
An electric issue and not the failure of a mechanical part. This was the cause, understood after days of investigation, that ruined Sebastian Vettel's engine and dreams during the formation lap of the Bahrain Grand Prix. An unfortunate coincidence, occurring at a certain gear (the eighth), a certain speed that Ferrari preferred not to disclose, and at a precise number of engine revolutions, all combinations that actually overloaded the electronic program, creating a sort of black-out that ended up affecting the traditional part of the engine. As a result of the mishap the connection in the power unit broke and this resulted in the rupture of a valve and later the failure of the entire structure, which upon disassemblement proved to be irreparably damaged. Just to make a point, even Maranello admits it, the engine is now to be thrown out and can no longer be used, thus bringing down to only four the units available for the entire season with nineteen races still to be run, a number that creates some alarm (upon the entry of the sixth engine, a grid penalty is triggered), although in reality it is the same proportion that the team had available at the beginning of last season, in a calendar with nineteen events and a maximum number of four usable power units. Last year Ferrari succeeded in conserving its strength and making it to the end without sporting sanctions, now it is counting on repeating itself in order not to create further damage to Vettel in his race for the World Championship. Rather, in Maranello, having known exactly what the trouble was, the chase for remedies has already begun so that it will not happen again. The fact that nothing happened to Raikkonen, who evidently was running the reconnaissance lap in a different gear and with different engine speeds and revs, encourages. Probably the critical moment is precisely the one reached by Vettel in those few meters run in Bahrain.
Of course, this means that the failure could happen again, so Ferrari is studying appropriate measures. Not only an invitation to the driver to avoid that risk threshold, but also appropriate electronic protection. To ensure that the German's Ferrari can prove in the race that it is as fast as the Mercedes of Rosberg and Hamilton, and not fragile and unable to take off. Meanwhile, Formula 1, after multiple controversies and sharp stances by drivers and teams, has decided to go back to the old ways. The Circus authorities, in fact, have agreed to restore the 2015 format of qualifying as early as the Grand Prix in China. On Thursday, April 7, 2016, the FIA announced the officiality of the turnaround also expected by many Formula 1 fans. The reversal comes following the teams' decision to write to FIA President Jean Todt and F1 patron Bernie Ecclestone urging a return to last year's format after rejecting a new proposal to introduce an aggregate lap system. The knockout format, which has never made a dent even in the fans' hearts, is thus shelved after just two Grands Prix, those held in Australia and Bahrain, and as early as Shanghai there will be a return to the old formula. All drivers qualified for Q3 will thus have a chance to play for pole position until the checkered flag. On the eve of the Chinese Grand Prix Fernando Alonso continues to wait for the green light to return to racing. The Spanish McLaren driver has not yet received the okay from the FIA after the frightening accident at the Australian Grand Prix. Having already missed the weekend in Bahrain, the Spaniard hopes to be able to return to the track at the Chinese Grand Prix.
"It was disappointing to hear that I could not race in Bahrain, but I fully respected the decision of the FIA medical team-I hope to return to driving on Friday after getting the green light from the doctors to race. We cannot take anything for granted, I am continuing to prepare for the race weekend as usual".
Alonso holds out hope that he can return to Shanghai.
"I have always enjoyed driving in China, where I have won twice. I hope we will be able to have good fights on the track and see more progress this weekend".
Alonso can almost detachedly analyze the performance of Vandoorne -his replacement- and Button in the last Grand Prix.

"Stoffel did a great job in Bahrain, and even though Jenson suffered from reliability problems, it was good to see that both cars were running quite strong. It was also interesting to see the race weekend from a different perspective; it helped me understand everything the cars get on the track. I was able to learn a lot about the different processes".
Eric Boullier, McLaren team principal, confirms that Vandoorne is on early warning:
"He did a fantastic job for himself and the team in his Grand Prix debut, once again he will be on standby until Fernando's routine checkup, who has recovered at home, continuing with his preparation. We, like him, have hopes of seeing him in the car, but we will accept any response from the doctors".
