Buzzin F1 - Formula One Blog

Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton took the chequered flag yesterday for McLaren, after dominating the Chinese Grand Prix and now has a gap of seven points from his closest rival, Ferrari driver Felipe Massa.

Hamilton took the lead from the start of the race and soon built-up a gap of three seconds from second place man, Kimi Raikkonen.,

Ferrari driver, Raikkonen, chased Hamilton for the first stint of the race but couldn’t maintain the pace  and towards the end of the race he let his team-mate pass to compete for those all important championship points.

Fernando Alonso in the Renault started in fourth position on the grid and that’s exactly where he finished.  He had an ongoing battle with the second McLaren driver, Heikki Kovalainen, who eventually passed him but then suffered a front right puncture which finally ended his race.

Nick Heidfeld in the BMW Sauber finished in fifth place ahead of his team-mate Robert Kubica, who is now out of the championship chase.

Timo Glock in the Toyota was awarded two points for his seventh place after running with a one-stop strategy, while his team-mate Jarno Trulli, who had qualified in seventh, went out on the first lap after hitting Sebastien Bourdais going into the first corner.

Second Renault driver Nelson Piquet, finished in eighth place followed by Sebastian Vettel in the Toro Rosso in ninth and David Coulthard for the Red Bull team in tenth.

Rubens Barrichello in the Honda took an impressive eleventh place, and who is still waiting for a drive for 2009, while his team-mate Jenson Button finished in a miserable sixteenth place.

The Williams driver, Kazuki Nakajima, who was also on a one-stop strategy, finished in twelfth after qualifying down in seventeenth while his team-mate Nico Rosberg, who was on a two-stop strategy, could only manage fifteenth place.

Bourdais in the second Toro Rosso came in to take thirteenth after being pushed down the order after the incident with Trulli at the start of the race.

Mark Webber in the second Red Bull took fourteenth place followed by Rosberg, Button and Nakajima.  Webber’s problems had started when his car suffered an engine failure on Saturday morning putting him ten places further back on the grid due to the engine change penalty.

The Force India driver Giancarlo Fisichella was the last man over the line while his team-mate, Adrian Sutil retired earlier in the race.

Here are the results;

1 - Lewis Hamilton (McLaren MP4/23-Mercedes) - 56 Laps 1.31′57″403
2 - Felipe Massa (Ferrari F2008) - 14″925
3 - Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari F2008) - 16″445 Laps
4 - Fernando Alonso (Renault R28) - 18″370
5 - Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber F1.08) - 28″923
6 - Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber F1.08) - 33″219
7 - Timo Glock (Toyota TF108) - 41″722
8 - Nelson Piquet (Renault R28) - 56″645
9 - Sebastian Vettel (Toro Rosso STR3-Ferrari) - 1′04″339
10 - David Coulthard (Red Bull RB3-Renault) - 16″387
11 - Rubens Barrichello (Honda RA108) - 1′25″061
12 - Kazuki Nakajima (Williams FW30-Toyota) - 1′30″847
13 - Sebastien Bourdais (Toro Rosso STR3-Ferrari) - 1′31″457
14 - Mark Webber (Red Bull RB3-Renault) - 1′32″422
15 - Nico Rosberg (Williams FW30-Toyota) - 1 Lap
16 - Jenson Button (Honda RA108) - 1 Lap
17 - Giancarlo Fisichella (Force India VJM01-Ferrari) - 1 Lap

Fastest Lap: Lewis Hamilton 1′36″325

DNF
Lap 49 - Heikki Kovalainen
Lap 14 - Adrian Sutil
Lap 4 - Jarno Trulli