Round 4: The Brits occupy the Far East
The ash from the eruption shut down most of the air traffic, but thankfully the F1 circus was making the last stop on its Oceania/South Asia opening leg of the season in Shanghai for the Chinese Grand Prix. And predicted for the race weekend was yet again more rain. Boy, oh boy.
Qualifying:
Ni hao from Shanghai, which has been host to the Chinese GP since 2004. There are rumors that if the turnout for next year’s race, which is the final one in a 7 year contract, is as bad as this year’s, then that may be it for F1 in China. Not exactly the best return on the most expensive F1 circuit ever constructed, which was built for about $450 million back in 2004. One of the unique characteristics of the circuit is the 1km long back straight between Turns 13 and 14. Here’s Red Bull driver Mark Webber to showcase the track in his ultra cool simulator.
The other rumor floating around the paddocks is Red Bull’s alleged illegal ride height adjustment system. Red Bull has been understandably coy about the whole situation, even mocking the accusations. Red Bull is 3 for 3 so far this season in qualifying, if they manage to make it 4 for 4 then maybe the other teams will quit with the finger pointing and focus on making improvements to their own aerodynamic package.
Guess who takes it? It’s Vettel yet again with a superb final lap to take P1 for the third time this season. The Vettel/RB6 combination is the fastest on the grid, and if it wasn’t for a bad spark plug and a faulty suspension component, it’s conceivable that he would have won all three races so far. Instead of recapping the action, here’s a chart of all three qualifying sessions and the drivers’ times.
A few interesting points to note is Liuzzi’s dropping a big dud in Q1, who attributed his poor session to “traffic.” Oh whaaa, are your Puma velcro racing shoes strapped too tight? And what about Schumi yet again getting outqualified by teammate Nico? What’s even more surprising is the gap between Rosberg and Schumi has grown, and not shrunk, since the beginning of the season. The not so subtle change in Schumi’s demeanor has been interesting to observe. In the past, Schumi was much more inaccessible and short at times with the media, which belied his uber-determined and steely racing nature. Now, he seems more upbeat and jovial, even happy almost to just be racing again. It’s as if he forgot how to be his old self, and he lacks that edge he needs to push his car to its absolute limit. Today’s qualifying was under dry conditions, but rain is predicted for tomorrow’s race, could we see a repeat of last season when Vettel took his first win under rainy conditions?
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