Chinese Grand Prix 2015: Winners and Losers from Shanghai Race
Lewis Hamilton guided Mercedes back to the top step of the Formula One podium with a calm and straightforward victory at the 2015 Chinese Grand Prix.
The defending world champion topped every session of the weekend, seeing off the challenge of team-mate Nico Rosberg and the two Ferraris to claim his second win of the year.
As Mercedes celebrate, Lotus and McLaren will also be happy with how their races went.
On the other side of the coin, Red Bull and Renault stood out for all the wrong reasons. Unreliable, uncompetitive and with seemingly no chance of catching the leading teams, the boys and girls from Milton Keynes and Viry-Chatillon may already be writing 2015 off.
Pastor Maldonado can look to the future with a little more confidence, but he too had a rotten time in Shanghai after a highly promising start.
China didn't quite reach the heights of Malaysia in terms of excitement and drama, but it wasn't as bad as the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
Here are the winners and losers from Sunday's race.
Winner: Mercedes
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Normal service resumed—until the next race, at least.
Mercedes were defeated in Malaysia but made the best possible start to the race as drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg converted their front-row start to a one-two running order.
Ferrari were close behind, but rather than attempt to streak off into the distance, Mercedes took a cautious, reactive approach. Their drivers were able to control the pace and manage their tyres, and the team easily countered the Scuderia's strategy choices.
After the final set of stops, the W06s were unleashed to a degree, and the two SF15-Ts had no answer on the medium tyres.
Sebastian Vettel was 22 seconds down on Hamilton when the safety car appeared at the end and was losing more than half a second per lap.
The dominance of 2014 has gone and will not return this year. But unless they lose a lot of ground in the development fight or suffer major reliability problems, Mercedes seemingly remain more than fast enough to make the title race a two-horse affair.
Loser: Renault
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Honda's power unit has received the most negative headlines so far this year, but Renault is giving the Japanese manufacturer a real run for its money.
Before the weekend in China, Renault director of operations Remi Taffin was quite bullish. He said on the Renault Sport website:
"In Malaysia we got close to what we would consider the normal level of driveability we had at the end of 2014. For China we will have some small steps forward. We have continued the intensive test program started after Australia and we will see further results in Shanghai.
Performance was likewise an improvement in Malaysia, although we did keep some in reserve to safeguard reliability. Now we are getting more confident in this area we can afford to be more aggressive and we should see better results on the straights, with a higher top speed.
"
Perhaps whatever Renault was keeping in reserve should have remained there, because its reliability in Shanghai was nothing short of appalling. Three of the four cars using the power unit encountered significant problems.
Per Autosport, Daniel Ricciardo's internal combustion engine needed changing after qualifying. The Australian is now on his third ICE—at the start of the year, each driver supposedly had four to last the whole season.
The Australian's new engine held itself together, and he finished the race. However, team-mate Daniil Kvyat was less fortunate. Having been hampered by a power unit issue in qualifying, Kvyat was forced to retire on Lap 15 with smoke billowing from his Red Bull.
Max Verstappen was also taken out by his Renault engine, losing eighth place when it failed on the pit straight a handful of laps from the end.
Honda at least has the excuse of being a newcomer. Renault has a year of experience and should be doing far, far better.
Winner: McLaren
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It may seem strange to call 12th and 14th in the race a "win" for McLaren, but the team's double finish represents another step forward in their quest to return to the top.
McLaren have struggled since the start of testing with an unreliable and underpowered Honda engine. One of their cars didn't even make the start in Australia, while both had mechanical failures at the last race in Malaysia.
So getting both cars to the end of a race which saw a number of failures for other teams has to be considered a positive—as does their pace. Though overall the slowest cars in the field bar the two Manors, Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso were at least able to fight with their rivals.
Button even overtook a Mercedes-powered car on the main straight.
McLaren are not progressing as fast as they might have wanted before the season began, but should be pleased with their display in China.
Signs are they'll be in the points very soon.
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Loser: Red Bull
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Some of the blame for Red Bull's performance can be placed with Renault, but it's becoming increasingly clear the RB11 has plenty of problems of its own.
Braking problems blighted the team's Malaysian Grand Prix. Sister team Toro Rosso—supposedly the midfield training ground for young drivers—proved quicker, with both Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Jr. coming home ahead of the main team's drivers.
Red Bull switched back to Brembo brakes for China, but a totally different braking issue in free practice saw Daniil Kvyat end his session in the wall. Daniel Ricciardo also hit pre-race trouble, needing an engine change after qualifying.
In Sunday's race, Ricciardo got a poor start and could only finish ninth, while Kvyat was put out by an engine failure. Verstappen, in the Toro Rosso, was eighth before his own engine failed a few laps from the end.
Red Bull have just 13 points from three races and, though there's a definite single-lap advantage, over a race distance they do not look any quicker than Toro Rosso, Sauber or Lotus.
With the resources they have, that's not good enough.
Winner: Lotus
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Lotus haven't had the best start to their life as a Mercedes engine customer.
Both cars were out before the first lap had been completed in Australia, and in Malaysia, any chance of points was taken away by other drivers running into Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado.
The team were hoping for a better outing in China, and they got it, as Grosjean crossed the line in seventh to score his and Lotus' first points of the year.
It wasn't all plain sailing—the Enstone team could and should have had both cars in the Top 10, but Maldonado's pit entry faux pas and later spin ended his hopes.
But points are points, and seventh is their best finish since 2013.
Loser: Pastor Maldonado
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Pastor Maldonado hasn't had the best luck in 2015 so far but appeared set for a good finish in China. He was driving a composed and calm race, looking on course for seventh after getting past team-mate Romain Grosjean at the first round of stops.
Then the old Maldonado turned up and ruined it.
The Venezuelan went straight on at the pit entry and got stuck in the escape road, needing a push from the marshals to get back on track. The incident cost him a lot of time and dropped him out of points contention, but worse was yet to come.
Shortly after, he made a mistake at Turn 7 and spun, falling further back and ending up in a battle with the McLarens. The fight between him and Jenson Button was hugely entertaining, ending when the Brit ran into the back of the Lotus.
"Lap 52/56: Maldonado missed the pit lane, kicked up a dust cloud, and took on the McLarens - and lost. Never dull... pic.twitter.com/Shj3AkJDm9
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 12, 2015"
Maldonado certainly wasn't at fault for this, but it further ruined his race, and he retired soon after with a braking problem.
Team-mate Grosjean took seventh, and the team's first points of the year.
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