Formula 1 2015 - Subdued Shanghai

The third round of the 2015 Formula 1 World Championship took place in Shanghai, China. The Shanghai International Circuit lived up to its fearsome reputation of providing a rather mediocre race. However, there were some good midfield battles and some interesting plot lines played out during the race.

The start of the race - 2015 Chinese Grand Prix (Copyright: Mercedes AMG)

Mercedes locked out the front row in qualifying and lead all but one lap of the race. Lewis Hamilton secured pole by 0.042s and controlled the race throughout up front, only losing his lead through the pitstops. Hamilton was totally in control, and his team mate Nico Rosberg could not find a way past. Nico in fact, was saying over the radio 'tell Lewis to speed up, he's going to slow'. This was because Nico feared the threat from Ferrari behind, as Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen stalked the pair throughout the race, but never quite within striking range to pass the Mercedes pair.

Lewis Hamilton, No.44 - Mercedes AMG F1 Team (Copyright: Mercedes AMG)

Despite the lack of wheel to wheel action between the top four, there was still drama to be found. Rosberg, as already mentioned, was calling for Lewis to speed up. He felt his race was being compromised and wanted there to be a bigger gap between himself and Hamilton, because in the first stint 'I destroyed my tyres by being to close'. Again, wary of the threat from the two Ferrari's. 

Sebastian Vettel, No.5, Kimi Raikkonen, No.7 - Scuderia Ferrari

However they had them covered, and Nico could not pass his team mate, allowing the team to secure a dominant 1-2, and Ferrari a well earned 3-4, with Vettel taking the final podium spot. Behind them though, there were some very intriguing battles.

Felipe Massa, No.19, Valtteri Bottas, No.77 - Williams Martini Racing (Copyright:Steven Tee/Williams)

Immediately behind the top four was the Williams pairing of Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas. The pair had split the two Ferrari's by lining up fourth and fifth on the grid, but couldn't hold onto that advantage at the start and had a lonely race to finish Massa 5th and Bottas 6th. Whilst the team will no doubt be disappointed that they are yet to challenge the top two after slipping back compared to last season, the team is now a consistent point scorer and its operating on a much higher level than it was two or three seasons ago. As well as this, they are safely in third place in the pecking order and have plenty of time to develop the car. Hopefully Williams will get the win they so desperately crave this season.

Pastor Maldonado, No.13, Romain Grosjean, No.8 - Lotus F1 Team (Copyright:Lotus F1)

Lotus finally achieved what Romain Grosjean described as their 'breakthrough first points' of the season, albeit only with his car, due to Pastor Maldonado having an eventful and wild race. The pair had ran very well in 7th and 8th, in what is becoming to be the grids fourth fastest car, however near the end of the race Pastor suffered brake issues, going off in the pitlane ala 2014 (without crashing this time), spinning not long after that particular stop and then suffering a collision with the McLaren of Jenson Button (to be fair, it wasn't Pastors fault). Pastor sadly retired, however Romain finished a solid 7th and the next few races could be brilliant for the Enstone team. With a good car once again, the team are pushing hard to catch and overhaul Williams. If the cars in white don't improve, then watch out for Lotus. 

Marcus Ericsson, No.9 - Sauber F1 Team, Daniel Ricciardo, No.3 - Infiniti Red Bull Racing (Copyright:Sauber Motorsport AG)

Sauber had a much better race in Malaysia, Felipe Nasr finishing a strong 8th and Marucs Ericsson profiting from Max Verstappens retirement to finish 10th. The C34 had good pace around the Shanghai circuit and Ericsson showed he is not just a pay driver, by going wheel to wheel with Daniel Ricciardo's Red Bull on more than one occasion and showing good defensive and attacking skills. The team currently lie fourth in the consturctors standings, and whilst Peter Sauber say it is an 'illusion' to expect them to stay there, they really do have a good car again, their second points finish of the season being their second double points finish as well. Hopefully Sauber will carry on hauling in the points.

Daniel Ricciardo, No.3 - Infiniti Red Bull Racing, Fernando Alonso, No.14 - McLaren-Honda

Red Bull had another horror race. Ricciardo had qualified a solid 7th but a disastrous start dropped him to 17th, only in front of the two McLaren's and Manor's! After being help up by his team mate Danill Kvyat after fighting his way through the field, he would eventually finish down in 9th place. For Kvyat though it was even worse, as he never made the end of the race thanks to an engine failure. With another quit threat coming from Red Bull during the week, the team will be hoping that engine supplier Renault can up there game, as it is not the start to the season the Milton Keynes squad was expecting.

Max Verstappen, No.33 - Toro Rosso, Felipe Nasr, No.12 - Sauber F1 Team (Copyright:Clive Mason/Getty Images/Red Bull)

Toro Rosso didn't fair much better, with a DNF for Max Verstappen two laps from home and Carlos Sainz finishing in 13th. However, Verstappen caught the eye of everyone during the race, with some brilliant overtakes on both Sauber's and the Force India of Sergio Perez, which was set to give him a solid 8th place finish before his retirement. The two rookies however continue to impress (despite Sainz's spin at the start of lap 2 into turn 1), and lets hope the Renault engine improves to carry on allowing these two youngsters to shine.

Nico Hulkenburg, No.27 - Sahara Force India F1 Team

The less said about Force India the better. Neither car finished in the points and both Nico Hulkenburg and Sergio Perez are frustrated at the cars current lack of performance, a result of its incredibly late start to pre season testing. The team has a major upgrade coming for the Austrian Grand Prix. Lets hope they can get back to their point scoring ways soon.

Fernando Alonso, No. 14, Jenson Button, No.22 - McLaren-Honda

McLaren failed to get into Q2 in qualifying for the third consecutive race, despite hoping that improvements to its Honda Power Unit would allow it to do so. Both Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button had an anonymous race at the back, ahead of only the two Manor's and only spiced up by the duel with Pastor Maldonado's Lotus, which as we know ended in a collision between Button and Maldonado. The collision also gave Jenson two points on his license (drivers can earn twelve before earning a 1 race ban) and a 5 second penalty, dropping him from 13th to 14th, although being as no points were on offer anyway, I doubt this upset Jenson to much! The team though did achieve its first double finish of the year, with Alonso finishing in 12th place, and with the power of the power unit being increased in Bahrain this weekend, maybe we will see some real progress from the team.

Roberto Merhi , No.98, Will Stevens, No.28 - Manor Marussia F1 Team (Copyright:Manor Grand Prix Racing Ltd)

Finally, Manor Marussia achieved its goal for the weekend, with both cars qualifying well within the 107% rule (around 2 seconds), meaning that should no longer be an issue for them, and getting both cars to the finish, Will Stevens finishing 15th and Roberto Merhi finishing in 16th. It is still at the back, but the team are making progress, and the hope is to launch a full spec 2015 car in the summer (presumably around Austria/Silverstone time). Well done to the team for its first double finish of 2015, fingers crossed they can get into the midfield with their new 2015 later this season!

Will Stevens, No.28 - Manor Marussia F1 Team (Copyright:Manor Grand Prix Racing Ltd)

So despite it not being the most entertaining of races, there were still some good battles and enjoyment to be had in Shanghai. This weekends race is in Bahrain, with live coverage not only on Sky Sports F1, but luckily for me (as I don't have Sky) and others, the BBC as well! Free Practice 1 starts tomorrow on Friday at 12 pm UK time, and lets hope for a race just as exciting as the thriller we had in Bahrain last year! Until next time folks, ciao.

Roberto Merhi , No.98 - Manor Marussia F1 Team (Copyright:Manor Grand Prix Racing Ltd)