Rate the race: 2013 Chinese Grand Prix

2013 Chinese Grand Prix

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What did you think of the today’s race? Share your verdict on the Chinese Grand Prix.

F1 Fanatic holds polls on each race to find out which fans thought of every race during the season.

Please vote based on how entertaining and exciting you thought the race was, not on how your preferred driver or team performed.

Rate the race out of ten and leave a comment below:

Rate the 2013 Chinese Grand Prix out of ten

  • 10 (5%)
  • 9 (16%)
  • 8 (36%)
  • 7 (24%)
  • 6 (10%)
  • 5 (4%)
  • 4 (2%)
  • 3 (1%)
  • 2 (1%)
  • 1 (1%)

Total Voters: 896

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1 = ‘Terrible’, 10 = ‘Perfect’

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See the results for past seasons here:

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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265 comments on “Rate the race: 2013 Chinese Grand Prix”

  1. Aditya (@adityafakhri)
    14th April 2013, 9:43

    bad qualy = terrific race
    don’t know whether complaint or congratulate to Pirelli

    1. Ive seen better races. Probably an 8. But I took a point off for the poor quali.

      1. I rated it the same. Solid race. Indeed the qualy and the first few laps of tyre nursing were a letdown. Exciting end with Hamilton going all out not to let Vettel pass. Unfortunately no real fight for the lead all through the race.

      2. @jleigh you’re meant to rate the race, not race + qualy.
        i gave it a solid 7.

        1. @sato113 but what if the qualifying effected my enjoyment of the race?

      3. i gave it an 8 because vettel did not end up winning the race with the luck he has!!!, good to see the championship back on track btw 4 drivers.

      4. Quite good…. some good bits… but also a fair bit of boring filler…

    2. I officially hate 2013 tyres. 7 laps on a set of new tyres and they’re gone? That’s too much!

      1. I agree, F1 is becoming more artificial by the minute. The “And it’s GO GO GO!” of Murray Walker used to mean race until the checkered flag drops, now it means nurse the tyres for 95% of the race and then (maybe) race for the last 5%.

      2. I agree that right now the tyres are more annoying than exciting. Whether Pirelli should be put to the wall depends on whether the teams can actually get them working better as the races go or they are just unworkable.

        1. Unfortunately, we are going to have the soft tyre in Bahrain as well this time with the hard tyre. Maybe the temperatures there will help, but I doubt it. A tyre should last more than 10 laps after qualy, otherwise you are just punishing the fastest guys by dropping them into traffic where their tyres suffer even more.

          1. I think Jenson summed it up after the race. He basically said that there was no point stopping people overtaking him or even defending his position because he was on his own strategy and he was going to end up where he ended up. In other words he spent 2 hours racing nobody but still got 10 points. I also believe quite a few others (including Vettel) were also running on their own most of the race too.

            They are really not racing wheel to wheel anymore – it sucks badly. I gave it 3.

          2. @baron
            That’s how F1 has always been- two cars on completely opposing strategies have never had nor will ever have any reason to waste time racing against one another unless they expect to be near each other come the end of the race (or if doing so is beneficial for a team mate). Button not defending strongly was the result of being on a vastly different strategy, in a car not capable of finishing near the cars which were passing him, and is not a fault of the the tyres. Vettel was on another different strategy.

          3. @baron
            I think the reason why two cars with different strategies never raced each other in china was simply that the drs was so powerful. It was automatic overtaking when you got close enough to the car in front.

            Drs should be adjusted so that the cars enter into the next turn after the drs straightaway side by side and not so that one car can effortlessly drive past the car in front of him just by pressing a button on the steering wheel. It was just very anticlimatic when a car got within 1 second of other car and then he would just effortlessly zoom by. It was just boring.

          4. @matt90, once upon a time there was only 1 strategy, race from start to finish. That’s the way I would like it to be again.

          5. That would mean only 1 tyre compound and no re-fuelling. Wanting that is fair enough, but I meant that strategic racing is hardly something new- it’s been a factor in F1 for a long time.

      3. While I do like a bit of tyre deg and the variety in strategies that it promotes, I too feel that things are starting to get a little out of hand. Credit to Red Bull on the strategies they employed though; it almost worked for Sebastian and Mark would have been up there had he not crashed and later retired. The DRS wasn’t too bad at this race, though the effect of it did seem a little too strong.

        Anyways, onto some sort of rating:

        5 | Starting value.

        +1 | Exciting start.
        +1 | Webber’s alternate strategy and climb through the field.
        +1 | Vettel’s final stint and all-out chase to catch Hamilton.

        -1 | A lull in action around 70% in.
        -1 | Artificial racing (defenders having no chance, be it tyres or DRS).

        So yeah, a 6 overall. Seems right as the race was above average but not exactly something I’ll be talking about a few months from now (unlike the last 10 laps of China 2012).

        1. Good assessment, I think.

        2. That’s what I gave it as well. Had Webber not retired it could’ve been an even more exciting race, it would’ve been fascinating to see how his strategy could have worked from the pitlane. Despite the lack of safety car periods, I think he might’ve been able to replicate Vettel’s drive in Abu Dhabi.

      4. @jcost that’s more about pirelli bringing the wrong compound though. or perhaps the soft needs to be stronger. in general the 2013 tyres are fine.

        1. @sato113

          Maybe those softs should go for good. When people decide to pit after one lap just to get rid of them says a lot.

          I don’t want the durability of last generation Bridgestones but I don’t want paper tyres either!

      5. @jcost

        People complained that the tyres were too similar last year,

        If you want two sets, one which last and one which is fast, and you want the gap to be wide. Yet you also want several pit stops. Well… mathematically there’s not much room to move!

        1. @mike

          I don’t like those softs. Tyres should allow drivers (the stars of the show) to race flat out for a reasonable time, i.e., 10-12 laps then they should have 4-6 laps to nurse the tyres. I don’t want to spend 2 hours watching FORMULA PIRELLI.

        2. I can’t stand this racing. It’s a pathetic march of old women trying not to hurt their delicate little tires. Disgusting.

          I watch Formula 1 to see them RACE. If you want more pit-stops, then mandate three different tire compounds per race or simply say you have to do 3 tire changes. I’m already sick of this whiney excuse for racing.

    3. Yes, any qualy should look bad after a great race. I think if Pirelli might be onto something, the gap between the 2 compounds was very high and in the end the option suited qualy and I think the race possibly wouldn’t have lost that much if the option wasn’t mandatory.
      8 for me, from lap 26 the lead was pretty much fixed as Raikkonen seemed to suffer with under-steering. I chuckled when he jumped out of the car and saw the state of that, who knows if there is some promise there.

      1. @peartree

        Problem is, the race was exciting significantly due to the different strategies being played out. Without both sets being mandatory, you wouldn’t get that.

    4. Great gamble by Kimi & Lotus to retain the broken nose…

    5. And this is relevant in the rating of the race in which way exactly?

      1. Saving tyres with the hope for a better race strategy put Vettel and Button immediately out of the race for the lead early on.

        1. A strategic mistake – not an argument towards a low rating

          1. …in itself

    6. I can’t believe people liked this one. DRS completely ruined it. There was no fight for positions, overtaking was just a given.

      It spoiled racing away from the DRS zones (appart from turn 6). No one was challenging anyone outside the main straight and the back straight. It’s completely put of my mind how they manage to set DRS zones at 1) the longest straight in the calendar, 2) the 2nd longest straight on the track, that’s just 2 corners away from the other one. It was just way too powerful.

      I’m a DRS critic, but I think used right, it has a lot of benefits, and it makes racing closer. But this was too much.

      A race without overtakes isn’t a race in my book. Not if the overtakes happen midway through a straight. It was good until Alonso and Massa left a powerless Hamilton wondering what the hell had just happened on lap 3.

      4/10

      1. I agree. The tires have essentially replaced refueling. Overtaking is either due to a difference in strategy or DRS. Just a 2hr time trial at this point.

        1. Overtaking is either due to a difference in strategy or DRS.

          So remove those and you have zero overtakes?

          1. Honestly, It just boils down to the DRS. Without it at least there would be true overtaking. It’s the combination of DRS and tire management that seems to make it boring.
            In the end it is the same old argument of relying less on aero grip and more on mechanical grip. I don’t think there is a perfect solution unless you go the route of the same car for everyone, which takes away what F1 is about anyway.
            I guess I’ll just continue to complain about DRS.

      2. DRS turned a race into a time trial. Tyres actually the scapegoat in the end.

        How this ‘race’ is averaging 8/10 at present only thy Lord himself knows.

        How many more years of DRS must we endure? I don’t understand F1 anymore.

        1. +1. I thought that last season was a disaster, but this one, it seems, will be worse.
          Will repeat here:

          How many more years of DRS must we endure? I don’t understand F1 anymore.

