Motor racing-Team by team analysis of the Chinese Grand Prix
April 9 Team by team analysis of Sunday's Chinese Formula One Grand Prix in Shanghai (listed in current championship order):
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MERCEDES (Lewis Hamilton 1, Valtteri Bottas 6)
Mercedes regained the championship lead from Ferrari by a single point. Hamilton's 54th career win and fifth in China was also his 106th podium appearance, putting him second in the all-time lists with Alain Prost. It was the third grand slam (pole, fastest lap, win and leading every lap) of his career. Bottas started third but a slow pitstop and then a spin behind the safety car left him fighting back from 12th. The race was the 150th start for Mercedes
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FERRARI (Sebastian Vettel 2, Kimi Raikkonen 5)
Vettel started second and was unfortunate to have pitted before the safety car was deployed. He had a good battle with Ricciardo, banging wheels as he passed the Australian. The German, who escaped sanction for lining up out of place on the grid, is tied at the top with Hamilton. Raikkonen, starting fourth, complained repeatedly about his tyres' performance.
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RED BULL (Max Verstappen 3, Daniel Ricciardo 4)
Verstappen is now third in the championship and won the Driver of the Day vote after going from 16th on the grid to third, passing at least nine cars on the opening lap. He also overtook Ricciardo, who said he lost time in the opening stint struggling to keep performance in his front tyres. The team made the right calls when the safety car deployed but are still down on power. Verstappen's podium was the team's 100th.
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TORO ROSSO (Carlos Sainz 7, Daniil Kvyat retired)
Sainz took a big gamble as the only driver to start on the slick, supersoft tyres and it paid off, albeit after a slow getaway off the grid. He might have done even better without the safety car. Kvyat retired with hydraulic failure.
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FORCE INDIA (Sergio Perez 9, Esteban Ocon 10)
Perez has now scored points for the last 12 races, more than anyone else on the grid. Force India have had both cars in the points for five races in a row. Perez made contact with Stroll at turn 10 on the opening lap, suffering a puncture. He made the right tyre choices after that. Ocon scored for the second race in a row, losing time on lap two when he pitted without stopping due to a misunderstanding.
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WILLIAMS (Felipe Massa 14, Lance Stroll retired)
Massa was sixth on the grid and Stroll 10th but qualifying proved the high point. The 18-year-old Canadian retired on the opening lap after spinning off following contact with Perez, bringing out the virtual safety car. Massa lacked grip throughout.
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HAAS (Kevin Magnussen 8, Romain Grosjean 11)
Magnussen scored his first points for his new team, after starting 12th, and their first of the season. It was the Dane's first top 10 since Singapore with Renault last September. Grosjean had a tough afternoon but with strong overtaking.
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RENAULT (Nico Hulkenberg 12, Jolyon Palmer 13)
Renault are still without a point despite Hulkenberg starting seventh. He made an early pitstop which was undone by the virtual safety car. The German also incurred a 15 second combined penalty for overtaking during the virtual and real safety car periods. Palmer started from the pit lane after pitting at the end of the formation lap for supersoft tyres.
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SAUBER (Marcus Ericsson 15, Antonio Giovinazzi retired)
Giovinazzi, replacing Pascal Wehrlein, crashed into the wall on the pit straight on lap four and brought out the safety car. The Italian had also crashed in qualifying.
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MCLAREN (Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne retired)
McLaren drop to the bottom of the table. Alonso was up to sixth by lap seven, after starting 13th, but suffered a driveshaft issue that meant he stopped on lap 34. Vandoorne retired on lap 18 with a fuel problem. (Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Pritha Sarkar)