No one would have guessed it. But after only two Grands Prix, Ferrari is already facing the most difficult moment of the season, the decisive one. After two consecutive breakdowns, that of Raikkonen in Melbourne and that of Vettel's in Bahrain - which, to be precise, would be three considering the serious problems he had in Sakir's last free practice - Maurizio Arrivabene's team needs points in Shanghai. And lots of them. More than Mercedes. Whatever else will come from Sunday's race, be it even other positive or promising signs, will no longer be enough. But the Shanghai race is also likely to be the crossroads of the season for two other good reasons. The first, certainly the most delicate, dramatic even, relates to the state of mind of the entire team and, above all, of what, by now, is to be considered its technical leader, James Allison. The man chosen by Stefano Domenicali, reappointed by Marco Mattiacci and placed at the exact center of Ferrari’s project by Maurizio Arrivabene, lost Rebecca, his wife, to fulminating meningitis the day after the Bahrain race. It was a human drama for Allison and his three children-Emily, Matteo and Jonathan-around whom all of Maranello immediately rallied. The less relevant sporting aspect of this story is unpredictable. Arrivabene and the entire team left maximum freedom to Allison at such a moment. But James immediately wanted to get back to work at the factory, trying to get his head around the not insignificant technical problems that this year's car-very fast and well-driven-has shown from a reliability standpoint. In Shanghai, as expected early in the season, James Allison will not be present but will be in constant contact with Jock Clear the head of the track engineers, formerly a point of reference for Schumacher and Hamilton, whom Ferrari wrested from Mercedes last year. The Allison-Clear pair apparently are very close, but how Allison will really react to such an emotionally complicated situation is likely to be the real unknown of Ferrari's season. In Shanghai, Sergio Marchionne will also apparently be present, another element that emphasizes the importance of this race. On the 2016 season, Marchionne has been very clear:
"I have given Arrivabene everything he needs to win, now I expect him to do it".
A pressure that is also explained by a certain urgency to achieve the only result that matters. After the New York stock market listing (where the documents presented to investors made explicit reference to the 2016 world championship), it will indeed be more difficult for Ferrari in the coming years to assume crazy spending to chase Mercedes. Further adding to the pressure on Arrivabene's head is the fact that Marchionne's attention to Ferrari is at an all-time high in these hours, since according to persistent rumors amplified also by Bloomberg, Ferrari's corporate structure is about to be overturned again, with Marchionne expected to occupy an even more central role (if possible). Amedeo Felisa, Ferrari's legendary CEO, is in fact about to retire, and his role, it seems, should be taken over by the current chairman himself. Who would thus find himself the one man show in Maranello. This will not be the only change at the top of Scuderia Ferrari. Human resources manager Mario Mairano (also a longtime executive) will also leave. In his place will be Michele Antoniazzi, formerly Automotive Lightining (Magneti Marelli). To complete the picture, in the coming days in Amsterdam, John and Lapo Elkann will join the Ferrari Board of Directors; with them, Maria Patrizia Grieco, president of Enel, will also be there.

Moving on to other topics, the Chinese Grand Prix also begins with bad news for Lewis Hamilton: the British driver will be forced to change the gearbox and for this, due to cost-cutting regulations, he will be penalized five positions at the start. The news is given by the British driver himself on social media. His Mercedes had been seriously damaged after the impact with Valtteri Bottas at the start of the Bahrain Grand Prix, and the gearbox was deemed compromised by engineers.
"The gearbox suffered damage that requires physical inspection to be quantified. And so it was decided to replace it in Shanghai because it is the best track of the next 4-5 to be able to recover the positions lost at the start. That gearbox could have lasted another 600 kilometers or another 100, it was too risky to go on like that".
In short, after the lackluster third-place finish in Melbourne and the Bahrain crash, the British World Champion's 2016 season continues to move forward with difficulty.
"My goal was to start at the front, make a good start and win the race. Now there is this penalty but the goal of winning remains. I need to get the pole to minimize the penalty and make a good start so I don't fall too far behind. However, it is normal that I start thinking a little bit about the next races as well".
Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso’s strikes again. The driver is conditionally admitted to the Chinese Grand Prix. The Spaniard, who FIA doctors had kept on enforced rest for the Bahrain Grand Prix, underwent further clinical tests on Thursday, April 14, 2016. At the end of which the doctors give the green light but on condition that Alonso passes a further similar test at the end of the first free practice session. The accident - both spectacular and dramatic - suffered in Australia had much more serious consequences than it had first appeared, when the driver emerged from the smoking wreckage of his McLaren and returned on his own two feet to the pit lane. The next day, the report of new tests performed in England spoke of a cracked rib with pneumothorax. A worrying medical aspect to which was also added a political element, McLaren did not warn the FIA of the situation in a timely manner, causing a minor diplomatic incident, following which the FIA's attention became even more meticulous. Likely, Alonso will eventually make it to the race. But it is a fact that since he left Ferrari, his career, for one reason or another, knows no peace. First, the accident that is still shrouded in mystery (so to speak) in Barcelona, when in the middle of the straight and for no apparent reason (although everyone in the paddock is now convinced that he was electrocuted by the McLaren-Honda power unit that was making its debut that day), he lost consciousness and crashed into the wall. Then the hell of the last positions aboard an incredibly bad car: the McLaren last year was going almost three seconds slower than the Ferrari, the result of a disastrous design. Finally, this year, just when the Anglo-Japanese car seemed to have made up ground, the terrible flight in Melbourne: accident, injury and hoax: instead of the Spaniard, a rookie, Stoffel Vandoorne, got into the Woking car. Who drove the car to ninth place: best result of the season. Thus, an uphill start to the Chinese Grand Prix weekend for Lewis Hamilton. Mercedes preferred to provide the replacement right away, believing that the Chinese track, compared to the upcoming races, lends itself more to overtaking.
