2010 Chinese Grand Prix

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 FIA Formula One World Championship, staged at the Shanghai International Circuit in Shanghai, China, on 18 April 2010.'4. China 2010', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2010/chine.aspx, (Accessed 25/03/2020)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) The race would see Jenson Button claim victory ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton, after a bold strategy call allowed the Brit to dominate the second half of the race.
Qualifying had seen Sebastian Vettel claim pole position, ahead of teammate Mark Webber. Fernando Alonso and Nico Rosberg would share the second row, while Button and Hamilton would start from the third row.
The track was dry on raceday, although dark clouds were hovering around the Shanghai circuit as the field assembled on the grid. 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.
The start itself would see Vettel struggle to getaway, allowing Alonso to sprint between the two Red Bulls to claim the lead. 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.
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. He duly collected both Kamui Kobayashi and Sébastien Buemi, with the three ruined cars triggering a Safety Car.
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. Rosberg hence inherited the lead ahead of Button as they gambled on slick tyres, with the race resuming at the end of lap three.
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. 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.
However, that advantage in pace came at a cost, for they burned through their tyres as the rain failed to intensify. As a result all of those that stopped for inters were soon back in for slicks, leaving Rosberg, Button and the two s on their own at the head of the field.
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 pitcrew. 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.
Hamilton would, however, rally back after his pitlane issues, and duly bounced back up the field as Button demolished Rosberg's lead. 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.
Jaime Alguersuari then threw a spanner into the works, for contact with one of the s sent debris scattering across the circuit and triggering another SC. 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.
Yet, no action could be taken against the Brit, who duly spent the rest of the afternoon pulling away to claim an impressive victory. 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 engines for the first time since the 1955 British Grand Prix.
==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 , 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 had held the initiative after the third round of the season, leaving Malaysia with 76 points. They hence had a ten point lead over in second, while had streaked up to third with their Malaysian one-two. had made way for the Austrian team and slipped to fourth, while had added their names to the score sheet in eighth.
===Entry List===
The full entry list for the is shown below:
No. 	Driver 	Entrant 	Constructor 	Chassis 	Engine 	Model 	Tyre
1 	Jenson Button 	Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 	 	MP4-25 	 	FO 108X 2.4 V8 	
2 	Lewis Hamilton 	Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 	 	MP4-25 	 	FO 108X 2.4 V8 	
3 	Michael Schumacher 	Mercedes GP Petronas F1 Team 	 	MGP W01 	 	FO 108X 2.4 V8 	
4 	Nico Rosberg 	Mercedes GP Petronas F1 Team 	 	MGP W01 	 	FO 108X 2.4 V8 	
5 	Sebastian Vettel 	Red Bull Racing 	 	RB6 	 	RS27-2010 2.4 V8 	
6 	Mark Webber 	Red Bull Racing 	 	RB6 	 	RS27-2010 2.4 V8 	
7 	Felipe Massa 	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 	 	F10 	 	056 2010 2.4 V8 	
8 	Fernando Alonso 	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 	 	F10 	 	056 2010 2.4 V8 	
9 	Rubens Barrichello 	AT&T Williams 	 	FW32 	 	CA2010 2.4 V8 	
10 	Nico Hülkenberg 	AT&T Williams 	 	FW32 	 	CA2010 2.4 V8 	
11 	Robert Kubica 	Renault F1 Team 	 	R30 	 	RS27-2010 2.4 V8 	
12 	Vitaly Petrov 	Renault F1 Team 	 	R30 	 	RS27-2010 2.4 V8 	
14 	Adrian Sutil 	Force India F1 Team 	 	VJM03 	 	FO 108X 2.4 V8 	
15 	Vitantonio Liuzzi 	Force India F1 Team 	 	VJM03 	 	FO 108X 2.4 V8 	
16 	Sébastien Buemi 	Scuderia Toro Rosso 	 	STR5 	 	056 2010 2.4 V8 	
17 	Jaime Alguersuari 	Scuderia Toro Rosso 	 	STR5 	 	056 2010 2.4 V8 	
18 	Jarno Trulli 	Lotus Racing 	 	T127 	 	CA2010 2.4 V8 	
19 	Heikki Kovalainen 	Lotus Racing 	 	T127 	 	CA2010 2.4 V8 	
