance of the Red Bulls. Never mind.

              @Rohan,

              Yeah, I thought Brundle commented that the safetycar line was ahead of the last corner.

            4. The line was before the last corner, Hamilton had every right to pass. Hamilton couldn’t have avoided pushing him off by moving further left, main;y because Vettel was there.

              Webber just got unlucky (again).

            5. yeah on some replays you could see the line just before the last corner.

            6. Red Bull didn’t do well, that wasn’t my point Patrickl. Completely irrelevant comment.

            7. Your not allowed to overtake until Start Finish line even if the SC has moved of the track.
              Regulations also states your not allowed to drive to slowly behind the SC. Your supposed to be within a certain distance behind it granted the bunching up happened at the point the SC left. Don’t understand the reasoning from Button to slow down that much. Drivers should stop messing around behind SC just leads to tears when they do.
              There was no place for vettel, Hamilton and Webber to go besides bunching up and trying to go three through the corner. Hamilton (even though I don’t like him) really was not to blame for Webber being ran off. Vettel had a lot to do with it as well BUT ultimately it all comes down to Buttons behavior because he unnecessarily slowed down way to much all the drivers behind was going in SC pace and to avoid hitting and overtaking each other got bunched up big time.

              I gave the race a 9. I’m not a McLaren fan nor a big fan of Button and do not like Ham very much but respect him as a skilled driver but have a bit of to much temperament and loud mouth.
              It was a good exciting race all in all. Wasn’t aware until this morning but I’m glad for it that the 25 sec post race penalty been dropped from the regulations. Granted it’s about the same time or shorter then what a drive through cost in time BUT if given early in the race, strategy can be changed and might also give you a open track allowing for better lap times to catch up but if you end race behind a slower driver there is nothing you can do to remedy or react to it.

            8. macahan,

              The rules changed for this season. Overtaking can now occur when they pass the first safety car line after the safety car leaves the track

              I quoted the rules for Keith somewhere on one of these articles.

    4. James Bolton
      18th April 2010, 9:56

      Brilliant Grand Prix!! Now we need to work out why – we need more races like this.
      How can we get the cars performing in the dry as they do in the wet? In terms of grip levels?

      1. It is not the grip level that makes for more exciting races, it is the fact that the grip varies a lot over the whole track. Give all the cars less grip in the dry and they’ll just be equally slower. There will always be more water some places on the track, which forces the drivers to constantly adjust their pace..

        1. this is right. it’s the unpredictability of the grip levels, that makes it exciting in the rain. if mechanical grip, for instance, was reduced nothing much would change (look at 1998 – we saw less overtaking if anything that year than 1997).

          also, if overtaking was easy all the time, the thrill of it would be completely lost – the fastest car/driver would jump to the front without much fuss and every race would turn out the same.

          1. Also, the only reason there is so much overtaking in the rain is because of the strategy differences. If they all would be on the same tyres they all would be driving at the same speed and thus there still wouldn’t be any overtaking.

            1. not necessary due to the changing condition on the track and the different amount of water on different areas on the track it’s easy to make a mistake, with a varying amount of rain fall and run of speeds of the water one corner might be dry while a few corners later has a lot of water. We saw more then one driver running of the track because of this, loose traction out of a corner or rear end letting loose in the corner. Allowing others to catch up and/or pass.
              Of course when a driver is on inters and another on soft slicks you can get some interesting overtaking because either tire might be the right to use or not to use. We saw drivers on slicks overtaking drivers on inters and we saw drivers on inters overtaking drivers on slicks at different time in during the race as the conditions changed.

            2. The point is that it is not simply low tyre grip.

    5. Fantastic race! Brilliant strategy from Button! Great come back twice for Lewis!!!

    6. WHO NEEDS RIDE HEIGHT ADJUSTERS HUH!!!

    7. great race overall , lots of overtaking left, right and centre, and in the end that what f1 is all about.

      1. More overtaking then we’d probably get in a whole full season of f1.

        1. I remember last year’s GP was also packed with overtakings. Again, Hamilton produced the most.

    8. 8/10. Probably best race in season :)

      1. yet we’ve only had four races…

    9. Nearly perfect!
      Awesome drive from Hamilton, yet again, and pretty good by Alonso, too.

    10. Gave it an 8 but it deserved a 9. Great win by Button, showing his experience and skill with Hamilton showing his pace and determination. Solid effort from Rosberg too, shame he didn’t have the chance to keep his lead.

      Now all we have to do is wait for news on if there’s going to be a penalty!

