Daniel Ricciardo has won the 2018 Chinese Grand Prix in sensational style, producing the stint of a lifetime after the Safety Car left the track on Lap 35 to steal victory from Ferrari and Mercedes somehow.
It was the 6th win of the Australian’s career, and he will have very few sweeter wins after overtaking all of the Top 6 drivers in the final stint of the race to win. He showed, once again, that there are not many better racers in Formula One with some breathtakings and cheeky moves on the way to his unexpected victory.
Once the action of the first lap settled down, which saw Kimi Raikkonen drop from 2nd to 4th, Max Verstappen gain and Lewis Hamilton lose a position, it looked like the 2018 Chinese Grand Prix would be a processional bore of a race with Vettel to win as he pleased for Ferrari.
Step in the first Tyres Stops. Red Bulls went early and produced a magnificent double stacked pitstop where they serviced both cars for new tyres within seconds of each other. That forced Mercedes to follow suit, and that worked out best for Valtteri Bottas who flashed past Vettel for first when the Ferrari team eventually responded to their competitors. Ferrari kept Kimi out, which served only to drop him to 6th.
Then the second wildcard for the race came on Lap 31 when the Safety Car came out to help clean the Toro Rosso intra team clash at the hairpin. With all of the Top 6 within seconds of each other, and on different tyres strategies, the race was on, and what a race it was.
We then saw a drive from the top shelf, and possibly above it, as Daniel Ricciardo picked off all of his Top 6 rivals, and even had 10 laps to spare by the time he had hit the front. It was yet another display of outstanding racing from Ricciardo, and one can only hope it leads to a car capable of winning a Championship in the next few seasons.
As ever, the Good, Bad and Ugly is here to go through the 2018 Chinese Grand Prix in detail, and no surprise who’s at the top of the list….
THE GOOD
DANIEL RICCIARDO
It looked like another Grand Prix weekend where the Red Bulls would be thereabouts, but not quite fast enough to truly challenge the Ferraris and Mercedes. Then came that Safety Car and strategy gold from his Red Bull decision makers.
With fresher tyres and an attitude to match he got past the whole Top 6 in front of him, and in no time was leading and winning the 2018 Chinese Grand Prix.
This was how the final stint played out…
He passed Raikkonen om Lap 37.
Got past Verstappen on Lap 39 thanks to his off track excursion attempting to pass Hamilton..
Lap 40 saw him nail Lewis Hamilton into the hairpin with a move that only Ricciardo seems to be able to pull off without incident.
Lap 42 saw him blast past Vettel for second on the back straight, proff of their grip in the corners as the Renault is known to be well down on straight line speed to the Ferrari. His riskiest move was for the lead on Lap 45, in a moment of opportunitism he dove past Bottas, who should be commended for avoiding contact.
The last pass was risky as it was clear he was faster everywhere and could have been more patient. Perhaps he would have been against a driver with lesser ability.
A sneaky, cheeky Devils Horns for the fans before the first corner sums up his devil may care attitude. Who could blame him for a moment of exuberance after such a race.
He won the race in a canter, making up for some of the awful luck in Bahrain.
RED BULL
Before we talk about race wins, how about the moment where the Red Bull team put the car together quick enough for Daniel Ricciardo to get the Red Bull out in the first part of qualifying. The Australian nailed the lap to make the first cut, and from there made Q3 in a 6th position that will do after barely making it out on the track for qualifying at all.
Red Bull twice nailed the strategy in the race after double stacking at the right time for the first pitstop, and then calling it so right when the Safety Car came out. They did get a little lucky with the timing of it, but took full advantage having their cars on the newer, better, softer tyres for the last stint. The two double stacked pitstops showed a team so confident in their own ability, and was one of the reasons that allowed them the get ahead strategy wise.
It should have been the 1-2 they deserved, but driver factors came into that.
KIMI RAIKKONEN
Despite finishing 3rd from 2nd on the grid, it wasn’t a bad day out for the Finn, and he’s looking closer to Vettel than anyone with every race, and on raceday, does seem to be the most experienced. Sure there’s very world beating teams on offer, and it’s very hard when you are the clear number One.
He’s getting closer to Vettel, and looking compettive over the whole weekend. Perhaps that will work into the Panthers favour.
VALTTERI BOTTAS
The Mercedes number two wrapped up consecutive second places, and sits third and just five points behind his teammate Hamilton in the Championship.
It was another good event for the Finn. but for the second weekend in a row, perhaps the 2nd place is laced with regret of not being able to maximise the opportunity. He may well be leading the Championship if he did.
NICO HULKENBERG
Receives a Good nomination as a default for Best of the Rest, this time it means 6th place, and he had the sweet moment of passing a Ferrari on his way to extra points.