20 	Karun Chandhok 	Hispania Racing F1 Team 	 	F110 	 	CA2010 2.4 V8 	
21 	Bruno Senna 	Hispania Racing F1 Team 	 	F110 	 	CA2010 2.4 V8 	
22 	Pedro de la Rosa 	BMW Sauber F1 Team 	 	C29 	 	056 2010 2.4 V8 	
23 	Kamui Kobayashi 	BMW Sauber F1 Team 	 	C29 	 	056 2010 2.4 V8 	
24 	Timo Glock 	Virgin Racing 	 	VR-01 	 	CA2010 2.4 V8 	
25 	Lucas di Grassi 	Virgin Racing 	 	VR-01 	 	CA2010 2.4 V8 	
Test Drivers for Practice Sessions Only 	Test Drivers for Practice Sessions Only 	Test Drivers for Practice Sessions Only 	Test Drivers for Practice Sessions Only 	Test Drivers for Practice Sessions Only 	Test Drivers for Practice Sessions Only 	Test Drivers for Practice Sessions Only 	Test Drivers for Practice Sessions Only
15 	Paul di Resta 	Force India F1 Team 	 	VJM03 	 	FO 108X 2.4 V8 	
Source:'China 2010: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2010/chine/engages.aspx, (Accessed 25/03/2020)	Source:'China 2010: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2010/chine/engages.aspx, (Accessed 25/03/2020)	Source:'China 2010: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2010/chine/engages.aspx, (Accessed 25/03/2020)	Source:'China 2010: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2010/chine/engages.aspx, (Accessed 25/03/2020)	Source:'China 2010: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2010/chine/engages.aspx, (Accessed 25/03/2020)	Source:'China 2010: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2010/chine/engages.aspx, (Accessed 25/03/2020)	Source:'China 2010: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2010/chine/engages.aspx, (Accessed 25/03/2020)	Source:'China 2010: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2010/chine/engages.aspx, (Accessed 25/03/2020)
==Practice Overview==
==Qualifying==
===Q1===
===Q2===
===Q3===
===Qualifying Results===
The full qualifying results for the are outlined below:
Pos. 	No. 	Driver 	Team 	 	Q1 	Q1 	 	Q2 	Q2 	 	Q3 	Q3 	Grid
Pos. 	No. 	Driver 	Team 	 	Pos. 	Time 	 	Pos. 	Time 	 	Pos. 	Time 	Grid
1 	5 	Sebastian Vettel 	 	 	7 	1:36.317 	 	5 	1:35.280 	 	1 	1:34.558 	1
2 	6 	Mark Webber 	 	 	3 	1:35.978 	 	2 	1:35.100 	 	2 	1:34.806 	2
3 	8 	Fernando Alonso 	 	 	4 	1:35.987 	 	4 	1:35.235 	 	3 	1:34.913 	3
4 	4 	Nico Rosberg 	 	 	2 	1:35.952 	 	3 	1:35.134 	 	4 	1:34.923 	4
5 	1 	Jenson Button 	 	 	6 	1:36.122 	 	7 	1:35.443 	 	5 	1:34.979 	5
6 	2 	Lewis Hamilton 	 	 	1 	1:35.641 	 	1 	1:34.928 	 	6 	1:35.034 	6
7 	7 	Felipe Massa 	 	 	5 	1:36.076 	 	6 	1:35.290 	 	7 	1:35.180 	7
8 	11 	Robert Kubica 	 	 	8 	1:36.348 	 	8 	1:35.550 	 	8 	1:35.364 	8
9 	3 	Michael Schumacher 	 	 	9 	1:36.484 	 	10 	1:35.715 	 	9 	1:35.646 	9
10 	14 	Adrian Sutil 	 	 	12 	1:36.671 	 	9 	1:35.665 	 	10 	1:35.963 	10
11 	9 	Rubens Barrichello 	 	 	11 	1:36.664 	 	11 	1:35.748 	 	 	 	11
12 	17 	Jaime Alguersuari 	 	 	10 	1:36.618 	 	12 	1:36.047 	 	 	 	12
13 	16 	Sébastien Buemi 	 	 	13 	1:36.793 	 	13 	1:36.149 	 	 	 	13
14 	12 	Vitaly Petrov 	 	 	14 	1:37.031 	 	14 	1:36.311 	 	 	 	14
15 	23 	Kamui Kobayashi 	 	 	15 	1:37.044 	 	15 	1:36.422 	 	 	 	15
16 	10 	Nico Hülkenberg 	 	 	16 	1:37.049 	 	16 	1:36.647 	 	 	 	16
17 	22 	Pedro de la Rosa 	 	 	17 	1:37.050 	 	17 	1:37.020 	 	 	 	17
18 	15 	Vitantonio Liuzzi 	 	 	18 	1:37.161 	 	 	 	 	 	 	18
19 	24 	Timo Glock 	 	 	19 	1:39.278 	 	 	 	 	 	 	19
20 	18 	Jarno Trulli 	 	 	20 	1:39.399 	 	 	 	 	 	 	20
21 	19 	Heikki Kovalainen 	 	 	21 	1:39.520 	 	 	 	 	 	 	21
22 	25 	Lucas di Grassi 	 	 	22 	1:39.783 	 	 	 	 	 	 	22
23 	21 	Bruno Senna 	 	 	23 	1:40.469 	 	 	 	 	 	 	23
24 	20 	Karun Chandhok 	 	 	24 	1:40.578 	 	 	 	 	 	 	24
Source:'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)	Source:'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)	Source:'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)	Source:'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)	Source:'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)	Source:'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)	Source:'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)	Source:'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)	Source:'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)	Source:'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)	Source:'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)	Source:'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)	Source:'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)	Source:'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)
*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.