      1. They are just an ideal pairing. Button has the experience and the cool while Hamilton is an extreme racer who can (almost) make up for bad pit call that he or the team makes.

        If Hamilton picks up some of Button’s experience then he certainly will be impossible to stop for years.

        Great interview with Paddy Lowe after the race where he explained that there is no difference in tyre handling between the two drivers. Just that they have to use their tyres differently. Hamilton overtakes a ton of cars while Button simply drives his laps on his own.

        If anything I’m more impressed with Hamilton’s tyre handling than with Button’s. Hamilton fights like a lion and STILL he has reasonable tyres left.

        1. Wasn’t he struggling at the end with his tyres? I thought Button just backed off.

          1. Button’s tyres where gone just as much. So much so that Button even went off.

        2. They are indeed an ideal pairing, it’s why I tipped McLaren for the WCC before the season begun :)

          If anything I’m more impressed with Hamilton’s tyre handling than with Button’s. Hamilton fights like a lion and STILL he has reasonable tyres left.

          Good point, I hadn’t thought of it that way! Button impressed me too today that he could get heat into his tyres so well, it’s traditionally been a bit of a weak spot for him.

    11. Jenson: 2 wins
      Lewis: 0 wins

      FFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-

      But seriously, well done Jenson. His experience (and a lot of luck) seems to be helping him in changing conditions. But there’s 15 races left still, so Lewis still has time to come out on top ;)

      Also, what happened between Lewis and Vettel? I missed it.

      1. Simultaneous release, Lewis didn’t get good traction from his box, and ended up alongside Vettel, then Vettel barged sideways a bit.

        1. That’s a good point to bear in mind, I think Hamilton was released only a few tenths after Vettel (way too small a window to say it was negligent or intentional), but it looked worse because Hamilton got away slower. Hopefully the stewards will take that into account.

          1. But Hamilton stayed side-by-side with Vettel down the pitlane, endangering every mechanic in that pitlane, when he should have yielded and slotted in behind Vettel.

            1. Yes, but to start with he was ahead of Vettel, so should Vettel have yielded, even though he was going faster than Hamilton?

            2. But Hamilton buggered up his exit and Vettel had the correct place in the lane whereas Hamilton was driving down the middle, Things would have happened too fast to really react before they were side by side.

            3. and then Vettel made it worse by pushing Lewis further towards the mechanics…….

        2. agreed sheep. it looked more dramatic than it was because HAM was slow out of his box. if he had normal grip he would have been comfortably infront of VET.

      2. Has Button had a good result this year that hasn’t involved him making a lucky tyre call…

        1. Luck is a tricky thing, as Tiger Woods responded when asked to how he could be so lucky all the time: “It is funny, the more I practice, the more lucky I get”. Jenson has more experience than his teammate, it might actually matter some… But eventually his tyre calls will backfire..

          1. In Malaysia the tire choice allready backfired somewhat. Because his tires were worn he had to let 3 cars through, even though Alonso then suffered with the engine blow.

        2. So far the McLarens still aren’t quite up there with the Red Bulls or the Ferraris in terms of raw pace on a dry track, their drivers are making up for it in terms of patience and tactics (Button) or sheer aggression (Hamilton)…

        3. He was ahead of Hamilton before people pitted, and finished ahead of Hamilton, so yes, he actually drove a good race.

        4. Let’s be clear. Button out qualified Hamilton. Held his team mate from the start. Was never behind Hamilton. Then Button won the race.

          One of the hot topics prior to the season start was Button’s tyre management compared to Hamilton’s. And now we are seeing it bearing fruit. Don’t get me wrong, if F1 was about sprint racing, Lewis would nail Jenson. His aggression makes him fast and agile, which makes for great overtaking, but what does that do to his tyres ultimately? Jenson’s smoother (read more conservative if you want) braking and acceleration may make his fastest laps 2 tenths slower than Hamilton, but protect his brakes, tyres and engine more – just look at reliability between Jenson and Rubens last year.

          And Jenson is STILL a very good bet for an overtake.

          Both drivers are world champs for a reason. They are both great drivers, but just get the job done in a different way. It’s a Prost/Senna thing (and no, not suggesting Hamilton and Button are as good as or better – they are themselves – a different age, so don’t bother flaming!).

    12. All I can say is that there ought to be some penalties handed out. Good race though.

      1. Why exactly!? Too much close exciting racing for you? We get a great race and people demand penalties. I thought it was a great fair race. Well done Mclaren, lets keep it up!!!!

