The Chinese Grand Prix - Highlights Formula 1

Previously. A new era. What was that? This is brilliant. This is

Formula One. Race four, China. MUSIC: "The Chain" by Fleetwood Mac.

Welcome to China. Welcome to Formula One.

Happy Easter and welcome to Shanghai for highlights of the Chinese Grand

Prix. We are experiencing warmer conditions than yesterday, but it is

not raining. This is the fourth of the season. The final long haul

before we head back to Europe. Spain and Monaco are next.

Red Bull are struggling in the Constructors' Championship. Force

India hold their highest position in second.

A familiar face in the paddock to take us through today. A new face in

the Ferrari garage. Stefano Domenicali goes out and Marco

Mattiacci comes in. Fresh to motorsport. It will be interesting

to see how he gets on as team principal. After three races, it is

almost too late for this season, it is he here to facilitate 2015? His

role is to bring them together and nurture talent and over the next few

weeks and months he will have to learn who are the good guys, who do

the drivers think not appropriate to be there and to do some serious

headhunting, because it is not working at the moment. Mercedes has

stolen a march on the championship. The racing between Nico Rosberg and

Lewis Hamilton in Bahrain was epic. Arguably some of the best racing we

have seen in a decade. Hats off to Mercedes in this era of having the

facility to impose team orders, they let them go at it, we'll to wheel.

In the end, in this particular race, I was going to say street fights,

but we are not in Monaco, but in this, Lewis threw down the gauntlet

and said to Nico Rosberg, if you want the championship, I know what

the challenges like, you will have to work harder. It does not matter

they are dominating the championship as long as you have rivalry within

the team. We could see a season like 1988. That was when they won 15 of

the races. We are a long way away to be able to say they will dominate

the season. At the drivers both want to win and the team are prepared to

let them go at it. Different conditions. Qualifying was in the

wet. On a saturated circuit the team

struggled, but especially McLaren, who did not get into the top ten.

Kevin Magnussen was disappointed in 15th, Jenson Button starting 12.

Kimi Raikkonen failed to get into the top ten. Fernando Alonso got to

fifth. Mercedes have been fast, but Nico Rosberg made a mistake on his

first fast lap. Red Bull managed to get both cars in front of Rosberg's

Mercedes but Daniel Ricciardo again got his car in front of Sebastian

Vettel. He had to settle the bird as Ricciardo put it on the front row.

Lewis Hamilton was six tenths ahead. He takes his third pole position of

the season. I was nervous at the end because I did not do another lap. I

was nervous they were going to beat the time. Lewis has never won three

consecutive races in Formula One and he hopes to change that today.

Ricciardo has out-qualified Vettel more times this year already the

Mark Webber managed throughout the whole 2013 season.

Astonishing form from Lewis Hamilton. We are witnessing

something special. This is a track he has gone well at, with four pole

positions in total. And also 34 in total, the best Brit ever. Nico

Rosberg goes well. It seems to sit the Mercedes. Is that the nature of

the track? It is a track your Lewis has done well at in the past. In

this year of Formula One, Mercedes have such good harvesting of the

power, they are faster on the straight line, which plays to the

strength of the circuit. It seemed from qualifying yesterday that's Red

Bull have a good car. They have a very good chassis. If they had a

Mercedes engine they would go quicker. The Red Bulls 20 kilometres

slower. Lewis has a nice buffer. I think very quickly he will get past

the Red Bulls and will try to catch his team-mate. Yesterday we saw

Williams seeming to take a step forward in the wet. But McLaren seem

to be going backwards with neither getting into the top ten shoot out.

It is confusing. They led the constructors after Melbourne and

they have gone backwards. It is the first time they have had two cars

not there. We have not spoken to much about tyres this year, but it

is China, so we have do, Tom. This will be about tyre management.

The rear tyres are the limiting factor usually but here it is the

front tyres, and the front left in particular as a result of long

right-hand corners on the track. Assuming they keep the tyres alive,

two stops is the fastest way to the chequered flag. We will see fuel

saving but not as much as in Albert Park and Bahrain. Pastor Maldonado

did not complete a single lap yesterday but he has a new engine

today, the same specification as his team-mate. Now the grid.

You are having a last minute chat, any concerns? Not really. It is a

long race. I think where we start is where we started Friday morning. We

will see what we can do. You start second today, and almost clear view.

You managed to out-qualified Sebastian Vettel more times this

season the Mark Webber last season. What is the key to this? I am

comfortable with the car and the package this year. I am driving

well. Driving with a clear mind. I do not have too much to lose. I am

happy with what I am doing. We have not spoken about tyres much, how

much will this race come down to that today? It will play a big part.

The fronts take a beating around here and that will be the most

challenging race yet for tyres. Not the qualifying you would have liked.

It seems McLaren are slipping, what will you be able to do this

afternoon? This afternoon is about trying to make the front tyres last.

A clean race would be good from here. Great to see you starting

again in the top ten, what will it come down to to get in the points?

We had a good qualifying and I will try to make a better race. We need

to transfer this good position into good points. You are looking

focused, what you expect today? I hope for a good race. It will be

difficult on the dry, so I hope we can do everything right. How many

stops? It can be possible two for many cars so let's try to do that.

How confident are you that the problems will be over for today? If

it stays dry I am confident. It is called macro, but we will be find

the temperatures, I think. -- cool. If Lewis Hamilton wins today it will

be his 25th. He will equal Jim Clark and Niki Lauda. Over to your

commentators. Unbeaten this year except by

mechanical gremlins in Australia, Lewis Hamilton leads the grid away

as we prepare for the start of the Shanghai Grand Prix, riding on board

the McLaren. Kevin Magnussen starting way back, in 15, and Jenson

Button starting in 12 addition. Everybody away safely -- 12th

position. We will have to wait to see what Nico Rosberg does on the

first lap. He is starting in fourth place. A dry race, different

conditions. We will see who will perform in the conditions and who

will look after their tyres. Tom, any late news? We can listen to

Rosberg first. RADIO: We have no telemetry. Perfect start. Just

right. Tom. It is the usual chaos on the formation lap as the mechanics

are running pass me flat out to the pit boxes. As we heard from Massa,

the quickest way to get to the end of the races two stops. Because it

was wet in qualifying, everybody is starting on brand-new tyres. Not a

set that has done three laps, which is normally the case when qualifying

is dry. That will help it to be more of a two-stop race. Force India, a

magnificent second at the moment in the constructors. A brilliant

performance in Bahrain. You have to think that Red Bull might have

something to say about that in this race with both cars up there in the

top three. You are riding with Sebastian Vettel onto the long, long

straight. 1.1 kilometres. We will see plenty of DRS overtaking, I am

sure, long that straight. The Williams team have both cars in the

top ten. The Williams have shown they have basic good race pace. They

have not been able to deliver the big result in the first three Grand

Prix. This will be an opportunity for them. They have the speed in a

straight line, but probably not the same car performance as Red Bull

through the middle sector. Very slow lead-up to the line by

Lewis Hamilton. What is this all about? Very, very slow, as you say.

Wanting it to bunch up. When you're in pole position, you can find

yourself sitting there for one minute before the last car comes

around and lines up. It means your engine is overheating and of course

you are losing temperature from your tyres. The Marussia and the

Caterhams are coming through the last corner. It has not had the

desired effect. So, it is Hamilton and Ricciardo on

the front row. Vettel starting third. Rosberg is fourth. Alonso

from fifth. Massa, driving for Williams. He starts in sixth. Bottas

is seventh. So the two Williams close together. Hulkenberg is in the

top ten as is Grosjean. Keep an eye on Raikkonen and Button. They are

starting from further back. But, potential, of course, to make sure

way through into the top ten. It is time for the showdown in Shanghai.

Light Lights out - away we go. A good start for the Red Bull. Alonso

is up to third. Contact with Mercedes, touching the other

Williams. A barging match to the first corner. Second place for

Vettel. Alonso battling with him. Alonso, I think, still in third

place, thought he might get alongside Vettel. Alonso is on the

attack. Look at him go on this opening lap!

