Formula One 2012

[Katsuya]

Yeah, I don't even mind I lost money, Nico has deserved this for a long time. Have Mercedes finally cracked their tyre wear issues too, because if so...well, this championship just got very exciting.

Shame Kamui fell back but I have a feeling a lot more people were expecting cars to stop again. No way should Vettel, Grosjean and the Williams been where they were in theory, so Alonso and the Saubers were pushed back by that.

[MDK]

I forgot this was on, I only just woke up and saw the podium celebrations. What happened?

[Rich]

A grand prix

[MDK]

You're a grand prix

[Katsuya]

Rosberg led from the front pretty much the entire race apart from one pit stop, with Button the only one who gave him any trouble. Rosberg ended up doing 2 stops to Button's 3, but any chance Button had of challenging him by the end on the fresher tyres got ruined by Button's final pit stop being slow, which meant he got caught in an almighty train that went from Raikkonen in 2nd to about Perez/Kobayashi back in 10th-11th.

[MDK]

Awesome. As I was getting dressed I heard the commentators say that this was the first new winner for 100+ races, that's crazy!

[Katsuya]

Awesome. As I was getting dressed I heard the commentators say that this was the first new winner for 100+ races, that's crazy!

Well whoever said that was wrong, the last new winner was Webber in 2009

ETA: It's Nico's first win in about 118 races though, so that might be it.

[MDK]

Ah right, I wasn't really listening. What is the next GP?

[Rich]

I thought it was 111 Grand Prixs that Nico had been in?

[MDK]

Awesome. As I was getting dressed I heard the commentators say that this was the first new winner for 100+ races, that's crazy!

Well whoever said that was wrong, the last new winner was Webber in 2009

ETA: It's Nico's first win in about 118 races though, so that might be it.

I cant tell if you mean Estimated Time of Arrival or it was a press release from the Basque separatist group >_>

[Katsuya]

Or "edited to add"

I just estimated Nico's number of races though, I knew it was somehwere in the 110s though

[MDK]

Sticking your tongue out is rude

[LUKIE]

They said he was the 103rd unique driver to have won a Grand Prix.

So 103 different drivers have accumulated all of the Grand Prix wins.

[Lineker]

Ah right, I wasn't really listening. What is the next GP?

Bahrain this upcoming weekend. It's also a GP2 race weekend.

Who watched BBC and who watched Sky this weekend? I stuck with Sky. Where was Damon? Not that Herbert did a bad job.

Nico Rosberg finally claimed his maiden Formula 1 race victory, and a first win for the modern incarnation of the factory Mercedes team, with a commanding drive in a thrilling Chinese Grand Prix.

The result made Rosberg the first new winner since Mark Webber took victory in the 2009 German Grand Prix. The last triumph for a works Mercedes was back in the 1955 Italian GP with Juan Manuel Fangio.

McLaren duo Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton completed the podium, ahead of Red Bull's Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel.

At a track where he had led only to fade in each of the last two years, Rosberg ensured he stayed at the head of an absorbing race in which myriad tyre strategies played out through a lead pack that sometimes grew to a dozen cars.

Not only did drivers vary between two and three pitstops, but there were huge differences in stint length. Despite Mercedes' tyre difficulties in the opening two 2012 races, this time the team handled the rubber perfectly - allowing Rosberg to deploy a textbook two-stop strategy and keep himself ahead of most of the action.

The German pulled away from his team-mate Michael Schumacher in the opening laps, soon establishing a four-second lead. Schumacher's chance to feature in the lead battle then ended when he retired with an incorrectly fitted right-front wheel immediately after his first pitstop.

Button was Rosberg's main threat thereafter. A great start immediately took him to third, and he was catching Rosberg on a three-stop plan for a while, only for Rosberg's pace immediately after his final stop to secure his victory even before Button's lost several seconds with a left rear wheel issue at his final pitstop.

Kimi Raikkonen's two-stopping Lotus held second going into the closing stages, but trying to do half the race on his third set of tyres proved too optimistic, and he tumbled from second to 14th in just a handful of laps.

Vettel, following a similar strategy, was first to pass Raikkonen, and looked like he might salvage second from his qualifying disaster. He could not hold off the McLarens or Webber with their fresher tyres from a three-stop strategy, with Button getting through five laps from the end and Hamilton and Webber doing likewise amid a thrilling tussle over the last two laps. Webber took fourth despite his first pitstop coming as early as lap six, and two trips off the road - one of which featured a wild flight over the Turn 13 kerbs.

While Raikkonen fell back, his team-mate Romain Grosjean did a two-stop plan with a very long middle stint and was able to battle to sixth, ahead of Williams duo Bruno Senna and Pastor Maldonado.

Erstwhile championship leader Fernando Alonso was ninth for Ferrari, having lost a little ground running off-track trying to pass Maldonado.

Sauber was a factor in this pack but could not repeat its Malaysian heroics. Kamui Kobayashi fell back with a poor start and finished 10th, just ahead of team-mate Sergio Perez, who led for a while on a two-stop plan. Paul di Resta (Force India) and Felipe Massa - who also led for a spell in his Ferrari - followed them home.

PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS


The Chinese Grand Prix

Shanghai, China;

56 laps; 305.066km;

Weather: Dry.


Classified:


Pos  Driver        Team                       Time

 1.  Rosberg       Mercedes                   1h36:26.929

 2.  Button        McLaren-Mercedes           +    20.626

 3.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes           +    26.012

 4.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault           +    27.924

 5.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault           +    30.483

 6.  Grosjean      Lotus-Renault              +    31.491

 7.  Senna         Williams-Renault           +    34.597

 8.  Maldonado     Williams-Renault           +    35.643

 9.  Alonso        Ferrari                    +    37.256

10.  Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari             +    38.720

11.  Perez         Sauber-Ferrari             +    41.066

12.  Di Resta      Force India-Mercedes       +    42.273

13.  Massa         Ferrari                    +    42.700

14.  Raikkonen     Lotus-Renault              +    50.500

15.  Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes       +    51.200

16.  Vergne        Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +    51.700

17.  Ricciardo     Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +  1:03.100

18.  Petrov        Caterham-Renault           +     1 lap

19.  Glock         Marussia-Cosworth          +     1 lap

20.  Pic           Marussia-Cosworth          +     1 lap

21.  De la Rosa    HRT-Cosworth               +     1 lap

22.  Karthikeyan   HRT-Cosworth               +    2 laps

23.  Kovalainen    Caterham-Renault           +    3 laps


Fastest lap: Kobayashi, 1:39.960


Not classified/retirements:


Driver        Team                         On lap

Schumacher    Mercedes                     16



World Championship standings, round 3:                


Drivers:                    Constructors:             

 1.  Hamilton      45        1.  McLaren-Mercedes           88

 2.  Button        43        2.  Red Bull-Renault           64

 3.  Alonso        37        3.  Ferrari                    37

 4.  Webber        36        4.  Sauber-Ferrari             31

 5.  Vettel        28        5.  Mercedes                   26

 6.  Rosberg       25        6.  Lotus-Renault              24

 7.  Perez         22        7.  Williams-Renault           18

 8.  Raikkonen     16        8.  Force India-Mercedes        9

 9.  Senna         14        9.  Toro Rosso-Ferrari          6

10.  Kobayashi      9       

11.  Grosjean       8       

12.  Di Resta       7       

13.  Vergne         4       

14.  Maldonado      4       

15.  Ricciardo      2       

16.  Hulkenberg     2       

17.  Schumacher     1       


All timing unofficial[/code]


An elated Nico Rosberg said he was surprised to be so quick in the Chinese Grand Prix after taking his maiden Formula 1 win on Sunday.


The German driver secured his F1 first pole position on Saturday, but was widely expected to struggle to keep the pace in the race following problems suffered by Mercedes in the first two grands prix with its tyres.


The problems vanished in China, however, and Rosberg led commandingly from start to finish to take his maiden win at the 111th attempt.


Rosberg, who took the first F1 world championship race win for Mercedes as a constructor since 1955, admitted he was surprised by his own pace in the race.


"[it is an] unbelievable feeling. [i am] very cool, very happy and very excited," said Rosberg. "It's been a long time coming for me and the team.


"We didn't expect to be that fast today. We knew we had good chance to be in the? front but we didn't expect to be that fast.


"Thanks to whole team for working very hard also, and for improving the set-up. I was struggling in first two races with race pace but here it came good."


Rosberg, who took the chequered flag over 20 seconds ahead of Jenson Button, labelled his weekend as "perfect" after failing to score in the first two races of the season.


"It is fantastic," added Rosberg, Formula 1's first new winner since the 2009 season. "It's been the perfect weekend.


"Everything couldn't be better. I'm very happy. It was a great race and it's impressive to see how we have progressed so quickly. We had struggled in the first two races, but we made some changes and it has all come good. I am happy for all of us and I was looking forward to seeing how we get on."


