Jeremy saw lots of action from his vantage point at the hairpin

Jeremy Sedley made the trip from Australia to Shanghai and watched a thrilling Chinese Grand Prix.

Read his experience of visiting the Chinese round of the world championship and his thoughts on how successful F1 has been in attracting fans to the race.

Where’s the track?

Chinese Grand Prix
in pictures

After almost two hours of flight delays I land at Shanghai at 7.45pm. The walk from the the gate to customs is almost a kilometre and there’s no sign of anything promoting the F1 race – unlike when I went to Melbourne.

There’s free Wi-Fi at the airport but access to Twitter and Facebook is blocked by the government. Fortunately I’ve got a VPN for my computer to get around it later.

I’ve no idea what lies ahead as I arrive. I am one of the very few non-Chinese around on the Metro. It’s packed and very clean and you can walk from one end of the train to another as it is one long train with no doors. Conveniently the announcements about the next stop are made in Chinese and English. Very efficient.

I get to sleep at midnight having booked a taxi to the track. This was not easy as no one at concierge had any idea about F1 is how to find the Shanghai International Circuit. Eventually the assistant manager came to the rescue and I get quoted 100-200 Yuan for the taxi ride.

On Saturday I get up at 6am for gym and breakfast and a quick chat with my family back home. It’s freezing – no more than 6C.

In the taxi on my way to the track I see signs for all the major car manufacturers. There’s no doubt they are the reason why the Grand Prix is here. And there’s no shortage of luxury cars either – Mercedes S500s and long wheelbase Audi A8 W12s.

The driving here is somewhat normal compared to Shenszen which was like the wild west 100 years ago. Having said that, there are some people driving on the hard should and my driver is the fastest on the road – we’re weaving like Lewis Hamilton.

As our taxi nudges 140kpg I notice the train line runs parallel with the road and consider using that for my return journey. Ahead of us the sky is tinged brown with pollution. The roads vary between rough, potholed tracks and vast motorways, gleaming and still wet from being cleaned.

Finally I glimpse the first ‘F1′ sign. There’s hardly any queue for tickets and I get two days access for 1,980 Yuan – about £170.

Mercedes and merchandise

I head over to the massive main grandstand and in front of it is a huge Mercedes display area with eight cars including several AMG high performance models. It’s clear how important the Chinese market is to them

There are the usual F1 merchandise tents – only McLaren and Ferrari have dedicated booths.

But while merchandise is abundant the variety and quality of food and drink is shockingly bad. I resolve to bring my own tomorrow.

I head over to my stand which overlooks turn 14, the right-hander hairpin, then the small straight into a left-hander leading to the start/finish straight and pit lane entrance. During practice the drivers often lift at the exit of the hairpin to give themselves space for a clear lap.

After practice there are no more than 20 spectators in the stand opposite – plus 50 police. I buy an FM radio headset for 199 Yuan which I’m told has English commentary but the sound quality is awful. It’s a far cry from my visit to Melbourne where I had corporate passes including access to the Phillip Morris suite at turns one and two.

Terrible food, worse music

Before qualifying most people congregate in the F1 ‘village’ – more merchandise stands and more awful food. Vitamin Water has a huge stand with dancers and very loud music.

It’s pretty boring between sessions. Trance music blares from the public tannoys, the spectators shiver and every ten minutes we hear the same recorded message: “Welcome to Shanghai International racing circuit, covering 5.9km in north east Shanghai…”

The video screens aren’t very big and are a long way back from the stands. I have to use my camera zoom to see the race data. At Melbourne I had a Kangaroo TV, which was brilliant, but they aren’t available here. With 20 minutes to go until qualifying the wind picks up and I add a fourth layer of clothing.

As the session begins the stands get busier. I’m rooting for Hamilton but after a strong showing in the first two parts of qualifying he slumps to sixth in Q3.

I buy a McLaren jumper to take the edge off the wind chill and look for a way back to the city. I give up on finding another taxi and instead plump for the metro – it takes 30 minutes to get a train and then another 40 to get back.

Annoyingly, I’m told the railway station is closed on race day for “safety reasons”. I get talking to another Australian and we arrange to share a car to the track and pick us up afterwards. This costs us 1100 Yuan (£100).

