2013 F1 : ALONSO WINS CHINESE GRAND PRIX

2013 F1 - Chinese GP Champion - Fernando Alonso (ESP) Scuderia Ferrari F138

A terrific start off the line at the beginning of the 2013 Chinese Grand Prix combined with a combative and assertive display of controlled, thoughtful driving throughout the 56 laps of the race in Shanghai was enough to hand Fernando Alonso a comprehensive victory in China on Sunday.
 

It was a race of multiple pit and tyre strategies, all of which clouded the relative positions and strengths of teams and drivers until deep into the race, but once all the tactics shook out it was clear that no one had an answer for Alonso who had proven himself to be quite simply the best driver on the day.

A faulty throttle sensor for McLaren's Jenson Button and a pre-start fuel leak scare on Paul di Resta's Force India were both resolved in time for the cars to take their place on the starting grid in eighth and 11th place respectively, leaving Mark Webber on a brand new set of soft option tyres as the only car starting the Chinese Grand Prix from the pit lane following his penalty for running out of fuel in qualifying on Saturday.

As the lights went out, pole sitter Lewis Hamilton comfortably pulled away in the lead while Kimi Raikkonen bogged down and was immediately jumped by both of the Ferraris of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa. There were no major incidents on the opening corners, but at the end of the first lap Paul di Resta had contact first with his team mate Adrian Sutil, and then with McLaren's Sergio Perez as they battled over 13th place. No one needed to take to pit lane, however, with the exception of Webber who made a virtue of his start from the back by immediately pitting to change to the prime tyres having got his mandatory stint on the options out of the way while circulating at the back of the field.

Hamilton continued to lead the race but once the DRS was activated on lap 3 he was under mounting pressure from the two Ferraris behind him. Finally at the start of lap 5 Alonso blasted past him down the start/finish straight, and when Hamilton attempted to defend the position he left the inside line exposed for Massa to jump him as well. Hamilton had to concede the loss and focus instead on fending off Raikkonen for third place until he could get round to the pits to ditch the despised short-lived options.

The DRS activation had sparked a number of scraps right through the field, with Daniel Ricciardo forced to pit for a new front wing and Adrian Sutil's rear wing getting demolished by Esteban Gutérriez outbraking himself into turn 14 and rear-ending the Force India. The Sauber came to a crumpled halt in the run-off while Sutil limped back to the pits, but any efforts to change the rear wing came to an end when a fire broke out in the car's rear right brake duct.

Massa took charge of the race on lap 7 after Alonso, Raikkonen, Hamilton and Rosberg all pitted, but by keeping Massa out for an extra lap Ferrari had made a critical error, since the extra time spent on the options cost the Brazilian hugely and saw him return to the track behind Webber who was up to 11th place, although he quickly passed the Red Bull again with the aid of DRS.

With that initial round of pit stops completed for those that had started on the options, it was those drivers who had elected to start on the prime tyres and who had no need to come onto pit lane yet who were now in charge: Nick Hülkenberg emerged as the race leader ahead of Sebastian Vettel, Jenson Button, Sergio Perez and Paul di Resta, with Fernando Alonso now in sixth place ahead of Hamilton and Raikkonen. The fresher tyres coupled with DRS meant Alonso made short work of Perez and di Resta, but Hamilton was having a harder time of it trying to follow in the Ferrari's tyre marks.

Hülkenberg came in for his first pit stop on lap 15 - earlier than hoped for on the prime tyres - and was joined on pit lane by Sebastian Vettel, who beat him back out on track in seventh place after the Sauber crew struggled with the right rear wheel. That put Button temporarily in charge of the race, some three seconds ahead of the rapidly approaching Alonso.
2013 F1 : Chinese Grand Prix - Race Result

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Pts
1	3	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	56	1:36:26.945	3	25
2	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus-Renault	56	+10.1 secs	2	18
3	10	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	56	+12.3 secs	1	15
4	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing-Renault	56	+12.5 secs	9	12
5	5	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	56	+35.2 secs	8	10
6	4	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	56	+40.8 secs	5	8
7	19	Daniel Ricciardo	STR-Ferrari	56	+42.6 secs	7	6
8	14	Paul di Resta	Force India-Mercedes	56	+51.0 secs	11	4
9	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus-Renault	56	+53.4 secs	6	2
10	11	Nico Hulkenberg	Sauber-Ferrari	56	+56.5 secs	10	1
11	6	Sergio Perez	McLaren-Mercedes	56	+63.8 secs	12
12	18	Jean-Eric Vergne	STR-Ferrari	56	+72.6 secs	15
13	17	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Renault	56	+93.8 secs	16
14	16	Pastor Maldonado	Williams-Renault	56	+95.4 secs	14
15	22	Jules Bianchi	Marussia-Cosworth	55	+1 Lap	18
16	20	Charles Pic	Caterham-Renault	55	+1 Lap	20
17	23	Max Chilton	Marussia-Cosworth	55	+1 Lap	19
18	21	Giedo van der Garde	Caterham-Renault	55	+1 Lap	21
Ret	9	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	21	Suspension	4
Ret	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing-Renault	15	Wheel	22
Ret	15	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Mercedes	5	Accident	13
Ret	12	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber-Ferrari	4	Accident	17

2013 F1 : Drivers Championships' Standing

Pos	Driver	Nationality	Team	Points
1	Sebastian Vettel	German	Red Bull Racing-Renault	52
2	Kimi Räikkönen	Finnish	Lotus-Renault	49
3	Fernando Alonso	Spanish	Ferrari	43
4	Lewis Hamilton	British	Mercedes	40
5	Felipe Massa	Brazilian	Ferrari	30
6	Mark Webber	Australian	Red Bull Racing-Renault	26
7	Nico Rosberg	German	Mercedes	12
8	Jenson Button	British	McLaren-Mercedes	12
9	Romain Grosjean	French	Lotus-Renault	11
10	Paul di Resta	British	Force India-Mercedes	8
11	Daniel Ricciardo	Australian	STR-Ferrari	6
12	Adrian Sutil	German	Force India-Mercedes	6
13	Nico Hulkenberg	German	Sauber-Ferrari	5
14	Sergio Perez	Mexican	McLaren-Mercedes	2
15	Jean-Eric Vergne	French	STR-Ferrari	1
16	Valtteri Bottas	Finnish	Williams-Renault	0
17	Esteban Gutierrez	Mexican	Sauber-Ferrari	0
18	Jules Bianchi	French	Marussia-Cosworth	0
19	Charles Pic	French	Caterham-Renault	0
20	Pastor Maldonado	Venezuelan	Williams-Renault	0
21	Giedo van der Garde	Dutch	Caterham-Renault	0
22	Max Chilton	British	Marussia-Cosworth	0

2013 F1 :  Team Championships' Standing

Pos	Team	Points
1	Red Bull Racing-Renault	78
2	Ferrari	73
3	Lotus-Renault	60
4	Mercedes	52
5	McLaren-Mercedes	14
6	Force India-Mercedes	14
7	STR-Ferrari	7
8	Sauber-Ferrari	5
9	Williams-Renault	0
10	Marussia-Cosworth	0
11	Caterham-Renault	0

[Source : F1, CRASH.NET]