Rosberg's team-mate Michael Schumacher retired from the race on lap 15.


Michael Schumacher said he was not angry with his Mercedes pit crew after having to retire from the Chinese Grand Prix, having been in the fight for his first victory since returning to Formula 1.


The Mercedes driver was forced to stop his car on lap 15 after one of his mechanics failed to secure the right front tyre properly during his pitstop.


Schumacher had run in second position behind team-mate Nico Rosberg in the early stages.


The seven-time champion was upbeat after stopping, however, claiming that the positive was that his team has found the soft spot to make the tyres work properly, after having struggled with them in the first two races.


"I noticed in Turn 3 that something was wrong with the front right tyre," Schumacher told the BBC. "Already by Turn 6 there was quite a bit of smoke and damage and I thought it was better to stop before I did some serious damage to the car.


"I don't have any hard feelings. I feel a bit sorry for one of my boys that I guess he feels responsible, but it's part of the game.


"We were looking strong. We told you guys that we were having too much wear in Australia and we were not having enough wear in Malaysia, so there must have been a middle way. It looks like we found the way."


Mercedes team boss Ross Brawn says Michael Schumacher's improved form in 2012 has come as no surprise, and believes the seven-time champion's return to the front will boost Formula 1's popularity.


Schumacher's F1 comeback has at times looked ill-advised, with the German legend yet to get on the podium for Mercedes and regularly beaten by team-mate Nico Rosberg.


But Schumacher has been more competitive this season, outqualifying Rosberg at the opening two grands prix, and then joining his pole-winning compatriot on the front row of the grid for Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix.


"We have been consistent in our belief that Michael can continue to produce the results we have all seen in his career, and it was a fact that we have not had a good enough car," said Brawn.


"It is great for the team, great for him and great for F1. To see Michael Schumacher up there is a great bonus for F1 generally."


Brawn believes there is now more affection for Schumacher among F1 fans than there was when he was dominating the sport in his heyday.


"Michael's second period in F1 seems to be viewed differently by the public," Brawn said. "They are more enthusiastic to see him do well. With the results he had in his first career it became automatic, and like any sport when someone was dominating like Michael was able to, people get used to it and it is not so exciting."


Schumacher's deal with Mercedes runs out at the end of this year, but Brawn said it was too early to speculate whether the current upturn in both the driver and the team's form would prompt a contract extension.


"Everything is completely open," said Brawn. "If it feels right for him and it feels right for us and things are going well, then why would we want to stop?


"But we have a long way to go before we get there. He is a fantastic driver, a fantastic team member but we have to let things take their natural course.


"At some point during the year it will become obvious what is the best for him, best for us and best for us collectively. It won't be a difficult decision I am sure but it is far too early to get into speculation about what it might be."


Chinese Grand Prix winner Mercedes has been fined by the race stewards for the incident involving Michael Schumacher during his pitstop.


The German was forced to retire from the race after his mechanics failed to secure the front right tyre properly during his first and only stop.


Schumacher's incident was under investigation and the FIA imposed a fine of 5,000 euro to the team after the race for the unsafe release of the German's car.


"The prompt action of the driver, in stopping the car as soon as the problem was noticed, is taken into account in the penalty determination," said the stewards.


Norbert Haug has hailed Nico Rosberg's maiden victory as one of the most memorable of his career as the boss of Mercedes-Benz motorsport, after he stood on the podium to celebrate the first success for the works team since 1955.


The German was a key factor in helping create the modern day 'Silver Arrows' at the start of 2010, after his bosses agreed to buy the then championship-winning Brawn GP outfit.


And after finally seeing that faith come off with Rosberg's success, Haug reckons the win was as good as David Coulthard's first triumph with a Mercedes-Benz engine at Albert Park in 1997, and the inaugural success for the German car manufacturer at Indianapolis in 1994.


"This was one of the very, very good ones," explained Haug. "We have had David's first in 1997. That was certainly a landmark as well, as we painted the car silver and won the first race. We had a splendid Indianapolis in 1994 too.


"We have had quite a few victories together with McLaren and Brawn GP, but this is certainly a very important one for us - especially in this country and because there was so much hard work behind it."


Haug was also happy with the timescale it took for the Mercedes outfit to win, having experienced two difficult years since taking over Brawn.


"I don't think it is that long if you look in the history books," he said. "Winning in the third year is not something that lots of teams are achieving. I would not have had something against wins in the first year that is for sure, but whatever we have now I am happy with."


Ross Brawn believes that his team getting its tyres into the 'sweet spot' of performance was key to Nico Rosberg delivering his maiden victory for Mercedes in China.


With the Brackley-based outfit having headed to Shanghai aware that it needed to work on solving the tyre problems that had blighted its performances in the first two races, Rosberg was dominant in Sunday's event.


And Brawn believes that rather than the result showing the relative performance of the cars, he thinks it was all about tyres.


"I think with these tyres if you get it right on the day then you can do what we did today," explained Brawn. "You can see what is very strong opposition perhaps not quite hitting the sweet spot, and having what happened today.


"We managed to get it to work and others didn't, and that will be the characteristic of this year. I think the teams will all get better in using tyres and, as they get better, the occasions when you don't get it right will be fewer.


"But today we got the tyres right, we got the set-up right and we saw the results."


After Mercedes overheated its tyres in Australia and did not get them warm enough in Malaysia, Brawn said that he was actually fearful of the temperatures dropping in China.


"We didn't want it to get too cold funnily enough, because when it gets cold the rubber can start to grain, and you can struggle and fall out of window.


"We were anticipating it being a bit warmer, and we set the car up for that. But the tyres worked perfectly and James [Vowles], our strategy guy, called the race absolutely perfectly in terms of it being two stop. The tyres were just starting to ease off as we came in the pits and that side worked out very well."


Brawn also said that he was not too fearful of Jenson Button threatening Rosberg for victory if the McLaren's last stop had not been delayed.


"We were keeping a pretty close eye on him, and obviously it was a big relief that they had a slow stop and fell into that pack, because obviously they should have come out in front of it.


"It would have been much more of a race though. I haven't really spoken to Nico, but I have a feeling that he had a bit in reserve."


Nico Rosberg says his victory in the Chinese Grand Prix was far from easy as he claimed he was never able to go flat out in order to manage his tyres properly.


Rosberg scored a commanding maiden win in Shanghai after having started from pole position, the German finishing over 20 seconds ahead of McLaren's Jenson Button.


Despite the big gap to his closest rival, Mercedes driver Rosberg said the race was very challenging, as keeping the tyres in good form was far from easy.


"It was all about tyre management," said Rosberg in a video blog on Monday. "It was very difficult to manage the tyres.


"There was not one lap in the race where you could go flat out. You really have to take it carefully and manage the tyres, so it's very challenging. But it worked out fine, and the strategy was also perfect."


Rosberg, who took his victory after 111 grand prix starts, admitted the second part of the race felt like the longest of his life.


"It was the longest race of my life. It felt like I was driving the Le Mans 24 Hours," he added. "It was crazy. The last 30 laps never ended. Then I really enjoyed the last few laps, because I thought 'okay, this one is my win'. I'm very happy for the whole team.


"It's great to see how fast we have progressed as as team and get our first win. It's been a long time waiting. Niki Lauda said that the first one is the most difficult, after that it gets easy, so if that's the way it is it will be fantastic."


Pirelli motorsport boss Paul Hembery says Nico Rosberg's emphatic win in the Chinese Grand Prix is evidence that Mercedes is making progress in learning how to unlock the potential of the tyres with its W03 chassis.


The team has proved quick in qualifying all season - Rosberg and Schumacher occupied the front row in China – but until Shanghai the Mercedes has suffered heavy degradation in the races which has cost it competitively.


In China however, Rosberg led the race except during his pitstop phases, and made one less stop (two in total) than his nearest rival Jenson Button.


"We thought before the race that the three-stop [strategy] was most probable and two was possible but probably at the limit, and you'll probably find that at Mercedes they were even questioning at the time whether they should do a third stop and try and get out," said Hembery.


"I haven't spoken to the guys but I am quite sure that conversation would have gone on so it's fascinating.


"Before the race everyone was talking about Mercedes' problems managing tyres, so I did say that Ross [brawn] had mentioned to me that he thought they had understood a lot of them and it seems quite clearly that they have. They were quite superb from start to finish so it is good to see."


Hembery also suggested that Rosberg's ability to make the most of his start and run up at the front in clear air had helped him conserve his tyres.


When asked whether the German has stayed out too long on his first stint using primes, allowing Jenson Button's McLaren to threaten him, Hembery said: "No, I don't think so, I think they were also trying to monitor the levels of degradation so they were changing their strategy almost in real time.


"We were sure that a lot of teams were altering their strategy during the first stint which is common throughout the season," Hembery added. "You do get races like that as we saw, and the McLarens were on a three stop strategy which was nearly good enough.