      2. I strongly disagree. This is not a gentleman’s sport, they should be able to push to the limit without worrying about upcoming penalties. Only incident I thought was a bit too much was perhaps at the pits, but since no mechanics were out there, I think they should just let it slide. Hell, if we can have just one more race like this in the season it’ll be a perfect season..

        1. Well said. People just love to complain…when its a straight forward race its f1 is rubbish, when there is excitement at every corner people what penalties here there and everywhere. Shame.

      3. In Fuji 2007, (in worse conditions) Hamilton got away with murder when he was screwing around behind the safety car and Vettel ran into Webber. Took 2 podiums away from 2 very deserving drivers at the time that were over-achieving as well. Button stacked up the field at the hairpin and as Martin Brundle said he was violating a rule that too much eratic accelerating or braking causing the field to do something along the lines of what happened. The field got stacked up, and some drivers went off a little to avoid collision. Not saying he should be robbed of his win, but should be reprimanded if Webber was in Australia for colliding into Hamilton.

        Hamilton should be penalized for not yielding to Vettel in the pits, Vettel had the main lane and was keeping right next to him. He definately should’ve pulled in behind him. Plus, the way he was eratically pulling into the pits, cutting the final corner and going all over the place. Also cut in front of Vettel going on the inside in the pits as well, but at least Vettel has the sense to yield and let him past because he knew Hamilton was driving all ove rthe place.

        1. Vettel was a bit cheeky turning in a little bit into Lewis but I agree Lewis should have tucked in behind him.

          As for Button, he broke a rule an ACTUAL rule not an unwritten rule but still Hamilton finds himself in the stewards room.

          1. That is a very good point…

        2. Vettel turned into Lewis and made it more dangerous

          Let’s just hand Vettel a championship and make sure he gets no penaltis this year……

      4. cotton wool police alert!

    13. Didn’t really see an issue with the Hamilton incident in the pits with Vettal but to make contact and push Webber off the track at the restart deserved a drive through penalty.

      Whole restart with Button holding up the cars needs to be looked at but I highly doubt any penalty will be given out but wouldn’t be suprrised if the drivers are warned in future to not do it.

      1. Really? No problem with him flying down the slow lane of the pits? That’s not just endangering himself or other drivers, at that point he’s endangering mechanics. He deserves a hefty penalty for that. The restart wasn’t really his fault, he was being pushed into Webber by Vettel.

    14. theviewingfoot
      18th April 2010, 10:12

      That was a fab race i rated it an 8.
      but if LH gets a penalty then so should SV for the barge… though i hope its let go, EJ is right its a racing incident.

      tvf

      1. Both cars released too close to call. The Vet swerve was stupid, but then Ham should have slotted in behind. 50:50 blame, but just handbags at 10 paces really.

        Schumacher and Hamilton on the track at last was awesome. Shame Michael isn’t truly back on the pace yet – displayed flashes of his brilliant racecraft.

        Button demostrated again today why he drives for one of the top teams. Classy drive and ballsy call yet again. Deserved winner.

        Rosberg is so very nearly there. Was the same last year, just want him to make that final move onto the top step. Great quali, brave drive, good result – nearly…

        Massa must be fuming. Alonso stuffing him in the pitlane (albeit before the limiter line) was harsh. Sitting behind the sister car in the pits must have felt neverending to Felipe. Against another competitor it would be perhaps examined more closely, but Ferrari have kept the argument inhouse I suspect. It was notable that the drivers comments on the Formula 1 website were very late coming in from Ferrari. Suspect this is the begining of the war we all expected at Maranello.

        Oh, and Renault? Quietly good again today. Bob his usual excellent drive, but Petrov had an excellent showing today as well – most pleasing after his good battling in Malaysia.

        Red Bulls ended 6th and 8th from a 1-2 start. McLaren started 5th and 6th and took the 1-2 finish. Newey has built the fastest light car. Not sure about the race distance car yet though. And Webber? Lovely guy, but what would Kubica do with that second seat I wonder.

        9 from me. Now remember to join the live chat in 3 weeks time. Given that it’s Catalunya and probably no hope of rain, will definitely need the chat buddy.

    15. my best race so far. 10/10 but it would be 20/10 if rosberg, hamilton and button had good set of tires and raced closely up until the last lap!

    16. The second SC was ridiculous. 4 laps to pick up a little bit of debris from a front wing for god’s sake. It took them just as long to collect 3 cars at the very start. Ruined the top’s 3/4 race. It cancelled Alonso’s penalty, and made the Renault’s lose what they earned with their early gamble. Rosberg should have won, or finish behind Jenson at the very worst.