      3. Mark had a dismal weekend, but let’s hope that he keeps his form to show that he can be a mean stone cold racer.

      1. Yeah for me the tires are just playing too much of a role here. I think they’ve gotten so paranoid about having processional races that they have gone too far the other way. It’s too much of a lottery, imho, and we are too often watching passes that are not based on one driver outdriving another, but rather one driver being on far better tires at the moment, or using DRS. There is a happy medium, but I know there are posters that will use the arguement that if we didn’t have these tires then we’d have processions, and I just don’t buy that. F1 can do better than this, and right now, between these tires, and DRS, I think we are seeing drivers as passengers much moreso than we should be seeing, in what is supposed to be the pinnacle of RACING. Personally I like to think of F1 as gladiators out there duking it out on the track, but instead we are seeing a race between which team, and/or side of the garage, can manage tires better. Sure tire management has and is and always will be a factor in all car racing, but it shouldn’t be the overwhelming factor.

    7. loved how much the tyre strategy worked out, made for some really great racing.
      As many have mentioned the entire weekend was let down by the qualifying, Q2 was just about watchable, the other two a complete waste of pretty much half an hour!
      Well done DC for padding it out!!!

  2. lets wait for the many investigations going on post race……its not over yet!

    1. Aditya (@adityafakhri)
      14th April 2013, 9:52

      @f1sauber
      you’re right. but it will be a shame if RAI, VET, VER, RIC got penalty because FIA doesn’t provide good telemetry to assist drivers.

      1. You say that, but the majority of the field managed to do it, so why not them? Why should the others who complied be put at a disadvantage?

      2. Seems that most drivers comply with rules despite poor telemetry, if they gained a thin of hair breaking the rules, there’s no moral reason to let them go free of penalties.

        I’m expecting reprimands.

        1. yeah, right.
          it’s down to FIA though. I agree that there’s no moral reason to let them go free of penalties.
          but as a certain driver fan (not Vettel of course), I hope not this time :)

          1. Its the FIA’s job to enforce the rules through penalties, not prevent rules from being broken in real time.

            Automated DRS locking/unlocking should be seen as nice-to-have’s, and not the FIA’s responsibility.

          2. @joshua

            Exactly. Drivers would be punished if their pit lane limiter stopped working and they didn’t stick to 100km/h.

        2. firstLapNutcaseGrosjean (@)
          14th April 2013, 10:31

          @jcost At the Spanish GP, last year Vettel received drive throught penalty for that. Now if the stewards decided to judge after the race, then I don’t think is a major problem.

          1. firstLapNutcaseGrosjean (@)
            14th April 2013, 10:47

            Or, maybe they decided to do that because they didn’t have telemetry working and they needed data from the teams after the race…

      3. Even if they get penalties, Vettel is the only one not going to loose a place I think (that is, if Button also gets a penalty or if the penalty is only 20s (not 25s))

        1. @aremis

          Kimi was under investigation as well.

      4. It s great to be a fan but somehow the rules are to be observed by alll! In the meantime Webber got 3 grids penalty and Gutierrez got 5!!!
        Anyway, good luck for your driver next Sunday!

    2. Let us all hope that just ends with the FIA telling their telemetry supplier to finally get everything working.

    3. I think a 5 second penalty to them is fair enough. Don’t know if anyone would lose a position from that.

      1. They shouldn’t choose a penalty specifically that doesn’t affect any positions.

        1. What? Why should they do that? If someone loses position then tough luck. It’s their fault they open the damn thing under yellow flags in the first place.

          1. I think I misunderstood your comment. Made it sound like you wanted them to apply a 5s penalty so that it doesn’t affect positions.

            Looks like 20 or 30s are the only options available for time penalties, though.

    4. I don’t really think there’s much reason to punish the drivers unless they blatantly and knowingly violated the rules – this one’s on the FIA in my books for their repeated inability to get the telemetry working!

      1. It’s not like the yellow flag was hidden from them or they weren’t informed they shouldn’t open it with yellow flag. So yes they did “blatantly” violated the rules.

        1. @solo

          they weren’t informed they shouldn’t open it with yellow flag

          How do you know that? Do you genuinelythink a driver would knowingly give himself a penalty?

          1. @vettel1
            Like @solo said, the yellow flags were being waved and every driver knows not to use DRS under yellow flags.

          2. @blackmamba all I’m saying is if the drivers saw the yellow flags and the like and the knew they were expressly forbidden from activating DRS, I’m sure they wouldn’t have. Nobody deliberately gives themselves a penalty (well, unless you’re Schumacher)!

          3. @vettel1 When the drivers are clever enough to spot the subtle changes between the flags being waved to gain an advantage (remember Brazil 2012?), they obviously should be penalized for using DRS when they are not supposed to do so under yellow flags, aren’t they?

          4. @seahorse – that has been cleared up: they didn’t spot the yellow flags because they were green!

    5. that has nothing to do with the rating of the race itself though does it?

  3. 9/10

    Enjoyed it a lot even if it lacked a battle for the lead.

    1. I think I will vote that way as well. It had action, incidents, catchup, defence. A couple of crucial moments of DRS and no real fight for the win were just about the only thing missing.

    2. I voted 9 as well. The different strategies made a nice race to follow. Webber out, Sutil out and the languish of Massa were the down points for me.

    3. 9/10? 1 mark down from a perfect race? i dont think so…

    4. 9/10 for me as well. I simply loved how both Ferrari mugged Lewis once DRS was available; Sucked watching Webber go out (this guy needs to leave RBR); Massa completely lived up to what he has me accustomed to; Kimi amazingly botched it up by himself and finally, a genuingly happy podium, no tension whatsoever!!

      On a sidenote: Don´t let Coulthard handle the interviews ever again. The guy is as exciting as a loaf of bread! :/

  4. 7/10. It was a good entertaining race. Variety in strategies, lots of battles and a thrilling end. Though the DRS was a giant weapon and spoiled most of overtakes, stilll it was quite good

    1. This was my thought as well. I liked watching the different strategies, but the DRS made the cars ahead too vulnerable for my liking. Would have liked to have seen an extra lap to see a Vettel vs. Hamilton battle, but think it probably would have been spoiled by an easy DRS pass.

    2. 7/10 as well, but not just because of DRS, but because of some strategies (like Jenson letting people past). Without those crashes, I am afraid that it would have been less entertaining and dramatic. And +1 for Kimi.

    3. @dimitris-1395 Sums up my views rather well.

  5. 8/10 DRS made the overtakes far too easy. Enjoyable race with many strategies to watch but they need to sort out Quali.

    Well done Alonso & Button on his 2 stopper

    1. @bobby-balboa

      I voted 8/10 too. However..DRS may have made it look easy to pass…but as Martin Brundle said, the camera angle into turn one doesnt show what a mean task is to pass there.

      1. I thought he said that after Alonso nailed Vettel (I think) under braking to the corner after the DRS straight as in he left it to the last min so it was tight.

        I take that as meaning the other DRS passes were easier.

        I would rather have DRS passes than cars stuck behind each other as they can’t follow close enough but you would think after 3 seasons they would have a grasp of it now

  6. The late charge by Vettel was the only real highlight in this otherwise average race for me.

    7

    1. completely agree.average until the last few laps.

  7. Average race with stunning finishing laps. Thrilling chase from Vettel.

  8. Traverse (@)
    14th April 2013, 9:44

    Fantastic climax to the race! Hamilton did a great job to hold on to that podium place, Alonso also showed his class today. 6/10

    On another note, I think that’s the last time that Mark Webber buys a ‘Rearwheel revenge O’ kit’ from ACME (he should’ve gone for the ‘Dick Dastardly signature series’).

    1. i seriously laughed for two minutes at this. too, too funny.

  9. That was a great race 8 or 9 best race of the season thrilling finish. Redbull screwing with Webber wasn’t good though.

  10. Tense right until the end. Alonso was incredible! Massa, who was right behind Alonso on the first lap, finished 41 seconds behind him. I think that sums up that partnership. Massa quick in qualifying, but completely useless when it comes to race pace.

  11. I’m a Ferrari tifoso but to watch cars going around trying to get their “target” lap times and not fight is not my kind of f1 anymore

    1. @ducatiusa Shout louder mate, Bernie is not able to hear you…

    2. I would like to know which drivers are you refering to? I for one, didn’t notice that.

      1. Practically every driver.

      2. Every one of them yep!!!

    3. +1

      Most people disapprove super hard tyres but make them so fragile is not of my liking either. Tyres are suppose to be relevant in a F1 race but not the most important thing.

    4. +1 When you hear a driver (Button) ask his engineer whether or not he should race against another driver, you know that F1 is going in the wrong direction. F1 won’t attract new fans (or keep the ones it currently has) if it continues down this path.

      1. sadly yes.

