2016 Chinese Grand Prix
- 2016 Chinese Grand Prix team radio transcript
- Ricciardo’s recovery drive earns fourth Driver of the Weekend win
- 2016 Chinese Grand Prix Rate the Race Result
- 2016 Chinese Grand Prix Predictions Championship results
- Top ten pictures from the 2016 Chinese Grand Prix
hahostolze (@hahostolze)
17th April 2016, 8:47
Wow, what a race! Finally F1 proves what it has, that was just great fun, constant fighting everywhere, never stopped going. So what if the fight for first never materialised, that was a perfect example of a race.
Also, some amazing individual performances. Vettel, Kvyat, Ricciardo, Sainz.
And how about Max Verstappen? From 20th after the safety car (and being overtaken by both Kimi and Lewis) to finishing eighth, ahead of his teammate. What an absolute racer he is. IF only he had caught Hamilton, that would have been something.
HUHHII (@huhhii)
17th April 2016, 8:48
Nice recovery by Kimi! I gotta wonder why stewards didn’t at least investigate the first lap collision between Kimi and Vettel? It also looked like Vettel made passes during the safety car period…
Patrick (@paeschli)
17th April 2016, 9:32
First corner was a racing incident between two team mates.
I’m curious about the rules concerning what Vettel did in the pits though. I’m guessing to stewards felt it was OK given how slow Hülkenberg was going.
Sonics (@sonicslv)
17th April 2016, 9:50
@huhhii First lap collision usually deemed racing incident, and good call on Vettel passing cars under SC. But Hulkenberg deemed driving unnecessary slow in the pit (the front car that Vettel passed) so I think that’s why no penalty for Vettel.
carbon_fibre
17th April 2016, 8:49
Nice to see Williams nail the strategy today. Good race from Massa. He completely outshined Bottas out that last stint.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
17th April 2016, 9:05
I told you so. Merc took a step back on chassis, so for all people that were already calling their 2016 car their best, it’s not, as the PU difference dwindles the cars get closer but somehow Merc hasn’t really improved their chassis, especially aero. This is the first aero track, it was nice to see Ferrari and RBR close. Why are drivers allowed to take their helmet and open their racing suit before getting weighted?
What surprised me today was how the Pu’s stack up.
PU power charts
Mercedes
Renault/Ferrari 2016
Honda
Ferrari 2015
Ferrari need to fix that turbo again. As I’ve read their are nursing a poor turbo design.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
17th April 2016, 9:07
*they’re
Boudi
17th April 2016, 9:12
You can’t judge on Merc based on what happened today. ROS finished the race 40 seconds ahead and it would have been a lot more if SC was not deployed. HAM definitely had suspension damage and this is why he kept on hard braking and he lost grip. If you recall, at the first few laps HAM was able to pass RAI.
MG421982 (@)
17th April 2016, 9:27
Hey, somebody said Ferrari has the most powerful engine! Go figure…
Sonics (@sonicslv)
17th April 2016, 9:54
@peartree Hamilton might have damage and he on worse tire on final stage of the race. The pass on Bottas definitely eating up too much of the tires and after that we see he always have slight lock up on the front left. Raikkonen and Ricciardo also on soft tires which probably suit the track more at that time since the temperature was cooling down, all medium runners at the end of the race are struggling, not just Hamilton.
Todfod (@todfod)
17th April 2016, 10:11
I think you need to put the Ferrari 2015 PU in front of Honda 2016. The Toro Rossos were flying ahead of the Mclarens easily even before the DRS wing opened up. I think Honda 2016 = Renault 2014 to be honest.
You got to be pulling your hair out if you are either Jenson, Fernando or a Mclaren fan. Both drove solid races today and were overtaken by almost every car on the long straight. What’s ridiculous is that Mclaren were actually looking more competitive at the end of 2015 than they are at the start of 2016.
Currently the Mclaren doesn’t have the pace to overtake a single car on the grid, and I have only seen both their drivers defend rather than attack. It’s disappointing that Mclaren haven’t been able to design a good enough chassis, despite having made compromises on their PU side to facilitate aero gain, but what’s even more disappointing is the absolutely awful race and quali pace of the Honda PU and the absolutely disgusting top line speed.
If I were Fernando, I would want to sit out a few races just because it feels like an absolute waste of time getting in that car every weekend
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
17th April 2016, 11:39
@todfod Actually not really the honda’s defended surprisingly well on the back straight especially before the midway point of the race, after that they were struggling getting into the straight.
@sonicslv boudi I didn’t compare Merc to the others, just to themselves. Want conspiracy theory, look at Rosberg and the mechanics at parc farmé, australia bahrain and today with Herbie Blash, suspicious.