"They came second and third, so as we said it was marginal whether it was two or three and in the end two was enough because Mercedes had the performance advantage by starting at the front.


"And in F1 we know how much of an advantage that gives you on the road, you are not running into any dirty air or anything and you have a clear road and they took that advantage superbly."


Mark Webber expects Red Bull Racing to focus on the latest specification exhaust package in the long-term despite team-mate Sebastian Vettel reverting to the team's original 2012 set-up for the Chinese Grand Prix.


Red Bull decided to run one package on each car in China on Friday to gather comparative data, and Vettel opted to continue with the older version because even though it produces less downforce, it creates a more consistent balance.


But while Webber admits that it would compromise the team's development path to continue to run different exhaust packages, he thinks the latest specification will prove to be the way forward.


"It would do, but I doubt it would happen," said Webber when asked if developing both would hold the team back. "We have an understanding of where we need to go, which is why we are developing what is on my car.


"Seb was keen to give it another crack as he had a pretty good winter with it and there was a decision by the team to gather some data with both situations to give us more confidence.


"They [Vettel's side of the garage] committed to running it for the rest of the weekend and investigations continue to go on."


Vettel, who failed to make it into Q3 for the first time since the 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix, insisted that he did not regret returning to the old specification.


He believes that by running the exhaust, the team now has a greater depth of understanding of the car.


"Friday was very useful in that regard," said Vettel. "We already had a couple of answers before Friday, so it was a confirmation of that. In terms of balance we got the answers we were looking for.


"We were happy with the packaging and the performance yesterday and that is why we decided to keep it but it is silly to blame the package now."


Sebastian Vettel said he had to be satisfied with salvaging fifth place from the Chinese Grand Prix after his poor qualifying result and even worse start - despite briefly looking set for a podium.


The reigning world champion only managed 11th on the Shanghai grid on Saturday, then dropped to 15th with a slow start.


A two-stop strategy finishing short first two stints saw him emerge in second going into the closing stages, but as his tyres faded, Vettel was passed by both McLarens and his Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber.


"It was getting more and more difficult," Vettel admitted. "I had nothing left in the tyres. I knew that the only chance was trying to escape from Kimi [Raikkonen]. I think he ran into the same kind of problem."


Last year in China, Vettel lost victory to Lewis Hamilton when the three-stopping McLaren overcame the worn tyres of the two-stopping Red Bull at the end. While content with fifth in the circumstances, Vettel admitted that it was hard to be happy having come close to a podium.


"I think it was the same here last year," said Vettel.


"It was a bit different, but the last five laps were the same - people from behind eating me up as I had no tyres left.


"You try to get them back to life, get a little bit more out of them, but they were pretty dead. I tried to react with brake balance, diff, everything I had, but there was nothing I could have done.


"A shame because the podium was so close and yet so far. Nevertheless, good points and a good recovery from 15th."


Vettel also reckons that a lack of straightline performance had hurt Red Bull during the race.


"We were generally too slow on the straights," he said. "We were losing a lot of time there. That made it extremely difficult to pass, to be honest."


He accepted responsibility for losing ground on the first lap.


"I think I missed out a little bit on the start," Vettel admitted. "I was a bit too late. I wasn't entirely happy finding the revs and I was a bit confused. Usually I'm pretty quick when the lights go off, but today I think I was one of the last ones. I didn't wake up enough.


"Then I was behind the Williams and at Turn 1 they crashed into each other a little bit and I had to hit the brakes and I didn't know what was going to happen. Then I lost another couple of positions - I nearly lost a position to Heikki Kovalainen in the Caterham so I think it was a really bad stage on the first lap. With the strategy we managed to kind of come back."


Red Bull will decide in the next few days whether to continue with different exhaust strategies for its drivers at this weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix, after Sebastian Vettel reverted to an older design in China.


The reigning world champion feels more comfortable with the previous exhaust layout on the RB8, even though the team's data shows that the new design that Mark Webber uses is better in terms of overall laptime.


But although longer term Red Bull would like its two drivers to use the same design, the outfit will consider whether it sticks to its China strategy for one more race weekend following detailed analysis by technical chief Adrian Newey.


Team principal Christian Horner said: "We'll make the decision over the next couple of days. With a race's worth of data to go through, there is a good sample there in low fuel, high fuel configurations and so on."


When asked if the two drivers using different designs could be carried over the remainder of the season, Horner said: "Unlikely. We'll focus on getting the best out of one. Ideally you want the best characteristics out of both solutions, so that's now the challenge."


Horner explained that Vettel's preference for the older specification of exhaust was related to his driving style.


"There are some characteristics about the upgraded car that weren't particularly suited to his style of driving, which is to carry a lot of speed into the corner," he said.


"The decision to come here with two different cars was very much Adrian's, and a technical decision, because we want to make sure we get a direction and a clear comparison.


"We've had that; it's been a really useful exercise this weekend. The drivers were happy to go the routes that they had, so now we have got an awful lot of information through three days of running to settle on a direction moving forward."


Jenson Button's slow final pitstop in the Chinese Grand Prix cost him the chance to chase down eventual winner Nico Rosberg, reckoned the McLaren driver afterwards.


Button emerged from a hugely competitive pack in pursuit of Rosberg as the man most likely to fight the German for the win, and had opted for a three-stop strategy to maximise his time on fresh Pirellis.


The last stop however took more than nine seconds, which dropped Button back to sixth, and stuck behind a number of cars all fighting for second position.


"I came to the marks [in the pits], but we had a problem at the rear of the car so I sat there for nine or 10 seconds, I think it was. It was a pity because when I exited the pits I had four cars in front of me," said Button. "[They were] cars that I wouldn't have been racing and I would have had a nice clear track to hopefully hunt down Nico.


"It was a big gap but you have to give it a go. All in all it was a fun day, a good race, good overtaking out there and nice with that issue to come away with some good points for second place.


"We made it harder for ourselves in the last stint with a long pitstop, but these things happen," he added.


Button fought his way back to second position in the end, having battled past Kimi Raikkonen's Lotus and both Red Bulls.


"It was a great race," he said. "We went for a three-stop strategy which was different. It was really good fun even with the problem we had, but I am happy to come home second, it was a good fight and most of it very clean, which is good to see.


"When you are in front on the first few laps and the you drop into traffic... I knew we had traffic and I was picking them off nicely, but after the last pitstop it became more difficult.


"Kimi was leading the train and everyone was DRSing, so until Seb [Vettel] had a go at Kimi I couldn't have a go at Seb. Overtaking Seb was the most fun of the race, or perhaps Romain Grosjean going through right hander onto the back straight."


Lewis Hamilton is certain he would have given Nico Rosberg a hard fight for Chinese Grand Prix victory had he been able to take up his front row starting position at Shanghai.


The McLaren driver was second fastest in qualifying, but started seventh due to a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change.


That meant Hamilton spent most of his race in traffic on the way to third place.


"I am sure we'd have given Nico a run for his money but the traffic we had and the amount of pitstops was incredible," said Hamilton.


"But I'm still happy and we need to keep pushing to get some better results in the future."


He acknowledged that Mercedes was now a very strong contender after Rosberg's ultimately dominant win in China, but believes the victor's margin of superiority was accentuated by his potential rivals being caught in the pack.


"I think the Mercedes has good pace but it is much, much easier when you have clean air and are at the front when everyone else is being held up," said Hamilton.


"[Rosberg] was just saying to me it was quite an easy race so I know that."


The Shanghai result has put Hamilton into the world championship lead by two points over his McLaren team-mate Jenson Button, even though the younger Briton has yet to win a race this year.


"It's definitely a positive to add the consistency which I want and I think if we keep on working like we have then the wins will come," said Hamilton.


"We have to keep on moving forward and obviously Mercedes has taken a step forward and the other guys are just as quick as us, the Red Bulls are just about there and the Ferrari was quick at one stage and also the Saubers.


"So it is providing some great racing for the fans and I hope they are enjoying it as much as we are."


McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh says his team has little to regret over missing out on victory in the previous two races.


Despite having what many believe as the best car on the grid, McLaren has seen Fernando Alonso and Nico Rosberg take victories in the last two grands prix for Ferrari and Mercedes respectively.


But with many expecting the warmer conditions in Bahrain to play to the strengths of McLaren, Whitmarsh says he is confident, but not convinced that his car's speed will be enough to guarantee victory this weekend.


"Overall, what can we regret?" he said. "We can regret that Lewis [Hamilton] had a [gearbox] grid penalty and got put back. Otherwise he would have been in the front and could have controlled the race.


"Another regret is we didn't get Jenson [button] out in clear air, but I think the strategy, three stops, was the right way to go if you are going to race through the traffic and we did that."


"I think we are competitive, and the important thing is we have two great racing drivers. If we can qualify better than we did here, then I think we can race well.


"We've had three very different races and I think we are going to have potentially 20 very different races this year. I think that's fascinating in a sense.


