NICO Rosberg has now won the first three races of this year, to go with the last three of last year, achieving his double hat-trick.
At the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai last Sunday, Rosberg was untouchable once he had overtaken Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull, which had catapulted into the lead from the start.
The real drama, however started from row two backwards when the racy Russian Daniil Kvyat also came flying through to the front, causing Sebastian Vettel to react and swerve into teammate Kimi Raikkonen.
Both Ferraris lost a lot of time, Raikkonen in particular, as he had to pit to repair the damage.
Further down the grid the knock-on effect resulted in Lewis Hamilton losing his front wing after contact with Felipe Nasr’s Sauber, while Romain Grosjean damaged his Haas’s nose from contact with the other Sauber of Marcus Ericsson.
Ricciardo’s rear tyre had also met with contact somewhere and he had to pit at the end of lap three.
Thus began the big race to the front by both Ferraris and Ricciardo’s Red Bull, but only after the safety car had intervened.
By halfway, Vettel had worked his way up to third position behind Rosberg and Kvyat, while Raikkonen and Ricciardo had to work hard for their respective fourth and fifth places at the finish.
The only change up front, behind Rosberg, was that Vettel kept pushing hard eventually overtaking Kvyat.
Race order was thus Rosberg followed by Vettel and Kvyat in the first three positions, while fourth, fifth and sixth were Ricciardo, Raikkonen and Massa who had driven a steady race in his Williams Mercedes.
Hamilton, after all his drama and starting at the back of the grid, finished seventh while the two young men from Toro Rosso, Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz came in eighth and ninth respectively.
The final point’s position was taken by Valtteri Bottas in the other Williams.
Really great drives of the day had been those of Vettel, Ricciardo and Raikkonen.
The McLarens of Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso finished twelfth and thirteenth behind Sergio Perez in his Force India but they had shown a lot of promise earlier in the race, both running in the top ten for some time.
The Honda engine is getting better all the time and we hope to see it really competitive before the season is out.
Rosberg now has 75 points in the drivers’ championship, well ahead of Hamilton with 39 points, while Ricciardo is third with 36 and Vettel fourth with 33 points.
The next race is in Russia in two weeks’ time (May 1) and I certainly hope that both Ferrari and Mercedes can give us the spectacle that we deserve without damaging each other.
Surprisingly, last weekend’s race in China saw all 22 cars finish despite the shambles at the start!
HAVE YOUR SAY
Like our Facebook page, follow us on Twitter and Instagram
For news straight to your phone, add us on BBM 58F3D7A7 or WhatsApp 082 421 6033
