There’s good news and bad news for Rosberg on the pole position front…four
of the eight races staged in China have been won from pole
position….unfortunately for him the last two have been won by the driver
starting in second place. Either way i’m sure Ross Brawn will appreciate the
stats.
0740 as it did last year, Bahrain has dominated the headline over the
last few weeks and despite the ongoing unrest in the country, Bernie
Ecclestone and the FIA have insisted the race next weekend will go ahead.
Here’s the latest from the F1 supremo…what do you think of the decision?
Email me your thoughts.
Imagine we say no way we’re going to Bahrain, would whatever their problems
are out there stop? The answer is no, they’re not protesting about F1 so
that’s why we’re racing. “It’s another race on the
calendar, it’s scheduled. The only people that can do anything about it is
the National Sporting Authority in the country. They can ask for it to be
withdrawn from the calendar. Unless it gets withdrawn by them, then we’ll be
there.”
7:37 Rosberg was somewhat gutsy yesterday; having posted a time half a
second faster than his rivals in Q3 – his one and only hot lap in the
session – what did he do? Got out of his car and walked down the pit lane as
the clock continued to countdown. No doubt one of the highlights of his
career so far, here’s what he had to say after qualifying yesterday:
“The lap time was very, very strange, but it was also a perfect lap. I
had no idea if the track got a lot better, or what was going on out there.
Then I found myself standing there on my own and everybody else was still
going round, but I couldn’t do anything any more, so that was also strange.
I was just hoping and thinking ‘come on, let that be enough, please’. Then
slowly but surely I saw the sector times and I saw that it was definitely
going to be enough. It was fantastic, I was very excited.”
7:33 here are the vital stats on the Shanghai International circuit:
Circuit length: 5.451km/3.387 miles
Laps: 56
Race distance: 305.066km/189.559miles
Lap record: 1min 32.238secs (Michael Schumacher, 2004)
2011 winner: Lewis Hamilton (McLaren)
2011 fastest lap: Mark Webber (Red Bull) 1min 38.993secs
2011 winning strategy: 3 stops (laps 15, 25, 38)
Number of corners: 16 (7 left/9 right)
Tyre compounds to be used: medium/soft
Overtaking chance: low
Gear changes per lap: 46 (race = 2576)
7:35 Good morning/afternoon/evening wherever you may be joining me from
around the world. After a three week “time-out” I’m back in the hot seat for
round three and we’re over to China where yesterday we were treated to an
incredible three rounds of qualifying. It was 111th time lucky for Nico
Rosberg who claimed his first ever pole position and if you missed
yesterday’s coverage, prepare yourself for today’s grid lineup – no MCLaren,
Ferrari or Red Bull driver until P5, it’s an all-Mercedes front row with a
Sauber and Lotus behind and the defending world champion starts from 11th.
Here’s how they all start in Shanghai:
- 1 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes GP 1min 35.121secs
- 2 Michael Schumacher (Ger) Mercedes GP 1:35.691
- 3 Kamui Kobayashi (Jpn) Sauber-Ferrari 1:35.784
- 4 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Lotus F1 Team 1:35.898
- 5 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren 1:36.191
- 6 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 1:36.290
- *7 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 1:35.6268
- 8 Sergio Perez (Mex) Sauber-Ferrari 1:36.524
- 9 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari 1:36.622
- 10 Romain Grosjean (Swi) Lotus F1 Team 1:35.903
- 11 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 1:36.031
- 12 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 1:36.255
- 13 Pastor Maldonado (Ven) Williams 1:36.283
- 14 Bruno Senna (Bra) Williams 1:36.289
- 15 Paul di Resta (Gbr) Force India 1:36.317
- 16 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Force India 1:36.745
- 17 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:36.956
- 18 Jean-Eric Vergne (Fra) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:37.714
- 19 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) Caterham 1:38.463
- 20 Vitaly Petrov (Rus) Caterham 1:38.677
- 21 Timo Glock (Ger) Marussia 1:39.282
- 22 Charles Pic (Fra) Marussia 1:39.717
- 23 Pedro de la Rosa (Spa) HRT-F1 1:40.411
- 24 Narain Karthikeyan (Ind) HRT-F1 1:41.000
* Lewis Hamilton incurred a five-place grid penalty due to gearbox issues. He
will start seventh on the grid.