A thrilling race

Heikki Kovalainen, Lotus, Shanghai, 2010

I get to the track at two o’clock on race day. By then the wind has dropped and it’s much warmer.

It’s also busier, although the crowd is still not what you’d call large. Most of the Chinese fans appear to be sporting McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes gear.

It started to spit with rain during the installation lap – fortunately my stand is covered, though of course it can’t keep us completely dry.

As the race begins we squint at the screens to try to make out what’s happened. A Force India and two other cars have obviously crashed, and to our surprise a Ferrari – Fernando Alonso – comes by first.

The seat is great as I can see the cars taking the corner to the back straight all the way down to the hairpin, and thanks to the rain there’s a lot of passing going on. Without a doubt this is the best seat I have ever had at a Grand Prix.

Plenty of cars slipped off at the hairpin – Nico Hülkenberg came off the most and as the rain got heavier Jenson Button went off too. I saw Hamilton and Michael Schumacher fighting and later Hamilton and Nico Rosberg going at it as well.

We also see the tussles into the pit lane between Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel and later the two Ferraris.

At the second safety car period the field bunches up enormously at the hairpin – Button seemed to slow down too much and cause a jam.

Stand K must be a kilometre long – you can walk up and down it all the way from the pit entrance to the hairpin which I did twice during the race and sat down in about 20 different seats as their were so many spare.

The end of the race is perfect for a McLaren fan like myself with Button leading and Hamilton catching – though I’d rather have seen Hamilton in the lead.

By the time the race is over I’m quite looking forward to getting out the stand. The number of people smoking has driven me a bit mad – there’s so much smoking in China.

As I had out of the track the rain is getting harder. There are traders everywhere trying to sell watches and the Mercedes stand is still packed.

Despite a few significant irritations I thought the tickets were great value for money and I would definitely return. My next F1 visit is in September, when I’ll be heading out to Singapore.

Tell us about your F1 experiences

Have you come back from one of this year’s race with a tale to tell. Just made you first visit to an F1 race? Perhaps were you at a classic past Grand Prix you’d like to tell us about?

Whatever race you’ve been to if you’d like to share your story with us please get in touch by emailling me, using Twitter or leaving a comment below.

Going to a race later this year?

Find other fans who are going to the same race as you:

• 2010 Spanish Grand Prix discussion
• 2010 Monaco Grand Prix discussion
• 2010 Turkish Grand Prix discussion
• 2010 Canadian Grand Prix discussion
• 2010 European Grand Prix discussion
• 2010 British Grand Prix discussion
• 2010 German Grand Prix discussion
• 2010 Hungarian Grand Prix discussion
• 2010 Belgian Grand Prix discussion
• 2010 Italian Grand Prix discussion
• 2010 Singapore Grand Prix discussion
• 2010 Japanese Grand Prix discussion
• 2010 Korean Grand Prix discussion
• 2010 Brazilian Grand Prix discussion
• 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix discussion

This is a guest article by Jeremy Sedley. If you want to write a guest article for F1 Fanatic you can find all the information you need here.

2010 Chinese Grand Prix

• Sunday in Shanghai - a fans' view of the 2010 Chinese Grand Prix
• 2010 Chinese Grand Prix - the complete F1 Fanatic review
• Ferrari deny Alonso-Massa rift
• Points for Petrov and first McLaren 1-2 since 2007 (Chinese GP stats and facts)
• Safety car spares Hamilton and Alonso's blushes (Chinese Grand Prix analysis)
• Chinese Grand Prix fastest laps
• Chinese Grand Prix in pictures
• Webber loses out in safety car incident
• Button leads McLaren to one-two in wet Chinese Grand Prix
• Hamilton's pit lane dice with Vettel could cost him second (Update: no penalty)

Image (C) Force India F1 Team, Lotus Racing

Alonso leads the Red Bulls into turn one at China

Find all the F1 Fanatic Chinese Grand Prix coverage in one place below – from Friday practice to the post-race review and our live comments on every session.

Race

Chinese Grand Prix in pictures

Button leads McLaren to one-two in wet Chinese Grand Prix – Race report.

Chinese Grand Prix in pictures – Over 80 pictures from the Chinese Grand Prix.

Hamilton’s pit lane dice with Vettel could cost him second – It didn’t, but that controversial moment in the pits generated a lot of post-race discussion.

