McLaren go into a three week break with the gap to Red Bull closer than what they could have hoped pre season.
In an exciting and eventful Chinese GP Hamilton eventually took the win after some amazing overtaking moves.
Hamilton took the win after McLaren trumped Red Bull in the strategy game, opting for three pit stops over McLaren’s two.
Sebastian Vettel’s tyres lacked grip in the crucial last few laps of the GP and Hamilton, who was on fresher tyres used them to his advantage and secured McLaren their first win for 2011. A win which did not seem likely pre season.
Webber’s pace on good tyres in the second half of the race could be cause for concern for Lewis and Jenson. The Red Bull remains the quickest car on the right tyres.
KERS, DRS and the new Pirelli tyres are living up to expectations, making over taking more likely. The Chinese GP had a record 85 passes compared with last year 82 passes in the rain.
Jenson Button led the first stages of the race after Vettel’s poor start off the line. A bizarre mistake by the usually ‘calm under pressure’ Briton saw him pitting in the Red Bull garage instead of his own. This cost Jenson vital seconds, allowing Vettel to exit the pits in front.
The next GP in Turkey on the 8th May, may be the last we see for a while in Istanbul, the contract is coming to an end and attendance has been low. It has some challenging corners, a chance for more over taking and some interesting gradients.
Hopefully it will live up to the excitement we saw in China.