"However, the goal remains to win the race".
That's the comment of the three-time world champion, who has won the last two editions of the Chinese race and has taken pole in Shanghai, where he has won four times, for the past three years.
"If I can get one more I can minimize the penalty, then I'll have to get a good start and hope I don't get stuck behind so I can play it out".

Says Hamilton, still winless.
"Pressure? At the moment I don't feel it, it's still early in the season but I'm sure it will grow if I keep it up".
On the other hand, the one who is smiling is Nico Rosberg, who tries to attribute to the birth of his first daughter the excellent start to the season that saw him impose himself first in Australia and then in Bahrain.
"What has changed? Before there was only one person at home crossing their fingers for me, now there is also a little one doing it and she is a force to be reckoned with. Last year is far away, it doesn't count anymore. I'm happy with the two wins but the season is long, it's the longest in the history of Formula One and out of 21 races two wins don't really count that much. For sure you always have to take advantage of the good moments, I feel privileged to be in this team and to be able to fight for victory in every Grand Prix".
On the Ferrari front on the contrary, the start of the season has not been what was dreamed of, but it is still too early to draw conclusions or even fail the 2016 car:
"I've said it many times before, with this car we can play it much more than last year. I think the potential is there, it's just a matter of putting all the ingredients together".
Third in Australia and forced to retire in Bahrain, the German admits:
"It has not been the start of the season we had hoped for, and that is certainly no secret. On the other hand, however, I see no reason to panic. The season is still very long, and the two failures we had, Kimi in Australia and me in Bahrain, were due to completely different reasons. In my case, we understood that a small electronic issue caused a big problem. So for this race we will have to change engines, but I am not too worried since we have found out the reason for the failure. I am sure that this year we can fight with Mercedes".
Kimi Raikkonen preaches optimism:
"We are still positive about the package we built during the winter, our idea has not changed even though the first two races were not ideal, two podiums came but also two retirements and that is not what we want. There is still work to be done but the speed is there, not maybe in qualifying if we go to see the last performances, but we have a good package that we have to try to improve and make the most of. The car certainly has improved from last season, the engine has improved, the team has worked to give us a better package, from a handling point of view we have improved what we were not satisfied with. We are still not at the best possible level, everything is perfectible but this is where we have to start from".
Satisfied with the limitations imposed on the radio team, the Finn is not afraid of the possible rain that could affect the Chinese weekend.
"It has often happened here that it rains, but even in Australia we had to deal with such conditions. If free practice is held in the dry and qualifying in the wet, things will change but it still won't be anything dramatic, there will just be more excitement, more difficulty. If it's going to rain, hopefully it will do it the right way and not maybe in the middle of qualifying".

Then a joke that Sunday's could be one of the last Grand Prix held in Shanghai:
"Ecclestone decides, and we go where he wants".
Valtteri Bottas does not hide some frustration with Williams' difficulties even as he tries to remain positive.
"These were two rather difficult races with unfortunate episodes. Now let's try to have a positive weekend and see what result we get. It seems like a difficult year, Ferrari and Mercedes are further away now than in the last two years, everyone else is pretty close, we'll see if we can make improvements over the course of the season. I think from each weekend we will be able to learn quite a bit about the way the compounds work, we can do better. We haven't seen yet how competitive we are in the wet. It would be good to see if we could make progress since we have struggled in recent years. There might be more graining but it will be the same for everyone".
The crisis at Sauber continues, but a glimmer has arrived to resolve, at least temporarily, the critical situation. While in the meantime the team principal, Monisha Kaltenborn, is trying to find a permanent solution to the problem, news comes that Sauber's participation in the Chinese Grand Prix should not be in jeopardy. Members of the Swiss team were late in receiving their salaries in both February and March, but the situation would be normalized thanks to the intervention of the Swedish driver's personal sponsor Marcus Ericsson, who would advance some payments so as to ensure financial coverage for the Swiss team's salaries. Meanwhile, the team is among those who have asked Bernie Ecclestone for an advance payment of the dues to which it is entitled from commercial rights, while some have linked Mark Smith's farewell to Sauber last month precisely to this precarious economic situation that has now emerged into the open. Sauber's precarious situation became apparent in Bahrain, with the absence of Monisha Kaltenborn, which could be repeated in China as well. But Ericsson's response about the team's presence in China was reassuring:
"We will be there 100 percent".