Ferrari deny Alonso-Massa rift – The Ferrari duo also had a run-in on their way into the pits. Afterwards Ferrari were at pains to insist there was no hard feelings between the pair.

Webber loses out in safety car incident – Webber and Hamilton clashed behind the safety car.

Safety car spares Hamilton and Alonso’s blushes (Chinese Grand Prix analysis) – The same safety car period saved Hamilton and Alonso’s races after they lost a huge amount of time at the start of the race.

Button takes lead in title race – full points standings after China – Rosberg up to second as former leader Massa slips to sixth.

Chinese Grand Prix result – McLaren are the third team this year to claim a one-two.

Rate the race: China – The action-packed Shanghai race has had good ratings so far.

Chinese GP stats and facts – Points for Petrov and first McLaren one-two since Fernando Alonso drove for them.

Chinese GP team-by-team: McLaren – Hamilton pushes Button to the end
Chinese GP team-by-team: Mercedes – Rosberg leads Schumacher again
Chinese GP team-by-team: Red Bull – Qualifying kings struggle in the rain
Chinese GP team-by-team: Ferrari – Pit lane pass hands advantage to Alonso
Chinese GP team-by-team: Williams – No points after strategy errors
Chinese GP team-by-team: Renault – First double points haul of 2010
Chinese GP team-by-team: Force India – Liuzzi wipes out on first lap
Chinese GP team-by-team: Toro Rosso – Nightmare weekend for Buemi
Chinese GP team-by-team: Lotus – Kovalainen beats a Williams
Chinese GP team-by-team: HRT – Chandhok struggles in rain
Chinese GP team-by-team: Sauber – Kobayashi victim of Liuzzi crash
Chinese GP team-by-team: Virgin – Gremlins keep both cars from starting

Chinese Grand Prix fastest laps – Lewis Hamilton claims his fourth career fastest lap.

Qualifying

Chinese Grand Prix Qualifying
in pictures

Vettel takes his third pole position of 2010 (Chinese Grand Prix qualifying) – Red Bull continued their monopoly of the front row of the grid in Shanghai.

2010 Chinese Grand Prix grid – How they lined up for the Chinese Grand Prix.

Chinese Grand Prix qualifying in pictures – Qualifying action from Shanghai.

Chinese GP pre-race analysis – Why rain threatened to spoil Red Bull’s party.

Practice

Chinese Grand Prix practice
in pictures

Ferrari’s F-duct design and more pictures from Chinese GP Friday practice – Ferrari ran their version of McLaren’s ‘F-duct’ (aka the RW80) in practice at Shanghai.

Button to the fore as Buemi suffers major crash in first practice – Buemi lost both wheels braking from the fastest point of the circuit but emerged unscathed from the frightening accident that followed.

Chinese GP practice 1 interactive chart – Lap times for all the drivers in first practice.

McLaren stay ahead in second practice – Lewis Hamilton took to the top of times sheets in place of his team mate.

Chinese GP practice 2 interactive chart – Lap times for all the drivers in second practice.

Webber fastest ahead of China qualifying – Red Bull edged ahead in final practice.

Chinese GP race preparation in pictures – The teams get ready for the Chinese Grand Prix.

2010 Chinese Grand Prix – the F1 Fanatic Unofficial Race Programme (Video) – All the pre-race information.

Live blogs

How we saw the Chinese Grand Prix as it unfolded.

Chinese Grand Prix Live
Chinese Grand Prix Qualifying Live
Chinese Grand Prix Practice 3 Live
Chinese Grand Prix Practice 2 Live
Chinese Grand Prix practice 1 live

Find coverage of every race this season here: F1 2010 Season

How can we improve our coverage?

What would you like to see more of in our Grand Prix coverage? How can we make it better? Please post your suggestions in the comments.

Button passed Rosberg to lead but had to keep Hamilton at bay later on

The McLaren drivers ended up at the front of the field but each took very different routes there.

Jenson Button repeated his Melbourne feat of calling the conditions to perfection. Meanwhile Lewis Hamilton once again found himself battling through the field to make up for lost time – and nearly made it all the way to the lead.

