A Mercedes at each end of the grid for tomorrow's Chinese GP

Don't miss the Chinese GP tomorrow,  the setup is great:    Rosberg on pole, Hamilton dead last after  an engine issue in Q1 left him in without a time on the board.

To add to the spice, next to Rosberg in row 1,  not a Ferrari but Ricciardo's Red Bull with a lap that surprised even Christian Horner.    Row two is all red but with Raikkonen besting Vettel who has banked all on a single lap in Q3 and failed to deliver.

RAI first run on S second on SS. ROS the reverse

But that's not all.   Rosberg will start on a set of Soft tires while everyone around him will start on the Super-Soft.    Mercedes has shown it is happiest on harder tires but in FP2, which was run in temperatures thought to be close to what the race will be Sunday,  Ferrari was able to run the red SuperSoft  tire quite a bit longer than the Germans (graphic by Giroveloce.it)

Vettel only did one run in Q3 and saved a set of sticker red tires so,  from a strategic point of view, the race could be quite interesting.


Much will depend on the start, if the Ferrari's are able to get around and lead,  they will be able to control the tire wear and make the most of it.   There are a lot of variables, if it's colder, like it was in qualifying, the softer tire advantage in wear might be minimal,  if it's warmer it will be advantage Ferrari.

As for Lewis,  well he keeps saying how much he enjoys starting from the back and slicing his way though Manors and Saubers.   I guess he got his wish.   He should definitively make it into the points but I wonder how long it will be before the Hamfosi  start yelling "conspiracy"!

Full Results



Kravitz's is pretty sure Ferrari made a mistake, but then again he feels F1 cars should have bigger brakes too... face palm