      2. It is becoming a tradition: major rule change, couple of great seasons, and then back to boredom of strategy

    5. I don’t get why people complained for the artifical qualifying of a couple of years ago when drivers didn’t drive to their maximum potential because they had different fuel loads depending on the real strategy, so you had to largely disregard qualifying to get a good chance in the race, but now that qualifying is perfect and the races aren’t people don’t. Button asking: “Do you want me to fight?” was the highlight of this situation: drivers are doing their own races by themselves and only collaborate with their engineers, but don’t take notice of the other cars. I enjoyed plenty of races in the past years when tyres didn’t last 5/6 laps, when after a pit stop you knew that if all went well the finishing order would have been pretty much that one, when pitting once more meant losing 20 seconds. Today Alonso was ahead of Vettel having stopped once more, and that wasn’t only due to the different starting positions. At one point instead I thought Vettel was holding the upper-hand on Alonso, but then he had to stop once more, and I had to switch off my brain until the last laps because what was going on at the time was of no use to read and forecast the finishing order. Massa pitted one lap after Alonso and lost two positions, which then led to him anticipating his secnd stop, getting stuck behind di Resta and finishing 5 positions behind his team mate who had been a few inches ahead before they pitted. Different strategies are surely a nice addition, drivers staying longer on one compound but driving relatively slowly (Perez) and drivers sprinting in a pair of laps on a new set (Vettel) are nice to watch but this year I think it’s gone a little too far.
      The race itself was good and had some nice non-DRS overtakes (DRS helped them but they happened after the zone), such as Kimi’s ones on the outside of turn 1, or Alonso and Vettel at turn 13. I gave it an 8/10.

  12. 7/10 for me. A lot of passing, some of it a bit artificial-feeling. Great drive from Ricciardo though. And a well deserved win from Alonso.

  13. great drive by Button and Vettel too, well done
    to Ferrari and Hamilton too

  14. fantastic race! shame about the qualifying and lack of running (which they really need to sort out and not use this great race as an excuse for it)
    10/10

    1. I’m really sorry. I don’t mean to sound out of order.

      But please can you explain how today was the ‘perfect’ race?

      How long have you been a fan of Formula One, if you don’t mind me asking?

      1. What makes you think how long you follow F1/ are a fan of F1 should change your enjoyment of a race @ecwdanselby?

      2. and he didn’t say perfect, did he?

        1. good race, but overtaking was too easy. There is no longer anyway the other driver can defend 6/10.

        2. Erm, by definition, 10/10 is ‘perfect’ or ‘faultless’.

          If you answer ten questions correctly in an exam, that’s a ‘perfect’ result, because there was no room for improvement.

          @bascb – Bit of research, mate. I’m stunned someone would vote this as the perfect race, therefore wanted to know what they’re comparing it to.

          If they’ve only seen a handful of races, it’s a lot more understandible.

          I think it’s a perfectly acceptable question, and like I stated quite clearly, i’m not trying to upset anyone, yet a bunch of you are getting your knickers in a twist over it, for whatever reason! :)

          @ash356 – Please refer to the comment I made about my opinion being more important or superior. Missed that bit.

          I’ve tried my best to CLEARLY state that, and I quote, I am not trying to ‘be out of order’.

          I’m simply asking a question, one that I feel is relevant.

          1. Actually I would think that its more likely for someone who switched off F1 during the Schumacher years from boredom and tries watching a race again now to see this as a perfect race than anyone who has seen many races last year, or even this year @ecwdanselby, but I understand what you mean a bit better now.

            Still maybe instead of a rather confrontational comment, it would be better to mention that compared to many really good races in the past, even in the last 3 years, its hard to see this one as outright the best. Maybe even provide examples of races that get closest to a perfect rating so as to help @bsnaylor find better comparison.

          2. Like I said, I certainly didn’t mean to come across confrontational.

            I wouldn’t have wrote that first sentence otherwise, I would have just had a go at him!

            I genuinely wanted to know about what F1 he’d seen to compare it to, because it’s all relative at the end of the day.

            But fair enough. Didn’t want to argue. I just wanted debate :)

  15. Trenthamfolk (@)
    14th April 2013, 9:49

    A highly enjoyable race, lots of strategy playing out and great performances all round… shame for Webber, but it wasn’t to be the fizzy drinks weekend. Superb work from Filipe’s master (never thought I’d be pleased to see Alonso win, lol) and even better we don’t have to suffer the ‘finger’, the whooping of ‘we did it’ and Horner stating the bleedin’ obvious over the radio… 8

    1. “Fizziy Drinks!” lol @trenthamfolk
      I think we share mutual sentiments!

  16. I think the option tyres were too marginal this race, next year I think they’ll run a harder compound for option.

    1. Lets first have them agree on actually having a tyre supplier for next year @dragoll. So far its not even been tendered.

      Its going to be tough, because the traction curve of next years cars is likely to be going to be quite a bit different with.

    2. the medium prime tyre was clearly just right
      the soft option tyre too marginal …but the problem is that there can be only 4 compounds and the soft will be fine on most tracks it will be used on , unfortunately there was no option but to use it here if the correct prime was used

  17. average 7/10 – the finish was good, but the rest was just chess.

  18. BBC pre race stuff really irritated me, particularly Eddi Jordan suggesting that Vettel had taken lessons from Schumacher! will that man ever get over losing Schumacher after his first race at Spa?

    1. Trenthamfolk (@)
      14th April 2013, 10:02

      I thought he had a valid point! Don’t tell me you can’t see the similarity… and why not watch it on sky if Jordan irritates you so? I actually prefer the BBC commentary…

      1. @trenthamfolk
        “why not watch it on sky”

        because you will have to put a 600 squid dent in your pocket

        1. Trenthamfolk (@)
          14th April 2013, 10:19

          Fair point… although I pay £25 per month… I’m prepared to pay for the only sport I follow…

          1. I live in Norway and watch the sky coverage which costs me a small subscription to a certain website I won’t mention so there are options to Sky’s prices subscriptions.

            BBC will drop there coverage before long. They have most of the crap races this year & like you said the true fans will prob get sky.

            Shame really for joe average but I have to admit that the sky coverage is better than BBC was before

    2. I even heard its based on real frequent calls, SMS and skyp between Vettel and Schumi lately. I though it was measured for EJs habits. And their Hill-Villeneuve interview was a good one @nome

      1. Trenthamfolk (@)
        14th April 2013, 10:24

        Villeneuve was just on the BBC F1 forum saying he hates modern F1!

        1) Why the hell is he there?
        2) Points to Jordan for asking him why he tried to make a comeback to a sport he hates…

        1. 1) Why the hell is he there?

          I keep asking myself why anybody would care about what Villeneuve has to say about F1

          2) Points to Jordan for asking him why he tried to make a comeback to a sport he hates…

          Kudos! Villeneuve should go back to his music career…

          1. JV’s opinion is as valid as any former F1 WDC. He of all people has a very valid opinion, since he’s been in it. And I think you will find that JV attempted a comeback prior to DRS and these tires. I’m sure if you asked JV to expand on his ‘hates modern F1’ comment, he will say he disagrees with DRS, and with these tires. Last year he didn’t so much shoot down the tires other than the cliff effect which he finds odd. He thinks tires should not fall off a cliff but should give the driver/team a few laps to get into the pits, rather than find themselves within half a lap, suddenly handcuffed and losing spots.

            I think if you take off the anti-JV shades and hear what he is saying, you will find that he is echoing what many many fans are saying too. DRS makes for phony passes, and the tires are playing too much of a factor right now.

            I’d also point out that JV is being asked his opinion by entities such as F1 magazines and television coverers. He’s not calling press conferences so he can opine on today’s F1. He’s being asked his opinion by entities that make money on F1, and that value his opinion.

  19. Terrible ‘race’.

    No actual battles until the final 6-7 laps.

    Teams are now in a situation where there’s no point racing until the final laps, as it just does damage to their race.

    I can’t remember the last time I saw so many non-battles. Drivers are no longer making any attempt to defend a position.

    I have to do a complete u-turn on my philosophy. I gave the tyres a chance, and i’m all for aggressive strategies, but it’s officially killed the idea of an on-track battle.

    Let’s please be sensible with DRS, too. Why stick it on a 1km long straight?! Zero common sense being applied. Let’s create another overtaking spot, surely.

    I say we go back to last year’s tyres and be super aggressive with the compound choice (ie. using softs/super softs for 90% of the remaining races), and let’s be sensible about DRS placement.

    I honestly could have done without 48 of those laps today, and that’s really sad.

    (I voted a 3)

    1. I feel sorry for you having not seen any good racing until the last couple of laps then @ecwdanselby.

      1. @ecwdanselby Personally, I can’t find a lot to disagree with you on with your comments on this topic, including ones below this one.