The German about his work with a minimum of fuss, in fact you’d hardly remember him from the race, if we weren’t already big Hulkenberg fans.
Surely he has shown enough for a top seat in 2019. He may still get a chance to win in 2018 with his team looking next of the best.
He is currently equal on points with Fernando Alonso for Best of the Rest drivers Championship in 2018 so far.
FERNANDO ALONSO
Talking of Alonso, the former Double World Champion maxed his weekend like very others can do. He and McLaren teammate both missed Q3, but as ever in race conditions managed to find himself further up the track than a normal driver could do.
In the end he finished 7th, which included an overtaking move on the failing Sebastian Vettel, which would have provided a smile. In comparison, his less experienced teammate finished in 13th.
LANCE STROLL
Made up six places on the first lap, and in a car as slow as the Williams in 2018 that is a fine achievement. He raced OK early, but the car’s limitations stopped much further progress. He eventually finished 14th, but deserves a good nomination for the effort. It appears as if they won’t have too many opportunities to shine in 2018.
THE BAD
MAX VERSTAPPEN
Should he have won the 2018 Chinese Grand Prix? Perhaps. The Lap 39 incident with Lewis Hamilton hurt his chances as he saw his teammate and eventual winner Daniel Ricicardo slip past.
It got worse as on lap 43 when he ran into Sebastian Vettel at the very corner that saw his team mate so majestically get past Lewis Hamilton. And it got worse as he received a 10 second penalty for his troubles afterwards.
He raced well despite this, but should have been so much more for the young Red Bull driver. But there will be calls against his driving for the second consecutive race, after raising the ire of Lewis Hamilton last race. Vettel, who isn’t a fan in general certainly won’t be pleased or generous in praise after the vent. That’s after spinning in the first race of the year.
He gets a gold star for his start to the race and for overtaking a car on pitlane en route to his second stop. But not enough to cover the rest of his race. It could have been so much better.
There’s no doubt he’ll put it together, but for the moment is work in progress.
SEBASTIAN VETTEL
Luck comes in cycles, and it appears the 2018 Chinese Grand Prix saw the alignment after his win in the Australian Grand Prix.
He did all the right things up until the first pitstops, he took pole, led from the first lap, and cleared out a nice gap to the other runners in the first stint.
Then came the Red Bull – Mercedes pitstops which saw him lose the lead to Valtteri Bottas. Then came the Safety car which bunched the cars together, which eventually led to his proper demise at the hands of Max Verstappen who he clashed with at the hairpin. That’s after Daniel Ricciardo gave him wind burn on the back straight a few laps earlier.
Vettel then drifted backwards, and in the end got overtaken by the Renault of Nico Hulkenberg and McLaren of Fernando Alonso.
FERRARI
It could have and probably should have been so much better for Ferrair. They dominated for most of the weekend. Took Pole and 2nd in Qualifying, and Vettel looked to be sailing off into the sunset with ease in the race, and then came the stops for tyres. The Italian team were caught out by Red Bull and Mercedes, and as a result lost track position for both drivers.
Lap 21 saw Vettel enter the pit lane from the lead, but saw him exit behind Valtteri Bottas as the Finn flew past into the first corner. Raikkonen took over at the front, but stayed out on worn tyres and was eventually overtaken by Bottas on lap 27. He pitted on the same lap and ended up 6th, behind all the others top teams drivers. So by halfway their qualifying 1-2 was 2nd and 6th. All because of being slow to react to strategy and a too-aggresive start from Vettel.
Then came the post Safety Car period which saw a reversal in fortunes for the drivers, but not for the team. Kimi got up into 3rd courtesy of the same incident that saw Vettel drop to 6th and eventually 8th behing the Renault of Nico Hulkenberg and McLaren of Fernando Alonso.
The team may also regret Vettel making such a huge lunge across his teammate off the grid, as his antics allowed the Mercedes car of Bottas to sneak into second, and a few corners later saw Verstappen into third at the expense of Kimi. Doesn’t appear to have learned from the Singapore Grand Prix where he took out himself, his teammate and Max Verstappen in a season defining moment.
TORO ROSSO
Crashes between teammates is never a great thing, as it will mostly lead to tension that is hard to remove for the rest of the season. Ask Force India in 2017, some tension is still raw in 2018.
On lap 30 the two Toro Rosso cars clashed, this one completely the fault of Gasly, the star from the Bahrain Grand Prix a week ago, who badly misjudged a gap that wasn’t really there.
Would anyone dare to claim conspiracy given the incident turned the race on its head for Red Bull?
