Chinese Grand Prix- Driver Ratings
The Chinese Grand Prix may have been a slight disappointment for the neutral, but there was plenty going on up and down the grid.
Read below to find out how each driver fared in Shanghai.
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes- 1st
It was a flawless weekend from the world champion, who topped very practice session, qualifying session and won the race.
At a track where he excels, he eased to his second victory of the season by protecting his tyres well. Fangio once said F1 was about winning as slowly as possible, and Hamilton showed the rest how to do it.
10/10.
Nico Rosberg, Mercedes- 2nd
The German posed more of a threat to Hamilton this weekend, despite finishing second once again.
In qualifying he almost snatched pole, but missed out by 0.040s while in the race he stayed within 2-3s.
He later accused Hamilton of deliberately going slow, but that’s an argument he’s not going to win.
7/10.
Sebastian Vettel
An excellent qualifying session saw him finish as best of the rest again, while Hamilton’s slowish pace meant that Ferrari were still in a hunt during the middle stint, but Vettel couldn’t quite get near enough to Rosberg ahead.
He almost made the undercut work during the second round of stops, but the four-time champ had to settle for third.
With the inconsistent Kimi Raikkonen already way behind in the championship, it already looks clear who Ferrari are backing.
8/10.
Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari- 4th
This was a much better weekend for Raikkonen, who wasn’t hampered by other cars hitting him, punctures or slow pit stops.
However, his qualifying woes continued again as he disappointingly came behind both Williams cars in sixth.
A fast start saw him displace them immediately, while he matched Vettel’s pace throughout. He showed that, when he’s on his game, he will prove to be very hard to beat and is a contender for race wins this year.
8/10.
Felipe Massa
Massa produced one a fine lap in qualifying to come fourth, ahead of his team-mate and Valtteri Bottas, which was even more impressive considering he missed much of Friday after a crash.
In the race, he will be disappointed that Raikkonen drove straight past him at the first corner but he showed good pace, controlled his tyres and kept Bottas comfortably behind.
8/10.
Valtteri Bottas, Williams- 6th
Bottas says that he is fine after a back injury hampered his start to the season, but he was off the pace of Massa all weekend.
In qualifying, he finished 0.2s behind while in the race he couldn’t match the Brazilians pace and struggled to maintain his tyres.
Still, he performed solidly enough to come sixth but Williams will be disappointed to be so far behind Ferrari.
7/10.
Daniel Ricciardo
Red Bull can take some positives from their weekend, despite another poor result.
Ricciardo qualified as high as possible in seventh, but a poor start cost him a battle with Bottas and Massa ahead.
He limped home in ninth, but the team will be encouraged by their new brakes and how competitive they looked on Friday.
6/10.
Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull- Retired
Kvyat’s miserable start to life at Red Bull continued as he retired for the second time this season.
Brake and engine failure hampered his running on Friday and Saturday, before his engine went bang on lap 16 of the race. An engine penalty looks inevitable, and sooner rather than later.
5/10.
Fernando Alonso
Alonso’s smile is probably even wider after this weekend, where he finished only two places outside of the points.
Once again he qualified behind Jenson Button, but a good start and error-free race saw him complete a good day for McLaren. After the next race in Bahrain, they hope to be competing for points and about time too.
7/10.
Jenson Button, McLaren- 14th
Button shaded Alonso on Friday, and qualified ahead of him for the second consecutive race. A poor start to the race saw him fall behind the Spaniard, but a late fight with Pastor Maldonado breathed fresh air into the race.
Sadly, it finished with Button colliding into the back of the Venezuelan, and he was given a penalty for the crash.
7/10.
Sergio Pérez
Perez has had an indifferent start to 2015, but he did well in China despite the car’s flaws.
He performed well to out-qualify Nico Hulkenberg, while in the race he executed a three-stop plan to perfection although it wasn’t quite enough to secure any points.
7/10.
Nico Hulkenberg, Force India- Retired
Hulkenberg looked sharp on Friday, but he had a poor final sector in Q1 and dropped out of qualifying.
A good start catapulted him up the order, before an engine failure ended his weekend.
6/10.
Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso STR10
Another cruel car failure denied Verstappen deserved points after a flawless drive which highlighted his daring overtaking skills.
A mistake in qualifying cost him an extra place on the grid, but his race pace was impressive again before his engine let go.
8/10.
Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso- 13th
It was a race full of drama for Sainz, who spun on the second lap and lost drive later on. However, he spent the weekend firmly in the shadow of Verstappen.
In qualifying, he was 0.145s behind his team-mate, before a scruffy race saw limp home in 13th.
5/10.
Romain Grosjean
Lotus finally showed what they can do if they have a clean weekend, as Grosjean expertly guided the car home in seventh.
The Frenchman qualified eighth for the race and, although he was slower than his team-mate for parts of the grand prix, he earned his first points in almost a year.
8/10.
Pastor Maldonado, Lotus- Retired
Maldonado was on course for some points before he ruined his race with two late errors.
In qualifying, he was unlucky to miss out on Q3, but on race day he was comfortably quicker than Grosjean until he went wide at the pit entry.
He then spun as he tried to catch up some time, before Jenson Button crashed into him at the first corner. He retired shortly after.
7/10.
Marcus Ericsson, Sauber- 10th
Ericsson is showing that he is much more than just a pay-driver, with another decent drive in China to back up his points in Malaysia.
He progressed through to the final part of qualifying once again but slipped back slightly at the start of the race. He was outdone by Daniel Ricciardo late on but still earned a solid point.
7/10.
Felipe Nasr, Sauber- 8th
Nasr found his Australian form in Shanghai, as he outperformed Marcus Ericsson for the second time this season.
The Brazilian did the best he could in qualifying to come ninth, while he battled hard to pick two extra points.
7/10.
Will Stevens (GBR) Manor Marussia F1 Team
Stevens qualified for the first time this season, despite missing a large part of Friday’s running with electrical problems.
He lost a place to Roberto Merhi at the start, but he quickly restored his dominance over the Spaniard and the team are clearly impressed by his speed.
7/10.
Roberto Merhi, Marussia- 16th
Mehrhi was outclassed by his team-mate all weekend, shown by him qualifying 0.7s slower.
In the race, he made a far better start to edge ahead but Stevens quickly put him in his place and restored order.
4/10.
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