"I enjoy it and I think people watching really enjoy it. Who's going to predict who will win in Bahrain? I won't. I have no idea whatsoever. I'd like to think it's us, but we'll see when we get there."


Although McLaren's three-stop strategy in China was not good enough to overcome race-winner Rosberg, who was on a two-stop, Whitmarsh believes Jenson Button could have given the Mercedes a much tougher time if he hadn't been delayed at his final pitstop by a problem with the left rear wheel.


"It's just one of those things," he said. "The strategy call was absolutely right. We would have got him out into clear air. He lost some six seconds and then lost a heck of a lot more because of the traffic. And you also condition your tyres badly.


"Understanding the tyres, getting them into the sweet spot, either by skill or good fortune is vital. Or vice versa: falling outside the sweet spot by lack of skill of lack of fortune can make it very difficult.


"You can speculate. We would have been a lot closer and, if Nico's tyres had gone off, we could have got him, but his tyres looked pretty good at the end. So I don't think we threw away a first place. I'm not going to torture myself too much. I think we would have struggled to get him."


Sauber's drivers Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Perez both expressed disappointment after delivering just one point between the two of them in the Chinese Grand Prix, despite having starred at various points of the weekend.


Kobayashi started the race from third of the grid after a stellar qualifying performance, while Perez led briefly for the second grand prix in succession.


Both drivers ran into tyre problems during the 56-lap event however, with only Kobayashi - who made a poor start – making the points positions in tenth.


"Of course after what we did in qualifying the race result is disappointing," said the Japanese. "I'm not really sure what happened at the start, my car just didn't move, it was a bit strange and I lost positions immediately.


"Then I was stuck in traffic for most of the time, also we made the second pit stop a bit late and the tyres had gone. Quite often we have recovered in the race from a bad qualifying, but today it was the other way round."


Perez looked set to produce another podium-threatening performance during his first stint, and even led the race as he went long on his first set of tyres. But once the Mexican switched to medium tyres, he couldn't maintain his pace and faded out of the points.


"I must say I am very disappointed," said Perez. "I had a very good start, and for the entire first stint it really looked to be going very well for me. But then when I picked up the medium compound tyres I lost a lot of performance from lap 17 onwards.


"Actually I feel I would have been better off with a three stop strategy, but you never know. The pit stops as such were good, but at both I lost time at the launch because we had a problem with the clutch. However, this is racing and we will do better next time."


Kimi Raikkonen was left lamenting his strategy in the Chinese Grand Prix after dropping down to 14th position in the end, having run as high as second place in the last third of the race.


The Finn opted to stop just twice in the race, and the decision seemed to be working until his tyre performance dropped away completely in the final laps.


Raikkonen was fighting for a podium position, but lost several places and eventually finished 50 seconds behind race winner Nico Rosberg. Aftewards, the Lotus driver admitted the strategy had simply not worked.


"We tried to run two stops as it looked to be the fastest strategy and up until the last ten laps it was looking good, but we ran out of tyre performance at the end," said Raikkonen.


"I was stuck behind Felipe (Massa) for quite a while and couldn't get past as I wasn't fast enough in the right parts of the track to make a move.


"Even if I'd got past I don't think it would have made the greatest amount of difference to the final result. We had good pace in the race, we tried a different strategy and it didn't pay off today; it's is simple as that."


Team-mate Romain Grosjean scored his first points of the season after finishing in sixth position, the Frenchman delighted with his performance.


"It was a very good race, I really enjoyed it," he said. "Unfortunately I made a little mistake fighting with Mark (Webber) but overall it was a good performance.


"The car felt great and the team did an amazing job to give us such a big improvement from Friday, so I'm especially happy for the guys to be able to finish the race and get some good points on the board.


"To be up there fighting with McLaren and Red Bull is a great feeling and I'm happy to have got my season started properly. We've had high hopes since P3 on the grid in Melbourne, and now after a few setbacks it's time to aim higher."


Fernando Alonso is convinced he could have finished in sixth position in the Chinese Grand Prix at the very least, had it not been for the traffic.


The Ferrari driver, the winner of the previous race in Malaysia, had to settle for ninth in Shanghai, behind the two Williams drivers and Lotus's Romain Grosjean.


Alonso said he could have beaten the trio easily had he not been stuck in traffic all race long.


He admitted, however, that today's performance was a truer reflection of where Ferrari stands in the competitive order.


"This is probably a most realistic position than what we saw in Australia or Malaysia especially," Alonso told reporters.


"But I'm convinced that in a race without traffic or with some clean air in front the car would have been quicker than it was, because we couldn't do a single free lap.


"So I think we are a little bit further up, or I want to believe that we would have finished ahead of Williams and Grosjean without too many difficulties."


The Spaniard, who dropped from first to third in the drivers' standings after the Chinese event, said he is expecting next weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix to be Ferrari's worst race so far.


"We have Bahrain next week, which in theory it could be the worst for us. The car is lacking top speed and traction, and Bahrain is nothing else but traction and top speed, so I guess it's going to be an even more complicated weekend than the previous ones.


"And then we will improve for Barcelona, but we will improve three of four tenths. That's the improvement most teams have for Europe. So if we improve five or six tenths and the rest four, then we'll gain two tenths."


Team-mate Felipe Massa finished in 13th position - the Brazilian is yet to score a point this year.


Felipe Massa says he took a step forward in the Chinese Grand Prix despite finishing outside the points.


The Ferrari driver struggled to match the performance of team-mate Fernando Alonso in the first two races of the season, and he finished in 13th position at Shanghai on Sunday.


Alonso was only ninth, however, and the Brazilian crossed the finish line some five seconds behind the Spaniard.


"I tried to do my best in a very close fought race," said Massa, who is yet to score a point this season. "Sure, 13th place is not something I can be happy about, but I think that as far as my race was concerned, this was a step forward compared to the first two races of the season.


"At least I managed to run a normal race and I know I did everything that I could."


Massa said his two-stop strategy had worked well, but like Alonso the Brazilian was hindered by traffic.


"The decision to make two stops was the right one given my position, but maybe, in the light of how the race went, it would have been better to stop at different times: however, that's easy to say now, after the chequered flag," he added.


"Each and every time I found myself in traffic and paid for the lack of top speed, one of the major problems with our car at the moment."


And Massa also reckons next weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix will be a big challenge for Ferrari, with the circuit not suiting the Italian car's characteristics.


"The Sakhir circuit, for the next round of the championship, does not look like being very favourable for us, given how things have gone so far. For me, it is a race where I have always done well, but I'm not under any illusions. As always, we will try and give it our best shot."


Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali says he expects a quick reaction from the Italian squad on the back of the disappointing form shown at the start of the season.


Although Fernando Alonso arrived in last weekend's Chinese Grand Prix as championship leader following his win in Malaysia, the team struggled for pace in Shanghai, with the Spaniard finishing in ninth position and team-mate Felipe Massa down in 13th.


Ferrari is expecting another difficult weekend in Bahrain as the circuit will highlight the problems the car has at the moment.


Domenicali made it clear he is not happy with the current situation, and expects his technical team to react quickly to make the car stronger.


"It's clear I'm absolutely not happy with the way it was born, that's a fact," said Domenicali, "because it's easy to manage things with a quick car.


"So I expect to see a quick reaction on this aspect from our technicians, because we need to give our drivers a car that is a lot more competitive."


The team boss insisted he is staying calm about the situation despite the team being nearly a second off the pace.


"I'm calm by nature, because being otherwise is useless. This is my approach, especially when things get harder you need to be calm and serene. It's clear I expect a reaction from a technical point of view, because our team's objective is to give our drivers a more competitive car.


"The fact that no one is dominating is highlighted by the points table, but from a performance point of view we've seen different situations in the first three grands prix.


"It's a fact that we were never up there, so that means there's some way to go, and I repeat: on this aspect I don't think that our technicians have become completely... I won't say the word but you know what I mean... so I expect a quick reaction from them."


Domenicali also defended Alonso's three-stop strategy in China, despite it meaning the Spaniard was stuck in traffic most of the race.


"As far as strategies are concerned you just need to look at final results: three stops, two stops, they have all finished close to one another, so it's clear that with these conditions one or two laps make a difference, as can situations that happen during the race, since they all have arrived one behind the other.


"From an initial analysis, I'd say under this aspect this is certainly not today's problem. So, by starting too far back today it's clear that you need to manage traffic, that's the truth, just like everyone else had to manage it. I was re-watching it now, you just need to look at the car procession and you understand it."


Force India should be encouraged by its Chinese Grand Prix performance, despite failing to score a point at Shanghai, according to deputy team boss Robert Fernley.


Paul di Resta was among the massive pack of cars fighting for positions from the podium back to the midfield as the myriad tyre strategies unfolded in China, but ended up towards the back of the queue in 12th place.