        I think for me it is this…sure there appeared to be good action at some points in the race, but when you boil it down and you find that most of it was from DRS related situations, or one car being on totally different tires in terms of their performance, it takes most of the shine off the apple for me. I don’t want to see passing for the sake of passing no matter how they gadget it up to achieve that. For me, the ends (more passing seems to be F1’s goal) does not justify the means. Maybe newbies to the sport might find this exciting, but having watched since the late 70’s, I can’t help but read between the lines regarding the action I’m seeing on the track in today’s races.

        Slightly more consistant tires please…no DRS…much much less dependancy on aero…and to me that’s the recipe for gladiators fighting gladiators out there…not passengers monitoring the machinery all day.

  20. 4/10

    Tyres were pathetic & DRS made passing so easy they were boring to watch again.

    Even Martin Brundle who’s been a big defender of DRS was complaining about it today.
    The 2 zones & DRS restrictions in practice/quali has done exactly what I feared it would, Teams are now optimizing DRS for passing & its making DRS passes twice as easy as they were in the past.

    Also everyone was just running to a lap delta again saving tyres & we had a lot of radio calls telling drivers not to race other cars because tyre saving was more important.

    This ain’t racing anymore, Its boring DRS-ing & tyre conserving!

  21. Terrific race for strategy, brilliant! Epic final stint from Vettel and plenty of calamities to keep things dramatic.

  22. I thought it was a good race, great double pass by the Ferrari’s early. 8 out of ten for me.

  23. People should understand in this site that all sports aren’t perfect and atleast the FIA are trying to make racing exciting. I mean which one would you chose? 1. A race like the one we had today or 2. No overtaking just follow the leader type stuff with no excitement.

    1. But where’s the common sense?

      DRS – putting it in a zone where history has PROVEN there’s overtaking time and time again. So instead, they put it there rather than creating another overtaking spot.

      I can’t justify that, or think of any logical reasoning for it in their defense.

  24. I’m actually stunned people are giving this 8’s and 9’s.

    I know there’s opinions and stuff, but did you not notice the lack of battles? Drivers might as well have pulled over, had a chat, a handshake and let the other through! It was an utter joke.

    I was upset waking up for that, let along if i’d travelled there and paid god knows what.

    This has to be fixed pretty sharp.

  25. 8/10. Enjoyable. DRS was a bit too strong though.

  26. 3-10 from me.

    the soft tyres were ridiculous, the tyre saving is getting out of hand & drs completely killed 90% of the racing by making it ridiculously easy.

    this is the 3rd year we have had so surely they should have it better by now but its just getting worse. its becomming clear that drs will never be right because theres too many factors regarding how effective it is, it should be banned!

  27. 8: suspance till the end for the 3rd position

  28. I gave the minimum score; DRS was far too much of a factor.

  29. I thought DRS made every pass look way too easy (every pass that was caught on camera, anyway), so that took a bit of the excitement out of it for me. Where was the titanic battles under brakes that used to make passing great? I’m just whinging and nit-picking I suppose. Probably the most exciting bit for me was Mark Webber’s errant wheel trying to take out Vettel at the hairpin. Oh well, better luck next time! 5/10

    1. Probably the most exciting bit for me was Mark Webber’s errant wheel trying to take out Vettel at the hairpin.

      Actually that was pretty funny

  30. 7. It was more of a strategic battle than anything else, but it was quite an interesting one to watch. Vettel chasing Hamilton down in the last few laps was epic, and easily the best part of the race. Not a classic, but certainly worth getting up for.

    I felt DRS was too effective, and effectively neutralised any on-track battles. It was too easy to overtake, though there were some decent moves. A bigger issue was the soft tyre, which was basically a qualifying tyre and pretty much unusable in the race. Either the tyres or the rules need to be changed, in my view.

  31. 8/10

    Not much battle for the lead, but entertaining race overall.

  32. Again this circuit produces fantastic race.

  33. 8/10

    Would have given a 9, but DRS ruined quite a bit of the action, Vettel’s charge at the end was amazing though!

  34. A brilliant race with a few brilliant overtakes from Alonso and others. Alonso will be very happy with the car and in overtaking Vettel twice in the same race:)

    But I got some new found respect for Vettel. To do what he did in Abu-Dhabi while fighting for the WDC was ballsy. Mark showing why he is a #2 along with Massa in Ferrari.

    Kimi and Lewis completing a incredible race and a wonderful podium.

    Now Ferrari needs to gain from this slight advantage and win again in Bahrain to ensure they don’t let slip this good start to the championship.

  35. 7/10. Switch lewis and kimi and you’ve got the 5 best drivers in f1 in that order.

    1. As per your personal opinion

  36. 9/10
    intresting start, very high action until the middle of the race, then it turned a bit boring. the end was exciting again though…

    gutierrez genius!

  37. surprised its getting such high scores considering it was a drs-fest & everyone spent the entire race driving around to a set laptime because of these silly tyres.

    i can’t even bother rating it because there was nothing interesting or exciting about this race for me.

    im so ****** off at the current state of f1 with all this artificial ******** that i will not be watching the rest of the season after 28 years of been a massive f1 fanatic.
    i just have zero interest in what f1 has become & cannot justify watching something i just dont enjoy anymore because of all these stupid artificial gimmicks..

    1. surprised its getting such high scores […] i can’t even bother rating it

      These two things are not unrelated.

  38. 3

    Last year with v8/high rev engines and they only rev them 80%, pathetic.

    1. @tvm – what? The engines have been limited to 18000rpm since 2009. If you are implying something due to the tyres, that doesn’t change what they do on the straights!

      So question, why the mention of last year if it was exactly the same?

      1. I think that @tvm is alluding to the fact that aside from Vettel during the final few laps, no other driver appeared to push their respective cars to the limit (whether it be through fear of tyre deg or wanting to preserve engines).

        1. hm, I think Webber certainly was pushing maximum from the start in the pits to catch up

          1. OK, so Vettel AND Webber pushed. Either way this isn’t what i’d call edge-of-your-seat entertainment.

      2. Its the last year, this year, we get to hear v8’s at 18000, except we dont :(

        Next year will be v6 with a lot lower revs.

        Was hoping for some rain, that could have been given some racing to the limit.

        1. @tvm – the engines very much still hit the 18000 though – people were bouncing off the limiter at the end of the back straight!

          I actually don’t think the v6’s will be all that bad honestly: the old 80’s turbos sounded quite brilliant and they revved lower in general if I’m not mistaken (although did have more power), and the single-exit exhausts should give a good note I think!

  39. I vote it an 8 for a brilliant race with racing to a high level, I would of voted it a 9 or even a 10 if it wasn’t for qualfying

  40. Gave it a 7.

    Not a classic, as too heavily tyre determined, but full of incident.
    Alonso did not put a wheel wrong, and Ferrari’s race strategy worked perfectly.

    I’m far from sure that we saw Mercedes real race pace.
    Had they pitted Hamilton a lap earlier at the start (or had he done so himself), it’s possible that he could have won the race. The extra lap on options would have cost them nothing.
    As it was, they lost track position massively, and Hamilton spent most of the race in traffic, often behind cars on fresh tyres, with the resultant effects on his tyre performance – in contrast to Alonso, who ran the majority of the race in clear air.
    They also completely screwed Rosberg’s race. Having to double pit was a clear demonstration of how badly they got it wrong. Stopping him on lap 2 would have been far better.

    I think it possible that Mercedes had the best race pace (if only marginally), but they didn’t give themselves a chance to show it.

    The whole race was one in which the undercut worked (as Raikkonnen proved with his last stop).

    Again, a fantastic performance from Alonso, with Raikkonnen and Vettel performing pretty well too.

    I disagree with the harsh condemnation of the DRS. Without it, the tyres might have been even more ridiculous. There was plenty of overtaking outside DRS zones, and some very neat tactical use of the two zones.
    I’m not a huge fan of the current regulations setup, but without a wholesale redesign of the entirety of the regulations to mitigate the dramatic effect on performance of running close behind another car, it’s difficult to see how tinkering with details of tyres and DRS zones can improve things greatly.

  41. 7/10. Entertaining but not thrilling. Alonso and Massa both overtaking Hamilton was my favourite moment.

  42. Seen better, seen worse.

    I hate to be banging the same drum as everyone else but past the half point no one bothered charging anymore, really. Except for Vettel in the last laps. Everything revolving around delta lap times, tyre conservation and taking advantage of the DRS zones is definitely not how I expect F1 races to unfold. It’s the downside of these tyre choices that otherwise produced quite the decent strategic variety and made the option-starters actually push through the traffic and try to make their way back up to the front on track in the first part of the race.

    The scrambles in the first part of the race were good fun though. I’ll give the first 28 laps a 7.5 and the last 28 a 5.5. So, a borderline 7 overall.

    Oh, and please, someone sort those telemetry issues already! Seeing half the field being under investigation for use of DRS under yellows is simply retarded.