Chinese Grand Prix lap times: McLaren (click to enlarge)

Jenson Button

Chinese Grand Prix in pictures

Button’s second Grand Prix win of 2010 had much in common with his first.

His finely-tuned feel for the conditions led him to make the correct tyre choices which put him in a position to win. And he capitalised on a problem for the race leader – in this case Nico Rosberg – to take the lead.

This time he also had to weather serious pressure at the end of the race – from his own team mate.

At first he seemed to have the situation in control, pulling out a ten second lead over Hamilton. But then Button ran wide at the hairpin and suddenly the momentum was with his team mate, who had Button’s lead down to a second and a half at the chequered flag.

It was enough, however, for Button to take the win and with it the lead of the world championship.

Compare Jenson Button’s form against his team mate in 2010

Lewis Hamilton

Hamilton’s fateful switch to intermediate tyres on lap two cost him a chance of victory – until the safety car period in the middle of the race brought him back into the hunt.

But he would have been wise to back down from his pit lane confrontation with Sebastian Vettel sooner – they both ended up getting reprimanded for it.

After that Hamilton’s third trail through the field in as many races began. And once again he pulled off some impressive moves – particularly his opportunistic pass on Vettel and Adrian Sutil at the hairpin. And he found good grip around the outside of turn eight in the worst of the rain, using it to launch passes on unsuspecting rivals into turn nine.

He had the most difficulty passing the two Mercedes drivers. Michael Schumacher put up a typically robust defence which Hamilton needed three laps to break down.

And he lost more precious time behind Rosberg – giving away four seconds to his team mate in the process. Without that, and being held in the pits briefly at his final pit stop because of another car coming past, he could have jumped past Button and taken the lead at the final pit stop.

As it was, he seemed to have more life in his tyres at the end of the race and cut into Button’s lead after the world champion had run wide at the hairpin.

Their team, perhaps mindful of Hamilton’s last-lap crash in Monza last year, urged him to to take extra care on the final lap. He finished second – his best result of the year – but clearly wanted more.

Having begun the weekend looking conclusively faster than Button, he lost the initiative when it mattered – in Q3 – and from there Button pressed home his advantage.

Compare Lewis Hamilton’s form against his team mate in 2010

2010 Chinese Grand Prix

• Sunday in Shanghai - a fans' view of the 2010 Chinese Grand Prix
• 2010 Chinese Grand Prix - the complete F1 Fanatic review
• Ferrari deny Alonso-Massa rift
• Points for Petrov and first McLaren 1-2 since 2007 (Chinese GP stats and facts)
• Safety car spares Hamilton and Alonso's blushes (Chinese Grand Prix analysis)
• Chinese Grand Prix fastest laps
• Chinese Grand Prix in pictures
• Webber loses out in safety car incident
• Button leads McLaren to one-two in wet Chinese Grand Prix
• Hamilton's pit lane dice with Vettel could cost him second (Update: no penalty)

Schumacher couldn't keep Vettel behind for long

Michael Schumacher continues to struggle on his F1 return after finishing 52 seconds behind his team mate – despite the benefit of a mid-race safety car period.

Nico Rosberg, meanwhile, goes from strength to strength and is now second in the world championship.

Chinese Grand Prix lap times: Mercedes

Michael Schumacher

Chinese Grand Prix
in pictures

Out-qualified by a Renault and almost three-quarters of a second slower than Rosberg.

Schumacher started ninth and, having made the mistake of putting on intermediates tyres on lap two, was one of the first to change back to slicks on lap four.

This got him up to fifth place but, lapping over a second slower than his team mate, who was leading, he fell prey to Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel. He put up a firm defence against Hamilton, who took three laps to find a way past, but Vettel slipped by more quickly.

After the second safety car period Schumacher became stuck behind Adrian Sutil and Felipe Massa. An early stop for more intermediate tyres jumped him ahead of them, though he lost a place to Webber at the same time.

As his tyres wore out towards the end of the race Schumacher was passed by Massa and ran wide at the final turn. He claimed the final point for tenth place, but at the rate Sutil was catching him he might well have lost that too if the race had gone on another lap.

Compare Michael Schumacher’s form against his team mate in 2010

Nico Rosberg

Got the maximum out of his car in qualifying and the race and might even have won had he not spun away the lead.