But Fernley said that the lack of retirements and extremely close competition masked how strong Force India's pace had been relative to the top teams.


"We always felt that scoring points in today's race would need an element of luck or attrition, but as it was we saw almost 100 per cent reliability," said Fernley.


"Paul was in the mix for most of the race, fighting to get in the top 10 and ending up just under eight seconds from seventh place, and just 22 seconds off second place, which shows how competitive the field was today."


Fernley added: "We know that our race pace relative to our midfield rivals is not too far away and hopefully we can continue to close the performance gap quickly."


Di Resta agreed that Force India did not need to find a lot more pace to get itself firmly into the top 10 group.


"It was an extremely close race today and although we were able to keep ourselves in the hunt, we were just missing the pace to catch people and make up any more ground," said the Briton.


"So we go away from here knowing that we are not too far away from the other teams and determined to get the car dialled in nicely for Bahrain next week."


Nico Hulkenberg finished 15th in the second Force India after his car picked up nose damage on the first lap.


Williams is in no rush to appoint a replacement for chairman Adam Parr, who left the Grove-based team earlier this month.


Despite its solid start to the campaign erasing the memories of its troubled 2011 season, Parr resigned from the Williams in a decision that many suspect was related to discussions with Bernie Ecclestone about a new Concorde Agreement.


Williams board member Toto Wolff has assumed some of the roles that Parr had, but he has made it clear he is not interested in taking on a full-time management role.


"I have stepped up and taken more responsibility, but I am doing it more as a helping hand for Frank [Williams]," Wolff told AUTOSPORT.


"So I am not going to step in with a full-time role. But definitely [the team] needs a full time role, so that is not the end of the story."


With Williams having undergone a major restructure of its technical department already, Wolff said the team did not want to rush into changing its management too without a proper analysis of the type of person it is after.


"At the moment Frank is team principal and that is something that is really important, not only for him but for the team and for F1," he said. "Let's see how it develops. At the moment I am trying to assist and help. I am enjoying the sport and let's see how it ends up.


"We have had such a busy time, and I would rather have the dust settle down, and then have a clear picture about if we want to seek someone external or internal. But it is going to happen within the next couple of months."


Williams has previously been linked with former HRT boss Colin Kolles, who left the Spanish team at the end of last year.

Post-race press conference:


[spoiler]TV UNILATERALS


Q. Nico, well done. You join an exclusive club of drivers who've turned their maiden pole into their maiden win. How do you feel?


Nico ROSBERG: Thank you very much. Well, it's an unbelievable feeling: very, very cool. I'm very happy, very excited. It's been a long time coming for me, and for the team as well over the past two years and a bit. Now, it's finally here. It's just amazing and it's just nice to see how quickly we are now progressing. I didn't expect to be that fast today. I expected that we had a good chance to be in front, but I was very happy today with the pace I was able to go in the race.


Q. Jenson, a three-stop strategy for you today, but the third stop really cost you big time didn't it?


Jenson BUTTON: Yeah, it did. But before that our race pace was good, especially on the harder of the two tyres. I had some really good battles out there. And then in my last stop, I stopped on the marks and we had a problem with the rear of the car, so I was stuck there for nine or ten seconds I think it was. It was a pity because when I exited the pits I had four cars in front of me; cars that I wouldn't have been racing, and I would have had a nice clear track to hopefully hunt down Nico. It was a big gap but you've got to give it a go. But, all in all, a fun day. I really enjoyed today. It was a good race, some good overtaking out there and nice to eventually come away with some good points and second place.


Q. Lewis, you started seventh and finished third. Were you surprised by Nico's pace today?


Lewis HAMILTON: We knew that all weekend they had been quick and if we let these people get away it would be hard to catch him, so fantastic for him, congratulations. Your first pole and your first win is an incredible feeling. But I'm very happy to have made it up to the podium. As I said, I wanted to just go forwards and the team did a great job with the pit stops and with strategy. I think it was one of the best races so far this season, just because there was a lot of overtaking and there was a train of us - I think seven cars or something – it was incredible. Yeah, fantastic day.


Q. Nico, there were a lot of questions marks about Mercedes' race pace going into this race. What have you done to the car to improve it so much?


NR: Big thanks to the whole team, because all the engineers especially in the past few weeks have been working very, very hard also, as everybody else has also, just improving the set-up, because we really struggled in the first two races with race pace. Today it all came good. It's great to see just how quickly we managed to progress. It's just fantastic.


Q. Jenson, a key moment for you was obviously the start, you went up from fifth place to third place. Tell us about it?


JB: Yeah, I got a good start. I think all year, so far, we've had very good starts, if not the best starts and [that's] promising when you don't qualify so well. Great job by the whole team for sorting out a special start out for me and great to get up into P3. But I think lastly for me, I'd like to congratulate Nico. We all know how special it is, your first win, and I'm sure there will be many more, just hopefully not too many more this year.


Q. For you Lewis, a lot of battles throughout the race but a very exciting one at the end with Sebastian Vettel. Tell us about it?


LH: It wasn't just with him. It was with everyone really. They [Red Bull] were massively quick on the straight, even when we had the DRS engaged. You had to use all your KERS to get right up behind and obviously you get to the DRS zone and try to use the DRS to catapult past. Finally, I got close enough to do so. I guess he was out a bit longer on his tyres. Nonetheless, he put up a good fight. So did all of them really. I think we lost a little bit of time behind, I think, maybe Pérez. But nevertheless it was still exciting racing.


Q. Finally, back to you Nico. Your father Keke, of course, a grand prix winner and a world champion. What are you going to say on the phone to your dad tonight?


NR: We'll see. Hopefully he's very happy too and I look forward to speaking to him.


PRESS CONFERENCE


Q. Nico, a bit of a packed weekend for you, what with setting records with Mercedes, your first pole, your first win etc. It's all come at once!


NR: Yeah, I know. It's been the perfect weekend. Everything's gone [well]. It couldn't be better. Very happy. It was a great race. It was impressive to see really how we've managed to progress so quickly. We've really had some difficult times in the races, the first two, but we've made a lot of changes, worked hard at it and all of a sudden it's come good. That's been fantastic to see today. I'm just so happy for all of us and I really look forward now to spending some time with the team later on.


Q. Was everything perfect in the car as well, throughout the race?


NR: Perfect? Well, it's never perfect but it definitely felt very good out there.


Q. You didn't seem to have any problems. It seemed to be a trouble-free race for you.


NR: It's never easy, especially taking care of the tyres was a big difficulty and a big challenger today because there was a lot of tyre wear, but it worked out well.


Q. Yesterday you gave the impression that, OK, you're on pole but it was going to be a lot more difficult to win the race – but you won it, it didn't seem to be that much more difficult.


NR: Of course I was a bit careful yesterday because yes, we were on pole but we've seen good qualifying performances all along this year and we've had more difficulties on high fuel in the race, so I wasn't really sure what to expect – but fantastic outcome.


Q. And the tyre strategy, you were happy with that as well, rather than a three-stop?


NR: I think we got it all right today, even tyre strategy. Everybody in the team did a great job, all the different people, my engineers at the start, the strategy, this and that – everything came together.


Q. What you did miss was an incredible battle going on behind you...


NR: I was aware of a bit of that because every lap the name changed of the person behind me – I said 'what's going on back there?'


Q. Jenson, you must love that little DRS thing, that was great, picking them off one after the other.


JB: Yeah, but we made it a little bit harder for ourselves in the last stint with a long pit stop – but hey, these things happen, and the first two were very good. A great race, we went for a three-stop strategy, which was different to a lot of people, it was good fun, even with the problem we had, and the possibility that we could maybe have chased down this guy [Nico]. Even though we didn't have that possibility it was still a great race. I'm very happy to come away with second. I can't remember how many cars I overtook during the race but it was a good fight and most of it was very, very clean, which is good to see. I think we put on a great show for all the viewers and especially all the fans here in Shanghai.


Q. Your race was a little bit easier than Lewis'. Lewis had a little bit of a tougher time I think.


JB: Ah, I don't know. I think when you're in front for the first few laps it always makes it easier. You're dropping the traffic better. Everything was going to plan, I knew I'd have traffic and we were picking them off nicely up to the second pit stop. But after the last stop it was a lot more difficult. Kimi was leading a train of about eight cars and everyone was DRS-ing at the same time, so, until Sebastian had a go at Kimi, I couldn't have a go at Sebastian. It was good fun. Overtaking Sebastian was probably the most fun move of the race, down into the hairpin. Or maybe Grosjean, when I took him before the actual back straight, through the right-hander, that was quite nice as well.


Q. A lot of satisfaction from that I can imagine.


JB: Yeah.


