2011 Chinese Grand Prix

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2011 Chinese Grand Prix
Race 3 of 19 in the 2011 Formula One World Championship
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Shanghai International Racing Circuit track map.svg
Race details
Date17 April 2011
Official name 2011 Formula 1 UBS Chinese Grand Prix
Location Shanghai International Circuit
Shanghai, People's Republic of China
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 5.451 km (3.387 miles)
Distance 56 laps, 305.066 km (189.559 miles)
Weather

Fine and Dry [1] Air Temp 22 °C (72 °F) [1]


Track Temp 32 °C (90 °F) dropping to 26 °C (79 °F) [1]
Pole position
Driver
 Red Bull Racing-Renault
Time 1:33.706
Fastest lap
Driver Flag of Australia (converted).svg Mark Webber Red Bull Racing-Renault
Time 1:38.993 on lap 42
Podium
First
 McLaren-Mercedes
Second
 Red Bull Racing-Renault
Third
 Red Bull Racing-Renault
Lap leaders
  • 2011 Chinese Grand Prix

The 2011 Chinese Grand Prix (formally the 2011 Formula 1 UBS Chinese Grand Prix) [2] was a Formula One motor race held on 17 April 2011 at the Shanghai International Circuit in Shanghai, People's Republic of China. It was the third round of the 2011 Formula One season. The 56-lap race was won by McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton after starting from third on the grid, also becoming the first ever multiple winner of the Chinese Grand Prix. Sebastian Vettel finished second in a Red Bull Racing, having started from pole position, and teammate Mark Webber completed the podium, in third place having started eighteenth. [3]

Contents

As a consequence of the race, Vettel's lead in the World Drivers' Championship was cut to 21 points by Hamilton, who moved into second place in the championship. Hamilton's McLaren teammate Jenson Button, who finished fourth in China, fell 9 points behind Hamilton in third, a single point ahead of Webber. In the World Constructors' Championship, Red Bull's championship lead was also cut from 24 points to 20 by McLaren, with Ferrari a further 35 points behind in third position after drivers Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso finished in sixth and seventh places respectively.

Report

Background

Heading into the race, Sebastian Vettel led the Championship on the maximum 50 points after winning the first two races. Jenson Button was in second place in the standings after a 2nd and a 6th that put him on 26 points - just over half Vettel's total, and almost a race win behind. The other McLaren of Lewis Hamilton and yet to reach the podium, Mark Webber, were third and fourth respectively, both on 22 points. Fernando Alonso was fifth with 20 points, followed by Heidfeld on 17, Massa on 16 and Petrov on 15. In both races thus far in 2011 the podium had featured Vettel as the winner, a McLaren in second place and a Renault in third.

Tyre supplier Pirelli brought its silver-banded hard compound tyre as the harder "prime" tyre and the yellow-banded soft compound as the softer "option" compound. This was the same tyre selection that Bridgestone had chosen bring to the Chinese Grand Prix for the previous year. [4] [5]

In the Constructors' table, Red Bull Racing led with 72 points, one and a half times McLaren's score (48), and double Ferrari's (36). Despite having two podiums, Renault were still behind Ferrari; but only just - with 30 points - and were putting up a good fight for the time being. Sauber were fifth in the standings, with 6 points, Toro Rosso and Force India had 4, and Mercedes had 2. By this point of the season, Williams were yet to finish a race.