      1. Completely agree. It reeked of an attempt to make the race more interesting.

        In that respect it worked, but it certainly robbed Rosberg and Kubica of their just rewards though.

      2. I wonder if it was more for the stuff in the pitlane rather than the track?

        1. that race was bloody exciting, but you would have rather have had it interesting? we had a heap of “interesting” races in 09′ and you want more?

          also remember button was past rosberg befor the second saftey car because rosberg went off.

          the saftey car was a called out to easily, because by the time the saftey car had caught button the debris was cleared and there was no need for it anymore. double waved yellows would have been alot better

    17. Maybe someday we’ll actually get to see Kobayashi put in a race distance. Between his mechanicals at Bahrain and Malaysia, his own crash in Australia, and now getting jumped over by Liuzzi in the first corner at China, it must be getting a bit frustrating for Kobayashi. Meanwhile the HRTs are finishing races left and right.

    18. Fantastic race, lots of overtaking and plenty of action including in the pit-lane! Massive congratulations to Button for his superb performance, who’d have thought he’d trump Lewis with two wins to nil and be championship leader?!

    19. WHAT. A. RACE.

      China must stay…

      1. …but only if it rains :)

        1. this new slot for china from last year does seem to be in the rainy season.

    20. No refuelling + a McLaren 1-2 means I’d give this race a negative score if possible.

      If Hamilton is given any less than a 3 race ban for driving the wrong way on the circuit, overtaking under the safety car, and endagering every mechanic in the pit lane it will show yet again that the FIA are biased towards McLaren.

      Furthermore, it’ll also show that having ex-drivers as stewards is an abortion of an idea – first Herbet (who achieved less than nothing as a driver), and now Wurz (who was McLaren’s bitch for so many years) have showed clear bias towards McLaren.

      F1 in its current state as a pro-McLaren event is a joke and it upsets me that a sport I love has come to this.

      1. Sour grapes…

        You shouldn’t rate a race from who wins, didn’t you think the race was very entertaining? I sat at the edge of my chair the whole race (except for the last 5 laps)..

        1. No, I didn’t. I thought the lack of any elements of strategy that we would otherwise have if refuelling were present made the race incredibly dull.

          As for McLaren winning, seeing as they shouldn’t even be allowed to compete in F1 given their continual cheating (e.g. Spygate, Liegate), any win for them is another nail in the coffin for this sport.

          1. Lack of strategy? Really?

          2. @rohan “overtaking under the safety car” ??

            whatever you are smoking please put it out

          3. Alonso gets away again… having jumped the start (he got a drive through), going into the pitlane right in front of Massa (sorry mate, i’m number 1)

            And when Webber does stupid s*** like running into Lewis’ rear, ofcourse he received no criticism

            It seems like when cars get to crash, noone is at fault… but when that doesn’t happen, people start whining and asking for penalties

            This is racing, or go back and watch Bahrain GP all over again…

            1. “It seems like when cars get to crash, noone is at fault… but when that doesn’t happen, people start whining and asking for penalties”

              So people start asking for penalties when nothing happens?

          4. @Rohan
            so you enjoy overtaking only if one car is parked up attached to a fuel rig then??

      2. Pro-McLaren??? What the heck are you talking about??

      3. I Take it you are a Ferrari or Red Bull fan… Was a great race, lets see what the stewards have to say.

        F1 isnt pro McLaren, it is just not pro Ferrari anymore

        1. No, I’m a Williams fan. How does that fit into your pretty little picture?

          1. @rohan , who’s to blame for williams’ slump or fall from grace ?. mclaren ? or maybe hamilton . your comments reeks of pure dislike for either hamilton or mclaren as a whole

          2. Presumably Rohan has been giving F1 races negative scores for a good 13 years now.

      4. Agreed. When their is a Mclaren 1-2 everything is fantastic, even though the Mclarens were the ones pulling some questionable moves in this race.

        Now Malaysia, was a perfectly fair race where Vettel finally got his much deserved first win of the season, with good overtaking, and everybody calls it “mediocre” and rates it rather low.

        Agree with penalties as well.

      5. So if both drivers were penalised you’d be happy? Rate the race as that, not who you wanted to win.

        Even if they spun out in the last moments and lost the podium I’d say it was the most entertaining race of the whole season so far.

        1. Yes, because then justive would have been dealt. McLaren only achieved their 1-2 finish because of Hamilton’s actions entering the pitlane, in the pitlane itself, and under the safety car, and Button’s actiond also under the safety car.