The problem remains that - salaries paid - there is not enough credit to be able to develop to the fullest a car that already appeared to be in obvious difficulty in the first races. In this regard, Ericsson added:
“We're always tight with money, we're a small team and we can't develop like the bigger ones do. I'm here to do my job and maximize it with the equipment I have, and that's all I can do as a rider. Of course I always motivate my people and give them information about what I need on the track, but in the end I can't do much more than my job on the track".
On Friday, April 15, 2016, the world seems to be turning upside down. The first two free practice sessions of the Chinese Grand Prix return to Formula 1 the image of a grid turned upside down. Everything is backwards from what we were used to. Ferrari finishes ahead of Mercedes and the second drivers finish ahead of the first: Raikkonen, Vettel, Rosberg, Hamilton. All gathered within a little more than 0.2 seconds. This is the order of things punctuated by the timesheet at the end of the day, an order that promises fans a spectacular Saturday. Of course, as usual, Friday needs to be taken easy. Teams have made their experiments, when not outright pre-tactics, and, given that similar tires have been used, the unknown of fuel loads remains. The most worried of all must be Lewis Hamilton. Not so much because of the five grid positions penalty he received for replacing the crashed gearbox in Bahrain, those are easily recovered since there is technical and competitive nothingness behind the two frontrunners again this year (even Williams seems to have evaporated). How much for the fact that while Rosberg is at 100 percent, the World Champion seems to struggle to find the perfect symbiosis with the car.

Instead, wide smiles can be seen at Ferrari. At least for the moment. The Maranello car, about whose performance there have never been too many doubts, is proving to be very fast even in China, in spite of an asphalt that is still too cold for the engineers' liking. Expectations are therefore very high, and this is confirmed by the presence, announced in recent days, of President Sergio Marchionne, who has decided to attend the Grand Prix live, to put his face to it. On Saturday, qualifying will be held in the wet, if the weather does not lie, and with the format of last season. The outcome is therefore unpredictable. Should there be no nasty surprises, Vettel and Raikkonen would have a good chance of winning a good result. Immediately after the first free practice session Fernando Alonso gets the green light to participate in the race. The FIA medical committee grants clearance to the Spanish McLaren driver. Alonso had received a provisional green light on Thursday to take to the track this morning at the Chinese circuit. In the note released, the FIA recommends that the driver stop immediately if he experiences any abnormal symptoms. So going back to talking about the first day of practice, it is therefore a Ferrari in great shape that concluded the first day of work in Shanghai. Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel, in fact, finished ahead of everyone in the second free practice session, ahead of Nico Rosberg, who had been fastest in the morning, and Lewis Hamilton. A fast car, then, but one that will have to show great reliability especially in the race after Vettel's retirement during the reconnaissance lap in the Bahrain Grand Prix. The German himself says he is cautious:
"Our goal is always to aim for pole, but I wouldn't put too much emphasis on what happened today. It was a decent Friday and we can still improve. The car felt good, but the balance is still not ideal. I saw where Kimi went faster, we will compare because we have to learn about each other".
In contrast, Kimi Raikkonen is more serene:
"It was quite a complex day. There was quite a lot of slitting, and we had some difficulties in terms of grip, however, the supersoft tires worked a little better and in the end it went quite well. The track was quite dirty and the wind also made it more complicated".
Tomorrow Raikkonen's goal could be pole position:
"I don't know, we'll see what the weather conditions will be. We will try to make the most of the race, starting with qualifying".
And Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene is satisfied:
"It is a Friday of hope, we can call it that after so many Fridays of passion. However, Friday is a day that gives us data, not grid positions or even points. It could have been a different Friday, but we did some of the work we needed to do to prepare for the race. Our reliability problems? Those don't appear so suddenly, but if they have to be there it is better to have them at the beginning of the season than in the middle or at the end. The search for performance is the first step, then you have to work on reliability-that's the way to go".
On Saturday April 16, 2016 the third and final free practice session is held in the rain, and this severely limits the number of laps covered by the drivers, so that only fourteen mark a time valid for the ranking: among the drivers who do not mark any chronometric relief there are also the two of Mercedes. The fastest is Sebastian Vettel, who records the time by fitting on intermediate wet tires, and runs only three laps. In second place is Valtteri Bottas. The fastest, fitting on full wet tires, however, is Carlos Sainz Jr. who finishes fourth. The track is still damp when the drivers face the first stage of qualifying, so most of them mount intermediate wet tires.

