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The 2010 Chinese Grand Prix, otherwise known as the 2010 Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix (alternately the 2010年中国大奖赛 or the 2010 Zhōngguó dàjiǎng sài in Chinese) was the fourth race of the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship, staged at the Shanghai International Circuit in Shanghai, China, on 18 April 2010.[1][2] The race would see Jenson Button claim victory ahead of McLaren-Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton, after a bold strategy call allowed the Brit to dominate the second half of the race.[2]

Qualifying had seen Sebastian Vettel claim pole position, ahead of Red Bull-Renault teammate Mark Webber.[2] Fernando Alonso and Nico Rosberg would share the second row, while Button and Hamilton would start from the third row.[2]

The track was dry on raceday, although dark clouds were hovering around the Shanghai circuit as the field assembled on the grid.[2] The field would be reduced by one before the formation lap as several teams opted to hastily adjust setups for wet weather, with a chassis fault denying Timo Glock the chance to race.[2]

The start itself would see Vettel struggle to getaway, allowing Alonso to sprint between the two Red Bulls to claim the lead.[2] Webber would also jump his German teammate to secure second, while Rosberg fended off the attentions of Button and Hamilton into the first corner to secure fourth.[2]

The rest of the field got away cleanly, until Vitantonio Liuzzi lost control on the brakes at turn six and spun, sliding across the circuit.[2] He duly collected both Kamui Kobayashi and Sébastien Buemi, with the three ruined cars triggering a Safety Car.[2]

As the field lined up behind the Mercedes-Benz Safety Car rain began to fall, prompting several drivers, including race leader Alonso and the Red Bulls, to sweep in for intermediate tyres.[2] Rosberg hence inherited the lead ahead of Button as they gambled on slick tyres, with the race resuming at the end of lap three.[2]

Rosberg duly eased clear at the restart to secure the lead, while Alonso was informed that he was to serve a drive-through penalty for jumping the start.[2] That dumped the Spaniard back down to fourteenth having been running behind Vitaly Petrov, who had not stopped, when he served it, with those on inters running faster.[2]

However, that advantage in pace came at a cost, for they burned through their tyres as the rain failed to intensify.[2] As a result all of those that stopped for inters were soon back in for slicks, leaving Rosberg, Button and the two Renaults on their own at the head of the field.[2]

In the middle of the pit chaos Hamilton would slide into the side of Vettel exiting his pit box, causing the Brit to slide back towards the Williams pitcrew.[2] Fortunately Hamilton would manage to miss the crewmen and dropped back in behind the Red Bull, while Webber had hit his front jackman and broke his front wing.[2]

Hamilton would, however, rally back after his pitlane issues, and duly bounced back up the field as Button demolished Rosberg's lead.[2] Indeed, with rain beginning to fall again the #1 McLaren swept past the #4 Mercedes to claim the lead, before darting into the pits for intermediate tyres a lap later with an increase in rain.[2]

Jaime Alguersuari then threw a spanner into the works, for contact with one of the HRT-Cosworths sent debris scattering across the circuit and triggering another SC.[2] This demolished Button, Rosberg and Kubica's lead and allowed the rest of the field to pit, before Button caused chaos at the restart by slowing dramatically at the hairpin and causing Webber to run wide and tumble down the field.[2]

Yet, no action could be taken against the Brit, who duly spent the rest of the afternoon pulling away to claim an impressive victory.[2] Hamilton, meanwhile, would pounce his way up the field to claim second, while Rosberg would claim third to complete a clean sweep of the podium for Mercedes engines for the first time since the 1955 British Grand Prix.[2]

Background[]

Felipe Massa had moved to the top of the Championship as a result of the Malaysian Grand Prix, having scored 39 points through the opening three rounds. Indeed, the Brazilian driver headed the three drivers who had claimed wins in 2010, with Fernando Alonso dropping to second on 37 points, level with Sebastian Vettel, winner in Malaysia. Jenson Button was next on 35, level with Nico Rosberg, with fourteen of the 24 drivers having scored in the opening three rounds.

