Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg won an entertaining Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai.
Starting from pole position, Rosberg led team-mate Michael Schumacher away at the start and immediately began to build a small lead.
Shanghai F1 photo gallery: 2012 Chinese Grand Prix pictures
However, while Rosberg was never headed during the race except during the pitstop phases, his victory was made considerably more comfortable by two critical problems that befell his rivals.
First, the Mercedes team failed to secure one of Schumacher's tyres at his first pitstop, forcing him to pull out of the race and retire.
Then Jenson Button's McLaren team struggled to change a rear tyre during one of his pitstops, dropping him crucial seconds and dropping him back into a massive scrap for second place that featured Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus), Sebastien Vettel (Red Bull), Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) and Mark Webber (Red Bull).
That scrap cost all of the runners involved time, and although it was eventually decided in favour of Button after he decisively dived down the inside of Vettel, the Briton was left rueing his pitstop problem, feeling he could have challenged for the win without it.
Behind Button the scrap for third continued to the end. Eventually Hamilton was able to secure the spot with a DRS assisted pass on Vettel, who then sensationally fell behind his team-mate Mark Webber with just under a lap to run. Raikkonen, meanwhile, was forced to make a late pitstop for new tyres, and fell to 14th.
Hamilton's third place promotes him into the lead of the driver's championship, two points ahead of Button and eight ahead of Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, who could only finish ninth in Shanghai. McLaren is now 24 points clear of Red Bull in the constructors' championship.
As his rivals fought, Rosberg's lead grew increasingly comfortable, and he was able to cruise to his first victory in Formula 1. It was also the first F1 win for the modern Mercedes squad, which was born out of the championship winning Brawn GP squad in 2010, and Mercedes' first win as a constructor since 1955.
F1 Chinese Grand Prix results
1. Rosberg (Mercedes) 1h36:26.9292. Button (McLaren-Mercedes) +20.6263. Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes) +26.0124. Webber (Red Bull-Renault) +27.9245. Vettel (Red Bull-Renault) +30.4836. Grosjean (Lotus-Renault) +31.4917. Senna (Williams-Renault) +34.5978. Maldonado (Williams-Renault) +35.6439. Alonso (Ferrari) +37.25610. Kobayashi (Sauber-Ferrari) +38.72011. Perez (Sauber-Ferrari) +41.06612. Di Resta (Force India-Mercedes) + 42.27313. Massa (Ferrari) +42.70014. Raikkonen (Lotus-Renault) +50.50015. Hulkenberg (Force India-Mercedes) +51.20016. Vergne (Toro Rosso-Ferrari) +51.70017. Ricciardo (Toro Rosso-Ferrari) +1:03.10018. Petrov (Caterham-Renault) +1 lap19. Glock (Marussia-Cosworth) +1 lap20. Pic (Marussia-Cosworth) +1 lap21. De la Rosa (HRT-Cosworth) +1 lap22. Karthikeyan (HRT-Cosworth) +2 laps23. Kovalainen (Caterham-Renault) +3 lapsRtd. Schumacher (Mercedes)
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Re: Rosberg wins Chinese Grand Prix
Congrats Nico - faultless race and a hugely deserved win. Great race otherwise too - loads of hard clean racing in the second half.
I don't think pole and the win in China means MGP have a huge car advantage (in race trim anyway). MGP have done great work and deserved the win but whether it'll be repeatable in Bahrain has to be considered in light of various circumstances that aided victory in China:
Season shaping up nicely right now.
Re: Rosberg wins Chinese Grand Prix
The brake bias is infinitely adjustable (within its min/max range) by a rotating knurled control. However, the team can pre-set an "absolutely optimized" setting for one particular corner. This is invoked by just a one-time push (or pull) on a separate lever each time that corner is approached. Once it is used (when the driver brakes for that particular corner), the system resets itself to the previous bias. Then, when this specific corner is approached again on the next lap, the driver toggles the lever again to invoke the pre-set.
As tyre wear and other variable factors come into play as the race progresses, the driver can use the knurled rotary control to compensate with the brake bias. In extreme cases, (perhaps when tyres are absolutely reaching the end of their lives) he may use the knurled control to try to optimize the brakes for each or certain corners. The driver would also use the knurled control to set for "in-traffic" (reduced front wing downforce) or "clear air."
Re: Rosberg wins Chinese Grand Prix
Great job Nico and Mercedes, even if we didn't see much of you during the race!
The last 10 laps (with EIGHT cars battling for second place!) were among the best I've seen in years.