At the end of perhaps the most exciting Formula 1 race in recent memory, with the F1 circus racing in Shanghai, China, in the third race of this season, Mercedes-powered cars finished in first, fourth, fifth, eighth and 11th. Lewis Hamilton, driving for Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, finished first, with his team-mate Jenson Button getting pipped into fourth place during the final laps. Nico Rosberg, driving for Petronas MercedesGP, finished fifth, after running in first place during the middle segment of the race. His team-mate Michael Schumacher, finished eighth -- definitely the MercedesGP team's best result for this season. The third Mercedes-powered team, Force India -- normally relegated to the also rans, saw rookie Paul Di Resta (profiled in the March-April issue of The Star) bring his car home 11th, after running in the top 10 for much of the race, with his team-mate Adrian Sutil finishing 15th.
The biggest news of the race, though, was Mark Webber, who started 18th and still managed to find his way through the pack to finish 3rd to his Red Bull Racing Renault team-mate Sebastian Vettel, last season's champion.
The big story behind the race was the effect that tire management (tire selection, change strategy, and driver use of tires) with the new Pirellis, not to mention the marbles left on the track as these tires deteriorated, had on placement during the race. KERS and the new moveable rear wing -- both technologies discussed in the forthcoming May-June issue of The Star -- also facilitated overtaking, with the long straight sections and complex turns of the Shanghai track creating numerous opportunities for significant position changes.
After two races that suggested Renault Red Bull could have a sweep of the season, it's nice to see the three Mercedes-powered teams finally figuring out some of the engineering challenges. With all four primary teams, and all three previous world champions, now in the game, this is going to be a very exciting season.
Gary Anderson