Q. Q. Lewis, I know it's another third place, but you had a great race out there, a lot of people to overtake.


LH: Yeah, I had my work cut out today. It was a fantastic race, I really enjoyed it. As I said yesterday, I just wanted to see if I could move forwards: a good start, good pit stops, good strategy, but what an incredible race with so many World Champions and so many of the great drivers all in a train, just fighting each other. It's great to see racing like that and to see cars so close in pace. It was a little bit unfortunate that there was quite a lot of traffic throughout the race but I'm sure that if we started a little bit higher up it would have been a little bit of a different result for us, but nonetheless, Nico did a fantastic job so congratulations to him. I'm glad we were able to get some good team points today.


Q. Q. How much downforce were you losing in that train, for instance through the corner onto the straight?


LH: You try to stay out of the wake of the car in front, so you take a slightly tighter line which enables you to remain as close as possible. As I said, it just provides great racing. I don't remember being in a race like that for some time so we're doing something right.


QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR


Q. (Frederique Ferret – L'Equipe) Nico, you said you wanted to win with Mercedes, now you have done so, just like Fangio and Stirling Moss. What does that mean to you?


NR: Ah, it's definitely very special, the whole thing, firstly just to win the race, to win my first race is special and everything that comes with it, with the Silver Arrows, with the team that I have, with everybody who has been working together for more than two years now. Yeah, it's a very happy moment.


Q. (Yan Xiao Yan -Titan Sports) It's your seventh year in Formula One; do you think that the champagne has come to you too late?


NR: No, I'm not going to say that, no. But I look forward to many more in the future, definitely.


Q. (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Nico, you said that you have had incredible car development from the last race to this one. Can you give us some details? Is it mechanical, set-up? What exactly explains this?


NR: Well, it's set-up really, really thinking about what's going on in the race and why are we struggling and trying to improve that situation. Surely the conditions helped us today, I think, but even so, we're just moving forward and that's very nice to see. Already from the beginning of the year we've been very strong in qualifying, perhaps more difficult in the race. Now we're still strong in qualifying – very strong, maybe even stronger – and also improving the race, so it's good progress forward and I'm sure that we will continue this ongoing development. It was mainly set-up.


Q. (Frederique Ferret – L'Equipe) Jenson, you had to wait some time to win for the first time; do you think that Nico can take the same path as you?


JB: We were talking on the podium and yeah, he beat me by two races. I took 113 and he's on 111. It's amazing how, with some people, it can happen very quickly if you can find yourself in the right situation. For others it takes a little bit more time. Which way would you chose? We'd all chose to win immediately, I think. I wouldn't chose my career path and the mistakes that I've made and obviously the good things that have happened in my career – it's just different for all of us. I'm sure that this won't be Nico's first and last win. They – the team - seem very competitive this year and Nico obviously hasn't put a foot wrong all weekend. So I think we're going to have a battle on our hands this year which is good to see.


Q. (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport) Nico, when did you make the decision to stop only twice, and when were you sure it was the right strategy?


NR: Well, I think we're very strong on strategy – just great people involved with that as well. We have a lot of competence in the team which is fantastic. Before the race, that was our plan. Of course you have Plan B if things don't go well but things progressed exactly as we had hoped for. The tyres lasted for exactly the amount of laps that we were hoping for so it just all went to plan.


Q. (News Time – Yan Peng) Nico, who will you make the first phone call to? Your Dad or (girlfriend) Vivian?


NR: I don't know. I will see.


Q. (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport) Jenson, if you had come out in front of the train without the problem at the last pit stop, do you think you could have caught Nico? I think your tyres were five laps younger.


JB: That was obviously the aim but you never know if that's going to be possible. It was a big gap to chase down but before the stop, we had very good pace on new and old tyres so I don't know. That was our aim but it didn't go to plan, but we had a problem at the pit stop which cost us a lot of time – it didn't just cost us time, it cost us places as well, so it made it very difficult to have the possibility to chase down Nico. But that's the way it is. Sometimes it doesn't quite go your way but I must say that most of the pit stops that we've had this weekend have been fantastic. We've just got to get rid of that bad one.


Q. In a week's time we will be in Bahrain, at what we would expect to be a hotter race; how's that going to affect you? Do you think that you can do the same again – for both Nico and McLaren?


NR: Yeah. For sure we're not where we want to be in the race. I had a great race today but that doesn't mean it's going to be like that at every race. We still need to push hard and continue progressing. Bahrain could be a little bit of a different story again. We need to wait and see. It's difficult to predict. I couldn't have predicted today so we'll just take it as it comes, but for sure I'm looking forward to what's to come because we're looking much stronger.


JB: I'm looking forward to it being hot. We would hope to go even better. I've just struggled – I think everyone has this weekend – with trying to get the tyres in an operating window. It's been so difficult. The change in four or five degrees has been massive difference in car balance. I would rather it to be a little bit more straightforward and we can really get down to business.


Q. (Frederique Ferret – L'Equipe) Nico, the last time you were leading in China, both of the McLaren drivers won that time. Are you enjoying the fact that these two guys are behind you now?


NR: No, I don't think about that. Not really, no.[/spoiler]

[MJB]

I stayed with Sky, purely because they will have all the races.

Oh and because of Georgie

[Lineker]

Georgie is shit.

Looks fucking stonking though.

[Lineker]

Formula 1 is in store for one of its greatest seasons on the evidence of the first three races, according to Mercedes-Benz motorsport boss Norbert Haug.

Nico Rosberg's victory in China was the third by a different car in as many races and Haug believes that the rest of the year could prove just as unpredictable as the first three rounds.

"I think this could be one of the best Formula 1 seasons of all time and harder fought than ever," he said. 1And that makes our win even more special.

"The reigning world champion was little more than three tenths slower than the fastest car in second qualifying, and he had to start 11th.

"Rosberg started from pole with Vettel outside the top ten - it just goes to show F1's power to surprise."

The inconsistent results of various teams throughout the opening races of this season is partly down to their varying levels of success in finding a setup that worked consistently within the narrow operating window of Pirelli's new-for-2012 tyres.

Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn admitted during the Chinese GP weekend that it too had found a 'sweet spot' with its tyres.

Pirelli's motorsport boss Paul Hembrey reckoned that this pattern could well help to form a truly unpredictably competitive championship battle for the rest of 2012.

"If you look, Nico had a big advantage [in China] but from second through to tenth it was only a few seconds so I think we are in for one of the real classic seasons of Formula 1, which is absolutely fascinating," he said.

"No one can predict it, not even the experts, not even ourselves when we have all the data. I think it is almost impossible to call this year and we should be very excited for this season."

Mercedes' rivals say they will not be rushed into adding 'double DRS' to their cars, despite Nico Rosberg's dominant victory in China showing how beneficial the system can be.

The advantage of the DRS-activated concept has been clear in qualifying, with Rosberg and team-mate Michael Schumacher battling for pole at all three races. But in China the team also delivered the race pace to capitalise on that single-lap speed.

With a protest against the system in China by Lotus having been rejected by the FIA, rivals must now decide if it is worth devoting resources to introduce their own designs.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said that although his team was looking at it, any introduction would depend on the amount of benefit it can bring.

"Ultimately there has been a lot said and a lot of fuss made about it," he explained. "They've optimised and capitalised on it and inevitably now we will pursue our own solutions.

"But I think first of all, like any component, it has to earn a place on the car as a package. It's not a given on everybody's car that it's a bolt-on laptime."

McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh has suggested that there could yet be further technical rows about DRS designs as teams are now clear on what they can or cannot do.

"I think there will be a continued controversy over the DRS, but we have a range of development priorities and we will continue to bring performance to the race," he said.

"We are going to make sure that you don't chase the latest thing with a disproportionate amount of resource. It's certainly doing a good job for them [Mercedes]. But they weren't that slow in the race without the DRS, were they?"

Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn said he was happy that there were no doubts now over the legality of the system, and thinks that is good news for the sport too.

"It is good for everybody," he said. "I am sure there are teams who have been debating whether they want to do it or not, so it is good for everyone, good for the sport, and we want clarity.

"In many ways we welcomed the protest because we can stop all the debate and get the principles confirmed. We were reasonably confident but you are never sure.

"The other teams can now decide what they want to do. It is better for the sport that way."

Ross Brawn thinks it is too early to say whether Mercedes can deliver more victories this season, despite the nature of Nico Rosberg's dominant performance in the Chinese Grand Prix.

Rosberg was in a class of his own in Shanghai, as he finished well clear of his opposition for his maiden Formula 1 win.

But despite the performance, Mercedes team principal Brawn thinks the uncertainty caused by tyre characteristics this year means he has to be cautious about his outfit's chances going forward.

When asked by AUTOSPORT if he felt the Mercedes W03 had the speed to produce a series of wins in 2012, Brawn said: "It is so difficult to judge because of the sensitivity of the tyres. Did everyone else get it wrong and we got it right? Or did everyone get it right and this is a fair measure of where we are? I don't know.

"The fact that we have been close in qualifying in the first two races gives me encouragement, but it was just a perfect race for us here and I expect it wasn't for others. We have to turn as many races as we can into perfect races."