He may have started 18 of his races for Ferrari from eighth place on the

grid. He is the demon starter! Hamilton with the initial advantage.

That is what he was trying to get away. Vettel and Alonso. Listen.

Well, something about Alonso. Massa is in fifth place. You have

Hulkenberg and Rosberg. Rosberg in seventh position.

Magnussen is just behind him as well. So, that is an attempt, but it

didn't quite come off there, I think. In fact, Button, yes, still

holding on to the place. Hamilton it is, as they come down

the straight. Still people jockeying for position. Grosjean trying to

protect his position. They come through turn 14 there. Hulkenberg,

doing his utmost to get past the Mercedes. Into the final corner.

Rosberg just fends him off. Rosberg - perfect start, perfect start.

There was contact between him and the Williams around the apex of turn

one. Has he got any damage to that car? So Massa is in fifth place. The

other Williams you are looking at there - Bottas, is down in tenth

position, with Kimi Raikkonen now behind him. So, we'll have to wait

and seed what happens there. But, not a great get away for them.

and seed what happens there. But, Bottas, when he was deep inside the

top ten. Kimi Raikkonen, after a disappointing qualifying, now trying

to pick up the places, where possible.

Up front, there's no doubt it is Lewis Hamilton. Alonso has dropped

back a bit now in third, after being so racy on that opening lap.

Grosjean is holding on well. He is in eighth place at the moment in the

Lotus. They have gained some performance.

Kobayashi is the lead at the back there of the quartet of the

Caterhams and Marussia. Mercedes against Mercedes power.

Kimi Raikkonen is asking of his engineer what is happening with the

speed - "I have no power at all." Magnussen saying it feels like he

has damage on the front ring. Romain Grosjean here with Felipe Massa

putting a charge in there. Jenson Button trying to get around the

outside of Jean-Eric Vergne. Button has got through here. He's

squeezed past! A great pass.

Up towards the next little hairpin at turn six. Here we are. Button

will now try and go after the next one, which is Perez. Sergio Perez

made a good start. A good first lap - gained several places. One of the

gainers rather than losers. He gained three places on that opening

lap. There is Bottas. As you say, challenged by Romain Grosjean. That

is for eighth place, currently ninth place it is now. Kimi Raikkonen,

tucked in behind them, . Every time Kimi Raikkonen's car has

been on track there's been a problem with it. So he's not been able to

show representative performance. Next time around the DRS will be up

and available and they'll be looking to overtake down at this section.

Rosberg will have to use it to maximum effect, as he will try and

pass Felipe Massa. That is what we'll all be watching for now.

Maldonado right at the... That is Grosjean with Raikkonen. Maldonado

trying to get past Kobayashi, the last time we saw him. He's still

tucked in behind Rosberg. Having a good look at trying to get past

Felipe Massa. Couldn't quite manage it into the ever-tightening turn

one. Massa fends him off. Good improvements for the Williams team.

They have put bits on the car which they hope will look after the rear

tyres. Let's see if the Williams goes for a longer stint this time.

They are looking at the set-up with light levels of... Watch his get

away here! He gets bogged off. You have Massa in the Williams. There is

contact with the Ferrari of Alonso. Watch this, as he comes a uf the

line, he -- comes off the line. You see the contact with Bottas and

Rosberg as well. Amazing there was no damage to any

of those cars. Well, there could be of damage for all we know and we

will monitor it. That was a hefty clout with Rosberg. We had not seen

that initially. Alonso went on the attack, didn't he? He tried to get

the opportunity from around the hairpin. Let's see it from Massa's

point of view. Pulls across out of the slipstream. At this point the

contact was made. Alonso was squeezing over. I don't see there

was anywhere Massa could go. It was wheel on wheel contact and no

damage. Let's see it from Alonso's point of view. You see Massa at his

in inside and well it looked like it was six and two threes there!

This is it from Rosberg. Almost stalls as he drops the clutch. That

is where it went wrong for him. Not enough RPM. You see Massa going up

on two wheels and you see the contact with his team-mate.

Well, strong front suspension in that Mercedes. Both Williams have

ended up jumping in the air on this start. Look at this again. Massa was

moving to the left. I think that was just a racing incident. Rosberg had

better sight of Bottas in the Williams than he had. I don't think

he was trying to squeeze him out I wouldn't expect any action from the

stewards. Rosberg, in the slipstream. He's just done this.

He's passed Felipe Massa. He has moved into fifth position. That is

how he did it, using DRS. Rosberg is on the climb now. Hamilton has

opened up the three-and-a-half second gap over Sebastian Vettel.

This is working perfectly for Lewis Hamilton. It is. Crucially, he's

eight seconds ahead of Rosberg, who in terms of pure performance around

the circuit, Rosberg should be able to work forward.

Unless something goes wrong for Hamilton, it is difficult to imagine

anyone being able to stop him this afternoon. Ricciardo not far away.

He's going to be under pressure from Rosberg. Hulkenberg chased by

Valtteri Bottas. Both Williams look OK, David, despite both being

bounced in the air it is surprising. It was wheel-to-wheel contact.

That other one looks like it should have done some damage. With carbon

suspension there is not much you can bend. The days you had steel

suspension you could end up bending your rods. It appears the angle of

contact was fwh the strong area of - was in the strong area of

suspension. You don't want to take too much out of your suspension. It

looks like they have surpassed any normal racing strength-test. Let's

run you through the top ten. The one who has lost more than

anyone on that opening sequence, Jean-Eric Vergne. He is down in

14th. Let's look at the tyres. Hamilton has reported the tyres were

OK. They expected to see heavy left p front grading. We have not

expecting to have any in the race. So, we will get you to start looking

at the fuel later. It is OK at the moment.

Probably not ideal. It is not. Hamilton is running a faster lap

time. 43.2. If you assume that, with the accuracy of Formula One, that he

should not be using more fuel than his team-mate, then that gives him a

back-up. Into the pit s - already. Sutil - and that is a blow. They've

had a sequence of non-finishes. Sutil looks like he could be out of

this race. It will be the third he's had this

year. Left-front graining. Can we see that? Can you see evidence of

it? You see a different colour on the tyre. We will get a better view

if we get another shot, especially as he goes through one of the

right-hand corners. He's hanging in there well. We wondered if after

Friday, where he was quickest in one of the sessions, whether he was

flattering to deceive. Alonso is hanging in there behind Hamilton.

That is right. He's not miles away. It is encouraging for Ferrari, after

Bahrain, which has seen changes to the management. . Tyres looking

quite good. On the left front, but not any problems. Soham ham sounded

very confident -- so, Hamilton sounded very confident. He continues

out in front by 5.3 seconds in the early stages of the Chinese Grand

Prix. We see Vettel in second place, chased by Fernando Alonso. The

second Red Bull is Daniel Ricciardo. Under attack from Nico Rosberg.

Felipe Massa stays ahead, using Nico Hulkenberg. He has Valtteri Bottas

in the other Williams. They are Mercedes-powered. The top speed on

the straight, Nico Rosberg. 334 kilometre per hour. That gets your

attention when you hit the brakes. They will come through turn 13. The

tyres, front left, well over 100 degrees they drop to 60 degrees by

the time they get into 14. Of course, that has an effect on the

actual pressure within the tyre. It makes sense they are going for

the harder tyre. An early stop the Jenson Button. It was a good stop.

2.6 seconds. We could see a different strategy from McLaren as

they try to scrape together points. That is a sobering view for Jenson

Button as he is last man running. Tom. The McLarens were only getting

five or six laps from the option tyres before having to change them

and it is ironic that last year's race was won on a three-stop

strategy and McLaren were the only team to do a two stop. It looks like

the reverse this time around. Teams will be reacting according to the

sort of life they are seeing from the tyres and the lap times they are

delivering. Hamilton, 1.6 seconds faster than Vettel in second in the

last lap. RADIO: Graining on the front left. Understood. There are no

good gaps behind. They mean it is not a good time to bring you into

the pit and if they did they would drop him back into traffic and he

will not game from that. -- gain. On Friday, it looks like Red Bull have

this handle. Daniel Ricciardo, there was a big difference with Vettel.