  43. An 8 or a 9: there wasn’t much to fault in the race (I just wish we had another lap though!) except from the lack of a battle for the lead. I also found it quite disappointing that Webber was put out of the race in such a fashion as we didn’t get to see how he would be able to recover and it also robbed us of a proper encounter between Vettel and himself, which would have been interesting after Malaysia!

    Vettel closing in on Hamilton was pretty intense and I just wish he would have managed to get through! Throughout the strategies were interesting, and there was plenty of overtaking. The DRS was far too powerful though…

  44. 7/10 – Interesting strategies but too many DRS overtakes and no real excitement until the last few laps. I’ll liked pirelli tires but this year it’s becoming to much about the tires rather than any other element of racing. Change the name of the sport to ‘How pirelli tires hold up going around a circuit for 1 and half hours, featuring F1 cars’, rather than ‘Formula 1’ with real hard racing with drivings pushing flat out.

  45. David not Coulthard (@)
    14th April 2013, 10:18

    I gave a 10/10. The opening laps, Mark’s (Rear Right) tyre spinning as if it was in an ad, and Vettel’s charge was enough for me. The lead changes may have been a bonus for some, but not me. I can’t believe that Massa had a messy race, though.

  46. Disappointing that we didn’t really see a race, but a bunch of drivers looking after their tyres. 5/10 for me, although it would have been good if there were some actual real fighting going on. I know, there was a little, but still, enough is enough with the tyres!!!

    1. although it would have been good if there were some actual real fighting going on.

      Fighting for position on track is too mainstream for F1. Let the GT guys dabble with that. There’s an endurance race later today that should have plenty of scrambles and figthing for positions and pushing the cars to the limit. You know…competitive motorsport stuff… No need for F1 to provide the same thing…

  47. I dont understand why people don’t like changes, its not like its advantage for one and disadvantage for others, the gap between big teams are huge, things like DRS and these tires bring strategy to play giving the lesser teams a chance to beat or atleast make the race more interesting. Ofcourse team orders are spoiling the race, other than that F1 should evolve just like the cars have.

  48. I voted 4/10, DRS too much, Soft tyres too fragile, Too much running around slowly saving tyres.

    as a result theres no really good wheel to wheel battles, its all just push a button & drive clean past half way down a straght. i watched some of the classic races on sky recently & before drs & pirelli there was some great racing on this circuit with some great wheel to wheel racing down to the straghts into the corners & with drs we simply dont see these great battles & good racing anymore.

    also with tyres, its all about preservation & not racing, your just racing to a lap time & been told over the radio NOT to race cars around you (as button just said on sky he was been told not to race cars ahead/behind because of tyres), i saw someone call it ‘formula conserve’ & i think that sadly this is what it is now.

  49. I’ve been a fan for 15 years.

    I can’t remember the last time every overtake (bar one – Vettel on Massa) looking like it was done under blue flags..

    And let me be clear – up until this race, i’d had no problems. Last season had the balance right.

    We need those tyres (NOT the hards, though), and sensible DRS placement that creates an extra overtaking spot, NOT hands drivers free spots. It’s pointless. These guys are meant to be the best in the world!!

    1. def +1 = exatcly my feelings!

  50. 8/10. I really enjoyed the race, it was very tense. No battles for first place, it was clear that Alonso was going to walk away with it, but the battle for podium was very good. It was awesome to see Vettel racing in the final laps, he was pushing a lot. It’s a shame that we don’t usually see things like that, it’s frustrating that drivers have to manage their tyres and cannot race each other properly.

    As I said yesterday, I have no problem with tyre degradation, I don’t want a one stop race, but the tyres are way too extreme. I love the idea of qualifying tyres, but it’s stupid to force drivers to use them in the race.

  51. Probably the dullest race since the Schumacher/Ferrari era. And the first time the whole tire situation really annoyed me.

    3/10

  52. There are some seriously generous scores being awarded here. We just saw a race with no real battle for the lead, and few real (i.e. non-DRS assisted) overtakes. Vettel and Button adopting a different strategy made the race interesting, but it became clear after the first stint that they were not challenging for the victory.

  53. F1 races nowadays are like football matches that end 4:5 or 4:3 by having half players taking turns in hopping over the field on 1 leg.

  54. 8/10
    Stunning, and as a Hamilton fan, heart-stopping finish there! Middle of the race was meddling somewhat as we got into the samey ‘all about the tyres’ type racing, but a solid first and final quarter, with a good bit of decent action in the middle :)

  55. I did not enjoy that race. 6 is generous. Seriously DRS was ridiculous, I could probably count on one hand the amount of passes that were made in the braking zone rather than just motorway passes down the straight. And the lack of life in the soft tyres was too much in my opinion, there was loads of overtaking but much of it was against people who either couldn’t fight back, or didn’t want to because it would have been counterproductive and they would have ruined their tyres. That is not what motor racing should be about.

    Moan over. I have to say well driven Fernando Alonso, a first and a second in the races he has finished, I think that Ferrari is a very strong race car. Having said that, I think Raikkonen also had the pace to win if he’d gotten away with Alonso at the start/after he passed Hamilton. To come second when you had a terrible start, and driven 3/4 of the race with a broken front wing shows the car had very good race pace. Also I will mention Daniel Ricciardo, top drive by him to come 7th.

  56. I gave it a 6, only for the lack of proper fighting. Other than that I enjoyed it. Please stop arguing guys. Its just an OPINION poll & we shouldn’t be arguing about who gives what rating. To each his own..

  57. Chris (@tophercheese21)
    14th April 2013, 10:53

    Solid 8

    Pros:
    – Great battle throughout the race between Lewis and Kimi.
    – Jenson carrying Mclaren
    – Good to see Ferrari back at the front (Never thought i’d say that)
    – Astonishing comeback by Vettel on the Options
    – Incredibly tight and tense final lap for P2-P4
    – Ricciardo finishing 7th

    Cons:
    – Rosberg suffering another car failure
    – Webber also.
    – Didn’t like how the Options fell away so quickly, need to be slightly more durable.
    – Sutil getting taken out of the race by a seriously rookie mistake (E. Gutierrez)
    – DRS was a tad too effective. Could’ve done without it on the back straight.

    Really enjoyable race! Best of the year so far! I hope the possible post-race penalties dont change the result too much.

    1. Well put! Couldn’t have said it better myself.. except that it was badly judged move by Webber.

      1. Chris (@tophercheese21)
        14th April 2013, 11:06

        @safirxp

        Thank you :)

        I think the WEB-JEV incident was the fault of both drivers. Webber probably should have conceded, and gotten him later in the lap. And JEV should have perhaps left WEB some more room on the inside, because the rules state that the defending car must leave a cars width if the attacking car has his wheel at the rear wheel of the defender.

        Having said that, it was just so close, and happened too fast for either JEV or WEB to do anything about.
        It was very clear that JEV just didn’t see, nor expect Webber to come down the inside.

        1. Welcome. :) I get your point but Mark’s the experienced veteran here. Didn’t expect him to make a risky move like that. Sad to see his weekend go from bad to worse.

          As a person who loves racing sims I only give room if the front wheels/nose of the other car is right beside my cockpit. Otherwise the corner is mine. I expect the same from the other driver. It usually (70%) works out. Hehe.

        2. But he was no where near him, so the rule does not apply. He basically T-boned him as Jev was taking the corner. Mark would have gone way too deep anyway so Jev would have needed to go straight off the track for them not to make contact. Mark thinking about something in the future not the current moment, again. If the incident would have been the other way around the bosses would have sacked Jev, if not immediately, then mentally given up on him for sure.

          We saw similar driving from Webber in 2010 when he threw away a championship which was handed him on a plate, with the fastest car and many technical problems for his team mate.

          He can be compered to Button, as he has not quite got the ultimate speed and consistency, but unlike Webber, Button does not make rookie errors under pressure. That is why Button is a champion and Webber is not and will not be. Something I have been quite sure of since 2010 Australia, despite him leading the championship in the middle of that year. A lot can happen in F1, but not the impossible.

          Arguably the best four or five drivers finished in the top spots all in different cars, so why are people are complaining about artificial racing is beyond me. If anything, the format allows the cream to rise to the top, minimizing the effect of car differences.

          You may be entitled to your own opinion with who are the best drivers but you are not entitled to your own facts. Look at the last years championship standings, yep the same five drivers on top who finished in top positions today.

          And we saw a terrific race, with only an on-track fight for the top spot missing at the end.

  58. I think tyres are not as bad as many claim. Actually, it’s the same every year. By the middle of the season teams will sort this thing and people will again complain about processional races. I think tyres were ok and produced a variety in strategy. I was on the edge of my chair when Vettel surprisingly cought Hamilton in the last few laps and the finish was one of the closest (between those two) I’ve ever seen. I rate 9/10.