Instead, Pascal Wehrlein opts for dry tires and slips on a large patch of wet, located on the main straight: his car slams into the wall, but without causing any damage to the driver, who, however, cannot finish the session. The race management exposes the red flag and decides to send marshals to the track to dry the track, at the spot of the accident. Lewis Hamilton, partly disturbed by another car during his first attempt, has to abandon the session due to technical troubles with the car (specifically the ERS), and is thus unqualified for the second phase. Along with him, and Pascal Wehrlein, Rio Haryanto, the two Renault drivers and Esteban Gutiérrez are eliminated. The best time was set by Sebastian Vettel. In the second phase, Nico Rosberg opts to use Soft tires, while the Ferraris opt for Supersoft tires: this choice affects the type of coverage that the drivers must mount at the start of the race. Q2 is also interrupted through the display of the red flag: a tire comes off from Nico Hülkenberg's Force India, shortly after exiting the pit lane. With only a little more than a minute left until the end of the session, race management decides to stop Q2 for good. Eliminated are Sauber's two McLaren drivers, Romain Grosjean and Felipe Massa. Nico Hülkenberg, although qualified for the decisive phase, cannot take part because his car is not brought back to the pits in time. The best time in Q2 is still by a Ferrari driver, Kimi Räikkönen. In Q3 Kimi Räikkönen set the best time, while Sebastian Vettel remained in the pits, to attempt only one fast lap. With the second attempt, the Finn is preceded in the standings by Nico Rosberg and Daniel Ricciardo, while Sebastian Vettel finishes only fourth. For Mercedes, it is the ninth consecutive pole position.
At the end of qualifying, Nico Hülkenberg was penalized with the loss of three grid positions for being sent back to the track under unsafe conditions in the incident that occurred in Q2. On the worst day for Lewis Hamilton, frontrunner Nico Rosberg takes his first pole of the season. With a perfect lap placed at the last second, the Mercedes German burns the competition and puts half the China GP in his pocket. Behind him, surprisingly, is not Ferrari - which also had shone throughout free practice - but Daniel Ricciardo's Red Bull. Only third and fourth place for Ferrari, which once again placed Kimi Raikkonen (particularly at ease here in China) ahead of a hesitant Sebastian Vettel. A performance of the team from Maranello that, also in light of the problems in Mercedes, has the flavor of a half false step. According to the weather however, Sunday should be a dry race. Given the premise and given the objective difficulty in which Hamilton finds himself, Ferrari nevertheless expects a great result in the race: the pace shown on Friday is excellent, certainly better than that of Ricciardo's Red Bull; plus, it is now well known, the red car's starting cue is the best on the grid. Perhaps this is also why President Marchionne confirmed his presence in the pits. A problem with the Mercedes power unit slows down Lewis Hamilton, during the first of three qualifying rounds of the Grand Prix of a. It's an uphill start to the season for Hamilton with a disappointing second place in Australia and an even worse third in Bahrain. All while his teammate, Nico Roseberg seems to be flying. The news not only misleads Hamilton, but also chips away at the image of the car Mercedes has built for this season. Sebastian Vettel gets out of his Ferrari and takes full responsibility for a day that could have been a triumph and instead was a half-hearted misstep.
"Yes, I'm disappointed, we certainly could have done more, but this result I think depends not on having only done one lap in Q3, but on myself. I made too many small mistakes".
Ferrari acquitted. Driver convicted, indeed, self-convicted.
"I couldn't get a good lap in the last one I had, I got off on the wrong foot from the first sector, then I tried to recover throughout the lap but overall, I'm not happy with what I did in Q3. Unfortunately, that's how it went, but I know the car can give more and I have to push".
The German driver's regret increases when one considers that Hamilton had been taken out of the game by a failure of his power unit (which will be changed).

"There was a chance to take pole but then with the lap Nico did at the end I probably couldn't have done it anyway. Second position was still doable, but I didn't make it".
Nothing, however, in the opinion of the German driver, is lost.
"We always have an opportunity this weekend, and that's something I keep telling myself as well. That's why I'm here. I'm here to race. We have a strong car, but today unfortunately I didn't do the job in the best way, so I have to take it on myself today. The race will last many laps, so we can recover and we have an extra set of new Supersoft tires. We will see what can happen".
As the cars, on the track, compete for the Chinese Grand Prix, a new controversy rages in the paddock agitated by the announced presence of Sergio Marchionne.
"Ferrari takes too much money from F1. Ecclestone needs to pay it less".