          Both drivers clearly broke the rules, so for them not to be punsihed would lead to a complete free-for-all in the future (as other drivers would see that even if they were to make the most major of transgressions, they would not be punished).

          1. You seem to forget that Hamilton actually left the pits behind Vettel, and didn’t make up any position there…

          2. No…. Rosberg was considerably slower than Button/Hamilton so Button would have taken the win, and besides Button was completely disadvantaged by the safety car so you’ve invalidated your own point there by saying that the 1-2 was a result of it. Either Hamilton wouldn’t have got where he did or Button didn’t. Pick one, don’t use the same event for two different arguments.

            1. I actually said “actions under the safety car”, not the event of the safety car being deployed. Hence, whether or not the delpoyment of the safety car benefitted McLaren is irrelevant – what matters are the McLaren drivers’ (illegal) actions under the safety car.

          3. I won’t argue about the race incidents occurred as the debate is still out for those but to say they’re the ONLY reasons they won is simply sour grapes. Lewis overtook a lot of people, Button jumped ahead through pit stop strategy. It sounds like you’re frustrated because your favourite driver didn’t win.

            1. @robbie , spot on there ,catching rohan at his deceptive games , sulking cuz his fav driver was overshadowed today .

            2. And who would my favourite driver be then, curedcat?

              Oh, that’s right, I don’t have a favourite driver, so stop jumping to conclusions.

              As Samuel L. Jackson said during The Long Kiss Goodnight: “Don’t make assumptions; they make an ass out of you and umption”.

            3. In that case its sulking because your least favourite team/driver won.

      6. Are you James May by any chance?

      7. 3 le mans wins between them, yeah herbert and wurz have achieved less than nothing!

    21. The race was awsome, to bad the ferrari’s didnt get any time to shine in the wet. was hoping for more from them, they dont have the strategy right yet.¨
      ¨
      Awsome race for button, did apart from the last 7 laps no errors.
      Hamiltons race was pretty caos. In to the pit very late almost driving backwards. close close to Vettel but i would rather give vettel a penelaty for causing dangerous trackline. but then we need to look closer at mclarens pitrelease.

      good for Petrov. Like the race. Now i look forward to Spain and lots of upgrades for everyone so they all can be up and driving as fast as the redbulls in Q and in dry.

    22. First half of the race was amazing. Second half was a bit dull. I give it 8/10, but if the race had of lasted a little bit longer I think it woulkd’ve been even better, everyone’s tyres were destroyed

    23. great race. Button was perfect, Hamilton, Alonso and Petrov exciting, Rosberg, Kubica, Vettel were solid and Massa, Webber, Shumaker disapointing.
      Like the Beatles song, ALL WE NEED IS RAIN

    24. i think the whole “boring race” is bridgestones fault, if the tiers lasted shorter it would be more stops and more overtaking.

      1. Wrong. If the tires last shorter then the drivers need to be more careful on them.

        Saving out an extra pitstop is worth more than just pushing a little harder.

        1. Depends what the drop off is. If they go off by a second a lap yes, if they go off by 3 seconds a lap, no. We’ve seen it in some classic races in the past, just depends on how the tyre is made. But sadly Bridgestone have ruled out making softer compounds because they think it will make them look bad.

          1. The drop off is determined by how much they abuse the tyre. That’s the problem with tyres that wear out quickly.

            If they take it slowly the drop off is not so bad and the tyres last twice as long. Essentially saving them from doing an extra pitstop.

            Making drivers having to nurse their tyres is the last thing you want to do when you want them to overtake.

    25. Awesome race. With the second safety car it was kind of like two races for the price of one!

      Button has surprised me with his excellent calls on tyres this year. Congrats to him. What more can I say.

      Red Bull were beaten fair and square today. No mechanical failiures to blame. I am not saying they have been making excuses. Far from it. But it was good to see a straight race between all the top teams and drivers without “Acts of God”.

      Moment of the race for me : Alonso’s brutal pass on a napping Massa as they entered the Pits. Had to be done. Bravo.

    26. Wow Rohan you must REALLY Hate Hamilton and McLaren…….. This is racing face it :)

    27. I voted 5. The race was great, however for me the coverage was rotten. It was so hard to work out what was going on, cameras all over the place, weird commentary happening. The live web timing also seemed to be all out. So overall those other aspects kind of spoiled the overall experience.