Mercedes-Benz motorsport boss Norbert Haug added that the team would maintain a realistic approach to the remainder of the season, as he was not sure just how good its car was.

"I will not make an answer that is unrealistic," he said about the possibility of Mercedes adding further wins this season. "We are not favourites but we are not nowhere. Not lots of people would have had us do this after the first two races.

"We have our own expectations, and I think the team can handle that. They won before and hopefully they will win in the future again."

Fernando Alonso says there is no reason to expect anything but another weekend of damage limitation for Ferrari at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The Spaniard lost his Formula 1 points lead in China last weekend, when he could only finish ninth as Ferrari's lack of pace proved insurmountable in dry conditions - preventing a repeat of Alonso's surprise Sepang win.

In his diary column for Ferrari's website, Alonso warned the team's supporters to expect more of the same at Sakhir, both due to the nature of the track and the lack of time to make progress between the back-to-back races.

"I am well aware that in Sakhir, we can expect another difficult weekend, which is only natural, partly because of the track characteristics and also because the car is the same one we had in Shanghai," Alonso wrote.

"Both the Scuderia and I have a good record in Bahrain: the team has four victories here and I've got three, the last of which was also my debut race for the Prancing Horse. But the past counts for nothing in this sport and this weekend will be all about damage limitation for us."

Alonso, who is now third in the championship, eight points behind leader Lewis Hamilton, remains unwilling to rule Ferrari out of title contention, but admits it needs to find a significant step forward in pace with some urgency if it is to stand a chance.

"The championship is very open and there are a lot of teams that can aspire to victory, but clearly we need to make a leap forward to be more competitive if we want to aspire to coming out on top at the end," he said.

"We have to take the step forward as soon as possible. I have faith in the team and I know everyone at Maranello is giving their all so that we can reach this objective."

Kimi Raikkonen is confident his Lotus team will be quick enough to fight for a podium at the Bahrain Grand Prix after his near-miss in China - and the Enstone squad reckons its upgrades should also work better at Sakhir than at Shanghai.

Raikkonen was running second going into the closing stages in China, but the strategy of pitting twice with a very long final stint backfired. As his tyres faded, Raikkonen tumbled right back to 14th.

Although the Finn's best result of his comeback so far was fifth in Malaysia, he says Lotus has been quick enough for a podium everywhere, and hopes to prove this in Bahrain.

"A podium should be possible and I think it has been at all the races we've been at so far," he said. "We won't know exactly how good the car is until we get there, but we don't expect any problems."

Raikkonen added that he had no regrets about the China strategy, which paid off for his team-mate Romain Grosjean as a longer middle and shorter second stint helped the Frenchman to achieve sufficient tyre mileage to finish sixth.

"It looked the best one for us and it worked for Romain," saidRaikkonen. "If we had the same information again, we'd probably try the same approach. It didn't work, but you don't know these things unless you try them.

"We will now know better for next time. We were pretty close to finishing on the podium. We didn't. That's racing."

Lotus technical director James Allison said the team had not been able to show its full potential in China as issues with the weather and tyres hampered its upgrade package. Allison expects Bahrain to be a different story.

"We weren't able to unlock the pace we thought we had brought with the upgrades and that was frustrating," he said.

"It was a very awkward weekend and not just for us. We were dealing with a tyre that was just popping in and out of the edge of its operating window from a temperature point of view. That made it ever so hard to make coherent decisions about whether what you had done to the car was a good thing or a bad thing. That was confusing for us, but we pulled everything reasonably back together.

"We go to Bahrain knowing that we're going to have more consistent temperatures with the tyres! That will allow us to assess the upgrade package with a more level set of conditions. We'll get as much of it on as we can prove is good. There are a couple of new bits coming for the car, such as a new pushrod.

"We will benefit from more time with the bits we took to China but ultimately didn't use for the race."

Bruno Senna believes an improved DRS could be key to helping Williams find the qualifying boost it needs to make the most of its race pace.

The Brazilian enjoyed another points-scoring performance in China, but the team's chances in grands prix are being hampered by its struggles to get the most out of its car in qualifying.

Senna thinks, however, that with the midfield pack so tightly grouped together that a small laptime benefit from DRS on Saturdays could be very influential.

"When you look at the qualifying performance it's so close with everybody," Senna told AUTOSPORT. "We are talking about 15 cars in six tenths of a second.

"If you think about it, if you can get three tenths from the DRS effect, which is not impossible, then you are already jumping maybe three or four positions.

"So we are focusing on that, but especially on improving the performance of the bits and pieces of the car. I think we are going in the right direction."

Senna thinks that, until the DRS is improved, he and team-mate Pastor Maldonado may struggle on tracks where the straight-line speed boost is most beneficial.

"We know all the other teams have a bigger effect [from DRS], so on tracks like China with long straights it is hard," he added. "And even Bahrain will be tough for us.

"We are going to try harder, but the important thing is to keep the nose clean in the first lap of the race and then make sure that you have a nice, long race ahead of you."

Bruno Senna is convinced that he is growing up as a driver this year, on the back of his strong start to the campaign for Williams.

Having taken points-scoring finishes in Malaysia and China, Senna has proved that he can deliver in the races as well as over a single lap.

The Brazilian thinks his progress is down to the faith that Williams has shown in him, and the positive pressure that comes from chasing good results.

"The amount of pressure is different [at Williams], and it's a very different type of pressure," he told AUTOSPORT. "I know I have to perform, I know I have to be on top of my game, but these guys give me a great chance to develop, to learn, teaching me as much as they can.

"We are growing together. They are giving me a great chance and I'm trying everything I can to help develop the car."

Senna thinks the fact he had his first pre-season testing programme this year, plus more knowledge of Formula 1 tyres, has been a big help.

"We had the structure before the season, so I have a better idea of what the car can do," he said. "And I know the tyres a lot better than last year.

"Sometimes it's easy to pull a qualifying lap and do a top 10. Maybe not easy but it's possible, and I did that a few times last year. But then in the race I made one bad decision here, one bad decision there and the race pace was not quite as good."

Although Senna faced pressure at the end of last year to deliver as he tried to convince Renault bosses to keep him, he says that his contractual situation does not make things any easier this time around.

"I'm in the fight for the seat for next year. It's not like I'm guaranteed for next year, so it's important to keep pushing," he said.

"These are only the first races of the season but I scored points in two out of three, and maybe I could have scored in the first one. It's the best thing I can do - keep pushing, keep scoring points.

"I can improve on qualifying but the important thing is the race and that's what counts."

Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone has cast doubt on whether the new Grand Prix of America in New Jersey will take place in 2013 as planned.

The event on public roads alongside the Hudson River overlooking New York City had been expected to join the calendar in June next year.

But Ecclestone told BBC Sport there was some doubt about whether the track would be ready in time.

"Maybe the New York race will be 2013," he said. "It's a when - 2013 or 2014."

It is the first time any doubts have been expressed about the much-anticipated event, which is the second new Formula 1 race scheduled to take place in the USA in the next 14 months.

The first is the United States Grand Prix, which is scheduled to take place on a new track being built in Austin, Texas, as the penultimate race of this season on 18 November.

Texan circuit bosses insist the race will go ahead, but there have been continuing reports in the US of legal problems and doubts that the track will be ready in time.

The Texas race has had a troubled development. The initial promoter fell out with the track's bosses and had his contract ripped up by Ecclestone.

The race was only included on this year's calendar after the new promoter agreed to pay the sanctioning fee at the 11th hour before Ecclestone submitted a final calendar to governing body the FIA in December last year.

Recently, there have been reports in the US of delays in building the track as well as ongoing issues surrounding the management of the track and event.

Bosses have continued to insist that the race will take place as planned.

Ecclestone also said that a proposed deal that would see the French Grand Prix return to the calendar and alternate year-to-year with the Belgian event at Spa-Francorchamps was a real possibility.

The arrangement is expected to start in 2013, with the French race at the Paul Ricard track near Marseille rather than at Magny-Cours near Nevers, which last hosted the race in 2008.

Ecclestone said: "We don't want any more races. They're quite close and they're French-speaking. Spa have agreed; apparently they're going to do it in Ricard."

Ecclestone is the promoter of the Belgian Grand Prix and owns the Paul Ricard track, which has been used for occasional F1 testing in recent years.

The French event remains in some doubt, however.

It depends on raising the required funding and although the current government, which is facing an imminent general election, has made it clear it supports the race, it has said it will not provide any state funding.

And if President Nicolas Sarkozy's party loses the election, it is not clear whether the new government would back the race, and if they did whether they would be happy for it to take place at Paul Ricard rather than Magny-Cours, which has long links with their party.

Formula 1 teams are edging closer an agreement that will allow testing to return to Silverstone this year.

As AUTOSPORT revealed last month, teams have been considering switching the annual young driver test from its late-season Abu Dhabi slot to just after the British Grand Prix, because of concerns about the workload at the end of the season.