New, actually, not so much: this has been said since forever. But, I mean, it's been a while since it was heard. The shooter, this time is Claire Williams - daughter of Frank, one of the legends of motorsport - and currently manager of the team that has since become a satellite of Mercedes, a circumstance, the latter, not entirely irrelevant. Already, because, the fact from which young Claire takes her cue, is the one according to which Ferrari, in 2016 will take from FOM - Bernie Ecclestone's company that owns and therefore distributes among the teams part of the commercial rights of the show - more money than all the other participants in the World Championship. Mercedes included. Which, however, is the reigning World Champion team. According to calculations, Maranello will end up with $192.000.000 this year, $33.000.000 more than last year, which is a slice just under 20 percent of the entire pie. This 192.000.000 consists for one part (87) of the so-called performance payment, and that is the premium directly linked to the ranking in the previous season. And for another part ($105.000.000) by the heritage bonus, and that is the premium that F1 pays to the prestige of Ferrari. Money that the Maranello team would still earn, even if it retired every Grand Prix, and which is experienced by the rest of the paddock as an unfair, medieval tax. World Champion Mercedes, the current leader not only in sporting terms of the movement but also in technology, to take one example, collects $171.000.000, of which only $74.000.000 is in bonuses, $21.000.000 less than Ferrari. Red Bull $144.000.000, Williams - third last season - $87.000.000. The cause of this apparent imbalance lies in the choices of Bernie Ecclestone - a man notoriously uncomfortable with the categories of fair and unfair - who has signed separate contracts with each team, ascribing to each an absolute value beyond that recognized by results. With Ferrari, whose presence on the grid, according to the former British manager, is essential to keeping F1's nature, its vocation for excellence, intact, the agreement includes the super-premium. The explanation does not entirely convince young Claire Williams.
"My philosophy in life and in sports is not to try to change what you have no chance of changing. We signed our contracts, so we have no title to expect to change them on the fly. And I think a brand award also makes sense. But not so great".
The game, in short, shifts to the next contract renewal. That, however, is a very long-term prospect-the current ones expire in 2020.
"I hope that at least by then a more equitable redistribution of earnings can be seriously considered".
But things could have a far more immediate implication.

Because less surrendered than Williams, two other second-tier teams, Sauber and Force India-both on the brink of bankruptcy-have turned to the European Union, denouncing F1 for anti-competitive agreements and calling revenue sharing among the teams illegal and unfair. The EU's response - which has launched an investigation - is expected soon. On Sunday, April 17, 2016, at the start of the Chinese Grand Prix Daniel Ricciardo passes Nico Rosberg and climbs to first position, while there is contact between the two Ferraris, with Sebastian Vettel touching Kimi Räikkönen's car, widening his trajectory following an attack by Daniil Kvyat. And Lewis Hamilton also ends up off the track after contact with Felipe Nasr but is allowed to continue the race. Both Räikkönen and Hamilton are forced into the pits, to replace the nose. On the third lap, Rosberg passes Ricciardo, but on the long straight he sees a tire explode due to a puncture caused by debris: race management decides to send the Safety car on track to clean up the section. Several drivers make stops to replace tires: Sebastian Vettel replaces the nose damaged at the start, overtaking two cars in the pit entry lane. At the restart, behind Nico Rosberg is Felipe Massa, followed by Fernando Alonso, Pascal Wehrlein, Esteban Gutiérrez and Daniil Kvyat. The Russian of Red Bull Racing recovers three positions in four laps, putting him in second place. Vettel is also quick in his comeback, so much so that he climbs from 12th place to fourth in five laps. The recovery is interrupted on lap 18, when the German makes one more stop for a tire change, dropping to 11th place. Nico Rosberg continues in first position, followed by Daniil Kvyat, the two Williams, Carlos Sainz Jr., Sergio Pérez, Daniel Ricciardo and Lewis Hamilton. On lap 20 Daniil Kvjat makes a pit stop, and re-enters the track ahead of Sebastian Vettel. On lap 21, Nico Rosberg Valtteri Bottas also re-enter the pits. Nevertheless, Nico Rosberg maintains the first position, followed by Daniil Kvyat, Sebastian Vettel, Jenson Button, Sergio Pérez, and the two Williams. Later Massa recovered a position first from Pérez, then from Button, thus moving up to fourth place. Valtteri Bottas also passes Jenson Button, who makes a tire change on lap 27. Meanwhile, Daniel Ricciardo, who passes Valtteri Bottas on lap 30, also climbs up to fourth place after Felipe Massa pits. Kimi Räikkönen, taking advantage of the stops by the two Williams drivers and passing the two Scuderia Toro Rosso drivers, also climbs to fifth place.