In the Constructors Championship Ferrari had held the initiative after the third round of the season, leaving Malaysia with 76 points. They hence had a ten point lead over McLaren-Mercedes in second, while Red Bull-Renault had streaked up to third with their Malaysian one-two. Mercedes had made way for the Austrian team and slipped to fourth, while Toro Rosso-Cosworth had added their names to the score sheet in eighth.

Entry List[]

The full entry list for the 2010 Chinese Grand Prix is shown below:

No. Driver Entrant Constructor Chassis Engine Model Tyre
1 United Kingdom Jenson Button United Kingdom Vodafone McLaren Mercedes McLaren MP4-25 Mercedes FO 108X 2.4 V8 B
2 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton United Kingdom Vodafone McLaren Mercedes McLaren MP4-25 Mercedes FO 108X 2.4 V8 B
3 Germany Michael Schumacher Germany Mercedes GP Petronas F1 Team Mercedes MGP W01 Mercedes FO 108X 2.4 V8 B
4 Germany Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes GP Petronas F1 Team Mercedes MGP W01 Mercedes FO 108X 2.4 V8 B
5 Germany Sebastian Vettel Austria Red Bull Racing Red Bull RB6 Renault RS27-2010 2.4 V8 B
6 Australia Mark Webber Austria Red Bull Racing Red Bull RB6 Renault RS27-2010 2.4 V8 B
7 Brazil Felipe Massa Italy Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro Ferrari F10 Ferrari 056 2010 2.4 V8 B
8 Spain Fernando Alonso Italy Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro Ferrari F10 Ferrari 056 2010 2.4 V8 B
9 Brazil Rubens Barrichello United Kingdom AT&T Williams Williams FW32 Cosworth CA2010 2.4 V8 B
10 Germany Nico Hülkenberg United Kingdom AT&T Williams Williams FW32 Cosworth CA2010 2.4 V8 B
11 Poland Robert Kubica France Renault F1 Team Renault R30 Renault RS27-2010 2.4 V8 B
12 Russia Vitaly Petrov France Renault F1 Team Renault R30 Renault RS27-2010 2.4 V8 B
14 Germany Adrian Sutil India Force India F1 Team Force India VJM03 Mercedes FO 108X 2.4 V8 B
15 Italy Vitantonio Liuzzi India Force India F1 Team Force India VJM03 Mercedes FO 108X 2.4 V8 B
16 Switzerland Sébastien Buemi Italy Scuderia Toro Rosso Toro Rosso STR5 Ferrari 056 2010 2.4 V8 B
17 Spain Jaime Alguersuari Italy Scuderia Toro Rosso Toro Rosso STR5 Ferrari 056 2010 2.4 V8 B
18 Italy Jarno Trulli Malaysia Lotus Racing Lotus T127 Cosworth CA2010 2.4 V8 B
19 Finland Heikki Kovalainen Malaysia Lotus Racing Lotus T127 Cosworth CA2010 2.4 V8 B
20 India Karun Chandhok Spain Hispania Racing F1 Team HRT F110 Cosworth CA2010 2.4 V8 B
21 Brazil Bruno Senna Spain Hispania Racing F1 Team HRT F110 Cosworth CA2010 2.4 V8 B
22 Spain Pedro de la Rosa Switzerland BMW Sauber F1 Team BMW Sauber C29 Ferrari 056 2010 2.4 V8 B
23 Japan Kamui Kobayashi Switzerland BMW Sauber F1 Team BMW Sauber C29 Ferrari 056 2010 2.4 V8 B
24 Germany Timo Glock United Kingdom Virgin Racing Virgin VR-01 Cosworth CA2010 2.4 V8 B
25 Brazil Lucas di Grassi United Kingdom Virgin Racing Virgin VR-01 Cosworth CA2010 2.4 V8 B
Test Drivers for Practice Sessions Only
15 United Kingdom Paul di Resta India Force India F1 Team Force India VJM03 Mercedes FO 108X 2.4 V8 B
Source:[3]

Practice Overview[]

Qualifying[]

Q1[]

Q2[]

Q3[]

Qualifying Results[]

