SHANGHAI - Five talking points from the Chinese Grand Prix:
Nico Rosberg put himself among some of the F1 greats with
his sixth straight win as he established himself as the man to beat this
season
Nico Rosberg put himself among some of the F1 greats with
his sixth straight win as he established himself as the man to beat this
season. With a 36-point lead after three races, Rosberg assumes pole
position early in the title race with another 18 grands prix to go in
Formula One's longest season yet. Only Sebastian Vettel, Alberto Ascari
and Michael Schumacher have won six races or more in a row, although
three of Rosberg's victories date from the tail-end of last season when
the championship had already been clinched by Lewis Hamilton. Rosberg
was left in Hamilton's slipstream last year, after also finishing behind
his Mercedes team-mate following a dogfight for the title in 2014. Now
the pressure will be squarely on the German as he attempts to keep his
nose in front until the end of the season. One stat is already ringing
in Rosberg's ears: no driver who has won the first three races has
failed to seal the world title.
- Vettel's red, red whine
Sebastian Vettel's enraged reaction to his first-corner
collision with Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen has some pundits
wondering whether he was trying to cover his own embarrassment. The
four-time world champion aimed a series of insults at Red Bull's Daniil
Kvyat, labelling him "a madman", "suicidal" and saying he "came like a
torpedo" after the Russian charged into a gap, forcing Vettel to take
evasive action and hit Raikkonen's car. However, the stewards saw
nothing untoward and Kvyat, who finished third behind Rosberg and
Vettel, was unrepentant. "You see the gap, you go for it," shrugged the
Russian. Vettel's fiery outburst, which included a sharp exchange with
Kvyat after the race, was termed "whining" by a stream of fans on social
media, and a BBC website columnist wondered whether the German was
upset because he had crashed into his team-mate with Ferrari's
president, Sergio Marchionne, watching. "Was he overcompensating because
he felt a bit embarrassed?" the columnist wrote.
- 'Best fans in the world'
The Chinese Grand Prix has a reputation for empty stands, so
when seats were filled by 160,000 spectators over three days of action
-- the highest attendance in four years, according to the Shanghai Daily
-- it was cause for celebration. "Best fans in the world," purred
Sebastian Vettel. "Great to see full grandstands." F1 has been beset by
concerns over falling audiences, both on TV and at the tracks, prompting
attempts to jazz up the sport like the failed experiment with a new
qualifying format which was ditched after the first two races. China in
particular has lacked excitement, with one pre-race headline in British
media reading: "Declining audiences and a complete lack of interest --
how long can the Chinese Grand Prix go on?" While it's unclear how many
tickets were sold and how many were given away, it looks like China,
which joined the F1 circuit in 2004, isn't about to exit in the manner
of South Korea, India or France. "There are many standards in judging
any event's success," Jiang Lan, manager of race organiser Shanghai Juss
Event, told the city's English-language newspaper. "To fans, it's the
good service. To Bernie (Ecclestone), it’s drawing a good crowd -- it
seems we can’t find a reason not to continue our partnership."
- Let's put this to bed
Lewis Hamilton gained credit for fighting back from last on
the grid to seventh, but with three races gone the reigning world
champion must be wondering when his season is finally going to start.
Hamilton, who won last year's title with three races to spare, finished
second in Australia and third in Bahrain after slow starts from pole
position each time. In Shanghai, a technical malfunction in qualifying
effectively ruled out a first win this year, and an early scrape with
Felipe Nasr put him even further behind the leaders. Hamilton did
eventually finish in the points but it could have been better for the
Briton, who was made to look foolish late in the race when he was trying
to pass Felipe Massa and Daniel Ricciardo was able to overtake both
drivers. "That is quite possibly the worst lap I have seen Lewis
Hamilton drive in a Formula One car," said Sky Sports F1 commentator
Martin Brundle. Hamilton later complained his car was driving "like a
four-poster bed", but he also admitted that he doesn't have "any more
jokers available" if he is to claim his third straight title this year.
- Cut to the quick -
Daniel Ricciardo sported a new hairdo this weekend as he
sped to second in qualifying, his highest yet this year, and finished
fourth for the third race in a row, his best start to a season. But it
remains unclear whether he'll keep his "lucky" new look, created by a
friend with a set of clippers who untidily shaved his hair at the sides
and left a curly mop on top. The results were so bad that Ricciardo had
to call in a proper hairdresser to attempt a repair job. "Hopefully it
grows back soon anyway," he said, according to news.com.au. "My
engineer's excited, I've saved about 300 grams." Australian media were
unimpressed. "It's a good thing Daniel Ricciardo spends a large amount
of time with a helmet on his head," the news.com.au article commented.
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