Vettel was getting graining while Ricciardo did a long run of 18 laps

on the option tyres. He said the key to that was starting softly and not

pushing too hard. In the early laps it was interesting to see him

letting Vettel get away a little bit and the gap is now stabilising. It

will be interesting to see if he can close it. It looks like there was

some lock-up from Alonso. That graining could we affecting the

amount of grip he has on the front tyre. Hulkenberg in the seventh as

he exits that turn onto the straight. He is chasing Felipe Massa

and is also being followed by Bottas, who is just outside DRS

range. Grosjean is holding on to his place. Last year, Lotus finished

second courtesy of Kimi Raikkonen. They could not match Fernando

Alonso, who won 12 months ago. Bottas and Grosjean, headed for the

pits. Hamilton one seconds quicker than Vettel that last lap. He will

win this at a canter if you can keep up this pace. Grosjean for his first

pit stop and he goes on to the medium tyre, the harder of the two

compounds. Following the strategy of Jenson Button. He will be ahead of

him when he joins again. Coming into traffic, he is with the caterings

and the Marussias. Maldonado has not been able to get past Kobayashi. The

latter in 16th and only two seconds behind Kevin Magnussen. So he is

doing a fine job. This is the lock-up. He got away with it. He

pumped the brake pedal. The graining does not look as bad as what we got

used to last year. They bring a specific tyre for this circuit to

try to combat the extra loads you see at high speed and also the

length of the corners in Turn 1 and behind the pits in turn seven. We

might see the 210 mph mark I can later in the race. -- Mark broken.

Bahrain was a great track for Force India. I do not think they felt the

car would be quite so competitive here and it looks as though the

Williams have found something as Bottas puts pressure on. He has the

advantage of being in the DRS own. Gaining another ten kilometres per

hour, depending on the efficiency. Massa, Kimi Raikkonen, Sergio Perez,

going for the harder tyre. Something has gone wrong is a Massa. A very

slow stop. It looked like the wrong wheel was brought to the car. Oh,

dear. A horrible stop the Massa. Dropping him way down the field.

They cannot get the left rear fitted. This is such a shame. His

hands in the air with exasperation. As they take of the old set, the nut

goes with it. They have had to remove the not manually. -- nut.

Eriksson made a pit stop in the Caterham, but that will have dropped

Massa to the tail of the field. Another lock-up from Hulkenberg,

giving Bottas the chance. Is he coming in this lap? Yes, he is. I am

sitting waiting. The mechanics are getting the medium tyre out to the

sitting waiting. The mechanics are Hulkenberg. -- for Hulkenberg.

Alonso has gone through the medium tyre. Did you get any view of what

went wrong with the Williams stop? I tyre. Did you get any view of what

did not see that. Sergio Perez was in at the same time. If Williams

were trying to put on the wrong tyre, that is the second time in as

many days Massa have that problem. In qualifying, he said in Q3 the

team put intermediates, which meant he had to go onto used in Q3 the

team put intermediates, which meant he had to go on to used

intermediates when the track was at its best at the end of Q3. That was

an error. Hulkenberg out again. He came out in front of Grosjean. And

Kimi Raikkonen. He was battling with those drivers at the lower end. We

will have two see if it works out for Hulkenberg, trying to get points

out of the race today. His team-mate Sergio Perez might struggle.

Hamilton leading, virtually one second per lap. An incredible pace.

He is in a zone around this racetrack. RADIO: There is possibly

rubber in the front wing. They do not have telemetry but he will be

able to feel as we have Vettel in from third. An important stop. Going

onto the harder tyre. He could probably still do this on a two

stop. Some of those who have already stopped might have to go for three

stops. We can see whether Ricciardo can look after his tyres as well as

he did in practice. The Toro Rosso gets out of the way. That helped him

move along a little bit. He made a mistake, he pulled in from third, he

was running second. RADIO: two or three mile Ops. -- up. He had given

the message there was serious graining and so he has not been able

to make his tyres go as far as Ricciardo. It will be interesting to

see of the strategy works. You expect Vettel to be faster on the

fresh tyres. Alonso is ahead of Vettel, both of them having made the

stop. Alonso had been trying to get past him in the early stages and so

this pit stop has worked the Ferrari. What we call the undercut.

The fresh tyre working in favour. RADIO: Box, box, box. Tom. We spoke

about the undercut and how you get an advantage by pitting first. What

you have to be careful with this track is that does not mean you have

to make your last pit stop a view laps earlier than the person you are

racing, otherwise you run out of tyres at the end. We saw that with

Kimi Raikkonen in 2012 when he dropped from second to 10th place in

one lap when his tyres went over a cliff edge towards the end. Nico

Rosberg makes his pit stop. He will come back out behind Jean-Eric

Vergne. He has not made a stop yet. We saw him move ahead of Nico

Hulkenberg at the early stage. It is interesting when you see how close

Hulkenberg is, how the early stop worked. This means the Mercedes

could go for a two stop whereas Hulkenberg might have to go for

three. It depends how long they get on the harder tyre. As the circuit

robbers in -- rubbers. They have gone early. On board with Sebastian

Vettel and that is how close Alonso is in DRS range. They do not have

the same straight-line speed as Mercedes but the Ferrari is faster

than the Red Bull. RADIO: Ricciardo the only car in the pit window at

the moment. Ricciardo, not far-off. He is not able to close the gap. The

engine -- engineer, saying how far he was ahead, effectively he would

be seven seconds behind Ricciardo. They will be hoping to see Ricciardo

stop ahead of Hamilton, to allow him a clean stop. Kimi Raikkonen making

a move on the lotus of Grosjean. Did he lose the place again? He may have

made it stick. This is Bottas. He gets a much better drive than

Gutierrez of 13 and before the DRS zone he is able to affect the pass.

Hulkenberg, sorry, Perez, finding his way past Jenson Button, fighting

for 14th. Out of the bites, which is surprisingly varied in mind they are

Mercedes powered. Both have been podium finishes. RADIO: Do you think

it is worth? Confirmed. That is to get out of the dirty air. To try to

make this stint as long as possible. This is about the battle to second.

Playing into the hands of Daniel Ricciardo. This will be interesting.

Will he come out behind Alonso and Vettel? I do not think there is any

chance of him being in front. He has gone onto the hard -- harder tyre.

Where will Nico Rosberg be relative to Ricciardo? Fairly tight. He has

so much more speed. Hamilton will now be able to make his stop.

There is another Red Bull and Ferrari to deal with. Raikkonen is

still chasing Magnusson. The Mercedes has so much pace. RADIO:

Surprisingly, the front tyre is still good, as well as the rear.

Hamilton is loving it, everything is great. Magnusson has not made a pit

stop and is going deeper into the race than we would have expected.

Jenson Button stopped early. They have gone the different strategies.

He started on the harder tyre. It will be interesting to see how far

he can go. Probably 20 laps on the harder tyre. There are marbles on

the right side of the track, more than we have seen in the first

Grands Prix of the season. That is the effect of the long corners in

China. It looks as if the revised Renault engine has more horsepower.

Vettel was struggling against the Ferrari. Grosjean used DRS and will

be well past. That brings him up a position and puts him into ninth

place. Magnusson in ten from this different strategy. Look at that -

he's all over the curb and the car doesn't look like it's got any grip.

It has been a difficult start for McLaren, after that great run in

Melbourne. Does Hamilton have a lock-up here? He was careful to get

off the brake. He knows there is plenty of run-off. He's not worried

about the run-off area. That is right. He doesn't have to take any

risks. No threat from behindch he has not made a pit stop -- from

behind. He has not made a pit stop. He's 30 seconds ahead. That cost him

seconds last time around. A beautiful set up for a two-stop race

here. He's made the tyres last longer than anybody else. He is

looking after the tyres beautifully. Cautious entry into the pit then.