He qualified fourth ahead of both McLarens and inherited the lead by not reacting to the early sprinkling of rain by making a hasty switch to intermediate tyres.

He had just stretched his lead over Jenson Button to its highest – 4.5 seconds – when he skidded off at turn 11 on worn tyres:

When it started raining again, I suffered quite badly from tyre degradation on the intermediates and Jenson was able to get past. We didn’t seem to quite have the pace on inters but third place is great and we’ve made a step in the right direction this weekend.
Nico Rosberg

Had it not been for the second safety car period Rosberg would have been a comfortable second. But third place still gave him enough points to take second in the championship, 40 points ahead of his team mate.

Compare Nico Rosberg’s form against his team mate in 2010

Fernando Alonso passed team mate Felipe Massa on the way into the pit lane during the Shanghai race.

Ferrari claim quotes from Massa after the race were taken out of context by some media and used to present a false impression that Massa was unhappy with Alonso. A statement from the team read:

Some news outlets used some statements by Felipe Massa after the Chinese GP, which were somehow taken out of context: obviously someone is trying to create bad blood between the two drivers after Fernando Alonso’s overtaking manoeuvre of his team mate at the pit lane entrance on lap 19. Furthermore both drivers were very clear after the race: this episode won’t change anything at all regarding the relationship between the two. Felipe and Fernando are travelling back to Europe on the same flight, together with the Scuderia’s technicians.

A spokesperson for the team from Maranello said on the phone from Shanghai: “What happened yesterday with Fernando overtaking Felipe was just an episode in a race and I should be treated as such. Our drivers know how to behave on the track and they have shown it also this time. Naturally both want to win and they both bring fighting spirit to the races, while respecting a very simple rule: the team’s well-being is of more importance than the individual’s well-being.”
Ferrari statement

Given Alonso’s track record with his team mates it’s hardly surprising to see such speculation.

But it is surprising that the team have bothered to deny it – doing so only keeps the story alive for another day. And if things do blow up between the two drivers in the future, Ferrari’s insistence that everything is hunky-dory right now will be viewed very differently.

Read more: Pit lane pass hands advantage to Alonso (Chinese GP team-by-team: Ferrari)

Chinese Grand Prix lap times: Renault (click to enlarge)

Robert Kubica

Lost a place at the start but rose to third by not pitting for intermediate tyres along with most of the rest of the field.

Had a 57-second lead over Lewis Hamilton before the second safety car appearance, so another podium finish was definitely on the cards. As it was he finished fifth having been passed by Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. Deserved better.

Compare Robert Kubica’s form against his team mate in 2010

Vitaly Petrov

Still some way off Kubica in qualifying – more than three-quarters of a second in Q2.

But Petrov recorded his first finish and scored his first F1 points with seventh. A spin on lap 32, which let Alonso and Sebastian Vettel past, was his only serious mistake in tricky conditions and he passed Michael Schumacher and Mark Webber late in the race.

Compare Vitaly Petrov’s form against his team mate in 2010

2010 Chinese Grand Prix

• Sunday in Shanghai - a fans' view of the 2010 Chinese Grand Prix
• 2010 Chinese Grand Prix - the complete F1 Fanatic review
• Ferrari deny Alonso-Massa rift
• Points for Petrov and first McLaren 1-2 since 2007 (Chinese GP stats and facts)
• Safety car spares Hamilton and Alonso's blushes (Chinese Grand Prix analysis)
• Chinese Grand Prix fastest laps
• Chinese Grand Prix in pictures
• Webber loses out in safety car incident
• Button leads McLaren to one-two in wet Chinese Grand Prix
• Hamilton's pit lane dice with Vettel could cost him second (Update: no penalty)

Chinese Grand Prix lap times: HRT (click to enlarge)

Karun Chandhok

Chandhok struggled in the mixed conditions at the start and end of the race where he lost a huge amount of time to his team mate, going off the track more than once.

He started his race from the pit lane due to a hydraulic change on his car. At the chequered flag he was three minutes (over two laps) behind his team mate, despite only spending 20 seconds longer in the pits.

Compare Karun Chandhok’s form against his team mate in 2010

Bruno Senna

Beat Chandhok by a tenth of a second in qualifying but the margin was much bigger in the race. Felt his visor was too dark for the conditions.