PIERRE GASLY
After being the star of last weekend as he started the Grand Prix last weekend in Bahrain 5th on the grid and finished 4th in a remarkable Grand Prix, the 2018 Chinese Grand Prix was far less remarkable. And not in a good way.
Fast forward a week, and the 2016 Formula 2 Champion and Toro Rosso driver qualified 19th, and ran into his teammate Brendon Hartley in the race. Finishing 18th whilst his teammate was the only DNF.
THE UGLY
LEWIS HAMILTON
Pre season it looked like it would be a Lewis Hamilton benefit in 2018, but as we reach the end of the third race, he is winless, second in the Championship, and to be honest had an ordinary 2018 Chinese Grand Prix.
He qualified 4th, behind the Ferraris and teammate Bottas, and finished 5th on track but was promoted to 4th after the 10 second penalty was applied to Max Verstappen.
But he just never looked likely during the event, and was blown away by the superior strategy of the Red Bulls. Despite that, he still finished behind the numbers twos of Raikkonen and Bottas, and he would have liekly been behind Vettel too, if not for his Verstappen clash.
THE MARTINI / MINARDI MEDAL AND CHAVES / COLONI PLATE RETURN
Back by popular demand of one person is our awards for the best F1 Driver / Team for the 2018 season.
After each race we will assign points for the Good, Bad, and Ugly described above, and some other useful tidbits of Grand Prix statistics like Overtaking, Fastest Laps, and Retirements.
With offering points for good, and taking them off for bad, we were accused of being a little too negative last year, given very few drivers and teams made it into positive territory. This season we have revamped all of our many reader and fan.
The Martini / Minardi Medal goes to the best Driver / Team for the season..
The Chaves / Life F1 Plate goes to the worst Driver / Team for the season.
THE POINTS EXPLAINED….
2 Points for featuring in the GOOD (Driver/Team) – as above
-1 Point for BAD or UGLY (Driver/Team) – as above
1 Point for Outqualifying Teammate (Driver) – as per Grid
1 Point for Pole Position (Driver/Team) – Vettel/Ferrari
-1 Point for Last on Grid (Driver/Team) – Ericsson/Sauber
-1 Point for Penalty Taken for Mechanical (Team) – Nil
1 Point for Top Non Big 3 Car in Top 6 in Qualifying (Driver/Team) – Hulkenberg/Renault
1 Point for Top Non Big 3 Car in Top 6 in Race (Driver/Team) – Hulkenberg/Renault
1 Point for Fastest Lap (Driver/Team) – Daniel Ricciardo/Red Bull
1 Point for Most Places Gained on Lap One (Driver) – Lance Stroll
1 Point for Most Places Gained in Race (Driver) – Fernando Alonso
1 Point/-1 Point for Best/Worst Pitstop (Team) – Mercedes/Toro Rosso
-1 Point for 1st Retirement (Driver/Team) – Hartley/Toro Rosso
-1 Point for Avoidable Accident (Driver) – Gasly/Verstappen
2018 CHINESE GRAND PRIX MARTINI MEDAL / CHAVES PLATE RESULTS
Here’s where we post the rolling results for the season. Note some will have zero points for being good and bad, others will not be named as they haven’t done anything good or bad.
Most statistics from the outstanding RaceFans website.
MARTINI MEDAL / CHAVES PLATE
| DRIVER | TOTAL | RD 3 POINTS |
| ALONSO | 9 | 4 |
| HULKENBERG | 7 | 5 |
| VETTEL | 7 | 1 |
| BOTTAS | 6 | 3 |
| RICCIARDO | 5 | 3 |
| MAGNUSSEN | 5 | 0 |
| STROLL | 4 | 3 |
| RAIKKONEN | 4 | 2 |
| ERICSSON | 4 | -1 |
| LECLERC | 3 | 1 |
| GASLY | 3 | -2 |
| PEREZ | 2 | 1 |
| SAINZ | 2 | 0 |
| HAMILTON | 2 | -1 |
| SIROTKIN | 1 | 1 |
| GROSJEAN | 1 | 1 |
| OCON | 1 | 0 |
| HARTLEY | -1 | 0 |
| VERSTAPPEN | -2 | -1 |
THE MINARDI MEDAL / COLONI PLATE
| TEAM | TOTAL | RD 3 POINTS |
| MERCEDES | 5 | 1 |
| RED BULL | 3 | 3 |
| HAAS | 2 | 0 |
| RENAULT | 2 | 2 |
| SAUBER | 1 | -1 |
| MCLAREN | 1 | 0 |
| FERRARI | 1 | 0 |
| TORO ROSSO | 0 | -3 |
| FORCE INDIA | -1 | 0 |
| WILLIAMS | -5 | 0 |