Further discussions took place over the Chinese GP weekend to try and find agreement on which venue would be preferred, but no consensus was reached.

Teams have therefore agreed that they will have the option of running at either Silverstone in July or at the Yas Marina circuit after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in November.

The final details of the tests need to be sorted out to ensure that one group of teams is not given an advantage by getting exclusive access to development tyres at the end of the year.

In a bid to ensure that teams are also not disadvantaged by bad weather at Silverstone, they will be able to pull out of the running if it looks like the test will be a washout.

However, it is understood that if a team's car leaves the pits at the first test, then they will be deemed to have chosen that test so cannot therefore take part in the Abu Dhabi running.

[Lineker]

Mercedes motorsport boss Norbert Haug says the team is keeping its feet on the ground despite its commanding victory in the Chinese Grand Prix last weekend.

Nico Rosberg took his maiden Formula 1 win in Shanghai on Sunday, also giving Mercedes its first victory as a team in 57 years.

Although Rosberg, who started from pole position, won the race by over 20 seconds, Haug says Mercedes is staying realistic, as he is aware that small differences can mean big changes in the pecking order this year.

"Last Sunday was a milestone for our Mercedes team," said Haug ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix. "However, things move quickly in this business and our focus is now on preparing for the fourth race of the season in Bahrain.

"Our newly-formed Silver Arrows team made its debut at this circuit two years - and 41 races - ago. Since then, everybody in Brackley and Brixworth has worked tirelessly to make ours a winning team, and our performance in China provided a first taste of success.

"But we are keeping our feet on the ground, because this year more than ever before in the history of Formula 1, small details can take you from hero to zero: just three tenths of a second separated P1 to P11 in qualifying last Saturday."

Although Mercedes seems to be on top of the tyre issues that blighted its start to the season, the hotter temperatures in Bahrain could still prove a challenge for the team.

Ross Brawn is optimistic, however, that Mercedes can overcome the problems and be strong again.

"The team have worked very hard to overcome the tyre issues that affected us at the first two races, and it is clear that achieving the optimum performance from the Pirelli tyres is absolutely key to our performance and ability to challenge at the front of the field," said Brawn.

"The temperatures and track conditions in Bahrain will be very different to Shanghai, however we will work hard to extract the maximum performance from the F1 W03 and have another strong weekend."

McLaren's racing drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button will not participate in next month's test at Mugello, the team has announced.

Test drivers Olivier Turvey and Gary Paffett will be in action at the Italian track instead.

Britons Turvey and Paffett last drove F1 machinery during last year's young driver test at Abu Dhabi.

The Mugello session, the only in-season test that allows any driver to take part in it, will take place on 1-3 May.

Williams' chief operations engineer Mark Gillan says the team has been buoyed by its performance in the Chinese Grand Prix.

Williams, which last year endured the worst F1 season in its history, has bounced back strongly in 2012 with both Bruno Senna and Pastor Maldonado finishing in the points at Shanghai last weekend.

The Grove team has scored 18 points in the first three races of the year, 13 more than during the entire 2011 season.

Although Gillan says Williams does not want to get ahead of itself, he is convinced the team is finally 'getting there'.

"I'll stick to my guns and say top 10 is the aim; both cars in the top 10, which we achieved," Gillan told AUTOSPORT. "So we're still to meet our goals, but then they are end goals for the season. We don't want to get ahead of ourselves, but we're getting there.

"The whole team has been buoyed by this result. Everybody from the factory through to the drivers have done a superb job, and we expect that to continue in Bahrain."

Gillan said the team was very happy with the performance of its drivers in the previous race, where Senna finished in seventh and Maldonado in eighth.

"It's really, really pleasing. We went out to make a two-stop strategy work and we knew that it would be maybe marginal on the tyres, and as it [panned out], it was. So the drivers were fighting hard with everyone around, but obviously trying to manage the tyres at the same time.

"So we did an excellent job. Really pleasing in terms of the pace. We have to have a look at the general setup in terms of the race. Pastor, on the last stint, was particularly strong just on the first few laps of that stint. Very pleased with both drivers."

Managing tyres properly will be key to strong race performances this season, according to Williams's chief operations engineer Mark Gillan.

Last weekend's Chinese Grand Prix highlighted the fact that this year's tyre strategies can make or break a race for a team, and Gillan reckons that not upsetting the tyre balance will have a huge influence on getting good results regardless of how strong a car is.

"Tyre management is fundamental," Gillan told AUTOSPORT. "The tyres are the number one item on the car, followed by aero and then engine. But understanding the tyres and managing the tyres is the key to unlocking race performance. Qualifying as well, but of particular performance in race.

"Aerodynamics is still a key driver and better aerodynamic performance and efficiency will deliver more laptime, as long as you don't upset the tyre balance, and that's something that's always a factor.

"It's never not been an issue, but this year it seems to be a particular balance between the two. It's not just the aero, it's a whole mechanical balance."

Gillan says that finding the right balance between tyre use in qualifying and in the race is also a key element that Williams is still working hard on to try to improve.

"That's the fine balancing act that needs to be done, and is becoming more important. All teams are working in that direction and we're looking to improve in that direction too."

Gillan is optimistic that Williams can get its tyres working properly both in hot and cool conditions, but admits the temperature changes between qualifying and the races will be hard to manage.

"I think we can manage both, but where it becomes difficult is when you have a big temperature swing, particularly with the parc ferme conditions. In qualifying and the race if there's a big temperature swing, you have to primarily err towards the race and then just a question of how much that temperature swing is in terms of the set-up.

"So it's becoming really interesting. In this race Mercedes and Rosberg did an excellent job. I've never seen it so tight with the chasing pack. It was like lap two or three of the race on every lap.

[Katsuya]

Apparently Force India nearly got firebombed today.

Yeah. Safe place to be, well done FIA!

[Lineker]

How did you beat me to that - I'm sitting in the newsroom!!

A member of the Force India team has returned home from the Bahrain Grand Prix in the wake of fellow team members getting involved in an incident on the way home from the circuit on Wednesday night.

A hire car with four Force India mechanics was accidentally caught up in a clash between protestors and police on the main motorway in to Manama. After being forced to come to a halt, a Molotov cocktail exploded near their car - although luckily no one was injured.

Although the team members were able to return to their hotel, and the incident was not as a result of them being targeted because they are part of the F1 community, it was enough for another member of the Force India team to feel that they would prefer not to remain in the Gulf State.

The four mechanics involved in the incident, that took place shortly after nightfall in Bahrain, will continue with their duties for the remainders of the weekend.

Bahrain International Circuit chairman Zayed R Alzayani played down the matter, and said he would not request any tighter security as a result of what happened.

"It was an isolated incident, and my wife was involved too," he said. "The protestors were not targeting the cars, they just happened to be there. Nobody was injured.

"I don't command the police; they know what to do better than I do. I have a race to run."

The Force India incident has come despite assurances from the FIA and Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone that the Gulf state is completely safe for holding this weekend's grand prix.

Jasim Husain, an economist who previously represented Bahrain's leading opposition group Al-Wefaq for five years, insists that holding the Formula 1 race is the right move for the Gulf state.

Amid heightened concerns in F1 following news that Force India mechanics were lucky to escape unhurt after a Molotov cocktail landed near their car on Wednesday night, Husain played down opposition to the event.

"I can tell you that most people in Bahrain are happy and pleased that F1 is back in Bahrain, given its effects on the economy and the social aspects of it," said Husain, who resigned in protest during last year's anti-government demonstrations.

"Many are happy and pleased. I see this as a sporting and economic event, rather than a political event."

When asked whether the Bahrain GP's push to use the banner 'UniF1ed' to link the event to the political situation was provocative, he said: "Possibly, but definitely the issue - there are some people who are not happy with F1, even in normal times, and some groups were not happy for religious reasons. We can no way have all groups happy, but most people are happy."

Husain predicted that protests would continue throughout the grand prix weekend, and would not end when F1 leaves.

"Protests are definitely going to take place. We have had protests taking place before the event, they will take place during the event and afterwards, but there is no connection."

However, when pushed on the fact that some protests featured anti-F1 sentiment, he said: "I can tell you for sure that it is easy to see, but even if F1 was not here, protests would still be going on, so this is not the reason. For them it is an opportunity to raise awareness."

Husain also played down safety concerns, despite the Force India incident highlighted the difficulties F1 personnel will face in escaping trouble over the weekend.

"Security has never been a big issue in Bahrain," he said. "The protests are very much peaceful; largely people are having political issues which have to be addressed one way or another.

"Even after you guys leave we have some challenges that must be addressed. Bahrain stands out as being uniquely peaceful, we are a tolerant society, we are a society where foreign nationals make up the majority of the population: they make up 52% of the population and 66% of the labour force.

"There are no hate crimes, and people here are very tolerant."