On lap 36 both Kvyat and Vettel make pit stops at the same time; the German Ferrari driver remains behind the Russian Red Bull Racing driver. On lap 37 Nico Rosberg also makes a pit stop, while Sebastian Vettel overtakes Daniil Kvyat and moves up to second place. Ricciardo and Räikkönen entered the pits on lap 38. The two recover two positions, passing Massa and Hamilton, moving up to fourth and fifth, respectively. Hamilton also tries, unsuccessfully, to pass the Brazilian. In the final laps Max Verstappen overtakes Valtteri Bottas and climbs to eighth place. Nico Rosberg wins the China Grand Prix, becoming the driver with the most wins without becoming World Champion. Sebastian Vettel finishes the race in second place, followed by Daniil Kvyat, Daniel Ricciardo, Kimi Raikkonen, Felipe Massa, Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz Jr. and Valtteri Bottas. Nico Hulkenberg scored his second career fastest lap, the first since the 2012 Singapore Grand Prix, while Force India hasn't won since the 2014 Austrian Grand Prix with Sergio Pérez. Three out of three: Nico Rosberg also dominates the Chinese Grand Prix and secures his third win of the season, at this point giving a real sting to his teammate, once again condemned to a comprimario race. And already because at this point - although the championship is still very long - Nico puts a serious mortgage on the leadership in Mercedes. Second - unbelievable- place for Vettel and to conclude the podium Kvyat with a reborn Red Bull. The unbelievable refers to the fact that Vettel at the start crashed with Raikkonen, thus suddenly ending up in the middle of the pack and thus was forced to make a beautiful comeback. In the contact Kimi got the worst of it since his nose was pulverized, but Sebastian apologized to him after the checkered flag (even though he was not at fault), and then went to scold Kvyat, accused of triggering the accident. Actually, one can argue endlessly here because from what was seen it was just a racing incident, but in those tense phases it is difficult to establish blame and reason. Fourth then for Ricciardo's Red Bull ahead of Raikkonen's Ferrari and Massa's Williams. Seventh was Hamilton's Mercedes, which preceded the two Toro Rosso cars of Verstappen and Sainz Jr. Bottas' Williams closes in the points zone. Twelfth across the line was Alonso's McLaren ahead of teammate Button. In short, if McLaren is still in trouble Red Bull on the other hand seems reborn.

At the start Ricciardo had even managed to mock Rosberg, going forcefully into the lead. Too bad then that the puncture suddenly kicked him to the back of the field, otherwise Daniel could have bothered even Nico today, he says:
"The start was not ideal, but my car was great today, and I was able to create a consistent margin. I tried to push right away to increase the gap, and it went well".
And Hamilton? A real disaster for him: after starting last because of the known engine problem in practice, he was too aggressive in the early stages of the race, so he semi-destroyed his car (the nose got under the car, ruining the bottom) and in the end he had to suffer attacks from everyone and thus had to settle for only seventh place.
"It was a terrible weekend, at least I scored a couple of points. The hardest thing was the damage to the car, I had to race with a damaged car and it's the second time in a row. I hope it's over. How do I feel? It's one of my worst championship starts ever, I have to try to keep my spirits up".
In these stories, the father always has something to do with it. Nico Rosberg's is named Keke and he was a star of F1's golden years, those of beautiful women in the paddock and drivers with sideburns and Marlboros always on. For the past few years Keke has been racing again, in the nightmares of his son Nico, Mercedes' second driver and current leader, with a gap in the World Championship standings. There are two statistics that explain well the psycho-family drama we are talking about. Old Keke has the best race win/riding title ratio in the modern era of F1: five Grand Prix wins in his entire career were enough for him to put a World Championship on his trophy cabinet. Young Nico, on the other hand, has the opposite record. Although he has won countless races in his career, seventeen, winning a World Championship has never even remotely been seen by him. The situation is then aggravated, and not a little, by another circumstance: having crossed paths within what has been called by Maurizio Arrivabene the strongest team of the last ten years, Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton, a driver more talented than him and a guy endowed with the ego of an Argentine pylon. Thus, crushed between his father's nightmare and Hamilton's competitive voluminousness, poor Rosberg - at 31 - seemed to be barreling toward a glittering oblivion and was already looking for some alibi on which to rest his own existential defeat. At least until, suddenly, something changed. The trigger, the spark, they are still looking for it, in the Mercedes box. Yet something has changed. German journalists trace the turning point back to last season's U.S. Grand Prix, the one in which Lewis, after being laughed at all season, won his second world title in Mercedes, the third in his career.
"It was that day that Nico changed the look".