    28. I was gutted -beyond gutted- that Alo jumped the start. When I watched it I didn’t think it was a jumped start but clearly the stewards think it was, I’m not going to argue they are more intelligent than me and a penalty was right. I cannot believe despite 5 pits that Alo got 4th though so a brilliant recovery. I think he was cheeky but very clever and opportunistic on Massa. Nothing wrong with it in my view.
      RBR just seemed to dissolve.
      Schu was greta with Ham. He drove better in that little fight but Ham got the job done.
      JB well deserved win, very clever, a solid race and congrats to him and Mclaren for the 1-2. They don’t have thje bets car but it’s a credit to them that they have made the most of circumstance and conditions. Hopefully Ferrari can get it back soon though.

      1. “but clearly the stewards think it was” – have you seen the slow motion replays? It clearly was a jump start.

        Needless to say that with 5 stops including the penalty, Alonso did a fantastic job. Driver of the day for me.

        1. That’s what I’m saying-I’m not arguing with it but I didn’t see it well enough

          1. Just saw onboard replay and Charlie’s reaction and I can see now it was a jump start. Maybe the coffee woke me up :P

        2. Would it not have been for the second unnecessary SC, he would be trailing at the end of the top 10 at best. The SC annulled his penalty AND wrong tyre decision.

          1. *Had it not have been

        3. To be fair. It was a fraction of a second. Something like six 10ths.

          When it is that smaller margin it is not a conscious thing. It’s not actually possible for it to be so.

          It was right technically that he was penalised. But it’s fair enough to feel that Alonso was a little unlucky because he wasn’t actually aiming to cheat.

          So I can see both sides here.

          Either way. His move on Massa was fantastic. Been coming a long time. Massa’s attempt to regain the position *in the pit lane entry* after having been caught napping legitimately was dangerous.

          His complaining on the pit radio was what cost him more positions. It is clear that Massa should simply stay behind Alonso for the rest of the season unless he can drive faster.

      2. Yeah, it was amusing to see how “valiantly” Schumacher was fighting to hold back Hamilton.

        Moments later he just let Vettel breeze by without even attempting to block.

        Can’t imagine how you missed that Alonso made a jump start. Did you miss the replays? It was really quite clear that Alonso was already at the back of Vettel when the lights went.

        1. I think Vettel watched Hamilton’s move and emulated it.

          OVerall though as a spectator I got more enjoyment out of Hamilton and Schumacher because it was like a high speed game of chess for quite a few corners.

          1. The moves were completely different.

            Schumacher was defending the inside line against Hamilton so Hamilton had to go around the outside. While Schumacher just let Vettel pass him on the inside.

            1. Actually I think Vettle just made a more effective pass, he put himself on the inside an stayed there in his faster car not allowing Schumacher to do anything about it.

              Hamilton twice let Schuey have the inside line, do you think Schuey was ever not going to take the oppourtunity to repass?

              It’s a weakness Hamilton has shown a number of times this season, he can get his car ahead but he’s not fantastically efficient at keeping it sometimes, he seems to assume the now his rear wing is passed the other guys front they’ll no longer bother him. Not maginificently clever on long straights. Still we know he’s got deffensive ability, so he should be able to sort this out.

            2. Well Schumacher was actually defending the inside agains Hamilton. He didn’t against Vettel. So yeah, of course Vettel could make a much more effective pass.

              That’s exactly my point!

        2. I saw one replay but that was it and was on live blog at the time. Now I’ve seen it, it looks clear.

    29. Bias Alonso fan for you.

      1. Not that biased. Obviously I am to a some extent (maybe a great extent) as I like Ferrari but I prefer Felipe, on the live blog I said Alonso was a bit thick at the start for it and that he wasn’t racer of the day. It was a good recovery which I’m praising as I’m focusing more on Ferrari. I’d say JB was the best or maybe Ham today though.

        1. Actually surprised you though Alonso take on Massa was okay. Pretty rough considering team mates and Massa had to queue behind him in pit.

          1. *at you – can’t type today :P

            1. *thought – I need a drink obviously!!!

          2. It was opportunistic and Massa was caught napping. If they were actually in the pit lane then it wouldn’t have been but it was just on the entry *I think*. Believe me, I would love to moan about it and make an excuse for Felipe but I just can’t :S

    30. Another rainy day, another fab race. MSC really is struggling, thought rain would be a great leveller for him, but alas not, though was superb to see Hamilton battling with Michael – a great trussle.

      Button showed again what a master of strategy he is. Ditto Rosberg, great drive. Vettel disappointed today – not sure what happened to the Red Bull boys – 6th and 8th from a front row lock out is rough when they are supposed to be driving the best car on the grid.