Qualifying

Sebastian Vettel took a comfortable pole position in qualifying, with the second placed Jenson Button 0.7 seconds behind him and Button's McLaren teammate Lewis Hamilton in third. Mark Webber had a torrid session, eliminated in the first part of qualifying after electrical problems in the earlier free practice, placing him 18th on the starting grid. [6]

Nico Rosberg in his Mercedes found himself fourth, Rosberg also recorded the fastest time of the first part of the qualifying session. Behind him were the Ferraris of Alonso and Massa, who had been unable to keep up with the pace of Red Bull or McLaren, Alonso recording a time almost a second off Vettel's pole position lap. Vitaly Petrov recorded a time in part two that got him through to the final part of qualifying, however, his car developed problems and stopped on the track, meaning he was unable to take part in the final session and would take the tenth place on the grid. [6]

Race

Lewis Hamilton faced a stressful situation just minutes before the start of the race; a fuel problem with his car meant that if he had started his journey to the grid just 35 seconds later, he would have had to start from the pit-lane. [7] Hamilton however, went on to a thrilling three-stop race, overtaking his two-stopping rival and World Drivers' Championship leader Sebastian Vettel on lap 52 of the 56 lap race. [7] Vettel had had a poor start to his race, being beaten on the first lap by both McLarens, with Jenson Button initially holding the upper hand, but his teammate Hamilton putting in a series of fastest laps that would ultimately give him victory to Button's fourth-place finish. [8] Also Hamilton performed an overtake on his teammate in Turn 1, about the midpoint of the race to take second place.

Mark Webber drove a spectacular race from 18th on the starting grid to bring his Red Bull to the chequered flag in 3rd position, beating Jenson Button for the final podium place on only the last lap. [8] Button had made a terrible mistake on the 15th lap when bringing his car into the pits, stopping in the Red Bull pit before being waved off by the Red Bull mechanics into his own McLaren pit one place ahead. The mistake cost Button time, as it did for Sebastian Vettel who was also coming into the pits and had to wait behind Button for him to realise his error; although Button entered the pits in the lead, but exited behind Vettel. [7] Jaime Alguersuari lost a wheel on his exit from the pits on lap 10, forcing his retirement from the race. [8] He was the race's only retirement, meaning that this race set the record for the most finishers (23). The record was beaten later in the season, in Valencia, where all 24 starters finished the race.

The race cut Sebastian Vettel's championship lead to 21 points from second placed Lewis Hamilton, with Red Bull constructors lead to McLaren falling to 20 points. Hamilton was ecstatic after his victory, saying "It was one of the best races I've experienced. It feels amazing to be able to bring home a victory for the guys in the factory." [8]

Due to the lack of all but one retirement in the course of the race and the size of the grid at the time, Narain Karthikeyan posted a finishing position of 23rd for HRT. This would earn Karthikeyan the title of the lowest finishing position ever recorded in Formula One history at the time. This record would then be broken five races later when Karthikeyan posted a 24th finishing position at the 2011 European Grand Prix.

Classification

Qualifying

PosNoDriverConstructorPart 1Part 2Part 3Grid
11 Flag of Germany.svg Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault 1:35.6741:34.7761:33.7061
24 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:35.9241:34.6621:34.4212
33 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:36.0911:34.4861:34.4633
48 Flag of Germany.svg Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:35.2721:35.8501:34.6704
55 Flag of Spain.svg Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:35.3891:35.1651:35.1195
66 Flag of Brazil.svg Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:35.4781:35.4371:35.1456
719 Flag of Spain.svg Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:36.1331:35.5631:36.1587
815 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1:35.7021:35.8581:36.1908
918 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Sébastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:36.1101:35.5001:36.2039
1010 Flag of Russia.svg Vitaly Petrov Renault 1:35.3701:35.149no time 1 10
1114 Flag of Germany.svg Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:36.0921:35.87411
1217 Flag of Mexico.svg Sergio Pérez Sauber-Ferrari 1:36.0461:36.05312
1316 Flag of Japan.svg Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:36.1471:36.23613
147 Flag of Germany.svg Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:35.5081:36.45714
1511 Flag of Brazil.svg Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:35.9111:36.46515
169 Flag of Germany.svg Nick Heidfeld Renault 1:35.9101:36.61116
1712 Flag of Venezuela.svg Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1:36.1211:36.95617
182 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Mark Webber Red Bull Racing-Renault 1:36.46818
1920 Flag of Finland.svg Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1:37.89419
2021 Flag of Italy.svg Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1:38.31820
2125 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Jérôme d'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1:39.11921
2224 Flag of Germany.svg Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:39.70822
2323 Flag of Italy.svg Vitantonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1:40.21223
2422 Flag of India.svg Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1:40.44524
107% time: 1:41.941
Source: [9]

Notes

  1. ^ – Vitaly Petrov stopped on track during Q2. While the lap time he posted managed to get him into Q3, he was not able to take further part in the qualifying session.