Let's watch the pit stop. No pressure on the team. Paddy turns

back to look at the monitors and things going according to plan for

Lewis Hamilton, who will come out comfortably ahead. Alonso is in

second place. It is interesting the gap is not as big as you may have

expected. That was a cautious pit stop from Lewis Hamilton. I think

that is Magnussen on the inside. Yes, it is. Magnussen, on those

tyres, which have done so much, he's doing all he can to femed off the

Mexican and in comes Magnussen to the pit. He's done an 18-lap stint

on the hard harder tyre. Hopefully the soft tyre may last

more. When you cross the start/finish line, read the number

on the low lower left of the dash. 71.9.

Copy, copy! So, you have more fuel at this point. So fuel is good!

Magnussen around the outside. Kobayashi... That was impressive.

He's gone for the soft tyre. He's loving the grip he's got. He made a

move on Maldonado there. It has moved him into 15th position. Pastor

Maldonado is ahead of him now. Towards the back is Felipe Massa,

after that awful pit stop. The final runner is Marcus Ericsson. Only one

car out, that was Adrian Sutil. That's not the comfort zone he had

earlier in the Grand Prix. He wanted more than that. If you have traffic,

if you have some incident you have to deal with, then that

four-and-a-half seconds could be heated up very quickly. He's put in

a quick lap, Hamilton. We'll have to wait and see what happens. Right now

Hamilton is doing everything he needs. Let's get some news from Tom.

We have tried to find out about that pit stop of Williams. . I got

confirmation they were trying to put the left right on the right rear of

the tire. Car. Oh, dear, an operational error. He's about to

pass Chilton, I believe. The procedures they go through,

obviously each team will have their own procedures. The tyres going on

the car will be sitting there, plugged into their blankets. The

front right will grab his and the sequence is like that. In theory it

could not be possible to pick up the wrong tyre. Either they were out of

sequence or they were stacked incorrectly. Jenson Button not that

quick. Pace is good. Only the Mercedes are quicker than you. You

are quicker than Alonso and Vettel. That is good for him. Alonso is in

second place. It is interesting that Hulkenberg has been reporting on his

radio that he's getting grain graining. He's now on the harder

tyre. They are both subject to graining. It is to do with the track

surface and temperature, which is at 23 Celsius - at the lower end of

what these tyres a like. Rosberg is getting on the back of

Vettel. As you see, McLaren out front. See

how much it is struggling to get the power down. See the straight-line

speed - pulls on the straight. Will catch up through 12. And then,

he'll get on the better drive in 13. Rosberg with his DRS open. This is

Vettel on turn one. This is for third position. Rosberg getting

closer and closer to the Red Bull now as Hamilton leads by 5.8

seconds. Alonso is four seconds ahead of these two. Vettel was

taking it steady to look after his tyres now, he is now having to work

hard. He was wide there. Rosberg's pressure is about to tell. This

should be like taking candy from a kid. I know the last time I tried

off my five-year-old, it was not easy! So, I need a different

expression for how relatively easy this should be for Rosberg to

overtake! He's coming up to the zone in which

to do it, of course. All he has to do is keep it neat and

tidy and close to the back of the Red Bull as they come up to 11 and

12. Look at the fuel use here. You can see Rosberg deeper into the

green than Vettel for the race. Vettel has been saving fuel. You can

tell by the lap percentage. Vettel has been saving some fuel, maybe to

give himself more of a boost later in the race. For the race itself,

Vettel is a little marginal. He's having to save on the lap. Here

comes Rosberg. Vettel quite aggressive there. Look up from

Rosberg. They both run deep. Vettel will try and get it back on the

exit. Two German drivers side by side here. Rosberg has it for the

final turn. Vettel has to give it up. A big slide through from

Rosberg. He has DRS now. It is a very open turn one. Not a big

braking at all into that corner. We know the Red Bull has a good

chassis. He should be able to stick with the Mercedes.

Rosberg fends that off. He still has to have a good run out of this

corner. This is playing into the hands of Ricciardo. He aeling be

able to close that gap up. He was 1.5 seconds behind. He will not for

long. Ricciardo will close up, thanks to all

Fair play to Vettel for not giving it up to Rosberg. Whether that

proves costly, now it has allowed his team-mate to get in the zone. He

has more straight-line speed. Trying to develop this package. Will that

cost them later in the race? RADIO: Think about that most now.

Rosberg will have to catch and pass Alonso. He has got tremendous pace.

Look how much quicker he's been going than Vettel. Much, much

faster. Will we hear another radio message about, I can go faster than

him? Will it be a battle? Vettel defends. He's not letting his

team-mate through at this juncture. His team-mate, on fresher tyres - in

theory, he should have like-for-like, better performance.

This will give Ricciardo another opportunity. Vettel holds the

insideline. He's not close enough there. He moves to the outside.

Vettel defends. Tricky to go around the outside, as we saw. Vettel's

tyres do seem to be giving up grip a little now, being that bit older.

Through one, two and three. I wonder what Christian Horner is thinking!

We are on board here with Ricciardo, up towards turn six. No opportunity

here, I think. They have to be careful they don't lose too much

time. Hulkenberg is only eight second behind them. If they get into

the battle, that will allow Force India, but looking good on fuel

usage so far between the two cars. They are on it for the race target.

Over the lap Ricciardo using slightly less and nothing really to

choose between them, as you would expect. You mention Hulkenberg not

far behind them. He's in sixth place.

Trying to get the good exit. Did he lose a bit there? Definitely. An

issue through 13. That has allowed Vettel to open that gap. DRS pops

open. RADIO: Let Daniel through, please.

Vettel being told to let him through. He was not close enough. He

will not like that message. You could see the rear of the car

lifting when he opens the DRS. That takes a load off, pushing down

through the wing. That reduces the drag and allows the car to go

faster. Red Bull just getting these guys to

sort it out. As you say, the pressure from behind. This is

fascinating to see Vettel now in two races in succession being asked to

get out of the way of Daniel Ricciardo. Ricciardo seems to have

the edge here in Shanghai. I think that means he will not let

him through. That is exactly what it means! We'll have to see. "Tough

luck," he says! This is the hard edge of Sebastian Vettel that you

don't ulds see when he's chatting to the -- you don't always see when

he's chatting to the media. I understand what he's saying - like

Massa. Didn't want to move over for Bottas a few races ago. It is very

early in the race. He has dropped back as per the instructions from

Ferrari. He has not been able to run his race as clean as he would like.

Daniel getting into a position now. He's done 15kms less on the tyres.

He has the DRS open. Vettel goes defensive. Ricciardo down the

outside. Definitely no way that Sebastian Vettel is responding to

that message and letting him through. He'll fight for his

position here. Remember when he was told to let

Webber through. A good opportunity here. Vettel takes it wider.

Ricciardo gives him space. That was interesting! I didn't think he would

let him in there. There's a massive amount of speed on the entry phase.

Got a little bit wide. In the end, a great pace from Daniel Ricciardo.

Daniel Ricciardo is proving to be a true superstar this year. That being

delivered once again w a great passing manoeuvre. He seems to be in

better shape. DRS open. Had a lot more speed. Sebastian Vettel looked

like he was going to turn in. Maybe he did get sight of him and think,

this will be too close. In doing so, he was out on the dirty line. The

ter mal-- thermal camera here. You can see the tyres building in

temperature, as he loads it through. Daniel Ricciardo has moved into

fourth position, as a result of that. This is for 14th place.

RADIO: On a two-stop. Daniel on a two-stop.