      3 weeks hiatus – bother!

      1. theviewingfoot
        18th April 2010, 11:02

        Red Bulls no good in the rain, its like the drivers want it to much and don’t think clear.
        Nico is class, never bought into pre-season thinking that MS would take him not at age 41 and being away for 3 years.
        Button’s experience is showing through he’s really highlighting just how much a young buck LH still is but he’ll grow and mature with JB helping him.

        3 weeks i know old man, just grit your teeth and suffer.

        tvf

        1. Is it just the rain that stuffs the RB though? Dunno. Certainly a flyer on low fuel, but maybe a tad more turgid with a full tank. Wet negates the aero issues to a great extent, so maybe we are seeing true race pace issue for Red Bull. If true, not the end of the world in the dry, pole will win a few on a dry circuit this year I suspect, but if really duff on full fuel, RBR has an issue that needs addressing quickly before McLaren steals a march on them.

          Nico IS class.

          Yep, Button is better than folk suspect. Ross told the world last year how surprised he was with Button’s touch, now McLaren reaping results.

          Easy on the old – you starving artist types are all the same! :P

    31. solid race with battles all around. Even though i am not a mclaren/hamilton fan, i hope no penalties are dished out.

    32. wong chin kong
      18th April 2010, 10:58

      This race is perfect for me, I did not yawn watching the race. The rain, the two safety cars appearances, the dash to gamble on different types of tyres really liven up the race. Red Bull lost the race because their tyre strategy was not perfect. Button won the race because he took good care of his tyre, read the change in the climatic conditions well and did not made mistakes despite having his team-mate on his tail. Nico drive was excellent and consistent and a potential driver’s champion. Schumacher should consider hanging up his boots for good if he did not improve dramatically in the next race.

    33. A great race, 7/10 from me but I had to mark it down as I thought Button should have had his **** kicked for that re-start incident. I still can’t beleive he didn’t get a penalty for that. By all means back up the pack, but don’t practically stop dead on the track for gods sake and have everyone behind you have to spear off all over the place trying not to run into you or overtake since they weren’t at the SC line. Very dangerous driving IMO. And Button is such a sook, he’d have been the first on the radio blubbering about it if someone else had’ve done that.

      The call on Alonso was marginal, I watched it a few times and I have to say I couldn’t see it. The Vettel/Hamilton incident was also marginal, although I do think Hamilton should have backed off. The Hamilton/Vettel/Webber incident stemmed from Button’s poor driving so I think it was the right call not to penalise any of the drivers involved (except for Button of course).

      But other than that an eventful race, with lots of overtaking and some great driving from Alonso, Kubica and Rosberg particularly. Might just keep me going through the snore-fest that is bound to be Catalunya.

      1. I just watched Alonso’s start again and from his in-car it is pretty marginal. Makes me if you can be called for jumping if you just guess when the lights will go out and get it dead right, you’ll look like you jumped just because you couldn’t consciously have gotten away that well if you were waiting for the lights.

    34. Well – that’s the best F1 race I’ve seen in a while…fantastic! That will do the F1 image a great deal of good.

      1. Not really, if it gains the image of a sport in which cheats and rule-breakers are allowed to prosper (as would happen if some people here got their way and neither McLaren driver was penalised).

        1. Give it a rest Rohan. Considering it’s a sport you supposedly “love” you really ought to learn a bit more about it.

          Lots of close racing today which was great. We need drivers pushing the boundaries to take a position rather than following each other round like 19th century gentlefolk. “After you Sir. No, I insist, after you”

          Penalties should be for dangerous driving only. Leave the racing incidents alone, they are just that.

          1. Schumacher did a dangerous driving at Belgium 1995 (he also cheated at Adelaide 1994 & Jerez 1997), Senna did a dangerous move to Prost both at Suzuka 1990 & Estoril 1988. (don’t forget Prost’s move at Senna in Suzuka 1989)

            But that what’s make the sport exciting: Dangerous driving, unexpected crashes (Belgium 1998), or drivers charging down from the bottom of the grid to win races (John Watson’s drive in Detroit), accidents in the pitlane (Canada 2008). So it’s NOT JUST overtaking that makes the sport exciting, look at Brazil 2008; surely there hasn’t been much overtaking in the race, or Adelaide 1986; not much overtaking for sure, but it’s unexpected dramas like when Mansell’s tyres blew up, and Prost become an unexpected champion in an inferior car.