Compare Bruno Senna’s form against his team mate in 2010

2010 Chinese Grand Prix

• Sunday in Shanghai - a fans' view of the 2010 Chinese Grand Prix
• 2010 Chinese Grand Prix - the complete F1 Fanatic review
• Ferrari deny Alonso-Massa rift
• Points for Petrov and first McLaren 1-2 since 2007 (Chinese GP stats and facts)
• Safety car spares Hamilton and Alonso's blushes (Chinese Grand Prix analysis)
• Chinese Grand Prix fastest laps
• Chinese Grand Prix in pictures
• Webber loses out in safety car incident
• Button leads McLaren to one-two in wet Chinese Grand Prix
• Hamilton's pit lane dice with Vettel could cost him second (Update: no penalty)

McLaren's championship-winning pair scored their first one-two

The Chinese Grand Prix saw McLaren score their first one-two finish since Fernando Alonso drove for them.

It was also the first British one-two in 11 years and Russia became the 33rd country to score points in F1. Read on for all the stats and facts from China.

Jenson Button won his second race in four starts for McLaren and the ninth of his career.

The Chinese Grand Prix has still not been won by the same driver twice. Since 2004 it’s been won by Rubens Barrichello, Fernando Alonso, Michael Schumacher, Kimi Raikkonen, Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and now Button.

With Lewis Hamilton finishing second this was the first one-two for a pair of British drivers since the 1999 Austrian Grand Prix, won by Eddie Irvine with David Coulthard in second place.

McLaren recorded their 45th one-two finish and their first since Fernando Alonso led home Hamilton in the 2007 Italian Grand Prix.

After four races we’ve already had three different teams record one-two finishes – Ferrari in Bahrain and Red Bull in Malaysia.

It was pole position number eight for Vettel, who has now started from first place as many times as 1964 champion John Surtees and Riccardo Patrese.

Red Bull kept up their run of pole positions in 2010 and achieved their second front row lock-out. No-one has won a race from pole position yet this year – the last person to do so was Vettel at Suzuka seven races ago.

Despite having 11 wins and 17 pole position, Lewis Hamilton’s fastest lap was only the fourth of his career. His last one came at the same circuit when he won the 2008 race.

All three drivers on the podium were powered by Mercedes – the first time this has happened since the 1955 British Grand Prix when the Mercedes factory team fill the podium, Stirling Moss leading home Juan Manuel Fangio and Karl Kling at Aintree.

Vitaly Petrov scored the first points of his career – and became the first Russian driver to score in Formula 1. It was also his first race finish.

Russia is the 33rd different country to produce a Grand Prix points-scorer. The last addition to the club was Poland, when Petrov’s team mate Robert Kubica finished third at Monza in 2006.

Virgin and Sauber failed to get either of their cars to the finish once again. The two teams have only recorded one finish each so far this year. Timo Glock and Kamui Kobayashi are yet to see the chequered flag in 2010.

Most laps led

Most podium finishes

Finishes and DNFs

2010 season finishes and DNFs

Spotted any more interesting stats and facts from the Chinese Grand Prix? Share them in the comments.

2010 Chinese Grand Prix

• Sunday in Shanghai - a fans' view of the 2010 Chinese Grand Prix
• 2010 Chinese Grand Prix - the complete F1 Fanatic review
• Ferrari deny Alonso-Massa rift
• Points for Petrov and first McLaren 1-2 since 2007 (Chinese GP stats and facts)
• Safety car spares Hamilton and Alonso's blushes (Chinese Grand Prix analysis)
• Chinese Grand Prix fastest laps
• Chinese Grand Prix in pictures
• Webber loses out in safety car incident
• Button leads McLaren to one-two in wet Chinese Grand Prix
• Hamilton's pit lane dice with Vettel could cost him second (Update: no penalty)

The second safety car period gave Hamilton the opportunity to attack Kubica

Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso owed their large points hauls in Shanghai at least partly thanks to the second appearance of the safety car.

The erased the huge amount of time they had lost with extra pit stops at the start of the race and, in Alonso’s case, a penalty for jumping the start.

But Robert Kubica was left to rue the second safety car period which ultimately cost him a podium finish.