OK so verses a three-stop for Vettel. That is why they were trying

to get that message across. Maybe in the end Vettel gave space. If he's

on a three and the other is on a two - 22 seconds loss for another set of

tyres. I can not believe he's going to be that much slower than his

team-mate. Maybe he has an issue with the balance of the car. He

called for front-wing improvement during that. Daniel Ricciardo

without any of the pressure of ux what did I have? -- of, what did I

have? And the Vettel he has gone from

winning championships to struggling racing at the front. Different

mindsets and pressures but interesting to watch. Gutierrez was

under pressure from Magnusson, but it was not quite the room he needed

to get past him. Gutierrez went out of this race last year when he

missed read his breaking down and crashed to -- into the man who is

now his team-mate, Adrian Sutil. There was almost a starter from his

car. He has lost the place. Magnusson moving up to 14th, but

well outside of the points. We gather that Adrian Sutil went out

due to engine problems. Only one out so far and this race normally sees a

good many finishers. This year, we have seen 15, 16 cars getting to the

end. RADIO: We have a problem with fourth gear. Try to use it as little

as possible. He is in 10th place. David, with these engines this year,

it is a little bit more possible to miss out again than it was. A lot of

talk with the hybrid technology. RADIO: Sebastian, stay out, it helps

us. We are aware. How do we interpret that? Either he sent a

message we have not heard or he has sent a message from his steering

wheel, there are raters with preassigned messages so they do not

have to broadcast what they are doing. He could be into the last

area with the tyres. He could be saying I need to come in. I need to

do three stops. But, for the team, they want him as rearguard action.

It looks as if most want to push it to two stops. They are obviously

getting enough performance and length of stint from the harder

tyres. And at the halfway point, and a good effort from Alonso as we see

Gutierrez heading to the pit. Alonso 12 seconds behind Hamilton. He has

been closed in. Rosberg is behind him and running half a second a lap

quicker. Rosberg closing the gap to the Ferrari. Grosjean is holding on

in 10th, but we know he has a gear problem. The two Toro Rossos have

been running together for a while. Different strategies from the

McLarens, but they are not quite together, a gap of three seconds.

Alonso, we are watching. Gutierrez is 15th. Pastor Maldonado is ahead

of Kobayashi and Bianchi and Massa has not been able to get past them.

He is stuck in 19th. Grosjean looked like he had an issue in the braking

zone. He did not slow down. Whether that is the recovery system... It

looks like he is heading for retirement. He does have a gear

problem. I wonder if it has developed. If he did not get it on

the way down, you get no engine braking. Jenson Button has come in,

he was one of the first to stop and so he has to come in. He did 21

laps. It is marginal for him. He may do it. Usually they get more life in

the tyre at the end of the race when there is more rubber down and the

car is lighter. Degradation is less of an issue. It looks like it is all

over for Grosjean. He was in the top ten, but sadly it looks as if the

prospect of points has come to an end. How much is Rosberg catching

Alonso? On the last lap, seven tenths of a second faster. Alonso

will be kept informed I am sure of the gap between himself and the

Mercedes. It seems the Friday form Ferrari -- for Ferrari is coming

into this. Significantly closer. Previous races they have been half a

minute behind. RADIO: This tyre does not feel as good as the last one.

Interesting. They were better off with the softer tyre, I wonder if

that means they will go back to it? It is faster and if it can do the

distance, why not? We are looking at the gain in lap time. This is

interesting, they are fighting in the top ten. This is where the crew

earns its money. Let's hope Williams have a better time. There was a

slight delay for Williams. And though change in the order between

the cars. Bottas half a second slower on the stop than Hulkenberg.

We have a Toro Rosso making its way in. Kvyat. He has been hovering

outside the top ten. It leaves Vergne out there. Kevin Magnussen

coming in. He is on the different strategy. He had a short stint on

the soft tyre that he went out on. Presumably he will go straight back

out on the medium. He managed 13 laps, which is similar to what we

saw in the early part of the race. But you would expect them to go

further as the fuel burns. RADIO: Push hard to pass Alonso. He was a

second faster on the last lap than Alonso. This lap, three tenths. He

should have DRS available on this lap. It will be a Mercedes 1-2

again. Ricciardo opens the gap to five and a half seconds over his

team-mate. Sergio Perez using the new tyre effectively. Alonso is

chased by Rosberg. Massa went into the pits and it was successful,

which is good news, as he tries to make his way and perhaps challenge

for a top-10 place, but that is looking unlikely. Pastor Maldonado

has moved up the order. He is potentially in a points scoring...

Just outside the points scoring position but that will change when

we Seymour pit stops. -- see more. The Ferrari is coming in. That will

be Alonso. Coming under increasing pressure from Rosberg. This is the

changeover. I am sure once Rosberg mixes stop... The undercut might

work for Alonso. It might be an advantage to come out on the new

attire, but he will still have the same problem. Rosberg will have the

fresh attire at the end of the race. Alonso in a nice clear area with a

decent amount of space around him. And next up the road is Bianchi. We

can see what happened to Sebastian Vettel. Was it a lock-up? RADIO: Are

you kidding? He has new tyres, of course he is quicker. That is

Kobayashi, by the way. How do you read that? He is one lap down.

Technically, he should not be racing with Vettel. Kimi Raikkonen making a

move on the Toro Rosso of Jean-Eric Vergne. That was a straightforward

DRS pass. Vergne has not been into the pits and stop in fact, he has

been in and gone back out. Lewis Hamilton is behind him. He is

lapping cars at this stage and so it gets mixed up between the different

cars. He lacked Kevin Magnussen. RADIO: You will have to pull away

from Vettel. You will keep getting blue flags unless you pull away. He

is trying to. He is setting his best personal sector time. You can

understand it will probably be short lived. Vettel into the pits. From

fourth position. This will take him to the end of the race. They have

kept him on the two stop race. What can he deliver in the final part? It

has been a disappointing day by his standards. He will come out behind

the Caterham of Eriksson. Pastor Maldonado is chasing Gutierrez the

14th place. Maldonado had a miserable weekend. He had the car

stopped, he did not get out in qualifying, but at the moment the

car is running reliably. But a terrible start to the season. The

man he pitched into a role when they were last together on track... We

can hear from his team-mate Grosjean.

Disappointing. It looked like a strong weekend but you lost fourth

gear and was that the problem at the end? Yes, we lost the gear for five

laps and then we lost all of the gears. It is a shame. We worked hard

all weekend to try to get a good car and qualifying and there is not much

reward. Try to keep positive. A lock-up the Nico Rosberg. That was a

mistake from Rosberg as he chases the lap time. He has come in. That

was the replay but he has come into the pits. Ricciardo is also in

behind. That will be interesting. There is not much between Rosberg

and Ricciardo. Ricciardo will see that and think he will have a

chance. They both come out behind the Ferrari. The gap was five

seconds before the stop. It looks like it has closed up slightly.

Vettel does his fastest lap of the race, 42.1. That allows him to close

up to his team-mate. He will be chasing Ricciardo, but Ricciardo

will have fresh attire is at the end of the race courtesy of the later

pit stop. There is plenty to enjoy. The battle between the Red Bull

team-mates, bats that will come alive in the closing stages. On

board with Pastor Maldonado as he chases Gutierrez. He took a more

narrow line through 13, so he has a quicker car. RADIO: Box, box, box.

We will clean the front wing. He left space the Gutierrez. He

might have done it. We switch away because the leader is into the pits.

Hamilton's final stop. All under control so far. The harder medium

compounds. Maldonado got past Gutierrez and Maldonado moves into

14th. Lewis Hamilton joins with a big lead over his rivals. We will

keep an eye on behind, the fight was second, third and fourth places is

well the -- where the interest will be.

The gap between Alonso and Rosberg - that will be interesting. . They are

all evenly spaced at the moment. How is it all going to work out in

the closing stages? That is what we'll wait to see. This is one of

those drives by Lewis Hamilton. I mean he was brilliant last time out

in Bahrain. That was pure racing instinct. What he's doing here is

what you dream off, you start on pole and control the race and open

up the of gap at will. If he was a masterclass of how to do it - this

is masterclass and absolutely taking the maximum out of your machine.