As early as the next race, with his colleague evidently still soaked from the hooligan nights with which he had celebrated his triumph, Nico began to devour the asphalt around him. A win in Mexico, another in Brazil, a third in Abu Dhabi. No one attached too much importance to that little string. It was the tail end of a season without history, they thought. But no, it was the beginning of the rebirth of a downtrodden boy who had suddenly found a crack in the dam of his own talent. Beyond that dam, himself. The series continued in 2016. First again in Australia, at the season's start, and again in Bahrain. He had blurted out, discomfited, Lewis Hamilton, after his fifth win:
"I don't give a damn, last season's races don't count. There is no point in counting those. For me he only won two of them".
This was no childishness: Lewis is a shark, and sharks recognize the smell of blood and fear. Smell that in Shanghai became very strong, and visible to all. Sixth consecutive victory, third in the season. With detachment and merit.

There is another statistic that explains very well what we are talking about: in the history of F1 all drivers who won the first three races of the season eventually also won the World Championship. In the trophy cabinet you put the cups, not the statistics. But at certain times, to chase away ghosts anything goes. He had come here convinced he could celebrate the first success of the season, but instead Sergio Marchionne found himself walking through the F1 security turnstiles laden with regret.
"We had a painful, unpleasant start. Then the drivers were outstanding in recovering what they had lost, but it was not enough".
The Ferrari president tries to find some reason for consolation, but between the folds of his words it is perfectly clear that he is not happy:
"The car is there, we have to go on like this. Arrivabene and I on the one hand are a little embarrassed (after the proclamations at the beginning of the season the ranking is not great, ed.) on the other hand we are angry. This car is like a growing child, we are trying to tame it. Did Vettel apologize? I would have done it too, he put himself in these conditions with someone much more inexperienced than him however the recovery was exceptional".
Not far away, the German is torn up. He continues to blame Kvyat and his suicidal maneuver (literally) but knows full well that much of the responsibility is his.
"I feel very sorry for the team and for Kimi. When I saw Daniil come in like that, I threw off to the left and hit my teammate. It's never nice when two with the same car knock each other out, but there was nothing to be done. I was sandwiched between Daniil and Kimi. I still apologize".
But Daniil thinks otherwise:
"I got off to a very good start, saw an opening and went for it, it was a risky move of course, but these are moves that can get you to the podium. I will continue to take risks like today".
As Vettel tries to cast his gaze beyond the race:
"In the end I am happy with the recovery we had, a sign that the car is good. Although honestly, I think we could hardly have done better than second place. The world championship is still open, though. And the conditions are not bad. Before today we had only two races, and apart from the problems, in Australia we came close to winning. While here we were unlucky. Now we go to Russia and I am quite optimistic".
Accidents between teammates are events in F1. And Ferrari's two drivers, Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen, chose the worst day to flaunt one: because Sergio Marchionne, Ferrari's chairman (and future CEO), had chosen the Chinese Grand Prix in particular to make his season debut on the track. And he was in the pits at the time. Disappointment.
"What can I say, a very non-Ferrari thing, embarrassing. They were more embarrassed than I was".
President, did you scold them?

"No. I repeat, they are more embarrassed than I am. It was an oversight, I think, that unfortunately cost us quite a bit during the race. Having said that, what Vettel did, and also Raikkonen against Hamilton, in the end was a masterpiece".
What Ferrari did you see?
"A team that is growing, that I like, maybe a little immature, rebellious. A child that is growing well. In Australia we could have won, if it wasn't for that red flag".
Actually, there you have the wrong strategy.
"You’re right. Maybe. But certainly, the red flag didn't help us. However, it means that we could win, that the car is there".
It often breaks down...
"We had two problems with the ECU. Solved. I am ready to take any responsibility, to be told that I am not capable. But you have to admit that these engines are complex, and reliability is an issue for everyone: even Mercedes, as we have seen. It's a sign that they are under pressure as well. And that, if you please, is a credit to Ferrari".
Now that Ferrari is on the road to recovery, it only has to save F1 as well.
"There is a lot of work to be done there. Ecclestone is very good at negotiations but sooner or later we all have to retire. And when it is, we will have to rethink everything, build a more solid F1. With a real structure".
Do you expect other leading competitors to come in?
"I hope so".
Audi?
"It would be perfect".
But those are good, isn't Mercedes enough for you?
"Ferrari built its own myth by comparing itself with the best competitors. Beating Manor doesn’t build any myth".
The last question: tell the truth, the one about Alfa Romeo in F1 was a joke....
"No. It's a real project. But we have to make some money first, with Alfa, then we'll try to get in. Heck, we have more titles with that brand there than a lot of people here".
But it was never quite clear whether he is thinking of sponsorship, partnership, or just wants to use the brand name....
"No no, I think of a commitment just as a stable. We have history and intelligence. And we have these cousins here (points to Ferrari, ed.) who can lend a hand. Instead of helping others, or while they help others, they also help Alfa".