GP of China 2018: Surprising result

After yesterday's qualifying session, it was almost certain that Sebastian Vettel on Ferrari would extend his world championship lead, but things turned out differently than expected. The 2018 Chinese Grand Prix offered a real surprise.

That's Formula 1: Everything is calculated from A to Z, researched, calculated and organized down to the smallest detail, and then the racing action comes along and throws all the planning ruthlessly overboard. That must be how the Ferrari team felt today. First they were both on the front row of the grid with the potential to outrun all the chasers, and then Vettel was unexpectedly flushed to the back and they had to be glad that Kimi Räikkönen, who they had planned to sacrifice in favor of Vettel, still made it onto the podium.

At the start, Vettel was less able to break away than qualifying had led him to hope and he almost had to outbrake his stablemate Kimi Räikkönen a little to this end. Valtteri Bottas took advantage of this opportunity to overtake Kimi. Verstappen was also ambitious as usual, but not as hot-headed, so he made it to third place without any jostling. To the astonishment of many, Lewis Hamilton was pushed into midfield. After this first phase of the start, the field began to stretch out and they had to wait for the tire change to get some movement back into the order.

Tire change sticking point
The tire changes are often the sticking point in the races. Mercedes speculated that Bottas, who was in second position, would be able to overtake Vettel, but the gap of around 3.5 seconds was actually too much. All the more amazed were all the spectators and even more so all the experts when exactly this was achieved. Vettel pitted after Bottas, but somehow Ferrari had to fritter away something there and Bottas had to have enormous thrust with the new tires, otherwise you can't explain that Bottas was able to narrowly pass Vettel when he turned back onto the track. What a tactical mess! Now the Ferrari crew tried to help Vettel by not letting the leading Kimi Raikkonen, who was slowing down, into the pits in the hope that Bottas would catch up with him and Vettel would then have a chance to reel in the Finn, but that didn't work. Bottas was able to easily pass Raikkonen and take the lead and Ferrari, which had shone so brilliantly the day before, was unable to counter anything, no, Mercedes even managed to pull away slightly. That was a bust, Ferrari made two strategic mistakes.

Gasly unknowingly helps Ricciardo
It was a terrible weekend for Pierre Gasly on Toro Rosso. Whereas last race weekend he had excelled with a 6th place in qualifying and a 4th place in the race, in China he found himself on the back of the grid, what a frustration. That frustration seemed to be unleashed when he crashed into his own teammate Hartley as he tried to overtake him in a hairpin. The result a near-failure, a 10-second penalty for Gasly and a safety period, which Red Bull drivers Ricciardo and Verstappen took advantage of to pit for fresh tires. As a result, the Red Bull drivers are able to pass the competition. On lap 40, Verstappen flies out while trying to overtake Hamilton, but Ricciardo cleverly and elegantly overtakes the Brit. On the second attempt, Verstappen catches Hamilton. One lap later, Ricciardo overtakes Sebastian Vettel, who is running in second place. So the standings are as follows: 1 Bottas, 2 Ricciardo, 3 Vettel, 4 Verstappen, 5 Hamilton, 6 Raikkonen. Now Verstappen wants to catch Vettel, but Verstappen drives into the German and they both spin. Oh, Seb will be cursing! Instead of 3rd, Verstappen is now in 5th and Vettel, who is still being overtaken by Hülkenberg, is in 7th - what a disaster for Ferrari. On lap 45 Ricciardo overtakes the leading Bottas and does so 'so superior, no chance for Bottas. Ricciardo is now flying away from everyone to take home the Chinese Grand Prix. Kimi Räikkönen saves Ferrari's honor with his third place, Verstappen takes 5th place, Hamilton drives unnoticed to 4th and Vettel must be happy that he ended up in 8th place after that crash. Nobody could have foreseen this podium at the beginning of the race. Many unexpected coincidences and racing events had led to this curiosity, and yet everyone was thrilled when the likeable Australian held the biggest trophy aloft, while Bottas and Räikkönen had to grudgingly make do with the smaller trophies. So in terms of excitement this can hardly be surpassed, what more could you want from a Formula 1 race.