Sonics (@sonicslv)
17th April 2016, 12:28
@peartree Well, it’s hard to say Merc is stepping back or even stalling when you look at the pace of undamaged W06. On qualifying both of them still destroying the rest easily. On race, Australia: Rosberg and Hamilton wins easily (Ferrari tire debacle is another story), Bahrain: Rosberg wins easily while Hamilton car has damage, China: Rosberg again wins easily and Hamilton car has damage again.
Considering the law of diminishing returns, I’d say Mercedes still did stellar job this year.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
17th April 2016, 18:55
@sonicslv I can’t agree. Russia is not going to shed anymore light on the subject so let’s just see who is on pole come Barcelona.
Patrick (@paeschli)
17th April 2016, 10:53
Bottas is being destroyed by Massa (both in this race and in the championship) right now. His career is going the same way as Hülkerberg’s.
Still no points for the old men’s squad (Button-Alonso), Perez and Gutierrez.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
17th April 2016, 11:44
@paeschli No not really, Bottas race was compromised early. The last stint massa was quicker. Being on par with Massa is not very good though, so I agree with you on that. Hulk has started the season on top of Perez again, he isn’t a man of luck though.
@corrado-dub I agree, more alarming McLaren is chewing tyres, so problems in both camps. Alonso can always hope the 2017 rule shake-up is what McHonda needs but the problem is there’s no consensus in changing the PU’s so Honda is probably going to carry some handicap to 2017.
Sonics (@sonicslv)
17th April 2016, 12:22
@paeschli I don’t think destroyed in the right word for this race. Beaten yes but only barely. They on formation at the end of last stint until Hamilton get between them, and the pass on Bottas probably took the rest of that medium on Hamilton’s (he has a big lockup while passing Bottas and always have minor lockup after that).
I do agree Bottas career looks more like Hulk now, since we have many exceptional rookies now.
Todfod (@todfod)
18th April 2016, 14:26
@paeschli
I don’t see why people are always saying that a driver’s career is going the ‘Hulkenberg way’. The Hulk had a mediocre 2nd half of the season last year, other than that he has always dominated his teammate, and has proven himself a more than capable driver. Honestly, we don’t know why Hulk hasn’t gotten a top drive yet, but a lot of us would agree that he could do a better job than Kimi in that Ferrari and maybe Kvyat in that Red Bull.
Patrick (@paeschli)
18th April 2016, 22:42
@todfod
I am a big Hulkenberg fan myself (he is miles ahead of Bottas if you ask me) but let’s face it, he’s never gonna join a top team. Raikkonen’s drive has been linked with Grosjean, Vergne and Verstappen. Red Bull only hires from their young driver programme. McLaren has Vandoorne. Mercedes has Wehrlain.
MG421982 (@)
17th April 2016, 11:19
Leaving Ferrari at the end of 2014 to join McLaren-Honda, thinking he’ll probably mirror (some of) the success from the Senna days too… seems to be, more and more, the worst carreer decision Alonso made. Probably, a carreer-ending decision. I don’t feel that much for Button because he was there already for quite some years, had no intention to leave the team and didn’t hear that some other team was interested to hire him either. Yup, things didn’t improve at Ferrari compared to 2010 – 2013, they still did not build a champ winning car, but I think it’s a lot better to fight for a podium place every race and even win some races per year rather than racing in the 10-15th place area and hoping to come on top at the end of the race and grab the last point.
Patrick (@paeschli)
17th April 2016, 13:23
At least he’s earning several millions per year driving in the midfield. I don’t feel bad for him.
Mike (@grippgoat)
17th April 2016, 12:25
I think Kimi deserves a penalty for his track re-entrance. There was no room for him, and he came in at a pretty sharp angle, causing collisions as people tried to dodge him.
Bolide (@mim5)
17th April 2016, 16:58
@paeschli I think they’re allowed to race, Heres a link of Vettel and Hamilton racing in the pits China 2010
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XkivXgRFJ8I&itct=CCkQpDAYACITCLjVmeKElswCFZN9HAodHb4CuVIdSGFtaWx0b24gdnMgVmV0dGVsIGNoaW5hIDIwMTA%3D&gl=KE&hl=en&client=mv-google
Patrick (@paeschli)
17th April 2016, 17:34
@mim5 Yeah, I’m sure they are allowed to race when coming in to the pits (the same happened between Alonso and Massa in 2010 I believe, also in China). The question is: is overtaking allowed under/behind (?) the safety car? And is the entrance to the pit-lane considered part of the racetrack?