Still some way to go before the end of the Grand Prix, of courses.

Certainly getting more out -- of course. Certainly getting more out

of it. Rosberg has been fighting all day. Kevin Magnussen here trying to

make a move. This is for 12th place. Magnussen desperate to try and

reclaim some of that quos do. He's dropped away in the last Grand Prix.

A non-finish for both McLarens in Bahrain.

He was not showing the same sort of pace that Button was on that day. He

was very aware that the team looked at that and realised he did haven't

the pace on race day. It is why they put hoo him in the car -- put him in

the car. Rosberg, two seconds faster than Alonso on that lap. He's the

fastest man on the race track. It does not look like there'll be a

lot Alonso will be able to do to defend his second place. You can see

Rosberg, who is lapping another car. You are on board with Nico Rosberg

and that Ferrari is getting closer. RADIO: Let us now on the fuel.

It really annoys me to do that. RADIO: Copy that!

Happy to accept that. He wants to gain that ground as quickly as

possing. . That -- as possible. It is not possible for him to look at

that nice TV screen, get a number and tell his engineer. It is as much

as about saying, let me focus, hunt down Alonso, get into second place.

He will accept, if I can get there and worry about where I am on fuel.

He looks comfortable on fuel. Alonso is more marginal than Rosberg.

Rosberg seems to be very comfortable indeed. He has the pace, the fuel

economy. Mercedes power unit seems to have the edge in every aspect.

With the fuel... This flow-rate, 100km per hour. Maximum flow rate.

They are delivering more horsepower at this stage of the season. The

fact Alonso has been able to sit there in second place and you know,

it has not been easy for Rosberg. He is catching very quickly now.

Alonso, a much better performance than we have seen this year. Alonso

needs to watch out that Ricciardo has been quicker the last two laps.

He's only eight seconds behind Alonso. That could give him some

bother for challenging for third place. Red Bull were not ability to

do anything in straight line, relative to the Ferrari. Ricciardo

seems to be getting more out of his car than his team-mate at the

moment. That is right. I say Alonso is going better. If he were to

finish fourth, well he's had a couple of those already this year.

That is Massa there. Valtteri Bottas is currently in seventh place, by

the way. Have not seen much of the Finn and the Williams. He is ahead

of Kimi Raikkonen, who is in eighth position, as we focus on this battle

for second place. Perez is in the points currently. I wonder if Perez

will have the tyres to take him through to the end. In ninth. Alonso

going past Felipe Massa, who is being lapped. His former team-mate,

of course. Massa provides no opposition. I am sure he'll do the

same for Rosberg. Interesting on the Sir it is

tracker. I can see Bottas 12 seconds up the road. -- circuit tracker.

Of course his GPS sensor cannot be working. We are getting no

information. He's absolutely in the race. Rosberg just closing up ever

more to the Ferrari ahead of him. And it looks very much as though it

will be another Mercedes one-two here today. Rosberg has had to work

through the rask after that abysmal start.

-- task. Alonso has used more than Rosberg.

Ricciardo and Vettel have used similar amounts. Hulkenberg less.

Raikkonen, interestingly, slightly less than Alonso. DRS activation,

clearly within a second. Alonso running out to the white line.

Rosberg coming tighter to get in cleaner air. He gets a great drive.

DRS coming up. You see the white lines.

Look at the difference and speed. Nico Rosberg takes second place.

Hamilton leads. Rosberg now second. Mercedes are one and two. Alonso in

third. Now, we'll have to see how quickly he gets caught by the Red

Bull of Ricciardo. Straight line advantage wise, that goes to

Ferrari. At a point Vettel was quicker. There was no way he could

get past Alonso. RADIO: Plus 12, Vettel. You can't catch Alonso. Last

few laps Vettel has been eighth-tenths or a second closer

than Ricciardo. Whatever issue he's having, he's not focussed and going

forward. He's maintaining position. Pretty much trading lap times.

Should be comfortable to maintain that fifth place.

If you stay with it until the end of 13, you will see the black lines

moving across. It is like a finger across a clay pot.

You sort of stretch the clay out. Look at the front left. You will see

that moving. The graining moves from left to right. And then on to the

stripe. Lost a little bit to Alonso. Let's watch him to the hairpin here.

As we come away as he goes on to the brakes. Fuel use-wise, he's looking

more marginal. Over the race it is the same as Alonso. On if lap he's

using a touch -- on the lap he's using a touch more. Alonso is

responding to the pace. Just one-tenth quicker that time than

Alonso. There is no doubt that Ricciardo has a race on his hands

here, if he is to try and get past Alonso for third place. Hamilton and

Rosberg, one and two in this Grand Prix. Alonso holding on. Trying to

get his podium finish. Under the watchful eye of the new boss. Will

he do it? Will this guy deny him? Daniel Ricciardo looking for his

first podium, having that first taken from Australia. Vettel is

behind them in fifth. Unable to do anything. Hulkenberg is in sixth

place. A fairly lonely sixth. He has Bottas three seconds behind and a

big gap to Kimi Raikkonen. A view of our race leader in slow motion here.

You can see the wobble on the wing, centrally mounted for this year. As

it carries the load at 200 miles per hour, you can see it is stressed to

its maximum. There is Pastor Maldonado. He might just make the

end of this race. He did finish in Bahrain. He had the contact with

Gutierrez. He got the car to the finish. Lauda there - he has won 25

the Grand Prixes in his time. Lewis Hamilton looking to match this, if

he continues where he is right now. Let's get an update. With ten laps

to go, there'll be no more scheduled pit stops. Lap times are holding up

well looking at the timing screen there. It will be very interesting

to monitor Jenson Button, in particular. He was one of the first

guys to make his second of pit stop. His lap times are good. I have

spoken to McLaren, they say, yes, the intention was to get him to the

end of the race. It will be marginal, as we get towards the end

of the race. Is anyone going to fall off that cliff? That is what we need

to wait and see. Talking of Button, not really catch catching him in

tenth place. He's losing some of his electrical power. There may be

problems for Button. His last lap only a little slower. It is not a

huge issue just yet. Definitely one to watch as we go through this.

Nico Rosberg just off the back marker. Vergne is behind Button. If

Button was in trouble, then he'll have to watch out for the other Toro

Rosso. It is the Toro Rosso of his. Ful can compare team-mates. -- We

can compare team-mates. We were talking to Jean-Eric Vergne yet.

RADIO: Fernando Alonso is matching your pace. Keep pushing!

Jean-Eric Vergne is heavier than his team-mate. It is on the weight

limit. His car is over the weight limit. He reons that costs him --

reckons that costs him two-tenths of performance. So the team are doing

what they can to lighten the car. It has not given us an accurate reading

between the two team-mates. It is an issue in Formula One, driver weight

and the fact the taller, heavier drivers are penalised this year.

Where is Ricciardo? Well, the gap, 4.9 seconds when they last went

across the line, has not changed significantly over this last lap.

Alonso doing everything required of him here to stay in front. I wonder

how the new boss is receiving this! It would be a huge boost to Ferrari

if they get a podium finish after such a difficult start to the

season. It has been a great track for Ferrari. He won here 12 months

ago. You cannot put any performance boost down to Marco fronting up as

team principal. So,le he can take some satisfaction as he sits with

his family back in Italy. Yes, right.

This is much more promising. Yes, of course, all the work we have seen

from Ferrari this weekend and for many years has been done to his

leadership. Certainly they need to find some performance if they are

going to challenge Mercedes. They are not at the same level as mer say

di, nor is any other team, in-- Mercedes, nor is any other team,

including Red Bull. We are on lap 51 out of 56. After

fourth-tenths up. He's on schedule to pull a bit of time. That said,

Alonso will get some slipstream off in front.