  59. Everybody has their own opinions, obviously, but to me the race was an amazing nail-biter.

    There was actually quite a bunch of battles but not all of them resulted into wheel-to-wheel action and some of them happened almost in the classic mid-00s style: people pitting on different laps because of them being on different compounds or different levels of wear.

    Had the compounds been harder, degradation levels smaller or if the DRS hadn’t been there, the race would most likely have been a LOT less interesting. A lot of the passes happened in the first hairpin (in which the second DRS zone had an effect), a lot of them happened in the middle of T1 – almost entirely because of the 2nd DRS-zone and quite a few in the middle of the last hairpin (again, because of DRS). You can argue that almost all of these would have resulted into plain nothing had the DRS not been there. Actually, because gaps of below 1 second lead into an overtaking maneuver much more likely than before, perhaps only the motorway-style passes might’ve happened without DRS and there wasn’t that many of them. The vast difference between compounds’ speed and their durability provided variation in strategies and pace, definitely creating more excitement.

    A big plus for the 2007 podium. I can also see a 2005-style Alonso-Räikkönen battle looming in the horizon (in which both Vettel and Hamilton will most likely be a part of as well, though). A thumbs up for the current state of F1!

  60. If there going to continue with DRS then I really feel they should look at if its really needed at every race. Today was just stupid with how easy DRS made things (Even Brundle who often defends it was critical of it today) & I really feel this is one track where its not really needed.

    This is the 3rd season we have it & they really should have it figured out better than this by now, The fact they haven’t perhaps shows that they never will get it right.

    On the vote, Gave it a 6/10.

  61. I turned it off.
    Yesterday I watched nothing happening at all for a lot of qualifying.
    Today, I saw lots of cars being passed by other cars via the DRS. Like turning on a tap.
    I saw drivers not even bothering to defend their positions because of DRS.
    Then I saw a few cars making a set of tyres last less than laps. Less than ten.
    I’m going to watch the WEC this afternoon. Should be a better race.

  62. I have given it an 8, based on the fact that there was a lot of action and the result was in doubt until well into the race. Conspiracy theorists will have long debates about Mark Webbers weekend, runs out of fuel in qualifying then his wheel falls off after a pitstop. What a pit crew!
    Next year will be a total turn off. Six cylinder, sewing machine engines (with artificial sound generators?), limited to 14,000 rpm, with three thimbles full of petrol and toilet tissue tyres. Best enjoy it while you still can. Don’t forget folks, Formula E starts next year. Oh! I’m soooo excited!!!

    1. Next year will be a total turn off. Six cylinder, sewing machine engines (with artificial sound generators?), limited to 14,000 rpm, with three thimbles full of petrol and toilet tissue tyres. Best enjoy it while you still can.

      Don’t watch Indycar do you.
      They already have V6 Turbo’s similar to what F1 will run in 2014.

      They sound great & the racing has been so much better than anything F1 has produced the last 3 years. Drivers love driving them as well because there more ‘fun’ than the 3.5Ltr N/A V8’s (Again similar to what F1 use now) they ran previously.

  63. Motor_mad (@)
    14th April 2013, 11:09

    How is everybody rating this so high. Nothing exciting happened apart from Vettel at the end. Nobody defended positions because everybody is racing their own race 2/10.

    1. I was genuinely starting to worry it was just me that noticed it, too!

      Every pass looked like a blue flag pass! I’ve never quite seen anything like it.

    2. Yeah, there was 2 exciting laps the whole race, the first lap, and the last lap, everything else was just people running their own race minding their own buisness, Villenueve was spot on.

      3/10

      1. haha I’d love to hear what he had to say.

        1. Just basically that this style of F1 is terrible at the moment, gone are the days when a driver had to actually work for a pass. Drivers are just driving to their deltas and not racing each other.

          1. …and driving to the DRS zone to make a pass, with a few exceptions

    3. I think I’ve rated it too highly actually now that I think about it – probably a 7 from me. DRS was faaaar too effective though, and the softs were quite ridiculous for everyone bar Vettel.

    4. +1 Horribly boring race. If the best race ever would be a 10/10, most races wouldn’t excess 5/10. I don’t really understand the ratings here.

      1. Motor_mad (@)
        14th April 2013, 13:10

        I think most people seem to forget 5/10 is an average race.

  64. 8/10 – A great race with plenty of action right to the flag, but was ultimately held back by a poor qualifying session on Saturday and an overpowered DRS on Sunday.

  65. Gave it a 7. No more, for two reasons:

    1) The tires. I’ve never criticized them in the past but this was too much. My criticism is mostly directed at F1 though not Pirelli, ’cause they’re only doing what they were asked to do

    2) Pathetic DRS. Really one of the worst implementations of DRS ever. In China overtaking was not too hard even without the DRS so to give them 2 big zones is a joke. For next year only the pit-straight one should remain

    1. @montreal95 +1 on everything except this:

      For next year only the pit-straight one should remain

      There were plenty of ballsy overtakes there before, which DRS irradiated. For me, a much reduced one on the back straight or possibly even a short ones between turns 10 & 11 to try and promote some overtaking there.

      1. @vettel1 I can agree on the much reduced back straight DRS zone. A much shorter one on the back straight or only the one at the pit straight it makes no difference IMO to overtaking on the pit straight. Because the cars could get so close on the back straight, that even when they didn’t pass there and then, they then breezed past on the pit straight.

        But here’s where I was coming from: I don’t remember any ballsy moves into turn 1 from the bad old pre-2009 days, unless there were special circumstances like changeable conditions. So a DRS zone ONLY on the pit straight will allow to replicate that without making the overtaking on the back straight too easy, which it will be, even with reduced zone length. Really, does the longest straight on the calendar need a DRS zone?

        1. irradiated eradicated*, damn autocorrect!

          But here’s where I was coming from: I don’t remember any ballsy moves into turn 1 from the bad old pre-2009 days, unless there were special circumstances like changeable conditions.

          Maybe not from those bad old days, but we’ve had plenty the last few years – off the top of my head I can remember Hamilton on Button in 2011.

          Really, does the longest straight on the calendar need a DRS zone?

          Absolutely not, although I honestly think there are very few places that actually needDRS zones! tracks like the Hungaroring and Suzuka need DRS zones, not easy overtaking tracks like Shanghai or Spa!

          1. (@vettel1)

            Really, does the longest straight on the calendar need a DRS zone?

            Absolutely not, although I honestly think there are very few places that actually needDRS zones! tracks like the Hungaroring and Suzuka need DRS zones, not easy overtaking tracks like Shanghai or Spa!

            +1.

          2. @vettel1 But in 2011 there was already DRS at the back straight, which allowed Hamilton to cruise up to Button’s gearbox for the pass. It’s not impossible to imagine that if, instead of the DRS zone on the back straight we had one on the pit straight the effect would be the same(=brilliant pass into turn one), with additional benefit of not having DRS on a 1.2km straight

            I completely disagree regarding the need for DRS. I think most of the tracks in the championship need DRS, just not on the huge main straight. Back when the cars were still not too affected by the dirty air and could follow each other closely, you didn’t have to be on a kilometer long straight to overtake. DRS purpose must be to re-create some of that ability without resorting to costly measures. Putting it on the longest straight on the calendar completely misses the mark.

            For example, in Canada DRS should be activated on the straight leading to the hairpin not from the hairpin, and also possibly on the pit straight. In Bahrain DRS should be activated on the short straight behind the pits, etc. etc.

          3. @montreal95 – couldn’t the closing be recreated by just a short DRS zone on the straight though, or indeed the one between the hairpin and the final turn?

            Anyway, I think DRS really isn’t necessary in a lot of places and it should only be used on shorter straights to try and reclaim the lost time following another car. So in most of the places it is currently located indeed it’s not at all necessary.

          4. @vettel1 The segment between the hairpin and the last turn, don’t think so. It’s too short to have any significant effect. Anyway this is a small technicality. I think we’ve mostly came to an agreement on this issue :)

  66. 8/10 – I think today’s race was very strategy-focused: the soft-mediums 3-stoppers, the mediums-soft 3-stoppers and the 2-stoppers. And it was really interesting to follow the developments with live-timing. In a way, the easy DRS-passes actually ensured everyone had the opportunity to make their own strategy work without getting stuck. Maybe it’s a personality thing, but I quite like it when halfway through you really have an idea of how this is going to pan out.

    But of course, there is the other side of the coin: on-track overtakes were very easy and very predictable. However, there was some drama from time to time: the Force India collision, Gutierrez going ‘Schumacher’ and the Raikkonen/Perez and Webber/JEV collisions. Loved some of the overtakes, notably Alonso’s overtakes in the long right-hander and Hamilton on Button in turn one. Also loved the fight for third on the last lap.

    In the end, great result, excellent drive by the entire top five, and how ’bout Ricciardo in seventh! Good race, not excellent, so an 8/10 from me.