The start

Chinese Grand Prix - lap 1 position change (click to enlarge)

Chinese Grand Prix in pictures

As mentioned in the pre-race analysis, the Shanghai layout tends to keep the cars in grid order at the start. Sure enough, the major changes on the first lap came because of Fernando Alonso’s jumped start and the crash which eliminated Vitantonio Liuzzi, Sebastien Buemi and Kamui Kobayashi.

However Mark Webber did manage to get his revenge on team mate Sebastian Vettel by passing him at the start, as Vettel did to him at Sepang two weeks ago.

Top three drivers’ lap times

Chinese Grand Prix- top three drivers' lap times (click to enlarge)

Hamilton’s off-the-chart spike on laps six and seven show where he lost a huge amount of time to leaders Nico Rosberg and Jenson Button because of his early switch to intermediate tyres.

Once back on slicks he was able to lap much quicker than them whenever he found clear air. He set the fastest lap of the race very early, on lap 13, when the track was at its driest.

Lap 19 was Rosberg’s undoing as he ran off the track and was subsequently passed by Button. The five seconds he lost on that lap are obscured on the chart because of the pit stop he made immediately afterwards.

The McLaren drivers made their final pit stops on laps 37 (Hamilton) and 38 (Button). From that point on it was a straight race to the flag between them. Button pulled away initially, pulling a ten second lead over his team mate.

But he went off the track on lap 51 at the hairpin and from that point on Hamilton was quicker. It’s likely he spent the first part of this stint preserving his tyres knowing how long they’d have to last – look at the wear Webber suffered having made his final stop for intermediates two laps before Hamilton.

On the final lap Hamilton took a second out of his team mate’s lead to finish within 1.5 seconds of Button. What we don’t know is whether the team were telling them to cool it while Hamilton pressed on, hoping his team mate would slip up again.

Pit stops

2010 Chinese Grand Prix pit stops (click to enlarge)

The unpredictable weather made a mockery of several teams’ strategists, particularly those who made early stops for intermediate tyres and then returned to the pits only a couple of laps later to go back to slicks.

By the end of the race Jaime Alguersuari and Nico Hülkenberg took the record with six visits to the pits each. Alonso finished fourth despite pitting three times in the first six laps.

As the chart above shows Renault were the only team to get the call right for both their cars. Button, Rosberg, Pedro de la Rosa and Heikki Kovalainen also stayed out – the Lotus driver was rewarded with a short-lived elevation to the dizzy heights of sixth place on lap eight.

Lap chart

Chinese Grand Prix lap chart (click to enlarge)

The different fortunes of the two Ferrari drivers is striking. Their strategies were similar but despite the added advantage of a drive-through penalty Alonso battled through the field much more effectively than his team mate.

Felipe Massa ended the race with the Red Bulls and Renaults separating him from his team mate.

After reaching sixth Kovalainen’s tumble back down the running order was inevitable. But the much-delayed Hülkenberg never caught the Lotus driver, ending the race nine seconds behind the Finn.

Interactive race chart

View interactive chart full screen

The interactive race chart makes it easy to see the state of play before that crucial second safety car period. Hover over lap 21 to see just how far ahead Button and Rosberg were before the safety car was summoned so the marshals could recover debris from Jaime Alguersuari’s car.

At this point Hamilton, seventh, was 54 seconds behind and Alonso, tenth, was 76 seconds adrift. Without the safety car, Rosberg and Kubica would have remained out of Hamilton’s reach and Alonso might not even have got past Vitaly Petrov.

It takes nothing away from the quality of their drives which were distinguished by few mistakes and some excellent passes. But you can see why Renault are regretting Kubica’s lost podium.

2010 Chinese Grand Prix

• Sunday in Shanghai - a fans' view of the 2010 Chinese Grand Prix
• 2010 Chinese Grand Prix - the complete F1 Fanatic review
• Ferrari deny Alonso-Massa rift
• Points for Petrov and first McLaren 1-2 since 2007 (Chinese GP stats and facts)
• Safety car spares Hamilton and Alonso's blushes (Chinese Grand Prix analysis)
• Chinese Grand Prix fastest laps
• Chinese Grand Prix in pictures
• Webber loses out in safety car incident
• Button leads McLaren to one-two in wet Chinese Grand Prix
• Hamilton's pit lane dice with Vettel could cost him second (Update: no penalty)

Top 50 laps