The full qualifying results for the 2010 Chinese Grand Prix are outlined below:

Pos. No. Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Grid
Pos. Time Pos. Time Pos. Time
1 5 Germany Sebastian Vettel Austria Red Bull-Renault 7 1:36.317 5 1:35.280 1 1:34.558 1
2 6 Australia Mark Webber Austria Red Bull-Renault 3 1:35.978 2 1:35.100 2 1:34.806 2
3 8 Spain Fernando Alonso Italy Ferrari 4 1:35.987 4 1:35.235 3 1:34.913 3
4 4 Germany Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes 2 1:35.952 3 1:35.134 4 1:34.923 4
5 1 United Kingdom Jenson Button United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 6 1:36.122 7 1:35.443 5 1:34.979 5
6 2 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 1 1:35.641 1 1:34.928 6 1:35.034 6
7 7 Brazil Felipe Massa Italy Ferrari 5 1:36.076 6 1:35.290 7 1:35.180 7
8 11 Poland Robert Kubica France Renault 8 1:36.348 8 1:35.550 8 1:35.364 8
9 3 Germany Michael Schumacher Germany Mercedes 9 1:36.484 10 1:35.715 9 1:35.646 9
10 14 Germany Adrian Sutil India Force India-Mercedes 12 1:36.671 9 1:35.665 10 1:35.963 10
11 9 Brazil Rubens Barrichello United Kingdom Williams-Cosworth 11 1:36.664 11 1:35.748 11
12 17 Spain Jaime Alguersuari Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari 10 1:36.618 12 1:36.047 12
13 16 Switzerland Sébastien Buemi Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari 13 1:36.793 13 1:36.149 13
14 12 Russia Vitaly Petrov France Renault 14 1:37.031 14 1:36.311 14
15 23 Japan Kamui Kobayashi Switzerland BMW Sauber-Ferrari 15 1:37.044 15 1:36.422 15
16 10 Germany Nico Hülkenberg United Kingdom Williams-Cosworth 16 1:37.049 16 1:36.647 16
17 22 Spain Pedro de la Rosa Switzerland BMW Sauber-Ferrari 17 1:37.050 17 1:37.020 17
18 15 Italy Vitantonio Liuzzi India Force India-Mercedes 18 1:37.161 18
19 24 Germany Timo Glock United Kingdom Virgin-Cosworth 19 1:39.278 19
20 18 Italy Jarno Trulli Malaysia Lotus-Cosworth 20 1:39.399 20
21 19 Finland Heikki Kovalainen Malaysia Lotus-Cosworth 21 1:39.520 21
22 25 Brazil Lucas di Grassi United Kingdom Virgin-Cosworth 22 1:39.783 22
23 21 Brazil Bruno Senna Spain HRT-Cosworth 23 1:40.469 23
24 20 India Karun Chandhok Spain HRT-Cosworth 24 1:40.578 24
Source:[4]
  • Bold indicates the fastest driver's time in each session.
  • * Chandhok would serve a five place grid penalty as the seal was broken on his gearbox.[4]

Grid[]

Pos. Pos.
Driver Driver
______________
Row 1 1 ______________
Sebastian Vettel 2
______________ Mark Webber
Row 2 3 ______________
Fernando Alonso 4
______________ Nico Rosberg
Row 3 5 ______________
Jenson Button 6
______________ Lewis Hamilton
Row 4 7 ______________
Felipe Massa 8
______________ Robert Kubica
Row 5 9 ______________
Michael Schumacher 10
______________ Adrian Sutil
Row 6 11 ______________
Rubens Barrichello 12
______________ Jaime Alguersuari
Row 7 13 ______________
Sébastien Buemi 14
______________ Vitaly Petrov
Row 8 15 ______________
Kamui Kobayashi 16
______________ Nico Hülkenberg
Row 9 17 ______________
Pedro de la Rosa 18
______________ Vitantonio Liuzzi
Row 10 19 ______________
Timo Glock* 20
______________ Jarno Trulli
Row 11 21 ______________
Heikki Kovalainen 22
______________ Lucas di Grassi
Row 12 23 ______________
Bruno Senna 24
______________ Karun Chandhok
  • * Glock was unable to start the race due to suffering an engine/chassis failure on the grid.[4]
  • Chandhok started the race from the pitlane for changing his setup in Parc Fermé conditions.[4]