  67. 10/10 for me. Really enjoyed the race. A couple of great overtakes, some great battles, and some interesting strategies. This is pretty much what I watch F1 for. I do understand people complaining about the tires yesterday after qualifying. But at the race, it made it very interesting and everyone has the same problems to deal with. Everybody knows the softs would go off, and it’s up to each team to optimise the car and driver style to get the max out of them. Vettel did great in that aspect, Button not so much. Alonso really stand out today though, and did everything perfect. This race was e perfect example why the nr1 drivers at the top teams deserve their top spot inside their team. Alonso, Raikkonen, Hamilton, Vettel and Button beating their teammate’s all by some margin.

    1. @me4me

      This race was a perfect example why the nr1 drivers at the top teams deserve their top spot inside their team.

      Indeed: you can be a fast driver, but if you can’t make your strategy work you’re nowhere!

    2. Rosberg was brutally unlucky, again. He seems to have last years chronically unreliable Mercedes while Hamilton drives some different car.

    3. @me4me Not sure if we watched the same race :) – there were a few overtakes that looked good but the tires made it impossible for the guys in front to really defend and with 2 DRS zones there is nothing to defend, so none of these moves were really “difficult”. Radio messages like “Don’t fight let him thru” – was the main vibe of this race. Hamilton was within a second of Raikkonen but could never challenge him because after 4 laps the tires made it impossible. How awful the tires made the race was shown by Vettel – he gained 12 seconds within 4 laps.

      1. How awful the tires made the race was shown by Vettel – he gained 12 seconds within 4 laps

        spotted on

  68. I voted 8 because over the past few years, the Chinese Grand Prix hasn’t seen that many incidents and today we have seen plenty! It made the race more exiting but lack of overtakes is the reason i’m not going any higher.

  69. i voted 3 only because of the final few laps,otherwise i would have voted less.before that final few laps the race was very boring.
    someone said there were some great battles,what great battles?there were none.

    1. Mclaren fan fuming over a Poor car

  70. The Race is not too good also Not too bad but it lacked the Killer like Previous Chinese GP’s
    I think If Pirelli needs to Continue Like this kind of Rubber They need to expand their Choice of tires. We need a Tire Between Soft and Medium.
    A Soft Kind of tire which gives atleast 12 – 14 Laps(Qualification and Race 1st stint Combined) in a Circuit Where Tire will have Maximum Punishment.

  71. FIA please get rid of DRS and I will get interested. This is too much! if your good enough you can pass without a 20 kph advantage. Keep KERS though!

  72. Seems like every GP is way above average! That’s a pretty good trick. I only pay attention to these polls because I’m curious to see what sort of race will one day get rated an average “5”.

  73. 8/10

    Qualy boring

    No team orders, but stopping lap crucial, all numbers twos affected, only mercedes understood how to do it !

  74. 9/10! Various strategies and great action!

  75. I’d give it a six. I’ve seen way better.

  76. Michael Brown (@)
    14th April 2013, 14:25

    It was exciting watching Vettel’s onboard when he was on the soft tire. He was actually on the limit there.

  77. I voted a 9.

    Not knowing what the podium would like like till the last corner is very rare these days. Not to mention the overtake for the lead without a pitstop or a DRS? When was the last time that happened…

    1. Overtake for the lead without DRS? Do you mean the overtake when Ferando an Felipe passed Hamilton because they both used DRS at that time.

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqInD8CNQqM

    2. Well with these tyres they don’t need DRS to pass and I remember several overtakesdriveby’s where this happened also for the lead.

    3. Alonso’s pass on Hamilton for the lead was with DRS, infact, Massa also took Hamilton on the same straight at the same time Alonso passed him, also with DRS.

  78. I gave it an 8 because it was exciting strategically but the tyres are annoying me allot.

  79. Loved the race. There wasn’t a boring moment.

  80. Hats off to Ferrari and Alonso for super speed, strategy and pure determination. Hats also off to Vettel who despite having a different Tyre strategy, performed very well especially towards the end of the race when he nearly caught up with Hamilton for the podium. So close but not close enough! If Caterham had not been in the way and had Vettel not lost control on that corner, I believe he may have taken Lewis, but hey.. all in hindsight now. Despite being a Red Bull follower (boooo most of you may say) I’ve always been very open minded and respect a great race and driver when I see one. Congrats Alonso… just don’t get too close to Vettel next time .. (and that goes for Kimi too, as much as I admire him) :-)

  81. 6/10

    A DRS overtake overkilll. Strategically interesting maybe, but too hard to follow (using tv only). Very little REAL on track racing. Race had no stability with driver positions jumping around all over the place, race position was seemingly unimportant so you don’t really care if one driver overtakes another (even if it was a nice pass).

    1. Couldn’t have said it better. I agree with every single word.

  82. I was going to give this a 7, but the fight between Vettel and Hamilton at the end was brilliant, so it gets another point :)

  83. the only time someone raced today was Vettel in the last four laps which tells the whole story about F1 at the moment.
    But seeing them coast around the track and pulling of a few artificial maneuvers for the show is not why I tune in – strategy ok but that borders to chess.

    1. the only time someone raced today was Vettel in the last four laps which tells the whole story about F1 at the moment

      Yea!
      That conjured up MEMORIES of what used to be….

  84. 5/10 for me. Was looking like it’d be a great race – Alonso and Raikkonen hunting down Hamilton, Webber charging from the back, and vettel, button and hulkenburg fighting through with an alternative strategy. What we got was the Ferrari’s blitzing past Hamilton like he wasn’t there, through no fault of his own, just DRS, not terribly many passes on track, and those that were were mainly DRS anyway. While I appreciate the strategy of the pits, I want to see drovers fighting on the track.

    The only highlight was vettels charge at the end, and even that wasnt amazing, with no wheel to wheel action.

  85. Very very tedious race. The only entertainment came from Vettel in the last few laps and the various driver mistakes.

    Other than that, it was watch the clock lap-to-a-time racing. Not my idea of fun at all.

  86. 8 – I waited some time before deciding what score to give this race. Partly to see what the stewards decided on the possible DRS penalties and partly to weigh in the factors of the current tires and DRS assisted passing. Having watched F1 since the 60s and seen a myriad of rule changes, technological developments and other mitigating factors, one thing hasn’t changed. That is how the driver performs within the given parameters in comparison with the other drivers on the track operating under the same circumstances. The teams can provide different equipment and strategies, but it is still up to the driver to deliver on the track. Alonso delivered the best performance with what he had to work with in this race. The team had the right strategy and equipment, but Alonso drove the ideal race using the equipment, conditions and rules to his advantage. He used the DRS zones to his advantage better than the other drivers. Not merely to pass, but passing at the right time to get ahead and stay ahead.

    I can sympathize with many who do not like the contrivances of the current F1 rules and the tire situation as well. I agree, but, remembering totally processional races with little or no chance for anyone to pass no matter how skilled the driver, we certainly do not want to go back to that. While DRS does make passing easier, passing and making it stick is something else. Tweaking the DRS zones could make it better. The tires can also be changed, mostly in the regulations and how many tires to fine tune that situation. Taking care of tires and equipment have always been a factor for the driver. F1 is a constant changing balancing act between, drivers, teams, tech, rules, qualifying and the race itself. It used to be qualifying was more important than the race because there was little chance to pass. With a few adjustments the balance could be shifted slightly and improved. Then, of course comes 2014 and a whole new set of checks and balances.

    Anyways, I gave this race an 8 because it was exciting through most of the race. Some drivers used their skills to the maximum and excelled because of it. Others made mistakes and paid for it. The different strategies paid off for some and not for others. The drivers who qualified well were rewarded. Skills trumped strategies. Meaning, those who took a chance in qualifying for best lap did better than those who laid back conserving tires. That is a good result.

    Drivers of the race – Alonso, Kimi, Hamilton, Ricciardo, Hulkenberg, Bianchi. Honorable mention – Button, Vettel, DiResta

  87. Overall the tyres dictated the race today. It was a very strategic race and very preempted. Despite this it was good to see some takeover maneuvers now and again but to be honest I’m beginning to get tired of Pirelli controlling the race pace. The end of this season you won’t see Vettel/Alonso/Raikkonen/Hamilton winning the championship. Instead Pirelli are after that number one spot themselves…. a sad state of affairs and something real racing drivers may (and even already are) getting frustrated with…

  88. A lot of drivers shuffled around on different strategies and some good battles on the track, but a lacklustre qualifying session and they got DRS all wrong.
    8/10

  89. I gave it an 8/10 but DRS is really a killer on this track isn’t it but I think perhaps we need to start looking at it in a different way. With the tyres being as bad as they are maybe artificial overtaking isn’t as bad as it looks. These tyres seem to be destroying themselves to pieces when they sniff the slightest bit of dirty air. So maybe without DRS drivers wouldn’t even attempt a pass at all! Give it a think people, I’m not saying its still a good thing but It’s not the evil we think it is.