Race

PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
13 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 561:36:58.226325
21 Flag of Germany.svg Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault 56+5.198118
32 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Mark Webber Red Bull Racing-Renault 56+7.5551815
44 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 56+10.000212
58 Flag of Germany.svg Nico Rosberg Mercedes 56+13.448410
66 Flag of Brazil.svg Felipe Massa Ferrari 56+15.84068
75 Flag of Spain.svg Fernando Alonso Ferrari 56+30.62256
87 Flag of Germany.svg Michael Schumacher Mercedes 56+31.026144
910 Flag of Russia.svg Vitaly Petrov Renault 56+57.404102
1016 Flag of Japan.svg Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 56+1:03.273131
1115 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 56+1:08.7578
129 Flag of Germany.svg Nick Heidfeld Renault 56+1:12.73916
1311 Flag of Brazil.svg Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 56+1:30.18915
1418 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Sébastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 56+1:30.6719
1514 Flag of Germany.svg Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 55+1 Lap11
1620 Flag of Finland.svg Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 55+1 Lap19
1717 Flag of Mexico.svg Sergio Pérez Sauber-Ferrari 55+1 Lap12
1812 Flag of Venezuela.svg Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 55+1 Lap17
1921 Flag of Italy.svg Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 55+1 Lap20
2025 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Jérôme d'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 54+2 Laps21
2124 Flag of Germany.svg Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 54+2 Laps22
2223 Flag of Italy.svg Vitantonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 54+2 Laps23
2322 Flag of India.svg Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 54+2 Laps24
Ret19 Flag of Spain.svg Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 9Wheel7
Source: [10]

Championship standings after the race

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "2011 FORMULA 1 UBS CHINESE GRAND PRIX (Race)". f1standings.net. F1Standings. 17 April 2011. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  2. ↑ "2011 Formula 1 UBS Chinese Grand Prix". Formula1.com. Formula One Administration. Archived from the original on December 25, 2010. Retrieved 7 March 2011.
  3. ↑ Holt, Sarah (17 April 2011). "Lewis Hamilton storms to China victory over Red Bulls". BBC Sport . BBC. Archived from the original on March 5, 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  4. ↑ "Pirelli announce tyre choices for remaining races". Formula1.com. Formula One Group. 7 October 2011. Archived from the original on September 29, 2013. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
  5. ↑ "Bridgestone announce tyre compounds for remaining races". Formula1.com. Formula One Group. 7 September 2010. Archived from the original on April 19, 2012. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
  6. 1 2 Holt, Sarah (16 April 2011). "Sebastian Vettel beats McLaren in Chinese GP qualifying". BBC News . Archived from the original on 29 April 2011. Retrieved 1 June 2011.
  7. 1 2 3 Weaver, Paul (17 Apr 2011). "Lewis Hamilton wins thrilling Chinese grand prix". The Guardian . London. Retrieved 1 June 2011.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Brett, Oliver (17 April 2011). "Chinese Grand Prix as it happened". BBC News . Archived from the original on 27 May 2011. Retrieved 1 June 2011.
  9. ↑ "2011 FORMULA 1 UBS CHINESE GRAND PRIX - Qualifying Results". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 8 July 2014. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  10. ↑ "2011 FORMULA 1 UBS CHINESE GRAND PRIX - Race Results". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 3 January 2015. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  11. 1 2 "China 2011 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
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