            IMO we should need more aggressive drivers like Senna, Schumacher, Mansell, Hamilton, or “calm drivers” like Prost to make F1 watchable/exciting & has diversity in driver’s skill/ability (example: Senna & Prost). So if you don’t like aggressive/dangerous driving wether it’s in the pitlane or track, THEN DON’T BOTHER WATCHING F1 ROHAN!!

            ps: Sorry if my English/grammar is bad. (My country doesn’t speak English)

        2. Whine, whine, whine

    35. if you’re interested in F1 gaining in popularity and want more people to watch – than that was an excellent race. You could sell F1 to non-motorsport fans based on that race. If you get too bogged down in the rule book the sport will cease to be any fun – any rules bent were minor at best.

    36. @rohan i think it’s obvious you have a different agenda from what a true f1 fan has . This race was a brilliant one with wheel-to-wheel battles in difficult conditions. The fact that you are all over this site , responding to anyone who dares to describe the race as fantastic, speaks for itself .

      you are right i made an assumption about your favourite driver , but then who cares if you have one anyway

    37. DRIVERS WHO GET CLOSE TO ONE ANOTHER SHOULD BE PENALISED

      BAHRAIN GP IS THE BEST RACE OF THE SEASON

      well done Petrov (I’m serious now, he did well)

      1. Petrov was (again) impressive yes. Nice how he was moving past Alguesuari, Schumacher and Webber at the end of the race.

        He wasn’t just benefitting from a good pit call. He was actually driving better than some of the top cars.

        He was pretty good in the wet in GP2 too wasn’t he?

    38. Cracking race. The most exiting so far.Gave it a 9 ,not because i’m a McLaren fan (which i am) but because there was plenty of wheel to wheel action also Lewis & Jenson Did do a great job to fight their way up after qualifying badly.Driver of the day lewis! I mean the manouver taking both Sutil and Vettel was pure class OK he is aggressive & sometimes crosses the line but is’nt this what racing is all about!
      Hope the pit lane clash with Vettel IS put down to a racing inncident, maybe Lewis should have backed off…but Seb did shove him over!
      This is the kind of race we need! More pit stops makes the teams the teams constantly adjust their stratagy & think on their feet.
      I think the new Russian driver Petrov is well worth keeping an eye on.
      hopefully more of this season, but they need to bring back refeuleing!!!
      Sorry about the spealing mistakes i’ve bin up since 6
      Good luck!….Mountain Man.

    39. spanish senora
      18th April 2010, 12:38

      I’m not very knowledgeable about F1 like a lot of you on this blog but I really love the sport. Never miss practice, quali, race etc even enjoy Forum with Jake and the guys. What I dont understand is why there are so many negative views about Lewis Hamilton. He is so exciting to watch (ok here and there a misdemeanour!) No doubt, Jenson is a clever driver, obviously he’s a winner. But he’s not exciting. Alonso is a great competitor but he gets stick too. What do you F1 fanatics want, a boring procession or a thrilling race?

    40. Lots of overtaking, penalties given and not given, dodgy driving and mixed track conditions,
      All in all a great race which gives us a lot to talk about till the next one in three weeks,
      NO matter who your favourite driver/team or least favourite driver/team are, if you didnt like this race then this isnt the sport for you!

    41. Brilliant job from Lewis and Jenson, really entertaining race. Also a mention for Petrov who had a few offs but overall did well.

    42. A wonderful race. Schumi great on strategy to come back every time. I wonder why Rosberg does not have the same struggle as Schumi to get the car to do what he want.
      So… does this mean Button is actually better than Hamilton?

      1. By “strategy” you mean that safety car?

      2. Because he didn’t chose to install the new rear wing in the car, like Rosberg did.

        1. Actually Schumacher had to retract that statement. It turned out they were both using the same rear wing. Schumacher only thought that Rosberg was using the other wing.

    43. 8.
      wonderful race.Many overataking & some great wheel to wheel battle in the pit.

      LETS HAVE PERMANENT WET RACE!!!!!

      So that the car can drive along the track with Intermediate tyres on it.I think Bahrain was a bad dream for all of us. But as we move to the European rounds now we will see whether the car can really overtake under normal circumstances.

    44. I thought it was a great race and the only thing it lacked was a good on track battle for the lead.

    45. I liked the race. A lot of overtaking by most cars. Nice to see differing tire strategies and driving styles getting results for some and bad news for others.

      A shame Alonso jumped the start, without the 2nd safetycar he would have been miles away.

    46. Please can we have a driver of the day poll… please…

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