===Grid===
** Glock was unable to start the race due to suffering an engine/chassis failure on the grid.
*† Chandhok started the race from the pitlane for changing his setup in Parc Fermé conditions.
==Race==
===Report===
===Results===
The full results for the are outlined below:
Pos. 	No. 	Driver 	Constructor 	Laps 	Time/Retired 	Grid 	Points
1 	1 	Jenson Button 	 	56 	1:46:42.163 	5 	25
2 	2 	Lewis Hamilton 	 	56 	+1.530s 	6 	18
3 	4 	Nico Rosberg 	 	56 	+9.484s 	4 	15
4 	8 	Fernando Alonso 	 	56 	+11.869s 	3 	12
5 	11 	Robert Kubica 	 	56 	+22.213s 	8 	10
6 	5 	Sebastian Vettel 	 	56 	+33.310s 	1 	8
7 	12 	Vitaly Petrov 	 	56 	+47.600s 	14 	6
8 	6 	Mark Webber 	 	56 	+52.172s 	2 	4
9 	7 	Felipe Massa 	 	56 	+57.796s 	7 	2
10 	3 	Michael Schumacher 	 	56 	+1:01.749 	9 	1
11 	14 	Adrian Sutil 	 	56 	+1:02.874 	10 	
12 	9 	Rubens Barrichello 	 	56 	+1:03.665 	11 	
13 	17 	Jaime Alguersuari 	 	56 	+1:11.416 	12 	
14 	19 	Heikki Kovalainen 	 	55 	+1 Lap 	21 	
15 	10 	Nico Hülkenberg 	 	55 	+1 Lap 	16 	
16 	21 	Bruno Senna 	 	54 	+2 Laps 	23 	
17 	20 	Karun Chandhok 	 	52 	+4 Laps 	PL 	
Ret 	18 	Jarno Trulli 	 	26 	Hydraulics 	20 	
Ret 	25 	Lucas di Grassi 	 	8 	Clutch 	22 	
Ret 	22 	Pedro de la Rosa 	 	7 	Engine 	17 	
Ret 	16 	Sébastien Buemi 	 	0 	Collision 	13 	
Ret 	23 	Kamui Kobayashi 	 	0 	Collision 	15 	
Ret 	15 	Vitantonio Liuzzi 	 	0 	Collision 	18 	
DNS* 	24 	Timo Glock 	 	 	 	 	
Source:'China 2010: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2010/chine/classement.aspx, (Accessed 25/03/2020)	Source:'China 2010: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2010/chine/classement.aspx, (Accessed 25/03/2020)	Source:'China 2010: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2010/chine/classement.aspx, (Accessed 25/03/2020)	Source:'China 2010: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2010/chine/classement.aspx, (Accessed 25/03/2020)	Source:'China 2010: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2010/chine/classement.aspx, (Accessed 25/03/2020)	Source:'China 2010: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2010/chine/classement.aspx, (Accessed 25/03/2020)	Source:'China 2010: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2010/chine/classement.aspx, (Accessed 25/03/2020)	Source:'China 2010: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2010/chine/classement.aspx, (Accessed 25/03/2020)
** Glock was unable to start the race due to an engine and chassis issue.
==Milestones==
* 550th Grand Prix for as a constructor.
* Jenson Button claimed his ninth career victory.
* secured their 166th win as a constructor.
** secured their 79th win as an engine supplier.
* First all Mercedes engined podium since the 1955 British Grand Prix.
* Vitaly Petrov claimed his maiden points finish.
** This was also the first points finish for a Russian driver in F1 history.
==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 to the head of the field, moving onto 109 points after four rounds. had made way for them and dropped to second on 90 points, while had held onto third, 36 off the lead. were next ahead of , while , and completed the scorers list.
World Championship for Drivers	World Championship for Drivers	World Championship for Drivers	World Championship for Drivers
Pos. 	Driver 	Pts. 	+/-
1 	Jenson Button 	60 	3
2 	Nico Rosberg 	50 	3
3 	Fernando Alonso 	49 	1
4 	Lewis Hamilton 	49 	2
5 	Sebastian Vettel 	45 	2
6 	Felipe Massa 	41 	5
7 	Robert Kubica 	40 	
8 	Mark Webber 	28 	
9 	Adrian Sutil 	10 	
10 	Michael Schumacher 	10 	
11 	Vitantonio Liuzzi 	8 	
12 	Vitaly Petrov 	6 	9
13 	Rubens Barrichello 	5 	1
14 	Jaime Alguersuari 	2 	1
15 	Nico Hülkenberg 	1 	1
World Championship for Constructors	World Championship for Constructors	World Championship for Constructors	World Championship for Constructors
Pos. 	Team 	Pts. 	+/-
1 	 	109 	1
2 	 	90 	1
3 	 	73 	
4 	 	60 	
5 	 	46 	
6 	 	18 	
7 	 	6 	
8 	 	2 	
Only point scoring drivers and constructors are shown.
==References==
Images and Videos:
*
References:
Category:Chinese Grand Prix
Category:2010 Grands Prix
Category:Grand Prix articles