Race[]

Report[]

Results[]

The full results for the 2010 Chinese Grand Prix are outlined below:

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 1 United Kingdom Jenson Button United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 56 1:46:42.163 5 25
2 2 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 56 +1.530s 6 18
3 4 Germany Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes 56 +9.484s 4 15
4 8 Spain Fernando Alonso Italy Ferrari 56 +11.869s 3 12
5 11 Poland Robert Kubica France Renault 56 +22.213s 8 10
6 5 Germany Sebastian Vettel Austria Red Bull-Renault 56 +33.310s 1 8
7 12 Russia Vitaly Petrov France Renault 56 +47.600s 14 6
8 6 Australia Mark Webber Austria Red Bull-Renault 56 +52.172s 2 4
9 7 Brazil Felipe Massa Italy Ferrari 56 +57.796s 7 2
10 3 Germany Michael Schumacher Germany Mercedes 56 +1:01.749 9 1
11 14 Germany Adrian Sutil India Force India-Mercedes 56 +1:02.874 10
12 9 Brazil Rubens Barrichello United Kingdom Williams-Cosworth 56 +1:03.665 11
13 17 Spain Jaime Alguersuari Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari 56 +1:11.416 12
14 19 Finland Heikki Kovalainen Malaysia Lotus-Cosworth 55 +1 Lap 21
15 10 Germany Nico Hülkenberg United Kingdom Williams-Cosworth 55 +1 Lap 16
16 21 Brazil Bruno Senna Spain HRT-Cosworth 54 +2 Laps 23
17 20 India Karun Chandhok Spain HRT-Cosworth 52 +4 Laps PL
Ret 18 Italy Jarno Trulli Malaysia Lotus-Cosworth 26 Hydraulics 20
Ret 25 Brazil Lucas di Grassi United Kingdom Virgin-Cosworth 8 Clutch 22
Ret 22 Spain Pedro de la Rosa Switzerland BMW Sauber-Ferrari 7 Engine 17
Ret 16 Switzerland Sébastien Buemi Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari 0 Collision 13
Ret 23 Japan Kamui Kobayashi Switzerland BMW Sauber-Ferrari 0 Collision 15
Ret 15 Italy Vitantonio Liuzzi India Force India-Mercedes 0 Collision 18
DNS* 24 Germany Timo Glock United Kingdom Virgin-Cosworth
Source:[5]
  • * Glock was unable to start the race due to an engine and chassis issue.[5]

Milestones[]

Standings[]

Victory propelled defending Champion Jenson Button to the top of the Championship hunt as the first fly-away races came to a conclusion, moving onto 60 points. Nico Rosberg, meanwhile, had shot up to second, ten off the lead, and a point ahead of both Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton, who were level on 49. Sebastian Vettel then completed the top five, while Vitaly Petrov was on the board for the first time in his career in twelfth.

In the Constructors Championship Button's victory had moved McLaren-Mercedes to the head of the field, moving onto 109 points after four rounds. Ferrari had made way for them and dropped to second on 90 points, while Red Bull-Renault had held onto third, 36 off the lead. Mercedes were next ahead of Renault, while Force India-Mercedes, Williams-Cosworth and Toro Rosso-Ferrari completed the scorers list.

World Championship for Drivers
Pos. Driver Pts. +/-
1 United Kingdom Jenson Button 60 ▲3
2 Germany Nico Rosberg 50 ▲3
3 Spain Fernando Alonso 49 ▼1
4 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton 49 ▲2
5 Germany Sebastian Vettel 45 ▼2
6 Brazil Felipe Massa 41 ▼5
7 Poland Robert Kubica 40
8 Australia Mark Webber 28
9 Germany Adrian Sutil 10
10 Germany Michael Schumacher 10
11 Italy Vitantonio Liuzzi 8
12 Russia Vitaly Petrov 6 ▲9
13 Brazil Rubens Barrichello 5 ▼1
14 Spain Jaime Alguersuari 2 ▼1
15 Germany Nico Hülkenberg 1 ▼1
World Championship for Constructors
Pos. Team Pts. +/-
1 United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 109 ▲1
2 Italy Ferrari 90 ▼1
3 Austria Red Bull-Renault 73
4 Germany Mercedes 60
5 France Renault 46
6 India Force India-Mercedes 18
7 United Kingdom Williams-Cosworth 6
8 Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari 2

Only point scoring drivers and constructors are shown.