Rups a bit wide, actually, through -- runs a bit wide, actually through

turn 14. Interestingly, down the back, I

mentioned that Kobayashi had made a third pit stop, well he is catching

Bianchi quickly every lap. On the last lap Kobayashi gained over a

second. It looks like Caterham will regain that position from Marussia.

Marussia will still be leading Caterham.

Look at the graining of that front left of Alonso. He's running out of

tyres. That will give a bit of heart to Daniel Ricciardo, who has got the

gap down to 3.6 seconds. I am sure that is being reported

back to Daniel Ricciardo. Was that the respect thing? Make the

youngster go round the outside. Ricciardo has lost a bit of time to

Alonso. Almost four tenths he has gained he has lost again on that,

thanks to Maldonado not been as quick to get out of the way. I do

not think Ricciardo will be too impressed. Unless the tyres of

Alonso fall off the cliff, I do not think Ricciardo will be able to do

anything. Back on board with him. His team-mate, you can see how far

back he is. 19 seconds behind. He is comfortably in fifth. The gap to

Hulkenberg has come down. Hulkenberg lapping at about the same pace.

Hulkenberg has come down. Hulkenberg Vettel has not been able to deliver

the performance we might have expected. Ricciardo has had the

edge. It makes no difference of drivers at this level have races

they have done at a particular track. Ricciardo probably feels that

home, after racing in the Asia series. It does not make a

difference when you are a Formula One driver, but it is nice for him

to be in a comfortable environment. He has been in the Red Bull system

for a time. He has not had to get used to a new system. Vettel came

out of the young driver programme and so they are all in this

professional comfort zone that allows them to focus on their

driving. Alonso getting into the traffic at Notts the best place.

Further back, Jenson Button, 11th, it does not looked like he will get

in the points. Kevin Magnussen, being lapped. McLaren showed good

form with Jenson Button in Bahrain and of course the great opening with

two cars on the podium in Australia. This time it has been difficult. One

to watch 's Bottas, who has been catching Hulkenberg a little bit.

Hulkenberg has been told to pick up the pace. That is another one to

keep an eye on as we still, of course, want to see whether Alonso

is staying ahead of Ricciardo. The fuel use on the left-hand side. Red

Bull are topping the list. We hope they have not gone over the limit.

There were fuel sensor problems against the Red Bull this weekend.

They had one go slightly adrift. We hope it will not cause them problems

today. In those situations when there is a genuine failure, the FIA

have to be notified and then they allow them to go on the fallback

system and so no issues like we saw in Melbourne. Always huge support

for Ferrari in China. Kobayashi has just caught Bianchi, but has not

passed him. In that battle they are absolutely together. Kobayashi, if

you remember, in his first stint in Formula One, he was spectacular when

it came to overtaking. Ricciardo was quicker that last lap but it is not

enough. The gap is too big, unless one of them had to save fuel

massively. And if it is anyone, it will be Red Bull, not so much

Ferrari. Lewis Hamilton meanwhile cruising. It is a brilliant drive.

He has not had to fight for its like in Bahrain. This has been

controlled. More like Malaysia, when he made the initial break from

Rosberg in the opening lap. This time it is different. Rosberg Bob

down terribly. Had contact with Williams and has had to fight his

way to get back into second position. For Lewis Hamilton, it has

been straightforward. He has an 18 seconds advantage. Not the biggest

margin we have seen on the Shanghai circuit. I think Nico Rosberg have

the biggest winning margin a couple of years ago, beating Jenson Button

by just over 20 seconds. We know that Lewis Hamilton has not had to

push. : RADIO: I just saw the chequered flag. I did not see it. I

did not see it out. Maybe they were unfurling the chequered flag. Is

that a word? I think it was just the man with the chequered flag getting

ready. I do not think he will back off until he comes back around. I am

sure he had a message to say keep going. Kobayashi has not got past

Bianchi. Looking out of the window, Max Chilton, dude to the back of the

gearbox of Jenson Button for the past couple of laps. Racing each

other. A sobering sight Jenson to see a Marussia. Jenson Button out of

the points as is the other McLaren. It has been a disappointing weekend

to them. They have upgrades on the way for Barcelona. All of the teams

are likely to have upgrades with the first round of the European season.

It is a target for all of the teams. Out of the final corner, Lewis

Hamilton comes through to win the Chinese Grand Prix. He takes his

hat-trick of victories. His third straight win of the season. And the

third of him in China. It was a brilliant performance. Completely

untroubled. Second place goes to Nico Rosberg. His team-mate. And in

the background, the Ferrari. Fernando Alonso gets his first

podium of the season, defending from Daniel Ricciardo. Ricciardo drove

superbly to beat his team-mate by over 20 seconds. Alonso held on

after the brilliant start and a podium finish for Ferrari will be a

boost. RADIO: Excellent drive, Lewis. Epic. What happened in the

battle with Kobayashi and Bianchi? This was the last lap, second to

last corner, got down the inside and I confirm he finished ahead of

Bianchi. A wonderful battle. RADIO: Daniel, very good. Just ran out of

laps. I got better as the race went on. A 1-2 finish the Mercedes. And

Fernando Alonso. The Lewis Hamilton, a 25th career victory.

Sergio Perez getting into the points after a low-grade position. Kvyat

will be pleased with that, getting in the points. Lotus got the car

again. Max Chilton will be celebrating his

birthday on Monday. Hamilton definitely the dominant force here

today. NATIONAL ANTHEM PLAYS.

Lewis Hamilton takes three wins and Nico Rosberg one so far this year.

It is also his third win in China. 2008, 2011, and now he has done it

in 2014. Ron Meadows receives the constructors tray free. -- Trophy.

His son was a race winner this weekend. Nico Rosberg, he is getting

the award for second place. And the smile returning to his face. I think

he will go away reasonably satisfied after that start and contact with

Williams. Third, Fernando Alonso. A brilliant first lap and fighting

defence in the closing stages. Lewis Hamilton's hat-trick has

almost wiped out the effect of his not finishing in Australia and the

Mercedes team-mates will start the European season on virtually level

on. Great shots of Mercedes

celebrating. A hat-trick in China flew is Hamilton. To win in the dry,

how happy is your Easter? It is the best Easter day ever. What a

blessing. The team has done such a great job and to be a part of it, to

make the decision to come here and to see the fruits of the hard work

of the team and be part of that journey, that is what I wanted. To

get this win today I am buzzing inside. I am not tired, I could go

again. I have plenty of energy. I am looking forward to going to Europe.

More pole positions than any other British driver and your 25th victory

today. With this rank among your best? Everyone is different. The

last was ecstatic because of the battle I had with Nico and the

circumstances, starting second and the battle. Today, leading in front

and pulling away is a different feeling. You know what it is like. I

was out there racing myself. You have to keep concentration.

Concentration is the easy bit. That is easy for you to save. -- say.

Staying focused, that is not easy, but improving on fuel saving, how

you manage the tyres. My first stint was the best. You loved those tyres.

They went for ever. Fuel saving, it looked like you saved more than a

lap of -- lap and a half as your team-mate. Amazing fuel saving. It

is something you have always had to do. This year I have worked hard on

optimising it. Normally you are braking at 100 metres, but if you go

early, you can brake-macro a little bit. It is working well. The

chequered flag. Tell us what happened. I am suspicious about it.

You saw this when you came in. I looked up and saw it and I thought,

was that a black flag, was it a normal flag? The guys were not on

the wall. I lifted for a second and then I kept going and then they said

I had a lap left. They did put the chequered flag out. You were right.

It does not make any difference. The last few laps I enjoyed. The

temperature of the tyres was dropping and I decided to push. The

car felt better when I did. Superb. Congratulations.

Congratulations, a tough start and then you got the contact. Were you

confident you could get to second? After the contact I thought my car

was broken so I am grateful the car survived. The difficulty at the

start was the team could not suggest any clutch settings because of the

telemetry system, the communication between the car and garage. They

could not see anything going on with the car, they were blind to the

whole race. I had to do everything on my own and there is a lot to do.