    When it comes to tyres I completely agree with the criticism but these are the tools they find themselves with and they need to master them, just like they did in the past two years. These are the best motorsport teams and drivers, if they don’t want to adjust to a difficult situation they don’t really deserve to be here.

  90. It deserve 8 & at every point there was something but here in Bangladesh Star Sports ruined the show for us as they showed commercial break at some important overtaking time.

  91. 7/10

    Good race for the top 3 pilots specially Kimi. 2nd place with front wing so hardly broken is really a great performance. Bad luck for Webber, again. Congrats to the rookies for an awesome race in the battle for last points.

    As for Vettel, nice comeback in the last few laps but for me all he does is showing us that he is a jerk and all he cares is winning. Pushed rules to the limits today and few drivers (Massa) had to avoid him in order to avoid a potential crash. He takes the F1 fun away.

  92. I really enjoy the strategy element (maybe that’s why I’m a button fan?), so I rated this race relatively high : 8. I’m surprised that is the most commonly chosen rating though.

    Highlights were the vettel run at the end and a great race from Ricciardo. The tires and DRS were a bit too much.

    I’ll say that when I saw that marrussia lock up in front of HAM in one of the final corners, my heart was pounding…

  93. I kinda liked the race actually. Guess I’ve gotten used to hating the tyres. Good to see that more people are starting to hate them though.

    I’d rather see a boring race with some actual overtakes rather than an “entertaining race” with not a single proper overtake. Although Alonso (or was it Hamilton?) driving past Button on the outside was quite funny. Even though of course it was just the tyre difference.

    Good on Vettel for trying the offensive. Nearly made it if he hadn’t flinched when the actual pressure came.

    1. Good on Vettel for trying the offensive. Nearly made it if he hadn’t flinched when the actual pressure came.

      Yeah, it’s amazing Vettel has won 3 championships with his poor ability to handle pressure.

      1. yeah, unlike the great Alonso who never cracks, except in the last couple of races in the season.

  94. I enjoyed it, but to be honest I found it difficult to know who was running where a lot of it. Usually this excites me – but I didn’t really know when to be getting excited about passes and when not. A lot of the time people were being let through easily because of differing strategies.

    Nevertheless, some good racing and it scrapes an 8 for me.

  95. 7 for me. Interesting, but not enthralling.

  96. Best race of the year so far, honestly. Not saying that solely as an Alonso supporter – because I can understand that someone streaking out to a huge lead at the end can kill the excitement for some people, but there were also the battles between Lewis and Kimi that seemed to go on all race, Vettel’s mad dash to make up 11 seconds in four laps and nearly nick a podium place, a great drive by Hülkenberg for a lot of the race despite his fade towards the end, Button salvaged 5th from an awful McLaren, Ricciardo established himself as “not the guy that’s supposedly warming up Da Costa’s seat”, a frantic start and overall, good racing.

    Would have been more interesting if Webber were still around at the end, just because a charge from 22nd into the points would have seemed academic to me because of his style.

  97. I was a little busy on sunday morning so I could not give the race 100% attention.

    Now that f1 cars can overtake, with toys and mega long straights we saw Jenson button not defend so that his lap time would not be compromised. In effect an endurance event on who could get from A to B while nursing fragile tyres.

    Nice to see 5 world champ in 5 different cars ride to the top.

  98. I’ve been an avid F1 fan for at least 20 years and I think I’m beginning to become a bit disillusioned with the current F1 regulations, this race really cemented that for me.

    The tyres and DRS are obviously the main issue. Tyres that disintegrate in a short period of time don’t promote flat out flag to flag racing. Drivers and teams are preoccupied with making the tyres last as long as possible, driving to a target lap time and ensuring they don’t overstress them so they can make as few pit stops as possible. To me a GP should be a flat out race with drivers at the limit throughout the whole race, the artificially fragile tyres don’t make that remotely possible. Button asking the team if he should defend his position against Hamilton, or stick to his target lap time, really drives home that something isn’t right.

    DRS is far too powerful. If the car behind is fast enough to get under 1 second to the car in front, they can easily deploy DRS and the massive speed difference makes a pass inevitable. There is no real driver skill involved and the defending driver has no chance, as they are at a huge artificial disadvantage.
    During the motogp race last week, I was up off the sofa cheering as Rossi reeled in Crutchlow, Pedrosa and Marques. I even woke the baby up during the battle for 2nd. My heart was pounding and I absolutely appreciated the skill and bravery of the riders as they raced flat out. I didn’t get any of that feeling today.

    Maybe I’m not an F1 fan, maybe I’m a racing fan. I really have to question whether F1 is really racing at the moment. It feels more like Mario kart. Get rid of the artificial aids to “improve the show”, the show should be the best drivers, driving the fastest cars flat out for nearly 200 miles to find out who is the fastest.

    1. I’ve been watching F1 about as long as you and I’m dismayed too. It’s so sad that when an F1 race finishes now on a Sunday I find myself wondering if there’s anything else on today, where I might see some racing.

      It’s been some time since I’ve been dozing off during a race but yesterday was a real struggle. I woke up a bit when Seb was pushing at the end. The race was really not worth a 6am start and I’m starting to think seriously about ditching my Sky contract.

      If you’re into strategy ruling everything and every race being won and lost not on the track by racers but in the pits by geeks and PCs then you must really love F1 now. If you’re into flat out racing then look elsewhere. Damn shame.

  99. 7, good race, but these tyres are ridiculous.

  100. Loved it. I would hate to be a McLaren fan lately though…

  101. Terrible. That was a time trial not a race.

  102. I was a big fan of DRS and less reliable tyres. Especially after Monza 2010 where Vettel ran all but the last lap of the race without a tyre stop. But I must admit that I am really starting to tire of this manufactured on track action. The DRS was too powerful in China as Brundle said and Whitmarsh said the drivers are 100% in conservation mode from start to finish meaning that no one is anywhere near the limit. The champion this year won’t be the person who was the fastest, but whose car was the best on its tyres and the driver who could nurse them the best.

    And the situation in the start of Q1 and the first 2/3 of Q3 was pathetic and itself brought the sport into disrepute. If the FIA want more exciting races, then they should limit the number of sets for the race (Maybe 2 of each?) but either allow open or greatly increased numbers for Practice and Qualifying that are forfeited prior to the race.

    For all of those reasons, I couldn’t give the GP any higher than a 3 even if it was exciting. And I never would have thought I’d long for the Bridgestone years. As as someone on here said, I don’t blame Pirelli either as they are doing what the FIA asked them to do.

  103. 5/10. Double DRS zones made passing a formality, soft tyres were bordering on useless, not much of interest other than Ferrari’s race pace.

  104. A good race ruined by poor DRS zones. It was far too easy and for anyone who isn’t a big F1 fan, it makes overtaking look so easy, and in relative terms it is. I gave the race a 6 as we saw some good battling and some interesting variations of strategy which made it very difficult to read but the battles were ruined by the two DRS zones. The longest straight in F1 should not need a DRS zone to make overtaking possible.

  105. Have do say after that race I am way more exited about the motoGP this weekend than I am the F1… and it used to be the other way round :(

  106. Overtaking far too easy – I agree with all the negative comments about DRS. Quite like the tyre strategy stuff, however.

  107. The more I think about it, the more I wanted to down rate this one. The tires were the race, and nothing else as I’m not seeing evidence of skill, but rather a parade of old women protecting their tires.

  108. yeah “Poor” Quali,,bit better lol , defo great begining to race and 100% ending to the race with Vettel and Hamilton,, that was awsome from a long time F1 fan,,, need more of that,,bolt some new tires on and race them conserving fuel n tires… and the saying “right lets see what this car can do” pushing it too its limits ,,it what it should be all about… conserving tires and slowing down coz not enough fuel is just really depressing tv coz you know theres more there,,… have they never watched the Grand National Horse Race???

  109. I rated it the same as the Malaysian GP 7.5 rounded up to an eight.

    It was a good race but there were a few things I didn’t like which almost brought my rating down.

    With DRS and the significance of the tyres I find that overtaking doesn’t do much for me now, whereas in previous years I would have been shouting and cheering most of the time now I just sit there as if it was a backmarker getting out of the way due to blue flags.

    The soft tyres were not suitable for this Grand Prix. Webber started on them from the pit lane and changed them after one lap, and still managed to be racing the leaders after they had made their first stops.

    Also I think the rules need to be changed to make sure drivers put a competitive lap in during qualifying. It used to be drivers didn’t set a time if they had used all their tyres up just getting to Q3, but now we have drivers such as Vettel who could fight for pole not setting a time even though he had plenty of fresh tyres available.

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