References[]

Images and Videos:

References:

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 '4. China 2010', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2010/chine.aspx, (Accessed 25/03/2020)
  2. 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 2.22 2.23 2.24 Robert Wilkins, 'Button heads McLaren 1-2 in China', crash.net, (Crash Media Group, 18/04/2010), https://www.crash.net/f1/race-report/158874/1/button-heads-mclaren-1-2-after-another-bold-tyre-call, (Accessed 25/03/2020)
  3. 'China 2010: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2010/chine/engages.aspx, (Accessed 25/03/2020)
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 '2010 FORMULA 1 CHINESE GRAND PRIX - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Limited, 2006), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2010/races/863/china/qualifying.html, (Accessed 25/03/2020)
  5. 5.0 5.1 'China 2010: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2010/chine/classement.aspx, (Accessed 25/03/2020)
V T E China Chinese Grand Prix
Circuits Shanghai International Circuit (2004–present)
ShanghaiCircuit1
Races 20042005200620072008200920102011201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023
V T E 2010 Formula One Season
Teams McLaren | Mercedes | Red Bull | Ferrari | Williams | Renault | Force India | Toro Rosso | Lotus | HRT | BMW Sauber | Virgin
Engines Mercedes | Renault | Ferrari | Cosworth
Race Drivers 1 Button | 2 Hamilton | 3 Schumacher | 4 Rosberg | 5 Vettel | 6 Webber | 7 Massa | 8 Alonso | 9 Barrichello | 10 Hülkenberg | 11 Kubica | 12 Petrov | 14 Sutil | 15 Liuzzi | 16 Buemi | 17 Alguersuari | 18 Trulli | 19 Kovalainen | 20 Chandhok | 20 Klien | 20/21 Yamamoto | 21 Senna | 22 de la Rosa | 22 Heidfeld | 23 Kobayashi | 24 Glock | 25 di Grassi
Other Drivers Paffett | Turvey | Bird | Hartley | Ricciardo | Coulthard | Fisichella | Badoer | Gené | Bianchi | Bottas | Stoneman | Maldonado | Tung | d'Ambrosio | Charouz | Aleshin | di Resta | Felix da Costa | Buurman | Vergne | Fauzy | González | Arabadzhiev | Valsecchi | Kral | Gutiérrez | Pérez | Soucek | Razia | Haryanto
Cars MP4-25 | MGP W01 | RB6 | F10 | FW32 | R30 | VJM03 | STR5 | T127 | F110 | C29 | VR-01
Tyres Bridgestone
Races Bahrain | Australia | Malaysia | China | Spain | Monaco | Turkey | Canada | Europe | Great Britain | Germany | Hungary | Belgium | Italy | Singapore | Japan | Korea | Brazil | Abu Dhabi
Team Reports McLaren | Mercedes | Red Bull | Ferrari | Williams | Renault | Force India | Toro Rosso | Lotus | HRT | BMW Sauber | Virgin
Driver Reports Button | Hamilton | Schumacher | Rosberg | Vettel | Webber | Massa | Alonso | Barrichello | Hülkenberg | Kubica | Petrov | Sutil | Liuzzi | Buemi | Alguersuari | Trulli | Kovalainen | Chandhok | Klien | Yamamoto | Senna | de la Rosa | Heidfeld | Kobayashi | Glock | di Grassi
Tests Barcelona 1 | Valencia | Jerez 1 | Jerez 2 | Barcelona 2 | Vairano | Paul Ricard
See also 2009 Formula One Season | 2011 Formula One Season | Category
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