It made matters congregated. I had a bad start because the clutch setting

was wrong. Considering all of that and the collision, I am pleased to

come in second, leading the championship, which is important.

Two different experiences from the Mercedes drivers. But problems the

Nico Rosberg. The drivers are relying so heavily

on engineers feeding them information, adjusting the clutch on

the way to the proper start. What is confusing to me is he mentioned on

the parade map he had a perfect start. That does not mean engineers

cannot look at the data and make suggestions. That does not add up.

Thereafter he did a great job to monitor all the information from

inside the cockpit. You can see, as he pulls off the line here, he

bogged it down. You have Massa in front of him, having contact with

the Ferrari and Bottas around the outside. An impact on the front left

wheel of the Mercedes car. All credit for the suspension of the

suspension. Just listening as it comes off the line, watch Bottas in

the Williams, really whack the back of that front-left tyre and gets

away with it. That saves his front wing. It was a case of bumper cars.

From the driver's perspective, is it just annoying to be giving the data

back to the garage? I don't think it is as big a deal as Nico. There is a

fact of comforting himself... At the end of the day you have to drive the

race. You have to drive the car as quickly as possible. Things like

making an adjustment, it is something, the driver can make that

decision. In terms of knowing where he was in fuel, they are used to

getting that information from the engineer. It is safe to assume if

you are running in fourth place, as he was for the beginning and your

team-mate has an issue, you are using more fuel than you should be.

There were some safe assumptions. It was a good comeback from him. It was

the weekend that Lewis wanted. His 25th race. Equal eighth in the

all-time list of winners, equalising with Clark and Lauda. How good was

Lewis Hamilton's performance today? Outstanding. He's on the top of his

driving level. No mistakes whatsoever. A good start and the

race was his. His driving, I have to tell you - sensationally! He really

moves forward in his driving way of understanding things and outstanding

victory. Congratulations - your first podium

of the of of season. You had to fight hard for it. It was not an

easy race, as we knew. From the start, we had this contact, very

strong, actually. I asked the team if anything was OK. It felt OK. I

did not know if everything was OK. Some fight of - some action in the

race. We are on the podium today after some disappointing results. It

is good to give to the team a happy Sunday.

And hopefully extra motivation. Ferrari get a podium. Very well

deserved for Alonso today. Aggressive from the off. 18 times he

started from fifth place. They need to improve their qualifying pace. He

was aggressive. Straight off the line. They will be happy with the

improvements over the weekend. Look at the front right - takes a whack

off Massa. Lewis Hamilton comfortable out

front. Alonso has a bit of a go as they run out of turn two, into three

and gets a great drive into four and to come up, he's in the slipstream.

The first lap. On the brakes into sixth. Not able to make it stick. On

this occasion, has to settle for third. Decent reliability with those

cars. The only team to get both cars home in every race this year. They

need to unleash some more pace. They are taking a step forward this

weekend. No driver likes to be asked to move

over. Tough luck seems to be the phase of the day. Did you move over

in the end? I did move over. Initially I didn't understand. We

were on the same tyres. Unlike Bahrain. That is why I

double-checked. Then, when I got the call, at that stage, Daniel was on a

different strategy. I moved over. Had to see more and more towards the

end of the race that I didn't have the pace. It wasn't to do in the end

- but interesting on the radio with Sebastian Vettel, when he was asked

to move over, he said "Tough luck." What do you make of that? The first

I have heard. We are all racing. I guess, always in battle and that,

you want to hold on to what you've got. That is the first I have heard.

Going into the race, I don't know if all the guys on the dirty side, so

to speak, got a poor get away. Spinning on the line too long. Lost

the two places. The end, doing all I could to catch Alonso. A couple of

seconds over the line. Another race and we are asking for a couple more

laps. The result could have been better. It will come. Today, I think

we didn't have a chance. I didn't, at least, in the beginning to pass

Alonso. Whatever happened, I don't know and I don't understand yet,

very slow on the front tyres. First end seemed OK. Compared to Mercedes,

we don't even look at that. Just off the podium today. Unsurprisingly we

would like to run some team radio for you to listen to. When we heard

this. RADIO: Let Daniel through, please.

Tough luck. Watching that, we started to think,

oh, here we go again! What were you thinking at that point? That drivers

were going to be on different strategies. Seb was on the tyre

phase quicker. We gave Seb the call to move out of the way for Daniel.

He didn't understand that from the first call. Rocky explained Daniel

was on a two-stop. He let him into turn one. He was defensive. Is that

a pen sieve look from you? Praying, I think. Here, this was the move

to... Yes, that cost him the least amount of time.

And then as the race progressed, it became evident that Seb's tyre of

issue, we reversed into a two-stop him with. Daniel was 20 seconds up

the road. It could have been better, of course. What went wrong at the

start? There was some oil on that grid that the marshals were trying

to clean up. He didn't get away particularly well. Seb had a good

start. Alonso had a flyer as well. That cost Daniel a bit, you know, it

was a bit costly for later in the race. Just a quick question, with

that slight delay in Seb moving over, do you think that lost a

podium for Red Bull today? I don't think so. It cost probably a second,

a second-and-a-half. Would have put us closer to Fernando Alonso. We

would have got closer with the DRS. It would have got us closer. We

would maybe have been able to put him under a bit more pressure. So,

this begs the question. We have Rocky - beating Sebastian Vettel.

What is going on? Seb does not have the feel from the car he needs. He's

not feeling the grip. He's going through the tyre phase. He's not at

one with the car yet. I think we've got to do more work on the set-up

and with some of the fine-tuning to get it to his liking. Daniel is

doing an outstanding job. Did you know he would be this job? He's been

a sensation, hasn't he? I would love to say, we knew he would perform

like he has. There was an element of risk. We knew he was quick. We have

supported him through. He's been outstanding since he's stepped into

the car. His attitude, his pace, his feedback. It sounds like he's on a

Sunday afternoon drive when he comes on the radio at times. Very

impressive. You have some inside information about what he was doing

at Toro Rosso. This is a new experience for Sebastian. Mark was

not pushing him. This It is costing him a lot on corner-entry. He

generates a lot of his lap time into the slow corners getting the feeling

for the car. He's not got that feeling at the moment. That is

probably why he's going through the tyres quicker as well. Mark

outqualified him twice last year. Daniel has done it three times

already in four races. It is healthy for Sebastian, for Daniel and it is

pushing the team and drivers forward. Interesting to see them

racing head-to-head without major car problems. Thank you. Pleasure!

I even has contact with Fernando at the start. Maybe the car was damaged

or not. He was OK to carry on. Then I got to the first pit stop. I lost

my race. I lost, I don't know how many seconds I was there. I lost my

race. I came back last, you know. It was not so much to do. Maybe a

safety car. It was a tough nightmare, you know, what has

happened today. We need to work and concentrate for having something

that cannot happen any more. You know? So concentrate for the next

race. A great shame for Massa. It was a busy start though, wasn't it?

He came off the dirty side of the grid.

He sees his path is blocked by Ricciardo and come comes between the

two. He has contact there with Fernando Alonso. Understandably

backs off as he goes into turn one. Not sure if the car was damaged. We

know the wrong wheels were brought out to the car. A further problem

with the wheel nut. That cost him one minute and a chance over getting

points today. It is those small mistakes that lead on to big effects

and lose races. That is where they cannot be at the moment. Trying to

get back into a fighting position, they have a procedural issue. Not

good for McLaren? It is going backwards at the moment. They have

good Mercedes horsepower. You wonder if that is fla flattering the

McLaren car. It is the worst of the Mercedes customer teams. Let's

confirm the race results for you then.

We will be back in three weeks' time. All the action live for you on

BBC One. We will be joined by Eddie Jordan. Goodbye from China - the

happy hunt hunting ground for hat-trick Hamilton.

Next time on Formula One - race five. Barcelona, Spain.

# Fame, liquor, love Give it to me slowly